Foodies Kill Their Food

Recently I watched a Buzzfeed video on Youtube, titled Foodies Kill There Food, and basically it showed 3 people who volunteered go out on a farm and kill and prepare their own chicken. They wanted to see how different the farmer's lives are, when it comes to selling and preparing poultry not only for the public but also for themselves. And for the most part the reaction of each person wasn't too surprising. They had to grab the chicken, slit there throats, remove the feathers, take out the insides, and cook it. Pretty much what every farmer does on a daily or weekly basis, so to them it's nothing new, but it was so interesting to see how the people react to preparing a meal completely from scratch. Each volunteer seemed so sensitive. When it was time to slit chicken's throats two of them actually cried, and that made me wonder how I would have reacted to that, or if I even would have been able to do that. I feel like until you do something drastic like that, only then you would appreciate what you eat.

After watching the video, I was fully sure that my decision to be a vegan was a good choice. Meats and dairy products are so bad for you. If you eliminate all animal products from your diet, you can cut out all dietary cholesterol levels which is fat made by the liver out of fatty foods that we eat. Ever since I made this decision to have a vegan lifestyle, I've honestly felt so much more energized. I used to sleep about 8 hours a night and still feel super tired the next day but now, I only sleep around 6 hours a night since I have zero period but I feel so much more energized the next day. A vegan lifestyle also saves the environment a lot of energy. For example, A study at Cornell revealed that chicken meat production consumes energy in a 4:1 ratio and beef cattle production requires an energy input to protein output ratio of 54:1. Cattle consumes 16 times more grain than they produce as meat, so we have 16 times as much energy to just grow those crops that we waste on livestock. We also save a lot of water by not eating animal products. A pound of potatoes takes 99.6% less water to produce than a pound of beef and 97% less than a pound of chicken. If showering was given up, it would save less water than what’s required to make a single pound of beef because a year’s worth of showers is 5200 gallons of water and it takes 5214 gallons to produce the one pound of beef. Now I'm not here to force people to change their views or anything because I don't want to be annoying like other vegans do but it's just something to think about.

GMO's are Goooooooooooooood

Recently, I have been quite immersed in the topic of GMO's thanks to our beloved research paper. In my paper, I took a very unbiased standpoint due to the fact that I really didn't know very much on the issue itself; but as I read more and more, I began taking the side of supporting the use of GMO's. This is because I began generalizing the entire debate into the most simplistic ways possible. To me, I saw it as the side that supports  GMO's is composed majoritarily of scientists, government officials, business entrepreneurs, and others who believe in the advancement of technology, while those who are against it are mostly farmer, health experts, or people who had been negatively affected by this new method of mass food production. To generalize even further, the supporters of GM foods are more liberal, and those against are conservative. Maybe it's just the fact that I was raised in a very liberal California, or even just the fact being that I'm a science nerd, but either way I feel GMO's are worth the sacrifices they require us to make. Yes it sucks for farmers, but I really don't feel farming is a profession people should be pursuing nowadays. Further, I feel that with enough research, GM foods could be modified further to solve the problems they are causing us now. Also, even though GMO's are costing society a chunk of money, I see it as an investment into something that could greatly benefit us in the future and apply to a much wider range of uses. All in all, I am a supporter of GMO's.

What Keeps Us Alive Could Also Kill Us

Food is an essential part of our lives. It's a necessity, but recently has become more of a want. Some of the different foods that are offered for sale are a bit extra; we don't necessarily need a double cheeseburger with extra fixings to survive. What we really need are the essential food groups: fruits, vegetables, dairy, protein, etc. But lately we've been abusing that power.

When we were watching Food Inc., I'm sure that most of us were a bit sad when finding out that Kevin died from E. Coli after eating a burger from Jack in the Box. The thing about fast food is that it's not necessary to keep us alive; fast food is easy, cheap, and accessible, which is why most people are drawn to it. One particular scene that appalled me was when the different meat were placed together in one machine, and it was weird to think that our burgers could be made out of multiple kinds of cows instead of one. Precautions need to be done in order to ensure the safety of our food supply, which is where the topic of my research paper comes in.

What keeps us alive--food--could also kill us. Some illnesses could be caused by food: E. coli, salmonella, listeria, etc. What I researched is that foodborne illnesses and deaths are nearly 100% preventable. But why don't we take the extra step to ensure that? Because it would cost money instead of make money. A few more regulations and inspectors couldn't hurt, but it slows down the process. In Food Inc., we saw the type of factory line that processed the food. With all that manpower, processing takes a shorter time for a cheaper wage. It's all about the money. Just as long as profit is being made, the government has nothing to worry about.

Lies.

After watching Food Inc., my whole mindset on what I wanted to feed myself and my family completely changed. I realize that the foods I normally eat are no where near healthy for my present and future body. The movie made me want to change the way I eat completely after seeing first hand how the animals and vegetables I eat are treated. Chickens and cows are injected with hormones to help them grow much larger than they're supposed to at a much faster rate. How is it possible that these hormones are no where near safe for the chicken or cow, but are safe for us to eat? I'm not saying that I'm going to become a complete vegan because I think that's going a little too far from just watching this movie, but i do think that as a society, we need to look at what we're going to eat and see exactly where it's coming from before just blindly eating it.

The other day I was talking to my mom about becoming a pescetarian and my brother chimed in and teased me for wanting to do something that would in turn greatly improve my health because it's different and weird. Why has society become so judgmental when it comes to food?  Why has organic food become something that only posh and hippy people buy? Why is it looked down upon to have healthy foods that are a bit more expensive but without all the preservatives that are in many of the foods sold in a normal grocery store? I feel that society needs to take a step back and think of what they should be turning their head towards and what they should be buying more often.

E-coli Story

I want to share a story with you guys. A couple of years ago my sister got very sick and we had no idea why, later we come to find out that she had e-coli. The doctors decided that she got it from an animal, the strange part was that she didn't eat any meat that day. But what she did do was go into the petting zoo and played with some of the animals. Luckily her immune system was strong enough to keep her alive, but for a month or so she was stuck in the hospital with this terrible disease. All of her inside organs started to become weak and she lost several pounds due to the lack of food she was consuming. For awhile after that we had to help her out with simple tasks until she was then again able to do them on her own. I am sharing this with you because it is heavily related to the subject we have been discussing in class and it is a scary thing that I have witnessed and I don't want anyone else to have to go through what she went through. So be careful of what you touch and what you eat and be aware of the meats that you are putting into your bodies. Save your health.

Random rant about highschool

All of this work in Ms Fletcher's class is stressful. It is getting closer and closer to graduation and everyone is ready to move on with their lives. I am trying hard to get my work done and focus and just finish strong, but it is so hard. Sometimes I feel like why am I still in highschool and I've already got accepted into colleges already. These school days are haunting me. I think instead of complaining I just need to get the work done fast and not procrastinate. On the other hand, I am getting to school on time now!! I can't wait to graduate. I still need to fix some things on my essay and finish vocabulary, and annotate my articles. All of this work is due this week, but I can do it. Finishing strong is what I plan to do.

food inc.

In class we watched Food inc. It really made me realize the foods we eat and how they effect our lives. Typically when you eat well you feel well. What's sad is what the animals we kill in order to get the food we need. I mean obviously this has been going on for forever going way back. People used to kill buffalo to make clothes out of it and get food and other things they need. Does the life the animal lived before we killed it effect us? Now-a-days the workers inject the chickens and make them bigger theirselves. I think we should care what is in our food and the producers should tell us also. Referring back to Food inc. a little boy named Kevin died from ecoli and that's really a bummer. After that someone lost their child and they start blaming everyone. The restaurant should have been more aware and the meat distributor also. Everyone is really at fault here. Kevin could have ate something else that day. My grandparents way of eating is way different than mine and its sad. My grandparents don't eat all that fast food all the time like I do. They tend to eat more home cooked meals. I think if everyone just ate a little bit healthier and became aware of what they were eating things would get a little better.

Is it our fault...

The biggest question that is always flopped around is, if the FDA is doing or even involved enough on our food? Or if they are being to controlling with what we eat?

In my opinion , I believe the FDA should actually be more involved for the beginning till the end. They should have stricter rules for pesticides and chemicals. They should be more involved when they check the animal for any disease before allowing industries to purchase meats.

We think the FDA is controlling on what foods we are controlling because of obesity . In reality we are free to consume whatever we want. Its not like they come up to us and hand us a salad. Yes, we have restrictions at school on what we could sell on campus because of Michelle Obama. Thanks Michelle Obama. But, how many of us actually follow the rules. I doubt any of actually meet the calories that is recommended to meet. Some of us actually go over the recommended amount. The FDA is just there to give us a guide on “what” we should eat . They are there to inform us on food items that are good for our health. But, its our choice in the end of how we take their advise. We talk about obesity like its the FDA fault in reality its the peoples fault. We buy the food. We consume it. The FDA doesn’t have any bad intentions for us.

"Middle Man"

After watching the video , I felt horrible consuming any meats after seeing how the cows and chicken were being treated. I know like everyone else, we said we were going to stop eating all animal make but, then a few minutes later we all went back to our ways eating whatever we want and not thinking about where our meal came from. We all forget about how our meal got to us. We don’t think about the process of it until we see a movie reminding us about what we are actually consuming. It opens our eyes and we start to wonder about the whole process. 

Steps…

1. Nurturing the animal: They feed the cows the cheapest food in order to save money . We’ve been taught since we were little that cows eat grass. Yet, they are feed corn because it is affordable and makes them fat.
2. Pesticides and Chemicals: In factors they check for any chemicals or pesticides that will be harmful for us to consume.
3. The killing: Framers sell their cow and chicken and they are shipped of to factors to be killed and are put through torture.
4. Pack/Travel: Our food is packed and shipped off to travel throughout the world in order to get to its destination “markets” the traveling can take days and hours until it arrives. The food takes a whole journey before being but up for sell.
5. Purchase: We go to the store and buy our meal. But we don't think of how long the food has been their. From the beginning till our home. It took many days to get to were its at and has been exposed.  We don't realize it but our food is just being taken for a joy ride . We only see it as our meal. Delicious looking food.

If we started going to farmers market we would be able to cut the middle man of the whole process. We would actually learn more about our food and what we are actually consuming. The food that is being sold at the farmers market is picked daily . 

Just check the factories

     In FOOD INC. it talked about how there are many more consequences to advancing technology and being able to modify our foods. By using more pesticides, foods that the animals shouldn't be eating causing cows to be at risk catching e coli and standing in their own filth. I thought it was very sad when the lady was telling the story about her son and how he died because he ate a burger with e coli and died in days and it was sad because he was only like 2 or 3 and I thought of my nephews and niece, having them get sick and die because of something they ate. We trust that what we eat is checked and not worry about getting sick. I just think it is unfair because so many people lost their lives just by eating food and how they can be any age because the food isn't checked properly.The agencies that are meant to check on the farms and factories are being controlled by the people who own those factories. Instead of all the technology making foods safer and better to eat they are making it worse. The bigger the factories the more pathogens are just everywhere and is spread very fast. Now we have less slaughter houses but that are producing more than they ever have many years ago when they first started and when they had many more houses. All of the meat we eat is a mixture of different cows and it's pretty risky because they don't know if or what cow was sick. It's crazy that we aren't doing more to find out where our food is made and the working conditions of not only workers but also the animals.

Growing Corn

     One of the things that I was surprised by was how much corn is produced. We produce so much that they have to think of other ways they can use the corn and sell it to make a profit. They are encouraged to produce as much corn as possible yet they don't know what to do with it. While watching FOOD INC. I was really shocked to see that corn was in diapers, syrup, ketchup, and even batteries!  By breaking down the corn they came up with many uses for what the corn was composed of. They also began using it as food for the animals they farm like in the fish farms where the fish are being taught how to eat the corn. It is also being fed to cows and I remember there was a farmer who was mad because he doesn't think the cows should be eating that, they are cows and they were meant to eat grass and release the waste back to the earth to help the grass continue to grow and help the environment. The other guy said that the farmers started feeding the cows corn because it was cheap and made the cow fatter quicker.The corn was so cheap that it was even able to lower the cost of the meat because farmers started feeding their animals corn as feed and it was less expensive as apposed to what cows are normally supposed to be eating. I just don't understand how they would tell the farmers to grow as much as they can and they would find a use for it, because what if corn was useless and they didn't find much to do with it. The would have produced a lot of corn just for it to go to waste and if the corn is so cheap and why are so many people in the world starving and we are choosing to feed animals corn instead of helping distribute it around the world.

FOOD: Double Taxation

Food, there is no doubt that we all love it. Come on. Would we be alive if it weren’t for food? However, after this whole segment on food politics, I am beginning to second guess this divine enjoyment. Food as we think we know it is not what we think at all. The hidden actions about food that are taken behind our backs is absolutely appalling and disturbing to say the least. I was reading an article somewhere that sated that food allergies in children has increased tremendously over the last few decades. Our health is declining at a tremendous speed as well. There is a saying that what goes inside is reflected on the outside and I believe that in the case of what we are eating, bad health is the result. Although we choose the food we buy, it seems as if though the food that is most beneficial to our health also happens to be the most expensive. Low income families are not able to buy the healthy food and resort to junk food and fast food that deteriorate their health. I would think for a country that looks out for the good of its citizens, the USA would be the first to do something about this unfairness. It looks to me like our government is using the people to make money and they can care less about our health.

For the most part it seems as if the government does not care about our health, but they do things like the clubs day restrictions, it make me wonder that they might actually care. We had our first clubs day of the year last week and everybody was in an uproar because of the strict guidelines. I was amongst the loudest protester. However, to some extent, I was contradicting myself. I supported a healthy lifestyle, yet I was complaining when the government finally decided to do something about it. Now I realize that yes, I am in full support of Michele Obama and her call for a healthier America. People are getting too sick over preventable causes. I do solely believe that it is not something we just leave up to the government. It is a collective agreement. If we demand healthier food and stop buying as much junk food, the food “trolls” will have no choice but to provide healthier food for us. Take control of your food and health and do not let anyone decide for you how you should eat. It’s funny but not really how after providing us with junk that make us sick, the government turns around and collects more money from us after all of the multiple hospital visits. Hmm, maybe, just maybe, there is a connection.

Why do the guidelines for what we're supposed to eat change so often?

As a human, you are inevitably a part of some sort of society, which comes along with a form of government that controls many things but among those things that are controlled the most essential to us is food. Our food isn't necessarily spoon fed to us in the portions they decide to give us at certain times; however, there are guidelines for what they believe we should eat. But are these guidelines really accurate ? Apparently not , well in the case of the U.S. that is. Our guidelines here in America change every five years , Just this year in fact we have received new guidelines. But why are these guidelines changing so often ? Its understood that things evolve with science but honestly how many things did you guys find inaccurate before ? Also they expect you to follow these guidelines to be healthy but they aren't even sure of them . I mean EVERY FIVE YEARS ?! if I were to live until i'm 100 i'd have changed my diet based on the guidelines 20 times ! Is that honestly a way to keep our bodies healthy, with constant changes in nutrition ? I mean other countries have kept their guidelines predominantly the same since it was created .. why are they able to understand and feed themselves properly and America cannot ? Aren't we the Superpower country ? Come on America we need to do better!

Why do we let someone else control what goes into our bodies?

In Wendell Berry's article The Pleasures of Eating he argues a point that really sticks out to me. He talks about how in food politics we let others control the foods we eat. But why do we do that? Why in this free country do we let someone else control what goes into our bodies? Mostly because we don't have time to cook our own food or are just flat out too lazy. Berry also discusses how food is an "agricultural act" and how people see it as farming, so they feel as if they aren't or can't be participants. All society is concerned about is that they have something showing up on their plates, not worrying about where it is actually coming from. Berry explains that "food wears as much makeup as the actors." 

I feel this to be a major problem because our health is at risk because of all the preservatives that are put into the food that we are consuming. The way to fix this problem, according to Berry, is to prepare our own food, start our own garden, and learn about food and what is healthy and what us not. Berry says, "learn as much as you can, by direct observation and experience if possible, of the life histories of the food species." 

My topic is cutting down meat consumption and how it would affect our health. And during my research a favorite piece I found was a Ted Talk by Graham Hill. He talks about vegetarianism and how eating meat only a couple days a week or less will make a huge impact on our economy. Ten billion animals are raised each year for meat consumption, this creates more emissions than all transportation combined. Eating one hamburger a day increases risk of dying by a third and beef uses one hundred times more water than vegetables. He calls this method of only eating meat a couple times a week as being a "weekday vegetarian" and swapping some of the dark meat for light meat such as chicken. 

Basically what I am trying to say is that America should be taught what is put into their food, and should then be aware of what they are eating. I am suggesting that we should change our eating habits and eat things that are only one ingredient and cut down on our meat consumption in order to save some animals, land, water, and especially to save our health. 

Are We Eating Right?

Food today is all fating and made out of fake ingredients, nothing is really made of real produce from real farms anymore. Organic might be an option that we have today, but there really isn't much of a selection over the fating junk food that is on every intersection corner these days. Hunger is one of humans biggest problems, a single person can eat up to three to four pounds of food daily. Since people eat a lot of food in a day, farms/"factories" have to keep up with the daily demands of food. Production at these "factories" have been increased exponentially to the point where we can grow a chick to a chicken in about six weeks, this is four faster than the normal growth rate of a chicken. Today society has become so depended on fast food, that it's has become a problem, most people today will choose McDonald's over a healthy meal at home because it is faster and is on their way to work. People need to think more about their eating life style over getting to work on time, we only have one life, one body in this world, and are you going to destroy it by eating McDonald's all the time. The next time you think about choosing fast food over a healthy meal reconsider and choose a healthy meal it will let you live longer and have more energy for the day, so go out and buy some fresh produce at your local farms market. It's good to eat healthy.

AF: Food Politics Resources

You have articles by food giants (Pollan, Bittman, Waters, Berry)!  Read them.  Understand them.  Look for other things they wrote.

Look at the research database, Proquest.   When you access from home, your username/password is bellflower/bellflower.  If that doesn't work, try capitalizing Bellflower.   You are looking for SIRS Knowledge Source --> SIRS Issue Researcher  -->  Food and Nutrition or Food Safety.

Try Google Scholar.

Look at the "Chew on This" series at TED.

Look at a national magazine like The Atlantic Monthly, and search for "food."  Try this at the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal.

AF: Annotated Bibliography

An annotated bibliography is a very common assignment in college, and it is just what it sounds like it would be: your researched sources documented in MLA form, followed by a single paragraph of summary.  They are actually pretty simple and very useful.  Once, I had to do one of these with 17-20 sources.  You are doing five sources.  Even though it is only five, it will take you some time to do all of that reading and writing, so get to work.

The payoff:  if you do a good job with this, the substance of your paper will be pretty well figured out.  That's a huge chunk.

Here is a document to look at.

Here's an explanation on the Purdue OWL.

Note that the examples at the Purdue OWL have summaries that are several paragraphs long.

And here's the slide show I showed in class.

AF: Try this. This might work better

Access the LGC Self Evaluation document here.

AF: LGC Evaluation DUE MARCH 13: Download, print, complete and turn in.

AF: Verna Myers: How to overcome biases

This is what passion looks and sounds like.  

Blog Closed for Language, Gender, Culture

Thank you for all of the posts and comments, everyone.  The blog is closed until The Politics of Food gets underway.

Family Influences

In class, whether yesterday or today, someone read their essay and they spoke about how some children grow up and are automatically taught to presume gender roles based off of their sex. For instance, a man should be doing all the yard work, and house repairs, while the woman cleans and cooks. 90 percent of the time most of our religious views, opinions and etc. are influenced by our parents. Therefore this intrigued me because they had a very good point. I grew up like that where my male cousins got to do all the manly chores and I was always stuck in the kitchen helping my grandmother cook and clean. And she would always tell me that if I was no good at cooking and cleaning no one would marry me. I always thought that was funny because I never quite understood why the man and woman can’t work together instead of working separately and having set jobs. It wasn't until a couple years ago that I understood that a thing such as gender roles were real. I had this friend and when we would hang out he would always expect me to clean up after him. One day he was helping me assemble my moms new television stand and he did not understand how to do it. I began to read the directions, which he refused to do and attempted to explain how to assemble the stand. He then proceeded to tell me that he knew what he was doing and that I should go make him a sandwich. I instantly copped an attitude and it wasn't because I felt like he was being disrespectful. But more so because he wouldn't allow me to help him when he didn't even know what he was doing and I didn't really make that good of a sandwich anyway.

So in my opinion, in school and at a young age we should be teaching these students preferably males, that we are all equal human beings. Just because males have a bigger build and are stronger than some of us females does not mean that we are prohibited from doing anything. Its not fair that women are not treated as fair as men, and this needs to be stopped.

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

Thanks Fletcher !

     This unit has really been a big eye opener. This unit has made me realize that so many things play a part in the way we think. Since we are babies we are already being labeled with colors, blue is for boys and pink is for girls. Although im sure parents don't intentionally mean to teach sexism they do but only because that's just how they grew up and what they were taught, but we can change that. I for one want to influence my nephews and niece to always strive to be the best and treat people equally. I want to teach them not to judge someone by how they look but to define them by the actions they make, and not be stereotypical. Everything around us sends subliminal messages on what genders should act and be in society and anything out of the norm is shun and looked down upon. This unit has made me realize that we can be the one who breaks the cycle and not try to create a perfect society because no one is perfect and no one person is the same, similar maybe but not the same. Everyone is their own individual with thoughts of their own. I just wanted to thank Mrs. Fletcher for having us read those articles and have us collaborate on that group essay and each get the opportunity to share what we think. I thought it was pretty cool and something I never expected to do. I personally didn't think it was going to be fun or easy but it was and I enjoyed doing it.

judgement

I believe judgement is a huge thing because it is dealt with in our everyday lives. I mainly deal with this at school but it occurs online, at home, in public, etc. I myself am very shy and I've been this way for as long as I can remember. I'm shy not because i want too but because since elementary I had to deal with mean kids and immature teens judging me. I don't think bullying and judgement is the same but I see how they can be somewhat similar. Bullying is teasing people and giving them a hard time but judgement in my term means assumptions about a person. Judgement for example was assuming things they don't exactly know is true but choose to believe it anyway. High school was the worst where i had realized everything and everyone is based on judging others. If someone made a mistake that made them "dumb" and will automatically be spoken of by groups or the internet. If a girl is "unpopular" and has a different personality than others people would automatically assume she's "weird." If a girl is seen with a group of guys, she's a "hoe/slut" etc. If a teacher is mean to students they are seen as "lonely" the list goes on. We live in a society filled with assumptions and judgement. When will anyone let people be and mind their own selves? The only way this can be resolved is for everyone to stop making assumptions of others when they don't know what they deal with on a daily basis.

Family influencing gender roles

     Something that sort of bugs me when my grandma comes to visit. Don't get me wrong I love her and she is nice and all but there are some occasions we have different opinions, especially when it comes to gender roles. She is a bit closed minded and don't see that times have changed and things aren't what they were before.
     One thing my grandma always tells me is to always have the house neat and help my mom with all the house work even though I always do. She tells me to cook and etc,because she says that it is what I need to do because I am a girl. A man is supposed to provide for us by being finalcially stable and going to work so we can stay home. She is constantly telling me that no man likes a girl who is independent and the faster I learn to cook and learn to keep my place as a girl the better chances I have for someone to want to marry me.
     She says I was brought onto earth to have babies and listen to my husband. I constantly tell her I don't want to have any kids and I want to travel and because I don't want kids she calls me useless because that's why I was brought to this earth. It upsets me because my mom was always independent and never needed my dad's help and always found a way to get through tough situations, showing me that I don't need to depend on a man or anyone. My mom and sister work and we all help around the house and get things done.
     When one of my uncles comes over he is always making his wife get him food, drinks and etc. I don't like that because even if he is sitting next to the drinks he will yell for my aunt when shes attending to the children just to bring him a soda. My mom also gets upset and tells him god gave him hands and feet and he is grown to get his own things, he just rolls his eyes and gets it himself.
     I think that family can strongly influence you from a young age because they are teaching you how to behave and whats appropriate and what is not. They teach you the basics meanwhile indirectly teaching you how a male and female are to act,

Sexism

There are many reasons why we are treated unfairly and one of the reasons being is due to sexism. Women have to put up with a lot of criticism and deal with superstition others have amongst them. I was raised with just my mother so she played the role of both a man and women in the house. Men think all women are good for are cleaning, and doing "feminine" things such as painting nails, shopping, etc which is true but they don't realize we are also very intelligent and can do just as same what men can do. I always see the way guys treat girls as if they are much more powerful than we are. This isn't true for all boys/men but a majority of the male believe women are incapable of doing male roles or having their level of intelligence. When I mention the term "sexism" it can be meant in different ways such as being taught at school that "rape" should be more of a concern to women because its more common but its sexist to say that men are mainly the reasons of this happening. Just because you are a man and are capable of doing this doesn't mean all "men" rape or in general that they do. Sexism occurs between both man and a women for example a couple with a baby. The baby needs to get their diaper changed and automatically the man gives the baby to the women because thats a "women" role. Or it may be the other way around, that the women automatically takes the baby for a diaper change because she believes a "man" is incapable of doing women roles. Sexism occurs even when we don't think it is or realize. In my opinion, i believe sexism will truly not go away completely anytime soon because it occurs everywhere at anytime whether its o the streets, or job sexism discrimination, at home etc.

Assuming...

"Phylosophe" by Judith Butler really just proves how everyone just assumes about people they don't even know. Believing what other people say about others who always don't even know the person their judging. In the article Butler talks about how a man walking down the street the town he lived in  and people would make fun of the way he walked. They said he walked "feminine" and call him a "swish". Later on when he was walking down the street some boys approached him and fought him. This guy has nothing against these boys who fought him, he was living his life, how did he affect these men? After fighting him, they ended up throwing him over the bridge and killed this innocent man who was just minding his own business and didn't even know these boys. I'm sure these boys didn't even know this guy at all, they just assumed he was gay basically because of the way he "walked" It just shows how people can be so low. Your really killing someone because of the way they walked?
Again, instead of just assuming something about someone or believing what other people say doesn't mean you have to follow along. People never have time to get to know someone and just decide to assume stuff about them based on what they wear, how they talk or dress. Society now just follows what others say, blind from the truth basically and decide to just assume.

Not good enough.

   After reading "The Barbershop" by Ashanti Young made me realize that you'll never be good enough because of the way you act by the way you look, talk, etc. instead of people accepting who you are, they always find the little things to not make you feel included. In the article it explains how Young was at the barbershop in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, he says he looks different compared to all the other black men there. "That's part of why I was at the barbershop and to get that fresh bald fade, one of the trendy hallmarks of black masculinity." which explains that he wants to fit in with the other black men because he feels left out and knows he's different compared to the black men.
Young is so concerned on who he is and what he does. He feels as if his performance (racial) are being judged. His 'linguistic performance is similar to theirs (barbershop) but not his racial performance, again which he is so concerned about. When Young said he's not "ghetto enough for the ghetto" also for the "white folks" shows your never good enough for anything in this world to be honest. Now if you don't do this or scared to do something your not "cool" enough. No matter how hard you try you'll "never" fit in.

Gender roles are being outgrown

Transsexuality and things that are similar to it are actual, real things, which are helping gender roles to become obsolete in society. Yes, a person may be "biologically" one sex, but that doesn't necessarily guarantee their gender identification. While it is a little bit of a sore subject for some, I feel as though leaving it there would do it no help. It is a very important issue and very disturbing in many people’s lives as it serves as an obstacle in majority of the people’s lives. There are transsexuals, transvestites, and many other classifications to consider. Simply saying "he is a man" or "she is a woman" because of physical biology gets to a point where it is closed minded and disrespectful to a person's sense of self. Because of these different means of classifications, the "gender roles" and their importance are fading out. Many of these people have simply outgrown these roles, and are helping society as a whole to accomplish this as well. I think the idea of gender roles just holds people back and places everyone into a box. Children are put into certain clothes and pushed toward certain colors and toys based on their gender, adults are expected to do certain things based on their gender, and it makes no sense. We live in a new world where there should be nothing scandalous about a little girl who likes playing with toy cars or a boy who wants to be a nurse. Women are able to be the money makers and men stay at home parents, and we should not allow gender roles to constrict us. The reason that men believe that they have to be providers is due to the fact that they were raised to believe that there are many factors that support that such as family life and media messages, and same go to women they are taught that they are weak. The world needs a reality check men and women are both capable of doing the same things.

Are Gender roles Important to you?

I believe gender roles are not important to society as once thought. Just because your gender, doesn't mean that you should have someone else making your decisions for you, without your say. Just because you’re a women, your expected to stay home and sacrifice in the long run what is your health and happiness. While since men are the "money makers" and they are supposed to be the head of the household no matter what. It's like gender segregation. It's a old ideal that I believe is flat out wrong. Today, our roles in society are more lenient than that of the past. Women are defined by who they are, not by who they are suppose to be. Roles are determined by hard work and perseverance. Any gender can accomplish whatever they want to if they set their minds to it. Today, women are capable of doing jobs that only men were thought to be able to do. Jobs that include science exploration, engineering, and business. Women are even joining the army! In a world where the man has always been superior, women are speaking out. They are saying, "No." For once, women are supporting themselves and reaching their dreams. Today, everyone can have the best of both roles and still be themselves. Gender roles in society can limit people. In other societies, women are unable to follow their dreams because of gender roles. They need to stay home, cooking and cleaning, and can't receive an education. Men are the ones who are supposed to work and get an education to support the family. Our society is much better at recognizing women and men as being equal. Women don't need to marry and take care of a house, and men don't need to support women. Men and women are able to go to college and get an education. People are not judged by their gender. They can be known for who they are.

Virtual Gender Equality?

In more video games today, females are no longer portrayed the "Damsel in Distress" but more as their own heroes of the franchise.  Today, they are given their own roles as strong, independent characters who don't rely on a male character to do their job for them.  Before, the main character in a game would always have to be a male, for video games were always a sort of "boyish" thing to interact with and it would often appeal to a male demographic.  Having a male as a character would allow the majority of the players, who are male, to somehow relate to him, as if this connection between same genders would give them a sort of indescribable immersion with the character.  However, this changed when the lead character of the game Metroid, had turned out to be a girl the entire time.  This baffled many players at the time due to the assumption that underneath all that bulky power armor lied a man, when instead they were introduced to a woman, thus changing the course of the female roles in video games to this date.  This introduced the concept that not every woman is shouting for help at the top of a tower, this small plot twist was the inspiration for many female video game leads.  For example, take the popular titles such as  Mass Effect or Dragon Age, both are considered to be some of the best Western RPG franchises available, you are given the option to make your character male or female.  Now some may think "I want to play as a male, because they're obviously stronger.", however this is not the case.  Even if you were to choose the female character, you would receive no major twist in the plot line due to the fact that you are female, they are equal no matter what you choose.  They are both outstanding in the categories of character development, narrative, and strength or willpower.  Personally, I would have to say that the female counterpart does a much better job bringing out the true essence of what a hero in a video game is supposed to be like.  Despite being compiled of different pixels and coding, these virtual women are seen as some of the most influential beings in the gaming community, and that is something to be proud of.

Gender Roles

Here in western society, we have an image of what the ideal male and female are supposed to be, the man should have a headstrong attitude, well muscled body, and a fine chiseled face.  Women should have a sleek body, have very good manners, yet should be strong willed enough to hold their own when pushed against the wall.  However, this image does differ across different countries and such.  Some countries have small differences between the two genders, while others may have reversed roles between the two, where the lines between feminism and masculinity are faded to an extent.  Such occurrences are happening across the globe due to the ages bringing new opinions on the ideas of gender roles.  For instance, within Asia, more specifically South Korea, a huge boom of a fashion trend has caused many boys to change their outlook on what a man should look like.  This phase is caused by the recent boom in K-Pop industry, where many male members are very "feminine" and still attract much attention from the masses.  This change in image from this trend has caused the general view in Asian boys to be more "herbivore" other than the "carnivore" counterpart that has appealed to them for so long.  This change has also affected many women as well, for they are now being given more ambition to go for the male role in a relationship.  Women are being given more liberty from their original "housemaid" roles in Asia and becoming more open about their rights, for they are now becoming more independent than before.  They are achieving the "carnivore" role that the male counterparts have mostly left behind and are setting the trend for women across Asia, despite their involvement in the K-Pop industry which emphasizes their image on being more "sexy".  This goes to show that gender roles are always varying across the globe, though this is not the case for many other countries, this is a step forward to break the bond between two genders, man and woman.

Is That a Man or a Woman?

A few weeks ago when we first started the unit on gender, language and culture, Ms. Fletcher showed us video of Judith Butler. Before the video began, it was paused and all I saw was a sharp face, short cropped hair. My first thought was that the person on the screen was a man, then Ms. Fletcher said that it was a woman. I was very confused because the person looked like man from the angle that I saw him in. I said that it did not look like a woman and someone from my table asked what a woman looked like. In my head I said a woman. Mind you, all I saw was a boyish haircut and a sharp face before I made my conclusions. When hen the video started, I was able to see that Judith butler had on earrings and had a female voice. Then I said oh, she is a woman. What makes a woman a woman or a man a man? You cannot deny the fact that a man looks like a man and a woman looks like a woman. There has been so many instances where I have been confused about the gender of a person because of their appearance. I have known two little boys with long hair who could either be male or female and I thought they were both female until I found out later that they were not. I have also known girls whom I thought were boys because of the way they dressed and how they acted. Was I wrong to assume that Judith Butler was man because of the way she looked? I don’t think that I am wrong because whether we like it or not, there are certain ways that men and women look. Even if a girl has short hair, she still has the feminine look to her. I even know girls that are bald and I still wouldn’t confuse them for men. Likewise, if a man has long hair, his facial features usually gives him away as being a man. For crying out loud my hair was chopped short till I was 10 and when I first came to America and people were still able to identify me as a girl. Women have a certain look and men also have certain look. I know that I am not the only who are sometimes confused about the gender of a person because of the way they appear.

Gender Roles

As a girl who was raised in a very traditional way, I believe that each gender has a specific role, and I completely disagree with the saying that the roles should be equal. From the beginning of time, these gender roles have set solid regulations of how society should be. Am I saying that women are just for having kids and men only good for providing for the household? Of course not. What I am saying is that we should not be too quick to dismiss that these roles were set for a reason. I am a firm believer that everyone should have equal educational opportunity. Everyone, whether man or female should be able to work and do something that they love. The concept of woman staying home to take care of the house and children springs up from the fact that women in general are more patient and just have a different way of doing things. They naturally blessed with motherly and womanly instincts. That is why most teachers and nurses tend to women. We only seem to be focusing on the gender roles here in America and neglecting the fact that cultures around the world view gender roles differently. For example, if you tell an African man to stay home and take care of the children and cook, you would be looking for his trouble. I am not saying that African men can’t cook or take care of kids, in fact, some African men I know cook better than the women, but they grew up with the belief that they must be the man of the house and provide for the every need of his family financially. We should at least try to keep a little of these regulations that have been kept since the beginning of time. There was a reason each stereotype was assigned to each gender. Evidence are even in the Bible for what each gender is here for and their roles.

African American Women

This week in ERW we had to write a group essay and the topic that we chose to write about was African American women. I learned a lot about this topic. I learned how young black girls face more struggles than an average white girl would at such a young age by often being set as an example of poverty. I learned that even if a black woman has a degree and is educated she is still judged and criticized because of the fact that she is not only black, but also a girl. I have a very good friend of mine who has a black boyfriend and they've been together for 2 years, and although she loves him dearly and they are both adults she refuses to introduce him to her parents because she knows that her parents will disown her and kick her out of the house and cut her out of their life because they refuse to accept a black man into their lives. I hope for change because I honestly do not understand why it is that people are judged on the color of their skin. I hope that one day we will all unite and treat each other fairly, regardless of race and sex.

School dress code

Dress code has been the biggest topic between the students and Mayfair faculty. There

have been many decisions and arguments that were worked out by administration and the topic still seems one sided. It seems like girls more so get the short end of the stick when it comes to dress code versus the boys.

 When it comes to boys their dress code is not quite as explicit as ours. For instance any clothes with inappropriate symbols or sayings, anything baggy, or hats are not allowed. There are many other things such as certain types of jewelry or accessories that can not be worn also but those do not comply at this moment. But as for the girls our dress code is pretty long and detailed. No tube tops, spaghetti straps or halter tops; no visible midriffs, cleavage or underwear; shorts, skirts and dresses must be fingertip length and no holes.Now I know that if we had no dress code then there would be  absolutely no order and people would come to school dressed in who knows what. But I feel that dress code should be slightly more flexible. In the warmer seasons females should be able to wear thin strapped shirts. And not because they “want to show more skin” but more so because the latest fashion during that time of year is thin strapped.

I agree with some aspects of our dress code and some I do not. In example, why can't we wear spaghetti straps or halter tops? Its not like we are showing excessive amounts of cleavage but more so only our shoulders and back. How is that at all distracting. Instead of teaching these young men to respect women the district is pretty much stating it is okay to get distracted by a 'nice back' or 'nice shoulders.' I feel that this is not at all fair and that dress code should be altered to either discipline both sexes more or cut some of the more unnecessary dress code violations out of the rubric.

Unfairness

I think it is very unfair that people are treated unequal due to their gender. I have noticed here at school that those who are lesbian, gay, or bisexual are shunned and ignored. I have also noticed that if someone is gay they are often times rejected by someone of the same sex. For example, I went to the starbucks right by school one day and this boy who was about 18 dropped a twenty dollar bill on the floor and the very feminine gay boy who was in line behind him picked it up and told him that he had dropped his change and handed it to him with a sincere and polite smile. The 18 year old snatched it from the gay boy and told him," keep your damn hands off my money faggot, I bet you were trying to reach for something else" and the 18 year old's friends began laughing and encouraging their friend for being rude. Luckily the lady behind the gay boy told the 18 year old to eff off and he ought to be more accepting considering the gay boy is a lot cuter than him. They all shut up and got their drinks and walked off but I will never forget the look of the gay boy's face of sadness and unacceptance when that 18 year said that along with the friends praising him. The gay boy had such a heartbreaking look on his face, but still tried to compose himself and ordered his drink. I noticed that as he walked away he did not have that same bounce in his walk as he first did when he walked into the coffee shop. I think people should stop being so unfair and try to be more accepting.

Women not equal?

In these past months, I've noticed an increasing amount of arguments over gender quality and the struggle for men and women to have equal rights. I've noticed terms like "feminist" turned around into a term for men called "meninist". This "meninist" group is a mixed group of men who genuinely believe it's for the better of humanity for men and the other half of the group is immature "men" making fun and joking about the real struggles that women go through in their everyday life. I don't think that the inequality of women is anywhere near being made a joke. The fact that women still get paid less than a man doing the same job is horrid. The fact that women are afraid to simply walk down the street alone at night is extremely saddening. The fact that this group even exists makes me scared of what and who my future daughters will have to deal with. I think society needs to wake up and realize that we don't live in a perfect world and we never have. There are dirty secrets within society that need to be shown and shared with the world.

last minute blogging

I will be honest, this quarter I'm blogging super last minute. I got caught up in a number of things that aren't as important as school and I should have took a step back to set my priorities straight.
Anyways, I really wish I had more self confidence. Being a girl, I feel like everyday I have to make sure I have some makeup on and my hair curled or straightened and dress nice (which I never do because it's too cold and all I can even think about wearing is a sweatshirt and jeans). I've gotten better the past couple of months and I've began to braid my hair every night after I take a shower so it's wavy-ish in the morning because I use too much heat on my hair which is damaging it and I don't wear as much makeup because 0 period is too early to function. Some people don't have the confidence to wear no makeup at all because of the way they think they have to live because of stereotypes. Stereotypes are quickly changing our world's view on everyday things and the world will surely not be the same in a couple years.

stereotypes

There are so many gender stereotypes and some are negative while some are positive and they don't always tell the right information. When people automatically assume something about someone, they're being influenced by stereotypes to say that. Some stereotypes are how women are supposed to stay home and take care of the children while men are supposed to make money to support his family. These stereotypes can be quite hurtful to some people and lower their expressions. I think that we should all be able to do whatever we want without being judged and we should all have the ability to become doctors or nurses or be tall or petite or play with trucks or dolls or be good at math or english. When we have kids, we should open them up to more options that they will look back on such as wearing all types of clothes and playing with any toys because it sets them up on what to think during their lives about other people. It's sad how many stereotypes people have about everyone these days.

Who I Am.

As I read through all of the blog posts, I see a commonality. We all don't like the stereotypes that have been passed down year after year and we all agree that we don't all necessarily fit the stereotype that has been pushed onto us. I am sitting here thinking to myself about what to talk about during this blog post because everybody has already said the thoughts that have been rummaging through my mind. All I have to say is that I am sick of society and how we judge each other, myself included. I don't like how labels are put on us judging by the color of our skin, how tall or short we are, what clothes we wear, what foods we eat, the friends we have, etc. I am white and I am proud of it. I am a girl and I am proud of it. I think we all should be proud of who we are and where we come from no matter what anybody else says.


This packet of articles has brought several questions in my head. Such as in Judith Butler's YouTube clip titled phylosohpe I ask myself how do we stop this cruelty? Because no one should ever be harmed because they are different in societies eyes. Also is Deborah Tannen's passage called His Politeness Is her Powerlessness, why are women seen as so weak? Why are we so afraid to speak up for what we want? Why is standing up for our self such an outrageous act? Leading to more curious questions of what exactly is fitting in? What does it mean to be apart of the "in crowd"? Why is everyone so judgmental when we are scared to be judged our self?


Reading through these several articles is hard in a sense because no matter how you look at them somebody is being sympathized for, somebody is being beaten down, somebody is treating someone else unfair. No matter what you do society will always have something to say, so be who ever it is that you want to be. I think this lesson was a good lesson for us all because we all know what it is like to feel judged and none of us like it, this lesson has helped me to realize that I am not alone because others feel this way as well.

Who is stronger, a man or a woman?

A question that was presented to me recently was ‘what is true strength?’ The first thing that automatically comes to mind is physical strength but is that what really what ‘true’ strength is? If you were asked the question, ‘who is stronger, a man or a woman?’ some might answer man because he is physically stronger which in most cases is true. However, if you see it from a different point of view there may be no answer. A person could be knocked down over and over again but as long as they have a motivation to get back up it won’t matter how many times they take another blow. So in other words, you don’t need to be physically strong but as long as you have the will power to get back up you’ll always have the chance to come out victorious. So wouldn’t that mean that your will power would be your true strength? When you give up on everything it doesn’t matter how physically strong you are, you’ll still come crumbling down so physical strength shouldn’t matter when determining someone’s true strength; therefore, men won’t be the only ones who can be strong but women as well. Another way you can see true strength is kindness. It’s so easy to just give someone the cold shoulder and such an effort to put up with the people who will never show you a sign of gratitude. It takes a lot out of a person to be kind especially when they themselves are going through hardships, not everyone can do that so I see it as true strength. 

Its sucks being a girl sometimes....

Honestly it can really suck being a girl, well at least in my household it is. Women are always looked down as fragile and dependent on others. In my household it’s just my older sister and I and we are both struggling in our own way to obtain some freedom and independence from our parents. It’s a nice feeling knowing your parents worry about you and all but we’re getting older and they still keep us on a leash. Growing up I was always surrounded by many family members such as cousins who are luckily the same age but the difference between us is our genders.  As we grew older they got to go outside regardless of if they were hanging out with friends or just cursing around town. For my sister and I on the other hand couldn’t go out unless our parents knew the details and we couldn’t go outside by ourselves. During my sister’s high school years she became quite rebellious only because she felt like a bird in a cage, if our parents could have just given some freedom and trust from the start she wouldn’t of had to be so rebellious. I on the other hand didn’t rebel because I knew the consequences my sister obtained when she rebelled so I thought to myself “just be the good child and gain their trust, soon enough they will let me go outside”, yeeaaa that didn’t really go as planned. I did all they asked but its only till now that I’m able to walk around a bit on my own while my cousins on the other hand have been doing that and more for years already. It sucks because when the day does come and it’s time to live outside of the cage I worry I won’t be mentally prepared, that I’ll get drunk off freedom. Sometimes I can’t help but wonder if guys know how lucky they are when it comes to the little things in everyday life such as this. 

Expectation of being a man Then v.s Now

Kids grow up with all of these expectations from their parents to behave certain way. Boys in general, are supposed to be seen as tough and strong and parents watch over their children to make sure they act how a boy is suppose to act. Its difficult for a boy or man to not be “strong” because so many people expect him to be tough and unreliant on anyone. Its hard for men to digress from the path of “strength” people expect from them and show their true feelings of being sensitive. Men struggle with showing “true strength” because most people in this world is unaccepting of it. People discourage men who are sensitive and show their feelings, but its easier to have the strength to fight back to someone who is mean to you then it is to be kind to someone who are spiteful and mean to you .

 Nowadays is more accepting of men who are homosexual or act more girly .Back in the day if a man didn’t act like a man he was unwelcomed and called names like “fag” or “queer”. I feel that today men are still expected to act or behave a certain way, but if they don’t people are more accepting of it and being homosexual has less of a negative connotation then it did back then.  

White and gold or blue or black?

On February 27 the Internet had one of the most controversial topics. Within a day a certain dress went viral because people saw the color of the dress differently. So many people were talking about the dress it even went on the news. The thing that makes me mad about the dress is not the people arguing what color the dress was, but how much attention it got. There are other topics that are far more important than the dress that deserves to be talk about but doesn't really get much attention or be taken too serious. Like the death of Leonard Nimoy who played as Spock from Star Trek. Also women getting paid less then men when the work. I never thought that women getting paid less then men was actually a thing. Men and women get paid the same at some jobs, but when women start their careers they get paid less the men. I believe that men and women should be paid equally. It's totally unfair that women get paid less just because they are a female and not a male. Sexism is another thing that should get more attention. Women should not be discouraged in taking higher lever science and math course because its a "man's subject".