GoatsOnABoat

GoatsOnABoat

9p

6 comments posted · 3 followers · following 0

14 years ago @ Race Relations Project - If men could menstruat... · 0 replies · +1 points

Personally, I think men know enough about menstrual cycles. I feel as though there is really no need for our class to constantly be talking about this. I am a woman, and I am still weird with talking about my cycle to my girlfriends. But when it comes to talking to my guy friends, that's a BIG no. It is extremely uncomfortable, and why would I need to talk about it in depth with them in the first place? Just like any other conversation, you want to talk about your situation with someone who understands what you are going through. How can I do that while talking to a man about it? I understand that women want to be proud that they can have children and they feel like it is an inconvenience to hide their period, but come on. It is not something that needs to be talked about to this extent.
I am a lesbian, and my girlfriend and I don't even talk about our periods that much. It isn't something that needs to be discussed a lot. We may say, "I'm sorry I'm in a bad mood. I have my period." or "I'm not feeling well because I have really bad cramps today." But we never need to discuss how heavy our flow is or what the toilet bowl looked like after we found out we started our period. This all just makes for awkward conversation. And it is not because as lesbians we view the vagina as an object of lust. Not at all. It is just a strange subject to be discussing.
And maybe this is how we were raised. I'm not completely sure. My mother barely talked about it with me. My sister barely talk about it with me. And my father cringed and ran out of the room when periods were being discussed. In my family, it was a personal issue that we dealt with on our own. I mean anyone in the family would buy tampons for each other -- even my dad. But the talking was just something that was never there for my family. As for my girlfriend, she started when she was nine years old. Her family was never close in the first place. Her parents divorced. She lived alone with her mom, and her mom was basically never there. She learned to deal with her period in a private way, and that is how we both deal with it now.
I just don't understand the fuss about periods. If you want to talk about it, go for it. Just don't expect everyone to join in on the conversation. Like I said, I understand if other women feel like they are being oppressed by society. If that is what you are really worried about, then talk about it with people who want to talk about it. Otherwise, we can just stop. It's not what anyone signed up for with Race Relations.

14 years ago @ Race Relations Project - LGBT Class - Question ... · 2 replies · +1 points

I completely agree with you. And I am glad you brought up the point that maybe you were the only one being uneasy about the trips to Baltimore. I feel like that is a big issue with some people. Being a part of the LGBT community has really allowed me to see this first hand. I came out to my parents a little over a year ago, and shortly after I started telling friends. I thought for sure that nothing would change with most of them, but I was incredibly wrong. Some of my best friends became completely different people when I was hanging out with my girlfriend around them. The strange thing was that I wasn't even flaunting my relationship. We were all hanging out like friends do. I feel like when she found out about me, she just put up this barrier. She was never the same around me after that. And that is how it seems to be with so many people today. I think that more exposure beginning at a younger age would decrease this occurrence.
I'm so excited that Sam's discussion about how homosexuality isn't a choice touched you. I have always felt a natural attraction to females rather than males. I can't even remember the first time it happened. I feel like it has always been there. I have gone through periods in my life where I tried to force those feelings to the back of my mind because I thought it was a phase or I could will myself into being straight. It just doesn't work that way though. I could never feel comfortable in my own skin until I told my parents, and even then it wasn't completely comforting. I knew that admitting my sexual orientation would create a lifelong battle. Even today, I will have tough days where I just wish I could be straight so that I wouldn't have to deal with all this bullshit people throw at me everyday. It would be a life where I was unhappy but at least I wouldn't be seen as some homosexual reject. In the end though, I have the most incredible girlfriend. I have been with her for over a year and couldn't imagine myself with anyone else. And if I give in to people's bullshit, it is just allowing them the pleasure of oppressing my true self, and I can't allow that to happen-- to me or anyone else. I plan on helping the America achieve marital rights across all the states. It is my lifetime goal. I will commit the rest of my life to that goal because no one should be able to take away the natural birth right to marry who you love.

14 years ago @ Race Relations Project - Avatar and the White M... · 0 replies · +1 points

Wow. I have never really thought about the concept of whites always being the hero to some native peoples. But it makes sense. Whites have always felt the need to be the "hero." Maybe it is the fact that whites are trying to cover up the fact that they induced the largest genocide in human history. Maybe they just can't face the guilt. Or maybe they just don't even realize the actions that occurred when the Europeans invaded the Native Americans' land.
So let's say it is the fact that they want to cover up the largest genocide. Now if this is true, that is just sad. I mean most students in the United States do not even know that this massive wipe out of Native Americans even occurred. Most just think that the Native Americans shared the land by choice. Wrong. Europeans barged onto the land and forced the Native Americans to give up some. When they didn't comply, some of these natives were murdered. The Europeans had more advanced weapons than the seemingly helpless Native Americans.
Not only were these Native Americans murdered because of land battles, but they were also murdered due to smallpox. The Europeans brought the disease over from their native lands. This wouldn't have caused the greatest genocide in history if the Native Americans had some sort of antibody to protect themselves from this horrible illness. However, the Native Americans had never experienced or seen smallpox. This caused the illness to spread rapidly across the population with no hesitation. The Native Americans had no way to spare themselves.
As a white American, I am deeply shamed for the actions of the European men who came to the Americas and claimed the land as their own. Now students all over the nation are taught that the Europeans basically found the land or that it was given to them from Native Americans. To be completely honest, that is what I thought for the longest time-- that is until I started attending Dr. Richard's class.
White's are either ashamed to admit the truth about the genocide or they just truthfully don't know about it. It is movies like Avatar that can bring these issues to light even more. The main character tries to show the world that he wants to save the natives, and then maybe somehow this will resonate with certain people that this is what white people do. They save those in need. Wrong. White people are generally greedy. If this story was a story based on reality, the white men would have taken the materials they were searching for from the Na'vi and ran. They would have treated those natives just like the Native Americans. Maybe if this film was based on reality we could see the Na'vi forced into tiny reservations living on barely any salary whatsoever. Now that would be an enlightening film worth seeing because I am ashamed of the means that we acquired this land we now call the United States-- home of freedom and liberty. Yea right.

14 years ago @ Race Relations Project - Haiti's Calamity · 0 replies · +1 points

I grew up in a home where religion wasn't really talked about. My mother is a very religious woman but never wanted to push her beliefs on me. She wanted me to form my own beliefs, and if believing in God was one of them, she was fine with that. On the other hand, my father is agnostic. He thinks that there is some divine being, but he just doesn't know who or what. He never forced his beliefs on me either. Now I have been on the planet almost 19 years and my sister almost 16. Both of us are atheist. At one point in time we attended a church in the local town, but that didn't work for very long. I was starting to feel close to something. Whatever that something was, I still am not sure. I remember one Wednesday night service we were praying for Jesus to forgive us of our sins so we could follow in his path of salvation. I remember some strange, goose-bump raising feeling. I thought that the feeling meant that I was somehow close to God, and that was him reaching down to touch me. I thought that was a sign that he was there for me, and he wanted to let me know.
Then came the change of heart. My best friend lost his life in a car accident Sunday February 29, 2004 at 2:30 A.M. He went out on a joyride with five of his friends, and the sixth friend, the driver, only had his permit. At 2:30 A.M. on that Sunday, all seven of them passed away. Trey Hannah, Crystal Smith, Eric Sansone, Samantha Stawizynski, Lauren Sutherland, Jessica Wallace, and Michael Fradella were all ripped from this earth. For what? When I stepped into church that morning, all people told me was that it was God's plan. They told me that God needed them. This moment changed my life.
I felt myself immediately start losing the feeling I thought I felt that Wednesday night in church. I went to the memorial service held that Wednesday, and it was the last time I stepped foot in church. Thousands of people showed up to the service. They had giant portraits of each kid on a separate easel. The people at the doors handed out one red rose to the mourners. I walked right up to his easel and placed my rose next to his smile that I missed so much already. The thousands of people who were behind me seemed to follow. They placed their roses and laid their hands on my shoulder. They told me that he was with God and that God had a plan. I sat back down in my seat in the second row. I watched as pictures of me and my best friend flashed across the screen in the front of the church. I listened to Crystal's father scream as her face filled all of our eyes. I listened as people stumbled over speeches of love lost. I watched Michaels's father sit in shame as others blamed him and his son for the deaths. I watched Trey's mother-- her face still in shock and disbelief. I watched all of this for the loss of seven children. I felt ripped from God due to this small town tragedy.
So maybe this tragedy is allowing some to feel closer to God, but to me, its just pushing me further from buying into that. Interpret it as you want-- another crucifixion or a deal with the devil gone bad. It is still one of the largest natural disaster tragedies on the planet, and I do not believe it was to show humankind that some divine being has control over us. I believe it is a time we should band together, but not a time that was planned by someone bigger than us all.

14 years ago @ Race Relations Project - Last Name Begins with "L" · 0 replies · +1 points

Janky

14 years ago @ Race Relations Project - Clubbing the "Bejesus"... · 2 replies · +1 points

Now, I do not consider myself a religious being. I do not attend church every Sunday or pray every night to the divine being that Christians call God. However, I do know that Christianity is a religion based on hope -- the hope that one day after your body perishes, your spirit will not. In times of tragedy like the one that occurred and is still occurring in Haiti at this moment, people turn to God. They turn to someone who will give them strength when they feel they have lost so much. These people are dealing with the loss of their home, family, friends, and safety.
So in the midst of this crisis comes responsibility of those all around the world to help out whether that be through physically going to Haiti to help with cleanup or to help with the wounded, to pray for those in need or those who have perished, to donate money or goods, or even to do something as simple as speaking kind words.
But Pat Robertson could not even do that last simple task! He decided that rather than speaking the words of wisdom written in the book of God, he would announce his absolute ignorance to the world. He has a place on national television to spread joy and faith, and he told of the devil making a deal with the people of Haiti.
Now, correct me if I am wrong, but is Pat Robertson trying to tell me that if I do not want to die in a horrific natural disaster, all I have to do is avoid making a deal with the devil? Hmm. So that must also mean that he is trying to tell me that EVERY SINGLE person who perished in this tragedy followed the devil… I think not. This man is ignorant. He is the epitome of what Christians should NOT be like. He just added to the myriad of reasons as to why an ever growing number of people drift away from God.
Moreover, is anyone in the United State truly acknowledging this tragedy? Yes, we all have heard about certain companies going over to help, but I feel like the only other news I have heard about Haiti is of public figures making ignorant statements. Pat Robertson was just among that crowd. Like I said previously, tragedies like this bring on the responsibility of the world to unite and help. This does not mean you listen to the news and forget about it in five minutes. That does not do anyone good. Americans need to step off the pedestal that they are on and realize that they don’t need a box of beer and Twinkies every night. You could give your precious junk food up for even one night, and give the money to help out Haiti in this time of need.