Love is all you need?

I was telling a friend about the LGBTQ panel we had in class today and she showed me this short film on YouTube that I thought was really powerful. It takes place in a world where basically everyone was gay and the majority are heterophobic. At first watching the video is so weird, because the roles have been reversed and the "what ifs" kind of mess with your mind. However, it really easily puts it into perspective for straight people who could never understand how someone could love another gender. I've always been accepting of LGBTQ people (my mom took me to the gay pride parade and let the transvestite mermaids hold me lol), but this made me understand more what its like to be bullied for something you can't change about yourself. I think more judgemental or homophobic people could relate to this video because the roles are reversed, and they know in their hearts that they could never even imagine being gay or lesbian, even if the whole world was telling them too. The story is also really sad, because the main character, a girl in middle school, kills herself because of the abuse she gets from the kids who know she has a crush on a boy. It kind of pulls on my heartstrings, and disgusts me how anyone can treat another human being that way,  gay, straight, lesbian, or whatever. meh.

But here's the video for anyone interested. I think its really good and really worth watching. It does get a little graphic at the end though, so be warned. Overall, I think the message is really powerful.

Freshman Ignorance and Media Stereotypes

The other day, I was leaving the dance studio from school, and I passed by the Stevenson poms audition for incoming freshmen. Instead of waiting for my mom to pick me up at the point, I opted to spend my time watching the auditions. After a little while, two girls (who I assumed to be freshman) walked passed and stop a few feet away from me to watch the audition. They were also talking very loudly and rudely. The conversation went as follows (excuse the language please, it's not mine):

Girl 1: Look at all of those girls down there with their butts hanging out, acting like sluts.
Girl 2: Yeah those poms girls are such bitches. They're so full of themselves.
Girl 1: Ugh I hate them... Oh my gawd, I'm so sorry are you...?

This she said to me, as she had just noticed my presence and the fact that I was wearing dance attire similar to the poms girls. She clearly thought that I was on poms, and looked incredibly guilty. When I responded, "no, I dance," she said okay good and kept talking to her friend.

Girl 1: Ugh see that one in the pink? I bet she's a huge bitch. Just look at how she's standing.
Girl 2: oh yeah, she wet to my school and she's really fake and mean to everyone.

And I'm standing here looking at them like, Are you serious? Are they really flat out talking smack about people they probably don't even know in front of a stranger? I actually did know some girls at the audition. None that they were ridiculing but still, I do know a lot of really nice girls on poms, and these freshman were sounding ridiculous judging people they've never personally met before. So at this point I interject into the conversation:

Me: I actually know a lot of really nice girls that are Patriettes.
Girl 1: Oh I'm so sorry, do you know those girls auditioning?

And her guilty expression came back. She should've been embarrassed that she didn't learn to keep her mouth shut the first time but, that's just my opinion.

Me: I don't know any of those girls personally, but I know a lot of really nice ones. They're not all bitches like you say they are.
Girl 2: But the majority are.
Me: Do you even know any of them?
Girl 2: No...

I responded with a disapproving look and walked away. I think this is a perfect example about how media shapes us. Just like media forms the way we view the different sexes from a young age, it also teaches and perpetuates stereotypes. These girls clearly have been misinformed sine they were young children about stereotypes in the media. After growing up with shows like Lizzie McGuire, Hannah Montana, and even oldies like Sister Sister, these freshman learned that cheerleaders and poms teams are the enemy. The stereotype that values beauty, popularity, and well, bitchiness. So because of the way that I know media formed their views, I know I shouldn't judge them so severely, but at the same time, you'd think they'd be old enough to think for themselves, and not what from media has taught them. So in class when we discussed whether or not changing the way media categorizes males and females would be easy, I sided for no. Because if today's youth is still caught up in something as individualized as television stereotypes, trying to dissolve the the barriers between how men and women are portrayed in the media is going to be a lot harder.

God grew tired of us

This week in sociology, we watched a documentary called "God Grew Tired of Us." It was about refugees from Sudan who had walked for thousands of miles and many years to escape from a war and how they get relocated and need to adjust to life in America. The film really showed how different life and culture where between the two places. Watching the film made me feel incredibly grateful for all the things I have.

I found the contrast between African and American values very obvious. In America, we care about stuff. We care about attaining superficial things and materials and objects. That's how we measure our wealth. The refugees in Africa had a different idea of wealth. They measured wealth in their relationships with family and friends. They want to contribute to the world and their communities to make it a better place. Of an American refugee had to leave their community behind to start again in a new country, I believe they would have approached it differently than the Lost Boys would have. An American would live by the principle, self first. They would try to improve their own lives and regain control before even thinking about going back to help their community. I also believed this would be encouraged, given America's value for the individual. However, the Sudanese were the opposite. They didn't think to get themselves back on their feet before helping their loved ones back home. As soon as they step foot in America, they immediately thought of ways to send money back to Africa. While this is a positive value and attribute, I think this might also be a flaw. I'm aware that I'm biased because I'm an American (social realization), but I personally think it would be easier to build myself up to stable ground before helping others. And I think I would be able to make more of an impact that way. Yet still, the complete selflessness of the Lost Boys was extremely touching, and made me think of the way that I relate to others.

Influences and Thank You Notes

Today in sociology, my teacher talked about how a person can have a big influence on others with out even realizing it. When I think of this, I understand that it is so absolutely true and can be both a positive and negative thing. A person can hurt another with out even trying, the same way he or she can make someone's day. Especially in light of recent events, people should try to be more aware of their effects on others. Because our interactions with our fellow students make them who we are. Like the front of our unit packet quotes from Leo Buscaglia, "who we are and who we become is determined by those who love us." But personally, I believe that we can even be influenced on a day to day by strangers. I always try to hold the door for the person behind me, or smile when I make eye contact with a stranger in the hallway. You never know who is having a cruft day, and could use a little support.

A couple years ago, I was at a dance competition and a teammate of mine was a finalist in the best of the best competition. Emily was only nine years old at the time and was one of the sweetest,mostconfident, and most modest children I'd ever met. I wanted to support her so some other teammates and I went to the competition, even though we weren't competing that day. We didn't think anything of it, it wasn't a haste and we were excited and proud of our friend. After she won (yay!) we went back stage and took pictures and congratulated her. A couple days later, she ran up to me at the studio and handed me a letter after giving me a big hug and thanking me for coming. I opened the note and found the sweetest thank you note. This little girl, who I rarely see because of our age difference, was so thankful that I came to support her. In her letter, she wrote that it meant a lot to her that I came to see her, because I was her role model; and she wanted to dance like me one day. I had no idea that me watching her performance would've meant so much to her. And on the other side of that, she probably didn't know how much her letter meant to me. Even though I haven't seen her in years, I still have it to this day, because it reminds me that even if I don't know it, there are kids that look up to me and that's can make I difference in someone's day simply by being there.

Women and the media

Today in sociology, we arched a video about offensive ads degrading women. Ads like these have been prevalent throughout the media since print media began. We often analyzed ads like these in my media class less semester and saw a consistent pattern in objectifying women, often using them as sex symbols or servants to men. It's appalling to think how some of these ads came to print, yet is more understandable in ads occurring before the women's rights movement.

Early ads like these shaped society to think that men were dominant over women and women had only two jobs: to serve men and to please men. The women's movement has yet to shake these stereotypes and ads are getting worse today, portraying women as sex toys and prizes to be won. Much advertising follows the implicit message, "buy the product, get the girl." A popular product using this approach is Axe Body spray.

These ads shape bothe men and women's thinking that women have to look and act a certain way in order to be happy. The models used in most advertising are computers generated and cause mean sand women to be or be with and unachievable perfection. There is no formal definition of the perfect woman. But these ads create a sociol construction that the perfect woman is skinny, tan, large breasted, and perfectly symmetrical in all areas.

What really proves societies obsession with this media ideal was my classmates reactions to the video. While the males in the class were being blatantly told that the media has shaped all their ideals and have turned women into objects by this video, many were still making insensitive comments towards the videos examples of offensive ads. Even knowingly in the presence of women, when the video froze, a fellow student had the nerve to say he "wished it had froze earlier," referring to the multiple closeups of women's bodies that were playing earlier. I mean really? Have some class. These kids were being spoon fed information that they were being controlled by media, and yet they were still hypnotized by a pair of breasts on a screen. Society must really be in trouble. Especially since media objectifying women has a strict relation to domestic abuse rates. If boys learn at a young age that women are objects without feelings, they are more likely to feel sympathy for them when their abusing and raping them as objects when they're older.

So for all those guys in my class watching the video, try to grow up and understand what this video is trying to teach. And if you're really struggling to understand, keep your mouth shut as a courtesy to everyone else in the room especially to your FEMALE classmates. 

Thanks you :)

Nature v Nurture and the Mighty Louis

This week in sociology, we learned about how important socialization is in our development as people. A person can't be born and live in isolation and be able to function as a member of society. Humans grow up constantly interacting with others, from birth to death. It is these connections with others who make us who we are. Perhaps the most important years of socialization are the younger years. When we are born, we are completely vulnerable. We are helpless and rely on people to survive. At this stage, our frontal lobe, the part of our brain stimulates by our interaction with humans, is still run by nature and instincts. It takes the love and care of our parents and family to devolve us into people.

While my cat isn't human, he still acts as an example of the importance of nurture. When we got him, he was sick and underfed. He was very afraid and shy around people. However, when we brought him home from the animal hospital, his feet never touched the ground. He was always being held or cuddled or played with. As the family's first pet, he got an extreme amount of attention. Now he acts like a dog. He is very trusting and curious of people, and runs to the door when it rings. He's one of the few cats I've seen who will plop on a strangers lap or lick my face while I'm trying to sleep. He also drinks out of the toilet ;). I know that my cat is like this because of the attention he got as a kitten. Our family made my cat who he is today, and if he had grown up with other people, or with less nurturing, he would've been a very different animal.

This is my kitty Louis. He is very ferocious when he yawns: