Blog #8

Today I came across a story about the brutal hazing that students pledging to Penn State Kappa Delta Rho endured. A student recently filed a lawsuit against the fraternity, claiming that the hazing has left him with post traumatic stress disorder. I can’t believe some of the things that the fraternity made their pledges do, it is horrible. The pledges were burned with cigarettes and forced to consume concoctions of hot sauce, liquor, cat food and urine. That is disgusting as well as dangerous. The pledges were also forced to do pushups on the basement floor, which was covered in garbage, broken glass, cigarettes, and bleach. It is crazy to me that this is being done in fraternities. Aren’t fraternities supposed to create friendships and brotherhoods? I don’t know anyone who would treat a friend like that. The fraternity has also created a private Facebook page where they post nude photos of intoxicated women, sometimes being sexually assaulted. That is horrible! Members of that fraternity need to face consequences and be put in their place.

https://www.yahoo.com/health/fraternity-hazing-and-ptsd-insiders-share-gory-122286510207.html

Blog # 7 - Reaction to Miss Representation

The documentary Miss Representation really surprised me. My first reaction was outrage. I can’t believe that I hadn’t noticed such obvious things that this documentary brought to light about the media. Because we are constantly bombarded with images that portray women as sex symbols and objects it becomes the norm for us. The media can make girls and women feel unworthy, and as media becomes a bigger influence this effect will only grow. I thought that I was self-conscious as a teenager but I can’t imagine how much worse it must be for teenage girls today with the overwhelming growth of media consumption.

The worst thing about the way that media portrays women is that most people don’t even notice or think of it as a problem. We need to recognize the way in which media is going to affect the development of the younger generation and we need to make a change to it. Parents need to be very aware of what their children are consuming and how it is affecting them. I think the saddest part of this documentary was when the high school girls were talking about how the media affects them and their friends. It is heartbreaking that young girls have to grow up with the pressure to look perfect and with the idea that their intelligence does not matter. I can totally understand the narrator’s apprehensions about giving birth to a daughter in today’s society. The way that the media portrays women sets us up to be enemies and to compete with each other. In reality women need to come together to face this problem. We need to be teaching girls from a young age that their voice does matter and that they way they look does not determine their worth.

Before watching this documentary I was under the impression that women were becoming more influential in politics in recent years and that they had earned more respect. I could not believe the way that men were speaking about women in politics on national TV. I can’t believe that they get away with saying such derogatory things about some of the most influential women in our country. It especially surprised me that some of the men speaking on TV had the nerve to comment on the women’s looks and attractiveness. I wish somebody would have turned a mirror on them and commented on their looks. It is disgusting that there is such a double standard for women in today’s society.

Blog 6 - Fairytale

            Once upon a time, long, long ago, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella fell in love. After a romantic courtship the two lovers were happily married for several years and Queen Isabella gave birth to a beautiful baby girl.  Many years passed and she could not become pregnant again.  This worried the King, as he knew a son was necessary for his legacy to continue. The King waited patiently for a son; however, his expectations were never met and the people of the kingdom shared Ferdinand’s disappointment.

            After ten years of marriage, and no son, King Ferdinand was more than distressed about the demise of his legacy.  He needed to go outside his marriage to find a woman able to bear his son. Thus, Ferdinand impregnated a mistress named Maria. Ferdinand was still in love with Isabella. Maria became pregnant with the King’s first-born son. However, several months passed and news came that Queen Isabella had also become pregnant with a son. Ferdinand confused about the dual pregnancies showed love to Queen Isabella. Ferdinand did not acknowledge Maria’s son, William and Isabella’s second child, Diego, was acknowledged as Prince by the kingdom.

            The Mistress Maria was left poor and alone with her newborn fatherless son. A man in town, Jack, showed interest in Maria and she married him out of necessity.  Jack was mean and despised young William, as he was the son of anther man.  This made William harbor hatred toward Jack.  Years later, Maria dies and young William is left with his stepfather Jack. Jack falls into a deep depression after Maria passes and takes out his anger on William. William grows up being abused and mistreated by Jack. On William’s fifteenth birthday, he works up the courage to run away from home and escape his stepfather’s abuse.

            After traveling many miles, William encounters a farm in another kingdom owned by a young widow, Emma, and maintained by a farmhand, Leo. William is shown kindness by the farmhand. The widow accepts William as a new family member and invites him to stay. The widow cooks breakfast for William everyday, which reminds him of his deceased mother. William looks forward to his breakfast and becomes increasingly fond of Emma. William starts to notice that the widow is becoming progressively close with the farmhand and this makes him upset. One morning the widow forgets to make Williams breakfast and he realizes that she is with Leo.  This angers him, as he is jealous of Emma’s attention.  William tries to fight Leo; however, another King, Harold, arrives at the farm bringing with him a lovely daughter, Catherine.  William instantly falls in love with Princess Catherine who resembles his mother.  The two fall happily in love and William becomes Prince of Camelot, the kingdom next to Ferdinand’s Kingdom.  William and Catherine live happily ever after Prince William takes his rightful title as Prince.

Blog #5 - Rachel Dolezal Interview

This week, the media has been all over Rachel Dolezal, who has been accused of pretending to be black. Rachel Dolezal is the former chapter president of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.) Late last week it was discovered by the public that Rachel had been pretending to be an African American women for several years. She changed her physical appearance and even claimed to be African American on a government form. There has been massive uproar over her racial deception. On Tuesday morning Dolezal joined Matt Lauer of the Today Show to answer the difficult questions about her identity.

In the interview Rachel maintains that she identifies as black. Matt Lauer shows an image of her when she was younger and still appeared Caucasian, Rachel said that at the time of this picture she did not identify as African American. However, later in the interview, she says that she started identifying as African American when she was only five years old. The part of this interview that stood out to me was when Rachel claimed that she has gone through the experiences that African Americans have. I think that it is totally wrong for her to claim the struggles of another race when she grew up as a blonde haired Caucasian girl. I am not discrediting what Dolezal has accomplished in civil rights or for the NAACP; however, I believe that she changed her race to help her accomplish her goals. I think that she decided to go with what was convenient for her. Years ago, Dolezal sued the mainly black university she formerly attended for mistreating her because she was white. After she had already said that she has been identifying as black for so long, it is clear that she wanted to be white in that situation just to benefit her.  I think it is one thing if a person wants to look a certain race or style their hair like a certain race but when you claim the struggles of another race, that is where the line is crossed.

Blog 4 - Orange is the New Black

The inmates are each very clearly members of very different cliques within the prison. The cliques in this show are mostly separated by what race the character is. The Caucasian women seem to stick together; similarly the Latino and African American women also stick to their own groups.  All though there is not a lot of conflict between the groups in this episode that has not always been the case. Throughout the seasons the different classes within the prison have conflicted and fought with each other. Another group of people within the show is the guards. The relationship between the guards and the inmates is a good example of class conflict. Throughout this episode we see the guards getting onto the prisoners for various reasons. For example, when Piper hugs Alex in the cafeteria and the guards yell at them.

The cliques within the prison also hold different ideologies. In this episode ideology is highlighted through the group of inmates who believe they are witches. This group of women partakes in different rituals and meetings. I believe that this group holds these ideologies simply to make them feel different.

In this episode we also see alienation. Alex alienates herself when she returns to the prison because she did not expect to be back in that position. Pennsatucky also alienates herself during this episode because she feels bad about aborting her unborn children.

One of the biggest things that I see in Orange is the New Black is false consciousness. This entire show falsifies to the viewer what life in prison is like. This show in a way glamorizes what life is like in prison. Orange is the New Black is full of drama, cliques and emotion, but it does not portray what it would really be like emotionally or physically to serve time in a prison. Last year real world prisons even decided to change the color of jumpsuits to help prevent the show from glamorizing prison life. According to an article by the Washington Post, the reality of life in prison is much more violent, emotional, and brutal.

"The Inhumanity of How We Incarcerate." Washington Post. The Washington Post, n.d. Web. 12 June 2015.