Event Number 2!

Last night, December 3, 2012 I attended a conference on appropriate terminology for individuals that are different and seen as something other than what they were born as such as transgenders, lesbians, bisexuals, gays etc. This conference was in my hometown at my high school (Douglas High School) and was put on by one of the students that I graduated high school with in the year 2008. She is a lesbian herself and comes from a family who has lesbian relationships in them. She started doing these conferences because of the fact that she was getting sick of people who are not educated on the appropriate terms, using the wrong ones. I haven't seen her since graduation but was super excited when I found out that she was having this conference. She has grown to be such an educated and inspirational young woman with a lot to educated others on. This conference was much like the discussion that we had in class about the appropriate terms as well as some that are not necessarily appropriate for some situations. I learned a lot of information from this conference, but more than just the appropriate terminology. I learned that it is great to advocate for something that you believe in as well as showing that it is okay to be different from the norm and that others will still accept you for who you are because of those differences.

Talking Point #12

I find that it is important to first off be aware that any individual can be what they want to be no matter what.  Stereotypes of what individuals should be do not make them individuals.  It is accepted to be something that others might not view you as being.

Both of the readings talk a great deal about privilege.  This reminded me of the reading that we had done previous by Johnson.  In the Blanchard article, privilege is mentioned, but it gets more in depth throughout the Ayvazian article.  The reasoning behind this is because in the Ayvazian article, it is stated that people who have privilege tend to have more power throughout the economy and more dominance.  Johnson states "privilege, power, and difference".  Many connections throughout these three articles.

The Blanchard article really touched me because it made me think about bullies or others who find it appealing to make fun of or to pick on others.  I found that the studies that were done in this article were very interesting and makes me think a lot about what some of the students are thinking about in this generation.  It also shows me that my thoughts are a lot different than the students in this generation.  Scary sometimes how fast things change.  I find that it is powerful for students to do little acts of kindness to make others realize that individuals can be accepting as well as kind to one another.

Media and Ideology

One quote in the reading that really stuck out to me read as follows: "Ideology, then, is not just about politics; it has a broader and more fundamental connotation." This quote made me realize that just because in the previous sentence in the reading, it was stated that ideology is a worldview, belief system, and values; those do not always include politics because I don't particularly enjoy politics.

It is read in the reading that when problems happen throughout the United States, there are a majority of times when the media is to blame for those actions.  Some examples that the article talks about includes the shooting at Colorado's Columbine High School in the year 1999. The majority of the blame for these shootings seemed to be steered towards the violent video games that the high school students seemed to be playing at the time. Another example includes President Clinton's Impeachment in the year 1998.  A majority of people seem to think that the media was blowing the scandal out of proportion which caused the impeachment of President Clinton.

When it comes to the media, there are many times in which individuals feel that the impact is very strong.  Some of the examples of impact from the media that comes up in my life a lot due to the fact that I am a health major is the amount of young girls that end up with eating disorders because they see beautiful, skinny, attractive women on the television, in magazines or in music groups and they feel they have to look like them to be attractive.  So other than the media having an effect of our society, it can also cause health problems throughout our society.

OBAMA vs. ROMNEY

YAY OBAMA is the first statement that I wanted to make.....

I went home the night before the election to make sure that I got my vote in first thing in the morning!  As much as I am embarrassed to say, this is the first election that I have voted in.  Yes, I'm 22 years old, but I was never registered to vote before this past year.  Because of this class, I have been a lot more educated and interested in this election versus any previous election.

I had a soccer game at 8:00 last night which was when all of the votes were starting to be tallied.  My soccer game got over at 9:15 and my team and I walked up to the bar after our game and started watching the votes getting tallied.  When we got up to the bar, the television was on and the first thing that I saw was that Mitt Romney was way ahead of Obama.... :(  As the night went one, and the pitchers emptied, the race got closer and closer... My friend Dan explained to me that due to the fact that the time change from the East Coast to the West Coast is a 3 hour difference, California, Washington, and Oregon were the three states that are typically Democratic States have yet to be tallied and that when they do, Obama would have a significant lead and he was right!!!!!!!! Those three West Coast states were practically the states that won it for Obama!!!

I also wanted to state that many of the people who did vote in this election were not very educated on the difference backgrounds of each candidate....this is a funny SNL video that makes fun of the Americans that are undecided voters, and some of the statements might be a little exaggerated, BUT I thought it was accurate for this years election...and its funny !!!!


I couldn't have been happier with the results of the election from 2012 and I'm sure that the majority of the other students in the class are as well :D

This skit is from SNL (WHO DOESNT LOVE SNL...) about the debate and I thought that it was just a little funny skit that would give some laughs...

8 Ways To Be Positive You're Sex Positive-quotes

There were many good points that I as a health education and community health major see the most confusion about.  There are some statements in this article that I thought were true until I took the sexual education class and other personal health classes that are required for my major.

1. "Sex positivity has long been about "owning our desires" but it should also be about owning our lack of desire, which is totally OK."  I find that as a health educator (almost) some students that I have student taught are very undereducated in the topic of protective sex and the safe ways to take care of yourself.  I have found that this article showed that it is acceptable to not want sex.  I find that either refusing sex or even just not wanting it has made woman seem so much more independent.

2. "Talking about your sex life as if it's better than someone else's is glamorizing sex, and that does not move the dialogue forward."  This quote I can relate to a lot through my work.  There are so many younger girls that work with me do not seem to be very experience on the safe ways to have sex and the effective ways to say no.  Some of the stories that I hear scare me because they are so young and so undereducated on the important facts of their sexual health.

3. "Just because you like something sexually doesn't mean its good for you."  This is also very true...also coming from the health education background, I have heard some people say that they have had sex without a condom and they think just because they are on birth control, they will not get pregnant so they don't need to use the condom.  It might feel better, but that doesn't mean its safe.

I really enjoyed reading this article mostly because of my interest in health and the fact that it is what I am going to major in.  Very interesting to read.

Cinderella Ate My Daughter...

This was a very interesting article to read, mainly because I am a female and can relate to this a lot.  I found it interesting when Peggy Orenstein stated that parents were having trouble with their children and raising girls with the view of disney movies surrounding them.  The main reason that I found this interesting is because I was not one of those girls when I was growing up.  I never liked girly things, I would have rather played in the mud with the boys around the neighborhood than play dress up with the girls.  The reason I can somewhat understand and see what Orenstein is saying about these females is due to the fact that my sister is 20 months older than me and she is the complete opposite of me.  Growing up, she always had to wear the shoes that made noise...she would always want to get ready with my mom when she was styling her hair or applying her make up...I was never like that.

I do find that these disney movies portray a very inaccurate upbringing for females.  They all show that you will grow up getting the majority of what you wanted and asking "Daddy" to get the things for you that are missing.  Also, these movies show that the princesses have a prince charming in their future....(I'm still waiting for mine to come around)

This video is from the disney princesses and mean girls, it is showing that they are relatable...

What Little Boys Are Made Of--Quotes

There are some quotes throughout this article that bring up some valid points about the meaning of "feminism" and how all of the main focus has seemed to veered towards women and that men and boys have been forgotten.

The first quote that I found was "Because of feminism, they say, America has been so focused on girls that we've forgotten about the boys.  Other writers blame patters of male development, while still others find in feminism not the problem but its solution."  I find that Kimmel states a very confusing point in this quote.  Not only because he is a male himself, but because he might not be a feminist it makes me think that he does not agree with all of the aspects that a feminist inquires.

The second quote that I found that struck me was "Virtually all the books cite the same statistics: boys are four to five times more likely to kill themselves than girls, four or five times more likely to be diagnosed as emotionally disturbed , three times more likely to be diagnosed with attention deficit disorder, and 15 times more likely to be victims of violent crime."  This is a very true statement and I see that boys or men have a much higher chance of these things happening to them or being diagnosed with these issues.

Another point that Kimmel makes is that not all of the issues that arise between boys and girls solely happen due to gender, they also happen due to privilege.  The following quote explains a good thought from Kimmel.  "The cause of all this posturing and posing is not testosterone, but privilege."  Kimmel also states that "The books that are written with an understanding of male privilege--and the need to challenge it--are the ones that offer the most useful tools to improve boys' lives."


I wasn't sure who Kimmel was so I GOOGLED him and found out a little more about him...

Racism and Women Studies-Smith

My apologies for the late blog, there was an issue but it is not resolved!!!

I found that this article made an appropriate connection to the first assignment that we did.  The connection was made between the movie and the presentations that we made about women's rights and their right to vote.  Smith states in the beginning about how she was starting to talk about the black women studies but she decided to focus on all women's rights.  She states that she thinks that it is annoying to write about racism and the fact that it is an ongoing issue.

Smith states that there are reasons behind why the word feminism is a political theory and practice that struggles to free ALL women; women of color; working class women; poor women; disabled women; lesbians and old women.  This connects to the lesson that we first learned because it was based on the rights of all women big, small, old, young, black, white and their rights.

There is a word of professionalism that is stated in the article.  Smith states that she hates the word professionalism because she says that it gives a reason for dividing ourselves from others and escaping reality.  I find that this statement connects to the lesson that we previously learned because the upper class and the lower class can easily be divided by the amount of professional traits that these women portray.

These are the best connections I feel can be made to the lesson that we talked about with women's right to vote and the rights of all women, gender, age, sexual orientation, and economic class excluded.

Katie showed me this...wanted to share.

This just shows how I want to be proposed to...<3

Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence

Wow, you weren't kidding about how dense this article is.  I am going to try my best to define what the words Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence mean according to Adrienne Rich and myself.

Compulsory Heterosexuality:  According to the article, Rich states that the world Compulsory Heterosexuality encourages heterosexual feminists as a political institution which disempowers women. I am going to try and break down this word into two parts to more easily understand it.  The word "compulsory" means required or mandatory, and the word "heterosexuality" means sexual feeling or feelings directed towards a person or persons of the opposite sex.  When broken down, this word makes a lot more sense than the way Rich describes it in the article.

Lesbian Existence:  According to the article, Rich states that the word Lesbian Existence in many ways.  She states that "lesbianism" is an "alternative lifestyle."  She does state that this word is broken down just the way it is written, the existence of lesbianism in the world.  She compares the existence of lesbianism throughout the four different books that she states have four different political views and understanding of right and wrong, acceptable and unacceptable.

I am going to add more to this blog after the discussion in class, I'm not fully understanding what this article is about...

Talking Point #4

The first website that I visited is People Like Us.  This website shows the little things in life that can identify you.  One of the questions that it asks is "what does your living room say about you?"  There are many things in your life that you do not realize tell who you are.

There is a game that anyone can play which lets you create your own living room, and then it states which class you would fall under according to the decorations and the pet that you picked.  I fell under the middle class like Henry Jones.  Henry stated that according to my choices I fall under the middle class, but there are other classes that some of the items that I picked belong to.  This website showed a lot about how some people can put an individual into a certain working category depending on their belongings or the choices in physical "stuff."

There really wasn't too much more on this website.  There is an option to watch a movie but my computer did not have Adobe Flashplayer so it wouldn't let me watch...

The second website that I visited was The Center for Working-Class Studies out of Youngstown State University.  There is an article on Wage Theft and how to stop it. There is also a list of places that employees might be able to go to find some assistance from governement agencies about wage thefts.

Youth Pride

Yesterday, September 19, 2012 I went to the Youth Pride facility that is located on Westminister Street in Providence.  This was such a fantastic experience.  I went there to observe a day in the life of an individual that is LGBT and that attends Youth Pride.  This facility is pretty much a second home for individuals between the ages of 13-23 that either identify as an LGBT or have a parent that identifies as such.  This is a safe place for these individuals to go after school or work where they can be with others that are just like them.  Some of the individuals do not have a very safe or accepting home life, and they feel more comfortable going to Youth Pride after school or work instead of going home.  I felt that this feeling that the individuals are having can compare a lot to the Frye article and the comparison to a "bird cage."  Some of the children and even adults that go to Youth Pride feel that there is no where else for them to go where they will feel accepted and that they can be compared to living in a bird cage, although when they are at Youth Pride, they have an opportunity to be themselves with other individuals that are going through similar things as them.



When I arrived at Youth Pride yesterday, it was dinner time.  The people that were there were having cooking lessons with one of the staff members.  All of the individuals that were there seemed to be very comfortable and looked as though they were having a lot of fun.  This is something that they do not always seem to feel.  This related a lot of the Johnson article when the he talks about having the umbrella when it is raining, but others do not feel the rain.  This is how some of the individuals feel when they are not at Youth Pride.  They feel like Youth Pride is their area and time to be themselves.

This mission of Youth Pride is to protect, unite, and dignify the lives of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning youth and young adults. There are ways that individuals interested in this program can donate to Youth Pride to help those individuals.  I find this very interesting because it makes me sad to think that some individuals arent even comfortable or happy in their own homes. 

When I was speaking to one of the kids at Youth Pride yesterday, he was telling me that a lot of people are afraid to even say the words "gay" or "lesbian" because to those individuals they are not acceptable.  It made me think a lot about the article "The F-Word" because throughout the article it is said that many people are afraid to say the words even though that is the only way they can express how they feel.  He told me that some people won't even ask if he is gay due to the fear of speaking the word.  It was very interesting to see how many links there were to our articles that I never thought I would see outside of the classroom, but I saw in just a few short hours there.

I met an individual named Joey Lazzerini who is Mr. Gay Rhode Island and huge advocate for gay men everywhere.  He was such an inspiration to meet and I wanted to share his "No Hate" photo with you so you could appreciate him as much as I did.

Romney hasn't earned our trust...

Editor LZ Granderson from CNN has written a well put together article about Mitt Romney, the Republican representative for the Presidential election. LZ Granderson states that he had asked a group of people about the trust that they have in Mitt Romney. The response to this question was "I trust him more than I trust Obama." That response was shocking to me, because of the way Granderson elaborated. He stated that it was a longer way of saying "no." There are many reasons that Americans do not trust Mitt Romney, and one of these reasons is because of the so called "tax plan" that Mitt Romney has, but will not show to Americans. How are we supposed to trust him to be our President if he cannot elaborate on the tax plan he has...??


This is a perfect picture to show the confusion on Mitt Romney's face when speaking to the Americans about his "tax plan."

Many Americans can see that Romney flip flops a lot of his ideas such as the pro-abortion rights, and also Romneycare. 

Many people see that Obama has broken promises since he has been in office. Granderson states that "500 promises the president made during the 2008 campaign and found thus far he's kept 37% of them.  He's broken 16%, and compromised on 14% and is still working on the other 22%." 

I find that not only the Republicans are effected by this situation with Mitt Romney, but also Democrats.  He is promising/agreeing on things that he doesn't necessarily follow through with or elaborate on, and it doesn't make him look like a very trustworthy candidate.

Oppression

This article was one that was based on oppression.  According to the author, Marilyn Frye, the word oppression can mean many different things.  For example, on the first page of the article, in the first sentence Frye states that "The word 'oppression' is a strong word.  It repels and attracts.  It is dangerous and dangerously fashionable and endangered.  It is much misused, and sometimes not innocently."  To me, this statement shows that Frye finds the word "oppression" to mean something more negative than positive.  Throughout the rest of the article, Frye explains that first sentence more with examples of how the word "oppression" is seen as "dangerous" and also "misused."

There are two quotes that really caught my eye throughout the article.  On the bottom of the sencond page to the top of the third page of the article, Frye states "On the other hand, if she refrains from heterosexual activity, she is fairly constantly harrassed by men who try to persuade her into it and pressure her to "relax" and "let her hair down"; she is threatened with labels like 'frigid,' 'uptight,' 'man-hater', 'bitch,' and 'cocktease.'" "She may be charged into lesbianism."  To me, this quote from the article states that women don't necessarily have a right to choose when they want to be sexually active, and they have to pleasure the man whenever he is ready to be sexually active.  If the woman doesn't please the man when he wants it, she is viewed as those terms, and even as a lesbian.  I completely disagree with this statement.  I feel as though women should have every right to choose when they want to be sexually active with their partner, just as much as the man does.

The third quote that I found in the article is the following; "It is now possible to grasp one of the reasons why oppression can be hard to see and recognize: one can study the elements of an oppressive structure with great care and some good will without seeing the structure as a whole, and hence without seeing or being able to understand that one is looking at a cage and that there are people who are caged, whose motion and mobility are restricted, whose lives are shaped and reduced."  This quote really stood out to me because before reading this article (and still somewhat after reading the article), I was not sure what the word "oppression" meant. I had to look up the definition to the word.  This shows that there is a lot of confustion throughout the world when it comes to understanding the true meaning of the word.  There are multiple meanings and the word can be used in many different ways.  The definition that YOU choose is depending on your views of the situation.

F is for feminism

This article was one that illustrated the way women  are wrongfully treated in the US workforce. The author explained how a woman are trying to look for equal rights throughout the workplace and also in a community based setting.  Women are searing for the right to vote and to have their voice be heard.  I found that the quote that follows was quite intersting; "Young women may believe that a feminist identity puts them out of the pool for many men." This shows that the women feel as though they are being overpowered by men in all settings, not only the workplace.  The second quote that I found interesting was "Fear of feminism, then, is not a fear of gender, but rather a fear of politics."  There is a picture that I linked to the quote because to me, that picture accurately describes what I feel the author is trying to get across when stating that quote.  Many women today have done such incredible things that not even some men can say that they have accomplished.  There are women working as doctors, lawyers, teachers, you name it and the women have absolutely made a name for themselves.  I feel very empowered to be a woman in the year 2012.  Due to the fact that I want to pursue my career as a teacher, I have seen that many women have made a successful living doing so, and they also love their job and look forward to helping make a change in a child's life everyday.

The F word

I may have found this article a little more
interesting than others. I find that this article
is a perspective on what other people see the word feminism to mean. there are maybe people whole
find that find it a word that thy are afraid to use. ecause it mind offend someone. to me, this article was an inspiration. women are strong powerful individuals whom deserve to have moments where they feel empowered instead of men having all of the feeling.