World Religions

I think that the appropriate role for religion to play in terms of government is none. I believe that governments should be like the one here in the States and have a separation of church and state. The intertwining of religion and government, to me, screams PROBLEMS! All though countries will always have a religion that the majority favours I believe it is impossible to force everyone to adhere to restrictions that are formed on such a personal level. Thinking about this however it is hard for me to determine if I believe religion to be so personal simply because of its background, or because that is the way it is portrayed here. In further thought religion is really no more personal than a political affiliation, what is the difference in forcing people to accept laws and forcing them to practice a certain religion? although I do ultimately believe it should be kept separate from the state because of the emphasis most religions place upon personal connections with a higher being. I think it is difficult to insist that a person have such a connection, especially for a person like me who sometimes greatly struggles to understand religion. The combination of state and religion was the reason many groups fled England and other European countries as well as a basis for many revolutions. I have concluded through the writing of this blog that I do indeed believe the separation of church and state to be important, and cease to doubt the fact that there is a difference in conforming to a law and conforming to a religion.

A Tale of Two Families

The tale of Two Families was a story that I found particularly interesting. To me it emphasized the fact that race is a large part of life today. I found the extreme differences in the quality of life between the black and white family astounding considering the  similarities between the two. It is a bit unnerving to think that such an uncontrolled factor such as skin colour an determine where a person lives, their retired life, and the life of their future family. It can not be denied that the white family had a much easier life from the accessibility of jobs to the ability to change neighborhoods. It is unfortunate that such things still exist in our society today. Before this story I was unaware that race could determine the neighborhood one lived in. Yes I am aware that most people of a certain race will bond together to form neighborhoods however this family was not able to leave when the status of the neighborhood turned south. This story was eye-opening to me in terms of the extent that race has on our community and livelihoods.

If Men Could Menstruate: an essay

Reading this essay I literally laughed out loud. This essay has two great views it starts sarcastically and then goes to enlightened and back to sarcastic. I will start by saying that the enlightened part of the essay "the power of positive thinking" is something I try to mimic daily. I love positive thinking. I love to see a situation and be happy about it or see the best that can come out of it and the women who stood on stage and made the best out of her "bleed-through" was HILARIOUS. HOORAY FOR POSITIVE THINKING! On another note I found this very funny when menstruation was switched to a male characteristic. I can see a typical meat head (not to say that men are typically and all meat heads but to say that the occasional man who is a meat head) convincing the world that menstruating is the most amazing thing ever, it is the greatest. I also can see her point of some men finding a way to be the best at it or have the best show of menstruating at least! I found the entire articles' sarcasm absolutely to die for. The way the author flipped it to show all the great ways men would take a topic they dislike to speak about so much now and completely change the connotations that go along with it if it were a biologically male trait is so typical when thinking of MEN as MEN (culturally the meat heads and "men's men"). She also somewhat plays on the stereotypical male figure which is another thing I believe we are supposed to be focusing on. In this article like I have said before she portrays men as men. As your stereotypical narrow-minded, meat head, self absorbed, pompous sex. All in all I believe this article nailed on the head stereotyping sexes, as well as being incredibly funny and dabbling in a subject most shy away from. She truly wrote a very funny piece.

The Social Construction of Gender

In studying gender in regards to social construction again we hear the debate of nature vs nurture. In my opinion nature plays a much bigger role than nurture does. Even as children many people tend to have two different types of personalities, there are those children who play dolls and house (which are generally girls), and there are those children who play games such as Indians and cowboys or war (which are generally boys). Just as this happens as we are growing up there are people who tend to be more passive and those who tend to be more aggressive. This is even shown in early societies as well as societies that still have hunters and gatherers, the men tend to more aggressive and are therefore hunters while women tend to  be more passive and are therefore gatherers. This can be seen today in jobs as well. As the book says more women tend to gravitate towards secretarial jobs which are more passive. I think that while people may learn to be one way or another there is always generally a natural pull towards roles and has a fair bit to do with personality. Sometimes that aligns with ones sex as well and sometimes it is the opposite. Personally I see no problem with typical gender roles as long as some crosses are accepted.

When I say that crosses must be accepted I mean things such as an even playing field. I do not believe as our ancestors did that men are more powerful or should be more respected but instead believe that men and women are equal people that simply still play these old roles. I think that a women is just as qualified as a man to do anything however am still apt to ask a boy to carry a box, or get something off a high shelf, that there are "boy tasks" and "girl tasks" in a home. I think perhaps this view comes from the almost fairytale I believe in. I have been told that I see the world not for what it is but more for what I would like it to be, for what I see in movies with "happily ever afters" and the stories companies such as Disney push upon us.

I also however believe that gender socialization contributes to gender roles. That while people always have a natural pull towards feminine or masculine roles they are also taught some of those traits as well. I do not completely believe that gender roles are learned because all over the globe some similar roles can be found in men and women. Women tend to be more nurturing and almost "softer". The example conversation between the two grandparents to me seems normal. I could see this conversation happening any day although the book points out the exaggerated differences.


Reading further we come across a theory involving social construction of gender, I can also agree with this as well. I think that no matter what one's sex is people have gender roles, while I do typically align gender and sex I do not believe that is the only way one can feel. I said previously that I like gender roles, and I do, however I can embrace that people feel the way they do. A man may feel more nurturing then socially assumed and a woman may be more aggressive, that is okay and that is another reason I believe that nature has very much to do with ones gender.While I said there are "boy jobs" and "girl jobs" I mean simple things such as taking out the trash, not things that affect a large part of ones life. Like I stated in the beginning of my entry I believe that every person has a natural pull towards a gender and most of the time this aligns with their sex as well however some of the time peoples genders and sex can be polar opposites, situations like this further substantiate, in my eyes, that gender begins as a natural feeling.

Exploring Social Class

When considering social class in the US today I believe it matters quite a bit. At first glance I tend to say that class does not matter much if at all but considering day to day life and really thinking about it to me it seems class is a huge part of American society. The book speaks of Milners study of high school students but compares them to a caste society instead of class, however when looking at what he says I can relate it to a class society as well. Reading the description of his high school study and remembering high school for myself certainly (for me at least) emphasizes class rank. In high school Milner says that the wealthy kids hang out with the wealthy kids, this I believe comes not only from ones desire to share the company of those in the same social class but from the examples shown by their parents and other adults as well. If class did not matter today I believe it would be far less reflected in our high schools.