First of all, I freaking love Maziar and wish he could physically be in our classroom, talking to and teaching us all about the misunderstandings that we have about each other’s countries; he’s such a sweetheart. In addition to answer the question, I was so incredibly touched by his sentiments about the Boston bombings. It really just goes to show us and our misconceptions about people in the middle east, that they care only about themselves and wish unhappiness and terrible things onto the United States, is simply bullshit. It’s a ploy implemented by the media to raise Nationalism and add fire to the war and unnecessary hatred toward countries.
To break it down, my feelings consisted of excitement to see him, incredible thanks for his sentiments and then guilt. When the gentleman in the front from Oman expressed his sympathies for the earthquake that just happened there was a sudden sinking feeling I my gut. How come I haven’t heard about this? It seems that in the panic and sadness of what has happened in our home country, we are blind to what has been going on around the world. But then how come Maziar is reaching out to us today? Is the United States really that selfish of a country that we are just sitting here wallowing and waiting around for the rest of the world to feel bad for us? I would really like not to think that, but then I’d like to know the real reason for our ignorance.
However as we raised in our discussion group, maybe Maziar is among the handful of people in the middle east who keeps in touch with world affairs – like there are the handful of people who do so in the United States. The reality is we will not really ever know until we go and experience the middle east ourselves… like that would ever happen.
What made me feel even worse about it was when Sam brought up the pictures of the eleven children killed over there. ELEVEN children’s lives were lost because of a droid attack by the UNITES STATES: we killed them. More children were killed than people in Boston as a whole and we are still fixated on our own tragedies even though they happen every single day around the world. Do we honestly value an American life more than any other life? I wish the answer was no, but as a country I think the real answer is clear. It truly breaks my heart that this game of killing consumes the entire world every minute of every day. Nobody deserves to die because of whom they were born as. And just like Sam said we’re just tossing around hate. Back and forth and back and forth until what? Their casualties are higher than ours? What is that accomplishing, because from the looks of it no peace is being made. War is still relevant and we as a nation need to open our eyes to the monstrosities we are sheltered from on a daily basis. We are scarred and hurt from events such as 9/11 and the Boston bombings, but overseas, this is their reality. And we don’t even care.

I absolutely 100% think there is an opposite end to the male gaze. Especially when you’re in the city and there are billboards up for all the high end designers; their mail marketing tool is sex and sexuality. I remember specifically a Michael Kors add… or maybe Ralph Lauren... anyway, it was just a man standing in pretty much the same position for three or four shots with a naked woman (or as naked as they could show) in multiple poses wrapped around him with her hand in his designer briefs. Just in that instance it was showing that men are the prime outlet for pleasure and women are simply there to serve it. Of course this is true for multiple ads. Another one that comes to mind is the Fiat commercial on TV. The woman is standing there and the man is shamelessly gawking at her. She catches him and acts like she’s pissed, or so I assume since she’s speaking Italian (because what’s sexier than a foreign woman?) but ultimately he gets what he’s fantasized about -- a sexual response. I feel like most ads are centered around the woman giving the male satisfaction. They are literally wrapped around them acting like it’s their job; to satisfy the man.
Also if you think about it, the normal expectation in any given setting is for the man to approach the woman in a bar, club, street, whatever…. And offer them a drink or start talking to them. I guess the whole basis of that would be the idea of this “male gaze” that they give to let women know they’re interested. But like the idea introduced in class, what if it was the opposite? What if it was all up to the women to find a man they are interested in and choose them to be their sexual play-thing for the night? To me, it seems like women are always standing off to the side waiting for someone to be interested in them, like it’s our job to be chosen. Are we not allowed to choose ourselves? Personally, I’m incredibly picky and have rejected a fair amount of frat douches back in the day. And honestly, it has always infuriated me that I’m expected to be interested in them because they’ve decided to come up to me. No, sorry, it doesn’t work like that for me.
In my opinion, the equivalent of the male gaze, or what would be considered a female gaze in today’s world, is the way the female dresses and presents herself. It the part of the girl that says “hey I’m interested” or “look how pretty I am, come talk to me.” Things like that which give off a sexual vibe are the female equivalent of the male gaze, and together they create one good night.

Just like the factors of poverty, there are factors that influence my sympathy for someone. I feel like determinism and free will aren’t just used to describe why things happen but also influence our sympathies when considering someone else’s situation. In Tammie’s case and white poverty, I feel less sympathetic toward her than if she were a Native American. Tammie is white, lives in the middle of nowhere, works a minimum wage job to support her family of 5 children, and takes residence in a trailer. She has no clothes other than her burger king uniform and believes that her son thinks he’s better than her because he wants to go to college. She wanted to be a school teacher, but coming from a family of 22 kids, it wasn’t possible.
In my opinion, Tammie’s been screwed since she was born. Unless her family was incredibly wealthy, and judging by her current circumstances they weren’t, feeding, clothing, and supporting 22 kids takes a lot of money. They would have to be millionaires or be in incredible debt for even half of them to go to college. I blame Tammie’s and her family’s poverty on the grandparents and their inability to control themselves or rationalize budget expenses to kid ratio. Additionally, she refuses to accept welfare. I would think that it was noble if someone who spent all their money on alcohol or drugs refused to accept
In the Native Americans’ case, I blame their poverty on the government. What’s left of their land has been taken away forcefully and they only remain to preserve what’s left of their culture. I feel bad for them because the governing bodies we have elected to take care of our country are purposefully and knowingly taking away funds from them. There’s a difference between a family being poor, and an entire race being poor. There are no special support systems for the Native Americans, but Tammie CHOOSES not to accept what is available for her.
Overall, I think if you know you can’t support your kids, don’t have a lot of them. I never thought about this before but a big family needs a lot of money. Even just to feed them can make a difference in how much you have to fund them in the future and even further along how successful they will be. If Native Americans stop having kids because of this epidemic of poverty, then the very core of our country’s origins and history is wiped away. But creating an area that is purposefully scarce of jobs and opportunities to rise within one’s culture is just cruel.
Tammie could find a better job. Could ask someone to drive her to work. Could have had less kids and have realized that she is giving her kids a bad life just by having them. She could collect welfare but chooses not to. Native Americans are being kicked around by the government, and they ultimately have no control over that.

For me, Thursday’s class wasn’t so much as an eye opener to the situation with Native Americans but worked to bring it to the forefront of my mind and sharpen my understanding. Honestly, I never gave much thought to the Native Americans in today’s world or gave attention to the fact that they are living in poverty. My idea of the Native American community was several reservations in the United States that were self-contained and run by the heads of those communities. It was my understanding that they segregated and separated themselves from the rest of the American society in an effort to maintain and reserve their culture. I had no idea about the extent of their poverty or high suicide rates among teens and children.
Since Friday’s class, I wouldn’t say I’ve felt more guilt or empathy toward them, but just angry at our government that they’d let such a thing happen to the people who was here on this land in the first place. I’m not sorry for my house, my school, my family because without all of which life would be so different and unprogressive. Those completely bitter for the “invasion” that started the new society has to realize that as time goes on, technology and industry will evolve with the intelligence of humans. There was never a chance for the world to stay exactly the same forever. With that in mind, I do appreciate the efforts made to reserve certain areas so that we can maintain culture and preserve a piece of history for those who still live according to older traditions.
I am angrier at the fact – and I know this may have many complications – that the US government has treated them so incredibly poorly without the American people knowing. From another class I am taking, I have come to the conclusion that the government does so many things we don’t know about and I always question my ability to trust them. What is real and what is not? Is our reality solely constructed on what they believe we should know? If a room full of highly educated and (mostly) aware college students was shocked at the treatment of Native Americans then I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a shock to the rest of America, as well. What policy is there that gives rights and stability to the Native Americans? From my understanding, suicide rates are the highest with Veterans and Native Americans… why isn’t anything being done to help? From my perspective, there is no psychological or financial support given to these people to prevent further regression of their society. They are, after all, the original founders of this land. Can we at least give them that? This is how I empathize with them.
I guess the only guilt I hold with me is not being more aware of involved in politics to vote according to what each candidate will do for other cultures within our country. A policy very well could’ve been in someone’s platform but I’m not aware enough to have seen it. More needs to be done before they’re completely wiped out – by themselves in matters of suicide – and we as a nation should be playing closer attention to it. They are, in fact, the father of our civilization.

Affirmative action is such a sticky subject; and boring, so I am not going to enjoy writing this blog post. So, the question is if I was given a “handout” or basically an opportunity obviously based on my race, socioeconomic status, or relationship to someone would I accept it? First of all I am Hispanic – a Hispanic woman for that matter— so within the concept of affirmative action, I would probably benefit from it in a given situation. In fact, I have a suspicion that marking off that “hispanic” box was part of the reason I was accepted into Penn State, too. Therefore, if I was to be given a handout it would probably be considered affirmative action. Also, I would absolutely take it. Honestly, unless you are a political science major, I doubt any one of us knows enough about affirmative action to really go into depth on its specific. And even so, each company, corporation, school, holds different standards of affirmative action. So how would one know if they were getting a position based on affirmative action or simply because they’re qualified. I feel like people who are considered minorities are so quick to believe that they will automatically be cast down because of their race or ethnic origin. But honestly, we will never really know unless we know the policies of whatever place we are asking to accept us and the ethical principles of the person making the decision. This is impossible.
Also as much as we work for the opposite, we live in a world where cheating and manipulation is the key to getting ahead and ultimately being successful. It’s not even just an issue of affirmative action but also nepotism and whatever else you want to call using “connections.” I know that I was interviewed for a job as a camp counselor a couple years ago and was probably the most qualified for the job. However, a girl whose older sister had previously worked there got the job. I ended up working there a month later because they needed someone else…. So I was the next person up? If her sister hadn’t been there would I have been first in line? We will never know.
Even with the idea that there are so many of us going for the same job, for the same opportunities. If we are given something in an easier manner who in their right mind is going to pass that up? In my situation, I like to think that I was given this gift to come to penn state to prove my worthiness in the academic world, even though I wasn’t so great at it in high school. The reality is that we live in a world in which cheating, manipulation, and unfairness surrounds it. We will do whatever is possible to get ahead and prove ourselves to be the best in our field. Regardless of ethical morals, taking handouts is a part of life; Survival of the fittest – including smartest and most cunning.

I was a little taken back when Sam bluntly asked all the females in class if they were “bleeding.” I didn’t feel embarrassed or that it was a taboo subject just confused. Why, out of all the topics in the world to demonstrate a woman’s ability to be free would he choose that? Especially phrased, “who’s bleeding here?” um, gross. I honestly didn’t even clearly get his point about it. From my understanding, Sam proposed that a majority of the female population feels uncomfortable about talking about their period, something natural, organic – as if that makes is any more appealing as a conversation topic.
I was personally not “bleeding” at the time but as I thought about it, I don’t think I would have admitted it either way. I’m also 90 percent sure that neither would more than half the girls in 100 Thomas, or throughout the university for that matter (not including the feminists who would probably passionately jump right into a debate as such.) However, I never really thought about it being a matter of free will before. Usually I’m a pretty open minded person when it comes to social topics such as this and I’m the first one to admit that pressure, conformity, etc… could be the reason I’m going along with the status quo. But this was a little different. No matter how much I thought about it and tried to discover the different facets of my reasoning, I was still turned off to any possibility of me admitting that I had my period.
As it was brought up in class, I don’t think I was a matter of what implications brought along with admitting you were menstruating. “Oh she must be such a bitch then… I’ll try not to say anything wrong… that’s why she’s so moody….” Sure, some may assume that when their told it’s a girl’s time of the month but presenting that seemed to me just a cover-up to the fact that simply no one wants to talk about it. I don’t feel pressed down by society as if it’s an expectation to be kept quiet about. I feel like we’re taught so early (and for hundreds of year) that civility in society is valued much more. Even in the early decades, modesty and civility were even more enforced with dressed to cover ankles and other restrictions. Middle east countries still hold modesty in high regard and would probably feel the same about discussing such a topic. I can see where that would be an issue of free will or determinism but the rule of civility has been followed for so long that we barely notice its weight anymore.
When the boys were asked how many masturbated over break and significantly more hands went up, I wasn’t shocked at all. I was actually a bit skeeved out since the boy next to me raised his hand and avoided eye contact for the rest of the class. Granted that is also a matter of civility but I generally think that boys regard social appropriateness less than women. Yes, I purposefully used the words boys and women.
Ultimately, I believe that no matter if it’s because of the social strings attached or gender expectations, no girl wants to talk about what is coming out of her vagina. It’s just unpleasant for everyone no matter what the context.

Okay, so this question is tricky for me. You see, I identify myself as Agnostic – Not atheist, not Catholic… I just don’t know what the hell to think. My family’s Catholic but I find their religious behaviors to be incredibly hypocritical and fake, hence my own branch of spirituality (or lack thereof.) Therefore, if I were to wake up and find out that there was or wasn’t a God, I’d be mildly shocked but it would simply confirm my suspicions. I would also probably walk around like a smart ass to those who still believe and argue with them on the facts of why He is nonexistent and how ignorant they are. I would probably party hard for a while in a legitimate “YOLO” phase (outside of college) and do things I wouldn’t normally do. I’d be terrified of death; of the end.
Alternately, and I will answer both sides, if I were to wake up and find out that God is indeed real, I would be incredibly remorseful. I would start going to church and finding reason in everything that happen, claiming that He is controlling my fate. I already attribute my life’s events to a higher power – it is what it is – but more of one that I have no idea of or control over. Suddenly, I would be more concerned with my soul and what happened to me after death. I like to think that I am leading a good life doing good things, being a good person so I wouldn’t be too worried about myself. I would not shy away from religious talks as I usually do due to uncertainty. I would feel secure in death.
But I guess the real question here is which God is proven to be real? The Christian God, the Hindu Gods, Muslim Gods, Greek Gods, Jewish God (mostly that hell doesn’t exist.) I feel the answer to that detail holds everything. What would Christians do if they found out the Muslim religion was right? And vice versa and so forth… it would be absolute chaos. Those who haven’t’ worshiped or believed would all be screwed and the world would go mad. Maybe this is the reason we don’t know – to keep world order.
Although I don’t identify myself with a religion and question the whole theory itself, I feel like a part of me sometimes leans toward the hope that there is a God, or some divine force that rules our fates. In times of tragedy or hopelessness I put my hands together and pray to God that things will work out this way, that way, or in some kind of way. I feel that there is a little piece in all of us who have doubts that wants there to be something greater than ourselves. If not, what are we left with? Nothing but ourselves and the power we bestow on our own. While some may find that invigorating, it can also be downright terrifying.
I feel like not knowing what comes after death or what even gives us life is all a part of life itself. The world would implode in itself if anyone actually knew and the joy of certain things would be gone. Ignorance is indeed bliss.

After skyping with the Iranian man, I definitely did feel the pull to visit Iran more than I did before. I never had anything against Iran. Sure, I didn’t think very highly of it because of what the media tells us but I didn’t automatically think that it was the worst country ever. Unlike many people, I consider myself to have a pretty open mind and diverse perspective about matters of the world. Where most American hate the Middle East, I can see that what we see is hardly reality and that there has to be more to the story.
The video chat session made me realize that Iran is more like American than I thought; than anyone thought. I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t expecting something vastly different. Iran honestly looks like New York City, with a few different culture tweaks. And this makes me wonder – if I’ve been wrong about Iran, what other countries are way different than expected? What about Afghanistan, India, Saudi Arabia? I have this image I my head of what the stereotype looks like and foolishly believe that its fact. In the back of my mind I know that’s not true, but it’s hard to stray from an idea when it’s the only one you’ve known and been taught.
A dream of mine is to travel the world – much like everyone else’s – even to the most remote locations which I believe to sometimes be the most beautiful and exotic. Not only do I want to travel to see physical differences, but to fully immerse myself in the culture there. Who says Iran or any part of the Middle East can’t be part of that?
Something scares me, though. I’m currently in a class called COMM 110 – Media and Democracy. In this class we touch on many of the subjects presented in Soc 119, only with a democratic spin on them. What I’ve learned from that class is that what the media shows us is not ever the full picture. Oftentimes, it’s an over edited version meant to reinforce our feelings of patriotism and support for war. America cannot be the only country who does this which makes me think; Iran probably has this too which is why there are such hostile feelings between the two (or so we are showed there are.) If the country didn’t have our support in the war, then they wouldn’t be so called justified in killing all these people for reasons we believe are detrimental to our own nation. But how much of this is really true? I’m starting to believe that very little of it is. Will we ever accomplish world peace when the government is manipulating us through media to believe they are the very worst of our enemies?
I feel like if everyone had the chance to talk to a Iranian man, woman, child, etc… then American mindsets of the Middle East will be on its way to reforming for a more peaceful tomorrow.

Today I completely respected the fact that the Iranian woman spoke up and had the courage to speak her mind. I can understand that being in a lecture hall full of about 700 people cannot be easy, especially when talking about a national issue … targeted at her home country. I would never be able to do such a thing even just talking about cereal. It takes major guts to lay down her thoughts for such a large and diverse group to see.
While I did respect it, I felt as though she was a bit presumptuous in thinking that we all hate her because she’s from Iran. Maybe this is just my own thinking, but a country does not define an individual. It may contribute to opinions and ideas but the fact is that she was there, in that room with the rest of us. If she thinks Americans hate her, then why is she here? Actually, I was rather annoyed when she blamed us all for “hating” her. I’m sorry but last time I checked, I don’t even know her and have no reason to hate her nor anybody from any country for that matter. Just as we are blamed for generalizing the Middle East and attributing out “hatred” toward it, she was doing the very same. Wasn’t the point in our lecture to empathize with the other side, meaning to see them as people separate from title? Accusing us “Americans” of hating her is just what we are trying to reverse. Don’t advocate for something you’re disproving.
Additionally, I guarantee if she were to tell the truth about her home country, a peer might go “ooh, rough” but mean it in an offhanded way. If they do judge, then find new friends! Unrelated to the war aspect, nobody should have to lie about their identity for any reason whatsoever. I’ll admit that I’m rather ignorant to the whys and whos of the war in Iran. But honestly, there are so many international students here at Penn State that we as a community have just grown to accept the fact that there are people from SO many different background. And frankly, they don’t always represent what we collectively or individually believe.
As a part of my personality, I am aware that my above comments will not hold true for everyone. Yes, there will be people who do hate the Iran people for essentially no known reason. I agree with the above comment in that we as American are incredibly sheltered to international empathy. It’s very easy for us to cross oceans in our perspective to think like “the enemy.” When we constantly refer to them as “the enemy,” we are already distancing ourselves from their humanity. While some may hate for all the wrong reasons, we should not be blamed as a group for that hatred.

I believe that the root of all troubles comes from a person’s individual insecurity of a particular thing. Yes, we all have insecurities but some go much deeper than being embarrassed over some love handles. Take that, and throw in the national standard and one could easily believe that there is something wrong with them. As mentioned in class, there are outside strings, or influences, that somewhat determine what we are supposed to ideally be like or have. People expect us to be skinny, athletic, tan, have a big family, be successful, and excel in school… but what if, just maybe, you’re not SO perfect? The pressure from society can be crumbling and its power is scary.
We wouldn’t think or know something was wrong if society didn’t set a standard. No matter how hard we try, one way of life will be seen as better than the other, leaving those who are in the inferior lifestyle to dwell on what they did wrong.
Then suddenly, these symptoms or factors are cues understood by everyone that something isn’t normal. So now it is being dwelled on even more and taken into consideration with each respective person’s lives. Where one could just simply accept the differences in their life, there is now a mentality that something is wrong.
Personally, I am a pretty happy and content person. However, my dad and I don’t have the greatest relationship. The standard of “Daddy’s girl” makes me believe that there is something wrong with me; that I’m doing something wrong. Now, I don’t have a deep personal trouble that I might want to kill myself, but in an even worse situation, that might be a possibility. Not living up to expectation equates in a will to not live and be upset with everything.
Another standard example is with eating disorders. Let’s be honest; who doesn’t love to eat? But when vogue is publishing stick thing women and telling us that it is normal to look like that girls across America are thinking to themselves “What’s wrong with me? I don’t look like that.” This problem in society morphs into a norm strong enough to transform states of mind.
This frustrates me to no end. How long have human beings been on this planet? How much time have we been given to understand and embrace that we have differences and not everything is picture perfect. It would be absurd to even think so. Yes, there are tragedies that we cannot fix but at this point, people should know that there are other people out there who WILL help. Who want to help and want to make other’s lives better, myself included!
The most disgusting part of this concept is bullying. Why should anyone be subject to rejection or humiliation because their different and at such a young age too. Their minds are still developing and being told you’re different can manifest itself in SO many different ways. I was bullied in middle school as well but I’m lucky enough that nor my mind nor my body transformed into self-loathing. But it DOES happen to other girls and boys. Imagine ending your own life at 14 years old because some other girl or boy told you you weren’t good enough. Says who? Who are they to say that to you? It’s disgusting that such pressures and expectations have the power to turn someone’s mental state around and cause them to turn violence on themselves. It’s sad and sociologically effed up.