When I first read this article of C’s, I was initially impressed by the eloquence with which C presented his ideas. It seems that he is making the most of his time in prison. It seems likely that he spent a good amount of time reading, and especially reflecting. C seems very mature and surely must be much wiser than he first got into prison. Sadly, people like C are the kinds of men we need to have in society, but he must spend the rest of his life behind bars.

I find the title of the article very ironic. C’s description of “What a Man Is” is more or less the opposite of what men are like. As a guy, I find a sadly large proportion of my fellow men rarely think of the desires and needs of their partners, as these men are more concerned with satisfying their own desires. As we discussed in class, in particular for the “Needy Penis” lecture, men and women are built differently. Men are much more quickly aroused than women, so I have a feeling many women are not completely satisfied in their relationships. It can be concluded that many of the relationships we see today are based on the selfish impulses of the male partner.

It all really comes down to the invisible strings. Media imagery feeds the image of male dominance of relationships. Considering that American culture is so deeply immersed in television and the media, it should come as no surprise that many relationships are in the aforementioned state they are currently in. It is also a probable cause for the absurdly high divorce rate in America, which I think is one of the highest in the world. I think C hits the nail on the head in this article. He identifies the way men should treat women; this is I think the way every woman, or at least a vast majority of women, wants to be treated. I generally try to be chivalrous and respectful in my relationships (and I could certainly improve), but the same cannot be said for most guys- hence the problem.

In general, the article is mentioning the death of all organized religion, which I find very interesting. Organized religion generally has several major flaws. One of the biggest issues with organized religion is corruption. As we have discussed in class, as religions grow they rely on a more elaborate infrastructure in order to stay afloat. In the case of the largest organized religions, such as Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, the overall structure of the church is massive and as a result corruption infiltrates the system as individuals place personal gain over the benefit of the organization. In the article, the countries mentioned that are projected to have religion become largely extinct are each countries in the developed world. One hypothesis is that education in the developed world may lead people to question the corruption of these religions. Many times, your religion is decided by your parents, so in that aspect invisible strings control how you choose to worship a higher power. Education may give people the ability to move past the invisible strings that affect their lives.
Furthermore, the advancement of science in the past century may play a large role in the death of organized religion in the developed world. Discoveries such as Darwin’s evolution theory, and the Big Bang theory challenge some of the fundamental concepts of most organized religions such as creation of the universe and origin of human life. As such theories have become known throughout the past century, people have become more inclined to challenge aspects of religion. Churches are typically and naturally inelastic in terms of shifting their views. Therefore, people are more likely to formulate views that differ from those of their church. Hence, the projected deaths of organized religion in some countries makes a lot of sense.

If you evaluate the above picture and video one could interpret that whiteness contains several key features. Firstly, the presence of the collared button down shirt cannot go unnoticed, and several of these collars are popped. Whiteness can sometimes be acknowledgeable by dressing in nice and expensive clothing. To further contribute to the view of whiteness, every young man in the photo appears to have unnecessary amounts of hair products applied. From this one could draw the conclusion that the appearance aspect of whiteness is very much based on money, or more specifically presenting oneself as having a lot of money.
The holster review video furthers many of these ideas too. To the average man, this holster would seem to be unnecessary. However, to some people, those who could be labeled as very white, it may be considered very cool, due to its utility and neat features and how these may assist carriers of guns. This seems to present a very materialistic view of what whiteness represents.

This article and video presented an aspect of polygamy that was otherwise foreign to me. The common perception of polygamy as a man with multiple wives seems to be generally the only view. I think it further exemplifies how we live in a male-dominated culture. In Western pop culture, a man who can attain multiple female spouses is often applauded and looked up to, being labelled as a "player." On the other hand, a woman who has multiple male partners faces the scorn of society, and is often called a multitude of derogatory terms, such as "hooker" or "whore" or worse. Assessing the reactions of Westerners to polyandry would lead further insight into the culture that we live in.

The system of polyandry appears to make perfect economical sense to the people of the Himalayas. Since they have very little resources, producing many children would be detrimental to their society. The families appear to be rather content with the system. There seems to be a lot of cooperation within the family, more so than the average American household. I don't think many of us could imagine sharing a spouse with our siblings, but I suppose they are able to do so because they don't have the same cultural norms or invisible strings shaping their daily decisions.

I found it interesting how the video stated that education was bringing about the demise of polyandry. It is for this reason that I feel that the system will not be implemented on a large scale in China. China appears to be a rising superpower in the world due to its rapid economic expansion and overall growth. With this comes an increase in education. The educated sector of China will be disinclined to try polyandry, in spite of the sharp imbalance in the male to female ratio. Education would create invisible strings in the lives of these people that would ultimately alter their decision to enter a marriage of polyandry. Thus, a polyandrous system works out well for certain cultures, such as that of the people of the Himalaya Mountains, but sociological factors prevent the implementation of the system into many other areas.