Question O

In order to change the oppression in this country and in the world, we need to work together. We can fight oppression, racism, sexism, classism, ageism and all of the other isms as a team because I think that more prejudice people can be fought and resisted when there are more people backing the argument up. I feel that I can make a difference in this world as well. As long as I feel strongly enough about the issue at hand, I feel that I can change it- but slowly. Realistically speaking, I know that I cannot change every issue and turn any of the isms completely around. But I do know that I could help one person at a time even if it takes a small act like defending a stranger in a situation where they are facing ridicule or oppression. I truly hate to see someone in that situation, especially when it is a result of something they cannot help. I think that I am part of the “privileged” group, being in the middle class and Caucasian and maybe I can use that to my advantage. For example, if a white woman is making fun of a black woman and I defended the black woman, the white woman may take my advice more seriously than if it was coming from a black woman. I feel that I can help educate others in my sphere of influence by talking to them about oppression and the isms while helping them work through the critical thinking process. I absolutely want to leave the world a better place than when I entered it. I want people to feel equal to one another, and being a mother, this is especially important to me. I want to educate my daughter on life and how to treat people with respect. I want to help her critically think about issues such as this from a young age, and let her know that in some cases like religion, we don’t really know who is “right”.

Question N

I think there are many attributes that make a great activist. I think that persistence is key. A good activist may try and work towards a better world and a cause, but a great activist does that and refuses to give up when the going gets tough. A certain level of commitment to the cause is also very important and the issue needs to be important to the person, they need to have some sort of emotional tie to the issue. A great activist also needs to be educated on the subject so that they can be prepared when questions are asked. Finally, a great activist needs to be a critical thinker. When the other end of the issue is brought up, it is fine to defend their case in point, but it is vital to listen to the other end as well. I really enjoyed viewing bell hook’s videos. I love her as an activist and a feminist because she fights for what she believes in in a different way than other activists. I think other activists really push their ideas on you, and bell hooks presents her ideas in a helpful and non threatening way. I love her outlook on feminism. For example, she dissected Madonna in a healthy, realistic way also looking at the positive aspects about her rather than tearing her to shreds.

Quick post 6

I would say that my social sphere is absolutely comprised of people of all different ages. The age range is anywhere from 3 weeks old to 85 years old. I engage in conversation and interaction pretty regularly with younger people, as my friends have very young babies and I myself have a 7 month old daughter. I also have a 10 year old sister and 13 and 19 year old brothers. I interact mainly with people in their twenties, which is my age range where my fiancé, myself, friends and family members are comprised in this group. My grandparents make up most of the elderly age group, but I do feel that I come in contact with elderly people often when running errands because they approach my baby.

I agree that our society is segregated due to age. I am not exactly sure why that is, but I wonder if it may have to do with a lack of understanding other generations. An older person may have different values and ideas about what is socially acceptable for example, than a younger person. I think younger people also don’t really have a lot of respect for our elders unfortunately. In general, I think that older people and younger people have different ideas of a “good time”. Some college kids may like to do other activities than an elderly person. Young and middle age adults are advantaged due to their age because they are seen by our society as “ideal” citizens, they are the least draining of the social security system, the most “able” bodied, most attractive and contribute most to the economy.

I think that we need to eliminate age segregation because we can all learn something from one another in different age groups. I think we need to stop putting age requirements on activities such as bingo, or basketball at the YMCA for example. We need to incorporate other groups of people to intermingle together. I think the key is compassion for others and understanding of other people as well as respect. As a culture, I think that we can work on promoting respect for others by emphasizing the good qualities and traits of each age group. We need to promote interaction between these age groups so that stigmas are not placed unknowingly on each group.

Question M

Getting older in western society is not the equivalent of getting old in other areas of the world. In other cultures, getting older is a privilege where one moves up the totum pole of wisdom and comes to enjoy family and have a greater appreciation of life. In the US, it is not so. We are absolutely terrified of aging. Everywhere you look there are anti aging products being advertised, and saying “yikes she’s getting older..” is an insult. When my fiancé and I had found out we were expecting, we got a rather interesting attitude about becoming a grandparent from all of our parents. Our baby girl Noelle’s grandparents are of appropriate age, mid to late 50’s, and refuse to be called “papa, nana, grandpa, grandma” etc. They think that automatically enters them into the realm of becoming “old”.

I think that the root cause of ageism is the stigma that our society places around it. Our society does not look at the process of aging with positivity. In the eyes of our western culture, once you are old, you can no longer take care of yourself, you are no longer attractive, can no longer get a new job and are nearing death. I do not think that I am ageist. I think that I actually enjoy ageing and embrace the abundance of new information learned and the new experiences. I respect my elders, and appreciate what they have to say on their own personal experiences and knowledge. This particular “ism” I feel is seldom discussed, but I do believe that it is absolutely everywhere: in every TV show, movie and advertisement. I think many Americans actually avoid the conversation themselves because it is an uncomfortable subject. Many people do not want to face the facts that life is short, and that they are getting older whether the issue is discussed or not.

Quick post 5

I found Dianna Russel’s article particularly intriguing. This quote hit me the most- “The relationship between particularly sexually violent images in the media and subsequent aggression...is much stronger statistically than the relationship between smoking and lung cancer.”     — Edward Donnerstein, 1983.I do believe that pornography does lead to how men see women. I think the media does more so, but I think that men do follow what they see and like. If misogyny is widely advertised, they are going to think that this idea is perfectly acceptable especially if they do not have a home environment that educates them appropriately on the subject. I think pornography facilitates mistreatment of women and disrespect at the bare minimum and I think it is going to create more problems for us in the future.  I think about porn, and I wonder how many women actually would like to participate in these acts. I sometimes wonder if that woman was involved in sex trafficking, was kidnapped or this is the only way that she can support herself. This is so unfortunate and I believe that unless pornography is submitted by both willing partners for whatever reason they choose, it should be abolished. It just trudges too many issues up and makes our society even more violence and power driven. I also think that, what if a young man likes the violent sex he sees in a video online and wants to experience it in real life, so he rapes someone? That young man as well as pornography and the media are all responsible.

Ableism

The first time that I watched this video was in my RMP 502 course. I am again simply amazed at these people. I think about people that are fully capable of doing these things with half of the amount of effort of the people in this video and they choose not to. The person in this video that struck me the most was the girl with no legs, her upper body strength was impeccable! It’s amazing how often I hear the words “I can’t” from various human beings. Don’t you think that this woman in this video could use this excuse and have it be some what valid? But she did not. She worked hard and made it happen. This video is more than inspirational to me. This dance expands notions of the human body, but I think it is more of an example of the notions of the mind. You can truly do anything you set your mind to. I believe that it took a lot of will power, courage and motivation for the people in this video more so than body strength.

This video can help address the issues surrounding disability by bringing forth the issues that “able bodied” people avoid.  It also focused on what these people were able to do instead of what they were not. This can help bring about awareness about the strengths and differences that both people with and without disabilities have. When people without disabilities see that people with a disability can do the same activities or share something in common with them, they may relate to them and become an advocate. Ableism structures our culture heavily. If you have a disability, sometimes you are left in the dust. Not everything is handicapped accessible, and children that have disabilities whether physical or intellectual are segregated. Disability from social security is not enough to live off of, so it’s really difficult to get a job and create a decent living when physically disabled. Society also advertises beautiful, “normal” people and does not feature anyone outside of their model norm. Unless Americans personally know someone who is disabled, it is unlikely that advocating for people with disabilities is a priority to them.

Question K

I learned a lot through watching Beautiful Daughters and reading “Trans Woman Manifesto”. I think people in this country have a difficult time putting themselves in other people’s places. Cisgender individuals have freedom in making changes in their life. For example, being a heterosexual female, it is going to be openly accepted if I feel that being a “girly girl” isn’t right for me anymore and shifting into an athletic sporty type… I think that I would be openly accepted in the eyes of many either way. However, transgender individuals do not just wake up one day deciding they want to become someone else. This is a long and thought out process that I can only imagine would be extremely difficult for one to endure. This video and reading really gave me insight into what it would be like and what these people go through on a daily basis. When I try to relate to them, and think of what their reasoning process must be like, it saddens me. I imagine that they would at first go through a bit of denial and try to possibly be what is “accepted” thinking that they might be able to change themselves. I also might think that when that doesn’t work, they may question their sanity or if something is wrong with them that they feel like they are experiencing an “out of body” experience. But the thing is, they are. Imagine feeling like you are not really who you are supposed to be. That must be a terrifying feeling. I could be totally wrong, but these are some feelings I would assume that I personally would feel if this happened to me. It must also be a troubling experience telling the ones that you love, and having the courage to take a stand for what you want out of life and who you think that you’d like to be… no matter if no one stands behind you.

The article also made me think of how “unequal” our American, western society and culture is. We are so unaccepting and so afraid of anyone that is slightly different than us. I don’t believe that there are just two sexes… I believe that there are varying degrees of gender and sex and you can be closer to one than the other, but you can also be in the middle as well. I think transgender people possess many great qualities that many cisgender people do not. The courage to change your identity because you feel that it is right for you, no matter what other people think of you. They also possess wisdom and intuition to know themselves well enough to make that decision. And most of all they possess honesty, to be true to themselves and others as well while revealing and fighting for who they are. Cisgender people need to somehow form an alliance for the transgender group and protect them from other cisgender people that may ridicule the transgender group; I say this mainly because some cisgender people may discredit transgenders so if someone that is more familiar to them says something, they may listen.

Process Piece

I actually enjoyed creating my power point on sexism. I loved searching for the images of sexism, they were so intriguing because most of the images that I came upon were either designers, or from a very long time ago in the mid to early 1900’s. It is absolutely amazing to me that people thought this way about women years ago. Where did this misogynist view come from? It makes me wonder, did people think like this from the beginning of time? And why? It is all so interesting to me. I loved creating the average day in Shelly’s life part of the power point. It really helped me envision how sexism affects women so deeply and in everyday activities. My goal through the power point was to help people put themselves in Shelly’s position and raise the issue of how prominent sexism is in every day issues… but at the same time, it is so deeply hidden through gestures as simple as opening the door for a woman. I hope that this project helped others understand the deeper rooted issues of sexism, as it did help me.

Works Cited

Johnson, Allan G. Privilege, Power, and Difference. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill, 2006. Print.

 

Quick post 4: Whip my hair

I see a star being born through Willow Smith’s Whip My Hair video. She gives into what is popular, and listens to what is being asked of her… a typical 12 year old girl. I want to believe that she is going to be different than other stars that start out this young, but I don’t think that will happen. But for now, she is different than what we are used to. She has a different look to her, and the lyrics are not sexist, racist or negative. There is something about this video, I don’t know if it is the way she is dancing or the stars above her lip but it seems very sexual to me. I have watched the video several times and re read the lyrics but I just can’t put my finger on it! For now, I think she does present as a good role model for girls because she is African American different from Miley Cyrus or Demi Lovato, and she has a very different style with attitude. Although the way that she is dressing, her hair and her look does not resemble that of a 12 year old girl.. more like a sixteen or seventeen year old. In the more blatant example of a mother dressing up the two year old in a Madonna costume, that outright disgusts me. The two year old is robbed of her opinion and brain washed into wearing cosmetics that aren’t good for a baby’s sensitive skin, as well as spending time being made up and dressed up instead of at a playground running around. Somehow I feel this relates to the mother’s internal issues… something the mother wants to do… and what two year old isn’t absolutely adorable? I don’t believe this two year old is getting the right message from her mother, and the others that she is surrounded by. There is much more to life than what you look like.

Question J

I found the film “Queer Streets” to be an interesting insight into the LGBT group of people. I had no idea that they had struggled so much just to escape the oppression that they have faced. That hurts me to hear that they would rather leave a place that they can survive financially and have their needs met, yet escape ridicule and oppression. According to Queer Streets, 25 to 50 % of 20,000 homeless people in New York City are LGBT. This fact was shocking to me. The fact that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender groups are more likely to have substance abuse problems, HIV/AIDS, suffer from violence, do sexual work, and suffer from mental illness. Although I did enjoy watching this video, I do wonder where they get the facts from. How did they determine the statistic that 25-50% of the homeless population is NYC are LGBT?? Many homeless people don’t live in shelters and the homeless population is everchanging… so I am wondering how this stat was formed. My other question is I wonder how they determined that LGBT people are more likely to suffer from all of the above? They must have been keeping close tabs on them in order to create reliable and realistic statistics right? Unfortunately I do believe that the LGBT may be more involved in sex work, given that kind of work is usually only done in a pinch, and out of desperation. As mentioned in the video, Isyss could not get a job because she did not identify with the sex that was shown legally. Even though discrimination is illegal, it still happens.

And again, I don’t think that this country is a “free country”. It seems as though people can say whatever they want freely, but cannot do whatever they please. We cannot love and marry who we choose, and there are laws and rules surrounding everything. I believe that church is still in conjunction with state although it claims to be separate. The constitution and laws are still based around the Judaea- Christian way of life. People need to let go of their own ideals and accept other people’s in as well, this will result in a more open minded society and more freedom. If the LGBT group was more openly accepted, there would be a lot less conflict in general, and much more opportunity for them. Eventually maybe this can result in people being less abrasive against others and less oppression. The truth is that we can’t stop oppression altogether because some people are not for stopping but we can affect the future generations.

Question I

Both “Killing Us Softly” and “Tough Guise” are great portrayals of the problems of our society involving patriarchy. In the film “Tough Guise” it is clear that men are the aggressor over women. It is also clear through the film that we live in a predominately male lead society. Men hold power and control over women through every day activities, as well as generally speaking which adds to our patriarchal society. It is still custom that women take their husband’s last name, and often are referred to “Mrs. James Smith”. This implies that the women is just the man’s secretary figure and does not have her own identity. This idea that women should just be housewives and dedicate their lives solely to cleaning, cooking, pleasing their husband and childrearing needs to be done away with. Our society is on to this- they market techniques towards patriarchy. Makeup and cosmetic brands market to young girls that feel they need a man to fulfill their needs, and in order to get that man, they need to be attractive right? Gyms, bowflex machines and colognes are marketed to men to be as muscular, attractive and great smelling to attract women and to be in shape to protect the woman that they love.

The film also exemplifies that men must be macho, have large muscles, be very masculine and be in control. If not, they may be referred to as pussies or pansies. It is not accepted in our culture to be anything less. This just seems to be getting worse as well. As shown in the film, GI Joe action figures have grown largely in size down to the biceps over the years- which shows masculinity according to the Tough Guise definition. What is so shameful of being in tune with your emotions and being sensitive to other’s needs? Why is this seen as so detrimental in our society today? I don’t see why people have such a difficult time accepting others different than themselves.

Adam Lambert from American Idol I think is a different expression of gender in today’s world. He is openly gay and has been seen on several occasions wearing makeup. He is also Jewish. Adam being a part of two minorities I think is a great example of someone who is different and a more complex representation of gender than the usual pop star. Being a superstar, coming out with your personal information and sexual preference is difficult, and I give him a lot of credit for fighting on behalf of people who are homosexual.

Lady Gaga

I am torn whether or not I believe Lady Gaga is a feminist or not. I do appreciate that she supports many good causes, but I also am weary of whether or not she may be doing this for her advantage as a superstar, as Bell Hooks discussed. Her image is absolutely provocative but interesting and attention grabbing. Her music videos are fascinating and different, and it seems as though every song she releases is an immediate hit. I do think that she is a good role model for young girls in terms of being different, but she still objectifies women through the media. Personally, she does not mean too much for me. I think the Lady Gaga trend will end eventually and I never actually download her songs because I get so sick of them on the radio. I have looked over the lyrics to her songs and they don’t feature as much sexism, classism, ageism, racism as other lyrics do. I think that she uses being a spokesperson and a good will ambassador for her advantage more so for the actual cause.

Quick blog: classism

I have been privileged due to my economic status before. I think that I have been extremely lucky to be educated and it would not have been as easy for me to go out of state and live off of campus if I were not privileged enough to be part of the middle class.

A time when I have been oppressed due to my class was just a few months ago at Bloomingdales in chestnut hill. My fiancé had bought me a pair of sunglasses to pick up there, and I did not have the receipt. An older woman helped me and thought that I was trying to steal the glasses from the store when I told her the last name etc. It really bothered me at how rude and ignorant the woman was, even after I had offered his credit card, all his information and my information. A few minutes later she found the glasses put on hold in the backroom. Needless to say, I called the regional manager.

The most recent example of classism that comes to mind is the fact that Costco does not accept food stamps. This is a huge problem and disadvantage to people that need to use the food stamps, especially because you can save money at Costco. It should be a rule that food stamps can be used widely for purchasing food anywhere. It should be their right and our responsibility to ensure that they can access food that other people can. People should not be limited to only shopping at certain stores.

Question H

I was born into the Roman Catholic religion. I would not say that I am a devout catholic, but I do believe in God and have morals. I just don’t believe in all aspects of the church, yet I do attend and celebrate the holidays. I would absolutely say that I experience privilege and an advantage by being part of the Christian group. Every holiday that I celebrate is a national holiday, and I never had school on these days. I also never had to work on these days either. I also don’t face any ridicule by being part of this group, but I do realize that people belonging to other groups do. The only real oppression that I have faced through being Catholic is others saying that I am a fool for believing in a religion where “priests molest children”. I think the circumstances where that has happened is awful, but that does not mean that every priest has done it. It also does not mean that my belief system is not valid, and does not affect prayer or attending mass. I really have difficulty comprehending why people go so crazy over other’s religious preferences. It is their business and does not affect others. I think people get involved in what they think is “right”. But the thing is, who even knows what is “right?”

Video Treatment

My short video is going to be based on sexism. I chose sexism because I feel that it is a very interesting and meaningful yet controversial issue today. In my opinion, sexism is also hidden secretly in many things said as well as actions. I am going to use power point to make my video and I would consider myself to be pretty advanced and comfortable with power point. I plan on making a storyline about a woman named Shelly Woodworth who faces sexism every day in her life and in every aspect, even down to when she gets a coffee. I am going to give the background of Shelly’s life and also a brief overview of a typical day in her life. Then I am going to give a definition of sexism, explain how it negatively affects Shelly along with the people doing it, and how we can change it.

I plan to find reliable sources through searching the library databases on sexism, and also searching Google and evaluating good sources. I also plan to consult our two textbooks. I wish to cover all of the topics discussed to make this a great learning experience through watching and interacting with the power point. As far as a timeline, I plan to start the power point today and do a little bit each day before it is due- hopefully I still have power through this snow storm! I wish to use the last day to evaluate the project and tweak any mistakes or add anything that is necessary.

After going through my power point, I wish that people would take away the many hidden examples of sexism. I want them to be aware of how detrimental sexism is to our society and things that we can do to prevent it.

People like us and unlike us

Although America is advertised and known as the country based on freedom, egalitarianism, and equality, I believe otherwise. I think naturally people judge one another based on what is “different” from what they know themselves. I would say that I was well aware of class from a very early age. I remember examining other classmates’ clothing choices and remember certain kids looking “dirtier” than others. If their sneakers were sloppy and brown, hair not brushed, faces a mess and clothing with stains, I would think that they were from a lower class than I was… or in the mind of a child, possibly poor. I would say that I noticed these things from kindergarten, and I probably would have related a child that was clean, well dressed and had the latest toys affluent. Kids in kindergarten already were placed in different categories according to separate criteria including the attributes I named above. I am having a hard time distinguishing what else it may have been based off of, but I do remember having separate groups of kids, some more accepted than others.

Classism has affected my life in various ways. When I leave the house, I normally don’t think about what I am wearing is for comfort or warmth but depending on where I am going I care what people are going to think of me- but this is most recently occurring in my life after a certain event. My fiancé and I had a baby this past June, and she was unexpectedly born with many complications (GBS sepsis, pneumonia, and meningitis, then later learned she had an asd, large/atypical vsd and narrow mitral valves) so we have gone to many, many doctor’s appointments where I feel they judge my competence as a parent on what I am wearing and how I appear to them. I think this is the easiest basis for judging a person’s class- how they appear. If I went into the doctor’s office with a bright pink sequined tank top with Abercrombie displayed, paired with a frayed jean skirt and some uggs, I honestly don’t think that they would take me as seriously as if I wore a black turtleneck, jeans and boots with a scarf and hair in a bun. In my opinion, I think that those two outfit choices would group me into two different classes, and they would misjudge my intellect based on that.. which would result me finding out less information about my daughter and thus leaving me less questions to ask etc.

I cannot possibly say that I am not a participant in this either. I think I do judge people based on what they look like. I think that it is human nature to gather as much information as possible about a subject for protection, so that you are prepared. However, humans have become advanced individuals that don’t necessarily always need that tactic to survive. I don’t think many people like to admit how invisible “classism” really is in this society and culture. I think as discussed in Johnson’s book, people are largely in denial that racism, classism, ageism, or sexism even occur. In order to change this, we need to openly analyze and asses our thought processes when we experience classism. If we do this, we can understand that it isn’t at all reasonable to see that man as part of the lower class because his shirt has stains on it and is wearing jeans and shoes that from walmart. If we hear other people judge others based on materiel possessions, we need to educate them that isn’t the correct way to evaluate a person, and that it doesn’t help them to do so. We can encourage more open discussions among students at a young age, where education on these subjects should begin. Even if their home life encourages negative assumptions about people, at the very least it could be counteracting with the positive.

Blue eyes or Brown eyes.

            I was very surprised by the blue eyed/brown eyes experiment by Jane Elliot. I would think it would take a lot of knowledge and courage to create such an experiment because I am sure that Elliot received a lot of criticism. I think that she was absolutely brilliant for creating the experiment and finely tweaking it to be as realistic as possible and producing realistic results. However, I do not think that this could happen in today’s society and in today’s school systems. Teachers had more power over their children back then, in my opinion. In today’s world, teachers and people are a lot more concerned about sending the right message to kids, careful not to violate their rights, and so careful not to influence other cultures. For example, in most public schools, praying is not accepted in curriculum and it seems that most of the work is based around well rounded and common principles that are carefully selected not to offend anyone.

            I do not believe that her behavior to the inferior group would be tolerated; she would probably lose her job. I do believe that the experiment worked, but I think it might be a violation of rights and considered cruel… although racism is still a problem today and laws concerning that are not always enforced (depending who is involved, another example of abuse of power). I am extremely interested to speak to a child who went through this experiment and see what they had to say about it today. I think it is possible that Elliot downplayed the cruelty towards the kids to make her points to them. As Wikipedia states, Elliot did move on and take unpaid leave to do the exercise with adults, but the adult’s participation I am sure was voluntary and the kid’s were not. I wonder how the parents felt. I do agree that just talking about the subject is insufficient- especially to hands on learners. I don’t think that she had the right to do this experiment unknowingly to children, but I do think it helped them understand true racism… I would hope that they each changed their ideas of the black children after this exercise.

            I don’t really think “the end justifies the means” in this experiment. I think some basic rights were distorted in this exercise with children that don’t know better… and may not know when they are being taken advantage of I think that the point Elliot was trying to get across could have got across a different way. We did not have this experiment and most people that I know were educated in elementary school effectively regarding racism. However- that could have been due to the fact that our home lives were not filled with racism and hatred. But who knows, Elliot may have contributed to the major social change that is going on today.

           

Johnson Ch 8: deny, deny deny?

I loved the quote by Johnson stating “If you are not part of the problem, you are not part of the solution”. We cannot just simply stand by watching and listening to oppression, discrimination and ridicule around us and do nothing- because we are not involved right? This reminds me of the quote “there are two kinds of people. Those who do evil things and those who see evil things being done and do nothing to stop them”. I think the latter option is actually worse because the oppressor and “privileged” person may have a mental condition that made him or her say or do the negative action whether it is emotion or passion that is leading their actions. Usually the by stander is somewhat neutral, and may be at a privileged advantage to do something… yet according to many social experiments, people don’t do much but stand by and watch.

Many strategies that are used to deny that the oppression and ridicule is going on is to blame the victim, minimize the problem, think “it would be a better world if…”, “I was only kidding” so it doesn’t matter or hurt if you don’t mean it, and also think that the dominant group members are better than the less powerful and oppressed. These practices blame the victim because it makes the dominant person feel better. If the dominant person feels better about his or herself then the battle is won… they have obtained their confidence from hurting someone else and contributing to their own power. Every person has their flaws, no one is perfect. The dominant oppressor may distract from his or her flaws and refocus onto the oppressed person’s flaws because it makes them feel more powerful and protects them from ridicule from a person above them in power.

In today’s society this cycle is on going from a young age to an old age. Bullies often have troubled personal lives, and do not feel confident within themselves, so they shift the attention to another subject to deflect their feelings. That victim may also turn to anther child or possibly younger sibling at home and deflect their anger towards the bully onto someone else. Where does the cycle end? We can also examine domestic violence. The aggressor lashes out on the victim because they may have had a bad day, or do not feel confident in the relationship or themselves. The woman in turn may have resentment towards herself or her children for having to stay and the cycle continues.

I think the only way that this cycle can be stopped is to put an end to it individually. I think we need to start from an early age educating children on the “right” thing to do, and to speak up for others regardless. We cannot minimize the problems of racism, sexism, ageism, etc. We also need to accept that these are OUR problems even if they are not affecting us first hand. I learned in my FS 773 course that racism starts at age 3. Many kids don’t even go to school at age three, so it must be coming from parents or other examples. We are in charge and need to instill in these young, untarnished minds that everyone is equal and to be accepting of others, otherwise this cycle is going to continue for generations ahead indefinitely.

Quick blog: Young Soldier Both Revered and Reviled

This is a NY Times article featuring a story where a sergeant used his power along with other American soldiers to kill five Afghan civilians for "sport" posing for pictures with their corpses. Sg. Gibbs supposedly said to another soldier that the ideal soldier was the kind that would kill without any regret. What do you think of this article? Do you think the power got to Sgt. Gibbs? Or that he may have a psychological disorder? Or that the training in our country for marines/army men is just too raw?

I think it could possibly be a combination of all.


http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/05/world/asia/05gibbs.html?_r=1

Post four: Stanford Experiment

I do believe that human behavior is dependent on the situation. Although I found the experiment interesting and helpful in understanding human nature, I think that the Stanford Prison experiment went a little too far and really violated any code of ethics. I think it was really interesting to see how the guards abused their power and freedom and used it to their advantage over the prisoners. When comparing this experiment to racism, I would say that the white supremacist and racists are the guards, and the ridiculed group are the prisoners. Although if you look at the big picture, it is more like the racist people are the prisoners- prisoners stuck in a small room along with their negative and empty feelings towards others. They are prisoners of their own confined thoughts, unable to experience acceptance and love of others, and due to the “human nature” of groups, they lack the freedom to travel outside of the group’s ideals.

In the guards’ eyes, prisoners are just a number in their job. They don’t distinguish one person from the next, like prisoner 416 said how he was just a number to the guards, not a name. This made me think of how racist people think of the group that is oppressed. Take the Nazi’s for example; the prisoners in the concentration camps were completely dehumanized so that it would be easier for the guards to abuse them because if they related to the prisoners, it might be too difficult for them to hurt or kill them. The prisoners in the concentration camps were not people and not individuals, but just numbers to the Nazis.

The Stanford experiment really helps to illuminate privilege, power and oppression in our society over many years. The guards have the privilege of freedom, of a voice and of power over others. However, when power is trusted into the wrong people, a bad situation can result from it. It is not often that in a group of people that one person will speak up saying or doing the “right thing”. It also showed how difficult it is to break the power, and break the oppression of others because it is difficult to be the only one standing up for a cause. This experiment largely showed that the privilege of having power is often abused, resulting in oppression and abuse of other people if no one speaks up. This is why we must not be afraid of the oppression we may face by being the only one who does it.

Nature, Nurture and Society

I have to say that I do agree with John Gray’s idea that men and women are very different. I think that men and women are very different though, due to how society has created roles and gender identities for each sex. While newborns are brand new to the earth and have no behavioral differences or knowledge of true gender yet, we are already buying and dressing them in pink and blue hues with purple and green nurseries. As toddlers, boys are encouraged to play with trucks, cars, and pretend “tools” while girls are playing with doll houses and playing house with their dolls. As these kids get older, it is more acceptable in our society for boys to rambunctiously run around loudly, while some adults may scour if a girl acts the same as a young boy.

I think biology made women and men different as well for reasons that helped us survive many years ago. In my opinion, I think Gray does make some valid points that women are more emotionally in tune in general. However, again I think society has shaped that. If you have ever seen the movie “Tough Guise” you would see that society shapes men to have a strong exterior as well as interior and be powerful, in control and independent. If a man does not conform to these harsh standards, he would be ridiculed.

I loved Professor Kimmel’s lecture! I am a sociologist and/or a psychologist at heart, and loved his statistics, especially in his lecture about parenting and marriage. I find it absolutely fascinating that the U.S. does not have paid parental leave, and is in the same category as some 3^rd world countries. I think Kimmel makes a great point when he says that men could potentially change that. Many people view issues such as parental leave as women’s issues.. when in fact they are parent’s issues. If men stood up for these rights, there is a huge advantage to women and men as Kimmel described. Personally, I think men and women do parent differently due to “nature”. I think women are more sensitive to their child’s needs, but I also do believe that men can also develop that same sensitivity if they are the child’s primary caregiver. In fact, I read a study a few months ago in NY Times that measured the oxytocin hormone levels in both the fathers and mothers of babies right after birth and six months after birth. The mother’s hormones were initially higher, but at the six month mark they were the same. I don’t think this is the result that most people expected from the study. If men are in tune to their children and society accepts men being close and in tune to their children, they will develop the same bond as the mother. 

When examining the nurture element of things, I think that society “nurtures” us into the parent and person we are going to be alongside other biological elements such as personality, hormone levels, etc. I don’t think much has changed with biology over the past 100 years in humans, but as mentioned in Kimmel’s lecture human nature has. We have evolved into more accepting, liberal and most of us are striving for equality. Women are in a completely different place than they were 100 years ago today, thanks to individuals willing to push the envelope and speak out for what is right.

The F Word: Second Post on Feminism

In conjunction with my last blog post, I would say that the media is in control of how the media perceives others. The media has the power to place a stigma on any group of people. It is in full control of whether or not we will hate these types of people, place stereotypes and be prejudice against them, or accept and embrace them. I blame the media as well as myself when I say that before seeing “The F Word”, if you asked me to envision a hard core feminist I would picture a tall, earthy woman with long, straggly and unwashed hair, wearing a tie dye shirt and Birkenstock shoes. After seeing the film, I see a feminist somewhere in most people, men included. Another myth associated with feminism is that they are “liberal” lesbians. This statement is crazy to me because there are so many different views in the world, and why in today’s advanced culture does viewing male and females as equals have to be considered leftist? This should be a given, but unfortunately it is not. Also, I feel as though it is an excuse to say that only women who are attracted to other women are feminists. In many ways, I would consider many men I know to have feminist ideas. Look at how many split households there are in today’s society where the woman works as well as the man, so the household chores and child care is divided in half. There are also many households where the father stays home and the mother of the child (ren) works. The father in these situations must be somewhat feminist to be splitting the responsibilities that men may have viewed 60 years ago as “the woman’s duty”.

 I would define feminism as a movement towards creating equality for women socially, economically, and politically among many more ways. I would consider myself a feminist. I believe that women should absolutely be held to the same standards as men. In fact, some days I believe women deserve more respect and appreciation than men! Women have to work harder than men in the business world to prove themselves, yet many women make much less than their male competitors. And all the while working full time, they must compensate for the time spent at work and spend more time with their children while tending to household chores as well. I also give many single parents a lot of credit, both men and women. This is where I think we need to give men more credit than we do. I think when we think of single parent, we think of women and give them all of the credit. 

I do believe that feminism is on the rise currently, however I also believe that society is still nowhere near equal. Women still make less money than men do, and women are still primarily responsible for all care taking responsibilities due to the bread winning aspect of things. Women are still viewed as sexual objects, but I might add that many celebrities use that to their advantage. I also am not entirely sure whether or not to consider that a matter of inequality because men are also objectified in society.

First Post: Question A

I loved listening to Bell Hooks, she is extremely knowledgeable and I think she has a fascinating take on the feminism movement. I agree with Bell Hooks that the media can control society and is vastly powerful when it comes to affecting people’s viewpoints as well. I remember being a young girl and wanting to look exactly like Britney Spears, because that was what the media marketed as “beautiful” but I did not have blonde hair or brown eyes like Britney, and so I did not see myself as beautiful. Now as an adult, I see the trends changing and women that would be considered beautiful at the time changing. However, as I look back, over the duration of my life one thing has been the same: the media’s portrayal of women as sexual objects.

As Bell Hooks described, Madonna started out as a positive advocate for feminism but quickly gave into the greedy atmosphere of pop culture. In present day, Madonna is still viewed as an icon in pop culture, and will forever be remembered for her actions, provocative outfits, kissing other women for attention over interest, instead of the changes she could have made in patriarchal society.

I think the media is in full control when it comes to distributing power and privilege throughout society.  The media can be held responsible for who is viewed as most attractive, if we have a matriarchal or patriarchal society, and how we view others. I think the media affects human beings from very early ages. If you examine a children’s book, some books already automatically assume the mother in the role of the primary care taker that stays home baking cookies and waving as the father goes off to work. As a young adult watching the news or listening to the radio, they learn different stereotypes and what is most interesting to society: violence and sex.