Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Bend it Like Beckham
In class we discussed how there's frequently a sacrifice involved in the balance between individuality and culture. Is this necessarily about culture, or do you there is a sacrifice in individuality and being a part of society? Is the large scale of our society and our dependence on others beneficial or detrimental to our coming of age? Is there a difference between coming of age as a member of society and coming of age as an individual?
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I think it's a little of both...(?)
ReplyDeleteI mean, I think gaining experience has a lot to do with coming into society, but society is formed on culture. Beneficial and detrimental are also (sigh) very broad, and subjective terms. The large scale of our society definitely plays a role in the process. Coming of age is seemingly inescapable when you consider how many sources of information are out there. Now whether or not it's beneficial...
I would define "coming of age as an individual" as "coming of age at one's own pace". In other words, not forcing the coming of age process to happen. In a large society, we definitely see a culture clash, and more importantly, a value clash. The values of the majority can often force someone into "peer pressure", wanting to grow up as soon as possible. In that sense, one could see this sort of self-induced growth as less than ideal, and society would definitely be detrimental to the process. But in the end, even if the process is forced, other unanticipated events could result (e.g. having sex when you're 14, and being shocked to find out you're pregnant).
ReplyDeleteCultures have different values and customs. You can see coming of age as breaking out from a culture or conforming to the customs. Coming of age is definitely what you decide to do with your life. Society does have an influence on a coming of age process to an extent. I wouldn't call going out of your culture a sacrifice but maybe enriching the culture.
ReplyDeleteI feel that coming of age does not require dependance on multiple societies, even in the modern world. Personally, I have limited experience outside of my own culture, but I have (probably) matured a bit. As for having to sacrifice one's own culture, this is probably not the case due to the fact that one can mature within one's own culture while keeping that culture separate from outside influences. Again, look at the culture-mixing in Jules's family in Bend It- she very easily could have kept on playing soccer without American influence.
ReplyDeleteCulture has a huge influence on how we behave. Different cultures teach different behaviors and these differences in culturally taught responses determine how we react and reflect on coming of age moments. Our society controls our lives to a point where we can’t even buy bread without playing into a corporate influence that sways our decision-making. Our dependence on our precariously structured society is definitively detrimental not only to our coming of age moments but also to our very survival. The difference between coming of age as an individual rather than as a member of society is that as a member of society, our coming of age events are significantly altered by our subconscious’ society-spawned prompts to react, whereas if we were to hypothetically come of age as an “individual” it would be beyond the horizon of societal influences. I say this is hypothetical because few people can even accept that their life is being manipulating beyond their conscious perception, so virtually no one has the capacity to come of age and develop outside of society’s omnipresent supervision.
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