Gender & Sexuality

blog#10.

Chapter 11, “Gender and Sexuality” explains well how gender plays a role in our lives. It describes the biology and culture on “Sex and Gender”. When we are born we all can automatically be told what sex we are, either female or male. Now throughout the years, human beings can realize who they are attracted towards. According to chapter 11, people who are attracted to the same sex as their selves would be consider a homosexual. Throughout this course I can say that what I learned was that society has changed over time in some ways. For example back then seeing men or women kiss or hold hands was like a something that was looked down on. It was like a norm that no one should have gone behind and mate with someone of the same sex. But in today’s society I can say that now in some states you can get married of the same sex, which to me is that society has accepted it, if the law is allowing people to get married.  Now I walk around and even know some of my friends that like the same sex of themselves and most people around them accept it. In the chapter, something that did not surprise me at all was second shift , because I still see it happen in 90% of the marriages of my family, family friends.

Understanding Sexual Orientation written by Alfred C. Kinsey, in a section of this article basically describes what is believed of the “homosexual male”.  Like for instance how they sensitive, I believe the reason why it “commonly believed” of this, is because that’s what people think or maybe seen and assume everyone else that is homosexual are the same. The article also states how men might also be in contact with their opposite and same sex, which eventually is consider being bisexual according to chapter 11. According to the Kinsey he states that it’s us (the human beings) that we make up these categories. I stated previous of people being with their same sex before it was looked down on. Today it is not as much looked down on and thought of “disgusting”. Now I can say it’s more accepting because I do have friends that are a couple and it’s the same sex. According to the article when said that males that like the same sex is “hard to get along with” it’s just beliefs people have come up with. To be honest I for one and I can say more people can agree, having a male friend that is homosexual are just as laid back and cool to be around with. I actually never had an argument with my friend. In the second high school I attended you barely saw 2 men have a relationship. Why?. Well because it would have been seen very bad, and people in that high school cared what others thought. But when I attended my 3^rd high school in Manhattan I was in shock that I actually saw people holding hands, kissing, having a public relationship and I was surprised. The point I’m trying to make is that I agree with Kinsey, is that people do “invent categories and tries to force facts into separated pigeon-holes”. Basically why consider someone homosexual or heterosexual when according to Kinsey at a period time of people’s lives they actually try are both, or try.

Could it be?

Blog9: Race & Ethnicity

Wow! Was the first impression I got seeing the whole video. In the video there is an experiment going on, where a group of different students take their DNA to see who they are more genetics similar between each other. Of course one of the girls said she will be more alike to Natalie, because of being Latin American. Just as the white male student assumes he will be more genetic similar to the other 2 white males. Now I would say the same, because before seeing this video that’s what I thought, I might have more genetic similarities with my friend, she is from Ecuadorian, than my friend who is African American. After the experiment, they conclude that their assumptions were wrong. The white male actually had more genetic similarities 100% to an African American genetics. This video to me basically explains, how us human beings we assume base on each other’s psychical characterizes, which race we from. But the conclusion is that it’s false, and we are the ones who set society thinking that’s how it was. This was an eye opening for me, because I wouldn’t think that there was even 1% chance that I can have the same genetics as to someone who isn’t a Latino.  The skin color also is said to come in different forms, which at first I did not understand. But as stated in the video “mutations cause variations in our DNA”. I’m still confuse about the sunlight topic.

Throughout my high school experience I seen many of my friends, friends of friends, cousins and even people I did not know drop out of high school. At first I saw it as everyone was dropping out, but while reading  the article “The Hispanic Dropout Mystery: A Staggering 30 Percent leave School, Far More Than Blacks or Whites by Susan Headden, I see that Hispanics have a greater percentage of being dropouts.  The article explains to reasons why there are more Hispanics then whites and blacks dropping out. When teens are asked to why they have dropped out some have answered that, “They’re bored” or “They’re working to support a family”. This is what the teens say, but further in the article it explains to other reasons. Like for one, teens that are born in their native countries their first and only language they know is Spanish. When coming here to the U.S they have to learn English since that’s the number one language that is taught in schools. In Headden article, it states that 43% Hispanic dropouts do not get the “language help” they should get. As stated it is said and been argued that in high school more classroom lessons should be taught in Spanish, in order to help the Hispanic students and prevent them from being a drop out. In Chapter 10, states certain terms about race and ethnicity.  For one being Institutional discrimination, schools not helping Hispanics by teaching more courses in their language can be a sort of way of discrimination. By schools only teaching in English and forgetting about the percentage of Hispanics that do not know anything of English .One question arises in my mind, could it be that the government does not care about Hispanics and could care less if they drop out or not. Being that the government does not set a law that high schools make it mandatory to teach more class lessons in Spanish, to help Hispanic students. The statement I stated previous, addresses to the foreign students, but in the article it states that majority of the Hispanics drop outs are born here and they do speak and understand English. But there is still some Hispanics that Spanish is the only language they know. What I stated previous, I addressed it towards those teens who do not understand nor speak English. Poverty was issue that was also stated in the article. It is a reason towards why Hispanics that were born into poverty also have an impact in the drop out percentage. I feel that this article is connected with the chapter 10, as stated in the chapter, Latinos being the biggest group of people that are growing, but they still growing in minority. Just as poverty being a reason for Hispanics drop outs, maybe having to do with them not being wealthier enough, teens feel the need they have to get a job and help pay house bills. As some of the teens said being one reason they drop out in the article.

                I can say I somewhat agree with what the article stated about reasons towards why Hispanics drop out of high school. I believe that it is true about being born into poverty, by seeing my own friends telling me that their parents have told them to look for a job to help pay bills around the house. Now some of my friends that were born into middle class like me, I never had to worry about the house bills since my parents cover that for me. I can say that my brother is a Hispanic and i really do not like to speak about my private life, but I feel like in this blog I do.  One day about like 2 years ago we got a notice home saying that we have a chance of being the house taken away due to failure of mortgage pay. This was due because 2 apartments in my building the tenants have not paid their rent in 7 months.  My dad cannot work and my mom did not make enough money to pay the mortgage on her salary. My brother had to work and pay the house mortgage of the months that were due. Now my brother at the moment was in college and I believe I was in my senior year of high school. I could have dropped out of high school to get a job and help pay the mortgage.  But I didn’t, because my parents were on top of me every single day making sure I do not drop out. This article has some good points, but everyone has their opinion and I believe it’s the job of a parent to make sure your child does not drop out of high school and within one self. My parents did not play when it came to education, they said I was going to finish high school and they made sure I did.Now where are the parents of these Hispanic drop outs? My father who had a stroke, even though he had a stroke he made sure that I was going to school, even though he at the moment he was not speaking well, he still went to my high school and spoke to my teachers, and see my progress in grades. I can say I am amaze that Hispanics are the more drop outs we have, I was not aware of that.

Extra Credit:

In the Ted video “Ted Talks Education” hosted by John Legend, it focuses on high school drop outs. Which in today’s world, it is a huge problem. Now in this video they speak about a personal experience of a teacher who taught her classroom. As she speaks she tells the audience how she was very supportive of her students. Instead of her just writing a simple F which we all know is failing, she included a smiley face because at least the student got 2 questions right.  By this she is growing a relationship with her student by being supportive, instead of just giving an F and her student walking away.  As the video goes on, it mentions how the educator can help students have an ease day, with the help of their educators. When it comes to teaching and learning it is not enough just do teach what you planned for the day, but it comes from the inner way of a student way of being. Motivation is one of the keys to a successful child turning into a teen and later graduating high school. Teaching is said that also comes to pushing a student to overcome the challenges. So basically when a teacher pushes a student it keeps them going on. As we see the girl who grew up in the Bronx, she really did not attend school a full day, and later returned to school and graduated by the help of her math teacher. The math teacher pushed her to limits she thought she would give up, but yet she started to enjoy when she would say “you can do it”. Bill gates states that the system is not fair for teachers, that basically teachers should be more helped, in other that they can improve. Bill gates states how teachers need to be given more skills to the help they need in order to do so. Some teachers might not be involve in the lessons plans since they are given, but if they was to do their own, they might be more involve in them. When Geoffrey Canada speaks on the topic of Charter schools, he does point out that not all of them work, but yet few do. When it comes to the cost, it does not matter, but he states what matters is the next generation that is coming. Pearl Arredonde speaks about “Freedom” to choose which teachers they feel are the correct ones to hire. That does not want any teacher to just teach the lesson plan but to be affection with the students. To sum it all up, this ted video explains how we should not always blame the teachers or the students for the failure of the “high school drop outs”, but to help teachers and fix the curriculum. As Sir Ken Robinson Ph. D. states “Children are natural learners”. By that being said it’s up the improvement of certain areas to not have high school drop outs. 

Seeing this video is so true, and I would like to go back to those teachers who just sat their and handle me a packet and thats all. Not a few weeks ago, this boy was recorded when he spoke back to his teacher in saying that she needs to teach instead of just handling a packet to the students. Its true, there are teachers who need to improve their teaching skills, because not all students learn the same way. 

Know Where You From:

In the video People like Us: Social Class, you can see how people judge you by what you wear or where you from. This small video clip tells us how class does exist in this world, by the job you hold, what you own. Also in the video clip you can see how people see a photo of a man and right away assume in which class he belongs by the clothing he is wearing. About schools, private schools as explained is when parents don’t like poor people and that being said, they don’t want their children to associate themselves with those kind of people. I have a friend whose parents and she are from working class, the money they made from their jobs was just enough to survive on. But when entering High-school she went to a private school and she had lots of friends, but when one girl found out that father was a construction worker and her mother worked at Wendy’s,  she was seen differently. The girl even said that she does not belong in the school due to her parent’s job titles.

                In the second clip, you see the man going in the store and not knowing some of the items in the store. He then said how maybe because you not from that class, but yet if you go to Wal-Mart you will know everything from there. I can say that Yes, this has happen to me when I go to Connecticut and my cousin went inside a store and it was like an old fashioned store , where I barely knew . When my cousin kept asking me do you know what this is called and used for, I will say “No”. After that when my other cousin asked me the same thing, and once again I replied no, my cousin Yessina said “what does she know she live in an apartment”. Now it is true, most of the things that were at the store were like items you see big one family houses use. All I knew was the type of pan you do rice in, because my mom every night cooks rice. But my aunt she goes all out and does like every different dish fancy ones you can say.

In “How to marry the rich” clip shows a woman teaching another woman how the upper class is. Explains the way you stand a certain way it shows the other people you are confident. Later in the clip you see an event where a certain class are, and that these people are the ones that have class. This video shows how changing your class can occur but it won’t be hard, because this woman tries and changes her appearance to be accepted in the class that the event holds. This is like class mobility, where the lady might be able to change her class, to the upper class which she is trying to by changing her appearance and trying to associate her with a man from the upper class if she marries a rich man.

The 3rd video you see how a woman is into lawn ordainments, and she made this as her business. She explains that people go in there and buy sometimes because if they want to decorate their lawn then it’s there business in doing so. She states that this is American “Freedom” which I do agree but yet the man from the beginning of the video said he won’t because of his neighborhood. He knows that if he was to do so, his community where he live will look down on him.

Friends in Low Places: dive bar, you can see that not everyone will go in. These groups of friends go and drink and just have a chill day with their friends at the bar. One man considers them to be “Yuppers” which he explains that “there people who live at a neighborhood, that likes to come to this neighborhood spend their money because they can show their ass and not have to worry about how their neighbors having to see them acting like they do when they not home”.  The author said that the working class behavior is just as the same as the upper class behavior. So even though there are from different type of class, they pretty much have the same behavior.

All you need is cash speaks about how the rich people are. They expect people that are lower than them to look up to them. Now living in a rich society can be difficult for some people which they can move in a community where the upper class are, but they still might not fit in because they do not know how it is to live in such a different class. People want to fit in with these rich families that’s why they attend their events they do. It also states how you might be able to be accepted into this “Class” you have to attend the right schools, attend them in another place, and then marry a rich guy. Later having the children you have to do the same for your children.

Belles belles belles: This clip shows how being a “belles” is something that most of girls want to be one. Now the girl did not know about a belle, and she was put out of their social group. I can also point out that the girl was from New York, not from Texas and in New York everyone does their own little crews and etc., but at the end of the day we all know what social groups are out there. Some people like the belles and others do not. This might be because the belles are put into this way that they higher than the other kids at the high school. I can relate to this because when I had to move to Connecticut, I was look down on some kids because I was able to get free lunch and it was noticeable by giving the lunch lady a red ticket, which shows that I get free lunch. Now the kids from my class almost everyone had to pay for their lunch because their parents made enough money. They will look at me with a face and eventually one boy from their told me that it’s because I get free lunch. We were in fourth grade and I couldn’t believe that at a young age they started to think they were better just by having money.

Trouble in Paradise: is about a couple who are married and when asked if they from the same class, right away the wife answers and said “absoluting no”. When riding around you can see that the spouses are aware of different things. The wife knows about the upper class neighborhoods and who live there and her husband knows about a different neighborhood and the type of people that live there. His wife relates to a class on how much wealth they have and her husband is not towards that but in fact how the people act. I can say that my uncle from Ecuador he is a lawyer and he has lots of money. Now the way he acts is like normal he goes to simple restaurants and speaks to people from the working class and even defends them in court. So I guess it doesn’t matter how much money you have because you can act totally different.

The last video is about how you were raise. The “Wasp” explains how the upper class, what they own like the car of the year the clothing that has a brand name. They see how the upper class cannot be confused for any other class because the way they speak, dress, own, and act. The man said how the people from the upper class do not really show off.

In the article “Cause of death: Inequality” by Alejandro Reuss, this article states how men are most likely to live less years than the women. This man can suffer from chronic diseases; also woman can also by saying if they have less than 10,000 the income they too have a greater chance to die from something. Most of the people are not cover by insurance and most 44% of the poor. It also states “So the higher money income of a low-income person in the United States, compared to a middle-income person in a poor country; does not necessarily translate into a longer life span”. This is said because African American people live the same about the people in “El Salvador”. But yet they make some more money than them but yet live the same amount of years. People from the lower level civil servants work, might work at their paste while people from the upper class workers have to work fast might be, because of the way their boss expects them to. But the people from the lower civil servants work, they reported “feelings from hostility” which is said is the number 1 common risk factor for heart disease. In a study it is said that African American people suffer from blood pressure than whites do.

                In life I can say my parents had to work hard to get where they are today. My parents were from the working class. The jobs they had were enough just to survive by paying their rent and food. Now my parents are no longer from the working class, because they own a house. This I can say they are from the middle class now because they own a house. This occurs by class mobility, they went from the working class to the middle class. I at times wonder though what would have been of my life if my parents did not own a home. I do know that when the time comes me and my brother will eventually own this house and we will be consider from the middle class. This will happen by Wealth, because the properties that my parents own will be passed to us. In the first video clip where the man is being judge by what he is wearing , the people assume to which class he might belong, I can say reminded me of myself when I was in Junior High school. My friends will always wear the sneakers: Jordan’s, every single pair that came out that month. Now I would say wow their parents must be rich, and I was more like wearing whatever at the time. So I remember when one day I had money save up and this pair came out that I liked and I brought them, now when I went to school the following day my friend was in shock that I was wearing Jordan’s because she told me that she thought I could not afford them.  So I can say that because of what you wear you are judge because people will think you cannot afford, not knowing that maybe at times not everyone likes the name brands that are out there.

Being deviance at a point in life:

Through media I saw and notice a huge difference between being famous and not. Besides having the money and having fans follow you. Being Famous comes with lots of power. An artist that goes by the name of T.I, I can say has huge power. He pleaded guilty to U.S Federal weapons charges.  The artist only got one year in person and community service. This is an example of “Power allows some people to escape being branded or punish as deviant”. I remember speaking to my brother about this incident and we both came to a conclusion that if it was just a regular non-famous person, they would have had more than one year in prison. The artist did not even finish the whole one year sentence; he was able to come out before 360 days.

2.       I have a friend that I was always very kind too and will constantly have casual talks with. My friend Charlie had went to the beach with a couple of his friends and at the way returning back, his friends and him got into a physical fight with another group of people. My friend Charlie got hit in the head with a bottle and he was out for a couple of seconds. Between those seconds a boy was stab and died from the wound. My friend was not the one who killed the boy, but the laws we have clearly state the no one can be involved in gangs. Since my friend was, he was arrested because he committed a crime by being involve in a gang and fighting and a boy was murder.

3.       I would never forget my 7^th grade class teacher. When 8:30am came, me and my classmates had to get up our seats and stand for the pledge of Allegiance. At the time I did not want to stand and say the Allegiance, I recall my teacher getting mad and getting in my face telling me I’m worthless and to go to the dean’s office. Every day of the week my teacher tried to enforce me to stand and say the pledge of allegiance. She eventually started to punish me by taking away gym time and instead sitting in the classroom writing 5 pages of history work. She would call my mother and try to suspend me from class. This is a connection with “agents of social control” because my teacher eventually punished me for not following the rules and enforced me to follow the classroom rules by standing up and saying the pledge of Allegiance.

4.       Through the media you can see anything. In the news I recall watching footage of a police officer beating a male. According to the footage and the news you can see that the person was already put in cuffs but still the police officer was hitting him and kicking him in the face. This is an example of “White-collar crime” because the police officer committed a crime and since his occupation is to arrest criminals, it was okay that he was using this type of violence towards the person. The officer did not get written up or fried and was let go in court.

5.       In the society we live in, having children out of marriage is seemed to not be okay. People see it as breaking the cultural norms that we have. Teen pregnancy is an example of “deviance “, by teens having children at such a young age they are going against the basic expectations that the adults have of them. Parents expect their teens to attend high school and then attend college; they do not expect them to having kids of their own at that age.

6.       Since my father had a stroke, getting a job was hard for him. Having this stroke happen to my father, it prevented him from getting a job. The stroke affected my dad by not being able to have control of his right hand and cannot speak clear. This is an example of “Stigma” because of his status it prevented him from getting a job and even trying to make friends since people can understand what my dad is saying when he speaks. 

The article written by Herbert J. Gans, explains how the poor people are label by others. It explains how poverty for the poor people is more negative than the people who are non-poor. He describes the functions of the undeserving poor, which he discusses in five sets. He also talks about these 13 specific functions. One of them that interested me and is said to be the most important is the “job creation”. People are label basically as useless and all the cons that come with it. The undeceiving poor are not that they useless but in fact they just not worth any useful to people who are in higher level than them.  Since these people are considering being undeserving poor people, they automatically put into poverty which bring them just to no good.

Reading this article and chapter 8 in the text book just made me think of me and my father. When it came to reading the definition of “stigma” in the text book, in my mind I thought “oh its okay my dad does not have to work he can relax at home and just get society security check”. But now I realize that it’s not okay, even if he gets that monthly check to help out with the bills in the house since he can’t get a job and pay them himself.  Secondary deviance, while reading this in chapter 8, I can say it reminded me that this took place in my teenage stage. That since I was consider the loud and getting in trouble in school all the time, some adults in my life label me as the bad child and my brother as the good, quiet, and nice child in my family. I can say that by them labeling me as the “bad child and trouble maker of the house” , it made me become more to breaking the house rules since I was already consider a bad child. At the time I thought to myself since my uncle and aunts think I’m the trouble maker in school then why not really get into trouble and just not listen to my teachers so they can really have a reason to label me as that. I’m not embarrass to say that when I was younger I was a deviance teenager in some ways.But as I left that teenage stage of my life, I could say that I left that behind me.