When I got to a party with a few friends that are black to a majority white party it doesn’t bother me that much. If it is a party where I do not know people I feel more uncomfortable than the party being majority white. The music usually sucks which is a reason why I do not like going to parties that are dominantly white. I have plenty of white friends but if I do not drink beer or listen to their kind of music is it kind of uncomfortable. I sometimes go to my teams parties which are usually mostly white and I have a good time. They like listening to hip-hop like me so it is fun playing beer pong and jamming with my teammates. I do not think going to a party that is majority not your race should make you uncomfortable unless you do not like the attention. It definitely can be awkward walking into a party and feeling like all eyes are on you when you do not want them to be. It is like going to a party that is mostly guys when your one of the few females in the party. You feel like the center of attention and like me I’m sure many people do not enjoy it. In high school my school was pretty much half white and half black so we were pretty diversified. It doesn’t bother me being around a majority of one race or the other. I like to be friendly with everyone. I ran cross country in high school which is a majority white sport and people would always ask if I did sprints when I told them I ran. It used to bother me because just because of the color of my skin I ran a certain event in track. So when I’m at a party with a majority white crowd I embrace it to the best of my ability. If it’s a crazy dub-step song on and everyone is raging well I’m here I might as well go with the grove and I fist pump with everyone else. Overall I do not think different or most of the time feel different at parties that is not majority black because I’m there to have fun and if I have been invited then I shouldn’t feel awkward to be there. I do act different at parties that are different race just to fit in and make sure everyone else is also having a good time. Why should I just because I am a different color or in some cases the same color shouldn’t change anything.

I think there are a lot of reasons why a women like me don’t tell their partner why they were not pleasured like the guy. I feel like it is a confidence booster when men think their woman has been pleasured. We as women do not want to feel bad because they didn’t. I know many girls like me have a hard time orgasming. I wonder why that is and why the statistics are 22% of females actually do. For me I don’t have a problem telling a guy that I didn’t but to not kill their ego I say it was good sex. Which may or not be a lie (shit happens). I can understand why females fake their pleasure for a few reasons. One: they are in a relationship and want to make sure their man is feeling appreciated and “doing it” right. Or two, it’s a one night stand and the girl just wants the guy to feel like he’s done his job. Regardless it seems to revolve around that we care how the guy feels. When you think about how much a guy thinks about sex it is pretty crazy. Think of all the songs, books, TV shows, movies, etc. have been made about sex! It is obviously pretty important to them. If I was a guy and repeatedly couldn’t pleasure my girl that would hurt my ego a lot and I would start to wonder what I am doing wrong. I think it’s a big confidence type of thing for guys and probably why woman fake a lot. I think a big problem is that a lot of guys don’t consider a woman’s pleasure in the act. They are only focused on one thing at that moment and until that is fulfilled that can’t think straight. I don’t they do this intentionally but more of an instinct kind of thing built in their dna. I think most women who are comfortable with their partner they will be more likely to admit that they did not orgasm. In my opinion I think more girls should speak up if they were not pleasured. Whether a one night stand or yearlong relationship I think we spend too much time considering their feelings when a lot of times the feeling is not mutual. It does matter how they feel in think but I do not think it is worth faking an orgasm to keep their ego boosted, especially if it is a one night stand. But overall I think females do not tell guys when they are not pleasured at the same time as them because we care about their feelings.

I think the main reason why white men do not approach minority women sober is because they are intimidated. When they drink alcohol they gain “liquid courage” and may feel more comfortable approaching minority women. In addition minority women must also take responsibility for their approach toward white men because at times, knowingly or unknowingly may come off a bit rude or with that I don’t give a fuck attitude. This type of attitude puts white men off because of the body language minority women give off. If a group of black women are sitting at the hub with a mean mug looking face, they can’t expect for white men or even any kind of man to approach them with that type of body language. Also when black women tend to have a negative stereotype of being loud and obnoxious. White men might find this embarrassing and just not a good look. As a minority woman myself, at parties I feel like white men avoid socializing with me unless I am teammates with them. I’m not a typical minority woman, I am very relax and chill. So I shouldn’t give off that don’t approach me attitude to people at parties or anywhere else. I feel like being an athlete it’s different for minority women. I feel like it is easier being an athlete and having white men approach me although I don’t know why. They might be interested in the simple fact that I play a sport and want to know more about it or they feel more comfortable around me being an athlete. This can be compared to white girls approaching black guys especially here at Penn State. To be more specific the players on the football team seem to get more attention from white girls than any other normal black male. I wonder is it because they are athletes or they are interested in football. My opinion I believe it is because they are athletes. This is only because I have seen white girls ignore black men but once they find out they are a part of the football team, they become interested in them. I don’t think is fair because would they not approach them if they were not athletes. I think this is something we must really think about because if it means white people will approach me easier because of my status as an athlete is really superficial. White men shouldn’t need to be not sober to approach minority women nor should white women approach black men just because of their status. It’s not fair and needs to change.

I think there is a big difference between spending aid money on other countries instead our own problems. I know with the US being a powerful country we should want to help the less fortunate countries even though we give the least amount of aid compared to other countries. But I think we spend too much still. Our own country is cutting a lot of things from the budget and even from our education. This should be one of the most important things this country should focus on. But we are sending the money elsewhere while our debt increases and country suffers. Although our country is consider powerful throughout the world we have many areas that need to be worked on and we can’t 100% do that if we are busy helping other countries. I think because we are so powerful we feel obligated to always help and put in the most effort. It’s like being the big brother or sister in the family; we are the boss and supposed to be responsible for everyone else. But I think we can’t do that. It sounds selfish but if we really look in detail how many problems our own country has how can we spend time anywhere else? It is a hard decision but our first priority should the focus on our own country first. The difference between the two is honestly, we are more important. It is important to help the unfortunate but if it is majorly interfering with our own aid then maybe it is not best to give people millions of dollars when we are trillions of dollars in debt. Our country is so quick to judge immigrants in this country and yet we are helping people who aren’t American before us and there are no complaints there. There are minority groups and same sex groups still fighting for equality in their own countries. And that same country is sending resources all over the place who aren’t even asking for it. Look at the Native Americans case. They make the lowest income in this country. Have suffered for centuries even more than African Americans and yet they get barley to no help. We took their land, beat and raped their tribes. Then forced them to live on tiny reservations. It is not right what the founding father did to them and yet we are always getting in the middle of countries matters and trying to me Mr.Fix it. Well we need to fix ourselves first before we can help others. We could be an even stronger country if we could unite and start to fix the problems that we have.

I’m in no way against affirmative action and it’s not just because I’m a black female. It’s much more than that. Sometimes people have the odds stacked against them and it’s too far from their control. So I understand people sometimes need a little boost of help to reach equilibrium with everyone else. If I was against affirmative action though, it would be a tough choice if I would still take a handout. I think it would depend on the situation. If I failed out of college and were lying up on my ass all day at my parents’ house, I don’t deserve a handout. If I’m not trying to make an effort to create a better life for myself why should someone else. I don’t believe anything is given to you in this world. But if you’re truly trying and luck hasn’t been going your way then I can see someone deserving a handout. Even if you made a mistake in the past which is preventing you from getting a decent job and your desire to support your child, then a handout might be just what you need. There are many cases were people deserve and need a handout but it’s hard to determine who gets one and who decides who gets one. Then again sometimes handouts just luckily pop up. Being a college student I’m broke as hell. I don’t have a job so my aunt said when classes end I can go work with her at Subway. No interview, no need for qualifications. Even though that’s considered a handout because I didn’t even try to get the job, I don’t think I don’t deserve it. My aunt has been a big part of my life and she knows the kind of person I am. As a little kid I would work hard doing my chores for her, although it would mean I would get money in the end. She still knows I work hard in everything I do. Many my call that unfair and taking a handout but she knows me better than anyone who would say that it’s unfair. I think people who are against affirmative action are against it because they feel like people don’t deserve it and should help themselves. They may also feel like it’s unfair not thinking about the inequality our society faces. So if I was against affirmative action I think I would still take a handout based on whether I feel if I deserve it or not. I don’t believe people should be just given things if they are putting in no effort.

Growing up my mother never pushed the whole religion thing. Even though she considered herself catholic and if I went to church with extended family it would be a Lutheran church. But once I got older I stopped considering myself religious. Not that I am atheist, I just don’t believe in Jesus. I have a belief there is a higher power but being a science type of person I need evidence before I proclaim myself to a God. So with the announcement of definitely there being a God, my views would most likely change. I can’t say much would change about me because it would only be confirming a belief into a fact. Could the known presence of God change who I am? I don’t think it would because I’m not going to start changing the way I act to assure I go to heaven. Or repent my sins because I know Jesus is listening. He was listening before his known existence and probably saw my sins, so why be sorry now. It’s like when someone gets caught doing something bad then want to be sorry for it. But where was that remorse when you were doing the action you knew was wrong. So finding out that he exists won’t change how I live but only kill my curiosity if he was real or not. If he is the God everyone claims him to be, my beliefs in not having faith in him would not hurt me in anyway. He isn’t going to punish me because I refuse to go to church and worship him. God is depicted as the person who chooses where you go after death but if I choose not to worship him will that really hurt what happens to me in the afterlife? People have belief but if he is real what will happen to the people who choose not to follow him. Infinite damnation? It wouldn’t be fair and people may gain the idea of God acting like a dictator for people who refuse to follow him. The existence of a god would be something interesting for sure, something I would want to learn a lot about, but I doubt it would change many of my actions. I may sin now and probably will continue to even if God is proven to be real. I don’t claim myself as a religious person nor someone who is atheist. I just live life to my best ability and take responsibility for my actions whether “God” is watching or not. If his existence did prove to be real it would only mean my pondering of whether he was real or not would cease.

I think there is a lot of negativity toward Muslims because of fear created from the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Because the hate group claimed to be of Muslim religion, everyone created the association with terrorist with Muslims. Even over ten years later people still give Muslims a funny look on Airplanes or in other large public places. I still hear stories of “random” searches of them at airports. But is it really random or profiling? I think in most cases it’s profiling and is such a wrong thing to do because it isn’t fair. Many Americans if asked the question would they kick out all the Muslims from the United States if they could would probably say yes. Just because they have a huge misconception on whom Muslims are. There are Muslim families that have lived here there whole life before the terrorist attacks and now get treated differently. It is not fair that we have such prejudice to a group of people we do not know. If we look at ourselves and ask if we wanted to be judge for another person’s actions and now be seen at evil people just from our clothing and skin color we wouldn’t like it. So why do we do it? Ignorance is the reason. Instead of learning culturally about Muslims and getting to know them we judge them with hate because of terrorist. So how do we change the view of some many ignorant people? I think the best way to change people negative views of Muslims is to educate ourselves and then educate other people who clearly have a misunderstanding of Muslims. We need people to “walk in their shoes” and show some empathy towards them. If they truly educated themselves they would see Muslims don’t want blow up every American and they are more like us than most people assume. America is one of the biggest countries filled with such prejudice and judgment. I think how can we have so much hate and judgment going around when we are supposed to be the melting pot of so many other cultures and be accepting and loving of one another. Clearly that’s not the case nor has it ever been in the history of America. We’ve had racism against blacks, Hispanic, gays, and Muslims. No one can seem to find the reason why we harbor such hate among one another. It needs to change one way or another. And I think we can start by educating one another culturally and learn to accept and not judge people so quickly.

If I knew my child would be gay even in the womb I would not tell them. Not because I don’t approve of that life style but because I would want them to take it upon themselves to discover who they are. My main concern for my child is to be comfortable and be happy with themselves knowing that I don’t think of them any different because of the lifestyle he/she decides to live. I do not want my kid to feel pressured to be anything then who they are just, to please me or his/her father. It is a way of life to discover who you are as a person, so who am I to take that away from my child when it is a part of growing up. Knowing my child was gay, I would treat them the same growing up as if I didn’t know. I wouldn’t push him/her to hang out with their own gender because I know they will be attracted to them. As a young child, I wouldn’t tell other family members or friends just because I do not want them to be judged or treated different when I am not around to protect them. I would pray that when they are older and ready to come out that they would have friends to accept them and not judge them because of their lifestyle choice. Even in the present kids are having a hard time coming out because of the bullying associated with it. I would just hope the society my child grows up in is more accepting of peoples choices on how to live. If I had a girl and they wanted to dress more like a boy then I would help them in a way that they are happy. Vice versa if I had a boy. I just want them to be happy and even though I may not be 100% comfortable with how they want to live, I am not going to stop them in anyway. As they grow older I would talk to them not only about sex but that it is ok to like the same gender if that makes them happy. It is just like if I know my kid is going to come out the womb black, I’m not going to push the fact to only hang out with black people and give them the pressure they have to marry a black person. If they came to me with questions about their race, I would gladly let them know about whatever they wanted but I’m going to force the matter onto them. The only thing I believe there is to do but love and care for my child and to allow them to discover themselves knowing that they have my support no matter what.

The obvious answer is of course the way a person conducts themselves is much more important than their skin color. But I’m sure even today, there are still people who make the quick judgment of someone based on their race. I admit, even I have. To automatically assume that Asians are smart or a blonde white girl is probably a little dumber than most. I have always been taught not to “judge a book by its cover” to say. But media and other influences make it hard sometimes to not do that at the first sight of a person. People even get judged on what they wear or what they looked like, besides their skin tone. If you go into a professional interview with tattoos and face piercings, that employer will probably judge you even though you’re well qualified for the job. When I walk around campus I often assume things based on their clothing and body language. If they’re an athlete I can tell by sweatpants and varsity sport backpacks or jackets. They might have shaggy hair and hippy type clothing if I want to consider them skaters. Although I don’t think this judgment is fair nor important to the actual type of person they are, I do it, just like many other people. At the track meet this past weekend where I am an official, I was talking to another official. He was talking about how he used to be a tax auditor and how when he would first walk into someone’s office they automatically judged and most of the time hated him for what he was there to do. He explained to me how he would look around the office and find their hobbies or favorite sports team and try to lower the tension. I found it funny how judgment just based on his or her outside appearance was used to either cause or ease tension. I think if the people in the office took the time to get to know him rather than judge him so quickly because of his job they would see how he conducts himself professionally. I think now a day’s people are more judged on their appearance, and body language rather than their skin tone. But that’s not the case all the time. I have a male black friend and he told me about a time he was walking down the street on night. He said it was cold so he had a black hoodie and black beanie hat on. I white lady was walking the opposite way towards him. He said when she got closer to him she crossed the other side of the street and seem kind of frightened. In this case I definitely think he was judged for his skin tone because she found him intimidating without even getting to know him because if she met him, she would realize he is one of the nicest, harmless people you can meet. So I think it’s more important to know someone for their character but sometimes people make a judgment at first sight and hopefully it changes for the better as they get to know the person.

I think it is hard to exactly define what is considered racism. Is it just a simple stereotype or is its content meaning to offend someone intentionally? I think there a lot of things that can be perceived at racist but its all how someone sees it. In class Sam asked a black girl to point out the person with the straightest hair she didn’t seem uncomfortable with the task, just probably because she was being put on the spot. Once a person was chosen they didn’t see it as it being racist but rather a compliment for having the straightest hair in the class. But then that white girl had to choose the person with the “tightest” hair. Known to most people as choosing the person with the nappiest hair. You could tell she was a little uncomfortable with this task. In her mind she probably did not want to seem racist or offend person. In todays African American society more and more people aren’t embracing their natural hair but fixing it by getting relaxers or weaves to make it straighter. I think they see it as a way of not being judge by none colored people. I don’t know if you can consider that judgment from none colored people toward people with “nappy” hair racism. It could be that they are simply judging a person because they haven’t been exposed to certain characteristics of people from different races. Many people may consider a white person talking about how black people love watermelon and fried chicken racist. But if a black person makes the same comment in a joking manner, most people wouldn’t get offended. I think in both cases it is a form of racism but because one is coming from a person of a different race, he is considered the racist. It should not matter where the comment comes from but that regardless what is being said is offensive. There is always a big debate on whether the word “nigga” is racist or not. I am black and I admit being around any of my friends, black or not I say the word and sometimes they do also. To me, it’s just a word; I don’t consider it to be racist because in that form it’s not meant to be an insult or something offensive. Or in the case of Chi Omega there was a big deal of their picture being racist. I am also part Mexican and I did at first take offense to it. But after discussing it with friends, clearly they didn’t mean for it to be considered racist but just as a funny joke. So overall many things can be considered race but I think it’s based on person personal feelings on the remark that is made toward them on the matter. A lot of things are misconstrued at racist and just as many things that should be considered racist. Who’s to say what is and not racism?