Social isolation and gender roles/upbringing

Question

I'm going to have a social-- or, as my friend put it, anti-social-- experiment over the next week. I'm going to unplug the internet and turn off my cell phone. I'll be alone and I'll devote myself to my writing.

I wanted to say goodbye to all of you, but also ask: Do you think that, free from the media and free from society, someone who was raised in a world full of gender stereotypes might free him/herself from them?

This isn't the intent of my experiment; it's too short-lived for that. But do you think that our social influences ever fade away?

Answer 1

Lock yourself away in an Ivory tower and maybe you can become the next Emily Dickinson.

A week not plugged into the media and technology won't change a d**n thing about you, sorry to say. Its too short of a time.

But i think its great that you want to free yourself from that lifestyle even if its only a week.

Gender roles (what is what i think you meant when you said gender stereotypes) were far more ridged in times before technology ran human existence and people were much more isolated then they are today. So to answer your question, no. This constant bombardment of media etc has broadened acceptable gender roles, not confined them

Answer 2

Unfortunately, I don't think they ever do.  Years of being told something just don't disappear.  

I do however, think that a person can reject society's ideas and create a personal belief system.  

Enjoy your alone time.

Answer 3

You rock.

Please report back with your findings after your antisocial experiment.

In the meantime, here's something to think about. I once spent 48 hours is complete isolation in a cabin in the middle of the woods. No electricity, no communication with the outside world. All I had was a gas lamp for night, an ice box for my veggies, a burner to cook my veggies and a water canteen that I filled up in a little stream nearby.

There was a bed, I had my clothes and my journal. I had access to a shower and outhouse.

I didn't see or talk to any humans in person or remotely for the whole time and devoted all of my time to relaxing, walking around, making and preparing food and writing.

It was a very spiritual experience of reconnecting with myself and I definitely noticed a change when I returned to the city after 48 hours. I took things slower, didn't get caught up in social interactions as much and noticed a drastic change in my overall anxiety levels.

Imagine what could happen after a week.

Personally, I find that this type of isolation gives you a lot of time to reflect about social interactions, or outside inlfuences and distractions as you call them, and by disconnecting with the stress of everyday life you will inevitably be reconnecting with yourself.

Beware, what can turn out as an antisocial could very well lead to a personal epiphany, but not the dramatic kind. I mean the kind where you discover so much about yourself and the world around you.

Enjoy.

Answer 4

I believe that if you were put on an island on your own for years like in the film 'cast away',you would crack up!!

I think that given alot of time people could forget alot of things of the norm etc.

It will interesting to take away your phones,tv,internet etc....i would get bored after a while but im good with books so i would cope a while

Answer 5

Sure they could. If they are able to see the unfairness of gender stereotypes, it will be easier for them to break them than it would for someone who has come to accept them. Our social influences never fade away completely, but we can choose to ignore them.

Good luck with your non-tech week.

Answer 6

They might do if you were in the wilderness and have to do everything for yourself, but as you'll still be in your house I doubt it, have a good week :-D are you gonna leave the house at all?

Answer 7

I think it would be very difficult, and nearly impossible to imagine a different role for yourself, if you were socially isolated, and had no other input, but what you saw around you.  That is how those Mormon cults got away with getting girls to marry old men when they were twelve.  That is all they knew.  It certainly doesn't mean they were happy, but the human mind is remarkable in it's ability to adapt and find some happiness in the worst of situations.  

Answer 8

MUDKIP! MUDKIP! :D

Good luck. It shouldn't be too bad once you get use to it.

Answer 9

Uh, you mean in addition to unplugging electronically, you'll also lock yourself up and have not human contact of any kind, or are you saying the currently your only contact with other humans is electronically?

You're right that one week of isolation isn't going to undo a life-time of socialization.

What CAN undo internalization of bogus ideas is learning, and thinking through what's wrong with the bogus ideas (the ideas that men and women are completely different things, for instance).

BTW, although sexual stereotypes are rampant, society also has all the evidence of how wrong the stereotypes are.