Break Free 2.0
Stereotyping is a large issue in modern society. As a class, we took on the various topics that are intertwined with stereotypes and attempted to break free from these stereotypes.
Inspiration-
We began this project by learning how stereotypes have been institutionalized into our society throughout history. We analyzed a text about an african-american who was in a white neighborhood and did not want to be judged so he whistled Vivaldi in order to make people feel more comfortable around him. This shocking story taught us about stereotype threat which is the fact that stereotypes are ingrained in our subconscious and it is our job to recognize this. We did an activity where we assessed all of the different stereotypes we knew as a class for four generalized races. The results of this experiment is below and they, as well, were very shocking for us. The pages are filled with mostly negative attributes towards these races. It was a real eye opener for me and it was clear that something needed to be done about it.
Our project description/mission is as follows: This project is a MOVEMENT that we are naming #BreakFree. This project is about creating something VIRAL that encourages our viewers to “BreakFree” from the misconceptions, to BreakFree from societal judgments, to BreakFree from history’s abuses, and more importantly to BreakFree from the threats of stereotyping. Our Dream Goal is to become VIRAL in the world of the media.
Inspiration-
We began this project by learning how stereotypes have been institutionalized into our society throughout history. We analyzed a text about an african-american who was in a white neighborhood and did not want to be judged so he whistled Vivaldi in order to make people feel more comfortable around him. This shocking story taught us about stereotype threat which is the fact that stereotypes are ingrained in our subconscious and it is our job to recognize this. We did an activity where we assessed all of the different stereotypes we knew as a class for four generalized races. The results of this experiment is below and they, as well, were very shocking for us. The pages are filled with mostly negative attributes towards these races. It was a real eye opener for me and it was clear that something needed to be done about it.
Our project description/mission is as follows: This project is a MOVEMENT that we are naming #BreakFree. This project is about creating something VIRAL that encourages our viewers to “BreakFree” from the misconceptions, to BreakFree from societal judgments, to BreakFree from history’s abuses, and more importantly to BreakFree from the threats of stereotyping. Our Dream Goal is to become VIRAL in the world of the media.
Personal Piece
Our project had a personal component to it as well. We were assigned to think about a moment in our lives when we were discriminated, for whatever reason. We then wrote this down and accompanied it with an image on a card. These cards are anonymous and our teacher shared out a few of them each day. This was done to get us inspired about an issue area. Our final product for our personal piece was to pick an issue area and show our own personal experience with it through some art form. People did spoken word, musical performances, and ted talks. I wrote a poem about masculinity and how I have been brought up to view it. The poem is shown below.
Group Video Project-
Project Proposal
This part of the project is what we hope will go viral. The class was separated into groups based off of subject matter in order to create powerful videos. I teamed up with three other students who wanted to focus on masculinity and the stereotypes that can be detrimental to this gender. In order to do this, we had to come up with a detailed project proposal in one week covering the process of our video; pre-production, production, and post-production. Essentially, we wanted to learn about the different stereotypes that are associated with a masculine male and why they can hurt others. We interviewed random people from the real world in order to gain insight on their thoughts about this subject. We also interviewed a sexual education expert in order to hear a professional opinion on the subject. Our eight page proposal is below.
masculinityprojectproposal.pdf | |
File Size: | 212 kb |
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Presentation
We then had to take this proposal and turn it into a presentation for our class. If you look at our proposal, you can see that the text is in different colors which corresponds to the work done by an individual in the group. We used this to divide our presentation equally between us.
Our last step after our presentation was to create a storyboard that outlined each scene of our video. For us, this was just a starting point that helped us envision our video. The structure of our final product did vary from the storyboard.
Final Video and Exhibition
The production of this video took approximately two weeks. It was an extremely grueling and fast paced process but was extremely rewarding. Once we finished our video, we had the opportunity to present it, along with our personal pieces, at a location called Queen Bee's in North Park, San Diego. Having this exhibition on an off campus site was not only incredible, but it was necessary to make this process worth while. We were able to directly engage with the public at a concert/coffee shop venue which created a serious and deeply emotional presence for those there. People were left in tears from our work which speaks volumes for the work our class put in. As a group, we are extremely proud of our final product and hope you take the time to watch it along with the rest of our class videos on our @breakfreeofficial Youtube channel. For now, have a look at ours:
Reflection
Break Free was an inspiring project that taught me a lot about myself. The phrase itself has its own meaning for me. The word "break" symbolizes a battle that has to happen in order to lead to the word "free". This is a battle that happens in the mind when we catch ourselves in our use of stereotypes. The most challenging part about this, for me, is admitting that there might be a part of me that has been taught to be judgmental towards other without even meaning to. This happens in the most simplest of ways. For example, around the time we started this project, I was filling up my car with gas and there was an african american homeless guy blasting music from a speaker he had. I instinctively felt my keys as if I needed to be ready to leave if there was trouble. This was a completely unrealistic thing for me to do and the next time I was at the gas station, instead of reaching for my keys, I decided to nod along to the music. That for me is what a break free moment means. Catching yourself in the act of stereotyping is the first step towards creating a peaceful environment in which you live in where people can just live with one another.