What is it to be a woman? Many women ponder that question and the answer that they seem to come up with I wonder how substantial it is? Besides the physical attributes that are equivalent scientifically to be a woman I would say outside of that is that to be a woman is to be able to give birth to a child, and to be nourishing. Not to say that men can’t be nourishing but it’s one of the traits that is in a women. Of course not all women are the same so it’s hard to explain what it is to be a woman honestly. The thing that ties all women together is our ability to have children. I thought that the play was very interesting and a great topic to discuss. It was interesting how Sam’s wife pointed out that she notices that women around campus seem to wear less and less clothing. I do think that women, like me, get wrapped up in the media of what the “perfect woman” is and try to fit into that stereotype. I wouldn’t say so much with clothes but with physical attributes of the perfect shape. Girls will stress out over their weight because they think that if they aren’t a certain size then it’s not beautiful. I know that I have struggled with this from time to time and it’s very hard to escape because it’s all around you. Every time you look at a magazine, you see the perfect image of a woman. Or when you watch television there’s no escaping it. So what can you really do about it honestly? Hollywood doesn’t portray women of all shapes, sizes, cultures, etc because there is a stereotypical image of what a girl should be. I doubt much will change about it because I will admit that when I see someone that doesn’t fit into the stereotype I think that it’s not normal. Although I am proud of women like Beyonce who has embraced her shape and didn’t try to fit the stereotypical image. To comment on what Sam’s wife said about noticing that women are wearing less and less clothes on campus I would say that people are free to do what they want to do. I don’t necessarily think that if a girl isn’t completely covered up from her neck down to her feet means that she’s self conscious about herself and wants attention. Yes, some girls are that way and will wear close to nothing to get a guys attention, but I wouldn’t say that every girl who decides to wear a short skirt today should reconsider that. I think this comes back to body image and being ashamed of your image.

I think it’s really important for Americans to learn a second, third, or even a fourth language in school because the world is becoming more diverse. Of course English in America is the most dominant language, but there are many times when it’s important to learn how to communicate with people of different languages. I think it’s great that schools have placed in Mandarin languages in schools, but I also don’t think it’s enough. It’s true that people that have taken four years of language still can’t speak it. I for one have taken Spanish from sophomore year of High school until sophomore year of college and I still don’t know how to speak Spanish. Yes I know the basics of the language but I couldn’t have a full blown conversation with someone. I think it’s important to learn different languages even if you’re not going into economics because sometimes situations present themselves where you have no choice but to speak that language. For example, when travelling to different countries it’s important to know the language. I think that what schools need to do is teach Americans these languages earlier in life. I would say first grade because apparently you grasp onto things quicker when you learn it earlier. I think that would be a great help in bettering this country, because what’s the point if I don’t remember what I have learned. In my case it does seem like a waste because I don’t remember the language at all. What good is that going to do me now after paying so much money for an education? What’s also a big problem in our country is the education system, which isn’t that great to say the least. A lot of schools are way behind in learning things, and you can’t help but to wonder why in many cases. Why doesn’t the government want to improve our schools? Why doesn’t the government want us to learn language and remember it? I really don’t have an answer to any of these questions, but I will say that it’s sad for someone like me who has taken Spanish for five years and I can’t even have an intermediate conversation with someone in that language. But maybe with this becoming an issue more schools will mandate learning languages earlier on in life. If that change happens then I think it will definitely better a lot of things. I am looking forward to four generations from mines to see how their education is based and if it’ll be any better. I hope that it does get better because if not America is just breeding a bunch of ignorant people who are oblivious to the surrounding world.

I couldn’t believe my eyes after reading the post about there being a rape game. Seriously what is the world coming to? I feel like it’s coming to an end because this is ridiculous. How is this game going to help someone to not have the urgency to want to rape someone? I really don’t get it and I don’t think and “normal” person would. I do agree with Sam in regards to video games that are violent because it’s not helping the human race progress at all. I feel like it’s just moving us backwards as time passes, but people seem to love these games very much-the violent games- and sometimes how sick it sounds it’s what sells so of course these video game companies are going to continue to produce these games. I think the creator of the rape game is a very sick individual. Don’t they understand that this may make the situation worse? It may actually put out there that it’s okay to rape someone because there’s a video game out here so it has to be okay. Just like with violent video games, people see it and want to do it or believe that they can do it when they really can’t or shouldn’t be. I am completely shocked at what’s going on and I hope they are able to ban this game. I am getting nervous because if this game ever comes to the United States that would definitely be a disaster. I wonder if it did come to the U.S would it admittedly be banned from people starting such an uproar. Or would the U.S never even think of distributing these games in the U.S because they know that it would barely sell? I don’t know what to think really. I just can’t get over the fact that people think that by having a video game it will help someone not want to rap someone. I really don’t understand that logic. If anything it would make someone want to do it more. It’s like if you keep seeing something that you really want, you’re eventually going to crave in and go after it. Someone who even thinks about raping someone has a psychological problem. It may even come down to control and that they feel as though they deserve everything that’s in their reach, but this problem can’t necessarily be solved but should be discussed and “treated”. But if a rapist comes home to play this game to get their mind off of the feeling to do so it’s only going to make them want to do it more. I hope this video game gets banned and people never think of coming out with something as ridiculous as this ever again.

Wow! The 2010 Census a way for the government to figure out how many people live here there and everywhere! I personally assumed that the Census 2010 was going to be completely different. I’ve never taken the Census before nor have I had the desire to take it and honestly I wasn’t too familiar with it until this year. Yes that maybe sad, but I guess it wasn’t that important to be brought up to me at that time. But I will say that I thought the purpose of the Census was to get other data besides how many black or white people or whatever lives in PA or other parts of the world. I thought it was to get numbers of how many have kids, are going to school, etc…etc. Because I think those numbers need to be updated, and when they record this information from the Census that they collect then what? What really happens after that? Are they going to try to see if more minorities will move into that specific or find out why they aren’t moving in that area? Try to accommodate the needs of the specific group? Maybe I am just being naïve but I don’t think that the census changes much or helps influence much change. As far as the census not being easy I thought it was pretty easy but again I just thought that things would be completely different on the census. I thought they would ask me questions that really matter. To me my race and where I live is not of that importance, but I guess it is to the government. Maybe it’s who takes the census and how old they are but again it was fairly easy to me. As an African American I don’t appreciate the word ‘negro’ being on the application but I honestly didn’t notice the word when I was filling out the form because when I fill out applications I look for either black or African American. It’s second nature to me. I don’t know if I’ll ever fill out a census again because I think they should ask more important questions, but again maybe this is me being naïve and not knowing about the census as much as I should but it wasn’t at all what I expected. At a certain point and time I just get tired of talking about race, and I never thought that I would be the one to say this because I am always for talking about race and finding out solutions but lately it seems like my mind has gone astray from the topic. Every time I have to check off that I am black on an application or discuss the tension between blacks and whites I can’t help but to roll my eyes.

There isn’t a big deal with the menstrual cycle but I think Sam went too far when he was discussing his wife. I also think it doesn’t have anything to do with our class so I wonder why the issue was even brought up in the first place honestly, but back to the subject at hand. I think that he went too far with discussing his wife’s menstrual cycle because it’s something that the class shouldn’t know in depth about. Of course we all assume that every woman does have a menstrual cycle, but it does not mean that we want to discuss it. If this was a health class then yes discussing it would be appropriate but it would still be an uncomfortable topic for many people, including me. The reason why it’s an uncomfortable topic is because how society has made it out to be. If a woman openly discusses her bodily functions she’s looked at as not a lady because a lady should only say a few words and dress nice. It’s the truth when you think about it. There are many instances where a guy opts not to hang out with a girl if her period is on because he gets grossed out about it as if a menstrual cycle is a type of disease or something. It has a lot to do with a double standard because there are so many things that a guy can talk about and it won’t seem as gross but when a girl tries to be as open she is questioned as not being a true lady. Who defined what a real lady is anyways? Some of the characteristics of what a lady is just mean to me that you allow people to walk all over you and don’t say much. To go back to Sam, I guess he doesn’t see a problem with discussing the topic because just as race he thinks people should be open about it because it shouldn’t be like the “elephant” in the room. I guess I shouldn’t have thought that certain topics are off limit because they aren’t. Anything and everything should be expected to be brought in Sam’s class but I guess that is a good thing because a simple thing as discussing his wife’s menstrual cycle has brought up a big uproar of a discussion. It did wake the class up and allow for a discussion to present itself, because people will always be uncomfortable with discussing certain things and again it makes you wonder why. But like I mentioned before it has a lot to do with how society has shaped us to think. Everything that we do seems to be influenced.

I think the situation with the high school prom is so ridiculous. Why are people so against gay people I really don’t understand what the problem is? If someone is gay then they are gay and if they want to go to the prom with their partner then who are we to judge whether that is wrong or not? I think the school needs to catch up to the times and that they are wrong and being very judgmental. And also why does the entire prom have to be cancelled just because a gay couple wants to attend? First I don’t think the school should be able to tell someone who they can and can’t bring and second I don’t think the school should’ve cancelled the entire prom because of this because this isn’t fair to the other participants. This situation although not similar sort of reminds me of the proms at my school because I attended an all girls catholic school and we weren’t allowed to go alone or with a group of friends. Why? What was the big deal? If I wanted to go to the prom with a group of my friends I don’t see what the difference is between going to the prom with my friends and going out to the club with my friends, and only dancing with my female friends. I guess the Catholic school that I attended has some type of undertone to this and that statement was that they don’t want to promote ‘gay activity’ I guess this is what they are trying to stop. But come on seriously? I honestly think that there are more serious things to worry about then two girls attending a prom. The girls deserved to have a good night just like everyone else and remember how much fun they had. I guess things will never change and maybe that’s the point of this race relation class because people will never change if they have no reason to. These thoughts and ideas get passed on generation to generation. I wouldn’t say that gay’s face the same discrimination as someone who is black but the prom situation is just like a slap in your face. It’s like saying ,”Well I don’t like who you are and I don’t even want you to think about attending. So the prom is cancelled.” I really don’t know what else to say but people will continue to value what they value and there isn’t anything in the world that is going to change how these people think and feel about certain situations. I wish the school would honestly just reconsider and allow these kids to have their prom because it’s definitely a memorable time in your life.

Wow how shocked was I to find out that the person that hung the noose was a minority student. Are you serious? At first I was expecting it to be a white person because that’s who you usually hear about doing these type of racial incidents, but to find out that it was a minority really set the tone to this subject. What is going on in the minority community where people think that it’s funny to hang nooses? Are we serious people? How immature do you have to be to do something as ridiculous as that? It really makes no sense. I read a comment that someone posted of how can someone be racists against your own race and you can be racists against your own race. As an African American I have seen many blacks portraying racists’ thoughts and actions towards their own race when they refuse to date someone of their own race. Now that’s racism against your own. It comes down to more than having a preference and that’s what people don’t understand. The party that was thrown by a black fraternity of a ‘ghetto party’ I really have no words to say about that. Honestly, when I found out that it was a black organization throwing the party I wasn’t as upset as I would’ve been if I found out that the people that threw the party were white people. I know it sounds a little crazy but it is the truth. It hurts more when it’s a race that is not your own making fun of the stereotypical image of blacks, but I would question why the party was thrown during Black History Month. What was the point of that when Black History Month is supposed to celebrate being black and all of the trials and tribulations that blacks have gone through to be where we are now. I think those students should be reprimanded even though I don’t find the party as offensive but the fact that they hung a noose in the library when they portrays so much negativity then they should be punished. The fraternity that threw the party I don’t know if they should be punished or not but the simple fact that they threw the party during black history month does boil under my skin. I don’t know what to say honestly because a lot of opinions change when it’s your own race that’s the cause of these racial situations. I don’t know how much more you can talk about situations like this though because there will always be racial issues and especially with blacks against blacks. Light skinned vs. dark skinned…etc…etc. I do think these people should be punished but it’s not going to stop much at the end of the day.

I would say that we should educate children of the history of Native Americans at an early age. They should learn about their history while they are learning about World War I and things of that nature. I also think that the lesson plan should be longer than just a week or two or a day. In my personal experience in learning about History the Native Americans weren't mentioned once. I am not too sure how I learned about Columbus stealing the land from the Native people, but I do know that I didn't learn anything about their race. Not to bring this back to people that are African American but as an African American in school the only thing that was focused on was the negative aspects of African American History which only lasted maybe a day or two. Lesson plans like that piss me off because the world is constructed of more than just white people. The only way that things can begin to change is if we talk about it and learn but if we aren't learning anything how can we expect to change much? In Sam's lecture he mentioned that we should do something about the poverty that is present for Native Americans, but he never exactly told us how we can do it. Yes we can become more educated and help Native Americans out but what about if we aren't any better off than they are? What if some of us were raised in a poor environment how is it expected for us to help out? I didn't grow up in a poor environment but I don't know how much I can possibly do to help. It seems like it has a lot to do with institutionalized racism which is out of the hands of most of us. These people should take a stand and demand to be taken seriously and for things to change. There has to be a sense of solidarity amongst the Native Americans because if there isn't how can much change? Just like with any reason if people aren't together than how can much change? If there was an answer that Sam could give us that would eliminate this problem I would gladly do it, but where and how do you begin to help these people? I also want to say that the girl in the video said that when asked to draw a Native American that they had no idea but when asked to draw an Indian they knew exactly what that meant. I honestly think that it sad and how they only think of Indians with feathers and guns. I know a lot of us are guilty of thinking that same thing also.

I agree with everything that was said in this post about the bible. The interesting thing is that I grew up going to a Catholic school. The bible was the key element for the teachings that we learned day in and day out. We were made to believe that the bible was written by God but I also would second guess that thought. Stories like Adam & Eve and Noah’s Ark but how could something like that really happen in real life? The stories just seemed like a folk tale to me that had a never ending story. The bible is very fictitious but if you argue this with many Christian’s and Catholics they would think differently. But why is that so? I know that the bible was written in fact to teach people lessons but when did it turn into the point where people started believing that these stories were in fact true? It doesn’t make any sense at all. Will people lose their faith when they find out that the stories in the bible are false? That makes me question then how deep is their faith really at the end of the day? I really don’t get it and I don’t know where to start. When you think of it almost every story in the bible is biased because it’s based off of what one person thinks and not someone’s thoughts in whole. For example, marriage and how many people say that you should wait until marriage before having sex. Of course I would agree with this fact but are these words really words of God? Does that make you a bad person if you don’t wait until sex to have marriage? Will God love you less? It really doesn’t make sense to me at all. God isn’t a biased person. I don’t know that for a fact but when I think of God I think of God as loving everyone for who they are no matter what. God doesn’t love one person more than the other because of the choices that they make in life, but the way the bible is written and the stories that are told it kind of contradicts itself. On one hand it states that God loves everyone but then it lists things that you shall not do to receive God’s full love. I really don’t get it. I think more discussions should be had about the bible because there are so many different ways you can go about this. I just hope religious people open their eyes and realize how biased the bible truly is and then maybe people can move forward. Of course I believe in a God but not the way that some people portray God.

I do believe that this is very tragic to think that-that particular language will never be spoken again because language has so much history behind it and for it to be erased is very sad. I think it has a lot to do with people being ashamed of their language and not wanting to pass it on and becoming part of the norm in society. English may not be the norm in every society but in most countries they are taught to speak English since the United States is known as the dominant culture. The only way that this can be avoided is if people pass on their language to relatives that's the only way. It also has to be a tradition that the family holds. I think traditions are special and so is language. I wish that I knew where I was from and had a special language from my culture because I would cherish that language and if I had kids I would pass it on to my children and expect them to do the same thing. Without language everyone is the same and there are no differences. Maybe that's what the problem is people don't want to be different anymore. They want to be what everyone else is but there is certainly nothing wrong with being different. I would love to have a different culture-a different language because it widens your eyes to different things and it gives you a sense of comfort. I don't have much of a sense of comfort because I know that I was born in the United States and that's it. I don't know where my great- great- great parents are from and I would love to know. So when people have an idea of where they are from and don't choose to cherish it and pass it on it truly saddens me. I don't think there is anything wrong with being different because America is filled with people who differ in look, age, religion...etc. So why not add language on top of that an be proud of that. Be proud of what you are and where you came from because not everyone has the same story and that's what makes a person interesting. If everyone was the same how boring would the world be? It would be so boring because everyone would dress the same, talk the same, think the same, eat the same type of foods. Our world is based off of differences because that it seen in the type of clothes that people wear which are inspired by different cultures, and the different types of foods that we eat. Also our need to want to travel the world and see how people live and to see how beautiful their country is. I really truly hope that people pass on their languages because it shouldn't die. It should be taught in schools too because the history of the language is very important.