As a male that grew up with only brothers, I guess I spent much of my life not looking at the world from a girl's perspective. To me, this is similar to how, as a white person growing up in a suburban area without many minorities, I failed to look at the world through the perspective of a minority for much of my life. I think what this class has been effective in teaching me is to 'step into someone else's shoes' for just a minute, and look at the world through their perspective. To me, there is no right or wrong in the world. There is no black and white. But if everyone were to be a little bit more compassionate to others by looking at the world from their view, the world would be a much better place.
Based on this, I have thought about the world through a female's perspective since that class period. It has helped me to realize, that the world truly is different from a female's perspective. As many others have said, women in the United States are subject to harsh standards of unrealistic beauty. They are often times forced to feel that beauty for them is completely based on their looks. If you think about movies in Hollywood, there have been countless films where the nerdy male ends up with the hot chick through his humor or personality. I can't think of any movies where an ugly or nerdy female ends up with the attractive male strictly through her personality. It truly does seem that there is a double standard in our culture and throughout most cultures around the world. Although I like to think I am a 'good guy' of high moral standards, I too have been guilty of subjecting women to standards of beauty. I would be lying if I said I treated all girls the same in my past, whether or not I thought they were good looking. I am not proud of this and, by looking at the world through the females' eyes, I have learned that this is not how I should always act.
I think the best way to initiate change in this way of thinking is for women to stand up for themselves. I think I have seen women begin to do this, but I would like to see even more of it. I often times hear women talk about the unrealistic portrayal of women in Hollywood, yet they still try to imitate what they see. if they want real change, I think the women need to stand up for themselves and try to redefine what beauty is. I know this is easier said than done, but I hope that in the future our culture will become more compassionate and start to move in this direction.

Initially when I watched this video, I was completely disgusted by the game content and how that can be allowed in the popular culture of Japan. I though, who is the target market here? Who are these people that like to "escape" their everyday lives by raping video game characters? After thinking about my own experience with video games, however, I can see this in a little bit different light. I have grown up playing video games my whole life. I mainly play sports games but I have also owned and played many "shoot-em-up" games which focused on violence and crime. While I played these games, the thought of actually going out and killing people never crossed my mind. It simply was mindless entertainment that, rightly or wrongly, I found very entertaining. With the advent of violent video games has come the blame on them for violence among youth in America's culture. I do not agree with this at all. I think there are always going to be outlets for people, especially youth, to read about taboo subjects such as sex or violence in a sensationalized manner. When parents of these children blame the games for their children's actions, I can't help but think, where were the parents the whole time? As I said, there are always going to be socially inappropriate things that people are interested in and that seep into popular culture. I think it is the duty of parents to teach their kids what is right from wrong, what is real vs. what is fantasy, etc...
That being said, I am disgusted by these Japanese video games. Although it goes against what I mentioned earlier, I can't help but wonder what constitutes "going over the top" for video game content. To me, this seems over the top. But to many others violent video games go over the top, so it is certainly a very subjective topic. What I am more surprised by, is that there has never been a law suit against any of these video game companies citing Negligent Infliction of Emotional or Physical damage when a child's actions have been "influenced" by a game. By U.S. law, media must exercise "due duty" when publishing their products, and must refrain from publishing anything that would, under reasonable circumstances, lead to a criminal act. As I said before, I don't think the video games are to blame but I am very surprised to learn that the Courts have not said otherwise yet. I am sure within the next few years, an American video game will "go over the top" and this issue will come up in court.
Overall, I do not know what to think about these types of video games. I think it is a very touchy subject to restrict freedom of speech/expression, just because a video game focuses on a taboo subject matter. Because video games are so focused on attracting minors, though, I think there is some room for restriction on these games in the coming years.

This post made me think about something I was discussing with my friend this week and we have discussed in my small group section of SOC 119. This issue is how words can carry such great meanings with them. In reality, a curse word or a racial slur is just a word. It is a combination of noises put together by the mouth. It is incredible to me how such arbitrary actions can carry so much significance with them in our culture. I do, however, see the other side of this. Words are our form of communication- the way we express how we feel. Therefore, I understand why a word can carry such a significant meaning behind it. Related to this post and article, is how words can carry such a different meaning for different people. I sympathize for the writers or the census who, without a doubt, put a ton of time and research into their jobs. As Sam pointed out, they are not dumb people. This post helped me realize that it is basically impossible to do anything without offending somebody. Many times, I think, people don't even know why they are offended. For example, this post mentioned older black people who may refer to themselves as Negroes, especially on a government form. They are OK with this term, and it is one they have understood their whole lives. The people who are offended by this word are those who were not part of that group in the first place. They are generally younger people who think the older black people would be offended when they read that. When in fact, these older blacks do not care.
The whole article made me think about the issue of being politically correct and what it means to be offended. I truly think the majority of people that are offended by things are not actually offended, but they think they should be. A 25 year old black person does not have any reason to be offended by the word negro. It is simply a word used to describe black people from our history. Yet, based on what they have learned, they feel it is necessary to act offended when they hear the word. I think if everybody were to relax, and take things for what they actually are and not what our society has programmed them to be, the world of race relations would be a lot less confusing and hostile place.

I thought this video was very powerful and opened my mind up to certain things I had never considered before. Mostly, this was centered on the stages which we have been learning in class and how different races experience these stages differently. As a white male growing up in a predominately white area, I never really thought about race. I was aware it existed because of TV and sports and stuff, but there were very few people of race in my school and I never really interacted with them. In fact, I did not have lots of interaction with people of color until I arrived at Penn State. For me, this was the most racially diverse place I have ever lived. For many others, it is the exact opposite. Considering all of this, I feel I was in the Pre Awakening stage for the first 18 years of my life. My views started to change when I got here, and I believe I entered the awakening stage. This video, reenforced what we learned in class for me: that people of color experience the pre awakening stage much earlier in life. In the video, the majority of the black kids choose the white doll to play with. Many identify the white doll as the 'good' doll, and the black doll as the 'bad' doll. What really had an impact on me was that these black kids were able to identify the black doll as the one that looked like them, but they still chose the white doll as the 'good' doll. I'm sure most white kids would be able to identify the white doll as the one that looked like themselves, but I do not see them picking the black doll as the 'good' doll. To me, this proves that black kids are introduced to the issues of race in a much greater way and at a younger age. Not only do they see the difference in skin color, but at the age of about 4, they are making judgements based on skin colors that have been derived from our societies perception. It never hit me before this video and lesson in class that people of color would be so much more informed on the issue of race than white people. It certainly makes sense to me, but it never registered with me how great of a difference there was. Overall, I think this video was very powerful and eye-opening. It surely did drive home the point that people of color are exposed to an understanding of race at a much younger age.

The question proposed here is one I have thought about a lot since taking this class. It seems that the class is presented in a way that is uneven. In a way, it seems that the class is designed to make white people feel bad for people of other races for the history of past discrimination, as well as the inequality that still exists today. In my opinion, there are many reasons for why the class would seem this way. First, the class is taught by a white male. No matter how hard he tries, he cannot change this fact. One of the ways in which he tries to make up for this is by criticizing white people. It is possible that he is overcompensating for this fact and that is the reason why it seems that way. Another possibility I have realized, though, is that it feels uneven is because the issues of race in this country are,indeed, uneven. White people are the majority of this country. Therefore, any issue of race must be approached with this in mind. Issues of racism, discrimination, and hatred within the country have always been centered around white people vs. colored people. Based on this, the idea of white guilt may be a viable one, and one which is still prevalent today. On the same topic, and whether or not the rudeness goes both ways, I came up with this analogy. If there are 9 white people in a room and one black person, and everyone tells a joke that demeans black people, there is no doubt that the black person will feel offended being that they are the minority. In exchange, if there are 9 black people in a room, and one white person in the room, and the white person tells a racist joke, the black people are much more likely to laugh it off or ignore it. Based on this, I think the severity upon which people attribute racism is still very much inherit upon majority vs. minority mentality. Being that black people are still the minority in this country, the issue of race is still one they think about more, and probably take more seriously. In an ideal world, race would not be an issue. No matter who is the majority or minority, the issue would be ignored by all. But this is not the case, and it does make sense to me why. Overall, I wonder what will happen when whites inevitably become the minority in the country. Will the issue of race come full circle so that white people are more offended by these types of comments. I think it will be interesting to view this process as it happens.

I agree with almost everything in the post above. I feel that race should be excluded from the application process, especially from job applications. To me, it seems that having race on applications is, more or less, setting a company or school up for discrimination. This discrimination can go both ways. For example, a less qualified african american may be admitted over a white applicant because the school feels a need to enroll a certain amount of black students. At the same time, according to Sam's lecture, an equally qualified white person may be selected over a black applicant for a job because of the employer's preference. In my opinion, if race was never discussed on an application, then we wouldn't be setting ourselves up for discriminatory practices.

Similarly, I see many problems with affirmative action in general. I feel that it contradicts its very purpose; eliminating discrimination. Ideally, race would not play an issue in any application process. But with affirmative action, people make it very clear that race plays a big part of this process. By making this a factor in acceptance, the very nature of affirmative actions seems discriminatory to me. People may counter this argument by saying minorities are given less opportunities so this is used to 'level the playing field'. But that seems like too broad of a generalization to me. Some minorities are given many more opportunities than whites. How level is the playing field then when an underprivileged white applicant must overcome both the financial and race burdens of being accepted into school? I am not against financially driven scholariships in any way. I think they are very necessary. But I think it is asinine to generalize in such a broad manner. In addition, I always wonder, "when is the playing field going to be level?" Is there a timeline in place with affirmative action? Once a certain percentage of college students are minorities, are we going to do away with affirmative action completely? Then what happens to the percentages? Overall, I just feel like the current system of affirmative action is not the most fair way to accomplish the goals it intends to, and it is actually contradictory of itself.

While it is interesting for me to think about this concept of a language being lost forever, it is also a very difficult concept for me to grasp. Living in the U.S. and speaking English, it is hard for me to imagine that my language won't exist one day because in all reality, this will not happen in my lifetime. That being said, this post did hit home for me in other ways.
Mainly, reading this post and watching the video made me think about 'culture'. While it is almost impossible for me to think about the extinction of English, it is much easier for me to think about other aspects of culture vanishing. While this seems rather insignificant compared to other things in life, the invention of IPods and MP3's is one aspect of modern society that I feel is eliminating an important part of our culture. With IPod's the art of making a complete 'album' is being lost. People can now switch from song to song, often times without even finishing one before putting on another. Most people do not even buy full length albums anymore. Instead, they download singles. Bands no longer have the incentive to make full length concept albums because consumers simply look to buy the next big single. As I mentioned before, this does not compare to the loss of an entire language but I think it is very symbolic of what is happening in our society. We now value instant gratification more than anything else. With the internet, cell phones, and busy schedules, people spend less and less time examining what is really going on around them. I fear that this is detrimental to the human race. When we don't take the time to sit back and view what is really important to us, we will likely forget about these important things such as family, friends, and simple pleasures in life.
Overall, I think we may be losing aspects of our culture much faster than we realize. With increased technology comes the process of globalization. With globalization, I fear, will come the loss of unique cultures around the world. As we become more interconnected through these technological advances, I feel it is very important to take the time to savor these important parts of 'culture' that may vanish in the name of 'progress'.

Growing up in a semi-rural area, I have been exposed to racism for most of my life. That being said, through my personal upbringing and education I have always learned of the evils of bigotry and racism. I have learned about the dark history of racism in America and the problems that it has caused. It was not until I studied in Spain last Spring, however, that I learned racism in American may be mild compared to the racism that still exists in Europe today.
My first realization of the prevalence of racism in Europe came during my first month in Spain. Spain and England were scheduled to play a soccer match in Barcelona. The black players on England requested that the game site be moved due to the racist banter coming from the stands the last time they played there. The game was moved to Sevilla, the city where I was studying. As a fan of soccer, I was ecstatic to see two of the world's best teams play in an international friendly. The day before the game, I decided to go to one of the local Irish bars to get drunk after class. When I arrived, I noticed something was a little bit off. I heard English instead of Spanish. This wasn't the normal English I was used to hearing. It was drunken, slurred English. I quickly realized I was surrounded by English soccer hooligans. Never before have I seen a more enthusiastic group representing a sports team. Their pregame or tailgate, if you will, didn't start 6 hours before the game...it started 24 hours before the game. They were hanging English flags in the streets, singing English fight songs, and consuming more alcohol than I had ever seen. They were, however, very friendly to us Americans when we told them we would be cheering for the English the next day. I wasn't really cheering for either side as I only root for America, but it was easier to appease the Brits by telling them I was on their side. Pretty soon, we were invited to sit at one of their tables. As we took shot after shot with our new friends, the conversation began to turn to our newly elected President, Barack Obama. Whereas most people would enter this conversation with caution, the English had no problem telling us exactly how they felt about our first black president. Many of them were happy with our choice. They told us how much they had disliked Bush and how Barack seemed to bring 'Hope' to our country. Soon, however, a father and his two sons at the end of the table decided to join the conversation. The father said, "How in the hell, could you Americans elect a (N word) president?" He continued, "Not only is he a (N word), he is also a Muslim. A bloody Muslim." My friends and I didn't really know how to react. None of the other Brits seemed to mind, they carried on their conversations as if nothing wrong had been said. I would like to think that if this happened in the U.S., someone at the table would stand up and say something to these guys, but this did not happen. It was the first realization that all the racism I had learned about in the U.S. history books may be mild compared to other parts of the world. The game went on without a hitch, Spain won 2-0. Throughout the rest of my time in Spain though, I saw more and more signs of racism throughout the country. The hatred towards African immigrants, mostly Moroccans, was open and accepted. Referred to as Gypsies, these people seemed to clear, second class citizens of the country.
All of these experiences gave me mixed feelings on racism. I felt better about the U.S., knowing that racism seems to be isolated and not accepted as the social norm. It made me feel bad, however, knowing that blatant racism can still go by uninhibited in other countries and that it may be a much bigger problem around the world than I had previously realized.

mts5056

The issue of religion has always been one I have been interested in. More specifically (and related to this post) I have always been interested in what seems to be the common practice of becoming 'religious' when one is in times of need. In my life I have noticed that people tend to become more interested in religion when they are suffering through hardships. This does not have to be a hardship of the magnitude we are seeing in Haiti, but something as 'small' as a death in the family. Either way, it seems that in these times of need, people turn to God for the answers.
I am really interested into why this is. Many of the people who follow this routine are the very same ones who fail to think about God during their times of prosperity and happiness. I am not condemning the people. I have done the same things during times of hardship in my life. I am more interested in why this seems to be so common in people all across the world. The new found 'religious devotion' can take many forms. Some react harshly, and seek answers from God. While others use these times to thank God for what they still have. I think it is this self reflection that is the commonality between all people who follow this path. When faced with hardships. one must examine what is truly important to them. It is often during this time of self reflection that people may open up to God and realize that he has been absent from their lives. I also find it very interesting that religion tends to be more common amongst less wealthy people around the world. Some attribute this to lack of education and exposure to scientific thinking. While this may be true, I can't help but wonder if religion is more popular amongst the poor because they are not preoccupied with the meaningless things in life. By not having to worry about a cell phone call or facebook message, they have more time to think about what is truly important to them. These people also tend to put more time and effort into their families than some busy, wealthier people. I think it is important for everyone to take time out of their days no matter how busy they are to think about this kind of stuff. To figure out what is truly important in your life and to act on it. Not just in times of need, but in times of prosperity too. THinking about this has made me strive to acknowledge God in all parts of my life. Both good and bad. In doing so, I hope to set myself up better to face the inevitable hardships what I will encounter in the future.