The Color Of Fear

     The movie “Color of Fear” was great. I credit the person who came up with the idea to have people of different races in the same room. The reason why this is such an ingenious idea is because now that you have Blacks, Asians, Latinos, and Whites all in the same room, they can discuss their perspective on racism and how it affects their life. The main argument or the one I feel stood out the most was the one between the “angry black man” and the white man who was clueless about racism. The black man was infuriated. Not in a lethal way but in a “tired” way. In other words he was upset because the white man was not understanding him, and was acting like black people didn't have the position they wanted in life because they didn't work hard enough. Just by him inferring that more than likely set the black man off as it would I if I was in that situation. This is why I relate myself to the “angry black man”. 

     I would categorize myself along with the angry black man because I am very much like him when it comes to topics like this. I tend to get infuriated when somebody doesn't understand me and even more angry when somebody tries to explain something they don't understand. In other words I would have reacted the same as the black man. If you don't understand where I'm coming from when I'm explaining something, please don't make it seem like you do. The white man acted as if he knew what black people went through on a daily basis but in reality he was oblivious to the whole thing. If you don't understand then I will try to explain it even more. The white man acted like he understood but interpret it for something it wasn't (not working hard). I don't think the black man was at fault for reacting in a loud tone it's very frustrating trying to explain something to someone that hasn't experienced what you are explaining.

     To conclude, the white man did end up letting down his guard and actually listen to the people of different races and I truly believe he understood where they were coming from. At the end of the day that's the main goal, you can't end racism at one time, but if you open up one persons mind that will continue on to other people in his family and so on and so forth. Then racism will reduce in the world.

Transgender - Daqwan Moore

Throughout all of the discussions we have had in class with all different types of identities this one was the less informative but yet the most interesting to me. It made me think and question whether I really even knew what a transgender person was, even after Brianna had told us what makes a person transgender. For example, she said a transgender person can just wear pink and not change any of their body parts and identify as a transgender person. So while I was sitting there I thought it through and began to come to the conclusion that a transgender could just identify as gay, and ended up questioning myself to why they had to be transgender because it's nothing different, unless you change your physical vitals, but Brianna said not every transgender changes that. Then, she went on to say that to be transgender is something you don't choose, and you know if you're a transgender as soon as you figure out what a transgender is. There's this love commercial that comes on tv a lot and it shows all different types of people and it's about love and accepting everyone. In the commercial it said, "I couldn't change even if I wanted to." When Brianna told us it wasn't a choice... I disagreed right off the bat. I thought being transgender was a person coming into the world and wanting to totally change all their physical vitals and to the opposite sex and wanting to wear clothes of the opposites sex etc. But I started to think harder and harder, so I said to myself, well I am not a transgender so I may not be able to feel it out or think it through unless I actually go through that type of experience because Brianna said she realized because the clothes she wore just didn't feel right and that she just wasn't happy etc. 

Transgender Issues

The most I learned from our class discussion was the different terms related to Trans. I didn't know that trans could be used to describe people that don't necessarily fit gender rolls. For example a man that likes to cook and where pink could be considered trans. I always thought trans reffered to a male or female that wanted to be the opposite sex. But that's not always the case. Transvestites are similar to drag queens in that they both dress as the opposite sex. So someone like Dennis Rodman would fit into this category. However I learned the biggest distinction is between transgender and transexual. A transexual is someone who actually lives their life as the opposite sex. They are people like Brianna who not only try to look like women but also take hormones to physically change their features. The most interesting thing I learned was about the term tranny. I always thought tranny was the name to associate these people with but in reality it's a derogatory term. It's like calling gay people faggots or black people niggers. Now that I know this I'm going to try to stop using that term when reffering to trans people.

Crash

The movie we watched in class (Crash) was very informative. Throughout the movie i saw many different examples of prejudice, stereotypes, sexism, racism, etc. The movie starts with off with stereotypes. The first and most noticeable, when the two black males rob the white couple. It was confusing to me watching this scene though. The two black males were walking, coming from a dinner and were talking about how the waitress was being racist towards him because of his skin color. While talking about that he noticed the women of the white couple hug up on her husband. He interpreted this as a sign of prejudice because the women saw the two black males so she hugged up on her husband for protection. With that being said, as i was watching this seemed i assumed that the two black males were genuine and were just noticing how they were perceived in society. Turns out all the stereotypes and racism they recieved happen to be correct. The two black males ended up pulling out their weapons and robbing the couple of there car.

Later in the movie another stereotype comes into play, the stereotype that all hispanics are criminals. The white lady of the couple again pre judges somebody based off of their looks. Admittedly the man who was fixing the couple's door did look a bit off the edge, but that's no way treat somebody just because of their appearance. Turned out the hispanic overheard the conversation the woman was having with her husband and gave them back their keys because the women thought he would rob her. Throughout the movie you realize the judgements made about the hispanic were false and he ends up being a great man and father.

Fear, racial tensions, and anger are all present throughout this movie. Personally i feel like they all are related and cause and effects of each other. The fear of the other race and what they are capable of brings anger because you are unaware of what they can do. Then racial tensions come because you fear that race and are angry towards them so there is always a tension between you and them. Thus leading to racist remarks and pre judging people.

To conclude, this movie was great. It surpassed what i thought it was going to be. With all the different examples of racism, stereotypes, prejudice, etc it really challenged me to think about how i am in society. How others perceive me and how i judge others. I identify as black and that may come with its stereotypes, but i will work to prove those stereotypes wrong, and i will try not to judge others based off of second hand information.

Transgenders In Society

In our discussion last Friday, I learned a lot of topics that no one has ever mentioned to me. I got to meet a trans woman and got to ask her questions. At first, I was very skeptical about meeting Brianna. However, she was surprisingly very open about he decision to change. She talked about her life prior and post her transitioning process. She knew at a very young age that being a boy did not feel right. There have been debates about if the person knows they want a gender change when they are born or if it's how they are raised. After what she said, I believe it is determined when a person is finally becoming an adult. We also talked a lot about language with transgenders. I learned that saying 'Tranny' is offensive to transgenders. It is like calling a Caucasian person a 'Cracker' or a Hispanic person a 'Spic'. Other terms we learned were Trans, Transgender, Transexual. Transvestite, and Drag Queens. Drag Queens and Transvestites are like the same thing but Drag Queens often dress like the other gender for entertainment. Transgenders challenge the gender normalities, but they actually do not change their gender. But a Transsexual is a person who physically changes their gender. Finally, I enjoyed actually having a discussion with a trans person because I also learned to respect the sacrifices they have made in order to do something that they want. I have met a trans people before but never talked to them with a personal subject like this. This was a great experience and I actually explained to my aunts about the differences this weekend. This discussion has already had a major impact on my life.

transgender

I'm not going to lie I was uncomfortable the whole time. But during the class conversation I made sure to listen. Once I got home I began to think about all the problems they have. I learned that even though I don't agree with the lifestyle I should try to accept it. Even if I think of it as a sin what makes that worse than lying, cheating, or stealing. On a daily basis we accept people who do things to hurt others but make life hard for LGBT people. I was not shock to hear about the killings with transgender people in relationships. I would say it was the fault of the transgender person but I see now that was a dangerous way of thinking. When she said that she had little connection with her family it made me think was it really worth it. She said she was also happy with her life now. Her transformation was very important to her. I also learned about the differences between transgender, tranny, dragqueen, transexual, and transvestite. I thought they were all the same. Transgender people who have shown much characteristic of the opposite gender without actually doing surgery. Tranny is an insult to them, I did not know this I thought it was an okay term. Drag Queen in someone who dresses up like the opposite sex but for entertainment purposes. Transvestite is the same thing as drag queen but is more for personal reasoning than for entertainment.Trans go through so much and we all need to learn how to accept them.                  

Transgender Blog

After this class I came to the realization of a lot of things. I never really payed attention to the transgenders in my everyday life because I am not personally close to any that I know of. Therefore, the struggles that they go through never cross my mind. We did something very similar with females and gay or queer males. So i already knew i was going to be shocked as to what Brianna had to say. And i have to say that the one thing that really surprised me, were the prices Brianna was telling the class about to have the things she needed and how none of it was covered because being a transgender is not a popular thing in today’s society. It is frowned upon even by doctors. So when a transgender tries to go seek help, sometimes going to a doctor isn’t even the right place to go. When i saw Brianna and was in a discussion with her, it opened my eyes to show that trans people aren’t any different than any other straight male or straight female. They were just born in the wrong body and they are living life the way they feel is right and i believe Brianna portrays that great.

Transgender Discussion

The discussion last Friday was really good and memorable. I never expected her to look like that. I expected her to look more like a man or at least be able to tell the difference but I wasn't. It was interesting to hear that she did not opt in to getting surgery to have anything removed but instead took pills. I didn't believe that it took that much to change genders; things such as therapy, monthly hormone pills, and simply strength. She told of how her family just like loss contact and communication with her. It was different than any other conversation that we had.

Thoughts on Transgenders

     Throughout the class i felt weird about the presence of the trans man. I wasn't uncomfortable with his presence but i was just a bit confused. I didn't understand the thought process behind changing your gender. The trans was speaking about how he wasn't comfortable with himself. What would that even feel like? I can understand being gay but why change your whole gender? 
     The trans we met seemed not to experience many difficulties coming his way. It seemed as if everyone hes came in contact with (if they knew them) were "ok" with it. I try to put myself in that position, would i be accepting if one of my closest friends changed his gender? Would i stay in contact with him and continue our friendship? Personally i don't think i would. I don't have a problem with them but for a trans to be in my personal life is a bit too unnatural for me. To conclude im not racist against them and im sure it takes a lot of bravery and determination to do that, but i feel like its the extreme to change your gender. 

Transgender Discussion

      The discussion really taught me a lot about the transsexual community. Common questions that I have about how their everyday life is different and how they deal with the fact that they know their different were answered. I realized that being transsexual is not something that someone chooses to be the same way one does not choose to be LGBT. This is something that they are born knowing. Our guest speaker told us that she knew she was not fit to be a man when she was around the age of 3. I also learned about terms that we thought were acceptable but really weren't and why. The discussion really enlightened me to the fact that there are different people around the world and that people do not choose what they want to be the same way we chose to be a man and straight. The feelings that people have about their identity is a mix of environment and  innate beliefs.

Transgender Discussion

In our discussion last Friday I learned a whole lot. I got to meet a trans women and got to ask her questions. She talked about her life before and after she went through the transitioning process. She knew from birth that being a boy did not feel right for her. This answers questions I have about when or how do you know if you like the same sex or want to be a different sex. There have been debates about if the person knows this stuff when they are born or if it is how they are raised to think like that. After what she said and other LGBT people I know, I believe it is known before birth and not raised into that behavior or mindset. We also talked a lot about language with transgenders. I learned that saying 'Tranny' is offensive to trans-genders. Other terms we learned were Trans, Transgender, Tran sexual. Transvestite, and Drag Queens. Drag Queens and Transvestites are like the same thing but Drag Queens often dress like the other gender for entertainment. Transgenders challenge the gender norms not actually changing genders. But a Trans sexual is a person who physically changed genders. To end things off, I enjoyed actually talking with a trans person. I have met a trans people before but never talked to them with a personal subject like this. This was a great experience and can not wait to use this knowledge later in life.

Transgender issues

We all met Brianna and she was open to talk and educate the class on issues that seemed to go unseen, overlooked or ignored by many. While we fired a huge variety of questions at her we always received an answer, but all of her  answers had a reoccurring theme- "it's not easy". We all seem to overlook the issues that people face while uncomfortable in their heavenly or naturally  given body (which ever you may be comfortable with). Issues of bullying, being lost (in ones own mind due to lack of identity), rejection of your loved ones and the constant threats of brutality and hurt. She was able to shed light to the many unspoken questions of "does the change of the body hurt?" to "how is the process of applying for jobs?" She was very articulate and very generous in sharing her personal life and experiences despite it being so personal and drastic. She was able to keep us on our toes about  our actions, words and thoughts. everyone deserves at least the human dignity of being treated as just that- human.

Language was also mentioned. It helped to clear our ignorance of trans and how they should be treated with respect and treated fairly with a watchful choice of words rather than the insulting words such as "tranny" or "it". There's also more to transpeople than being "gay" but there's actual physical changes that classifies them as trans as opposed to drag queens (who are mostly for entertainment purposes) ,cross dressers and transsexuals (who just push or challenge the societal norms of genders).

Class discussion #3 (transgender)

During this class discussion, I didn't really learn anything specific about transgender people but I realized how hard it is for them to live a regular life because people are so prejudice against them.  I have to assume that the cost of being a transgender is expensive due to all of the hormones and treatments that are needed.  What I really got from all of the discussions we had in class is that they all are connected in many different ways. therefore our problems aren't really different at all.  I think the world's problem is that we consider our differences as a difference.  What I'm saying is instead of our differences being considered different, we should consider it to be unique.  

Geoffrey Ofori-Dwomfuo
Diversity & Social Justice
Glenn Cassidy

Today, my fellow mates and I had the opportunity to be in the presence of a transgendered woman who was willing to share with us her experience as a transgendered woman. I was astonished by her appearance and had no hint of her once being a male. She was well dressed and looked like a very decent lady. She introduced herself as Brianna and hesitated to share her birth name with us for she believed it is connected to her past life. At a young age, Brianna knew being a male wasn't what she wanted. She dressed and behaved like a female though she liked to play video games which has been associated with muscularity by the society.
As she grew older, she began to realize what was really wrong with her identity. She had an identity which wasn't of her choice but rather imposed on her by the society. At age twenty-one, Brianna decided to permanently switch her gender to one which she felt most comfortable. At that moment, she made it known to her environment that she was no longer the person they wanted her to be. Her very religious family didn't like the pathway Brianna decided to take therefore leaving her to be on her own.
As an independent young lady, Brianna needed to get a job in order to make money so she could earn a living. Unfortunately for Brianna, finding a job with a decent salary wasn't going to be easy for her since she was seen as a different human. There were times when she was treated and welcomed with warm arms until they realized she was trans and began to shun her. There were also people who saw her as a homosexuality even though she wasn't. In order to earn a living, Brianna joined the drag queens who accepted her as who she is because being trans among them seemed to be quite normal. Though it pays very little, Brianna doesn't mind because she feels at ease with the environment. She also believes that life would be more easy if people accepted the real gender they desired. She believes it would gradually lead to the acceptance of transgendered people by the society.

Transgender Discussion. Blog post #8

From what I learned from the class discussion about transgenders is that people in this group probably have it the hardest in this world. I know that because people are now becoming more accepting of gay couples or gay people but not that much. Being transgender is a whole new thing and has been made to be viewed as a person not knowing who they are. I learned that transgender people don't exactly understand there feelings at first and it takes time for them to really know who they are. It did feel weird seeing a transgender up close but at the same time it was exciting because it was my first experience and to be able to hear her point of view on being a transgender was truly a humbling experience. I'd never understand what she may go through on a daily basis, but the fact that she was bold enough to be able to talk in front of the classroom about her sexuality, I give her nothing but respect. Also, hearing that her own family did not accept her and her younger sisters did made me feel bad for her because I couldn't even imagine being in a situation where your own family rejects you because of what you stand for. I also learned what she had to keep injecting herself with hormones to keep her indentity as being a female. I thought it was a choice to be transgender but I learned it also has something to do with how your wired on the inside. So when people act as if transgenders are outcasts, I understand the difficulties they  have and I'd treat them like any other person because in reality they are human beings too. They have feelings too so why judge them? Meeting one in person changed my whole perception of all transgenders.

Transgender discussion

In the class period when the woman came in I initially felt weird and I started getting butterflies in my belly. I thought in my head I would offend her by the way I just looked at her. I learned a lot of stuff about how transgendered people go through they're life. A lot of people choose different ages to start  changing. Brianna changed when she turned 20 years old and that's when your life starts to change and when you really become an adult. It must have really been a huge jump for her. And it probably made her happy to be able to make her life much better to do what she wants. It must have been really weird around family and really weird around her closest friends. I don't understand why some people can't except her. And unlike most of us she has to be on a higher watch of people trying to harass or kill her. Even I  wouldn't be a transgender doesn't mean I should kill her because of what she wants to do. A question I have for her is if she feels comfortable can she tell if she has ever been threatened by someone because of who she is.

Sexuality

Before getting into class I did not know much or anything about this subject of trans people. I knew that trans people live a hard life like any person who does not fit into the regular terms. At first I thought that trans people were people who just had sex operations an lived as the other sex. I did not know that people who do not fit inside, the what everyone calls, the norm they can be called transgender. Like how people assume that cooking is feminine and that lifting weights is masculine and if a man were to cook or like cooking and a woman were to lift weights people would look at them differently because that not what men or women do. They could consider themselves as a transgender person because they do not fit these gender roles  that they should be in. Also thanks to Jacklyn I know the terms that trans people use and why, Trans is mostly accepted by everyone, most transgender people like this term, what i learned was tranny is not a good term to use for them. For transgender people the term tranny is too black people the word nigger. Everyone who says the word tranny, its hurtful, and it to them puts them down. For them when someone says the word tranny, its like and ole white guy calling one of us a nigger. I have seen deeply into what transgender people have to go through everyday, the thought of getting killed or beaten must be scary. We are all people, humans, God put us all on this earth.We should not hate on transgender people but love them because they are people, and their are our sisters and brothers in Christ.

Armstrong

This author argues that class is determined by the way you live your life in collage and past it. Remarkable factors are class backgrounds, class projects, and collage experience. Each factor plays a part in your experience in collage. For example a lower class student might have to work harder in collage compared to a upper class student in collage. like a lower class student might have to have a part-time job which cuts down social life and or study time and he or she will have to stay up later doing hw. However the higher lass students would have all the time in the world to party and to enjoy collage life.
Class projects help form bonds and create new friendships with people. But the people who are always studying and all the smarter people will be together. On the other hand everyone who always used their time to party docent worry about class as much as much as the other people. Like Karen Pittelman and Resource Generation, people in upper class might have a higher GPA because they might not have to worry about supplying there family. In collage you can approach it in many ways. One way is the party way which is of upper class people. Where students have other priority over school because its not nessary for their success. They would most likely love on their parents wealth and just come to collage for the experience. Unfortually a lot of working and lower class students do not finish because of outside problems usually with family and money. Not all struggling students are focused on work when they get to collage most of them go to party and socialize and to have a good time. Furthermore the people that have most money are the ones that have the easiest experience in collage.

Sexual orientation

Today in class we were able to here a various amount of men come into our class and speak about sexual orientation and there problems with it. About Sexual Orientation straight people are the most privileged people everywhere. They have everything in there way that they don't even have to worry about it. On the other hand people who are gay or other Orientations have trouble every day about how they act who they love and what they do there is always a problem in the world they will immediately get criticized or hatred for being themselves. Well to begin the first person who spoke told us off the bat that he was gay and he had no problem of saying it and he shouldn't he can be whatever he wants to be. He was able to come out to the world when he was in college and he told the class that his main worries where the worries that mostly all other gay people have and it's telling there parents. As an adult who was scared to tell there parents about being Gay to me is pretty sad. Of course people are scared to tell there parents because of the things there parents do sometimes is just sad honestly. A child shouldn't be scared to be able to tell his parent about there sexual orientation, but the world is very conditioned that being gay is a wrong thing. One thing stuck out to me when Cass had a discussion in class and he said "who decided the sexual orientation, who made it right to be Men and Women together"(cass) and honestly this hit me really hard because it's very true. We weren't born and the doctor told us immediately we have to be straight, we are just raised and conditioned to like the opposite sex most of the time. This can ruin someone's life who likes the same sex because imagine there are people forcing there children to be straight which is normal to them, how would he make them feel that there are people in this world who force people to be straight like that just isn't right. Of Course straight people are the majority because half of the other sexual orientation some of them are not even allowed to like the different sex or they are forced to like the same sex.

Male Presentation

The conversation that we had with the men of different sexual orientations was another interesting conversation we had in class. It was interesting to hear of their stories of acceptance and fitting into society. I was especially into this conversation because i've experienced the change of people around someone when they come out. Last year, my female cousin was getting ready to start her dress shopping for prom when she had a talk with her parents. In the talk she had came out that she was, in fact, lesbian. At first, her parent were in complete shock because they always seen her hanging out with other guys and, at one point, she had gone out with a guy. They quickly accepted who she was and no harm was done. However, telling the family was a completely different story. Some accepted her just like her parents, but others quickly scolded her about it. So, I was interested because i wanted to know was this a one time scenario with gay or lesbian people or not.

Throughout the conversation it taught me that many gay or lesbian people have a primary concern of their families as well. Many of whom have had experiences similar to my cousin. However, what disturbs me is how some people can be abused and physically or mentally scarred because of how their parents just can't seem to accept what their child prefers the same sex more than the opposite sex. Some cases people even get kicked out of their houses or even “banished” from their family. First of all, how can a kid (let's say he’s younger than 18) survive in this world? As children or even teens in this world, you can't survive without some kind of adult support in your life. Think about it. Children cannot pay taxes because in this country you typically have to be 18 to pay bills. Also, let's say you go to St Benedict's. The tuition is certainly not something that a typical middle wage teen can sustain. So, without help from parents, we can't continue furthering your education. With no parents to support you, you could have no education and no basic needs to keep a satisfactory life. Basically, the parents destroyed his or her life all because of who they are not satisfied with what they are interested in.

The second thing i was interested in is the types of sexual orientations. Before this presentation, i thought that it was just heterosexual, homosexual, and bisexual people in the world. I mainly thought this because these are generally the three that make up most of the preferences of people. Now i know of all of these other sexual orientations are out there, like genderqueer, pansexual, and asexual people. Genderqueer being, as said on internationalspectrum.umich.edu, people possess identities which fall outside of the widely accepted sexual binary. Pansexual being having sexual preference for all identities. In addition, asexual being showing no preference whatsoever.

Female Blog

The presentations of the views of three different females and their experiences really stuck out to me. I believe that it opened my eyes to many different things that we thought were simple things that held no meaning to us men. Even though men feel indifferent to the things occurred, they can be viewed as very hurtful for females. This talk I believe one of the most interesting conversations that we have thus far.

One of the interesting things that i got from this talk was when we said things like “She is mine”. They showed dissatisfaction when we said things like this because this showed possession.  As men, we just see it as another thing that we say casually. I, before the talk, through things like this pose no real problem towards other people. Mainly, like most men, it's not often told to us that this isn't necessarily the nicest thing to do. This, in my opinion, is privilege of the males toward the females of how we can just say things and not understand how it affects them.

Another thing i found very interesting was the experiences of one of the women during their time in the government. I was in shock when she told us that our government, the ones we view as the best and greatest people that will represent our ‘wonderful’ country, would say things like “she must've slept with many guys to get to where she is now” or “why does a girl have to work at this position where a guy would be better”. What is the real problem with women getting high positions? Is it really that bad for women to accel at things at the same rate as guys typically do? I mean it's bad enough that women get paid less than men because of the gender wage gap in United States of America, with the wage gap being women making seventy seven cents of every dollar that a man makes. Now they have to bear the criticism of the insults and rude comments made by other people of the opposite sex.

What really disturbed me was one of the experiences of her being taken advantage of by people working for the government. She was drugged and abused, but what really disturbed me was her being so confused by what to do. Since she's been accused of sleeping with people to get her position, she wasn't sure whether or not calling the police would be a good thing to do. In her mind, it would be confirming people's suspicions on how she even got here in the first place. It's beyond me how someone can turn down help if a case was a serious as this. The thing is, I can't be like “I would call the cops immediately” or something like that because I can't possibly imagine the struggles she was having at that time. I, luckily, have never had to experience anything near that in my life so i couldn't truly understand what she felt or what was going through her mind at the time.

These are REAL experiences of REAL people. This gives me a lot of questions to think about after this in-class discussions. Things like asking why can't people just leave others alone with things of this matter? What's the real threat of women gaining status? When can we truly understand the struggles of women? Some of the questions i have i hope to find answers to some day.

Crash

Sexism

When we had our class discussion with Ms.Sweeny, Mrs.Baker, and Mrs.Torto i felt a little enbarrissed. I felt that way because i really diden't know that men are treating women the way they are. I was shocked hearing about what happened to Mrs.Baker's life based on male privilage. She told us that most of happened here at Benedict's. She talked about how her name of her job role was underrated. Also  how she couldent get promoted to a higher level in the job. This stood out to me the most because it happens in our own school. I wasent expecting it to happen here and it did. I was also shocked with Ms.Sweeny story because she worked for the goverment and she was sexualy abused. I never expected something like this because we are condition to think that the goverment never does anything wrong. This stood out because i see the goverment as always trying to help the country and try to help us (the people). I usually see something like this to happen in movies. Not in real life. After she told us this i was shocked and now i look at the goverment in a diffrent way. Sometimes I think about and question myself how often does this happen? What I took from this discussion is that me as a male i should change the way i treat women. Sometimes we under rate women and we dont even notice it. This disscusion made me realise how men are conditioned and thats how we are rasised. This made me realise that i have the power to change it. This is what i got from this discusion.

Sexuality

In this discusion about sexuality i felt very weird. I am a straight man that likes women. I dont have a problem myself with gay people but i just feel uncomfortable when there around me or start talking to me. Even though they might not be atratcted to me i still get that feeling that he is "checking me out". I think and feel this way because of the way i am conditioned. But in general the disscusion was good. I think i showed respect towards our guest. I tried my best to understand what each person went through and what they have to go threw on any given day. The guest that classified him as a "Queer" was very passionate and proud of how he is. I liked how he has a group in Newark that helps out people that might classify themselves as "Queer" or gay. The group he has helps  the kids classify there gender and helps them deal with what they are. Like a lot of the kids that might be gay might have problems at home because there parents might not allow it. What this guy is doing is a good idea and a good plan in my point of view. Another person that i would like to talk about is the white gay man. Now a days parents are starting to allow there sons to be gay but back then it was rare. What this man had to go threw to tell his parents that he was gay but of been really hard. If i was gay and i had to tell my parents that  they would of beat my ass. This disscusion made me think about what each person had to go threw. They g threw way more problems compaired to straight people because its normal to be straight. But i gained and learned a lot from this discussion.

Crash

     After watching the movie Crash written by Paul Haggis it was based on people judging others because of there race,religion,class or idenity. In this movie it explains the consequences of being stereotypical towards other people. Crash is a movie that makes you recognize the mistakes that are made in our everyday lives.
     At the begining of the movie Jean Cabot holds on to her husband arms/hands tightly because she saw two black men walking towards her. She was was scared that something bad was going to happen to her. She was being racist. The two black men that she saw were arguing about how whites always predudging them as criminals and always look down towards them. All of a sudden they pull out a gun and do what she was expecting to happen. This increased the belief on her opinion on blacks. One might infer that the two black men either gave up and accepted the idenity whites give on them and then robbed Jean and her husband.
      After the robbery Jean had a suspicion of a Latino man who was brought to change her door lock. She thought and looked at him as if he was a gang member. This time she followed her thoughts because she wasent going to repeat the mistake she did when she saw the two black men. Unfortuntly during this event she was wrong and he wasent a gang member. This man felt heart broken when he heard these words. The way Jean thought kept her from making friends because she always prejudged people by the conditioning she had.

Sexuality

During the discussion, I felt as if the men represented in the room were able I didn't know that all gay people didn't act in extravagant ways because all the gay people I have seen act like that. I also was interested on the fact that man said he was queer. Before I thought queer meant gay but it actually means that you are bisexual. Also this discussion made me think and we started talking a lot about it outside of class. I was confused but I found it interesting and informative due to the lack information that people of either heterosexual or homosexual lifestyle.

Color of Fear

The documentary, The Color of Fear, was about a group of men on a weekend getaway. They take part in an outspoken dialouge on ethnicity and race. The documentary features two African Americans, two Latin Americans, two Asian Americans and two whites. Towards the beginning of it all, the groups did not communicate or get across to each other, until the topic of "privilege" came up. The white men, not understanding the advantages they had in society became ignorant, while the Africans Americans got infuriated at how oblivious they were on the subject matter. They told the white men that African Americans and white men start off in completely different locations. For an African American to get the respect that an average white man gets takes far more work. Another situation the African American rose was how the word "American" was used in societies. He mentioned that in order for someone to call themselves "American" they had to sacrifice their roots, their ethnicity and their identities. On the third day into the social experiment, the white man was found crying because he could not relate to the people around him. He noticed how hes on a higher social level and on that social level, there is a massive amount of privilege. In this documentary, I can relate to the angry black man the most because he was getting aggravated that his point was not getting across how he wanted it to. Everything being said, this film blames white privileged men for the nations problems. 

Heterosexism

The discussion involved many points of view, some that I didn't even know were there. The discussion did, at times, leave me speechless and lost in my own thoughts as to how a person could be so simple or even so complex in terms of sexuality and gender identity. There are categories that I have never even heard that were brought up, but that only made me learn so much more. The world is cruel, when you get the short end of the stick of course. For us, heterosexuals, our "taste" is the norm, we can kiss females in public, we can hold hands with a female in public, we can grab a girl in public, even show some public display of affection (PDA) without having people yelling "ew go somewhere else with that gay sh*t" (as I've heard before on the streets of Newark). Heterosexism privilege is very much alive just like the privilege a man has over a woman or like that of a white man over a black man. We never did anything to gain the privilege and they never did anything to lose it, yet it's so frequent in our lives but we're so blinded to it that it's scary! A simple word as "fag" for heterosexuals can be a simple joke while for a man who identifies as gay, it can bring back dark memories of their time when they were mocked, scared, or even lost in their personalities trying to fight to be "normal". The discussion allowed me to take a step  back and really see how scary it is to know you're not "normal" or that you're "ill" because you like people that don't fit what society thinks you should like. I also noticed that many of our speakers first dropped subtle comments before they were willing to completely expose themselves and that alone speaks greatly on fear of being ridiculed and feeling distant. 

Different Pathways

From what I understand of this passage is that women have it way harder then that of which men have.  But the biggest difference between Emma and Taylor was their class.  Both of them had good GPA's, went through college and the whole 9 yards.  But one of them started to work somewhere and didn't get paid enough to pay off her $10,000 in dept.  So therefore she had to move back with her parents and eventually she was in a relationship and she had to move.  I said she had to because the way things were going, she really didn't have a choice whether she wanted to move or not.  The other girl was in a better position because her parents were economically stable you might say.  So she didn't have to worry about anything she can do for an advantage.  Because she was the advantage.   

Sexuality

Before this class discussion I knew the basics about sexuality. I knew that people were either straight, gay, or bisexual. However I learned that people identify themselves as more than just these three sexualities. One of our guest speakers identified as queer. At first I thought queer was another derogatory word for gay people. Our guest speaker said the gay LGBTQ community is trying to take this word back for political use. Similarly to how some black people try to take the word nigga back. I learned that people who identify as queer can be attracted to both men and woman. At a glance queer seems the same as bisexual. The main difference between queer and bisexual is that queer is more of a political term. Queer is used to describe anything that is abnormal. Our guest speaker described his family as queer because they support their queer son and are not a normal family. Class that day informed me about the experirnces of various sexualities people identify themselves as.

Armstrong - Daqwan Moore

One argument I can immediately point out and relate to class is the taking of different paths. We discussed in class one day how some people are more privileged to better paths than others. For example, the richer white kids from better areas with nicer names that work hard. Opposed to the broke black boy with the ghetto name from a terrible area. They both work their behinds off but that white kid gets a head start, and doesn't have to work as hard as the black boy with the same credentials for the same job. The more wealthy folks are the favored by society. What I really think the author means to take different paths is simply that different people are forced to take different paths, which can be based off the persons past experiences etc. The author mentioned three different classes. Those classes being the achiever, the striver, and socialite. The socialite class being the highest, which makes them the most privileged of the three. This puts these college kids at an advantage of making more money coming out of college than the less privileged because they're parents can afford to pay they're tuition for college. Rather than the less privileged kids who have to take out loans to make their way through college. Therefore, these privileged kids start out at an higher salary, because they owe nothing. The author points out to us that sometimes it's just the path we are given and have to live with it until society decides to justify this. 

Sexuality Discussion

Throughout the class about gays in society i felt extremely uncomfortable. I personally accept the classification of me being a homophobic. Whenever i hear or am around a person who likes their same gender i feel very uncomfortable. I am straight and was raised straight by a straight family so i may have been conditioned to be like this. I don't have a problem with gays but when they are affiliating themselves with me or speaking to me i feel awkward like im being cluttered. Even though they may not be attracted to me in that way i still get that feeling like im being "checked out" much like how a lady would feel walking through the cafeteria at our school. On the other hand the discussion was decent. I went against my ways and tried my hardest to understand what they have been through or what they have to deal with on a daily. The man who classified himself as "Queer" seemed very passionate about how he is. It seemed as if he accepted it at a young age and has a non profit group to help people like him accept it. The reason i bring him up is because i can respect what he is doing. Even though im straight, from stories ive heard i can tell it may be a hard time to accept your sexuality at a young age and hes helping youth to do that. Another person i would like to speak about is the young looking white male who said he was gay. I dont have much to say but ive came to a realization that being gay isn't as drastic as it use to be. He is the vice president of a company. Seeing the way he was on a time crunch and how he wore a suit with a nice watch is telling me that he is in an important position and he makes a good amount of money. Noticing this made me understand that because you are gay you are not limited to certain things. May this be because he is white? Im not sure, but seeing a vice president of a company being openly gay is a eye opener in my book. To conclude like i said im not a big fan of discussions like these since i feel uncomfortable about gay people, but i gained a lot of knowledge by paying attention to the speakers.

The article blog#5

In the article, it talked about the differences between the lower class and the higher class when it comes to college. Class is the main factor in and before college. In college class is the difference between someone having to worry about food, money, or a social life. Upper-class student do not have to worry about their tuition is going to get paid therefore and giving them more of a chance to do better in school and be able to make more connections with people socially. In the article it stated how trajectories are basically the outcome of a person in a certain class after they leave college. Based on what their social class was when they entered College will affect their social class after they leave college. This meaning people of lower class families were able to send their children to college, in most cases the child from lower class families will have to take out student loans already putting that child at a disadvantage from people who are in higher class families.

     " student loans have existed in one form or another for the century... Not anymore. The states have pulled back, Grants have shriveled in value, and loans have become the way most student's handle most of the cost of college"( Garcia, Lardner, And Zeldin 174). This is basically saying that the student loan system has changed for the worst. While lower class students have to pay for it, upper-class students only have to focus on just going to school. Class background is another factor for people in college. For students from upper-class families you can see that they are the ones that usually don't try as hard in college because they know that they have their wealth or a job to fall back on after college. For wealthy families colleges for the experience and after is when they start to work. But for people from lower class families work starts when they enter college because their education most likely is the only way they can earn a living. College use to be thought of as a way to game the necessary tools to move up in society/ social class. But College is just a reflection of what are society is today.

Sexuality - Daqwan Moore

In this discussion to be honest I wasn't really comfortable being surrounded by some of the guests that were there. I don't mean to be rude or disrespectful in any way but that's just the truth. I was never a person that was okay with being surrounded by people that are gay or act gay. In my opinion there wasn't much to take from this discussion in my eyes, nobody really talked about anything eye popping. Most thigs said and explained by the guests were common things that happen with gay people. Although, all the guests' family was supportive throughout their change in gender was pretty interesting because there are families out there who don't and won't accept their gay family members decision in being gay or might even start to reject them as family and treat them differently. Mr. Lowther seemed to be a little confused on the topic and that's fine because it just shows how hard it can be figuring out what you are yourself (gay, straight, bi etc). Cass raised a very good question towards the end that nobody could really answer, I don't remember what the question exactly was but I do remember my answer for it, and I also believe it was the right answer cass was looking for. I was thinking the non purposeful ignorance of straight people towards gay people is simply that we aren't conditioned to two people of the same sex is correct. We are told that a woman and a man go together. Mr. Lowther made it clear that he had no problem with gay people, he was fine with them because it wasn't him. Now, I have no personal problem with gay people either, don't dislike them because they're gay or anything, and I'm not sure why but it did make me put myself in a gay persons shoes. I thought to myself what if I was gay? How would I feel if I were neglected and humiliated by my society? How could I make a difference to this.. Me? Rather than just being okay with gay people myself I should stand up for gay people who feel like they have no place to speak or are too embarrassed of who they are to speak up for themselves, no longer allow my own friends or my own self to make fun of a gay person because they're regular people and have feelings and are no less important than we are. 

Women's pov - Daqwan Moore

From what I heard from the three ladies, it made a huge impact on my thought of women and girls and how I looked at them to how I now look at women and girls. Leaving class that day, I promised to never ever watch a girl get disrespected by a man in front of me without saying anything to that person. Without a woman this world really is nothing. Men may think they are the supreme of the genders in this world, but in my eyes this is a woman's world. Our women do not revive the credit they deserve and in fact I am truly upset by this. The stories I heard were just a little stunning and I never really thought about things like the examples the ladies talked to us about. One example that really hit me the most was Ms. Sweenies, when she was basically robbed of a great oppurtunity and falsely accused of being a whore just because she was a woman with that great oppurtunity. I realize that not only other men/boys should really consider in being at least sexist as possible and showing the same amount of expecatation and thought of ability to women just as much as we have in men. Women rule the world, it's the things they're never recognized for the make it possible for the men to do what they do(if that's anything at all).

Class Discussion

Honestly, this class discussion was a little shocking for me. Since I like being early to class, when I had walked in I saw two guys sitting down. Now if it were not for the prior classes we had talking about gender roles and heterosexuality etc. I probably would've assumed that those males were heterosexual as well, coming to talk about discrimination against women in the workplace. I was still curious to see what they would identify themselves as, I was surprised when  he had said he identified as queer. Which brings me to when Mr. Cassidy introduced them, and he turned out to be an alumnus of the school and he identified as queer while in high school. My thoughts on how that word was used as a way to make fun of someone or that person's actions, kind of like faggot or dick head. I never knew it had a bad connotation, when he spoke of it it didn’t sound like a bad name to be identified as. Then he explained it as, he described it as basically as being bisexual, however, he said that’s not a term that really fits him as a person. This brings me to the guy who works at the bank, I thought that he would also be heterosexual just like Mr. Lowther and the other stranger. I was absolutely wrong, as he identified as a gay male. One thing that was interesting was that those who identified as something besides heterosexual, they were all embraced by their families when they came out and they didn't face to many hardships in the workplace as well. This discussion opened my eyes in a sense that people around me could be gay, etc. but I don’t see that because they might not possess more feminine characteristics. That I've been only to identify someone's sexual orientation because of how they look.

Sexuality Class Discussion

     Sexuality has so many variations to it that it makes it confusing. Many times I've mistaken the way a guy dresses for their sexuality, but now I realize that the only thing that determines someone's sexuality is what their mind has chosen for them. The discussion focused on how people identify themselves, how others have identified them as, and the consequences of it. There was a statement that really stood out to me in the discussion on how people chose their sexuality. The speaker was asked how he knew his sexuality, and his answer was a question. The question was whether people who are straight chose to be straight or thought about what they wanted to be and then just go out and do it? This question was something that I focused on because it unwrapped my mind around the fact that any other sexuality besides heterosexual was something that people chose. Being heterosexual, is not the default for everyone, and there are people who were born with their default as LGBTQ. I also realized that because you fall under the LGBTQ sexuality, does not mean that you are different mentally, physically, or spiritually. No matter how much gender lines cross, whether it is a male who dresses like a female and acts like female and is straight or vice versa  the only thing that determines your sexuality is what your mind makes it to be.

Male Privilege

            Many times I thought that male privilege was something so small that really did not have an impact in anyone. I thought it was just a phrase that people just threw out there. It was until, I heard about what male privilege truly was, that I started to take notice. There are so many ways that we speak or act towards females that classify as male privilege. It shocked me that male privilege was so often that it occurred right when the speaker was about to walk into our class. One of the examples that really stood out to me was the one where even as a government official, there is still male privilege. No one would have ever guessed that the government, who we rooted for to make things just and support the people, could commit such deplorable acts. If we can not even feel safe in the governments hands', then who or what hands' should we feel safe under?  Power differences are also another major issue when it comes to male privilege because many times, women are usually the ones that do the minor things. Even with degrees that could really make you prosperous in life, women still will not get the opportunity to do what they want to do due to male privilege. One of the speakers, gave the comparison of her Harvard degree to a secretary. Even after the job of secretary was over for her, she was still called a secretary. I realize that there are things that we as men do to women that should not be tolerated. The only reason nothing gets done about it is because we live in a male dominant world where everything revolves around men.

Class Discussion

The discussion was really powerful to me because we were actually able to sit down and actually speak to men that weren't straight and we were able to ask the questions that we probably have been wanting to ask for years. I know in my case I was able to ask questions that I always wondered in my mind. We were all more engaged in asking the questions than we were with the female panelist by far. This was a step forward because now we are starting to be able to talk and hear about what other people have been through in the case of them being gay, straight, or queer. This conversation was really good and everybody seemed engaged. Just like with our female panelists some of us had connections with some people on the panel so that just made the conversation even better and in a sense have more meaning because we have connections with that person already.

Blog post

In the last class discussion we had I learned about the struggles certain gay people go through. They are regular people who are treated like outsiders in society. It was very interesting to learn their point of view yet I'm sure everyone was uncomfortable with the topic. However, the men who were gay were comfortable being themselves which was all that mattered and to know that they were accepted into their families even with their sexuality shocked me the most. Most families would look at their family member differently and start treating them differently which is what I thought might have been the case with them as well. But, when I heard the man who said  he had a gay uncle and he's been around him since he was little, it made it easier for his family to accept him because his uncle is gay too. Although it's something I wouldn't be, I still have to respect people like this because they face more problems then I ever would and they still have the courage to speak on it and be what they are proudly and unashamed. Also, that as humans we tend to prejudge much too often and think too highly of ourselves. For example when people try to keep their distance away from people because they are gay and think that that person may like them, when in reality that person might not find the other person attractive at all.

Geoffrey Ofori-Dwomfuo
Diversity and Social Justice
Glenn Cassidy

Recently, my mates and I were privileged to be in the presence of five men who were willing to share  their thoughts and experiences on sexual orientation. During the discussion I realized something very     odd. The conversation was mainly focused on homosexualism and less of heterosexualism. We were amazed by the abnormality of homosexuals and curious in acquiring more information from them speakers since most of us are being conditioned by the environment.  It's kind of weird but I felt less interested in the discussion as compared to the discussion we had with the females. I don't know if  it's because the females were more open and willing to share more personal informations with us.
I also find it amazing how he made the word "queer" sound amazing. I always thought queer was an umbrella term for something abnormal. Ironically, queer plays a role as a motivation to the speaker.  The bisexual speaker defined queer as having a friendly or intimate relationship with  people of different sexuality.
Many among the speakers had an issue revealing their sexual orientation to their family and friends because they built cold feet and didn't want to lose the relationship they had with them. Therefore, they had to deny what their heart desired. Unlike the others, Dominique had little problem revealing his sexuality to his family for his uncle was gay and therefore created a pathway for Dominique. If many homosexuals decide to accept who they really are and share it with the world, this would make it more likely for others to also do so.

sexuality class discussion

The class discussion was very interesting. I was not expecting that talk and it caught me by surprise, the discussion was weird. I was able to see the problems they face everyday with being gay. I was surprise to hear that they had it easy when it came to their families accepting them. In most cases I hear with homosexual people is that they have a hard time getting their families to accept them for the choice they have made. Homosexual have to go through struggles straight people do not have to go through, like if there is a convocation and gays are mention in it someone who has not come out will have to hear people talk bad about them to their face. Homosexual have been working for equality for all and they are now speaking out for each other slowly get accepted in society.      

Class Disccusion Blog Post

The class discussion we had shocked me, I walked into class and saw two men sitting down, and I already knew that it would be another class with guests. However, I looked at the men and automatically made the assumption that they were heterosexual males. Not for a second did I think they were gay or queer. They looked to me like average straight males. They didn’t seem feminine at all and to me, that’s what leads me to believe someone is gay. So, as the class went on Mr. Cassidy introduced our guest speakers and they began to tell us about themselves. The first speaker was an alumni of St. Benedict’s Prep, what shocked me was when he said he identified himself as queer. Before we began this lesson in class, I did not even know that queer was used to identify people. I always thought of it as a way to make fun of somebody, similar to a word like faggot. I knew it had a negative connotation, but when the speaker said it, it confused me because I was not quite sure of what he meant. However, he went further to explain what a queer truly is. He told us that it basically means being bisexual, he has an attraction to males and females. It was shocking because when I first came in, I automatically assumed him to be straight. Next was the other man I saw, I also thought of him as straight, however, he turned out to be a gay male. This showed me a lot about what we discuss in class, just because someone looks to be straight and does not obtain feminine characteristics doesn’t mean they are automatically a heterosexual male. This whole discussion shocked me and made me think about the people around me, there could always be gay or queer males around me and I automatically assume them to be heterosexual because that’s what they look to be.

Gender Roles

Today's class discussion, was very interesting. When I first came in to class I saw the two men I never met and automatically thought they were not gay. They did not look the part of a stereotypical gay male. I was happy to be informed about the term queer. I have heard that term before while I was at Lead For Diversity but I was confused on what it meant. Thankfully I was informed; I was type mad because somebody asked the question before I could. What really stood out to me was the fact that Dominick, the most flamboyant gay male, was the one to mainly talking and very proud to talk about the subject. On the contrary, the straighten men did not know what to say or how to answer the questions (even though the questions weren't really toward them). Before the main discussion we had an exercise where we had to close our eyes and imagine your perfect partner and how you felt in the moment. This was crazy cause I didn't no what my person looked like, I only knew it was a she and had curves. That tells me I still need to find that perfect partner. When we talked about how we would feel in the moment it got me nervous because discussing my feelings with other guys is weird to me. I believe so because I don't have feelings for guys and I'm not ready to get judged by many people. It was very intriguing when Mr. Cassidy connected Attraction, Behavior, and Identity to Gender, Gender Roles, and Gender Identity. Many subcategories in these topics coincide with each other which makes gender and sexuality very similar.

In class discussion

I'm not gonna lie, the discussion in class yesterday in class was very awkward. But the discussion went somewhere really quick. I didn't think the conversation would be as interesting in the end. I didn't know that all gay people didn't act flamboyant because all the gay people I see act like that. I also was interested on the fact that man said he was queer. Before I thought queer meant gay but its basically like being bisexual. Also this discussion made me think and we started talking a lot about it outside of class. Its very confusing but I found it interesting and informative.

The Truth about Gender and Sexuality

This was a very good panel that we had yesterday. I felt like I learned a lot as a result of this. I always consider myself someone that supports equal rights but really did not know how gay and homosexuals react to certain things. This helped me better understand it. I got to have questions answered that I would usually not feel comfortable asking in a normal class setting or any setting for that matter. I did not ask any questions as the ones that I thought of. As I really did not even know what to ask other than the ones that they had. I am very positive that as I go through the rest of the semester and the rest of this year, even my whole life, more and more questions will keep popping into my head that I will need to find the answer for. But answering the question by getting one person's view or answer, is not necessarily the only right answer. Everyone has their own views and their own opinions on everything. Whether it’s sports, the economy or gay rights, there is going to be a a little bit of a difference with everyones opinion on something.

I realize that some thing I have said could be offensive to people. Even when I am not trying to offend anyone. I think that is a part of life though, you have to get better at that because no one is perfect, there is no such thing as the perfect human being. Not in the eyes of God, the people, the government might think that there is, the world might too, and the people living on it might as well. But the reality of the matter is that there is no such thing as the perfect person. We all have our flaws. We need to accept this about ourselves and have a mindset to change that or else our society will not go further and improve. We also need to accept that everyone else has their own issues and problems. So when we feel offended by something, we need to keep calm and realize, everyone has their own views.

This being said, I enjoyed the discussion that we had, it was very eye opening and it was interesting. I will take what I learned in this conversation with these individuals throughout my entire life as it was a very good experience for me. Whenever I get into a conversation on gay rights or anything for that matter, I will think back to the discussions that we had with these gentlemen and the women that we talked to about being a woman in the workplace anywhere.  

Men's blog

To my understanding of what happened today was that  attraction is this involuntary idea to subject. We are attracted to people and we have no control over  which gender or who this person we are attracted to. We have no control over whether we are attracted to men are females, the attraction just happens. Behavior is who we go out with, its who we let others think want gender we like.  Behavior  is unlike attraction, attraction you do. it have control over which gender or people you find attractive, but in behavior  you can make everyone think that you find a certain gender attractive. Being attracted to someone and behavior is totally different in that case, like if I am attracted to women that great, and if my behavior is that I am hanging out with women them people will think I'm straight. If I'm attracted to men but my heavier is that I am hanging out with women people will think I'm straight. Thats good but I will be living a lie and I will have to worry about my secret getting out, and I will be always watching what I say, and do so that my secret is safe. most people who live this life may have these same feeling and be scared to expose themselves  because of fear of what their family and friends may think of them, and fear of what they would do to them.  I have know this for a while but my thoughts got reinforced, that gay or straight  or even queen people are people with a story. Also I know from what I do that I have been in a spit where I have said something g Mena about gay people, or called someone a name, and now from today I have seen what happens, and how much courage and confidence it takes to do what they did today. Also I learned that their maybe a third term when we want to talk about sexual and gender. I think that the term queen is the third gender. We need a third gender for the people who do not fit in the standards we put into place the people who are a little feminine when they by society are not suppose to be. For the people who are a little masculine when society tells them is not allowed. If you were gay or queer would you come out in the open or hide? Why?

In class Discussion #2

Everytime we have an in class discussion with different types of people I seem to accept diversity even more then I have had already.  It felt kind of wierd to be talking to homosexual males who didn't appear to be homosexual at all.  I basically learned that It's not a matter of being confused, it's just a feeling or attraction you might say that one was born with. Before this discussion I would wonder how in the world are you born gay or just wake up and your all of sudden attracted to the same sex.  It just didn't make sense to me at all.  But when one of the speakers said that he asked his mother "well what made you wake up and say that you were attracted to males?" and it just dawned on me.  Homosexuality is not necessarily a chose.  It is for the most part something you're born with and can't really control that urge.  

Privilege

Today's talk about male privilege shocked me, I never seen it from a woman's point of view. Our world is based on productive and reproductive functions and that's what discriminates and lowers the woman values. Due to this system it creates privilege. Productive is based on works like business, construction, etc. These are mostly all male jobs. The Reproductive is seen as caring for life, staying home, cleaning, cooking, caring for the family. This is seen as a woman's lifestyle. Based on the discussion the woman who worked or currently works for S.B.P shows that society is living off these stereotypes.

Three woman stood up and had the courage to talk about how they are being discriminated everyday either if it's in the workplace or outside in the streets. The stories they told us left me with regret as a male. Each of these woman grew up thinking the world was equal until they stepped outside into the real world. Even though each one graduated out of college with bachelor and master degrees, they all are still seen as the minority's. But what shocked me the most was to hear that this privilege is carried within my second home... S.B.P

St.Benedicts Prep has led many of the woman to leave the school because the disrespect they dealt with coming from the men. At the teachers conferences, they would assume that the woman are supposed to take care of the notes being written or to bring in food to serve everyone like that's their job to do so. Also they left due to being called assistants because of their sex. After the woman showing me the privilege I have, I will have to change myself and try to convince others too because someone's privilege is never noticed until someone addresses it.

Male Privilege

Today's class was a great learning experience. I got to hear experiences from actual women on how they have been oppressed just because of their gender. We have talked about main male privilege in class, such as more pay and leading jobs, but actually hearing this from the oppressed group opens my eyes to my own privilege. Just like in the documentary Color of Fear, the racially blind white man had to actually listen to a black man talk about how he has been oppressed because of his privilege. What story really touched me was Mrs. Baker's story. Although she had worked at St. Benedict's for many years and was very close to many of the administrators, because she was a women she could not get her request granted; even though her request was heavily beneficial to the school. Tuesday's conversation about the productive and reproductive function in society showed the institutional bias toward men. The productive functions are loved in this society. In this they love having things getting built and trying to make money. While the reproductive functions are to give life and nurture the baby. This is bias because if a women is pregnant then she is thought of as less than and incapable to work which messes up the productive functions because it slows things down. The bias is when a boss might look for a replacement after a women has to leave to give birth and take care of the baby. Society thinks that having a baby is disability and they hinder and prejudge that they can't work. It is funny how women are thought as the cooker of the family, but when you go to a restaurant the staff is mainly males. America has a system in place where the don't want to give women power. Like what Ms. Sweeney said, what is so threatening of a women that the people running the system has to consistently keep them down. We also discussed how women are paid 77% of what men get paid, for the same job. It is so cruel to blatantly give women less pay, only cause their women. That should not be a reason to cut pay like that, it is good that women are speaking up about this horrible standard. In conclusion, I really enjoyed our talks this whole week which discussed a lot on gender privilege. Privilege given to the males, not females. I especially liked, Mrs. Baker and her assertiveness in the class. Last but not least, this blog helped my reflect on the week we have had and the talks we have discussed on.

Class Discussion

Something that I can take away from the conversation we had yesterday is that male privilege is definitely alive and still in power. Our three guest speakers each had their own experiences of how male privilege was used against them or how being a female came with its disadvantages. I learned that being a female makes life 100x harder because females have to worry about sexual assault, sexism, sexual expectations, etc. The system is dominated by men and wants to be dominated by men. Our three female guests were lucky enough to have some nice opportunities in life and given the ability to succeed in their fields. It's hard being a female in a male dominated system because it's natural to want to keep people like you on top. Male Privilege is present everywhere from the U.S. Government down to a fast food restaurant chain.

Male Privilege In Society

When Mrs. Baker, Mrs. Tuorto, and Ms. Sweeney expressed their experiences of gender discrimination, I felt embarrassed. The fact that the male gender could be so cruel and heartless, made me really think about how ignorant I myself was towards women. The woman that I respected the most was Ms. Sweeney at the end of the whole presentation. First off, she was able to tell us how she was a United States Diplomat. When I heard this, my first thought was, "that must be a cool job trying to encourage democracy in other countries ". However, she explained how her experience went and my initial instinct went  from "it being a cool job", to it being a complete chaotic world for women. Ms. Sweeney was promoted, and her first interaction with her boss was him questioning the fact that he was given a woman as his "inferior". When I heard this it sort of surprised me because I always believed that people in the government should be setting the example. Furthermore, Ms. Sweeney demonstrated to me that no matter what the situation, there are limits to the things that I person says, and can do. 
Also hearing about Mrs. Baker having to leave, I felt dumbfounded. I just couldn't understand how a PERSON could be exploited for their minds. She was given the opportunity to speak her mind, but her ideas were taken and then GIVEN under the leadership of a man. After today, I have realized that I should give more respect to any woman who has been able to persevere and achieve a higher postion in their respected jobs. Especially, Mrs. Tuorto because she was able to climb an uphill battle with the worst weather conditions ever afflicted upon someone. She was able to achieve her goal of becoming the Dean of Faculty. Even though they expect her to bring donuts or make coffee for the teacher's meeting, she is not intimidated by the men whatsoever. All of these have taught me to be persevere, fight for what you believe in, and that hard work only leads to great opportunities in the future.

Geoffrey Ofori-Dwomfuo
Diversity and Social Justice
Glenn Cassidy

Recently, my mates and I had the opportunity to witness three hardworking and successful ladies share the experiences they encountered with male supremacy. Their experiences were quite surprising and interesting because I had no idea females were going through this struggle. Among the experiences they shared, I was most astonished about how females were indirectly denied their freedom of speech. What is the use of being able to speak freely and knowing, that no one is willing to hear you out just because you are a female. In two of the speakers' experiences, she hesitated to speak out because she knew her words were not going to be taken seriously and it wasn't going to make a change. This led her to quitting her job. If we keep refusing to listen to the ideas and suggestions females are willing to offer in order to benefit all of us, our nation would be a static one. As the saying goes, "two heads are better than one". We need to be dynamic in order to progress as a nation.

Women in society

I never knew women had it this hard in today's world. Having them come to the class and talk about the struggle of being a woman was a great experience. It really open my eyes to prejudice, fear, and struggle women face every day living in a male dominant world. Ms. Baker experiences help me to think back to many times in my life where I saw women injustices with out thinking about. Throughout their experiences you can see the connection between them and see that most of the injustices against women are behind scenes.

Male Privilege By the Deckshow

I am going to be completely honest and say that I knew of this happening, but I did not know that it was this bad. The stories that everyone had to tell were really eye opening and I felt ashamed for my gender and race on this earth for doing this to women. Ms. Baker was one of my group moderators last year and she was always very nice and could talk to you about anything from grades to personal problems. I did not even know her that well so this amazed me as not very many people like that are around today. When I heard her tell her story about how she left Benedict’s, I was shocked that male privilege could even happen here, in such a friendly working environment for everyone. I thought that in a place like this it would be a little more even as to pay, job opportunities, social status and other areas men and women would be made more equal, but it turned out that I was wrong and that it is not the case at all.

Then I heard Ms. Sweeney's story. This story was incredibly shocking to me and it was so disgusting that I almost had a hard time listening to it. The other government official in Bolivia really had the nerve to say that to her. Then, on top of that spread all that around about her sleeping with people to get stuff done. It got to the point where they even turned a female boss against her through threats on her career. I thought it would have stopped before that, but it did not and I was really really shocked when I heard it. What also really bothered me, was that even when she had a high up position she was still being referred to as Fr. Ed’s secretary as though to say that’s all the women that work here do at all while they work here.

Now, I do not know Ms. Tuorto very well, but what from what I do know of her and what I have seen, she seems like a very nice person. Also, I thought it was awesome that she loved to play ice hockey before her injury as I play ice hockey and also a huge New Jersey Devils fan. The story she told me about the guy flirting with her even in these walls, was disgusting, that the guy really expected to get that from her and that Duffy had to step in to make him stop. Also, the story that happened at the talk was really disturbing as well. People were thinking that she was just a secretary to some professor who could not make it. I do not know her very well but I know that she is a very good scientist and that she is apparently the best with physics in the entire school. Yes, I know we are all guilty of stuff like this, and I am not excluding myself. I am just as guilty as everyone else with this. Sometimes I do this without even realizing it. But, yet I continue to fight for those in need. I will always fight on anyone's side that is being persecuted. Especially those who have autism as I have a strong connection with it, my sister has it and I would do anything for her.

Male Privilege

Over the course of the past two days I have come to realize my male privilege. I knew woman dealt with different troubles than men but I never imagined it was this bad. Mrs. Baker, Mrs. Torto, and Ms. Sweeny shared their experiences of institutional bias. I was shocked to hear the Ms. Sweeny was only Fr. Ed's secretary for 6 weeks. I remember everybody calling her his secretary for the remainder of her time here at St. Benedict's. I didn't even know she had a degree from Harvard. I felt ashamed calling somebody of her credentials a secretary when in actuality she was something greater. Not only did she deal with prejudice at the workplace but she was also sexually assaulted. This is something most men don't have to worry about but some women do. I also learned that Mrs. Baker left because of inequalities here at the school. For as long as she was here she could not move up to a higher position. Even when she was qualified to fufil a position, the job was always given to a man. Mrs. Torto spoke about her experiences as a Meteorologist. The men at the meteorologist event assumed she was there to take notes for her professor. A female scientists was an odd concept to them. After hearing these three women talk, it has made me more conscious to the issues that women face everyday. Now that I am aware I can do something to help prevent these negative experiences.

In Class Discussion

When we had our discussion in class with three ladies, they told us their struggles due to gender in the profession world and in their personal lives.  Now at first I had a few questions but as the conversation grew deeper I found myself outside of myself.  That may sound strange but it felt as if i was an actual spectator of the whole class.  I was dumbfounded by certain situations that they have gone through.  On top of that it hit close to home because some of those  situations happened within the school itself.  I don't necessarily blame it for happening because we were basically conditioned to think this way in society.  But what I took from the discussion is that I need to change and respect women more and don't just assume their position on things because of how the ideal woman is supposed to be.  I also realized that we can use the fight against gender to amplify the fight against race.  It's all the same principles. 

Class Discussion

Today's class was very enjoyable and filled me with knowledge that I never even thought of. As the women were speaking I was kept intone because it was extremely interesting seeing the point of view of multiple "victims". When listening I felt many different emotions. Feelings of sadness, confusion, and shock kept running rapidly in my mind. When the first speaker Mrs. Baker went up I noticed how  "excited" she was to tel her experience. I don't know if I'm miss judging her expressions maybe she was enthusiastic about the topic, but she said what she said with great pride, which she should because she took what she felt was wrong and constructively made it to push her to work harder. Mrs.Baker said she wasn't being allowed to show her full potential because she was a female. Her superiors (bosses) were limiting her due to gender. She didn't get offended but she used the frustration to better herself and move on to become a Dean of a college. I have great respect for Mrs.Baker for being so mature about the situation. If I was in her shoes I probably would've flipped out because I hate being treated unfairly. Mrs.Baker, through experiencing, is an extremely happy person, ofcourse when she gets discriminated against because of gender, she may get angry, but now I feel all she needs to do is smile and laugh because she beat the oppressors.

To conclude I want to ask, why didn't any of the speakers "speak up" when they were getting discriminated against? If they feel so strongly about the situation, why didn't they say anything when it was happening to them?

Blog on Woman

Well in the class discussion we had yesterday I didn't think of some of the points they were making. All women do not like to cook and clean. They like doing their own things. I knew my own mom didn't like doing these things I just thought it was her. I also didn't know that men and women have different fears and quite frankly they have more. Men we are afraid of being robbed, and or killed. Women worry about that and also being raped. No woman deserves to be raped. So this class discussion opened my eyes to the problems woman have about everyday life like we as men have.

Male Privilege

First off, today’s discussion was one of the most interesting discussions we’ve had since the cycle of prejudice. What I got from today’s discussion was that Mrs. Baker, Ms. Sweeney, and Mrs. Tuorto have added to the evidence that we live in a patriarchal society. We still live in a society where there are still prejudices against women today, this might be male privileged, but I always thought that women complained about discrimination in the workplace. However contrary to my beliefs, my mind has been blown and it opened many minds as what women go through on a daily basis. I believe this also due to our male privilege, where because we don't have to think about those types of things, which is why we don't believe that it exists. In other words we just ignore it because that it isn't relevant to us, kind of similar to how a white person might say we live in a “post racial society” because they don't have any clue to how the person discriminated against feels, those who are affected.

This brings me to a discussion that we had yesterday in class about Reproductive and Productive factors of discrimination. Basically, if a woman's reproductive and they aren’t doing anything for their respective jobs they are seen as a nuisance and are pushed away. However, if they are productive and help out, you'll want to keep them around because they produce for you, that's what people care about the most. I’ll use one the examples given to us in class, if a woman becomes pregnant there is a cycle of prejudice that starts from a person in a high position. Such as questions like “Are you sure you can handle it,” or “I’ll give this to someone else because this too much for you.” There are also many cases in which the woman might go on maternity leave and is “replaced” by someone for the time being. This leads to them might not being able to return to the same position as before because that person might do it better, this in turn lowers their pay which isn't fair at all. This is most likely because they cannot perform as well as they have before, they are not able to produce, therefore keeping them would be un-beneficial and not necessary for them to stay.

What else surprised me were the experiences that Ms. Sweeney had while working for the government in Bolivia. How she elaborated on how just in this instance, because she was doing her job better than one of the men, getting interviews with clients with people from Britain etc, it automatically meant that she had to be sleeping with them to make things happen. Instead of acknowledging her as an asset to her firm, she was discredited because there couldn’t be any other reason that she would do her job better than a man.

What came to me as a surprise to me was that someone with as credentials as Mrs. Tuorto while in college and even at St. Benedict’s is treated as a secretary. Being asked questions such as “Are you taking notes” because she’s the only women and being the Dean of Faculty must be insulting at times. Especially when she said “Is that honestly all you see in me?"