en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/2402648 Comments by rrp5046 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/11/transgendered-complications/#IDComment144072587 I found this article to be very interesting mainly because this is an issue that I was recently introduced to. Although I am able to understand that the employer would want a male employee to have that job, however, I do not think that it was fair for the employer to fire him because of his transgender status. I think that he should have been considered for his work and not his identity. Also, I think that if the employer did not want a female to work at the job, she could not fire him for being female when all of his certificates say that he is male. I had heard of transgender before, but it wasn’t until I read the article earlier in the semester that I learned of how common it is. I think that this is just another issue that needs to be brought to attention in society. In my opinion, this is a similar issue to same sex parents in that if society knew that it is fairly common and that it is not a problem, then everyone would most likely be more accepting of it. It is mainly a problem of exposure. What is necessary for acceptance is for some people who are transgender to expose themselves and express their concerns and troubles to society. This exposure would help to make this less of a taboo subject. I think that through this exposure, occurrences like the one in this article are most likely going to disappear. Although it is impossible to change everyone in societies view, it would help a lot to provide people with information on the subject. I know that for me it was not only interesting but very informative to hear about how prevalent this is and now to hear of one problem that this population has to face. I think that through becoming more public this can be something that people know about and don’t discriminate against in the future. No one should be discriminated and the only way to avoid it is to expose the issue and then set guidelines on how to handle future situations. Tue, 19 Apr 2011 02:46:14 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/11/transgendered-complications/#IDComment144072587 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/03/women-and-war/#IDComment142083348 I found this video to be very interesting because it applies to what we were talking about today in class. What I found to be most interesting is her perception of war and the role of women in war. I think that the role of women in war is not always considered because we only think about the soldiers and the site of the fighting. It is important to consider what would happen to families and communities if the men went to war and the women were not there to keep everything running. In previous wars women were forced to go to work because their husbands went to war and they were needed to work in factories. This is still happening if maybe not in the same way. She also said that she thinks that women should play a larger role in the decision-making associated with war. I think that this is a great idea, not only because I am a woman, but also because I think that women can bring another aspect to the decision-making. By including women in the decisions I think that civilian casualties would be a much larger issue and be considered more because of the women’s motherly instincts. I also think that women can bring a logical aspect to the decisions that can make them even stronger. In the video she explained many of the experiences she had in Iraq as a child in the war. I found this to be the most interesting because as a child she was forced to experience something that most people have never experienced in their lives. I think that because we do not fight wars in our country, this is an aspect of war that we often forget. Although we know when our country is at war we do not have to see it or fear it on a daily basis. This goes along with what we talked about in class today. The war is not occurring here and so it is easy to forget how many lives it is effecting and how many civilians are dying because we do not know them or have to see them. Tue, 12 Apr 2011 03:33:29 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/03/women-and-war/#IDComment142083348 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/24/religion-in-the-future/#IDComment139782361 I found this article to be very interesting because I can see this shift in my own extended family. The older family members are all very religious and the younger family members become less and less interested in religion. Although the statistics do show this decline in religion, I do not think that religion will ever completely disappear. It has been around for such a long time and although the number of people who do not have religious beliefs is growing, they are still fairly low and nowhere near disappearing. I think that the impacts of society are very strong in this case because I feel that some people do not feel that religious activities are necessary because they know people that do not take part in them. If none of your friends attend church you are most likely not going to feel guilty about not going to church because they didn’t either. I think that this is one of the main reasons for the change in statistics. The trend of not being interested in religion is almost contagious if you ask me. It starts with you not going to church because your friends don’t go and then when you have kids you don’t make them go because you never had to go and so on. I think that religion has a very important role in society and that is to unite the people and give them a purpose. There have always been people who did not feel that they needed that purpose, but I think there will always be people who do need it to guide their lives. Another main reason that I think there has been this shift in religion is that people have much fuller lives now. We live in such a fast-paced society that many people have their entire day planned with working, running kids to activities, cooking, and much more. In this lifestyle I think that something eventually has to go to make room for everything and I think that it is easy to eliminate church and religion because it may not seem beneficial at the time. Although this is probably going to be an ongoing change in the belief in religion, I do not think that religion will ever be extinct. Mon, 4 Apr 2011 03:00:00 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/24/religion-in-the-future/#IDComment139782361 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/15/lgbt-families-theres-a-lot-of-fear-out-there/#IDComment136575442 This video discusses a point of view that I have often thought about but have never experienced. Although I have heard more often of children being raised by same sex couples, I have never heard how any of those children feel about the parents that raised them. I think that it is easy for the government and society to think that this parenting style is wrong without considering the people involved and the outcome of the situation. I think that the people who disagree with this choice have never had the opportunity to listen to someone going through it or who lives the lifestyle. It is interesting to see how obviously passionate he is about this subject. It takes a lot of passion for a college student to stand up and make an effective speech like this on such a controversial topic. I think that after hearing this speech, anyone could understand his point of view and see how much he feels he has gained from his upbringing. Although this is only one case, it is possible that many other children of same sex couples have had similar experiences to this and it is not fair for government and society to judge them on this decision. I know that if so many people were trying to tear apart my family I would feel strongly enough to fight to keep it together. I think it is unfair for anyone to not be allowed to have children and a family. I know that I would be very upset if someone were to tell me that I would not be allowed to have a family. This is why I am able to understand how the student in this video is so passionate about his upbringing, because I too would be passionate when placed in this situation. After listening to his speech, I think that his childhood was potentially more healthy and happy than a child raised in a single parent household. I think that a child raised in a single parent household could have more devastating lasting effects than a child raised in a same sex parent household. Decisions on this subject should not be made by people who have not experienced it themselves. Mon, 21 Mar 2011 21:20:31 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/15/lgbt-families-theres-a-lot-of-fear-out-there/#IDComment136575442 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/09/the-r-word-and-the-oblivious-others/#IDComment135198811 This movement is something that I recently learned about from my brother. His high school is taking initiative to try and stop the use of the word by the students. I was impressed when I learned that the school was taking this step and I was even more impressed when I noticed that he never used that word again. The school only had to provide motivation and information on this problem (which I definitely do think is a problem and not a over dramatization) and an impact was instantly made on my brother, and hopefully other kids at the school. I do admit that I have been guilty of using the word in the past, but I learned a few years ago that a friend of the family has a severely autistic son the same age as me. When speaking to the friend he expressed his pain and discomfort when other people use the word in ways it is not meant to mean. Before this encounter I had not thought about the impact this single word could have on friends, family, and individuals dealing with a mental impairment. From this point on I realized that the word has more meaning than I initially thought. Since the encounter with a family friend I have chosen a major where I will work closely with individuals with intellectual impairments. It may be easy for someone who has never experienced anything like this to say that it is just a word, but it is not until you learn about the pain associated with the word when used in the wrong context that you realize there is much more associated with this word. Before this movement it would be acceptable to say that this it is just a word. After seeing this video and knowing the hurt that the use of the word causes, it is not acceptable to continue to use the word. After seeing the video and learning about the movement to stop use of the word it is no longer ignorant to use the word, but it is then disrespectful. I hope that this movement is successful and that the word is no longer used. Wed, 16 Mar 2011 01:03:48 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/09/the-r-word-and-the-oblivious-others/#IDComment135198811 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/24/fear/#IDComment131418917 It is interesting to hear an inmate speak of fears. This is not an emotion that I would think of when picturing an inmate but in this posting I can come to understand the fears that this inmate feels on a daily basis. These fears are completely different than the fears that people in my life have. The people that I know have fears of things they likely will never encounter like sharks, snake bites, and plane crashes. The fears expressed in this letter are in a completely different category because they are fears that are more possible. Many of the fears that were expressed were fears that I have never encounter in my life and that I hope to never encounter. They are fears for the future and fears of the future impact of past actions. The fears all have to do with the past decision and the impact it has had on the inmate and the inmate’s family. These are fears that have never affected me because nothing in my past has put me in a position that my entire future is sacrificed. Reading this made me realize how a single decision can impact the rest of your life, and how your perspective can change but your sentence is still the same. At the time a decision is made it is hard to realize how many people will be impacted by the decision and what the consequences in your life will be. In this case, I doubt the inmate realized how much his life would change after conviction. I think this single decision probably impacted all of the fears that the inmate had previously and made every aspect of his life much more serious and less carefree. Even though he is in jail, he is still free to fear whatever he thinks is most important but these fears have changed naturally from unlikely events to possible events. The fears before were likely not nearly as personal as they are in this. The fears that are expressed are very selfless and many of them are related to family and society perception, as well as personal achievement. Mon, 28 Feb 2011 22:11:05 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/24/fear/#IDComment131418917 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/21/stranger-kidnapping/#IDComment129741735 The impact of the media on society is obvious in this video. This incident took place in New York and is able to impact any neighborhood across the country. Although there are many children walking on the streets in New York on a daily basis, this is only one event that occurred to one child in the state and will have an impact on many parents and children even though nothing ended up happening. The news broadcast chose to make this one of the stories covered while there were most likely many deaths in the state, some involving children. It would be more logical for the news company to cover something like a car accident that actually had an impact on more than one person that day and that has a greater likelihood of happening to the viewers. By choosing to cover this story, the news company is causing people to fear things that are very unlikely to happen to them, and to ignore actual dangers in their lives. After watching this news show parents are likely to be fearful of their child being kidnapped and will likely change their daily behaviors to ensure that their child is not a victim. The news shows include many stories about kidnapping and this instills fear in the country. By showing these stories so frequently, the news companies make most people think that problems like kidnapping are much larger than they really are in this country. The impact of this influence is that people in society are concerned about issues such as kidnapping instead of being concerned about larger problems such as car accidents. By making people scared of things like kidnapping it distracts them from things that could really be dangerous on a daily basis. It has the same impact on children because they are being restricted by actions that are not actually dangerous such as walking alone or talking to strangers and are not concerned about activities that could be dangerous to them. By covering stories that are actually important to society, the news media could help people protect their families from actual dangers and avoid unnecessary fears. Tue, 22 Feb 2011 02:29:52 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/21/stranger-kidnapping/#IDComment129741735 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/15/social-structure-shapes-free-will/#IDComment128463465 The concept of polyandry as seen in the video is shocking only because this is something that is not seen in our culture. While watching the video I understood the rationale behind the concept but I could not imagine the complexity of the lifestyle. In a culture where there are fewer men and the men present are unable to find a partner the answer is fairly clear. This society is able to make accommodations to the situation of not having enough single women by having a group family dynamic similar to polygamy. This accommodation allowed the men in this case to have a family instead of being alone for the rest of their lives. This shows how the actions of a society can be manipulated by forces outside of their control. In this case the men are faced with a lack of available women and to overcome this problem they choose to have families with more than just one husband and wife. I find this concept to be very interesting but because this is not the lifestyle I am used to I can not possibly imagine being in this situation. Knowing how much work and determination goes into a relationship between two people, I can’t even imagine how much more it would take if additional people were added into the equation. The wife of the multiple men would have to work very hard to balance each of their needs and different personalities. In my opinion I would feel that the wives would feel like they have absolutely no time to themselves between multiple husbands and children to each. The main reason that I am not able to picture myself in this family role is because it is not seen in our culture. In the case of this different culture they are exposed to this family style and that has a large impact on their ability to accept it. If the people who live this lifestyle were to see a family dynamic in our culture they would likely find it to be strange and not be able to picture themselves in the situation. Thu, 17 Feb 2011 03:40:11 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/15/social-structure-shapes-free-will/#IDComment128463465 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/30/conformity-rules-the-day/#IDComment127039923 At first glance, this video seemed ridiculous. I could not imagine someone actually changing directions that many times because everyone else did. After watching it I thought about how I would react in a similar situation and chances are that I would do the same thing. As a society, we never want to be the last to know anything and I think this is very true in the video. I do not think that he changes directions with everyone else because he wants to be like them or because he wants to fit in but I think that it is more that he is influenced by past experiences and culture to want to do what everyone else is doing and to wonder if everyone else in the elevator knows something that he does not know. It everyone else knew that the rear door of the elevator opened when it stopped, he would not want to be the only one facing the wrong direction because it would show that he was the only one without this knowledge. Also, if everyone else were facing one direction, he would not want to be facing the opposite direction because he would be facing toward them. It is part of our culture to not only want to blend in, but also to not want to be facing strangers in a situation like this. It is much more comfortable to not be facing each other because there is no eye contact or awkward interaction. This video was similar to the video shown in class with the line segments. Although the man in that video knew that everyone else was answering wrong, he followed their lead thinking that maybe they knew something he did not know. He also undoubtedly did not want to be the only person in the room to choose a different line segment after hearing everyone else’s answer. This shows how we are influenced by our surroundings and how we want to blend in when in social settings. Most people want to blend with everyone else to keep the attention off of themselves and avoid embarrassment. This is the impact of the invisible strings of society that we saw in both this video, and the one shown in class. Thu, 10 Feb 2011 03:14:10 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/30/conformity-rules-the-day/#IDComment127039923 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/18/suicide-in-japan/#IDComment125317318 I find it interesting that in Japan there is a forest where many people commit suicide. In the U.S. people are much more open about this act of killing themselves and I believe that it has a lot to do with society and the effects it has on the people who live there. In the U.S., people who commit suicide choose to do it in their homes or much more public places than a deserted forest. I think that this is because there is not as much shame placed on the individual and their entire family. In Japan, making your family proud is most people’s main objective in life. When they commit suicide they are embarrassing themselves and their entire family. Some people, however, may feel that this shame they are placing on their family is not as great as the shame of being a failure. I think that the strings placed on Japanese people by society is what influences some of them to commit suicide in a secluded place such as this forest so that they relieve their families from the shame and do not cause additional embarrassment through the suicide. The overall culture in the U.S. is not as centered on family pride as it is in Asian countries and I think this plays a large role in the influences on individuals committing suicide. In the U.S., people who are committing suicide are often doing it not to save the pride of their family but to end their own suffering. I also found it interesting in the video how many individuals were calling the suicide hotline for help. I think that if there were more preventative measures taken, the suicide rate could be greatly improved because people are obviously in need of support. One way that this could be done would be by providing services and support to people who have recently lost their jobs due to the economy. This was a major influence that was discussed in the video as having an impact on the suicide rates. Another way might be to have television commercials that show warning signs of suicide and tell family members to be aware of this problem. I think that it was clear in the video that not enough is being done to assist people who feel suicide is their only option. Wed, 2 Feb 2011 02:22:12 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/18/suicide-in-japan/#IDComment125317318 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/23/how-free-are-these-90-students/#IDComment124029846 I found this video to be very shocking. This is a very big problem for a school and I was glad to hear that there are attempts being made to try to lower the prevalence of pregnancies within the school. I think that there are a variety of different factors that may have influenced these teens before becoming pregnant and could possibly have had an influence on them getting pregnant. One of the main factors that could have played a part in this school having such a high pregnancy rate is the fact that the students see their peers having children. I think that because they are seeing their friends with babies it makes it not as big of a deal for them if they do become pregnant. It is possible that they see their friends with kids and then do not worry as much about getting pregnant because other people that they see are pregnant or have children. Another factor that could have an influence in the high pregnancy rate at the school is whether the students are children of teenage parents. It is said that children of teenage parents are much more likely to have a child themselves in their teenage years. If their parents had them at a young age the students might feel that it is more accepted for them to also have a child at a young age and may not be preventing pregnancy as well as they should. Although some of the students may be consciously not preventing pregnancy, there are others that may not realize that they are being influenced by their parent’s choices. I think that the students in this instance are not truly free to decide whether or not to become pregnant because they are influenced in many ways by their surroundings. The presence of pregnancy in the school allows the students to be more familiar with pregnancy and raising children than if they attended a school where very few students had children. It is also possible that the parents of these students became pregnant as teenagers, making the students less fearful of becoming pregnant at a very young age. Thu, 27 Jan 2011 03:29:45 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/23/how-free-are-these-90-students/#IDComment124029846 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/15/blog-1-freedom-and-toddlers-in-tiaras/#IDComment122374312 I personally found it very hard to watch this video. It was hard for me to see young girls wearing makeup and crying because they are being forced to have their eyebrows waxed. I believe that children should be able to pursue any activities that they want within reason, but I do not feel that the children at this age are given the full opportunity to decide if pageant life is for them. The parents in this program are pushing and molding their children into miniature beauty queens at any cost and I think that not only is it hurting the children through eyebrow waxing and tanning, but also by instilling superficial values at a very young age. I would be more understanding of this activity if the parents were not making it so competitive and requiring that the girls have services such as eyebrow waxing and tanning done to make them look better. This idea of pageants for children is only teaching them that beauty is on the outside instead of instilling important values such as responsibility and teamwork. These young girls will carry the experiences of the pageants through their entire life. Instead of knowing their true personalities I fear that they will only know who they are in terms of beauty and whether they are tan or skinny enough. As for the parents in this show I feel that they are pursuing pageants because they enjoy them and are not considering the interest of their child. In the video the mother said that she chose the Madonna outfit because she is a Madonna fan but never mentioned if her daughter had any interest in Madonna or if she even wanted to wear the outfit. I feel that pageants would be more appropriate if they were only for teenage girls because I feel that they are better able to express their interests. With a child as young as the ones in the video the mother is making all of the decisions, but if pageants only allowed girls in their teens it would allow for more freedom. At an older age the girls can decide whether they want to participate and how far they want to go in order to win the pageants. Wed, 19 Jan 2011 22:20:50 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/15/blog-1-freedom-and-toddlers-in-tiaras/#IDComment122374312 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-%e2%80%9cp%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-intense-debate/#IDComment122369870 Soc 001 Wed, 19 Jan 2011 21:51:36 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-%e2%80%9cp%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-intense-debate/#IDComment122369870