Crimes against Humanity-Churchill

Throughout this whole article, I was very ashamed and angry that people don't think certain things can be very degrading and are oblivious as to how it makes others feel. "Churchill's essay is a hard one for me to read percisely because it makes these stereotypes visible to me in unusual and decidedly in-your-face ways." (537) I personally do not think I have ever thought of team names as stereotyping or degrading until I read this essay. This essay truly opened my eyes on how stereotypical our world is and how we can be so ignorant. Professional sports teams have names like the Atlanta Braves or the Cleveland Indians and they also have mascots and gestures that show the stereotypical indian to be. This to me is wrong and when Churchill said the American Indian Movement leader Russell Means compared the practice to contemporary Germans naming their soccer teams the "Jews," "Hebrews," and "Yids" it opened my eyes to how hurtful it can be to Indians. (537) When Churchill reported that the major newspapers and television networks stated this as "no big deal" I thought of them as heartless and racist. The essay became a little sarcastic to prove his point when Churchill said all the demeaning and hurtful names to call different races as professional sports teams and then said "Now, don't go getting 'overly sensitive' out there. None of this is demeaning or insulting, at least not when it's being done to Indians." (538) I thought he proved his point right in this part of the essay and I think he would have won his argument right here. He said all the hurtful names of every race for every professional team and I don't think that anyone could counter this. In the Nuremberg Precedents, I think Julius Streicher got what he deserved because he instigated the genocide of the Jews. He dehumanized Jews by depicting them in a extraordinary derogatory fashion in cartoons and other images which helped in the German public to hate them. "Understand that the treatment of Indians in American popular culture is not 'cute' or 'amusing' or just 'good clean fun." I believe him after reading this essay and I will try not to depict Indians as savage or inhuman in anyway.

A Letter to America - Atwood

Margaret Atwood discusses the negatives America has brought onto itself. "She is no longer sure what America stands for."(5) She writes "America" a letter about her concerns on the problems and trust she has in America. First she explains the different positives about America like the story of the "city upon a hill" or the different ways America was portrayed in movies as standing for freedom, honesty, and justice. Near the end of the letter she explains her disappointment on how America is gutting the constitution by allowing anyone in. Also America allows for mail, some of our most personal things, to be spied on. (5) She asks America "When did you get so scared? You didn't used to be easily frightened" (5) This whole letter by Atwood proves to me that America is not what it used to be or seemed to be and I completely agree. I do not think we have total freedom like we are supposed to have. I mean I know we can't have a good running government and society without rules and regulations, but sometimes I think the government takes a little too much freedom from us. This letter to America tells what most think of America now and how it is not what it seems to be to most people around the world.

Arranging a Marriage in India-Nanda

Nanda throughout this article is having a hard time helping her Indian friend's son a wife. At first she thought that arranging marriages for your children was wrong because they wouldn't know their spouse's on a personal level. But once she heard her friends reasons for choosing for her son, she kind of understood and wanted to help. Throughout helping, she found that it was not as easy being matchmaker for someone in India as it was in America. You had many things to look at like class, the familie's background, how well educated, and many more things. Nanda found someone that she thought would be good but the mother of the son said they had way too many siblings and they wouldn't be able to afford a glorious wedding and a big wedding gift. To me this was ridiculous and I thought to myself, using my own opinions and beliefs, that a marriage should not be about a families financial standing or how well the wedding can be put on, it should be about the love between the two people. In India Love is the product of marriage and in America Marriage is the product of love. This quote was said in class today and I totally agreed that this article proves that is the way the Indians think. The children of the family can focus more on their lives and living them than on marriage because they have arranged marriages by their parents. Overall I thought the article was good and I can now see why some cultures have arranged marriages. Ethnocentrism is the perfect word to describe this article because Nanda went into this situation with her own values and opinions and judged their culture based on them. But she soon realized, as did I reading this article, that they do not arrange them just to be mean or cruel, they do it so they can insure their children the best lives with the best spouse and family.

Shakespeare in the Bush-Bohannan

First of all, Bohannan went to West Africa because she was an anthropologist. She lived with an African tribe and was asked to be told the story of Hamlet. While telling the story, she was stopped constantly because the tribesmen did not understand certain things. They did not believe in ghosts and said it must have been an omen or zombie. Another thing they didn't understand was why the mother of Hamlet took two years to remarry. In their culture you had to have a husband to hoe the farms. "Two years is too long," "Who will hoe your farms for you while you have no husband?" If you were chief, or the head of everything, in the African tribe's culture, the chief had more than one wife, so they did not understand why Hamlet nor his brother had more than one wife. At the end of the article, the old man of the tribe told her that she had told the end of Hamlet wrong which was very funny to me since they did not know the story and weren't the one's telling it. He told her how the end of the story went and put his own beliefs and values behind it. All these misunderstandings to me is because we all use our own opinions and beliefs to understand things. Bohannan did get a little upset and annoyed that she was being interrupted, but she did understand that where they came from, things were done and looked upon differently than in America. There are universal truths, but many are not exactly the same. One universal truth is respecting your elders. Although in some cultures it is more valued and respected than in other cultures, I think all cultures have some sort of this. In America, respecting our elders is told by many, but we do not respect them as much as other cultures like India's or African's do.

No Name Woman

This article was very disturbing and I was very sad reading it. First of all, for a woman to be raped and blamed for getting pregnant by a man other than her husband is just wrong. Second for her own family and friends to think of her as an outcast and not even believe or care that she was raped is even worse. The title "No Name Woman" is perfect because she just sat back in the shadows because she didn't want anyone to know she was pregnant, and also because she basically died when she found out she was pregnant. You can't lead a normal life when your whole village, family, and friends disown you and think of you as nothing. She had to sit at a different table for those who are looked down upon and was fed leftovers. They also terrorized her house and slaughtered her families animals. For the father not to speak of his sister, No Name Woman, is a little sad. He doesn't even acknowledge he had a sister because she was raped which is not her fault. Also to hear about all the customs of having you feet shrunk and to be in agony and pain was a little disturbing. Women should be able to express the way they look and to not be able to wear their hair down, to always have it in a bun is ridiculous. In conclusion this article was all depressing, sad, and very disturbing.

A Tale of Two Divorces-Roiphe

Throughout Anne Roiphe's article, I thought about how lucky I am that I have never went through a divorce. I have a lot of friends who have divorced parents and I always think it's not fun when they have to visit their mom or dad on the weekends, and they aren't with both their parents everyday. Roiphe's mother should have divorced her husband. Instead she stayed with him and didn't live the life she deserved. Even though she stayed with him, it was not healthy for the child because seeing your parents fight everyday and not respect eachother, shows the child the wrong way to treat people. I think that because her parents had a bad marriage, she was bound to make the mistake as well. I agree somewhat with Roiphe in that marriages are not solely on loving your spouse. A marriage also has to do with living with that person, and having responsibilities with money and kids. Some people just rush into a marriage because they believe they are in love. They do not stop and think can I live with this person? Are we going to get a long with eachother and be able to take on the responsibilities together? Going through one divorce is hard, but knowing she went through two was even worse. Divorces affect everyone around you and especially your children. Although divorces affect your children negatively, you should not stay in a marriage if all you do is fight with your spouse and you constantly get abused verbally by your spouse.

Shop Like a Man-Underhill

Paco Underhill makes some very true and interesting points about the male shopper. It is known by pretty much everyone that a man does not like to shop, (well most men) its just a fact in life many know. "It's a struggle just to get them to be patient company for a woman while she shops." (187) But if a store knew how to get their attention and get them to start shopping, they would be set to make a lot of money. As Underhill states "The manufacturers, retailers and display designers who pasy attention to male ways, and are willing to adapt the shopping experience to them, will have an edge in the twenty-first century."(188) I know from personal experience that when I am shopping and my brothers or dad are with me, they hassle me and I don't get to spend as much time, therefore I probably won't buy as much. Underhill states my poing "so the woman's comfort level plummets when he's by her side; she spends the entire trip feeling anxious and rushed."(191) Men are also funny when it comes to shopping because although they did not buy anything or don't even know what his wife/girl is buying, he will definitely take out his money and pay for it because he gets a thrill out of it. I think this is because they feel more like a man and having money shows more power. I personally love to go shopping with my dad, even though it's rare and hard to do, because for some reason he will usually say yes to anything. "men seem so anxious to get out of the store that they'll say yes to almost anything."(188) I remembered reading another article about men called "Guys vs. Men" where it stated technology (mainly computers) was a man's favorite thing nowadays and when reading this article by Underhill he states "Computer hardware and software have taken the place of cars and stereo equipment as the focus of male love of technology and gadgetry."(190) I totally agree with this because my dad is always on the computer and loves to go shopping for hardware and computer stuff. Although he still loves talking about cars, I think technology has taken over him. Overall I think that if stores just have sections for men, they would do exceptionally well. "Take any category where women now predominate, and figure out how to make it appealing to men."(194)

Tannen and Pipher

Both Pipher and Tannen wrote a little on how they felt there was unequal attention and treatment between boys and girls in the classroom. Education has become more equal in gender in my opinion but they think otherwise. One connection I found between both articles is when Tannen wrote “Going back to childhoods of boys and girls, it seems possible that the boys had had more experiences, from the time they were small, that encouraged them to challenge and argue with authority figures than girls had.” (239) And referring back to Pipher’s article she stated “Analysis of classroom videos shows that boys receive more classroom attention and detailed instruction than girls. They are called on more often than girls and are asked more abstract, open-ended and complex questions.” (280) The first quote by Tannen seemed to be answered by the second quote by Pipher in that the reason boys do argue with authority figures more is because all throughout school they were asked more complex questions that stimulated their minds, where as the girls just sat and watched. As Pipher stated “Boys are likely to be criticized for their behavior, while girls are criticized for intellectual inadequacy.” (280) This is another reason why I think Tannen and Pipher feel girls do not argue with authority. Tannen, in an experiment, noticed girls spoke up less than boys. This can also be because in school when girls were younger, they were criticized for intellectual inadequacy and are afraid of being wrong or arguing with anyone. Another reason for not speaking up might be lack of confidence. Because they were always criticized, they may just think anything they say will not be relevant and will just be stupid to say. As Tannen stated, “not one female dared challenge or refute an author’s writings. The only questions that the females asked involved a problem they had with the content of the reading.” (238-239) This goes along with Pipher “Because their success is attributed to good luck or hard work and failure to lack of ability, with every failure, girls’ confidence is eroded.” (280) Therefore because of girl’s lack of confidence because they were criticized, as they get into higher classes where they are wanted to question writers and teachers, they do not speak up. They just sit back and let the boys take the questions and credit. Pipher says “Junior high is when girls begin to fade academically.”(281) By college when there are discussions, and criticism of writings and your opinions are wanted, girls are not all there according to these two authors

What are homosexuals for?-Andrew Sullivan

Sullivan explains and helps us understand what it is like to be homosexual. Throughout his paper, he truly tells his feelings and experiencences, as well as uses examples of others experiences to show what a homosexual goes through in life. I don't feel many come out and say they are gay until they are for sure they are gay. Once a gay man/female tells people he/she is gay, they feel a lot more free and feel like they are living, as apposed to keeping it a secret and living a lie as proven by Sullivan in this example, "but a t his funeral couldn't help but reflect that he had at least tasted a few years of life. He had regained himself before he lost himself forever." According to Sullivan "Homosexuals in contemporary America tend to die young; they sometimes die estranged from their families; they die among friends who have become their new families; they die surrounded by young death, and by the arch symbols of cultural otherness." This to me seemed like they die not literally, but inside because they go through their whole lives living as someone different from everyone else and by some not wanted. It is sad that those who are homosexual cannot have a biological child, and therefore cannot go through the experience of having their own child, something the two can share together. Although they can adopt a child, it is not the same as having your own and passing your bloodline on. "The presence of homosexuals in the arts, in literature, in architecture, in design, in fashion could be understood, as some have as a simple response to oppression." Alot of gay people are in these "safe professions" to hide and protect each other. I believe all of this to be true because these professions are swarming with homosexuals. Homosexuals have a much more difficult and different life from heterosexuals and his essay just starts to explaing all the things they must overcome.

Guys vs. Men-Barry

Barry makes some very comical points about how guys are considered guys and not men. While I read all these comical facts about "guys", I thought it was ironic that a guy/man wrote this. It made "guys" look a little stupid and very egoistic. When I read about the business guys who decided to go down to the park and race eachother, I literally pictured all of this. "Which they did, a bunch of guys taking off their shoes and running around barefoot in a public park on company time." I pictured middle aged guys in suits or work attire racing eachother and one suddenly tries to hard to win and hurts himself. Guys have the biggest egos and I should know I have two brothers and a dad who always thinks he is right or better. They fight about being right till you just give in, its what they do. Barry also explained how guys buy such powerful computers that can probably do amazing things but they just simply type on and do absolutely nothing else. This was a very funny statement about guys because my dad buys many things that are usually the most powerful or have the most functions to them. He tells my mom that he will get good use out of these things, and years later he still just uses the damn thing for one use. Guys also have trouble communicating their intimate feelings as barry says. Women will talk for hours about a fight they had with their husbands but the guys will just watch the playoffs together. When Barry wrote "This is a book about guys. It's not a book about men," you have to believe him. Their is a huge difference between the two and usually, their is a "guy" in every man. At least every man I know.

Academic Selves-Mary Pipher

Mary Pipher's main intent in this article is to show their is inequality between genders in the classroom. She says that boys tend to be seen as role models, receive the teachers attention, and speak up in class more than girls. "Junior high is when girls begin to fade academically." I personally do not believe any of this boys do better than girls in school. It is the opposite in school these days. Boys tend to do worse than girls in school and girls seem to mature and want to learn, quicker than boys do. Maybe education was like this in the past, but surely it is nothing like this now. She says that boys are likely to be praised for academics and girls are likely to be praised for their clothing. I really don't know where she is getting all of these facts, but in my educational experiences, it was nothing like this. Girls in the classroom are the one's who usually paid the most attention in class and the teachers would acknowledge that by handing out awards; which were mainy received by the females. This article was an interesting opinion, but not one that I would agree with and fight for.

Learning to Read - Malcom X

Overall, I was very impressed after hearing Malcom X's story on how he learned to read and write on his own in PRISON!! I mean wow, who would of thought someone in prison would even think of learning to read and wanting to understand stories. I felt that Malcom X going off on a tangent about black history shows us that he trully did teach himself not only to read the material but actually understand it and relate to it. You can not just read something, you have to truly pay attention and understand it, and that is exactly what Malcom X taught himself to do. "That was the way I started copying what eventually became the entire dictionary." This quote fascinated me because first of all a person outside of prison probably wouldn't have the drive or time to do this, and secondly, I would never imagine someone in prison to have any drive or motivation to write and learn all the words in the dictionary. "When I had progressed to really serious reading, every night at about 10 P.M. I would be outraged with the 'lights out'. It always seemed to catch me right in the middle of something engrossing." I can relate to this because I know how intense books can get and when I am interrupted and can't finish the book, I tend to get pretty mad. Throughout Malcom's biography, he seems to me to get mainly the negative things that people (mainly Europeans) did. He must have had a lot of anger built up and decided to let it out through telling of the horrible things people have done throughout our history. "As I see it today, the ability to read awoke inside me some long dormant craving to be mentally alive." This quote was very inspiring for those who do not read very much to read and see what they can get out of it. The main thing this writing taught me is that reading is very important in life and we all can become more mentally alive by knowing how to read.