Poetry | Bates 1 CALIFORNIA SOCIOLOGY FORUM VOL. 5 Social Constructs Creatively Deconstructed: A Collection of Six Poems Taryn Bates Department of Sociology California State University, Los Angeles Author’s Acknowledgement: Dr. Lisa Montagne Galloway holds the honor of being the mentor who patiently encouraged Taryn into pursuing and attending higher education, correctly guessing that Taryn would thrive in academia. Cost of Living My currency Is energy Charged by the second My peace of mind A piece not mine Claimed by every fear My balance is overdrawn Ideals of saving-up forgone Checks constantly voided My daily wage lump sum Of living income Comes in with no proper credit Poetry | Bates 2 CALIFORNIA SOCIOLOGY FORUM VOL. 5 The Masquerade of the Perfection Parade Paint up your faces and hide any traces of imperfection while you join in the races as we go through our paces- This festival façade is our lifetime legacy Where individuality is hidden Creativity, forbidden and all manner of originality is driven to seclusion in the illusion that perfection is the only presentation acceptable to make a friendly connection Mistakes will only lead others to say, "My goodness, what weakness they betray- too risky and messy, too childish to relay any sense of dignity and propriety so we piously look down our nose at any who suppose their misdeeds are forgivable and not taken personal as we lead the masses to flawless performance to all who glance our way." So then fear keeps us in line, convincing others that we're fine behind our masks tired eyes the only sign of our weariness doing time in hopes this fulfills our deepest wishes and longing to one day be thrown a rope and be pulled into freedom safely away from this chaos and madness to throw off crippling sadness and be shown genuine kindness that will clear away blindness our masks have led us in But the only rope we've been given binds us together in this prison of going through the motion to deceive each other in the notion that we are spotless and therefore- please love us. Poetry | Bates 3 CALIFORNIA SOCIOLOGY FORUM VOL. 5 Pretty|Ugly (The Beast of Beauty) We've been taught to value patterns over people The carefully fabricated versus the naturally featured Smoothed out, glossed over, dolled up Youthful faces prematurely aged and grayed By the heavy expectations applied Around eyes, tweezed brows, hollowed cheeks Died hair, plumped lips, turned up noses Senses told to stop the function of design Composed behind plastered smiles reflected in Mirrors entreating to have a seamless surface Of contoured features concealing a raging inner turmoil The fountain of youth proves a siren's song Luring us to a superficial sound Drowning us in deep dissonance Evened out, painted over, propped up Exclusive is just a term to sell more magazines Not caring about the individual but the Masses Size is subject to scrutiny where anyone can weigh in But the one on the scale Silence is fool's gold, glittering in hollow glory Distracting from the internal distinction Screaming for attention But fearing it as well Wondering what will be the tipping point Of authentic acceptance If everything is stripped away And all that remains is plain as day Clearly seen Will the blunt edges be received with the truest intentions? Can vulnerability pull down walls of resistance Built from every stone cast in fear From an endless war on genuine integrity Because a whole and undivided force can't be reckoned with And control can't be cast out from the power hungry Indulging on every defenseless innocent A famine of fresh focus Perfection is the only permissible presentation Poetry | Bates 4 CALIFORNIA SOCIOLOGY FORUM VOL. 5 School of Love Social Studies said we were the perfect match Then things changed and we found ourselves detached Math has never been my strong suit Why can't we make the figures compute? They say relationships are a Science Though they never detail the alliance Our Chemistry devolved in volatility Pressure, vaporizing equilibrium to futility We started to Artfully combine palettes But somewhere along the lines, we no longer synced talents English was our main communication Until we lost our common foundation A Physical Education filled in the gaps Preventing us from realizing our lapse We sought solace in Literature's plots Avoiding all the second thoughts Drama consumed our after hours Where barbs were thrown instead of flowers The pathways we traveled drifted away Geography now dictates our choices each day History is what the *Texts* book us as Those daily "hi"s, "goodbye"s, now stuck in the past So here I'm left, Creatively Writing out my soul An Essay on the effect of the emotional toll Invested Taking stock Of what I value Energy spent As time went Poetry | Bates 5 CALIFORNIA SOCIOLOGY FORUM VOL. 5 Bye The arrow Up and down Like a rollercoaster Track Cycling round and round There is nothing new Under the sun But still it's how we Keep Count of our days Averaging the data Tallying the points Finding purpose And meaning in the numbers Suggestions Of how the world really works How we echo each other Looking to each other for Directions Reliving the past Forgetting the present The future trapped in Projections Spending moments In hopes of a larger payout Playing the market In turn for the chance to Profit Audit our intentions Our perceptions My perspective What's worth it Am I doing this Right Risky business More manageable When the odds Are bet on Myself Poetry | Bates 6 CALIFORNIA SOCIOLOGY FORUM VOL. 5 The Great Deception One imagines at some point The idea of putting a price On everything would make it All fair And lower the odds Of deals going sideways Making a marker of honesty To compare That everyone had equal Opportunity to access Labor and goods To share Instead humans Capitalized on value Now being externally monetary Instead of intrinsically held And yet What was lost was the care for each other In community and consideration Only owing kindness & goodwill No debt Being held over each other through Greedy lusts of power And obsession with hoarding The net Sum of all things desirable Manufacturing scarcity of resources Just to be in ultimate control Bah Humbug To the scrooges who haven't Met the ghosts of those Whose lives they've impacted for worse So smug In not having a bone of generosity To give, live and let live freely Instead willfully indenturing and enslaving An amount So largely oppressed and mistreated By this perpetual patriarchy Not a nurturing nature to be saved but held To account Poetry | Bates 7 CALIFORNIA SOCIOLOGY FORUM VOL. 5 Sociological importance for chosen pieces: I have been writing poetry and prose for over 20 years. Growing up, I was always on the outside looking in - having been homeschooled through all of grade school - which I have discovered works very well for the sociological imagination. As I came into adulthood and started branching out in the world, my writing reflected those changes and growth through more serious themes full of questioning. Now that I have been studying sociology for several years, I see so many sociological observations and imagination interwoven throughout my pieces. These selected pieces span the last decade. Cost of Living explores working a minimum wage job under the burden of capitalism, while experiencing alienation from oneself due to division of labor. The Masquerade of the Perfection Parade woke me up from a dead sleep, begging to be written. This piece investigates why humans conform to the same societal norms when they obscure individual authenticity. Masquerade further investigates imposter syndrome, fear of being found out to not measure up through never ending performance, while people are often hiding behind masks to fit cultural expectations. Pretty|Ugly (The Beast of Beauty) covers a cross section of cultural norms and capitalistic messaging. Marketing and social media present idealized images of the perfect, happy life to sell more products while typically leaving the buyer feeling empty and wanting more. School of Love studies romantic interpersonal relationships within the framing of school subjects or academic fields as an attempt at a whimsical yet poignant look at how im/maturity and societal expectations impact intimate relationships. The Great Deception and Invested were both written in 2020, the former around the beginning of the COVID-19 lockdown and the latter at the end of that tumultuous year. Invested was inspired by the thought "What if I was investing in MYSELF?"; another exploration of alienation and trying to reconnect with one’s own authenticity. Deception exposes a capitalistic mentality that over-values money instead of camaraderie.