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)