tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38793736209863852932024-03-13T16:20:01.470-04:00I am a GrenadeAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04230236675703073196noreply@blogger.comBlogger34125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3879373620986385293.post-44190944269896088982014-04-16T16:29:00.001-04:002014-04-16T16:31:18.911-04:00GEND 356: The Mind At Work - Building off of Heidi<i>For this post I will be branching off of points that Heidi brings up in her blog post. </i><br />
<br />
Heidi asks the question towards the conclusion of her post: "why does [society] put such a stigma on waitresses and other low wage jobs?" While Rose's main point in his book is to address classism, I would argue that the stigma in waitressing is also partly due to misogyny and/or racism.<br />
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<a name='more'></a><br />
As someone who works in food service, I can connect with waitress work at a minor level. During the busiest times at the RIC Cafe, I have to remember several different drink orders to keep up with the pace of the cashiers. That shit is not fun, to say the least--and to top it off people treat you like dirt and <i>still </i>expect you to smile. At least, because I am perceived as a woman. Which brings me back to misogyny/racism.<br />
<br />
Most low wage jobs are occupied by women and Black and Latin@ people--which is really no surprise. But this only further explains why low-wage jobs are devalued--because it is work deemed fit only for the "undesirables" (aka: anyone who isn't a white man). These are jobs such as waitressing, housecleaning, landscape, retail, and so on. On the gender side, we understand that according to Dominant Ideology, women are the caretakers, making them "naturally" suited for waitressing, housecleaning, and childcare. Similarly, we also code housecleaning, landscape, and so on, as racial work--Latin@s are depicted in the media as occupying these servant-like positions, as are Black people. Mantsios' "Media Magic" already teaches us the importance of media representation in relation to class structure. It is only understandable that this also refers to gender and race (as Chang discusses in "Streets of Gold"). <br />
<br />
So our media constructs women as "caretaker" and Black/Latin@ people as "uneducated" or "physically strong" (in other words, suited for physical labor). This all works toward shaping an image that marginalized groups are not suited for the White Man's job--or that a White Man is <i>better </i>suited at "<i>better" </i>jobs. There have been <a href="http://www.chicagobooth.edu/capideas/spring03/racialbias.html">studies</a> to demonstrate that applicants with "White" names are hired more than those with "Black" names--even when Black applicants have better resumes. This prevents those who occupy marginalized positions from being hired at more desirable (read: higher paying) jobs. Therefore, due to racism and sexism (and all other "isms," really) class is "Raced" and "Sexed"--meaning lower class individuals tend to occupy marginalized positions because of ideological prejudice. <br />
<br />
I think that this is important to keep in mind when reading Rose's book. Class is also a Race issue, as it is a Gender issue. Everything is interconnected and you cannot separate it. While it is important to understand that this kind of work is difficult and requires a great deal of work (I'd like to see a rich person even try to do half the work of the average minimum-wage worker and see how they survive), I think it is equally as important to understand how this work is "Raced" and "Sexed."Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04230236675703073196noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3879373620986385293.post-43723413171547938482014-01-15T20:32:00.002-05:002014-01-15T20:35:59.265-05:00GEND 356: Jensen "Reading Classes: Chapter Six - Across the Great Divide"<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"As we have seen with primary and secondary schools, college students from the middle class generally find in higher education the cultural rules, values, language, and community mores that are familiar to them. Working class students, again, face a maze of new rules, values, language, and a world of indecipherable references" (150).<br />
<a name='more'></a></blockquote>
This directly relates to what Jean Anyon was discussing in "Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work" in regards to the differing social class behaviors in the classroom setting. (I did notice that Jensen mentioned Anyon a handful of times in this chapter.) Anyon discusses in detail the ways in which different-class students are socially groomed for their respective class in a school setting. Jensen talks about how this affects how different classes approach college. Since college is designed "by and for the middle and upper class" it can only leave the working class struggling or leave them "behind" altogether. <br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Of course, among elite schools in the United States, reaching out to working class people has never been the goal. In fact, if you subtract the legacy admissions of children of wealthy alumni (who donate money) and also annual designated scholarships, only 40 percent of all college slots are left for all the middle class and working class folks who want to go" (160).</blockquote>
<br />
This is frustrating. According to Anyon, "the number of persons who presently comprise the working class in the United States is between 50 percent and 60 percent of the population" and that the wealthiest comprise a fraction of 1 percent (Anyon 69). This is to say nothing of the percentage of the US population that are lower class and poor. Not only is a college education for those who are not financially able difficult to come by in the first place, and not only are working class students faced with the difficulty of completely different "rules, values, language" of the middle class, but they have a smaller percentage of "slots" available to them. If this isn't a kick in the teeth to the lie that is the "American Dream" than I don't know what is. This is a further illustration of how difficult class mobility is in the United States--contrary to what mass media and dominant ideology would leave you to believe.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"My list of working class difficulties in college includes any of the following: (1) serious mental health problems such as major depression (including suicide), dysthymia (a lower level, long-standing depression), post-traumatic stress disorder, and substance abuse; (2) a complicated and confused bereavement, or grief process--of leaving home forever; (3) internalized classism; (4) anomie or a sense of placelessness; (5) imposter syndrome; and (6) survivor guilt" (161).</blockquote>
This quote illustrates one of Jensen's main points: that crossing classes (going from working to middle class, for example) causes a myriad of mental issues that college professors in general (due to internalized classism) do not sympathise with or understand. She gives the example of one student overhearing a conversation between two professors in which one tells the other about an excuse they never heard before--a student having to help move a trailer--and both the professors laughing about it. This type of classism is inherent in the system of academia that is tailored for middle and upper class students. This classism causes real and sometimes fatal issues in the lives of individuals.<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04230236675703073196noreply@blogger.com0Smithfield, RI 02917, USA41.9036825 -71.51304449999997841.8091385 -71.674405999999976 41.9982265 -71.35168299999998tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3879373620986385293.post-1697111330466218612014-01-12T20:59:00.001-05:002014-01-12T21:00:21.248-05:00GEND 356: Coontz's "Why Gender Equality Stalled"I was interested in finding infographics relating to this article because I am a visual person.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/0204pregnancyleave_final.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/04/maternity-leave-paid-parental-leave-_n_2617284.html">source</a><br />
<a name='more'></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Huh. And yet current ideology in America says that WE ARE THE BEST COUNTRY. Yeah. No.<br />
<br />
It's almost like employers have never had kids. Either that or the US really does not give a crap about our children (being the<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/30/us-child-poverty-report-unicef_n_1555533.html"> second highest in child poverty</a>, that certainly makes it clear).<br />
<br />
(And for that matter, the US really does not give a crap about <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/09/14/u-s-women-hit-hardest-by-poverty-says-census-report.html">women</a> either).<br />
<br />
Who needs children when you have money, am I right?<br />
<br />
(exasperated sigh)<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Work Hours and Vacation Time Around the World Infographic" src="http://thumbnails.visually.netdna-cdn.com/work-hours-and-vacation-time-around-the-world_50290cef7ea05_w1500.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(<a href="http://visual.ly/work-hours-and-vacation-time-around-world">source</a>) Ignore that last bit about stress--unrelated to what I am trying to explore.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
America: where capitalism reigns. Clearly it is large corporations that do not care for the well being of their employees and are totally out of touch with their reality. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Bring Back the 40 Hour Work Week Infographic" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/infographics/1206222FortyHourWorkWeekFinal.gif" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.opposingviews.com/i/money/jobs-and-careers/infographic-75-americans-work-40-hours-week#">source</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
More thoughts on how work hours are up and productivity is down. <br />
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<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ysvGOJYfGQM/UtNFigAyn0I/AAAAAAAAAKs/Bo2fWOHnT1o/s1600/Capture.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ysvGOJYfGQM/UtNFigAyn0I/AAAAAAAAAKs/Bo2fWOHnT1o/s1600/Capture.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://tribehr.com/blog/HR-Environmental-Scan-Work-hours-around-the-world-infographic">source</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Interesting break down. This particular graphic illustrates Coontz's point on how gender equality has "hit a wall"--especially given a social context. Well, we all know by now that you can't change policies in a meaningful way without changing the social context in which they come from. <br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04230236675703073196noreply@blogger.com0Smithfield, RI 02917, USA41.9036825 -71.51304449999997841.9036825 -71.513044499999978 41.9036825 -71.513044499999978tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3879373620986385293.post-42021447509425295122014-01-12T20:16:00.001-05:002014-01-12T20:16:36.249-05:00GEND 356: Luce's and Brenner's "Women and Class: What Has Happened in Forty Years?"This is going to be my go-to article now when talking about the gender wage gap. Luce and Brenner's main aim in this article is to highlight the change of wages since the 1960s primarily. They also highlight the differences between white women and women of color. They urge that despite the apparent change, there still remains an unavoidable gap because systematic issues have yet to be <i>socially </i>addressed. The legislative victory for equal rights can only do so much--as Luce and Brenner point out "they were primarily enforced through individual lawsuits" and "these cases can take many years to resolve, and most working-class women have neither the time nor resources necessary to pursue them" (125-126).<br />
<br />
While efforts can be made to make sure that women and women of color have access to higher education and better training, this does not do enough to combat social discrimination that impacts hiring and promotional rates. Women are still being filtered into "easily replaceable" positions like "cashier, retail salesperson and waitress"--jobs that are not considered "good jobs" and are always undervalued and underpaid (127). Luce and Brenner's example of the janitor versus the housekeeper highlights this discrepancy (124). It will take mass social change to combat this without strict government monitoring and enforcement--gender and race bias in the workplace still goes largely unchecked.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04230236675703073196noreply@blogger.com0Smithfield, RI 02917, USA41.9036825 -71.51304449999997841.8091385 -71.674405999999976 41.9982265 -71.35168299999998tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3879373620986385293.post-11010623821110142602014-01-12T18:38:00.002-05:002014-01-12T18:38:20.233-05:00GEND 356: Laureau's "Watching, Waiting, and Deciding When to Intervene"In Annette Lareau's article on "Race, Class, and the Transmission of Advantage" the main argument is that there is little-to-no difference between the "class resources" drawn upon by white middle-class families versus black middle-class families. Lareau's main points of defense are that "middle-class parents presume that they are entitled to have the institution accommodate to their child's individualized needs" that they "feel comfortable voicing their concerns with people in positions of authority" and lastly that despite race, middle-class parents are "willing and able to climb the hierarchy of authority to pursue their interest" (1).<br />
<br />
After giving her methodology and various examples that demonstrate parental demonstration, Lareau concludes that (for this particular age group) race is not a huge factor in the resources that middle-class parents draw upon in order to act in their children's best interest. While I am skeptical of taking the word of a white woman in this matter, Lareau does acknowledge that race does play a role in <i>what </i>issues arise in black middle-class families and the added burden of weighing "the race factor" in when deciding whether or not to act on their child's behalf. I realize, however, that it is not the point of the article to explore the idea that middle-class ideology is in and of itself a rather "white" class to begin with. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04230236675703073196noreply@blogger.com0Smithfield, RI 02917, USA41.9036825 -71.51304449999997841.8091385 -71.674405999999976 41.9982265 -71.35168299999998tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3879373620986385293.post-2791180983773337562014-01-12T17:47:00.001-05:002014-01-12T17:47:40.451-05:00GEND 356: Anyon's "Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work"Jean Anyon's paper about the "Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work" outlines a study performed in a few elementary schools in order to see how social class differences are being 'set up' in the school systems. In the first part of the paper, definitions for social class are laid out as a series of relationships to production of capital, relationships to authority, and relationships to capital itself. <br />
<br />
I found this article to be extremely engaging and right now I am trying to think of people that I can share this with. The differences in teaching styles across the different school types was extremely interesting--especially the implications this makes for replicating class divide. This is a direct confrontation to the idea that as long as everyone goes to school they have the same opportunities. Clearly this is not the case, as totally different sets of skills are being taught depending on what "class" the school is in. It is so frustrating, now, realizing that I was not taught the same caliber of creativity and analysis that children in the "Executive Elite" school were (or rather, I did not realize that it was possible for children in general to learn like this--I thought that the working and even middle class school teaching styles are all that children that age could comprehend). The Executive Elite school reminded me very much of college--and college is the only time during my school career that I actually felt as though I was learning something, instead of just regurgitating memorized material.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04230236675703073196noreply@blogger.com0Smithfield, RI 02917, USA41.9036825 -71.51304449999997841.8091385 -71.674405999999976 41.9982265 -71.35168299999998tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3879373620986385293.post-57829954564447717842014-01-12T16:01:00.003-05:002014-01-12T16:01:45.549-05:00GEND 356: "Some General Values of Working Class Culture"(As an aside, I thought it was funny that my copy of this was used on the back to record inventory count for a work-related event)<br />
<br />
<br />
The <a href="http://members.aol.com/lsmithdog/bottomdog/WCValuespost.htm">page</a> reads:<br />
<br />
SOME GENERAL VALUES OF WORKING CLASS CULTURE<br />
[These are some observations of general cultural values and tendencies and are not meant to be cultural stereotypes but recognitions]<br />
<br />
1. COMMUNICATION: To the Point<br />
Direct (even blunt), sometimes impassioned, accepts arguing<br />
Functional (not reflective)<br />
Story Telling--Passing on values, history<br />
Speak the truth (Yet keep it in the family)<br />
Humor--Laugh to survive--Getting Down to it<br />
<br />
2. FAMILY: Blood Ties<br />
Support each other<br />
Stay close to home<br />
Parental rule--Often Patriarchy<br />
Persistence and Ingenuity: Making do--Getting by<br />
Sacrifice<br />
<br />
3. COMMUNITY: Neighborhood<br />
Mutual Respect and Cooperation<br />
Democratic & Egalitarian<br />
Treat others fairly, especially the "little guy"<br />
Often denial and anger<br />
Difficulty is seeing multiple perspectives<br />
<br />
4. WORK ETHIC: Work as fabric of life<br />
Providing for family<br />
Hard work and Follow through<br />
Respect for tools & maintenance<br />
Having a good job<br />
Functional & Practical--Getting things done<br />
Time is money--Work sets schedule<br />
<br />
5. EDUCATION: Get One<br />
Value basic education--<br />
as a means of achieving "a good life"<br />
as a means of achieving "freedom of choice"<br />
But not too much education--"Don't forget where you came from."<br />
__________________________________________________<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br /><br />
Here are my own observations from within my own family:<br />
<br />
Some notes on my family: <br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Both sides of my family are Matriarchal (unofficially--but it is obvious) I consider my mother's side to be from working to middle class. My father's side is closer to upper middle or lower upper class.</li>
<li>Employment: Maternal and Paternal grandmothers both retired around the same time (in my life. But they were rather close in age too). Maternal grandmother was primarily alone raising four kids, Paternal grandmother had two and the help of her Doctor husband's income (though she worked more for her own sake).</li>
<li>Economics: Generally it is understood that my Maternal grandmother had a decent amount of money, but she was very frugal (and generous especially to her children--we were never afraid to ask her for something). My Paternal grandmother has quite a bit of money (before WWII, her family was of some kind of lesser nobility) but is extremely tight-pursed (and constantly deny that she is rich). I never felt comfortable asking her for money, but she "employed" me to clean her house in exchange for money after learning that I was struggling. </li>
<li>Education: My Maternal grandmother did not go to college and her education was not a significant topic of conversation so I don't know what kind of education she had. My Paternal grandmother has two degrees (MA in library and information science and a BA in chemical engineering).</li>
<li>Travel: My Paternal grandmother was widely traveled in the world because of her job (which I can never remember what she did because she never talked about it in detail) but she never took vacations for leisure. Maternal grandmother was lucky to go on vacations, but when she did it was to the Azores or somewhere in the states to visit her husband's family. (and the occasional cruise)</li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
<br />
1. COMMUNICATION<br />
Get-togethers are always completely different. Mom's side of the family had get-togethers that I enjoyed because they were fun, lots of laughter and lots of noise (although not anymore since she died--that put an permanent end to our family gathering and it has been sorely missed this past holiday). Multiple people were taking photos (especially trying to sneak shots of people eating) and video recording. Celebrations centered on laughter and food. Dad's side was always extremely quiet. One person speaks at a time and generally the "children" (me, my younger brother and younger cousin) had no say in the adult conversation (and were talked over if we tried to contribute as we got older). Celebrations here revolved around a ritualistic-like "healthy" dinner (significantly more bland by comparison) with an awkward toast and a group photo depending on the holiday.<br />
My maternal grandmother was a big story teller (as are her daughters--but not so much her son) and always used stories as a way to pass on history. My Paternal grandmother is never like this. It is a rare thing for me to hear a story. I do not know my father's family history as well as I do my mothers. My Paternal grandmother tells stories to pass on values, though, but not for entertainment but as evidence for a point she is trying to make.<br />
Mom always expressed that laughing is keeping her going. Everyone on that side of my family had that attitude. As far as my Paternal grandmother--I actually remember her reading me an article on the health benefits of laughing and how she "really needs to learn how to laugh more" so that she can look younger.<br />
<br />
2. FAMILY<br />
Both grandmothers always wanted the family to stay close to them. However, since my Paternal grandmother is from Europe (and the idea of the nuclear family is quite American) she expected even <i>more </i>of that (for example, her daughter lives literally across the street and my grandmother always complains that my dad is never over enough and he should have moved next door). <br />
There was more emphasis on supporting eachother on my mother's side. My dad's side is <u>very</u> much into the idea of individualism, and I think this is why it is so difficult for me to ask for help from them.<br />
As far as a Patriarchal rule--this (as you have already seen) is not the case on either side. <br />
Making sacrifices for children is an ideology that is strong on my mother's side of the family. (i.e. Mom always is saying "I sacrificed so much for you kids. I stopped going to college..ect") <br />
My maternal grandmother always talked about how she Got By with her persistent couponing and ingenious meal-planning.<br />
<br />
3. COMMUNITY<br />
Holiday meals were Pot Luck on my mother's side, and family friends were welcome always. So I guess there was a sort of "neighborly" sense of cooperation there. My mother's side is largely democratic/egalitarian (aside from traditional gender roles) while my father's side is mostly republican (aside from my father, me, and my brother). <br />
Tempers were usually short on my mother's side. There was always a fight. Nothing ever got out of hand on my father's side, however (although he was always struggling to contain his own anger).<br />
I personally think that all of them have trouble seeing multiple perspectives.<br />
<br />
4. WORK ETHIC<br />
"Providing for family" is a large part of the discourse on my mom's side. Inevitably conversations will surround that idea. This is not the case on my father's side. It seems to be more important to better one's self than support a family (although it is understood that "everyone" wants to have a family some day -- but I won't get into that topic of conversation).<br />
My mother's side all consider themselves to be hard working and that is something that everyone values. This is not emphasized as much on my father's side--but the idea of working hard in an individualistic sense is. (i.e. if you don't work hard in school you will hurt yourself in the future).<br />
Having a <i>job </i>was the most important thing on my mother's side. But having a job that pays well and one where you do not have to physically labor is important on my father's side.<br />
My mother's side is more into practical gifts and practical things. Where my father's side was more appreciative of luxurious and decorative items. So I would say that my mother's side is more into functional and practical.<br />
<br />
5. EDUCATION<br />
Both sides of my family were into the idea of education as a means of achieving a "good life" and "freedom of choice" but neither were afraid of "too much" education.<br />
However, none on my mother's side went to college. Everyone was always proud of me for going, though.<br />
On my father's side, my paternal grandmother would always complain about how dad wasted his opportunity when he dropped out of college (she was paying for him to go to some ivy league college) because he couldn't handle it. (where i am sure that my mom's side of the family would have been supportive of him regardless)<br />
______________________<br />
<br />
I think this list is interesting in comparing my family to it--although I am sure it is not exhaustive.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04230236675703073196noreply@blogger.com0Smithfield, RI 02917, USA41.9036825 -71.51304449999997841.9036825 -71.513044499999978 41.9036825 -71.513044499999978tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3879373620986385293.post-19907391093083022912014-01-12T15:08:00.003-05:002014-01-12T15:09:00.288-05:00GEND 356: Stiglitz's "Inequality is Holding Back the Recovery"<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"When even the free-marked-oriented magazine The Economist argues--as it did in a special feature in October--that the magnitude and nature of the country's inequality represent a serious threat to America, we should know that something has gone horribly wrong"<br />
<a name='more'></a></blockquote>
I always thought it was funny when "rich people" magazines write about this--as if anyone would care about poor people (unless its for donations which are tax deductible). It almost makes me wonder if it is to create an image for those who are <i>not </i>rich (who probably buy these magazines too in the hopes of finding some secret to class mobility) that people on top are aware of their situation and are working on some kind of solution (which would "never" happen). I am not really sure how else these magazines could benefit from writing on that kind of topic. Unless it was painted in a "in other countries" light--and not talking about the US (or wherever these magazines are coming from).<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Children in other rich countries like Canada, France, Germany and Sweden have a better chance of doing better that their parents did than American kids have. More than a fifth of our children live in poverty--the second worst of all the advanced economies, putting us behind countries like Bulgaria, Latvia and Greece"</blockquote>
<br />
Well, there goes our American Dream. And yet the ideology is still alive in the minds of the masses. I talk to people who have come <i>here </i>to make a better life for themselves, to listen to them talk starry-eyed about the opportunities that America has. It's hard not to say "hey, you should've gone a little north more because it really isn't that great here" but I'm sure it's <i>comparatively </i>better then wherever they came from. Yet our nationalism still boasts that we are The Best country. It's really a sad case of denial.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Student loan debt can almost never be wiped out, even in bankruptcy. A parent who co-signs a loan can't necessarily have the debt discharged even if his child dies. The debt can't be discharged even if the school--operated for profit and owned by exploitative financiers--provided an inadequate education, enticed the student with misleading promises, and failed to get her a decent job"</blockquote>
Really, student loan debt is enough to drive some students to suicide. And that is not something that should be happening. Education is about learning--freedom from ignorance--not in exchange for the shackles of debt. While Student Loan Debt isn't necessarily wiped out by bankruptcy, we have corporate welfare and big bank bail-outs. It's almost like saying "okay, you can pursue an education, but don't expect to have the energy to change the world because we're going to tie you down with Student Loan Debt." Nothing is going to change because the very places change should be coming from (youth) is too discouraged by debt and an unlivable minimum wage and no prospects for a better future. <br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04230236675703073196noreply@blogger.com0Smithfield, RI 02917, USA41.9036825 -71.51304449999997841.8091385 -71.674405999999976 41.9982265 -71.35168299999998tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3879373620986385293.post-76361420830463713272014-01-12T14:17:00.002-05:002014-01-12T14:17:36.952-05:00GEND 356: OXFAM "The Cost of Inequality"The main point to OXFAM's briefing on "How Wealth and Income Extremes Hurt Us All" is to convince the reader that focusing on <i>just </i>extreme poverty is not enough. It is important to focus on the "inequality and the extreme wealth that contributes to it" (1). The article outlines how inequality is "reaching levels never before seen" and is "getting worse" showing disturbing statistics like "In the US the share of national income going to the top 1% has doubled since 1980 from 10% to 20%" and "For the top 0.01% it has quadrupled" (1). These statistics show the reader just <i>how </i>unequal the rich and the poor are. Perhaps it asks the question "just why would any one person <i>need </i>that much money, when people are literally starving?"--it highlights the greed of the top percents.<br />
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The article also discusses how extreme wealth and income effects economic efficiency, politics, corruption, the environment, and ethics. This perhaps suggests that all other crises would be tremendously improved by paying attention to extreme wealth and extreme inequality that exists in the world. By the end of the article, OXFAM urges the world to "end extreme wealth by 2025" stating that "in a world of increasingly scarce resources, reducing inequality is more important than ever. It needs to be reduced and quickly" (4). Overall, this is a tight and to-the-point persuasive essay on the dangers of the wealth gap. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04230236675703073196noreply@blogger.com0Smithfield, RI 02917, USA41.9036825 -71.51304449999997841.8091385 -71.674405999999976 41.9982265 -71.35168299999998tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3879373620986385293.post-65655388647248049402014-01-12T14:02:00.001-05:002014-01-12T14:02:52.733-05:00GEND 356: Tilly's "Why Inequality is Bad for the Economy"<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"In unequal societies, highly educated, computer-using elites are surrounded by majorities with little education and no computer access, dragging down their productivity. This decreases young people's incentive to get more education and business' incentive to invest in computers, since the payoff will be smaller" (3).<a name='more'></a></blockquote>
I would argue that in unequal societies where the rich "block spending on education," the masses cannot afford higher education because of a decline in financial aid (or a raise in tuition or both) (4). For instance, I cannot afford to go to grad school because costs are so high (and college already gave me enough debt as it is). I imagine this also works with high school grads deciding that it is too expensive to go to college. So the ripple effect of this is explained in this quote.<br />
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"slower growth in the US South for much of the country's history was linked to the Southern system of white supremacy" (4)</blockquote>
I thought this observation was interesting. Growth in any setting (local or global) is stunted due to racial inequalities (not racial diversity). This leads me to assume that this lack of equality causing slower growth also stretches to gender diversity. I think it would have been interesting to see Tilly take it in that direction as well.<br />
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"The bigger the disparity between the rich and the rest, the more the rich have to lose, and the less likely that the equal share they'll get of boosted growth will make up for their loss. Once the gap goes beyond a certain point, the wealthy have a strong incentive to restrict democracy, and to block spending on education which might lead the poor to challenge economic injustice--making reform that much harder" (4).</blockquote>
This is the kind of thing that enrages me. The powerful are so unwilling to loosen their grip that they block spending on <i>education</i>. While at the same time we see complaints about the US not keeping up with other countries in math or science or whatnot. But there is not a push to make education more accessible? So the media is hard at work with promoting this idea of individualism that says that we are stagnant because we are not working hard enough, and we can't afford higher education so we take on more jobs, we work harder at our minimum wage jobs because we have learned that individualism means hard work = better results when that is really just a lie. So companies get an increase in worker productivity. Win win for them.<br />
<img alt="HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANDREA!Sorry, I didn&#8217;t want to wait to show it to you next week (besides, it&#8217;s your Birthday today) :D I had a hard time deciding what to turn into a patch from my class doodles, but this one fit the fabric I had on hand.I can put an iron-on patch on the back if you wanted. Or you can sew/glue (fabric glue) it on to whatever yourself. Or just keep it around. It&#8217;s way cooler than the picture.&lt;3 I HOPE YOU&#8217;RE HAVING A FANTASTIC EVENING AND I HOPE YOU&#8217;LL LIKE THIS WHEN ITS IN YOUR HANDS.
-CK" src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/e3017aa70d2314c0129292d42bafdd4c/tumblr_miymdnr9Yw1qcvhibo1_400.jpg" />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04230236675703073196noreply@blogger.com0Smithfield, RI 02917, USA41.9036825 -71.51304449999997841.8091385 -71.674405999999976 41.9982265 -71.35168299999998tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3879373620986385293.post-59594367929551773772014-01-12T13:22:00.001-05:002014-01-12T13:23:13.747-05:00GEND 356: Currie's "The Futile War on Drugs"<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"One method of simplifying social problems is to see them as resulting from countless individual failures of personal character. According to this view, people are jobless because they're lazy, they're homeless because they lack forehandedness, they're addicted because they have no moral discipline" (351).</blockquote>
This is the issue with individualism--one of the main ideologies holding together classism. As other writers have pointed out (as I have discussed in previous blog posts), individualism is the distraction from systematic issues that are the root cause to poverty, oppression, and in this particular case--drug abuse. With this view out of the way, we can examine the systems beneath that benefit those who control them, and hurt those it takes advantage of. It makes no logical sense for groups of people to simultaneously be "too lazy" or to have "no moral discipline"--there is always a root cause to joblessness and homelessness. <br />
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"We've seen that mass drug abuse is closely associated both with long term joblessness and with long-term employment in jobs that offer no challenge and no future--jobs that cannot support families or sustain communities" (352).</blockquote>
Joblessness is a scary thing, especially when you have bills to pay. I can only imagine what kind of despair one with a family must feel and to have no means of supporting them. And to have society telling you that it is your own fault for the mess you're in. Yeah, I'd be pretty depressed too. So it isn't a surprise that Currie states that drug abuse is closely associated with employment difficulties. Especially with jobs where you are literally doing the same thing every day (factory work) with no hope of promotion, a raise, or any "challenges"--where you are literally just an underappreciated cog in a machine.<br />
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"It was one aspect of a quite deliberate strategy on the part of many employers to reduce their costs and become economically competitive by adopting a "low-wage, low-skill, high turnover" policy rather than by increasing the skills and productivity of their work force" (355)</blockquote>
This reminds me of the recent push from minimum wage employees (at McDonald's for example) to get better pay. In<a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2013/07/18/why-mcdonalds-employee-budget-has-everyone-up-in-arms/"> response</a>, McDonalds put out a "budget" plan for it's employees:<img src="http://b-i.forbesimg.com/laurashin/files/2013/07/Screen-Shot-2013-07-18-at-4.57.59-PM.png" height="400" width="310" /><br />
demonstrating (inadvertently) that it is impossible to live off of minimum wage (not to mention how out of touch the higher ups are with reality).<br />
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This budget plan is totally unrealistic. For instance, I have to pay $800 monthly for rent, and they did not factor in the cost for food at all--nor taking into account that many of their employees have families to take care of.<br />
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On another note, this quote mentioning "high turnover" reminded me of a job that I had as a cashier at a pet store. I remember being hired with a group of people--we were basically all of the new cashiers and they had a few other employees that were not managers. One by one, these employees were fired as they rehired others--coincidentally a week or so before we were supposed to get our first raise. So it would not surprise me that this was constructed this way--high turnover and low wages. Even when I go in today, the newly hired cashiers have already been replaced. Every few months or so they cycle them out.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04230236675703073196noreply@blogger.com0Smithfield, RI 02917, USA41.9036825 -71.51304449999997841.8091385 -71.674405999999976 41.9982265 -71.35168299999998tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3879373620986385293.post-70157006140780323892014-01-11T15:29:00.003-05:002014-01-11T15:30:32.675-05:00GEND 356: Coontz's "Self Reliance and the American Family"The average person (i.e. not politician necessarily, but the typical person you would meet on the street) opposing welfare and government assistance is not someone that I enjoy spending a great deal of time with. But lately, I feel as though this anti-poor discourse has gotten worse (or I am becoming more aware of it) and has seeped into the mindsets of my closer family members (who I thought were more liberal). The media does an excellent job at twisting the blame of a failing economy onto supposed "rampant welfare fraud" <br />
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<img src="http://31.media.tumblr.com/08b9aeb8c899117a3865d79574ca40d2/tumblr_mz6ghhI0n51qc8jh0o6_250.gif" /><br />
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<img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/9148956cbaa454899020d53459414500/tumblr_mz6ghhI0n51qc8jh0o8_250.gif" /><br />
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(<a href="http://thebicker.net/post/72917693346">source</a>)</div>
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When this isn't the <a href="http://theblinker.com/mainpage/2013/12/12/the-boogie-man-called-snap-abuse/">reality</a> of what is going on. Most importantly, I think, this draws attention away from structural issues of <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/12/16-1">capitalism</a> that should be getting more attention. And goddess forbid those who are<i> </i>working ask for a <i>livable wage </i>instead of the "minimum"</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="cartoonpolitics:
"Well he would say that, wouldn’t he&#160;? ~ (attributed to Mandy Rice Davies)
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://cartoonpolitics.tumblr.com/post/69718054554/well-he-would-say-that-wouldnt-he">source</a></td></tr>
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But I digress.</div>
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Coontz discusses the historical government assistance programs that have shaped our standard of living today, suggesting that the image of individuals pulling themselves up by their bootstraps is nothing more than a myth. What is happening now is that <a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2012/09/19/161409916/welfare-wasnt-always-a-dirty-word-in-the-romney-family">politicians</a> that grew up benefiting from some form of government assistance are turning around and cutting it when they get into office--Coontz mentions Phil Gramm (213). Meanwhile, welfare is still being painted as something completely and totally unnecessary and everyone is simply lazy. </div>
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Another thing that this article reminded me of is when Time Magazine came up with this cover:</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=tYdcnHSDoxs_gM&tbnid=twBzO80P5CDsFM:&ved=0CAMQjhw&url=http%3A%2F%2Ftimemagazine.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F50011001808%2Fthis-weeks-cover-of-time-focuses-on-the&ei=XaTRUrEcjuKwBLKNgegL&bvm=bv.59026428,d.eW0&psig=AFQjCNGGwzQy1WTBhiUVtltieZV1rA2dYQ&ust=1389557157757464">source</a></td></tr>
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And there was some concern with how our generation is not buying their own houses and cars and seemingly no understanding of how we're suffering from skyrocketing Student Loan Debt and the American Dream is not something that is attainable to the majority of us. (Not to mention living with our parents saves money, and taking selfies and posting them on the internet is keeping us sane, but no we won't even explore that idea).<br />
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Oh, and then there was this extremely embarrassing video.</div>
<object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,47,0" height="394" id="flashObj" width="700"><param name="movie" value="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1&isUI=1" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="flashVars" value="videoId=2365988786001&linkBaseURL=http%3A%2F%2Fnation.time.com%2F2013%2F05%2F09%2Fwatch-joel-stein-live-like-a-millennial-for-a-day%2F&playerID=1917933886001&playerKey=AQ~~,AAAAABGEUMg~,hNlIXLTZFZn-NQOazMchMDWH0SI1hX7f&domain=embed&dynamicStreaming=true" /><param name="base" value="http://admin.brightcove.com" /><param name="seamlesstabbing" value="false" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="swLiveConnect" value="true" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><embed src="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1&isUI=1" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" flashVars="videoId=2365988786001&linkBaseURL=http%3A%2F%2Fnation.time.com%2F2013%2F05%2F09%2Fwatch-joel-stein-live-like-a-millennial-for-a-day%2F&playerID=1917933886001&playerKey=AQ~~,AAAAABGEUMg~,hNlIXLTZFZn-NQOazMchMDWH0SI1hX7f&domain=embed&dynamicStreaming=true" base="http://admin.brightcove.com" name="flashObj" width="700" height="394" seamlesstabbing="false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowFullScreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" swLiveConnect="true" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash"></embed></object>
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I can't even.</div>
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And since then there have been some stellar parodies (so I'm not just simmering in anger):</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://31.media.tumblr.com/df4093cbd8eb54f502803eecbbeaab25/tumblr_mmsqjoaqEn1qmeg2co1_500.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=JfIlYZ_VobI_9M&tbnid=dgQWKj_BjpvQdM:&ved=0CAMQjhw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fladebrouillarde.tumblr.com%2F&ei=CaXRUu3dD5LMsQTuwYCADA&bvm=bv.59026428,d.eW0&psig=AFQjCNGGwzQy1WTBhiUVtltieZV1rA2dYQ&ust=1389557157757464">source</a></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/542/367/663.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://knowyourmeme.com/photos/542367-time-magazine-cover-me-me-me-generation">source</a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="ME ME ME RRICA" src="http://i1.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/547/070/496.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://knowyourmeme.com/photos/547070-time-magazine-cover-me-me-me-generation">source</a></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="8c6.png" src="http://i1.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/542/714/8c6.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://knowyourmeme.com/photos/542714-time-magazine-cover-me-me-me-generation">source</a></td></tr>
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And many other internet <a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/hunterschwarz/old-economy-steve-is-a-new-meme-that-will-enrage-all-millenn">reference</a>s to this kind of thinking. In relation to Coontz's article though, it isn't the same as it was for previous generations. There are structural issues not being addressed. Welfare is vital for many (and that system still has its flaws) and it isn't merely panhandling for drug money or other common misconceptions. </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04230236675703073196noreply@blogger.com0Smithfield, RI 02917, USA41.9036825 -71.51304449999997841.8091385 -71.674405999999976 41.9982265 -71.35168299999998tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3879373620986385293.post-41497758045014713702014-01-10T19:52:00.001-05:002014-01-15T20:35:19.485-05:00GEND 356: Jensen's "Reading Classes: Chapter Two - Invisible Ism"Jensen's main point in the second chapter of her book "Reading Classes" is to lay out how classism exists in how she defines separate classes for the sake of her writing. Like <a href="http://ckkusma.blogspot.com/2014/01/gend-356-johnsons-forest-and-trees-ch-1.html#more">Johnson's</a> explanation of Individualism in "The Forest and the Trees" Jensen also points out how Classism (as other forms of systematic oppression) shift the attention away from the structural issues that contribute to class divisions, and toward individuals who are "too lazy" to attain a higher class. Jensen states that "classism says that people with more wealth deserve it because they earned it" and it is individualistic attitudes like this that ignore the hard work that working class people do (50).<br />
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On another note, Jensen also states that "classism sees and judges louder, more expressive and emotional human behavior as flaws of personal character, which is called tasteless rather than customs of class or ethnic cultures" (45). I found this interesting when thinking about how Johnson stated that "when blacks or women express anger in the workplace, for example, they risk triggering stereotypes of blacks and women as overly emotional" (65). I think that these two quotes are important when thinking about how race, class and gender are connected when examining classism. In all cases, being overly emotional is seen as a negative, while restrained behavior is seen to be "higher class"--all of this works to keep oppressed groups from acting out of their (justified) rage against the machine of systematic "isms" that the privileged are so unwilling to address.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04230236675703073196noreply@blogger.com0Smithfield, RI 02917, USA41.9036825 -71.51304449999997841.9036825 -71.513044499999978 41.9036825 -71.513044499999978tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3879373620986385293.post-5587097783626696172014-01-10T18:17:00.000-05:002014-01-11T13:01:39.454-05:00GEND 356: Johnson's "The Forest and the Trees" Ch 1-2<i>Chapter One: The Forest, the Trees, and the One Thing</i><br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"It's easy to think that social problems must come down to flaws in individual character. If we have a drug problem, it must be because individuals just can't or won't say "no." If there are racism, sexism, heterosexism, classism, and other forms of privilege and oppression, it must be because of people who for some reason have the personal "need" to behave in racist, sexist, and other oppressive ways" (9-10).</blockquote>
This is a very basic way to explain how individualism exists in multiple systems of oppression and how it infiltrates every aspect of our lives. From here, it is easy to see how one could entirely miss the systematic nature of oppression and how it stretches beyond merely the occasionally blip of a psychopath in an otherwise neutral sea of humanity. It is easy to say that everyone is inherently good, to shift the <i>question </i>of oppression from a larger system and onto an individual, making conversations about oppressive systems easily derailed. Especially when conversation turns to internalized racism, sexism and so on, which are harder to detect because they slip under the radar that spotlights mouthpiece bigots (most famously, politicians). Focusing on these people is pointless when trying to dismantle the entire system.<br />
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"If we think about the world this way--which is especially common in the United States--then it's easy to see why members of privileged groups become upset when they're asked to look at the benefits that go along with belonging to that particular group and the price those benefits require other groups to pay. When women, for example, talk about how sexism affects them, individualistic thinking encourages men to hear this as a personal accusation: "If women are oppressed, then I'm an evil oppressor who wants to oppress them." Since no man wants to see himself as a bad person, and since most men probably don't consciously intend to act in oppressive ways toward women, men may feel unfairly attacked" (10).</blockquote>
This is how countless discussions about oppression are derailed by those occupying privileged groups. "Not all men are like that" is a phrase I see most common when women are discussing merely their experiences--and almost always someone (gender aside) will state, unnecessarily, that "all men are not like that," shifting the focus away from a clearly systematic (patriarchal) cause of oppression onto the individual "hurt" feelings of men caused by "bitching" women. Then the discussion is turned toward the oppressed and blame of these "hurt" feelings takes precedence over the topic of original conversation. I have even witnessed the most patient try to explain time and time again, "I am not saying all men, I am not intending to attack you individually" and so on--even detailing how systematic oppression works--only to be written off as "angry" as much of feminism, unfortunately, is. This gif set comes to mind when thinking about how the actions of an individual are warped to match the definitions society has in place for oppressed groups.<br />
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<img src="https://24.media.tumblr.com/4d641af68adcb74d69adf47aa6e6d441/tumblr_mxf9abL1Pe1rg0noto3_250.gif" /><img src="https://31.media.tumblr.com/141b4903f21b49927a70a72df0e1ac12/tumblr_mxf9abL1Pe1rg0noto4_250.gif" /><br />
<img src="https://24.media.tumblr.com/bceb86a4e4ee722f9360771d8814d560/tumblr_mxf9abL1Pe1rg0noto1_250.gif" /><img src="https://31.media.tumblr.com/6e159a7269d8e4ab6c6873081a3bff9f/tumblr_mxf9abL1Pe1rg0noto2_250.gif" /><br />
<img src="https://31.media.tumblr.com/1afe7f7c6df7b36f8fda9e6b20c23884/tumblr_mxf9abL1Pe1rg0noto5_250.gif" /><img src="https://31.media.tumblr.com/cd234b0d85eee02fba32cd5a56fce214/tumblr_mxf9abL1Pe1rg0noto6_250.gif" /><br />
<img src="https://31.media.tumblr.com/5dfeee2d7f62f9bbd6883d03718cf51a/tumblr_mxf9abL1Pe1rg0noto7_500.gif" /><br />
<img src="https://24.media.tumblr.com/f62fb283679e5cdbafa6c50e93009b1c/tumblr_mxf9abL1Pe1rg0noto8_250.gif" /><img src="https://24.media.tumblr.com/07b328cfb3e4333e3af1055c4dc43300/tumblr_mxf9abL1Pe1rg0noto9_250.gif" /><br />
source: <a href="http://mary-read.tk/post/69243231107/pantene-phillippines-whipit-labels-against-women">http://mary-read.tk/post/69243231107/pantene-phillippines-whipit-labels-against-women</a><br />
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<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Rather than stop and ask how the economic system itself sets us up to feel insecure, the path of least resistance is to work hard to establish our own private zones of safety within an insecure system. The easiest thing for people to do then is to hang on to whatever they have and leave everyone else to fend for themselves" (29).</blockquote>
This brings to mind graphs detailing wages vs. productivity over the years. With the economy failing the masses (but not those on top) there is not a mass movement significant enough that examines the shortcomings of the system. Instead, the underpaid masses are working <i>more </i>to survive--whether that be taking on more hours or finding another job in addition to one they already have. While physically this is not "easy," it is easier to do than examine the way the system is set up to fail the workers but not the CEOs. And even while I, myself, feel conscious of this, I am still working as hard as I can just to make rent at the end of the month. At the end of the day, it is hard to find the energy to give to another who is suffering in the same or worse conditions. The system is set up to exhaust us and to fail us, offering up all profits to those comfortably on the top.<br />
<br />
<i>Chapter Two: Culture: Symbols, Ideas, and the Stuff of Life</i><br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"My "freedom" to want a car is shaped by an economic system that depends on ever-expanding markets and rising profits, both of which depend on encouraging people to measure their lives more by the products and services they consume than, say, spiritual enlightenment or helping people less well-off than they are, setting us up to see the accumulation of material wealth as an essential part of a happy and successful life" (51).</blockquote>
Because success is largely defined (by our culture) as having "a lot of stuff" or at the very least "certain kinds of stuff" (i.e. standard of living) having freedom in this area is a paradox. Desires for these kinds of things are shaped by the system of capitalism that depends greatly on their existence. It is not that people (Americans, in this case) are greedy--but rather that the system of capitalism depends on the desire for the accumulation of objects to attain a comfortable life. While a "solution" to this in the average self help book would be to live with as little "comforts" as possible, it fails to address the root of the issue: the structural conditioning in place that shapes the way we interact with our world. <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"When blacks or women express anger at discrimination in the workplace, for example, they risk triggering stereotypes of blacks and women as overly emotional and therefore out of control and needing to be controlled by others. This, in turn, is used to argue that they're unsuited for higher positions because they don't display appropriate attitudes" (65).</blockquote>
This is the double-bind for the oppressed. In order to move up in the workplace, one must be "assertive"--which is really just a nice way of saying "aggressive." This is a trait carefully rendered and bestowed upon white males and this is the only place that it is (culturally) praised. Subconsciously, those who are not a part of this privileged group will try to tap into this assertiveness when they want to be taken seriously. This is what feeds the "bitchy woman" or the "scary black" stereotypes--which is enough to keep these oppressed groups "in their place." However, when these groups are <i>not </i>assertive in order to obey the "rules" of social race and gender roles, it is shown as evidence to justify an imbalance of rewards (too weak to be a leader, too lazy). When oppressed groups try to fight back against this kind of discrimination, it is written off as being stereotypically "black" or "a woman" and rage against systematic equality is written off as the anger of the individual.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Those who own and control the mass media have a vested interest in preserving and promoting capitalism as an economic system. They have little to gain and a considerable amount to lose by suggesting there might be something wrong with it. This makes them unlikely to question or undermine what makes their power and privilege possible" (69). </blockquote>
This is what I wish I could bang over the heads of my family members over and over again until they stop believing everything they hear on the news, or using the news to shape their Global understanding. There is this widespread lack of understanding that news media outlets are owned by someone--that they receive money from some larger group with a larger interest and that this shapes what information goes out (nevermind government censors). The News is not innocent. Not even the more "liberal" stations.<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04230236675703073196noreply@blogger.com0Smithfield, RI 02917, USA41.9036825 -71.51304449999997841.8091385 -71.674405999999976 41.9982265 -71.35168299999998tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3879373620986385293.post-11361058999762943972014-01-04T22:47:00.001-05:002014-01-04T22:47:33.277-05:00GEND 356: People Like Us - Tammy's Story<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/ynytMj2tamQ?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<a name='more'></a><br />
I am interested in this idea of "passing" as a different class. Tammy mentions that her son "pretends" to be of a different class to impress his friends but he isn't actually of a different class. I think it is important, though, to attempt to "pass" as a higher class in order to survive. (Not that I'm saying that this system of class privilege isn't inherently fucked up, but I understand the necessity of passing).<br />
<br />
This idea of needing to pass reminded me of <a href="http://talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/why-do-poor-people-waste-money-on-luxury-goods" target="_blank">this</a> article. Often on my facebook feed I see people talking about how poor people shouldn't be spending money. This is an article that I dug up when trying to rebut ridiculous arguments that people make to perpetuate this kind of thought. So this article "Why Do Poor People 'Waste' Money on Luxury Goods" discusses the need to pass as a different class in order to dip into the privileges that being upper class entails.<br />
<br />
Mainly, McMillan Cottom (author of article) discusses her personal experiences and relating this to the larger discussion on the necessity for poor people to pass as "respectable"--because, as we know and as Mantsios discusses in Media Magic, the poor are painted as anything BUT deserving respect. <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I do not know how much my mother spent on her camel colored
cape or knee-high boots but I know that whatever she paid it returned in
hard-to-measure dividends. How do you put a price on the double-take of a clerk
at the welfare office who decides you might not be like those other trifling
women in the waiting room and provides an extra bit of information about
completing a form that you would not have known to ask about? What is the
retail value of a school principal who defers a bit more to your child because
your mother's presentation of self signals that she might unleash the
bureaucratic savvy of middle class parents to advocate for her child? I don't
know the price of these critical engagements with organizations and gatekeepers
relative to our poverty when I was growing up. But, I am living proof of its
investment yield.</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
This quote sums up the general idea of the article. McMillan Cottom centers her argument around the idea that it is important to make these kind of investments in order to pass as "<i>not </i>lower class" in a society where being poor is such a stigma on personal character. Passing means more opportunities. <br />
<br />
On another (similar but different) note, <i>People Like Us</i> places a great deal of emphasis on Individualism (at least in the clip that I viewed) by focusing on Tammy's son's desire to go to college and really emphasising the fact that Tammy has a job and isn't on welfare anymore like her friends are suggesting. When really, Tammy could probably really use the extra help--but there is this stigma about being on welfare where welfare is somehow equated with being lazy when really this isn't the case. The biggest messages that I take away from this clip are "LOOK HE WANTS TO GO TO COLLEGE, NOT LIKE HIS LAZY COUCH POTATO BROTHER" and "LOOKIE HERE SHE ISN'T FOLLOWING HER FRIENDS ADVICE TO STAY AT HOME AND COLLECT WELFARE. LOOK SHE HAS A JOB" which read more like ways to keep the idea of Individualism intact instead of critiquing the systems of privilege and oppression that exist when discussing class. We get a hint of that when Tammy is talking about her father having twenty two children and that she "grew up poor"--this at least points to the fact that if you grew up in a poor family you are going to have a hell of a time trying to claw your way out of that social class because you probably couldn't go to college, you probably weren't exposed to the kinds of circles in which you could learn how to "pass" as a higher class and make connections with people in "high places." But the majority of the emphasis of this documentary seemed to be on Individualism (at least based off of this short clip).<br />
<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04230236675703073196noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3879373620986385293.post-491170842692496662014-01-04T21:31:00.000-05:002014-01-04T21:32:34.454-05:00GEND 356: Johnson's "What is a System of Privilege?"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="text-align: start;">Coincidentally, before sitting down to respond to Allan G. Johnson's piece "What is a System of Privilege?" I watched this piece of spoken word. </span><span style="text-align: start;">This ties in quite nicely with Allen Johnson's example of illustrating white privilege in regards to crime.</span><span style="text-align: start;"> </span></div>
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<h1 class="yt" id="watch-headline-title" style="border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" id="eow-title" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)"><span style="font-size: small;">Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black"<a name='more'></a></span></span></h1>
<div>
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)"></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">So I’m driving down the street with</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">my 4-year-old nephew.</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">He, knocking back a juice</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">box, me, a Snapple, today y’all</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">we are doing manly shit. I love</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">watching the way his mind works.</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">He asks a million questions.</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">Uncle, why is the sky blue?</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">Uncle, how do cars go?</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">Uncle, why don’t dogs talk?</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">Uncle, uncle, uncle, he asks,</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">uncle, uncle, uncle, he asks</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">uncle uncle uncle</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">as if his voice box is</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">a warped record. I try my best</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">to answer every question, I do.</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">I say it’s because the way</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">the sun lights up the outer space.</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">It’s because engines</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">make the wheels go.</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">It’s because their minds aren’t</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">quite like ours. I say Yes.</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">No. No. Yes. No. Yes. No. I don’t know.</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">Who knows? Maybe. We laugh.</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">He smiles at me, looks out the window,</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">spots a cop car, drops his seat</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">and says,</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">“Oh man, Uncle, 5-0, we gotta hide.”</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">I’ll be honest. I’m not happy</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">with the way we raise our Black boys.</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">Don’t like the fact that</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">he learned to hide</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">from the cops before</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">he knew how to read.</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">Angrier that his survival</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">depends more on</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">his ability to deal</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">with the “authorities”</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">than it does his own literacy.</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">“Get up,” I yell at him. “In this car, in this family,</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">we are not afraid</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">of the law.”</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">I wonder if he can hear</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">the uncertainty in my voice.</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">Is today the day he learns</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">that uncle is willing to lie to him,</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">that I am more human</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">than hero?</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">We both know the truth</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">is far more complex than</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">do not hide. We both know too many</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">Black boys who disappeared.</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">Names lost.</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">Know too many Trayvon Martins</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">Oscar Grants</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">and Abner Louimas, know too many</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">Sean Bells, and Amadou Diallos</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">Know too well that we are</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">the hard-boiled sons of Emmett Till.</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">Still, we both know</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">it’s not about whether or not</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">the shooter is racist,</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">it’s about how poor Black boys</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">are treated as problems</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">well before we are treated as people.</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">Black boys in this country</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">cannot afford</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">to play cops and robbers</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">if we’re always considered the latter,</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">don’t have the luxury</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">of playing war</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">when we’re already in one.</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">Where I’m from,</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">seeing cop cars drive</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">down the street feels a lot</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">like low-flying planes in New York</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">City. Where I’m from, routine traffic</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">stops are more like mine</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">fields, any wrong move</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">could very well mean your life.</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">And how do I look my nephew in his apple face</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">and tell him to be strong when we both know</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">black boys are murdered every day, simply</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">for standing up for themselves? I take him</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">by the hand, I say</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">be strong. I say be smart. Be kind, and polite.</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">Know your laws. Be aware of</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">how quickly your hands move</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">to pocket for wallet or ID,</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">be more aware of how quickly</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">the officer’s hand moves to holster, for gun.</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">Be Black. Be a boy and have fun,</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">because this world will force you to</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">become a man much quicker</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">than you need to.</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">“Uncle,” he asks, “what happens</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">if the cop is really mean?”</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">And, it scares me to</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">know that he, like</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">so many Black boys,</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">is getting ready for a war</span><br />
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">I can’t prepare him for. </span></blockquote>
<span class="watch-title yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-user-select: auto; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)">
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In Allen Johnson's piece, he explains that "white
people are generally assumed to be law-abiding until they show some sign that
they are not, while people of color are routinely assumed to be criminals or
potential criminals until they show that they're not." Javon Johnson's poem addresses this issue of
privilege--what it is like to exist in this system and experience day-to-day
terror that a white person has the privilege (luxury) of avoiding. White people
do not have to "Be aware of how quickly your hands move to pocket for
wallet or ID" because a police officer is not likely to assume that our
hands are moving for a gun. </div>
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This is one of the more violent forms of oppression that exists in this White Supremacist Society. Allen Johnson mentions "patterns of unearned advantage that are available to whites simply because they are socially identified as 'white'"--this unearned privilege is highlighted (in more every-day, sans police brutality examples) in Peggy McIntosh's essay "<a href="http://www.amptoons.com/blog/files/mcintosh.html" target="_blank">White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack</a>" where she sought to first document Male Privilege and "realized" White Privilege in the process.</div>
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<br />
She gives fifty examples (though there are countless others) of White Privilege in the every-day sense, such as:</div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
3. If I should need to move, I can be pretty sure of renting or purchasing housing in an area which I can afford and in which I would want to live.<br />
4. I can be pretty sure that my neighbors in such a location will be neutral or pleasant to me.<br />
5. I can go shopping alone most of the time, pretty well assured that I will not be followed or harassed.</blockquote>
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40. I can choose public accommodation without fearing that people of my race cannot get in or will be mistreated in the places I have chosen.<br />
41. I can be sure that if I need legal or medical help, my race will not work against me.</blockquote>
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Examples that reference housing and legal/medical help intersect neatly with issues of class. Considering the Institutions that contribute to Class are inherently racist, it is not a far stretch to think about how white people have the privilege of being seen, more often than people of color, to inhabit a higher class. In other words, white people (even if lacking social, economic, and political capital) will "pass" as being a higher class than people of color. This "lower class" standing works hand in hand with racism in such a way that it creates a hostile environment for people of color to exist (likeliness of being hired, promoted, given a loan, and so on).<br />
<br />
Allan G. Johnson discusses privilege centered on race. This is a large part of the multi-faceted System of Privileges that occupies this Society that favors White (Cisgendered) Male Heterosexual Able Bodied Christian Property-Owners above anyone else.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04230236675703073196noreply@blogger.com0Smithfield, RI 02917, USA41.9036825 -71.51304449999997841.8091385 -71.674405999999976 41.9982265 -71.35168299999998tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3879373620986385293.post-91501562764182824682014-01-03T18:08:00.001-05:002014-01-03T18:08:08.199-05:00GEND 356: Mantsios' "Rewards and Opportunities"<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"The privileged in our society require a class-structured
social order in order to maintain and enhance their economic and political
well-being. Industrial profits depend on
cheap labor and on a pool of unemployed to keep workers in check. Real Estate speculators and developers create
and depend on slums for tax evading investments" (477)</blockquote>
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This section gave me chills. This is not just an arbitrary system. There is something very intentional about the neglect of the poor and the attention to the wealth gap. This has nothing to do with not working hard enough--this is a central point to Mantsios' argument. Class plays a huge factor in many things that hold the upper class in place at the top. The media feeds into this idea that the poor and working class are not making enough money because they are lazy and stupid <i>because </i>the wealthy depend on this image to keep themselves at the top. If the masses truly began to realize this simultaneously instead of eating up the image that the media and news stations preach, there would be more movements than "Occupy Wall Street" but because class plays such a huge role in an individual's access to education it makes these kinds of discoveries difficult. </div>
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"The median income of the top one percent of the
population is 22 times greater than that of the remaining 99 percent. The median Net Financial Assets of the top
one percent is 237 times greater than the median of the other 99 percent of the
population." (478)</blockquote>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p>This is important in demonstrating that income is not enough to demonstrate the class struggle in the United States. Statistics involving wealth, investments, interest and so on really bring to light the vast inequality in this country. The fact that Warren Buffet "makes more money in two days of nonwork that most people earn in a lifetime of work" is outrageous (477). This is purely income generated by interest from this man's accumulated wealth. #EatTheRich</o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"People do not choose to be poor or working class,
instead they are limited and confined by the opportunities afforded or denied
them by a social system" (479)</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>INDIVIDUALISM IS A MYTH</b>. The poor and working class are struggling, productivity is up but the minimum wage is stagnant.</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/money/dam/assets/130305161550-chart-productivity-hourly-compensation-620xa.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="336" src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/money/dam/assets/130305161550-chart-productivity-hourly-compensation-620xa.gif" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://money.cnn.com/2013/03/07/news/economy/compensation-productivity/">http://money.cnn.com/2013/03/07/news/economy/compensation-productivity/</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
There is something extremely wrong with this, especially because this is not the mainstream representation of the working class and those working for minimum wage. People are still up in arms about raising the minimum wage and having more budget go to SNAP programs, as if those who are in dire need do not deserve it because they are lazy or are not trying hard enough. But these are the lies that are fed to us by the people on top who are clinging to their mountains of wealth, pointing the finger at the dirty homeless youth at the side of the street like they are some kind of criminal. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
But "[Class is] for European democracies or something else--it isn't for the United States of America. We are not going to be divided by class" --George Bush, 1988 (466)</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
and </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
"Who will iron my shirts and rake the yard?" (477)</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04230236675703073196noreply@blogger.com0Smithfield, RI 02917, USA41.9036825 -71.51304449999997841.9036825 -71.513044499999978 41.9036825 -71.513044499999978tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3879373620986385293.post-54535031699887791382014-01-03T16:58:00.001-05:002014-01-03T16:59:54.203-05:00GEND 356: Marshall's "Serving in Combat Does not Serve Women Well"<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“[Women] are pushed into military duty due to poverty and
lack of other options”</blockquote>
<br />
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<o:p></o:p></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“Some 42% of female veterans say they joined the military because jobs were hard to find, compared with one-quarter of men”</blockquote>
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<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“31% military women are black […] this is almost twice the
share of active-duty men who are black (16%)”</blockquote>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<a name='more'></a></div>
<div>
When I was in high school I remember the National Guard recruiters would always set up post right at the entrance to the cafeteria every day to entice graduating Seniors to sign up. Seniors who were anticipating a massive student loan debt and a discouraging job market. When I was a Senior myself, I remember joking with my friends at the time that I should just join the army because there was no way in hell that I would be able to afford college or get any kind of job after graduating. I went to high school in Coventry, which (at a glance) consists mainly of upper-middle class White folks. So it was extremely easy to remember the three People of Color in the entire high school. That being said, I wonder how many of them seriously considered this option. Based on the statistics provided by Lucinda Marshall in "Why Serving In Combat Does Not Serve Women (Or Anyone Else) Well" it wouldn't surprise me if they all did. </div>
<div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“Sexual assault in the military is not a woman’s issue. It is an epidemic and a national disgrace
that is a direct result of the misguided notion of militarism that posits that
strength comes from asserting power over others”</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I underlined and highlighted this quote in my print-out of the article. The Institution of the United States Military, in our history of colonization, stands more for an exertion of force over a vulnerable group of peoples in order to extract some kind of resource or to establish some kind of fucked up global dominance. If this idea of forced domination is part of the ideology of the Military is then combined with the ideology that disenfranchises women (that we have been indoctrinated in this Western Society), it comes as little surprise to me that this would result in a systematic rape of women in the military by those in the military. This is continually ignored while lawmakers seem to say "stop complaining because now you can fight on the front lines "equally" with men." This kind of false equality does not serve women. </div>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“Here at home more money is poured into the military while
social services, education and health care are desperately underfunded and for
poor women and women of color we perpetuate the cycle that propels them to join
the military for reasons such as getting an education and job training”</blockquote>
This quote inspired some digging for visuals because I find numbers themselves to be a bit overwhelming. I love graphs and charts, and I find these particularly unsettling.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://pgpf.org/sites/default/files/sitecore/media%20library/PGPF/Chart-Archive/0053_defense-comparison-crop.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="324" src="http://pgpf.org/sites/default/files/sitecore/media%20library/PGPF/Chart-Archive/0053_defense-comparison-crop.gif" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://pgpf.org/Chart-Archive/0053_defense-comparison">http://pgpf.org/Chart-Archive/0053_defense-comparison</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
How can other countries even compete with this kind of spending? How are we even still feeling threatened at this point? Clearly this is less about our "defense" and more about our conquest.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.cbpp.org/images/cms/WhereOurTaxDollarsGo-f1_rev4-12-13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://www.cbpp.org/images/cms/WhereOurTaxDollarsGo-f1_rev4-12-13.jpg" width="326" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=1258">http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=1258</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The government budgets a mere 2% for education, but almost 20% for military? This is such a clear illustration of the priorities of the US government. It isn't a wonder why those who cannot afford an education to chase after the already thinning job market resort to joining the military. Overall, I am not surprised with the revelations of this article, though I am frustrated by it.<br />
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04230236675703073196noreply@blogger.com0Smithfield, RI 02917, USA41.9036825 -71.51304449999997841.9036825 -71.513044499999978 41.9036825 -71.513044499999978tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3879373620986385293.post-49180612409609137412014-01-03T16:08:00.000-05:002014-01-03T16:10:26.891-05:00GEND 356: Chang's "Streets of Gold"<div class="MsoNormal">
Curtis Chang’s “Streets of Gold: The Myth of the Model
Minority” centers discussion around the idea that Asian-Americans have not
achieved racial equality in the United States, despite what media “mythology”
would claim. <br />
<a name='more'></a>Chang argues firstly that “making
it” in America is not necessarily “achieving material wealth” and that
statistics claiming that the average Asian-American has achieved material
wealth equivalent to Whites is misleading (Chang 376). Chang states that although the “<a href="http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income/about/index.html" target="_blank">U.S. Census Survey of Income and Education data</a>” states that Asian-American family median
income “is $22,713 compared to $20,800” this statistic does not explain the
difference in the average household between Asian-Americans and Whites. Chang explains that “Asian-American families
generally have more children and live-in relatives” and “[average] more than
two family income earners (whites only have 1.6)” on top of “[living] disproportionately
in high cost of living areas which artificially inflate income figures” (367). <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Chang then goes into further detail with other facts such as
“Asians work in low income and low status jobs 2 to 3 times more than whites”
and juxtapositioning them against headlines like “The Triumph of the Asian
Americans” (367, 366). This use of
statistical shortcomings and media headlines put up against more detailed facts
that statistics (and the media) conveniently omit makes clear the illusion of
the “model minority” and it’s true purpose.
Chang compares this to the “teacher’s pet”—an individual (or in this
case, a group) held up “in order to communicate to the other ‘students,’ the
Blacks and Hispanics, ‘Why can’t you be like that?’” (370). <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
The main argument in this article is that Asian-Americans
are held up as this “teacher’s pet” figure, shifting the focus away from the
systematic racism and toward blaming the individual for not being “good enough”
or working “hard enough” to achieve equality.
The Institution would have the marginalized groups believe that they are
failing not because of racial inequality, but because they are not working hard
enough, or because they are lazy. The
truth of the matter is that institutionalized racism makes achieving true
equality impossible, and statistical census data creates the illusion of
equality and should not be taken for actual equality. <o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04230236675703073196noreply@blogger.com0Smithfield, RI 02917, USA41.9036825 -71.51304449999997841.8091385 -71.674405999999976 41.9982265 -71.35168299999998tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3879373620986385293.post-90397616713674909512013-03-07T12:51:00.000-05:002013-11-18T18:26:18.299-05:00GEND 354: Midterm!Here is a link to our midterm <a href="http://prezi.com/waumpbbcyxad/gend-354-midterm/" target="_blank">presentation</a>! Enjoy~<br />
<br />
And in case you wanted to see my thought process, here are my notes! :)<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
<b>TEENS ARE NOT SOME ALIEN LIFE FORM </b><br />
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"></span></span></span>Adults can go through stress and hormone
changes, this is not reserved for teens (evidence as social construction)</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>“The concept of the teenager rests in turn on
the idea of the adolescent as a <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">not
quite competent person</b>, beset by stress and hormones.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Hine 4)</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">“the
difficulty of adolescent development is exaggerated, as few teens are moodier
than adults, few are deliberately oppositional and few have an identity crisis
while still living at home” (Raby 432)</b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Teens”
are valid human beings with valid experiences</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Adolescence is not a “stage” separate from the
person experiencing it</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Perspective is key</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>The idea of “The Storm” <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">normalizes and diminishes</b> the importance of actual emotional
turmoil that comes along with existing in this world</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">“Youth
are perceived always in terms of what they are becoming, rather than what they
are being:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>they are potential, not yet
fully formed” (Raby 433)</b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>“So maybe people are like, just skeptical of you
all the time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They don’t really listen
to your opinion really, they don’t think that you know yet, and they don’t
think that you’ve experienced enough” (Raby 433)</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>“Teenage behavior can be dismissed as ‘a phase’
and ‘a temporary problem’” (Raby 434)</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">“Child
and teen desires, ideas, and experiences may be consequently dismissed as
irrational”</b> (Raby 434).</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>To be Othered is to be Marginalized</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>“Adolescence is discursively framed as a stage
that seems to require a degree of self-reflection, it is also marginalized (in
terms of voice and self-reflection) and often laced with current, popular
concern about adolescents as dangerous, ungoverned and in need of control”
(Raby 430)</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>“when adolescence is framed as a predictable
life stage, it also homogenizes a diverse and unequal group of people” (Raby
425)</div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>“Discourses of becoming negate diversity” (Raby
434)</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>“by characterizing adolescence as turbulent and
emotional stage, adulthood is framed as rational, calm, ‘evolved’ and
knowing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Adolescents become as an entire
social group that cannot effectively know themselves, whose legitimate
grievances may therefore be silenced, and who need protection from their own
instability.” (Raby 432-433)</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>“Adolescents are thus Othered, allowing them to
be generalized and dismissed in their collectivity” (Raby 434).</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04230236675703073196noreply@blogger.com0Providence, RI 02908, USA41.8380136 -71.43587330000002641.790694099999996 -71.516554300000024 41.8853331 -71.355192300000027tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3879373620986385293.post-53881915005132728972013-03-04T18:25:00.000-05:002014-04-27T19:06:03.763-04:00GEND 356: Jensen's Reading ClassesI am enjoying Jensen's book so far, especially the parts about language. When we were asked the first week of class to write about what we thought our class position was, I recall thinking of myself as more working class with some middle class values thrown in. I cited my parent's jobs, the 'culture' and 'art' that came from my paternal grandmother, and schooling. I never really thought about language as being a sort of class indicator, at least not in the way that Jensen has articulated.<br />
<br />
From page 54 to about page 59<br />
<a name='more'></a>Jensen talks about two interactions between different mother-child pairs and how these mothers deal with disciplining their children and how this relates to class. My mother was a stay-at-home mom who almost always had her nose in one parenting book or another. I remember that my brother and I were disciplined quite similarly to "Jacob." I remember my mother saying something like "alright, you can do that, but I don't think we'll be going to the playground later" or something along those lines. At least, this was how she spoke with us before my parents divorced when I was twelve (and my brother was eight). After the divorce (and as my mother entered the "working force") we were disciplined more along the lines of "Rashad." There was a sense of urgency and a "let's not waste any time fucking around" that we grew up with for the later half of our childhoods. <br />
<br />
Coincidentally, this was also the time when I was switched from my private, upper-class Christian schooling to a public schooling system in a working-to-middle-class neighborhood. No wonder why I became so shy--this was such a class-culture shock for me. I remember thinking, when I switched schools, about how much easier the curriculum was in the public school system--particularly in mathematics. While I was considered an average math student in my private school, I was placed into an upper-level group as soon as I was in High School (because they didn't have that in Jr. High).<br />
<br />
The most emphasis in my Christian schooling was on Religion, however. For example, you could earn five extra points on a test (math, science, English--didn't matter) for memorizing the Bible verse of the week. There was also a great deal of time devoted to a religious "class" that combined and maybe replaced some of the Social Studies and English. And more points for "Bible Drills" which were speed contests to see who could look up what verse of the Bible the quickest and stand and read it out loud. Compared to public schools there was also more of an emphasis on the arts--it was mandatory for everyone to participate in art and music class. I was immediately saddened by how "optional" art classes had become when I entered the public school system.<br />
<br />
It was also terrifying to me that there were huge cafeterias in the public schools. I was used to eating in whatever class I had at the time--everyone brought a lunch and once a week hot lunches could be brought to us (at additional cost). The private school I went to was also significantly smaller and there were one or two buses for the locals who went there--the majority carpooled. I don't remember having a library--if there was one, we never went there. <br />
<br />
I just took a peek at their website and holy cow! Their yearly tuition rates are just shy of $7,000 a year! That's like...college. Wow.<br />
<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.westbaychristianacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Picture_of_school.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="268" src="https://www.westbaychristianacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Picture_of_school.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
I want to say that I have more of a middle-class background, thrust into a working class situation. I don't know. Jensen's piece certainly brought all of these things to mind while I read.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04230236675703073196noreply@blogger.com0Smithfield, RI 02917, USA41.9036825 -71.51304449999997841.809139 -71.674405999999976 41.998226 -71.35168299999998tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3879373620986385293.post-28337572144993074322013-02-19T14:08:00.002-05:002013-02-21T15:08:56.831-05:00GEND 354: Reflecting on Hine's American TeenagerMaybe I was just really tired when I read this and the copy was wicked bad, but I did not like parts of this article.<br />
<br />
Generally, I just felt like there was a severe lack of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intersectionality" target="_blank">intersectionality</a> in this discussion.<br />
<br />
But I'll back up...<br />
<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a>There were some things that I agreed with that I thought were really interesting points.<br />
<br />
<i>"The absence of a significant economic role for young people has made them dependent on their families for longer periods than their ancestors often were" (7).</i><br />
<br />
I enjoyed reading about this discussion of the "youths" from the past and their role in society versus the role of the "teenager" in this society. I look back at my own "teenage" years and can totally relate to this economic dependency. I did not have a job--though my mother pressured me to find one. I didn't have a car and my mother worked full time so getting a job was near impossible. And nearly all jobs need previous experience, so it has been an endless cycle of being economically dependent on my parents. I was given no allowance so I was totally dependent on my parents for money. Which, as a working class family, was hard to come by. I couldn't do <i>anything </i>because everything required money, and my father made me feel extremely guilty for asking for anything. So I became accustomed to going without.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/403922_109274919192534_1932534991_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="275" src="https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/403922_109274919192534_1932534991_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me as a teen, hanging out in the mall and not buying anything.<br />
Look at that punk necklace! Hahaha!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
Now, I agree with the first part of this text, and what Hine does in pointing out these ideas that we have about youth (similar to Raby's article). But towards the end of the article it almost sounded as though Hine were agreeing with certain stereotypes. Maybe I just don't understand what Hine was trying to say, specifically when he brought up the whole situation with the girl who gave birth at prom and discarded her baby. He seemed to allow these teenage stereotypes stand without personally critiquing them, and when he offered a personal critique it was to condemn these actions as evil.<br />
<br />
Not to mention the fact that he failed to look at this issue intersectionally at all. Especially when he continued to say<i> "young people crave contact with their families. One of the most important incentives to teenage pregnancy [...] is that it is a way for the young woman to win individual attention she wouldn't ordinarily receive from family members"</i> <i>(25).</i> And not really say anything to the contrary. I have a huge problem with this. Mainly that I would challenge this point and ask about the specifics of this study that determined this "important incentive" such as did these "young women" <i>want </i>to get pregnant, or did they become pregnant due to lack of sex education--which is an extremely important thing to say.<br />
<br />
Also, I found this article very "white, middle class, heteronormative" oriented. And it seemed as though the focus was mainly on the "young women" population (specifically with the Teenage Mystique section). So I was a bit put-off by how "hey, by the way, I put my white-middle-class-heteronormative penis in this piece."<br />
<br />
Did anyone else feel like this? Or is it because I could barely read this copy of the text?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04230236675703073196noreply@blogger.com4Providence, RI 02908, USA41.8380136 -71.43587330000002641.790694099999996 -71.516554300000024 41.8853331 -71.355192300000027tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3879373620986385293.post-79396662489137311472013-02-15T00:15:00.001-05:002014-01-03T17:00:50.153-05:00On the Menu: An Extended Rant on Pet Food<br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Disclaimer(s): It is not my intention to imply that one does not love their pet if they do not feed them a certain kind of food. I am self-educated, and I am therefore not a "professional pet nutritionist." While I have spent months researching and cross-checking sources and reading <span style="font-size: xx-small;">pet food ingredients and so<span style="font-size: xx-small;"> on, this does not make me qualified to <span style="font-size: xx-small;">give any <span style="font-size: xx-small;">kind of professional <span style="font-size: xx-small;">advise. #you can't fight city hall</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
I think I'm going to ramble for a little while today.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br /><br />
I want to talk about pet food for a little bit, so excuse me while I get up on my soap-box. If you have an extremely weak stomach, maybe you shouldn't read this.<br />
<br />
I feed my cat raw meat. As in, not cooked, not processed, whole raw meat. She has been eating this way since she was eight weeks old. I make a big online order once every three-to-four months for frozen mice, chicks, quail, rabbit, guinea pig, and rats. Small animals that a cat of her stature could reasonably hunt in the wild. In addition to this I buy chicken gizzards and liver when it is on sale, give her an egg one to two times a week, and spoil her with grass-fed pork, venison, or beef once in a great while. I have a (small) second freezer specifically for her food. She knows the sound of it opening like other cats know the sound of a can opening.<br />
<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lcXcHDW--jQ/UR2udcloVXI/AAAAAAAAAH0/XWAT6JBQY_o/s1600/zelda+10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lcXcHDW--jQ/UR2udcloVXI/AAAAAAAAAH0/XWAT6JBQY_o/s1600/zelda+10.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Her coat is beautiful. Silky soft, clean, nearly odorless. Her teeth are as white as they were when she was a kitten--hardly a speck of tartar. When she meows in her face her mouth smells like a mouth, not like a rotting dead carcass and gum deterioration. The litter box smells even cleaner--I almost forget that it exists. She is lean and fit with no flab to speak of, alternating between energetically playful to peaceful after-mealtime-snuggles. <br />
<br />
I have grown to adore the sound of her crunching into her breakfast and dinner, thinking fondly of how tiger-like this is and how right it feels, how different to the sound of munching and gulping of dry meat-cereal.<br />
<br />
My father lives upstairs. He has three cats. They share three large bowls of meat-cereal buffet--open 24/7. It takes me twenty minutes to adjust to the smell of recently-cleaned kibble-cat litter box. After these cats finish their business in the box, they come rocketing out as though they could outrun the smell coming from their own bodies. I do not enjoy these cats. I can smell their breath without holding them. Two of them (Pandora and Rhianna) are only a few years older than Zelda--the third cat (Dublin) is almost 13. <br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GlFrQy96t14/UR2uE96Y1JI/AAAAAAAAAHk/-atvzI4RFNg/s1600/doublin.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="125" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GlFrQy96t14/UR2uE96Y1JI/AAAAAAAAAHk/-atvzI4RFNg/s1600/doublin.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dublin - 13 yrs</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-L4FIr9s2iAA/UR2uFXxA7pI/AAAAAAAAAHo/MbYWUfLPGf4/s1600/pandora.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-L4FIr9s2iAA/UR2uFXxA7pI/AAAAAAAAAHo/MbYWUfLPGf4/s1600/pandora.JPG" width="163" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pandora</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dT00GB7esiM/UR2wom6WHcI/AAAAAAAAAIE/zRKgJGhnwIE/s1600/not+rhi.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dT00GB7esiM/UR2wom6WHcI/AAAAAAAAAIE/zRKgJGhnwIE/s1600/not+rhi.JPG" width="153" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not Rhianna, but close enough</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />
<br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Dublin and Pandora have long fur like Zelda, but I cannot recall a time where those two did <i>not </i>have painful mats and clumps of tangled fur. I do not have to brush my cat, her fur stays naturally neat (raw egg once a week will do that). Rhianna's fur has a dry and wiry texture, reminiscent of the crumbly food that they all ingest constantly throughout the day. They eat so much and puke and go back for more. And I won't even begin to talk about the hairballs.<br />
<br />
Their breath overpowers the smell of their fur, generally. But there is a kind of "rancid meat-flavored oil" quality about it.<br />
<br />
These differences alone are enough to convince me that I am onto something (setting aside a giant online<a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/261761471359/" target="_blank"> community</a> of pet owners who do the same).<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Let me back up, though.<br />
<br />
Cats and dogs (and ferrets) are carnivores. The most obvious proof lies in their teeth. When I worked at Petco (before I adopted Zelda) they trained us for exactly one hour in "pet nutrition" (aside: would YOU trust someone with only ONE hour of training to tell you what your pet should be eating?). This consisted mainly of the differences between benefits, features, and advantages; how this relates to pet food and how we can sell it better. We had representatives from pet food companies come in to do "demonstrations" as part of our staff training. I'll give you an (extremely laughable) example.<br />
<br />
I came in for a meeting early and was sitting in the break room when this representative comes in with an armful of potato chips. We exchange greetings as she begins to open four different kinds of potato chips and pours them into large bowls.<br />
<br />
"Do you know why I am here?" They ask me, setting up what I thought was a party all over the only table in the break room. They are now pouring M&Ms into a smaller bowl.<br />
<br />
I am sitting at the computer desk about to log in to do my (internet) training.<br />
<br />
"No." I laugh offhandedly, "What's with all the chips?"<br />
<br />
"Well, since you're the only one here so far I'll just tell you first." This person then explains to me what company they are from, what their mission statement is, yadda yadda.<br />
<br />
"Now, what do you think all of these chips represent?" The breathlessly-enthusiastic representitive gestures over to the bowls of Sour Cream & Onion, BBQ, Ruffel, and Plain potato chips. I hesitate.<br />
<br />
"Junk food?"<br />
<br />
We share a laugh. It is clear that I haven't gotten the point.<br />
<br />
Well, the pet food company's point anyway. But I think I was onto something there.<br />
<br />
The answer was "variety." All of the chips represented the variety of dry food available. But it all boiled down to chips. This person then proceeded to ask me<br />
<br />
"Now when you go on a picnic and you're eating your hamburgers and potato salad, why doesn't your dog get a nice treat?" The representative pushes the bowl of M&Ms to me to take and eat, which I politely decline because I have a piece of gum.<br />
<br />
The representative was trying to demonstrate a new line of refrigerated wet food for dogs. But they were using Junk Food as the basis for their demonstration without even realizing that they were giving away the biggest scam in the pet food industry!<br />
<br />
Let me talk about the pet food industry for a little bit.<br />
<br />
The top ten pet food <a href="http://www.petfoodindustry.com/2012topcompanies.html" target="_blank">companies</a> may sound familiar to you. These are the few that I recognize.<br />
1) Mars Inc.<br />
2) Nestle SA<br />
3) Colgate-Palmolive Co.<br />
4) Procter & Gamble Co.<br />
5) Del Monte Foodsm Co.<br />
<br />
<br />
Most of these companies also manufacture food for human consumption. Most of them probably started out exclusively doing just that. But as stricter health and safety codes came along, dictating that more control be exerted over what goes into human food, more was "left over" that could not go in. In this profit-driven society, this is a problem.<br />
<br />
So the most convenient way to deal with this problem would be to put all of the leftover crap into pet food.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately, waste deemed inappropriate for human consumption--such as animals who have died due to disease or anything besides slaughtering--is processed into those tiny nasty doom kibble bits. But there are regulations for pet food too, you say?<a href="http://truthaboutpetfood2.com/disturbing-and-illegal-fda-compliance-policies" target="_blank"> Right</a>. <br />
<br />
Now, I know that the meat industry (food industry in general) is fucked. That big food companies raising, slaughtering, packaging, and shipping meat do a piss-poor job at keeping things neat and stomachable (is that even a word).<br />
<br />
But I'm not <i>just </i>eating meat. I get my nutrition from a wide variety of things. My cat can only get her nutrition from what I feed her, and if I can't control what is going into her food then why am I even bothering feeding her? I might as well let her eat out of my trashcan.<br />
<br />
The pet food industry likes to pretend that if you buy the higher-end kibble your pets will be healthier. No. See, pet food industries don't care about your animals. They care about their money. They keep getting away with putting chicken skin and bones into food and labeling it as "chicken" when there isn't any actual meat. Not to mention trying to convince the general public that vegetables are species-appropriate for canines. Just. <a href="http://feline-nutrition.org/health/species-inappropriate-the-dangers-of-dry-food" target="_blank">No</a>.<br />
<br />
What makes up most of dry pet food? Corn. Its cheap and we grow so much of it.<br />
Cats (and dogs) can't digest corn. (Cats also tend to be allergic to corn.) Carnivores have systems designed specifically for consuming meat, why the hell are we feeding them corn? Cats specifically have extremely short highly-acidic digestive tracts specifically for breaking down meat. There is no part of their system designed to break down anything else. Everything that isn't meat passes through the system much like waste that we don't need passes through us: huge terrifying poop.<br />
<br />
No wonder my dad's litter box stinks to high heaven.<br />
<br />
The pet food industry likes to say that dry food is better for your pet's teeth. Truthfully, the kibble is much too brittle to do any scrubbing of tartar at all. It's only <i>slightly </i>better then wet food (god only knows what is in there). Have you ever tried cleaning your teeth with a cracker?<br />
<br />
Cats gulp that nasty doom kibble up like it's going out of style. Problem: it takes about 10 minutes for those digestive acid-juices to build up (via chewing action) to even begin to digest. This is great for me because that's roughly how long it takes for Zelda to crunch the bones in her mouse down to comfortably swallow it (or rip then swallow) whole. (Again, look at their teeth). All that built-up acid is perfect for killing off any bacteria that you could possibly be concerned about (no sick kitty for me). Not that the sterile interior of a mouse carcass has enough surface area exposed to contamination (the air) for me to worry about. Which leads me to pet food <a href="http://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/SafetyHealth/RecallsWithdrawals/default.htm" target="_blank">recalls</a> due to illness. <br />
<br />
Pet food is ground up. Pulverized until unrecognizable. This multiplies the surface area astronomically. Surface area = exposed area. Ever notice how ground beef goes bad faster than a hunk of steak? Surface area. After whatever garbage goes into pet food (dead zoo animals, undesirable parts, diseased farm animals, etc) has been ground into oblivion, they have to bleach the shit out of it to kill whatever is in there (hopefully anyway). Of course, this makes it taste like...nothing. So they have to add flavoring--oils--to the pet food. What happens to oil when it's left out at room temperature (or, in this case, exposed to high/unregulated temperatures on an 18-wheeler during shipment from AZ to somewhere in New England)? It goes rancid. Which leaves ample room for bacteria to grow, even before you purchase it.<br />
<br />
Animals gulping down kibble without enough time for the acid to build up means an increase risk of illness. And that shit goes rancid FAST. You can smell the difference between "just purchased" and "halfway through the bag."<br />
<br />
Salmonella. Seriously.<br />
<br />
Which seems kind of counter-intuitive, right? I grew up frantically washing counter-tops after preparing chicken to cook and scrubbing my hands raw. Now I let her eat on the floor, a quick squirt of natural all-purpose spray wiped with a paper towel after she's done. I haven't gotten sick once and I've fed her hundreds of times by now. I don't go crazy, I wear gloves while prepping her food and cleaning up small spots of blood she may have missed, but I don't bleach the floor (which would be bad because she eats off of it).<br />
<br />
Really, there's more germs on the bottom of your shoes that you walk around with every day<br />
<br />
Another thing that is added to cat food specifically is Taurine. Cats need Taurine because they do not naturally produce it in their bodies. Taurine begins to break down when exposed to air. So ground-to-bits-and-boiled-for-ages-crapple needs added Taurine that would be found naturally in--you guessed it--raw meat. And it wouldn't surprise me if the majority of the "taurine" they use is synthetically manufactured. <br />
<br />
My point is, why would you try to re-create a diet for a cat if what they naturally eat is perfect? I laugh so much now that pet food companies are putting out commercials talking about how their pet food now contains "more meat" because dogs/cats are carnivores. Well, its about time you guys admit the carnivore bit, but "more meat" and "still giving veggies and shit" isn't going to cut it.<br />
<br />
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<a href="http://ts3.mm.bing.net/th?id=H.4975677537912026&pid=1.7" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://ts3.mm.bing.net/th?id=H.4975677537912026&pid=1.7" /></a></div>
But seriously.<br />
<br />
These big companies make enough money where they can buy the vets too. My vet freaked out when I accidentally told them what I was feeding my cat and they recommended I feed Science Diet (recalls, holy crap). Point is, they make commission if you buy pet food from them (at the office). In reality, vets are not nutritional specialists. They only have two to three days of "nutrition" training during their study, an "education" coming from the big pet food companies themselves.<br />
<br />
I'm going to cut out the middle man and, ya know, just feed my cat what she's naturally designed to eat.<br />
<br />
Would you feed a snake some dried out pellets?<br />
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That's my point.<br />
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In the meantime, I can quickly pluck a bird and skin a rabbit. # survival skills 101Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04230236675703073196noreply@blogger.com0Smithfield, RI 02917, USA41.9036825 -71.51304449999997841.809139 -71.674405999999976 41.998226 -71.35168299999998tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3879373620986385293.post-36982998406081900932013-02-10T20:19:00.000-05:002013-02-15T00:19:44.030-05:00GEND 354: Raby's Tangle of Discourses<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/GKkiCFOE-Ic?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
MARILYN MANSON: DISPOSABLE TEENS <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
And I'm a black rainbow and I'm an ape of God<br />
I got a face that's made for violence upon<br />
And I'm a <b>teen distortion</b>, survived abortion<br />
A rebel from the waist down<br />
<br />
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah<br />
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah<br />
<br />
I wanna thank you, mom, I wanna thank you, dad<br />
For bringin' this fuckin' world to a bitter end<br />
I never really hated a one true God<br />
But the God of the people I hated<br />
<br />
You say you want an evolution<br />
The ape was a great big hit<br />
You say you want a revolution, man<br />
And I say that you're full of shit<br />
<br />
We're disposable teens<br />
We're disposable teens<br />
We're disposable teens<br />
We're disposable<br />
<br />
We're disposable teens<br />
We're disposable teens<br />
We're disposable teens<br />
We're disposable<br />
<br />
You say you want an evolution<br />
The ape was a great big hit<br />
You say you want a revolution, man<br />
And I say that you're full of shit (Yeah, yeah, yeah)<br />
<br />
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah<br />
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah<br />
<br />
<b>The more that you fear us, the bigger we get<br />The more that you fear us, the bigger we get<br />And don't be surprised, don't be surprised<br />Don't be surprised when we discover it</b><br />
<br />
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah<br />
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah<br />
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah<br />
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah<br />
<br />
You say you want an evolution<br />
The ape was a great big hit<br />
You say you want a revolution, man<br />
And I say that you're full of shit (Yeah, yeah, yeah)<br />
<br />
You say you want an evolution<br />
The ape was a great big hit<br />
You say you want a revolution, man<br />
And I say that you're full of shit (Yeah, yeah, yeah)<br />
<br />
We're disposable teens<br />
We're disposable teens<br />
We're disposable teens<br />
We're disposable<br />
<br />
We're disposable teens<br />
We're disposable teens<br />
We're disposable teens<br />
We're disposable</blockquote>
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<a name='more'></a><br />
This was the song that came to mind while I was reading Raby's piece on "Girls Negotiating Adolescence." The discourse surrounding adolescence (teens) make up "certain key traits" that are "applied to all teenagers" thus making them seem as though one teenager is no different from another (430). This song's title "Disposable Teens" almost conveys this idea--all teenagers are the same, so they are all disposable. Which also brings to mind Raby's point about teenagers being "courted as a high-consumer group"--they are only a source of profit and must be manipulated into the perfect consumer (437). <br />
<br />
Raby also explains that teenagers are often generally thought of as "dangerous, ungoverned and in need of control" (430). Which made me think of "I got a face that's made for violence upon" in Manson's song. Teenagers are often thought to be violent with dark expressions that are to be feared, a "social problem." When I was a "teenager" I had become very interested in Marilyn Manson and I identified (in a way) with some of his music. There was something appealing about the "grungy clothes, their nose rings, their tattoos" to me (436). I wonder now if trying to become this particular kind of person was my own way of taking back control from my mother who kept me under heavy surveillance, that if she was going to be looking for the trouble maker in me, I should really give her something to see.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/378813_109274569192569_1230722962_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/378813_109274569192569_1230722962_n.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Look at what a satanic little girl I was.<br />
Pretending to be a rock-star. <br />
What nonsense.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Similar to the "one respondent" in Raby's study who "said that she gained pleasure from being seen as a 'bad' teen," I (in some small ways) embraced this stereotype (441). I remember being frustrated that my mother assumed that I was bad, and treated me as though I were a terrible person, before finding any sort of evidence to justify that opinion she held of me. She was worried that I would get into things that had never even crossed my mind. I remember her explicitly forbidding me to listen to Marilyn Manson (because she thought it was "<a href="http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/Evils%20in%20America/marilyn_manson-the_truth.htm" target="_blank">Satanic</a>"*) and I specifically went against her wishes. Even though she always feared that I would do drugs or drink or party, I never attempted that.<br />
<br />
I was a shy rebel.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/383082_109269345859758_1455718018_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="221" src="https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/383082_109269345859758_1455718018_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">MAKING THE SAME FACE YEARS LATER<br />
#face of rebellion</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: yellow;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(* Note on the link: I'm not supporting any of the claims that this person is making. I can't get through this webpage without laughing so hard)</span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04230236675703073196noreply@blogger.com6Smithfield, RI 02917, USA41.9036825 -71.51304449999997841.809139 -71.674405999999976 41.998226 -71.35168299999998tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3879373620986385293.post-31997720346746882572013-02-09T20:41:00.000-05:002013-02-15T00:20:14.062-05:00GEND 356: Mantsios' Media MagicGregory Mantsios' piece "Media Magic" reminded me very much of Kozol (Amazing Grace) and Chang (Model Minority). Mantsios' main argument in this piece is that the media controls and shapes how we think about ourselves in relation to the class structure in the United States. He states that "the mass media is arguable the most influential in molding public consciousness" (Mantsios 99). Then he goes on to describe the media's "stories" about the poor: "The Poor Do Not Exist", "The Poor Are Faceless", "The Poor Are Undeserving", "The Poor Are an Eyesore", "The Poor Have Only Themselves to Blame", and "The Poor Are Down on Their Luck" that make up the way we feel about the poor today (Mantsios 100-102).<br />
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These subheadings in Mantsios' article reminds me of Kozol who sought to disprove that "The Poor Have Only Themselves to Blame." He achieved this by showing how the poor/lower class were forced into these conditions that they cannot escape. One of the people that Kozol interviews says<br />
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"I believe that what the rich have done to the poor people in this city is something that a preacher could call evil. Somebody has power. Pretending that they don't so they don't need to use it to help people--that is my idea of evil" (Kozol 23).</blockquote>
Mantsios talks about how "ownership and control of the mass media is highly concentrated" and "twenty-three corporations own more than one-half of all the daily newspapers, magazines, movie studios, and radio and television outlets in the United States" (Mantsios 99). These are the rich that have the power and do not care about the poor. The media and those who own it are "single-minded (profit-oriented)" and have the power to make the population believe whatever they want us to believe (Mantsios 99).<br />
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This also reminded me of Chang's piece Streets of gold: The Myth of the Model Minority. In this piece Chang describes the misconceptions about the Asian American population and their class status. This picture of the "model minority" that the media portrays "distorts Asian-Americans' true status and ignores [their] racial handicaps" (Chang 366). This picture that the media paints of these minorities is designed to keep everyone else content and in line and in their place. Like Mantsios discusses in his piece, the media is designed to control the public opinion about things like class, race, gender, and sexuality. It is designed to keep the elite on top and unquestioned.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04230236675703073196noreply@blogger.com1Smithfield, RI 02917, USA41.9036825 -71.51304449999997841.809139 -71.674405999999976 41.998226 -71.35168299999998