Question O

"The greatest barrier to change is that dominant groups, as we've discussed, don't see the trouble as their trouble, which means they don't feel obliged to do something about it" (Johnson 127). I am white, male, working-middle class. I am a part of the dominant group and I need to acknowledge that privilege and oppression exist. I have been invisible to it most of my life; no more. I fall into the category of someone who has fueled heterosexism with cruel and mean jokes in the locker room and in social situations; no more. Even though I have many friends of race and do not considered myself a racist, I have still made racial remarks that fuel racial oppression within our social systems in this country; no more. I have sat back for most of the 23 years I have been alive and thought as long as I just stay out of the way and not interfere then I'm not hurting anyone; no more. Whether I like it or not, my participation in our social systems affects oppression, and I'm going to take responsibility as someone who is a part of the dominant group and start where I can to make a change.

Johnson said that changing how we think as individuals is one of the first steps in solving the problem of privilege. However, it will take a collective effort of people applying our understandings to changing the systems themselves. The key for everyone is to connect our choices to the systems we participate in. Things like not laughing at a racist or gay joke, asking officials questions about positions concerning gender or race, or promoting equality for all people in an environment are things we can do to challenge the norm. "When you openly change how you participate in a system, you do more than change your own behavior; you also change how the system happens" (Johnson 143).

 We all have daily choices that are connected to the systems of privilege and oppression. Making small changes in our own lives is where we can start to make a change in the world. We most likely won't be alive to see the results to their fullest, but that's not why we should be working to make a change. We should do it because it's the right thing to do for our present and future humanity.
"Gandhi once said that nothing we do as individuals matters but that it's vitally important to do it anyways"(Johnson 132).

Question N

I believe an activist as any person who fights for a cause that they strongly believe in, in a peaceful yet powerfully passionate way. They stand up for a cause that they believe down to their very core will better themselves, as well as their society and all of humanity. I believe a strong character point about being an activist is someone who rallies their cause without violence. That is why Martin Luther King Jr. is so beloved because no matter what, violence was never apart of his curriculum in his protest for civil rights. In the video The 12 Keys of Spiritual Activism a major quality they promoted was compassion and I agree completely. Their first core step was all action must be based on compassion. "Spiritual activism is action for the benefit of something, not against something". There's a difference from fighting against something, such as hatred towards gays and lesbians, than standing up and fighting for something, such as equal rights and benefits for gays and lesbians. An activist that I really admire was former President Lyndon B. Johnson. It was John F. Kennedy who in the early 60's was extremely influential with civil rights in America for all people. However, when he was assassinated in 1963 many of his movements that he was fighting for, like African-American civil rights with MLK, were carried on and finalized by his vice president Lyndon Johnson. He used his power and influence in Congress to bring about much of Kennedy's legislative agenda, and it was Johnson who continued to work with MLK and got the Civil Rights Act of 1964 passed and signed.

Question M

I believe the root cause of ageism can be linked to our new advances in technology and science, and how they've been used to change our media world and societies. Our world is moving at such a faster pace then we were 50 to even 15 years ago and older people get stereotyped with this symbol of 'slow' or the 'past'. Our society can have a prejudicial attitude towards old people that is completely unwarranted and incorrect at times. I'll admit that there are times when I have been upset driving behind an old person or waiting in line behind an old person and had thoughts why can't this old person just get out of my way. However, I do not consider myself an ageist because I talk with my grandparents on a weekly basis and love to see them whenever I can. I also have helped out at senior citizens homes and talking with older people can truly be fascinating. They've seen, heard, and learned so much in their times and I've always believed that wisdom and experience are our best teachers.

Seeing older people in my community and the discrimination towards them at times can be frustrating because they are being out casted in ways that truly are discrimination. The video Too Old to Work has the common excuses that are given to old people now when they are being let go or are trying to become employed. 'Overqualified', 'too experienced', 'you'll be bored', etc. are some of the reasons that the people in the video explained as reasons they were not hired. I have heard them many times before from older people at the senior citizens homes and from my grandfather when he was let go of his job. It's really ridiculous because its the companies way of saving money because they can pay an entry level job less money then a person who is qualified. So don't get mad at your grocery store baggier person if they're older and going slow because most likely they're there because that's the only job that they can get with the way our society is discriminating them. It was great to see the video Once we were young and know there are groups like Age Concern out there. I had never heard of them but I think they're doing a great thing helping older people who really need the help. Growing old isn't easy; its accompanied by lost loved ones and change in so many ways that I have yet to imagine. Older people deserve help and the very least our respect.

Question L

The question of how does dance expand the notions of the human body is an interesting one. I feel the video Gimp was pretty amazing, It shows that being disabled is a question of perspective. Dancing allows the freedom to portray feelings, express emotions and overcome boundaries created by society. The limitations society places on disabled people are many. However, the "Gimp" project proves that through dance the disabled can become whole. The comedian Josh Blue, fights discrimination through laughter. This form of enlightenment is another way creative way to fight ableism. The Women Institute on Leadership and Development was inspiring. These women fight to break down barriers across the world. This movement shows that ableism is a world wide problem, and global movements will only increase the efforts to fight ableism. Projects like these can lead to further education of abled people and fight discrimination.
        Ableism is definitely one of the least obvious "isms". Because it's hard to define what is normal. Society has many different views on the disabled. As Wendell points out, "Pace is a major aspect of expectations of performance: non-disabled people often take pace for granted." The fact that disabled people may take to long going up the stairs or at the grocery store, leads non-disabled people to become frustrated with this pace. Our culture is constantly moving and society can feel that the disabled are holding them back. Why can't they be "normal" and move along? Our world is designed for the healthy, not only in body, but in mind. This "ism" is new to me, but just goes to show, culturally we are not aware of how many disabilities people can face, and that we are often blind to them.

Question K

Beautiful Daughters pretty much showed me a world that I knew nothing about and it was very interesting and moving to hear their stories. I don't know any transgender people and having never had to deal with it firsthand it is not something I give much thought to. I was when in high school when I first even heard about transgender and it was shocking to me. I really didn't even know that their were other sexes besides males and females. I have to admit I when I was young I perceived it as very weird that there could be transgender people but I was very immature.

There were a couple things that really stood out to me from the video Beautiful Daughters and the article "Trans Women Manifesto". The first was the definition of transgender that Julia Serano gives that a trans woman is defined as any person who was assigned a male sex at birth, but who identifies as and/or lives as a woman. It was hard for me to get that but when I watched the video when the women were having their meetings, the woman who was doing the research for the group said she never understood how these women didn't understand men because at one point they were a man. Then she said that she finally understood that they didn't know because they never thought of themselves as a man they always saw and thought of themselves as a woman. That really made sense to me and kinda shook me that these women saw themselves as being trapped in a man's body. It really made me appreciate the courage and fortitude of these women who have gone through so much to become who they see themselves as, and then go out into the world and try to live their lives and become accepted for who they are.

The word cisgender is a little strange to me but what I gather from the reading is that cisgender is someone who is comfortable with the assigned gender that they were given at birth. I didn't realize that makes me a cisgender but I guess for us to help transphobia is to just be accepting of people. Be kind and understanding to the delicate and fragile soul of everyone. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion of how they wish to treat people, but I think we all can be respectful of people as their own individuals.

Racism Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgBmZnyoeME

Process Piece

I'm glad that I got an opportunity to talk about racism and more specifically racism towards the Islamic and Muslim people. 9/11 happened when I was a freshmen in high school and has played such an enormous role in my life. Over the past decade I have grown up listening and watching our country as we have invaded Iraq and declared a "war on terrorism". I have always felt that was a BS way of naming an invansion of another country. If we are declaring a "war on terrorism" what about all of the domestic terrorism that we deal with in the US? What about all of the white males in the US who commit deadly crimes daily? One act from the Muslim people and all of sudden we declare war on them? The stigma, as Tim Wise said in his lecture, sticks to no white person in this country. Privilege blinds us and fuels racism in this country.

Working on this powerpoint was not difficult for me because I have used powerpoint before. Trying to import it into a movie was very difficult. However, I am glad I had the opportunity to make a movie discussing racism and voice my opinions and get some facts in there as well.

Resources Used:
www.wikipedia.org
www.fbi.gov

Question J

The documentary Freeheld Free, portrays the life of Laurel Hester and her fight to pass her benefits on to her domestic partner. It appears the county had the right to allow this to happen, but refused. Cases of prejudice like these occur all across the country. When one case happens it is another step backwards for civil rights. We as a country need to recognize that freedom and civil rights are not based on gender, race, or religion. If courts continue to be blinded by their own biases we will not grow as a nation. Humanity is better of because of people like Laurel and her partner Stacy. The six counties in New Jersey believed in her cause and recognized that benefits should be allowed to be left to domestic partners.

     In reality most of heterosexism comes from fear. The belief that gay marriage is different or threatens the sanctity of marriage is pure discrimination. When politics becomes involved in governing who we can love and what marriage is, we not only turn away from the beliefs that America is the land of free, but we step on the ground paved by Rosa Parks, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Susan B. Anthony.

     It is people like Laurel Hester who lived to see her benefits passed on to Stacy, but did not live to see the Supreme Court on New Jersey rule that all homosexual couples will have the same rights have heterosexual couples, that we need to thank. Our country needs to continue to fight against the fear of homosexuals in order for us to protect the civil rights of all minorities.

Tough Guise

The documentary Tough Guise portrays the plight of men’s struggle to live up to societies expectations of a real man.  From birth boys are given “real man” things, from a Patriots mini football jersey, a ninja turtle doll, superman pj’s, which then leads a Star Wars laser gun. I could really relate to the scene of tough guys guns growing, from Bogart’s pistol to Schwarzenegger’s weapons of mass distruction. As the films leading men grew, so did the expectations of men to live up to them.

As a child I lived in this culture. Joining baseball, soccer and football.  These sports teach violence through the guise of winning. I grew up watching violent tv shows and movies that showed me what it was like to be a man. Today’s youth faces the same struggles. The entertainment world is creating a greater expectation for males with each block buster tough guy movie. Children see the movies, buy the video games, posters, action figures, and strive to live up to the image of toughness.

The documentary explains how boys from the hood, are only living out the expectations of their surroundings shown through the media. Which in turn led to m white males mimicking them.  When you talk tough, wear the right clothes, carry and knife or gun, you become a man. You are powerful. 

Another key point brought out is the fact that the movies, talk shows, and commercials give men the view that it’s okay to hurt women as long as they're staying true to their tough guy image. They are below them, and in turn the numbers of rape continue to rise.

Disturbing thing flashed on the screen as I was watching the Tough Guise documentary; a advertisement for a new EA sports video game called Losing Everything. It's actually a boxing video game where you play someone in jail and have to fight your way out of it. The trailer made me sick that this is what they are advertising to our youth. Fight, be in jail, that is cool. We wonder why theres so much violence and abuse in our society.

Question H

The documentary Divided We Fall: America in the Aftermath portrays life in America after 9/11.  In true documentary form it show the treatment of people from India in America in reaction to the 9/11 attacks. The wearing of turbans is a religious symbol, but now “turban equals terrorist”. Many Americans feel they need to change others to fit their belief of what is the correct religion. Since most are ignorant to unknown religions, they feel it is wrong or dangerous.

            The Sikhs have many traditions that are strange to Americans. Valarie Kaur’s search for understanding examines the hidden world of hate brought upon by misunderstandings.

            The traditional view of America the Free, tolerant, and full of constitutional rights was no longer visible after 9/11.  The New Hampshire view I was raised on “Live Free or Die”, was erased. People were no longer ignoring or accepting religious differences they were becoming blind to what is real and what is perceived as a threat. Tolerance became a thing of the past.  It was disturbing to watch the interviews of the treatment to anyone wearing a turban. Young or old, no one was spared. Where was the land of the free? The home of the brave?  If you resembled the terrorist in anyway, you were targeted. Hate crimes were reported daily. How sad it must have been to be afraid to leave your house for fear of retaliation by ignorant people.

            What was most amazing was listening to the victims of these hate crimes. Most were still peaceful and understanding, allowing Americans time to heal and not pressing charges.

Since I was only 13 at the time, I wonder would I have felt the same if I came upon a person wearing a turban? Would my beliefs of treating others fairly have changed?

video treatment

Video Treatment

The “-ism”:

The -ism I will examine is racism. I plan to show how the media influences peoples thoughts of racism and stereotypes. 

Story: Before 9/11, my knowledge of Muslims was little to none and my fear non-existent. Since the attacks on the World Trade Center Buildings on Sept. 11, 2001, I have been taught to not only live in total suspicion, but have a keen sense of fear for the otherwise peaceful Muslims. It is because of the power of the dominant group (white males) who use the media to mislead us in to believing the stereotype that all Muslims are dangerous to our country. When in fact there has been more terrorism done in this country by white males in the past 25 years, than Muslims have ever done.

Software: Using power point I will show images of villains created by the media verses who we should actually fear, the white males. I will include statistics of white male terrorism, and show media reactions to these crimes. 

Research: I will do research extending from the point Tim Wise brought up in his lecture,  Using the Video the Pathology of Privilege: Racism, White Denial and the Cost of Inequality, on the treatment of Islamic people in America. I will research terrorist crimes by white males and Muslims in the past 25 years. I will examine how the media treated these incidents.  I would like my video to show clear examples of racism through our fear of Islamic people since 9/11. 

Time Line: 

Wed: Create sketch of power point outline

Thurs: Research media clips from terrorist acts and reactions to them

Fri: Create power point rough draft

Sat/ Sun: add pictures and music, post to blog or youtube.

Take Away Message: I want people to understand that the stereotypes that the  media portrays of whom is evil and who is good is an extension of the racial profiling committed by the dominant groups who are blinded by their white privilege.

Question G

I first become aware of my class when I was around 8 years old while visiting my grandfather on my mother's side in Florida. We were out to dinner and most every time I had been out to dinner with my parents since I was little my sisters and I had been given a budget of how much we could spend on our food. This never really affected me in a negative way because I always listened to my parents and it was just something that was understood when we went out to eat. However, my grandfather is actually very wealthy so we did not have a budget on our meal because he was paying for it all. I was confused later of why he couldn't just pay for all of our meals and my dad had to explain to me the family differences on my mother's side. Not to go into too much detail about that but I realized then that my family and I were apart of a different class even from my grandfather.

It's interesting to think about now because class is something that we have to deal with every day and probably something that most of us don't think about consciously even though we are confronted with it on a daily basis. From the clothes we wear, to the cars we drive or buses we take, to the food we eat all says something about the class that we belong to.

Question F

Blue vs. Brown 

The Eye of the Storm

Conducting this experiment in 2011 would be highly unethical. However, in 1970 the world was a different place. Children were raised differently. This experiment was not only effective in raising children’s awareness of racism, but it helped them to become aware of hierarchy. Students were able to achieve a feeling of power that they might not have had before. Whether it was right or wrong, it did teach a lesson.  The addition of having the “lower race” wear a collar so they will be easily distinguished from others, added another stigmatism to the children. The suggestion from a child to use a ruler to keep the brown eyed children in line, shows that they were making assumptions that the brown eyed children would become out of hand due to their level in society. The blue eyed children were able to for see the need for discipline based on their prior knowledge of how blacks in their society were treated. Also, many blacks were marching and protesting, in non-violent and violent ways against whites during this time.

Do they ends justify the means? Watching some of the children's faces during this experiment was very difficult. Many were about to cry, while others seemed to glow with power. But, after watching the follow up interviews from the adults I was pleasantly surprised to hear their insights and reactions to how they grew from their experience. As adults they were now using their experiences to raise their own children with their eyes open to all different colors.

Question E

Reading chapter 8, Getting Off the Hook: Denial and Resistance, honestly got my blood flowing and watching the powerful lecture The Pathology of Privilege by Tim Wise made me even angrier. Honestly am baffled by I feel like the amount of truth that I was just slapped in the face with it. The blame game, I'm one of the good ones, mislabeling, denial, assumptions, and plain ignorance (the sick and tired section), all strategies that the dominant groups for generations have been using to minimize the oppressed and further the cycle of oppression in our country. The sick and tired section really pissed me off because what kind of nerve do these dominant groups have to say their sick and tired of hearing about race? Tim Wise stated correctly that we the privileged created "race" almost four hundred years ago. When Johnson persisted these people more you come to find out that in reality them hearing about it all the time comes down to "enough to make me look at what I don't want to look at, enough to make me feel uncomfortable." Unbelievable really.

Whether it involve race, the disabled, or gender the dominant group seems to love the strategy of putting the blame right back on the oppressed.  Simply minimizing the blame on themselves and directing the guilt right back onto the victims while the privileged remain invisible. Saying that they are one of the good ones, a strategy admittedly I feel I have used before, is simply saying that if I do nothing and am nice to everyone I'm not at fault. As Johnson said, at every moment, social life involves all of us. Our blindness to situations does not excuse us from our obliviousness to the realities of life. Wise and Johnson both put it nicely that the dominant group has these unburdened feeling of race that the oppressed suffer from.

I loved what Wise said in his lecture about if there is unprivileged then by simple grammar there has to be an over privileged. Yet that's not a word that you hear a lot because it really doesn't exist. It's just the dominant group and then the underprivileged. Unprivileged is a created word by the dominant groups to label everyone under them. As Johnson wrote for example, when people of color call attention to the divisions caused by white privilege, they're often accused of creating those divisions, as if racism isn't a problem unless you talk about it. Simply ignoring and then blaming the problem back on the victims seems to be our go to plan as a dominant group. And yes I am including myself in the dominant group because I am a white male from a working class, which as Wise stated in his lecture is still better off financially in the long run then a middle class person of race who has four times the income of me, scary thought.

The dominant group, and human beings in general nature can be quick to jump to their own defense when their morals are being questioned. However, when it comes to these types of issues of oppression the dominant groups have to stop the ignoring and rise up to the responsibility and opportunity. In Wise's lecture he said for hundreds of years, every generation members of the dominant group have said there is no problem and in every generation without fail we have been wrong. White denial has to stop for us to make any progress.

Question D

I liked what the John Wayne character had to say at the end of this film about how sometimes we need to understand why and how human beings can act the way they do. He was referring to tragic incidents that happen every century or so and that this Standford experiment was a way of showing those interesting results. Putting good people in an evil place and seeing how they react. If we look at this in the context of racial oppression I guess the degradation process is something that can be related to how the guards treated the prisoners and how whites treated blacks or other races. This degradation process that is used in many prisons and military schools is a cruel but effective way for the ones in power to stay in power over the oppressed. I found the beginning of this film very interesting with the experiment involving the teacher and the learner. Another situation of putting good people in an evil place/situation but as long as their was a legitimate authority figure near by to take responsibility for the harm that was being caused to the learner, the teacher proceeded on. It was a little frightening to me when they made that comparison of how decent American citizens were as capable of committing acts against their conscious as the Germans had been under the Nazis. I would like to believe that I have the will power to rise above something like this but I guess I don't truly know for sure since I have never been in a similar situation.

Question C

Privilege is invisible to those who have it. A phrase I have seen many times reading Johnson's book and heard in Kimmel's lecture. I guess I would have to put myself as one of those who was invisible as well. When I looked in the mirror I saw just see me, Mike Mahoney, not a white male who comes from a working class family. When I look at my friends who are of different race or gender I just saw them as people as well but it was my privilege that was keeping my invisible to who they are. I have a very good friend who is a black woman and though I never looked at her that way I guess in a way I need to now to understand more about who she is as a person. Kimmel discussed four subjects, identity, work, family, and intimacy as the things that have drastically changed over the last 30 to 40 years for women that have changed their lives fundamentally which in turn have raised their expectations. I agree for the most part that these things have changed because he is right about gender becoming visible and more relevant which in turn has opened up more work for women. I guess I would agree with him also about the expectations of men rising for women because they are better able to have lives now that include both family and a career. The numbers from the study Kimmel gave were interesting as well. I do believe that men and women are more alike than different as Gray put in his book. I share many common interests such as music, art, food, television, etc. with my female friends so from my experiences men and women are similar in many ways. When it comes to sex, love and passion men and women may differ in some ways but honestly that's for the best I believe. It would be boring and dissatisfying if we were exactly the same in those areas. I would argue however that men and women are probably more similar today then we were 30 to 40 years ago. Think about how much our society and culture has changed compared to 40 years ago when men went to all boys school or a all men military school. These changes have allowed gender to become visible as Kimmel said so men and women can relate more. I know my grandfather has never really embraced feminism and I can see the tension at times between him and my grandmother. That's how times were though back when they were young and I believe we've progressed so much that our differences between gender are not as great as some people make it out to be.

Question B - The F Word

My definition of feminism is similar to most others where there is equality in all areas of life for women and men. Growing up with two younger sisters and my mother, my father always reminded me to be mindful of their rights as well as any other woman. I do consider myself a feminist because I respect women and treat them with that respect to the best that I can. My father is a martial arts instructor and more specifically a women's self defense teacher so growing up I got to meet a lot of good and influential women who I came to respect very much because of the courage they had to make it in what is predominately a man's world. I enjoyed this movie a lot because of the makeup views and opinions involved as well as one woman's view on feminism where she says: "feminism really has nothing to do with burning bras or letting the hair in your armpit grow long or hating men, its the simple idea that all people should have the ability to be equal". Simple but the truth and not a hard concept for all of us to live by. I believe that the oppression that women have overcome over the years is a very positive step for our society, culture, human race, and way of life. Women are making serious impacts in politics, sports, and business world that is not only a positive step for feminism, but for our way of life. I do realize that in other countries and cultures women are still I guess unappreciated, (can't really find a better word), but that is the way things are in those cultures and they have their beliefs which must be respected because everyone is different. In our country I am glad that we are almost past the point where we don't really have to embrace feminism because it should be apart of our culture norm. Women are our doctors, teachers, busdrivers, artists, mothers, wives, sisters, and so much more, they all deserve the same equality as men.
PS: for anyone interested in information about women's self defense here is a link to my father's website: http://lessonsinviolenceevasion.com/live/

Question A - Madonna and Feminism

Being a white male I do not spend much time thinking about feminism or sexism in our society, so listening to Hook's concepts of Madonna and how the media displays feminism was enlightening. Hook discussed how at times some people felt there was an unfair feminist criticism towards Madonna but that it was Madonna who in fact put herself in this position to garner this attention because she wanted to break the sexist mold in the music industry and bring it to a new level. What I believe Hook was saying and I agree with, is that Madonna used her sexism to gain popularity and took it to such new levels to gain even more attention through debates and controversy. From doing sexy photo shoots to wearing scandalous outfits while performing Madonna was always trying to break the mold of her industry. Hook states even when Madonna began to age that the reinvention of herself became a reattachment to sexism to reclaim interest. The media plays such a big role in our society that the impression it can leave in our minds about something like sex attached to Madonna plays a huge factor. In my opinion the media for the most part plays a negative role in our society because we can rely on it too much for information or our social norms. Hook describes Madonna as using her sex appeal in the media to make money and become this icon of sex, which sells.