stream is down for me it seems

The question asked in the video was what I think about when walking into a party filled with people who are not of my race or ethnicity. This question actually relates to me quite a bit. All throughout my life I have been going to parties full of Asian people. This is because my two best friends growing up were Chinese. They were both brothers so all the Asian parties (which is what they called them) they got invited to I was always asked to come along. The very first one I went to I must say was very awkward. I was pretty young so I do not remember much, but what I do recollect was walking in and instantly thinking, “Why is everyone staring at me”. Now this may have not actually been the case but I definitely got quite a few looks from people who were probably thinking, “Who is this random white kid and why is he here right now?” Since I seriously was THE only white kid around over a hundred different Asian people. What made it even worse, was that they all spoke Chinese. ALL THE TIME. I literally could only talk to my two friends the whole time since they were the only ones that spoke English. Obviously when people would look at me and talk with someone at the same time I would assume they were talking about me, but my friends would assure me and say “Danny they honestly couldn’t give two shits about you” which looking back on it now is true. Why would they care about me? But then, being the black sheep of the group I couldn’t help but think the worst. As I got older though and became more accustomed to these parties, my friends realized it too and would try and screw with me. They would tell me certain phrases in mandarin to say to people that I would assume to be “hello” or “how are you”, but what was actually “I like your mom” and “elephant penis”. I will admit this was funny looking back on it but the looks and reactions I got from certain people then are some I will never forget. That being said, since I was introduced to the whole “being a minority for once” thing while I was younger, it has definitely helped me out recently when I show up with a friend to real like actual parties now. When I show up now I expect all the odd looks and understand it so it doesn’t bother me at all. I actually find it sort of fun to go to parties where I am the minority since it is an easy conversation starter. That being said, I have officially reached my 450 word count and am now done with Soc 119 blog posts forever! It’s been real.

The question in the video asked two questions, why women do not openly tell men whether or not they experienced an orgasm after sex and why men do not ask women if they had an orgasm or not after sex. Since I am a male, I shall be answering the latter. For this question, there a quite a few answers that could explain why men as a whole do not usually ask if their female counter-part “came” as well. The first part of the answer to this question is just the sheer awkwardness of it. If any guy ever asked that question to a girl there is most likely no way awkwardness cannot ensue. This is not true for everyone however, since it depends on how close you are to said female. I can almost guarantee if the sexy time was a one night stand, then the guy will definitely not ask the girl if they had an orgasm. There is just no way that could happen. You just aren’t close enough with her so no guy would be comfortable enough to play that card. If the girl was your girlfriend however, who you have been dating for a significantly long time, it is a little different. For example, me and my girlfriend have been dating for over a year and a half now. The first couple times we had sex; it never even crossed my mind to ask her whether or not she was experiencing what I was. But as time progressed and we got closer, it obviously had to be brought up. Thankfully, she was in fact on the same page as me and had been experiencing the same. It would have probably been very awkward if that was not the case. Moving along though, another reason why guys do not ask girls this question is because they are afraid. If they do ask it, and the answer is “No I am not experiencing the same as you” the guy will most likely just feel really bad about themselves. Which is a real shame since the statistics from class do show that only 25% of women actually experience an orgasm during sex. This means that it probably isn’t really the guys fault at all since it is statistically proven that men just orgasm more than women do. The last reason, which is kind of unfortunate, is because some guys just do not care. There are some guys out there that strictly have sex just to satisfy their own needs and could literally not care less about the other side of things. Hence the “male dominated” world when it comes to sex. This to me is sad since it really should be an equal playing field when it comes to sex, but as of right now I’m not sure there is anything we can do about it.

After listening to this question a couple times, I firmly believe it is very one sided and does not account for the other side of the spectrum at all. Since the question of why the minority chick does not approach the white man sober also needs to be posed. Still, for the sake of the blog post I have come up with a few reasons why it takes white men a little bit of liquid courage to just go flat out engage in conversation with minority women. First things first, unfortunately in today’s society walking up to a random girl who you have never met before and just starting a dialogue is pretty awkward and usually never happens. This doesn’t even have anything to do with minorities; in general people will not just walk up and start talking to a random stranger, even at a social event such as a party. We live in a world where conversation with strangers is kept to a minimum if any at all. Unless someone has a clear reason to engage in conversation with someone else they most likely never will. For example, this may be a stretch but it definitely is related; in the HUB, if one person sits down to eat at a table that can fit four people, 99% of the other students looking for a seat will not sit at that table, even though there are still three open seats left. It’s like some unwritten rule we follow. Anyways, getting back to the actual question, like I said earlier it is just plain awkward. Unless, however, our dear friend Ally Cohol (alcohol) is involved. When that is the case, men and women both develop more confidence after a couple drinks so it is easier to approach one another. That being said, the fact that white men may not approach minority women as much as they would a white female, may just be the fact that most white males grew up around other white females. So for lack of a better saying that is just what they are used to. I myself grew up around mostly just white females and being my 19 year old self, I am mainly only attracted to other white females. One in particular though, since she is currently my girlfriend and future wife. Moving on to the next reason, white males may also just feel insecure about themselves. Especially when dealing with a girl of a different race than them. Since the minority girl may have also grown up around people in which the majority was her own race. That being said, the white male could be thinking that the girl is not attracted to him so why even bother trying to go flirt? Obviously this question can never truly be answered since all white males are different, but this is just my opinion on the matter.

The question in the video asked us why the United States as a whole gives so much money towards foreign aid and helping other countries going through intense stages of poverty when we ourselves are experiencing the same thing on our homeland. Now when I first watched it I sat for a little while thinking of an answer that could combat that question and explain why the United States does actually donate so much to other countries in need, but I could only really come up with one probable answer. Everything else in me agreed with this question and I started really pondering it myself. The one argument against this question I could possibly make was that the United States does this because if we solely dedicated our wealth to only the people in our country in need that we may lose certain allies we have now. Which sounds pretty harsh and quite rash actually, but it could also lead to us losing certain resources we need as of now. We all know that the United States cannot run solely on itself, if we could I really have no doubt that we would. But since we have a constant supply for goods those other countries have that we lack, we are forced to interact with them. And it in my opinion it definitely does help that we donate money towards the people of those countries in need. That being said though, I really cannot think of any other reason why the United States gives a majority of the money it donates to people other than Americans. After hearing what Sam had to say about the Native Americans who average an annually income of only $1,500 and showing the video of the hardships they have to endure, it really made me question why. Why does it seem like the United States does not care about the first people to call “America” their home? Why do they not call out to the cries for help our Natives Americans have made about their people in need? Honestly, I wish I could answer these questions and tell you an exact and well defined reason on why we as a whole do not do this, but unfortunately I cannot. Although, I am sure the government does actually have their reasons on why they do not, I am confused on why they don’t elaborate on them and educate the general public about it. Unless they have before and I have not read about it yet. But as of now I feel like the very first people to live off of this land have been greatly mistreated overall and something about poverty in the U.S and Native American tribes must be done soon, or I fear the real “pioneers” of this land will for lack of a better word face extinction.

After sitting down for a little while and pondering this question, I do believe that all groups of people can benefit from affirmative action. However, I do not think when affirmative action was created that the whole idea of everyone benefiting was what they had in mind. Since it was originally created to help benefit different racial groups, minorities, and females in the labor force to be able to equally compete against the white male, it has surpassed that objective and I would say as of now it can help even the white male benefit. For example, the girl who asked the question in the video talked about a wife with a husband and kids. If the wife received a new job offer due to affirmative action or even just got a raise, she would be able to supply more money for her family which would obviously help out her male counterpart, who just so happens to be white. Not only does her husband benefit though, but other white males will benefit from this too. Say she has two sons, since she is making more money she will be able to put money away in a savings account to help pay for their education when they grow up. Those kids do not even know what affirmative action is and they are still benefiting from it. And then those kids will grow up, graduate, get a job, and start a family of their own. And then the kids of their own are actually benefiting from their grandmother’s job. Then those kids will grow up and the process will repeat itself over and over again. I call it, “affirmative actception.” On the other hand though, this can cause certain groups to have negative side effects. If a minority with the same qualifications as a white male happens to get the job instead due to affirmative action, the white male clearly does not benefit from this situation and it could potentially ripple through his entire family. If his wife is a stay at home mom and takes care of the kids, assuming they have them of course, the fact that the dad did not get the job could cause him to not be able to save enough money to put his children through college or even worse they could potentially lose their house. This goes to show that although affirmative action can actually help a white male out, it can never happen in which everyone as a whole benefits, no matter what there still will be someone out there that “draws the short straw” and is negatively affected. All in all though, affirmative action although was created at first to only benefit minorities and women, has turned out to actually be able to benefit everyone (Under certain circumstances of course).

In my opinion, today’s day in age has some taboo topics that have been going on for quite a while now and some that have just recently started with our new generation. Topics that will most likely never change are the usual ones such as menstruation, which we talked about in class, masturbation, sex, underage drinking, farting, and “going number 2”. The list goes on and on because these are all things that are spoken about behind closed doors. And to me, it will never change and these are things we’re just going to have to live with. Now I do not mean to say these are things that are still weird to talk about with a close friend or family relatives, what I mean is that these are topics of conversation that people, generally speaking of course, do not bring up in daily conversation with fellow strangers or new friends. Now I can go on and on about these topics, but I want to talk about one that many people might not think of right away when talking about things that are taboo. This really only applies to guys so to the females I do not know that actually look through these and read them, you mine as well move on. Alright then, the one issue I want to talk about is guys being afraid to appear feminine. I don’t mean talk, act, or dress like a girl would type of feminine, but the kind of feminine side where you can openly share your feelings with another guy. This is a very taboo topic since mostly all guys that are not on a very personal level with you will not share their true feelings in fear of “looking like a little bitch”. The fact that some people believe a guy is supposed to be like 100% masculine and not give a shit what other people say or do makes it hard for the other guys who aren’t 100% masculine but have to fake it and make it seem like they are. My roommate and I have been good friends since grade school so him and actually only one other kid are the two people I feel like I can share absolutely anything with (not counting my family of course)… And to me, that kind of sucks. I have a lot of other friends up here but I personally do not think I could share some things with them without them calling me a girl or a baby. This, along with the other things I mentioned earlier is a pretty big topic of taboo right now and the only way I think we could potentially ever break it is to educate other people that we really are all alike and the people who think they are facing some things all by themselves most likely know some people around them going through the exact same thing.

The fear of death has affected my life in a couple of different ways. Part of me fears that I will die before I do everything I want to do or die before I am an old man. Another part of me fears that the actions I do during my lifetime will not be good enough to be allowed into heaven, since yes I am Christian and believe in God. So yes I believe there is a certain place where we all go when we die, depending on what we do in life. The last part of me actually is not scared of death however, because so far at least I believe everything I have done will grant me passage into heaven. In other words, if I were to die tonight I think that when “life judgment” happens at the gates of heaven I would be allowed to enter and not be denied. That being said, I will now elaborate on my first topic.
My first fear, the fear of not being able to do everything I want to do before I die, is most likely the bigger of the two. This is because I have so much I would like to accomplish before I pass away and I never truly know when that time will be. It could be tomorrow, the day after that, or even the day after that. And if that’s the case, I would be very upset since there is so much I have yet to experience in this world. On the other hand, I could die when I’m over one hundred years old and at that point, I may have to go through seeing my sons/daughters or even their sons/daughters pass away. Which is something I personally do not want to experience.
The other side of what I am fearful of though is a little different. This fear, is the fear of me not doing the “right” things during my lifetime. In which case would leave in damned in the afterlife and not able to experience the great things heaven has to offer. This constantly drives my actions during everyday life and really puts other peoples actions into perspective for me. Whenever making a questionable decision, I always weigh the outcome on how it would look when I arrive at the gates of heaven, even if it is as simple as throwing a gum wrapper on the ground.
Lastly, the part of me not fearing death still plays a role in my life. Although I worry about my actions not allowing me to enter the gates of heaven, I do still firmly believe that as of now they will. I cannot say what I will do in the future for sure however, but I can say I do not plan on ever doing anything that could result in being denied entrance to the pearly gates. That being said, I am sort of scared but at the same time not scared of death, if that makes sense.

Growing up in a catholic household, I was obviously born and raised catholic and was taught to believe in God. I attended religious school, or CCD as I used to call it as any catholic child would. When I was young I was always very sure that God existed but as I continued to grow older I started to have more and more of a doubt. As of right now, being my nineteen year old self, I still believe that there is a God and he is up there watching over us. I have educated myself on other theories of how we were created though and I have no right or proof to say that they are wrong. Whether God exists or not is purely someone’s opinion based on what they believe in or what they have experienced in their lifetime. That being said, if I were to turn on the news one day and see that the existence of God has been proven and he/she does in fact exist, I would do a couple things. First things first I would call all of my atheist friends who always used to tell me I was crazy for believing in a high power and for lack of a better phrase “rub it in their faces”. I would then go on to obviously do more research on the topic. Since God is now proven to exist then what do all the scientists who firmly believed he didn’t have to say and what is to come of all of their research. Also, this means that a heaven and a hell also exist so I would want to learn more about that. Yes, I have already technically been educated about that since I went to CCD, but after I was confirmed and no longer had to go I really didn’t learn too much more about the topic.
On the other hand though, if I were to turn on the news and see that somehow God was proven not to exist, I would have a great many deal of questions I would want answered. A few of them being: “So none of the stories in the bible actually happened and Jesus never existed?” and “What will all the once very strong believers in God do now?” Also, I would have to do more research on this topic too. Since this news would most definitely change the entire world we live in today. There would be outrages and riots for maybe even years on end of people who were taught to believe in God their entire lives only to eventually find out he/she never actually existed. Like I said in the beginning though, I have always had a little bit of doubt in my mind about the subject, so I personally would not do much if I found this out. I’d pretty much just go on living my life.

In my opinion, at first glance this may seem like a very dumb question to some people. Even when I first saw it I thought I was thinking to myself “Uh isn’t it pretty obvious?” But after thinking about it and letting it sit in my head for a little while, I realized the main reason there is such negativity towards Muslims in The United States is simply ignorance. Ever since September 11th, the media as a whole, whether it be TV shows, movies, or news broadcasts, depicts the image of all terrorists in the Middle East to be Muslim. Now even though this is a small group of Muslims compared to the majority of them. This is all the general public of The United States sees, since most do not bother to do any research farther then what they see on TV. Because of this, people automatically and even subconsciously develop a strong hatred towards Muslims. And these people then go and tell other people about it, who then “educate” their kids on the subject and the cycle goes on and on. I can almost guarantee any child that has seen a TV or a movie that involves terrorism, will most likely assume the next person he or she sees in Muslim garb is a terrorist. Even though all of us educated people know they are perfectly harmless and have no intention of harming any citizen of the U.S. As you can see this is definitely a hot topic and sure enough a big problem since we have plenty of Muslim people living all around us. One surefire way to help combat this problem is to simply educate more people in America about it. About how the terrorists that we hate are also hated by other Muslims in the Middle East. This answer is obvious though since that is one of the only ways to really put an end to the hatred. Another small thing you yourself can do is simply share Sam’s TED Talks video on Empathy. Even just posting it on your Facebook wall or tweeting the link to it can make a minor impact. If you have a friend that is convinced Muslims are “the devil” or just have a strong dislike for them without even having a reason, I can promise after they watch Sam’s video their opinion on the subject will change. Since the first time we as a nation have really been attacked on our home turf was September 11th, people in today’s day in age do not really know how it feels to have their own innocent people killed. Partly because most of us were too young to really remember it, but overall, if people could really learn to see life through the eyes of a Muslim, their opinion about them would change drastically.