social injustice
... confident that my aggressiveness and vocalizing of equality would be responded to more seriously. I am the oldest of two children, and was raised in a patriarchal home. My family structure was European and old-fashioned, though my mother’s strong role aided me in flexibility and non compliance with the rigidness. Being respectful and responsible were the roots of my childhood, and standards to succeed and comply were my first learned values. Being insubordinate and defying the rules were both unacceptable and punishable acts. As a first child in my family unit, my identified role was to obey and place effort in all of my endeavors. My role became drastically animated when I became a rebellious teenager who rejected every defined rule and code of conduct. Many family factors caused my teenage outbursts and defiant behaviors. As a consequence, my role altered when I became the “wild child.” Since this stage, I have always been reminded, scolded and encouraged to be conscious of my shortcomings. My transformation into maturity and adulthood has helped me gain trust back from my parents. However, I continue to have an animated spark and flair in my family unit, and the role I acquired as a teenager lives today as well. My hunger for life and individuality continues to conflict with parental guidance and approaches to life. Being of middle-upper class status has been a positive fortune of my upbringing. However, my actual status is only a fraction of the greater gifts I have received in my home and class denomination. My parents were both immigrants to this country and their efforts and labor afforded them their lifestyle. Throughout our lives, my brother and I have been expected to treat all others with respect, kindness and universal codes of morality. My parents instilled in me the American dream and its role in their careers, and now mine. I would still be blessed with string values, whether middle or lower class. The status of our upper-middle class home, in a renown neighborhood in Port Washington, only played a small part of my character in the world. It gave me a stature to work towards, and a dream to earn own in my lifetime. The diversity and distinguished wealth in Port Washington also encouraged me to treat all others with respect. The cultural and socio-economic status of extended family and friends emphasized the values my parents instilled in me and exercised since early childhood. My community provided me with ambition and high expectations, but with a strong regard for those from all walks of life. I am proud to interact, experience and reside in a community of multiple statuses and dimensions. It has humbled me, while also motivating my dreams. Sexual identity is both a positive and negative aspect of my life, as it contributes to stereotyping and unjustified treatment. This can have detrimental affects on an individual, while also being helpful. The stereotypes for the female gender continue t...