en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/4217902 Comments by steelergirl007 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/04/20/voices-from-the-classroom-154/#IDComment348612386 As this semester has come to an end I feel that I have grown as a person in considering other peoples perspectives and the life experiences of others. Coming into class I was from a white upper middle class area and didn’t really have a sense of what other peoples lives were life- such as black, or Hispanic or Asian people- because I hadn’t really interacted with them because of where I grew up. Through this class though, I have really had my eyes opened to what life is like in America for other people. Now I look at the world with less of a white perspective and more of an accepting of all perspective. I liked how this class challenged things I previously thought everyone thought about, such as having a relatively simple life where I think everyone gets along and people have mutal respect. I didn’t realize how much contempt minority groups had for white people because Ive never treated anyone different than I would treat a white person. I also liked how we talked about gay and lesbian and transgender. It was interesting to see how they view the world and to really be able to empathize with there ideas and view on life. I can say that now I have a greater respect for their decisions and choices than I did at the begining of class. I’ve changed how I think about a lot of things because I feel like that’s a apart of growing up. This class has shown me that people who do not consider others perspectives or ideas are really slowing their own growth process because there is so much information in the world and people really need to go beyond their own ideas and convictions to explore. That way they can be more credible when they speak on behalf of their ideas and beliefs. When I listen to people preach about homosexuals going to hell it really pisses me off because those people preaching are no better than the homosexual people because they have probably sinned in the exact number of ways or more than the homosexuals. I am taking away from this class that people need to believe because that’s human nature, but the beliefs need to be able to bend and include other ideas as well.In that way, all ideas are connected and people are really just believing the same stuff but with a few slight alterations. Thu, 26 Apr 2012 18:11:10 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/04/20/voices-from-the-classroom-154/#IDComment348612386 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/04/10/voices-from-the-classroom-146/#IDComment337037545 I think people are overly fearful because they are geared by society to be fearful. In our society, only the bad news is shown on television. Only the headlines that cause a sensation and are buzz worthy bring in viewers, listener and readers of media. I think that we are overly fearful because we only hear of the bad things that happen in the world. Honestly, if I had kids and we lived within a mile of their school, they would walk to school every day. Of course I would make sure they knew not to talk to strangers, were not walking alone, absolutely knew the way to and from and had reliable adults along the way with whom they could go to for help, but I think it’s ridiculous that we live in such unnecessary fear. This fear translates into what we call unknown risks; risks that we assume happen all the time and overly analyze the situations. Because we fear the unknown, we unknowingly translate these fears into other things we do not trust or know about. This is where race plays in. Racial differences are an “unknown”. Sure, we know what “race” is and why it can cause problems, but we are afraid of the unknown parts of it. For example, a white person might be fear how a black or brown person might react if the white erson unintentionally offends them. Why this fear? Because they have no knowledge-or previous negative knowledge- that the black or brown person will not be accepting of them. This is like the news only portraying the negative side of life. If we are bombarded with negativity, how can we accept the positive when the only “truth” we have is negativity? We fear child abductions because of their value to the media. they are a huge profit maker for the media, causing heads to turn and people to take interest in the subject because it is so tragic. Yet how can we see how many positive things happen- such as adoptions or reunions or births when those are over showered by a disappearance of a young child. We live in fear because our media has grown to encapsulate fear as a main source of information- not the well balanced fact proven statistics the news once brought us. Like I said earlier ( and Sam stated in class) your kid is more likely to be hit by a car or struck by lightning than to be abducted by a stranger. And if youre so worried about the slightest possiblitly of an abduction, take precautions that allow your child to have freedoms and make friends. Have your kid walk to school with other kids, meet neighbors and other people who can keep an eye out for your child. Not only will you be bettering your child, but you can create a sense of community. People need to calm down and let kids explore and experience life without so many restrictions and borders. Wed, 11 Apr 2012 21:53:42 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/04/10/voices-from-the-classroom-146/#IDComment337037545 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/04/03/voices-from-the-classroom-141/#IDComment331899553 I’m really glad that this was brought up in our class yesterday. For me, I basically wear soccer shorts and a t shirt every day because its comfortable and I really do not want to take the time to get all dressed up when I have two classes a day. But, when I go out to frats or apartments I usually “dress up” aka wear tight skirts, low cut tops etc. etc. In the view of a Muslim woman, I know what she is talking about. In another Soc class, I have the ability to communicate with a student who lives in Gaza. The other day when we talked, we talked about why she wears a hijab and why she covers herself up and why I dress the way I do. Like the girls said in class, they wear the hijab as a way to deemphasize physical beauty and to promote a sense of connection above physicality. When talking with my partner, she said basically the same thing. She said she dressed like that in order to save her beauty for her husband, the only person who should truly get to see all of her beauty and the only person who can truly appreciate all that she’s worth. I agree with that but also disagree. When I see someone who is overly flaunting their assets, I tend to think of them as having low morals and being, well, slutty because their appearance makes it seem like they have no respect for themselves. Why? Because movies and TV shows have programed us to think like that. I think the only place it is acceptable to wear minimal clothing is the beach because it is socially acceptable to wear less clothing. Don’t get me wrong, when its hot out and the sun is burning everything in sight I will dress less modestly because its hot out. But when people wear jean booty shorts with uggs and its 40 degrees out, all I can think about is the jersey shore skanks. But does dressing in minimal clothing mean you have no self respect? I think it really depends on the situation. For example, if youre a girl and you want to get into a frat here, your chances of getting in are better if your skirt is tight and youre wearing a shirt that emphasizes your bust. But because our culture has deemed this attire as “acceptable” for night behavior, it seems totally fine to dress like that. But when its day time and youre wearing that shirt to class, people see it as less self respect because there is no need for everyone to see your chest when there are teachers, parents or potential employers walking around. It seems like self disrespecting because you are presenting yourself in a way that is “attractive” yet over the top. Basically I support the “less is more” saying but it really depends on where or when the “self disrespecting” aspect is being applied. Thu, 5 Apr 2012 01:17:50 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/04/03/voices-from-the-classroom-141/#IDComment331899553 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/03/21/voices-from-the-classroom-126/#IDComment322082877 I also grew up in a predominantly white area. Originally, I am from Frederick, Maryland. About 10 years ago, the joke from Maryland was that Frederick was where all the farms were and that everyone is pretty much a white farmer. Now-a- days, Frederick has evolved past that reputation but still has kept many farms and areas which are predominantly white. I am not a farmer but I am from this area so I have had similar experiences with the people who have commented above. In my town, and in my high school, there were very few people of black, Hispanic or Middle Eastern descent. We had probably more Asian people than all three of the other ethnicities combined but still they were less than the number of white people we had at my school. I found that in high school, it was easy enough to interact and talk to anyone, no matter what their race or ethnicity was. For me, I knew they weren’t “white” but they were so similar to me in the way they talked, acted and their personalities that it was pretty easy to get along with everyone. However, I did not mention the farm joke for nothing. You see although I was able to overcome the racial prejudices, not everyone else was. My high school had white kids, but we also had kids who were not as tolerant; white kids who supported the confederate flag and would do hateful things to the minority populations. Not to sound ignorant, but these kids were labeled the “Rednecks” by all of the people of our school, no matter your race. The rednecks were a subculture of the white kids, but because of their ignorant acts and hateful words, it was hard to make friends with people who had been hurt by their words because I was also white. Being exposed to this made it difficult to really break through and have most of the people be friends with each other. In high school, that was the hardest thing to overcome because it wasn’t just the minorities who had stereotypes, but it was also the white people who wanted to get along with everyone but faced challenges from the subculture of their race. Coming to college, I have been able to make friends who aren’t white and I find it a lot easier to be able to break away from white stereotypes. But the most difficult thing here I have found is that the eople who have been victims are reluctant to make friends with the people whose race has previously hurt them. Even though I have little experience with multicultureal friendshis, I am more than willing to be friends with someone of another race because even though I know they aren’t white, it really shouldn’t matter who my friends are, as long as they are good friends. Thu, 22 Mar 2012 17:36:51 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/03/21/voices-from-the-classroom-126/#IDComment322082877 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/02/29/what-more-do-you-want-to-think-about/#IDComment305922884 As of late, this class has really got me thinking about race. I had considered myself pretty open to any type of person-race, religion or facial features do not really matter to me- but I have found that from this class I have become more aware of the differences in thinking between races. For example, I am a white girl from a mostly white community with very little to no experience with people of non-European backgrounds but my parents have always been open to me interacting and making friends with people of different race. My parents have taught me to respect people because they are people, not aliens from other parts of the world who should be hated. But from this class I learned that I really lived a sheltered life. It was mind blowing to realize that our whole society is based upon “white supremacy” and that so many people are affected by it. I had never really given any thought as to why I could easily get a job or have a better chance at getting a housing loan or mortgage offer. It amazed me when I saw the twitter feed- people were so hateful to whatever people said and did not give them a chance to really explain themselves. I found it rude that there were people who would totally take the opposite point of what someone said and twist their words around to intentionally sound racially offensive. From this class, I have learned that minorities really see the world differently than a person who is considered white. I never realized (until soc 119) that people felt oppressed by white people until Sam brought it up in class. When people my age began talking about how they felt white people did this or white people had it so good, it made me feel like there really had been no successes with racial equality. What I saw on twitter also made me feel bad for being white because from what I saw, a lot of the people tweeting were people of color who seemed angry at whatever white people said. From this class, I want to learn more about how we can break the gap between racial differences. I think what Sam said today in class that integrating neighborhoods would be a great start- but I think it needs to go further than that. I really think it needs to start with parents who want their children to grow up accepting who a person is and not societies “standards”…. Also, I thought that it was depressing how horrible the conditions are in Native American reserves. I think it is disgusting how our government has pushed these people under the rug for hundreds of years when they have never done anything wrong. It anything they were welcoming until the white man fucked that over. I think Sam should talk more about how the government has failed in this area because he is speaking to future leaders of America. Fri, 2 Mar 2012 02:39:13 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/02/29/what-more-do-you-want-to-think-about/#IDComment305922884 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/02/23/voices-from-the-classroom-114/#IDComment300990778 Appearance for a job is everything. Employers want people who will attract customers to a business, not shy them away due to a “difference”. As Sam said in class, we are more attracted to those who look, act and can relate to us. It gives us confidence and stability and we feel like we can trust that person even more than someone who is physically much different than ourselves. Employers would hire a person who is considered better looking over someone who is slightly less attractive for that reason; they want to seem more elite and attractive to their customers. They also want to attract people of higher class. Think about it, people with more wealth tend to have better chances of eating foods and using products that allow them to look more youthful, energetic and overall more attractive than those who do not have access to those resources. If your employees are attractive, then people with greater economic well being are more likely to become customers because they can relate better to their business. I think that appearance also exudes self confidence. If an employer is able to detect that a person is confident in their abilities, then they are more likely to be hired because they( the employer) feels that they can rely on their employee to do the job right. Its similar to have pretty or attractive friends around you. The more attractive the group of friends you have (example: a girl), the more likely you are to attract men who are of “similar” attractiveness instead of men who are less attractive. Thus, the better looking you are, the better chance you are at finding success within the opposite sex….Anyway back to business…. Businesses or employers use this tactic to ensure that they are hiring people who will bring the greatest cliental to their company. I don’t agree with this however. I don’t think its fair to judge someone on how they look compared to another person. If and employer sees your picture and for some unknown reason you have a birth defect and you don’t get the job because of that, I think that that is completely unfair. Appearance does not have anything to do with brains or talent; its simply a “standard” placed uon by a commercial industry in order to make money. I personally believe that some jobs should require a photograph (ie teachers) because they do have an image of professionalism to hold up. But buisnesses who don’t hire “average” people are being completely unfair and judgemental. Sat, 25 Feb 2012 02:19:43 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/02/23/voices-from-the-classroom-114/#IDComment300990778 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/02/16/voices-from-the-classroom-108/#IDComment295115641 I think that some races are considered better than others at sports because of their genetic dispositions. As Sam had mentioned in class on Tuesday, people’s appearance differs based on the genetic background they possess. Tall and skinny people are better suited for climates which require heat loss more rapidly than people who are shorter and rounder. These genetic benefits are what help certain races have “advantages” over others in sports.For example, Usain Bolt, the “fastest” man on earth is of African descent. His physic is 6’ 5”, 200 pounds. His long legs, tall frame and long arms all are similar to the distance runners found from Ghana or Nigeria. His body shape is a classic example of people from those regions where the weather is extremely hot, making it necessary for the inhabitants to be efficient in heat release. Not only for people, but the animals that live in these areas also exhibit similar traits; giraffes and elephants are also tall and have features that help with heat loss (elephants ears for example). Thus, the taller and thinner you are, the better you are at maintaining your body temperature. So since people of African descent exhibit these traits, when they are able to use these characteristics to their advantage they excel in sports which demand fast speeds or extreme height. I think that this idea applies to all races because everyone is unique. Northerns are “better” at hockey because of genetic factors that have created smaller frames with closer centers of gravity. There are also features such as slow twitch, fast twitch and intermediate twitch muscle fibers which are found in individuals. These factors can be seen within races but also in people who are not from a certain area. Now-a- days it is more common to have a mixed background which allows these scientifically proven features to jump between races. I think it also has to do with the experiences your parents give you as a child too. If you come from a household with better economic status then you will be more likely to lay club sports or get involved at an earlier age than someone who doesn’t have these opportunities. In todays society I think it matters more that you have the experiences and the schooling to make you a better athlete combined with the genetic disposition race can give you. Of course there will always be a miracle person like Jeremy lin or a kid from the Bronx who made it himself. Fri, 17 Feb 2012 20:53:53 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/02/16/voices-from-the-classroom-108/#IDComment295115641 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/02/02/voices-from-the-classroom-98/#IDComment283222450 I think it is basic human nature for us to want what we don’t have. We want thing that will make us seem more attractive or more appealing to the opposite sex. Why? Because we have an innate desire to reproduce offspring that are better off than ourselves at surviving the next generation, essentially modern day Darwinism. Though today we have access to medicines and other ways of helping our children to survive, I feel that all of us still possess the inborn drive to produce offspring who are more capable of finding someone and thus reproducing. I think that no matter what race you are, a person wishes to have all the qualities that seem “beautiful” or “attractive”, that way they have a chance to reproduce. I think that people, especially women, also feel pressured by the media to look a certain way because the media capitalizes on producing an image that portrays an unrealistic standard. For example, nowadays women who are 100 pounds, with thin noses and long flowing hair are considered the most beautiful. Yet these women are unrealistic. Most ads portraying these “people” are photo shopped so much that they are mere fractions of actual women. These unrealistic portrayals then help boost cosmetic surgery and pharmaceutical companies who produce diet pills, beauty products etc . I think black women are bombarded with advertisements that emphasize white women’s features because of white supremacy. Black or dark skinned women are plastered with images of pale white girls, so naturally they look to those people as inspiration for fashion and looks. Plus they may face discrimination due to the color of their skin. Why? Honestly I don’t understand why. There are dark skinned girls who have beautiful skin that I could only wish to have. On the opposite hand, white girls are pressured by the tanned, bronze bodies of models whose looks emphasize the idea that tanned skin represents health and happiness. I think women of all races want to change the way they look because they do not have a true model that represents a “real” woman. Straight is put against curly, tan is placed against white, and dark is placed against light all because the commercial industry wants to make money. I think women are unfairly pressured to look different because they are subjected to greedy producers who know they can manipulate peoples’ feelings to make money. So, overall I think the problem is the culture we live in that does not emphasize loving yourself, but finding an unrealistic “perfection”. Sat, 4 Feb 2012 00:21:52 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/02/02/voices-from-the-classroom-98/#IDComment283222450 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/01/20/questions-from-class/#IDComment270189843 Immigration to the US is fantasized because so many people from hundreds of different nationalities have all come together to create a country. It is not a country of just "germans" or "mexicans" or "chinese"; it is a nation where the majority can claim multiple nationalities. I think that the American dream is chased by so many because it offers a new perspective on life. The US offers every single different culture imaginable. Instead of being confined to one job or profession, immigrants see the US as a place to break away from their old country's caste systems and begin a new life where there is no limit to how far they can achieve. For me, a white female, the American dream is having parents who have supported me and encouraged me to pursue any dream I may have. My American dream involves me becoming whatever I choose because I have the resources or the means to get resources to help me succeed. This is because there is no limit on how far I can reach my dreams. There is no caste system or government that beats down any attempt I make no matter what means I come from. To an immigrant, this would probably be the most appealing aspect of the american dream because they see people like Oprah or a TV special on a person who has over come extreme poverty and "made it big". They see someone who has began life similarly to themselves, working three jobs a night, living in shambles and then just when all hope seems lost, they find a huge opportunity to succeed and take the initiative. If i were an immigrant, I would see this and think that even if my time to follow my dreams has past, maybe my children will have the opportunity to be just like Oprah or one of those Doctors. My parents always told me that they wanted to provide as much as they could for my brother and I sos that we could succeed as far as we wanted. I think the American Dream is just that; providing the best you can so that the next generation is more successful than your own because instead of being suppressed by laws and "birth rights" immigrants children are guaranteeing natural rights of a US citizen. Now instead of having to flee because of a certain birth order, any child or generation will have all the rights as any other citizen. to me that is the american dream. Sat, 21 Jan 2012 04:56:07 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/01/20/questions-from-class/#IDComment270189843