SumBlog 11

I found the film Solar Mamas we watched in class this week very interesting. This film definitely displayed some global inequality and touched on the modernization theory. I was very surprised at how little education the female women of Jordan get. This film made me feel so fortunate for everything I have and the ability for me as a female to get as much education I want. This video showed how little the individuals of the Jordan community had. Their houses consisted of tent like objects with very little owned inside each of them. Although I wasn’t surprised with the low quality housing I was surprised with the fact that those individuals (noticed especially with the father) had a cell phone. They seemed so far behind but yet were slightly advanced.

At first I was confused with the fact that only women were going to work with the solar power and become more educated. They were expected to leave their family for six months which didn’t seem accepted by members of the community. The husband made it clear that his wife was supposed to respect him, follow his rules and be the care taker of the family. However, it didn’t take long for those roles to change. The women were going off to become educated in order to bring back the knowledge to their community. It finally made sense that the women were the ones becoming educated because if it were the men there may be a chance of them not sticking to and continuing to apply what they learned. If the men became more knowledgeable they may take their knowledge elsewhere.

I was shocked at how modernized their work was. Although solar power has been around for a while it is still a more recent and upcoming phenomenon. It was surprising to see how Western practices were starting to be used. As I have previously mentioned, it was surprising to see how their houses were so not modernized but yet using advanced methods such as solar power in their homes. This just makes me wonder how many products are produced in poorer countries only to be used more frequently in wealthier countries.

 

As I was searching the internet I came across an interesting article (posted below).

http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/blog/amid-setbacks-the-solar-mamas-are-undeterred

This article was written in 2013 but discussed where the solar mamas are after the video was finished. It was unfortunate to see how the solar panels were installed in the village but there no longer was funding for the project.

SumBlog #10

In class today we briefly touched on the concept of racial profiling. However, that concept was discussed more in depth in our readings. I decided to write about this topic because it fits in with the topic of fear, which we discussed more in class today. Our readings for today discussed how minorities may be racially profiled against by authority such as police. We discussed how certain groups may be targets for no apparent reason. The reading discussed how Latino’s were targeted out in the streets by other citizens or by policemen. I found it very hard to believe how certain minority families don’t even let their children play alone outside. I was surprised by this because as we have also talked in class today I must have had “blinders” on. Since I am not a minority and don’t personally experience things such as racial profiling it almost appears as though racism doesn’t exist. I know it does but because I haven’t experienced racism it shocks me when I hear such things. I may only realize serious problems based on what is portrayed in the media and focusing on only one aspect (which again is like having blinders on).

I was born and raised in a city that doesn’t have a lot of racial diversity so when I was growing up I was able to play outside and looking back now took it for granted. I never witnessed a minority being racially profiled against either so it is hard for me to realize how much it may actually happen. As I have previously mentioned racism still does occur today because I hear stories and learn about it/situations almost daily. I found a video clip from a television series called “What would you do?”

 http://youtu.be/hhM7Gzlt3sU

 This clip shows how racial profiling still occurs in many cities. Minority individuals may not only be targeted by the policemen or other citizens but racial profiling can occur in so many other situations, such as the example of the store. I found it very hard to believe the amount of individuals who witnessed the experiment but didn’t say anything or intervene in the situation. Witnesses may not intervene because they may experience some fear. But can you imagine the amount of fear the individuals who are being racially profiled against have? It is sad to think that minorities can’t be themselves or partake in certain events without having fear. The color of your skin shouldn’t matter. No group should have to feel fear almost every day with any activity they partake in. They also shouldn’t feel as if they are constantly being targeted. That video clip helps to show how little other individuals may intervene in situations like that. However, after becoming aware of how many don’t help it makes me want to help next time I do experience a situation where racial profiling occurs.

SumBlog 9

In class on Wednesday we discussed many powerful topics. After discussing the song ‘Blurred Lines’ it made me think about other types of music videos and lyrics. It also made me realize how many songs are out there in which have such a negative message. One individual who has seem to be getting a lot of fame lately is Miley Cyrus. She was very involved in the song Blurred Lines when it was sang on the MTV Music Awards in 2013. In fact it may have been that song and performance that made her become so noticeable again.

http://youtu.be/6OpHVV1FMR8

I find it mind blowing to believe that Miley had a show that was aired on the Disney channel – Hannah Montana, which portrayed her as a positive role model. People/adolescence who were fans of that television looked up to her and that is how she started to get an audience. I understand the fact that people change as they get older but what I don’t understand is how someone can continue to act so risky when she knows she may have a younger audience. Her younger audience may still look up to her, idolize her and they may want to be just like her. It makes me wonder if songs and behaviors such as hers and other artists are causing younger children to have inappropriate behaviors.

It is very common now days to see and hear different types of music and videos on the internet, radio and television who may not edit as much as they used too. I have heard many very young children singing along with songs that may not even be appropriate for that age, even though they may not truly understand the meaning behind the lyrics. It may not take long for a child to hear a word that they may not know and ask others about it, possibly teaching the child the true meaning. Children might also believe it is okay to dress or partake in risky behaviors because songs encourage it. I know everyone is entitled to free speech however, I feel that there needs to be some type of improvement when it comes to lyrics and videos that can be easily accessed for younger children/adolescence. I believe that what children see and hear at a very young age does reflect on their behavior.

 

 

 

SumBlog 8

In class on Monday we played Sociopoly. This game helped show how serious and difficult it may be to be poor or even a minority. Each group started out with a different initial amount of money and were paid a different salary each time they passed go. That reflected how other minorities may make less money than Caucasians. It also showed that certain jobs pay less and maybe not even enough to get by. There were a couple of other teams who owned some properties before the game even started. Owning properties before the start of the game was a huge advantage because those individuals were able to collect rent/money within the first round of the game. There were five teams who played this game. There were two teams who had a good amount of money, two other teams who had some money and the last team had very little money. The team that had the least amount of money got eliminated from the game within the very first roll because they landed on some property that the richest team had and wasn’t able to afford the rent. This was very hard to see because it made me realize how difficult it may be to get anywhere with very little money. As the game went on the other four teams continued to play however, the other two teams who had less money didn’t buy hardly any properties. They simply did whatever they could to get around the board multiple times to collect their salary and avoid paying the richest teams. The top two teams continued to buy properties and collect rent from any team who landed on their spaces. This also showed me that the rich continue to get richer. I say that because the richest team bought most of the properties and houses/hotels. In buying the houses/hotels more money would be due if a team landed on that square and the richest team would continue to make more money. It was frustrating to see how the richest team continued to buy all the property and build houses/hotels on them until no other teams could afford to pay them. When the teams with the lower amount of money chose not to buy properties the bank would auction the properties off starting at $10. If no one bid on the property it was always the richest team who would buy the property for $10 and add more houses/hotels. It started to make me realize that the rich team was very greedy. Who would have guessed that playing a modified version of Monopoly would make me realize how difficult it may be to get by every day on the very little those individuals may have. It is one thing to read about the minority and lower socioeconomic status individuals in a book but it made it more clear when actually playing the game and putting it into perspective. Playing this game was very heartbreaking and made me even more thankful for everything I own.

SumBlog 7

After reading the chapter assigned and the discussion in class I realized that gender and education can still remain a problem today. In the reading “Missing in Interaction” I was surprised to see how teachers favored the male students over the female students. I thought about that issue and noticed that the reading was written about twenty years ago and figured and hoped that the times have changed. But after reading the online article below, I noticed that gender inequality in the schools may still be occurring.

 http://family.go.com/parenting/pkg-teen/article-772188-dealing-with-gender-inequality-at-your-child-s-school-t/

 Up until this class discussion I guess I have never been aware of the gender inequality in schools. I was very surprised to read how teachers favored male interaction over female interaction. It didn’t make sense to me why teachers would be alright with male students shouting out answers but female students would get reprimanded. I was even more surprised how the reading explained that after talking with the teachers and showing them how they acted to each gender, the teachers were shocked and unaware of their actions. The online article that I listed above made that topic and reasons a little clearer. It was stated that there were expectations for males to be more aggressive and outgoing whereas females were expected to be more passive. Although these expectations are unfortunate they can still be in effect today. There are many situations that I have been in where males get more attention and are expected to be able to do certain things.

There are many debates about whether or not the male or female students are experiencing inequality in the classroom. It was indicated in the online article that some research believes that females aren’t getting as much interaction in the classroom. The research also states that male students are pushed more towards the math and science field unlike female students. The online article wasn’t all so negative. There were multiple suggestions for parents on this topic of gender inequality in schools and how to improve it.

Although gender inequality may still be an issue in some classes I feel as if it is slowly changing for the better!

SumBlog 6

In class before Spring Break we talked about the minimum wage debate and what is necessary to survive. The rate of minimum wage is currently $7.25 and hasn’t rose for about five years. The talk is to raise minimum wage to $9.00 an hour. However, some fast food workers want minimum wage to increase to $15.00 an hour. I personally think that minimum wage should indeed increase but I’m not sure I agree with the idea of $15.00 an hour.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6RA25UbVtE&feature=player_detailpage#t=3

  I watched a clip from CNN which discussed the minimum wage debate and the announcer made a good point. She stated that fast food jobs such as McDonalds are meant more for individuals who aren’t trying to support a family. Those types of jobs are meant for individuals to get their foot in the door and gain some type of work experience. I personally agree with her comment even though I know of some people who are trying to raise families off of that income. I think it is very important for individuals to learn from the work experience such as fast food and after a while apply those skills to other jobs. I couldn’t imagine a lot of people wanting to work in fast food the rest of their life but I do understand the importance of making money and getting work experience. I have heard some comments from individuals about the debate say they are trying to work so they can pay for schooling. I personally know how difficult it is to work enough to help pay for education and other essentials such as housing, food, bills etc. There are always ways to get help to pay for school such as loans, scholarships, grants etc. I believe that $15.00 is too much of a jump in minimum wage because there are individuals who spend time to get educated and may start of making right around $15 an hour. I don’t think it would be fair for an individual who spent time and money in school to be making the same as minimum wage.

 The video clip also talked about the use of more technology instead of increasing minimum wages. I personally don’t agree with that. I believe that anyone would be happy making minimum wage verse not having a job. Many jobs would be lost if technology started replacing people. Since technology is advancing more and more everyday it makes me wonder what would happen if a lot of jobs used technology, where would most of the population work. I just wish people understood each side of the debate because there is a chance that they believe in $15 an hour but could potentially be out of a job if technology continues to take over. I do indeed think minimum wage should increase some to help with poverty but not as high as others think.

SumBlog #5 - Microaggression

I was very interested in the topic of microaggression. As we have learned microaggression can be a type of discrimination that isn’t physically harmful. However, it can have negative impacts on the individual who is being discriminated against. The micro-aggressive comments can be damaging both mentally and emotionally. On the other hand the individual who may make micro-aggressive comments may be unaware of what they are actually saying, or the discriminatory actions. They may also not even realize the negative impact their comment/action may have on a particular someone.

 

Although this concept is rather familiar to me I never seemed to think much about it. I never really believed that I or any close friends or family members partook in microaggression. I felt as if we all knew better to say things that could be considered discrimination. True is, everyone partakes in microaggression even if they are unaware of it. Thinking back on this concept I have had multiple experiences with microaggression, I have just never realized that those comments/actions were microaggression. Now that I am more aware of this concept I seem to pay close attention to things individuals say and even try to watch what I say. As I have mentioned, even though an individual may not mean their comment/action in a negative way it can easily be portrayed as discrimination.

 

I really enjoyed the short clips we watched in class about the comments that certain individuals may say. Even though those clips were meant to be funny I hear those types of comments daily. It is important to keep in mind the comments one may consider before saying them because even though you may think the comment is supposed to be funny and isn’t going to hurt someone it just may.  

As I was searching the internet I came across a project called “The Microaggression Project.” I thought this site was very interesting because there are comments from many individuals on things they have heard or experienced. This makes me realize even more how some individuals may be offended by certain comments. I have listed the website link below:

http://www.microaggressions.com/

SumBlog #4

Even though I had a difficult time thinking about a time when I had experience as being privileged I realized when I was younger I experienced a type of privilege. While my sister and I were in elementary school we had a friend who was an African-American girl. She lived fairly close to us so we would all ride the same bus. There wasn’t much racial diversity in our school, in fact there was very little. So I’m not sure if other children weren’t use to or accepting of her but there would be times when we would all be together on the bus or in public and people (mostly other students) would make comments to her in regards to her race or would even give us weird looks as if we shouldn’t have all been hanging out together. Or even be friends for that matter.. Although I always felt terrible for her because of the comments her and her brother would receive I also felt very fortunate because that wasn’t something I had experienced. She would constantly tell us how upset she would become but it was hard to truly know what she was dealing with because my sister and I have never had those negative experiences.

 

I wish that children didn’t even pay attention to others race – I know that is a pretty big wish but I feel that as they would get older they would be able to teach their children and so on that race doesn’t matter. I don’t know why there needs to be so many negative stereotypes and it is very sad that children can pick up on them.

 

With all of that being said, those situations reminded me about a documentary I had watched in one of my other classes. We watched a documentary from CNN which showed how children view race (which I have the link below and it is about 10 minutes). I was very surprised because of how recent this documentary was (2012) and that these bigger racial issues still seem to be problems within the schools. I know racism still exists but since society is slowly changing I wish that would be something that would change too. Most people truly don’t know how good they got it unless they have experienced a situation similar to what minorities may have. It is so sad to see how young children can be to experience and even partake in racial discrimination. I hope that things will continue to change

 

http://youtu.be/TC1nRepRSxo

 

Religion - SumBlog #3

The material that stood out the most to me in class this week was our discussion of religion and the Westboro Baptist Church. When we were asked to think about whether or not we are a Christian nation I debated that answer in my mind. I agreed mostly that our nation had quite a few Christian practices such as sayings like “in God we trust, God bless America, one nation under God” etc. There may be individuals who aren’t Christian but still may say those things. I know of individuals who aren’t Christian but still respect those sayings unlike the Westboro Baptist members.

I found the film of the Westboro Baptist Church very hard to watch. I found it so difficult because those individuals are so different from majority of the public. They don’t respect other religions because they believe the Westboro Baptist religion is the only correct religion. I understand that each religion is different from one another and may have different believes. I also understand that each individual has a right to believe what they want. However, in my opinion, this religion is difficult to understand. They have their believes and when they were asked why they believe what they do, it seemed as though they always answered with saying everyone else not in their religion was wrong and they are doing what God wants. It didn’t seem as if they had a clear cut answer.

I am confused with the Westboro Baptist religion because their views are opposite from some other religions. I know different religions that practice and preach different topics but overall those religions seem more similar than different, whereas the Westboro Baptist religion is so different. Even though people have different religions which may appear similar, individuals usually act in a more professional and appropriate manner while discussing their views. It was frustrating to hear that members of the Westboro Baptist community wouldn’t even listen to a different individual’s point of view without criticizing them.

I also had a hard time accepting the fact that they would throw flags to the ground and sing songs that represent America in a horrible way. Since I have been young it has always been known that one should never let the flag touch the ground and as Americans we show support and pride towards our country. In my opinion, it almost seemed as though members of the Westboro Baptist religion weren’t American by their actions. It was also very frustrating to see those individuals have signs which had messages indicating negative comments about dead soldiers. Again, as Americans we tend to be proud of our military members for all of their support. I can’t believe Westboro Baptist individuals didn’t respect the military and constantly wished for more dead soldiers. The video below stated their wishes for dead military members.

 

http://youtu.be/k56_o9XRQFQ

Disabilities - Sum Blog #2

 

            In class last week we discussed the topic of disabilities. The idea that stuck out the most to me was the statement saying “a different sort of normal.” I agree with that statement and found it to be very interesting. I have never thought of disabilities in that way. I have always thought (probably due to the social norms) that individuals who are disabled are different from me. There are some cases of disabilities that may be more severe and those individuals who have a more severe form of disability may need to be cared for. I say this because I have an aunt who is thirty-seven years old and is completely disabled. She lives in a home in which providers are caring for her twenty-four hours a day. Obviously, this is a situation in which she is different from me.

There are other individuals who have less severe disabilities. For example, an individual with a disability may look or sound different but in reality no two people are alike. Just because an individual may look or sound different doesn’t mean they have a different lifestyle. However, just because they may have that small difference doesn’t mean the individuals with a disability aren’t normal.

The short video clip below informs the public of individuals with Down’s Syndrome who share experiences that any person could relate to.

 

http://youtu.be/-cA3t1HW1Ow

 

            As you can see, the individuals in this video clip talked about everyday lifestyle choices that they enjoy and look forward to just as non-disabled individuals would. Just because of their speech pattern some individuals may think that individuals with Down’s Syndrome aren’t able to live on their own or perform everyday tasks. Those individuals enjoy some of the same hobbies that non-disabled individuals would. In the clip you see that one of the ladies is enrolled in college and has dreams to be successful just like anyone else.