Punk for a Month: Connecting with Cultural Values and Students' Lives

This week, we had to answer some questions about Cultural Diversity while reading a text called "Punk for a Month". These are my answers:

1. Is Julie fair to her old friends in the change she makes? How might she have handled the change differently so as not to alienate her friends?

Yes, I think she acted correctly, as she gave her friends the opportunity to accept her as a punk. But also she had some sort of fear of rejection, but didn't want it to be noticed by everyone. In the end, her friends were the ones who "betrayed" her.


2. Julie makes new friends once she changes her appearance. What problems can you predict with these new friends?

We usually have the prejudice of punks as being aggressive and violent, but I don't think that Julie's new friends will lead her to troubles. The only problem she might have would be with her "old" friends, perhaps accusing her of "betraying" them.


3. Does Julie change internally as a result of changing externally? Can simply dressing differently influence a person's character? Why, or why not?

Of course she changed internally. as being a punk includes both physical and psychological aspects. By dressing different, she understood life from other perspective, as she began to love more herself as a unique person, and that she shouldn't be affected by the others' prejudices. Changing the way you dress won't change anything, unless you do want to change internally.


4. What does appearance indicate about a person? In why ways may appearances be misleading? When is it appropriate to judge people based on appearances? When is it inappropriate?

Appearance doesn't indicate anything for me.  A person can easily dress as other one, but the psychological and interior way he is, doesn't change easily. I think in most of the cases prejudices about appearance can be misleading, as clothes don't mean anything.