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| The New Pointer Mascot |
Signs and symbols surround us. Each person identifies with certain groups in society. People outside of that group might not necessarily understand the meaning behind it, but for the people in the group, the symbol can be unifying and bring pride to the community. For example, the UW-Stevens Point Campus shares pride in the Pointer Dog mascot. Seeing the Pointer all over campus unites the buildings and the students, as we all identify with what it means to the campus. Though he has gone through an image change within the past few years, Stevie Pointer still represents the community of the student body at UWSP.
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| The Old Stevie Pointer Mascot |
It's interesting to consider how a symbol unites a group, because some, like the image of a Pointer are not necessarily tangible. It's the idea of a group, time, or place that is uniting, and a single picture can bring back so much meaning for a person. The UWSP culture is shared among thousands of people, and seeing that picture in itself is unifying.
I really liked you post you covered a lot of the way symbols can be viewed. I thnk for the me the most intresting way is the fact that a symbol can unite a group that do not even clam the symbol. the symbol can also mean something different to them then the group that is applying the symbol to them. For example look at the black cat. It has the symbol applied to it that it goes with witches and its to look like the "scared" cat we see for halloween decoration. When in reality it never got a say in that should be the symbol for all black cats. It just interesting to me.
ReplyDeleteI thought that you did a great job explaining the significance of symbols. The example you used was definitely something that could be related to, as we are all students at the University. I also agree with what you said about the idea is what unites people together. It does not have to be something physical. Having a consensus about the meaning of the symbol is what is important. My question for you is, how do you think symbols can be used negatively? Can symbols promote deviance and choosing to behave outside of the norm of a society?
ReplyDeleteI definitely think that symbols can be used negatively and to promote deviance. For example, gang signs are recognized by members of the gang, but are not necessarily promoting positive things in society. The signs unite the gang, and only have meaning to the gang. Symbols, both positively and negative bond groups together in a single purpose.
DeleteI enjoyed your blog about our school mascot. I feel like that is a great example of a symbol that we can all identify with. I agree with you that someone from a different school will not necessarily feel the same way about our mascot as we do simply because they do not affiliate with that symbol almost daily. It is interesting to think about symbols like the school mascot and know that 10 or more years in the future, whenever we see the pointer dog we will automatically think of our college experience. Like you said, it unifies us as a student body and that is something that holds a lot of power.
ReplyDeleteVery nice post, interesting use of Stevie Pointer as an example. It's very true how symbols can unite or divide of depending on whether we are involved in the group or not
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