I have actually just recently been very interested in this Israeli-Palestinian conflict. My boyfriend is Jewish and he has a lot to say about Palestinians and the ongoing war happing in Israel. I didn’t know much other then that the United Nations gave it to Jews after World War 2 but the Palestinian are fighting for the land. I being the follower closed minded person that I am just listened to my boyfriend and his sister talks about Palestinians. Some things I didn’t like what they said, it was really mean but I had no connection towards that conflict, I wasn’t Jewish or Palestinian. After we watched the video on looking a things from anther perspective where Mr. Richards had us think that we we’re living in the middle east and what we would think of Americans. This really opens my eyes to a lot of things I tried to stay away from. There are good people in the Middle Eastern, I judge and judge but I really don’t know. Palestinians are fighting for there home, family, justice and I know I would do the same thing. All these new thoughts we’re coming to my head and I sometimes felt like a bad person thinking “terrorists” were good as my boyfriend told me. It wasn’t until I went to see and listen to Jennifer Deborah Klein this week that really changed my views completely. I never really cared about politics I don’t think I ever will but like she said, I just care about fairness. How I can be satisfied with my life knowing girls just like me in Israel fear their life everyday. This land is given to both of them fro G-d, that’s a grace, and they should share it. I’m not going to get really into detail about what should happen because I still feel like I could learn more about this conflict. Fairness and peace is needed in Israel. I’m happy I got myself away from thinking Palestinians are evil people, I had no right to think that. This doesn’t mean I think badly of Israelis now though, I understand what both sides are doing for the sake of their family and living a good life. Everyone deserves to live a good life, EVERYONE. I’m happy I heard Jennifer Klein’s presentation; it opened my eyes to many things.

Like many have mentioned already, this article made think back to our reading in the Intersection Book, people honestly need to be more open minded. I do believe there are five different types of gender; society just needs to be more accepting. Everyone is different, not everyone believes in the same things and that's fine but don't let your beliefs hurt other people. Mr. Devoureau is a man, all his legal papers say he is so jobs shouldn't hire/fire him on the basis of he was born a girl 39 years ago. Like he mentioned, he has his son to support and because of discrimination he can't do his job as a parent and provide. I cannot understand what people would do such a thing. Trans gender, gay, lesbian, we are all humans we are all equal. No one is to say you are unqualified for a job because you are a certain way. I am glad Mr. Devoureau is bringing this situation to the media and court; everyone should know how judge full and hurtful people could be. Did the person who fired him even stop to think of the emotional affect that would place on Mr. Devoureau’s son? If someone every discriminated my parents because they were Hispanic, I’d be really upset. In a way, they’re telling me something’s wrong with my parents, and no one has the right to do that. I also don’t know why someone’s personal information was given out. Mr. Devoureau is legally a man; his boss had no right to bring up something personal in his life. Would the boss have fired Mr. Devoureau if he were gay? I find this article to be really upsetting, people are so close-minded and hard headed it just gets to me so much. Like I have mentioned before in other blogs my best friend has lesbian parents and I see the obstacles that family faces all the time. All the judging and hatred, it needs to stop. I feel very bad for Mr. Devoureau, I truly hope everything works out for him.

I really enjoyed reading this article because haiti is recovering after such a tragic event. Soccer in Haiti is a unique event that is important because it is helps unify the country after a tragic natural disaster. Soccer in this nation helps bring people together and takes focus away from these past events that have scared the country. Sports in general are a great way for people to come together and learn and improve on teamwork and leadership skills. When people are involved in sports they are taught lessons about life that will stay with them forever that is why it is important for children and young adults to be active in school and IM sports. When i played soccer in high school, through learning how to work as a team and developing leadership skills my teammates eventually became a part of my family. It didn't matter if we would win or lose, as long as i had my family by my side.

I attend a school in New Jersey where on average there are about 7-10 girls pregnant a year and that number increases every year. The pregnant and sex issue is very big currently in my town but 90 girls is insanely ridiculous. Wow, that's something that can't be ignored and pushed aside. Should public schools fund on sex education, yes without a doubt but it's not entirely the schools responsibility. Teenagers including myself live in a society where sex revolves around our lives. We can't escape it, sex is sold and seen everywhere. I'm very upset about this number because it really could have been prevented. If the school AND the parents work together, this number could be decreasing in the next couple of years. Children are the most influenced home, they spent the most time there. I think if parents step up and start preparing their children at the start of their teen years about sex and protection that these numbers in pregnancy everywhere will go down. From my experience this is the best method, my parents were always open about this with me and my siblings. I was allowed to be on birth control when i was ready because my parents didn't want me to lose my freedom as a growing teenager if I got pregnant. They wanted to me to be happy, graduate, go to college and hopefully graduate from college. Do you think any of those 90 girls would be able to attend a good college such as Penn State? Honestly, it'd be hard for them to finish high school. I feel so bad for those girls because one of my closes friends got pregnant senior year and instead of going to Rutgers like she was planning too, she's home taking care of her daughter. She always hid everything from her parents and she regrets that. She did lose all her freedom. She is a committed mother, she lives for her daughter and not herself. A baby isn't a bad thing but like my mother says, everything at its own pace.

The LGBT community in the military has been a very controversial issue in America. There are many stigmas and stereotypes associated with this group, these stereotypes in most cases are false but the military uses them to discriminate gay and lesbian service members. If a service member is doing his or her job efficiently than it should not matter what their sexual preference is. The military uses many excuses to support the "don't ask don't tell" policy, an example is that a straight soldier would feel uncomfortable knowing that his fellow platoon member is gay. In the end of the day it comes down to discrimination, this would be no different than a racist soldier feeling uncomfortable fighting next to a black soldier. One of my closest friends who just finished his term in Iraq had a gay soldier in his platoon, he did not feel uncomfortable at all around him but he felt ashamed that his friend had to hide who he truly was. The "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy proves just how ignorant the military really is. If a group of soldiers are fighting in a life or death situation I am sure that the last thing that they care about is whether or not the person fighting next to them is gay. If a soldier is willing to die for another mans freedom than why would it matter if he was straight, gay, black, or brown? Darren Manzilla's story makes you wonder how "Don't Ask Don't Tell" is still in place, he is a gay soldier but still does his job and serves his country. Darren Manzilla represents a large group of gay service men that don't act feminine or what you would picture as the gay stereotype, you can't even really tell that he is gay from the CNN interview. If it is illegal to fire someone due to their sexual preference at most jobs than how does it make sense that the military has the right to do it. "Don't ask Don't Tell" is basically saying that discrimination is fine as long as the government does it.

I actually really enjoyed this topic in class. LGBT families are a big topic in America today. Should couples of the same sex be allowed to raise a child? Would they make good parents? Well, what is a good parents. Every parent has different parenting skills. The same question goes for what is a good family? A child has a family for support, love, and care. I think if one can give that to a child there is no reason they shouldn't be there parent. My best friend has two moms and I see the obstacles they face in today's society. Some people could be so judgmental and hard-headed about this topic. My friend was given up by her biological mother to her parents and she says she had the best childhood any kid could ask for. Her two moms ARE her parents, they we're there when she got the sick, when she was upset, when she graduated, are paying for her college tuition. I don't understand why people don't think they can be parents. In my opinion, gay couples are just as "qualified" as straight couples to be parents. I see the struggles my friend had to face growing up because society was hard-headed to the idea that couples of the same sex could raise a child and it really makes me mad. How dare someone say that gay parents can't raise a child well. Like in the video, the man said "sexual orientation of my parents has had zero effect on the content of my character." This is so true. Gay parents are not trying to "breed" more gays into the society as many think. I truly believe gay parents should be able to adopt and raise a child and people shouldn't look at the family different. I'm happy I was friends with Lauri and her family. They helped me to accept that not everyone's family is the same and I think everyone should too. It really just isn't fair the amount of judgment and obstacles gay couples have to face when trying to have a family. Everyone deserves a family, everyone.

Fear has to be without a doubt the strongest influential emotion. Fear is a major factor when we make a decision. I can see clearly in my life, every decision I make is based off fear. Like said in our class, we especially me over emphasize fear and mismanage it. In the article, the man says “fear could work either way good or bad depending on how you relate to it in your everyday life.” This really touches me because I am not sure if fear works good or bad in my life. I use fear as an excuse to not take risks and be on the safe side. I always thought that was good but I realized after class that I am letting this fear tie me down, I am giving up my own freedom. It is true, “fear is what helps keep you alive,” but I think in some way fear is what’s “killing” me. It stops me from living life; there are certain things I wish I could have done if it wasn’t for fear.

As said by our former president, Franklin D. Roosevelt, “the only thing to fear is fear itself.” The only fear that exists is what we create in our minds. I don’t want them to take control over my life. I hope in the future to find this balance so fear could equally be work in a good and bad way. I really liked how the author said that men don’t like to talk about fear but even then he gave inspiring words. This helped me see that everyone, not just me has fears.

Too any one from the outside world this video will come as a shock, because of the way marriage is portrayed in western society. However who is to say that western society is correct. What gives us westerners the right to judge other cultures? There is no divine rule that says one society is better than other just because the majority of the population follows the ways of the westerners. This is a perfect example of how people can become so caught up in the ways of the society that they become to close minded to accept any other way of life. To me, this video is beyond weird. First of all I thought polygamy was an outdated practice and secondly I was closed minded to think that only the man had multiple wives not the other way around. If that woman lived in our society in that lifestyle she would most definitely be ridiculed and looked down upon. To me, she would be a “slut” but I am no one to judge because I don’t understand her culture. Obviously polygamy has been working in this woman’s society but it seems like media will intervene and possibly change the younger generations beliefs. Just like in our society, the youth are easily influenced by media and sadly so will this culture, As for the article on unequal male to female ratio in China; the government shouldn’t be as strongly involved in a family decision such as having children. Who is to tell a couple how many children to have or that a girl is inferior to a girl. I’m sorry but over population or not, a couple should never be told how many kids are right for them. As soon as we know it, China will also live with polygamy. I am old fashion and will never agree with polygamy. Call me closed minded and critical but it just isn’t right.

After watching this video, I can see why parents get over protective with their children. I’m not even a parent but I am extremely over protective with my younger siblings. Whenever I am back home in New Jersey, they will get a ride to school and back. My mother was ALWAYS joined at the hip with my brother and I when we were younger and went out. She never took her eyes off us and it did get annoying but I find myself acting the same way as my mother. Even after learning the statistics in class, I can’t imagine teaching my children or even my little brothers to talk to strangers for help. I was raised in an old fashioned manner and I will raise my kids like that as well. I wish I wasn’t so afraid of the world and even if the chances of my kids beings abducted were slim to nothing I would NEVER take the chance. Just knowing there is a slight chance scares the daylights out of me. Maybe we have all gone crazy with paranoia but better safe then sorry right? What it comes down to is don’t ever trust a stranger and you’ll be fine. I wouldn’t know how to tell my kids or any kid what a “good” stranger is as well as a “bad” stranger. I don’t want them to take the chance of getting a bad stranger. Maybe we do overemphasize fear and do mismanage it but there are bad strangers in this world. I really enjoy talking about these topics in class and I can totally relate to it. I hope one day I can open my eyes and see there is really not that much too fear but easier said then done. I would do anything so my kid wouldn’t be kidnapped or close too even if I do turn into that crazy parent.

“Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart” – KahIil Gibran. I totally agree with this quote as well as the video. Sadly in today’s society, beauty is only seen through appearance. No one pays attention to inner beauty anymore that will soon be non-existent. It is so hard to be a woman today with all the expectations media sets on us. If you were to open a popular woman’s magazine, it was most likely have a story on how to get that summer body or how to do your make up to look like a celebrity. Big boobs and luscious curves are in; they are assets for looking attractive. To my luck, I don’t have either of that. I didn’t have control over that but I did have control over my weight. I made sure I didn’t pass 104 pounds like Meghan Fox. My mentality in the beginning of the school year was this is what makes me look “hot”. Coming out of class after discussing the sociology of beauty I realized that my thought on beauty was crap. Like the video said, being a woman is MORE then just appearance. We are worth more than that. I am worth more then that and I don’t have to look like a celebrity to look good. We all have to realize we’re more then just boobs and hips. Women have over came many obstacles throughout history and this is just a minor road bump. It is shown that together we are a force that can’t be beaten and that does truly prevail. To be a woman was never easy in society, but that doesn’t faze us. I really enjoyed this topic in class. Coming out of it, I felt happy and good about myself and I bet many other women did too. It’s sad to know that appearance is the first thing we’re judged on but one day I know it won’t be like that anymore.