Hi folks,
Just as a forewarning: we’re halfway through the semester . . . and I don’t know about others, but for me, it has recently become a struggle to think actively about this class. In the beginning, the readings and films would make me feel horrified or sick or outraged, but with the start of this new section, I think my brain finally reached a point where the issues we are studying are too much and I’ve just become numb to it all. No matter what I do, I can’t bring myself to really focus on what I’m seeing/reading . I’m beginning to feel like I lack the true empathy necessary to understanding the depth and impact of these kind of issues. I just wanted to put that out there, because it’s a concern to me and I don’t WANT to be numb or apathetic to what I’m seeing, but it’s become somewhat of a coping mechanism for me…and as a result, my blogging might sound a little clinical.
Moving on! It’s really nice to hear about your service learning experiences, Stephanie. My personal experiences with service learning don’t put me in touch with at-risk youth, so it’s very interesting to read about someone else’s encounters. I am not working with youths in my service learning at Pathways, as it is a program that offers semi-permanent shelter to women who are typically 35 or over. However, their upbringing as children into adulthood was almost certainly a large contributing factor to the circumstances of their lives now. Though it has been very difficult to get many of the women to open up and discuss their pasts, it is written on their faces that they have seen hardships and violence in their lives. It’s easy to surmise that perhaps if they had been more privileged or had stable home lives in the past, they would not be at Pathways now. Unfortunately I do not get as much interaction with them as I would hope, but I’ve taken to reading through the logbook which records all their activities from morning to night. One of the women, named Winnie, often has a hard time coping with her current situation in combination with mental illness. She will sometimes lash out (though not physically) at other women, and as a result she has changed roommates numerous times and currently rooms alone. Recognizing the cyclical nature of violence (which has been a common topic of discussion in class), I can’t believe that Winnie is fully to blame for her actions, and I would bet that past experiences of violence have molded her into who she has become. At any rate, it is very saddening.
I think all of us have been victims (or even participants in) youth violence at least once in our lives. However, I feel my own personal experiences with youth violence are nearly inconsequential compared to what other people have to deal with. The most significant experiences of youth violence I have are actually vicarious experiences through my older sister. Growing up, my sister was diagnosed with a high-level ADHD (the specific type of ADHD is classified by some as “The Ring of Fire”). She had problems both in school and at home, and as a result my mother tried every type of program available at the time for treatment. My sister was in and out of residential and foster programs for most of her adolescence--some of which were good, and others that weren’t. In the worse residential facilities, there were incidents of verbal, physical and emotional abuse. Some even had gangs, often based on the racial divisions within the program. Once, on the first day at a new residential program, my sister was followed into the restroom by a group of girls who attempted to haze her into their gang by forcing her to lick a toilet seat (after my mother heard this, she instantly pulled my sister out of there). That’s just one incident, and I still don’t know all that my sister experienced in those places… but I know that it is something that she will almost certainly carry with her for the rest of her life.
The impact of these instances of violence on my sister is completely evident. She was often far from her home and her family, and surrounded by violent behavior. She was predisposed to drugs and alcohol at a fairly young age, without any kind of consistent mentoring to guide her. As she grew older, she turned to drugs as an escape, and went on to experiment with heavier drugs. She eventually became addicted to heroin. She lived on the streets of Baltimore for four years before finally agreeing to rehab. And now, though she is now recovering and has been clean off of heavier substances for a few years, she still displays incredibly violent behavior—behavior that she learned (that she NEEDED) to survive in residential and on the streets.
I actually remember you, Stephanie, saying in class that your siblings were “reverse role models” for you, and I feel the same way about my sister in many ways. But knowing her past, it’s hard for me because I feel like it wasn’t her fault that she turned to drugs, and that she has violent outbursts in which she lashes out against those that love and care about her most. It’s a very personal issue within out family that I don’t typically talk about, but while doing the readings I could not help but be constantly reminded of my sister. Particularly in the film City of God, I saw the theme of violence for survival echoed, where small children participated in violent acts simply to survive (such as Steak shooting the two young boys in the feet, and then killing one of them).
VIDEO GAMES
Video games, for me, are a very touchy subject. My brother and I are both avid players of video games, and I also think that creating video games is an art form unto itself. I liken game creators to storytellers, who can not only weave amazing stories but also allow you to play a part in that story. I absolutely respect that they have the same freedoms afforded to other artists in different media, including freedom of speech.
Firstly, not all video games are violent. I think video games get a bad rap—yes, there are a significant amount of games which depict violence, but there is also a good number that do not. For example, over the years we have seen video gaming devolve to a solo activity—a lonely player sitting in a dark room for hours on end, disconnected from the outside world. Nintendo, which is probably the most well-known video game franchise across the globe, has attempted to reinstate video gaming as an activity of group interaction with their newest console: the Nintendo Wii. This console encourages physical interactivity, teamwork, and friendly competition between family and friends with classic sports games like bowling and tennis. This concept and a more economical price tag is what allowed the Nintendo Wii to outsell both Xbox360 and Playstation3 in sales last year.
Secondly, people need to rid themselves of the misconception that video games are only for children. Video games are made BY adults, so it seems only natural that there will be games that, just as there are movies and books made for more mature audiences, there will also be games with mature themes. I feel banning certain games due to violence is the wrong approach, and also neglecting the true issue. Violence is a reality, and I feel that you cannot block people from this reality. To me, the argument that video games are destructive because they allow players to emulate violent behavior is an ultimately weak one. If we ban games that are based on fighting tournaments, like Mortal Kombat and Streetfighter, are we also going to ban martial arts tournaments and sparring? If we ban first person shooters like Doom and Halo, are we also going to ban paintball and laser tag? The first film we watched outside of class, The Human Animal: War & Violence, began with a group of men playing paintball in army fatigues with guns that look and feel almost exactly like the real thing. Paintballing is an activity that certainly emulates the violence of war to the same extent, if not more, than any video game would. And although only adult men are depicted in the film, I know of quite a few parents who have no problem with their 8-year old sons going paintballing…while the mass majority of first person shooter games are rated by the ESRB as Teen or Mature.
I don’t want you to get the wrong idea—I’m absolutely disgusted by certain games that are overtly violent just for the sake of violence, such as Grand Theft Auto. However, one has to ask, how could a game like this even become popular if there wasn’t a market for it already in existence? In the second part of Tough Guise, it is stated that video games and other media are simply emulating what is already omnipresent in masculine culture—a culture connected to power, control and violence. The game is so popular because our society is so infused with this masculine culture, and boys want to play it because it makes them feel more like a “real man” and justifies their need to fit in with the norm of society. Blaming the video game instead of the culture its derived from is just an easy way to skirt the issue.
My thought is that ultimately, it is the role of a parent to monitor the games that his or her children play. In I Prayed for More Gun Control and Got Better Background Checks, Tonya Maria Matthews talks about how parents sometimes act with such ignorance and neglect—giving a child a .38 caliber for his birthday, not knowing that bombs are being made in their own basement, then claiming the child who shoots up a school is a monster. I fully agree with her, and I think that it is the parents’ responsibility to pay attention to their child and ensure their wellbeing and safety. A parent who allows a child to have a video game rated Mature or higher is irresponsible, plain and simple.
[I’m sorry for the rant, I just know way too much about video gaming for my own good.]
PS: Stephanie, you asked about the reading Kids, Guns and Violence, “Kleck mentioned finding a way to ban ‘bad guns’ and leave "good guns" but I do not understand what he means. Is he talking literatively or figuratively?” I think the authors are summarizing one of the current policies regarding gun control. It relies on specific types of guns, some of which are classified as good or okay, and others which are deemed “bad” (like military-style guns).
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Youth Violence
I just wanted to write a little about the poem that we read in class the other day. This really got me thinking about how people act and can be so judgemental. It kind of goes along with what I was saying about people stereotyping others into gangs. Well, the same thing goes to people stereotyping others as being dangerous or not belonging. Who says what "normal" is? Is right for one person to call someone else weird or not normal? Or beat someone up just because of their race or ethnicity or even where they live?
The poem is about two boys who went grocery shopping and decided to go into a different neighborhood them they live in. It is stated in the poem that it is "all white. All American". It is sad, if I am taking the right, that two boys only six and nine already have in their mind that you have to be white to be American. And they also think that just because they are Mexican, it is alright for people to hate them. This poem really struck a chord with me and did get me a little upset because when I think about, there are people who still think and act that way. And a lot of the time it is the children who get punished for it.
I know it is not a long exert but I wanted to comment on how I felt about the poem.
The poem is about two boys who went grocery shopping and decided to go into a different neighborhood them they live in. It is stated in the poem that it is "all white. All American". It is sad, if I am taking the right, that two boys only six and nine already have in their mind that you have to be white to be American. And they also think that just because they are Mexican, it is alright for people to hate them. This poem really struck a chord with me and did get me a little upset because when I think about, there are people who still think and act that way. And a lot of the time it is the children who get punished for it.
I know it is not a long exert but I wanted to comment on how I felt about the poem.
Youth Violence
Hey Lesleigh,
Before I go into gangs and the City of God movie, I wanted to talk a little about my service learning. Last night there was a little boy who would not do any of the work and was ignoring us pretty much the whole time. I guess he got to his breaking point and got mad at us trying to get him to do the work. He started to hit himself in the head with his hands and when I took his hands so he could not do it anymore, he started to bang his head on the table. This was not the first time I have seen a kid hit him or herself but this kid was very persistent. It scares me that they try to inflict pain on themselves. It might not turn to anything but if he has not problem hitting himself, I keep thinking; will it turn into more? Or will he start hitting others? We have talked in class about juveniles committing violence on each other, but not much about doing to his or her own body.
In class we were talking about choices and (as some stated) that there is always a choice. I agree with this statement that there is always a choice but neither one might be good. My Professor in my Holocaust class called this choice less choices; meaning any choice given will turn out bad. She used the example of Rumcowski having to give over twenty thousand children under the age ten. He said it was either that or the Nazis come and take more so he CHOSE to cooperate. Either choice that he could have made had a terrible outcome. This is what I thought about when talking about the City of God movie. They all had a choice throughout the movie; whether it be to join or not or to get out of the gangs. If you were already in a gang, there is a good a chance that you could get killed. If one tried to get out of the gang, then they would either be beaten to death of a good chance of getting shot. This is a choice less choice; which ever they pick will most likely end up in death. Lil Ze and Rocket grew up in the same type of neighborhood. Rocket got lucky and developed an interest in photography. In talking about gangs, I enjoyed reading Spergel’s Gang Member Demographics and Gang Subcultures. When most people think of gangs, they think teenagers, and usually black or Hispanic. I thought it was interesting that they analyzed the demographics and subcultures. Spergel stated “The analysis of age, gender, and especially race/ethnic, gang characteristics suggests that there are distinctive gang subcultures, and therefore distinctive intervention approaches are required”. In my honest opinion, I do not think anyone can see a teenager a say he/she is not in a gang. Now-a-days no one can ever tell. In today’s world, there are people that think they can stereotype others by the way that they dress or the way that they look.
One thing that was mentioned in class about City of God was that there were not parents anywhere to be seen. I am a big family person so sometimes I forget how important family influence is. I guess a big reason for that is because I have always had it and my parents have always been there for me and provided me with what I need plus a ton more. The way parents raise and interact with their children make a huge difference for when they get into their teen years and peer pressure starts to kick in. According to the Youth Gangs: A developmental perspective, Patterson stated that “… parents of antisocial children are noncontingent in many of their interactions with their children.” The parents probably ignore the behavior problems of their own children and are very inconsistent with their punishments. I have one student at my job who is very wild and gets into a lot of trouble. When the teacher has a conference with the mother, the mother tries to blame it on everyone else except for her son. He does not get punished a whole lot because she does not think he does anything wrong. After reading about gangs and talking about it in class, this is starting to concern me. I just hope he can steer away from any trouble.
Before I go into gangs and the City of God movie, I wanted to talk a little about my service learning. Last night there was a little boy who would not do any of the work and was ignoring us pretty much the whole time. I guess he got to his breaking point and got mad at us trying to get him to do the work. He started to hit himself in the head with his hands and when I took his hands so he could not do it anymore, he started to bang his head on the table. This was not the first time I have seen a kid hit him or herself but this kid was very persistent. It scares me that they try to inflict pain on themselves. It might not turn to anything but if he has not problem hitting himself, I keep thinking; will it turn into more? Or will he start hitting others? We have talked in class about juveniles committing violence on each other, but not much about doing to his or her own body.
In class we were talking about choices and (as some stated) that there is always a choice. I agree with this statement that there is always a choice but neither one might be good. My Professor in my Holocaust class called this choice less choices; meaning any choice given will turn out bad. She used the example of Rumcowski having to give over twenty thousand children under the age ten. He said it was either that or the Nazis come and take more so he CHOSE to cooperate. Either choice that he could have made had a terrible outcome. This is what I thought about when talking about the City of God movie. They all had a choice throughout the movie; whether it be to join or not or to get out of the gangs. If you were already in a gang, there is a good a chance that you could get killed. If one tried to get out of the gang, then they would either be beaten to death of a good chance of getting shot. This is a choice less choice; which ever they pick will most likely end up in death. Lil Ze and Rocket grew up in the same type of neighborhood. Rocket got lucky and developed an interest in photography. In talking about gangs, I enjoyed reading Spergel’s Gang Member Demographics and Gang Subcultures. When most people think of gangs, they think teenagers, and usually black or Hispanic. I thought it was interesting that they analyzed the demographics and subcultures. Spergel stated “The analysis of age, gender, and especially race/ethnic, gang characteristics suggests that there are distinctive gang subcultures, and therefore distinctive intervention approaches are required”. In my honest opinion, I do not think anyone can see a teenager a say he/she is not in a gang. Now-a-days no one can ever tell. In today’s world, there are people that think they can stereotype others by the way that they dress or the way that they look.
One thing that was mentioned in class about City of God was that there were not parents anywhere to be seen. I am a big family person so sometimes I forget how important family influence is. I guess a big reason for that is because I have always had it and my parents have always been there for me and provided me with what I need plus a ton more. The way parents raise and interact with their children make a huge difference for when they get into their teen years and peer pressure starts to kick in. According to the Youth Gangs: A developmental perspective, Patterson stated that “… parents of antisocial children are noncontingent in many of their interactions with their children.” The parents probably ignore the behavior problems of their own children and are very inconsistent with their punishments. I have one student at my job who is very wild and gets into a lot of trouble. When the teacher has a conference with the mother, the mother tries to blame it on everyone else except for her son. He does not get punished a whole lot because she does not think he does anything wrong. After reading about gangs and talking about it in class, this is starting to concern me. I just hope he can steer away from any trouble.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Youth Violence
Hey Lesleigh,
I was a little worried when we started youth violence. I am a people person to begin with but when it involves children, I get even more concerned. I have always wanted to work with children and I have always hated hearing about children getting hurt or even worse killed. I now realize that it was good for me to hear and participate in something like that. I will most like, one time or another in my career, work with a child that has been abused or seen someone he or she loves abused. I also enjoyed this section because in my service learning, I am working in a children's group for a domestic violence organization. The kids I have worked with have a lot of issues that need to get worked out. They have either been apart or have witnessed some kind of abuse in their family. It is really sad to hear about but on the other hand, these children are some of the best children I have ever worked with. They are eager to learn. I am trying my best to teach them the different kinds of violence and how to handle it. I feel real good when I see that they understand. I know I am running on about my service learning but this section has really helped me with it. I help run a group on Thursday nights and my supervisor is usually not there so I pretty much get to run it. One little boy had a bad day or week and everything that he wrote or drew had to do with violence. He is about nine or ten years old. One of the assignments was to draw the nicest dream you have ever had. He drew him shooting his enemy, his enemy in a grave, and him in jail. After I collected and saw that, it scared me that a boy this age could be thinking about stuff like that. We then had them draw something that they are scared of and he drew him having a caesar. I turned in his papers to the supervisor and she talked to his mother about it but it is amazing that he thinks that way.
I do blame some of the violence that we see on the media and the video games. There are so many video games that have the children shooting other people. There is one game that a child can be a bully at a school. He can pick and fight anyone he sees in the game. I think it was the documentary Tough Guise, that talked about the television and movies and video games. I cannot blame all the problems and violence on the media but they do have an impact on some children's thinking. In Tough Guise, the guy talked about wrestling. There are some kids that think it is real. I was watching Funniest Home Vidoes recently and saw two young boys taping themselves imitating two wrestlers. They were lucky that they did not get hurt. The documentary also talked about masculinity and feminitity. In today's culture, males have the need to feel masculine. If they do not act or feel macho then somehow that does not make them a man. There are things that are considered feminine and will jeopardize their "manhood" if they do it.
I was reading Kids, Guns, and Violence by Sheley and Wright and had mixed feelings about it. I first was surprised to read that youth violence has increased. I really liked and agreed with the statement "...a leading concern voiced by many observers of the contemporary urban scene is that violent behavior has become culturally normative in the context to underclass life". I think that it is a problem with it becomes a norm and is expected. There has to be something we can do about it. I tought that I read somewhere that it has gone down recently and that is why it was a surprise. A lot of the article was how guns are a major problem. I agree that to many teens have guns and it seems easy to get one. I believe that people kill people. A gun cannot aim and shoot it self. I do believe that something should be done but I am not sure what would work at this point. Kleck mentioned finding a way to ban "bad guns" and leave "good guns" but I do not understand what he means. Is he talking literatively or figuratively? I might just not understand that section or what he meant. I do understand what Reiss and Roth are talking about when they "argue for centralized and street-level tactics to disrupt illegal gun sales, like those now used to intervene in illegal durg markets". My only problem with this is that it might work for awhile but teens are going to find another way to get guns if that is what they really want. They have found a way up to this point and they will find a way after.
I feel like I am just rambling on so I am going to take a break and write more tonight. Hope to hear from you soon!
I was a little worried when we started youth violence. I am a people person to begin with but when it involves children, I get even more concerned. I have always wanted to work with children and I have always hated hearing about children getting hurt or even worse killed. I now realize that it was good for me to hear and participate in something like that. I will most like, one time or another in my career, work with a child that has been abused or seen someone he or she loves abused. I also enjoyed this section because in my service learning, I am working in a children's group for a domestic violence organization. The kids I have worked with have a lot of issues that need to get worked out. They have either been apart or have witnessed some kind of abuse in their family. It is really sad to hear about but on the other hand, these children are some of the best children I have ever worked with. They are eager to learn. I am trying my best to teach them the different kinds of violence and how to handle it. I feel real good when I see that they understand. I know I am running on about my service learning but this section has really helped me with it. I help run a group on Thursday nights and my supervisor is usually not there so I pretty much get to run it. One little boy had a bad day or week and everything that he wrote or drew had to do with violence. He is about nine or ten years old. One of the assignments was to draw the nicest dream you have ever had. He drew him shooting his enemy, his enemy in a grave, and him in jail. After I collected and saw that, it scared me that a boy this age could be thinking about stuff like that. We then had them draw something that they are scared of and he drew him having a caesar. I turned in his papers to the supervisor and she talked to his mother about it but it is amazing that he thinks that way.
I do blame some of the violence that we see on the media and the video games. There are so many video games that have the children shooting other people. There is one game that a child can be a bully at a school. He can pick and fight anyone he sees in the game. I think it was the documentary Tough Guise, that talked about the television and movies and video games. I cannot blame all the problems and violence on the media but they do have an impact on some children's thinking. In Tough Guise, the guy talked about wrestling. There are some kids that think it is real. I was watching Funniest Home Vidoes recently and saw two young boys taping themselves imitating two wrestlers. They were lucky that they did not get hurt. The documentary also talked about masculinity and feminitity. In today's culture, males have the need to feel masculine. If they do not act or feel macho then somehow that does not make them a man. There are things that are considered feminine and will jeopardize their "manhood" if they do it.
I was reading Kids, Guns, and Violence by Sheley and Wright and had mixed feelings about it. I first was surprised to read that youth violence has increased. I really liked and agreed with the statement "...a leading concern voiced by many observers of the contemporary urban scene is that violent behavior has become culturally normative in the context to underclass life". I think that it is a problem with it becomes a norm and is expected. There has to be something we can do about it. I tought that I read somewhere that it has gone down recently and that is why it was a surprise. A lot of the article was how guns are a major problem. I agree that to many teens have guns and it seems easy to get one. I believe that people kill people. A gun cannot aim and shoot it self. I do believe that something should be done but I am not sure what would work at this point. Kleck mentioned finding a way to ban "bad guns" and leave "good guns" but I do not understand what he means. Is he talking literatively or figuratively? I might just not understand that section or what he meant. I do understand what Reiss and Roth are talking about when they "argue for centralized and street-level tactics to disrupt illegal gun sales, like those now used to intervene in illegal durg markets". My only problem with this is that it might work for awhile but teens are going to find another way to get guns if that is what they really want. They have found a way up to this point and they will find a way after.
I feel like I am just rambling on so I am going to take a break and write more tonight. Hope to hear from you soon!
Thursday, March 1, 2007
What is the purpose of Gender?
As we found out in class gender is a very sensitive and complex idea. As Lesleigh stated above, we had a very large discussion about this. There were many differences. I think there are multiple fixations to gender. In "Night to His Day" by Judith Lorber, she argues that gender is socially constructed and there is a relationship between gender toles and power/ structure. She mentioned that masculinity equals power. I see everywhere (media, walking on the streest, tv shows) men thinking they have to be masculine. I know I have brought this up in class a couple of times but the snickers commercial at the super bowl. After the two men ended up touching lips they HAD to prove their masculinity by ripping off their shirts. I believe if it were two girls that happened to kiss, there would not be a problem.
According to Ivy and Blacklund, "doing gender" is using sexist languages. I have to agree that in today's english there is still a one way language. I personally think that there are some words that we should get away with but I am guilty of using sexist language sometimes, not in the bad way. I will see a bunch of people and say 'hey guys' even if there are females present. It is a habit and I do not see anything wrong with that. I agree with Sam in that I don't see a problem of having "male" or "female" but do not categorize (other) them into something they are not. The Framework essay is a great place to look for "othering". It talks about the different levels of "othering".
There is an individual level which one can experience being "othered" or one can see in which ways he or she may "other". There is a community level, where one may put a whole community into one category. After the community level, there is a societal/structural Institutional level, where comments like "the society does...". I agree with Whitney that it can be very dangerous of identifying people as "A" and not "A". I think that it is ok that we put oursleves into boxes but we should leave to just ourselves. Julie hit it right on the nose when she talked about "unconscious" categorizing. Whether you are aware of it or not, everyone "others" other people. I just did it there by stating "everyone" and did not realize it until I was done. One is not aware of it when they do it most of the time.
In my service learning, I help with the children's group for a domestic violence organization. On Thursday nights, I get to run the group. We teach them that violence is more than just physical pain and try to help them understand how to deal with it. It becomes really hard at times because these kids come in looking so innocent. I have two younger volunteers that come in and help and not to say that I do not do it but as I am watching them, I see them "othering" some of the kids. The group is a hispanic group and there are a couple of kids in there that do not speak much english if any. I heard one of the volunteers, I believe she is 12, say that she didn't think that the two that did not speak english were not very smart. She also mentioned that they did not say much either, even when we ask them, so that helped her come to think that they were not as smart as they actually are. I see "othering" everywhere, even in me. I do not think that it is necessarily a good or bad thing. I think we grew up in an era that it seems like the norm to do.
How does your social call, cultural/ethnic background and geographic region shape your beliefs about gender?
I think your social class, cultural/ethnic background and geographical shape beliefs about gender. Where you live and how you live will have a lot to do to determine what you think about gender. In the Jessica Lynch piece, The Dangers of Playing Dress-up, her fear of abandament by her male comrades and the fear that she will be harmed more severely by the Iraqis, because of being a wome, brought on some emotional distress to her. I was talking in class about this with Maria and she compared Jessica Lynch and Mohammad's daughter in the same situation. Mohammad shields his daughter from the war in fear that she will be harmed. In parts of the documentary that was shown in class (I believe it was called Tough Guise) it showed that ethnicity and environment shape gender and social class influences portraying certain aspects of gender. James William Gibson stated in Warrior Dreams that white men s masculinity is threatened or challenged by social movements in the US and worldwide. I think that there is some truth to that statement. In class we talked about wanting power. As white men, throughout the century, they have always had an upperhand and when they see that power slipping, it might be hard for them to take in.
I agree wholeheartedly with Lesleigh about growing up in this area, being so close to DC, we are living in a very diverse area. I have come to encounter a variety of people. I believe, along with Lesleigh, that I am very accepting of people who are not just like me. I will not sit here and say that I do not have some work to do on certain things, like Professor GP, I also get relieved when someone walking behind me is an older white lady. I know that I need to work on it and I have gotten much better.
How does media shape the ideas about gender roles?
The media has a major impact of the ideas about gender roles. There are people that idolize the stars and wants to be and act like them. I like that examples that Lesleigh used with Jennifer Lopez and Angelina Jolie. If you look at the music vidoes done in todays world. I can go right now and turn it on to MTV or BET and see about five videos in a row with half naked women dancing. Teenagers see those women getting the attention from the celebrities that they love and adore and feel like that is how they have to act to get a boy's attention.
In the movie, "Boys Don't Cry", it shows Brandon Teena posing as a male when he has the parts of a women. I cannot remember who said this during our class discussion but after they found out that she was a women and not a man, they treated him like something other than human, as an "it". I found that very disturbing. Just because he wasn't not a man in their eyes anymore, they still couldn't treat her women. I have been using "he" to describe Brandon Teena. As Angela pointed out in class, I am not sure how to relate with Brandon Teena. I am not sure what to write when talking about Brandon Teena. I have been using "he" because that is what he wanted to be, a man. Just out of respect, and since that is what he wanted anyways. But I still think it is a hard call, at least for me, when writing about Brandon Teena. I not only saw this is "Boy's Don't Cry" but I was watching "Ugly Bettery" and one of the episodes was about a man coming back from faking his own death and now being a women. They did not know how to respond and was called a freak. The man who turned into a women had a brother. This brother still called him his brother on occasion.
The information in this section could go on forever. There are things that I agree with and others that I disagree but it is a section that everyone should learn about. I have found myself thinking about the class more and more lately. I see what we talk about around me and I am aware of it. This is one of very few classes that have done that to me. It has helped me open my eyes and see what is going on around me.
As we found out in class gender is a very sensitive and complex idea. As Lesleigh stated above, we had a very large discussion about this. There were many differences. I think there are multiple fixations to gender. In "Night to His Day" by Judith Lorber, she argues that gender is socially constructed and there is a relationship between gender toles and power/ structure. She mentioned that masculinity equals power. I see everywhere (media, walking on the streest, tv shows) men thinking they have to be masculine. I know I have brought this up in class a couple of times but the snickers commercial at the super bowl. After the two men ended up touching lips they HAD to prove their masculinity by ripping off their shirts. I believe if it were two girls that happened to kiss, there would not be a problem.
According to Ivy and Blacklund, "doing gender" is using sexist languages. I have to agree that in today's english there is still a one way language. I personally think that there are some words that we should get away with but I am guilty of using sexist language sometimes, not in the bad way. I will see a bunch of people and say 'hey guys' even if there are females present. It is a habit and I do not see anything wrong with that. I agree with Sam in that I don't see a problem of having "male" or "female" but do not categorize (other) them into something they are not. The Framework essay is a great place to look for "othering". It talks about the different levels of "othering".
There is an individual level which one can experience being "othered" or one can see in which ways he or she may "other". There is a community level, where one may put a whole community into one category. After the community level, there is a societal/structural Institutional level, where comments like "the society does...". I agree with Whitney that it can be very dangerous of identifying people as "A" and not "A". I think that it is ok that we put oursleves into boxes but we should leave to just ourselves. Julie hit it right on the nose when she talked about "unconscious" categorizing. Whether you are aware of it or not, everyone "others" other people. I just did it there by stating "everyone" and did not realize it until I was done. One is not aware of it when they do it most of the time.
In my service learning, I help with the children's group for a domestic violence organization. On Thursday nights, I get to run the group. We teach them that violence is more than just physical pain and try to help them understand how to deal with it. It becomes really hard at times because these kids come in looking so innocent. I have two younger volunteers that come in and help and not to say that I do not do it but as I am watching them, I see them "othering" some of the kids. The group is a hispanic group and there are a couple of kids in there that do not speak much english if any. I heard one of the volunteers, I believe she is 12, say that she didn't think that the two that did not speak english were not very smart. She also mentioned that they did not say much either, even when we ask them, so that helped her come to think that they were not as smart as they actually are. I see "othering" everywhere, even in me. I do not think that it is necessarily a good or bad thing. I think we grew up in an era that it seems like the norm to do.
How does your social call, cultural/ethnic background and geographic region shape your beliefs about gender?
I think your social class, cultural/ethnic background and geographical shape beliefs about gender. Where you live and how you live will have a lot to do to determine what you think about gender. In the Jessica Lynch piece, The Dangers of Playing Dress-up, her fear of abandament by her male comrades and the fear that she will be harmed more severely by the Iraqis, because of being a wome, brought on some emotional distress to her. I was talking in class about this with Maria and she compared Jessica Lynch and Mohammad's daughter in the same situation. Mohammad shields his daughter from the war in fear that she will be harmed. In parts of the documentary that was shown in class (I believe it was called Tough Guise) it showed that ethnicity and environment shape gender and social class influences portraying certain aspects of gender. James William Gibson stated in Warrior Dreams that white men s masculinity is threatened or challenged by social movements in the US and worldwide. I think that there is some truth to that statement. In class we talked about wanting power. As white men, throughout the century, they have always had an upperhand and when they see that power slipping, it might be hard for them to take in.
I agree wholeheartedly with Lesleigh about growing up in this area, being so close to DC, we are living in a very diverse area. I have come to encounter a variety of people. I believe, along with Lesleigh, that I am very accepting of people who are not just like me. I will not sit here and say that I do not have some work to do on certain things, like Professor GP, I also get relieved when someone walking behind me is an older white lady. I know that I need to work on it and I have gotten much better.
How does media shape the ideas about gender roles?
The media has a major impact of the ideas about gender roles. There are people that idolize the stars and wants to be and act like them. I like that examples that Lesleigh used with Jennifer Lopez and Angelina Jolie. If you look at the music vidoes done in todays world. I can go right now and turn it on to MTV or BET and see about five videos in a row with half naked women dancing. Teenagers see those women getting the attention from the celebrities that they love and adore and feel like that is how they have to act to get a boy's attention.
In the movie, "Boys Don't Cry", it shows Brandon Teena posing as a male when he has the parts of a women. I cannot remember who said this during our class discussion but after they found out that she was a women and not a man, they treated him like something other than human, as an "it". I found that very disturbing. Just because he wasn't not a man in their eyes anymore, they still couldn't treat her women. I have been using "he" to describe Brandon Teena. As Angela pointed out in class, I am not sure how to relate with Brandon Teena. I am not sure what to write when talking about Brandon Teena. I have been using "he" because that is what he wanted to be, a man. Just out of respect, and since that is what he wanted anyways. But I still think it is a hard call, at least for me, when writing about Brandon Teena. I not only saw this is "Boy's Don't Cry" but I was watching "Ugly Bettery" and one of the episodes was about a man coming back from faking his own death and now being a women. They did not know how to respond and was called a freak. The man who turned into a women had a brother. This brother still called him his brother on occasion.
The information in this section could go on forever. There are things that I agree with and others that I disagree but it is a section that everyone should learn about. I have found myself thinking about the class more and more lately. I see what we talk about around me and I am aware of it. This is one of very few classes that have done that to me. It has helped me open my eyes and see what is going on around me.
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