Negative Society.

[Hello Holly]

Okay, so I realise this is highly likely to be in the wrong place BUT there is a reason for me putting it hither. Good folks of Wander I need your help. I'm currently doing a project (self designed and good lord well done me for picking something so bloody big) at college entitled 'Negative Society'.

The idea behind this project is to create some piece of art in reflection of how we as a society treat individuals. How negative society is towards women, mental illnesses, strangers, children, LGBT, genders, etcetera. Unfortunately the list is quite excessive. How we treat individuals because of how they look, what gender they are, what religion they are, where they've come from. It's essentially a project on prejudice but instead of towards whole groups of people (like previously stated women and LGBT community for example), it's focused more on rather the singular as opposed to plural.
How do you feel you are treated by society? Because you're blonde, or gay, or have a mental condition, or don't feel that being called a boy is you?

So in creating this project, I need your input. I've designed a rather spectacular questionnaire (it's actually terribly but let's pretend shall we) that if you have the time to complete it would really help me. This is my market research if you will. Collecting how people feel about how society treats them, and somehow creating some sort of hopefully brilliant piece of art to shove in people's faces and show them that this is wrong and it needs to be changed.

If Aly or Ange or anyone for that matter feel this is in the wrong place, please have a slice of chocolate cake I made in apology and shift it to wherever your hearts please. Or if anyone wants to suggest questions to add/wants to add their own thoughts input etcetera please feel free. This is after all all about you and my attempt to not fail college completely.

NOW LET US BEGIN THIS TINY ADVENTURE IN TRYING TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

• How do you feel that you are treated in society?
  
• What in the news/media makes you angry?
  
• How do you feel towards strangers/people you don't know?
  
• What do you feel extremely passionate about and wish you could change (focus on one thing)?
  
• What influences your opinions?
  
• How do you feel that you are treated by people elder/in authority?
  
• Have you ever been shocked by someone's reaction towards you whom you didn't know?
  
• Have you ever felt violated by the media/people's casual remarks towards you?

[/b][/li][/ul]

Side note: if you don't wish to answer any of those questions for whatever reason, you don't have to.

[Aly]

It's social justice, so it fits here. But as for making me freak out over seeing my name in a thread I'm taking that piece of cake anyway. (And thank you. It was very good.)

How do you feel that you are treated in society? As well as anyone else. I know I have it better than others but as for being a blonde girl, I feel like I'm mostly judged by how much hate I don't get rather than the amount that I do... So not only do I get treated poorly for being white, blonde, atheist and female (classic example: "Don't do that, you're worth a lot on the black market!") but I'm treated poorly because people assume that I'm racist, snobby, bigoted, rich and don't have any problems.
Edit.
I forgot to note that in my home town there are more minorities than whites. My experience is rather odd. I was bullied for being the minority as many are. Things are different now that I live in a place where I'm part of the majority.

What in the news/media makes you angry? VICTIMIZING RAPISTS The sexism is the worst.
How do you feel towards strangers/people you don't know? Distrusting. With an anxiety disorder, I'm learning to correct this, but as for right now everyone seems to be a threat until they show they're not.
What do you feel extremely passionate about and wish you could change (focus on one thing)? I desperately wish women were treated as equals. I think we'd have an easier time changing more if half the population was also taken into consideration.
What influences your opinions? Actions.
How do you feel that you are treated by people elder/in authority? They treat me like I'm fragile, which does not help in building relationships around me with people my own status/age.
Have you ever been shocked by someone's reaction towards you whom you didn't know? After a while I got used to it. But when strangers say misogynistic things I'm the one shocking them by speaking up.
Have you ever felt violated by the media/people's casual remarks towards you? Daily. The media glorifies being a woman, makes it look like we get our way, like it's easy to be us, like we have everything we want. Then they blame us for getting raped, for wearing certain clothes... It has gotten a lot better since the early 2000s, but it's not enough.

[Rosabeth]

How do you feel that you are treated in society?
Let's be real, I'm a priviledged upper-middle-class white girl in college - I don't really have much to complain about. I feel that I'm treated as well as can be expected. The only time I feel that I'm treated a bit "less than" is when some people find out I'm atheist (generally this isn't a problem, but some ultra-religious people get all uppity about it) and sometimes I feel like I get overlooked for being a young woman, but really I feel rather good about how I'm treated.

What in the news/media makes you angry?
What doesn't make me angry? Systematic racism, people denying racism or making it out to be like "ooh, look at these persecuted white people," sexism, people who dismiss feminism because it's somehow silly rather than pointing out the ACTUAL issues like how it somewhat neglects WoC and trans women, MRA's, victim blaming, slut shaming, homophobia, etc. Essentially anything social justice related makes me rage.

How do you feel towards strangers/people you don't know?
This is a pretty broad question so I don't quite know how to respond. Neutral? I mean, society has conditioned me to be somewhat wary around unfamiliar men, but besides that I don't really have any strong feelings. I'm not distrusting/trusting or anything.

What do you feel extremely passionate about and wish you could change?
I wish I could change how society views sex, especially when it comes to women. There's so much victim blaming/slut shaming that happens and a lot of it comes from the sexism within society, so this is more of a general "women's equality" sentiment, but specifically focused on not judging women based on sexuality.

What influences your opinions?
Discourse on a subject/reading into something if we're talking about ideas. Actions/words if we're talking about people.

How do you feel that you are treated by people elder/in authority?
Again, I feel that given my privileged position in society I feel like I'm treated fairly well, but I feel that sometimes I'm brushed off or underestimated for being both young and a women, especially by older men. I occasionally feel like I'm dismissed by older professors and authority, though this feeling has generally not been too severe.

Have you ever been shocked by someone's reaction towards you whom you didn't know?
Occasionally I'll be put off by some misogynistic comments by men my own age, especially when it comes to some sexual harassment I've gotten just while going about my business. It's quite jarring to be followed and cat called on the street to the point where you think you might be in danger.

Have you ever felt violated by the media/people's casual remarks towards you?
Media related - yes, all the time. I constantly feel violated by the media's treatment of women for essentially the same reasons Aly mentioned. As far as personal remarks, refer to the story in my last answer.

[Ange Keating]

How do you feel that you are treated in society?

As a minority, I know a lot of people would expect me to have it tough, but I don't. Being another upper middle class American, I'd say I'm treated pretty well. The only backlash I've received (which is shocking to me) is from people of African American descent, who used to pretty much condescend me due to the fact that since I'm multiracial (my father being of French European and African descent and my mother being West Indian) and speak 'properly' (what does that even mean?) that I don't have it as tough as my peers.

What in the news/media makes you angry?

Too many things; too many to list. Homophobia, sexism, the promotion of unrealistic beauty. That stuff.

How do you feel towards strangers/people you don't know?

Neutral. I'm extremely friendly and straight forward unless said person gives me a reason to believe they're a creeper.

What do you feel extremely passionate about and wish you could change (focus on one thing)?

How European beauty (fair skin, eyes, hair) is glorified in media, yet the other types of beauties are pretty much in the minority or neglected.

What influences your opinions?

If I were to be honest, I'd say the opinions of others and media. But I always try to delve deeper into the opinions I form to actually see if I fully agree or completely disagree.

How do you feel that you are treated by people elder/in authority?

They treat me nice, I guess. I've always been taught to be respectful towards adults/people in authority (as in, they could be the meanest SOB ever and I wouldn't treat them any less than how I was instructed), so that rubs them the right way.

Have you ever been shocked by someone's reaction towards you whom you didn't know?

Yes, mostly from misogynistic men (and there's an abundance in my school). There was a time where me, my sister, and a friend were reading books in Barnes and Nobles, and a man, much older (40ish?) followed us around the store and made obscene/inappropriate comments. It was an incredibly terrifying experience.

Have you ever felt violated by the media/people's casual remarks towards you?

Rosabeth and Aly adequately summed up my opinions on that matter so I won't reiterate it.

[Maddie]

How do you feel that you are treated in society?
I feel like as far as being a woman goes, I have it pretty good. I mean, I'm white, middle class, I have a nice family for the most part and I have lots of pets and an iPhone and my own laptop, etc. so I'm very privileged. While I do live in an area that has a tendency to be very racist, homophobic, sometimes sexist and my own friends make me want to tear my hair out from time to time, I mostly surround myself with really good people so it's not so bad for me.

What in the news/media makes you angry?
Sexism, racism, homophobia, rape culture...basically the patriarchy.

How do you feel towards strangers/people you don't know?
I don't like them. I know it's really bad, but in general I don't like them and I want them to stay away from me because they're scary but I also want them to love me and talk to me and be my friend? I'm not going to initiate any sort of conversation or interaction with a stranger and if there's a lot of them around I don't like that and it's scary but I don't hate them and I can function going out in public.

What do you feel extremely passionate about and wish you could change (focus on one thing)? Can I just say feminism in general? Because there are a lot of things that need to be changed that fall under that umbrella.

What influences your opinions?
Other people and the internet, although those two overlap. My mother and the way she brought me up has had a lot of influence on the way I think and act and I have learned so much just through tumblr because it's a really great place once you get past the fandoms.

How do you feel that you are treated by people elder/in authority?
I feel like it depends on the person, although a lot of the time I'm not taken as seriously as I would like to be. I have lots of opinions and I feel like I'm a really intelligent person and have tings to say that are worth saying but I'm still treated like I'm not allowed outside of the bubble I've been taught to think in.

Have you ever been shocked by someone's reaction towards you whom you didn't know?
Not really, because I don't feel like people tend to really strongly react to me in a certain way. I just introduce myself in an awkward manner and we talk and they're like "oh okay, you're an okay person, you're very quiet, why are you so quiet?" and that's that.

Have you ever felt violated by the media/people's casual remarks towards you?
Not so much violated as angry. I get really angry with people a lot. I do find it really ridiculous what people will say, though. ("You're too smart not to believe in God." or being told I need to take things less seriously and that it's just a joke...but that makes me feel more angry than violated.)