What's up caffeine addicts,
Here is another great video that talks about something that Scotland has been trying out.
https://www.attn.com/videos/14093/these-boxes-are-literally-saving-babies-lives
I have heard of other countries doing this before. The idea of sending care packages to new parents is incredible. It can be very difficult and expensive to take care of a newborn and this will give everyone a great head start to help them out.
If something like this was implemented in the United States I feel like it would greatly improve the quality of life for millions of newborns and ensure that they get everything that they need in those crucial years of their life. By doing this you will also ensure that their development at a young age will go more smoothly with less stress from the parents trying to figure out how to handle such a daunting task.
The biggest reason I am a proponent for this is for single parents especially. Raising a child with someone else is tough enough but doing it while depending on only one source of income is insanely challenging for both the parent and the child. And with the prevalence of single parents lately, I think this could really make an amazing difference if it were implemented in the U.S.
Stay awesome.
Tuesday, May 9, 2017
Tuesday, May 2, 2017
An interesting car story
What's up caffeine addicts,
About a year ago, I was visiting a friends house. It was me, Dorya, and another friend of mine, Kameron. After a little while, we had to head back to my high school because Kameron and I were going to play at a concert there. Dorya's mom decided that she would drive us there instead of making us walk the dreadful 30-minute walk. This is where it all started.
I made it pretty clear that I wanted the window seat because, I mean, who wouldn't. Plus, I almost always end up in the middle somehow. So it was me in the right window seat, Kameron in the middle, and Dorya was on the left side.
I minded my own business when all of a sudden Dorya's mom started complaining to Dorya about not having me sit in the middle. According to her mother, Dorya was disrespectful to me as a man for not having me sit in the middle. She basically thought of her daughter as a terrible person because she disrespected me so much. She was then backed up by one of her friends who was also sitting with us in the front of the car. They were both condemning the actions of both Kameron and Dorya when, in actuality, I just hate sitting in the middle. Her mom continued by saying that if something were to happen, I would have no way of protecting everyone in the car because I wasn't in the middle. Apparently, I was completely baffled. I have never eve heard anything like this. I didn't even know what to say. I mean really think that through for a second. If something actually did happen, how in hell would I be able to protect everyone in the car? With my penis, I guess because that's the only reason why she sees me more fit to protect them than anyone else. In her mind, the man in the car is an all powerful being apparently. It was really mind blowing and eye opening to see someone speak like that to their own daughter because of something that is so deeply rooted her tradition and religion. It clearly depicts the problems that we talked about in class in the ways men are depicted compared to women.
Anyway, it was an interesting car story.
Stay Awesome.
About a year ago, I was visiting a friends house. It was me, Dorya, and another friend of mine, Kameron. After a little while, we had to head back to my high school because Kameron and I were going to play at a concert there. Dorya's mom decided that she would drive us there instead of making us walk the dreadful 30-minute walk. This is where it all started.
I made it pretty clear that I wanted the window seat because, I mean, who wouldn't. Plus, I almost always end up in the middle somehow. So it was me in the right window seat, Kameron in the middle, and Dorya was on the left side.
I minded my own business when all of a sudden Dorya's mom started complaining to Dorya about not having me sit in the middle. According to her mother, Dorya was disrespectful to me as a man for not having me sit in the middle. She basically thought of her daughter as a terrible person because she disrespected me so much. She was then backed up by one of her friends who was also sitting with us in the front of the car. They were both condemning the actions of both Kameron and Dorya when, in actuality, I just hate sitting in the middle. Her mom continued by saying that if something were to happen, I would have no way of protecting everyone in the car because I wasn't in the middle. Apparently, I was completely baffled. I have never eve heard anything like this. I didn't even know what to say. I mean really think that through for a second. If something actually did happen, how in hell would I be able to protect everyone in the car? With my penis, I guess because that's the only reason why she sees me more fit to protect them than anyone else. In her mind, the man in the car is an all powerful being apparently. It was really mind blowing and eye opening to see someone speak like that to their own daughter because of something that is so deeply rooted her tradition and religion. It clearly depicts the problems that we talked about in class in the ways men are depicted compared to women.
Anyway, it was an interesting car story.
Stay Awesome.
The dichotomy of religion and sexism
What's up caffeine addicts,
Yay more videos! Huzzah! Here is one from someone named Chelsea Shields where she gave a TedTalk about how she has been able to use Mormonism as a source of empowerment and tried to reflect that by fighting for equality.
https://www.ted.com/talks/chelsea_shields_how_i_m_working_for_change_inside_my_church#t-184452
Mormonism is an incredibly strict religion in the way that they deal with the different sexes. As Shields points out, women aren't even allowed in many meetings just because they are strictly male only. And I think it's interesting that she points how we focus so heavily on equality in society but seem to forget our own religions and give religions a free pass. In today's society, not allowing women to join a conference is incredibly frowned upon and innately sexist. And it's easy to say that its just part of the tradition but traditions are eventually meant to be changed when the change is for a greater good. Many of these regulations were written in a time where women were seen as barely human. Nowadays these stereotypes are slowly changing for the better, and our religions should reflect that as well.
It is also important to see why it is so difficult to change the perceptions of so many of these people who are deeply rooted in their religion. Shields talks about how, according to their rules, just by wearing a shirt that reveals her shoulders, she won't be able to see her family in heaven. From this context, it is easy to see why so many of these people are resistant to change. They fear what might happen if they violate the rules put in place by their prophets or creators. This is why fighting for equality has to occur slowly. Making slow changes as we go along will allow them to mount up into something incredible. Proposing a radical restructuring of any religion will be met with huge uproar and a lot of fear from its believers. Although making small changes here and there is the long, hard road to achieving equality, for many religions, it may be the only way that change can be made at all. That is why I applaud people like Chelsea Shields who are in it for the long game and stick to her people why also attempting to change them.
Stay Awesome.
Yay more videos! Huzzah! Here is one from someone named Chelsea Shields where she gave a TedTalk about how she has been able to use Mormonism as a source of empowerment and tried to reflect that by fighting for equality.
https://www.ted.com/talks/chelsea_shields_how_i_m_working_for_change_inside_my_church#t-184452
Mormonism is an incredibly strict religion in the way that they deal with the different sexes. As Shields points out, women aren't even allowed in many meetings just because they are strictly male only. And I think it's interesting that she points how we focus so heavily on equality in society but seem to forget our own religions and give religions a free pass. In today's society, not allowing women to join a conference is incredibly frowned upon and innately sexist. And it's easy to say that its just part of the tradition but traditions are eventually meant to be changed when the change is for a greater good. Many of these regulations were written in a time where women were seen as barely human. Nowadays these stereotypes are slowly changing for the better, and our religions should reflect that as well.
It is also important to see why it is so difficult to change the perceptions of so many of these people who are deeply rooted in their religion. Shields talks about how, according to their rules, just by wearing a shirt that reveals her shoulders, she won't be able to see her family in heaven. From this context, it is easy to see why so many of these people are resistant to change. They fear what might happen if they violate the rules put in place by their prophets or creators. This is why fighting for equality has to occur slowly. Making slow changes as we go along will allow them to mount up into something incredible. Proposing a radical restructuring of any religion will be met with huge uproar and a lot of fear from its believers. Although making small changes here and there is the long, hard road to achieving equality, for many religions, it may be the only way that change can be made at all. That is why I applaud people like Chelsea Shields who are in it for the long game and stick to her people why also attempting to change them.
Stay Awesome.
How Latino men are represented in media
What's up caffeine addicts,
Yes, yet another video because videos are absolutely incredible when you find the right ones with useful information. This is another one from "Mitu" about how men are represented in the media and how it affects them.
https://www.facebook.com/wearemitu/videos/1760266704273764/
In this video, they ask the question about whether or not Latin men are naturally "machista," which is the equivalent of a male chauvinist. These are men who are incredibly aggressive and sexual and Latin men are pretty much always thought of in this way.
It's the same idea of being "exotic." Just like in class, where we talked about how Latin woman are oversexualized because they are exotic or different, Latin men are seen in a similar way. From movie to movie, these men are widely represented as criminals or drug lords. Even when they aren't pictured as aggressive, they are highly sexualized and seen as aggressive, sexy, a ladies man, and more. This is a huge generalization though. It causes this idea that a Latin man who isn't like this is stripped of his heritage and sex just because he doesn't fit in this outrageous trope.
A fantastic book called The Brief and Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao delves into this idea completely. Oscar is Dominican. And I can tell you from first-hand experience on how Puerto Ricans think of Dominicans that they are always seen as the type to show off, act pompous, be complete assholes, and womanizers. Oscar isn't like this at all. He is a comic book loving nerd that is deeply depressed because of no one, not even his own family, sees him as Dominican. It created a terrible situation in which he doesn't feel like he can fit in anywhere. Every group he tries to identify with immediately shuns him because he isn't man enough or Dominican enough. Honestly, Puerto Rican men are seen in the same way which just shows how sad it is that even Latin people stereotype other Latin people even though we are all lumped together by everyone else.
I have always really connected with the way Oscar Wao's story was told in the book. I was that kid in my family that was always seen as different. I was pretty chubby when I was younger, and I didn't have a girlfriend for a long time. Yet just because of those two reasons, my family never saw me as Puerto Rican enough, and it felt like shit that I couldn't fit in with my own family. I had to develop my own sense of what it means to be Puerto Rican, and now I am proud of my heritage and anyone who thinks of me as "not Hispanic enough," which happens all the time because of my white complexion, I dismiss as just someone playing into stereotypes and ignorance.
Stay Awesome.
Yes, yet another video because videos are absolutely incredible when you find the right ones with useful information. This is another one from "Mitu" about how men are represented in the media and how it affects them.
https://www.facebook.com/wearemitu/videos/1760266704273764/
In this video, they ask the question about whether or not Latin men are naturally "machista," which is the equivalent of a male chauvinist. These are men who are incredibly aggressive and sexual and Latin men are pretty much always thought of in this way.
It's the same idea of being "exotic." Just like in class, where we talked about how Latin woman are oversexualized because they are exotic or different, Latin men are seen in a similar way. From movie to movie, these men are widely represented as criminals or drug lords. Even when they aren't pictured as aggressive, they are highly sexualized and seen as aggressive, sexy, a ladies man, and more. This is a huge generalization though. It causes this idea that a Latin man who isn't like this is stripped of his heritage and sex just because he doesn't fit in this outrageous trope.
A fantastic book called The Brief and Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao delves into this idea completely. Oscar is Dominican. And I can tell you from first-hand experience on how Puerto Ricans think of Dominicans that they are always seen as the type to show off, act pompous, be complete assholes, and womanizers. Oscar isn't like this at all. He is a comic book loving nerd that is deeply depressed because of no one, not even his own family, sees him as Dominican. It created a terrible situation in which he doesn't feel like he can fit in anywhere. Every group he tries to identify with immediately shuns him because he isn't man enough or Dominican enough. Honestly, Puerto Rican men are seen in the same way which just shows how sad it is that even Latin people stereotype other Latin people even though we are all lumped together by everyone else.
I have always really connected with the way Oscar Wao's story was told in the book. I was that kid in my family that was always seen as different. I was pretty chubby when I was younger, and I didn't have a girlfriend for a long time. Yet just because of those two reasons, my family never saw me as Puerto Rican enough, and it felt like shit that I couldn't fit in with my own family. I had to develop my own sense of what it means to be Puerto Rican, and now I am proud of my heritage and anyone who thinks of me as "not Hispanic enough," which happens all the time because of my white complexion, I dismiss as just someone playing into stereotypes and ignorance.
Stay Awesome.
Parents explaining birth control to their kids
What's up caffeine addicts,
Here is another amazing video. This time it's a bunch of parents awkwardly explaining birth control to their kids!
Alright so besides the fact that this video is pretty hilarious, and I'll get to that later, I think it's incredible that these parents decided it was important to have a conversation with their kids about birth control. With so many people out there, pretty much everyone who promotes abstinence education, there are millions of lies told about sex and so I feel it's important to have parents filter all of that out for their kids to receive the correct info. If we do this, and if we make sure the parents themselves know what's up, it could significantly improve everyone's knowledge on how to prevent pregnancy so that unwanted children or abortions won't occur as often as they do now. That being said, two of those kids were definitely far too old for this conversation. This is something that should occur earlier to prevent misinformation from affecting their minds right away.
On to my second point about why this is so funny. You see, its pretty easy to see that this is funny purely because it is cringe-worthy/awkward. It's even uncomfortable for the kids themselves. This shows how deeply rooted our ideas of sex are. We are told that sex just isn't something you should talk about with your parents because it's shameful and private. But in actuality, sex is something that is completely natural and should be discussed more openly for that reason alone. The fact that this had to be taped for these parents to talk this subject with their kids just for a couple of laughs and maybe get viral hit shows how we think about sex.
Stay Awesome.
The Connotations of "Puta" and how it reflects culture's representation of woman
What's up caffeine addicts,
Here is an interesting video I found on my facebook feed from "Mitu" that talks about what the word "Puta" means in Latin American culture and how it promotes inequality:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzzc8ahNxrg
In many ways, the word "puta" has the same significance as "bitch," "whore," or "slut." Its a way for Latin Americans to condemn women for being too sexually available or pretty much just not having an opinion that you agree with.
As the video suggests, there are so many scenarios that women can be called a puta that they all contradict each other. So much so that it ends up encompassing all women. And if this word basically becomes synonymous with women, it creates a problem in which women can never do anything correctly without someone insulting them.
This happens in my family all the time. My family consists of a lot of very gossipy people, so this is nothing new to them. Whenever a woman does anything even remotely wrong, they are labeled a puta. Even worse though, if a guy is labeled a puta, they are immediately stripped of their masculinity card.
Another part that I found interesting in this video was the way they flipped the gender roles at the end to show the guy how it feels to be shamed for what they wear. All throughout history, woman are told what they can and can't wear. What's too revealing and what's not revealing enough. There is almost never a middle ground. By flipping the gender roles and making it so that it seemed as though he was being shamed for what he wore, it allowed him to understand why it affects woman so much. I think that is an incredibly important part of being a feminist; being able to put yourself in someone else's shoes to see how you would feel in their situation.
Stay Awesome.
Here is an interesting video I found on my facebook feed from "Mitu" that talks about what the word "Puta" means in Latin American culture and how it promotes inequality:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzzc8ahNxrg
In many ways, the word "puta" has the same significance as "bitch," "whore," or "slut." Its a way for Latin Americans to condemn women for being too sexually available or pretty much just not having an opinion that you agree with.
As the video suggests, there are so many scenarios that women can be called a puta that they all contradict each other. So much so that it ends up encompassing all women. And if this word basically becomes synonymous with women, it creates a problem in which women can never do anything correctly without someone insulting them.
This happens in my family all the time. My family consists of a lot of very gossipy people, so this is nothing new to them. Whenever a woman does anything even remotely wrong, they are labeled a puta. Even worse though, if a guy is labeled a puta, they are immediately stripped of their masculinity card.
Another part that I found interesting in this video was the way they flipped the gender roles at the end to show the guy how it feels to be shamed for what they wear. All throughout history, woman are told what they can and can't wear. What's too revealing and what's not revealing enough. There is almost never a middle ground. By flipping the gender roles and making it so that it seemed as though he was being shamed for what he wore, it allowed him to understand why it affects woman so much. I think that is an incredibly important part of being a feminist; being able to put yourself in someone else's shoes to see how you would feel in their situation.
Stay Awesome.
Friday, April 14, 2017
Fox's blatant sexism
What's up caffeine addicts,
Watch this astoundingly sad compilation of several instances where people at fox are being misogynistic: https://www.facebook.com/MicMedia/videos/1467799599909492/?hc_ref=NEWSFEED\
So pretty much every single one of these instances just blew my mind. First of all, screaming at anyone and telling them "Know your role and shut your mouth" is condescending, rude, unprofessional, and shows cowardice no matter who you are telling that too.
Another thing that I found horrendous is how some of these Men basically just screamed at women and attempted to order them into liking or disliking certain things. The whole idea that one of them proposes that "women choose" to get paid less is just deplorable. I know plenty of women who have great ambitions and want to make an impact in society. Generalizing all women by saying that they are all happier at home because it's "God's way" is lazy, uninformed, and sad. Blanket statements like these are what lead to discrimination. All he was doing was telling women what they like instead of hearing them out.
Anyway, this is kind of a shorter blog than usual but this video just baffled me.
Stay Awesome.
Watch this astoundingly sad compilation of several instances where people at fox are being misogynistic: https://www.facebook.com/MicMedia/videos/1467799599909492/?hc_ref=NEWSFEED\
So pretty much every single one of these instances just blew my mind. First of all, screaming at anyone and telling them "Know your role and shut your mouth" is condescending, rude, unprofessional, and shows cowardice no matter who you are telling that too.
Another thing that I found horrendous is how some of these Men basically just screamed at women and attempted to order them into liking or disliking certain things. The whole idea that one of them proposes that "women choose" to get paid less is just deplorable. I know plenty of women who have great ambitions and want to make an impact in society. Generalizing all women by saying that they are all happier at home because it's "God's way" is lazy, uninformed, and sad. Blanket statements like these are what lead to discrimination. All he was doing was telling women what they like instead of hearing them out.
Anyway, this is kind of a shorter blog than usual but this video just baffled me.
Stay Awesome.
Monday, April 10, 2017
Using Comedy to Break the Ice
Whats up caffeine addicts,
I just started to really get into podcasts. They are an amazing way to learn about new ideas while you're on the go, doing tedious work, and more. Listening to 2 Dope Queens really opened my eyes up to start checking out some amazing podcasts and I couldn't thank my Psychology of Women class enough for showing me how amazing they are.
Anyway, while I was sifting through different podcasts shows on my Ipad I found a gem. Ted talks has a podcasts show! I was ecstatic and went straight to listening to their latest one "Painfully Funny". If you haven't heard it yet I really recommend it. Its a great episode and it allowed me to realize something incredibly important: comedy can play a tremendous role of activism. In the show, they interview several people who have used their comedic talent to bring light unto very controversial or uncomfortable topics. From LGBT rights and feminism all the way to cerebral palsy, these comedians are changing the landscape of what people talk about through their comedy.
After listening to this podcasts, I really understand the importance of making fun of some pretty terrible issues. Sometimes its okay to laugh about a bad situation. It allows people to stop being so afraid of talking about it. Its almost as if these comedians are breaking the ice on these societal issues and by doing so they can summon a conversation about how we could possibly fix them.
Here is a link to the podcast: http://www.npr.org/programs/ted-radio-hour/519272124/painfully-funny
Stay awesome.
I just started to really get into podcasts. They are an amazing way to learn about new ideas while you're on the go, doing tedious work, and more. Listening to 2 Dope Queens really opened my eyes up to start checking out some amazing podcasts and I couldn't thank my Psychology of Women class enough for showing me how amazing they are.
Anyway, while I was sifting through different podcasts shows on my Ipad I found a gem. Ted talks has a podcasts show! I was ecstatic and went straight to listening to their latest one "Painfully Funny". If you haven't heard it yet I really recommend it. Its a great episode and it allowed me to realize something incredibly important: comedy can play a tremendous role of activism. In the show, they interview several people who have used their comedic talent to bring light unto very controversial or uncomfortable topics. From LGBT rights and feminism all the way to cerebral palsy, these comedians are changing the landscape of what people talk about through their comedy.
After listening to this podcasts, I really understand the importance of making fun of some pretty terrible issues. Sometimes its okay to laugh about a bad situation. It allows people to stop being so afraid of talking about it. Its almost as if these comedians are breaking the ice on these societal issues and by doing so they can summon a conversation about how we could possibly fix them.
Here is a link to the podcast: http://www.npr.org/programs/ted-radio-hour/519272124/painfully-funny
Stay awesome.
Saturday, March 25, 2017
A Rebuttal on Anita Sarkeesian
What's up caffeine addicts,
In a way, I was a bit reluctant to do a blog post about this. After all, Anita Sarkeesian is a pretty prominent voice who many people look up to. My problem with her is when she bashes something she very clearly doesn't know much about. In the end, I decided to write this post because I felt that it makes complete sense for me to calmly present a counter argument against Anita Sarkeesian's claims in an attempt to prove her wrong. I am not doing this to bash her or her opinions; I am doing this because sometimes it's important to calmly allow someone to understand the other side of an argument. It seems like she takes things out of context more often than not.
What I am talking about in this case is her recent tweets which have gone against the newest game: Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
With this rant, I will try to systematically break down her tweet and prove them wrong while also proving her followers wrong and try my best to keep an open mind.
Let's start with the first: "The slew of perfect scores BOTW [Breath of the Wild] received from critics shows that most still don't give a damn about how women are represented in games."
This one won't be too long to debunk. To add some context to this, so far BOTW has been the second or third highest rated game in history while also beating the record for achieving the largest amount of perfect scores in history. Now, I do not completely understand where Sarkeesian is going with this. This game is a masterpiece. Just because something may be misogynistic, which this game is not but I will get into that later, doesn't mean that it doesn't deserve the praise for the incredible work these people have put into this masterful work. There are plenty of things, some of which we discussed in class, which can be seen as sexist and wrong but that doesn't make them not worthy of at least some of their praise. Not unless they go completely overboard with their sexism. Everything has its flaws, a perfect score doesn't exempt it from that. Sure, maybe these reviewers don't care about female representation in video games, but giving BOTW a perfect score does not automatically prove that.
The other tweets work with each other so I will put them all together.
1) "Through the memories player can collect, BOTW acknowledges the ongoing problem of Zelda being damseled but doesn't do anything about it"
2) "Critics might call out sexism in games with bad gameplay but often act as if it's not worth mentioning when the gameplay is great. It is.
3) "There is so much to admire in BOTW. Its gameplay is incredible. But that absolutely doesn't excuse its use of tired, sexist plot devices.
Alright, let's do this. First of all, if you actually collect the memories in the game, you can see that Zelda as a very intelligent woman who is trying to have her voice heard. First, some background is needed. Zelda is the reincarnation of the goddess Hylia. So, in the game, Zelda has to try to awaken her powers in order to defeat the enemy in the game called Ganon. Because of this, her father tries his best to have her constantly pray and learn about the history of Hyrule, the place they are in, instead of receiving a real and more comprehensive education. In the game, Zelda actually goes against this by not only teaching herself mathematics and engineering but also becoming one of the lead scientists in re-engineering the machines that would help destroy Ganon. Zelda is obviously shown in these memories as a very capable and incredibly intelligent woman, not a damsel in distress.
Adding on to my counterargument that Zelda isn't "damseled", you can also how powerful she becomes when she obtains her powers. Link, the person who you play in the game, was put in a 100 year sleep after the initial battle with Ganon because Link lost the battle. So during all of those 100 years that Link was gone, Zelda was the one fighting and keeping Ganon at bay. She isn't captured by him and made obsolete. Zelda is the only reason the world wasn't destroyed by the time Link woke up. And yes, Link throughout the game has to build himself up so that he can go to the castle and help Zelda. But thats the thing, he went to help Zelda fight Ganon, not save her from him. Zelda even dealt the final blow and helped Link fight Ganon at the final fight.
All in all, there is no point in this game where Zelda is depicted as a damsel in distress. Throughout the entire adventure she is depicted as an incredibly intelligent person who loves engineering and biology while also being a major badass with the way she is able to handel Ganon single handedly for 100 years. Anita Sarkeesian, and many other people at this point, need to learn that this more to things than their surface. People aren't black or white, sexist or not sexist, racist or not racist; the world is much more complicated than that. If we just look more into the context that surrounds a subject or a specific person, than we can better understand, judge, and change the opinion of those who are in the wrong. But pointing fingers at random things that are no where near wrong just because they seem wrong at the surface is no way to go about life. This isn't the first time Anita Sarkeesian has tried to label something it isn't and it won't be the last.
Stay Awesome.
In a way, I was a bit reluctant to do a blog post about this. After all, Anita Sarkeesian is a pretty prominent voice who many people look up to. My problem with her is when she bashes something she very clearly doesn't know much about. In the end, I decided to write this post because I felt that it makes complete sense for me to calmly present a counter argument against Anita Sarkeesian's claims in an attempt to prove her wrong. I am not doing this to bash her or her opinions; I am doing this because sometimes it's important to calmly allow someone to understand the other side of an argument. It seems like she takes things out of context more often than not.
What I am talking about in this case is her recent tweets which have gone against the newest game: Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
With this rant, I will try to systematically break down her tweet and prove them wrong while also proving her followers wrong and try my best to keep an open mind.
Let's start with the first: "The slew of perfect scores BOTW [Breath of the Wild] received from critics shows that most still don't give a damn about how women are represented in games."
This one won't be too long to debunk. To add some context to this, so far BOTW has been the second or third highest rated game in history while also beating the record for achieving the largest amount of perfect scores in history. Now, I do not completely understand where Sarkeesian is going with this. This game is a masterpiece. Just because something may be misogynistic, which this game is not but I will get into that later, doesn't mean that it doesn't deserve the praise for the incredible work these people have put into this masterful work. There are plenty of things, some of which we discussed in class, which can be seen as sexist and wrong but that doesn't make them not worthy of at least some of their praise. Not unless they go completely overboard with their sexism. Everything has its flaws, a perfect score doesn't exempt it from that. Sure, maybe these reviewers don't care about female representation in video games, but giving BOTW a perfect score does not automatically prove that.
The other tweets work with each other so I will put them all together.
1) "Through the memories player can collect, BOTW acknowledges the ongoing problem of Zelda being damseled but doesn't do anything about it"
2) "Critics might call out sexism in games with bad gameplay but often act as if it's not worth mentioning when the gameplay is great. It is.
3) "There is so much to admire in BOTW. Its gameplay is incredible. But that absolutely doesn't excuse its use of tired, sexist plot devices.
Alright, let's do this. First of all, if you actually collect the memories in the game, you can see that Zelda as a very intelligent woman who is trying to have her voice heard. First, some background is needed. Zelda is the reincarnation of the goddess Hylia. So, in the game, Zelda has to try to awaken her powers in order to defeat the enemy in the game called Ganon. Because of this, her father tries his best to have her constantly pray and learn about the history of Hyrule, the place they are in, instead of receiving a real and more comprehensive education. In the game, Zelda actually goes against this by not only teaching herself mathematics and engineering but also becoming one of the lead scientists in re-engineering the machines that would help destroy Ganon. Zelda is obviously shown in these memories as a very capable and incredibly intelligent woman, not a damsel in distress.
Adding on to my counterargument that Zelda isn't "damseled", you can also how powerful she becomes when she obtains her powers. Link, the person who you play in the game, was put in a 100 year sleep after the initial battle with Ganon because Link lost the battle. So during all of those 100 years that Link was gone, Zelda was the one fighting and keeping Ganon at bay. She isn't captured by him and made obsolete. Zelda is the only reason the world wasn't destroyed by the time Link woke up. And yes, Link throughout the game has to build himself up so that he can go to the castle and help Zelda. But thats the thing, he went to help Zelda fight Ganon, not save her from him. Zelda even dealt the final blow and helped Link fight Ganon at the final fight.
All in all, there is no point in this game where Zelda is depicted as a damsel in distress. Throughout the entire adventure she is depicted as an incredibly intelligent person who loves engineering and biology while also being a major badass with the way she is able to handel Ganon single handedly for 100 years. Anita Sarkeesian, and many other people at this point, need to learn that this more to things than their surface. People aren't black or white, sexist or not sexist, racist or not racist; the world is much more complicated than that. If we just look more into the context that surrounds a subject or a specific person, than we can better understand, judge, and change the opinion of those who are in the wrong. But pointing fingers at random things that are no where near wrong just because they seem wrong at the surface is no way to go about life. This isn't the first time Anita Sarkeesian has tried to label something it isn't and it won't be the last.
Stay Awesome.
Monday, March 6, 2017
Sex-ed courses in modern society
What's up caffeine addicts,
In our class, we have continued to read more of the Purity myth and something that surprised me was the severe lack in good sex ed courses.
Before reading this book, I never realized how bad it actually was. The fact that people are allowed to spread misinformation to kids who don't know any better is just so unethically stupid. Being that I have never had courses such as these, I never knew they even existed. In high school, I had a pretty good health class that went into detail about all of the different contraceptives and their effectiveness. Because of this, I was completely oblivious of this abstinence only education that is poisoning our school system.
Many of the textbooks that the author was quoting also don't even sound like they should have been published in our "modern society". This just goes to show you that we aren't all that modern at all, misinformation is still widespread because of people like the ones that are perpetuating the virginity movement.
This wave of misinformation that is destroying the minds of our youth is just going to cause the problem these people were trying to solve. If all someone has had is abstinence only education, and they end up "giving in" to sex because it's a natural and pleasurable thing, then they would either be too ashamed to get contraception and protect themselves or they wouldn't even know what forms of contraceptive to get. All this will do is cause more disease and unwanted births.
We need to learn that being oblivious to natural systems of our body will only hurt us in the end.
Stay awesome.
In our class, we have continued to read more of the Purity myth and something that surprised me was the severe lack in good sex ed courses.
Before reading this book, I never realized how bad it actually was. The fact that people are allowed to spread misinformation to kids who don't know any better is just so unethically stupid. Being that I have never had courses such as these, I never knew they even existed. In high school, I had a pretty good health class that went into detail about all of the different contraceptives and their effectiveness. Because of this, I was completely oblivious of this abstinence only education that is poisoning our school system.
Many of the textbooks that the author was quoting also don't even sound like they should have been published in our "modern society". This just goes to show you that we aren't all that modern at all, misinformation is still widespread because of people like the ones that are perpetuating the virginity movement.
This wave of misinformation that is destroying the minds of our youth is just going to cause the problem these people were trying to solve. If all someone has had is abstinence only education, and they end up "giving in" to sex because it's a natural and pleasurable thing, then they would either be too ashamed to get contraception and protect themselves or they wouldn't even know what forms of contraceptive to get. All this will do is cause more disease and unwanted births.
We need to learn that being oblivious to natural systems of our body will only hurt us in the end.
Stay awesome.
Monday, February 27, 2017
My Reaction on the existence of purity balls
What's up caffeine addicts,
In class, we recently started reading a book called "The Purity Myth" which posed some interesting insights on the societal construct of virginity and how it affects each and every one of our lives.
Going into this reading, I have already questioned what virginity is and how pointless it can be previously, but this book opened my eyes to exactly how it can affect women in particular.
For example, one thing that astounded me was the existence, and federal funding, of purity balls. These are balls where six-year-old girls pledge their virginity to their fathers in a sort of ceremony. There are countless problems that I realized with this.
First of all, this is one of the creepiest things I have ever heard of. Just think about it, it's a six-year-old girl who knows nothing about sex yet is promising her sexuality to be contained and owned by her father. Why the heck would her father be the one that controls her sexual life; it has too many creepy tones to exist. My second problem with this is that, as the author goes into, it tells these young girls that their father owns them. It turns them into property rather than human beings for the father to have complete control over. When she finds a husband, the "responsibility" is passed from the father to the spouse. It's a transaction. And of course, if this girl breaks her pledge by having pre-marital sex, then she becomes damaged goods. My third problem with this is the fact that it is federally funded. How can we be considered a civilized society if our tax dollars is going to expensive events where girls who have no idea what they're doing are being taught that they are property. What kind of a world are we in that allows this creepy and cult-like behavior not only to be allowed but encouraged?
Well, that was a rant if I've ever seen one, but my point still stands. Our money can be used for much better things than funding creepy cults. This must be squashed before it can continue thriving like a parasite on everyone's backs. Staying stuck in past ideals of women as property is how we will never keep pushing forward into a thriving and happy nation.
Stay awesome.
In class, we recently started reading a book called "The Purity Myth" which posed some interesting insights on the societal construct of virginity and how it affects each and every one of our lives.
Going into this reading, I have already questioned what virginity is and how pointless it can be previously, but this book opened my eyes to exactly how it can affect women in particular.
For example, one thing that astounded me was the existence, and federal funding, of purity balls. These are balls where six-year-old girls pledge their virginity to their fathers in a sort of ceremony. There are countless problems that I realized with this.
First of all, this is one of the creepiest things I have ever heard of. Just think about it, it's a six-year-old girl who knows nothing about sex yet is promising her sexuality to be contained and owned by her father. Why the heck would her father be the one that controls her sexual life; it has too many creepy tones to exist. My second problem with this is that, as the author goes into, it tells these young girls that their father owns them. It turns them into property rather than human beings for the father to have complete control over. When she finds a husband, the "responsibility" is passed from the father to the spouse. It's a transaction. And of course, if this girl breaks her pledge by having pre-marital sex, then she becomes damaged goods. My third problem with this is the fact that it is federally funded. How can we be considered a civilized society if our tax dollars is going to expensive events where girls who have no idea what they're doing are being taught that they are property. What kind of a world are we in that allows this creepy and cult-like behavior not only to be allowed but encouraged?
Well, that was a rant if I've ever seen one, but my point still stands. Our money can be used for much better things than funding creepy cults. This must be squashed before it can continue thriving like a parasite on everyone's backs. Staying stuck in past ideals of women as property is how we will never keep pushing forward into a thriving and happy nation.
Stay awesome.
Monday, February 20, 2017
Adjusting to a new environment
What's up caffeine addicts,
One of the earlier topics that we discussed in class is the stigmatism that exists around feminists. At the time, I knew that negative stereotypes around them existed, but I never realized how far it went until I started telling people that I am taking psychology of women.
In a way, it almost became an experiment; everyone always had an initial surprised reaction towards the fact that I was taking the class but it differed from then on. Some people chose to say nothing and continued on with the conversation as if I never said anything. An incredibly small amount of people thought it was cool that I was taking the class. But a vast majority of the people responded with disgust.
These people ultimately came to the same question of why the heck I was taking the class in the first place. Most of them thinking that it was completely unnecessary. One person, a female to boot, specifically said: "The only thing worse than a feminist is a male feminist."
This took me by surprise. Because I was in a performing arts high school, a vast majority of the people there were liberal feminists. They all understood the importance of feminism and even fought against the school's dress code of not allowing us to show our shoulders because they would pose a distraction. It never crossed my mind that people really felt this way about feminism until I came to this school and started taking this course.
Sadly, it began to make me ashamed of the fact that I was taking the course. I started telling people that I was taking psychology rather than telling them what the class really was. I became so obsessed with trying to fit into this new environment that I threw away a part of me that I actually believed in.
It took me a while to realize how absolutely ridiculous I was being. Learning the ways in which the media manipulates information to skew views on social issues, I figured that this was no different. The way in which people were judging me with disgust because I was taking the class was just their way of putting down the movement because of what they learned from mass media. I realized that I had to go against that by being proud of my views and by engaging in a debate with those who thought the class was useless.
Stay awesome.
One of the earlier topics that we discussed in class is the stigmatism that exists around feminists. At the time, I knew that negative stereotypes around them existed, but I never realized how far it went until I started telling people that I am taking psychology of women.
In a way, it almost became an experiment; everyone always had an initial surprised reaction towards the fact that I was taking the class but it differed from then on. Some people chose to say nothing and continued on with the conversation as if I never said anything. An incredibly small amount of people thought it was cool that I was taking the class. But a vast majority of the people responded with disgust.
These people ultimately came to the same question of why the heck I was taking the class in the first place. Most of them thinking that it was completely unnecessary. One person, a female to boot, specifically said: "The only thing worse than a feminist is a male feminist."
This took me by surprise. Because I was in a performing arts high school, a vast majority of the people there were liberal feminists. They all understood the importance of feminism and even fought against the school's dress code of not allowing us to show our shoulders because they would pose a distraction. It never crossed my mind that people really felt this way about feminism until I came to this school and started taking this course.
Sadly, it began to make me ashamed of the fact that I was taking the course. I started telling people that I was taking psychology rather than telling them what the class really was. I became so obsessed with trying to fit into this new environment that I threw away a part of me that I actually believed in.
It took me a while to realize how absolutely ridiculous I was being. Learning the ways in which the media manipulates information to skew views on social issues, I figured that this was no different. The way in which people were judging me with disgust because I was taking the class was just their way of putting down the movement because of what they learned from mass media. I realized that I had to go against that by being proud of my views and by engaging in a debate with those who thought the class was useless.
Stay awesome.
Friday, February 10, 2017
Discussing "2 Dope Queens"
What's up caffeine addicts,
Since class had to be canceled on Friday, I got the chance to learn about a new podcast that was sent to us called "2 Dope Queens." The podcast that I ended up listening to was "The 2 Dope Queens Go Marching" and there were two things that I found most interesting about this podcast episode.
The first thing that I found interesting was when one of the guests was talking about how her body would make people do anything for her. This immediately reminded me of the discussions we have had in class in which we spoke of the fact that the only real "power" we give women is to inflict sexual desire upon men. This is actually very sexist though because it doesn't really give power to them. Instead, it just rewards the correct feminine behavior by making them into a puppet almost in that their "power" is actually derived from an external force which would be men in this case. The woman is obliged to work and become beautiful for a guy so that they can have any sense of power at all.
The next thing that I found interesting was the jokes that she made about how ridiculous some of the reasons are for being pro-life. For one thing, it completely disregards the mothers choice; you know, the person that actually has to deal with what will become of her situation. And it is also ridiculous because people become hypocrites when they support something, under a different name, which can easily be connected to having the same ideas as abortion.
I really enjoyed the satirical humor that this podcast took in dealing with a lot of feminist issues while also staying relevant to the problems at hand.
Stay awesome
Since class had to be canceled on Friday, I got the chance to learn about a new podcast that was sent to us called "2 Dope Queens." The podcast that I ended up listening to was "The 2 Dope Queens Go Marching" and there were two things that I found most interesting about this podcast episode.
The first thing that I found interesting was when one of the guests was talking about how her body would make people do anything for her. This immediately reminded me of the discussions we have had in class in which we spoke of the fact that the only real "power" we give women is to inflict sexual desire upon men. This is actually very sexist though because it doesn't really give power to them. Instead, it just rewards the correct feminine behavior by making them into a puppet almost in that their "power" is actually derived from an external force which would be men in this case. The woman is obliged to work and become beautiful for a guy so that they can have any sense of power at all.
The next thing that I found interesting was the jokes that she made about how ridiculous some of the reasons are for being pro-life. For one thing, it completely disregards the mothers choice; you know, the person that actually has to deal with what will become of her situation. And it is also ridiculous because people become hypocrites when they support something, under a different name, which can easily be connected to having the same ideas as abortion.
I really enjoyed the satirical humor that this podcast took in dealing with a lot of feminist issues while also staying relevant to the problems at hand.
Stay awesome
Sunday, February 5, 2017
MANicures
What's up caffeine addicts,
In class on Friday, there was a big focus on the fact that men are rarely ever seen in a nail salon or otherwise getting themselves pampered, so I would like to share my experience on the first couple of times I went to get a manicure.
My first time getting a manicure was at about 10 years of age. Before this, I had gone to nail salon's several times with family friends of ours, who are both men, but I always refused to get a manicure and instead just sat in one of the chairs and spun around until my heart was content--or until I became way too dizzy. The thing that was holding me back was the constant stigmatism in my head that men don't get manicures. It's something that is reserved for women as their own little sanctuary. I also believed that if I did get a manicure, I would be frowned upon or immediately considered gay. The whole idea of fearing the thought of being considered gay as a child is a whole problem in itself which I won't get into right now. Finally, after some convincing from my mom, because my nails looked like garbage and she believed girls like guys with nice nails, I decided to go. Well damn. The massages were incredible. I don't think I had ever felt so pampered in my life and it was unbelievable, to say the least.
After this initial experience, I started to like getting a manicure. I first realized that a tiny amount of people realized I even got one and the ones that did notice actually liked it. And even though I still had that stigmatism in the back of my head, I just decided to say fuck it because it felt good. After maybe my third time I even started holding competitions between my two family friends and me to see whose nails can become the shiniest by the end. It was both fun and relaxing, and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
The moral of the story is that all men should give up their stereotypical views for a second and remain open minded to trying things outside of the tight constraint that "manliness" brings us. Even if it means adjusting the name to something as ridiculous as "MANicures" so that you can wrap your head around the idea of trying it.
Stay Awesome
In class on Friday, there was a big focus on the fact that men are rarely ever seen in a nail salon or otherwise getting themselves pampered, so I would like to share my experience on the first couple of times I went to get a manicure.
My first time getting a manicure was at about 10 years of age. Before this, I had gone to nail salon's several times with family friends of ours, who are both men, but I always refused to get a manicure and instead just sat in one of the chairs and spun around until my heart was content--or until I became way too dizzy. The thing that was holding me back was the constant stigmatism in my head that men don't get manicures. It's something that is reserved for women as their own little sanctuary. I also believed that if I did get a manicure, I would be frowned upon or immediately considered gay. The whole idea of fearing the thought of being considered gay as a child is a whole problem in itself which I won't get into right now. Finally, after some convincing from my mom, because my nails looked like garbage and she believed girls like guys with nice nails, I decided to go. Well damn. The massages were incredible. I don't think I had ever felt so pampered in my life and it was unbelievable, to say the least.
After this initial experience, I started to like getting a manicure. I first realized that a tiny amount of people realized I even got one and the ones that did notice actually liked it. And even though I still had that stigmatism in the back of my head, I just decided to say fuck it because it felt good. After maybe my third time I even started holding competitions between my two family friends and me to see whose nails can become the shiniest by the end. It was both fun and relaxing, and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
The moral of the story is that all men should give up their stereotypical views for a second and remain open minded to trying things outside of the tight constraint that "manliness" brings us. Even if it means adjusting the name to something as ridiculous as "MANicures" so that you can wrap your head around the idea of trying it.
Stay Awesome
Sunday, January 29, 2017
The Problem and Hopeful Solution to Make any Movement Stronger
What's up caffeine addicts,
In light of many of the political events that have happened recently, and our furthering discussion in the psychology of women class, I had a few thoughts about the way in which many different movements try to accomplish their goals. Because of the passionate way in which people believe they deserve specific rights, it has caused a disconnect in the way they treat people that don't feel the same way; we need to be more understanding and informative in the way we discuss our position.
In my opinion, our culture has heavily moved towards the idea of actively opposing any type of opinion that doesn't support equality in general to its fault. This thinking has grown to the point in which we attack people of a differing opinion instead of calmly presenting our argument with relevant facts and information.
Of course, there are many exceptions to this with a broad range of great intellectuals that are vocal in a way that has evidence to support it, but a majority of people, mostly on the internet--don't. Instead, they constantly tell someone that they are wrong, terrible, or stupid because of their differing opinions without giving them legitimate reasons as to why they are wrong. You might think that this is still okay because it will stop them from expressing these types of opinions when everyone and their mother tells them they are wrong, but this isn't the case at all. Because the person never gets to understand why they are wrong, it just builds and builds within them until they finally break when someone like Donald Trump comes around and tells them that it's okay to feel this way.
You can easily see this throughout the country before the presidential election. Just think about it; an overwhelming majority of analyst clearly stated that Hilary was definitely going to win and by a large margin. We were so busy yelling at the people who believed in Donald Trump and his misogynistic/racist views that we were blind to how many people actually wanted him. People were so afraid to say that they think Donald Trump would make a good president that they refrained from telling anyone which led to a situation in which, in the words of Stephen Prothero, they became "allergic to argument." This is far from an ideal situation because it doesn't let us explain our position and convince each other against voting for someone who doesn't really care for this country and the people in it.
I understand that this can be hard at times with a large number of ignorant people who stick to their beliefs, but it beats the alternative of forcing them into hiding and causing their pent up anger to spawn something even worse than anything we could ever imagine. At least with this method, we may be able to get more people on our side without using fear. It may also put down all of those who believe in the idiotic stereotypical view that all feminists, for example, are crazy women who are offended by anything.
Sometimes you have to realize that everyone has differing experiences and teachings that lead them to a specific viewpoint. Ideologies are incredibly complicated. It's not as simple as blaming someone for their views and criticizing them. There is a much bigger picture to it. When you've known something to be true your whole life, and when these things are inherently built into the system, it's difficult to go against that. One of my favorite examples of this idea is cursing. If you really take a moment to think about it, "curse words" are just regular harmless words that are deemed inappropriate by society. This is something that we see all around us on a consistent basis. Because of this, we always know never to curse around polite company because it's not the right thing to do. But who decides what is the right thing to do? Well, that's where societies inherent values come into play and, in the example of cursing, even after realizing this it is very difficult to change your ways. Especially when people, like let's say your close family, tell you that this is the way you should be. This shows how the things that we learn from our environment affect us and how difficult to see a way around that. So perhaps we should think about the system and teach people as a whole rather than attack an individual for their beliefs.
To sum this all up, we need to stop attacking people for their views and instead convince them with reasonable evidence to prove our position. Don't fight fire with fire by berating those who grow up with a different set of values than you, even if those values can be incredibly immoral. No one likes to be attacked. It's easy to point at someone and call them any number of names for their beliefs; we have to collectively rise above that.
Stay awesome
In light of many of the political events that have happened recently, and our furthering discussion in the psychology of women class, I had a few thoughts about the way in which many different movements try to accomplish their goals. Because of the passionate way in which people believe they deserve specific rights, it has caused a disconnect in the way they treat people that don't feel the same way; we need to be more understanding and informative in the way we discuss our position.
In my opinion, our culture has heavily moved towards the idea of actively opposing any type of opinion that doesn't support equality in general to its fault. This thinking has grown to the point in which we attack people of a differing opinion instead of calmly presenting our argument with relevant facts and information.
Of course, there are many exceptions to this with a broad range of great intellectuals that are vocal in a way that has evidence to support it, but a majority of people, mostly on the internet--don't. Instead, they constantly tell someone that they are wrong, terrible, or stupid because of their differing opinions without giving them legitimate reasons as to why they are wrong. You might think that this is still okay because it will stop them from expressing these types of opinions when everyone and their mother tells them they are wrong, but this isn't the case at all. Because the person never gets to understand why they are wrong, it just builds and builds within them until they finally break when someone like Donald Trump comes around and tells them that it's okay to feel this way.
You can easily see this throughout the country before the presidential election. Just think about it; an overwhelming majority of analyst clearly stated that Hilary was definitely going to win and by a large margin. We were so busy yelling at the people who believed in Donald Trump and his misogynistic/racist views that we were blind to how many people actually wanted him. People were so afraid to say that they think Donald Trump would make a good president that they refrained from telling anyone which led to a situation in which, in the words of Stephen Prothero, they became "allergic to argument." This is far from an ideal situation because it doesn't let us explain our position and convince each other against voting for someone who doesn't really care for this country and the people in it.
I understand that this can be hard at times with a large number of ignorant people who stick to their beliefs, but it beats the alternative of forcing them into hiding and causing their pent up anger to spawn something even worse than anything we could ever imagine. At least with this method, we may be able to get more people on our side without using fear. It may also put down all of those who believe in the idiotic stereotypical view that all feminists, for example, are crazy women who are offended by anything.
Sometimes you have to realize that everyone has differing experiences and teachings that lead them to a specific viewpoint. Ideologies are incredibly complicated. It's not as simple as blaming someone for their views and criticizing them. There is a much bigger picture to it. When you've known something to be true your whole life, and when these things are inherently built into the system, it's difficult to go against that. One of my favorite examples of this idea is cursing. If you really take a moment to think about it, "curse words" are just regular harmless words that are deemed inappropriate by society. This is something that we see all around us on a consistent basis. Because of this, we always know never to curse around polite company because it's not the right thing to do. But who decides what is the right thing to do? Well, that's where societies inherent values come into play and, in the example of cursing, even after realizing this it is very difficult to change your ways. Especially when people, like let's say your close family, tell you that this is the way you should be. This shows how the things that we learn from our environment affect us and how difficult to see a way around that. So perhaps we should think about the system and teach people as a whole rather than attack an individual for their beliefs.
To sum this all up, we need to stop attacking people for their views and instead convince them with reasonable evidence to prove our position. Don't fight fire with fire by berating those who grow up with a different set of values than you, even if those values can be incredibly immoral. No one likes to be attacked. It's easy to point at someone and call them any number of names for their beliefs; we have to collectively rise above that.
Stay awesome
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