The Mask Project was an exploration of the world of society and socialization. Socialization is the lifelong process in which people, from the instant they are born, inherit and are taught norms according to his or her society and their role in it. Socialization has many steps, but I will not bore you by listing them. Here is the link to an incredible essay written by Bobbie Harro. Socialization has played its part in all of our lives. For instance, you and I speak English. Whether you know it or not, socialization affects everyone's lives. We explored this strange aspect of humanity in two ways. The first was our essay. We had to write an essay about how we have been socialized according to groups such as gender, race, class, and religion. My essay is below. The way we wrote these essays was different from my other experiences. Instead of starting with the introduction, we started with our body paragraphs. This helped me because I usually have a large writer's block at the beginning of a piece, but because we started in the middle, I didn't need to think about the beginning until it was very apparent what it needed to look like. The other tool was our mask. These represented how we have been socialized through paint, plaster, and for me, some pretty lights. The hole in the head of my mask symbolizes society’s ability to ‘dumb down’ kids. When I was a kid, all I wanted to do was play hockey professionally. The tube below the hole symbolizes society’s ability to plant ideas into someone’s head. The tunnel below symbolizes the cycle and how it will go on forever unless turned off. I am planning to cut a door into the cardboard tube and gluing sports and movie characters inside with strings attached. This symbolizes society’s ability implant figures and role models in someone’s mind and use them to control him/her. So far, I am proud of both my mask and my essay.