Unfortunately I am a little fuzzy on stages 3 and 4, so i went online, and am basing this blog post on the article i found that i think closely resembles the stages we went over in class (will post link at bottom of this blog), at least i hope so. SO with that said:

I think that stage three is the worst stage for white people to get to, be immersed into, and stay at. But I will say that it is a good stage to transition through, so long as you truly go through it and understand the types of resentment and feelings you had were not necessarily the best ones to have in our growing society and in day-to-day interactions. I believe this to be true because in this stage, white people truly feel like they are superior to other people based on race, this is due to many idealistic factors that white people have attained and asserted as truth in America. First being the physical factors: the color of your skin, the shape and distinct style of facial features, clothing choice, dialect, and how you represent yourself in terms of sex. As humans we are extremely visual creatures, we rely on our sense of sight for almost everything. If we like what we see, or relate to what we see, we are much more open to it, and we let our guard down more easily. But when it comes to things that are different than ourselves, less common, or simply eye catching in a way that we have never experienced before, we almost automatically assert it in our minds as being “weird” or “foreign”, or worse, we simply assume things about certain people due to their race and other factors that we assimilate with their race; and thus let this stop us from getting to know them and their culture any better or see them in any different light. An imaginary fence goes up, and alertness rises as we stay wary of those individuals who seem to threaten our way of life as we know it. What we see is then transmitted into what we have heard of and arbitrarily know as fact for example: You see a guy walking down the street, you think to yourself, “That guy is wearing a low cut rainbow colored shirt, he has sparkly glasses, and he has a rather stylish bag, that must positively mean he is a homosexual.” Or even something as subtle as, “Oh that black kid over there is wearing Air Jordans and he’s really tall, he must be really good at basketball.” You may point out to me, “well that’s not racist, I am probably right about both individuals, you can clearly tell from how they are representing themselves to society; and for that matter what does it even matter? I can say/think anything I want about anybody, everybody judges.” And to those who say this I say to you, get out of stage three, and fast. The fact that you think people judge other people in these racist manners that have so easily been swept under the rug so that they are not “meant to be racist” or the intended offense was “not intended in that way what so ever” are assumed to be correct indicators of identifying people of different races is so wrong and needs to be seen and delved deeper into on so many different levels. As a young generation we need to be more open, caring, and interested in not only our own race, culture, identity and so forth; but those same factors when it comes to any race or any group of individuals that are perceived to fall under a certain category of people. When you see a group of Asians or Hispanics or blacks sitting together at the Hub having what seems to be an animated conversation, think to yourself, “Hm, I wonder what they could possibly talking about..” let thoughts wander through your mind about maybe a topic of concern as college students they are talking about, maybe they are a group with a cause and planning their next fundraiser, or maybe they are just a group of friends that are talking about things that are relevant to their lives, their culture, and even just their interests. Be open to getting to know these people and share your ways of life with each other. The world would be a much better place if we were all willing to get to know each other and accept differences as opposed to off-the-bat rejection due to the fact that what others are doing is so alien to you and your little world.

After the needy penis lecture, I fell into a state of deep thought and borderline depression in terms of my own lifestyle and the overall social norms of society when it comes to sexuality and such. I realized that the way I dress and thus present myself to others is completely shaped and defined by our society in which men’s sexual urges and perceptions reign supreme. Why do I wake up in the morning, smear paint all over my face, use a pencil to make darker lines on my eyelids, put on blush to make my cheeks look brighter, cover up blemishes with other special paint, use hot wind to blow dry my hair, and put on clothes that are revealing and sometimes uncomfortable every day? I do this not only to look presentable, but now I realize I do this because I have been conditioned by society to attract the “male gaze”. I know I am not the only one who does this either, almost every girl at Penn State and even in America does. But here’s the catch; some girls would argue that they actually do like putting make up on, dressing up, and wearing uncomfortable heels that look damn nice. It makes them feel sexy and they think they look sexy! That aspect is fine, if you like walking to frat row and back with little to no clothes on and in heels that make you bleed in 30 degree weather, power to you! BUT you must realize that you do not like these things or do these things because that is who you are; you do and like these things because society has shaped your mind to like these things. A society full of horny men that get turned on by skimpy clothing, and women that ooze of sexuality because women always want to have sex…. If we grew up in a world where more clothing was deemed sexier than less clothing (basically the opposite of everything now/a woman’s world), then there is no doubt in my mind that women would be way more covered up. I really hope some day our world will be more affected and seen through a woman’s perspective, the world would be a much better place! There would be less sexual assaults, porn wouldn’t be such a taboo or disgusting for that matter, the term slut might very well disappear, and women would be having more amazing orgasms! None of those things would be a bad change for males, in fact I think it would make men better, I don’t know about you but a world with less chauvinist pigs in it sounds wonderful. I am not trying to bash on guys, even though it really seems like it; I just think everybody needs to step back and think about it, think about the world we live in and what we believe in. This lecture has inspired me, more than ever, to think twice about what I wear, how I present myself, and how I will deal with attracting and denying the male gaze.

In retrospect, the collective reaction of my classmates during Sam's lecture on the sins that the Bible mentions condemn sinners to Hell was really interesting, as I'm sure it was to others. Many of us chuckled when we were told that underage drinking, intoxication, adultery, promiscuity and premarital sex could be and have been interpreted to be mortal sins, partly because we are Penn State undergrads who are overwhelmingly desensitized to such acts, leaving us to feel these ideas are baseless and outlandish. We together had an entirely different reaction to the mention of homosexuality on that list, and a simple conclusion could be that my classmates are more willing to tolerate the condemning of gay individuals, or at the least, gay acts. Realistically, there are many more (heterosexual) students in class who have had sex or who have been drunk than there are non-heterosexual students altogether, so it is fair to presume that a majority of the class might not be entirely accepting of gayness or gay relationships. However, I do not feel that the pall of silence at the mention of homosexuality was due to a lack of tolerance towards sexual minorities; what made us consider homosexuality a "special" sin, in my mind, is that we recognize that other belief systems do label gays worthy of derision, social opprobrium, psychological modification and criminal charges and/or even death. Whether or not the viewpoints of my peers are interrelated to or are (re)enforced by those beliefs mentioned above, the demographics of the class allow for the discomfort some have with homosexuality to manifest as a classwide awkward silence, which I found in itself representative of Judeo-Christian influenced, nominally secular 21st century America. As we have not yet deconstructed the sense of legitimacy we have given other societies or members therein who wish to dehumanize non-heterosexuals, we will likely never see homophobic hegemony as a relic of the past.

This statement is not meant to offend anybody within the gay community or really anybody for that matter but I must start off with this question: Why on earth would people consciously choose to be homosexual in a heterosexual-dominated world where they are ridiculed, hated, thought of as evil and going to hell by most religions, thought less of, and called numerous slurs by the general population? I don’t think anybody does, and I haven’t met anybody who has. There is a difference between choosing to be gay and choosing to identify as being ‘gay’ and thus pursing that lifestyle. We are all humans; we have sexual urges and feelings that are normally fulfilled by the opposite sex. When a ‘straight’ guy is walking past a store and sees a hot half naked chick doing a photo shoot, she might peak his interest and he feels some sort of way towards her (maybe a boner). When a ‘straight’ girl sees a hot half naked dude playing volleyball on the beach she is definitely interested in checking out his hot body and may feel some sort of way (use your imagination). THE SAME THING HAPPENS WHEN: a ‘gay’ guy sees the same hot guy on the beach, and when a ‘gay’ girl sees the half naked chick doing a photo shoot!!! It’s as simple as that; we can’t choose what sex we are attracted to! When a guy gets a boner, he gets a boner because what he is seeing, experiencing, or even smelling stimulates hormones in his body that cause blood to rush to that part of his body that lets him know he is “turned on”. Same thing with girls but the resulting effect is not as visually obvious. I hope everybody was really struck when the brave soul in the classroom told the whole class that he knew he was gay when he four years old. And that he would pray to God to make him straight… If that isn’t enough proof that being gay is NOT a conscious choice that people make because they want attention or some other bullshit, then I don’t know what is!! For all of you out there who make up these excuses as to why people choose to be gay: for the attention, they are possessed, they are evil, or whatever other lame excuse, YOU ARE SO INCREDIBLY WRONG. Having gay pride, flaunting it, or doing whatever it is that straight people do on a normal basis is not evidence that they choose to be that way. Why would people be upset at the fact that people in the gay community dress certain ways, talk certain ways, act certain ways, and do things that are perceived as ‘gay’ (The bad gay, like how everybody says, “oh I have so much homework to do tomorrow, it’s sooo gay) when they are just expressing who they are by doing what they want?! It’s madness; people in the LGBT community are fucking humans, and thus obviously deserve the same rights and equal opportunities to achieve happiness as the rest of typically ‘straight’ society. Why they don’t is so mind-boggling and really upsets me in terms of our future and how we will deal with these issues that shouldn’t even be issues in the first place.

I believe that regular contact with groups of various races is critical for individuals to fully understand themselves and the negative consequences that result from their personal thoughts and beliefs that are based on society’s stereotyped thinking and racism that has been pervasive in our country since its beginning.
I am fortunate enough that my parents are very successful individuals and exposed me to people of color at a very early age. They also raised me to gain a mindset that all people, no matter the varying melanin in their skin or where they came from are equal human beings. Just because your skin is darker or lighter does not mean you feel pain or any other emotions differently. We all live lives, want to be successful and happy, and go through the motions with the resources and determining factors that shape us all as individuals in a society of people from all different walks of life.
Unfortunately with America’s history of segregation, discrimination, power and wealth of the elite, and thus hatred towards other races has restricted the various abilities of these races to have equivalent possibilities towards housing, education, a stable household, and life in general.
My father has an HIV/AIDS doctor’s office in a city where HIV/AIDS is quite prevalent within the African American community. At a young age I would go with him to the office while he saw patients. I would help the nurses, and even talk to patients and play with patients’ children in the waiting room. Most of the people coming in were African American, but that didn’t hinder my thoughts or actions towards these people as I interacted with them. They were nice people, I wasn’t scared of them, and I didn’t think twice about how I acted towards them because their skin was darker than my own. They were just adults, old men, old women, mothers with babies, and the kids who I became friends with.
I know it may sound like I have no racism or prejudice towards any group of people, but this is not the case. Obviously society has also affected my mannerisms in dealing with people from day to day. I was simply brought up as a mixed race individual by parents who have dedicated their lives to improving the health problems of others regardless of race to determine who they will accept as patients or not. I just feel like my contact with people of all different races has shaped my view of the world and people in a different and brighter light. I realize that most people who live in poorer parts of the country where crime might be more prevalent amongst other factors are not the fault of the blacks that might primarily live there. It is our history, and even our present stereotyping and racism that affect who banks will give out loans to, who gets hired for certain jobs, and everything! People just need to realize this, and embrace it, and understand where they stand in the grand scheme of things.

I really hope other students who actually go to class and pay attention got something rewarding out of the last few because I did. Sam brought up so many interesting and shocking facts and figures that make you think twice about your own life, your beliefs and your opinions on the most controversial issues and maybe even the not-so-controversial ones, well they seem that way at first. The question on the rate of child abductions in the US really shocked me! I thought there were way more than only 115 children “stereotypically” kidnapped each year. “Stereotypically” kidnapped meaning like all sorts of television shows. If you want the actual definition, go to the site that I will cite at the end of this blog.* More or less, there are plenty of Americans who watch too much television, or just enjoy it, a lot. And sometimes what they are watching will shape and alter their beliefs towards reality. I mean maybe there are some people who do believe life is based off of television; there are “reality television shows”, Jersey Shore, that scene you know? Or all these murder or detective-based dramas that deal with suspenseful situations. There are so many examples that I am not mentioning, that do alter our rooted and personal belief so easily. This has caused some problems in America that need to be talked about and taken care of or something because our social atmosphere and “reality” will surely have a negative impact on the youth and thus our future. Obviously not only television alters our opinions. First and foremost are your family and your own “individual story” that make you who you are. Then there are your peers, who you surround yourself with. And the environment, what demographic region you live in and such. I know I did this when I was younger, and still sometimes do now. I will be with some friends, or just in a social environment, and throughout conversation facts are brought to the group’s attention, something that elicits a shocked response from the fellow peers. And then some people, like me, truly believe that fact. And then I go on and bring it up in other conversation, and spread this fact I heard. When in reality the crazy or weird or whatever fact is false, but assumed to be true because it makes sense, or something.. And then it is a rooted belief that will be very hard to disprove because somebody told you so it has to be true… makes sense right? I thought it did, but I have since matured, and try to stay well informed on information regardless of what others say, not because everybody is wrong, but because we are only human, we are misinformed on so many things but we don’t even realize.. What is truer than the facts? Even if they are harsh, and depressing, and true! They are maybe too harsh, thus people don’t want to believe it because “what you don’t know doesn’t hurt ya”. You don’t think about it, and you don’t really know it, but every decision you make affects the world and other peoples’ lives in such a way that is probably slightly more negative than positive or what you truly believe because of the disregard for the critical misguided information that went into making those decisions in the first place.

I feel as if I have been benefitting from some sort of affirmative action while at the same time being disregarded because of affirmative action my entire life because I am multiracial. I have benefitted from affirmative action because I am half Asian, I was sought out for specific scholarships and even got lots of call backs from jobs simply because I checked the “other” box or a “multiracial” box if there was one available. But on the other hand I am half Caucasian, and from a quick glance at my face you would probably just assume I am white, this has possibly disregarded me in terms of affirmative action. But honestly I fall into this weird limbo category when it comes to affirmative action. Because half of me has been suppressed and stereotyped in the United States and even decades ago in Japan and such by society; while the other half is the “dominant white man” (if you will). For me, people are more interested and inquisitive about what the heck I am rather than immediately stereotyping me based off of my looks. Because from a first glance at me, you really can’t tell what I am, a friend back home called me “ethnically ambiguous”, and I kind of agree with him. So usually people will stare at me for a good while, maybe talk to me, and then all of the sudden they will pop the question, “So yeah, what are you?” It never catches me by surprise because I am so used to it, sometimes if I am feeling feisty I will ask them to guess. But most of the time I give them my typical response, “I am half Korean and half Italian, I’m a Kortalian.” Then they usually say, “ooohhhhh I see it now, that’s cool I guess”, while they size me up and piece it together. After they have finally figured out what I am, I usually get an Asian joke or two, they might ask me if I am good at math, stuff like that. So I guess I experience more of a “social affirmative action” with people, they usually act nice when first getting to know me, and then once they figure out what I am, then the stereotypes and personal beliefs on things they probably really have no factual evidence about starts to kick in. On a real note, I am a little torn on the aspect of affirmative action. Obviously I am all for reducing the “racist capabilities” employers have over whom they decide to hire, so in that regard I am for affirmative action. But where it gets hazy is when people of color or even white people get mad at the fact that a black person might get hired over them because they are black and experiencing the effects of affirmative action, not simply based on their qualities and resume regardless of race. Obviously I would not want affirmative action to even have to be there in the first place, but we can’t erase the past, what’s done is done, and as a growing society we need to realize that and keep that past in our conscious minds, because it really has shaped the country and world we are today.

I would approach Tammy with respect and sincerity. I would try to simply explain the difference between free will and determinism. After explaining what each more or less is comprised of, I would go on to tell her that she is in the situation she is in now mainly because of determinism factors that shaped her life. She is living in poverty now just like she was when she was a child growing up with her 21 other siblings. She was raised with the mindset of a child living in poverty, she was not taught to dream big and focus on getting an education so that she could be rich and famous later on in life. She was not given the motivation, determination or tools needed to be “successful” in life. Conservatives will try and argue that all she has to do is “work harder, try harder, pull yourself up by your bootstraps” and anything is possible. But that isn’t true in Tammy’s case, at all. Some major event in her life would have had to occur in order for her to have gained the mind-set to be more successful in her life. And now she is raising her children with the determinism factors that shaped her own life. Thus this cycle of determinism factors that lead to poverty will continue into her children, and more than likely into her children’s children. She described her one son as thinking he is in a higher class than the class they are in now; but this is just a mindset he has obtained from wanting to fit in with his peers. More than likely, no matter how hard he tried in school, he would not eventually be accepted at Harvard. Because other than hard work, it takes money; money for tutoring, money for quality books and materials needed to learn and study, and money to take the SAT even. If he lives in poverty, his options are severely limited. The free will decisions Tammy could make would be trying to get a promotion, or maybe another job so that she could fix her car and then start driving to work. But without more of an income, her free will decisions cannot have a major impact on her life to truly affect her lifestyle or pull her out of poverty. She already walks ten miles a day to work at Burger King for minimum wage! I mean the people who are trying to tell her to work harder obviously do not know how hard she is already working for the little amount of money she receives for herself and her children. All I am saying is, peoples’ environment and how they are raised and where greatly affects their future options.

Yes, I believe as a society full of individuals we all have a responsibility to give back to the community and those less fortunate than ourselves. Think about it, thousands of people are born every day; one day many years ago, you were one of those people. You were the end result of one of millions of sperm to reach a specific egg inside your mother. Everybody is born into a specific situation, some better off than others. When we start to grow up, go to school, and start partaking in activities with other individuals, it is imperative to help out every day in some way or another. Whether it is donating money, volunteering at a food kitchen, self-educating on news around the world, or starting up an organization that will send supplies over to third world countries, everybody needs to do their part. If you are ignorant of the world around you, and are selfish, you are not helping contribute in any positive way to the greater scheme of things. We are all products of our society, we would not be who we are today or where we are today if it weren’t for the facilities and opportunities around us that we so very take for granted. Because of that, we need to better ourselves in order to become fully aware of the growing world around us and those who are suffering and not as lucky as those of us born into middle class and upper-middle class families. Even “poor” people need to do their part, because there are always people less fortunate than you. The poorest people in the United States are still ten times as wealthy as those living in Haiti on a dollar a day. Let’s take a drastic example, Bill Gates. Bill Gates worked relatively hard, created Microsoft, and now he is super wealthy. But he wouldn’t have had all those opportunities to do what he did and work on the early beginnings of Microsoft if he wasn’t able to use the facilities and programs and sources that he needed to do so. Society and technology helped him get where he is today so thus in turn he should give back for all the success he attained from those resources. Now some people believe that we shouldn’t give out money to poor people because they are merely lazy, they don’t work hard, and they don’t deserve free hand outs. Well for all of you who believe in that very statement, you are incredibly ignorant and wrong. Most people who are poor are children, born into lower-middle class families because their mother can’t afford birth control or something. They also happen to have three other siblings who need to be fed at least three meals a day, which is rarely the case. So what are these children supposed to do? Go out and work and skip a meal or two every day? Think about that, next time you find yourself hungry or bitching about your iPhone acting up, think about those who are hungry all the time and will never even touch an iPhone. When you walk by a table downtown selling baked goods or wrist bands or something for a good cause, to help out others less fortunate, donate, do something. Give back to the world that allows you to be free and live the life you want, because you’re one of the lucky ones who doesn’t have to deal with real issues every day of their lives.

Basically, hair is now a socially accepted “masculine feature”. There has been this going back to hairless-ness for women. If you think about it, it’s kind of “weird”. Babies are usually hairless, and men for some reason want their women to be smooth and hairless… like a newborn baby. When it comes to private parts, legs, and even our face; any sign of hair signals something in a guy’s brain as a turn off. Guys are supposed to have beards and mustaches and hairy everything, it’s “rugged” and “sexy”, whatever you want to call it. But as soon as a women’s peach-fuzz moustache is noticed, they are immediately made fun of and guys make sure to watch out for them. This puts us girls in an awkward situation. Because the more you shave/remove hair, the thicker and quicker it grows back. If guys were just nice enough not to notice it or point anything out, then we could just leave them be and not have to worry about them or what anybody is going to say to us. But no, guys make it a point to squint and get really close to check out how bad our “stache” is…. Thus we either shave it (which is a bad idea) or use some kind of hair bleach/remover that is equally bad in terms of the re-growth of hair on your face. We are humans, descended from apes, we are meant to have hair all over our bodies! Girls usually just have peach fuzz, while guys can grow full on beards. This is just how our bodies are supposed to be, we aren’t supposed to remove any of our hair, its natural! That is why I have so much respect for the Sikh girl who was relentlessly made fun of for her facial hair. She has no shame; she realizes that this is a natural thing and the way we are supposed to be. Sure She has more hair on her face than most girls who don’t shave or do anything either, but we are all humans, with different genetic make-up that governs these types of things. So guys, screw you for making it a social taboo for girls to have hairy legs, private parts, and faces. We should be able to do whatever we want and not be judged by the opposite sex. I say all women should go on a shaving strike, so that the men have to deal with our hairiness if they want to get laid! Women are beautiful creatures, the key word there being creatures, Homo sapiens. We are meant to have hair on our bodies to keep us warm during the winter. But because of clothes and heaters, there doesn’t seem to be a need for this hair… So we get rid of it, but not even for this reason! Don’t be ashamed ladies, do your thing.