Synthesis of American Suburbia
Throughout our whole
semester in Honr159J, our American Suburbia class has been discussing the
different positive and negative aspects of living in the suburbs. At
times it seemed that our groups were very annoyed at the pressures that
the suburbs have caused us to live under. I have come to the conclusion
that even though suburbia has its down falls, it is still considered to be
one of the best places to live in America today by the majority of
Americans that live there.
Since its creation
in
areas in
England, suburbia has been based on a vision of a
utopia, or perfect society. This was a vision of living in large , beautiful
houses, living in a more natural setting, and the importance of the nuclear
family. This vision was based on many exclusions as well as benefits for
people who choose to live there. From the beginnings of the suburbs in
America, especially during the populuxe era, the same basic vision
existed. Family was very important and materialism, from the importance
of acquiring many items for home, began to increase. This materialism
developed in suburbia and families were almost competing for the most and
best things to buy. Materialism has become a basis for the suburbs
because if this era.
My three projects for this
class
have consisted of what seem to be negative vies of suburbia. Project one
consists of my analysis of the Barbie Doll and Suburban culture. I depicted the
different roles Barbie took on in the lives of suburbanites, but also I
showed how Barbie has come to represent what is expected of the female
gender especially when she was first released. This project largely
shows how gender roles are reflected in suburban society. Women,
especially in the 1950's and 1960's in suburbia were isolated in their
roles as housewives. Barbie was a "do-it-all" doll that represented the
ideal "do-it-all" female.
Now, there were working
women
in the 1950's and 1960's. However, the majority of them were not of the
suburban class structure that contains mostly middle class and upper
middle class families. Project 2 in this portfolio represents the
importance of class structure of suburbia even in modern times through th
movie Milk Money that was made in 1994. This movie showed the issues of a
prostitute, V, who was a low social class, moved to suburbia. The movie
showed a lot of issues that she had to face as she showed herself to the
conservative suburban neighborhoods. In this movie, there are conflicting
views of suburbia. V had to face problems , but she remained in the
suburbs because of their safety and ultimate happiness that she would have
there.
The happiness and safety
of the
suburbs was also an issue of Project 3 on Greenbelt, Maryland, which was on the
family selection process that occurred there. Families of Greenbelt had to
apply to live there and there was a lot of exclusion in the selection
process. This family selection process seems on the surface a very
negative and biased process. Surprisingly, in my conclusion of Greenbelt,
I felt it was an integral part of developing the town. The families of
the town were very much similar, and they all had motivations to help the
town grow.
These three projects of
this
portfolio have helped me come to conclusion about suburbia in America
for myself. I have realized that even though suburbia may have its
down falls and negative points, it is most likely the place where I
will live when I grow older. I realized this during my Greenbelt project,
when I came to the conclusion that sometimes, there is no escaping
exclusions of society. I think that it was very important
to discuss and realize that suburban ideals are not all "perfect" as many
tend to believe. The exclusions of suburbia are beginning to be noticed
and projects like the incorporation of low income housing into suburbs are
taking place. The exclusions of American Suburbia may lessen as time goes
on. I think that there will never be an absolutely perfect place to live,
so we should all stop looking for one. Even though suburbia has
exclusions, I think that it is a
safe and generally more friendly place to raise a family, one of the
best types of communities to live in.
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HAVE A GREAT SUMMER!!!