We’re all the same color when you turn out the lights

A recent incident regarding a suicide has been the hit in a lot of the Medias around and the topic of everyone’s conversations. At Rutgers University in the state in New Jersey, there was an 18 year old freshman named Tyler Clementi living on campus. On September 23rd it is believed that Tyler jumped off the George Washington Bridge. His body was found north of the GWB sometime after the incident. Tyler Clementi was a homosexual and was openly out about his sexually. Two classmates from Rutgers setup a hidden camera in his dorm room to record and post his sexual activity. Both of the two classmates, Dharun and Molloy have been charged with two counts each of invasion of privacy for the webcam broadcast. If the two are convicted for third degree offenses they could serve up to 5 years in prison. In the article I was reading it says “According to Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce Kaplan, it is a fourth-degree crime to collect or view images depicting nudity or sexual content of an individual without that person’s consent. The crime becomes a third-degree offense if the images are transmitted or distributed.” This is a serious offense not to mention a hate crime. If he would have been respected then he might still have his life. All throughout high school and even college we are taught about sexuality and of all the different sexual orientations. We have read books written by homosexual authors, we see have seen public celebrity figures that are homosexuals and we see in our every day lives homosexuals, without even realizing it. The reason we don’t hate is because we don’t know, but the reason for that is because they are just like us. When you look at a person you don’t see their sexual orientation written across their face, you see the person. Through Gender we see how differently people are judged if they are open about their homosexuality. Gender affects this issue because most girls accept guys being gay, in fact they most likely have many gay guy friends but on the other hand a lot of guys would rather not be associated with gay guys because they do not want to be viewed as gay themselves. Also is someone’s sexual orientation is classified as bi, they are usually viewed as very promiscuous and looked at as a “slut” because they are more active due to the interest in both genders. Many people have problems with homosexuality and tend to be viewed as something known as a “homophobic”. Someone who is has a homophobia has negative attitudes when around gay, lesbian, bisexual, queer, transgender and intersex people. This behavior is very similar to discrimination. A lot of homophobias lead to violence, predation, and negative energies. In my opinion I agree that gender is not an act it is a biological fact that is uncontrollable, just like the color of your skin. If more people viewed homosexuality as nothing out of the ordinary then maybe that heartless act that pushed Tyler to take his life would have occurred.

Rebel Grrrl Italiana :D hahah

I choose Rebel Grrrl Italiana in all honesty because the title sounded the most fascinating and lured me right in. What I found interesting about this blog was the discoveries are very true and I agree with them. Your period is not your “period” if you are on the pill strictly because you are not feeling all the downsides of it. When you get your period you get cramps, bloated, get mood swings and are very tired, with the pill you don’t have to deal with mainly any of these. I found it funny when the author gave examples of all the ways people say that they simply have their menstrual cycle. In china they say “Little sister has come” I found that to be very comical due to the fact that they are comparing having your period as having your little sister. Little sisters are viewed as an annoyance and your period is definitely annoying to almost all women. In Latin America they say for instance that “Jenny has a red dress on” the red is referring to the color of blood and that basically that period is written all over her because it is obvious due to her actions. There are also sayings having to do with variations of strawberries, cherries, cranberries and tomato soup because they are variations of red liquids. I also agree with the fact that the world is uncomfortable with discussing menstruation even though it is a known fact all women go through it and it has been around since the beginning of time. People do need to get over it. By bringing up all the different sayings people use to say women have their period it is bringing up a stay gender and class issue. It is a gender issue because only women have to go through menstruation. This also can be a class issue because getting medicine and being on the pill can be very expensive and not everyone has good medical coverage. The concept of women and their menstrual cycle is not problematic, it is not doubtful. I believe this blog holds truth and value that everyone knows women get their period.

:]bye

Oh, You’re a Feminist?! bc2

Halloween Costumes!

Halloween is probably one of the funnest holidays. Children see it as a time to have fun and dress up as their favorite character or future careers they might like. Noone really thinks about the influences of these costumes on the children. If you look through the costumes for boys you usually see doctors and military men and power rangers, but when you check out the girls costumes all you find is princesses and “superstars”. Most of these costumes for girls are also pretty revealing and I agree with the blog on how girls don’t have much options. These costumes show how “reinforce stereotypes” by showing that women have to try to be succesful by using their bodies, but men can make it by using their minds.

I never thought about that before. I always enjoyed halloween and just thought it was fun to dress up like a princess and stuff, but now it shows how basically everything in the world revolves around these gender roles and stereo types.  The blog also showed how female teen costumes become alot more revealing than the young girls costumes. I think that might also have an influence on these little girls who want to be like there older sisters/cousins on halloween and want to be able to wear the same revealing costumes their older sisters/cousins wear.

Pink and Blue – blogging connections 2

After reading “Pink and Blue” on fbomb all i can say is wow. The blog post was about how parents  want and prefer boys over girls. In some parts of the world like India and China, if the baby turns out to be a girl then they kill the baby. Even though in North America we don’t take it to that extent we still have the same feelings towards having a girl rather than a boy. Both mothers and fathers  say they want boys instead of girls. It then goes into how to raise children the same and equally so that this idea that boys are better would change.

I completely agree with the author about people wanting boys and I also find it surprising that mothers would choose a boy over a girl. She makes valid points for example  “Let’s raise them to be independent, successful, and smart people someday. We are really damaging our children by raising them based on gender roles. If children are treated the same way, then they will see that. And they will never think of a reason why sexism should exist.” This stood out to me the most because its true. If we raise kids according to their gender role I think it will only limit them. If a girl wants to play sports she will feel its not with in her gender so it might be looked down upon and might have a hard time. Same goes for boys, if he wants to start dancing what if his friends start making fun of him because its not manly.

Nayasia Nieves “pink and blue”

Nayasia Nieves

In a women’s life being able to give birth to a child is one of the most precious gifts that she may ever encounter. Besides the fact of producing a newborn human being, it is a part of her; it is apart of the world’s future and it is also that start of a new generation. Getting the news of what your child’s gender may be is exciting for most women. In countries such as China and India finding out if your child is a boy or girl may be the most devastating news you may ever come across.

After reading the blog “blue or pink” it made me realize how grateful I am to be an American. In those countries such as China and India they are not allowed to keep baby girls. Once the female is aware of her child’s gender, if it is a baby girl she must be aborted. When a mother has to abort her baby for being a girl she will most likely try again until she has a boy. It is sad how females are looked upon today. Boys should not have any better treatment then females; we should all be looked and raised with the same restrictions and guidelines. Females and males should not be rationalized differently, also defining the color “pink” for a baby girl and “blue” for a baby boy is not right.

Aborting a baby because of its gender is beyond disturbing. Although the baby is not born it can still feel the pain. Knowing the reason of getting the abortion because the baby is a female is absurd; who’s to say a male has anything over females. A female is just as capable as a male when it comes to anything working, learning, and caring. The should be no right to abort a child with giving it a chance to live, and seeing what they will have to offer in the future.

Blogging Connection #2: BODY LANGUAGE: Body Secrets (What have you been told to hide?)

In the blog Girl With Pen, there is an interesting post titled “BODY LANGUAGE: Body Secrets (What have you been told to hide?).  This post discus how young women are supposed to disguise their flaws whether it’s a disability or a pimple.  The guest author, Laura Maffei shares her personal experience when she was told to hide her disability.  When she was twelve years old she was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy, on her way home her mother told her only her aunt and uncle would know about her disability and that she was to keep this a secret.  She kept her disability a secret well into adulthood, she disguised it by wearing super control top hosiery and lying to her gym teacher about how many sit-ups she could do.  She finally realized that she had to accept herself for who she is, not who society wants her to be.

Every female can connect to Maffei’s story; at one point or another they have been told to hide or disguise an imperfection, flaw or sickness.  Our close ones may think they are protecting us by telling us to disclose our imperfections, they are not.  When we are told to hide an imperfection it portrays the message that we will not be accepted unless this flaw is hidden.  This can cause self-esteem issues; females will alter themselves just to fit in, to be the ideal person the media and society want them to be.  This is problematic, females should be accepted for who they are not how they look.  They should be accepted for their talents not for their figures or perfect skin.  Girls shouldn’t be told to hide or cover their shortcomings, they should be told to embrace them.  The ideal girl and woman shouldn’t be based on what we see on TV and magazines it should be what one wants to be.

blogging connection #2

Pink and Blue (The F Bomb)

When a couple or family has a baby it is supposed to be a very happy and joyous time in one’s life but sometimes determining the sex of your child can be joyful and in some cases disappointing or disastrous.  In some countries in parts of Asia and India, a family is frowned upon for having a girl because having a boy meant that they would carry the traditional family name as well as the inherited genes, bloodline.  The boys in these countries usually are treated completely different than the girls.  Since the boys are favored more they usually are spoiled with more love and care as well as a better education because they felt men were stronger and more worthwhile so therefore they deserved a better foundation so that they can have a good life.  Women on the other hand, were treated completely different since they were considered    “worthless” in society.  Women born in these countries do not receive the same opportunities a man would like perhaps better clothing or even an education.  Usually the most significance a woman has to the family is being married off, where the family may receive money for giving their daughters away.

Once I read this article I was extremely shocked and disappointed because I feel that a family should be happy and accept whatever sex of a child they may receive and everyone should be treated equally.  It’s a shame that some women go as far as aborting their babies once they find out the sex of their child.  Many women say they do it more so because they prefer to not have them be born and suffer so they just end their lives prematurely. In many countries there are more men than women in the population in the result of this occurrence.  People should learn to accept and appreciate the children they will bear and have bared into this world because at the end of the day we need both male and females to populate the earth in the years to come.  Hopefully the unfairness towards women in other countries stops and people realize that this in fact extremely wrong and that everyone should be treated equally.

Blogging connection 2

In the blog “Lots of Coverage, Very Little Plan for Action” many gay guys have committed suicide over the past 3 weeks. The fifth guy who died was Chase from Johnson & Whales University. The dean of the school sent out an email condolence the family and friends of Chase and that was it. He did not mention how he was going to prevent this from happening again and what problems needed to be resolved. The dean was not the only others have been doing little from preventing this and not much action is taking place. Since these people are not doing much students on Facebook made a group to wear purple on October 20 for the guys who committed suicide. This blog is important because harassment and be bullied for being  gay is not right. This needs to stop and action should take place especially in the schools. People are who they are just because they are gay does not mean they are different and they shouldnt get bullied for it!

Blog connection

The “F Bomb” was a very liberating piece. The woman who wrote the piece was very passionate about getting her message out to the school. She has plenty of courage to print a what could be seen as controversial piece but she chose to do so. There definitely is a cultural difference between America and other countries when it comes to serialization, it was very eye opening to read about the procedure and the mental and emotional damage that comes along with it. It is almost hard to believe woman are being sterilized without knowing, a bit frightening.

 

After reading and analyzing an article given t o me in class called “The Myth of a

latin woman” by Judice Ortiz Cofer i realized Race and gender is an extremely big deal to

society, and it is not fair in a negative way. People are very quick to be judgmental and

put a label on someone because of their appearance. If you compare the way things used

to be in the past, to the way things are now in the world you will notice a drastic change

about almost everything. However, one thing that seems to be the same is Racism and the

sex of a person.

An example of racism in this article is when the young female Maria was selling her

poetry work in the restaurant. A man with no sense right away thought she was a

waitress and starting singing a disrespectful song in spanish thinking she was a “typical

latina” especially cause of her accent. When reality is that she’s a very successful graduate

with more knowledge than most people. Of course people will always remember the

stereotype given to us Hispanics as whores, criminals and low lives but if you look at the

big picture every race has these type of people and its not fair to judge everyone upon it.

We are all individuals and shouldn’t be categorized and labeled under one stereotype

because we all can make a difference.

Furthermore, another example is when one day at school it was carrier day. The

whole class had to dress up like a professional they were inspired by on television. Except

Maria’s only role model was her mom. At her home when they heard the words “dress

up” it had a totally different understanding. The hispanic culture’s meaning of dress up is

to wear lots of jewelry , heels, make-up and a sexy dress. This applied to almost all ages

as young as about 10 because latin woman are supposed to mature early in life. So, the

next day Maria goes to school like the professional outfit she viewed in her eyes and

everyone humiliated her. When people have no consideration for others it can really put

a person down. Why should the way she dresses because of her culture degrade her as

human in any way?

Not only in the article with Maria, but in life period everything is focused on gender

and race. These two things should be the most irrelevant because it shouldn’t matter if

your black or white, fat or skinny, male or female. When it comes to a job if you have the

personality that fits the task , have a great work ethic and handle your responsibilities i

don’t understand why the prejudice thoughts are even brought up or acknowledged. A

book should never be judged by it’s cover because its whats in the inside that counts.