_______________________________________________________________________
Scottie Hill
J. Pisano
Lang 120
16 April 16, 2014
Community
Essay
Preconceived
definitions of community are responsible for a personal question that lingers:
What is community? As individuals, we are created with differences in
preferences, body-types, brain development, and more. However, we are prone to
flock together and desire a feeling of belonging. Community, as defined by
Merriam-Webster, is a unified body of individuals, or, a group of people with a
common characteristic or interest in living together within a larger society (Community) .
Communities help individuals escape the large, impersonal, overwhelming
characteristics of society. Establishing intimate connections through freedom
of expression with the arts enriches them.
Forming
small, comfortable communities provides a way for individuals to better
understand different lifestyles and perspectives. Miss Moore, in “The Lesson,”
displays a great example of this. Creating small communities like in the story
is a perfect way to combat the harshness of the impersonal large society we live
in. Miss Moore generates a way for a small community to experience a new
atmosphere and freely express their opinions about it, as they escape their
‘norm’ and realize what is outside the tight community they are engaged in.
Towards the end of the passage, Bambara illustrates one of the characters
coming to a realization after a trip to the ritzy toy store:
Then Sugar
surprises me by saying, “You know, Miss Moore, I don’t think all of us here put
together eat in a year what that sailboat costs.” And Miss Moore lights up like
somebody goosed her. “And?” she says, surging Sugar on. Only I’m standing on
her foot so she don’t continue (Bambara 199).
This excerpt paints a vivid example
of how one’s perspective is altered after being submerged into a larger, more
impersonal community than what they are a part of. It also exemplifies Miss
Moore’s freedom to let the children express themselves as they wish during the
trip. Taking the group to a new atmosphere, and showing them a new living
standard handed the children tools that can be used in succeeding in the
overwhelming society.
Similar
to the freedom of expression Miss Moore allows, I have experienced first hand
allowing my mentee to expression herself freely in different situations. As an
eighth grader, I myself was awkward, concerned about boys, and even more
concerned about my body image. My mentee, who is an eighth grader at Asheville
Middle School, is going through these stages of life, but is also consumed by
an uncomfortable living situation, and a broken family. Due to her
circumstances, a day at school can often times be overwhelming, stressful, and
detrimental to the rest of the week. However, almost each time we have met on a
weekly basis, we have been able to bond over the arts… freely expressing
ourselves, together. Za prefers working with pencil and keeping her sketches
neat in either one of her two sketch books. Almost each week, she is eager to
show me new things she has worked on, most of which have deep meanings or
stories to them. The arts have become a free expression area for Za. When her
week is bad, her drawings may show it. When her week is good, it might be
visible. By creating an outlet and a community through the arts, I have been
able to understand and connect with Za on a level unlike my basic community of
school, friends, or even family.
Preconceived
ideas of body image will forever be present in the impersonal society we share.
It is rare to check out at a grocery store and be in the presence of a magazine
that has a raw image on the cover. Society has presented ideas and expectations
of how individuals should look. These ideas are expressed in our daily
lifestyles, swamping our social media feeds, and making the national news. An
article titled “Empire of Images in Our World of Bodies” by Susan Bordo,
addresses and argues the thoughts of body image that society extends. At one
point, Susan uses a quote from a plastic surgeon that seems “to have no ethical
problem” with changing the appearance of women as the wish (Bordo 106). Dr. Randal
Haworth said to Vogue in an
interview, “I don’t have a problem with women who already look good who want to
look perfect” (Bordo 106). Bordo argues, “Perfect. When did ’perfection‘ become
applicable to a human body? The word suggests a Platonic form of timeless
beauty—appropriate for marble, perhaps, but not for living flesh” (Bordo 107) .
Why has society placed a notion to be perfect on individuals? It is insane to
think that in our individual communities there is one perfect person, because
there is not. Although these expectations to be perfect arise from society,
when individuals are submerged into smaller communities, they are easily
enriched and supported, rather than pressured and ignored.
In
our modern culture, the pressures to be perfectly beautiful, and wonderfully
wealthy are far too present. It is evident that there are few communities in
which these glorious people reside and share the lifestyles they happily live.
But ideally, community is outlined with much deeper meaning than just where you
live, what you do, and who you are. As I have ventured through the journey in
this course, I have realized that communities are not singular, nor do they
have many limits. A community has become something more powerful to me after
understanding that even the connection and moments shared with my mentee are a
community. To come together, and share event the smallest interests has become
an idea of community to me. No matter where I am, what I’m doing, or who I
become, I have realized that community is forever surrounding me and offers a
great escape from the faceless society. It is important to establish and grow
in smaller, intimate communities that can offer an escape from the impersonal
world we otherwise fall prey to. And, by using the arts as a tool to gradually
build and unite these reduced communes, we find a powerful way to construct
friendship and understanding on a level much greater than our society offers.
Works
Cited
Bambara, Toni Cade. “The Lesson.” Writing
and Community Action: A Service-Learning Rhetoric with Readings. Ed. Thomas
Deans. New York: Longman, 2003. 193-200. Print.
Bordo, Susan. “The Empire of Images in Our World of Bodies.” Picturing Ourselves. 2003. 106-107. Pdf.
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