WW: Rape

This article talks about how women everywhere live under the threat of rape, the greatest risk often in their own homes! Rape is a highly unreported crime because people think that rape is only having sex. However, this is not true and rape constitutes any violence inhibited to assert male power and control. The article stated that estimates suggest that the actual incidence of rape may be up to 50 times the numbers reported. Where did things go wrong in American society to make living in America so dangerous? Even here in Pullman, Women's Transit was created in order to help reduce the risk of a woman walking home at night from the library or the gym. It is apparent that rape, as well as many other types of sexual violence, has become a HUGE problem when a woman isn't even safe in her own home. This can be linked to many things occurring in American society today. For one, the images of women in the media make them seem like fragile, sex-crazed people there to please their man whether it inquires violence or sex or the like. It can also be linked to the long-held roles of women throughout American history as being below men. Now that women have gained more rights in all sorts of aspects in society, I feel that men are lashing out by inhibiting acts of violence because it is the only means they can think of to get back at them and it is the easiest means. Are men affraid of change, more specifically a change in the workforce, athletics, or in politics?

WW: Beauty

This article is about how the commerce of beauty has touched almost all places around the world today. It was astounding to see how many different types of cosmetic surgeries women are getting in the USA alone, which in fact happens to be the biggest cosmetic market in the world. This article stated that these types of surgeries are especially common in rich countries, which makes the America an easy target. There were even surgeries listed that I had never heard of before, what are they going to come up with next! And the top five cosmetic companies sales are in the billions. Cosmetic surgery is expensive, and I guess that is a good thing becasue if it weren't I can't imagine how many more people would be getting cosmetic surgery. Yes wealthy people may live a glamorous life, but it is obvious that with these types of surgeries as well as other types of modifications such as tanning, manicures, and teeth whitening, wealthy people have their issues mostly dealing with their body image. It almost seems like torture when you get some type of cosmetic surgery because you are stitched up, swulllen, aching, and on pain meds. Your personall body image should not be something that an individual constantly is concerned about. It takes too much time and energy and there are more important things in life then this. Maybe this is why many American advertisements, especially high-fashion ads, portray such vulgar and sickly images of women. The wealthy can easily afford a high-fashion item so it is directed towards them. Therefore, these ads' models are the norm to their audience.
It is difficult to see girls around me who are abnormally skinny because one would think that they have an eating disorder. However, it is wrong to make this assumption because they totally could not have one. But the point I'm trying to make is that body image and the fact that eating disorders are so common in American society today brings about the assumptions that people who are skinny must "obviously" have an eating disorder.

WL: Media Representations and the Criminalization of Arab Americans and Muslim Americans

In the United States, Arabs are looked at through a demeaning light. This article opened my eyes to American's close-minded views of both Arab and Muslim Americans. It talked about the sterotypes that American's place on both men and women Arabs and Muslims. I totally agree with the articles standpoint that the "demonization of Arabs and Muslims reached a new level after 9/11/01" (465). Before these attacks, as well as America's entry into the Middle East, not much was known about these people's lives. Yes, I knew vaguely that there was constant fighting over a land dispute, but I always disregarded their issues because it had nothing to do with me. However, after America got involved with the Middle East and it's people, more focus was put towards the extreme violence, torturing acts and suicide bombings. Thus all of America's focus was put towards the negative situations taking place, especailly if it involved an American reporter, solieder etc. First of all, this is unfair to these people because we are exploiting their lives and showing the rest of the world these negative images. Yes, awful stuff has and will happen due to terrorist groups, but not all Middle Eastern people hold these violent ideals. Every country has exprienced or is experiencing murder, hate crimes, rape and many more violent acts. So how is it fair that the U.S. is focusing on only the bad within the Middle East instead of the good? How would America feel if another country was exploiting our issues to the entire world? Keeping this in mind, Middle Eastern people fill a huge gap in America's ethnocentric views. Americans tend to view Arab and Islamic males as possessing terrorist ideals. This view of men leaves us to think that the Arab and Islamic women are battered and are living depressive lives. This easily leaves us to feel compassion towards them because they have the live with these terrorist men. Overall, we identify Islam as evil and violent. However, Islam possesses many of the same characteristics that Christianity does. The Bible and Quran express similar ideals of peace, love for your neighbor, forgiveness etc. I know that not everyone is Christian in the U.S., however, a great majority is. There are many other issues between the Middle Eastern people leading to the disputes that have lasted for many years. It is unfair for American's to make all of these judgements without the full knowledge of the people. It is frustrating to see American's play the "blame game" because they think that blaming a spreicifc thing, for example that Muslims religion is causing the violence, will lead them to an answer.

IVUS Ch. 12: Racial and Ethnic Interpersonal Violence

This chapter helped me answer a question that has been discussed in a couple of my classes now, "Has racism really gone away?". After reading the personal stories about beatings and other types of racial violence, I feel that racism has not gone away. The tension between different races is still present in American society today. Even though more attention has been put on racism, I think that the hatred of people who are different then us has been too embedded within our minds in order to go away. Are there any factors contributing to this type of violence? The first thing that came to my mind was the media. Advertisements, movies, and television all bring some sort of racial influence to the table. For one, we do not see as many colored actors or models as white actors or models. We also continually see the same racial roles. This helps to influence who we think is superior and who we think is not as well as the types of roles they should play (profession etc).
This chapter helped me to reflect on previous instances in which I experienced first hand violence between different races. Growing up, I went to a private high school located in an area known for violence especially gang violence. Throughout my high school career there had been two shootings at the school down the street involving gang members of different races. My high school consisted of all white people except for about ten black people. I remember how the white students, including myself at times, thought that seeing a black person at our school was basically weird. Even though this situation did not exhibit any physical violence, it was more so a mentally subdued violence because black people were automatically looked down upon and thought of as out of place at the school. Even though their parents most likely had the same types of jobs and some even lived in the same neighborhoods as other white students, the shock of their presence was still there. In the chapter, it talks more about the prevalence of hate crimes and racial violence throughout time. I feel that my experience in high school is a perfect example of a starting point that eventually contributes to racial violence. If kids today are noticing others' race as the first thing they see when they look at a person, then it is apparent that race still matters a lot to individuals as well as a tension between them.

IVUS Ch. 13: Militarism and Violence

The amount of money and focus that goes into the military is excessive. It is so excessive that is taking away from other issues that this country needs to improve on. America is considered to have one of the most powerful militaries and thus, I feel that this statement has kept the fighting off of American soil. Do not get me wrong, this is a good thing. But when this focus becomes so extreme that we abandon other major issues it takes away from the well-being of our country as a whole. It is a conspiracy as to how the big business corporations team up with the government to improve their personal profits and maintaining the status of having the newest weapons etc. So one big question that comes to my mind is "Where are our taxes going? Would the government really lie to millions of people in their country?". I think that this excessive spending and focus on the military and weapons creates more of a desire as well as a false set of arrogance in which the United States feels that they can interfere (with military actions) in other countries' issues. It also has created an economic downfall. As everyone knows today, the American economy is awful! This downfall started when we put our focus on Iraq and put an extreme amount of money into more weapons and soldiers. The government is not giving us straight facts but very vague ones. With this in mind it is difficult for an American citizen to say that the invasion of Iraq was justified. We do not know if there was a better solution in getting oil resources because the information was so vague. It is frustrating to think that such a powerful and influential group of people are basically taking advantage of their people by providing only the facts that justify/support their actions and thus making people do what THEY want.
This has contributed to an even greater gap between the wealthy and the poor. In the book State of the World 2008: Innovations for a Sustainable Economy "the combined income of the 500 richest people's income is equal to the millions of poor people's income" (8). This goes to show how little the big corporate business as well as the military spending is helping the country. These greedy business men and powerful politicians' greediness give the world this bad perception of Americans as a country that can do whatever they feel like.

Abstract

A picture is worth a thousand words. The images that advertisements convey to their consumers are very useful tactics in which the companies use to get people to use their product. Today in the United States media advertisements are everywhere subconsciously influencing both children and adults regardless of gender; from the huge billboards outside, to the television commercial that comes on in during your favorite show, or to the magazine ad that pops up while reading. In America advertisements convey many different types of feelings and thoughts produced for their audience. Females are many times used as sexual objects of affection by the males. Today, the product is overshadowed by the images of these women. Men now desire and fantasize about women and tend to think of these scandalous picture as the norm. This is not only demeaning, but it enhances the belief that women are merely sexual objects and that males still hold the superior position in society. It is intriguing to see how these images have changed overtime as well as the effects that these images have had on American society.
This topic will be taken from the textbook Inequality & Violence, Women’s Lives, as well as from the videos viewed from class. I am also still looking for a scholarly source from the library but have not found one yet.

Gender/Power Images

This image is a high fashion ad (Dolce & Gabbana) that displays a gender powered and is focused on white, wealthy males as their audience. It looks like the man is about to beat the woman with the other men intently watching, almost like it interests/amuses them. This ad offers the assumption that the woman is about to be the target of a form of violence or assault. This is representative to American society and the abuse that men inhibit on women. I feel like this ad is suggesting that rich, while males can get away with criminal acts (such as raping a women). Society knows this is going on but tends to stand back, not doing or saying too much about it. Today in the media there are many images that express a double meaning. Yes, Dolce and Gabbana’s models are wearing their clothes, but what the models are doing expresses a much more deeper meaning. I feel that men inhibiting violence upon women has become such a common topic that people are immune to the effects it has. At the beginning of the evolution of images in the American media, sex was mainly what sold to it’s audience. The wetness of their bodies can be tied with part of the male fantasy world. Sexual images still do sell, however, violent sexual images have become incorporated in the media more so today. In a number of the ads women are portrayed as weak and fearful.

This image portrays the stereotype that whites are what make up the upper class in American society, and therefore, this ads focus group is upper class white people. The purpose of this image is to attract people to this expensive and high class jewelry item, suggesting that if they have this then they will look even more sophisticated and wealthy. It is easy to assume that the ad designers imagine those who would buy this item as people of elegance, sophistication, wealth and that are white. Just by owning this device, a person reinforces ideas about elegance and wealth. Also due to the fact that Audry Hepburn, an American icon who just so happens to be an upper class, white women, is juxtaposed to an expensive jewelry item symbolically ties there two images together. This image portrays racial power. The position of the white male in the center of black males bowing before him, which clearly suggests the white males power and superiority over them. This image’s audience is the white race and it ensures their upper class position as well as their executive positions within the workforce. It shows just how split American’s are racially. It almost seems that Intel is showing America that race does matter within their workforce. Posing blacks as slaves has been long engrained into the people of America, that seeing this image does not stray too far from America has already seen.



The image portrays the ideal body of a woman and only that. In American society this ideal body type as well as the racey clothes brought about by the male fantasy world (underwear and tights), make up the majority of media images. Ignoring the women’s face and only focusing on her backside just goes to show that that’s what American culture tends to focus on today. Disregarding her face represents a lack of respect for women and what men truly have accustomed pay attention to, which is women’s bodies sexual manner. Women are used as sexual objects and thus this portrayal of them is carried over into American society. According to the video Dream Worlds II, 90% of media images constructed my men are their personal sexual dreamlands. The caption in this ad “It’s the lifestyle” indicates the American lifestyle is a more sexual one with women being easy contorted to male fantasies. It is outrageous to think that this image that is advertising hair products only shows the women’s backside, it does not even show her hair. With this in mind, we can see what catches people’s attention today.

Sanitation Shortfall

In the book The Penguin Atlas of Women in the World, it surprised me that the absence of adequate sanitation affects girls, more so in a negative way, then men and boys. Who would have thought that collecting water is a major factor in the absence of women in school? I never before realized that water/sanitation makes women more susceptable to attacks and how it makes their household work even more arduous and complicated. Their roles are demanding and necessary in order for them and their families to survive, yet, these women are still denied the type of education that men/boys recieve. The importance of their roles are once again over looked.
In an article I read titled "The Worst Mistake In The History Of The Human Race" by anthropologist Jared Diamond, he goes into explaining how agriculture basically lead to inequality between the sexes. Farming women tend to have more babies for more helping hands in the fields than women in hunting-gathering civilizations. However, these women in agricultural soceities are also under pressure to to work in the fields and take care of their families. Diamond stated about women in New Guinea farming communities today that "I often see women staggering under loads of vegetables and firewood while men walk empty-handed" (67). It has just become expected of women to play these types of roles and do these types of things.
Luckily, today America does not practice these traditional farming techniques so women do not experience the types of inequality that women of farming communities do. However, due to our long history of farming, I feel that these traditional roles of women have been so deeply engrained in soceity that it is difficult to get rid of them. Yes, women have broken free from these traditional roles, but there is still some leeway. And there is still much violence extorted upon women like those in farming communities. In both communities women are attacked mostly when they are by themselves. I believe that men think there is a type of susceptibility to those women who are by themselves because in general, they are viewed as weak and unimoportant. But how can men think this when women contribute a great amount to society/communities? I also think it is evident that farming also brought about inequality amongst races such as African Americans. They were used as slaves and, therefore thought less of. This thought has also been so deeply engrained in soceity that white people automatically assume that they are better than everyone. It is a good thing that today there is more awareness of these acts of discrimination, and hopefully with this awareness racism will start to hault (slowly, but surely).

Tough Guise

During the entire film, I was intrigued at the amount of evidence it showed supporting the argument that basically, maculinity in American culture is emphasized by toughness and violence. Growing up and watching the media such as movies and television, I have always seen male characters as the murders and abusers but I never put this notion in retrospect with reality. This movie stated the "men are the leading causes of murder, assault and sexual abuse towards women and children", with this range being in the 90 percentile. So what is exactly going on within the gender construction of males/boys to make them the leading causes of death and violence (assault)? I found this fact above quite interesting because this fact is obviously due to the fact that it is culturally accepted and continually emphasized in the media that men need to be "tough", "strong", "muscular", "aggressive", and "athletic" to be seen as a "man". Violence has been so greatly gendered as masculine that when women are violent it is viewed as unusual, therefore when men are violent it is viewed normal and almost expected. Men excute violence amongst other men as a way of showing others that they are dominent etc. Men also execute violence amongst women as a means of feeling that they have an upper hand. Due to the fact of the cultural emphasis on masculinity as the dominant gender, and the rise of feminism, men commit acts of violence so they feel that they "still have it" or still remain the dominant gender. This can be tied back to the media and it's portrayal of men and women. For example, in music videos, it is apparent that men are more dominant. In fact, 90% of music videos are directed by men. They are basically their sexual dreamland. Women are merely sexual objects being dressed in barely nothing and attending to the singers every need. They are sometimes seen as nymphos or strippers who like taking their clothes off for the males pleasure. When men are absent nothing is left for the woman. They are sad, depressed and do not know what to do with themselves and must be replaced by an object sexually. I have been exposed to these types of demeaning images growing up. Even female artists, especially teen idols, portray a "racy" character such as Brittany Spears and Christina Aguilara. Images of women in the media have changed drastically from generation to generation becoming more vulgar and exposing of women and their bodies. With this in mind, I feel that the shape of a women's body is paid more attention to and having a body that is "sexually desired" is envied more and more. These new body images also probably have contributed to the rise in eating disorders in America.

Being that men are more likely to inhibit murder and assault, as a women I need to be aware of not only this, but also of the cultural influences and emphasism/pressure for men to be this way. I need to become more aware of the environment/people around me, as well as an understanding of the pressures media places over men. I also feel that these new, racy images of women have caused some backtracking in the rise of feminism and feminist rights. These images construe men's thoughts and create a sense of sexual power. It is so commonly seen today that it has become a "normal" way of seeing women.

Ch 1 and 2: Violence in America

After reading these two chapters it made sense as to how inequality is the main factor of America's high rates in violence. I feel that this may occur due to American's strong desires of being the best. The competition in America is outrageous and we are exposed to it at such an early age. There is such a large emphasis on getting a good education, making a lot of money, and buying all of these material objects that make us look good to the public eye. Due to the fact that we want to make ourselves look better, we tend to lash out at others finding any way to negatively stereotype them and place them in a lower "status" then ourselves. "Knit-picking" these qualities within individuals leads to racism, hatred and possibly violence. People emphasize others lack of education, lack of money, the color of their skin, or their religion. In an ideal society, these types of things would be embraced and not used to tear someone down. Unfortunately, America has traditionally used racism and other stereotypes as a means for defining people. Those who are different then us and that live different lifestyles are simply "tossed out" of our lives based on their physical being and way of life.

Identity

There are so many complexities that may define us as a person. In fact, there are a plethora of areas one may fit into within the diverse population of the United States. Identity is extremely important to people because it helps define them and it gives them a sense of self belonging. never realized how easily our identities can be altered. A dramatic life experience may occur, such as a rape or war victim, or it can be altered simply by getting a tattoo. Thus, I love how finding your identity is a lifelong endeavor because we can always "change"/experience new things if we want to! We can also retain something that we have forgotten and left behind in the past. This gives so much more flavor to life and it creates a sense of excitement in finding yourself. Unfortunately, this can be difficult to do...So how do we identify ourselves? Luckily this can be split into two different categories to help give a better understanding!
On the micro level, I realized that I have advanced a lot at. Living where I did, entering new schools, making new friends, losing friends, and deaths of family members have helped develop into the person I am today. This helped me look at my life in a positive aspect. It is inevitable that people will have both good and bad experiences in life, but in the end they both will make you stronger.

In the United States, physical appearance tends to determining factor for the way we categorize one another. Our physical appearance can determine an individuals happiness and places them in a specific group. Today, many people are unhappy with the way they look so they go about changing whatever they can. It is unfortunate that this country is so carried away with the physical aspects of people because it causes segregation, stereotyping, and racism. Eating disorders, outrageous plastic surgeries, and a excessive desire to look better then the next person is evident everywhere.

In the book Women's Lives, it stated that some Asian American women have eye surgery to "Europeanize" their eyes (63). With this in mind, we can see how discrimination/categorization for possessing a distinctive characteristic many effect someone. Instead of being ashamed of this it should be embraced. However, society is so critical and eager to find out people's backgrounds etc., it is hard to obtain. "Many Americans see their values and institutions as an example to others, and their way of life as something to which others should universally aspire" (Burman 98). This ties in with the fact how an individual thinks others should they look as if they do and live as they do. this only occurs because it's the only way they know, people can be narrow minded. Looking at others with different lifestyles ( ie gay/transgendered or Latino/Muslin) are looked down upon. In return, hatred comes into play.

RBG Ch. 2: The Experience of Racism

Even though there have supposedly been many advancements towards abolishing racism, it is still blatantly apparent in U.S. society. After reading this chapter as well as some testimonies about personal experiences with racism, many minorities are still scared to reveal, ethnically, who they really are. For example in WL Ch. 2: Jews in the U.S.: The Rising Costs of Whiteness, Melanie Kaye stated that "People are always asking me 'what are you?' They don't know I'm Jewish but they know I'm something (98)". This statement opened my eyes to see how in the U.S. we are so used to racially defining who are. Without race where do we fit in with one another? The U.S. is such a diverse nation and it sometimes is difficult for individuals to find their sense of self. Many people of different racial backgrounds come into U.S. soceity not fully knowing and expecting the racial assumptions place on themselves and their culture. Placing people in racial categories is easy, therefore, we do it all the time to get a sense of who we are and where we belong in this society. Racism is so engraved in our history it will take a lot of time and effort to etch it out.

Slavery Timeline: 1400-1500

I never realized how so very early on, Europeans had blacks as slaves, even before the United States did. Why was Africa singled out, by both Europe and then the U.S., as a nation to which slaves could be obtained without a second thought? Now moving onto Christopher Columbus and his voyage to the 'New World'. When I was younger Columbus was portrayed as a 'hero' who discovered this wonderful place that we now call America. However, I view him more so as greedy. He came into these natives lives and put them into slavery. His motives behind all of this were simply due to his want of money and power.
In earlier years, European powers' actions were overlooked and went by without any consequences. As time has passed on, many efforts and documents have been made to abolish slavery. Slavery has become a more well known topic that is talked about often. There will always be people trying to sneak by the rules, therefore, it is very important that people are well educated on this subject.

RGB Chapter 1: Racism History and Politics and other readings

Before this was pointed out in the class discussion, I had never noticed the complication that can be derived from the U.S. Declaration of Independence when considering who 'we the people' is referring to. One could easily think that it simply refers to all United States citizens. But when looking at the big picture, only some people obtain these full rights. Women, children, and minority races have been fighting for these rights that usually white males easily possess. The further down that i read in the Declaration of Independence, the more I came to realize that phrase 'we the people' turned into 'he' in my mind. It can be understood as to why 'he' was being adressed due to the fact that white males wrote and signed this document. However, as citizens of this country, we need to realize how muchn this newly diverse population has come to effect the way of life of this country.