The Story Of My Socialisation

This is a comprehensive look at my socialisation process paying particular attention to how the class system, my family, my peers, the education system, the legal system and the media affected my views on gender roles, sexuality, racial issues, work ethics and my personal morality.
My views on gender roles were greatly affected by my family. My parent’s divorce and being raised by a single mother left me devoid of a consistent male influence in my young life. This coupled with the matriarchal nature of my mother’s family, (who see women as baby breeders and men as breadwinners and yet the women ran the family and made the pivotal decisions with little or no help from men) has left me vastly confused as to the role of a man in most family units.
My peer influences on gender roles have varied as I have matured from contemporary in high school too more traditional now. Whilst in high school much emphasis was put on having a boyfriend and being attractive to guys where as in my current social group it is taboo to be seen as attempting to attract men. The language used during my time in high school was crude with slang terms and often swearing now however eloquent speech is more valued and crude speech or swearing is seen as unladylike. In high school clothing was only worn in an attempt to prove how much skin you could show for example mini skirts, boob tubes and hip huggers with g-string hanging out, with my current peer group feminine flowing clothing that covers all body parts that could be seen as provocative are expected.
I don’t recall my mother ever actually sitting down and giving the ‘birds and bees’ discussion, and although I was aware of the truth of where babies came from the details were rather sketchy. So you can imagine the shock I had when it was described rather in detail when I was in grade six and the school began on sexual education. These lessons where followed through to grade ten culminating in a workshop where we practiced putting condoms on bananas (well actually they where plastic penisis which where put in a banana novelty case).
The majority of my family didn’t really discuss sex and sexuality; with school friends it was very much an open subject with my current group however it is a very closed subject. I do recall that my family have a bit of a “their choice” mentality when it comes to homosexuality. Which was totally different to my school friends who thought that it was they way you are born and my current friends who just labelled it a sin. As for me personally I think it’s just the way you are I have always known I’m straight so I suppose this is the same for homosexuals.
My peers growing up, as with my community believed teen sex was expected and there was a certain amount of pressure towards having sex and if you hadn’t had a steady boyfriend/girlfriend by the age of sixteen you were seen as strange. My current peers however (being a church group) believe that you remain a virgin until you are married. With this group also dating is looked upon as only acceptable if you feel this is the person you could marry. Both of these are values I have always believed although I couldn’t tell you from where I got them, with my current group women are expected to have a high sense of morality so not to induce thoughts of sex into the males.
Much of my early youth years was spent in a vain attempt to live up to the women I saw portrayed in magazines and on television. The prompting to be thin, blonde and beautiful, to wear the ‘right’ clothes and fit in with the ‘right’ people became an obsession. The popular programs encouraged (and still do) an early sexualization. Woman were/are expected to dress feminine and wear make up and if they don’t they are often mocked and looked down on. I find this view of women as sex objects to be offensive, shallow and degrading.
Growing up in a lower class area the majority of the community was on some type of welfare payments, I just wanted to get out of there and not be like them.
My school friends were often of the belief that the government owed them something, they focused on what they saw as their rights forgoing any sense of responsibility. My friends these days however are very encouraging towards work and getting educated to get a better job especially in an industry of interest.
Over the last few years my father has instilled in me his views on work ethic. These include a sense of responsibility and dedication not only to work in general but to the boss. He has encouraged me to continue in a job (even if I hated it) to the best of my ability but also to search for a better fit in another if that is my wish. Unlike most Australians my Father is against the ‘traditional Aussie sickie’. I have found in my own brief working life that dad’s views have become my own.
I grew up in one of a cluster of small towns. As the area had a high percentage of Aboriginal people there was a elevated degree of political correctness and positive discrimination to the point where a blind eye was turned to any Indigenous law breaking, and that if an Indigenous kid claimed you where being racist towards them very often you where automatically suspended. An Aboriginal girl beat me up and I was given three weeks of detention she didn’t even get a warning.
I wouldn’t dare take home to my meet my maternal family a non-Anglo guy it just isn’t done and the names they would call other races of people are very offensive. Although I have Ethnic friends the majority of my friends are and have always been Anglos.
I have had no education on other cultures with the exception of A-Week, which didn’t really lead to any in-depth understanding. As for the media it is strongly dominated by people who are white and generally shows Indigenous Australians and Ethnic groups as troublemakers.
My personal beliefs are dominated by my English-Irish family and my Christian up bringing. My belief of the great importance of family comes from the ‘give the shirt off my back’ mentality I was raised with. Though as I mentioned before I can’t work out where I got the no sex before marriage thing, probably the bible.
My mother impressed upon me the belief that you treat others the way you would like to be treated, that punctuality is a way of life and lateness is rude and shows a lack of respect for others, that you always share what you have because even though it may not be much it is still more than what many others have and of course the basics don’t lie, steal or cheat.
Through watching other members of my family I realised the effects of drugs and alcohol, which has turned me off for life. One of the most important lessons I learnt in my life was respect for other people and their beliefs because even though I may think they are wrong it doesn’t give me the right to say so. I think I learnt this one via my little sister.In conclusion my socialisation has been most influenced by my family and friends some influence came from my education and the class in which I grew up however the media and legal systems have had very little impact.