The information on the opposite was more interesting for me because it helped me to understand why guys act and respond the way they do when it comes to sex. It served as an eye opener for me. We almost always only discuss this topic through jokes, among our friends(usually of the same sex), and see it how it is portrayed in the media. Therefore, a lot of our thoughts are misconstrued because we think we know what the opposite sex wants while we really do not. We rarely have open ended conversations on this topic. This class also cleared up a few things for myself. I better understand why by body acts certain ways and what’s the cause of it. I now understand why guys think about sex the way they do, and that’s just a shame. I feel as though there needs to be more fathers around to give the reality side of it all. It is also very unfortunate that girls are now beginning to use porn as a means to learn about sex. Again, I feel as though mothers need to step to the plate as well and talk to their daughters about it.
I think that this was a great topic for a class because we are all dealing with one way or another. We constantly question why guys always want it and do they really always think with their penis? This reinforced the idea of men just seeing sex as sex when not emotionally invested with someone or cheating with another girl and not seeing it as a big deal while women on the other hand see it as such a big deal. It makes sense because with sex its an instantaneous thing while with women it’s a whole process to get to that same point as a man. The double standard also makes more sense to me, but that does not mean that I necessarily agree with it. I hate the fact that it exists, but I also feel like women need to stop acting as though they can live up men’s potential when it comes to sex because emotions will almost always come into play.

Black women are always being portrayed or considered to be either extremely promiscuous, inappropriately emotional, overly and unnecessarily independent, uncompromising, physically and verbally abusive, irrational and have unbearable attitudes. Black women also tend to be or rather attempt to extremely dominant with very little signs of being submissive but again these are just some if not majority of stereotypes of the black woman. Now as far as why white men hesitate when approaching or attempting to court a black woman, all of these stereotypes most likely come into play as well as the whole “dating outside of your race” issue. In all honesty, this may end up being a more general answer, it is extremely nerve wrecking when approaching someone outside of your race especially with Blacks and Whites. Race is always a factor when trying to interact with people. Black people for the most part nowadays are very vocal when it comes to race so it wouldn’t be far fetched for a white male to be hesitant in approaching a Black woman. Black women also tend to be very upset when Black men are taken by white women and are seen, viewed or come off as extremely hostile and racist. Black women love a strong black male and most likely would give a white male the time of day but generally all hesitation comes from stereotypes. It always comes from how often White males interact with Black females which I’m sure majority of the time is far and few in between. Whites and Blacks, depending on the area, tend to gravitate towards their own race so interracial interaction is either impossible or improbable; not to say that it would never happen but the likely hood of is very slim again depending on location. As a black female myself I’ve rarely, if ever, been approach by a white male for anything less than the time, homework or just being polite for holding the door or letting me pass by. I’ve also noticed that both groups tend to frown upon interracial couples so the likely hood of anyway stepping outside of that norm is very little. Way to often Blacks are labeled so White tend to leave us alone or look down on us or simply just don’t want to associate themselves with. White men as well, too us or to some, are categorized as crazy and extremely abusive or have little private parts so sometimes we aren’t as receptive of them; so it isn’t entirely their fault for being hesitant.

I found this article very intriguing. The fact that J.V.G. found a way to relate himself to many people from all around the world who shared different backgrounds from him is what got me so interested in this article. It seems as though no matter the situation he was in, he could find someway to relate to the people in them. He related himself to an Indian man by simply stating a phrase in the guy’s native language. He related himself to a west Indian girl by saying something in patois. He was able to change his girlfriend’s parents whole perception about him by simply being himself and showing respect. What impresses me the most is that he did all of this between the ages of 15-16. Many kids at that age, including myself, did not even care for this, and are very ignorant towards it.

The fact that he is from New York City got me too. I am from NYC as well and a lot of people here do not take the time to get to know others and their cultures. Everyone pretty much stays within their own circle and go about their own business, unless they are exposed while young. People are also really biased to other races and cultures so that is why it is something to me that this young man has figured out a way to get people to “succumb” to him and accept him for who he is.

I was very sheltered from a lot growing up, and now I feel very uncultured because I do not know much of the “basic” things as many of my friends do. I never really get a lot of jokes, know what a lot of things are referenced to, and things of the sort. That is why this article caught my attention because deep down that is how I always wished I was. J.V.G. can blend in and adapt to any situation with any given type of people/person because of his diverse background and knowledge. If we had more people in the world, even in the United States like that, we would live in a much better place. There would not be as many prejudices, discrimination, cruelty, etc today.

I think that it is selfish for people in poverty to have more kids because I feel as though they have no consideration for the circumstances under which the child has to be raised. They go have several kids without thinking about the basic factors: will the father be around (rare cases the mom), will “I” have a steady job to support a family, do I have any back-up plans incase I was no longer able to support my family, and have a decent place to live. Children growing up in poverty usually do not have those things and that in turn leads to a very difficult childhood where the child can not enjoy their childhood because they have bigger things to worry about such as where is my next meal coming from, is mom/dad going to be able to afford all the bills this month, and all the expenses of the other siblings.
I feel as though the parent(s) should not want to bring up their children under such circumstances, but some of them their comfort so that is why they keep having them. Also because poverty is such a vicious cycle. Children growing up in poverty are more likely to stay in poverty into adulthood. They do not see their parents get very far, therefore, they lack the motivation to go above and beyond to better themselves and their future families. There are those cases where this correlation does not exist (i.e. Sam R) and a few others.
All in all, in opinion if you are poor, you should not have several kids, one maybe two is enough, but more than that is excessive. Its too much of a struggle and causes so much stress and an earlier death. There is no reason to put yourself or your children in such a predicament and just make things way harder than need be. Also, by lowering the number of children you have, would have an adverse affect of the number of people living in poverty.

Compared to how others are living around the world, I feel that we Americans are too privileged. I am not complaining, but it is just unfortunate to hear of the disparities that exist. To think that America contains two thirds of the world’s wealth and it only makes up about twenty three percent of the world population is crazy. Anybody who lives in a poverty stricken country view americans as greedy, overbearing, glutinous, and the list goes on. We have reached a point in this country where we just do too much. We spend thousands of dollars on unnecessary items such as clothes, shoes, jewelry, cars, and all kinds of other things that are not important. We can spend all that money on all of those items while there are so many people around the world only making a dollar a day. And to think that the lowest ten percent of people living below the poverty line in the united states are better off than people living in third world countries. That just goes to show that a change has to made, but it is not going to happen. Those countries will continue to be exploited for their good and our benefit.
Also the thought that slavery exists to the extent that it does to provide us with all of our goods is a shame. It is very hard to find items that has not been made through the means of forced labor. The people who make/produce these items reap no type of benefit from it. They are beaten, sometimes to the point of death, treated lower than a human being, taking advantage of, robbed of their personal happiness to live in pain and suffering all to cater to the greed that we exhibit here in this country. Although many of us know this, we will continue to buy into these goods, and why wouldn’t we? If we have all of this wealth and goods around us, it is natural that we will want to have it and splurge on it. It is not fair that these conditions exist, but there is not much to do about it. The system is already set up, and it is hard to combat it. It is sad to say, but we just have to live with the reality of the situation. To change the system, that would mean that we would have to give the comfort zone in which we live, and sad to say that is just not going to happen.

Compared to how others are living around the world, I feel that we Americans are too privileged. I am not complaining, but it is just unfortunate to hear of the disparities that exist. To think that America contains two thirds of the world’s wealth and it only makes up about twenty three percent of the world population is crazy. Anybody who lives in a poverty stricken country view americans as greedy, overbearing, glutinous, and the list goes on. We have reached a point in this country where we just do too much. We spend thousands of dollars on unnecessary items such as clothes, shoes, jewelry, cars, and all kinds of other things that are not important. We can spend all that money on all of those items while there are so many people around the world only making a dollar a day. And to think that the lowest ten percent of people living below the poverty line in the united states are better off than people living in third world countries. That just goes to show that a change has to made, but it is not going to happen. Those countries will continue to be exploited for their good and our benefit.
Also the thought that slavery exists to the extent that it does to provide us with all of our goods is a shame. It is very hard to find items that has not been made through the means of forced labor. The people who make/produce these items reap no type of benefit from it. They are beaten, sometimes to the point of death, treated lower than a human being, taking advantage of, robbed of their personal happiness to live in pain and suffering all to cater to the greed that we exhibit here in this country. Although many of us know this, we will continue to buy into these goods, and why wouldn’t we? If we have all of this wealth and goods around us, it is natural that we will want to have it and splurge on it. It is not fair that these conditions exist, but there is not much to do about it. The system is already set up, and it is hard to combat it. It is sad to say, but we just have to live with the reality of the situation. To change the system, that would mean that we would have to give the comfort zone in which we live, and sad to say that is just not going to happen.

I think people find it acceptable for colored comedians to tell racial jokes, but not white people because of all the racial inequality that exists which was the cause of white people. White people set up a divide, and put themselves on a pedestal, taking dominance over all other races. Therefore this tension exists and making it unacceptable for white people to tell racial jokes.
I feel as though white people should not get upset about this. Although it is not this generation of people who caused all of the inequality and discrimination, they should understand that the pain and the barriers of the past have not magically disappeared because we are no longer in that era. When white people tell racial jokes, it can sometimes come out in a condescending way that may upset others. Most of the jokes that are told are about stereotypes. So when these jokes are told, they offend others.
Until recently, blacks in the U.S. were powerless. So it makes it okay for them to poke fun at the people who had the power. The psychology of it is different. When Africans were brought here as slaves and they weren't allowed to eat at a restaurant or stay in a hotel or even drink from a fountain because they were black saying something mean about whites or making fun of them is a lot different than the white person putting down the victims of all that. Whites may think all that was in the past, but I think to black people it's probably a lot fresher in their minds.
Only the victim can tell the jokes and laugh about it. If it comes out of anyone else’s mouth, it can be offensive. In my opinion, it’s just a bad idea to tell jokes about another’s downfalls. Your basically setting yourself up for criticism. I think that white people should me accepting of this, and stop complaining about it. We all already know that white people have the upper hand in this country, so why get mad because you can’t tell some jokes. They already have everything else, don’t be greedy now.

I feel that the reason why we associate ourselves with others of the same race and ethnicity as ourselves is because that is who we feel the most comfortable with. We tend to feel more at home with those who share our race and ethnicity because we share many of the same cultures, language, slang, way of dress, food, hobbies, and the list goes on. It easier to hang out with people who we have similarities with rather than branching out and trying to fit in with a new crowd.

Another reason we tend not to branch out is because of the many stereotypes and preconceived notions that exists and we tend to believe. If we feel a certain way towards a group of people, we are not going to want to reach out to them. This is another reason why we tend to not branch out to others outside of our race and ethnicity.

I came to Penn State because of its diversity. I was going to attend a historically black institution, but I decided against it because I wanted to broaden my horizons and come out of my comfort zone because I grew up around black people all of my life. I realized that my plan did not really work because almost all of my friends and associates are black. I have found that many of the people I know feel the same way. They came for the diversity, but feel closed off to just black people. Quite a few people I know do not hang out with anyone of any other race. This had my mind going, and it bothered me.

I noticed that no one really makes an effort to hang out with other people of other races and ethnicities. We all just tend to stay where we feel comfortable. There also are not many organizations and programs on campus, I feel, that foster diversity. Each group of people have their own organizations and programs that they attend. These programs are not widely broadcasted therefore not giving much way for others outside of their community to attend. I also find that at many of the programs that I attend, when there are a group of white people there, it is mostly because they had to attend to get credit for a class, otherwise they would not be there, or know about it. This bothers me a great deal because I feel that penn state is such a great school, yet I feel that many of us are missing out on the whole experience because we are not exposed to it all. That is why it is important to branch and reach out outside of our comfort zone.

Stereotypes still exists because the world is full of ignorant people who want to stay stuck in their beliefs. There are people out there who do not want to accept the truth of the matter and would rather look down upon others, and keep them down. There are also those people out there who are too stuck up to believe anything else, and that all of what they hear must be true because they will not expose themselves to the truth. Sometimes this is not entirely their fault. It is passed down from earlier generations so this mindset is imposed on them from early on. Either way everyone needs to take responsibility and become knowledgeable.
Although many people know the truth, they do not want to accept it and pass those same stereotypes to their children, family, etc. thus keeping them in rotation. This is done for the simple fact that people want to keep others suppressed and keep the barrier intact. This is a very selfish act, but it is done nonetheless. Some people just have not come out of that mind set and it is very unfortunate.
The information is out there, but not easily accessible. There are also people out there who are not exposed to the information that is presented in this class, and do not take it upon themselves to go out and find this information for themselves. When this information is found, it is not posted all over the place like many tabloids and does not appear like the outrageous stories all over the news. Usually you have to dig deep for this information, and many people are too lazy to dig that deep.
In my case, I am not exposed to this information although I have access to it. Because like many of my peers, I live in a “bubble” and I do not take the time out to delve into it. There have been efforts on this campus and many others and in the world as a hold, but we do not take advantage of this. Many people dig deep and put it many hours of work and research to find this info, but we do not appreciate it and this shows because we are still ignorant to it. It is up to each of us individually to take the initiative to gain this info and take advantage of the resources available to us.

SOC 119