Quick Blog 6

I have a pretty diverse group of friends and people I know. Most of my friends are around my age but a handful of friends are a few years older than me.  I also help coach a town basketball team where I live so I am around high school kids some too.  At one of my summer jobs I worked with some people who could be my parents and also people my age so I have had experience encountering people of different age groups. It is an interesting dynamic but also very important because it allows me to find that I can relate to a lot of people, age not really being an issue.  I feel I spend enough time with people who are close enough to my age to where we can still relate well with one another, while not spending much time with people out of that age range. 

I think people who are not within the same age range can have difficulty relating to one another because society is always changing.  The way people talk changes so misinterpretations may occur during said encounters.  While I think this can be overcome employers may not want a possible issue to arise.  Also, younger people are looked at in positive ways such as being technologically advanced yet are also widely considered less responsible than older people. While the idea of "respect for elders" argument is fair, one never hears of "respect your youth."  Younger people are looked at as always "up to something" and elderly people as unable to do for themselves, which are two bad characterizations of both groups.

There is much to be learned by spending time with people of varying ages.  It offers a different perspective than the one a person sees through on a daily basis.  Older people, even though may have different views than someone younger, has seen more in their life so that says something about experience.  I think if people worked together and there wasn't such a divide we could all learn from each other and then generational gaps would not be as signifcant or important.

Blog 15- What I Can Do

I fully realize that I am just one person. Realistically, I cannot change how everyone views issues that we have studied in this class. However, I can influence the people around me. I want to be more mindful of issues such as ableism because it was not something I gave too much thought before this class. I realized there was inequality yet I did not think of it too much. Honestly, this could be because I was afraid to see how privileged I am just because of the groups society puts us in. I do not see too much discrimination but if I were to see this in the future my eyes will be opened to it. I will speak up because I realized how much of an impact discrimination has now. Before, I knew about racism but the other -isms were not too familiar to me so I will be more mindful of that.

I figure if I am not a negative participant in society, notice these issues, and not stand by and just go with the majority then I will make a difference. I have already brought up things I have learned from class with friends and many of them were surprised to learn how privileged we are, even if we don’t necessarily feel it. I am realistic, at some point in my life I will probably run into people who are in denial but I feel as though this class has given me information to speak my mind. If this class has taught me one thing, not matter our differences we are all the same and mainly want the same things. I know that sounds cliché but after some thought age, sexual orientation, race, etc. do not matter. If anything is to change we all have to work for it, not just one segment of people.

Activism

Being a good activist, to me, is to be passionate about what you are fighting for. There is no such thing as a passive activist. You do not have to be a gay man or a lesbian to be an activist for gay rights or marriage. An activist just has to want to fight for the change they want to see. An activist, especially a leader, has to be able to speak to others in a way that connects. I think it is important that an activist does not alienate the people they are against. It seems like the only way change can come about is if the people who want change convert some of the people on the fence about a given issue. An activist who has a significant impact on change has to be able to speak to everyone while at the same time prove why change is needed.

A great example of an activist connecting with people would have to be Shirley Chisholm. I found it very interesting that she was running for President at a time where women did not have the power they have today. Not too many women had powerful jobs at this time and she was running for the most important job in the country. I admire her because she was a black woman who was not afraid to speak her thoughts and try to make a change. She did not think she was going to win that particular election but she wanted to show that it could be done. I have not watched more videos about her but it seems like she was not an alienating type, she wanted change and she was doing it the right way. In many ways it’s clear she paved a way for President Obama. She set the precedent.

I also really liked what Howard Zinn had to say because he kind of broke down the way power works in out society. He falls into at least two of the privilege groups, most likely all four, and he is still an activist. He doesn’t need to be. However, he had a way of explaining what activism is and why it is important to fight for change that really helped me gain understanding of what it truly means.

Ageism

While watching the video, “Once We Were Young,” I couldn’t help but notice how life is much more difficult for an older person than I thought. I think at the root of the issue is that life moves fast. Today, many jobs are moving at a mile a minute and people automatically look at older people as if they cannot keep up. Also, in a medical sense, ageism works to support health care providers who think it is risky to cover someone who is older. I do not think it is right but it seems to be the way things have been. When thinking about myself being ageist I would have to be honest and say, in certain circumstances, yes I am. The video shows a group of teenagers walking by an old lady and calling her things like, “grandma.” Now, grandma is not a bad term but the way they said it was filled with sarcasm. They were being jerk for no reason. I am not like that, however sometimes I see an old person and I think to myself that in some way, because they are old, they are helpless. That itself is being ageist because all I’m basing that on is the fact they are old.

I think the reason why we do not talk about ageism so much in our society is because there are so many more glaringly obvious issues in our society. Racism and heterosexism are two issues that are always up for debate. For example, there was a time when a “mixed race” marriage was looked at as very negative. Gay couples are fighting for the right to be married. Yet, no one has ever seemed to care if two old people want to get married. While ageism of old and young does exist, especially concerning jobs, it seems like older people have it more tough. I think people try to sugarcoat things to older people when denying them a job.

Quick Blog 5

Watching the video, “Dead Porn Stars Memorial” really got me to look at the impact of porn. I never really thought of the consequences porn stars had to come to terms with in their real life. It was sobering to see how many porn stars died in pretty violent ways. Numerous people took their lives while many others died from possible accidental drug overdoses and car accidents. Also, many died from complications of AIDS. I have mixed feelings about the message of the video. It seems like the video implies that everyone who passed away because of porn only. While this may be true in a good amount of the cases I’m sure there were other factors. That being said, I think the porn industry is partially to blame.

In some ways I think porn shapes how men see women sexually but I don’t think that is the case for every male. However, porn does further sexist and misogynistic views of women because they are objectified. Most porn is for males and it seems as though it works to reinforce the male’s dominance over the female. It harms young men watching it because it will allow them to think it is acceptable to treat women as if they were objects. I have mixed feelings about how feminists look at pornography. I think men and women are objectified yet the focus is more of women because they draw the men in. I see there is a dark side to it but I think it is a case by case scenario. The video shows a number of men who died as well so porn can have an affect on all people not just women.

Gimp

The video Gimp was eye opening in a few ways. First, the video made it clear that disabilities are not the end of your life. This was displayed by a dance that showcases people with disabilities yet that is not its only focus. I thought it was interesting to see disabled and non-disabled people doing pretty much the same dance moves. At times I didn’t even realize people were disabled at first. It was a good example of how we can easily follow the stereotype that disabled people are helpless. This video proved that notion was false. Ableism is the idea that disabled people are inferior to non-disabled people but video such as this prove this to be wrong. By showing disabled people as the same as a non-disabled person, having them to the same physically strenuous exercises, works to break down negative ideas about disabled people.

In Susan Wendell’s piece, “The Social Construction of Disability,” she opens with making a very important point. She writes, “I see disability as socially constructed in ways ranging from social conditions that straightforwardly create illnesses, injuries, and poor physical functioning, to subtle cultural factors that determine standards of normality and exclude those who do not meet them from full participation in their societies” (477). I think the most important part of her point is that the subtle ways disabled people are excluded in our society. The idea that there is a “standard of normality” proves there is a disparity between who can participate fully and who cannot. I feel as though most of the time non-disabled people ignore these subtleties because they can. However, disabled people cannot because it is something they have to face every day.

Process Piece

I think my project came out pretty well. I put a lot of thought into how to show how racism has been looked at in the past, how it is still present today. Also, I wanted to show how racism is changing today, for the better in my opinion. I started my project by figuring out what program to use, ultimately choosing Windows Movie Maker. Once I was familiarized with the program I started my research by finding pictures that I thought would be useful. After I did that, I asked a family member and some friends what their thoughts on racism were. Once I did that, I researched quotes from famous and influential people to have a balance. Since I had all the pieces to my project, all I had to do was arrange them in a way that explained what racism from a historical sense. It took me awhile to figure out how I wanted to present an issue that many people are familiar with at least on a basic level. I think this turned out well. After I had finished the movie I synched the music to it. The song is more than an effect. I think it contributes to the spirit of my project and it added something extra. It is an informative song with a similar message I was trying to get across with the video. I was a little concerned with the fact that there were a lot of quotes at the end but the way the song ended with just the beat made it seem more cohesive overall. I am proud of it because for being a relatively short piece I think it demonstrates how black people were looked upon and portrayed throughout history and how this is changing in the media today. My project’s biggest weakness, I feel, is that I feel like I could have made my titles stronger when introducing slides.
　

Work Cited

All the images were found at
Interview were conducted by Tom Wilbur
Mark W. Personal. 14 January 2011.
Keenan D. Personal. 15 January 2011.
Melissa C. Personal. 15 January 2011.
"Racism Quotes, Sayings about Racial and Ethnic Discrimination." The Quote Garden - Quotes, Sayings, Quotations, Verses. 9 Sept. 2010. Web. 15 Jan. 2011. <http://www.quotegarden.com/racism.html>.www.google.com

Transgender Women

Going into reading Julia Serano’s piece, “Trans Woman Manifesto” and the film Beautiful Daughters, I did not know a lot about transgender people at all. The one thing that truly impacted me was the fact that these women did not identify themselves as men, even before they transitioned. While in hindsight I was thinking very stereotypical, I used to think transgender women were mostly gay men who wanted to be in a heterosexual relationship with a man. I know now I was participating in traditional sexism because I was associating with the male aspect of the situation. I subconsciously identified with the male qualities, which leads one to the false notion that masculinity is superior. Now I know that these women certainly did not want to transition just on a sexual desire. They felt and identified as women even though, according to societal norms, they were considered men. The line from Beautiful Daughters, “A wrong was righted” seems to be right on. These “internal” women were able to manifest into women in an outward form.

Overall, I think cisgender people must accept trans women as equals and come to accept the person for who they are. I find it difficult to deny someone their gender identity that they have clearly embraced. I would not call a trans woman “he” even though it may honestly be a little awkward depending on the stage of transition the person is in. If everyone were to throw out what is considered “normal” then I think transgender people will be able to fight transphobia.

How is "Whip My Hair" an Issue?

I think at this point Willow Smith may be the best role model for young girls there is. Before her who was the main role model? Oh yeah, Miley Cyrus.  Enough said, she practically stripteases at award shows and allows herself to be filmed smoking (a legal substance) out of a bong. As far as the lyrics and video goes I think it would be a HUGE stretch to say that there is a sexualness about it. If she were to throw her head back or make a face suggesting sexuality I would say that's an issue but she really doesn't. Even though this song is not targeted toward me it seems like it is more about empowerment. Girls can "whip their hair" no matter what type of hair they have. The video doesn't sexualize whipping the hair. However, I get that whipping your hair could be looked at as a form of showing sexual pleasure but I think that would be a very perverse way of looking at a young girls song. I think that the nedia is dying for controversy that we try to make things something they are not. I think race is an issue but, at its core, it seems about equality. Young girls, no matter what, can "whip their hair." It is another form of showing equality, yet I may be reading into a pop song too much. She wasn't even wearing anything I'd consider close to provocative so all in all I think that the video is something positive for younger girls. I don't even remember seeing a man or woman dancing in a way that could be considered sexual or as a bad influence.

Freeholders

After watching the film Freeheld about Laurel Hester’s fight for equality. I found it difficult to watch because it came across as clear how her and Stacie cared for one another. The emotional and physical stress and pain was clearly written all over Laurel’s face. She wasn’t asking for anything out of the ordinary. All she wanted was for her partner to have the same benefits that any other heterosexual partner would be given in similar circumstances.

In terms of the benefits, Stacie could have lost the home they worked together to make their home. It is heartbreaking because it is clear that it was not an issue of the state affording it. As the video showed, and a Freeholder admitted, it was a discriminatory issue. Gay marriage is a different issue, yet a partnership that seems a lot stronger than heterosexual marriages should afford a surviving partner to get benefits.

It was hard to watch because I looked at it from a cynical point of view. The whole time I thought it was going to be a doubly sad ending. It seemed as though she was going to die without seeing what she wanted so bad. In that sense, it gives people hope that equality is achievable. They weren’t asking for a handout, just something that most other people do not have to fight for. I think that Laurel’s case was so much more prominent because she was a detective and helped protect the same people who were trying to deny her civil rights. It is a little sad that a governor had to make a call to make the Freeholders change their minds. This shows that people have to fight for equality and eventually people will listen. Laurel represents everyone in the sense that she wanted the same things everyone else was getting and, with her Stacie’s support, continued to fight even though she was so weakened when the law finally passed. Heterosexist oppression still exists but this film shows that it isn’t going to be like that forever.

Women in commercials

Women have always been objectified in the world of advertisement. Jean Kilbourne shows us many example in her movie, Killing Us Softly 3. I see many advertisements all the time that show women and men in a very sexualized way. I often wonder how a company can see jeans when both the men and women are basically completely naked. However, the advertisements that Kilbourne used as examples were so much more sexist than what I am used to seeing. Some of the advertisements were downright perverse such as the one where there is a corpse of a female in the window and it says “I’d kill for these” and it is a show ad. I had never seen any of these ads before and some I didn’t even know were legal to put in print.


Kilbourne’s movie shows that men are always portrayed as superior to women. Women are always being groped or looked at as a nuisance. I never realized the instances where a woman’s mouth is covered was an attempt to keep her quiet. I guess I may be desensitized to this because seeing these ads in this context made me think of other ads where it is clearly sexist. However, I found it interesting that white privilege plays a role as well. Women are only superior to a man when she is white and he is non-white. These ads push women to try and attain what is impossible for most women. That is utter perfection. Consumer capitalism is a clear factor. The advertisements push things to either make women want to be perfect or to sell to not just women, but men as well. Beer commercials showcase scantily clad women so men actually pay attention. Subconsciously men buy the beer because of the women in the ad. All these things make money. For example, if a beer commercial were to show the negative affects of drinking it would be a depressing commercial and no one would buy there beer. However, put a woman in the ad with everything hanging out and boom there’s a profit.


One commercial I think kind of diversifies how gender is looked at is, of all things, a beer commercial. In it the woman is the bartender and she makes fun of guys for not buying the “better tasting” beer. In one he has a man-purse, another he has a wicked fake tan and in another he is wearing skinny jeans. She makes fun of him so she seems to be more free. However, the idea of a woman bartender is still one of her selling the beer. It is not equal but she is not looked upon as just a sexualized object.

Question H

I grew up Catholic, I was baptized and received First Communion. As a child my parents made us go to church almost every weekend. However, once I got to the high school age where kids get Confirmed, I stopped going. I used to go to religious classes and I knew from an early age it wasn’t for me. I told my parents I did not have any interest in going to an organized church. It caused some tension but they realized it was a decision I myself had to make. I still identify as Catholic but I would say I’m more spiritual than religious. I had too many questions that just don’t add up to me.

However, it would be wrong to say that I do not have privilege because of my religious upbringing. One thing that I notice, especially due to the time of year just passed, is that I am not offended when I hear “Merry Christmas.” It is part of my upbringing that that is something normal to say. I have even found myself annoyed when people are politically correct about holiday terms. Yet, this is a clear example of my privilege. In Schlosser’s piece I also noticed how my religious background was supported in things like what kids do at school. I never came home from school with Christmas crafts and have my parents be angry because it was against our religion.

Even though I have friends who are of a different religious background, I never really thought of the other side of the issue. I think of it in terms of an atheist pushing their ideas upon me. Without getting into my convictions too much, I believe in something higher than us, I’m just not totally comfortable saying “Yes, I believe in a white male God” that Christians believe to be true. However, if the dominant idea was that there was nothing higher than us I think I would be offended and oppressed. Since I have never really ran into that I’m not positive how I would react but I figure I wouldn’t be too pleased. Even though Schlosser’s piece is just a list of privileges, I connected with that and made me think about my thoughts of religious representation.

Quick Blog 3

I never really thought about it in terms of class, however, I feel like I may have been privileged just by being able to live in a normal size house. I never really gave it much thought but I have never had to deal with downsizing to a smaller house or anything like that.  In that case, I'm more advantaged than some.

One time I was at a friends house.  I only met his parents a couple times before and immediately I realized he came from a family with some money, or at least that's how it seemed.  I felt a little disadvantaged just by the way they acted.  They weren't stuck up or anything but I quickly got the sense that I came from a solid middle-class family and his family had just a little more. It was enough to see a difference though.

In high school some kids were made fun of because of the town they were from.  As a high school kid I kind of went along with the crowd but mostly I was just quiet because I didn't want to seem like I was sympathizing with them. I wanted to fit in.  I feel bad now but I didn't fully realize what I was doing at the time.

Video Treatment

The Topic: I am going to examine racism because it is the ism that I found to be the most interesting. I think it is one of the most important isms to try understanding because it has been ingrained in our culture for so long.

Story: Use quotes from my friends as well as scholars to get an idea of what racism is to different people. Through images I will show how people of color have been treated throughout history.

Software: I plan on using PowerPoint because I know how to use it. However, I am going to try one of the other programs to see how it works. I will probably try Xtranormal first. I have only used PowerPoint so I am not sure which one I will end up using. I will search the web to see what I can do better if I need the help.

Research: I am going to start off by gathering quotes from friends about their ideas of racism. I am then going to collect quotes from more well known people. After that, I am going to find a song that fits my presentation, probably a hip-hop song that supports my point. Also, I will need to find images online to include in my video.

Time Line:
Wednesday: First, figure out which software I am going to use. After, gather quotes from my friends.

Thursday: Find pictures and video clips to include in the project.

Friday: Write-up a introduction and conclusion to the video.

Saturday and Sunday: Finish putting all of the video together and make sure it works well.

Take Away: I want people to see how racism is looked upon differently depending on whose perspective it is coming from. Also, I want to show that racism is looked at differently today than it was even a generation ago. I want to include hip-hop to show that some artists are socially conscious and that it can help aide educational projects such as this video.

Question G: Class

I am not sure when I first became aware of class but in high shcool it became more obvious. The high school I went to was in my town but three other surrounding town went to it as well. One of these towns had the stereotype of being of a lower social class. Most all of the towns were comprised of middle-class families but there were also some slightly upper-class kids too. The one “lower class” town was looked down upon, it had a certain stigma about it.
Thinking back, I don’t think that it was right that the town had that image but it was easier to ignore because everyone else wasn’t that much better off than the people of the singled out town. Watching the video, People Like Us, I realized how much like high school classism is. Therefore, I believe that in high school we collectively singled out a town and many of the kids from that town so that the collective as a whole would feel better about ourselves. That’s what happens today.

It was sad watching the video of the upper class people because it seemed as though that was all there was to their life. The middle-class people who were in the dive bar seemed to at least be real and comfortable with who they were. I’m not sure how to encourage discussion because it seems as though many belonging to the upper class do not desire to change their ways. These people feel entitled to what they have. That can be proven to be very difficult in breaking. It would be interesting to see more discussion but I think it is more challenging than people think.

Question F- The Blue-Eyed/Brown-Eyed Experiment

Jane Elliott’s experiment did what many other methods of teacher could not do. It taught young white children in the 60s what it was like to be of color. The children had been just repeating the racist ideas that they had heard from parents and other adults. They were not getting it. Elliott may have gone a little overboard with making the kids wear collars to show they were in the subordinate group. Young children being thrown into acts of segregation may not be the best thing to do morally yet it is an effective tool to prove your point. These kids supposedly had never seen a black person before so there was no way for them to understand what it is like to be oppressed. Some of the things Elliott did were cruel but she did not physically harm anyone. The students just realized what it was like when they couldn’t drink out of the same water fountain as some of their friends.

Ethically, this type of thing just wouldn’t happen today with the way society is. However, times were different then. I’m sure that there was still some harsh punishment at school, even Catholic schools, where kids were physically punished. Times were different then and teachers got away with a lot more than today so, ethically, what Elliott did was not that bad. Educationally, I basically agree with what she did. It effectively taught the children. Parents were just feeding their kids racist ideas which was doing more harm than good. She also did very good things for social change because if she didn’t show the kids how bad it felt to be segregated they would think it was acceptable to treat people like that. I think once kids saw that if you were of color you weren’t necessarily dumb but you can be treated that way. They got a taste of what being without white privilege was all about and I think that is a good thing. It shouldn’t be used universally but I believe she handled it correctly.

Quick Blog #2

The article is concerned with the efforts of passing the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA).  The article is based around the fact that the Constitution does not provide protection for women against discrimination.  Because this was announced instead of being disregarded it has shown light on the issues.  The articles talks of how the fight to ratify the amendment has been renewed after it ultimately failed in 1982.

Justice Scalia Revitalizes Equal Rights Amendment Movement

by Alex DiBranco January 07, 2011 01:12 PM

 

When Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia declared in a recent interview with the California Lawyer that the Constitution doesn't protect women against discrimination, I wasn't surprised. And neither were plenty of women's rights advocates. I mean, we've only been fighting for the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) for almost a 90 years now for exactly that reason.
I knew that, one day, some powerful person who could jeopardize women's equality was going to come out and say, well, constitutionally, sexism and discrimination is a-okay. That's why Kimberly Voss writes in Women's eNews that ERA supporters should give Scalia "a standing ovation right about now." Because the concerns that women's equality is not protected by the Constitution have regularly been pooh-poohed, undermining the ability of advocates to make progress on the addition of the Equal Rights Amendment. But though many court interpretations have applied the 14th Amendment's equal protections clause (created regarding race) to sex discrimination, we knew that it's just not clearly spelled out enough. Now, Scalia's remarks have proven the point.

And not just proven the point, but galvanized a fresh movement for the ratification of the ERA. On Wednesday, National Organization for Women (NOW) President Terry O'Neill, Feminist Majority President Eleanor Smeal, and other prominent women's rights advocates joined Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) in a press conference to express the vital need for the Equal Rights Amendment. "All modern Constitutions adopted since WWII have explicitly included provisions guaranteeing women equal rights," Smeal pointed out. But the United States remains a beacon of sexism.

Question E: Johnson Chapter 8

Of all the ways people of a dominant groups try to separate themselves from racism and sexism the one that is the most insensitive is the idea of blaming the victims of racism and sexism. Even though strategies like denying and minimizing, calling it something else, pretending it is better to have it this way, saying it doesn’t count if who is saying it doesn’t mean it and many others offer ways for people to “get off the hook.” However, blaming the victim, I believe, just illuminates the oppression dominant groups hold over subordinate groups. Arguments like, “If blacks were smarter or worked harder or got an education, they’d be okay” (Johnson 110) are unfortunately real defenses yet not credible. If the dominant group had not oppressed the subordinate groups the black people would be okay. Oppression is perpetuated when the whites refuse to acknowledge they are part of the problem and therefore not to blame.

An example of how this cycle can be stopped is by looking at what has already started. More and more black people are becoming the faces of companies. Off the top of my head I think of people in the music industry. For instance, many rappers have their own music labels while starting businesses. Many go into businesses such as audio equipment (Dr. Dre’s new headphones) or the beverage business (Diddy, Ludacris). The point is many rappers are really entrepreneurs and as many of them are given opportunities, are able to become more educated and continue to work as hard as they do, they will and are showing society what they are capable of. They work incredibly hard to get to the point where they are rich beyond belief and then many continue to branch out and continue to grow. This alone shows they, by dealing with oppression in a clever way, can succeed and “be okay.” These disadvantaged people show they are capable and already work hard, are educated, and smart enough where white people cannot even make that argument with a straight face.

Question D: The Stanford Prison Experiment

I have watched the Stanford Prison experiment in a Psychology class before so I only looked at it from a psychology perspective. After watching it now and thinking of it from an racial point of view, I see it from a different way. What struck me most was it seemed like everyone involved in the experiment was white and a male. If this is true, everyone started off equal because they were white males. In terms of race, the prisoners were treated like the oppressed while the guards were clearly the oppressors.

In society, we are shaped in part by what we are told from a young age. The guards who did not want to participate as harshly as the others were like white people who see racism, do not agree with it, yet do nothing about it. This is because they do not want to be looked at as unlike people of their own race. The prisoners who resist are like the oppressed who do not accept it and try to break the cycle.

The idea of privilege is showed perfectly here. The guards, who were equal to the prisoners, felt as though they had privilege because they were in uniform. This happened very quickly. Power and oppression was controlled by the guards as well. One would think the oppression factor would be normal because real guards to oppress prisoners. However, what I found most notable was the fact that the prisoners so quickly became the oppressed. They moved into those roles far too easily. Even the professor conducting the experiment kind of got caught up in the experiment also. We see this in our society but it stands out more when you see an experiment like this.

Question C

As I was watching Kimmel’s lecture I realized that the differences perpetuated by the media and society surrounding men and women were completely false. Men and women are not that different and I believe the best example of this is when Kimmel talks about how men doing household chores and parenting equally is beneficial for both men and women. While there are key differences between men and women, whether it is physical differences, attitude or how we deal with issues. However, women have changed so much in the past 30 years that they are closer to how men see the world. As Kimmel pointed out, women have an identity, their work conditions are slowly improving, their family and work lives are starting to become more balanced and women generally are not afraid to say what they are looking for sexually. All four of these things is what men basically already have.

Mainly, I think it is important for future generations to be raised and nurtured by a father and mother equally. It is shown kids are much healthier and happy and so are the adults. Not to get too personal, but my father was not as nurturing to younger brother, sister and myself and that has always been something I wanted to do differently when I became a parent. He didn’t do anything wrong but my parents followed the way parenting traditionally was thought to be. He worked all day, spent time with us when he got home while my mom took care of us during the day, cleaned the house and cooked dinner at night. Now she has a part-time job too, which is partially because we are all older now and she wants contribute in a way that is different from what she is used to.

Quesion B

Many people think of feminism as basically women who hate men and denounce everything that “being a woman” is about. The clearest example is early feminists who supposedly burned their bras to show they deserved equality. My personal definition of feminism is basically wide-range equality between men and women in everything we as a society do. The video makes it clear from the start that feminism is not about hating men or anything like that. It is actually the opposite to me. Feminists want everyone to be equal, not switch roles of men and women where men are the ones who are more disadvantaged. Some feel that because feminists are looked at as mainly lesbian radicals, they want to distance themselves from it. As Jessica Valenti said, many people think like a feminist but do not want to stigma attached to the name. In many ways I do consider myself a feminist because I believe men and women should be considered equal in every realm whether it be political, economic, etc. In today’s society I do not see how old stereotypes of women and men are relevant.

Feminism these days is interesting because we still see women depicted in a purely sexual, objectified way. On the other side, women are gaining some equality in the realms such as politics. Hillary Clinton ran for President. Like her or not, Sarah Palin was a candidate for the Vice Presidency of the United States. Women are also attaining higher level jobs than ever before, yet pay is not equal to that of men. As a male, I am not sure the state of feminism now because while some areas of society are becoming more equal we still look at women in an overall unequal light.

An interesting comparison is women in the sports world. There are many women who are now sports commentators when just a couple years ago there were very few. Yet, on the other hand we see women gain notoriety for purely their sexual exploits. One example that stands out to me is that a mistress of Tiger Woods, Rachel Uchitel, has become a “tabloid celebrity” (as I heard it somewhere) just because she slept with Tiger Woods. As a guy, that does not make me respect her and I believe that hurts true feminism because it shows she has little respect for women everywhere by willingly being looked at as merely a sexual object. To me, that is selling out women everywhere. My thinking along these lines may be wrong but I feel many males see it in similar ways.

The Media's View of Hp-Hop Music

As a white male from the suburbs, who is a fan of hip-hop music, I fall into the category of who the media wishes to push oppressive forms of hip-hop upon. While the hip-hop music that is popular in the mainstream may be catchy it is not the type of hip-hop I gravitate towards. In some cases I agree with bell hooks. Especially when she likens it to colonialism, in that the white listener can take whatever they want from it because hip-hop music is like a 3^rd world country. However, I think that is only one side of the story. Not all white people listen to hip-hop to hear about misogyny and sex, yet the media pushes that form of hip-hop to the point where it becomes almost acceptable.

The media pushes this music because it sells, even though it has racist qualities. It only shows black men and women in certain, often negative, situations. It is not a coincidence that hip-hop artists such as Common and Talib Kweli, who do not embrace the idea of perpetuating racist views, are not as mainstream as artists that do whatever it takes to make a dollar. The music these artists make is much better because it has a deeper meaning than say sex. However, these subjects do not connect to the masses as well as sexuality that mainstream hip-hop thrives on. Even though mainstream hip-hop artists are not dumb because they are making money, there is a type of collusion that is unfortunate. The media focuses on the negative aspects of the culture while downplaying the positive aspects of hip-hop.