Letter from an inmate is a letter written by a “lifer” inmate in jail who was charged for first-degree murder with no chance of parole. We all have stereotypes about the world that we live in. We carry them with us in our everyday lives, to school, to the grocery store, when we hang out with friends, and even about people we have never met. A very common stereotype that people believe is that all people who are in prison, especially one who has been convicted of murder, is evil, dangerous, stupid and a threat to society. As we know about all stereotypes though is that in many cases there are exceptions. The prisoner who wrote this entry is clearly an exception to that stereotype. In the context provided before the letter it was provided that this prisoner did not graduate from high school. This puts down the stereotype that all prisoners are stupid because they did not receive a formal education. We should all know by now that a formal education does not work for everybody. Intelligence comes in many forms, and just by reading this composition it is clear that this man, is a smart man who just made wrong decisions at some point in his life. Throughout the prisoner’s composition he discusses compassion, and how it does live in the walls of prisoner facilities. The care and affection one man can share with another man after one suffers from a tragic family loss is one example of compassion. The socially appropriate etiquette to approach a man and send your condolences for his loss is another. The stereotype that man lifers are evil and dangerous is once again proved wrong. This is not an accusation that all man who are sentenced to life in prison are like this, but I am just saying that there are exceptions.
In last weeks lecture Sam had us a practice an “out of body experience” and try to envision ourselves as Muslim. I think that we could do the same thing here, and envision ourselves as a lifer. To know that because of your past actions and mistakes you will never be able to live an appropriate life again. To know that there is nothing that you could do, nothing you could say, and nothing that you could take back, because for the rest of your living life you are stuck in the same cell, in the same facility because you are labeled as a “threat to society.” Now, this is an outrageous thought for many of us to even fathom. But if we try our best to picture ourselves in this particular situation, as this man who wrote the letter, it is clear to see that just because our physical being is restricted to one place doesn’t mean that our mental and soulful being can change.

The question that was posed was whether men conform to society to the degree that women do. It is easy to see in our society that many women conform to what is around them whether that be the media, their family, their friends, their culture, or their environment; however, I do think that men conform to these pressures as well. Someone in my discussion recently told a story about their friend who was a Korean male and grew up in a majority black community and school. The story was centered around looking back at this boy’s prom picture where he was wearing a pink suit, with a pimp cane, and a top hat. The question presented to this boy was what were you thinking wearing this to prom this isn’t your style, this isn’t who you are. The boy’s reasoning was that that was the environment that he grew up, that’s what his friends wore, and that’s what was cool, and the in thing to wear at the time. But once he got to college he hung out with a totally different group of people, and his style changed once again. This is just one example of how boys conform to societal norms just as women do. Men may not do it in the most obvious ways or as consciously as women do, but it does happen.
I grew up in a household with three brothers, and they all dress differently for many different reasons. My older brother was very athletic and played a ton of different sports, so when we younger you would most likely see him in basketball shorts, a t-shirt, and basketball sneakers, because that’s what his friends wore then, and that’s what he felt comfortable in. My second brother, also very athletic, but very different than my older brother. In the gym of course he would wear basketball shorts, a t-shirt, and sneakers, but outside of the gym you would always see him in nice, expensive jeans and shirt, and very clean shoes. Now, my younger brother is very much into music, and you will most of the time see him wearing jeans and a some band’s t-shirt. I think that different people in their lives, and their different interests influence all of my brothers. My older brother wore athletic clothes because his friends did, and my other brother wore nice clothes because that’s what made him feel comfortable and confident, and my younger brother wears band t-shirts because he likes music. The same thing applies to girls. Girls wear what their friends wear, girls dress what they feel confidently in, and girls wear clothes that fit their interests. It is very obvious to say that men and women are very different, but when it comes to conformity to societal norms, I think that we are very much the same.

This video article done about the video game in Japan called RapeLay is absolutely crazy. Growing up in a household with three brothers I was exposed to many different kinds of video games, but nothing of this vulgarity or this sort. I have seen tons of violence through sports games, war games, different interactive games, but nothing sexual or insane like rape. To think that a person could create such an explicit and degrading game like this is disgusting and inappropriate for anyone to play. I think that this game will give young males and adults the wrong impression on how they can treat women. If anyone thinks that they can just grope a random young girl on the train does not really live in this world, the twenty-first century when woman have come so far society. A video game like this puts all the effort and time that women have taken to move up in this world and take on more important positions in society, especially in our American culture. I do not understand how the makers, producers, and editors of this game can go home to their families and look at their wives, their daughters, and their mothers and not feel ashamed at what they have created. They have created a world where is it appropriate to disrespect women, and that there are no repercussions or consequences to their actions.
What I also find interesting is that in all of the samples given in the video it only targets female women. Even though female rape is more frequently reported, male rape occurs as well so why are only female characters presented in the game, a clear indication of a male product, and his narrow mindset to the world. What I also find interesting about the video clip features about this film was the section on the interview with the couple gamers from London. I was surprised to hear the couple’s approval of the game. Also, of the woman and how she could not possible find it offensive, and as woman what enjoyment was she fulfilling by playing this game. I am not sure if this is due to a culture difference between Japan, London, the United States, and other places on countries around the world, but it truly does not make sense to me. The Japanese government does not seem to be taken any moves either to fix this problem. The Japanese government could do one of many things such as implement an explicit content label similar to what the United States did with music that was deemed inappropriate for certain ages. They could also make up a board of employees that are knowledgeable with the video game market and civil rights. It is clearly unjust that this video game and others like it could be exposed to the public, especially today’s youth.

This article was a very interesting article for me especially in the eyes of a white person. I have grown up in a family that does not have any mixed relatives, we are all white, either Italian American or Irish American. Not saying that this could not change in the near future it is just what I have been exposed to right now in my life. Also, going to Penn State where the majority of the students are white leads me to believe that this article is astounding. To think that in a couple of years the vast majority of people will be people of mixed relations. I mean it does make sense. If we compare the paths of immigration from the early 1900s to today’s they are very different . When the first and second wave of immigration hit American it was mainly white European immigrants searching for a fresh start, or leaving some type of dismay in their home lands like war, and religious discrimination. Also, during the 1900s, especially during World War II, the United States government put restrictions on immigration selection especially on the number of people coming from Asian countries. Today, is a different story. Today, most of the immigrants that enter the United States are not white Europeans, but Mexicans, Latinos, Oceanic, and more and more and more. People coming from many different places, with many different backgrounds and cultures all meeting together in one place, here, in the United States. As generations and generations go by many things change. And one of those many things is the idea of couples of marriages with people who are outside of race. What may have been not acceptable for my parents to marry a black or brown male or female is now accepting in our society. My generation is much more open to these liberal ideas, and I think as time goes on these ideas will become more and more the norm of our society. The United States right now is playing as the meeting place for many people of many different races. People of various groups are coming together and finding similarities, it is not surprising to me that in my life time whites will no longer be the majority, but the minority. Will it be hard for me to adjust to this idea coming from an all white family, and knowing that the potential for me or my brothers, or my cousins could marry a person of color? Absolutely not! Because for me I see it as an opportunity to learn more about other people’s cultures and where they came from. Will it be weird for me to sit in a classroom where I am or my children are a minority? No, because frankly that is life, and if that is how life unfolds then we as a community and a society have to role with the punches and get over our racial issues with one another, because one day we are all going to die, and those issues are simply not going to matter anymore.

I thought that the segment on the dolls was really interesting and hearing different peoples reactions to them. This was not the first time that I heard about this study. As an elementary education major I have to take a lot of classes about children development, and a lot of the time the issue about how to deal with children of different races comes up. During one of our discussion, in a past semester, my professor presented us with a different video but along the same study including the same concept and idea. I remember the first time I saw it I could not believe, and I could not understand it. What made these black children think that the white doll was the “good” doll. I mean don’t these children ever consider themselves and whether they are good or not. In the same discussion where I was first presented with this information I was amazed to hear the different questions that my peers had to ask my teacher about the video. My teacher, like many of us, especially people who are white, can not fully answer because we do not know why these children pick the white doll as the “good” doll. Then, we talked about how the media has such a huge impact on our society, and not just children but everyone. Media plays a huge role in our people perceive themselves. For women it is what look where make them look stylish, feel beautiful, and comfortable in their own skin. For men it is to look masculine and rugged. I thought I it was very interesting to see how the people in our sociology lecture had similar views about how media effects the way even children view themselves, especially Barbie. Many of the girls in class said that they would always pick Barbie instead of the other Barbie products that looked more like them, like asian or black Barbie because they looked weird. I guess I never had to think about something like because for me Barbie was white Barbie and she was pretty and I never looked at the other ones because, yes I guess they didn’t look like me. In retrospect I may subconsciously had chosen white Barbie because on the commercials she was always the center of attention and everyone seemed to love so much and all the guy Barbies thought she was so beautiful. So if I thought this when I was younger why wouldn’t I think that other girls who are not white thought the same thing, and felt the same thing, and wanted to be just like her. So I guess in a way it makes sense why the black children picked the white Barbie because that’s what they were exposed to and that’s what they wanted to be like.

This issue in many high schools is not an uncommon issue of today. I know it came up when I was in high school and the school board reacted quite similarly to how Itawamba County Agricultural High School in Futon reacted, they restricted it. However, there was not any one in my school that was strong enough to stand up against the school board, they simply just accepted it, and either did not go to prom or came up with alternative plans, such as just bringing a boy who was just a friend. But it is a shame that ideally that was not the first choice way that they wanted to spend their prom. I do not think that school boards should restrict who individuals should take to prom or any school event. Who are school boards to say what people should do, who people should see, and who people should be attracted to. Its like telling someone they can’t be left handed because the majority of the population is right handed.
What does it matter to the school board if someone brought a date of the same sex to Prom. I would love to know the reasoning behind the school systems thoughts about same sex dates at Prom. Do they think that it would make their school system look bad? Or untraditional? I think that a school system that would allow same sex couples should be encouraged to do so because it is the twenty-first century, and issues of homosexuality should be apart of the past. We are suppose to live in a more modern world, and to be more open to issues of race, and sexism, and homosexuality. So why are we not applying this to our everyday lives. We are suppose to live in a more open society. How long will it take for issues such as these to become just. Is it the generation of our parents that are holding us back, because that is the generation that is in control of the school systems, and they are still uncomfortable with these issues. Is this a foreshadowing into our future that these issues will not be resolved until our generation takes the place of the adults in order now? If so it is very hard to say that we as a society have grown increasingly more accepting of individuals’ lifestyles. I see no harm in letting a same sex couple attend Prom, because who is to say the couple is in an intimate relationship. Maybe they are just two best friends who always have a great time together and wanted to have fun at Prom. Concluding, I think that the school boards should rethink their reasons for not allowing same sex couples to Prom, because in actuality the only imagine that they are hurting are their own.

The question that seemed to be presented was what would slaveholders think of the world we live in today. And using the term slaveholder and not specifying which generation of slaveholders presents two different types of answers. From the book we read in class, Disposable People, we know that slavery is still very present in our society and their thoughts about race relations today would be significantly different than the thoughts of a southern slaveholder living in the 1800s.
A slaveholder living in the south in the 1800s, I think would be absolutely astounded with the changes that have occurred in the world since the official, paper-signed, government recognized abolition of slavery. When it is true to say that we have come a long way with race relations in the 1800s, we still have a long way to go. (We would not be taking this class if we didn’t). But anyway, a slaveholder in the 1800s would be astonished at the look of integrated schools and universities (including students, teachers, and professors) involvement in hospitals (including patient care, doctors, surgeons, etc), the set-up of restaurants and the minuscule chance of refusal based on your race, and more into the work force and how many people of many different races have taken high employee positions in all different fields of study. I think I could go on and on about the changes to have occurred in race relations from then till today. But I would also have to explain to them that it didn’t just happen in the blink of an eye, it has been and still continues to be a bumpy road towards progress. But overall we have come a long way.
Reading Disposable People really opened my eyes to the different types of slavery that are occurring in our world today. I knew from other classes that slavery did exist today and was still a huge problem, but I was not familiar with the degree, the severity, and the different types that was going on. Slaveholders today are so much different then the slaveholders that we traditionally think of when we think of slavery. Slaveholders today do not always look at the color of someone’s skin to see them as inferior. Instead, for instance in Thailand it was based on woman (mainly their own Thai women), and in Brazil it was based on extreme efforts to find work, and in places like Pakistan and India the caste system played a huge role. I think the slaveholders of today do not look at race to find their victims; they look for the weakest link and the group that they can take the most advantage of. When we look from the perspective of slaveholders in the 1800s, it is clear that we indeed have come a long way. But when we think of slavery today that long way we believe we think we have came gets pushed back a million more steps.

The question that has been presented is whether the education about Native Americans should be taught earlier in schools so that children will not always associate Native Americans with Indians. As an elementary education major I find this topic very interesting and worth discussion. I think that the history of Native Americans should be taught earlier in schools, and should go beyond the history of the interaction between pilgrims and Indians over their Thanksgiving celebration. Many school curriculums include slavery and African American suffrage, but neglect the topic of suffrage of many other groups, including Native Americans. I think that we neglect to talk about Native American history, one because there is so much to teach with not a lot of time, and two because we want to keep a positive light of how our country was founded. For most of us, as our education evolves we learn more and more about the truths of country and our country’s history, both in a positive and negative manner. The actions that were put against Native Americans during the course of our country’s development are definitely a sore spot for the history books. And because of this I think that it is very important for children to learn at a young age some of the cruel truths of our country’s actions.
I think it is very important that children know what Native Americans went through to be a part of the United States as citizens, even though they have been on this land significantly longer than our European forefathers. However, I do believe that three and four year olds are not able to draw Native Americans, and are only familiar with Indians because that is one of the only elements of history that they have learned yet. History is not a major subject for preschoolers and they are probably only familiar with Indians because of the hand turkey art projects that they do during Thanksgiving. However, I do think that it is important for children, starting in 3rd grade (because at this age they are comfortable with their reading and writing skills and can focus on more subjects) should begin to be able to distinguish the Indians in the history books, and the millions of Native Americans who live in our country today. Who have their own history, their own story, and their own chapter in today’s world. We should increase awareness of not only the history of Native Americans but of all backgrounds and cultures in order to raise our future leaders as well rounded adults.
Also, with the increasing diversity in schools children should be familiar with one another’s history and heritage. The example measure that the girl presented the question with should be considered an eye opener for many individuals who are planning on pursuing education, and the realities of the schools curriculum, and that it may be the teacher’s responsibility to be able to incorporate such important information in their lesson plans. Native American genocide is a major segment in the history of our country, and should be delivered appropriately to the future decision makers of our country.

I think lesbian woman are more accepting than gay men because I think woman in general are more accepting about sexuality, and freedom of making choices, and choosing the way an individual wants to live. Woman are traditionally thought of being maternal and having a caring attitude that respects other people, not saying that men do not share this quality as well, but I think that it is more frequently seen in women. Men traditionally seem to view themselves as “big, man of the house,” with a macho ego, but once again this statement does not pertain to all men. Because of these qualities I think it is easier for woman to see lesbian couples and not have a problem with it. And with men they enjoy seeing lesbian couples together, and thus do not have a problem with it. However, when heterosexual males see gay couples it for some reason makes them feel uncomfortable.
I have had the same sex marriage issue talk with my father a couple of times, and many people would probably say my father is a traditionalist and he only believes that the word “marriage” should pertain to heterosexual couples. When we would debate about lesbian and gay issues he would argue against same sex marriage and their public display of affection. His reasons to me never seem to be concrete he just for some reason feels uncomfortable with the idea, but he is more uncomfortable with gay males then he is with lesbian females. I have asked him why he feels more uncomfortable with gay males than he is with the idea of lesbian females, and he claims that he has no real personal offense against them, but the idea of one male being with another male is something that he himself would not commit to so he doesn’t understand how other people do. It is a bit narrow minded of him to think this way, but having this mindset for so many years it is pretty hard to open his thoughts. Trust me I have tried.
However, contrary to my father, my mother has no problem with either gay males or lesbian females. She feels comfortable talking about their issues, seeing couples together in public, and has no problem with same sex marriage and calling it a “marriage.” She believes that people are responsible for making their own decisions and how they want to live their life, and who they want to live their life with. This further proves my theory of why lesbian woman are more accepted in society than gay man, because woman in general are more accepting about relationships and sexuality, and men are less accepting of gay males than they are of lesbian females because the idea of two woman being together is sexually appealing to them. This statement of course does not apply to all people, just from my experiences, what I see, what I hear, and what I think.

I can definitely relate to what Laurie is talking about, and I feel the same way that whenever a discussion about race relations evolves in a conversation its always this black versus white competition and one always wanting to win favor over the other. I live in center city Philadelphia and went to a very diverse school and a lot of the topics that we talk about in class such as how political correctness should be used, if it should be used at all, and how do you actively communicate with someone without trying to offend them. Then, when you are in situation where you saying something that they take it offensive its always because they say I’m racist, and don’t understand the history of their people and the suffrage that they went through. This is where I think the problem arises between this line between black and white. I believe that certain people think that they are being discriminated against because of their skin color, and maybe in some cases they are being discriminated against because of their physical characteristics, but when I am simply just holding a conversation with someone I am certainly not being discriminatory. And I think a lot of these problems has to do with a lack of communication and knowledge. I have been studying black history since first grade when I first learned about slavery, and the underground railroad and celebrated black history month by learning about different African American idols like Harriet Tubman, and Martin Luther King Jr. Throughout my educational career I have learned about African American suffrage and the history of their people and the horrors that they have been put through. However, has anyone taken the time to learn about the suffering and the turmoil of the Irish when they first arrived here in the United States. Is there a month dedicated to the history of the Italian immigrants who came and settled here when conditions were not ideal? No. This is where I think the problem originates; from a lack of communication and a lack of knowledge. African American suffrage in the United States is no doubt the most publicized, and used in conversations regarding race. So if a large majority of people from all different countries experienced some sort of turmoil when they immigrated to the United States then when did it separate from black and white and not Irish versus Germans versus the Middle East? This does not occur in today’s day in age because the suffrage of those groups have been minimized or forgotten by many people because all we learn about in school is the slavery that occurred for the African Americans. This black versus white battle is the result of a communication and a lack of knowledge and I do not think that this line will be lightened until more people are enlightened.