No way to lose: Gay Rights

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/23/opinion/23savage.html?ref=homosexuality
The editorial director, Dan Savage, claims that we all should save our time and money by approving the gay rights. He states, "Gay Americans are eventually going to win..." so why not just legalize gay marriage and let all of us not spend anymore time on this matter. He uses a stat on how most Americans support the same sex-marriage so eventually the same-sex marriage will be legalized.

I can't really argue with Savage because I think what he said is true. As the time passes, more people will accept homosexuality and will believe that they should be able to marry someone they love. It's happening all around the world. As Savage even mentions, Canada already legalized the same-sex marriage so it's not an "issue" anymore in Canada. So should Mormons just sit back and let this happen? Should we just not "waste" our time and money because it's going to happen no matter what?

I remember hearing a comment from a missionary on my mission. He said that the Proposition 8 was like separating chaff from grain. (You can agree or disagree.) It is to see who is willing to follow the prophet no matter how difficult it is for the member of the Church. Of course, there are far more non-members of the Church than the members of the Church so it is very possible that the same-sex marriage will be legalized; however, I don't think that's the real issue for the members of the Church. What really matters is "are we willing to do what the prophets, seers and revelators tell us to do?"

Reparative Therapy

I think there is a lot of misinformation out there about same gender attraction and therapy. I took an LDS Perspectives on Psychology class last semester and the professor showed us a video of Dr. Jeffrey Robinson, a clinical psychologist who treats homosexuals who are interested in changing their sexual orientation. The video blew my mind, I had never heard anything that he talked about. Previously I had always pictured reparation therapy (or conversion therapy as it is also called) as a shady, unethical, ineffective practice where your pastor locks you in his basement and administers electric shocks while showing you pictures of shirtless men. This speech changed my whole outlook on it. It also presents an interesting theory of origins of same gender attraction.

Here is a link to the transcript:
http://www.theguardrail.com/transcript_printable.htm

Dr. Robinson doesn't make the argument that everyone has the potential to change their sexual orientation and become attracted to the opposite sex through therapy, but he does present some interesting information that a surprising amount of change is possible.

-Jared Parker

Single, Female, Mormon, Alone

This article was in the New York Times a couple weeks ago. It begins with one man's opinion of the role of a husband/father. In turn, Nicole Hardy wrote about her experience being a woman in the LDS church and her reaction to the man's statement.

Because we are students at BYU we are members of the LDS church or are surrounded by members of the LDS church, I found it particularly interesting to see that she defined herself as "singe, female, mormon, alone." To her, being a single, mormon woman is a way to define herself - or a way she doesn't want herself defined anymore.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/fashion/09Modern.html?pagewanted=2

Gender Identity

"My Princess Boy is a nonfiction picture book about acceptance. It tells the tale of a 4-year-old boy who happily expresses his authentic self by enjoying "traditional girl" things like jewelry, sparkles or anything pink. It is designed to start and continue a dialogue about unconditional friendship and teaches children -- and adults -- how to accept and support children for who they are and how they wish to look."(myprincessboy.com) In a recent television show titled, What would you do?, it discusses the issue of gender identity and one the show an older grandmother states, "Gender identity is up for the individual to decide." What are your thoughts? Do you believe that your child's gender identity is up to them at an age where they fully haven't developed? Here is a link to the news interview from Joy Behar.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dfkb0kdo0sQ

The Difference Between Men and Women

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGoC8FTLKSI

This a clip from Friends right after Ross kisses Rachel for the first time. It illustrates the typical gender stereotypes that exist in America and are projected by the Media. It states that females are emotional and sensitive and men are cold and unconnected when it comes to emotions and relationships. It is interesting that not only are they projected, but they are followed as a result of their projection.

Gender Roles

My roommate is taking a gender sociology class and she shared this article with me. It discusses different sociological insights on gender roles and how they are created by society. I thought it was very interesting. Specifically, in the last two pages of the article it discussed the ideas of how a "real man" or "real women" should act, dress, and socialize. It discussed that it is more scrutinized if a man is not behaving in masculine manner. I think the boundaries and roles set by society for men and women can make it difficult for them to be themselves. This article made me think a lot about the pressures put on men and women to behave in a certain way. For example, women are seen to be very emotional and it is frowned on at times if men show their emotions openly. The article also discusses about gender stereotypes and the negative repercussions they can cause. I wish our society was less focused on labeling people. I think that if everyone was more accepting of people's differences this world would be a better place. I uploaded the article to a google document and by clicking on the link below you may access it. When you read this article think about different gender stereotypes you have seen in your life and how they can be harmful to society. It is very hard to change a societies' perception, but you can take individual action and change the way that you think about gender roles.

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B0LAw4x1UXl6MmYxOGVmM2EtMTM2OC00NWU0LWE3YjctMDM2ZGI4NDEzOTQ2&hl=en

Rising Star Outreach and Micro Lending

In June of 2009 I was able to go to India to be a part of the Rising Star Outreach program. Read more about that here http://www.risingstaroutreach.org/lifeinthecolonies .

Part of the program is the work of Padma Venkataraman (she's really cool read about her here http://www.risingstaroutreach.org/PadmaVenkataraman). Her approach is to provide small loans (usually between ten and two hundred dollars) which enable people to buy basic equipment and supplies to begin their own small businesses. Using Padma's methods, Leprosy patients have been presented with a viable alternative to begging and the opportunity to rise about the stigma of their disease for the first time in known history.
Read more about some amazing stories here http://www.risingstaroutreach.org/microlending



So while I was there Padma would tell us to NEVER give handouts to the leprosy patients. This would only stop them from working it out for themselves and destroy any hope of someday that they, or their children, could be known for their hard work and not their disease. But since then, when I would walk by a beggar or homeless person in the states, I'm always torn at how I should act? Who knows what they've gone through, or what life has dealt them, but we're in America right? If a leper in India can start their own small business to support themselves, shouldn't the homeless in America be able to work something out too?

What do you think?

Confederate States of America

What if the south had won the war? The following video clip is a commercial from a mockumentary called The Confederate States of America and addresses what a family insurance company commercial might look like had the civil war ended differently. This is an interesting video when taking into consideration what life could have been like if racism was still as prominent as it was then. However, it is important to remember that just because traditional prejudices are supposedly less common as this video illustrates, how many people would watch this clip and find it to be in place? Just because traditional prejudices are less common, doesn't mean that new prejudices aren't increasing.

In what ways is this mock-commercial similar to commercials today? Are traditional prejudices really gone?

ALL THINGS CONSIDERED: GENDER IDENTITY

http://www.npr.org/2008/05/07/90247842/two-families-grapple-with-sons-gender-preferences

A very interesting episode of All Things Considered wherein two families share their stories about their transgender children.

Both families are dealing with their biological male sons wanting to transition into females. Each family has consulted a psychologist and has received very different advice.

One family is told to let their son continue to play with girl toys, etc, and to support him in his transition. The other family is told to discourage such behavior.

Which stance would you take if you had a transgender child?

Children and Sexism in 2011

In class, we were shown a children's book from around the 50s that discucssed gender roles of boys and girls of the time. Several of them took me by surprise because the norm today has changed, or at least it's not politically correct to still think the way the book presented some of the gender roles. The book really got me thinking about how children being raised in 2011 are exposed to gender roles. My 2 year old daughter is currently in love with Disney princesses, and while watching Beauty and the Beast, I saw many things I had never noticed before that dealed with sexism and gender roles. I did a quick youtube search and found this cool video that pretty much sums up and adds onto what I realized.



Do you think what the children of the next generation are watching represents a positive trend in our society regarding gender roles and sexism?

TSA: Do you feel safer?

I recently stumbled upon a blogger's opinions on the new TSA policies. After expressing he or she's frustrations with the inconvenience of the policy, the blogger goes on to offer several suggestions regarding how the TSA could better ensure out safety in flying. It made me think and perhaps it will you as well. A few excerpts are pasted below as well as the link.

"Everyone had to go through the full body scanner, except as I learned if you had a baby or worked for the airport. Now if a terrorist did not want to go through a full body scanner, I reckon it would not be past him to bring a small child with him, or even be employed by the airport, just a side note. As I pushed by bags through the x-ray machine, also an invasion of privacy I think is irrational - I mean have you ever looked at the pictures? You can't tell what anything is. I even put a whole DVD player through it once and they didn't stop me for it. There was a TSA officer standing behind the metal detector that was roped off. I simply asked her, can I go through the metal detector? She said if you would like a thorough pat down. I suppose I could have pushed more, however I was nervous about making my flight. So I showed my frustration in other ways. However the most interesting part was the conversation she then proceeded to have with another TSA agent who said, "people are just scared of what they don't know, new things are always scary, this is the technology of the future". Right the last thing I am afraid of is new technology, what I am concerned about is new technology invading my personal privacy to which I have supposedly been guaranteed by the Bill of Rights."

"We cannot underestimate these people, they aren't stupid! To plan an attack as they did on September 11 requires some level of intelligence, these are not haphazard attempts, like someone wakes up in the morning and thinks, you know I think I want to blow up a plane this morning, call me crazy, but I don't think so. In fact, I think I would argue that if we were to take a random sample of TSA agents IQs and a random sample of terrorist IQs the terrorist would have the TSA beat by at minimum 50 points."

"This is my proposal. First, I do not feel any safer today when I fly than I did pre-9/11. I propose that every flight attendant, pilot, and other crew members have extensive training in hijacking planes and carry a handgun. This would make me feel safer. If I knew that there were at least 3 people who had extensive training on how to handle such a situation why not trust them. I also believe that average citizens should be able to carry whatever weapons they feel they need for their self defense - if that is a gun, knife, taser, whatever I don't care. If there are law abiding citizens carrying guns on planes, good for them! They can be back up to airline crew! I am fine if you had to declare to the airline what you were bringing so that they were aware of it, or whatever that I do not see as a problem, so long as you would be allowed to carry them on the plane. To my point, Switzerland has the least amount of crime of any country in the world, guess what else they have more guns per capita than any other country in the world. Nearly every citizen has a gun, this is party because they have required military service by all males, however the simple fact that they have more guns and less crime. I recognize that seems crazy to some of you, however it apparently works."

To read the full post you can visit www.theholmesagenda.com

Reading this made me realize all of these screenings have made me feel no additional reassurance concerning my safety. They seem to just be invading people's privacy, adding to travel times and making people uneasy and/or frustrated. Do you feel the same way? Please share your thoughts.

Who's Version of History?

Interesting viewpoints on both sides.
What do you think?