Performing Gender on Campus

1.

 

Women often show their gender by wearing their hair a certain way or decorating their face with makeup.  Makeup is a type of paint made specifically for the face.  It can be applied to the eyes, cheeks, lips, and skin to recreate a more desirable appearance.  Men also have been known to wear their hair in the style shown above, but they generally put a lot less effort into creating the hairstyle.  Hairstyles have been a big business in the United States and they have changed immensely through the years.  One hairstyle from the 1980's would no longer be popular these days as new hairstyles have been invented.

 

2.

 

This is a device that you would never find in an area where just men are present.  This is a device that provides women with certain protections during certain times of the month.  The ritual of buying this is very private and women do not share this information with men.  These devices are often located within the room where women use the lavatory. 

3.

 

A man will often show his gender role by holding his bag on just one shoulder.  Why would one do this?  The assumption is that the man is always ready to fight.  If both of the straps of the bag are over the shoulder, it would take more time for the man to ready himself for combat.  The one shoulder technique makes it easier for the man to throw down his bag and ready himself for action or he may even use it as a weapon, swinging it around to hit his attacker.  These types of bags have been around for quite some time, they come in a variety of colors and sizes. 

 

 

Although this is not a picture of a student, these people do represent an interesting sitting pattern among men and women.  When a women sits down, she generally sits as you see above, with one leg crossed over another.  The idea behind this is a bit antiquated as the reasoning was to prevent someone from looking up specific types of clothing.  As you can see in this picture, both of the females are crossing their legs because the bottom they are wearing (a skirt) is short enough to show their private regions.  At one time, a skirt was the only form of clothing bottom that a woman was really allowed to wear.  At some point, though, women began to wear the bottom that you see the man wearing, pants.  Pants have a lot more versatility and provide more warmth in colder weather.  It is very common now to see women wearing pants.  The interesting thing though is that women still will generally sit in the same fashion, with one leg crossed over the other- even when they are wearing pants.  As you can see, the men in this picture sit differently with one leg bent and the ankle resting on the knee.  Another, more common way for men to sit is just with their legs spread open, both feet on the floor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sources:
1. https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh4oSLcypqbk-VKfj8j42Jk_ocK51qiSRyXiDqKNqsr33Lg4yJC0Q2QD-vqn1exNJy6oKP6simt20r56lT-XNRLIBHJaqz184jnUu318YeQJnZMgx5vBVXnJ1iLUo-SHhaiu_05jaAEVc/s1600/Latest-Stylish-Ponytail-Hair-Cut.jpg
2. http://www.parish-supply.com/images/photos/0230011-01-large.jpg
3. http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/thumblarge_615/1309370336VE73p9.jpg
4. http://image.shutterstock.com/display_pic_with_logo/185902/99760151/stock-photo-row-of-four-business-people-team-standing-on-chairs-with-legs-crossed-and-waiting-isolated-on-white-99760151.jpg

American Ethnic Group

The Irish Americans had a tough life when they immigrated to the United States in the mid- 1840's.  There was a very large anti-Catholic, anti-Irish sentiment in those days and it made it very difficult for people of Irish descent to become employed.  Although there was heavy discrimination against this ethnic group, it did not stop these people from having a strong ethnic solidarity. 

 

As early as the mid- 1840's and as late as today, Irish Catholics have had the cultural bias against them that they were alcoholics.  As far as some people are concerned, if you are Irish, you are also Catholic and drunk as often as possible.  While this may have been true of some people that identified with being Irish Catholic, it did not mean that everyone was and it also didn't take into account that there are also alcoholics in other ethnic groups.

 

A positive representation for the Irish Catholic community is this guy, the Notre Dame Leprechaun.  Notre Dame is a very good Catholic University in the United States.  It was founded by Father Edward Sorin of the Congregation of Holy  Cross is the year 1844.  The first degrees handed out in 1849 helped to establish the school as a university.

Source: http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/historyonline/irish_am_solidarity.cfm
1. http://stupid-tees.co.uk/image/cache/data/product-images/C/CIA-CATHOLIC_IRISH_ALCOHOLIC_close-472x472.jpg
2. http://www.catholicleague.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/fightingirish.jpg

Without Sanctuary

Race- a classification system used to categorize humans into large and distinct populations or groups by anatomical, cultural, ethnic, genetic, geographical, historical, linguistic, religious, or social affiliation -1

Ethnicity- a socially defined category based on common culture or nationality and is constantly reinforced through common characteristics which set the group apart from other groups

Nationalism- The term “nationalism” is generally used to describe two phenomena: (1) the attitude that the members of a nation have when they care about their national identity, and (2) the actions that the members of a nation take when seeking to achieve (or sustain) self-determination. (1) raises questions about the concept of a nation (or national identity), which is often defined in terms of common origin, ethnicity, or cultural ties, and while an individual's membership in a nation is often regarded as involuntary, it is sometimes regarded as voluntary. (2) raises questions about whether self-determination must be understood as involving having full statehood with complete authority over domestic and international affairs, or whether something less is required.

Violence - the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against a person, or against a group or community, that either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment or deprivation.  This definition associates intentionality with the committing of the act itself, irrespective of the outcome it produces 

Lynching- an extrajudicial execution carried out by a mob, often by hanging, but also by burning at the stake or shooting, in order to punish an alleged transgressor, or to intimidate, control, or otherwise manipulate a population of people.  Lynchings have been more frequent in times of social and economic tension, and have often been the means used by the politically dominant population to oppress social challengers.

This is how I would write about a lynching event for my audience.  I think this covers a wide variety of topics:

If one were to witness a lynching event, they may see it begin with a huge group of people coming with various forms of torturous instruments in hand.  They would see this group pick a person or two, that probably had no way of defending themselves from the group.  The group would then start to use extreme physical violence against this person.  The person would be beaten severely with the different torturous instruments.  When the person thought that his or her torture was over, they would then be made to sit down.  A rope tied to a tree would have a circle tied into it and that circle would then be put over the persons head.  This rope would be tightened and then the group would pull the rope over the tree to life the person off of the ground.  The person would no longer be able to breathe and would slowly suffocate to death while the group of people began to beat and torture the person again.  This is how the person would die.  Fucked up.




Works cited-

1.  "Definition of race - ethnic group, anthropology, personal attribute". Oxford Dictionaries. Oxford University Press. http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/race--2. Retrieved 25 February 2013. "a group of people sharing the same culture, history, language, etc."

Child Sex in Atlanta

Atlanta is experiencing two problems with their children, sex for popularity and prostitution. These two problems are very similar but very different. Each problem is happening in different neighborhoods and there are different results to each of them.


1.
In this picture parents and siblings are protesting the purchase of young girls for prostitution. Girls of all ages have been purchased for sexual exploitation.

2.
One of the only ways that has been found to work to keep girls off of the street is to arrest them. Officials can take the girls off of the street and place them in shelters but eventually they will end up back on the streets. This is a battle that was not expected when our laws were made.

In another neighborhood child sex has a whole new problem and ways of solving it.

3.
Teens have been engaging in sexual behaviors to gain popularity and to rid themselves of peer pressure. Not all kids have been taught to practice sex safely. The rise of STDs  in Atlanta is becoming an epidemic in one neighborhood.

4.
In this instance of child sex the parents and community have come together to educate the kids about sex and how to safely practice it. Education is a good way to reduce the epidemic of STDs and prevent teen pregnancy.



Source:
1. http://cjaye57.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/stop-child-trafficking-now-organizers-walk-through-las-vegas-on-saturday-night-to-bring-attention-to-child-prostitution-in-the-valley-and-around-the-country1.jpg?w=470

2. http://www.constantinereport.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Arrest.jpg

3.http://files.dosomething.org/files/styles/blog_landscape/public/pictures/137338796%20%281%29.jpg

4.  http://thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/sex-ed-e1358527074276.jpg

Ethnographic Notes C

From 1957 until 1963, families would sit down weekly to watch the show “Leave it to Beaver”.  This was a show about the Cleaver family, the father was Ward, mother June, oldest son, Wally, and youngest son Theodore, or Beaver (as he was affectionately called).   “Leave it to Beaver” showed adolescents that “honesty is the best policy” through different lessons learned by Wally and the Beav.  If the children lied, they were subject to discipline by their fathers, who were considered the head of the household.  Although the show did portray the fathers as the head of the household, a value that was placed on open communication among parents was an integral part of the weekly series.  When deciding was punishment to instill on the boys for their wrongdoing, both Ward and June would have a discussionand come to a consensus about how to handle the situation.  Another value taught to the children was that they should listen to their parents.  Ward Cleaver (the father) was full of wisdom to instill upon his children.  Wally and Beaver were often tempted to stray from the moral path from the instigator Eddie Haskill.  Eddie would tempt the Cleaver boys with his conniving ways which always resulted in some sort of trouble.  When Wally and Beaver would get into trouble, after having a talk with his father, he would apologize for his behavior- a way to return to his righteous path after straying.

I don’t watch much television these days, but when I was younger I used to watch “Leave it to Beaver”.  I always thought I would live a life very similar, a stay at home mom who cooks and cleans for the family. Having a husband who worked to support our way of life. It was a dream that most people don’t get to realize anymore. After growing up and becoming a mom myself I realize that people are lucky if they can live on a single source of income.  Another thing I learned is to respect and value family at all costs. Families are very precious. If you don’t have a family you really don’t have anything. Living life alone is not something that most people can bear.  If you disrespect your family it will be very hard to gain respect back. The members of your family will have to learn to trust you again, if they are willing to do so.

Commodities, Class, and Sustainibility on Campus

Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of capital goods and the means of production, with the creation of goods and services for profit. ^{1, 2} 

 

 

Commodity:

 

A commodity is a product that satisfies the wants a needs of a demanding public.

 

 

Water, soda, and other types of drinks are a commodity bought on campus.  The price for these products has risen in price over the years due to the demand for drinks on campus.  People can easily just drink FREE water from a fountain, but they instead choose to buy it.  Companies such as Dasani (as seen here) spend a lot of money and time convincing people that they need bottled water or soda instead of regular tap water.

 

 

 

 

The main commodity on campus is the tuition that a student would pay to attend Bellevue College.  Associated with tuition costs are assessments to find out where you will place in a math or English class, fees for your initial application to join the school, fees to pay for a bus pass (if you cannot afford to pay to park- see below), fees for a student ID card.  If a student is unable to pay for most of these products, then he or she may not be able to attend school.



 

Students pay to park their vehicles on campus.  If a student cannot afford to pay to park on campus, then they will have to walk, or take a bus.

 

Books are very expensive to buy on campus.  Students pay a lot of money to use these books during school.

 

 

 

Social Class:

Social class, as in a class society, is a set of concepts in the social sciences and political theory centered on models of social stratification in which people are grouped into a set of hierarchical social categories, the most common being the upper, middle, and lower classes. 3.

 

 

If a person cannot afford to pay for tuition completely, there are different options.  A student can get financial aid, which consists of grants, loans, or scholarships.  Grants and scholarships are not a commodity, as  no one makes a profit off of them.  Loans, however, are.

 

 

A student loan gives a student money to pay for school.  A student, however, does have to pay this money back upon leaving school.  Often times, students will end up paying off these loans for decades after graduating school.  Companies such as ACS financial, make a lot of profit from the interest earned on these loans.

 

 

 

Sustainibility:

 

This means the ability to endure over long periods of time.  When applying this to a college campus, we look at ways we reduce, reuse, and recycle.

 

 

 

 

 

Near all drains on the campus, we see these plates that inform a student just wear exactly his or her liquid waste will drain to- in this case East Creek.  This may make a student stop to contemplate his or her choice before dumping used motor oil in the drain.   

 

As you can see here we have two waste receptacles.  The blue one is for a special type of waste called recycling.  Paper, plastic, glass, and cardboard go into the blue bin and are sent of to sorting facilities where people put them into their proper group.  At this point the products are melted down, mushed up, or shredded and then reconstituted to create a new product, or a similar product to what they were initially. 

 

Sources:

1. Chris Jenks. Core Sociological Dichotomies. London, England, UK; Thousand Oaks, California, USA; New Delhi, India: SAGE. p. 383.
2. Capitalism Oxford Dictionaries. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
3. ^ Grant, J. Andrew (2001). "class, definition of". In Jones, R.J. Barry. Routledge Encyclopedia of International Political Economy: Entries A-F. Taylor & Francis. p. 161.

Las Vegas as a Sacred Place

1.

 

Welcome to fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada- a place that is worshipped by many citizens of the United States.  This sign you see above gives a newcomer a good indication that Las Vegas is fabulous, colorful, and that there are many lights.  This sign is just on the outside of the city, as you would drive in from elsewhere.  It alerts the pilgrim that they are close to their destination, where the fun will soon begin.

 

2.

 

If you were to turn the other way of the sign, this is what you would see.  As you may see, Las Vegas is an oasis in a desert.  For many this oasis not only symbolizes being fabulous and colorful, but a deeper sense of the self.  Las Vegas, to some, is a way to feel free from the everyday hum-drum lifestyle of the average American.  Las Vegas is a way to live out your wildest fantasies, to live in excess and splendor.  At the end of your stay, you are the same person you were when you arrived, but during your stay, you often turn into someone else.

 

3.

 

Upon entering Las Vegas, one can see great monuments all over the city.  These monuments are a testament to man's great achievements and they are meant to hold great secrets.  Secrets that should stay within the walls of the monuments.  A guest to Las Vegas has many monuments, or casinos, as they are called by the travelers, to choose from.  Each casino has a different theme associated with it, which gives the guest a different experience while staying.  In this picture we see several of these casinos lining one side of the road.  On this road alone, there are close to forty casinos.  This gives people a lot of choice when it comes to deciding where to begin your fun.  While the outside is full of color, lights, and moving parts, the inside is even more of a sight.

 

4.

 

This is a picture of inside a Las Vegas casino.  The people that are standing around at these tables are here to worship the power of money.  They do this through a process called gambling.  Gambling appears to make a person feel free from the constraints of society.  They no longer have to worry about their life outside of the Las Vegas atmosphere- all they need to worry about is the now.  Gambling is a type of game where a person bets valuable things such as money or possessions for a chance to be right.  There are various types of games associated with gambling such as poker, roulette, craps, keno, and slots.  All of these games have much different rules associated with them but the main similarity is they all involved "a bet", where the owner of the possession assumes they know something more about the state of the game than another.  These other people can also be players in the game, also making "a bet" that they know something more than the others at the same game.  The players play against "odds" or the ratio of the probability that an event will happen to the probability that it will not happen.  If the players beat the odds, then they will win money or possessions of the other players or money or possessions from the casino in which they gamble.  This ritual makes the players feel very powerful, as though they have some sort of control over how the game is played or have a way to "beat the odds".  The funny thing is though, a major saying in among the people who gamble in Las Vegas, "the house always wins" is a major phrase used often.  This means that the casino will generally win a game more than any other player inside of the casino.  People who gamble choose to believe that this statement applies to everybody else but themselves- which generally causes them to lose a lot of money.  Las Vegas makes most of it's money from the people who gamble.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sources:

 

1. http://www.lasvegas360.com/360/wp-content-lasvegas360/uploads/2011/07/lv-sign.jpg

 

2. http://www.packyourbags.com/images/dest/las-vegas/desert_road_california.jpg

 

3. http://news.travelhouseuk.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/Las-Vegas-USA.jpg

 

4. http://manelpuente.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/casino-bellagio.jpg

Thanksgiving in the United States

Thanksgiving is a holiday celebrated in many countries around the world. In the United States, this holiday is celebrated at a certain time every year- the third Thursday of every November.  In today's United States society, Thanksgiving is viewed as a day to give thanks for what you have, celebrate traditional family rituals, and eat A LOT OF FOOOOOOODDD!!!!! 

 

1.

 

This is an example of a typical United States Thanksgiving dinner.  The main dish is usually a meat product, in this case we see turkey.  Turkey is the most common meat to eat during the Thanksgiving holiday but there are other options for those who don't eat Turkey, such as Tofurky (a log of meat made of soy product), ham, chicken, or turdunkin (a chicken within a duck within a turkey).  While the turkey is the common denominator in most Thanksgiving dinners, side dishes may vary by family.  Examples of side dishes could be cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes and gravy, yams, stuffing, corn, green peas, pickles, olives, deviled eggs, pumpkin pie, and bread rolls.  People usually experience regional or ethnic identities by the side dishes.

  

4.

 

5.

 

These above pictures depict what most United States citizens consider as gender roles during the holiday.  The top picture shows a group of the female gender wearing clothing covers called "aprons".  These are used to keep the clothes underneath clean.  What we can surmise from this picture is that these women are in the kitchen (the place where food preparation and cooking happens in a dwelling of the United States), all cooking the Thanksgiving meal together.  There are young and older women.  The cooking of the Thanksgiving dinner is a wonderful ritual in which the elders hand down very specific cooking knowledge to the youngers.  The hope, of course, is that one day the youngers will host their own Thanksgiving dinner with their own friends and family.

 

As you can see in the other picture, the men are sitting around a device called a television.  A television is a device that receives data that has been transmitted from one specific spot in the world.  This football game (a sport game played with an inflated skin of a pig with eleven members to a "team") the men are watching is obviously not happening right in front of them.  What does this have to do with Thanksgiving... you ask?  Well, nothing really.  This is just generally what men do during Thanksgiving.  Men like to think and say that they stay out of the kitchen on this highly food-centered holiday because, "It's not manly" or they "want to watch football".  The real reason men generally stay out of the kitchen is because they are terrified to make a mistake when it comes to making the food.  Women have very high standards when it comes to making holiday meals and adding a man into the equation of cooking often ruins the desired effect.  Therefore, men are in fact banished to another room where a complimentary football game is played to entertain the men for the proper amount of time (about four hours) it takes to cook the Thanksgiving dinner.

 

2.

 

History is imagined and represented differently in the Thanksgiving ritual.  Young children are taught the tale of the first Thanksgiving feast at a very early age.  To aid in the learning process, the children will often re-enact the "first thanksgiving" by separating into two groups: the "pilgrims" and the "Indians" or "Native Americans".  The "pilgrims" wear black hats or white bonnets and white collars while the "Indians" wear feather headbands and colorful vests.  Most of the "clothes" are made out of paper bags and are put in the recycling after the reenactment is done.

 

3.

 

The story goes something like this: A group of people called "The Pilgrims" came over to the United States on a ship.  When they arrived, they encountered harsh, cold winters.  Many of "The Pilgrims" died after the first winter.  The "Indians", a group of people that already lived in the United States, helped "The Pilgrims" learn how to grow and harvest food and catch animals in their land.  To celebrate the first harvest, "The Pilgrims" and "The Indians" came together for a huge celebration and ate and ate for three days straight and prayed to gods in the sky to thank them for the bountiful harvest- essentially "giving thanks" for their lives.

 

6.

 

Of all the rituals of Thanksgiving, the "Presidential Pardoning of the Turkey" is perhaps one of the most bizarre.  In this ritual, the leader of our country, who we call the President, brings a turkey onstage, waves his hand, and grants the turkey a long life.  The turkey is then sent to live out the rest of it's (very, very short) life on a farm (a place where people raise animals for pets or for food). 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sources:

1. http://www.savvyhousekeeping.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/thanksgiving-dinner.jpg

2. http://www.incredibleart.org/links/thanksgiving1.jpg

3. http://njtoday.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/pix-Koep1126.jpg

4. https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzei0CQHW3NQCi-6sXow4bb7KjJQ1qHtXnOfoZrjYc5M_1NV94MwS8evnYNUQA3RdgoE4Qz7oKinydLuErUiLo7brbbvvkMAiKFleyoolokywGMYuWEFnOLafOsH2YmH-5d6ceCngq8HRz/s1600/thanksgiving+003.JPG

5. http://browngirlnextdoor.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Best-Dimensions-of-a-Man-Cave.jpg

6. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hq2xMpidXgY

 

 

 

 

 

 

Makah Whaling Tribe

1.

Prior to entering into negotiations with the Makah, the United States government was well aware that their people had lived around Cape Flattery for several thousand years and that they subsisted primarily on whale, seal, and fish.  When the United States territorial Governor, Isaac Stevens arrived at Neah Bay in December of 1855, he entered into three days of negotiations with our leaders.  They made it clear to him that while they were prepared to cede their lands to the United States, they wanted guarantees of their traditional rights on the ocean and specifically of the right to take whale. The Treaty minutes record Governor Stevens as saying to the Makahs: "The Great Father knows what whalers you are—how you go far to sea to take whale.  Far from wanting to stop you, he will help you—sending implements and barrels to try the oil."

Whaling has been one of the Makah's traditions for over 1,500 years and is a right secured to them by a treaty with the United States.  The Makah tribe agreed to give up its rights to hundreds of thousands of acres of land on the Olympic Peninsula.  In return, the United States promised to secure to the Makah the right to engage in whaling.The Makah's had to stop whaling in the 1920's due to the scarcity of gray whales.  Their full recovery to pre-commercial whaling levels and 1994 removal from the Endangered Species List made it possible to resume the hunt.  There has been an intensification of interest in our own history and culture since the archeological dig at our village of Ozette in 1970, which uncovered thousands of artifacts bearing witness to our whaling tradition.  Many Makah feel that our health problems result, in some degree, to the loss of our traditional diet of seafood and marine mammal meat.

2.

      3.

In 1999 the Makah's successfully hunted their first grey whale since 1926. In keeping with tradition they used hand thrown harpoons and traditional canoes for this hunt. Conservationists where present in motor boats as well as the coast guard. There were news crews in helicopters photographing the hunt. The Makah's have said that all the hype was like having your Sunday mass interrupted. Since this hunt there hasn't been another legal successful hunt of grey whales. In 2007 five tribal members shot a grey whale but the coast guard cut it loose and arrested the five members for illegal whaling. The tribe is still waiting for approval to hunt grey whales.

4.

This short video talks about to the desire of the Makah tribe to return to their traditions and whaling. Many tribes gathered on the day of their successful hunt to celebrate the return of the Makah tribe to their culture.

Sources:

1. http://salishsea.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8345844dc69e2010536c86fc0970c-pi

2. http://content.lib.washington.edu/cgi-bin/showfile.exe?CISOROOT=/mcrc&CISOPTR=464

3. http://www.whales.org.au/alert/makah/gallery.html 

4. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XDW2BMA4YM&feature=player_embedded#t=0s