I do not think that your thoughts have anything to do with being racist or thinking that you are better than someone else. I think that it has to do with you recognizing that you are more financially secure than individuals in developing countries, and because of your financial security, you definitely have greater opportunities (like being on top of the mountain in Sam’s example of King of the Mountain) and better resources (state of the art technology). Therefore, due to the benefits that result from your financial security, I would definitely agree that you do in fact have a better chance of changing the world. Your race has nothing to do with me believing in your ability to change the world – no matter if you were black, Hispanic, Asian, etc., if you were still an American citizen attending a university (even if you are not the wealthiest person relative to American standards), you have shown that you are more financially secure than most individuals in developing countries.

I never really thought about what Noam Chomsky said before in the way in which he said it, but I really do agree with a lot of what he said, and his ideas make total sense. I agree that schools train people to be obedient and to conform – just look at the bell system. Students are trained to know that you don’t pack up your belongings, get out of your seats, and leave class until the bell rings, and students know that when the next bell rings, they should be in their next class. But really, the sound of a bell ringing is just a bell ringing, but our society has given meaning to a bell ringing, and getting up for the bell has been completely ingrained in students by the education system. It has also been established by school systems that you cannot speak unless you are spoken to, and in order to speak, you have to be acknowledged by having your hand raised. In some classrooms, students know that they will not be called on if they have already established themselves to be free-thinkers who disagree with what the teacher says.
Throughout my schooling, there were many classes that I knew I had to do stupid stuff for that was just busywork and did not have a purpose, but I accepted that the busywork activities were just things that I had to suck it up and do, and that I had to “play the teacher’s games” in order to get a good grade, because I needed to get a good grade to have a good GPA in order to be eligible to play sports, go to college, grad school, to ultimately get a good job in order to make money. There were teachers I pretended to agree with even when I didn’t agree with them, just because I knew I would get a better grade because there were teachers who essentially were so egotistical that they liked feeling that they had enlightened students to their ideas, and were thrilled that the students now echoed what they believed.
I would agree with Chomsky when he says that a lot of people at elite universities are probably more obedient because I believe that they know how to play the teachers’ games. However, I would argue that they are still intelligent people capable of being innovative, but that they are just not used to thinking because they recognized that in order to get ahead, you have to play peoples’ games who are in higher positions than you and control certain aspects of your life (your grades, your salary, etc.) I think that once people stop thinking, they have to get used to thinking again. I somewhat agree that you can’t have progress through obedience because it seems that the successful individuals were people who weren’t afraid to take risks and weren’t afraid to fail (and obedient people might not take risks).

In my school district, foreign language is part of the curriculum starting in elementary school. Foreign language in my school district started being incorporated into the curriculum when I was in third grade, so I started taking French in third grade, whereas when my younger brother started elementary school, he began learning a foreign language in first grade. (When I went through school, French was taught in elementary school I guess just because there was a French teacher available, but when my younger brother started school, all of the kids had been switched over to learning Spanish I think because the school district thought that knowing Spanish was more useful). Now, I would not say that I am fluent in French, but I am pretty much proficient in French. Looking back, French wasn’t necessarily the best language to take – I feel that the only time I have really ever been able to use it was when I was in France last summer and when I have read phrases in my English books from older authors or from theorists read in my English classes. However, if you want to get a job in the United Nations right now, you have to know how to speak French, so French is definitely still a good language to know.
I think that on a daily and common basis, Spanish is a much more useful language to know because of the Spanish speaking population increasing in the United States (and also too, if you want to become a doctor, it is very advisable to know how to speak Spanish, especially if you are working in a city hospital). Therefore, (because I am considering going to medical school) I am slightly jealous that my brother will be proficient in Spanish by the time he graduates. Therefore, I am taking Spanish courses at Penn State, and I have found that because I learned another language (French) at such a young age, Spanish was extremely easy for me to pick up and learn (whereas other students struggled) because I already knew sentence and grammatical structures, and certain words are very similar. I think that I have retained the Spanish I have learned at Penn State because another foreign language was ingrained in me at such a young age, and now sometimes when I hear someone speaking Spanish or French, there are times when I have to ask my friends around me if the person is speaking Spanish or French because sometimes the language they are speaking just doesn’t register with me because I understand the languages pretty well. (There are have also been times when I have had to speak either French or Spanish, and I have unconsciously mixed Spanish words with French words because I am so used to speaking both languages).
I strongly believe that foreign languages should be learned at a very early age and that it is more difficult/somewhat pointless to learn speaking a foreign language at an older age because you just don’t retain the information as well and have to think about speaking it instead of just being able to speak it. That being said, I believe that learning Chinese in schools is a fantastic idea because Chinese is a very prominent language in the business world. I definitely believe that Spanish and Chinese are the ways to go if you want to learn a language because Spanish can be useful on a daily basis and Chinese can help you further your career.

I’m a girl and I’m not very shy about anything, including periods. I don’t really care if guys know that I have my period – I have more guy friends than girl friends, and some of my guy friends I’m better friends with than my girl friends. (If I could put my guy friends in dresses, I would make them bridesmaids at my wedding). There have been times when I’ve stuck tampons in their cars or have left tampons lying around, and recently I ordered a bunch of pastries when we were in a bakery that would last me about a week and when they gave me a funny look and were jokingly giving me a hard time, I replied that I was entitled to eat them because I was pms-ing. There was also a time when I had to go to a cocktail party with my dad and I was wearing a cocktail dress, had my period, didn’t have a purse, and made him stick tampons in his suit jacket pocket. Do guys want to hear that I have my period? Ehh, not really. But some of them don’t always care. Do guys think that periods are gross? Usually, but it’s not like I’m thrilled to have my period either. I am glad that I get my period because it means I’m fertile, but I don’t like the migraine headaches, the debilitating cramps, or the vomiting that comes along with my period.
Before responding to this blog, because I’m so close with some of my guy friends, I called them on the phone and asked them why they thought periods were gross. They made some interesting points. I asked them how bleeding out of my vagina is different from bleeding out of my finger, to which they replied “We like vaginas. Vaginas are special. We have an obsession with vaginas. Unlike vaginas, we have absolutely no attachment to your finger and don’t care about what happens to it or if it’s gushing blood. We don’t want something that we like to be bleeding.” I thought that this was a pretty valid point that I had never really thought about before, and it made a lot of sense. They also added, “People don’t like blood in general, so it’s even creepier when it’s coming out of a vagina. We know it’s supposed to happen, but it’s messy and unknown. If we bled out of our penises, it would be the scariest day of our lives. Getting your period is not unnatural, but it’s weird to start bleeding when you haven’t visibly done anything – like it is normal for your nose to start bleeding if you get punched. Periods seem random”. I thought that this point also seemed valid, until I thought about how it would have been the scariest day of my life if my vagina started bleeding and I didn’t know why. However, I was always told that I would start bleeding when I was around 12 or 13, and if boys were also told this, then it would not be scary for them either, just inconvenient. I feel like guys being grossed out comes from their lack of understanding of periods since it does not physically happen to them. However, I feel like when guys become more mature with age and are in committed long term relationships they get over periods (they’re going to have girlfriends, discuss period sex/why they’re not having sex because she’s on her period, they’re going to get married, their wives are going to get pregnant and maybe have daughters who are going to get their periods in about 13 years).

I’m a girl and I’m not very shy about anything, including periods. I don’t really care if guys know that I have my period – I have more guy friends than girl friends, and some of my guy friends I’m better friends with than my girl friends. (If I could put my guy friends in dresses, I would make them bridesmaids at my wedding). There have been times when I’ve stuck tampons in their cars or have left tampons lying around, and recently I ordered a bunch of pastries when we were in a bakery that would last me about a week and when they gave me a funny look and were jokingly giving me a hard time, I replied that I was entitled to eat them because I was pms-ing. There was also a time when I had to go to a cocktail party with my dad and I was wearing a cocktail dress, had my period, didn’t have a purse, and made him stick tampons in his suit jacket pocket. Do guys want to hear that I have my period? Ehh, not really. But some of them don’t always care. Do guys think that periods are gross? Usually, but it’s not like I’m thrilled to have my period either. I am glad that I get my period because it means I’m fertile, but I don’t like the migraine headaches, the debilitating cramps, or the vomiting that comes along with my period.
Before responding to this blog, because I’m so close with some of my guy friends, I called them on the phone and asked them why they thought periods were gross. They made some interesting points. I asked them how bleeding out of my vagina is different from bleeding out of my finger, to which they replied “We like vaginas. Vaginas are special. We have an obsession with vaginas. Unlike vaginas, we have absolutely no attachment to your finger and don’t care about what happens to it or if it’s gushing blood. We don’t want something that we like to be bleeding.” I thought that this was a pretty valid point that I had never really thought about before, and it made a lot of sense. They also added, “People don’t like blood in general, so it’s even creepier when it’s coming out of a vagina. We know it’s supposed to happen, but it’s messy and unknown. If we bled out of our penises, it would be the scariest day of our lives. Getting your period is not unnatural, but it’s weird to start bleeding when you haven’t visibly done anything – like it is normal for your nose to start bleeding if you get punched. Periods seem random”. I thought that this point also seemed valid, until I thought about how it would have been the scariest day of my life if my vagina started bleeding and I didn’t know why. However, I was always told that I would start bleeding when I was around 12 or 13, and if boys were also told this, then it would not be scary for them either, just inconvenient. I feel like guys being grossed out comes from their lack of understanding of periods since it does not physically happen to them. However, I feel like when guys become more mature with age and are in committed long term relationships they get over periods (they’re going to have girlfriends, discuss period sex/why they’re not having sex because she’s on her period, they’re going to get married, their wives are going to get pregnant and maybe have daughters who are going to get their periods in about 13 years).

When I heard about what had happened with this Mississippi high school cancelling prom because of the “lesbian date”, I was utterly shocked – I really did not believe that this was happening in our day and age. Sure, I could see it happening years and years ago, but never today. I immediately began to wonder if there were legal ramifications that this school would encounter – I didn’t know if the high school was really allowed to cancel prom because of the “lesbian date” or if they were really allowed to distribute a memo prohibiting same sex dates. However, I thought this entire event with the high school banning the same sex date and the tuxedo was a really dumb move because Constance McMillen definitely has grounds to file a major lawsuit. Even if she does not file a lawsuit, the high school and school district will be scrutinized by the public (maybe not in that area, which is evident from what the teacher said, but definitely by more progressive and liberal areas of the country since this event is making national news).
The teacher told Constance McMillen “to remember where she was”, but the reality is that the South is part of America. Yes, the South is more conservative than other parts of America, but the South still has to abide by the same rules as the rest of the country and respect the constitutional rights of its inhabitants. I went to prom with my gay best friend (I always knew he was gay but he wasn’t out in high school), and I think it’s sad that if he had attended this Mississippi school he would have been forbidden to be who he is if he had chosen to attend prom with a guy whom he loved. However, I think that there were two girls at my high school who were pretend “dates” just because they didn’t feel like bringing an awkward date from another school whom they would have had to babysit, which I totally understand.
I also think it is absurd that Constance McMillen was prohibited from wearing a tuxedo to her prom. Sure, it is normally boys who wear tuxedos, but the dresses that some girls wear to prom or other school dances are completely ridiculous and provocative. Sometimes girls wear dresses that are so short they cannot even sit down because their dresses ride up, and other girls wear dresses that are cut out on the sides and have multiple slits up the bottom half while there is basically no fabric on the top half. Constance McMillen would have had her entire body covered while wearing her tuxedo, while other members of her high school would have been dressed classlessly. If the school wants to set a dress code that Constanc McMillen cannot wear a tuxedo, then they should also not allow girls to wear dresses that might as well be bathing suits.

The article reported that there has been “racially and ethnically charged incidents” recently at UC San Diego. I agree that creating a noose and placing a KKK hood on the Dr. Seuss statue is racially charged (although the creator denied having malicious intentions) and that carving a swastika on a Jewish student’s door is ethnically charged. These acts are undeniably shallow, intolerable, and racist, and the individuals behind these acts are wrong.
But honestly, I don’t think that the ghetto-themed party or the Tijuana Sunrise party is a big deal. I was at an “Around the World” themed party where a few of the different rooms were New York City, Australia, Ireland, etc. New York City had fat American tourists with the big cameras and goofy souvenirs as well as Asian tourists making peace signs while taking photos. In the Australia room, Australians definitely were misrepresented by the picture of someone wearing a Steve-Irwin type outfit. The Irish room had pictures of red-headed leprechauns with pots of gold. Is this image considered racially or ethnically charged? The Irish aren’t black, but at one point in time, they were on one of the lowest rungs of the social ladder. Along with them on that rung were the Italians. That being said, I’m an Italian (from Pennsylvania, not Jersey), and I am in no way offended by the Jersey Shore parties “mocking” guidos and guidettes. In fact, I’ve attended several and I have enjoyed myself. It was fun to dress up as an image that did not represent me. I don’t know why, but it just was. People essentially escape from their own personal identity every Halloween when they choose to dress up in a costume – not to mock people, but because it is all in good fun. On Halloween, I have seen people dress as Scottish men when they wear kilts – would you assert that these people dislike Scots? I have seen boys dress as playboy bunnies – would you then assert that those boys are mocking girls with blonde hair and big boobs? I wouldn’t. I just think it is funny to see masculine men dress up as girls. Anyway, all of the party-theme images of people play into stereotypes. There are also western themed parties where everyone dresses up in cowboy boots, cowboy hats, flannel shirts, and jeans. I’m sure this isn’t how all people from the Midwest dress, just like not all people from the ghetto are black individuals wearing baggy clothing. What about Eminem? He’s white, from the ghetto, and dresses in baggy clothing. I don’t see how the ghetto – themed party or the Tijuana sunrise party are any different from the other parties that “mock” someone’s heritage – technically, the Jersey-Shore theme parties “mock” my Italian heritage. And I intentionally put “mock” in quotations because I in no way believe that any of these parties are meant to offend the subject of the themes.

I absolutely believe that if you have money and / or are a prestigious figure in society, you can hire a good lawyer for yourself who will represent you well and help get you acquitted from whatever crime you may or may not have committed, regardless of your race. I believe this to be the case because in a law class I am in, we just studied the OJ Simpson trial. OJ Simpson was a black football player (prestigious and had money) who allegedly killed his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman. Preliminary evidence suggested OJ Simpson’s possible guilt. However, the expensive team of accomplished attorneys OJ Simpson hired to defend him, who came to be known as “The Dream Team” because they were the best, helped to undermine the prosecution’s arguments and their witnesses. Ultimately, OJ Simpson was found “not guilty”. Therefore, I strongly believe that the more money one has, the smaller chance one has of being convicted of a crime. If OJ Simpson had not been famous and wealthy, he might have been just another black man in the eyes of the judge and jury. If OJ Simpson had not been wealthy, they might have thought he was guilty due to whatever prejudices they fostered against blacks at the time (one of the prosecution’s witnesses who happened to be a member of the LAPD and was investigating the murder cases was an extremely racist man. The LAPD was facing issues of corruption at the time, and the murders were only a couple of years after the Los Angeles race riots had occurred). When OJ Simpson was found “not guilty”, many people in the black community were more than enthusiastic. However, they said that they weren’t cheering for OJ Simpson’s verdict, but rather they were cheering for all of their relatives or friends that they knew who had been screwed over by a corrupt system – they were cheering because Johnny Cochran had played by the white rule book when OJ Simpson hired him for a lot of money (just like many other white men would have done in his situation) and Johnny Cochran came out victorious for his black client.
I think that the statistics of blacks going to jail more frequently than whites for the same crimes committed comes into play if black people do not have the money to hire a “Dream Team” of attorneys including those like Johnny Cochran. Also, I feel like when people don’t have a lot of money, judges and jurors can believe that the lack of wealth can lead to despair or bad choices (like selling drugs) in order to make money to put food on the table. I don’t know why white judges and jurors have stereotypes and prejudices against black people on trial, because I obviously think it is wrong. However, if the person on trial is black, it would be wise for the attorneys to select a sympathetic jury (or at least a non-prejudicial and more fair jury) consisting of black jurors, who will recognize that although a black man/woman is on trial, not all black people (like themselves) commit crimes.

I have never believed that being gay is wrong. In my view, you can’t help whom you love or to whom you are attracted. Therefore, since marriage is an expression of love and a symbol that you want to spend the rest of your life with your loved one, I have never believed that gay marriage is wrong. Until I came to this class, I never thought about marriage as a sacred sanction of the church. Therefore, I can understand now that some people think that because being gay violates different religious beliefs, gay people shouldn’t be able to show their commitment to one another through a religious ceremony. However, I agree with Sam that it is important to note who is being a hypocrite. If you are getting drunk all of the time and violating other religious beliefs, then you really have no right to judge what other people do and say that gay people shouldn’t be allowed to get married.
I think it is interesting how Sam said that he has no problem with someone like the Willard preacher thinking that it is wrong to be gay and therefore wrong to get married. When you think about it, these people really do believe that God literally said the words that are in the Bible and that humans proceeded to write them down. While I’m not very religious, I had a roommate last year who was extremely religious like the Willard preacher, and she believed that it was a sin to be gay. She also thought that it was a sin to be drunk and would therefore pray for my friends and I when we drank. However, one of my other friends explained to me that because she cares about my well being and also does not wish badly on any of my other friends whom she does not know, this was the reason why she prayed for us – because she genuinely believed that we could go to Hell, and she therefore wanted to save us from this fate. After my one friend explained it to me that way, I thought it was sort of nice in a really twisted way. I thought to myself that at least she cared about me enough to pray for me since she thought I was doomed. I’m not sure if this is the same mindset that Christians have about those who are gay, but maybe it is?

I agree that you have to be in the middle of the spectrum with determinism and freedom. For the most part, I agree that it is difficult to change your socioeconomic status throughout your life. If you are born into a substantial amount of wealth, you will stay wealthy because your parents will help support you throughout their lives and you will inherit a lot of money. If you are born into a middle or upper-middle class family, your job ambitions and standards would be higher than a minimum wage job because you have become accustomed to having nice things, and would strive to continue to have them throughout your life. If you are from a lower-class family, having a job with a lower salary may be the norm. Also, in a lower-class family, there may not be the same education opportunities (as seen with the urban school on The Oprah Show) and there may not be connections present that would aid in furthering your career.
I think that if you don’t come from money, how far you get with economic success can definitely depend on mental toughness. I saw the “Pursuit Of Happiness” movie, and I also went to the protagonist’s speech when he came to Penn State, and he was a single father, who made a lot of sacrifices and slept in shelters with his son and studied extremely hard so he could get a job on Wall Street and become financially successful. However, this was a very unique story, and if you are raised in a single family home and your parent is always working to support you and your many siblings, it may become your duty to take care of your siblings and cook them meals (instead of making homework your priority). This is a situation that is beyond your control that affects your chances of going to college.
When you come from money, it is definitely easier to be economically successful. Wealthy parents (regardless of race) will not require their children to have jobs because studying is their job. If their kids are struggling in school, they will hire tutors. In order to do well on the SATs, parents will enroll their kids in programs such as Stanley Kaplan or get them a private tutor. If their kids need help getting into the school of their choice, the parents might donate money, or their parents are connected through their jobs, the country club, etc. and know someone who can get their child into school. Having parents in a higher status also helps them get internships and jobs. While these opportunities make it substantially easier for wealthier children to succeed because they have a cushion, if they are lazy, they still will not make millions. However, it is much easier to have money than to not.