Monthly Archives: October 2021

https://www.hrw.org/report/2017/06/21/just-let-us-be/discrimination-against-lgbt-students-philippines#

My parents immigrated here from the Philippines, so growing up there were definitely lessons that my siblings and I had to learn on our own. The majority of the Philippines is Roman catholic, so when it comes to religion they are very serious. So along with everyone my parents had their opinion when it comes to the LGBTQ+ community, and pretty much only followed what the church says. And when it came to talking about it, whether it would be popping up on Filipino news or just news in general, it would spark a bit of a heated conversation between them and my siblings. With society now and how much there is online on educating yourself, my parents now know the effect on how they used to think. They took their time to process the effect of their opinions and would also listen to what my siblings and I had to say. 

This example falls under gender development in gender communication. Chapter 13 mentions how gender is socially learned, and there are five theories of gender development. Psychodynamic is a role of the family, specifically the mother, and how it shapes ones gender identity. Symbolic Interactionism focuses more on communication and messages. Social learning is based on outward motivational factors, a positive action will lead to motivation or a negative action leads to stopping that action. Cognitive learning is developing gender at their own level. And standpoint combines culture and the understanding of gender development.

Where my parents and siblings and I stand is mostly under Cognitive learning and standpoint. We were able to educate and learn more on our own even with the views of our parents. The people who surround you and who raise you definitely play a role in the understanding of gender communications, and how it affects your opinions growing up. Like I definitely mentioned in previous blogs, it mostly comes down to taking the time to educate yourself on different issues. 

If there is anything I’ve learned as someone who would fall into the category of a “Gen Z-er”, it’s that culture and communication are two concepts that are difficult to separate from each other. They go hand-in-hand, what Chapter 12 calls a “reciprocal process”, where culture affects communication and communication affects culture. 

When thinking about communication, my mind goes straight to the concept of language. This can go for acronyms found on twitter, internet slang on tiktok, or even in academia, where different terms are coined to describe a specific state or situation. 

However, there is one language that is widely used, especially on the internet, appropriated and imitated, yet at the same time, made fun of and degraded: African American Vernacular.

This chapter reminded me a lot of James Baldwin’s essay, “If Black English Isn’t a Language, Then Tell Me, What  Is?” (https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/98/03/29/specials/baldwin-english.html?_r=1&oref=slogin ) In it, he writes about Black English, the way it stemmed from Standard English, and how language is *meant* to evolve because it gives people the ability to describe their specific circumstances. It’s questionable how there is a sense of superiority in using Standard English over Black English, when the latter is its own language with a particular structure and grammar rules. Why are non-Black people so hellbent on using it, then categorize Black people who use it as “unprofessional”. Baldwin writes that language is proof of power, which suggests that any erasure or invalidation of a language, like AAVE, is an attempt for oppressors to push their colonized agenda. 

There’s no doubt about the way AAVE is a language, but what will it take for people to see it as one?

Like many people, meeting new people and making new friends is sometimes difficult. For me personally, when I meet new people the only thing I hear in my head is “be nice and don’t overshare”. Because of these thoughts, conversations most of the time result in awkward silence and standing until someone says something. 

Developing friendships and trying to maintain them fall under interpersonal communication which is defined as, communication between individual people. When building friendships there are six steps to developing one. Role-Limited Interaction, when we interact with others based on our social roles. Friendly Relations, communication that moves beyond initial roles and interacting with one another to see of their common interest. Moving Toward Friendship, making moves to advance to a more personalized friendship. Nascent Friendship, committing to spend more time together. Stabilized Friendship, taking each other for granted as friends but not in a negative way. And Waning Friendships, which is basically growth in a friendship. 

I definitely play both roles in this image. I’m either questioning too much and then I reply with something that completely has nothing to do with the conversation, or I try to start a conversation and end up talking a bit too much, still putting me in an awkward position.