IS RELIGION GIVEN?

WHAT DO YOU THINK...

Is Homosexuality a Choice?

I found this video that makes a nice point. I don't agree with the birth order thing though, maybe they're saying it's more common statistically. Hope it doesn't offend anyone with how the guy's name is emphasized as "Christian." Everyone seems to be generalizing everyone so I don't want to reiterate that. Trust me, one of my best friends is hard core church going Christian, memorized the bible, word for word but is totally pro gay.

The Bad Economy is on me.

Today I was layoff along with 7 people at work. I feel frustrated but I think that everything happens for a reason. I 've been wanting to do community organizing work or just anything where I can help out others. But since I was comfortably paying my bills, I did not bother to seek for a job that could satisfy my needs. I am looking for a community organizer job, if any one knows of anything please help out. Getting layoff has to bring something good into my life.

Zeitgeist

The word zeitgeist describes the intellectual, cultural, ethical and political climate of an era or trend. There are 2 parts to this movie. The first is the "Zeitgeist, the movie" that you should watch first (located on the bottom of the linked page) then watch the recently released "ZEITGEIST: ADDENDUM" (located on the top of the linked page). "Zeitgeist, the movie" is in 3 parts, it starts a little slow but trust me it will all make sense after you watch the whole movie. The newly released "Zeitgeist: Addendum" is very relevant to what our economy is going through at the moment. Be ready to get blown away.

http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com/main.htm

700 billion bail out

It is ridiculous that members of Congress decided to bail out all these corporations who got us on this mess. Congress should have just let them go bankrupt. Let them start from zero just like all those home owners on foreclosure. It is sicking to my stomach that when corporations say "ouch I cut my my hand" Congress runs to them and makes things better for them.
But yet when millions of Americans lack of free health care insurance (for all), a decent budget for the CSU, UC system, college, veterans psychological treatments, benefits (like giving them all a deed of their dream home), youth programs, after school programs, arts and job skills programs in high school, social security, etc, etc, Congress turns around and says "sorry we have a $700 billion deficit." And the only thing we do is what Parson's said, we define our integrations of loyalty to social collectivity by pretending to be happy that the $700 billion bail out will bring us some benefits. Will the bail out make things better for stress home owners, students, small business owners, for us or for the bourgeoisie? Absolutely not! Marx will say "political parties only serve those who control the means of production (i.e. corporations, the 8 (or more) most rich families in the world)."

Women, Men, and Other?

Just wanted to make a comment about today's banter against men. I just wanted to add it just seemed a little generalized, at least by today's standards as well as cross culturally. Yes, I do believe it is men who are the oppressors but at the same time there are sub-groups within the male identity that should be addressed as well, not just the fe/male dichotomy.

In a few of my other sociology courses, some of my TA's have emphasized that it's not just the men in this culture, it's the men in the upper class; rich, white men who are the one's running the game and in certain cases they use the issues of race to deter our attention away from the issue of class. By doing so, the separations in class according to race will keep people fighting so they will not realize that their enemy is the upper class, not each other.

I'd like to point out that something that tends to be underplayed in discussions about sexism, or anything in general and that's hetero-sexism. Hetero-sexism is the assumption that everyone is heterosexual, and by doing so people are lumping together a whole sub-culture into an assumed mainstream culture just because they look like one particular sex; as with the case with gender roles. Our culture of maleness and femaleness emphasizes this (or at least did emphasize this a lot more before) in a lot of ways, as pointed out by feminism (the GLBT movement wouldn't have worked as well if feminists didn't pave the way); i.e. girls wear pink and boys wear blue, boys like sports and girls like to play kitchen.. etc. One or the other.

There are other cultures that are more inclusive of these other sexual orientations or in some cases called the Third Gender. There are several Native American tribes that believed in the people with Two Spirits who fulfilled varying roles rather than the set gender roles. There's actually 2 countries where you can see the how the influence of the colonizing powers on the population's behavior towards these third gendered individuals.

The Hijra of India used to be honored and called upon for births and other special occasions for blessings. As someone once put it to me, "In some places in India still, you cannot imagine having a birthday, or some kind of celebration without them..." you can see how integrated into their society Hijra's were until the British (an imperialistic colonizing power) came and colonized them. With their feelings and ideals about Godliness guiding them and justifying their actions, they felt they should "civilize" these polytheistic heathens by teaching them our ways, their attitudes towards the Hijra changed from a position of honor to some sort of perversion.

Thailand on the other hand was one of the few powers that was not colonized by a western power. Their version of the third gender, the Kathoey, are more readily accepted. For example, when I went on a trip to Thailand a while back, there was a biological male working at the Baskin Robin's there with a full face of makeup on, AND IT'S NORMAL TO THEM! Doubt you can see that in any westernized/post colonized country.

Anyways, my main point is that not ALL generalized men should be blamed. In fact, by acknowledging that there's more than just the roles of man and woman and destroying the dichotomy, it would destabilize the power that said masculinity is supposed to have. You can't really ask a homosexual couple, "Who wears the pants in the relationship?" because they both can at the same time (ideally speaking of course, but that's another blog there..).

Welcome Autumn Thinkers

Blog well and dare to comment. Anyone can comment - you don't have to be a member. Send me a "survey" and I might post it. Imagination exercise with theory on Monday.

last 10 weeks

Like my fellow classmate jay said "I am aware that the course is almost coming to an end but I cannot let the opportunity of my most memorable moment pass me by!" The most memorable moment for me was the epoche discussion. How can we not epoche the crier "right". I did epoche him because my first judgment was you are a "man" stop crying. Then I thought, hey it could be hard to know that person you are infatuated with dose not have the same feeling. But what a moment "uh". The reaction of the class was another thing but we will remember class the because we all epoche the crier "right". This soc class thought through a intuitive and unconventional way that one learns and keeps learning way after the class is done that is because is given by one of the best professors in Cal State LA. It would be hard to forget this class.

Class Memory

I am aware that the course is almost coming to an end but I cannot let the opportunity of my most memorable moment pass me by. The class over all was a great learning experience filled with creative ways of understanding contemporary theory. We had so many discussions over these past ten weeks but the one that impacted me the most was the heated discussion over the "N" word. I was surprised by the reaction of my fellow classmates. There was a variety of opinion with great detail involved. Listening to the opinions and facts given by my classmates, I now have a different view of the usage of the word. I am no one to judge or say whether it is right or wrong but the impact of the discussion will forever stay with me.

Can we really do Gender? Somthing they dont want you to konw!

I did once believe that gender was socially constructed. However, I must say that I do not fully agree with Zimmerman and West. I no longer believe gender is fully socially constructed. I watched a documentary about a Canadian sociolgist who did an experiment on two twin boys. He treated one as if he were a little girl, and he treated the other twin as a little boy. The twin that was socialized as a girl was dressed as a girl, given dolls, and even worse his hair as a girl . At about twelve years of age he decided that this wasnt right. He said all along it didnt feel right, and he always desired to play with his brothers trucks. He eventually transformed his life to that of a typical male. He even ended up getting married to a woman. Still, he could not live with all the images of his childhood and commited sucide in his early adulthood. This poor young man's story tells us that there must be more to gender than what Zimmerman and West are arguing. Somthing biological was calling him to become intouched with his man hood. In the end the whole experiment was a tragedy because his life was taken as a latent consequence. Eventually, his twin killed himself as well. Absolutly nothing good came from this experiment! Maybe, the death of these two men can teach us to stop conducting immoral experients on humans for the sake of science....but probally not because people seem to do what they want to do.

Functionalism

Despite of being one of the wealthiest nations in the world, United States is experiencing growing inequalities in wealth distribution. One theory of class and social inequality is Durkheim’s functional approach at explaining the inevitability and social functions of inequality. Durkheim views the world as a balanced system composed of different interrelated parts. Society, therefore, exists as a result of interdependence and consensus of values among its members. Under this concept, some roles in society are believed to be more important than others and thus are worth receiving more resources and rewards from society. As a result, inequality is viewed not only as inevitable, but also as a beneficial feature of all societies.

I think that functional theory of inequality has its merits because it helps us understand how a society functions and the reason behind the existence of inequality within a society. It addresses the issue of class and social inequality on a broader spectrum as opposed to concentrating only on narrow issues such as ownership of poverty or bureaucracy and occupation.

Functionalism, however, does have some shortcomings. First of all, this theory favors social stability instead of change because of the view that inequality is functional and inevitable. Second of all, it underemphasizes the significant impact of wealth attained through inheritance on the creation and perpetuation of inequality. Also, this theory could be viewed as circular as it is hard to establish the causal relationship between high paying jobs and their functions in society, i.e. are high paying jobs defined as the ones with most function simply because they are high paying or vice versa. Furthermore, if the assumption of interdependent nature of people in a society is true, then all roles should be equally important and therefore deserve equal compensation.

L.O.V.E

What is love really?? What's the difference between being "in-love" with someone vs. you "love" someone?

Love can be broken down in many different meanings and expressions. What do people first think when they hear the word LOVE? Is it the face of their lover, their crush, their family, their life, their job, their pet? I mean, really, what is really love?

Let me tell you what i personally think, i think the word LOVE is overrated. Don't you agree? The word love has been commonly used among people. The strong three words "I LOVE YOU" supposed to be this sacred word to say to someone you truely love right? or no?... My first "I love you" was to my parents and i slowly started to say it to my dog and relatives because i was told not to say "I LOVE YOU" unless you truely mean it so i have not said those words to any of my lovers...

has that beautiful phrase lost its meaning?

Recently, my friends and my girlfriends say "I LOVE YOU" to each other all the time like its water.. I hear it quite often among my group of friends and others.. I usually hear it when people are quite drunk..why do people tend to express themselves with these words while being under the influence? is it really their true feelings or just an expression of word to make someone feel love and special, or just saying it to SAY it?

Love can not be explain into words but should be express through actions. Love should be felt and remembered. It should make you feel GOOD. Love shouldn't loose its' meaning. Love is a like medicine to all wounds. Everyone wants love and be loved but what is it really?

I have not been able to get my mind of the heated class session about the "N" word

My thoughts on how we should use the “N” word. I believe that the word nigga, not to be confused with nigger, should become a universally used word for the word friend. If we took the word of its pedestal and stopped letting its usage be exclusively for black people, then the words negative meaning would become extinct and we can come closer together and all become each others “niggas” One day we can maybe even have it in the dictionary as a synonym for friend. Then we can all live in the same world like the “Blondie” from the view said. Dr. Tabor, one of the most brilliant individuals I’ve ever met, made a statement that shed much light upon me. She said, “ since I understand the word, can I say it?” I would answer that question with a yes! I believe if we can understand the word and if its meaning means my friend, then why can we just leave it at that?

Meet My Representative

Going back to Monday's conversation about romance, I personally believe in love and romance but I do have a side of me that is cautious when I meet new people. Reason being is that when you first meet someone you meet their representative. Their representative is usually the ideal person that they want to be or who they think you want them to be. Then little by little their representative goes away and you meet the true person. Unfortunately, their representative may be in place so long that you get deep into a relationship and then..BOOM!! the real person comes out and you don't know what to do. And of course I am going to give you an example. So, earlier this year I meet this girl and she was telling me all about herself. She liked to travel, to camp, be outdoors, going out to bars and such, etc... She was also finishing up grad school in a couple of months, she had a good job, good credit and was debt free. Yes, she told me that on the first night we meet. She also said she wanted a man that she didn't have to teach how to be a boyfriend. It took a couple of months but eventually her representative left and the real her came out. She really didn't like doing any of that stuff she talked about, all she liked to do was to go out to dinner, to the movies and shopping. She was finishing grad school but she had no idea what she wanted to do after and she had to quit her good job because she had to do an internship. Also, she really doesn't know how to be in a new relationship because she was so focused on what happened in her last relationship that she sabotaging ours. I really thought she was a keeper but as soon as she showed her true colors she was too much to handle and she didn't know how to be in a relationship. I mean she is a great person but it required way to much effort to be with her and it had only been a couple of months. Why do people have to have a representative? Why cant we just be real from the beginning?

Man school is for fools! Maybe not?

Errrrr! O how I wish I could just come to class with a pillow and just learn, (I did it before, it was very relaxing)and do nothing else, no homework or test. Why do I hate school with a passion? Why can't I appreciate the fact that I have access to an education when many do not? Why does school intimidate, and scare me so much, after all its just a grade. No ones going to punch me in the face if i get an F, well maybe my momma would. But i guess I'll have to continue through with it, after all I do need to keep my medical insurance cuz u all know they'll drop u if your not in school! And I cant go to a hospital like Drew. So to keep my spirits high I'll just chant medical insurance, medical insurance, medical insurance!

When is it okay?

When and why is it ever okay to use the N word? When is it okay to use any term that disrespects another person? Maybe it's just a form of expression but I really don't get it.

The Controversial "N" Word

Interesting how verbal language has tremendous power to shape attitudes and influence our behavior.... So SAD how the consequences that derive from the meanings given to words can create such turmoil and in cases even lead to violence. It is even more surprising to me that these ascribed meanings are given by insignificant people who in our current lives no longer exist nor have a clue of who we are and of our existence.... It saddens me that people are still attached to words that were created in the past to classify and degrade people. Yet, people have given a new meaning to this particular word that instead of spreading the new, upgraded meaning, to destroy that wall separating cultures, they hang on to it because of the history that according to them is only understanded by them.
To point this specific word out... let me bring up monday's class, the heated argument about who can and can not use the "N" word was debated. As i sat quietly listening and observing to my classmates argue about their point of view and explaining the meaning of the "N" word; i began noticing people's reactions to this subject. I observed how everyone whether speaking out or just listening began to become noticibly uncomfortable with the subject being argued. I began noticing how a few of my classmates who were speaking out about their point of view became heated and eager to get their point across and how they each wanted for everyone to see it the way they saw "their world".
At that moment i began to think to myself that there had to be a middle path in which this debated word would be lost in the past and where it would not have such a negative feeling whether it was said by those who can say it or those who can not! I began to notice how some people live in the past and how most of their present actions are well expressed by their beliefs and how they only see black and white. As my mind wondered off... i also thought that if some people only see black and white something can be done to get them to see GREY .... Do you understand me? Well if you dont, just think that when you mix a bit of black and a bit of white it creates GREY.... and i honestly believe that in order to get rid of any stereotypes and prejudice created by words such as the "N" word we must come to a common understanding of meanings to such words. “Ignorant people see life as either existence or non-existence, but wise men see it beyond both existence and non-existence to something that transcends them both; this is an observation of the Middle Way.” -Seneca-

Wait there goes a black person!

So I read some where that vh1 believes that viewers are more interested in seeing black people in a ghetto role. And that's why the promote shows like "I Love New York" or the viewers favorite Flava of love. I'm not gonna lie that 1st season of I Love New York was like an ice cream sandwich...it was oo so good! Well anyways I know I shouldn't have watched flava of love because of its demeaning portrayal of not only women of color but also women period, but it was so darn entertaining and for some reason I am always attracted to shows that have black people on them. I don't need to see African Americans playing a ghetto role I just like to see black people on T.V. So If i clickin that channel changer lookin for a show and I instantly stop, Its becuz my mine quickly goes "wait theres a black person" becuz I like to see people who resemble me. The only time I watch the Family Feud is when there is a black family, and I only watch Law n Order when Ice T is on, and I don't really like him. I even once watched a Novela just because there was a black character and I don't speak Spanish. But what else is there catering to African Americans, the all black cast, Girlfriends and Just the Two of Us, is of the air. Two shows in which portrayed people of color positively. Anyways how come the show Friends could when so many awards and shows like Girlfriends can't even get a nomination! It's a CONSPIRACY!

heated discussion "n" word

Just something to think about...

I was at work and I read something out loud from a magazine article with the n word. My coworkers are mostly black/ African-American and I am Mexican.

Also at work, a Mexican-Chinese coworker constantly tells her boyfriend to "go eat some beans"

2ness, Social Structure, Personal Responsibility

Let Senator Obama speak in his own words about this distinction. He did a good job combining the two points of view. This is related to "2-ness", from a speech to the NAACP this Monday: CLICK TO Yahoo story As many pointed out in papers, 2ness can "set in" in many contexts, not just black and white.

• What happens when a leader speaks of personal responsibility instead of structural matters?
• What happens when a leader speaks of personal responsibility for just one race or one sex?

The repercussions of slavery: whites systematically broke down slave families; it was an achievement of a black man NOT to work so hard; slavery was followed by decades of violence and prejudice; it has only been a bit over 1 generation since the Civil Rights Act, which was the next attempt to stop the structure of slavery. History indeed left the AfAmer community with fewer fathers & proportionately more children and more strong women alone - and left all politicians and sociologists in a quandry about how to approach the issue. And now immigration surrounds it with more complexities as racism comes in varieties and sometimes creates what we in soc414 could call ... 3-ness~!.

Reread DuBois beautiful writing PP. 154-156 in text about how a father who faced discrimination is to teach a child. Though progress has been made in the 3 generations since Dubois wrote, the question remains: if life is "unfair" how does a father teach fairness? How do we find a path thru structure + motivation and thru all colors?

Take the problem of rape and femicide: Is it less complex? It seems more obvious and "ok" to target either men or women, but that personal responsibility route sometimes goes like this for the girls, cover up and don't be 'provocative;' for strong-arm boys, don't use brute strength to overcome: muscles give you not a cultural right. What if we taught our children - boys and girls - to honor and respect the sacred temple of the body? When we focus on a sex or a race - how do we avoid singling it out for even more "isolation?" you get the drift .... comments?

Bomb it

Did you ever wonder why people tag ? I never knew how global graffiti was until I saw this great documentary BOMB.IT is a documentary that tells the story of graffiti. Bomb it has footage in Los Angeles, New York, Philadephia, San Francisco, Tijuajna, London, Pairs, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Hamburg, Berlin, Cape Town, Sao Paulo, and Tokyo...its great. I hate to admit the taggers here are my least favorite...Im not into gang related tagging..there is no creativity... let me know what you think..

The Real World

Does anyone watch The Real World? On the season finale the roommates get into a huge fight with other club goers. The funny thing is that in the house there is always conflict. How funny that the roommates come together in an emergency and put aside their differences. Doesn't this sound familiar?

Update on Bella's I and Me

"We" my husband and I talked about what to do about our dog's name. "We" decided to keep her name Bella. We also took sky's advice and have been looking for a gift for "the person" Bella since she just graduated from college. I am usually a me. I usually comform to what others expect me to do. With this I just felt that it is unfair to let someone who is not a significant part of my life dicate what goes on in my home. Also as someone in class stated what else would she try to influence in my life had I given her control over this. Lastly it is unfair to the dog to change her name. She had already began to respond very well to her name at the time the aunt made this request. Bella is here to stay.

Hip Hop

I am not sure how many people in this class listen to Hip Hop but I have a couple questions to through out there. When I say Hip Hop I do not mean lame Lil' Wayne or any other rapper that is out there for a quick buck. I am referring to the ones that have something to say, the ones that test the limits, and that try to teach us something. Personally, the "mainstream" rappers I am a fan of are Common, Nas, Mos Def and Talib Kweli. What do you think Du Bois would say about Hip Hop? How do you feel about Nas wanting to name his new album the N word or Reggin? And how do you feel about the record company (def jam) making him change it?

Furthermore, how do you feel when you see people of other races listening to rap music? Ever since I first started to listen to Hip Hop, which is over 15 years ago, I was told that it was "black" music. That was the time of Tupac and Biggie. I never cared because I felt like I could relate to it. I was a young kid from the hood that was poor, that was always tempted to join a gand and was discriminated by the administrators at my high school. So, why are people of other races influenced by Hip Hop even though most artist of Black?

I and Me

My dog's name is Bella. I got her about a month ago. No one went with me to pick her out. I decided to name her Bella. When I got home my husband informed me that he has a cousin named Bella. I have never meet the cousin and I have only had a brief meeting with his aunt. Today he tells me that his aunt is offended that I named my dog after her daughter and wants me to change my dog's name. The I in me is like Hell No, get over it. The me in me is like I am new to their family and don't want to upset them. I think the I is going to win. I would love feedback from anyone on this.