Part 3
I do believe people can change and the prisons should recognize it, the problem is how can you really be sure, and who is going to decide what is the right level of change a person needs to show. That is really the issue, because we live in a gray world of anomalies. That is just too subjective though. There would be no true way for a person to judge whether someone has changed, and especially in the legal business if there is not a clear line or definition someone can apply to see if inmates have changed, there is nothing that can be done. While people do change and no one who changes should be punished for life, we have to treat all alike, because then it could become a favorites game which would be way less fair.

Part 2
People are not just good and evil, we are equipped to change and evolve as we age and experience more, so it is really unrealistic to say once a bad person always a bad person. That’s why it makes sense for this lifer to write about basic human instincts that are within us no matter what your past actions may be.
The inmate who was writing this excerpt really did put a more compassionate face to prisoners in jail. It is really amazing to see how far a person can change, how they can evolve as time goes on. What I believe he was trying to get through was that as a prisoner you are not automatically uncompassionate, do not care for others, and are all around mean. The basic human instincts kick in in times of hardships and hurdles. That is funny the prisoner was talking about how not all people in jail are bad. My friend always says you cannot really tell how a person is until a crisis comes along and they are at their worst, that is when you can tell what kind of person they really are, because all their actions and words are true.

Part 1
This story really intrigued me as I was scrolling down though the recent blog posts, because it was based off of a story Sam told in class that really intrigued me and got me to think a little bit more about. Sam was talking about how he and his wife, Laurie, go and visit lifers at the local prison. Humans have always intrigued me, how we are so different from each other, but in the end still so much a like. When people think of prisons they automatically think of it as a place where all the evil and bad people go. The truth of the matter is the world is not just plain and simple like most would like to think. It is not black and white, good and evil, but this gray area that I keep on bringing up in most of my blogs. It is actually possible for innocent people to be in prison, it is possible that a really good person got caught up with the wrong crowd, or that a scared person was just doing what it took to preserve their own life or that of a family member.

It is human nature to want to fit in, to be the part of the in crowd, to wear what the famous people wear, and to act like everyone else. Who sets the norm though for the whole society to follow as the new “it” thing? I really believe men just as much as women are susceptible to the influence of society, because in the end all anyone really wants to do is fit in, and be a part of the majority. This starts at a very young age, the need to be accepted, little kids will compete for their parents attention with their siblings, because they want to be the most liked. I think that’s where it all stems from the competitive nature of human beings. As we age though the need for acceptance really takes a turn for the need to be accepted in society, and become like everyone else, normal. When someone feels accepted and wanted they feel good, so one will do whatever it takes to achieve it and keep that feeling around. When people see other people happy like this they associate it with that persons looks, skills, and other attributes, so they want to be like them so they too can have that feel good feeling.
Who really decides what is “in” though and the way men and women should act. Is it the opposite sex who sets these guidelines per say out for the opposite gender? I do think it is partly that, women want to be attractive to males because it is just human nature so they will do whatever the men think is attractive to be more appealing, and vice versa with men. Nowadays we are more than ever bombarded with media. We have television shows of celebrity gossip of who’s who in Hollywood, we have magazines plastered with perfect models all over them, and we have the internet where you are just one click away from anything. Even though it always appears women feel the pressure of society on the way they should walk, talk, and act, I believe men are just as susceptible, just in their own way.
Society says women need to be pretty, skinny, and big chest-ed. You can tell when women are feeling the pressure of society’s norm, because these are outwardly appearances that can be judged with a quick glance. With men everyone expects them to be tough. They are not really supposed to show any emotion like crying. They are supposed to like sports, and they are generally supposed to be strong emotionally and physically. It is harder to tell whether men are feeling the pressure of fitting the norm because it is more important with how they act, and first glance really cannot tell you that. In the end I feel like everyone feels the pressure to fit society’s norm. In the end its just human nature, it’s what we do, want to feel wanted, needed, and loved.

As I was looking through the video posts to see which one I wanted to end up replying to I came across the Japanese video game post. Unlike the other posts this was something new and fresh, something not really touched upon in class, so I decided to choose this one as a change of topics per say. When I started reading and watching the video though I was surprised to see what it actually was about, virtual video rape. What the video was basically saying was that there are video game out in the Japanese market that depicts rape and other stalker-ish qualities towards women and girls. I was actually really shocked that they would allow something like this out in the market for people to buy and use. I mean I do not really know anything about the Japanese culture or how their government is run, but I assumed this problem to be a basic common human knowledge. You cannot hold rape lightly and make fun or even base games off it. I really wonder who actually comes up with these games though, because this is not something some everyday normal human being would think up. These people need to be evaluated by a therapist clearly something is off there.
The video goes on to explain the grotesque nature of the games. For example you can corner girls and repeatedly rape them, stalk them on busses, and even grope them. That is not all though some of the scenes are too graphic not even CNN can show and report on them. I do not see how any game like this really is a good thing to have out on the market. This is normalizing an action such as rape that should not be taken so lightly or half heartily. What is even worse is that since we are in the new age of technology where anything can be transported and sent to the masses in a matter of seconds via the world wide web, it is coming to America. Multiple women rights groups are infuriated with these games as they should be, but what makes them any different than the other shooting and violence games out there. Both types of games play up and normalize illegal activities such as rape and murder, while murder games are allowed to stay on the market in the Unites States.
I found it surprising that when the Japanese government was confronted about their video games that they uttered no response back to them. I know we cannot do anything about how the Japanese government handles their country but we can try and out regulations on it here in the United States. I do not know where it will end to be quite honest. If rape becomes a subject you can poke fun at and make a game about, there soon will be no stopping at what else you can make a game of, no matter how good or bad that may be.

Part 3
This does not only happen for black though. The same problem arises with Hispanics/ Latinos. They have a wide variety of terms used to describe their ethnicities. They vary from Latino, Mexican, Puerto Rican, Chicano, Hispanic, and even Spanish. For many individuals they fall in to multiple categories so they do not know which one they should check, causing yet another dilemma. This makes the process of this whole census thing kind of out of date per say. A most of us know as the years go by there will be less and less distinct races and more mixes. So what will the government do then to take account of what kind of citizens they have.
I never realized how confusing this process could be of checking a race off on the census sheets. Nothing is ever black and white in the real world. There is always this gray area. The government tries its best to account for everything but it is just not possible, so they are forced to over generalize.

Part 2
At first when I saw this topic I was confused at how such a simple task as marking what race you are on a piece of paper could be so hard. I then watched the short CNN video clip and it became more clear. The video showed how confusing this apparently simple task can really be. Take the African American race for example, they have black naturally as an option, African American as another option so it can be more respectful if some think black is derogatory. Now for the first time in awhile they added back again the term negro. Responses varied for example on the video a group of black people when told that negro was put on the census sheet, they seemed confused and appalled. One said it reminded them of old times and the slaves. It almost seemed like they took it as a derogatory term. I think the reason why they put it back on this time was because for older individuals they would be confused as what to put because that is all they knew of since they were born.

Part 1
More and more lately we have been hearing about the upcoming census that us Americans are being urged to fill out to help the government know who and what kind of people they have here living in the United States. But of course nothing is ever as easy as it may first appear. The biggest issue I have heard so far is the races and ethnicities they put on the census for people to check off. Sam brought it up in class for a bit, but I assume as time goes on and it gets closer to the census date he will bring the issue of race up in class since it is relevant to what we study in Soc 119.

Part 3
Like other things in the world today, people know of things that you just should not talk about. For example, pooping, vomiting, other “dirty” bodily functions, and yes even periods. I do not understand why though that such a natural and vital process such as the period has such an effect on a classroom and society. I do feel that if men had a period too then it wouldn’t be as such of a hard subject to talk about. I mean girls all the time talk about their periods to other girls because it is natural and they are comfortable hearing it. The second you talk about it to a male though they do not want to have anything to do with it. It is not their problem so they really just do not want to hear about it. I just really thought it was funny when this girl in class got on the mike and was mad saying does your wife know you talk about her period in class like that? Of course she has to know, what I do not understand is why that girls was getting so broken up about the matter. When it comes down to it it’s a natural process that unfortunately is necessary.

Part 2
I have to admit though I was surprised that at the first utterance of the word, as he calls it “bleeding” , groups of students, that from what I can tell were mainly males, left the classroom all together. Yea it is one of those topics in life that we just do not talk about for one reason or another, but for some reason the men and even some females could not take what he was talking about. I mean really it is a natural process that every female has to go through, and like all the other posts that I was reading said, none of us would even be here if it was not for women’s periods.