Instilled from Birth

<p>For this months blog I want to talk about stereotypes. From the time we are taught to think, we are taught about certain types of people. These stereotypes are normally subconsciously taught, but they are instilled in us. Though not all are bad. Do not take candy from strangers, because they might abduct you. Well, I'm pretty sure that the neighbor across the street isn't planning on kidnapping you. Even something like do not touch someones dog on a leash because they might have rabies or bite is a taught stereotype. How so you might ask. We then associate all dogs as harmful and dangerous and some people actuality develop an irrational fear of dogs due to being told this. However, I can understand this type of" stereotype" because it is meant to keep us safe. But then we get into the gender stereotypes. A whole different ball game.

It starts out with colors. Boys are supposed to be masculine and like blue, while girls are the little ambassadors for the hue of pink. And it is funny how if a boy wants to wear pink, it is frowned upon and said to be a girl color. But who decided that certain colors belong to certain genders. I mean did Eve trademark pink so that Adam couldn't wear it. Personally, I don't wear pink for several reasons. First and foremost I would be made fun of for wearing it. Second off I would probably receive flak from my parents if I did. I know for a fact that they would say that pink is not a guys color. And third, I probably just wouldn't wear it because it has been beaten into my brain that certain colors are for girls to wear.

Now let's talk about the gender roles. Please do not take offense to anything I say in this paragraph , I am just stating the ways we have been taught to be proper. In a relationship, between a man and a wife, the man is the" provider" of the family. He goes to work in his fancy shmancy suit everyday and brings home the bacon. His wife stays home and takes care of the kids if they are younger. If they are more grown up and in school, she maybe has a job, but probably just cleans and watches General Hospital all day. Or she runs to the supermarket. Then around 4:30 or so she gets started on dinner, so that at 6 when her husband gets home, he doesn't gripe because there's no food on the table. He worked all day, and expects a meal(its not unreasonable for him to want food when he gets home, but I'm just throwing it in there).

But why does it have to be the wife who stays home. It doesn't.  I think that some people are still fixated on the 1950s typical family and expect their wife to be like the one from Leave it to Beaver. Honestly, I was not raised with that. I'm gonna work my ass off so I can provide for my family, but who cares if my wife doesn't stay at home. I would be happy if she had a job just as I, because my family would be better off financially. I guess its not as big of a deal today because most women work, I just wanted to vent my feelings.

Now, as for being a mother, I do not think Edna was a good one. She was irresponsible and imature. And if anyone. If anyone wants to argue with me about that, I have a problem. People in our class tried to say it wasn't irresponsible and that was her only option. I'm sorry, no it wasn't. And then I would ask them how committing suicide and abandoning your kids is responsible. I would wait as they stayed silent, trying to make up and answer, and the conversation would be over. You see I don't really get emotionally attached to the books we read, because afterall the characters are fake. But something just struck me with our seminar. I could not understand how people were siding with Edna. Then people said that she wasn't a good mother anyway, so it wasn't as bad. True, but was it a responsible choice on Ednas part, NO.

Look, I know I kind of went on a litle rant at the end, but I just had to vent my frustration. I think as a country we need to just try to ris ourselves of the stereotypes we have. We all do it, even if it is something little, and the world would be better without it. Try and wipe the Tabula Rasa clear of stereotyping.

In response to previous blog

Mrs. Burnett,
I completely agree with your comment. I do believe that the degradation of women is wrong in any society. I was simply trying to apply the suggestion of the theorist to the book we read. When I suggested that Okonkwo's actions may not have been wrong because it is a different society, I was simply trying to apply the suggested theory of not judging other cultures. On a personal and moral level, I in no way endorse or wish to downplay the actions of Okonkwo. The degradation of women is wrong. There is no way that the battering of women (along with children and anyone else) can be rationalized, in any culture. I think where there may have been a mistake in my prior blog was with the clarification of my suggestion. I was not implying that the degradation by Okonkwo could be justified simply because he is from a different culture. I was just trying to make a literature tie-in to the theory. And as for the article, I believe what I read online was the article you gave us, though I may be mistaken. I simply typed in the title of the packet you gave us and came upon a similar looking pdf. The live abortion thing was a separate site altogether. I am sorry if it may have come across that I was questioning if beating women was immoral. I would like you to know that I whole heartedly believe it is wrong, in any culture. The "line" that you mentioned is truly an issue as well. Please understand the mistake in my prior blog. I know there obviously is a line for judging other cultures. Something simple like eating cows or not is not a big moral issue. But something as cruel as the degradation and abuse of others is not moral, and I don't care where you are from. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

A Change of Place

<p>Happy New Year. </p>
<p>I left my packet for the monthly blog in a classroom, so I read Rachel's" theory" online. I have to say, that was one of the most interesting articles I have ever read. It got me thinking so much. In today's society we, as Americans or whatever group you put yourself in, are so cocky because we believe we are right. We have all the right moral standards, the right government, the right laws, the right etc. But who is to say that we are right and the people in Whereverstan are wrong. They think that their way of life and their society is right. And we have wars over it. Now, I'm not gonna type here and lie to you, I to think we have the better morals, with most things. But seriously, both sides truly believe in their way, and why is one wrong? Can we not just accept that we have different standards? Sure, I think oppressing women is wrong(because that's what my culture taught me), but whose to say it really is. To me it is, but for people in other countries they believe that women shouldn't be allowed to show their faces. When did the USA become the moral standard of the world.

I know this next segment of my blog may cause some anger, but I feel it is a really good societal example. So I was looking into the whole eskimo baby thing and did some google searching. I typed in live birth abortion and came up with this site.
http://mydryfly.wordpress.com/2008/02/21/obama-and-live-birth-abortion/
Copy this into you're URL and take a look. If anyone has the nerve to say that the USA has the greatest of morals, read this. A baby is about to be born, like literally the mother's had the baby for 9 months, and her water breaks and she goes into labor. Then a doctor kills the baby. Are you trying to say that is morally right? They leave it out to die. If someone stabs a pregnant woman, and the baby dies, the person is away in jail for life. But if I happens to be a doctor who kills the baby, it's okay. You know what, I'm not even gonna keep talking about this. If you have not read the article please do. There is stuff all over the web about it, too.

Anyway, back to the article. When reading this I could not stop thinking about Okonkwo from Things Fall Apart. The whole time, most of us including I, criticized him and said he was a bad man, and certainly not a hero. We talked about how wrong he was for the way he treated women. I to stil think he was wrong. But it is a different culture, so accept it. And afterall, it is just a book and it is made up. Now looking back on the book, I less hatred on Okonkwo, because of the article. I felt as if I truly learned something. I think we all need to be less quick to criticize other cultures. We have our way of life and they have theirs. Let's agree to disagree. On more societal connection is dealing with me. My parents wont let me go see R rated movies in theaters, but my friends parents for the most part do not see anything wrong with it. Who is right, no one. They have their views, and my parents have their own.