Molly Mullee and I’s original Post: We live in a very judgmental society, and as a result, people are afraid to freely express themselves. There is so much pressure to act or appear a certain way, and if you don't meet those expectations, then you aren't "normal." I am challenging this issue by starting the trend #ExpressYourselfFreely and this represents doing what makes you happy without being afraid of rejection. Please support this trend by using the hashtag in your own status and include a picture/video of how you express yourself, whether it is through a hobby you enjoy or something more personal. This hashtag applies to all people, regardless of age, gender, race, etc. so don't be afraid to show what you are passionate about!

We posted this first then posted our own picture with this as the caption.

Mackenzie Rose

Ready, Set, Go Viral!

Express Yourself Freely

The five faces of oppression affect millions of people a day. Exploitation, marginalization, powerlessness, violence, and culture of imperialism are the five faces of oppression. Iris Young says the definition of societal oppression is when people reduce the potential for other people to be or to act as fully human. The idea is to make other people less human. The oppression in our society and the amount of social disorders create too much negative mentality in our society. Molly Mullee and I agreed that the “social norm” in our society makes some people feel inadequate when they do not reach the American standard. An online dictionary website (dictionary.com) says social norm is defined as an expected form of behavior or attitude in a given situation. In our society some very specific expectations are to shake hands when you them, direct eye contact, wear clothing, especially new and trendy, shower, say please and thank you, be kind to your elders, do not steal, do not harm one another and acknowledge of personal space. Most social norms can be put in more blanket general terms like use manners/edicts, be respectful, follow the rules/laws and of course personal hygiene. With all these standards and regulations Molly Mullee and I decided it was time to spread some positive thoughts.

Our goal was to have people post on facebook, or whatever social media site they preferred, a picture or video of them expressing themselves freely. It represented doing what makes them happy without any negative comments or connotations. The activity applies to all people, regardless of age, gender, race, etc. The obvious goal was to go viral, unfortunately our standards were slightly high. Other than just posting the explanation on facebook we attempted to spread the word. We reached out to our organizations, sports teams, friends and of course family. We faced a few small challenges. While we preferred facebook some people did not have facebook. Another issue was many people did not want to post it. Some wanted an incentive. Many asked that once they post it, can they remove it down in a few hours because they thought it would not receive enough “likes”? While we wanted as many people to post as possible so we allowed this to happen. I think this is the biggest challenge our society faces. People believe they are marginalized by our social status on the internet. I believe we are marginalized but much more than that. We are marginalized from our socioeconomic status, to race, to our occupations, down to our clothing, and of course the music we enjoy. Tricia Rose wrote an article called There Are Bitches and Hoes. Rose said that, “To be publicly and strongly against sexism in the music industry is to guarantee one’s marginality” (Shaw, 387).

Generally speaking Molly and I came to the conclusion our post was not very successful. She reached out to her organizations, sports teams, friends and of course family a week before I did mine. She received just under five posts on facebook. Once I jumped in on the second/third week, our number raised slightly. No posts were made in the fourth week. In total we received sixteen facebook posts that were not deleted. Four posts were deleted from facebook. There was also a total of four instagram posts. In total the number varies due to the fact that a number of people posted, left it up for a few minutes then removed it. I do not believe successfulness is marginalize by a number, I believe we were successful to those people who did post. It got the people thinking about what really makes them happy, free of marginalization and judgement. I also believe we were successful because we received all different types of posts. Some people express themselves from participating at comic cons and doing cosplay (where you hand make a costume and dress up like a certain character), being a volunteer EMT, going hiking, skydiving, being a mom, being a volunteer firefighter, eating, beach walks, sports and many more things. All in all I believe this was an eye opening experience because it showed us how many of our close friends are scared of judgement and marginalization on and off social media.

Here are a few examples: