Although some may deny it, there is such a thing as being down with the brown, or right with the white. As much as we like to assume that everyone is comfortable with everyone, we know that it is not true. Some people can blend in perfectly with different ethnicities because they are comfortable being around them. Other people do not blend in that well because their comfort level is not that high around different people and it causes them to shy away. It is usually easy to sense how comfortable someone is by looking at his or her body language. If a white person is comfortable around a black or brown person, they will embrace the habits of those people and try to adjust their habits to match the black or brown habits. For example, they will take part in events and support cultural things more than someone who is uncomfortable. People who are uncomfortable tend to shy away from taking part in events and cultural things.

I think the biggest thing that shows that someone is down with the brown is when they go into a brown group and start hanging with brown people out of their own will and genuine interest. They show interest in the culture, the food and much more. Also, you can tell that they are comfortable because they ask curious questions. They want to learn something knew, and they want to embrace something that is different from what they have always known. Indulging in other cultures allows a person to explore that unknown. It allows them to see something new, and it makes their life more interesting. I had a best friend that showed interest in my culture, and she was white. She would always come to our festivities and she would actively participate in the activities. She really enjoyed it, and it was easy to tell that she enjoyed it just by looking at her body language. She was never hesitant and she never shied away.

One can also tell when someone is not comfortable around people of different cultures. They body language is completely different. They tend to keep their distance from people of different cultures, and they stick to what they know. They usually do not try new foods and they do not go to events and cultural festivities. They are not racist, and they do not believe that they are better than others. They simply are not comfortable around different cultures and that could be because of many reasons. One reason could be because they were not raised around a multicultural area. If that is the case then it makes sense that they have a preference to sticking to their own culture over other cultures. Overall, it is easy to tell someone’s comfort level by looking at their body language.

I think there is a parallel between the white standards and the male standards. I feel that both standards have existed throughout history, and they are just now being analyzed. Only recently, have we started campaigns for racism and feminism. The question is, what created these two standards? Until we figure that out, we cannot do much to solve this issue. Throughout history the white people have always dominated other ethnicities, and throughout history the men have always dominated the women. This dominated nature has cause the general population to neglect all other standards. For example, when it comes to intimate relationships, we never consider the woman’s pleasure, it is always about the man’s pleasure. Likewise, when hiring people for jobs, we unknowingly prefer to hire people with white names rather than people with names of other races. This does not happen because we are purposely making it happen, it happens because we have become so used to the social norms, we do not realize to step out of those norms and assess the issue.

According to the Needy Penis lecture, society usually focuses on the male’s aspect of intimate relationships, no one really considers the females. The men do their thing in bed, have their fun, and they rollover and go to bed. For women, they take more time, and it does not happen as quickly. They want a more memorable and intimate experience, so when the intimacy takes place the men do not realize that the woman is not getting her share. Also, society has created this idea that a tall, thin, and tan blonde woman is considered sexy. This is due to these white male standards. Society creates these expectations of how women should look and act to attract men. Men have certain expectations when they look at women. They want curves, and thin, and tall, and much more features that are considered “hot”. We consider these women “hot”, and therefore, the rest of the women will try to make themselves presentable like those ideal women. For example, some women will go tanning, while some women will dye their hair, and some women will get surgery performed on themselves so they can have the ideal body; some will get butt implants, some will get boob jobs, and some will get nose jobs. Basically, men control what the ideal woman should look like, and women blindly follow along because they do not realize that this is not their own choice, there are strings attached to the situation. And the situation is influenced by men, but it is not obvious that it is influenced by men. In summary, the society we live in is run white and male standards.

When it comes to helping people, I believe that America should focus on helping its people first. The reason I say this is because the United States already gets criticism for going out of its way to help other nations. Also, it consumes a lot of money; money that we do not have as a nation at the moment. In order to efficiently help other nations, we must be a strong nation first. This means we must solve our issues such as debt and inequality before going into other nations and trying to solve their issues. Trying to jump straight to solving other countries’ problems only creates a messy system by which the nation functions. It does not solve any issues effectively because the nation itself is having issues. In fact, helping other countries can bring us into more debt than we are already in. This makes issues much greater and worse, and it brings the country deeper down into the pit. Therefore, an organized system in which everyone benefits involves helping your self first and then others.

Some may disagree with this idea. They may consider it selfish that we are helping ourselves even though we are at a better financial standing than other nations. This may be true, but if we continue to spend millions of dollars on foreign aid, we end up needing foreign aid ourselves. What I mean to say is, you can only spend so much before you tip the iceberg. Therefore, if we keep spending more and more money on foreign aid, we will go further and further into debt. Yes our country has a duty to help other countries, but how does one expect to help when they can not even solve their own debt issue? Plus, countries are capable of trying to solve their own problems. If they were no capable of solving their own problems they would have never became independent countries. Also, countries will ask for aid when needed. We have no right to think that it is our duty to step in at every chance we get to help. Yes, helping is good, and it is great that the United States has a strong passion when it coming to helping, but I feel like we are really neglecting our duty to help our country. If we could divert our attention from what is going on outside and pay attention to what is going on inside, we could solve a lot of stuff we have been trying to solve in a short amount of time. After solving these issues, we can make a greater impact when we help other nations. For example, if our debt crisis is solved, we can provide more money to help other countries, and therefore we can effectively help them.

The question that was asked was whether name preference is racism or nationalism. My response to that would be that it is racism because if employers are only hiring people with “American” names then it is not fair to the citizens with “non-American” names. What does an “American” name even mean? I do not think there is such a thing because in a country as diverse as the United States, Abdul and Shaniqua are also technically “American” names. Therefore, if employers are choosing their employees based on “American” names, they are actually choosing based on white names. Thus, if you do not have a white name, you are less likely to get a job. This is clearly racism because it should not matter what your name is unless your name is something completely outrageous like “Butter pecan pie”. It does not make sense to me as to why names are such an issue, but apparently they are. Maybe it is due to comfort level. An individual tends to feel more comfortable hiring people that have familiar names rather than unfamiliar. In other words, they feel more comfortable around people that are like them ethnically rather than people that are not like them ethnically.

Names really should no be a factor in the working world but they are. It should not matter what your name is. So if people consider this nationalism, I would like to argue that it is not nationalism because nationalism would be fair to all citizens. This clearly favors white people over other people. I do not know what else to say to make my point clear, but this topic clearly can not be discussed further because I have already made my point and supported my point with my point of view. So to back up my argument I would like to stress that in a truly fair situation, people would not care about names. The fact that they do care about names shows that there is indeed a tad bit of racism in the system. I guess it is hard to avoid this flaw, and there needs to be a way to get rid of this flaw in the system, but as for now, the flaw will remain in the system. It is so not fair, but what can you do? Life is not fair, and it probably never will be fair. I guess we will have to deal with this unfairness and move on. Just kidding, this is what sociologists are for. They will eventually come up with a way to deal with this issue. Until then, we shall sit back and deal with this injustice until someday when employers are employing people based on qualifications not names.

The question asks whether you agree or disagree with the statement that women are not free to say or do what they want because they cannot openly admit that they have their periods. I do not really believe that women are not free to say what they want to say. Not wanting to freely say that you have your period is not the same as not being able to say that you have your period. It is not an issue of society not accepting menstrual cycles, even though some communities look down on it. I do not think anyone cares about it. It is just unnecessary information that people do not want to know about. For example, no one goes around telling people that they have boogers in their nose. No one wants to know about that kind of information because it is personal and it is quite disgusting. Maybe you would not agree that periods are gross, but you would agree that it is a personal thing. So where does the idea that women are not free to admit that they have their period come from? I do not understand this idea. Free will does not necessarily mean you say anything and everything. There is such a thing called privacy and decency. I mean I would not have a problem in admitting that I have my period, but I do not think people want to know or even have to know so I keep the matter to myself.

When Sam asked what women were “bleeding”, a few people did raise their hands. You cannot expect every girl to raise her hand though because it is impossible for every girl, in a class of seven hundred people, to have a period at the same time. Also, I feel like many girls are not really the feminist type, so they do not want to flaunt these kinds of things because they feel like it will make them look like show offs. Personally, that day if I had my period I would not raise my hand because I would not want to look like a hardcore feminist because I am not. Also, I would not want to come off as a show off. I feel that a lot of girls are willing to raise their hand because they want to prove to the world that they are strong, independent women, but in reality it proves nothing. Periods do not determine whether you have free will or whether you are strong and independent. In order to show that you have free will, you definitely have to be able to express yourself, but you do not have to tell people that you are on your menstrual cycle.

This lecture was actually quite interesting, and I really enjoyed discussing this topic. I especially enjoyed discussing reincarnation because I am Hindu and I do believe in having a past life. The fact that the subject of death is being studied scientifically is actually fascinating. I always thought that using the scientific method could not test subjects like death and dreaming, but I was wrong. After that lecture I came to realize that this is in fact possible and that everyone does have the same experience. This did not shake my faith though. It is not possible to lose faith in something that I have strongly believed in and practiced for a long time. It is like saying that we forget the old medicine because there is new medicine in the market. Both medicines are still good and they both cure the same thing. Basically what I am trying to say is that the fact that all people have the same experience after death does not lessen my belief in my religion. I do not know much, but I do know that despite my belief there is a general truth in the world and that is that we are all the same. Thus, our experiences will most likely be similar as well.

I believe that everyone does have the same experience after death regardless of what religion you do or do not practice. I feel that religion is a way for people to show their faith in a higher power. It does not mean that there are many different Gods. The idea that Muslims have a different after life from Christians and Hindus seems a little odd to me. I like to think that there is only one being and that we all experience the same things after death. I like to think this because like I said before, I think there is only one higher power and that he is the same for everyone. I am Hindu and I follow my religion faithfully, but that does not mean that finding out that people have the same experience after death will lessen my faith in my religion.

Do not get me wrong, I respect all religions and I believe that each one has a purpose and each one can be traced back in history. I believe that all of this is true, but I do not think there is more than one higher power. I believe that everyone has there own interpretation of God and I feel that even within religions people have their own ways in which they like to practice their religion. This makes sense too because every individual is different. No two people can ever be the same person; it is near impossible, even if those two people are twins.

I think I believe more in free will and determinism over biological reasoning. The choices people make come from their own efforts and decisions. If someone is not succeeding, maybe they are not putting in the amount of effort they should be putting in. It is important to see that the choices individuals make can always be prevented. I think we tend to forget this, and we start to find reasons of excuse for the failures. What one person can achieve is mostly determined by their will, their effort, and their dedication. Biology is not a major cause for these successes. Yes genetics does contribute to many things, but I do not believe it contributes to how successful you can be. I do not think genes can determine your ability to have a successful career or life.

This leads to the question of why there are trends of successes between different racial groups. This is where I believe determinism plays a role. I believe that when you look at the situation from a sociologist’s stand point, you see that there are patterns that show that certain ethnic groups tend to be more successful than other ethnic groups. This leads to the question of why that is evident. What is one group of people doing different than the other group of people? I think culture and background has a lot to do with people’s choices. Basically, if your culture tends to believe in higher education, and if education is the principle you live by, you will most likely be more successful than the culture that does not live by that ideal.

Yes, determinism is a factor, but I still strongly believe that success is determined by free will. “If there is a will, there is a way.” This is so true, and I feel that even though your culture may influence a lot of your decisions, you are still accountable for your own decisions. You can always choose to choose differently than the majority of your culture. I feel that the idea that your culture contributes to your decisions is so praised upon that people actually come to believe that this is true. I do not believe this is true though because I do not think it is possible that a majority of people can determine your life. You and only you can make your decisions; no one else can make those decisions for you. And even though it may seem like the majority of people is deciding your success for you, it is just an idea that you are being blinded by. In reality you make the decision of how far you will go and how much you will gain.

When I think about what all I have, I realize that I have much more than other people in the world. I'm a spoiled girl, and I feel like I do not appreciate everything I have. Every time I go to India I realize that I am much wealthier than many of the people there. In fact, I am much wealthier than people here, but I am so into myself that I never really open my eyes to see what the rest of world does not have compared to me. Going to India is always a cleansing experience in the sense that I start to appreciate my lifestyle more. I come to a realization that I live in a world where more is never enough. More gets old quickly so it must be updated every so often. In a simpler world I would appreciate what I have and not ask for more, but with the growing business industry, it is important that we keep up with everything that is the latest and finest. The world most likely does not care if I have the iphone 5 or 4s, but I still felt the need to get it because it is newer and it makes me feel better than the general population.

Sometimes we fail to see the true importance in life. In some other country, someone my age probably just got an iphone 3 and is probably celebrating how brilliant the phone is, while here in the United States we feel that the iphone 3 is old and does not have any cool features. Why do we think this? It is because we are so advanced with our technology that we cannot bare to have anything that is not within the past two years. Plus, America has always kind of compared rich and poor within the country not outside the country, so Americans do not realize how wealthy we truly are. If we compare ourselves to a really poor country in Africa, even the poorest person here is a super rich person in that African country. I feel like we need to raise awareness about this, because even though we may be in debt and stuff, we still have welfare of the people, and some countries cannot even assure that. Basically, America is a very wealthy country even though to many it may not seem that way. We must realize though that we are the wealthiest people in the world, because once we realize that, we have a new appreciation for our wealth status. Also, we can be thankful for the wonderful welfare system this country has provided for us, because that is the main reason why we are all considered so wealthy.

If I knew my child was gay, I would not tell him that he was gay. I am not against the idea of having a gay child, but I feel that it is something that my child should discover on his/her own. I do not want to straight out let them know from the beginning because I do not feel that it is in my place to tell them even though I am their parent. I feel like it is a self-learning process, just like becoming a teenager. When we become teenagers we go through a phase in which we learn a lot about ourselves. We learn about what we like to do, how we like to act, and what our sexual interests are. So who am I to tell my child that he is gay before he is ready to discover it on his own?
Parenting means guiding your child and supporting him, not straight out telling him what his life will be like. I think this is where a lot of parents mess up. They tend to become controlling by thinking that telling their child what is what is guiding their child, but in reality it is holding your child back from fully expressing themselves. God parenting is when you allow your child to discover things on their own, even if you already know all these things. It is a part of the learning and growing process. Figuring things out on your own allows you to mature and grow as a person. If that opportunity is taken from the child, then the child will not be able to become independent and do things on his own. He will always be dependent on someone for support. They will expect the parents to help them through all their problems and self issues because if the parents told them then they must know the solutions too.
Not telling my child the he is gay would help him in the long run. He would become independent and face his struggles with confidence because he would not seek dependence. He would be more confident with himself because he would discover his sexuality on his own. If someone were to tell him that he was gay then he would not be as confident because he would not be as sure about it and he would if he discovered it on his own. Also, he through discovering himself he would be able to mature and become wiser. I would be there for my child and support him through the whole process, but I would never snatch the process of growing up from him by telling him. I would help him in the process of coming out of the closet when he is ready, but I would never push him out of the closet before he is ready.

The other night a few of my friends and I went out to a party in the city. We were having a good time and dancing with each other. We are all conservative girls, so we do not enjoy grinding with random men, but we all know that a girl will find herself in that situation when she is trying to dance. So basically we were dancing and these two random guys kept coming up behind us and trying to dance. Luckily, we were keeping an eye out for each other, and we would pull each other away from the guys if they got near one of us. It was slightly annoying because they were so intent on getting with one of us the whole night. At one point, my one friend got separated from the rest of us. When I found her she was crying by herself, and I could not understand why. When I asked her what was wrong she broke down into tears and she explained what had happened. In summary, she got separated from the group while she was dancing, and the two guys came up from either side and they started groping her. She tried to tell them to stop twice and she tried to push herself away from them, but she could not stop them.

I tried to calm her down by relating Sam’s talk in class to this situation. Basically, I told her that it was okay and that she was not the only girl that was experiencing that at the moment. There were so many girls that experienced the same situation that night. As a girl, I told her that she had to stand up for herself; she could not let this situation break her. She had to realize that if every girl ended up crying and ruining her night because of some idiots, those idiots would become more superior because they would know that they are affecting you and that’s what they want. I told her that it was okay and that what she did was perfectly fine because any girl in that situation would do the same exact thing. When I though about it, I realized that this situation had a lot of strings attached to it. I realized that my friend’s actions were not her own, they were influenced by other issues. These issues were like panis, shock, confusion, and helplessness. She tried to get away but she could not because there were so many strings attached to her that it was keeping her from being aggressive and getting away. If she wanted to, she could have pushed the guys forcefully, she could have kicked them, or she could have even slapped them. She could not bring herself to do that though because the strings of fear were keeping her from doing that.