en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/2416501 Comments by lharper619 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/31/women-what-are-your-thoughts-on-dressing-up-while-men-dress-down-and-did-they-change-after-this-lecture-119-blog/#IDComment139209664 I feel as though there are a lot of reasons why women, including myself, dress up. That being said, I feel like I should make note that dressing up for some girls is a lot different than for other girls. If I’m going out to the a party or a bar, I’m almost always going to be wearing jeans, a nice shirt and boots (or sandals depending on the weather). I almost never wear dresses and honestly, I only wear heals if I’m going to be staying in one location or close to home. I do however take time to do my hair/makeup and I almost always change a couple times before deciding what outfit to stick with. I like getting dressed up because it makes me more confident when I feel like I look good and when I’m more confident, I’m more likely to approach people. I like being social and meeting people. I also know for a fact that people are more welcoming and open to meeting a girl when she is well put together. This of course depends on the setting. I wouldn’t expect a girl to get dressed up in heals and a cute outfit to go to a sports bar to watch a game but at a club or party, it’s more expected that girls will get dressed up. I get dressed up because I like to and it makes me feel good about myself. I realize that the norms for girls, especially in a college town like we are, are entirely socially constructed. The media has created images of beauty that lead a lot of women and girls to put a lot of effort into their appearance. This is probably why so many girls go out dressed in short skirts when it’s freezing out and spend hours getting ready. Men however, usually only put a small fraction of that time and effort into getting ready. There are only so many options of shirts and jeans that a guy has to decide between. Even so, girls are more attracted to a guy who is dressed nicely than one who is sloppy. Men are more visual than women are which leads to a higher response to appearance. Because of this, if a woman wants to get a man’s attention, she will likely be more successful if she appears to his visual senses. In the end, I believe that a lot of women get dressed up for their own reasons. However, their perceptions of what “getting dressed up” includes (heals, skirts, revealing clothes… etc.) is largely based on outside factors. I don’t think this is a norm that is going to change at any point in the near future. Fri, 1 Apr 2011 22:16:16 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/31/women-what-are-your-thoughts-on-dressing-up-while-men-dress-down-and-did-they-change-after-this-lecture-119-blog/#IDComment139209664 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/22/for-the-white-females-would-you-ever-date-a-black-guy-119-blog/#IDComment137579680 Honestly, I have never really been in the situation where I had the option to date a Black guy. I don’t think at this point in my life I can actually give a definite response and say Yes or No. Although the majority of my friends are white, I have a couple of close guy friends who are Black. At home, I live in a suburban town that is actually pretty diverse. In my high school class of around three hundred people, there were probably about eighty that were black and in my close group of about ten friends three of them were black. My belief now is that I wouldn’t rule a guy who I was considering dating based on his race. As shallow as it sounds, I believe that in order for a romantic relationship to begin, there must be at least a small level of physical attraction. That being said, I generally am attracted to guys who are the same race as me, with some exceptions. As long as I was attracted to the guy and loved his personality, I would definitely date him regardless of his race. My family is a huge influence in my life and I definitely consider their opinion when in a serious relationship. I have been lucky with how accepting my family is. My mom is Puerto Rican and my dad is Irish so there is already a bit of diversity in my family. It was surprising for me to hear that when my parents were dating, my mom’s parents had a huge problem with the fact that my dad wasn’t Puerto Rican and my dad’s side of the family immediately accepted my mom into their own. Since then, my mom’s side of the family have become incredibly accepting of diversity in the family as one of my aunts is now married to a Korean man and my cousin is married to a Black man. In a way my parents sort of forged a path of diversity in our family which benefited my generation. My parents struggled a bit in the early part of their relationship with their families and now they tell me that as long as the guy I’m with makes me happy and treats me well, it doesn’t matter who he is. So I guess if someone were to blatantly ask me this question my response would be yes, I would date a black guy. But at the same time it is situational and it is probably more likely that I will find people who are my race most attractive. Fri, 25 Mar 2011 22:03:00 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/22/for-the-white-females-would-you-ever-date-a-black-guy-119-blog/#IDComment137579680 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/16/do-arrests-of-different-races-occur-more-due-to-racism-or-more-police-in-urban-areas-119-blog/#IDComment128733535 Although it’s a somewhat cynical perspective, I definitely feel that racism has an impact on arrests made in urban areas. However, I also feel that a lot of the racism comes from naiveté and is unintentional. There are many instances when people do things subconsciously because of preconceived notions about others that they don’t even realize they have. With regards to the police force, I think it is for the most part, unintentional that arrests of different races occur at different rates. Whether the reason for arrests in the past was racism or more police in urban areas, arrests of different races happened frequently. In the police force, it is more likely that stereotypes of different races about the likelihood that they will be criminals develop because of previous convictions. I feel that this isn’t necessarily racism because the police officers generally go off of the past experiences of other officers. I do believe that because urban areas are generally more populated with different races, there are a lot more arrests in those areas. Solely due to the fact that there are more people there leads to more arrests. It is much easier to get caught doing something illegal when you are in a compact, very populated area with a large police force than it is when in a rural area with wide open spaces. Because there are fewer people and more space the size of the police force is much smaller than that of an urban city. I definitely think it is wrong that the arrest rates differ based on race. I feel as though there are just more opportunities for people of different races to get caught than it is for white people. However, I think that the amount of people participating in illegal activities are much closer than arrests show. I think that more illegal activities are reported in urban areas because of the population level. However, because the majority of people in these areas belong to different races, the information about criminals relating to race is skewed. I feel as though if you were to put the same number of white people in an urban area there would be a much higher amount of crimes reported and the number of arrests would increase drastically in the white population. I think it is unfair that there are stereotypes of people of different races and that these stereotypes impact the way that people are treated in the legal system. That being said, I don’t think the situation is going to change in the future. Fri, 18 Feb 2011 04:31:26 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/16/do-arrests-of-different-races-occur-more-due-to-racism-or-more-police-in-urban-areas-119-blog/#IDComment128733535 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/26/why-do-we-associate-with-people-of-the-same-race-and-ethnicity-as-ourselves-119-blog/#IDComment124409224 After reading this question I was walking around campus and definitely noticed how groups of people who were gathered together more often than not appeared to be members of the same or similar race/ethnicity. I thought that was interesting and was curious what people would see if they saw me with a group of my closest friends. It would probably be just like I saw. At school, aside from the times when I’m with classmates or club group members, I’m usually surrounded by people who are white. However, when I’m home, my group of friends is much more diverse. Much of who I surround myself with has to do with the majority of people available. At home, there is a lot more diversity and that shows through in my group of friends. My observations of others and about myself lead me to believe that people often associate with people who they are familiar with, and generally, we feel more comfortable with people that are similar to ourselves. It is tough to be in a group of people and feel uncomfortable. I imagine it is a very similar feeling to being on a stage, at a podium, and giving a speech in front of a group of people. It’s not always comfortable standing out in a crowd or being different. A fear of what’s uncertain or uncomfortable leads people to gravitate towards others who have similar qualities. I’ve also realized that it is harder to spend a lot of time with someone who you have very few things in common with. Sharing common hobbies, likes and dislikes, values, traditions, etc. is a bonding experience. Although it is possible to develop a solid relationship with someone who is entirely different from yourself, it is less common. Two years ago, I was placed in a random dorm room and my roommate was from South Korea. We got along fine and never had any issues with each other but our lifestyles were very different and we didn’t share many things in common. This made it difficult for us to become better friends. Although we still talk every so often, our conversations do not carry much breadth or depth. Because we did not have much in common, it was difficult to find things to talk about that we both cared about. I wish it were the case that everyone could experience different cultures all the time but sometimes that just isn’t possible. There’s a lot that could be learned from exposure to different races and/or ethnicities. By broadening our associations and branching out into sometimes uncomfortable interactions, we can learn a lot about ourselves and our world. Fri, 28 Jan 2011 21:00:29 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/26/why-do-we-associate-with-people-of-the-same-race-and-ethnicity-as-ourselves-119-blog/#IDComment124409224 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/14/why-do-we-still-have-stereotypes-blog-1/#IDComment124402497 This is an issue that I struggle to figure out on a regular basis. In my opinion there are a few main reasons that stand out when thinking about why stereotypes exists. The first reason why we have stereotypes develops from our own insecurities. When people are insecure or unsure about themselves, it is easy to project those insecurities onto others. If you feel bad about yourself, it is usually a lot easier to put other people down than it is to bring yourself up. Stereotyping is a type of protection mechanism that enables people to equalize themselves and others when feeling badly about themselves. The second reason why I believe we still have stereotypes stems from uncertainty and is magnified by the media. There are so many different cultures in the world which people know little about. Combined with every person’s individuality, there is no possible way to understand every culture/person. This leads to generalizations and the generalizations lead to stereotypes. In order to gain information about cultures that are unfamiliar, people turn to resources that they are frequently exposed to; generally to other peers or the media. Stereotypes are almost always displayed in films or television programs. Whether for comedic purposes on sitcoms or the bias views of some news programs, stereotypes are always shown. People absorb those stereotypes (sometimes unknowingly) and adopt them as their own. The last reason I have developed for why stereotypes still exist has to do with influences in our lives. Our parents and grandparents were raised in an age where racism was everywhere and different cultures were looked in a negative light. At a young age, it is almost a guarantee that children absorb their parents viewpoints and beliefs because that is all they know. That’s how it was for me growing up, at least. I feel like it’s completely understandable for children to mirror the beliefs of their parents, or any adult figure for that matter. They don’t know any better. The problem with stereotypes is that they stick. Even as children grow, learn, and mature, their beliefs stay with them. Sometimes this is okay (religious beliefs, family values/traditions etc.). However, with stereotypes it is a bad thing. That being said, it is also inevitable. With the help of media portrayals and the naivety of the general population, stereotypes will always exist. Fri, 28 Jan 2011 20:22:55 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/14/why-do-we-still-have-stereotypes-blog-1/#IDComment124402497 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-%e2%80%9ch%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-intense-debate/#IDComment121409675 Soc119 Sat, 15 Jan 2011 01:18:17 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-%e2%80%9ch%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-intense-debate/#IDComment121409675