en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/765004 Comments by matt717 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/christian-invaders-the-turnaround__trashed/#IDComment68460191 This lecture was one of the most interesting of the whole year for me. I had never thought about the war in Iraq in this manner before. From an American’s perspective, how dare anyone try and do harm on Americans when we’re just trying to protect our country. But what we don’t realize is that their countries are glorifying the bad things that we do. As Sam said, I’m sure there are no youtube videos online about how wonderful Americans are. On the other hand, a video of an American tank crushing the car of a mere civilian makes for great entertainment. Just as we can’t grasp what they are doing when they act against Americans, they likewise can’t grasp why we are over there in the first place. Sat, 17 Apr 2010 02:13:47 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/christian-invaders-the-turnaround__trashed/#IDComment68460191 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/what-about-the-men__trashed/#IDComment68459138 When I’m hanging out with my guy friends on a weekend, we just do whatever we want to have fun. We don’t really care what other people think about us, we just go out to whatever party we’re going to that night and hang out and have a good time. When I’m hanging out with my female friends, however, it’s a completely different story. Before we leave, they need to know who all is at the party, because “oh my god if Joe is there I have to change my outfit first.” I’ve been around it more than I would like to, and it’s so obvious that girls play mind games when it comes to how they look. It’s more complex that my organic chemistry class. So from experience, girls are way guiltier of this, although guys should take some of the blame. Sat, 17 Apr 2010 02:02:07 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/what-about-the-men__trashed/#IDComment68459138 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/what-about-the-men__trashed/#IDComment68459092 To address the fact that guys conform somewhat to what society portrays as the “norm,” we do to a slight extent. Just as girls diet to look thin, guys lift weights to look muscular. We’re all guilty of going to the gym to look good. This is certainly a type of conformity. I read a reply earlier stating that guys all dress the same in an effort to conform. I would argue that this is more of a cultural thing than a conformity thing. Most guys wear jeans and a hoody/t-shirt on a daily basis. I mean all guys do it, but what else are we going to wear? That is what is comfortable to me, and I’m not going to go out of my way to be different. Another similarity between guys and girls on this topic is how we show off our “physiques.” Girls walk around campus with revealing tank tops and shorts that are about four inches in height in order to get guys to look their direction. But likewise, for every girl there is wearing this outfit, there’s a guy in a sleeveless shirt strolling around campus trying to show off his body at the same time. It’s just seen differently when girls do it as opposed to guys. Sat, 17 Apr 2010 02:01:37 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/what-about-the-men__trashed/#IDComment68459092 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/what-about-the-men__trashed/#IDComment68459051 As a guy with just as many female friends as male friends, I can say with absolutely certainty that girls care way more about fitting in with the "norm" than guys--although we do care to an extent. It takes the average girl an hour to get ready to go out. I don't even know how many outfit changes I have seen the same girl do in the matter of ten minutes, whereas I wear whatever I wore to class that morning when I go out. I mean I can't blame a girl when I see this going on, because every other girl is doing it too, so she has to keep par and look equally as nice when she hits the dance floor at the frat she's going to. It's a problem that has clearly spiraled out of control in recent years--females needing to look better than every other girl when going out. Sat, 17 Apr 2010 02:01:15 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/what-about-the-men__trashed/#IDComment68459051 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/want-to-learn-chinese__trashed/#IDComment68456764 From my experience in taking foreign language classes and speaking with other students who also have, people either want to learn another language or they don't. For those that don't, they struggle through four years of spanish or french in high school (plus whatever is required in years prior) and just forget everything they know when they get to college. So why are we making it mandatory to take these classes during the first twelve years of a child's life? If someone doesn't like it while they're being forced into taking a language class, they're going to quit the second they hit college and forget everything they know. I, personally, took spanish all through my K-12 years, and really enjoyed it. I was really good at it, and it came pretty naturally to me. I decided to minor in spanish here at Penn State, and I can honestly say I'll be (very near) fluent by the time I graduate. People like me will take the classes regardless, but why force a kid to take these classes when they won't get anything out of it in the end? Wouldn't they be better off taking another science class or something? Sat, 17 Apr 2010 01:39:31 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/want-to-learn-chinese__trashed/#IDComment68456764 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/whats-the-big-deal-with-periods__trashed/#IDComment64204607 I'm really glad you feel this way--finally a woman who isn't complaining about something that nobody can control. I mean yeah I'm sure it sucks to have one, but there's no reason to cause an uproar because men aren't doing everything we can to make you feel better about it. Like you said, it's a necessary, ubiquitous process to human life. I mean if I'm hanging out with a group of friends and I get the option to talk about basketball or women having their periods, I mean no offense, but nobody wants to talk about a woman's time of the month. I don't even get why women want to talk about it. If you hate it that badly (not you in the video personally, you get it), then why on earth do we need to talk about it? I do feel bad that I can't relate to women when I hear someone talking about it, but it's not something that I, or any other guy out there, can control. Fri, 26 Mar 2010 14:47:04 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/whats-the-big-deal-with-periods__trashed/#IDComment64204607 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/if-men-could-menstruate__trashed/#IDComment64204083 Although I personally am not bothered by discussing blood, I know a lot of men and women who can't stand to talk about it. I think that's where this stems from. If all men had to take a class about women's menstrual cycles, what would this solve? We'd be able to talk about it? I mean it would be less awkward, if that's what our goal is here, but it wouldn't really help the fact that no one wants to talk about it. To address the free tampons deal, I don't think--okay I KNOW--that they would not be free. That's ridiculous to even think about. In the harsh economic times we live in, companies are doing everything they can to not go bankrupt. I mean sure it'd be nice to offer out free tampons to all the women in the world, but who would pay for it? I don't think this would change at all if men got periods too. I mean there are a lot of things that just men need (like condoms) and those aren't free. Fri, 26 Mar 2010 14:41:51 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/if-men-could-menstruate__trashed/#IDComment64204083 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/flip-the-script-for-a-moment__trashed/#IDComment64202328 Imagine a world where we didn't question each other or our superiors once in a while--we'd be bored to death and wouldn't have a chance to form our own opinions and think for ourselves. Questioning things is not a bad thing at all, but rather, an attempt to make something better through looking at it from an individual standpoint and seeing what parts of it don't necessarily make sense to us. This is something that we as Americans should have done with slavery. I mean it's not like one person waking up one day could just get out of bed and decide slavery was bad and end it right there. It takes a lot, a TON of people to get something like this into action. Living in a society where slavery was a huge issue isn't something we can stop in the blink of an eye. If every American would have been confident enough to stick up for what he or she truly felt as the right thing (stopping slavery), then it probably would have "ended" much sooner. But seeing as the consequences for acting out alone back in the old days are far more severe than just a slap on the hand, we have to understand that it takes a group of people standing up for what they believe in to truly make positive action against a big group or big issue such as slavery. As far as the 28-day cycle issue we discussed in class, I can certainly see where some people are coming from with the whole "let's not talk about it" issue. Although it personally doesn't bother me whatsoever (and I'm a guy), through listening to the people around me talk in class I can understand how this is an issue. I don't think it's a matter of not wanting to step inside someone else's shoes, but rather, a phobia of sorts dealing with things that are not so common in everyday life. When the next "Saw" movie comes out, go into the theater and see how many people are grossed out and turn their heads at the sight of blood. Okay, "Saw" isn't exactly a good comparison to a woman's time of the month, but it's the basic principle. Some people have a severe phobia of blood and needles and a lot of other things that have nothing to do with this, but I'll bet if you started talking about almost anything, you're bound to get people who are grossed out. In class you compared it to someone cutting open their finger and rushing over to the toilet and letting it drip into the water then going to look at it, and that being the same thing. My issue with this though, is that what comes out during that time is, from what the girls around me were saying, is not just blood. And it's not dripping out of their fingers, either. As far as your "hunger" and "toenail" examples from class go, I don't see the resemblance to this issue. Nobody is grossed out at the thought of hunger, or is afraid to watch people eat. People are, always have been, and always will be, disgusted at the thought of blood. This isn't an ethnocentric issue whatsoever. It's not a fear to look at the world from a different standpoint , or try something new, it's the natural human instinct that many people have to be repulsed at the thought, sight, smell, etc. of blood or other bodily fluids. It's something your born with, not something you choose to be. Fri, 26 Mar 2010 14:24:51 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/flip-the-script-for-a-moment__trashed/#IDComment64202328 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/women-and-sports__trashed/#IDComment63103884 This is definitely a great step for women who enjoy the sport of football, just because it opens up so many more doors for women who would like to get involved with the sport. There will obviously be some people who are not okay with a female head coach, but there will always be people criticizing you no matter what you're doing. I'm surprised this is happening so soon. I would imagine that the sport of women's football would need to take off and get a lot of involvement before a move like this was made, but as a professional women's football player, I don't think anyone is denying the fact that she has the knowledge and love of the sport necessary to be a great coach. And as someone else included, the fact that she's a teacher at this high school will allow her to teach the athletes, and hopefully lead them to success. Sat, 20 Mar 2010 03:30:05 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/women-and-sports__trashed/#IDComment63103884 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/does-this-rudeness-thing-cut-both-ways__trashed/#IDComment63099954 I mean this just goes back to the whole concept that white people are more heavily-criticized for being racist than minorities. This stems from the fact that since whites are the majority in this country, if someone says something negative about them, no one really causes a scene or draws attention to it as much as when a white person offends a black or brown person. A perfect example of this is last year a few days after the election when Obama won, I saw a brown guy in West commons wearing a shirt that stated "This year, I voted black." I was literally appalled by the shirt. If a white person walked around with a shirt that said "This year, I voted white," I can only begin to imagine the commotion it would cause. But I guess that nobody was as concerned upon seeing the shirt as I was, or perhaps they, too, were just too appalled by it to say anything. Sat, 20 Mar 2010 03:17:05 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/does-this-rudeness-thing-cut-both-ways__trashed/#IDComment63099954 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-to-do-about-white-guilt__trashed/#IDComment63096247 In conclusion, I don’t think changing our history books would be an effective way of dealing with white guilt. Not only do I believe it wouldn’t cause everyone to forget about it, but I feel as though the better way of getting over what happened is to recognize it, without spending too much time having feelings toward it. As long as we understand that it happened, and do everything in our power to prevent something like it from ever happening again, that’s the best we can do to create a healthier, happier America. Sat, 20 Mar 2010 03:08:48 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-to-do-about-white-guilt__trashed/#IDComment63096247 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-to-do-about-white-guilt__trashed/#IDComment63096074 As far as what we teach our children, however, I don’t think that we should change what we’re doing. I agree that when I was in grade school, I didn’t learn the entire truth about slavery or the Native American slaughtering that occurred in our country’s past, but I don’t think I would have completely understood had they told me anyway. What child wants to hear such terrible things? As long as we continue to teach them from an early age the importance of race relations, by the time they grow old enough to learn about our country’s entire history, they have a fundamental set of moral values. As long as they get the main underlying message from an early age, that will help out the United States enormously in moving forward from these tragedies. Sat, 20 Mar 2010 03:08:32 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-to-do-about-white-guilt__trashed/#IDComment63096074 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-to-do-about-white-guilt__trashed/#IDComment63095863 I, personally, think that ignoring the fact that these events happened would be a tragedy in its own sense. No one alive today slaughtered a Native American to build a house on his land. For this, I feel as though we should all accept that fact that it happened and move on. There is obviously nothing that anyone can do about it. We can't release people from slavery who died decades ago, nor can we bring any Native Americans back to life. The important thing, now, is to recognize those who died, and try to move on while teaching to others the fact that we can't let anything that horrible happen within our country every again. Sat, 20 Mar 2010 03:08:07 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-to-do-about-white-guilt__trashed/#IDComment63095863 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-to-do-about-white-guilt__trashed/#IDComment63095733 If I understand the question correctly, I think you mean just pretend like slavery and the tragedy with the Native Americans just never existed. I mean I get what you're saying and all, this would eliminate the problem that is "white guilt." If we got rid of these events in history books, our children would not learn of such events, and several generations from now, no one living would have ever been taught any of this. However, we can't act like that would be successful, because there would certainly still be evidence of it occurring. We would literally need support from every single person in the world in order to make this occur. It would only take one person keeping a history book and passing it down generation from generation to keep the fact that this happened instilled in the minds of all of us. Sat, 20 Mar 2010 03:07:49 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-to-do-about-white-guilt__trashed/#IDComment63095733 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/fired-for-a-scarf__trashed/#IDComment59992269 If I were that girl, I would continue pursuing the lawsuit against the company and draw as much negative attention to its hiring process as possible. Abercrombie and Fitch should not be allowed to reject employees as it rejects magazine covers. People are people, people have feelings, and all people deserve to be treated equal. Yes, it is a business and this business feeds on younger customers who crave the image of sex and buy “Fierce” cologne simply because its name is “Fierce,” but there is a line this company shouldn’t cross, which is discrimination against individuals of different color, appearance, religious backgrounds and so on. Sat, 6 Mar 2010 04:53:03 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/fired-for-a-scarf__trashed/#IDComment59992269 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/fired-for-a-scarf__trashed/#IDComment59992247 Apparently this company thinks that by seeing these "flawless" employees which fit the correct image, customers will be even more intrigued to buy clothes to resemble them. Abercrombie & Fitch must realize that racism is not longer tolerated and discrimination against the appearance of an idividual because he or she is fat, bald, hairy, tall, short, black, brown, or blue is no longer tolerated. Instead of simply selling an image, Abercrombie & Fitch is promoting discrimination, and it is ridiculous and needs to stop. Sat, 6 Mar 2010 04:52:50 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/fired-for-a-scarf__trashed/#IDComment59992247 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/fired-for-a-scarf__trashed/#IDComment59992217 This is what baffles me though. Abercrombie sells its "image" of sex enough through the store walls, bags, and magazines, why does the company feel the need to discriminate against prospective employees, also? It is one thing to hire or not hire a model, and to throw out or keep a photograph for a few shopping bags, but when it comes to rejecting prospective employees because Abercrombie and Fitch doesn't like the way these applicants look, there is a HUGE problem. Even when I go into the store to shop, I rarely see any variance of ethnic backgrounds in employees. In fact, it looks like ten thousand Barbie and Ken dolls with keys, badges, and superficial smiles. Abercrombie and Fitch beleives in promoting its "image" at all times, I guess, but what this company needs to understand is that discrimination is a lot more important than selling apparel and making money. Sat, 6 Mar 2010 04:52:33 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/fired-for-a-scarf__trashed/#IDComment59992217 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/fired-for-a-scarf__trashed/#IDComment59992194 I'll admit, I shop at Abercrombie & Fitch...a lot. Though buying and wearing clothes I like is very different from supporting a company who's hiring system and frame of mind in general, is very warped. Yes, Abercrombie is a business, so yes, its ultimate goal--sadly enough--is to make money. This company makes money by advertising what it beleives our society views as sexy. It plasters a photograph of a slim, long-haired woman wrapped in the arms of a buff, narrow-nosed Ken doll all over its walls, bags, and magazines, while also incorporating Shakespeare quotes behind its counters describing the word "fierce" and I guess trying to appear, educated? Whatever it is Abercrombie and Fitch does, it works, because its customers keep going back for more, no matter how much those ripped, torn denim jeans cost. Sat, 6 Mar 2010 04:52:15 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/fired-for-a-scarf__trashed/#IDComment59992194 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/native-americans-question-two__trashed/#IDComment58871428 I agree that this is not our fault whatsoever, I mean how could it be? I was born less than twenty years ago, and for most of those years I had no idea that this genocide even happened. No one in my family physically killed a Native American to build a house on their territory, or bullied them into giving us the land on which we live, but this doesn't mean that we should just ignore it happened. What happened to the Native Americans when we first came to America and took their land is atrocious, so ignoring the fact that our ancestors committed this act of violence is just disrespectful to the Native Americans that died merely because they didn't have the weapons we did. I don't think Sam is telling us to pack our bags and move out of the country to give them back their land, because that's obviously unrealistic in most cases, but rather acknowledge the wrong that was committed on this land. I feel that if we just learn to accept the past and stop pretending like nothing bad happened, it will show a great deal of respect to those who were killed over land, and will move us as Americans one step further to bettering our morals as a whole. Fri, 26 Feb 2010 21:02:51 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/native-americans-question-two__trashed/#IDComment58871428 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/native-americans-question-five__trashed/#IDComment58869979 It's a fact that not enough people know that the land we live on every single day is land that was stolen, literally taken away, from Native Americans many years ago. Although many educated individuals are aware of this tragedy, many people have absolutely no idea of the genocide that we as Americans took place in many generations ago. Although we all have learned a lot more about it through sociology class, we all are stuck debating whether or not there is anything that we can do to make it better. I mean obviously there's no going back now--it's not like we can all just pack up and move to Europe out of respect for the Native Americans who once owned this land. But continuing to ignore that it happened is just outrageous. We need to accept the fact that it happened, and quit pretending like it's not our fault. Although it is not directly our fault as twenty-something year old college students, it was our fault as Americans, so acknowledging the fact that we did wrong many years ago is just about all we can do at this point to recognize the tragedy that once occurred on this land. Fri, 26 Feb 2010 20:51:40 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/native-americans-question-five__trashed/#IDComment58869979