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[predefinedsadness]

Is sadness a predefined object and socially constructed through social media?

[predefinedsadness]

Statement of Purpose

When people think about sadness, it is often a difficult topic to discuss. Sadness is a feeling of a deep pit in your stomach, something that drowns you and makes you feel suffocated. Sadness almost feels like repeatedly being punched in the stomach, wanting to make the pain go away but it overtakes your body. Specifically, Sad Girl figures online have created a unique way to discuss it and created a strong, controversial presence on social media. They embody this idea of sadness and have used it as a platform to humorize their sadness with others online. It is important to consider whether sadness is a predefined object and socially constructed through social media. Oftentimes, I believe that people already have these ideas of what will make them or someone else sad, and there are these expectations that being in certain situations will ultimately lead to sadness. A predefined sad object means that certain physical components have emotions already commonly associated with it, which in this case is sadness. For example, the pressure of homework can be expected to make most people feel sad, but for another person this can be motivation and does not invoke this emotion. I believe that sadness comes from our personal experiences and there is no direct answer to what will cause sadness from one person to another. In terms of Thompson’s article, this idea is challenged by showing how over the years, the percentage of students reported feeling sad has drastically increased.  The article states that social media is ultimately leading to sadness, as it has many negative side effects and an addictive aspect. This highlights how there is the predefined idea that social media will lead to sadness and is toxic for everyone using it. Although it may be true that this is a large issue at hand, it is also important to consider the contrary. 

There definitely are some benefits to social media, such as receiving critical information and being able to stay in better touch with long distance relationships. Even though social media may cause sadness for one person, it is a broad generalization to say it is the cause of sadness in all teenagers. While asking “Is sadness a predefined object,” I am allowing people to express their individuality and acknowledge that we all have our own unique traits and experiences that drive who we are and contribute to our identity. Individuality means that someone is living for themself, based on what they want and not living through the lens of others.  This question also empowers individuals to step outside of their comfort zone and social norms and truly be themselves. Another value associated with this question is authenticity, allowing one to define themselves, without using society’s predefined standards. Through all of the sources I have compiled, I have further explored this idea, and developed an assay of works that show how there often are these predefined ideas of sadness that are swaying society.

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This piece, Calypso Mourning Over the Departure of Ulysses by Angelica Kaufmann, is an example of the predefined sadness in women that was prevalent hundreds of years ago. This image represents a woman who appears to be in dark cave, looking out into the world. There appears to be a beautiful sunset outside, yet she is trapped in the cave. This is an example of societal norms invoking negative feelings, creating predefined sadness. This woman is not able to express her individuality and is living through standards that were created by others, that she has no say in. These predefined standards that were created are supposed to make her happy. She is supposed to smile constantly, yet here she is looking unhappy with her life. Therefore, what was supposed to cause predefined happiness is actually causing predefined sadness in this case. I believe that the purpose of this painting is to invoke feelings of anger, and passion that will lead to a movement of change.

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In this piece, Penelope Weeping Over the Bow of Ulysses by Angelica Kaufman (1779), a woman is pictured who seems to be in a distressed state. This is represented by having her hand on her forehead, her eyes closed, and the pieces of the bow scattered on the floor. In addition, the drab colors further highlight this sad state that Penelope is experiencing. Oftentimes during this time period, there were predefined expectations for woman that they had to be obedient with. I interpret this image as this woman longing to break these predefined standards and be able to do what she wants. Therefore, this supports the idea that not living through predefined ideas of sadness, as well as what can cause happiness in this case, can lead to expressions of individuality and authenticity. This piece was also created in 1779, so I believe the intended audience was other women, so they can relate to this experience and hopefully come together to create change.

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I decided to take a closer look at pins that were created by an activism group formed in the 1960s. Students in this group strived for social, cultural, and political change. I believe that the intended audience that this group was targeting was students, so that these ideas for change can be seen and heard by a young generation. However, I do not believe that there is an unintentional audience, as they want anyone possible to see these pins, and read their messages. The group also uses newspapers, pamphlets, and other artifacts to create an effective movement.

As someone who was not there at the time as an intended audience member, I encounter these messages as strong and courageous. Many of the same messages are still trying to be said today, hoping to create the same change that they were at the time. Some of the messages on the pins included, “equality for homosexuals”, “refuse to be abused”, and “self determination for all people.”

Overall, I think that these pins represent trying to break social norms, which are predefined. This can also include predefined sadness, which was discussed in our unit of sad girls. The movement created by this group, The Alternative Press Collection, represents trying to create change because there should not be set ideas controlling society. This also relates to Thalanderson, as this article represents the predefined ideas of social media. This social activist group is trying to break these barriers to create a more inclusive society.

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I believe that abortion is an important topic to discuss when contemplating whether there are these predefined ideas of sadness in society. Specifically, this flyer states "in defense of a woman's right to choose abortion", and was created by a pro choice organization in Minnesota that sought to educate people on the matter. This flyer represents trying to break these predefined standards, and allowing people to have the right to make a choice. The idea was created by specific people in society that not being able to have an abortion was the right thing to do, not taking into account people's personal experiences and individual livelihood. However, the right to make a decision is overcoming this barrier of having predefined decisions already made for you. As I know, this is a much more complex topic to discuss than I have gone into, but I largely believe that it relates back to my guiding question and further develops this inquiry and idea of predefined guidelines.

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https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kkDzIES5VGLU_MYi9pNK_Pu-ChrzD-FfqQ6s61IiL6M/edit

In Ahmed's "Happy Objects", she discusses how there are predefined objects that are expected to cause happiness. I decided to take a closer look at the opposite point of view, predefined sadness. Ahmed largely describes how there are these objects and ideas that people will work their whole lives for, as they believe they are the key to happiness. This shows how happiness is socially constructed, which is the same case for sadness. Once someone is not able to obtain these objects that are believed to cause happiness, they are expected to experience sadness. I do not believe that this is the case for all people, but agree that sometimes people's sadness may be formed through expectations and influenced by others in society.

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In terms of predefined sadness, I thought it would be a unique experience to take a look at emotions. Millions of people use these "sad" emojis everyday in an attempt to verbally communicate their emotions to others. However, are these really representing sadness? It is hard to know exactly what context someone is using these in, and impossible to know exactly how they are feeling behind the screen. Therefore, these predefined emotions do not represent real life emotions in most case scenarios. These emotions are intended for anyone to use, in any way that they want. It is a business, and being able to text with emotions has increased the appeal for constant texting. Therefore, companies are trying to use predefined emotions to increase user time, yet it is impossible to fully grasp the human emotion experience through a handful of emojis.

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The Cave

Hope and dreams

Crushed in the dark

She longs to explore

See the wonders of the world

Rather she is trapped

In a room full of echoes

Yet silence is all you here

And aloneness is all you feel

In this poem that I wrote, I am attempting to represent how society tries to present sadness as a predefined object. My intended audience for this poem is anyone who feels that that those around them are trying to plan their life for them. Specifically, by stating that the person in this poem is "trapped", I am representing being held back by societies rules. These rules can cause a feeling of "aloneness" and the sound of "silence". However, maybe society thinks that these norms will make the person happy, and that not living through these standards will cause sadness. While this may be the case for certain people, everyone has their own personal experiences that affect their sadness. In this case, the person in the poem wants to "see the wonders of the world." For some people, this might be a scary thought, having to go into new places, while for others this can be the adventure they have always dreamed of.

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In this article, it describes how social media may not be harmful for all people. For some individuals, it helps with " facilitating their caring relationships." Therefore, this proves that predefined sadness is not going to automatically be cause by social media usage. For some people, it will lead to negative consequences if abused. However, this is in large part because individuals are not using "moral reasoning". Therefore, it is more important to assess individual moral reasoning and how this plays a role in each person's social media usage.

Below is a poem I wrote that I believe largely relates to this message:

Young minds

You want them to be protected

You want them to be happy

You prevent them from seeing the world

Yearning for them to not be victims of social media

Yet all it is doing is separating them from society

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I believe that this article raises the question if moral judgments are influencing our actions and creating predefined standards? This article largely discusses how our view of how others are perceiving us will affect our own thought process and cause us to conform to social norms. Therefore, there are predefined ideas of sadness controlling society represented by this article. The article describes how in a specific study, "Perpetrators’ displays of shame and sadness increased perceived moral sense and amplified the observers’ willingness to cooperate with the perpetrators." This shows how these predefined standards are actually implicated unconsciously in society, and people may be falling victim to predefined sadness. In all of these studies, people immediately became sad when exposed to negative facial expressions, and then become more cooperative out of embarrassment.