I think it is crazy that people who are in love cannot get married. All of the homosexual couples I have been around seem so much happier than most straight couples, who end up getting divorced. I hope that these laws change soon, because it is not fair at all.

I think it is interesting that no one in my family is in an interracial relationship, but I have two second cousins, that I do not see often, who are homosexual. I believe they grew up with a rough home life, so we do not see that side of the family very often. Both of those cousins were married with children before they came out of the closet. I spoke to one of their children a few years ago and she told me that she hated her mother for leaving their family, and she never sees her. I did not ask about if she was mad about her mother being a lesbian, or if it was a different reason that they do not get along.

When it comes to my children, I hope that I encourage them to follow their heart. I would want them to be in a relationship that makes them happy, so if it is someone who is in a different race, or the same sex as them, that would be okay. Luckily there is growing support for the gay community in our society. Most states are starting to recognize them as a couple, which is great. They have opportunites to adopt and to create a happy family. What more could you ask for?

This is a good question. As we have talked about in our discussion group, many of us have parents who are open to accepting our choices when it comes to our significant others. The majority of us are lucky to grow up with such accepting viewpoints, so we in turn are also a more accepting and understanding generation in whole. Our parents did not have such luxuries. Our grandparents' generations were not as accepting in whole. It would cause a great controversy if our parents were in an interracial relationship. I think it would be less of a controversy to be in a homosexual relationship.

Because my parents are really accepting of people from other cultures and races, I think it would cause a bigger controversy if I was in a homosexual relationship. I think this is because my family is not usually around people who are homosexual, so it would be more of a uncomfortable situation for my family. On the other hand, my brothers and I have had many friends who are from different races and cultures, so I do not think it would be a big deal if I was in an interracial relationship.

Attempting to understand and learn another culture means so much to a person. We were talking in our discussion group about the difference between blending into a culture and being sensitive and accepting to a culture. We need to try to accept other cultures, but at the same time we need other cultures to accept us as well. But as I previously mentioned, we only have control over ourselves and our own actions. We need to take the lead by accepting other cultures so that they will accept us in return. It is a two way street. But things need to change, they are not okay the way they are. There is racism all over the world, humans killing eachother because they do not understand other cultures. But we can make things right, there is hope for change.

The same thing happened to the Penn State community last semester. The media was focusing on Joe Paterno instead of Sandusky. We all know that Jerry Sandusky was at fault, but the world would have not reacted the way they did unless the media used Joe Paterno's name.

I think the take away message is to only believe stories that you are involved with first hand. Be the best person you can be and act only kind to the people around you, regardless of what they look like and what they do. You can only be the best person you can be. Behind the media, there are only people trying to make money. We can not get worked up or upset about things we can not control. We only have control over ourselves. As a take away message from this class, we have to be an advocator of change. We need to be informed about other cultures, and we need to make it so other people understand each other in this world. The wars, the hatred, all comes down to miscommunication. We need to understand eachother.

One of the main things I have learned over the years is to be a cynic when it comes to the news. It is hard for me to believe any headline or front page story in the newspaper. There job is to get our attention, to question our reality and to force us to want to read their story. This has no effect on the truth in our society. They blow up stories to make them seem like a scandal, just so we will get worked up about it and read or watch their organization/ news cast. Race is poorly portrayed in the media. Inter-racial volience is inappropriately covered in the media. They think that their speech has be telegraphed so that their audience is going to want to read their story. It makes me upset that stories about a Hispanic man brutally killing an African American boy turns into the media saying a white man kills black kid. They completely change the story to make people react to what they are saying.

I am very happy how this class has opened my mind. Instead of just understanding one perspective and accepting other perspectives, now I am learning how to understand all kinds of perspectives. I think that is a really cool skill to have, and something important to know how to do in life. It is something that no one can take away from me, and I think it will help me be a better person.

But there is another side to it. Instead of looking at an American woman and thinking that they are relying on their bodies to gain attention, you can also understand them as feeling confident in their body. I can see those woman as being comfortable with who they are, showing off their body instead of being embarrassed about it. I think that is really great because now woman can be too self conscious about their bodies. They feel less superior compared to the super models. Instead of hiding behind heavy layers of clothing, these woman are embracing who they are, and will defend themselves if it comes down to it. You can see how women who dress in revealing clothing can also be confident, they just have a different perspective on how to present themselves. Maybe they want to challenge the stereotype on woman, so they embrace that they are a woman and they can still show their male peers that they are talented and confident as well. And they will not settle for someone who is only attracted to their body, because they want to be taken seriously, like any woman should be treated.

They feel confident in their abilities and their strength so that they do not need to use their bodies to get attention from boys. Their winning personality and confidence will gain the attention of their peers. I never understood this thinking until I took this class. I did not understand the perspective of a Muslim woman. I think it is really awesome to be able to understand how they see American woman.

I was really interested in this question. As we know, being an American woman is very different from being a woman in different parts of the world. Especially in modern America, women have more rights than they ever have. I think what a woman wears tells us a lot about her.

Women that wear very conservative clothing makes them seem very professional. They do not use their body to get attention, instead they use their personality and business skills do most of the talking.

After saying that, you would think that a woman wearing revealing clothes would be less confident. They think they have to use their body to their advantage or to get ahead in their career. I think this is how Muslim woman feel.