The Bizarre Culture of the WAJ

Many cultures around the world engage in practices and behaviors that often conflict with the laws of science and nature. For example, the Hindus in India are adamant about bathing in the overly polluted waters of the Ganges River because they believe it is pure and has cleansing effects. Some cultural practices in China, while outlawed now, included binding young girls’ feet as a way to display the family’s wealth and the luxury of not having their women work.

Culture may be defined as the “shared ways of a human social group” (Ferguson 62, 2008). These ways consist of learned behaviors, socially transmitted customs, language, rituals etc. (Burkett PowerPoint “Culture”). Since our class has discussed how cultures can vary across time and space, I thought it might be a good idea to describe another culture whose language, behaviors, and traditions are not exactly a part of your everyday American’s life, and instead are viewed as commonplace norms to the members of this social group. For now I will refer to them as Wet Adrenaline Junkies…or WAJ for short. The culture of the WAJ is hard to trace back to a specific time in history, but most believe it began when the first WAJ flung himself from a high ledge into deep waters. Presently, the world of WAJ most definitely maintains a distinct culture of their own, however most people outside their circle find their habits and behaviors to be at odds with the laws of gravity, physics, and what is considered to be sane activity.

Let me first begin by describing a normal day in the life of a WAJ. Most competitive WAJ’s will meet anywhere from two to three hours per day in order better themselves at their craft. The location of their meetings are scattered across the world, however they depend on the presence of a master WAJ to oversee their activities, and the presence of a flexible, spring-like contraption or towers that reach dizzying altitudes. The WAJ will generally fling themselves off either of these structures and hopefully make a spashless, headfirst and vertical entry into a deep body of water. Unlike some of the more modern and urbanized styles of dress, where people wear clothing that covers most of their bodies, WAJ’s find it necessary to wear as little clothing as possible. Despite the fact that some of them end up hitting the water at speeds ranging anywhere from 20-30 mph, they insist on only covering up their “privates” if they are a male and “privates” plus stomach if they are a female.

If you step foot into the world of the WAJ, their dress may not be the only thing that catches you off guard. Their symbols, nauseating actions and behaviors, and most of all ridiculous language are surely enough to you feel like an outsider.

Most all man-made, concrete sealed bodies of water display the symbols below:

The WAJ, however, ignore these somewhat universal symbols of danger and possible death. In fact, they do just the opposite. If this isn’t enough to question their sanity, their bizarre rituals will definitely leave you puzzled. A WAJ can jump off a springboard or platform in a multitude of ways…most of which are counterintuitive. For the purpose of time, I will only discuss those WAJ’s who utilize springboards lifted either one or three meters off the ground. The front approach is usually a four to five step walk towards the end of the board while hurdling with one leg on their last step. The hurdle is essential to any take-off the WAJ will make as it allows them to properly catch the lift of the board. The front approach is followed by a forward plunge into the water.

The back approach is where one will stand on their toes, backwards on the end of the board followed by a backward jump into the water. Reverse and Inward approaches are usually where onlookers begin to question the mental stability of the WAJ. Reverse approaches begin with a front approach and end with a backward jump, and inward approaches begin with a back approach and end with a forward jump. Each of these jumps can encompass anything from two to three somersault rotations in the straight, pike, tuck or free positions. The general goal is to gain Degrees of Difficulty (DD for short); the more rotations and twists the higher the DD. Another general rule is the closer the distance between where the end of the board is and where the WAJ lands in the water, the better...but if they get too close...BAM! Oh and I almost forgot, the WAJ love getting their tricks scored on a scale of 0-10 (0-being the worst, 10 being perfection).

Because of these general rules, it’s no wonder why so many WAJ live with large bruises covering the majority of their bodies. These internal blood marks are signs of bravery and glory. The awkward behaviors and unusual language doesn’t stop there. In the world of the WAJ, “ripping it” is a great entry, while “smacking” is exactly what it sounds like…where a flat plane of their body collides with the flat plane of the water at an intense speed. You might also hear the WAJ master yell “spot”, “out”, “lift”, or “twist” in an attempt to guide his pupils’ actions during the few mili-seconds they spend in mid-air. In this society, “taking it deep”, “riding hard”, and “wrapping fast” are good things, while “cowboying”, “crimping”, and “crow hopping” are bad things. This is culture full of adrenaline and breath taking, gravity defying movements, but it is also home to mental defeat, crushed faces, bloody noses, and busted eardrums. And that, my friends, is the day in the life of a Wet Adrenaline Junkie… or Diver for short.

Double-jumping Warm-up Fail

Although my attempt at an alien description of what I know to be a normal sub-culture may not be up to par with Miner, I truly believe viewing things from an outsider’s perspective can benefit society as a whole. Of course I would never find it odd if any of you refused to do a reverse 2 1/2 , 2 ½ twists off a 3-Meter springboard, but sometimes I do let my own understanding of this language blind me from the fact that others may not understand a word that’s coming out of my mouth. Similarly, I think as citizens of a world leader like the United States, we let ethnocentricity and xenophobia get the best of us. I think sometimes this self-limiting worldview or fear of the strange can blind us from cultural diffusion that is otherwise unwarranted. Either way, stepping outside of one’s comfort zone, while hard at times, can yield hosts of solutions to current and future cultural, social, national and global struggles.

Personal Troubles , Social Issues, and the Sociological Imagination

In his chapter “The Promise”, taken from his book entitled The Sociological Imagination, C. Wright Mills states that the distinction between personal troubles and societal issues “is an essential tool of the sociological imagination and a feature of all classic work in social science” (Ferguson 5, 2008). He further defines personal troubles as complications generated and dealt with by the individual. The person’s complications are generated based upon the experiences, situations, and relationships derived directly from his/her personal social sphere.

Mills contrasts this with his definition and explanation of social issues. These issues occur when a collective, societal problem is raised. Because they can result from indirect consequences of the past, direct effects of the present, and proactive solutions to the future, a broader scope of origins must be considered when analyzing social issues.

While I understand the distinction between troubles and issues, I’m not sure I grasp how to use the sociological imagination in a real and effective manner. On a side note I tried to do some further research on Youtube and found this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWuiU47vTiA&feature=related …perhaps not the best explanation, but I found his sperm analogy, although completely misleading, amusing to say the least. Can I look at society from outside the box while taking history and wars, events and trends, cause and effect into account? Yes. This can change my opinions and assumptions, make me re-evaluate my own morals and ethics, and help me better analyze my own place and role in relation to society. What, I’m afraid, it cannot change, for me at least, is the choice. Mills discusses how solutions to personal troubles “lie within the scope of his immediate milieu-the social setting that is directly open to his personal experience and to some extent his willful activity” (Ferguson 5, 2008). The “to some extent” part is where I start to become skeptical. In my opinion, people’s actions are solely based on their choice even if they are shaped by external forces. In this light, I would say that a person’s immediate milieu is comprised of, to ALL extent, his willful activity. I understand life is unfair. Did the 14 year old girl choose to get raped? No. Do homosexuals choose to be attracted to members of the same sex? Debatable, but in my opinion, no. Do people choose to be poor, get cancer, or fail? NO! But in every instance, the individual can make a resultant choice…right?
This leads me to Mill’s discussion of social issues and their corresponding solutions. I agree that these issues are not caused by one, single individual. I agree that these issues are generated from a variety of actions made in the past, present, and toward the future. I agree that these issues are best solved through collective action. However, after reading Mill’s explanation and subsequently Edin and Kefalas’ Promises I Can Keep: Why Poor Women Put Motherhood before Marriage, I get the impression that collective issues somehow condone the individual’s choice, whether it is right or wrong. Then again, I realize that what is right for some people may be wrong for others. This could very well be a misunderstanding on my part, but I, personally, am having trouble with the idea of blaming an individual’s actions on society’s problems. But maybe it’s not a blame game, maybe it’s not about what /who is right or wrong.

Then I think about what I wouldn’t do to ensure my family’s safety, or what I wouldn’t do to stay alive. I would do anything. Does a collective experience such as this shift society’s definition of what is right and what is wrong? Survival itself drives the most remarkable biological and sociological changes. What is socially accepted now and what was socially accepted fifty years ago are worlds apart. If I kill to save my little sister, is it still murder? If I am unwillingly driven into absolute poverty and chose to steal to save my family from hunger, am I the criminal or is society? Moreover, if collective issues require collective solutions, yet a truly collective decision can never be made because we are all different, how is change instigated? Should it be lead by those who are better educated, less ignorant, and more accepting?

These are just some of the questions that came to mind when I was going through last week’s readings. I sincerely want to get rid of my biases in order to see correctly through the scope of the sociological imagination, but how realistic is this goal? Can any of us fully rid ourselves of biases? How do morals and values change in response to social issues and collective actions? How do we use quantitative data to explain social trends and behaviors? How do we all see the world through open eyes and new perspectives while at the same time maintaining what makes us individuals and unique? These are just some of the questions I can’t wait to explore throughout the remainder of this course!