I think the way that society has always portrayed a "beautiful woman" as a thin woman maybe with large breasts, long wavy blond hair and dressed in nice clothes. But some of society now is starting to explore the beauty in every woman of every shape, size, age, or even breast size. People still immensely care what everybody thinks, its like a human instinct that everybody has deep down. And the pressure is on for the women. not only do they have to find the "perfect guy" but they have to impress and be better looking than all the other girls. Some girls try so hard at being beautiful. Just focus more on being and having fun, be yourself, dress however you want. Life too short to care That much about beauty, and who looks better. On the other hand we all have to admit that to some extent looks matter. I'm not saying they should but they do. I do understand that if you look beautiful outside you will feel beautiful inside and if you would like to enhance your breasts or plump your lips go for it if it makes you ultimately feel good but do it because of you. Don't try to be beautiful for anyone else.

When Sam talked about the "Christian Invaders" he was talking about the radical Christians, The Christians that are trying to turn the whole world into Christians, and the ones that are not tolerant of any other religion. And when I looked at it in perspective, I would fight those people too! I would be thinking who are these people? Why are they trying to tell me how to live? I realized that most of Iraq see us all as huge jerks who like to destroy and change everything. And all because there are some people in the military that hate them just because they don't understand or they don't like the their culture o religion. These close minded people who happen to believe that this is how their God wants it so they will do it. I'm not trying to say that all Christians are like that at all and I'm not trying to say that all people from the military are like that. I'm saying that there are some people like that and sadly and regrettably they are what most Muslims see everyday. They see all these Americans running around trying to change every ones way of life. It's not fair. I don't think that Sam is not tolerant or other religions but he's probably not so tolerant of the jerks that try to force it down your throat. Let people believe what ever they want to believe. I understand caring and trying to change minds but when it comes down to it religions are opinions and you can't make someone believe in a God they don't feel exists.

This is a good question. In my opinion Sam is not necessarily trying to change opinions as he is trying to inform about the opinions you already have set and its up to you to change it if need be. Siting in Sam's class I did learn a lot of things that I wasn't even aware of and that did lead to some of my opinions about race and stereotypes a lot but I still have some views that were different and I had some views that were strait opposite. No one is trying to tell anyone how to think. Everyone shares their views to everyone else. Sam is showing us facts and then what he thinks about them, expecting you to form any kind of opinion you want from them. For example, I had no idea that little black and brown girls would rather play with a white baby doll than the black one, I never thought about the slavery that is still going on today. i feel so much more aware of some of the things that are going on in this world concerning race and just being different. I am sure that you are not the only one in this whole class that has not changed an opinion about anything discussed here but I am also sure that somewhere in this class there are at least a few people whos live were changed by some of the things this class has discussed. And for those people that's great! And for you, stick to your ways no ones trying to change the way you think just trying to fill your head with all kinds of things to base your opinion on.

For most of my teenage life I would not mention out loud about my bleeding. I'm not sure why but even though I knew it was happening to all the other girls we all kept it like a big seceret and boys couldn't know about it or you would be made fun of. I was in wal-mart one day with my mom when I was around 14, and as my mom and I were passing the women toiletries aisle my mom lowered her voice and whispered "so do you need tampons?" . I've always wondered why people, even two women, can't say tampon, pad, period, PMS, or menstruate out loud in public without getting any strange looks or maybe some jokes. It gets pretty ridiculous when you think about all the natural occurrences that happen in everybody everyday life can't be discussed.
Bleeding is just as natural as life, death, birth and illness. It happens to every child-bearing woman. it happens every 28 days and without its monthly visits in the first place there would be us. I'm not saying that it should be celebrated or commended but at least acknowledge that its not a joke or an excuse and its not that yucky. Its sometimes annoying, tedious and painful but a good thing.
I do believe that if table were turned and if men menstruated, and if that was the case they would also be the ones giving birth, that bleeding would be set much more in the main stream. All of the "gross" details about bleeding that guys would rather not hear about now, would be known. nothing would be whispered or put into code(e.g. not feeling well, belly aches).
I don't think that anyone is deliberately trying to be sexist. I think it has more to do with how we are told and raised how to act and what to say in certain situations like periods, sex, race, and death.
Not to mention that every girl remembers her first period most of the time with some details. So if its a big part of all of our life's why aren't we more open about it? you'd think we would be, when it comes our life's revolve around it. But too many times our actions have been blamed on it too. I've had times when I would get mad and some one would blurt out "shes bleeding" even if I wasn't at the time. Just because I get bitchy doesn't mean that I'm PMSing and just because I'm PMSing doesn't mean I'm gonna be bitchy. There are too many dumb jokes and myths about periods even though they are the very beginning of a beautiful miracle. Even though there are not many times that I can honestly say that I was blessed with my period, its time to suck it up and have the conversation. And chances are that if you get married it will still be there for you to discuss with your wife/husband and it will be part of both lives.

I think that the theme for the theme party plays a pretty huge role in whether or not the party is racist. There are indeed a lot of white people out there that will attend or host a racially themed party like the one held to "mock" black history month. The Compton Cookout party held by a fraternity at University of California San Diego, a party where you had to "dress ghettto" to attend. I guess in the eyes of these obviously mis led students they were respecting and celebrating black history month by dressing up in Fubu jeans, gold chains and nappy weaves. Guys were told to dress and act "Gangsta" and girls were told to dress and act like "ghetto chicks". I'm sorry but what the hell is that?! That to me is no way to respect any race. There were no blacks even in attendance to that party in fact they were quite offended. I wonder why. But these parties are no't always themed around a black or ghetto stereotype, there have been white trash parties, and probably some Latino stereotyped parties as well. there are also the beach themed parties, pajama parties and drag parties that don't try to imitate any race or offend anyone. But I have witnessed a pretty huge annual racial stereotype party right here in State College when thousands of people gather at all of the bars here and "drink like the Irish". I am Irish, but I'm not personally offended by this binge drinking. I could care less. But I know a very Irish guy that I worked with on State Pattys who is offended by this stereotype around which we revolve our binge drinking.
Therefore, not all theme parties go by a black stereotype but I think its safe to say that most of them do. The only reason I can think of for these parties mostly revolving around a black stereotype is because its probably a lot easier to try to resemble that stereotype because lets face it there is a lot of things on television telling people that its perfectly fine to make fun of this stereotype. A lot of the Blacks that you see on the media, things like MTV and VH1 go by the same stereotype that most blacks don't want. Although, I don't believe that anything makes these incredibly offensive parties o.k. I do kind of understand that for some of these people its alright to make fun of the stereotype, the media does(i.e. Chapelle's show, MAD TV, and others) and in that case I think it might be more of making fun of the stereotype rather than making fun of the Black race.

some people are only willing to help out when they know that the helped situation could benefit them. In the situation in the video we watched in class yesterday there was a race problem in the bakery and I was actually really surprised at the six out of fourty one people that defended the bakery clerk, there are actually people that messed up about this issue? And the more than fifty percent of people that didn't say anything. This is too big of an issue to not have an opinion about it. But according to the bystander effect the greater the number of bystanders, the less likely it is that any one of them will help. So the twenty two people that didn't say anything could have been in larger groups and socially afraid to say anything so in a way it is more understandable than the ignorance that the muslim woman had to endure. The thirteen people in the group were the people that realize that even though this issue does not effect them personally, it is still an issue and it still needs to be fixed somehow and there's no better way to help fix this problem then to have everyone, effected by the situation or not, involved in stopping and defending against the hate some people have for other races. If I were one of the fourty one people walking into the staged bakery I would have definatly defended the denied customer. Its not my fault in any way that some people are ignorant like this just like how it's not personally any of our faults that some europeans came over here, took part in mass genocide and stole the land of the natives but that doesn't change the fact that as americans something has to be done as a nation. In any situation like this every single person and every little bit counts to help fix this problem. And,about the respecting other people and their property, to an extent, yeah, you should respect other people but my mom always raised me to be able to judge weather or not you personally believe that the person really deserves your respect. And the six out of fourty one people that defended the bakery clerk don't deserve my respect. Respect is a personal choice more than just movements one must go through to get through their lives. The one thing that has to be respected (or at least tolerated) though is these peoples freedom of speech. They have the right to be racist, they have the right to hate, and they have the right to be intolerant to anyone thats different. In conclusion "no one raindrop thinks it caused the flood" but by not responding to these actions is just encouraging them

I totally agree with this statement. I mean there probably are some people who are bisexual that are confused about which sex they are really attracted to and there probably some bisexual people that are just afraid to say that they are full on gay or lesbian but I have to say that a great majority of bisexuals are just more open about their sexuality. I'm bisexual and for me, love and attraction knows no gender I will be attracted to a girl as much or maybe even more than I would be attracted to a man. I understand how some more close minded individuals can think that bisexuals are confused about their sexuality, maybe because the individuals themselves have not "looked into" the same sex. but like Sam said in class, everyone is to some extent bisexual. They just have to explore that part of their lives. Being bisexual just gives you those options to explore and not just be more open about sex but love and life in general.

So its true that everyone makes mistakes. They say things that they wish that they could take back. This statement however, i think should hae been thought over a bit more. When there are alot of people that hang on your word, its important to try not offend anyone especially by comparing them to stray animals.
There are quite a bit of people that do get a little bit peeved when they see someone on welfare that really doesn't need it.I understand that but there are probably as many people and families on welfare that don't need it as there are families that actually do. Coming from a single mother family, there was a time that the only thing my mom could do to raise to daughters is to get a little help from the government. The help my mother received was temporary it gave her the chance to figure out how she alone, without any welfare, would raise her family, but with the help of welfare, food stamps and volunteers she got out of having to use welfare.
But, I do understand what Bauer is trying to explain. There are people out there that will just use welfare their entire lives, not because they need help, but just because its there and its easier to take from the government than to work for your money. I'm defiantly not stereotyping with this statement, Just observing things I've witnessed. However, it still isn't close to fair or moral to say that we "have to stop helping these people because the more we help the more they will reproduce, and we wouldn't want that". That's a little harsh isn't it?
And his solution? Drug tests. Really? that is just about as offensive as the above statement. Everyone on welfare is on drugs now?
I understand that if your giving your money to help someone out it would be nice to know what they are spending this money on, but putting the poor on probation? When the majority of people on welfare are only children? Insane. I'm thinking its time to find a way to solve this problem while still help the needy, prevent being used by the lazy without stereotyping and offending people.

When I read the Messiah Complex I saw that some of the things that Brooks was explaining seemed like some pretty good points like this same story has been repeated quite a few times. Yet there were other things that I thought were going a little bit to the extreme like is the said messiah always white? and if so, do they always intentionally make him white?
My opinon on Brooks is that he is, like many other people looking to hard for racism in places where it might not intentionally be. It could be just the actors just happening to be white or merely where the stories are set.
I don't find this story as offensive in any way. I did see that the movie potrayed Americans as the bad guys of the story, But not specifically the white race. To me, the movie revolved around how,in most cases, America will destroy anything to get what they want, no matter whats there before them.
I was also thinking that maybe this same plot and storyline is used over and over again is because its a familiar story and people obviously like it. Why wouldn't the directors of these movies try to put their own spin on this meaningful storyline.
I do see where some people are coming from when they say that there is an ongoing "white messiah" thing going on and that if taken a certian way it is seen as quite raceist and offensive but I also see that it might possibly just be coincidence that these heroes are white and they are just looking for an opportunity to pull the race card out.

What is the french government trying to do with this? These women should be aloud to express themselves and their religion however they want. If they are comfortable wearing their burqas then let them wear their burqas. they aren't doing any harm in it, its not hurting anyone, and the people that are offended from it need to open their eyes a bit to different cultures and religions around them and start accepting it. This is the dress that these women live by who is anyone to tell them they can't wear it? I understand where the French Government is coming from in the sense that the women are not recognizable for things like security cameras or for description of their face, but its not like they refuse to remove the burqa when needed. Keeping these few women from simply practicing their religion in the country they live in is just awful! No one is keeping any of them from doing anything they usually do to practice any of their religions. its simply unfair. I don't know that much about the french government but I do know that no one should be able to outlaw any religious practice. The world is filled with people of all different kinds of beliefs and religions its time to start being tolerant.