Being American: Self-Importance and Expression

What does it mean to be an American? Seeing as this is the fundamental question of our American Studies class, I thought I would take a crack at it now. In writing these blogs, I think that we have already uncovered one very important element of the American condition.
      We, as individauls, are able to reach anyone with an internet connection in the entire world. According to http://www.ipligence.com/worldmap/ , North America is home to over half of all the internet access ports in the entire world. Not only that, but our internet here is unrestricted, unlike that in China, where government regulations forbid access to certain websites.

      This freedom of self-expression is one of the main factors causing the attitude of self-importance in America. I believe that in general, Americans today value themselves and their own well-being over that of the country as a whole.

     This does not necesarily mean that we are all selfish and is not necesarily a bad thing. In school we learn to think as individuals at a young age, as we write "All about me" papers every year for our early life. Teachers urge children to have self-worth and good self-esteem to promote mental health. Every day we are bombarded with the feel-good message: You are special.

      Personally I think that this attitidue that values the individual is good for our country. It promotes growth because everyone thinks differently, and therefore can disagree, argue, and come to a conclusion that is stronger than one reached by a single thinking entitiy. I do not mean to say that people in countries like China are like robots with no thought for themselves, only that Americans place an unusally high value on the individual.

     Vauling the individual so much does come at a price, however. The younger generations of America seem to be much less patriotic than their older counterparts. We care more about ourselves and our immediate surroundings and less about American pride. Is this simply the price of thinking for ourselves, or the indication of a serious attitude issue?

Tennis at Tiffany's

Recently as I was watching the U.S. Open, I was shocked at how much jewelry the female competetors were wearing. I wondered how they could hope to play their top tenis game with all of that jewelry weighing them down. One woman in particular was wearing large hoop errings, three long necklaces, and countless rings and Tiffany's bracelets. She was also wearing a very "fashionable" low-cut tennis top. Personally, if I were going to the US Open to win a major tennis championship, I would not want to be weighed down by a lot of dangling jewelry falling off of me.
      This situation made me consider a question that I think is of great importance to our society: Why do these women, who are obviously world-class professional athletes, feel the need to display their bodies in this way, even during competition?
      One theory that I have is that they feel better about themselves if they wear clothing and jewelry that shows them in their best light. They are appearing on national television in front of millions of people, so I can understand feeling a little bit insecure and maybe needing some extra support from a comfortable outfit.
      Another theory would be that these women feel as if they need to portray themselves as models and look just lika any other actor seen on TV. I find this particularly upsetting. Women should not feel the need to look their best at all times, especially if they are intense athletes such as these tennis players.
      Why are we so obsessed with appearence? Is this really a healthy way for society to behave?

Parents vs. Teachers: Who Can Censor?

In class today, we discussed the issue of President Obama's address to schoolchildren. Many parents were against the speech being broadcast in schools. Others were horrified that it might not be. School boards were caught in the middle.
        All of this just begs the question: who should be in charge of the material students learn in school? Should parents be allowed to influence the school's decisions?
       While in their own home a parent's word is law, anytime that parent sends their child out under another adult's supervision, they surrender a bit of the total control that they have over their child's media intake. It may be something as small as a child seeing a newspaper headline that their parent would have kept from them, or as large as another adult allowing the child to watch and R-rated movie. In any event, this child has now gained a little bit more knowlege of the world outside their parent's bubble, whether for better or worse.
       Similarly, whenever a parent sends their child off to enjoy that public education, they are trusting the school system to make good choices for their child in terms of what they may view. Personally, I believe that the school systems around here have exceedingly good judgement.
     Generally, when a parent has too large a role in their child's life, it stunts that child's growth as an individual, making him/her dependent and self-insufficient. This is not healthy, and a good parent's main concern should be the good health of their child. Thus, the only time a parent should intervene with a school's selected media is when they feel as if their child's health is legitametely in danger. Otherwise, stand back and let the system do its job.