Part Three: White people definitely have boundries of what they can or cannot say about or to other races. We are the race who has personally offended and hurt most races, especially in this country. Because of that, I think that we are always going to have to watch out mouths and the things that we say. This is especially important if you are a comedian and you have a crowd of people who can be of any race and from any part of the country. You never know who you're entertaining or how something you say can strike them. Any given joke that you think is harmless can hit a wrong chord with them and then you can have people thinking that you're a racist. Granted, comedians from other races can get away with saying anything they want about other races. I'm not sure why this is so because I must admit, I've never felt offended is someone from a different race makes fun of white people. But, that doesn't mean that's how everyone feels.

Part Two: I don't know if I would feel offended though because I am white. To me, comedy is all about entertainment and the joy of making people laugh. Can certain things be taken too far? Absolutely. There are plenty of instances where racist jokes are dusgusting and wrong and other instances where the people of that race are laughing along with the comedian because they think it's funny. I remember a scene from the movie "Guess Who" with Ashton Kutcher and Bernie Mac. Ashton's character was at their dinner table and Bernie's character made him start saying all the black jokes he had heard. He started doing a few and the entire black family was laughing along with him and having a great time until he took it too far and said one about how a black man won't have jobs. It suddenly killed the mood and they all were immediatlely offended.

Part One: I think that it's a very good point that white comedians are watched a lot more closely on the words that come out of their mouths about other races. I thought the same exact thing the day in class that we watched the comedians. They were allowed to make fun of any race they wanted and it was all light and funny and for the sake of entertainment. On the other hand, I've seen white comedians make a few jokes about other races but they're short and quick, never a full length story about another race. I think that's because it all depends on their audience and how the joke is portrayed. If the joke comes out as an obvious offense to the race than it's wrong but if it's just for comedy, it may not be that bad.

I completely agree with the fact that this exercise was interesting and definitely did a good job of opening up my eyes. I think that the exercise was so shocking was because it was the first time I had ever seen judgements being talked about out loud. I think that everyone makes judgements in their heads and thinks that by seeing someone's color or facial features, that they can guess what race they are. But being talked about out loud and actually placing people in group by just the outer appearances make the exercise kind if slap me in the face and let me know that I don't know as much as I think I know. If I was up there sorting out and categorizing these people, I would have gotten most of them wrong. I think that stereotypes and the way we think things should look plays a huge role in the judgements that we make towards people. As the people who were being placed in the groups, I think that they were extremely brave for letting a room full of people stare at them and guess in their minds where their ancestors came from just by the way they looked. Penn State in general has opened my eyes to the thousands of different races that this world posesses and shows me that I don't know as much as I may think that I do. That's exactly what this class has got me thinking so much about. If I judge others, I wonder how they perceive me? Maybe I wouldn't like what they think of me, so who am I to think those things of them? You don't know someone until you actually know someone and you can never see the outside without peeling back the layers to find the truth that is much, much deeper. It may sound cliche but it's true. Everyone has a story and everyone is different and just because they look a certain way doesn't mean that their race or story is a given. It astounds me that a simple exercise that was done in under an hour was such a revelation to me. It made me realize so much about others and even more importantly, made me realize a lot more about myself and who I really am. Even though I am slowly starting to learn from Sam's lessons, I know that Sam cannot teach the entire world and get them to see things this way. There will always be judgements and always be people who think they know what is right and what is wrong. It's sad that there will never be complete acceptance of all races in the world and no matter what, people see things the way that they want to see them. We, as a whole, need to accept all these differences that everyone posesses and not fight it or push it away, but take the chance and learn from it. That could only help us grow as a people and learn so much more interesting facts about the ancestors that we don't have the privelege of growing from.

I think that understanding that body image is hereditary isn't hard to comprehend and even though we know it's the truth, body image doesn't change much because of it. We, as human beings, usually want more than we already have because though we might be satisfied with what we do have, when we see someone else have something better, we want it. The pressure that's ensued from magazines and television doesn't help much either. It informs us what looks good to society or how we are supposed to look, with absolutely no regards to the fact that we are all made the way we are because of our ancestors. If it was stressed more to be happy with what we are given and to know that everything we have is there for a reason, then I don't think that there would be much temptation to change. I definitely believe the saying that "we always want what we can't have". No one sees themselves as perfect but in a way, we kind of all are. We are perfect in the way that we are how we should be in relation to the genes passed on from our ancestors. We shouldn't change the way we look because society tells us that big breasts or a skinny nose or flat stomachs is the only acceptable ways of being. In reality, we should be embracing the differences that we have compared to others because no two bodies are exactly alike. It's pretty amazing to know that I am a mixture of my ancestors who made me the way I am and that is what makes me me. Does that mean I have no body image issues? Absolutely not. Just because I know that body image is hereditary doesn't mean I can easily be happy with my body. I think because I am still so influenced by what society and my peers think is beautiful that I will always judge what I see in the mirror. To me, that's completely natural and there will always be people like that in the world who are unhappy with their bodies. On the other hand, there are probably plenty of people who are completely happy with their bodies, as well. I consider those people lucky to love what they have and not wish for any changes upon themselves. All in all though, I'm happy with what I have been given even though I would never consider myself perfect. I love the dark olive skin I have from my Sicilian ancestry and my dark brown eyes that come along with it. If my ancestors were not Sicilian, I would look completely different and maybe even be less happy than I am now. When I see myself, I know that I have different races combined within me but at first glance, I may just look like I posess one. That's the beauty of race though, no matter what race anyone is, you can never completely tell but only see their faces first. And the faces of every race, combined or completely alone, are always beautiful.

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