Pautab1's Blog

Blog#16- Cyberspace

pautab1 — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:44:11 +0000

There has always been discussion on whether objects like the internet and cell phones make positive strides for humanity or end up hurting us in the long run. In reading A an example of these stides were given. A woman of Nigeria was sentenced to death by stoning for being accused of adultery. In a matter of weeks, a email petition was sent throughout different parts of the world to stop this execution from happening. In today’s society, millions of individuals can recieve new like this within a matter or minutes. This style of execution, comes into play because of the country of origin of where its happening and also religion play a gigantic role. As we discussed in an earlier class, religion and geographical location plays a major role on what ideas and actions are allowed to take place. As this used as an example, people here in the United States feel this is extremely un-human to perform such executions but in the middle east and in parts of Africa, this is basically a normal occurance. What struck me was when the judge who sentenced this woman said “the world has no work to do, thats why they’re focusing their attention on this”. I found that shocking we as people try to stop these un human like actions but there are people who fell that we are intruding in idealogies that are correct. Technology such as email and web pages can have great intentions but as most things have, they also have their negatives. Many ideas and concepts found on the world wide web are fiction and problematic. With an even bigger problem, many people have no access to the internet. But, on the upside, the internet can be used to reach out and help people faster than ever, as showed with the example from the woman from Nigeria. It is up to us as individuals to use these powerul tools to help create postive strides.

Blog #15- Domestic Work/Sex Workers

pautab1 — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 23:50:12 +0000

Usually “dirty” jobs were given to the immigrant women. The lowest paid, often messy dirty jobs were the only available jobs to these women. Immigrants, especially latina women, were often hired as women capable of doing domestic work and usually not much else. Any type of hispanic women, single, marrried, different ethnicities all fit this mold that domestic work creates. This tends to create stereotyping. If I were to tell you to draw me a picture of room service help, more often than not you would draw a latina women whom cannot speak english well. An interesting concept that grabbed my attention was when the section says “it is the nature of the employer, rather than of the work, that is most significant in determining wages”. I took from this that the employer, pays his employees the same minimum wage regardless of how easy or difficult the work is. So the work is not actually important but rather how the employer percieves you is, and based on that is your days earnings.

As we discussed in class, sex trafficking was a major problem in man countries. The topic that arose was migrant sex workers from Thailand to Japan. The stories of these women were told and how they performed at work were shared. The conditions of these women were hard working class women that worked in clubs and restaurants but one aspect that I found strange was the notion that these “services” they provided were not as they were selling “themselves”, but rather the “sale of sexual access”. The said they sold their time but not theirselves. I feel that these women are somewhat forced into these prostitution type activities because this is the only employment they can recieve. Needless to say, if other employment opportunities came about, there would be little to none sex workers.

Blog#14- Labour power/ Native Americans

pautab1 — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:19:53 +0000

In the market for labor power and production, racism and sexism play a huge role in the ideologies that create the different types of labor. Like many other previous ideologies, racism and sexism in the labour market stem not from this day and age, but rather from hundreds of years ago. Dating back to the slave age, this has been a problem. I found it interesting that slaves, either male or female, in the United States, were hardly ever given differences in carrying out work loads. But unlike the US, in the Carribean, female slaves were in the minority. Why is this? Because the history of females, even slaves, is difficult to discover. Literature on the subject of slavery and migrant workers are primarily based on the big picture dominated by males. As we discussed in class, almost everything, either new ideology or old ideology is male dominated. Even in the lowest status of people, i.e slaves, is male dominated. I feel that literature plays a part in portraying sexism. Another topic that is hardly ever discussed in literature is the US invasion of the Native American land. The excerpt tale is about a Native American family who relocates and leaves their native land behind. Despite not wanting to go, the family gives in the pitch that their lives would be better relocating in a big city. Needless to say, it was not. An interseting concept that grabbed my attention was the children in the family. Being in a new school with new people they were looked at as “different”. So they would stay up at night and try to find ways to fit in with the other children. This reminds me of media representation on young girls. Looking, dressing, a specific way, being “skinny” enough to fit in with everyone else. I felt that media roles create such a vortex that even kids that know nothing about media, are forced to deal with the problems it creates.

Blog#13 Globalization and tourism

pautab1 — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 23:28:03 +0000

In previous blogs I discussed how a man has always been viewed as a higher status in comparision of a women. In this weeks readings, they support this theory. A main topic that is dicussed is the activities of travel and migration among the European culture. As we know now, men have been viewed as “better” than women and this was even more so the case back in the days of European times. Men were viewed as leaders and adventures while women were as care takers of the children and property of their husbands. This is clearly evident in the passage where it states female slaves were valued not only for their manual labor but also for their ability to produce more slaves. Adding a interesting point, womens “sexuality was considered a possesion of their owners”. Gender issues, as discussed in class is a worldwide problem. Not only in this day, but also in earlier time just as the readings describe. Another interseting piece was the travel and tourism section. This also went hand in hand with the issue of gender discussed in European history. “A women who travels away from the ideological protection of home without a male escort brushes under unrespectable”. It goes on to later say that tourism is not about escaping work and drizzle but it is about power. I found this interesting because even for something so little as traveling, it seems that there is a power struggle among genders. Whether it is foreign travel or domestic travel, a power movement among gender always seem to play a role and is right behind. The only way to beat an issue of power struggle is to define a man and a woman as equals. I feel that this has gotten progressively better over the years but still has a ways to go in order to achieve equilibrium among genders.

Blog#12 Gay Marketing/A women’s body

pautab1 — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:09:07 +0000

One intereting concept that was discussed in this section dealt with gay marketing and how gayness is the latest trend. Then magazines that are targeted to middle class straight white readers wonder “wow, they look just like us”. A detail that I have always noticed is the fact that everything in this country is about business and making money. If it makes money, then it is worth your time. If all races, nationalities, gender, social classes have something in common, it is the fact that they all like money. I realize after reading this article that advertising and businesses don’t care about the gay movement, they only care about make a profit off of the gay movement. I feel that these marketers do acts of kindness not because of the cause but rather because of the lucrative profit that they will be making.

Another beauty culture that we have been discussing is the media’s portrayal of the women’s body. Women are “supposed to be extremely slim, brown, and have sexual appeal. and be between 5 foot 5 and 5 foot 8″. It started with being slim means being healthy, but somewhere along the line healthy was lost and extremely replaced it. I found it fascinating that a women needs twice the amount of nutrients and vitamins but only ingest half of what they should. But if a women eats right and looks healthy she is not considered sexy and considered not in control of her appetite. Why does society have this destructive way of viewing womens bodies? In some countries and religions as the later readings discuss how women must tend and serve food to the males first, and maybe later on they can eat themselves. It is said how women spend most of their time preparing food for others but never have the time to enjoy the food themselves. I find this ironic but also a little frustrating because of they were to eat, they would be considered “I can’t control my appetite”.

Blog#11-Storytelling

pautab1 — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 22:26:42 +0000

As the article begins to unfold, the example of the Harlem residents that were outraged by the idea that there would be street changing names because it would unify the towns post September 11, 2001. Street names such as Malcolm X and Martin Luther king JR would be changed to 1st avenue, 2nd avenue, etc. This is used as an example of storytelling. Even though being fake proposal to change the street names, residents of Harlem had their voices and opinions heard. As Irani puts it, “storytelling is an inspiring way to enact another possible world”. Storytelling is a feature that allows you to jump from place to place, from time to time in any imaginable scenario that you want. I think that the message is clear, and that message is to project storytelling into the future. I feel that Irani hits the nail on the head by saying that establishing communities is acheived by asking questions such as who am I and where did I come from. Also, relationships must be nurtured while delving into race and racism. Issues such as race, racism and sexism can be looked upon in a different light by these established storytelling communities. A last topic that is discussed is about art and art forms. Irani was discussing how we as different people perceive art and how every individual has a unique way at viewing art. Irani sums up this storytelling and art article by saying that children of all ages should create something that you’re projecting into the future.

Blog 10# Seventeen Magazine

pautab1 — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 18:28:46 +0000

Males and females are placed in a category of gender according to what genitalia they have. One aspect that bothers me is that gender begins to develop even before birth. Currently, if I have a child I would want to know the gender. After knowing the gender without even thinking about it, if its a boy I think sports and games. If it’s a girl I think dresses and flowers. This is where the magazine “seventeen” comes into play. Seventeen magazine has dominant status among teen magazines but surely does not teach young teens important concepts. In the article much is discussed about the career options given to the girl teens that read these magazines. Magazines like “Seventeen” show celebrities, models and actors, a fiction life rather than actual reality. Teen girls envision themselves as on of these models and actresses and end up struggling barely making minimum wage. Magazines tells girls what they should and shouldn’t aspire to be. They depict a glamourous job that teens would love to have and continue to push the “you should be this skinny” models on every page. Again, race, ethnicity, nationality and social class play a crucial role. These magazines are targeted to all teenagers but due to the overplaying of pictures of white models, white girls feel like they have to pass the standards of the teens bracing the cover of the magazine while girls of color do not feel the same way. Another major aspect that interested me was the fact that there are no magazines for male teens. It is an interesting concept of why this is but I feel that it is more difficult to try to portray what teen males should be rather than a female teen fitting the norm of societies clicks.

Blog #9- Masculinites and school shootings.

pautab1 — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 23:51:31 +0000

In my opinion, this article is one of the most interesting articles we have read up to this point. One of the most interesting fact as well as a complete shock was when it was stated that 63 percent of parents believe a school shooting is likely to occur in their communities. Honestly, I would be terrified if I was a parent that sent my child to one of these schools. I would have a mindset that I could lose my child every day. Another interesting aspect that never grazed my mind was the fact that all school violence perpetrators were male. Titles such as “teen violence” and “youth violence” seem to hide the role that race, class and especially in this case gender. The focus was on who the perpetrator was rather than the content of the school as well as culture that they were a part of. A major part of this problem is not only the kids that commit the acts of violence, but also the bullies that seem to push them to the edge. As a quote from the reading says, “a construction that defines violence as a legitimate response to a perceived humilation”. Violence comes from humiliation. As in that later sections in the reading, the coined term “gay” and “faggot” have grown to a whole new plateau. It does not mean an actual homosexual but rather taking away the manhood of a male. The big picture is what causes these kids to commit such acts of violence. Is it the media? are the parents to blame? are the bullies to blame?are the kids emotionally unstable? In my opinion it is a blend of all these characteristics that cause males to act violent in schools although there are always exceptions. Some of the males weren’t emotionally distraught. They come from good families and do not tend to follow media as much. But one thing remains the same in all cases, the teasing, “gay-baiting”, and bullying seem to be the main source of a violent school shooting case.

Blog #8 Gender and Nation

pautab1 — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 21:57:52 +0000

This section dove into gender nation relationship among women in the state. In this section, as well as in the later readings, a good portion of ethnicities and races are discussed. For many different countries and different religions a woman is supposed to act the way a country or religion asks of them. It seems that the behavior of a woman signifies the cultural as well as the ethnic backgrounds. One particular story that caught my attention was the story of the man from Ghana that tried to gain his British origin and argued that his African grandmother was legally married to his British grandfather and the judge said “no British man would genuinely have married an African women”. A racist and obsurd comment made by the judge gives insight to the problems that women of different race deal with. I compared this to the video we watched in class about “black hair” or how “black hair” isn’t up to standards with hair of other races. How we discussed in class how an observation such as hair defines who you are, if “black hair” can be looked as a negative feature, then that begins to put down the people of African descent. Another major theme in these reading was the Muslim communites and the women involved in them. In my opinion, women in the Muslim world have dilemmas much worse than those of developed states. As connecting with female circumcision, female mutilation and gender roles, countries in the middle east seem to yet have a social change. Women are stuck in between the law of their country or their religion. Women everywhere should be able to live freely in their homeland without the repercussions of offending their religion and being outlawed from their communities. I believe when information and ideas are spread globally, these issues may very well see a decline.

Blog #7- Concepts of Identity

pautab1 — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 00:09:02 +0000

An interesting concept that grabbed my attention was in the introduction to the reading New Social Movement and Identity Politics. It is discussed that these feminist and social movements cut through politics, class and religion. Some things we have been dealing with for the past few weeks. The author of reading A, Kathyrn Woodward, says that “identities change according to historical time period and location”. At every time period and every location identities change. Whether it is a 100 years or 500 years ago, identities are always going through a changing process based on society and geographically. Us in the year 2010 can be very different from the year 2020. Identities based on sexuality, gender and race cut through the social classes. Identity is intertwined with these concepts as well. One question that I have was that of the political involvement. What is meant by identity politics? I didn’t fully understand what was meant by the identity politics. From what I gathered from it, it was claiming one’s identity as part of a oppressed group and that leads to becoming a factor in political mobilization. Dealing with identity as I have said before is the issue of race. Race intersects with sexuality, gender, class and now identity. The story of the woman who was being beaten and could not enter a shelter because she was not english proficient enough was completley unacceptable. Honestly, I really cannot find a reason to do neglect a woman in need. You would allow a woman to be beaten instead of taking her in because she doesn’t speak english well? These issues in identity, race and gender I feel have gotten somewhat better due to the times but stories like this simply cannot happen if we as both men and women want to improve.