Friday means mostly the same thing to people. It's the end of the work or school week for most people. The rhetoric of Friday suggests that it is the end of something unenjoyable during the week and some type of fun "plan" must happen that night in order to celebrate and tell all your friends what you did. For some, such as those who practice Judaism, Friday is the beginning of Shabbat. The psychological aspect of Friday will depend on what type of person you are. An extroverted positive thinker will see Friday as a chance to have "fun" and be with people and have no worries. To an introverted shy person, Friday may cause anxiety as they may feel that they are "supposed" to be finding some type of activity to do with their friends that night or else they are just weird. Friday usually will prompt a positive reaction in most people, and it will remind them of good times they've had with people they care about. The status of Friday has been historically cemented in culture with movies, songs, books, and even a restaurant ( TGI Friday's) and of course the expression TGIF (Thank goodness it's Friday). That expression offers some type of signification that Friday is the savior day of the week. That it will save you from work or other things you may need to do. If the days of the week were a group of people, Friday would be that cool guy/fun girl that everyone wants to be friends with. Two signifiers of Friday may be high school football and bars. They signify that fun should be had on Friday and how you do it in America is by watching football and drinking beer. Not to mention casual Friday, which also adds to the rhetoric that Friday should always be "fun".
I really enjoyed this look on Fridays. We have come to know Friday as the end of some long a strenuous task known as the week and we have also learned that it is the day for us to enjoy/reward ourselves for that work. I also see the point you are trying to make that to Judaism, Fridays have different connotations to them than to me. Indeed, I am in love with Fridays!
ReplyDeleteHi Jane!
ReplyDeleteI really like the simplicity of your cultural object! You took something as simple as a day of a week and came up with a whole paragraph of stuff to say about it. And you told it like it is - extroverted people will be excited about being with people and introverted people may worry that what they will be doing might not be as awesome as what others chose.
I just wanted to point out something - I go to school during the week, and work on the weekends. I see Fridays as an end to the stressful school week with classes, lectures, commuting around campus, reading, and homework. But I also see Fridays as the beginning of a weekend filled with work, which isn't necessarily a bad thing because I enjoy my job. It is also much different than the stress I feel during school. School involves tasks that you are assigned to work on outside of class, while work (for me anyhow) involves simple tasks that I am assigned to do while I'm there and do not have to take away from work afterward.
Anyway, I guess although I go to work, I still fit into your idea of Friday as the end of something enjoyable and some type of fun plan on the weekend. :-)
I agree with this whole post. It is amazing how much better/more excited I feel on a friday compared to monday. Especially the second that you walk out of class, you have nothing to worry about and can enjoy yourself for the time being. I love fridays!
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