PSE final reflection *tears*

So for grade 12, I think the biggest challenge for me will be dealing with stress because there will be loads more work to do, especially coursework such as iAs and IOC’s and EE. This is very intimidating but I really should tell myself it isn’t that bad. We’ve done so much work this year already and I’m proud of everything that I’ve achieved so far so I really just have to try to keep on top of my work, manage my time and make sure I surround myself with people who are supportive and preferably less stressed than I am. I think the people around you are very important. They are the ones influencing your thoughts and opinions about subjects and if they have a pessimistic view on life, it’ll probably make me pretty depressed about the future too.

Dealing with sleep and being tired maybe because of procrastination and the amount of work might be a challenge too. Honestly, I expect a lot of the challenges to be quite similar to the challenges in grade 11 because it’s still iB and I think we’ve become quite acquainted with iB stress.

Personally I think leaving and dealing with the fact that my life won’t be certain anymore will be hard. Now I know that I have to come to school everyday and I have goals within academics but for the future, I have the freedom to do whatever I want and that is scary.

PSE Reflection Questions (Gender stereotypes)

In our first class we explored the roles, stereotypes and expectations of men and women in intimate relationships. What were some of these roles and stereotypes? 

Women are often perceived as submissive and the “housewife” where they’ve got to take care of the kids, do the washing and cooking. They can’t be too much of anything or will be called things like “attention-whore” or “slut”. Men will most often be the pillar of the family and are more powerful. They have to provide and be strong. When shown weakness, names such as “pussy” or “weak” will be called.

 To what extent are gender roles and stereotypes prevalent in your life ?  

My mom is a housewife and my dad is the only person in my family that works.

In what ways do you see Gender Bias or Gender Privilege in your family?   

Since I am ethnically Chinese, even though less than the traditional family, there is still the thought of the guy being stronger. Whenever asked to help something like lifting, my brother would always be first choice even though I may be perfectly capable in helping out. Also when staying out or going out at night, my brother would be trusted over me to stay safe because of the stereotype that boys are safer outside rather than boys.

your community?  

In sports, guys may be perceived as being better at it just because biologically they have an advantage and perhaps do flaunt more but I think the two gender sports each have their own standards. Guys in Singapore have to do national service while girls don’t.

your World?     

Gender stereotypes throughout the world include having most presidents be male because it has been that way for the past decade or century. Women are often not in a position of power in companies or businesses and have to work double the amount just to earn the same amount of respect can easily earn by pulling off confidence.

During our final activity last week, you were given a role and asked to step forward when answer questions about self-determination, education, safety, etc.  What role did you have?

I was a male politician.

Where did you finish in comparison to others ?  Why?   

I was near the front but I wasn’t the top because as a male, I had a lot of social advantage over females and other genders. But as a politician, I may be respected but I would always be stereotyped as evil or self-righteous and would have to be extremely cautious of everything I did as for what it looked like to the public.

In your view, what are the drivers for social mobility in society?  In what instances to do gender limit that mobility?  

Social mobility is becoming easier especially in the past decade or so as people are becoming more open-minded and open to giving chances to people who are capable of it but may be different. Some people might still not be open to these different people who might be transgender or bisexual or have a unorthodox job like a sex worker.

List some personal examples of either experiencing or seeing gender bias or gender privilege. 

Girls are often told so much more than boys to protect yourself or to dress “better” or to cover yourself up because of what it might make people think or do. But there’s no wrong in looking good.

What can you do within your community to combat negative gender stereotypes or gender bias? 

Mostly to spread awareness. The more people hear about it, the more people are comfortable with it and I feel if people are used to living in a world where being homosexual or transgender is okay then these negative stereotypes will eventually fade. Even though stereotypes won’t fade from existence but it can definitely be lessened because of human nature.

PSE #1

I am someone who is really shy, at least to the people who don’t really know me. I do view myself as a little crazy but I think everyone is.

I am a caring worker so I like to know that everyone’s feelings have been taken into consideration and that their voices have been heard before a decision is made. I think this could really help me in the field of being fair but most of the times, it’s far too time consuming and self doubting because I’m always afraid that I will hurt someone’s feelings. I do think it’s rather positive as people do view you in a good light.

After doing the EQ test, I realised I had pretty low EQ. Lower than average that is. I’m not really one to have complete control over my emotions so control is one of the characterisations I want to learn because if I’m not able to, it will affect other people negatively. In addition, I want to develop sincerity because it’s important to being a decent person. I’m not really good at recognising and identifying emotions and that might affect my ability to participate in group projects but I will definitely start to work on it.

Grit is being able to have long term determination in the face of challenges. For myself, it varies. I have a spur of motivation when I face challenges in subject matters that are interesting to me personally and therefore have a motivation to push past any barriers. However, when it comes to things I don’t really like or have interest in, I tend to care about it less and consequently have less grit in those matters. I think if I change my mindset in how I view things, I can definitely start to have better grit. For example if I were to write an essay, I could tell myself that it’s expanding my knowledge realm and it’s developing my skill set which will probably help me to motivate to finish the essay.