Blog 12: SoCiAl ChAnGe & SoCiAl MoVeMeNtS

The Definition of a Social Movement is all explained in the video above, but while watching this video I started to think about how much time, money, and effort it takes to start a fire that will light and burn everything in its path.

It takes lots of money to start campaigns for a presidency or for a rally like Occupy.  What I really didn't understand though is that we spend so much money as a society on these campaigns, but we can't spend it on movements, like helping to end homelessness, or ending poverty/genecide in Africa?  Now, I understand that we live in a very imperfect world and that their will always be those people with wealth and power who will spend a lot of their moneys for charities and movements of the like, but look at the people in the middle class or the lower/working class.  We are starting to live in an economy where people are either on the high end of income and those of the very low end with no middle.  It is very hard to start a movement with the amount of money some have and some who don't know really how to start one who would, and those who just don't know many people willing to donate.  Today, society is scared to step out and say that they want change because they will be socially criticized, ostricized, which makes it very difficult to step out.  What should someone do to step out?  What should someone do to make a distinct change?

Blog 10: FeAr

“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.”

-Frank Herbert, Dune

Do not fret, although we live in a world where fear is growing and pain is growing, that does not mean that all is lost. 

            In class, we talked about fear and how it relates to power and how people with power are the ones’ in control and cast a fear on people, not only that, but people with not as much power fear for not being able to climb the social and economic ladder that the ‘American Dream’ has promised every American.  Now part of the reason there is more fear now is due to economic woes, world issues, and people in power who forgot who is really affected by their power.

 In class, I gave the example of everyone who does not have the power as ‘dust’ and the people who have the power as ‘flowers’.  The flower’s feed off the dust and the dirt to fuel their ambitions and their ego’s (especially), although once in while some of the dust/dirt do grow to be ‘flowers’ due to special circumstance, like for example Justin Bieber for having a special talent, or certain people for having special gifts and talents.  Look at all the specs of dust, it is all the lower class, working class, middle class people, not only in America, but in this world.  Think, most of us will rarely make it to flower status, but some of us may get seeds planted in us in other ways, life will never be perfect for any of us, but just because others have power and we don’t doesn’t mean we can’t find happiness in other routes within our lives and within ourselves.  Will you give into the fear?  Will you give-up and fret upon the cards dealt to you?  Can you be content with the life you have now or the life you could choose and build for you and your family generations in the future?

Blog 9: MeDiA

           Media has been a growing importance in everyones’ lives these past 14 years.  Just think computers were bricks and we still had VHS and Cassette tapes.  Then in the 2000’s we evolved our technology and replaced T.V.’s and computers with state of the art slim, sexy, monitors.  VHS turned into DVD’s and revolutionized the art of never having to rewind again and music we went from square  cassette tapes to circular shiny disks with a cool emblem on top of our favorite bands.  We have grown exponentially technologically within the past 14yrs.

            Now growing up my first video game system was a small Atari joystick and the ratings for those games were “E” for everyone to play.  At most the violence I would see looked like little spit shooters taking down space ships in Space Invaders.  For most of our childhoods this was revolutionary and amazing to play.  When I turned 8 I got a Nintendo 64 and the violent game I had was Super Mario 64, which was just jumping on gumbaa’s and koopa’s to beat levels, but later going to movie/video game rental stores their were T, M, and A games that kids could rent, but my parents were opposed to those, but I also had no idea what the games were about.  My parents were the decision makers when it came to the games I played, the movies I watched and the books I read.  Now, coming from them it was a way to protect me from ideas and things that would have probably tainted my mind, but who really knows what would have happened if they let me play those A or M rated games when I was young.  Now days parents buy games based on the kid liking them not on whether or not the content is good or bad for them.  I worked at Gamestop for over a year and I saw parents buy their kids Call of Duty, Assassin’s Creed, and Grand Theft Auto and I had to ask them if they were okay with their 12 year old son or younger to be able to play this game and most of them were like zombies and said yes.  I think it’s irresponsible and immature to allow kids play M rated games, especially since the parents have no idea what’s in it and how their children act due to it.  I have had parents get mad at me for listing what is all in the game, but in all honesty these parents need to know what their children are playing and watching.  Have we become so consumed by the hype of the media that we have replaced our own thoughts and morals in sake of spending hrs/days of playing a game that gives someone the control to c ommit crimes they might otherwise cannot in the real world?  Should censorship be stricter when it comes to children under the age of 17 being able to buy M rated games?  Do parents really know what their children talk about with their friends at school?  Just some food for thought.   

Blog 8: SoCiOpOlY

Although I had already experiences Sociopoly with my family, seeing the other rules to the game interested me very much and how the rules worked were annoying to play with!  I see how truly nice it is being privileged and white, but we sadly live in a society and frankly a world where race and privilege go hand and hand.  Sociopoly taught me that this world is ever changing not only with the rules, but also how each person diversely unique is treated in society based on race.  We live in an imperfect, unfair, biased world, and we keep getting farther and farther away from ourselves and what we personally dream about due to these imperfections.  I have been very fortunate to have had the opportunities I have had and every day I grieve for those less fortunate then me.  The Sociopoly game may be a tad skewed in the sense that life is not like monopoly and your buying houses/properties all the time, but what it does show is how everyone starts out with a set number of incomes, or prestige based on their family or their family’s history.  In the end we all need to drink soup to survive.  No matter the race, privilege, or family we all need to eat sleep and survive, so yes this world might be unfair, unjust, etc., but we should all be extremely grateful we are alive and better off then some people in this world who truly have it worse than us.

Bog 7: GeNdEr InEqUaLiTy

After analyzing the reading #22, I have concluded that the article was right to say that there are two worlds in the education system and they continue to separate the genders.  Yes, both genders in the class should be treated equally, but aren’t and yes things get out of hand in class as far as discussion goes and rules are not constantly enforced regardless of the gender of the students’.  In the end it’s the teacher’s role to treat all students’ equally regardless if one kid jumped out of turn and was a male or a female.  We are also talking about a classroom and a learning environment and children and us as humans are naturally curious.  We want to get answers, answer questions, and try to figure things out.  Schools need structure, but isn’t there a way to work on making the classroom more gender neutral or have classes designated for each gender to work on certain traits that each gender has troubles with.  For example, men have a hard time connecting topics because we don’t add as much emotions as women do and women working on understanding the true definition of womanhood and what it means.  These are just some examples, but I think having specific courses for each gender might help or allow for a little more discussion in class. 

            Here is a little comedic relief defining what men’s and women’s brains look like:

Blog 6: PrIvIlEgE & PoVeRtY

For years, upon years, upon years, we have seen so many lay-offs, so many businesses dying, and for what?  The new advancement in technology, the placement of super corporations that create machines to do work for people?  The less quality of our products?  Yes, I know I sound pretty synical and negative, but look around you.  We now have to have Affordable Healthcare for people.  We have had to forget about the quality of work and worry about the quantity of a product.  When was the last time you have seen a “Made in America” sticker on any product we currently sell or own at this point?  Privilege…, Privilege is having the money that other people don’t have.  Privilege is having that cool new swimming pool that poor little Billy doesn’t have.  Privilege is the route of envy, jealousy, and judgment towards someone who has more than I do. Every day we see commercials of the wealthy, rich, and the popular and no one says, “I have had enough of this garbage, or I am sick and tired of caring about what someone else looks like or what they have and what I don’t have”.  We will always live in an imperfect world, but we have the power to change the way we look at it and what is really happening.  “Money is the route of all evil”.

Poverty, the way I look at it, look at the starving kids in Africa, India, or anywhere like those places, that to me is the essence of poverty.  Yes, they don’t live in America and yes, they are not free, so look there really is no contest for those who are far worse living than us here in the U.S.  Now our poverty is the Lower and part of the Working Class.  The minimum wage was never intended for people to live off of to begin with.  Minimum wage was a small wage that could eventually grow due to raises and promotions.  The problem is that not many companies or employers are giving out those promotions or dollar raises anymore due to business and the economy and cost efficiency.  Now we need Assiociate degrees, Bachelor Degrees to be able to make over $15/hr.  Now those jobs are now getting limited, due to the amount of people getting degrees.  Then if you get a Masters or Doctorate you get paid a pretty big salary and an abundance of perks like insurances’, paid vacation days, 401K’s, etc, but those jobs are rarely hiring, or a tough to get.  There is so much to be fixed, but no one is really making that big of an effort to do it.  Even if they are, they won’t sacrifice their own status or power/money to do it.

Blog 5: SeXuAl ObJeCtIfIcAtIoN

This last weekend has been a struggle for me on the relationally, socially, and emotionally.  After the dust settled and the drama slowly disappeared, I realized that there is nothing you can do to stop men from objectifying women and women objectifying men.  Now before you lynch me I would like to explain myself and I have a little story to tell about this previous weekend.

We see women objectified every day, on T.V., movies, video games, and products that have nothing to do with sex that get sexified.  You can really see the sexual objectification when you go to the bars and at parties.  Men will drool over the nicest butt they see or the nicest pair of melons a women has, mix alcohol and the lost consciousness and you see why sex sells.  I went to the bars Friday night with some friends and after having a few drinks before the bars I kind of let myself go, but I was slowly losing the high that the alcohol was giving me to the point that I cared about the women in the bars and how many of them were going to be taken advantage of when they were there and after.  I had a girl friend who wasn’t drunk and was pretty sober and earlier we had a nice talk about her old self and how she wanted to stop letting men take advantage of her and how she wanted to change and I promised to protect her from being taken advantage of and I admit it I had feeling for this girl, earlier that day we went to a fish fry, went to the UWSP basketball game, and I even got to meet her parents and it was an overall awesome time, but as soon as the alcohol hit me and my other friends it was only a matter of time till stuff was going to happen.  I remembered my promise to her even when I was drinking and my feelings for her were still very much present.  I saw one of my friends dancing with her and I was really upset and I knew I couldn’t do anything and she wasn’t doing anything about it even though I told her over 3 times that we could leave if she wasn’t having fun and she did not look like she was.  We get back to our own separate rooms and what do you know she lets him in her room and I was kind of heart broken.  I am a guy so there is always that sexual drive, but I truly cared and I was disappointed in her and jealous of the other guy, but all I could do was text her how she let the “old” her take over and that’s all I said. This all coming from a male's point of view.

Out of all that and the topic of Microagression/Sex Objectification is that both parties sexually objectify one another, yes, men do it more to women, but it’s still their regardless of the location or the situation.

Check out my video, I know its long and maybe my story doesn’t fit the topic that well, but look at how men and women act at bars and that is proof enough of Sex/Self Objectification.