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.