I think that this question is a very personal question in that I think everyone's goal is or should be different. We all took this class for various reasons. I took it because I had Soc 1 with Sam, and he was an entertaining guy, but also because I wanted to think more about race because I have lived in a pretty white world up until this point in my life. So my goal was to be able to see race, but not in the ways that I previously did. Now, knowing what I do, I guess I was in between the pre-awakening and awakening stages coming in, and now I have gotten further than that. I see race, but I want to know more about each person as an individual.

I definitely think that men do not feel the need to conform to society as much as women. Women, at least based on appearance, tend to go all out when it comes to what they look like in relation to other girls. I think for men, or at least for me personally, it is less about what the latest and greatest trend is and more just about being happy with myself. I don’t really care what other people think about the way I dress, or wear my hair, or whether I shave or not. I guess a lot of my “personal” decisions that I make regarding these things are probably based on society’s pressures, but I don’t think that the pressure put on me is more than the pressure put on most girls.
Girls, for whatever reason, seem to feel the need to conform more than guys do. I think that there are a lot of girls that would rather not put on make-up, or shave their legs, or dress the way that they do, but because of the pressures put on them by society, they do it anyway. I don’t know why this is and I definitely don’t think it is fair, but it is the way it is. As Sam has pointed out many times this semester, it isn’t fair, but it is definitely a man’s world. It is more so becoming more of an equal world lately, especially in relation to history, but there is definitely a lot of room for improvement in the world to get to a point of gender equality.
I think men feel the majority of their pressures based around how in shape they are in. It might not necessarily be what they are wearing, but the largest part of it probably comes from the pressure of physical appearance. Men are always “comparing sizes” with other men. If one guy gets something new, more often than not, his friends are going to be jealous and want whatever it is for them as well. It is the same with physical fitness. For the most part, every guy wants to be the most in shape person around. If you’re at the beach, you want to have the most ripped abs and the biggest arms when you take off your shirt. This is definitely a societal pressure, but I think girls care about this a lot more than guys. When a girl is at the beach, she is constantly analyzing the surrounding girls and comparing her body to those around her. As I do think that this trend is becoming more equal, I think it will still take a lot of time for men and women to have the same pressures put on them by society to conform.

I think this girl presents a good perspective to the ignorance of many people. I'm sure there are a lot of people who think that what Osama Bin Ladin represents is the same thing that all Muslim people believe. This is very much not the case. As with any religion, there are radicals who claim to represent a certain group, but don't necessarily think or behave as the majority of the group does. There have definitely been Christians in the past, and there are currently Christians that don't act the same way as the majority and are public figureheads, very similar to Bin Laden.

I definitely don’t agree with the content of this game. I guess it is not much different from shoot-em-up games and others with extreme violence, which I have played, but there is something about raping an innocent girl in a subway that is unacceptable. In no way do I think that this will provide potential rapists with an outlet that prevents these actions toward actual women. Instead, I think it simply puts the idea and the possibility of this happening into the hands of those who wouldn’t otherwise consider such actions. I am glad that these games have been taken off the shelves.

I saw this video and immediately felt saddened by it. The kids all seemed to be struggle with this question, especially the girl that was asked which one looked like her. She had to pick out the nice one, and the one that looked like her. I thought that was an especially troubling question to ask the girl and I felt bad for her. I think that the majority of the answers to the question in class were accurate. I am a male so I didn’t play with too many dolls as a child, but I understand where people were coming from with their comments as to why they would choose the white doll over the black one.

I think more importantly than changing your mind about things is the idea that you think about things more critically. There have been many times this semester that Sam has stated that he is not trying to change the way you think about things, but instead, he wants you to simply think about the things more than you have in the past. That being said, that really doesn't answer your question, but I don't really agree with your question. The question I will answer is about how the way I think about things has changed.

I grew up in an area that was not very diverse. I had two black kids in my entire high school. I was friends with both of them, but they were in many ways white themselves. I did not think about race very often, because it was not necessary based on the area in which I lived. When I came to Penn State, it was completely different. As white as I see that Penn State is now, my original perception was that this was a very diverse place in comparison to my home town. I first took this class because I was friends with one of the girls who previously TAed the class and she recommended it. I am really glad that I did. I have thought about things that I probably would have never thought about. So in response to whether this class has mattered to me, yes it has. I have been forced into thinking about racial issues.

Probably the thing that I realized most about myself, revolved around the idea of adoption. Kids are going to be a big part of my life eventually. Sam asked a question in class about if you were going to adopt, would you adopt someone of your same race. I hadn’t thought about this until he presented the question. As soon as he said it I realized that my answer was definitely not. If I cannot have kids, I will definitely adopt a child who may not otherwise be adopted. There is a waitlist for white children. There are black and brown children waiting for a good home. That would be the greatest thing to give them a good home. I’m not saying that I would not have eventually thought about this on my own. If I can’t have kids or choose to adopt, this will obviously be something that most people consider, but I found it very interesting that my decision came so quickly and definitively.

I found this article to be quite intriguing. I don’t think I have ever though about the future in this way. A child born of a white parent and a black or brown parent will then most likely be considered black or brown. This fact alone proves the fact that white people will soon be the minority, regardless of how many different groups of people are coming in to this country. So as more multi-racial children are born, the white race will slowly diminish. I don’t really feel a certain way about this. If I find a black or brown woman that makes me happy, I’m going to have kids with her and not think about the fact that I am not passing on my “whiteness”.

I actually have a problem with talking about this for a reason that Sam addressed in class which I completely disagree with. I have a serious problem thinking about blood, regardless of where it is coming from or what is causing it. So when Sam said that no one would have a problem if he were standing up there talking about Laurie bleeding from her finger, I respectfully disagree with that statement. I don’t want to hear about bleeding regardless of where it’s coming from. I am glad that women menstruate because none of us would be here if it didn’t take place, but I don’t want to hear about bleeding.

I agree with Sam 100% on this. I find it interesting to read and hear people complaining about the racial and ethnic stereotypes. I think the people that wrote the census did do a ton of research, like Sam said, and the conclusions they came to when deciding which categories to include and which to exclude from these particular questions came from the idea that they want to get the most accurate data by making it as clear as possible to everyone. I don’t think anyone would be confused by the term “negro” being included on this form. It may cause people to feel a certain way, but I think that is better than having an older black person who only relates to the term “negro” not know which option to fill out. So many people read that and don’t think into it that far, they just automatically call it out as being offensive. The one man stated that a woman was upset because it reminded her of her childhood in the south and the repression. I understand that, but that could have been any word that reminded someone in their childhood. I think that people being to distracted by the word negro and not focusing on the importance of the census is a bit exaggerated. I am sure there weren’t too many people refusing to fill this out because the word negro was printed on it. Regardless of the categories that they used, just because race is such an issue in this country and so many people get offended very easily, I think no matter what was printed, they would have pissed someone off and the media would cover it, just as they did here.

Also, regarding the statement around why white people are not further broken down. To me, this is an obvious answer, at first. I have no idea what I would select if I were given the option of many different European countries. I think that this is the case with many people in this country, not only white, but black and brown people as well. As you get further from the generation of your family that moved here, it is harder for people to track back to what their family origin is. If your parents were the people who immigrated here from another country, it would be my guess that you would have a much better understanding of your racial background whereas if it were your great- great- great- great- great-grandfather. I understand that it is good to have this data, I just wish that people wouldn’t always look so far into certain words or phrases that people use and find them to be inherently offensive. As Sam said in class, nothing is really inherently offensive.

I personally think that your friend would be in the black or brown category if he had to chose one or the other. I am white, but if any part of me was not, I would probably consider myself to be on the black or brown team, as Sam would say. In contrast, however, if your friend doesn't consider himself to be a black or brown person, I would expect him to answer as if he is on the white team. I think a lot of it has to do with skin color and physical appearance, but also where he is from and what his family is like.