Gender

Fuentes essay about the way a woman dresses and the level of success is ridiculous. I am so tired of people being judged by the exterior. When you are a politician, why does the way you dress determine what the world thinks of you. I learned that lesson the hard way. When I was in the 11th grade I had an honors english teacher who wore jeans and brand named shirts and nike sneakers. He was around 30 years old and he was a white man. At first glance I said "this is going to be an easy class". I assumed that because he did not dress professional, that he wasn't going to act professional. Well to make a long story short I was so wrong in more ways than 1. That english class was no walk in the park. You should never be judged by what you are wearing. Clothing is a way that a person can express themselves and become an individual. I do not want to look like corporate America. As long as the clothes are clean, its good enough for me.

About Movies

As a movie fan, I do not like to breakdown movies, or try to determine what the writer or director was targeting. I do like movies with morals and meaning. In my opinion, some movies do have hidden messages but its not to the extent that they want you to go home and write an essay about it. The glits and glam do not appeal to me, it is the message that gets me. Just because a movie costs millions to make does not make it a hit.

Hooks words on Waiting To Exhale were shocking to me. Waiting To Exhale was a movie about 4 woman struggling mentally with relationships, love and men. They were financially stable. Their struggles were real. Most woman who are single want a loving relationship whether they admit it or not. Now I did not agree with the way that these woman were seeking their men but again, this is what I see as a woman on a daily basis. I do not believe that this movie is culturally dangerous. We need to stop and acknowledge that what 4 woman do in a movie in regards to men, sex, drinking and smoking should not be considered an influence or representation of our culture.

Another point was on Native Americans. The movies always have them saying nothing or close to nothing. In the movie One who flew over the cuckoo's nest, the Indian barely said 2 words. He was very capable of defending himself and the others. What does that say about how Americans feel about Native Americans. Do we believe that they don't deserve to be heard? I really cannot think of any other modern movies with Native Americans in them but you never see the Indian as the superhero or the doctor, or family man.

Sports Taboo

"White Men Can't Jump", came directly to my mind as I was reading this text. It was about a white man who could play basketball very well. He really couldn't slam dunk but aside from that he was great. The black men on the basketball court decided to compete for money and finally the white man won and it was a great defeat because according to the black men, there was no way that they were going to let that white man beat that them at their own sport. This is so wrong in some many ways. There are no black and white sports. Yes I do agree that most of the black athletes are glorified. And I believe that this happens because people tend to believe that without sports that black people cannot succeed. This type of acknowledgement only hinders that white people who do not get the same respect as a black person playing with the same level of aggression and making the same amount of points. Before Tiger Woods came about, Gulf was thought to be a white mans sport. I have yet to even see a white female play gulf. And the same goes for Venus and Serena Williams with Tennis. Correct me if I am wrong, but I don't see the Williams sisters as black tennis players. I see them as great tennis players whether they are white or black is not a factor for me.

It is really mind blowing how just about everything that I have read in "the world is a text" has some level of black vs. white or man vs. woman. When can we start looking at individuals for who they are.

Black Kids In The Cafeteria

My middle school and high school memories are very clear to me. I went to a 80% inner city urban school and I did not notice that there was a "black" table of kids at lunch. Honestly we all mixed in very well. I did notice that most of the Asian kids sat together but that was about it. I can relate to the fact that most of the Asian and white kids did succeed alot more academically than the other races. In most inner city or urban schools there can be alot of distractions. I was one of the few who did not the distractions get the best of me. I do feel that the black kids definintely stuck together when it came to fights and things of that nature. It may have been a plus that 50% of our teachers were also black.

Segregation in schools is very common. It is just not linked to races, but also when it comes to sports or clubs. I did notice that the "pretty girls" had their cliques and that football players hung out together and so on. People tend to draw near whoever is closely related to them, or who they feel is interested in the same things that they are interested in.

Race And Ethnicity

Before I read this essay I was unaware that some stereotypes can be positive. I am not a racist or a prejudice person, but I can say that I am now aware of some perceptions that I have in regards to people. Like that text says, some people stereotype without even knowing it. If I would hear someone saying that a kid took a bomb to school and wrote a suicide note at home before he/she left for school, I would assume that the kid was a white boy and that he was a loner. Maybe it is just profiling, I am not sure. The FBI does it all the time though. It is still wrong, but some of these practices have helped our nation in finding some serial killers and rapists.

Social Classes can be defined many different ways. Like that text says about someone making $20,000 vs $200,000. They both may classify themselves as middle class and I believe that this is based on their livestyles and enviornment in which they live in. For example, I consider myself as a low class citizen. I have no money saved and I live paycheck to paycheck. I don't live in city limits, but to someone who lives in subsidized housing with no job, they may consider that I am a middle class citizen. There is no real right or wrong answer for defining someones class.