Hurting loved ones

After reading by Debra Anne Davis I discovered that I have some issues in common with her.  I am not the kind of person who likes to get into arguments, and I would rather just leave the problem alone then confront it head on.  However, unlike her, I would defiantly stand up to anyone who is really hurting me.  I would scream, fright, bite, kick, whatever it takes to NOT be raped.  I would also tell someone right away.  I would never be too afraid to not say something after the rape took place.  If it honestly did there would be hard evidence, and that person would pay for the act they did. 

Here are some stats on teens, sex, and rape:
http://www.soundvision.com/Info/teens/stat.asp

stalking/abuse

Over the years I got magazines like Seventeen; in those magazine articals there is usually at least something about rape, physical abuse, emotional abuse, and in one case that I can remember there was an issue on stalking.  The artical about stalking really caught my eye.  A female had wrote in talking about how she kept on seeing a male walking around outside her apartment, and she saw this man around more and more especailly after she and her boyfriend broke up.  Months went by and this man appeared closer and closer to her apartment.  Sometimes she would walk outside in onto her front deck and she could tell the chair had been moved, or items knocked down.  She would wake up in the middle of the night, look outside and think she saw him staring at her through the window.  She called the police, had higher security installed, and a security patrol man on duty 24/7.  Eventually she moved out and never saw the man again.  She is lucky enough to never have a true encounter with her stalker, becuase many people who have stalkers are eventually hurt by them.  After reading this artical and the readings in the book it does frighten me to walk alone at night.  I have many night classes, and my boyfriend lives only a few blocks away; I often walk back from his house at night and I have found myself more than once walking VERY fast (pretty much running), looking foolish, but being very scared from walking back from his house. 
Things like the University Safe Walk is comforting to know that it is available, but I never really think to call them at all.  Other things like this should be available to all kids.

Race and Women

I always new that people were treated differently based on their skin color.  I don't know why exactly, but that's just the way the world works.  I also always knew that men used to (and sometimes still are) be more superior than females.  After reading the article A Brief History of Working Women it really made it clear how much African American women suffered.  White women for the majority had it pretty well off.  Most were stay at home moms: their job was to raise the children, make sure the house was always clean, and make every day items (soap, ect.).  African American women were working women.  Slaves.  I think that that is terrible the way the used to be treated, and the ways that they are now a days treated is sometimes just as bad.  I also thought it was horrible that white women who had slaves, or survants treated the female slaves terrible.  I agree with the book that it was because she saw something of herself in the African American woman.  Sojourner Truth's speech is a great speech that really makes me thinks about the differences between white and black women.  I thought it was very interesting that Native American women were sometimes thought of more superior to the males.  It is funny how much control the females had over them (when the book talked about how the females sometimes with held food from them if the males were doing something the females didn't agree with, becaue the females were in charge of agriculture.)  I think that today we're much better about the way females, and females of different races are treated, but there still can be some improvement.


Sojourner Truth's Speech: Aint I a Woman
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vr_vKsk_h8

Unpaid Labor in the Home / Sexual Harassment

While reading Unpaid Labor in the Home it really made me think about how my house was run while I was growing up.  It said that most homes the women work an additional 19.4 hours a week doing housework, while the men only work 9.7 hours doing it. Becuase of all of the additional hours women get more stressed out and feel anxious.  While I was growing up I feel like my dad contributed to much of the housework; but like the book did say it was mostly outside work like cutting the lawn, or seasonal, like putting up Christmas lights, and more.  He sometimes did help out with other housework such as vaccuming, and doing the dishes.  If my dad could tell that my mom was under a lot of stress he would offer to do more like cook dinner, do dishses, sweep the floors, etc.  Not many guys I don't think are like my dad becuase he does work really hard on his job, and he had a big role as a parent in my up bringing (it wasn't just my mom's responsibility to raise my brother, sister, and me).  So overall I think that my dad did much more than the average man.

Sexual harassment is a big problem at the work place, and a huge problem in schools.  Men like to think that they are superior to females, and I think that the way they feel like they need to express it through a sexual way.  As I was reading this part of the book I couldnt help but think of the movie North Country.  This movie showed how women were starting to work "man jobs" (while working in the mine) and how the men were not happy with this what so ever!  They would put fake penises in the ladies lunch boxes, write degrading words in the women's room with feces, and would ask women for sexual favors.  One of the girls father worked at the same mine she did and never said a word to the other men because he didn't want to stand out and embarass himself.  Throughout the movie the females take the issue to court and you learn much about a lot of the different acts that were put into law that will protect women agaist behavior like this.

Here is a preview to the movie North Country
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXkVQm0QPyY

Marriage vs. Love

The article in the book about marriage and love not being hand in hand I agree with some and disagree with some. I believe that growing up in America we have the choice to decide who we love and who we decide to marry. There are no pressures from our parents forcing us to marry anyone, it is our free choice. There are however some circumstances that bind people together. Pregnancy does make someone apart of eachothers lives forever; but there are so many families that are getting divorced daily, there is no shame in not getting married just because the female becomes pregnant. In many other countries of the world there are prearranged marriages that i strongly disagree with. Females shouldn't be forced to be with a man that many times does not treat them well. Also many couples that are married and have kids decide to stay together just for their children, when they are not in love anymore and do not want to be together. I think there are many issues in the acticle that are true and many that are untrue.

Coparenting

The video that was shown in class the other day was very interesting to me. I like to think that I am a very open minded person and some of the things going on in the video I didn't agree with. I have nothing against gay couples and I don't have any problem with them parenting; I do however don't agree with the "coparenting". I think that although every family is differenty and have different structure I don't think its a good environment to bring a child into. Growing up with both sets of parents living in the same house can be a little awkward--it actually reminds me of polygamy, and many people think that polygamy is unmoral. Gay couples should be entitled to have children, they clearly want them so bad, and if a child is wanted they will be cared for very well and will be very loved. The child might have some kids make fun of them because of their parents, but it is becoming more socially accepted. Coparenting will make the childs life very difficult because of their friends and becasue not many people will support it. I think that it would be very difficult to creat a stable lifestyle for the child if not all parents are on the same parenting style, or if they all have different schedules it would be hard to have time for all their children the same amount of times. The vidoe was interesting and maybe later in life it will be coparenting will be more socially excepted; as for now I don't believe in it.

Coparenting