"Church as a socializing agent"

        

While discussing Dr. Crafton's book chapter in class last Thursday (September 26th), I was surprised to hear how many that participated in the discussed felt about church.  


In the section in Dr. Crafton's book title "Church as a socializing agent" when referencing her mother and sister, she states "I’m sure they would name “Christian” as a top identity in their lives and its literal meanings and teachings not open to negotiation; such is the nature of all fundamentalist religious views."  I could completely relate to this myself. 

When asked about my identity, "Christian" is at the top of my list (right behind female).  Growing up, I never really had a choice whether to attend church or not. My grandmother is the pastor so it was mandatory every Sunday.  I sang in the choir and participated in various other activities without any thought.  For a small portion of my life, I even attended a Christian school. My parents never really gave me the option of not attending church and I didn't get to pick what school to attend, so I just assumed that this was the way I was supposed to live my life.  Then as I entered high school, my views, thoughts and beliefs began to shift.  I was in enrolled in public school for quite some time by then and I began to realize that there was a "life" outside of church and religion.  I started working and participating in school activities which prevented my from attending church service every Sunday which eventually led to my departure from the church.  I felt conflicted because I didn't want to offend my grandmother and the rest of my family by departing.  It was also difficult because this was a part of my identity for so long; I began to feel lost.  I wasn't sure if I could even still identify as a Christian until I entered college.  I realized that though I don't attend church every Sunday, I still have the morals and values that I have learned through church instilled in me.  When I was younger, what I was taught in church was "not open to negotiation." I was taught that 'it was, what it was and that's how things were supposed to be.'  This is a huge factor in why my beliefs are so set in.

In our class discussion, many mentioned feelings of power imbalances within the church and beliefs that ideas are forced.  I had a hard time relating this, possibly because my grandmother is a female pastor.  I can't say that I saw power imbalances within my church but I did find that there were people that didn't attend her church simply because the church was led by a woman and other churches didn't want to be associated with our church for the same reason. 



I want to further delve into the topic of power imbalances within the church.  If church is supposed to be a place of worship, why would something as minuscule as an individual's gender play any role in that? Religion is a touchy topic, but I'm just curious to hear other opinions and perspectives. 

George Washington Dodge Commercial

In my first blog post, I will be discussing how I perceived the George Washington Dodge Commercial because I feel the commercial did an excellent job of showing the role that socialization plays within the American culture.

After watching the commercial, I felt that Dodge is trying to convey the message that their vehicles are "All- American" therefore, Americans should feel proud when driving their vehicles.  Americans are often associated with the idea of winning and winning against other countries and this commercial from Dodge just reiterates this idea.  They chose to use George Washington as the main character because he is seen by many Americans as a trustworthy figure. His character also represents leadership, which makes George Washington an ideal representation of how the Dodge company wants both their vehicles as well as America as a whole to be viewed.  The company wants their vehicles to be associated with these characteristics because this is what they believe will generate the most profit. There are all sorts of stereotypes about America and with this commercial, Dodge is attempting to take what they believe are the best qualities of America and associate them with their product.  It is also clear that gender is certainly a factor in this commercial. It is directed towards men because it is an American stereotype that men are more interested in cars than women. This is something that we as Americans have been socialized to believe.

This all reminds me of an experience that I had when I went to purchase my first car at about 16 years old and knew absolutely nothing about cars.  I decided that it would be a good idea to bring my father and older brother along with me since they knew far more about cars than I did. As we browsed the car dealership lot, we were approached by a man who immediately began speaking to my father.  He automatically assumed that we all came to purchase a car for my brother so he began to ask him questions about what kind of car he was looking for. The man was surprised  to find that I was the one actually looking for a car and began to show me cars that I believe he thought were considered "more girly."

This story goes to show that we as Americans have been socialized to believe many stereotypical behaviors, and this commercial reinforces these behaviors.

Is this commercial really an accurate representation of America?  How do individuals from other countries view this commercial?