By having men essentially say to women that they cannot keep their bodily functions, hair, and natural tendencies shows the male culture and demonstrates norms in society. A “norm” in society is to shave our armpits, legs, and any other type of odd hair in a certain place. I can only think about a thought-up scenario where a male shows his girlfriend off to his other male-friends, but she in fact has not shaved for the past month. In the end, she has very hairy armpits and legs to show off which scared the other males that are his friends. This made me think about my natural and normal tendencies and made me think about what I actually do during the morning or night when I am in the shower. Additionally, I started thinking about well what if I did or did not do this instead? I think that this is an extremely interesting topic. I also respect the woman that came out in class and admitted that she grew hair on her legs cause that was her choice. Many males will say that they do not want their women to not fit the “norm,” but what exactly is the “norm.” A norm is something that fits into society and for some reason, in our society, women are not supposed to grow their hair out on their legs because it doesn’t make them look attractive and it’s just what women are supposed to do. Most women do shave their legs because society looks down on those who don’t. Society wants all women to shave their legs because it makes them look “better”. Girls are raised by their mothers that tell them and teach them how to shave their legs. We are taught this at a young age even by family, passed down. Also, another influence is the media and television in general. If you look on the cover of the latest magazine at the store, you will see that the women on front does not have hair on her chin or on her body. She demonstrates an example, a role model, and a figure to us all that we are supposed to look like that. This comes off to society, males, and females and shows us what is the “norm” exactly. I give a ton of credit to the woman that stood up during class and stated that she chooses to NOT shave. She said that it is a personal choice for her and that she does not want to conform to society in the end. If she does not want to shave, then she does not shave, simple as that for her. This most likely sparked a ton of interest and thought in the class.

The judging game really spoke volumes to me and my development as a person and in this class in general. Dr. Sam Richards brought down a row of perhaps ten different types of people that classified themselves as “Asians.” He then brought down another Asian looking male and asked him to identify the types of race that each of them were. It was actually amazing that he got I believe seven out of twelve correct when going down the line. Sam then brought down a 4.0 student who was not Asian and asked her to participate in the same activity. While this student may have a 4.0 GPA which means that she has received all A’s during her schooling thus far, she was only able to guess three out of twelve races correctly. This, to some, stood out that she did not know what she was talking about because we all thought that since she was a 4.0 straight A student, that she would technically be able to guess more than only three correctly. Although, this activity only showed us all that judging a book by its cover is not the best idea and route to choose. It also told me that we really do not know as much about people as we think that we do. Unless I was required to guess where each person was from and why, I would not have questioned where they were from. While we may think that we know more about an individual race, ethnicity, culture, or type of person, we most likely do not. In the class thus far, this has been my favorite activity. It really stretched our views and perspectives and gave us another light of possibilities to see for other ideas. Humans often make assumptions and guesses about a certain culture when we do not know the answers. If we do not know, then we instead assume traits and theories about the cultures. It was interesting to see when I did this activity how many I got right. As the others we participating I did the same thing and went down the line while saying underneath my breath what I thought each person was. I then decided that it would be very cool to see what the students around me thought as well. The girl next to me, Sandy, scored five out of twelve while I personally scored four out of twelve. I did not think that I scored well, but when Sam reassured us that four out of twelve really was not a bad score, I felt much better about my guessing abilities. This is a difficult task and showed us all that you may think that you are so correct about things, but you can be so wrong in the end.

This video is definitely something! I think that it is a great portrayal of society today and most humans in general. We are able to see that through these types of protests and free will, that society always wants to keep their benefits and rights as people. This past summer I actually went to New York City for the first time in my life. I am from Oregon, which was a huge step for me and something that I really enjoyed! I remember on Wall Street I was able to see the Occupy Wall Street movement. This movement was one by protesters on the street that posted up outside of the buildings to stand up for what they believe in. They were breaching their first amendment of freedom of speech. I even see many students, kids, adults, etc. on campuses protesting or promoting their freedoms from the government. When Sam Richards said in class that kids love to promote themselves every day by wearing shirts, sweatshirts, equipment, and other things that all have a trademark or a symbol on them. This even in the simplest form shows us that we in fact have the freedom to do that under the government. Our rights state that. This video, though, showed me that many people might not agree with your belief system or for what you are protesting against or for. I can recall on times that I in fact protested for something that I believe in or promoted something on my apparel and type of clothing. I once got yelled at by a Penn State University Football Player when I wore an Oregon State University sweatshirt to class one day. This was directly after the football game where Penn State played against Oregon State. Although I was not protesting anything, I was still wearing and promoting something that many might not agree with. I can see how this male was feeling awkward about things. Especially after the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks in New York City, there will from here on out be issues with humans, women, males, kids, adults who are promoting either themselves or some type of company, position, etc. While we do not want everyone to meld to a certain mold, at the same time we do want to all think our position is the correct or right way to think and be. What I thought was extremely interesting was when we spoke with an Iranian over Skype this past week in class. We were able to hear him speak on the Skype machine to all of us Penn State students, who are mostly American. While he is different from us, he was able to articulate quite well. During my discussion group we all agreed that he did a great job of speaking and relating to all of us.

I think that this Ohio State student’s story is completely amazing and awe-inspiring to add on top of that. Not many people during their college years of life would not only decide to do something like this in the first place, but then do it to its complete potential. After reading these articles and seeing her live her life, I was able to see that she is successfully happy with her life, herself, and how she goes about things. I have a strong hunch that she is more satisfied with her life than most students at Penn State, or across the Country in general. Also, when the other student in SOC 119 stood up and said that she did not shave her legs or armpits because she did not think it was necessary, I thought that it was phenomenal to see. In a class of over seven hundred students, it may be difficult to completely express yourself or stand up in front of a large crowd saying something that you do not want to say or may feel uncomfortable about in the first place. I was able to see the Ohio State student as well as the student in class state that they thought hair was a natural asset or part of life. For her, she thought that it was important to have hair because it showed off her natural side, while the Ohio State student was able to shock the world and outsiders when most people perceived her to be a “male” when in reality she really was a “female.” This was such an interesting experiment to see because it really was a testament to society to see what they perceived as beautiful, normal, or interesting in general. What I thought was definitely interesting was when Sam Richards mentioned in class that the girl that stood up has the ability to think and feel however she wants to. She personally felt beautiful and therefore made others in the class see what she was thinking and perhaps felt the same way as well. This reminded me of when I was in a class called Recreation Parks and Tourism Management 277. This class was a class geared towards learning how to deal, work, and socialize with all types of gender, people, race, and physical ability. For the class I was required to ride around in a wheelchair for a day to feel and understand what it was like to be handicapped for a day. I actually really enjoyed this activity, but additionally I was able to see that some people are required to live like this all of the time and they are still happy and joyful with themselves and their lives. They are inspirations to us all.

I think that music and lyrics can be a huge bridge between different cultures. Drawing from personal experiences, when I am walking to class on a normal day I look around me and notice that almost every student walking to class is listening to music as they walk. Most do this because it is something to pass the time with while they walk to class. For example, one might have a forty-five minute walk to class and will need some type of stimulation in order to get through that walk. I have looked around campus and noticed that not only Americans are listening to their ipods, iphones, ipads, walkie-talkies, etc., but additionally African-American students, and Hispanic students as well. Whatever type of culture you come from and whatever belief system you have, there still are similarities that we can touch on. While Omar Offendum was in fact from Syria, and most of the students in SOC 119 most likely did not understand what he was singing during his performance, we still were able to pick up on small things like his passion and focus for a specific cause, or urgency. I think that many of the SOC 119 students felt very strongly about Omar's performance because they were really able to his how his expresses his interests, beliefs, and story through music. Differences between the human race I feel like can be bridged through the use of music and other types of venues like this as well. Many people can see the differences between one another, but on the other hand we are all able to connect in one way or another to something that we see and feel. If more stand-up artists, or comedians started to make music or songs that connect people to one another, we can see that many cultures can serve as a “melting pot” so to say. It is easy to connect with people on many levels when we can serve as liaisons so to say. Omar Offendum personally showed me what it was like to experience a different style of music and how we can deal with the changes that one must go through it to continue our journeys. I am so glad I was able to hear Omar Offendum speak during the classroom time, as well as hear him sing for our class. While I may not have understood some of what he said, I was able to visually see his passion towards the subject of the music as well as the struggles he has gone through and how he connects his listeners to the music! I went to his music night later that night and I completely loved the experience, the vibe, the people, and the inspiration. I think he is a step in the correct direction!

My thoughts involving how we "group" people is pretty interesting! So often do we classify groups of people solely based off of their color of skin and generalize an ENTIRE culture by calling them "black" or "white" or "brown" when in reality there are specific names for every type of human being that walks on this planet. When I took the facial recognition survey online on ANGEL today, my opinions and eyes were definitely opened! I actually found it somewhat easy to pick apart different types of features that relate to a male and that relate to a female. Additionally, I could pick up on special features of someone of the Western African descent, or the Hispanic descent as opposed to the white or Caucasian descent. Instantly when we look at a certain type of person we say are you "white," "black" or "brown." We do not even think to say are you "Latin American, Spanish, Irish, Polish, English, etc." but instead we just look at a color of skin. In hindsight this is not the best idea because stating a specific color only serves as an initial indicator, while a certain type would better serve us all with more information that we really can use and examine closer! Groups, though, are somewhat inevitable. We see people as groups in everyday life. For example, it is our first day of class at a new school and we walk into the classroom and instantly see three males with jerseys on and sneakers. We can assume that they are either on a sports team or that they like to work out. Next to them we see five girls with blonde hair that are dressed in short skirts and leotards. We can assume that maybe they are part of a cheerleading team or a dance team because of the clothes they are wearing to express themselves. Indicators like these are showing us that we automatically group people the second that we meet them. First impressions are always huge to how we go about in our lives and it is sometimes inevitable that we will grouping people like so. One of my personal favorite stories was when I first came to Penn State and attended the HUB’s Student Club Orientation. There were so many groups, organizations, and committed people all representing something different and unique to the world. Many had different color skin than others and all through this it showed that we were all different but united in some fashion. Each group, race, culture, ethnicity, or position stands for something in particular. Whether they are of European descent or of African descent, either way we are all gearing towards a specific goal. To stay committed to a plan and work as a team.

Seeing those photographs for the first time was pretty awe-dropping and shocking to me. I had never really seen something like that before and seeing it in class, in a room full of 700 other kids, it was somewhat hard to deal with. You never really think about those type of pictures until you have to look at something like that in class with your other peers. It was very sad to see all of those children being treated like that in very harmful ways. I do not want to say that I was surprised by all of the images, because I was not surprised one bit. It is sometimes easy to forget that there are people that are being treated like this day in and day out and that people in wars fighting for our Country go through this type of stuff in their daily operations and schedules. It is hard sometimes to just have to sit back and take this type of information because you know that it is hurting you and that they commit their lives every day to this, but at the same time you can only appreciate it all as well. This type of stuff only makes you appreciate your life more and realize how great you really do have it. Occasionally, we get too self-centered or self-promoting that we forget about others sacrificing their lives for others every single day either overseas or else-where. Someone right now is having a car bomb go off in their Country that will injure many, and I am worried about whether I will get this blog post done, or what I will eat for dinner tonight. Sometimes we forget to realize what matters most to others when thinking about day to day life. It is crucial to keep in mind others viewpoints and opposing viewpoints as well as ours, because as we can see, we are speaking about people's safety and lives. My connection within the armed forces lies within the Navy. My grandpa received three purple hearts during his time in office. From what I have learned from him I have been able to see that hard work and initiative really does in fact pay off for the better and greater good. And that when you really look at these images, well hard to swallow sometimes, are in fact showing heroes at work! These type of heroes allow us to go to school, and allow us to live our daily lives while taking this class and typing on my computer currently. I love the idea that I have the ability to always have an open mind to something new when I see something in class. Every time I go to Sam Richard’s lecture class, my eyes are opened more and more to newer and newer topics, views, opinions, and ways of life. I am so glad that I chose to take this class because I have already seen how different types of lifestyles are now being viewed differently in my eyes and I love it!

Sam's approach to slavery and religion definitely stirred many emotions in people. I can see how this happened because it is a topic that not many typically think of or about right away! I am a religious individual and can say that coming from High School to College, I still have maintained a positive religious lifestyle. It has been crucial for me to attend Church every single Sunday night while being at school. This is my time, especially my time to sit, relax, de-stress, and think about my life, my family, my school week, and my future, to name a few. Christians traditionally believed that Canaan had settled in Africa. The dark skin of Africans became associated with this "curse of Ham." Thus slavery of Africans became religiously justifiable. By today's standards, slavery is immoral, and they will curse all of an individual's descendents into perpetual slavery because of an inappropriate act by an ancestor is immoral. In Ancient Times, rather, cursing a whole entire race into slavery was considered acceptable because it was in the Bible. The American slave owner felt that he was carrying out God's plan by buying and using slaves. Considering this and looking at all of these statistics, I have seen that many can view this both sides. As much as I enjoy being religious and maintaining a positive relationship with my faith, taking this class I am hoping to open my eyes to society, cultures, etc. By hearing this information I have only wanted to figure out why this is true. I can honestly say that hearing Sam’s talk about this topic has really made me think about my thoughts and my interests with this. Sam has made most of us start to realize things that we most likely did not realize beforehand. Instilling this in all of us is smart because it shows society to think a different way or about certain topics in a new light, somehow we did not before. It never crossed my mind that there was a connection between slavery in the United States and religion. When you start to think about it this way, your eyes are opened just that much more! We talked about this topic mostly in our discussion groups this past week. It was stirring many ideas within us all and during this specific study group one of my discussion group-mates brought up the topic. He is Christian, but he wanted to talk about the information further. In my specific discussion group I have many diverse people, therefore, resulting in a somewhat awkward first group session because tensions were somewhat high. I have thought about my personal thoughts regarding the issue yet I am still remaining strong and positive behind my beliefs even if it does seem negative or biased.

Honestly, beginning this class this semester I was indifferent about the course, the atmosphere, the blogs, and the overall excitement level at hand. Initially, I wanted an easy General Education requirement credit to be completely honest and already three weeks into the semester I am so ecstatic about the class. Sam makes great sense about getting rid of differences between each other and one another. It is vital that we all realize each others differences, appreciate them, and learn from each other for the future. One student in the class spoke up and said that when he walks by people in the class he just views the student as a student and not a "black student" or a "white student." This was very interesting to me because it widened my perspective and gave me a better handle on the fact that just merely viewing someone as a human being and not a black or colored person might reap better benefits in the long-run. I can look at a quote by Martin Luther King Jr. that states,
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” This quote, although spoken by a black individual relates to people of all colors, shapes, and sizes. I think I can most easily relate this situation to when you are sitting next to someone on a plane ride. Occasionally, you are required to sit next to someone of color, a student, an infant, an overweight individual, a slim and very fit person. All of these people have different and unique characteristics but in the end all share a common goal of getting to the destination they want to get to. Additionally, we are all human beings living our lives accordingly. I think that Sam is completely correct in that we should put differences aside and just continue to look at each other as people we can learn from and opportunities to grow! I will agree that starting college a few years ago I was extremely naïve to all of the process. I never truly was able to accept just anyone that I met and came across. For me, it was always a process of choosing specific friends that I USED to be friends with either in middle school or high school. I stuck with these friends because it was easy to stay with them like before instead of expanding my wings, meeting new people, networking, and creating bonds with others who in reality are just the same as me and have similar goals as me in the end. Putting aside differences enables us to live freer. I can honestly say that by doing this I have been able to wake up in the mornings with complete joy for life, school, my job, and viewing what others have to say. It is a great way to go through life.

Racial signifier are everywhere and everything in our society. It is not uncommon to hear a student, faculty member, or professor to use one during every day life. I do not agree with the statement that White People use the signifier more than people of color because I cannot even count on two hands the amount of times I have heard students of both and all colors use them. The problem with racial signifiers is that people do not know when to use them, what to say when using them, and how to use them. It is very easy to protect yourself in the occasion or situation by trying to NOT offend someone and tip-toeing around the real issue or topic at hand. So many of us have been afraid to say anything even somewhat controversial at all, so we just end up either saying nothing at all, or saying so much that we actually get in trouble in the end. It is probably going to be impossible to end up NOT offending some type of color, race, ethnicity, etc. in the end. I personally do not get offended when someone calls me "White," because I know that I am white, but what about freckles? Did anyone ever think about that as a skin color? Do I have a right to be very offended when someone pokes fun at me and calls me "freckly" or "freckles" or "freckle-face girl?" Because I have never made it an issue but in hindsight, what if I did? I have just found that to me it is not worth getting upset over something like that. Someone might slip something offensive but completely NOT mean it and it just might be instinct. This gives us all a learning opportunity and ability to get to know people of different races and learn from them instead of shying away from them in the end. We can take it as a great stretch for us all. Also, I think that many people lack questions. For me, if I do not know the answer, I look it up, ask, or figure it out somehow. Sometimes we can be naive to a different race which makes us say certain phrases, words, etc. that we might really not mean in the end! If I was to call my best friend, who is white, a cracker he would be extremely confused and ask me why in the World I just called him that randomly out of the blue. I would say that I was conducting an experiment on him based off of the Sociology 119 class that I am taking. I would ensure that I would write down and see what made him quiver when I said that and how he would react to the entire incident in the end. Perhaps he would not care, or perhaps he would cause a scene, one would only know.