Monday, April 2, 2012
Condom Queues Incite Church Tensions in Philippines
Media Representations
Domestic Violence
Ng, Christina. "‘Black and Bleu’ Chris Brown, Rihanna Sandwich Chef Has No Regrets." ABC News. ABC News Network, 26 Mar. 2012. Web. 02 Apr. 2012. <http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/entertainment/2012/03/black-and-bleu-chris-brown-rihanna-sandwich-chef-has-no-regrets/>.
Blog 2: Control Subsidies Slashed by States as Debate Rages at Federal Level
Blog #2
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Kinsman, K. (2012, March 31). 'Fatshion' bloggers find beauty in all sizes. Retrieved April 1,
2012 from http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/31/living/fatshion-beauty-bloggers/index.html?
iref=allsearch
Aesthetics Among African American and Latina Women (pp. 243-252). New York,
NY:McGraw Hill.
Domestic Violence
Trayvon's Death
Sexuality on Campus: Bullying and Suicide - A Cultural Perspective
The suicide of Rutgers University freshman Tyler Clementi in September 2010 and the following trial of his roommate Dharun Ravi in February 2012 have been a topic on the minds of many. The media’s focus on this event have given rise to new awareness of (cyber)bullying and LGBT-related suicides in our modern age. It is important to know that this event did prompt both the New Jersey legislation and Rutgers University to enact new laws and policies to deter such a thing to happen again. New Jersey legislation reportedly enacted the “toughest law against bullying and harassment” in the nation in January 2011. While Rutgers has moved to create gender-neutral housing and increased training on suicide awareness. What I want to focus on more in the actions of Dharun Ravi, Clementi’s roommate at Rutgers, who through the use of the internet and a webcam, publicly humiliated his roommate to the point of suicide.
The trial of Ravi makes many references to Ravi’s alleged discomfort at the fact that his roommate was gay. Ravi’s lawyers would make the case that Ravi was simply a “foolish kid” with little experience with homosexuality who found himself uncomfortable. Yet Prosecutors believed Ravi had acted intentionally to embarrass Clementi, calling into question homophobia. In reading the article about this, I draw connections to David Wexler’s essay, “Shame-O-Phobia” in which Wexler addresses how a “profound fear of appearing weak or... ...feminine [will lead] most men [to] do whatever it takes to prove their manhood” (141). In the context of Ravi and his actions out of possible homophobia, I believe Wexler’s concept of “Shame-O-Phobia” is applicable on the grounds that I feel there is still a stigma attached to the idea of sharing a dorm room with someone who is openly gay. One could argue that if other students knew he was living with someone who was gay, he may be judged and his own sexuality would be put into question. So, to save his manhood, he publicly embarrassed said roommate.
Another aspect I want to look into how Ravi’s cultural background might have influenced his actions. Despite having lived in the United States since he was little, Ravi is from India. Now, we know that concepts and perceptions of sexuality “vary across cultures and through time and always concern issues of power and resources” (165). India is considered fairly conservative in terms of LGBT acceptance. From the Antony Thomas’ documentary, “Middle Sexes: Redefining He and She,” there is a place on the fringe of Indian society for transgender individuals, yet most males find their first sexual experience with another male, typically at a traditional Indian wedding, before eventually being married to a female themselves. Yet, according to the World Report 2010, India has only recently removed consensual homosexual acts as being a criminal act (169). With that, one could argue that Ravi’s parents are conservative and thus imparted their traditional values to their son. Being raised mostly in the United States, Ravi has likely not been exposed to the wedding and male bonding aspect of Indian culture, which could increase his potential inclination to homophobia.
All in all, I argue that Ravi’s perception of manhood and cultural background could have had a role in his actions towards Clementi. It is worth note, however, that while Ravi was found guilty on all accounts, he was not charged with Clementi’s suicide.
Bibliography
“Tyler Clementi” The New York Times, updated March 26th, 2012.
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/c/tyler_clementi/
index.html Accessed April 2, 2012.
Wexler, David. “Shame-O-Phobia” Women’s Voices Feminist Visions: Classic and Contemporary Readings 5th ed. pp. 141.
Shaw, Susan M. and Janet Lee, editors. Women’s Voices Feminist Visions: Classic and Contemporary Readings 5th ed. pp. 165, 169.
Middle Sexes: Redefining He and She. Directed by Antony Thomas. 2005.
Blog 2 - Sexisim in India
India parents 'reject newborn girl for baby boy'
The article I chose to talk about features a troubling story from the country of India. In the last week of March, two babies were born in an extremely busy hospital in the city of Jodhpu in Western India. One baby was a boy, the other a girl. The two children were mixed up and were given to different parents. Now, the recipients of the baby boy, we actually gave birth to the girl, refuse to give the boy back to the real parents.At first, one might ask "why?". Why won't the parents take their baby girl back, the same one they spent 9 months nurturing. As the article states, "Indian society has had a long history of discrimination against girls" and that "Parents in India tend to prefer baby boys to girls for economic reasons".
This story is a classic tale of sexism, which we have spent a great deal of time discussing and reading about through out this course. It also tackles the idea of how much more of an uphill battle woman have to climb in the country of India, a topic that we did not venture into as deeply. The idea can be applied to so many other cultures around the world as well. This was part of my thought process when choosing this article, to discuss a topic that we may not see in our everyday lives, or at least not to this extreme.
I want to dive deeper into the a quote I mentioned earlier in the article, stating that Indian parents prefer male babies due to economic reasons. What reasons? For one, woman in India are not encouraged to work nearly as much as woman in the United States. The husband is looked at as the working one who must provide for the family. Through research and asking some good friends from India, I found that the ideal of an Indian woman is not too far off of the American ideal of a woman.. 50 years ago. According to Friedman, this was the ideal:
"The suburban housewife—she was the dream image of the young American women and
the envy, it was said, of women all over the world. The American housewife—freed by science
and labor-saving appliances from the drudgery, the dangers of childbirth and the illnesses of her
grandmother. She was healthy, beautiful, educated, concerned only about her husband, her
children, her home. She had found true feminine fulfillment. As a housewife and mother, she was
respected as a full and equal partner to man in his world. She was free to choose automobiles,
clothes, appliances, supermarkets; she had everything that women ever dreamed of."-Friedman
The passage was referring to woman in the time of World War II. I believe this is a problem that a culture can still have the same ideals. When a culture has ideals like this, you see problems like parents not wanting to welcome in their own baby girl.
The article "A Day without Feminism" by Baumgardner and Richards really stuck out to me when thinking about this article. The day they write about is the everyday life of many woman in other cultures. I believe all societies could use a little more feminism and while it is an uphill battle, it is certainly attainable.
BBC News. (2012, April 02). India parents 'reject newborn girl for baby boy. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-17587284
Baumgardner, J., & Richards, A. (2000). A day without feminism - manifesta: Young woman, feminism, and the future. Farrar, Straus and Grioux.
Friedan, B. (1963). The feminine mystique.