This letter really opened my eyes to something I never would have expected. I have always felt the people in prison for life were worthless individuals who deserved no sympathy. However after reading this letter I have realized that is important that people do learn from their mistakes and when you have the time to truly reflect on your life and your choices you can learn a lot.
After reading this letter I feel like it makes me realize that society could learn a lot and should talk advantage of the fact that these prisoners could actually do a lot of help rather than serve no purpose by rotting away behind bars. Although there may be many that aren’t as well spoken and thoughtful as the individual who wrote this letter, there is no doubt in my mind that all lifers have something to say and people should listen.
His story of the compassion felt for one another behind bars really stuck out to me. Hearing that men who hate each other so much will put down their differences to offer a sign of condolence is something that all people should follow. I feel especially this story made me change my image of what prison is like into something very different.
I think it would be an unbelievable experience to speak to an individual like the one who wrote this letter one on one. I could only image how much more of an impact his words would have on me if I got to experience them first hand. There are many things I would love to have the chance to ask him about his life and how he deals with his day to day knowing that he has no chance of changing his situation. I would love to find out how he has been able to accept his life in prison and how that has changed his perspective on life.
I try to put myself into this individual’s shoes living the rest of my life behind bars left to judge myself and accept my time. I think sometimes its very difficult for me to put my own life into perspective and seeing someone who really does not have much to live for have the ability to do it really stands out to me.
The other thing that really shocked me about this man’s letter was the fact that I felt myself relating to the things he was saying. I never felt someone I look at as so far from myself could share so many ideas and feelings. I think that is the lesson I have learned from this class and that I will now apply to my life from this point on.

This letter really opened my eyes to something I never would have expected. I have always felt the people in prison for life were worthless individuals who deserved no sympathy. However after reading this letter I have realized that is important that people do learn from their mistakes and when you have the time to truly reflect on your life and your choices you can learn a lot.
After reading this letter I feel like it makes me realize that society could learn a lot and should talk advantage of the fact that these prisoners could actually do a lot of help rather than serve no purpose by rotting away behind bars. Although there may be many that aren’t as well spoken and thoughtful as the individual who wrote this letter, there is no doubt in my mind that all lifers have something to say and people should listen.
His story of the compassion felt for one another behind bars really stuck out to me. Hearing that men who hate each other so much will put down their differences to offer a sign of condolence is something that all people should follow. I feel especially this story made me change my image of what prison is like into something very different.
I think it would be an unbelievable experience to speak to an individual like the one who wrote this letter one on one. I could only image how much more of an impact his words would have on me if I got to experience them first hand. There are many things I would love to have the chance to ask him about his life and how he deals with his day to day knowing that he has no chance of changing his situation. I would love to find out how he has been able to accept his life in prison and how that has changed his perspective on life.
I try to put myself into this individual’s shoes living the rest of my life behind bars left to judge myself and accept my time. I think sometimes its very difficult for me to put my own life into perspective and seeing someone who really does not have much to live for have the ability to do it really stands out to me.
The other thing that really shocked me about this man’s letter was the fact that I felt myself relating to the things he was saying. I never felt someone I look at as so far from myself could share so many ideas and feelings. I think that is the lesson I have learned from this class and that I will now apply to my life from this point on.

Men obviously have a lot of pressure to conform to society standards. They look at magazines watch TV and movies and really care about what women think. I watch my male friends all the time check out other guys clothing and comment about how they feel about it. Also they always feel the need to make comments like “I can’t believe she is with him.” and “shes too hot to be with her.” These comments have always confused me up until I realized they are doing the same things women think but opposite all the time. Men also always talk about going to the gym and poke fun at one another about things related to the physical appearance and how girls see them although women’s focus is different this realization shows a huge similarity.
I know as a woman I have always felt that we care so much more about what people think and how the world sees us but men feel the same way. When it comes to relationships men get just as nervous and feel the need to do whatever they can to impress the woman. When I finally realized this I think it made my appreciation for guys who will put themselves out there grow. I know that most women feel they must wait around for the man to talk to them but really it should be a level playing field. Women are always worried about their clothing, their bodies, their accessories, their makeup and hair. Men on the other hand are completely focused on physical appearance and their attitude. Men feel the need to be tough and not allow others to see their emotional side. This conformity I think ultimately causes a bigger issue because it causes men to have problems emotionally.
Although I do believe that the mass media culture does play a huge role in both the insecurities of men and women I think much more comes from the critical personalities that so many of us have. I notice in my own life because I am so critical of myself that I transfer that attitude on to other people. In doing so I am only adding to the pressure we all feel from society and not helping myself with my own insecurities at all.
We all want to fit in but I think it is important that we all realize that by being more accepting all of us will benefit. All people have something to offer and if everyone tries a little better to get to know people I feel that is the only way to eliminate some of the pressure. Men feel the pressure and because they have to hide their emotions to fit in I believe it makes it much more difficult for them than women.

In high school one of my friends showed me a game similar to the one depicted in the video and I remember as all the guys laughed about the cartoon being sexually assaulted I sat back in complete shock. The fact that this type of game is allowed to be created honestly scares me. This makes me think if something as serious as rape is a game to some people then these same people are probably participating in the actual act in their own lives.
I know growing up I never understood why people complained about video games but when I see something like this although not in the United States, I still think we have a major problem to deal with. People in America are coming in contact with these games because the Internet is making them available and they will affect those people who are curious.
I know I have always felt that some video games took it a little too far with violence but to even bring anything sexual especially something so crude and disgusting has really crossed the line.
When the reporter explained that you could corner the woman and rape her repeatedly I got very angry. I have multiple friends who have been raped and as a rape intervention counselor myself the idea that people are getting pleasure from this sickens me. People are paying money to rape people for fun! Even saying that out loud is crazy to me.
If I was a female in Japan I do not even know how I would be able to deal with the fact that my government and some of the people of my own country agreed with these video games. I would do anything in my power to petition against them. I know that these videos are reaching the youth and molding them into young rapists.
I know that it I may seem like somewhat of a hypocrite because I do not feel as strongly against all violent video games but these video games shocked me much more. I think it would be very interesting to compare the sales of these games to the sexual assault rates of the country. I am interested to see if men are being affected by these games. I am also very interested to see if the government has ever spoke out on these videos in the past. It makes me so angry that they barely addressed the issue and that women continue to allow women to be degraded for fun as they sit back and watch as others make money off of it.
Something must be done to stop the creation of these video games. They will only continue to be put up online for the entire world to see. Japan’s government needs to realize the severity of the issue and start fighting to eliminate it.

I think in our world people will always feel the need to start controversy when race is involved. I think it is ridiculous that people feel the need to make the use of the word negro on the census form but as a white American that word has no affect on me. I think people should trust the fact that there has been a lot of time and research done in order to make sure this form is correct and will allow for the best results.
I think its interesting that people were offended by the use of “negro” because it is obvious that its purpose is to make sure that those blacks who call themselves this term are included in the counted population. It is not its own category but rather grouped with black and African American which further shows it is just another title.
This entire news story really made me think a lot about how in class we have talked about how its important to realize that different people get offended by different terms so it is important to be as minded as possible in regards to race.
When I was a sophomore in high school I went to a lacrosse camp and roomed with three black girls and one other white girl. The other white girl in the room had obviously never spent that much time around black people and whenever she was around them she was very uncomfortable and nervous. She tried really hard to be politically correct and would only refer to them as African Americans. I feel that she thought she would have been offending them by using any other term. However, what made me upset was behind her back the black girls would make fun of her for how nervous she was and how they thought it was weird that she would only call them African Americans.
This entire situation confused me and made me somewhat angry. I related to the other white girl a lot because I grew up in a very white area however I had only ever used the term black. I do not understand why if those girls recognized how uncomfortable the white girl was they would not have talked to her about it. They spent time ridiculing her behind her back and they were making fun of her for something she knew so little about that to me it made them look stupid.
The only way that people will be able to understand what is right and wrong in regards to race relations is by talking. Relating back to the census issue the people in charge did the research they needed and discovered that there are black people who call themselves “Negros” and to not include the term would lead to false results and probably a group offended for not being included.

After Tuesday’s class I was very shocked about how embarrassed and uncomfortable the girls in class were when the issue of menstruation came up. The fact that in such a large lecture only five or six girls raised their hands to say that they were on their periods because they were embarrassed of it seemed both very childish and strange to me. I agree that when I first got my period I was embarrassed about it because the kids around me were uneducated about it so it was seen as something bad. However now that we are all adults we know how important a woman’s menstrual cycle is and that is something that all women have.
I do think there is a problem with male education of the female body because when I was in middle school and first taking sex education, the boys and girls were separated. I feel that although this is done to give the opportunity for honest questions and answers the information given to both groups about the opposite sex is very little and really clears very little up.
I remember when I got my period for the first time I was nervous and confused. I knew that it meant I was growing up but my friends were not talking about it yet and as much as my mom said it was something to be excited about, I was quickly turned off to the idea. My bad attitude towards my menstrual cycle at a young age was reinforced when other girls would have leaks in class and both the male and female students would ridicule the girl. I did not understand if this was a common and natural bodily production why people would make fun of it but I learned it was because of both immaturity and a lack of strong sexual education at this young age.
As I sat in Sam’s class as a 19-year-old girl I was shocked at the reactions and felt as though I was back in middle school. Most of my guy friends have absolutely no problem knowing that I have my period and all of my girlfriends never have a problem talking about them. The one girl who felt disrespected that Sam was discussing his wife’s menstrual cycle shocked me the most because as her sexual partner and husband and most obviously a natural human being I would think it was shocking if Sam knew nothing about it and felt as though he should never speak of it.
Lastly, to answer your question “would tampons be free if men had periods?” Tampons would never be free because just like food, which is also, a necessity for both men and women, we pay for it everyday.

This story made me feel very proud. It is about time women are holding positions as head coaches. There are so many women who have athletic abilities that are much stronger than men and as coach have many abilities that I feel would be beneficial. Although the coach seemed very shy and reserved I have a feeling from the few pictures from her time on the Divas, that she is a strong and tough player.
However I thought it was strange that she said she didn’t work harder to get into her position and to be taken seriously by the males around her. Getting into the position and becoming the first to do so in all of history would take a lot of effort and I am positive that there are still many men who think she cannot do it.
This story reminded me of one of my friends in high school who wanted to play football. The coach let her tryout but the entire team heckled her and a lot of the families in town made it such a big deal that she ended up dropping out of tryouts. This made me so upset because there was absolutely no reason for people to be so sexist when all she wanted was a chance to prove that she had the ability to play.
This story shows me that things are changing and that makes me so excited. I have always considered myself a strong feminist and I know that it is still going to take a lot of time and energy to prove ourselves and be treated as true equals with men. This coach is one of many strong women that are working to progress the movement and I think that it is important that other women look at her as a role model to follow.
I am nervous that during her time as head coach she may run into problems with getting the boys on the team to take her seriously and not disrespect her in any way. I think she will be able to stand strong against them but her assistant coaches will need to be completely behind her. Coming into this position I feel that I would be nervous but it seems that she really has it under control and she is ready to work to take the team to a new level. I hope that more women come into head coach positions because I feel like it will open doors in the male dominated sports world. It would be really interesting to see when a woman gets a head coach job on the college level. Maybe the next JoPa? It is something to think about and I feel is a possibility.

I have always noticed the fact that there is an overwhelming white population of women on the show the Bachelor. In addition to this the black population of the show is usually the voted off and for the most part are light skinned. I think the show chooses to do this because of the audience base. The ABC network is one that has a very family and female audience and has many shows depicting the “typical” white family that I have always felt fits into the Disney model. I think by doing this “The Bachelor “ turns many people off and would be much more successful if they tried to bring some diversity into it. I feel that they would be able to do this more easily if they were to have a black bachelor. I feel that in this situation the women may be more diversified. But with that it may turn off the white audience who has been watching it all these years expecting their idea of “Prince Charming”.
I think what makes this issue more of a problem is the fact that in response to the popularity of this show VH1 has come out with shows like “I Love New York” and “Flavor of Love”. These shows are much more diversified however focus on very sexual situation and depict the black and other minority cast members in a very stereotypical way.
I have always viewed the Bachelor and the shows on VH1 as ones that also depict females in a very degrading and inferior role. Some of the situations that they are put into and the conversations they have, I find does nothing but humiliate and exploit the women. I think the fact that all the women kiss and have sex with the “bachelor” has made me both very uncomfortable and disgusted. The fact that women are going on national television in order to “win the heart of a man” and willing to act in outlandish ways I feel does nothing but impede on the efforts of many women fighting for equal representation and respect in society. While I do not think that ABC’s “The Bachelor” is as bad as the shows on VH1 the concept of the show is the problem. There have been very few “Bachelorettes” and a lot of drama surrounding several of the “Bachelors”. This drama has further objectified the women in the media and done nothing but make the men look like powerful and overpowering men with many women at their complete disposal.
I fell that the only way to change this is slowly eliminate shows that are set up with women fighting for the attention of men. Women need to stand together and realize that to have respect in society we cannot allow ourselves to be portrayed in such degrading ways.

I understood where the kid in class was coming from when he said that he probably would not have said anything because “it wasn’t his place.” I agree that sometimes it is better to let those involved deal with a problem and not intrude however during times of blatant disrespect, like the one seen in the ABC experiment, is a situation were it is important that people get involved. If no one stands up discrimination will only continue to be a major problem. The poor Muslim woman was getting treated badly and there was no reason that others should not have stuck up for her. She was the minority in the bakery and needed others to stand by her.
I feel that if I had been standing in that store that day I would have needed to say something. I could not imagine having to deal with that discrimination in my own life and it really disgusted me how some people reacted to the situation. The one man who gave a thumbs up and then would not even speak to the reporter was completely pathetic. Atleast stand behind your actions and be able to explain your choice to agree with such hurtful actions.
In the world today a major problem is people relying on others to act out and stand up against discrimination and oppression. I think a common attitude is “I would do something but someone else will do it better.” This bystander effect causes treatment like the one seen in the video to continue. Not having any opinion I believe is worse than agreeing with the blatant disrespect and it shocked me that people still chose to continue to purchase items from the bakery.
I feel a main reason this discrimination is so prominent is because in American media and society the stereotypical terrorist has been depicted as a Muslim and everywhere you go, especially at the airport you see others stare at them or avoid them at all costs. This I feel is the reason many people chose not to say anything because they really did not know how to react.
While watching the ABC experiment I was curious how the situation would have played out if it was a Muslim man. I am unsure how people would react and if less people would stand up for a man and if her gender was not also a factor in the situation. I am not sure if it would have been a factor in my choice to say something.
Overall this experiment really made me think about discrimination in America and how serious of a problem it really is. We need people to stand up for those who are being oppressed because if we rely on others to do it nothing will get done.

I regards to the acceptance of lesbians over gay men I feel that I personally disagree. Although in our society lesbians are more accepted I feel for the most part this is only by men.
I am completely supportive of gay and lesbian rights and feel that they should be entitled to all the same things that I am in my own life. However, the idea and depictions of lesbian relationships has always made me much more uncomfortable than those of gay males.
During the lecture Sam explained that usually people who have a big problem with gay and lesbian relationships have them because they are questioning their own personal sexuality. This I feel is true in many cases, however its not that I do not accept lesbians, I just find it very difficult to relate to them.
Many heterosexual men look at lesbians as objects of sexual arousal and would say that although they support equal rights for gays that they would choose not to look at or see gay public displays of affection. Heterosexual men are attracted to women for their beauty and attitudes and the idea of two of them together makes them even more excited.
I have always considered myself a liberal person but I believe that since I grew up only seeing several gay relationships in general that the idea of their sexual interactions has always been far from my mind. On my street at home there are two women who live together and although they are completely accepted by my family and my neighbors I have never once seen them be affectionate towards one another in a party or dinner setting. I feel that this has kept me even more close-minded because I have not ever witnessed in real life what makes me uncomfortable.
I agree with the other students that women are more emotional naturally but this does not necessarily mean that these women accept homosexual behavior. Many women starting at a young age may participate in sexual experiences with other women or simply make out with other women, not because they are caring and emotional but for the sole purpose of attracting men. This attitude I feel is a real problem and one that is the main reason that homosexuality involving women is more accepted.
Men like to look at it and women like to be looked at. There are many women in this world who will go against what they believe in to have men become interested in them.
In all media outlets women are displayed as more affectionate towards each other. Many advertisements, TV shows and movies show women barely clothed and touching one another. The producers of these things know that the male audience will be attracted this and because of it force women to see it as normal, even though men are not depicted in the same way.