When I first walked into SOC 119 I expected to learn a lot about race relations and enlighten of others cultures. While this did happen it was not what I expected. At first I was really into the concept of the class and I enjoyed hearing Sam talk to us about his experiences and his knowledge. As the class progressed I felt myself loosing interest in the class. I felt that some of the topics were repeated or that we spent too much time on certain topics and not enough time on others. I also felt that I learned about some things that I already knew about.
I come from a very diverse town and area and I have a lot of friends from different ethnicities so I am aware of the differences and interactions among people of various races. When we talked about black and brown people and how society is constantly putting them down I felt that Sam was just throwing out statistics and things that were apparent in society. It was good for the class to hear these things because I am sure that some people were not informed about these things previously to class. I often found that I already knew and was aware of things that Sam brought up in class.
I enjoyed talking about the Native American’s and how they are not given opportunities in society because I did not know much about the Native American oppression. My favorite days of class was when we talked to Maziar and when we discussed life in Israel and the Middle East. I personally think that it is important to educate everyone about the Middle East because many people think that it is a war torn area with no infrastructure. It was also great to hear about the programs in the Middle East bridging people of different races together to form peace. My brother is highly involved with a program that opens dialogue between children in Israel that are Jewish and Christian as well as children from Palestine and other regions within the Middle East. I wish Sam had talked about the people coming together in the Middle East more. It is important for people to realize that most of the people in the Middle East want peace and that they do not enjoy all of the violence.
While video chatting with Maziar it was quite interesting to hear that the general public does not own guns, and that guns are only used for military and police activities. This shows how heavy the gun presence is in the United States, and not in other countries. Hearing about this really opened my eyes to see how much America relies on guns for the average person instead of military officials.

The “Needy Penis” lecture given by Sam and his wife Laurie illustrated that sex should be a pleasurable and enjoyable action between two people but because of male dominance in society sex can be done wrong and only be pleasurable for the man. They also discussed that sex for men makes them physically pleased, while for women it makes them emotionally pleasured.

As we have discussed in previous lectures, society is controlled by white men who want to keep moving forward. In this situation it only makes sense that there is a correlation between the white standard and men because being either of those gives you more power in society. Society often views white people as superior because of the historical outcomes. Society views men as powerful because they are mostly the ones in power positions. In families it is usually the man who goes out into the work force and makes money while his wife is taking care of their home and children.

It is also interesting to think about media and male dominance. For example, there are many highly sexual advertisements geared toward men, but not as many sexual advertisements geared towards the woman’s eye. This shows the male dominance in society because men will respond to the highly sexual advertisements. In the other sociology class that I am taking (Sociology of Gender) we have been discussing the media objectifying men and women to tell products. There are a series of Tom Ford advertisements that are highly sexual by showing and implying sexual positions and private body parts. Although the advertisements are for high fashion magazines it proves that sex really does sell and consumers are attracted to a product in a sexual way even if the product is non-sexual.

During lecture I was a bit confused about why Sam showed us the video about the children choosing the black and white dolls. At the time, I did not think that Sam accurately explained the reasoning of the video. It seemed a little bit random that he would include this video during the Needy Penis lecture because it did not have to do with sex. After thinking about the lecture and doing this blog post I have realized that the video is to show us the dominance of white culture in society. Even the black children said that they would rather play with the white doll because it seemed nicer. Some of the black children pointed to the black doll and said that the black one was bad and the white doll is good. This experiment shows that all children (even minority children) are taught and conditioned at a young age to think of white people as more superior than the rest of the population.

Tuesdays lecture about immigration was an eye-opening day for me. I always knew that immigration was a debated topic in the United States but I was not sure for the reasoning behind it. I personally think that the United States immigration policy could be a lot better. It takes many many years to get approved for a green card. I’m not saying that the United States should be giving out green cards to everyone but they should do so in a more timely matter. Many people from other countries come to the United States in hopes of more opportunities and a better life, but with the immigration policies it can take many stressful years until the immigrants can live happily in America. Also, the test to become a citizen asks questions that the average American would not know the answers to. In high school I took Advanced Placement United States History and our teacher made us take the citizenship test. Only a few of us passed the test, so how is it an indication of being or knowing about American government and history?
I thought that the most important part of the lecture was when Eric told us his story. In a way it was inspiring to see that his family came to the United States from Mexico and started a life for themselves. The part of his story that I found to be the most interesting was when a border patrol person who they all paid off was guiding them across the border. I could not imagine being in his shoes at the age of five. Eric was even separated from his parents for a short period of time and had to stay with his brother while they drove across the border. It is almost probably better that he was so young when this happened because he did not know what was going on. Eric did not have time to process the intensity and seriousness of this situation. His story about his families escape from Mexico made me realize just how real the immigration situation is. Families like his want to come to America for a better life and his family achieved just that.
If it was that easy for Eric and his family to cross the border then imagine how easy it is for other families. I am not saying that this is a good or bad thing, but it is just something to consider. I personally think that the United States government is happy in a way about some of the Mexicans that come to work here. Although some people may argue that Mexicans are taking away jobs from deserving Americans, many Americans would not do the manual labor for the same price that Mexicans are willing to do it for.

Before taking SOC 119 I knew that Native Americans still existed in the United States but I did not know of their hardships. The first time that my eyes were opened to this subject was when we had to watch a video for the first quiz. After watching the video I was opened to a new door of poverty and problems within the United States. I realized that the Native Americans were not given opportunities to live as normal United States citizens. My first thought was that they should go and try to get jobs outside of their reservations but then I realized that it was not that simple. I remember thinking to myself, why have I never head of the problems of the Native Americans before? I think a main reason that many people do not realize the mistreatment of Native Americans is because the United States government does not want the public to understand the hard lives that the Native Americans have to live with. The main reasons that the Native Americans are in such poverty is because the founders of the United States took everything away from them, and did not recognize them as citizens.
I think that is important to give foreign aid to other countries but it is even more important to give aid to those in our own country. Before lecture I did not know about the severe hardships that the Native Americans have to deal with. It is astonishing to hear that individuals in a tribe in South Dakota have an annual income of only 1,500 dollars. I made over 1,500 dollars in just two months this summer doing simple jobs such as babysitting and teaching tennis.
Although many people may argue that the Native Americans can try to get higher paying jobs, it is not that simple. Native Americans do not have as many resources that other people in the country have. They live in their reservations to preserve the culture of their ancestors but it is getting harder and harder each year because of the role of the United States government. The United States government gives little aid to Native American reservations but it gives millions of dollars each year to foreign countries.
I think that the main reason that presidents give aid to foreign countries instead of helping America first is because it looks better. If a president donates millions of dollars to Haiti (or any country) it looks like they are really helping the receiving country. Not many people in the United States are aware of the problems of poverty and disease within the Native American community. If people were more aware of the problems within our own country then presidents may want to give more money to the Native Americans.
I have thought about this problem before and find it interesting that presidents spend billions of dollars helping other countries when there are plenty of problems and areas of impoverishment within the United States. Being a powerful and universally known country it is important that we set an example and help other countries when they are in need. If an influential country such as the United States is generous then other countries will follow and help each other in situations of need. If the United States were to keep all of its money to its self, other countries would not want to help us and many alliances could be destroyed.

The lecture this week really opened my eyes to the affirmative action debate. I was never explained what affirmative action was, and I never knew the complexity of the debate. I have always thought of affirmative action to be used for the work place but it can be used for college acceptance and other daily choices made by people in a power position. I do support affirmative action because I think that our society needs to be more diverse throughout all areas. I think that the most important place to have affirmative action is in the business world. Before lecture this week I also never thought much about nepotism (giving a relative or friend a job just because you know them). Nepotism is an interesting concept because most people that are against affirmative action would not mind if their parent/relative got them a job. Some people would not mind if they get a boost but they would not like it if a minority got a leg up because of their race or social class. I do understand that some people may not like the process of nepotism because it put others at an advantage; but making connections and networking is the most important thing. In the business world, it is all about who you know. For example I applied for over 15 summer internships and did not hear anything back. My dad’s friend had me send my resume to someone at a company and I set up a phone interview. The phone interview was very casual and the interviewer asked me when I am available and explained things that I would be doing this summer. I immediately had the internship just by sending my resume. In this situation I think that the fact I knew someone vastly helped me. The interviewer also knew that I was a responsible and reliable person because I was referred by one of her clients. I do not feel that I took the position from someone else because they were looking for interns and I am qualified for the position. I can understand how some unqualified people could get a job only because they have a certain connection, in this case nepotism would be considered more controversial.
The question posed in the blog for this week has brought up a new side of affirmative action that I have not thought about yet. It was, does affirmative action detract from the quality of the job and decrease the overall productivity? In some cases, yes affirmative action can decrease the quality of the job if a minority is being hired for the reason of their skin color and not their resume. If there was someone who was completely unqualified for the job but they were a minority I do not think that the fact that they are a minority would get them the job. There are a lot of factors that go into affirmative action besides just race and ability.
It is interesting to think that affirmative action could actually be decreasing the overall productivity of our society. This would be the economic side of the debate. I think that affirmative action contributes more to our society in ways that we do not know and cannot see that outweighs the economical factor of affirmative action.

Before our class discussion about Haiti, I knew that Haiti was an impoverished country but I did not know the deep history of the problem. Haiti was once the center of rice and sugar but over the years the Haitian economy and living conditions have declined causing them to lose control of their own resources. The United States thinks that it is helping Haiti by giving it rice and other means of aid, but in reality this is actually hurting the infrastructure of the country.
I do think that it is important that the United States gives countries money and other means of aid. Although some people think that the United States gives out too much aid, compared to other countries around the world we actually do not give others a large amount of money. The United States is a rich country full of resources and things that other countries do not have so we should be generous and help countries in need.
The main problem is that the United States is trying to help Haiti, but it is actually hurting it even more. The United States is producing and manufacturing rice to be sent to Haiti, and forcing Haitians to buy the American rice. The first problem in the equation is that America says that they are helping Haiti but in reality they are making money off the impoverished country. Another problem is that American rice is priced off of the world market, when there is conflict or a downfall in the economy the price of rice may increase and becomes too expensive for Haitians to buy. The next problem arises when Haitian farmers are working in the fields but no one wants to buy the Haitian rice. This leads to a big problem with the Haitian infrastructure. Haiti needs people to work in its country so it can start to establish its own infrastructure and economy. The best way to help Haiti would be to create jobs and improve the economy so it could start to flourish and become the country that it once was.
If America knew that they were actually hurting Haiti more than they are helping it would they continue their efforts? If the average American citizen knew that America was giving rice to Haiti they would think America is doing a good deed and not think much more of it. But, if all Americans knew that the United States was making a profit off of the rice being sent to Haiti and it was hurting the Haitian infrastructure then what would Americans say?
It is hard to say whether or not America should continue to do what they are doing. In one way America is helping Haitians because we are providing them with clean rice, but America is also hurting Haiti. I think that America should continue to help Haiti for a short period of time and then go directly into Haiti to repair its economy. America could send a few American rice farmers to teach more people in Haiti how to be rice farmers. The best thing that America could do would be to teach more people in Haiti how to be rice farmers and allow Haitians to buy whatever type of rice that they desire. If America stops forcing Haitians to buy American rice it could give Haitians a chance to build their own economy and to be able to support them as a country.

When the topic of skin whitening cream was brought up in class I was a bit confused at first. Sam stated facts how skin-whitening cream is the most used beauty product in the world. I was taken back by this for a while because in American we are mostly used to people who want to tan their skin and be darker. In the summer most white/fair skinned people want to get tan so they have a summer glow. In the winter months people often complain about how pale they look.
In the United States artificial tanning (such as tanning beds and spray tans) are vastly used. A spray tan can cost anywhere from fifteen to forty dollars per time that you go, and monthly tanning bed packages can be purchased for a minimum of around thirty dollars. Most white people in the United States spend time and money on artificial tanning methods.
In contrast, in Asia and other countries the native people do whatever they can to be as fair skinned as possible. Asians prefer to have fair skin because of ancient traditions. In Asia, poor people would work in the fields and be in the sun all day doing manual labor that was reserved for the peasants. Working in the fields was considered the lowest social class. Due to the fact that the people in the fields were working in the hot sun, they often were very tan and could not do anything about their tanning skin. Since then, it has become a negative stigma in Asia to be tan. If you are noticeably tan people think that you are of a lower social class because the only work that you can get is working in the fields.
In Asia people do not obviously go tanning, instead they do the opposite. There are various skin whitening creams that they use to make their skin more fair. Also Asian people carry around umbrellas to block the suns rays. The swim suits in Asia also cover up most of their bodies so when they are in close contact with the sun it will not make them more tan.
It is interesting when comparing the United States to Asia. In the United States people are trying to be tan all year around so they have a healthy looking glow, in Asia people want to be as fair skinned as possible so they are considered to be of a “good” social class. Tanning products and skin whitening products are both costly beauty items. It is intriguing to see that in different parts of the world some cultures want to be considered more white, while others want to be tanner than their original skin color.

Sam introduced the fact that we are mostly the same in one of the readings for the first quiz. I remember reading the statistic in one of the articles that he wrote, and I thought that it was fascinating. I thought about the fat that we are basically all the same, and our external features are only guided by 0.01% of our DNA. After I read the article I did not really think much about the article until Sam brought it up again in class this week.
In all honesty, before this week when I saw people of different races I would think they are vastly different from me. I would especially notice this when I was walking around campus and saw international students. Even though we are all humans I thought that we are very different. After realizing that we are all the same regardless of what country or what part of the world you come from, I have looked at the human race differently. I now think of people regardless of their race as similar to me. This has made me judge people less and appreciate people for who they are.
It is also wild to think that only 0.01 percent of our DNA makes up our physical appearance. In my eyes it now seems ridiculous that there has been such discrimination through the history of the world. There have been constant struggles between racial and ethnic groups solely over o.o1 percent of a difference. If people throughout the world were aware of the statistic that we are all 99.9 percent genetically the same they might have a different view of other races.
The lesson from class this week has really opened my eyes. The fact that humans are basically all of the same might have been the most important thing that I have learned in class so far, or even in any class that I have taken at Penn State. I have realized that I now think of people as individuals instead of placing them in racial categories.
Also this week in class I have realized that are more racial categories besides white, black, Latino, Asian etc.… At first when Sam had students of different races line up in class and have other students place them in racial categories I was a bit confused on what his main point was going to be. After the lesson I realized that he wanted to show us that there are various types of races and mixed races, and you can’t judge a person by the way that they look.
I wish that more people in our country and throughout the world knew that we are all 99.9 percent genetically the same, and only 0.01 percent of our DNA makes up for our physical appearance. If more people knew about this, the world would be less ignorant.

I felt that it was really beneficial for the whole class to have a conversation with Maziar. Many people think that Iran is filled with radical people who hate the United States, but that is only how the media portrays the Iranian people. I personally am open to conversation and ideas from people in the Middle East. I am pro-Israel but it is important to hear what other sides and what other people want to say about the topic. Although Maziar could not really express his views about his government over Skype, it was great to be able to talk to him. Prior to speaking to Maziar many people probably were not aware of the governmental control of the Internet in Iran. In Iran, they do not have YouTube and other websites because their government will not allow them. Maziar Skyping to our class could have put his life on the line if the government saw what he was doing.
It was great to talk to an Iranian who loves the United States and who wants to visit. I also think that the class enjoyed hearing about his favorite musicians and his favorite television shows. This made people see that Maziar knows about the United States and pop-culture. When he told us his favorite television shows and musicians the students clapped and cheered along to show their support and their approval.
Prior to video chatting with Mazair many people in the classroom probably did not think or even consider that people in Iran (or the entirety of the Middle East) knew what ‘Friends’ or ‘How I Met Your Mother’ is. It was important for the class to realize that many Middle Eastern countries have western influences and are pro-west. Many people in Iran want to come to the United States and see what is it like. Many of my fellow students have the image of Iranians running and yelling through the grey and dusty streets as it is portrayed in the news, but that is not how all Iranians act.
Another interesting part of the dialogue that we had with Maziar was when the topic of guns came up. Sam asked him if people shoot up elementary schools or post offices in Iran. Maziar responded by saying “no, that’s the United States”. Maziar then went on to say that people in Iran do not own or have guns. People in the United States may think that all Iranians have guns to protect themselves or to kill others but that is not the case at all. I hope that this made people realize how much the United States is centered around guns, but other much more violent countries do not have nearly as many guns as we do.

To begin the answer to the question, I want to preface it by saying that if I had a child and I knew that my child was going to be gay, I would keep the baby. I found it upsetting when people in class said that if they knew that their child was going to be gay that they would abort the child. Once the poll results were in for that question, Sam or a student in class (I forget who brought it up) made a hypothetical statement wondering if the people that would abort the gay baby were pro-life. In my opinion most people that wanted to abort the baby (anti-gay) are probably pro-life.
So to answer the question, if my child was gay I would not tell them. I feel that my child should figure out their sexuality for themselves. Some people may think that it is rude or mean that I would not tell my child, but I think that they need to explore their sexuality for themselves. When raising the child it would be important to provide them with an open and loving environment, so when they got older they are not afraid to come out and be free with themselves. When my child was growing up I would let them by the types of toys or clothes that they wanted. This could help in the process of my child becoming open with themselves.
If my child grew up but still did not realize they were gay and felt different or an outcast I would then suggest to them that they might be gay. In this situation, hearing those words could help my child.
Some other people my counter my argument and say that it is easier to just tell your child their sexuality so they don’t have to go through the experimental phase, but it is important for the child to find who they are for themselves. The main reason for that is so they can be comfortable and accepting of who they are.
When I was born my parents obviously knew I was going to be white (both of my parents are white). Although I have white skin, my parents never told me to act in certain “white ways”. Although they never told me that I needed to marry someone who is white, they told me I need to marry someone of the same religion (Judaism) as me.
I feel that I act the way that I do because of society and my life experiences. I knew my child was going to be white I would not tell them to act certain ways. I would let them explore their race and act in whatever way that they wanted to. Although, just as my parents told me I would tell my child that they would have to marry someone Jewish.