Confusion

While in England, I was having a few pints with some of the UK Navy guys. There was five of sitting together, swapping stories about where we had been, the action we had been in, what our favorite ports to visit were, how proud we were to serve our Nations Navy, the normal banter of warriors in their early 20's. After we had tossed a few down, the conversation turned to where we had come from. I told the group about upstate New York, how the whole state was not one big NYC. I talked of the ADK and growing up on the shores of one of the Great Lakes. I then listened to the others tell me that they were from Scotland, North Ireland, Wales, and England. Talking about the same things, the city and countryside. Although each one of them was from inside the UK, they all had pride in what country they came from. Strong pride that almost resulted in a fisticuffs. They explained it as while they were all British, only one was an Englishman, one Scot, one Welsh, one Irish (who was not seen as such by those not from the North). Sara Ceraso's post about confusion got me thinking about the problem of location and how it pertains to the questions of our class. North-Easterners, such as ourselves probably have mindsets as to how Southern people are, or the West Coast dwellers compared to the Plains. So even differences of geography could have a large impact on how we look at Race and Ethnic backgrounds. I'm intrested to see if anyone else has had thoughts along this line or if we are more focused on the country as a whole, and should we look at it by geography, and maybe even on a Rural-Urban comparison?

Ethnicity Confusion, Sara Ceraso Blog 12

Talking about the White Ethnic groups had me thinking. As time goes on there is less and less distinctions between the races we consider to be included in the white category. Irish Americans and Italian Americans are two of the most common I have noticed, and I happen to have family from each of those regions. Often, people cannot tell the difference between the two by looks alone. What I found curious was that when people confuse Koreans with Japanese, or Chinese, people get offended. Is it because they are part of a minority that supports why they get upset about it. I don't hear many stories of controversies of Italian Americans that get confused with German Americans, or Irish Americans. Just something I was thinking about.

Proverbal line in the sand?

The fact that the city government gave into the Jewish community really does not shock me. The fact that they did so when other groups were not given in to, actually does. All the complaints from an area of such multiple ethnic, religous and cultural backgrounds, and there complaint was the one that the mayor heeded. Either the swing vote from the Jewish community is that powerful, or the mayor thinks that the other groups won't care as much? This action with the bike trails calls in to question where, if ever, should there be a line dawn in what actions are taken to support an individual groups set of values. Touchy subject, right? Why can the government in NYC decide to take action on one particular groups complaint and not another? The focus has been on the religious background of the community in question, but what about the other legitimate factors the other communities have brought up? Can the mayor been seen as anything but playing favorites here, and what should be done about it? It remains to be seen when the voters come out for the reelection if this, or other actions like this shall have an impact on the mayor staying in office. I am not sure how I would go on this. Both Brigit May and Jen Graham make excellent points in their blogs on this, about how no one should be able to dictate and how you can not please everyone. The mayor should do what is best for the community at large and not cater to special interest groups and I hope, if this was not best for the overall community that the voters let him know when the time comes. The vote is the voice of the common person.

Stereotypical Lawg Guyland

After watching the videos on the stereotypical Jewish mothers, it immediately reminded me of some YouTube videos but John Roberts. He does several different characters including ones that mimic typical Long Island mothers. I related this back to class because I noticed that while others found the videos funny as well, I found it funnier because it actually reminded me of my mom. Being able to laugh at your self or your "group" is common in many ethnic groups.

Here are two of the videos I am referring to:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTs5eKZ0i1E

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JyfBFz9X54&feature=relmfu

Archie Bunker’s Bicentennial Minute

I for one has always been a fan of retro TV shows, and one day when I was channel surfing a stopped to watch All in the Family. For anyone who has never seen this show before, politics often becomes an issue. The premise of the show is that there is a conservative older man, Archie Bunker, whose views often clash with his son-in-law, Michael, a liberal college professor. This particular episode was especially interesting because the son-in-law was offered a job, but became worried that he would not get it when he learned that he had to compete against a black man to get it. This was a show in the 1970’s and the idea of Affirmative action was directly talked about. Michael, who was active in all of the peace marches and an advocate for civil rights, suddenly feels the effects of what was brought up as ‘reverse racism’ in the show. What was interesting was that they even say that Michael had more experience, but was denied the job because it looked better to the school if they hired a minority. However, the show described the overall justification for Affirmative action, which was to give minority groups a boost, which has been denied to them for so many years. Even though Michael was upset at his lost opportunity, he seemed to understand why it occurred. It made me think of people 35 years ago or so, watching that program, then when it was over, them having a more clear sense of Affirmative Action (why it was pit into place, and how it can have a huge affect on lives of everyone-no matter which color you are). However, it seems as though some of the unsettling notions of such controversial legislation were apparent then as they are now.

The clip I have posted below is Archie Bunker’s rant on America. He does not want Michael to get the job because he does not want them to move away, so he says he supports the idea that Michael would loose a job to a black man (something that he certainly doesn’t really agree with). If you listen closely, his true feelings on America will leak out. He does this is a very crude, and offensive (but comical) way. It is almost surprising that his language was acceptable at the time; I don’t think it would on a new show today. If you don’t see the clip for entertainment value, it is good to watch it to get an insight into 1970’s American culture, and even how such political issues were exposed used the media at that time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cbu0voHaqbA

Leonore Tiefer's Presentation (Extra Credit)

Before I attended Monday’s presentation, most the issues Dr. Tiefer brought up in her presentation were unheard of to me. For one, I had never heard of genital cosmetic surgery. I was completely astounded that women actually felt the need to get this done, especially without the scientific background/data to support the results of the surgery. It fascinated me when Tiefer talked about how Dr. Matlock turned the idea of medical surgery into a business, and at that a marketing scam. It feels as though he is cashing in on the breaking down of self-image and self-esteem of women. I took a look at his website (and posted a link at the bottom of the post) and it is really remarkable how women’s bodies are being marketed. He offers package deals as if to say ‘buy one get one’. It just does not seem right to me to reconstruct certain parts of the body because some women feel uncomfortable with something like a long labia (because society for some reason makes her feel as though that is unacceptable to have). It is a shame that we live in a society that cannot embrace natural beauty, but instead has you pay tens of thousands of dollars to artificially fix it.

Overall, I found Tiefers presentation to be very interesting. I thought that some of the ways of protest were very creative and unique. I really enjoyed her small bits of comedy used throughout the presentation.

Here is the link for Dr. Matlock's website. It is really quite interesting
http://www.drmatlock.com/

Meredith Cotter, Post #13

Hipsters & The Bike Lanes

I found Jenny's presentation really interesting, so I went and did some more research about the topic just to see what has/had been done and how long ago this all occurred. I found it funny that the whole "nude" bike ride through didn't happen but instead they pinned plastic boobs to their clothing instead.

While I understand they wanted to make a point, they staged the protest on a holy day while families were leaving synagogue services. Probably not the best idea. A lot of children were probably with their families and able to see what was happening. It could've been held another day and gotten a better response. I also believe the city of NY should not have removed the lanes to begin with, as someone mentioned in class, anyone in shorts could walk down the street and look just as skimpy.

Ynews article

Jen Graham #14

Stereotyping in Television

The presentation about Jewish stereotypes got me thinking, where does the stereotype come from that Jewish people are cheap? I've heard so many times people say the term "don't be such a Jew" if they are being skimpy or cheap about something, and I was just wondering why this is. I thought maybe it was because people also stereotype a lot of Jewish people as being wealthy too, so maybe they justify this by saying that they are wealthy because they are cheap.

The stereotypes that were brought up in the presentation were that Jewish mothers are overbearing when it comes to their children. Also that the women are loud, and have that nasally voice like Fran the Nanny. This was interesting to me because I always used to watch that show as a kid, and I never thought about the underlying stereotype that was being portrayed until we talked about it in class. It made me think about the fact that there are so many stereotypes in television, and a lot of these shows are being watched by young children. This is how, from such a young age, kids build up judgements and believe these stereotypes about a certain group of individuals. When you grow up being exposed to these stereotypes, it is hard to get rid of them because it what you grew up believing. This is something that I think is a real problem in our society, because these shows are teaching children to stereotype. While some stereotypes aren't that negative, there are others that are, and the TV shows do a good job of exposing them all.

Brigit May, Post 14

Family heritage

While talking about the heritage of white ethnic Americans in class it got me to thinking about my ethnic heritage. I’m 75% Irish and my sister is 100% Irish so when we describe ourselves we usually just refer to ourselves as Irish. But besides pale skin a love of potatoes there is little about us that really reflects our heritage. I think honestly the only thing that is traditionally Irish about is being raised somewhat Irish Catholic. My grandmother on my mothers side was very religious so she raised my mother and my aunts and uncles to be Catholic as well. And in turn due to pressure from my Grandmother all of my cousins have been raised Catholic as well, getting baptized, having their first communion and in some cases getting confirmed. Though since my Grandmothers death my family has moved away from being more traditionally Catholic, very few of my relatives in my generation, or the generation of my mother go to church, say grace before dinner or fallow through with religious rites of passage like confirmation. In fact now that there is no more pressure on my cousins or I, I don’t think that any of us have been confirmed at all. I no longer have any living relatives that have come from Ireland so there aren’t any more direct stories from the “home country”. I think it will be interesting to see how future generations of my family see themselves. Will their Irish heritage be an afterthought, or will the try to connect to the families past?

You Can't Please Everybody

I found the article about the bike path that ran through a neighborhood that was primarily made up of Hasidic Jews to be very interesting. A lot of things stuck out to me during that discussion, especially the fact that the main complaint that they had was that the woman bikers were dressed inappropriately, and the Hasidic Jewish men were being tempted by them or whatever it was. I don't agree with them taking down the bike path due to this one problem. First of all, no one is forcing these men to look, and second of all if they can't help but look when it is against their religion to do so, then that is their problem, not the problem of the female bikers or the city. I do think that out of respect for this neighborhood, the city should have thought twice about running a bike path through it, but now that it was put there, I don't think that is reason enough to take it down. The fact of the matter is that there are hundreds of different religions in the United States, and everyone has the right to practice freely whatever religion they want. With the amount of different beliefs and values that come from all these different religions, there is bound to be something that offends one group, or something that they don't agree with, and the fact of the matter is that you can't please everyone. You can be respectful and aware of how others feel about a certain situation, but at the end of the day, a bike path with woman wearing a skimpy amount of clothes is not breaking the law, being that it is the property of the city. I do not believe a certain religious group has the right to dictate whether or not a bike path can be placed on their public streets, and I think the reason it was taken down was because it was in the best interests of the man running for mayor to do so.

Brigit May, Post 13

Jewish presentations

In class on Thursday I thought the presentations were really interesting. I never realized the different stereotypes that existed for Jewish groups, especially on television. So it was a surprise when we watched the clips and discussed all the different shows that Jewish groups are portrayed on. I also never realized that there are different Jewish groups within the religion. I liked looking at different aspects of the Jewish religion. In school all I was really taught about Jews, was about the holocaust, and how throughout history them being scapegoats and persecuted. So it was definitely interesting to learn about how Jewish groups are being portrayed in today’s society, and different issues that are involving them.

#14

Heritages throughout generations

I agree with earlier posts about people not being able to retain their heritage generation after generation. I think if a person had close ties with their home country, visited it often, and did not intermarry, and this happened generation after generation, that maybe a persons true heritage could be maintained. But lets face it, that is not what normally happens. If you think about a couple weeks ago when we were talking about the internment of Japanese Americans, the older generation had trouble cutting loyalties to Japan. But the younger generations that have been born in America, did not have the same difficulties. They related more with America then with Japan, although their true heritage was Japanese

Personally my heritage is pretty mixed, there is not one that I identify with more then the other. Honestly to me my heritage does not make a difference to me. I’m proud of my family, but not because where they came from, but because who they were. I know most of my friends in high school did not celebrate any certain heritage. In my opinion peoples heritages, at least in America, do not play as big of a role as they did in the past. I agree with others that celebrating heritages has become something commercial.

#13

Jersey Shore spinoff

In class we discussed how Asian Americans are considered by some to the the “model minority”. They have integrated into American life and many have high levels of education and success in the workplace. And now there is a reality TV show that is exploiting these stereotypes for marketing for their new show. Due to the success of the show The Jersey Shore there are now a few similar shows in production using the same type of set up. But instead of using more “guidos” they are using Russians, with the setting in Brighton Beach and Asians. A sneak peak of footage of the new Asian reality show K-Town has just come out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbW-XYqbol0&feature=player_embedded
Do you think a show like this will change the typical view of Asians that the American people have?

Jewish Americans

It didn't surprise me that like every other non-WASP group that emigrated to America, Jewish people were submitted to prejudice and discrimination. While researching this subject, I came across a very sad moment for Jewish Americans. In 1915, a very well to do businessman from Atlanta was lynched, a man named Leo Frank. He was accused of killing a woman in the factory he managed. After his trial, a mob of men dragged him the jail and killed him by lynching. It was only later figured out that he was innocent. This is a tragic story and shows just how dangerous is really was in that time period for a person to be from a different culture, religion, or race. I found a wonderful website that informs people about the history of Jews in America. It was very helpful and insightful. The website is below.

http://www.pbs.org/jewishamericans/jewish_life/anti-semitism.html

Staci Becker- Post #14

Being White

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/a56e0f4682/louis-ck-being-white

This is a bit by one of my favorite comedians, Louis C.K. He's a very cynical comedian, which turns off some people, but I personally love it. Through his comedy he points out major flaws in our world, sometimes aggressively, but other times in a benign fashion. In this particular premise, Louis CK goes where very few comedians go, and explains the innate advantages of being white. "I'm white, middle-class, and male...You really can't say much to hurt my feelings!" This is something so true, but very rarely spoken of. Whites have dominated western society for centuries, and they (myself included) have never really dealt with racial problems. I walk through life everyday without any fear of discrimination, this is a notion that other people in our society cannot enjoy, and I really can't understand them. I would probably sign up for white male again too if I had the choice, and I don't think that's a bad thing to say. CK's point towards the end is absolutely hilarious/scary and could actually hold some truth. Will whites ever become the dominated race? Is it OUR turn, so it speak? Well, along with him, I'm going to ride it all the way down...

Disney

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/31/fashion/31disney.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1

This article published in the New York Times before The Princess and the Frog gives many opinions to stereotypes persistent in Disney movies. Before the release of Disney’s newest princess, many expressed concern as to how Tiana would be represented as an African American woman. After our discussion of portrayal of stereotypes in the media, I found this article to be particularly interesting. This article represents the fact that no one can come to a decision on when stereotyping goes too far in the media (aside from a few exceptions where Disney REALLY dropped the ball in depicting races). What I got from this article was that everyone draws the line at a different place, and some critics might be a little overly-critical of racially diverse characters which can foster stereotypes in places that need not be depicted as stereotypical.

For example, Disney came close to naming the new princess Maddy, short for Madeline; however, this idea was quickly revoked because it was too close to “Mammy”. In defense of Disney, and I rarely defend Disney when it comes to their use of stereotypes, Maddy was an extremely popular girls name at the time, names like Madison and Madelyn were very common and used Maddy for short. In instances like this, I wonder if we think too much about stereotypes and, by doing so, we continue to perpetuate these stereotypes.

In another instance, critics were arguing if Tiana and her prince were “black enough.” Tiana and the prince were criticized for having skin color that was too white, and the prince was criticized because the actor was not black but Brazilian. In cases like this, many were on the fence about whether this is an important issue to tackle. Some believe Disney should have gone a bit farther in creating a more African American character. I am not so sure how I feel about this. Plenty of African Americans are lighter skinned and plenty are darker skinned. On one hand, Disney may have tried to make Tiana more “white” by making her lighter skinned. On the other hand, it could just be the illustrator’s creative vision.

Overall, what I got from this article is that stereotyping in the media is a tricky situation. There is no definitive line drawn to show people what is too far and what is not far enough. I think as viewers, it is important to take all characters with a grain of salt.

Sylvia Fine

The Nanny is another show that I like to watch (I have the first 3 seasons on DVD, the other 3 have yet to be released). Anyway, I thought about Sylvia (Fran’s mother) when we talked about Jewish Americans in class. To me, Sylvia portrays a typical Jewish mother, offering over-bearing guidance, eating often, and always trying to maintain an important and prevalent role in her daughter's life. I found some lines from the show that I felt demonstrated this:

[Sylvia notices a mark on Fran's neck, which Sylvia mistakenly thinks is a hickey]
Fran: [looking the mark on her neck in the mirror in horror] What is that?

Sylvia Fine: Enough already. You don't have to hide. You can have a hickey at your age. You can have osteoporosis at your age.

Fran Fine: [looking down her own blouse in shock] Oh my God, it goes all the way down my body.

Sylvia Fine: [excitedly, still thinking it's a hickey] Mazel Tov, darling!

Therapist: So ladies, what brings you to therapy?

Fran Fine: I came because my mother has an obsession with me getting married.

Sylvia Fine: I came because my daughter has a delusion that I have an obsession.

Fran Fine: Ma, I met this man at Danny's funeral.

Sylvia Fine: Fabulous! He's Jewish?

Fran Fine: Yeah, and a doctor.

Sylvia Fine: Oh!

Fran Fine: And he's gay.

Sylvia Fine: So you seeing him again?

- Josh Steffen

Sophia Petrillo

The Golden Girls is one of my favorite shows (I have all 7 seven seasons on DVD). When we got to Marger's chapter on Italian Americans, I thought about the fictional character Sophia Petrillo. I found some quotes from the show that I thought were relevant:

Dorothy: [laughs while showing old slides of the family] Pop was sure a lousy photographer. Who is that?

Sophia: Uncle Vittorio.

Dorothy: His head's cut off. How can you tell?

Sophia: Because that's exactly how he looked in the morgue when he turned in state's evidence against Benny the Blade.

Blanche: These things don't happen to people like me! They happen to people named...Petrillo!

Sophia: I take offense to that! No one in my family ever, EVER....left a body to be found!

I think these lines from the show reinforce the common stereotype that Italians are often associated with crime, which Marger mentions in the chapter.

- Josh Steffen

The Heritage Trend

It seems that people today, or at least the people in my generation that I have been around, pride themselves on a heritage that most of the time they know very little about. Heritage has become an image to people more than a culture. Its a way we identify ourselves as if its some type of indicator of who we are as a person. We set out to seem like we have this great understanding of our heritage, because it makes us seem cultured an unique, when really there is no way for us to be able to understand our heritage fully, having grown up in the United States and saying that we do is ridiculous. For example, how we were discussing Italian Americans in class, I know many Italian Americans who constantly like to bring up how "Italian"they are. In reality they probably know as much about actual Italian culture as I do (which isn't much). I have witnessed people justify how "Italian" they are by wearing an Italian horn around their neck and saying they have spaghetti dinner with their family once a week. Or with Irish Americans, right around St. Patrick's day all of the Irish people start to come out of the wood work and bring up how "Irish" they are during the month of March. Eating spaghetti does not make you Italian, wearing green on St. Patrick's day does not make you Irish and going out for a drink on Cinco de Mayo does not make you Mexican. Just because you are of a certain heritage does not mean you have a full understanding of it. European Heritage has become a trend in the United States more than anything and the actual aspects of it have lost their meaning. It is one thing to take pride in your heritage and to try and gain an understanding of it, but to claim to have a full understanding is really over the top.
-Ryan Fleming blog#14

Television and Stereotypes

With our discussion in class today about stereotypes and television shows, I was thinking about The Nanny, and The Big Bang Theory. I have seen many episodes of both of these shows, and I feel that The Nanny reinforces these thoughts, while the Big Bang Theory makes fun of them and shows how ridiculous they are. The Nanny is pretty much entirely based around Jewish stereotypes, and doesn’t always seem like a joke. I feel the show makes you believe that that’s how all Jewish women act and reinforces these Jewish stereotypes. However on the Big Bang Theory, I feel they make fun of everyone in such a big way that I get the feeling they’re making fun of these stereotypes. I also feel that they make fun of all kinds of people (they show nerd, and dumb blond etc. stereotypes as well) which makes me believe they’re making fun of them. I think these types of shows need to be careful of how they portray characters, because it can either reinforce these, or poke fun at these kinds of stereotypes, and people may not recognize the difference if it's not obvious to the viewers.

Laura Kalinowski Post #14

Re: Confusion Blog #14 Frank DiMaria

 

Pete, I completely agree with what your saying and this was the also the point that I was trying to make in class. Ethnicity in my opinion is becoming a symbol for something rather than a relevant idea in people’s lives. Just like you mention your ancestors I feel the same way. I’ll never be able to understand what they went through from leaving Italy to actually becoming an American and in a lot of ways I am very blessed to not have to go through all the heartache of that. I don’t really understand how anyone could say that they know what it is to be “Italian” for instance, especially when half the people saying it have never even been to Italy. I mean I think embracing an ethnic background and heritage is important and great, but I don’t honestly believe that people, especially in the future, will really even comprehend what it is to be whatever it is that they are. I read a really funny article that I wanted to bring up in class but I didn’t get the time to. I think the program Jersey Shore is ridiculous but I also think that it’s really funny. Now, the cast portrays stereotypically Italian Americans in their opinion and embraces what they believe to be an Italian background. With this being said they are planning on doing their new seasons in Italy. When this was announced the Italian council wrote a letter to MTV to not do the show or bring the cast to Italy, as the cast is a poor representation of the Italian people. I just thought that it was so funny to think about these Guido’s sitting around the MTV studio being all “Italian” and such and hearing from Italy that they aren’t wanted. I am Italian and I embrace it to some extent. But, I don’t embrace it because I understand an Italian way of life, but rather because I am proud of whom my grandparents and great grandparent are. Lets get real here, if you’ve lived in American your whole life and were born here, you don’t and cannot really have an appreciation for the “land” of your heritage.

One Big Group?

After our discussion on Tuesday I thought a lot about what we were talking about. When the question "are we moving towards one big American ethnic group" was asked I felt that this was something I had never taken the time to think about. Everyone has their own heritage that they choose to either follow by, show pride towards, or even just acknowledging its there and thats it. Like I said in class everyone is different and is situational depending on the family and their beliefs. I do agree that there is a slow disconnect from our original roots as time goes on. While tihs is taking place I don't think there is one exact reason that it is taking place. Just like each family chooses whether or not to acknowledge their heritage they also choose to not acknowledge it for different reasons. I feel that it would be very hard to find one reason why it is there is this ongoing disconnect from one's heritage. One obvious reason that could add to it is the fact that as generations go on, they are farther away from those who may have not been born in this country. So for them all they know is their country as well as what their parents tell them and surround them as they grow up.
The question was asked, "do we think that we eventually will just be one big group with our heritages no longer involved?" I don't think the pride of our heritages will ever be completely gone from our lives. I do think that we our connections to them are nothing to what they used to be but they are still there.

Religion in the Supreme Court

Check out this New York Times article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/11/weekinreview/11liptak.html

The article was published last year and states that with the announcement Supreme Court Justice Stevens’s retirement the Supreme Court was left without a single protestant judge. This article points out that religion plays less and less of a role in upward mobility of today’s society. Also, I found it was interesting at how highly this article regarded education as a main factor of one’s achievement. I think this is interesting given the chapters we just read about white ethnic groups. The historical discrimination of Catholics and Jews seemed to have faded away. Maybe this is one reason it is rarely discussed in the school curriculum? Does the WASP criterion still apply to a person’s place in society or is religion completely deteriorating as a factor? One more thing I found very interesting about this article is that while it emphasizes the decline in religious discrimination yet it does not touch on the fact that virtually no religions other than Christianity and Judaism occupy seats in the Supreme Court.

Italian American Post - Post #13

I thought I 'd post a link to the Documentary that Martin Scorcese did about his parents and their view on the Italians and coming over to the US. I watched a lot of it while researching the chapter and got quite a kick out of their story. It talks a lot about their marraige, raising a family and other aspects of Italians in the US.

Italian American

Southie and Roxbury

Chapter 10 touches a little bit on relationships between African Americans and Irish Americans. Marger mentions the 1970s controversy over busing in Boston as well as the riot in 1863. I think the busing in Boston controversy is really important in studying race and ethnic relations. When the school board attempted to make schools more equal by re-defining the lines of school districts, Irish Americans acted in outrage when their community in Southie was about to be integrated with the African American community of Roxbury. I think this is a really shocking example of how the Irish of Boston tried to assert their position in society. While both neighborhoods were on the poorer spectrum, the Irish still tried to assert a higher status.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/eyesontheprize/story/21_boston.html

Confused

So after leaving class Tuesday, I can say I was confused about peoples theories and how some people in class imagine the world as this perfect place where everybody and everything is perfect. It really got me stressed out and made me think more into what we were talking about, I posed a question after my presentation about heritage and if its going to continue on generation after generation and if that bond between yourself and your heritage would be as strong in two more generations as it was for your great grandmother. Some people honestly believe the answer was yes and i am sorry that is completely 100% FALSE. That is like saying Martin Luther King Jr.'s great great grandson will feel the same pain and same emotional attachment to the civil rights movement, and that is just preposterous. This might push some peoples buttons and that's fine, I like feedback but comparing heritage of my great grandmother who came straight off the boat to Ellis Island, and experienced all the pain and desperation to become a part of the U.S. and still retain her strong Irish beliefs, to the children I may have is hilarious to me. You CAN NOT have the same emotional and strong attachment to a heritage if you did not experience the events and hardships that came along with it. I understand some people will always celebrate their heritage but its a fact that its becoming a commercialized industry and every holiday that takes place is just another chance for the U.S. to make another dollar and drink another beer.

The amazing Leonore Tiefer

When I decided to go to the discussion that we were told about, I had no idea who Leonore Tiefer was, or what she was even presenting about. I'm honestly not sure what was expecting, but it was not that talk and discussion that ended up happening. I was amazed at how this woman could give us so much information, and make a room of sleepy students interested. She was very funny, like Laura and Ryan pointed out, but I think when dealing with this topic, you have to be. I have been told by friends and family who live out of country, that Americans are often thought to be prudish and ashamed of their own bodies. That may be why this "medication for sex" is so popular in this country. Knowledge about sex is available, but not in the way it should be, in my (and by the sounds of it) Leonore Tiefer's opinion. The nervous laughter that was heard when graphic images were being shown is a testament of that.

I am very happy that I decided to attend the presentation. I certainly learned a lot about these surgeries that she talked about. Coincidentally, I was a bit addicted to the show Dr. 90210, but i had never really thought it was anything to be concerned about. Now, I have a bit more reservation for it.

Staci Becker Post #13

The Color Purple

I remember the The Color Purple being very controversial within my family when the movie came out. I have not read the novel so I can not comment on the differences between the book and movie but, from what my mother, who has read the novel, and uncles and aunts have said about the movie, they have voiced some of the same concerns that critics brought up. After reading Victoria's post I called my mother and asked her what she thought of the novel and movie.

My mother was critical of the movie because she felt that the movie did not examine the impact that class, education, and other societal factors had on the interactions between black men and women.

She always felt that the depiction of the characters owning land and being more well off was not an accurate depiction of black southern life in the early 1900's. Many blacks in the South were impoverished at the turn of the century living under horrible conditions.

Their is also the issue of how Black men are depicted in the movie as being particularly brutal and abusive and this sets a bad example for those individuals who will take the movie which is a work of fiction and broadly apply it to black men as a whole or use it as an example of Black social history when it does accurately represent the aspects of the time which it is set.

There is the theme of incest with Celie and I forget her name. There is the depiction of black women as being masculine and not feminine which is an age old stereotype. Its the whole idea of the black family being portrayed as abusive, perverse, and immoral which rubs people in the black community the wrong way. When the movie came out there was not many black families in tv and movies that could be looked upon and held up as role models. This is the essence of where the backlash came from.

I don't agree with all of the points made by my family but I completely understand. My mother also said that my mom and dad were both from Mississippi, they moved to New York shortly before my mother was born. They did not abuse each other, they were married 44 years, had 7 kids, a loving relationship, and treated us well. Where was the book or movie depicting my parents during the 80's?

The Color Purple

I'm currently taking Black Women Writers with Dr. Liggins. We just finished reading Alice Walker's The Color Purple, as well as watching Stephen Spielberg's film adaptation by the same name.

I found it very interesting to learn of all of the backlash against the novel. Apparently many black men were angry at the way that black men were being portrayed. In the beginning of the novel many of the men were abusive and controlling, but throughout the novel they undergo transformations that allowed them to respect women as well as themselves. The main character, Celie, also undergoes a transformation that allows her to love and respect herself, and brings her to stand up for herself.

I suppose I'm still trying to understand all of the hate for the novel. Some say that it is because the way that Mr. ____ , Old Mr. ____ , and Harpo treat women hits too close to home. You know, the whole, "methinks the lady doth protest too much" mentality. There's also the argument that blacks are frequently portrayed negatively in the media and The Color Purple was no different. Personally, I think the novel is about women and their experiences, with race just being one factor among many.

Victoria Rader Post 13

We're Melting!

In class, Jeff posed a question pertaining to us eventually losing our individual ethnicities and amalgating into one unified European-American indentity. This is a funny question to me, because it seems that this was the purpose of American in the beginning! It was MEANT to be the melting pot, where it didn't matter where you came from, it was supposed to be a place to start over. But humans with their inability to adapt to change created barriers between different groups and we made ourselves no better off than we were in Europe, with the same inaccurate perceptions of each other. With the passage of only 250 years, we've come a long way though, but we've gone over that in classes thoroughly so I won't get into it again. What I'm wondering is, are we actually getting closer to this American Dream? This dream where everyone views each other as equal, and their past doesn't matter? Is this even a place we want to be? Do we want to strip ourselves from our heritages and our past? Is this a positive or a negative? I believe we are getting closer to this uniform American indentity, and I think it is a great thing. All the cultural aspects of different ethnicities has already been well established in this country so I don't see that vanishing, all that would vanish is all this prejudice and discriminatory action towards someone based on their origins. If we continue in this trend, we have the opportunity to become a truly great nation.

Samuel Roux, Week 8 Post 1

Dr. Leonore Tiefer's presentation

Like many other people, I wasn't aware of the issues discussed in Dr. Leonore Tiefer's presentation on Monday night. I thought her talk was very informative and also funny at times. I thought Ryan's post about her use of comedy to present her information about genital cosmetic surgery and comparing it to Margaret Cho was very interesting, and correct. I think that she uses comedy in her presentations to capture people's attention to get her information across. I really enjoyed it when she showed us things her group does to raise awareness like have street plays, knit vulvas, and show different genital artwork. It was funny, yet informational which was a great way to show this information.

Her talk in general was mostly about women's rights to know how these kinds of surgeries impact their bodies. Her main point was that there's no science behind these kinds of surgeries, and women are having them to "look better" when in fact, everybody is different and shouldn't feel they need to get them. Surgeons can perform these surgeries who aren't even really certain how to properly handle them, and there's no evidence of harmful side effects yet (mainly because there aren't any studies about these procedures).

Laura Kalinowski Post #13

Dr. Leonore Tiefer

Last night I attended Dr. Leonore Tiefer's presentation. Prior to attending this I was completely unaware of the surgical procedures women were going through for genital reconstruction. The whole concept of all of these procedures seemed a little outrageous in my opinion. Though I am not really passionate about this particular topic I found that Dr. Leonore Tiefer presented it in a way that drew in an audience and definitely caught my attention to the issues at hand. I really liked how her and the other activists of this used comedy as a way to spread concousness of the issues of genital reconstruction etc. They used short skits, knitted vaginas and had a group called the muffia, that all were used in a humourous way to raise awareness. To me this was another example of how comedy is used as an outlet to discuss serious issues while gaining a larger audience. Much like Margret Cho used comdey to talk about many issues such as physical apperence, I felt that Dr. Leonore Tiefer and the people she works with also used comedy as one of their many ways to stress the issues placed on physical apperence. Women and men are being told that the physical apperence of their genitalia determines their quality of sex, so they go through these procedures in attempt to improve themselves. If the trend of genital reconstruction continues to grow, I feel that there needs to be more research done on the procedures and its long term effects. All in all I thought the presentation was definitely an eye opener and caught my attention on these issues.
-Ryan Fleming blog#13

Dr. Leonore Tiefer

I saw tonight's...well, last night's talk with Dr. Leonore Tiefer and I have to say it was fantastic. Being a Women's Studies minor, I first heard of Dr. Tiefer in last semester's presentation of Orgasm, Inc. It was that film, among others presented, that helped me get interested in the area of Women's Studies in the educational sense.
Her talk was rather inspiring, at least for me. She was involved in activist movements early in life, starting while she was in college.
I think one of the most interesting things that Dr. Tiefer pointed out was that it is a lack of sexual education that leads to a dissatisfaction in one's sex life, not medical deficiencies. The problem, of course, is that big pharma along with doctors, are increasingly pushing pills and medical procedures to fix this sexual dissatisfaction. What women need is not a pill or medical procedure, but education, safety, access to birth control and abortions, a better attitude towards our bodies, and as she says, "better lovers!"
The medicalization of women's bodies is a growing problem. Society is increasingly telling women that they are deficient no matter what they do. There is always something that can be improved upon, and it shows especially with procedures like labiaplasty, vaginal rejuvination, and the g-shot becoming increasingly popular.
Dr. Tiefer is incredibly interesting and passionate about her work. I'm actually considering taking on Women's Studies as a second major after seeing her speak.


Victoria Rader Post 12

Leonore Tiefer Presentation Blog #13 Frank DiMaria

So, I went to see Leonore Tiefer who spoke on a wide variety of issues concerning the ideas of gender and societal roles in our society today. Her resume so to speak was quite impressive and it appeared that she really was quite passionate about what she was doing. Though I am not as passionate about the issues Tiefer spoke about, it is always wonderful to me to see someone who is so passionate about anything. I really enjoyed the presentation as well and I felt that she clearly laid out her points and did a good job teaching about her “New View campaign” into women’s sexuality. I also thought her section about American consumerism in the buying of sex pharmaceuticals was interesting. Every time we turn on a television we see a commercial for some kind of Viagara pill. Every ad presents what a perfect human specimen should look like. We as a whole are so influenced by our media that I can see why a woman would want a surgery like the ones Tiefer was talking about. It seems our society is genetically programming people to feel certain ways about themselves and in turn people look for a quick fix. Not only is this mentality in ads, but whole programs are based off this concept; plastic surgery reality shows for instance. Before this presentation I didn’t even really know that this type of surgery was being done. It’s quite scary to think about everything we as a society buy into and believe. I also want to make the point that Tiefer, like many other activists stressed the idea of a societal change, that is in other words changing the rules of society, rather than fixing each individual. As society changes we buy into it more and more. Like Tiefer said, it’s a vicious cycle of what’s in, fads and so on. Her point that medicine in sex has been occurring really only in the last twenty years is quite interesting to think about. We have come a long way from television shows that showed a married couple with two separate beds like Leave It to Beaver, but is the way we are addressing sex really the right way? Have we really progressed? In my opinion I think sexual expression has its place, but people, modernly, buying into a pill solution in accordance to fixing insecurities should consider what they are really doing.