Invisible Narratives Are Everywhere!

Before this semester in English class, I had heard about subliminal messages behind certain movies, TV shows, kids programming and the media in general, but the way this class revealed them to me in the way that our society hides narratives within race and gender was very eye-opening. I had small ideas about how gender was a power role and how men and women are both objectified, but to see that it extended to the smallest factors like why men kneel when proposing to a women because he is, unknowingly, lowering himself to be "less than the woman" because he is already "higher up than her"in social class; it is a very sexist act in fact, but has become a tradition in our society.

When I started off talking about my beliefs at the beginning of the semester,  spoke about how a large majority of protestant churches are too judgmental, exaggerative (too literal with the bible) and closed minded. I came to think this because I had first-hand experience growing up around a family with very religious people and I saw past many of their original beliefs myself, I looked behind the narrative. Although I feel a certain way about some aspects of the religion and the way certain people choose to follow it I do believe in God and certain principles being protestant provides; like being kind to all, loving everybody, being open-minded and living for helping others. Aside from this I notice a certain ignorance that follows being protestant, like being closed-minded to new customs in our world, like tattoos, piercings, music that isn't directly about God, a life aside fro the church, the need to talk how you want and respecting others' beliefs.

I noticed from my family and where I grew up around that people were very closed minded to certain things and would even begin to gossip and judge a girl for knowing she wasn't a virgin as if that made her any less of a Christian than them. Or how a homosexual man came into the church wanting to worship God in a welcome environment but instead was made to feel uncomfortable and unwanted for his choice of lifestyle. I began to see what being too literal into the bible does, it creates smug towards others who you end up thinking are not up to your level in "holy and goodness," according to the bible. I questioned the very principle of my religion for being so closed-minded and ignorant to an extent and how straying from what was taught in the church was a sin and a life of sin was threatened by hell. The ultimate fear, HELL, a horrifying, wretched and vile place where one will spend eternity burning in fire and being tortured with no hope of ever leaving. It was as if fear was also a main drive in scaring people to do right and live a good Christian life, which is not a reasonable way to want to do good or help others. I always felt like my mind didn't quite fit in, in the church, it questioned and thought too much, but it was damn sure open, always open.

Aside from my own view on seeing behind what I see in religion, I've seen a lot more invisible narratives within this class, those involving role of race in our society and how the media portrays people of color as committing more crimes, while honoring and showing the good side of Caucasians.   A system of power that has been the foundation of the US has favorited whites and demeaned and pressed immigrants and those of color (but not white immigrants, not anymore). This system is still well and alive today but many are ignorant and deny it and say, "Racism," is dead, just because people don't call each other racial slurs or because we're all integrated in a society together. People may think that we are all equal here and we all have rights and are treated fairly as human beings. But there are cases like those of Mike Brown, an African American teenager who was shot and killed in Ferguson, MO. Had it not been for the way people of color are seen by the media and police then this officer may not have acted as he did.

The way society brings up people of race is completely segregated into communities of rich or poor, based on social class and wealth which arises from color in the end. From policies implemented since the times where America began extending more rights to people of color (primarily African Americans) it also kept some restrictions on them, like when it came to selling housing. African Americans were literally denied housing because if they moved into a white neighborhood, then the property value would drop and whites would begin to feel uncomfortable. This is completely horrendous to even hear, especially since it was not that far back ago (1970's).

There are a plethora of invisible narratives around almost every aspect of out lives today, some good, some bad, some surprising and some very obvious. And this class has defiantly taught me to look even further beyond what I once thought as being "the custom" or "normal" and question everything, because that is what learning is all about, questioning everything and doing your own elaborate research behind the narrative.