What would you stand alone for?

     Something I feel very strongly about is inequality, especially among humans. Like racial in equality and gender inequality. One of the current issues is gay rights in america. I would stand alone for this because I think that humans are humans and just because your gay doesn't make you less than anyone else. Even when hearing arguments from people who are against gay rights confuses me. A lot of people talk about god and how its wrong. I'm just gonna say it... Bull Sh*t! This is the whole racial inequality all over again. We need to look back on our history so that it doesn't repeat itself. During class we watched a man arguing in favor of gay rights, however when he started his speech with arguments not in favor of gay rights. Towards the end he pretended that he had messed up. He was reading arguments from people who were not n favor of colored peoples rights. He made the same point I did in saying that we need to learn from what happened in he past. For this I would stand alone with no one by my side because I know it is right. Laws should not stand in the way of love. People deserve the freedom of choice and they deserve to decide who they marry just as much as a woman can chose to marry a man.

Jim Crow Laws

   Jim Crow laws are segregation laws between white people and colored people. These laws didn't all them to go to the bathroom in the same places, buy things in the same place, sit on the same benches, and sit on the same transportation like busses and trains. These laws started in about 1890 and didn't end till about 1965. 75 whole years! Can you just imagine not being able to look at white women if you were a boy without being afraid for your life? or having to keep your head down when walking in the streets so that a white person wouldn't get offended and miss treat you? Thats how black and colored people lived then, in constant oppression. Although not all white people agreed with these laws there were groups that strongly agreed with them and enforced them by lynching people and using fear.

   A one huge pro white supremacy organization in america was KKK also known as the Ku Klux Klan.  The Ku Klux Klan was first started in about 1865 by a group of confederate army veterans. It formed in Pulaski Tennessee. The group would murder blacks and supportive whites. Often Republicans or anyone in support of educating black children. When they went of ass a group to do something they would dress in robes and sheets to conceal their identity. Some even think that the whole get up was also to scare black people. They would dress up and go burn down churches and and drive people out of their homes. Overtime they became known as a terrorist organization but the government couldn't do anything about through the law. Finally the Force Bill was passed in 1871. It gave the government the power to prosecute the clan. They mostly served democrats. Overtime the organization grew until it was in multiple countries. Soon after that the Ku Klux Klan lost power due to conflicts over who was the leader around 1944. In the end however the government pretty much put an end to KKK. KKK was revived once again during the civil rights era. Then faded out some, however even today there are small groups of KKK still around.

     A modern day example of a similar group would be the Alliance Defending Freedom. This is an anti-gay group based in Arizona. Their motto is "For faith, For justice". This group was formed in 1994. They train lawyers to see cases from a cultural rights perspective based on christian ideas. It has been rumored that this specific anti-gay organization was supporting and influencing violence agains the LGBTQ in Berlin. There are many groups similar to this one who are more violent also. You can simply google anti-gay groups and find a gigantic list on wikipedia and tons of sites leading to their main website. Gay rights is similar to the struggle agains segregation and colored people rights.

   

Songs of Protest: Changes by 2Pac

The song that I looked at was Changes by 2Pac. This song referred to black poverty, the opportunities black people miss out on, how african american males are often targeted by the police and other subjects like that. I have heard this song before but I never really listened to the words until now. When going through the lyrics there was a few lines that really got me thinking about everything. One example is the line where it says "I'm tired of bein' poor and even worse I'm black. My stomach hurts so I'm lookin' for a purse to snatch". This line referred to how black people often live in poverty and I also see it as how people expect them to steal not just because they are poor but because they are black. It has to do with what race they are and the stereo types associated with it. Which leads me to my next line which i "Cops give a damn about a negro? pull the trigger, kill a n*gga, he's a hero". This line touches up on how if a black man is shot its not as big of a deal as when a white man is shot. It sort of shows racial rankings so to speak. In this rap 2pac blames the people and their jealousy or pride for society not changing. He raps about how there should be changes and how everyone should be responsible for themselves and how one black mans actions doesn't represent every black man just like if a white man commits a crime its not said that all white men are like that. Many of 2Pacs songs he refers to racism and oppression and I think that its very important and impressive.

Gender Based Violence

     This week in class we have been talking about how adds, songs, videos, pictures, and other public media perpetuate gender based violence. We also learned that when people say Gender Based Violence you know that they mean violence against women caused by men. Once we watched videos about how women are dehumanized through media making it easier for people, men, to show violence towards them. Take a look at this song I found, but before you look I just want to say that it is explicit and may not be appropriate for certain ages. Here are the lyrics.
     If you look at the chorus you can see how he is dehumanizing her by saying she is a dog and that she is just well a "female dog". He says he will do things to her like he would to a dog as if it was ok or if it was cool and awesome. The chorus goes like this....

I'm a dog, I'm a dog, I'm a dog, I'm a dog, I'm a dog, I'm a dog, I'm a dog
I'm a treat ha like a dog
Feed ha like a dog (Gucci)
Beat ha like a dog
Then pass ha to my dog

He even says he is going to beat her after he dehumanizes her like it is fine and ok for men to do that to women. News flash! IT IS NOT OK! Try also looking at the second verse where it says that all the ladies love him even after he talks about hurting them and mistreating them. Its crazy how all these things happen even subconsciously and we don't know it. In our culture it is considered normal for boys and men to be violent and sometimes specifically towards women. And even if women are not hurt physically all this media hurts them emotionally. They are talked about as these things with amazing parts like you would a toy or an object. The first thing they see is not who you are but more what you are. Take a look at this slam poet and how all this has made her feel.

Beauty...

     In all these different cultures there are all these different definitions of beautiful. In america girls re3 considered beautiful if they are skinny, have big breasts, and a big but. I mean they right tons of songs about it too. Unshaved legs or armpits are not considered beautiful and neither are uni-brows. Take the movie dodgeball. They have this women on one of the teams who is made fun of for being "ugly" she has a unibrow, buck teeth, and wears her hair like princess Leah.
In america if you ever went out of the house like that people would be starting at you, secretly taking photos, and sending them to their friends and ranting about it. But if you were to maybe look at another culture you would see that their opinion on what beautiful looks like is totally different from ours.
One example is that in china people would break their feet to make them fit in these tiny shoes because it was considered beautiful. Someone from china may have thought that was beautiful but in america people think that its terrible and disgusting.

I found this link that showed all these different traits of beauty.




In Thailand neck rings are popular. They make their necks longer and what that to them means beauty to americans seems deranged.







There's the Maori people in New Zealand who get tattoos on their faces called
moko. For women the ultimate sign of beauty was full blue lips and tattoos covering their chin. I know that in other countries people would not even think about doing that because they thought it would make them look unpleasant.





In west Africa (if you are Mauritanian) if you are over weight you are thought of as wealthy. They are considered wealthy when they have stretch marks, fat ankles, and large stomachs. In america thats crazy! Its considered ugly.


But beauty is not just about what you wear its also has to do with the shape of your face, the color of your skin, the color of your eyes, the shape of your lips, the length of your forehead, the shape of your nose... People get plastic surgery and make themselves do things to fit what is considered beautiful in that part of the world or in their culture.
     In my opinion I think that when looking at all these different types of beauty... Beauty is this idea of this perfect person... Beauty is every type of body shape, eye color, face shape, and other physical features its just considered beautiful in different places.  I mean no matter how you look in some way you are beautiful. I would like to say that I don't care and all these opinions in america don't affect me. But really I can't. We try to live up to all these versions of beauty wherever we are and we are willing to hurt ourselves and subject ourselves to all these things just to be "beautiful". I watched these videos down bellow and it really showed me how beauty is different everywhere you go... And after seeing the diversity of the beautiful people above I can say that there is no possible way for there to be one person who is the picture of beauty everywhere.

How Culture Shapes Our Perspective

How Culture Shapes Our Perspective?

     Depending on your culture you have different perspective on some situations. You are brought up in a specific culture and taught things as you grow up that shapes you. Its almost like raising a dog. If you abuse that dog and mistreat the dog it will turn out aggressive and not pleasant but if you raised the dog with proper discipline, love, and kindness then it will become a mans best friend. The reason why the dogs act that way is because of their perspective of what humans are. Because they grew up in a home where they are treated a certain way by humans they then assume all humans are that same way from their perspective.

     As americans we grow up learning that our people and our country is good and that they are the right country, but it is simply all through perspective. I mean some people in america and america in general can be very ethnocentric. They assume that we are right and that in other countries who decide to go about their ordeals another way are terrorists or less fortunate or bad. But if you would just look at the perspective of other countries you would see that they think we are the terrorists and that we are less fortunate. They are taught by their culture to think these things.

     A personal example I have is the different cultures on the mainland to Hawaii. I was taught as I was growing up to call your older male figures or people in your life uncle and the female ones aunty. I was having my friend who had recently moved to Hawaii from the mainland over for a sleepover. She was calling my dad and mom Mr. and Mrs. Awana. That was so weird for me... I told her that she could and should call them uncle Jeff and aunty Renee, but she said that it was sort of disrespectful. We both thought that each other was crazy and that we were right and the other person is wrong.

     I think that as you grow up you go through socialization and learn your culture and really become apart of it. I also think that because of that you have different perspectives, opinions, and ideas than people from other cultures, Now I know that there is definitely not always super definite cultures. Many go through what is called acculturation and adopt parts of other cultures so its hard to pick one one definite culture for each person. Each person is like a puzzle of different cultures that creates this picture of who they are. Each picture is different. Sometimes completely opposite and sometimes almost exactly the same just like our perspectives. The last thing I would like to say is that it would be so much easier to comprehend each persons puzzle or perspective if we could all be ethno-relative and open our eyes and understand that we are not the only culture out there. So many opinions, perspectives, and cultures that make it hard for us to understand one another. 

     When you look at a situation we need to think "What other perspectives do people have on this?" and "How does this affect other people and their cultures?". Culture is truly amazing to me. You can see how diverse we all are and without it we would not be anyone we would not be different and opinionated. Our culture makes you who you are. It makes you think the way you think and it makes you act the way you act.

Global Race Issues

     After looking at the map I started to think. The map showed that the United States is zero percent racist. I don't think that is all true. I don't think its possible to be zero percent racist. Without even thinking we start putting people into boxes and simply based on their looks when we first meet them. That is being racist. We assume so much about people by seeing what race they are. I have never met anyone who has never done that or judged someone. Its simply part of human nature.
     Collecting this data would not have been easy. I mean there is so much human arror and it is very hard to be accurate with these kinds of things. Maybe the people do think one way but don't want to be seen that way so they change their answer. Either that or they don't want to admit they are racist or they don't even realize they are racist. I think that it is pretty much impossible to get accurate data about this particular topic.
     When I was reading the article what I was wondering about was how are the countries that are extremely racist just so racist. I mean I want to understand how and why. I don't care as much about wether or not they are I want to know why and in what way.

To me this shows how you or anyone can be anything. They don't have to be asian to be at the top of your class. You don't have to be black to get mvp for basketball. You don't have to look like anything to be anything. You ca't instantly know everything about someone after seeing them. You need to know them.