Social Construction Strikes Again

Along with the final 100 pages or so of Eleanor and Park, the class began a discussion of the social construction of adolescence. According to the material we read, 13 to 19-year-old people have crazy characteristics, such as raging hormones, and it is out of their control and a part of life. The introduction to “Act your Age!” discusses that creating the adolescence category is a way to make those of that age group seem less important and not fully developed. The craziness means that they are not people to be taken seriously. This last point, especially, has been brought up several times during class in regards to Eleanor. When Eleanor calls the police after hearing gun shots, for example, the police officers’ response is to send Eleanor in the house first and not really be concerned about her safety. Also, when Eleanor makes it to her aunt and uncle’s house in Minneapolis, her uncle’s reaction to Eleanor’s story is “What if she is lying?” Although there might be other reasons for either of these examples, the theme seems to point to a 16-year-old not being important because that is not the age of an adult.

As a psychology student, I have thought about development a lot. In child psychology, we discussed puberty versus adolescence, noting that puberty is biological. More than that, though, is what happens naturally in a human’s development, such as crying, walking, or talking. Human development is also dependent on the environment – is there a parent presenting examples and feedback so the child doesn’t constantly swear or is willing to share toys? Based on the child psychology class material, most people do not mature as much as they can do. I used to believe that being a certain age equaled certain characteristics, and this is not true. Relating this to Eleanor and Park, it makes me wonder what Eleanor’s mom’s life was like growing up and why she doesn’t seem to have any family connections outside of a brother long-distance.

Overall, I loved this book and I am glad that Eleanor was able to find more support beyond Park and his parents before the end of the book. This seemed to happen because of the relationship between Eleanor and Park and the fact that there are people who can be trusted and supportive if you let them.