Racism

This week I was very fortunate to be part of the race panel. I learned so much from each of the other presenters. The overall message that was given was to define a person by not what their skin color is or how they dress and talk but instead what their personality is and who they are. Like Roger said, we see ourselves so different from others when in reality we are all the same. If you cut open a Mexican and an American, we all have a heart and we all have lungs. It's all a social construct that society has created: stereotypes not facts.

"Racism isn't born, folks, it's taught. I have a two- year old son. You know what he hates? Naps! End of list. "- Denis Leary

The quote above proves that racism is a social construct. We are all taught by society and the people who surround us, what's good and bad, and as we grow up, we are more exposed to the world and start to see people for their race and not them. We live in a diverse world and therefore we should become more socially mindful and realize that everyone from one certain race aren't all the same. They might have similar characteristics but are certainly not restricted to only those defined by their race. Racism is not always explicit, it's implicit too. It occurs in our school faculty, Band-Aids are only a light skin color, and textbooks don't show diversity, only white people. These things aren't realized because it's not something we think of everyday, but are such a privilege that white people have.

We restrain ourselves from grabbing a tasty looking cookie from the person sitting next to us on the bus, even though our instincts tell us it would taste SO goos we don't do it. Why? Because we know that stealing is wrong. If we can do that, then surely we can also ignore someone's skin color. When will we stop holding our purses tighter when a black man walks by? When will we stop assuming that a job applicant named Jose Jimenez is less likely to be qualified than John Smith? Ending racism today means realizing that these acts and thoughts are wrong. Despite the urge we might have to let them slide from the unconscious to the conscious. Ending racism today means moving beyond instinct to truly thoughtful acts, in everything we do. It might be very challenging to do, but it will be worth it.

 

 

"I’m on an internship for school. I’m not getting paid for it. I’m in a strange city. I don’t know anyone here. I have applied at almost every fast-food restaurant, retail store, gas station, and whatever else I can think of, but have heard nothing back. My bank account is almost completely empty. I’m writing this on the laptop I can’t sell because I need it for school, and while I write, I eat the last of my groceries. My car is almost out of gas. I don’t even have enough money to pay rent on the first of the month. I don’t have a lot of personal possessions that I can sell, and the ones that I can, I probably won’t get much for. I don’t have health insurance, and I dread getting sick or having an accident that leaves me in the hospital. If I give up now and go home, I won’t graduate. I’m already several thousand dollars in student loan debt, I hope to at least have something to show for it. But how long can I last at my internship when I have to choose between putting gas in my car and doing laundry? My life is a ticking time-bomb, and the last few seconds are counting down before my eyes.

I am the 99 percent. And I am out of ideas."

Why desire for economic security is not being met- He/she cannot find a job in a place where he/ she does not know anyone and the internship he/she are in is not paying him/her. His/her bank account is slowly decreasing and almost empty and is living each day with the little money he/she has. He/she does not have heealth insurance and therefore is scared to get sick because of the huge bill that he/she will recieve. He/she lives with the fear of giving up and not graduating because he/she believes that hopefully something will come out of graduating. However, it's hard because it's increasing his/her debt.

More fair situation- The ability to be able to get a job and to have health insurance should be available to everyone at no cost because it's essential in life. Also, as a possible solution to student debt, colleges should adjust to the sudents fianncial status and having them pay a tuition that they can afford or not be in debt in. We all should have an opportunity to have equal or great education without being able to pay so much money for it. After all, we use the education and knowledge to succeed in life and improve society and our government system such as the economy.

Relates to social class- This person is in such a low class that even though they are reciveing an education, they are in debt and don't have a job to be able to live a good lifestyle. Now this person is debating whether his education is worth suffering economically and psychologically for.

I choose this image because this person wants to have a good education in order to live a great life after they graduate. However, its questionable whether or not they are going to recieve that promise after graduating, after all that debt. It just shows how education is truly only available for the rich or in some cases middle class because they are the ones who can possibly pay the whole college ride and still stay economically stable without being in debt. Also, their comparison to a time bomb really allows me to see how bad this person feels and how any second they might just give up on all their dreams because everything they ever wanted is not at their reach and isn't worth getting anymore as a result of their social status.

 

"I got my first job mowing lawns when I was 13. I went to work for the Federal government, laying fences, when I was 15. At 17, I left home and put myself through college and law school, without my parents’ help. Yes, I had student loans, and yes, I paid them.

I lost my job in 2009. Despite hundreds of phone calls, resumes, and a few interviews, it seems I am now “overqualified,” at age 50, to be employed. I am coming to grip with the fact that I will never earn what I took for granted, just a few years ago.

I have run through my savings, my investments, and my retirement accounts. I lost my house. My wife left me a year ago, and cancelled my health insurance. My heart medications, insulin, and related supplies, not to mention ADD meds for my teenager, total $3500 a month. I don’t have $3500 to spend on meds, so I take a daily aspirin, and my kid is suffering in school. I’m waiting on the word that I have renal failure. A vial of insulin, that used to cost $15 a few years ago, now costs $80. Big pharma is gouging.

Now, I am facing eviction. My two children have never seen daddy without money. I am facing the grim fact that my life insurance policy and social security death benefits may provide my kids better financial security than I can. Like George Bailey, I am “worth more dead than alive.” I AM THE 99%

Jack
Austin, Texas"

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Why desire for economic security is not being met- Despite all of his work experiences and great resume he is unable to get a job. Also, he is unable to ge a job because of his age which in my opinion is strange because isn't it the older you are the wiser you are? He lost his house and is a single parent with 2 children who see him nervous daily about how they are going to afford what they need. To add to this list, they do not have health insurace and all of the medication that keeps them alive and functioning right is very expensive and he cannot afford it.

More fair situation-  To have an equal opportunity as everyone else to get a job  and to have health insurance. Health insurance should be available to everyone at no cost because it's essential in life as i said in the first 99% story. We can clearly see that health insurace serves a key role in being able to survive because if you don't have heatlh insurance you have to either not  do anything and let the pain/disease/ ect. worsen or go to a doctor and recieve a bill that you can't pay without having to give all the money that you have for food in order not to be in such a big debt.

Relates to social class- although this person has an education and an awesome resume, he is still unable to get a job and isn't able to pay the expenses at home. This shows that education is not always the important factor in having a successful lifestyle. Instead, what social class you are apart of is the most important factor to success.Therefore, the upper class are more likely to succeed because of their connections to very important people in society.

I choose this image because it really startled me how this person thinks that they are "worth more dead than alive" and as bad as it sounds it's a horrible truth that is realized when living a life where they are invisible in society.

                  

"I’ve been living in the US for 30 years, working in a restaurant all the entire time. Every day I work 13 hours, leading to my bad health now. After 9/11, I started getting respiratory problems. My wife used to work in the garment factories, but because there wasn’t business, she got laid off. Rent increases yearly, and we have 2 kids. Now we don’t have work, so life is very difficult. We are a part of the 99%."

Why desire for economic security is not being met- Both his wife and him don't have a job which makes it hard to support their children. Also, he is in bad health and unfortunatly he can't go to a dotor to help sooth the pain/ problem because he is unable to spend that much money on his health. The rent and other expenses increase yearly as well, which demand more money that they cannot earn.

More fair situation-  As I have said in the above 99% stories the most important factors that would make this a more fair situation is providing jobs to everyone and having an equal opportunity to obtain one as well as having health insurance in reach.

This relates to social class because this man came to America hoping for something better than what they had in their country. However, their inability to be successful wasn't his fault because he wasn't trying hard enough but because our culture values money way too much and sometimes trying your best jusst doesn't cut it in our society. Now after 30 years in the United States,  this man and his family's American dream has been tossed and are now doing anything they can in order to survive this idfficult life.

I choose this image because it shows those who come to America with a dream and with such a motivation to succeed because they are unable to in their country, it is very difficult to do so with sucha split society and unequality in our country.

Thanksgiving

It's that time of year again where we all gather with our loved ones, tell stories, eat until we are sick to our stomachs, and most importantly be thankful for what we have in life. Every thanksgiving dinner is different; none are exactly the same, due to our culture and our social norms as a family. But I didn't find any extreme social behaviors during my thanksgiving dinner. What I did find extremely interesting was black Friday. I didn’t go to the midnight sales but I did go to the morning ones and it was still pretty chaotic. I got to the mall and I sat at the food court area to at least eat some breakfast and while I was sitting there people in their pajamas carrying so many shopping bags still searching for more stuff to buy. In my mind I was like oh man I am going to find so many sales and stuff, but it turned out that there weren’t any extremely good sales as I was expecting. Of course there were sales but they weren’t sales that blew your mind. I think people are just so physiologically “programed” in a way to believe that the sales on black friday are sales that are never going to be found throughout the year until the next black Friday due to how our media and society portrays this day. Now with the pajamas, I think it’s symbolizing what black Friday is about, people who wake up early in the morning just to get some good deals. There are plenty of other holidays throughout the year, especially Christmas, where store deals are very good, however, society only decides to pick out black Friday as the more extreme one and for this reason so many people go shopping.

Social Class

One characteristic of class that I think defines social classes is food. It is similar to clothing because food has different types of brands just like clothing has different styles and logos. Therefore, it’s easy to see what food brand is more expensive which shows that the person eating that brand product has money. Also, what restaurant you decide to eat at also reflects your social class. Not only does the food brand and restaurant define social class but also the amount of food that you eat. However, this isn’t a definite factor because it might just be that you aren’t eating because you aren’t that hungry.



Gender & Media

 

 

 

Our society's perspective on how a girl and boy should act, what to wear, and how to feel about something are all, in my opinion, affected by the media. Even though our parents and friends so affect how we see things as well, I feel that the media has a greater impact. Boys are protrayed to be tough, a gentleman, and sexy where as girls are portrayed to be sweet, innocent, and neat. The only trait that is the same between guys and girls is to be sexy and this is because the media enforces that you must be sexy, no matter if you're are male or female.

 

 

In class, we had a discussion on whether or not the government should regulate or make a law to protect the false media being put out to public. The majority was on "it's the person's choice" side but I chose to be on the government regulation side. I feel that the media and advertisements now a days send such a strong message to our society on who we should be and what we must look like in order to be attractive. Photos from advertisements are not the regular shot, it's an extremely photo shopped photo that creates such a false image. This false image is looked at by millions of people and in fact they compare this perfect person to themselves, which leads to a desire of becoming this nonexistent figure. For this reason, eating disorders and other disorders as well have increased year round. The opposition stated that the people should choose whether or not they decide to believe this and that people should know that it's fake and not compare themselves to it. This I believe is not being socially mindful of your surroundings because you believe that what you think, others must think as well which is a bad assumption. Not everyone is intelligent enough to look at these images and know that they are false and that they should not believe what they see. I know that before high school I thought everything in the media was real. I never knew the models were so photo shopped to such an extreme. I would look at a magazine and see the model posing and I would think that that was really her and in a way i would be jealous because she was so pretty. This is why the government should regulate media to eliminate false advertising because kids look at these magazines and compare themselves to the models and develop a desire to become them, therefore, eating disorders start to increase and other habits as well to what is being shown in the magazine and how the models  look like. I think that this is such a huge problem because media is sending a false message. Many years ago we were not even able to Photoshop pictures and now that technology has improved we are able to make miracles with this program. Technology is going to keep improving and to top it off media is everywhere, where ever you look there is a poster, a TV, or a billboard. Will this problem worsen as a result of technological improvement? I think that the government and people should take a stand now instead of later when it will be too late.

 

 



 

 

Halloween Costumes

Halloween is around the corner and your friends and you try to plan a group costume theme. What should you be? A crayon, a lumberjack, a nerd, a nurse, a pirate, or a bee?  So many things to choose from. You guys decide on a nurse, a sexy nurse; a very short and tight low cut dress with a small nurse hat. Is this really how nurses dress? of course not.

 Media and society and all the other factors around us affect our view towards what we think is socially correct to wear. In class, we took a look at guy cotumes compared to girl costumes. The girl costumes were more fitted and short, meant to be provacative, where as guy costumes were full body covered costumes. I never realized how different men and women costumes were until I actually looked for the difference.  Even though some girl costumes are over the top and above sexy, the reason I thnk that I have never realized the difference between costumes is because it's part of our norm or society and we are used to seeing all these types of costumes.

However, the observation that surpised me the most was how little kid costumes are changing as well, slowly reflecting the women costumes. This shows how our culture and society are urging kids to grow up fast and puts them in a mind set that they should dress like an adult. After all, adults are role models to kids, they are the people whom they look up to and want to be. Not only do adults affect children drastically, media is the biggest factor that i think causes this reaction from kids. The feeling of being cool and attractive by wearing a costume are reasons why the way a costume should look is changing.

Interview 

• What did you expect for me before I was born?
• "I expected you to be very pretty just like me. I expected you to have a lot of my qualities. Also, I expected you to be a smart girl. Your dad though expected you to be a boy but it turned out that you were a girl but I knew it all along."
• What about me reminds you of yourself or my dad?
• "Your nose reminds me of your dad no doubt. But most of all, your attitude especially reminds me of your dad. You are a stubborn little girl who if you don't have it your way you always argue your point, wanting to be right all the time. But you did get some of my qualities like your intelligence hahaha, although your dad is pretty intelligent. The way you talk reminds me of myself as well."
• What is uniquely about me?
• "Your laugh. It's just so out there. People can probably hear you from a mile away because your laugh is so loud. There are times though when you're laughing but nothing comes out so you have this ridiculous open mouth face. Not only your laugh but your smile too. You are always smiling. No matter what is going on, you just seem to find a way to smile. There has never been a day where you don't have a smile on or you don't laugh. That's something unique about you. "
• Did you and my dad discuss discipline with each other? Has it been difficult?
• "Your dad and I did not discuss discipline with each other. We just reflected the ways my mom and dad raised me and how your grandma and grandpa raised your dad. I think that since we were both raised in a similar way, it was easier for us to parent together. But sometimes your dad and me differ in what we should let you do and that becomes the difficult part. Like you driving alone. You know I don't want you driving alone right now until your much older, but your dad let's you and this is where it becomes difficult, when we don't agree on what to do and as you and your sister get older, it becomes more and more difficult because you two are going to want to do things that your dad and I never did when we were young. You tell me all the time that "we are in the modern world now and it's not like the olden days" but that's the way I was raised."
 

 

 



 

What do Americans Value?

 

Americans have many unique values that they live by. According to Robert Kohls the thirteen most important values that Americans live by are personal control over the environment, change, time and its control, equality, individualism and privacy, self-help concept, competition, future orientation, action/work orientation, informality, directness and honesty, efficiency and materialism. Out of these thirteen values I disagreed with three of the suggested values. For the equality value Kohl states that all people have been "created equal" and that a foreigner should always be considered like anybody else I feel that although we do stress equality a lot and to treat everybody equally, we don’t necessarily exercise it. For example, even though "all men are created equal" is printed in the constitution, not everyone has equality. Others are treated more unfairly than others due to who they are or where they came from or what they believe in. Also, I feel that when a foreigner comes to visit America, they do receive the respect and welcoming here, however, if the person were to go to a school, she will possibly be questioned by her classmates why she does certain amount of things because she has brought her values from where she immigrated from. I'm not saying this is true everywhere, but I do think it's out there. Another value that I disagreed with was the self- concept value where a person will only takes credit for what they do themselves. I think that they do take credit for what they did themselves but only if it created a positive impact. If it created a negative impact then I think that the person would not take credit for it. The last value I disagreed with was the direct, open and honest value; although many people are honest and open, I believe that in the American culture people are more honest about the person behind their back then when they are with them. This is seen especially at school and possibly everywhere, where a friend would talk behind another friend's back because she did something wrong that the other didn't like so instead of saying it in front of her face, she told her other friend. However, we do say the truth only if we re comfortable with the person or sometimes we sugar coat it to not make it sound cruel. The value that I most related myself with was the how much we value time. It's everywhere and you are always conscious about it: "Oh sorry but I gotta run, I’m late", "I got to get up early to go for a jog," or "I’m late for my doctor's appointment." time is referenced every time and we don't even realize how much we rely on it.