Course Reflection

I thought the Humanities 1100 class was an alright class. I didn’t find the nature issue unit particularly interesting or mind blowing and I felt that it didn’t make an impact on me. I liked the myth unit though because they were all so interesting to read and it was really fun making our own myth. It gave us a chance to really be creative. I didn’t like the religion section. I thought it would be really interesting to learn about but it wasn’t what I thought it would be. I was expecting to know the ins and outs of a religion, not read the text of it that I couldn’t understand. Needless to say, that unit was a letdown for me. I really liked the love and romance unit and my favorite quote in the entire class still comes from that unit. It goes like this, "Love, like war, is a toss-up. The defeated can recover, while some you might think invincible collapse; So if you’ve got love written off as an easy option you’d better think twice.  Love calls for guts and initiative.” (Ovid, pg. 295) I am a romantic so that’s why I liked this part so much. I didn’t much care for the race and gender section. I just feel like we talk enough about those subjects in history class that it was old material. Overall, I may not have been impressed with the topics we discussed in class, but I was sometimes happy with our discussions. I liked when we had deep, meaningful conversations that the class was actually involved in. I liked hearing new points of view from people that made me change my opinion or I liked finding out something new about someone. On a good day, this was a good class. 

Reflect and Connect: Week 18

Connect:

Reflect:
This week we have been talking about race and gender still, trying to wrap it up. We saw a movie clip of The Great Debaters that reminded me of the movie called Freedom Writers. Even though they are set in different time periods, they still deal with the blacks being supressed and outcasted. In one, segregation is still going on but the blacks are still trying to go to school and make something of themselves while in the other, black and white schools have been mixed for awhile but we notice that all black schools still don't have the supplies that the white schools get. In Freedom Writers, no one spends time with the black students so they don't get good grades but when the new teacher comes, she makes them want to learn and she tries to get better books for the kids and she really makes a difference in their lives. The two movies are different, but they remind me of one another.

Reflect and Connect: Week 17

Connect:

Reflect:
Hughes is a collection of poems that are about the author being black and the way people treated him. I really liked the poems because he didn't hold back with how he felt and he was funny too. I really liked a part of his poem Crossed when he said he didn't know where he would die since he was neither black nor white. Shocking Story is about the killing of a teenage boy in the south that is shocking because the two men who killed him weren't punished for the murder. It is a sad story, yes, but I don't find it very shocking. As mentioned in class, this kind of thing happened in the south around that time, everyday. I feel like there were much worse things done to black people for even more ridiculous reasons than taunting a white girl. I don't think what the men did was right and I don't think the boy deserved what happened to him but I feel that this story is one of the least shocking. I'm sure we could dig something up from history that is much, much worse than this. You also have to remember that the members of the KKK never got in trouble for hanging blacks in the trees. Is that considered shocking?

Looking For My Prince Charming

This wasn’t a very interesting article but I got some things from it. First, I hate the idea of arranged marriage because like the author says, I believe that love should come before marriage. I don’t like the idea that your parents have someone picked out for you at the age of three or that they keep setting you up on dates with people that you don’t like. I think you should be able to explore who you want and decide that you like someone. I did love the author’s sense of humor though. A perfect example comes from this passage, “Two days later he sent me a long-winded email explaining that he wasn’t ready for a serious commitment- which is a shame because I’d already mailed the invitations, set up the bridal registry and commissioned the cake.” (pg. 543) I think the most positive thing about this article is that her parents aren’t forcing her to pick the first guy she sees or the one that they picked for her. She still has her rights to say no and I think that’s important.

Media Portrayals of Men and Masculinity

The general argument made by the Media Awareness Network in their work Media Portrayals of Men and Masculinity is that recently, the studies of men in the media have increased to show the same, but not equivalent, negative advertising that women receive. More specifically, the M.A.N. suggests that the way media portrays men and their roles are enforcing the ideas of how to be a “real” man in our society. The M.A.N. writes, “In most media portrayals, male characters are rewarded for self-control and the control of others, aggression and violence, financial independence, and physical desirability.” (pg. 538) In this passage, the M.A.N is suggesting that to be a “real” man, you need to control your emotions, you need to be aggressive, you need to make your own money, and you need to be attractive. In conclusion, it is the M.A.N’s belief that the media is enforcing false ideas of how to be a “real” man in our society today.

            In my view, the M.A.N is right because men really are portrayed as these unfeeling money making machines that will cut you down to get to the top. For example, in the movie The Holliday, Jude Law plays a man who falls in love with a woman, Cameron Diaz, and she is getting ready to go back home so she has to leave him and as she drives away he starts to cry and it is a really weird thing to see because you NEVER see men cry in movies. I want to add that a man that can cry is pretty sexy and they should cry and share their feelings more often. Although the M.A.N might object that there are tender scenes in movies, I maintain that you never see tears. Therefore, I conclude that the media does send a message to men about how they are supposed to act when really they don’t need to act like that at all.

The Male Privilege Checklist

The general argument made by (author unknown, original Peggy McIntosh) in their work The Male Privilege Checklist, is that men have privileges that only apply to them. More specifically, unknown suggests that men have privileges that help them through life and they aren’t even aware of it! They write, “In the end, however, it is men and not women who make the most money; men and not women who dominate the government and corporate boards; men and not women who dominate virtually all of the most powerful positions of society.” (pg. 536) In this passage the author is suggesting that men always have a way to come out on top over women because of the privileges thrust upon them. In conclusion, it’s the author’s opinion that men hold a higher position than women due to these unnoticed privileges.

            In my view, the author is totally right because you see examples of the “checklist” all the time. For example, rule # 24 states that, “Even if I sleep with a lot of women, there is no chance that I will be seriously labeled a ‘slut’, nor is there any male counterpart to ‘slutbashing’.” (pg. 537) This is so true because there is a saying going around that being a man that sleeps with a lot of women, you are a master key but if a woman sleeps with a lot of men, she’s just a shitty lock. (The lock and key effect.) You even see this in movies when men are idolized for being with a lot of women. Although the author actually objects in the piece that, “…I never claimed that life for men is all ice cream sundaes,” (pg. 536) that life for men is easy because of these rules, I maintain that men do have it easier than women. Therefore, I conclude that men do have privileges that they don’t even think they have.

Graduation

This was a really hard piece to relate to. She gets so excited for her graduation and being in that process myself, I can’t say that we have the same feelings. It is like the most important day for her and everyone in town goes nuts but nowadays graduations are so common. It’s still important today but we don’t get very excited. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy but I have a sense of dread that comes with it. I have to start my life after this, I have to go to college and figure out how I’m going to live. That’s scary stuff. Times are so different now than they were then. I have all of those worries and she says that after graduation she will be free. She’s graduating from eighth grade, she doesn’t have worries yet. She says that teachers have the same degree as her and they are qualified to impart wisdom. It just is hard to relate to since things have changed so much since then.

            I think it is disappointing, however, that the white man comes and ruins it for everyone. He had no right to crash the graduation and make people feel down. It’s sad that Angelou goes on to say that she wishes she was dead, she wishes everyone were dead. But I’m not going to lie, I like that she says, “As a species, we were an abomination. All of us.” (pg. 616) I have agreed with statements like that for a long time. Humans do cruel things and in our minds we think it’s ok and that it’s right. We may be very smart and advanced, but that doesn’t mean we can go around and act like uncompassionate assholes.

            The best part of this passage is when the speaker gives his speech and then they sing the African American National Anthem and it gives everybody hope again.  It just reminds one how impactful  words can be and what they can mean to one person or to a group of people.