To Be a Woman

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/23/world/middleeast/23iht-letter23.html?_r=1

The above is a link to an article in the New York Times on women's role and rights in the conflict in Tunisia. Given the information contained therein and the snapshot it gives of women in strongly patriarchal and conservative countries what are your thoughts on the the patriarchy that exists within our own society? Do you feel like we have plateaued in our progress? More importantly do you think that the changes happening there will carry over here?

Last Year. Today. Immigration Unresolved. Topico Muy Caliente. Still.

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I would hope that most of you were able to watch this great episode last year when this bill was at its peak in controversies. I believe this is a now monumental explanation of what was happening and was is still now at hand. The controversies of the Arizona Senate Bill 1070 were strongest last year when it was ready to be put into effect.  The most controversial parts of the bill where blocked by a federal judge in a preliminary injunction after many civil rights suits against  it. (One of the of them was filed by the US Department of Justice). Here Stephen Colbert pokes fun and brings into light the true reality of what this bill demanded. The best part (in a cynical way) is that most of these points that he makes have not been dealt with and it has already been a year. Yes, there have been many immigration reforms presented but none have actually brought a real, realistic solution to the hot topic of immigration. Here he brings up points of racial profiling, the economy without immigrants, and overall what most immigration reform bills now could be doing. This link http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_arizona_immigration is a new article posted just a couple of days ago on this same issues on the Arizona immigration laws.

Poverty on Native American Indian Reservations

This reservation is one of the poorest in our country. It doesn't necessarily represent all Native American reservation life however it does give us a good idea of some of the problems that occur with the reservation system. I think that one of the main problems is that the majority of our country has never been exposed to the conditions that our Native tribes are living in. Instead of "preserving their culture," giving them their own land, we have removed them essentially putting their people "out of sight, and out of mind."

Fellow Americans are almost completely unaware that their poverty, unemployment, and alcoholism rates are far worse than the general American population. I doubt it is a lack of care, compassion, or that it is racism. America is just unaware or ignoring the issue. At this point the Sioux and other Native American tribes have no hope, training, or way of getting out of this life cycle by themselves. They need publicity, service, and help from outside the reservation to come out of the circumstance that have been handed down to them without choice since the Indian Emancipation era.

Generations past have done little to nothing to help these people progress, however, if we go out and make a difference like the couple featured in this video, we can make a change. perhaps we can end the poverty and unemployment rates, teach them how to make their lives better, and decrease hunger and alcoholism. It all depends on us, and I think the first step is spreading the word.

Gender Differences and Flowers

We are not talking about this in class right now, but I thought that this Huggies advertisement was interesting. It shows how gender differences are inferred because of anatomical differences. At the beginning of the semester in class we looked at this book that showed the stereotypical differences in gender. It seemed so over the top and crazy. Yet there are still things in our everyday society that generalize that boys have to like blue, trucks, and playing in the dirt while girls have to like pink, baby dolls, and baking.

Also, to jostle the idea of stereotypes, with Valentine's Day just behind us I thought that these stats were interesting.

 It says that a good majority of men say that they would like flowers for Valentine's Day. However, only 40% of men have actually received flowers. So 21% of these men have never had the blessing. It is also interesting to see the varying opinions based on age groups.

So what do you think? Do any of you guys wish that you could get flowers for Valentine's Day?

Racism

"Racist people are stupid.
Think about it...they call Mexicans lazy, yet also claim they are taking American jobs.
Which is it?

Lazy people don't steal jobs: they don't even show up for the ones they have.
Racist people are stupid, their stereotypes don't even make sense."
~John Roy, on Comics Unleashed!~

Shocking 1950's educational video on homosexuals.

The Future of Gay Rights in the Federal Govt.

My personal view has been in line with the LDS Church as discussed in class. As we are all God's children and loved equally, all people should have basic rights regarding medical emergencies and health insurance, Social Security and tax benefits, inheritance, jointly held finances, etc. I fully support the idea of state/federal civil unions that legally grant equal state/federal rights such as the ones listed.

Gay Rights Groups Angered by Justice Department's DOMA Defense

With the recent repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" in the military, gay rights continues to be at the forefront of the national political scene. When the Justice Department recently defended the Defense of Marriage Act as part of its legal responsibility, the LGBT community responded by lobbying President Obama to give his full support to same-sex marriage. What is interesting is that Obama used to have this view, but has instead been in favor of civil unions at least since his 2008 presidential campaign. Rulings of legal documents like the DOMA being discriminatory and unconstitutional leave us wondering if the eventual outcome will be similar to the Civil Rights Movement. While it is very possible that same-sex marriage is legalized in the future, will people ever fully accept it into American culture? There is no doubt that along with the economy and foreign affairs, a candidate's position on gay rights will play a major role in the 2012 presidential campaign.

I found an article talking about whether or not people are born gay. I found it very interesting. This is the link.

http://www.godandscience.org/evolution/genetics_of_homosexuality.html

Until our class discussion I honestly felt as though being gay was a choice. AFter hearing so many testimonials and hearing so many examples of people having those inclinations from a young age, I changed my thought on it. I felt so badly for having judged people who were born with this unfortunate thing. Being a member of the church I cannot imagine how hard that would be having to with stand that temptation and being challenged my whole earth life. I would not want to get married if I were in that position and I cannot wait to hear about life from the student that is coming to talk to us. I admire him in the fact that he still got married and withstands the temptations he must feel every day. That would be the hardest struggle for me ever and I was unaware of how many BYU students struggle with this.

Gender Roles - Interviews with Children

These interviews with children are very interesting. Children develop gender schemas while they in their first few years of life. How does this happen? Does society train children to think this way? Do parents force these ideas into the impressionable minds of their little ones? After all, if these are all true sources of the development of these schemas, is it a bad thing that it is occurring?
Personally, I believe that boys and girls are born differently. I believe that there are innate, natural differences. I also think this is a good thing. Along with this belief, though, I think that gender roles are a social creation. After all, one individual cannot have a role by him or herself; a role comes when differences exist among individuals and they learn how to choreograph their relationships. Society has very strict guidelines for what fits in particular gender roles. I believe that these stem from natural characteristics possessed more in one gender (in general) as opposed to the other, but are pushed to the extreme. The roles that mostly fall in with one gender become strict guidelines to what individuals should and should not do. It is amazing that these strict schemas are in the minds of children.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWc1e3Nbc2g

What is Man?

New York Times printed an article recently, January 9, 2011, titled "The Study of Man (or Males)", you can find the whole article here http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/education/09men-t.html?_r=1&ref=sociology. This article is very interesting because it points out the imbalance between a major in Women's Studies and the very fact that there is not a Male Studies major. In the article it says, "Male studies, largely the brainchild of Dr. Edward M. Stephens, a New York City psychiatrist, doesn’t actually exist anywhere yet. Last spring, there was a scholarly symposium at Wagner College on Staten Island, intended to raise the movement’s profile and attract funds for a department with a tenured chair on some campus. A number of prominent scholars attended, including Lionel Tiger, an emeritus anthropology professor at Rutgers, who invented the term “male bonding,” and Paul Nathanson, who specializes in the study of misandry, the flip side of misogyny. Both are on the advisory board of the Foundation for Male Studies, which Dr. Stephens founded last year."

I had not even thought about the fact that there is a major in Women's Studies, and none for men. The article then goes on to explain the differences between what would be Men's Studies and what would be Male Studies. There is a difference, (even though you may not think there is:) and it has to do with the sociological focus in the studies. "But the biology vs. culture argument has been going on for years, and the male studies movement is less an expansion of that debate than a response to a specific crisis, the nature of which both sides agree on: academically at least, young men are in trouble. Starting in grammar school, they lag behind girls by most observable measures, and the gap widens through high school and college. If males go to college at all, that is. College enrollment tilts at almost 60-40 in favor of women, and once enrolled, women are more likely than men to do well and to graduate." Interesting. Who even knew that this tilt was going on?
Professor Tiger believes that by the time girls get to college, there is a Darwinian component to the achievement gap: women are aware of the divorce rate and the likelihood that they may raise children without ever marrying in the first place. “They’re studying for two,” he explained. “Guys just don’t have that sense, that inwit. That’s biology at its most essential.” Professor Groth, Professor Tiger and Dr. Stephens all seem at great pains not to say anything critical about feminism or women’s studies. “I don’t think male studies has emerged from acrimony,” Professor Tiger insisted. And yet the male studies movement appears to be animated at least in part by a sense that feminism has gone too far on campus and the women’s studies departments are too powerful. Professor Tiger and Dr. Stephens like to recite by the sheaf statistics showing how much more resources are being poured into the study of women and their problems than into men and their plight.
The article ends with a circumstance to show give a little more credibility to their research. "Last semester, Professor Groth taught a course on the psychology of men; of 30 students, all but five were women. “I asked everyone, ‘Why are you taking this course?’ ” he recalled. “The boys didn’t say anything. The girls all said, ‘We want to understand the guys better.’ ” It is interesting, to me, to see that this is indeed taking place. As I look at my classes and see the placement of males and females in majors, I wonder if there is a gender role that they are trying to fall into place with, or if they really do want to study business or human development? Has anyone else noticed this shift of feminism becoming too strong or other related issues?

From Gangs to Green Collar

From Gangs to Green Collar
http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=6932000


I grew up in Southern California and I witnessed personally how gangs can affect a family. With more immigrants coming into this country, there will be an increase of gang activity. A lack of education and goals drives many adolescents into gang involvement.

How about those who want to reform? Does society have a place for felons and reformed gangsters? I know for a fact that it is almost impossible to get a job as a convicted felon. This creates a cycle of illegal activity and frequent incarceration. Is there social mobility even for those deemed by society as delinquents?

The Helpless Homeless?

This is a quick clip that became one of Rush Limbaugh's most prominent arguments on homelessness. Do you think that the homeless are such because they choose to be, or is it really a problem with society that the government needs to fix? Is there a social mobility for the homeless?

http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/videoplayer.guest.html

Obviously there are a lot of factors that go into this, but I served a mission in Ottawa, the capital of Canada and let me tell you that the homeless were hooked up! We worked in a soup kitchen with professional chefs providing three 3-course meals a day. And we are talking top notch meals! In between meals the homeless would go up to the tourist section of town and make bank off of all of the visitors who felt sorry for them. When the night came they had a very nice homeless shelter where they have "maids" that make their beds for them in the morning. And not to mention the other government privileges the are receiving for being "homeless." I feel like we just violated the very definition of the word.