Affirmative Action

The only thing worse than discrimination is affirmative action, which is essentially oposite discrimination. Affirmative action upholds quotas and undermines motivation and hard work.
Instead of a company (or school) hiring (or accepting for admission from) the most qualified person, they hire a minority, who may or maynot be qualified. Not to say that minorities can't be qualified (because of course they are), but without affirmative action, if they were the most qualified, they would get the job (or into the school) anyways.
Affirmative action isn't all bad though. For companies (or schools) that do discriminate - only accepting a certain race and/or certain sex - this puts them in a small check. It seems that the people hired in this way may not always feels comfortable in the environment they are hired (accepted). Most people don't want to be hired (accepted) because of the color of their skin or their gender.
Affirmative action can be abused and become discrimination, which is what it is, at it's core, fighting. Instead of the minority being overlooked, the majority is. As long as discrimination is here (which it unfortunately always will), affirmative action will be here to keep it in check.

Mexican Immigrants

I have never understood why so many Americans are so irrationaly upset about the Mexican immigration "crisis."
This weekend, I drove down a street and 50 or so Mexican men stood along the edge, waiting for work. These men escaped the horrible conditions that reign in most of Mexico, to try and create a better life for themselves and their families. Can you blame them? America is "the Land of Opportunity," and was created around immigration. I'm not sure if the anti-Mexican-immigration issue is big because I'm in Texas, which borders Mexico, or because they are immigrants. Immigrants have always been looked down on by people who have been here longer. The Irish were looked down upon when groups of them migrated here in the time of the Potatoe Famine. People think they have a right to keep "undesirable" people out of "their" country, but their ancesters got here the same way. It doesn't even go to mention that there is no reason for borders and citizenship except for the government to know where everyone is.
American's should be honored that our country is such a "melting pot" and that people from all over the world come to live here.

Women in Power

If Hillary Clinton wasn't a fence straddler and countless other things, I believe she would still be heavily attacked by the men because of her gender. Women in positions of power are scrutinized more than men in the same position. What's seen as a strength for a man, is not necessarily so for a woman. Big business people, like politicians, sometimes have to be cut throat. A man may be called a leader and strong where as a woman may be called more or less a bitch.
I'm glad it isn't really a "man's world," but many times it feels this way. Argentina has just elected their first woman president and many other countries have had women elected as leaders (Ireland, Finland, the Philippines, Liberia, Chile, Switzerland, etc.). The United States is completely behind the times and backwards if a woman running for President is a big deal. It is a step, but not a huge one. 1 woman is running, at least 15 old men are running!! A young girl (or any minority, for that matter) shouldn't be raised with the "you could be the first woman/black/hispanic/asian president," there should already be a president that more wholly represents the people they lead. White men cannot rule this country forever, despite the push for that to happen by so many unfortunately ignorant people.

No tears shed

New Orleans' Sheriff Harry Lee died a month ago, but undoubtedly few tears were shed. He was extremely racist, but was somehow in his seventh term in a city many minority citizens. He was apparently unfair in his policing, by punishing black people who crossed a jurisdiction line. After reading a quote in the newspaper about pulling over black people driving through a predominantly white area, it makes me wonder if the song "Riding Dirty" wasn't written, at least in some part, about him.
There are racist, sexist and ageist people in every walk of life, but it's always saddening when they are in a position of power.

Gay Vague

It's amazing how much advertising around us goes unnoticed. It's part of our world, yet we don't always recognize the placement: schools, movies, down the street, a T-shirt, and of course on TV and in magazines/newspapers. When we don't even pay attention to what is right in front of our face, it doen't surprise me that there are underlying messages such as the gay vague idea.
I think gay vague advertising is brilliant. A certain demographic sees one thing and another sees something completely different. This is amazing to me. Our brains see the same exact thing, but process it entirely different. It does saden me that the gay aspect has to be hidden for the more mainstream audience to accept it. Gay people are now a demographic, whereas years back they wouldn't even be considered. This is a step in the right direction, if only a small one.

Hypocrites

I couldn't believe when it was brought up in class that Dove and Axe are the same company.
Dove's "campaign for beauty" was really inspiring, showing what real women look like and that you should be comfortable in your skin. When the campaign began I remember some of the model's on Oprah, and it seemed like such a big step in the right direction. Dove made me naively believe that they might be sympathetic with the feminist cause. I was sad to find out how wrong I was.
Axe commercials are on the whole are usually more funny than sexy, but at the price of degrading women. I don't disagree with Axe's advertising tactic. The product is aimed at young men, and of course most of these men want women to find them attractive, if not irresistible. The commercials do what they're supposed to and making men smell better in the process. I think it's sad that women are objectified and seen as something to obtain, but these women did choose to do the commercial and we can choose not to support it. I for one don't support it, but I really don't count since I'm not their demographic.
Apart, the products aren't anything to really get upset about. However when you look at the entire picture, you see that the company feeding you "love how you are" is also telling you curvaceous horny women will love you if you use their product. It's sickening. This was an eye opener and I will definitely be a more contentious consumer in the future.

When Gender Doesn't Matter

I was upset lately reading an article in the New York Times. A woman was kicked out of a women's restroom at a New York restaurant because someone had mistaken her for a man. A male bouncer came into the restroom and told her to leave. When she tried to show him her identification, he refused to look at it and proceeded to throw her and her companions out of the restaurant altogether. She is suing the restaurant, thank god.
The whole situation is unsettling. Even if she were a man, she wasn't causing any problems using the restroom. The male bouncer made more of a problem barging into the restroom than someone using it. The fact that he would not even glance at her id shows that even if it had said female, he wouldn't of cared or possibly even believed it. The problem didn't stop there. He followed her back to her table and made a scene so that her table left. This prejudice or snap judgment may have been from just one person, and not the restaurant, but I'm glad that this story is getting the publicity it deserves. No one should be treated this way regardless of gender, race, sexual orientation, dress, status, you name it.

Minority doesn't equal Maid

In many television shows and movies, minorities are depicted in helping roles. I was watching Weeds the other day and realized that the only Hispanic characters were maids and the only black characters were drug dealers, although the main character is a white drug dealer. So many times in the media we are given the Mexican housekeeper who teaches the children Spanish and talks behind the employer's back. Of course, not all Hispanic people are maids and not all maids are Hispanic but I believe it's detrimental to only show that race only in subservient positions.

Civil Rights

We should all be equal, most people agree with this concept. I question that when I look at the news and find Jena Six and Michael Vick.
The Jena Six case is horrible, but I'm not sure that it's a reason for the country to cry racism. True, the black kids might be treated unfairly, but we can't overlook the fact that they beat a boy until he was unconscious. It doesn't matter what the boy did, it was six against one. And it also doesn't matter what color any of them are, even if the area had bad race relations, when it's six against one the aggressors should be severely punished.
I also question race being an issue with the Michael Vick case. It doesn't matter if dog fighting is supposedly part of the black underground culture, it's animal cruelty, hateful, and murder. If something so negative is associated with a certain group of people, maybe the group members should try to come with a solution for the problem instead of blaming the problem. For example, people who complain about the President but didn't vote. They know there's a problem but have no way to resolve it.
More than anything, I think it's sad how the media portrays races and genders stereotypically. Instead of focusing in on the color of the people's skin in these instances, it would be a good opportunity to look at the hate crimes and aggression in todays society. I don't think skin color should be an issue when dealing with...anything. We are all equal and should be treated like it, whether we want to admit it or not.

Stereotypes and Envy

I found the handout on "Asian Superiority" very interesting. It's frustrating when a group of people are stereotyped, but what if they were stereotyped in a positive way? It doesn't sound as bad, but I think that it is.
Asian-American's have a stereotype tagged to them that they are excellent academically, especially in math and science. An Asian-American may feel inferior because they can't live up to this image. In some ways this may be worse than a negative stereotype. When a group of people has a negative stereotype placed on them, they are expected to fail. This is HORRIBLE, don't get me wrong, all I'm suggesting is that when people overcome the obstacle of their stereotype and become more than people expect it is more uplifting than when someone falls short of what's expected.
The same is true with gender: men are expected to be better at science and math and women are better at grammar and literature. When the gender excels at a subject out of their gender stereotype, it is commended, but if they fall short in their supposed subjects they feel like something may be wrong with them.
People are envied sometimes due to a certain stereotype, which leads to the stereotype pressure. For example: you are terrible at singing, but feel that all Hispanics sing amazing. This is flawed logic. Possibly a greater percentage are more talented singers, but possibly not. This envy leads to uncalled for pressure on that group to perform a certain way. Stereotypes are very frustrating. It would be wonderful if every person was valued not by their gender/race/sexual orientation/ect. but by their actions and values.

Stereotypes in a different era

Looking through a 1973 Time magazine, I find myself in a whole different world, when women stayed at home and raising the children was their profession.
The pictures of women are usually when they are with their husbands and are always in a dress/skirt. The women are extremely stereotyped. They are shown kissing, dancing or sewing.
The only woman I saw acting androgonous, a tennis player, was poked fun at on Battle of the Sexes. A man played women's tennis in a bonnet and dress! That's unbelivable. The Watergate scandal was also in this issue. A picture of the courtroom showed that out of 75 + people less than 5 were women. There were two pictures of primarily women: a fashion show and musical.
Well, at least I can look at these and thank god that I'm in a time of a more equal media. Not equal, but more equal.

Minorities

Learning about the different models and views of minorites in the media realy made me think about the world around me and what I've done to shape it.
I agree with schema theory and stereotyping, in that people tend to view others in a certain unfamiliar group almost the same. If you've only met a few people from Brazil and they were all good at martial arts, then you might develope a stereotype that people from Brazil are good at martial arts. This, of course, isn't true, but this is the way that some view people in the media.
The media spits out the images of black people being ignorant criminals, Mexicans as being illegal imigrants not willing to learn English and white people as...what? White people tend to be in all aspects of the media, but they aren't put in a constant bad light as other races are.
This is why I agree mostly with the newer theory that asks us "What do people do with the media?" I believe that the media is biased, but it's what people do with the "biased" information that matters. There may be a black woman wanted for a dangerous crime. The importance of the situation isn't that she's black or that a white woman may not of had such a loud outcry, but that people know that they're in danger. True, the media shouldn't choose how we view groups of people...but it does. If we don't like the media, we should change it, but first we can take what the media gives us and decipher it into useful information.

News Habits

My news intake is primarily from the internet, Yahoo! front page. Occasionally flipping through the channels I'll stop on the news if it sounds interesting, or I'll pick up a newspaper, if it's free.
I read the news a few times a week, but not every day.
Offline, I usually hear/read about world or local news, like the war in Iraq, all the violent crimes that happened overnight, who got arrested for what, etc. Online, I more often read about entertainment type or high profile news, not local. I read about my favorite bands, what's happening in the political world, or the new breakthroughs in science.
Sadly to say, I hardly ever seek out news, possibly an hour a week. Instead I engage in it out of boredom, not knowing what to look up online, waiting in an office lobby or nothing on TV.
In the news media, I believe that the minorities and woman are overlook or placed in a bad light. Women are sexualized constantly, as anchors, sports casters or news subjects. I assume that the majority of executives for the news companies are white men. This isn't necessarily bad, but it reflects what they put out to the public.