"Lost Boys" was a great movie. I enjoyed the non-perspective that it took on the situation of the young men. It showed us a story instead of telling it to us. On one hand, there was a young man who had a goal to better himself and on the other, a small group of men who wanted to better their country. The one who wanted to better himself actually made it happen; he did whatever it took to get what he wanted. The other men didn't seem to follow through very well with their goals, but they still made it a point to remember their homeland.
The migration articles and videos were very interesting. They gave a more in-depth perspective on the topic, helping us grasp a better understanding of why people migrate.
I am still hung up on the conflict of whether or not we should just open America's borders to everyone who wants to come and help them get here, or if we should just send more aid out into the world. The problem with letting everyone come here is just that there isn't enough room for us. The problem with sending aid out is that there's no way to determine who really needs it the most and we would destroy some cultures by spreading our western perspective of what's good and what's bad. Hopefully an answer will be revealed to us, soon.
I thought our discussion was great. I enjoyed the repoire we shared. Everyone had different things to say and different perspectives to share. I think we all learned a lot from each other.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Monday, April 18, 2011
Week 11
This week's topic was two-in-one: pop-culture and disabilities. Our guest speaker was another instructor on-campus, Matt. He mainly teaches economics but instructs some math classes as well. I appreciated him coming to speak with us so much because he shared this amazing attitude toward life with us. As we have been learning throughout the semester, people are just people, no matter what culture they belong to. A disability doesn't make a person any more than religion or orientation. Sure, these things play parts in who we are, but that isn't all there is to us. Matt was a great example of this. His message to me was be sure to not only treat people respectfully, but to act respectfully at all times. I think that's something people forget to do, act respectfully.
We read a number of articles and had a few videos to watch. Reading and watching them made me feel humble and grateful. Humble because the strength and resilience of people with disabilities makes me wonder just how strong I truly am. (Not very.) Grateful because I don't have to deal with the extra stress of having a disability. Or maybe it's better stated as a different stress. However, envisioning some of these scenarios for myself is a little frightening. I like to think that I would be able to overcome and conquer a disability, but I wonder at the end of the day just how tempting it would be to fall into despair toward it. This topic really made me think more about myself and how I act, the decisions I make, etc. This may be a selfish perspective, but I think it's an honest one.
My favorite article on pop-culture was "Being a Teen in North America". It brought out a lot of facts and truths about where we get ideas about beauty and why it is so unattainable. One thing that I have noticed, extrapolating from some facts in the article, is that many "beauty" companies have begun to campaign for women (especially) to have confidence no matter what they look like. It makes me wonder if this "value" is sincere or just another marketing plot. I mean, I'm a bigger young woman and I by no means think I'm ugly, but I would like to be healthier. Since I've started working out at the gym I often stop at mirrors to "check myself out". I feel better about myself, I like my "lines" better, I like smiling when I see myself. I even entertain the idea that people smile when they see me (for whatever reason.) But if I think back to a few years ago when I was a lot less confident, due mostly to how I felt I looked, I would have purchased items from companies who claimed to "endorse" my image and not the super-model's. Now, I think I care a little less whether or not people are telling me to "be confident despite your flaws" or whatever. My flaws are me. I can't be someone else and it's silly to try.
I wish every teen in America would read this article, though. I wish they would understand that there's more than one perspective to have and that the most important thing is being yourself. (As long as you follow good hygiene!)
We read a number of articles and had a few videos to watch. Reading and watching them made me feel humble and grateful. Humble because the strength and resilience of people with disabilities makes me wonder just how strong I truly am. (Not very.) Grateful because I don't have to deal with the extra stress of having a disability. Or maybe it's better stated as a different stress. However, envisioning some of these scenarios for myself is a little frightening. I like to think that I would be able to overcome and conquer a disability, but I wonder at the end of the day just how tempting it would be to fall into despair toward it. This topic really made me think more about myself and how I act, the decisions I make, etc. This may be a selfish perspective, but I think it's an honest one.
My favorite article on pop-culture was "Being a Teen in North America". It brought out a lot of facts and truths about where we get ideas about beauty and why it is so unattainable. One thing that I have noticed, extrapolating from some facts in the article, is that many "beauty" companies have begun to campaign for women (especially) to have confidence no matter what they look like. It makes me wonder if this "value" is sincere or just another marketing plot. I mean, I'm a bigger young woman and I by no means think I'm ugly, but I would like to be healthier. Since I've started working out at the gym I often stop at mirrors to "check myself out". I feel better about myself, I like my "lines" better, I like smiling when I see myself. I even entertain the idea that people smile when they see me (for whatever reason.) But if I think back to a few years ago when I was a lot less confident, due mostly to how I felt I looked, I would have purchased items from companies who claimed to "endorse" my image and not the super-model's. Now, I think I care a little less whether or not people are telling me to "be confident despite your flaws" or whatever. My flaws are me. I can't be someone else and it's silly to try.
I wish every teen in America would read this article, though. I wish they would understand that there's more than one perspective to have and that the most important thing is being yourself. (As long as you follow good hygiene!)
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Week 10
Sexual Orientation and Gender/Sex are the topics of articles I will discuss in this blog. Last week we read the articles on sexual orientation and then listened to our guest speaker on the topic, Ed. The first article we read is authored by Krutzsch and titled "The Gayest One". In it he thoughtfully talks about his life as an "out-of-the-closet", practicing, monogamous homosexual man. His reason for writing the piece is due to his co-workers label of him as "the gayest one" of all the openly gay men in his department (11). I thought the article was incredibly well-written and so funny that I shared it with a friend of mine. The topic, however, is a serious one. I think it would be difficult to be in Krutzsch's place, wondering whether or not or even how to accept the title of "the gayest one". For me, it brings up a lot of questions like "Why can't it be as innocuous as being the tallest one, or the shortest one?" But then I think to myself "What if people labeled me "the most religious one"? How would you feel then? I believe it would definitely raise a lot of self affirmation, as well as self-doubt about myself. Not to mention call into question my feelings and perceptions regarding the word "religious". Ultimately, I think this article brought me to a closer understanding about being "the most-est one".
I honestly can't even go into the second article by Michaelson. I started reading it and thought "Oh, this is OK." Until I got to one point he made and I couldn't read anymore it was so wrong to me. But until then he had great statements that I agree with about accepting homosexuality as another condition of humanity. No less or no great than any other and I do agree, everyone deserves the same civil rights.
Reading about the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy upset me. I hadn't really given it two thoughts before. I never really considered who it may be hurting, I just figured it was meant to protect people. But as I read this article I realized that it was protecting people: the judgmental, ignorant bigots. It kept protecting them from coming to a way of acceptance and understanding. Instead, preserving their homophobic perspectives and perpetuating the idea that it will continue into the future. I think that's what makes the most angry. People get mad at homosexuals or any other culture that has a different perspective, but they don't stop to consider that their own opinions and perspectives are the ones that must be demolished.
The Ferriss article seemed incredibly unjustified to me. I guess I have incredibly little pity when it comes to people simply finding new ways to complain. It seems obvious to me that the reason that the United States cannot allow same-sex partnership sponsoring for visas and citizenship is that we're already incredibly overcrowded with millions of people trying to get into our country. Allowing same-sex partnership would just give another opportunity for a rule to be abused. I'm not OK with that in any way.
Sailer's article was more interesting. As I read it the thought came to me that maybe lesbian women, a majority of the time, don't want to be anything in particular? They don't fit in with women, and they don't fit in with guys straight or gay. Talk about breaking gender stereotypes.
Setoodeh's article about the young, gay boy in high school described his life before his murder. I don't like thinking about these things, obviously, who does? They're ugly and depressing. However, I like to speculate about them even less. But here's what I will say. I know the question was brought up about whether or not we thought there was any way to save this boy. What if I answered that question with "Make him a girl." A lot of his behavior most likely would have been handled differently had he been a young woman instead. However, I don't think that's really a path I want to walk down, speculation-wise. I'm just saying that no, I don't think his life would have been spared due to any one thing, or even any combination of things. All we can do now is consider what we can learn in the unfortunate and tragic event of his death and hope that we will prevent it in the future.
The article titled "Your Life" was really just some facts and figures. Food for thought but nothing I can really comment on. "Chaplains Worry" was a little more controversial to me. I doubt they worry as much about whether or not the straight soldiers have had anal sex with their girlfriends at home. The reason I bring this up is that it falls into the same "career-ending" categories as homosexuality. But you don't hear them making any policies about that. So, I guess that just makes me a little angry. And by a little I mean a lot.
Now we move into the Gender/Sex articles. The first, Eppinga, is an interview with Nonie Darwish who grew up in the Islam faith in Cairo, Egypt. Next, Ladin shares her experience as a transgender woman teaching college classes at a traditional Jewish university. Julia O'Malley writes about her experience teaching a class in Alaska containing a male student from Samoa living as a woman there. Finally, Rosenberg writes about rethinking gender.
I won't go into this articles individually, but I will say that the over-all effect of these articles on me made me very thankful to be who I am and not have to deal with such difficult issues in my life. Instead I get to worry about what degree to graduate with and what classes will get me there the fastest. It gave me a new appreciation for where I am with my life. It also gave me motivation to be more compassionate toward everyone, because we are all dealing with our own issues and it isn't anyone's place to judge them.
I honestly can't even go into the second article by Michaelson. I started reading it and thought "Oh, this is OK." Until I got to one point he made and I couldn't read anymore it was so wrong to me. But until then he had great statements that I agree with about accepting homosexuality as another condition of humanity. No less or no great than any other and I do agree, everyone deserves the same civil rights.
Reading about the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy upset me. I hadn't really given it two thoughts before. I never really considered who it may be hurting, I just figured it was meant to protect people. But as I read this article I realized that it was protecting people: the judgmental, ignorant bigots. It kept protecting them from coming to a way of acceptance and understanding. Instead, preserving their homophobic perspectives and perpetuating the idea that it will continue into the future. I think that's what makes the most angry. People get mad at homosexuals or any other culture that has a different perspective, but they don't stop to consider that their own opinions and perspectives are the ones that must be demolished.
The Ferriss article seemed incredibly unjustified to me. I guess I have incredibly little pity when it comes to people simply finding new ways to complain. It seems obvious to me that the reason that the United States cannot allow same-sex partnership sponsoring for visas and citizenship is that we're already incredibly overcrowded with millions of people trying to get into our country. Allowing same-sex partnership would just give another opportunity for a rule to be abused. I'm not OK with that in any way.
Sailer's article was more interesting. As I read it the thought came to me that maybe lesbian women, a majority of the time, don't want to be anything in particular? They don't fit in with women, and they don't fit in with guys straight or gay. Talk about breaking gender stereotypes.
Setoodeh's article about the young, gay boy in high school described his life before his murder. I don't like thinking about these things, obviously, who does? They're ugly and depressing. However, I like to speculate about them even less. But here's what I will say. I know the question was brought up about whether or not we thought there was any way to save this boy. What if I answered that question with "Make him a girl." A lot of his behavior most likely would have been handled differently had he been a young woman instead. However, I don't think that's really a path I want to walk down, speculation-wise. I'm just saying that no, I don't think his life would have been spared due to any one thing, or even any combination of things. All we can do now is consider what we can learn in the unfortunate and tragic event of his death and hope that we will prevent it in the future.
The article titled "Your Life" was really just some facts and figures. Food for thought but nothing I can really comment on. "Chaplains Worry" was a little more controversial to me. I doubt they worry as much about whether or not the straight soldiers have had anal sex with their girlfriends at home. The reason I bring this up is that it falls into the same "career-ending" categories as homosexuality. But you don't hear them making any policies about that. So, I guess that just makes me a little angry. And by a little I mean a lot.
Now we move into the Gender/Sex articles. The first, Eppinga, is an interview with Nonie Darwish who grew up in the Islam faith in Cairo, Egypt. Next, Ladin shares her experience as a transgender woman teaching college classes at a traditional Jewish university. Julia O'Malley writes about her experience teaching a class in Alaska containing a male student from Samoa living as a woman there. Finally, Rosenberg writes about rethinking gender.
I won't go into this articles individually, but I will say that the over-all effect of these articles on me made me very thankful to be who I am and not have to deal with such difficult issues in my life. Instead I get to worry about what degree to graduate with and what classes will get me there the fastest. It gave me a new appreciation for where I am with my life. It also gave me motivation to be more compassionate toward everyone, because we are all dealing with our own issues and it isn't anyone's place to judge them.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
My Cultural Diversity Article
Well, I logged on to CNN hoping that an article would pop out at me. Indeed, one did.
This article is about new findings about previous medical research regarding the effects of medication used to treat autism.
First, let me tell you why this article is important to me. I have two young and totally awesome nephews who are affected by autism and it is definitely a culture of its own! This article states the "core symptoms" of autism are communications and social impairment, and repetitive behavior. To me, those are the qualifiers of a culture. Everyone communicates differently, it's hard for different cultures to interact, and everyone observes traditions! So, that's why this article is important to me from a cultural perspective.
Now, here's why this article is important to you! Even though this article doesn't give a lot of background about autism, I believe it is a good educational tool for those of us who have had little exposure to people affected by autism. It talks about the symptoms of autism, how it was treated in the past, and how it is treated today. This helps us understand the difficulties autism raises for each individual affected by it first-hand or peripherally. And, as have been learning this year, understanding issues helps us deal with them in the best ways we are able. I think sometimes we forget that all it can take on occasion is patience and an enduring smile.
Lastly, this article also links here which is a great resource if you're looking for more information about autism.
This article is about new findings about previous medical research regarding the effects of medication used to treat autism.
First, let me tell you why this article is important to me. I have two young and totally awesome nephews who are affected by autism and it is definitely a culture of its own! This article states the "core symptoms" of autism are communications and social impairment, and repetitive behavior. To me, those are the qualifiers of a culture. Everyone communicates differently, it's hard for different cultures to interact, and everyone observes traditions! So, that's why this article is important to me from a cultural perspective.
Now, here's why this article is important to you! Even though this article doesn't give a lot of background about autism, I believe it is a good educational tool for those of us who have had little exposure to people affected by autism. It talks about the symptoms of autism, how it was treated in the past, and how it is treated today. This helps us understand the difficulties autism raises for each individual affected by it first-hand or peripherally. And, as have been learning this year, understanding issues helps us deal with them in the best ways we are able. I think sometimes we forget that all it can take on occasion is patience and an enduring smile.
Lastly, this article also links here which is a great resource if you're looking for more information about autism.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Week Eight
I'm making this entry up from last week when I forgot about it entirely. This week we read a couple articles and watched a couple videos regarding health according to different cultures.
Reading the two articles (Health in Kenya, Patel; Big Mack Attack, Watson), actually lead me to consider something else entirely. I will get to that in a bit. First, taking a closer look at the health statistics in Kenya nearly made me sick. Reading about why those statistics are so staggering made me even more uneasy. Kenya is a patriarchal country, which means that men are given higher value than women (and I believe this is incredibly wrong.) Women are basically treated as currency because (from what I can see) the ideas of western culture about prosperity have twisted their heritage and traditions. The men want to keep the status quo as it has traditionally been, yet also wish to embrace the select western traditions that will give them the most pleasure. They circumcise the women which leads them open to infection, especially by HIV, spread predominantly through heterosexual relationships in Kenya. They marry off women at young ages to older men in order to receive large dowries. And because traditionally the use of condoms is seen as a sign of distrust and infidelity, men won't use them. Yet the countries board of health makes them easily available to its citizens. So all these women have HIV/AIDS and no health care they cannot be regularly tested. Then during the 5 years before symptoms become apparent they transmit the disease to whichever man they are sold to. This is a disgusting perversion of western culture and another culture's traditions, in my opinion. It seriously angers me.
Next, reading about the impact of McDonald's in China got some other thoughts stirring in my mind about the mixing of western and eastern cultures. McDonald's is a symbol of western culture, of success and prosperity of an individual. This article correlated McDonald's with the decline of traditional eastern thinking: of families staying close together, the young caring for the old then being cared for later by their young. To me the two cultures seem to be a reversal of each other. Living in western culture, we consider our futures in terms of how well we will care for ourselves and for our children. What I understand of eastern culture is the opposite, how well can they be taken care of by their children? It was interesting for McDonald's to be considered a "status symbol" instead of an unhealthy icon.
The video about the Ache Indian tribes in Paraguay was interesting. They more or less choose to lead that lifestyle. I noticed that their clothing was in a modern western style; t-shirts and shorts. Sure, they were very lived-in clothes, but it made me wonder why people would choose to live in the wilderness and encourage their children to continue this tradition? What makes someone choose such a seemingly poor quality of life, health-wise? What are the "pros" of living such an uncivilized lifestyle?
The last video about the traditional Kosher lifestyle was also interesting to me. Taking this in my perspective as a Lutheran, it just seemed kind of ridiculous. I realize that it is an important cultural tradition, but my faith is so totally different from theirs. For example, they interviewed a cook who said that if something non-Kosher was ever cooked in his oven, he would never cook in it again until it had been "cleansed" somehow and returned to a Kosher state. He was very insistent and it gave me the impression of a Kosher lifestyle being very, well, superstitious. Just to give you an idea of where I'm coming from, I am currently enduring the time of Lent. It is a time for me to ponder my "nail and cross", so to speak, my sin, and my Savior. It is traditional during this time "sacrifice" or give up a luxury. The reason for this is to be reminded in your time of desire and denial what Jesus sacrificed for us. Maybe this seems silly to you, that's OK. But maybe you can understand why the tradition of Kosher meals seems a little silly to me. Why would you choose to live a life of such strict standards and rules? Why constantly live in fear of the consequences due to circumstances you cannot control? Just something to consider.
Reading the two articles (Health in Kenya, Patel; Big Mack Attack, Watson), actually lead me to consider something else entirely. I will get to that in a bit. First, taking a closer look at the health statistics in Kenya nearly made me sick. Reading about why those statistics are so staggering made me even more uneasy. Kenya is a patriarchal country, which means that men are given higher value than women (and I believe this is incredibly wrong.) Women are basically treated as currency because (from what I can see) the ideas of western culture about prosperity have twisted their heritage and traditions. The men want to keep the status quo as it has traditionally been, yet also wish to embrace the select western traditions that will give them the most pleasure. They circumcise the women which leads them open to infection, especially by HIV, spread predominantly through heterosexual relationships in Kenya. They marry off women at young ages to older men in order to receive large dowries. And because traditionally the use of condoms is seen as a sign of distrust and infidelity, men won't use them. Yet the countries board of health makes them easily available to its citizens. So all these women have HIV/AIDS and no health care they cannot be regularly tested. Then during the 5 years before symptoms become apparent they transmit the disease to whichever man they are sold to. This is a disgusting perversion of western culture and another culture's traditions, in my opinion. It seriously angers me.
Next, reading about the impact of McDonald's in China got some other thoughts stirring in my mind about the mixing of western and eastern cultures. McDonald's is a symbol of western culture, of success and prosperity of an individual. This article correlated McDonald's with the decline of traditional eastern thinking: of families staying close together, the young caring for the old then being cared for later by their young. To me the two cultures seem to be a reversal of each other. Living in western culture, we consider our futures in terms of how well we will care for ourselves and for our children. What I understand of eastern culture is the opposite, how well can they be taken care of by their children? It was interesting for McDonald's to be considered a "status symbol" instead of an unhealthy icon.
The video about the Ache Indian tribes in Paraguay was interesting. They more or less choose to lead that lifestyle. I noticed that their clothing was in a modern western style; t-shirts and shorts. Sure, they were very lived-in clothes, but it made me wonder why people would choose to live in the wilderness and encourage their children to continue this tradition? What makes someone choose such a seemingly poor quality of life, health-wise? What are the "pros" of living such an uncivilized lifestyle?
The last video about the traditional Kosher lifestyle was also interesting to me. Taking this in my perspective as a Lutheran, it just seemed kind of ridiculous. I realize that it is an important cultural tradition, but my faith is so totally different from theirs. For example, they interviewed a cook who said that if something non-Kosher was ever cooked in his oven, he would never cook in it again until it had been "cleansed" somehow and returned to a Kosher state. He was very insistent and it gave me the impression of a Kosher lifestyle being very, well, superstitious. Just to give you an idea of where I'm coming from, I am currently enduring the time of Lent. It is a time for me to ponder my "nail and cross", so to speak, my sin, and my Savior. It is traditional during this time "sacrifice" or give up a luxury. The reason for this is to be reminded in your time of desire and denial what Jesus sacrificed for us. Maybe this seems silly to you, that's OK. But maybe you can understand why the tradition of Kosher meals seems a little silly to me. Why would you choose to live a life of such strict standards and rules? Why constantly live in fear of the consequences due to circumstances you cannot control? Just something to consider.
Week Nine
I realized when I sat down to write this blog that I completely spaced out blogging last week because class had been cancelled, even though Kim was kind enough to send us a reminder email! So, that is frustrating and I will do that blog after I finish this one.
This blog will be fairly short, we spent most of our time talking with our guest speaker, Ed. I walked into class and saw him on screen and saw him smile and laugh with Kim; I thought he would be a great speaker. Sure enough, within minutes of beginning I already felt as though we were friends. I think I could have asked him question after question but I definitely wanted others to get a chance.
I don't really know if I can say that meeting Ed was a totally unique experience. I can definitely say that I have never (knowingly) met a trans-gender man or woman before in my lifetime, Ed is the first. However, he said that his goal of speaking with us was to show us that trans-gender people are just... people. Like I said earlier, that's really what I felt. Ed was awesome and friendly and incredibly courageous for being as open and honest (and genuinely happy) as he is.
Ed definitely gave me, not necessarily a new perspective, but a better perspective, I think, on issues of trans-gender debate. Living in a state with a little population where we don't really have the chance to mingle with diversity at all, I think it limits our ability to form accurate opinions. For example, when I was younger I held the opinion that homosexuality was wrong, no exceptions. Later on a friend "outed" himself to me and my opinion no longer had any value. He was still my friend, his orientation didn't change that to me. The point I'm trying to make here is that until we experience a situation, we don't truly know how we would react to it.
Meeting Ed made me reflect on what we hear in the media. To be honest, we never really hear about people like Ed! Just a person going through life with his or her own problems and dealing with them in the best ways possible. Instead we hear about the extremes and I think it really skews our perspectives toward this diverse culture. So on the one hand we have flesh and blood human beings just like me, but with an experience I anticipate never having. What right do I have to pass judgments on their decisions in their situations? None, really.
Anyway, to wrap this up, I'm very grateful to Ed for taking the time to visit with us and give us some exposure to new experiences and some first-hand knowledge.
This blog will be fairly short, we spent most of our time talking with our guest speaker, Ed. I walked into class and saw him on screen and saw him smile and laugh with Kim; I thought he would be a great speaker. Sure enough, within minutes of beginning I already felt as though we were friends. I think I could have asked him question after question but I definitely wanted others to get a chance.
I don't really know if I can say that meeting Ed was a totally unique experience. I can definitely say that I have never (knowingly) met a trans-gender man or woman before in my lifetime, Ed is the first. However, he said that his goal of speaking with us was to show us that trans-gender people are just... people. Like I said earlier, that's really what I felt. Ed was awesome and friendly and incredibly courageous for being as open and honest (and genuinely happy) as he is.
Ed definitely gave me, not necessarily a new perspective, but a better perspective, I think, on issues of trans-gender debate. Living in a state with a little population where we don't really have the chance to mingle with diversity at all, I think it limits our ability to form accurate opinions. For example, when I was younger I held the opinion that homosexuality was wrong, no exceptions. Later on a friend "outed" himself to me and my opinion no longer had any value. He was still my friend, his orientation didn't change that to me. The point I'm trying to make here is that until we experience a situation, we don't truly know how we would react to it.
Meeting Ed made me reflect on what we hear in the media. To be honest, we never really hear about people like Ed! Just a person going through life with his or her own problems and dealing with them in the best ways possible. Instead we hear about the extremes and I think it really skews our perspectives toward this diverse culture. So on the one hand we have flesh and blood human beings just like me, but with an experience I anticipate never having. What right do I have to pass judgments on their decisions in their situations? None, really.
Anyway, to wrap this up, I'm very grateful to Ed for taking the time to visit with us and give us some exposure to new experiences and some first-hand knowledge.
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