I feel as if the response to this question is almost obvious from the get go. For someone who was raised by a gay parent or parents, they would obviously be raised to accept gays and wouldn’t have a problem with that lifestyle. It would be far easier for a gay child of a gay parent to come out because the parent would easily be able to empathize and relate to the child. It’s much like the dynamic of a father and son or mother and daughter relationship. I feel like it would also be easier for a gay child to come out to a gay parent because the child wouldn’t feel as oppressed as a gay child might feel under straight parents. The gay child of a gay parent wouldn’t feel as much as a minority in their own home as they would under straight parents. This feeling of oppression or of being a minority in the home is a feeling that I’m sure feeds into the stress of coming out to parents who are straight. It just makes a lot of sense to me that it would be so much easier to come out to a parent who was gay rather than a parent who was straight simply for the fact that the parent who was gay would much more understand. They would have gone through similar emotions and events in their own lifetime, making it easier on the child who is just experiencing it for the first time.
Coming out to parents who are straight is certainly the harder of the two. It is easy for parents to believe that their children are straight as they are because that is the social norm. The parents raise their children just as they were raised, so it is only normal for the parents to not see that their child may be gay. A child who is gay in this situation feels ostracized, different, and as I stated before, a minority in their own home. Much like the world of racial and ethnic relations, the discussion of sexuality within the home is taboo and a difficult topic to even bring up. It definitely depends on the situation and the family at hand, as every family is brought up on different views and is brought up around different environments. A gay child of parents from an urban area may feel more comfortable coming out to their parents than a child of a rural area. I guess this just depends on exposure and acceptance of the parents of gays. No matter the case, it would surely be more difficult than coming out to a parent that is gay solely because of the fact that the child may not exactly understand the parents’ feelings about gays. Whereas in having gay parents, it would be easy to decipher their stance on gays.

When the question was posed about who we should save, there was no question for me of who to choose. I would choose saving my child hands down. The thought process behind this decision was quite simple, making my decision almost instant. Seeing the responses of everyone else was quite interesting, as everyone was pretty much on the same page. Only a few people chose to save their mothers and even fewer chose to save their significant other. I think part of that decision might have been because a lot of people may not have a significant other. Also, I think in most cases, a person’s significant other would have directed them to save the child. For the decision of whether to save the mother or not was a little bit more thought intensive. There is no other person I love more in this world than my mother. She has raised my brother, sister, and I on her own keeping us together and within the walls of the house that we were born into. I respect her so much, and emulate her strength and courage to do all that she has done and sacrificed for us. The thought of choosing whether or not to save her is something that I think would be very emotionally straining. Also, because I haven’t experienced a love with someone else to feel strongly enough to save them, or that I haven’t been able to feel the love of having a child, choosing my mother became a very serious option and obstacle in my decision process. I began to think of what my mom would have wanted to me to do, and she would have obviously wanted me to save my child. At the point where I would have a child, my mother would be older, and seeing where she’s at now, she has lived. I think my mom would have definitely supported my decision, as she’s experienced and lived through the growing of her own children and therefore she would have wanted me to save my child so I could experience the same. So when it came down to it, saving my child was the obvious choice. Also, thinking more into it, saving my child would have brought the chance to keep both the spirits of my mother and my significant other alive, as they would be existing within that child. Even though they would not be alive, they could be alive through the child. This decision, though difficult in regards to my mother, was a simple choice in the end. Choosing the child would be the best option, as it preserves a young life so that it may grow, and also preserves the spirits of those who passed.

Tuesday’s lecture on Ethnocentrism was certainly a very enlightening and rewarding lecture to attend. I agree with Sam that the idea of race and ethnic relations has to do with being able to set aside one’s own culture and be able to see another’s culture through their eyes. The culture of a person definitely shapes who they are and they way they are brought up to think. One’s vision of ‘normal’ could be vastly different from someone of a different culture. It all depends on the values and beliefs of that particular culture. Sam’s lecture on ethnocentrism was all about trying to get us outside of our own shoes and into the shoes of different cultures around the globe. Trying to put into perspective how we are all affected by ethnocentrism subconsciously. Particularly from the lecture, I would to reflect on the video clip that Sam showed the class from the Skit Guys, which took two different perspectives of worship. I really appreciated how they used repetition of the same dialogue depicting two different cultural actions, applying it in similar ways. It really puts into perspective how two cultures can be very similar in how they tend to ‘worship’ a god or cultural event, but view other cultures celebrations as different. This videos message really stuck with me, and got me thinking about some of my own interactions with ethnocentrism.
My step father is from Puerto Rico, and one of the first times I experienced his culture, I remember having abnormal and conflicting feelings about accepting what was ‘normal’ to them. The very first year I attended one of his large annual family reunions was a very large culture shock. In the United States, person to person interaction is distant. People give each other a lot of space, knowing and feeling when they are intruding into a person’s personal bubble. At this reunion in Puerto Rico, this was very much so not the case. Everyone I met, whether it be an immediate relative or family friend would give me a kiss on the cheek and a hug. Being that this was my very first reunion and that I was much younger, I was very taken aback. This was so strange to me and a little hard to get used to. I was so used to a normal distant greeting, and this interaction had just shattered my personal bubble. After meeting so many new people, I finally had the chance to take a step back and watch the interactions between his family members. I had realized that the interactions were so much more intimate. That people’s personal space was much less and that the interactions were a lot more personal and intimate. This really gave me a lot of insight and understanding to his culture and helped me to realize the importance of looking at a culture through different eyes. That eye opening experience as a child really got me to look at a distinct culture differently. I think that was the reason I very much so appreciate the many different cultures around the world and try to view them through a non-ethnocentric eye.

I definitely share a similar experience to the gentleman asking this question. I come from a small town in central Pennsylvania by the name of Carlisle. I grew up in a smaller neighborhood surrounded by farms, so experiencing much outside of that little bubble was few and far between. My elementary school was predominantly white. Actually, I only remember one or two kids in my entire elementary school who were of a different race. Middle school was a very similar situation. It was a little bit more diverse, but again it was predominantly white. Moving to high school was my first ‘big’ culture shock I guess one could say. My high school was far from being a very diverse school, but it was the most diversity I had seen. Finally, from high school to Penn State was another bit of a ‘culture shock.’ I remember in my first few weeks of being at Penn State I thought to myself how cool it was to be in such a diverse school. Back then I thought that Penn State was the epitome of a very diverse school. Then to hear the statistics from Sam that Penn State isn’t really that diverse really puts everything into perspective for me. I guess because I grew up in such a secluded bubble, a place like Penn State would seem like a melting pot of races. That has all come to pass though, learning about the statistics of Penn State, putting these racial relations into perspective.
I also share similarity in the fact that it was never really a ‘struggle’ for me to adjust to such a diverse situation. I am friends with people of several different races at Penn State. I guess I’d have to say that the majority of my friends are white, but when I truly think about it, it’s only by a small margin. I really appreciate being in a place where I can embrace meeting new people and hearing stories from different walks of life. Maybe it has something to do with the way I was raised, or having a stepfather of a different race to appreciate different cultures. I guess there was some sort of transitional phase during my freshman year in that moment where I recognized the diversity of this school, but it never came as a struggle or something that I had to ‘deal with.’ For me, race is something that just is. It is something that we embrace and appreciate. I love hearing stories and learning about peoples’ lives and where they come from. It is fascinating to see how others live in different situations. To me, I guess it helps put things into perspective so that I can better understand myself.

When the question about white people smelling like wet dogs came up during class I was quite confused as this was the first time I had ever heard about this. I had absolutely no idea that some people thought this, nor have I ever recognized it. For me this came as kind of shocking to me. It was such a strange and foreign subject to be talking about, but it really struck me just because it was something about me that I had never heard before. After thinking about it for a little while, I thought about what it’s like when it rains and some of the familiar smells that comes with that, and I suppose that I can kind of understand where that is coming from, though I still do not fully understand. I guess because I might emit that odor I might not be able to recognize it or be able to smell it’s intensity the way other people do. This fact alone is very interesting to me. Though not directly related, this question also made me think a lot about the way people smell and their body chemistry. I think it all depends on the person. I have always thought that every person’s family or house has a unique and distinguishable scent. I believe that every person can smell differently depending on the oils in their skin and also the products that they use. Many don’t know this but a lot of time, what we eat can affect the way that we smell. For me, I’ve never really thought about it in the sense that races can have different scents, but more so in the mindset that every family and household can have its own scent. Getting back to the main question though, it does prose an interesting question that people have noticed trends in white people smelling like wet dogs. I think that the TA Lana did an adequate job in explaining what I also believe. She said that it is a proven fact that white people produce more body oils than people of darker skin. I’m not exactly sure why this is, but that is the reason why white people have to wash their hair every day, whereas, people of darker skin do not have to wash their hair as often as it doesn’t accumulate as much oil. I think that this fact might be a large contributor as to why white people might smell this way. The evaporation of the water within the air is mixing with the excess body oils from the skin causing them to smell that way. Overall, I thought this was a very strange question and something that I have never come to consider or have ever heard of.

A lot can be said for the point at which our country is in when it comes to racial relations. There have certainly been improvements in the areas of discrimination against races, but there is certainly room for a lot more. It is sad to think that it is now 2012 and our society is still having issues with this and is dealing with things like white supremacy and discrimination. It is sad to think that a situation like this one could actually be real, but in reality, this kind of situation happens every day. As Sam stated and reference throughout the class, it all boils down to the concept of white supremacy. Most of the time we dont see it or recognize that it is even there. For me, I didnt know what white supremacy was until Sam brought it up, but now that my eyes have been opened, I can see that it is all too real. It is prevalent in our society, even though we tend to ignore it. It is prevalent in situations like this and many others. White supremacy is definitely part of our society, even though it is not recognized as so. My reaction to this situation is similar to many of the responses posted. I am sad that even though there could be an affirmative action program in place to give people of different race a better chance, a white person would be much more likely to obtain a job over a person of a different race because of some sort of cue, like a name. Sam has used this example twice in class and it really does put the numbers that he is saying into perspective. In a way, we sort of see these numbers in action, or come to life. We put faces and names of real people to these hypothetical situations, making it all too real. I suppose this situation just makes me irritated that our society, even after such sociological development, still hasnt reached a point where we can move past this hidden issue of white supremacy. It shows that race is still very much so a factor of whether we get a job or not, or whether we are able to do well or not. I just cant believe that just because someone is aware of their race they can do worse on an exam or something of that nature. I was baffled by this fact that Sam stated during an earlier class. It just goes to show how damaging the concept of white supremacy has been to our society. That this concept has been deeply planted within our minds that we cant even stop to recognize that it is happening. And to think that it doesnt just happen to white people, but the other races as well. This concept is just truly baffling to me and am wondering what might become of it in the future of our society.

Yesterday in class, Sam explained what ‘Linsanity’ was and why there was such hype about this NBA basketball player. He discussed how his race affected how much hype there actually was for him and how certain races tend to dominate certain sports. He explained that Lin was unique because he was one of very few Asians who are a part of the NBA and how because of this he is more widely recognized. There is no doubt that there has been some sort of trend between race and sports. The question is, why has this happened. I think that there are a number of factors that feed into why certain races ‘dominate’ certain sports. For one, I believe that it has become more of a stereotype/part of what is accepted more than anything. Because we see these trends developing, it then becomes part of our expectations to see these races dominate these sports. It also comes down to what Sam was saying in class about how the awareness of one’s race makes them less likely to perform well at something their race is known not to do well at. Like the example Sam made about the two IQ exams, where if a black person were to take one anonymously they would do much better than the one where they had to put their race down. In my opinion the question about sports is very similar. ‘Linsanity’ is such a big deal because normally Asian people are not supposed to be good at basketball; that they are not ‘expected’ to do well in that sport. On another hand, I also believe that there are other factors that feed into this question. I believe that culture is a large factor in why we see these racial trends. I believe some dominance of the sports can be explained by where and how these people grew up. In most Asian/Asian American culture it is not too common to grow up playing sports like basketball or football. It is not a normal part of their culture and therefore we see less Asian athletes in the NBA. I believe it all comes down to what a person was more exposed to as a child, or rather what they grew up around. It is because of these expectations we have of people in society and the psychological impact that these expectations have on individual people and because of cultural factors that we see these racial trends in different sports. I’m sure that there is much more behind this sociological mystery, but to me these two reasons are what I believe mainly affect why this happens. It makes most sense with what Sam explained in class of how race psychologically affects us and how people perceive themselves within their race.

I know that if my step father had been around when I was much younger, I probably would have identified myself as part of that culture way more than I do today. Some of the customs of his culture would have been my own and I would identify myself as that. In the end though, I would still be white by race. Race and culture are two separate identities. Though they most often times go hand in hand with each other, they can also be separated. A white person can never be Latino by race, but can definitely be Latino by culture. A person’s culture all depends on how and where they were raised. It doesn’t matter the color of their skin nor the facial features they were born with. The only place that skin color and facial features matter is with their race. A person’s race is defined by DNA. A person’s culture is defined by how they’re raised.

The child could grow up under the Hispanic culture and could go on in life identifying itself as such, but by race the child would always be white. I’m not saying that the color of our skin or the facial features we were born with defines us or defines our culture. They are just that; the race we were born with. We don’t have to identify ourselves under what race we were born with, we can identify ourselves with whatever culture we like. As an example, I am of a white background and was raised by white parents. My parents divorced when I was young and my mother remarried to my step father who was born and raised in Puerto Rico. Because of my step father’s presence in my life and the countless encounters I have had with his culture, I have been able to take part in it and when among his family try to identify myself as part of it.

The line between culture and race is always very blurry. I feel that often times people try to associate the two as one, but in reality they are two very separate identities. Sure, culture and race normally are fit together in a person’s make up, but not always. I don’t believe that a person can define themselves as any race they wanted to, but I do believe that they could identify themselves under the culture behind the race. Race is something that we are inherently born with; it is something that is built within our DNA that we cannot change. However, the culture behind a race is something that we must embrace, something that is learned. For example, if a Hispanic family adopted a white baby, I believe that the baby would always defines as white by race, but the child would identify itself with the Hispanic culture.