My name is Shaan Lail, I am eighteen years old and an undergraduate studying Arts at the University Of British Columbia under the Combined Arts Program’s Global Citizens stream. I was born with a neuro muscular disorder known as Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a disease that slowly causes deterioration of motor functions every single muscle) over time so I use a wheelchair for mobility and require assistance to carry out everyday physical tasks. Because of my physical impairments, my view on the world is different compared to the perspective of able bodied individuals, who take many things I struggle with for granted. I plan on utilizing this blog to express and explain my views on various topics and issues along the lines of life narratives which is in the context of the Arts Studies course.
I would like to analyze the sociological thinking behind life narratives. Specifically, I would like to explore why what we see about life narratives in various forms of media can alter our perspective. This question has compelled me ever since I became an avid YouTube watcher. As events worldwide have unfolded many individuals get their first hand glimpses from YouTube and other social media. Since it’s founding, more and more individuals use YouTube’s platform to express their own narratives and perception of world events and issues. These perspectives are often different than those provided on mass media or news networks which allows greater understanding. Among videos I have seen on YouTube, I have been intrigued by how different people speak about the issue of race which currently, is a very dominant issue. How people react in these videos can drastically shape people’s perspectives such as when exactly two years ago (September 17, 2013) I watched a video regarding how numerous individuals all around the United States were angry that Nina Davuluri a woman of East Indian descent won the highly controversial Miss America Beauty Pageant. Prominent “YouTuber” Jasmeet Singh or “JusReign” created his own opinion on the topic. Although the context of the video was somewhat comical, he brought up several major points about how there is no ideal person or demographic that fits in everyday society now, we are all human. Maybe society has not yet stepped into a “post racial” society. When Barack Obama was sworn into office, it was regarded as the transition into a “post racial” era but time and time again, we have seen that maybe this is not the case.
Video Source:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqdLuoXiyC4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqdLuoXiyC4