Assault Prevention

When it comes to sexual assault, victim blaming is common. According to Newman, this places nearly all the responsibility to prevent sexual assault on potential victims: women. We always see the prevention tips to avoid being assaulted, but this poster flips the responsibility to a potential assaulter.

You wouldn't believe the debate set off by this poster at its website:
http://front.moveon.org/the-most-effective-sexual-assault-prevention-plan-ever/
One person writes: "Whew! That was a close one. Being a man, I am only inches away from anonymously raping every woman that I see. Thanks liberals and feminazis from saving female kind from me."  I was quite surprised to see responses like these, as it seems the only people who should be offended are assaulters.

Newman, David. Sociology. Ed 8. 2010.

Angry, but for Good Reason (Assignment 12)



When my boyfriend called me on Wednesday afternoon, I was in a great mood:  I had just finished my last class of the day and was almost all set to depart for my parents' house. The only thing I had left to do was read Newman's Chapter 12, "Sex and Gender."  When my boyfriend arrived home two hours later, though, my mood was a bit different. Okay, a lot different. What happened? Where do I even start?

The very first page of the chapter helped me realize how little things have changed for women in this country in the last 200 years. The Declaration of Independence, rewritten at a women's rights convention in 1848 reads, in part, "In view of their social degradation and in view of the unjust laws above mentioned, and because women do feel themselves aggrieved, oppressed, and fraudulently deprived of the most sacred rights, we insist that they have immediate admission to all the rights and privileges which belong to them as citizens of the United States." This statement could have been written yesterday.

I learned of a study performed by the American Association of University Women that approximately 83% of girls have been the victims of varying levels of sexual harassment in elementary, middle, and high school. In addition, 2 of 3 female college students has experienced sexual harassment during college, but only about 10% report it.

The passage on rape made me sick. I learned that often rape isn't even considered a crime against the woman but rather a crime against her husband or father whose property is violated. Also, the threat of rape is a constant reminder to women that men are more powerful. Women often don't report rape due to the fact that they are subjected to being required to prove their innocence rather than the guilt of the offender. Perhaps the most shocking statement, to me, was that in a study of high school students, "52% agreed that most women fantasize about being raped by a man..."

The "Gender Inequality in Families" segment made me annoyed to realize that I am conforming to gender roles by performing the tasks "essential to the daily functioning of the household" while my boyfriend's chores are "infrequent, irregular, or optional" (Newman 2010). And when my boyfriend does these chores, I'm very likely to show excessive appreciation, as if he went above and beyond; I don't get praised for doing laundry or dishes, though, and for some reason I don't expect to.

The section about gender and the economy made me feel hopeless. Women earn only 78% of what men earn, and the gap increases with age. In addition, occupations like physician, engineer, dentist, and lawyer, which are traditionally male occupations, are still extremely dominated by men.

These points are just a few of the angry-mood-inducers I came across in this chapter. No other chapter in Newman's Sociology has had quite this effect on me. I must admit that venting about the injustices in this blog has been quite therapeutic, and hopefully, after reading this, my boyfriend will understand why I hated him so much on that Wednesday.

Newman, David. Sociology. Ed 8. 2010.

Image: http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=en&biw=1249&bih=615&tbm=isch&tbnid=STL1GwkJEValdM:&imgrefurl=http://www.angrybirds-online.info/tag/angry-birds-graphics/&docid=XXjKCLOzHEk5iM&imgurl=http://www.angrybirds-online.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/AngryRedBird.png&w=400&h=400&ei=NwzTTsuZEsfkiALxmZnpDA&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=982&vpy=273&dur=203&hovh=225&hovw=225&tx=205&ty=128&sig=100147541499453716487&page=3&tbnh=120&tbnw=125&start=36&ndsp=21&ved=1t:429,r:20,s:36

Sorting by Race

While doing research on race and its origins, I came across a website called "Race:  The Power of an Illusion." It has a great activity in which you sort pictures of people into the racial categories American Indian, Asian, Black, Hispanic/Latino, and White. You can take the quiz through the link under the photo:

http://www.pbs.org/race/002_SortingPeople/002_00-home.htm

As you can probably imagine, it's extremely difficult to categorize the pictures into the groups provided. After taking the quiz, you can divide the photos into different color groups, light to dark, and, as expected, "light" and "dark" skin can be found in several racial categories. The text echos this point:  ". . . people who consider themselves 'white' may actually have darker skin and curlier hair than some people who consider themselves 'black'" (Newman 2010).

The activities on this website are, perhaps, geared toward a younger audience, but they are a good reminder that race is a social construct, and that how people are classified is completely arbitrary.

Newman, David. Sociology. Ed 8. 2010.

Racial Labelling (Assignment 11)

The passage "Why Isn't Barack Obama White?" in Newman's Sociology, Chapter 11, really made me look at race in a way that I never have. After all, Obama is half white, but, as the text points out, "He is called the first black or African American president, usually not the first biracial president and certainly not the first half-white president" (Newman 2010).  While I read this passage, I couldn't help but think about my only niece Ava, who was born just two months ago.

 Ava is my sister's daughter. My sister is white and her husband is half black and half Hispanic. We all wonder about what her hair texture and eye color will end up being, but I'd never wondered how she and others will identify her racially. According to the hypodescent rule, which states "racially mixed people are always assigned the status of the subordinate group," Ava will likely be considered black or Hispanic by others (Newman 2010).

 Isn't she just the cutest? I don't care what race she is :)

 I asked my sister her thoughts on how Ava will identify herself, and she believes that the culture she is immersed in will likely be the main factor. My sister and her husband behave predominantly in accordance with white culture, and my bother-in-law hasn't really embraced black or Hispanic culture. If this is true, Ava will identify herself as white.

So society may view Ava as black or Hispanic, while Ava may view herself as white. I truly hope this doesn't create an "identity crisis" of some kind for her. The human mind is constantly working to place people and things into organized categories, but the pressure to label people as a single race is unreasonable.  After all, almost all of us are a mix of some kind.

Newman, David. Sociology. Ed 8. 2010.



Rural Areas and Military Recruitment



According to David Newman's Sociology, people with few opportunities are likely to join the military. Newman states, "To people with limited educational and occupational opportunities, military service holds out the promise of stable employment, comprehensive insurance coverage, a living wage, free schooling, the development of marketable skills, and an escape from poverty." People living in economically depressed, rural areas are much more likely to join the military (Newman, 2010).

According to a Washington Post article titled "Youths in Rural U.S. Are Drawn To Military" by Ann Scott Tyson, people in sparsely populated areas are much more likely to join the military than those in major cities. In fact, 40% of enlistees come from the South and 24% from the West. Many people in these rural areas are financially limited. "Nearly two-thirds of Army recruits in 2004 came from counties in which median household income is below the U.S. median," according to Tyson.  People are being "pushed" from their communities into the military, which offers stable employment.

Recruiters are targeting these areas. For example, the military had its worst recruiting year in 2005; but in the unemployment-stricken area of Martinsville, PA (unemployment 12.1%), recruiters signed up 94% of their targeted recruits. One recruiter, Mr. Barber, in Martinsville attributed his success to the fact that "The job market is dwindling, and it's hard for a young man or woman to find something other than the fast-food business" (Tyson, 2005).

Sadly, American casualties in recruits from these rural areas are high. According to David Newman, "By 2006, 34% of U.S. military personnel killed in Iraq came from the poorest quarter of families, while only 17% came from the richest quarter" (Newman 2010). In this way, the government benefits from the economic struggle of those in rural areas. Though many people join the military out of patriotism, it's a fair prediction to say that as long as there are few other options, people will choose the military.


Newman, David. Sociology. Ed 8. 2010.

Tyson, Ann Scott. "Youths in Rural U.S. Are Drawn To Military." The Washington Post. 4 November 2005. Online http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/03/AR2005110302528.html

Hypothetical Family Living "Above" Poverty (Assignment 10)

Monthly Costs:
Mortgage/Rent: $1,000
Insurance- Family Plan: $250
Child care: $600
Food: $750
Car Payment: $175
Gas: $150
Electricity: $85
Water: $20
Basic cable/Internet: $70
Clothes: $200
Appliances: $150
Eating out/ entertainment: $200

Total Monthly: 3650
Total Yearly: $43,800

Possible cuts:
Getting rid of the car: (reduces costs yearly by $3,900, but bus passes are $1560/year) saving $2340/year
Cut cable, Internet, and entertainment: saving $3240/year
Move to a smaller living space: savings up to $5400/year
Cut insurance for state insurance (the family could only be eligible for state insurance if neither of the parents' work offered insurance, so this is unlikely): $3000/year in savings
Cut clothing costs in half: saving $1200/year
Total yearly after cuts: $28,620

To estimate costs, I referenced what I pay for my son and me and multiplied by two when applicable (food, clothes, entertainment).

I didn't feel that I could cut anything else from this family's budget to get under the $21,834 poverty line. The cuts that I did make didn't even seem reasonable. Imagine how difficult it would be to get two children to school and daycare and two parents to work on time via the bus; or how miserable the family would be living in a one-bedroom apartment with no entertainment. It's possible that the children wouldn't fit in at school and daycare because of having old or misfitting clothes.  They wouldn't know what the other kids were talking about when they talked of popular TV shows and movies. 

As the children got older, they might not want to invite friends over to their small house.  Their health could suffer on a limited food budget and with little access to health care.  Teachers might not give them as much attention as they would a wealthy child, and their education could be of a worse quality as a result.  Maybe they wouldn't be able to be involved in extracurricular activities due to limited funds or the necessity to start working as early as possible.  This would hurt their applications to college, if they chose to attend. Also, because their parents income is not below the poverty line, they wouldn't get as much funding for college and might be forced to work part or full time while going to school, which could hurt their GPA's and affect their ability to complete homework and stay enrolled in school. Not completing college would make getting a high-paying job difficult, and their children could be in a similar or worse situation than they were.

Deskilling

Deskilling is, according to Newman, "subdivision of low-level jobs into small, highly specific tasks requiring less-skilled employees." At first glance, deskilling doesn't seem like a bad thing, but it is harmful to workers.

Unskilled, inexperienced, or low-paid workers in deskilled jobs report lower levels of job satisfaction than those working in skilled professions.  Workers at the bottom of bureaucracies often become discouraged due to feeling they have little influence and control or that they are easily replaceable. Workers in this category are likely to be on an assembly line, performing dull, repetitive tasks; because their part is only a small portion of the process, it is difficult for them to feel a sense of accomplishment, as they don't create the entire product.

Some examples of deskilling include computer software deciding whether or not a company should insure a person, an instant espresso machine creating drinks instead of a barista, or a person putting two car parts together on a line instead of building the whole thing.

http://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/a/assembly_line.asp

Newman, David. Sociology. Ed 8. 2010.





Competition (Assignment 9)

From our first day in school we're taught to compete with one another:  We're praised for getting the best grade and punished for getting the worst, and it never ends. In a 2011 article by Kit Richerts in The Apple, Dr. Marty Covington, who has studied the effects of competition in the classroom for over ten years, says he believes that competition hinders motivation, especially in classes where grading on a curve is happening. "Covington's fundamental belief is that the root of all academic motivation is for students to preserve and enhance a sense of self worth," says Richerts.  If students try and fail, they're likely to preserve their self worth by not trying next time (Richerts 2011).

"Throughout our school years we are taught to believe from society that grades dislay intelligence. Because of this, our motivation, learning, and personal growth are placed second to attaining the ultimate goal--the grade. . . . We are programmed to imitate what the teacher wants. If we don't we get a bad grade. . . . Imitation, competition and fear of grades hinders our discovery (Bell & McGrane 1999, printed in Newman's Sociology)

At a previous school, I was in an Ethics class.  My professor was extremely smart and graded on a curve, so I wanted more than anything to do well in his class.  He assigned weekly papers that were to cover some aspect of the topics discussed in class that week.  I always wrote about the points that he emphasized and often used his exact wording, which always got me 10 of 10 points. One time, though, I decided to write about a topic that he didn't emphasize as much.  I thought this would be a good chance for me to prove that I could do my own research and tie it into the topics he emphasized. I usually spent about an hour writing these papers, but this one took me at least two.  I did a ton of research and learned more than I ever had while writing these papers. The finished product was perfect. I was so proud to submit it in class.

When he started passing back the papers the following week, I was excited to see what he'd have to say about mine. When he handed it back to me though, he said "Um, you really missed the point on this one." I was crushed but excused my poor work by saying that I hadn't really understood the lecture (I had). "It showed..." he said. I received an 7/10 on the paper, the worst I'd ever had, and I never wrote a paper in his class like that again, as I wanted to be one of the 8 who received an A in the class.

As a result of this type of learning, I limit creativity and innovation to places where I know it's safe.  I worked at a law firm for about a year recently.  When the attorney gave me work, I did it the way I knew she would want it done.  Even if I had a better idea, I didn't employ it.  It's sad, but in a system where competition dominates, we have to please those in power or we'll be left behind.

Newman, David. Sociology. Ed 8. 2010.

Richerts, Kit. "Why Grading on the Curve Hurts." The Apple. 2011. http://theapple.monster.com/benefits/articles/5658-why-grading-on-the-curve-hurts