Greetings my dear fans on the interwebs! This week's blog post is all about racism, white privilege, and debunking ridiculous arguments of "reverse racism!"
First, I think it's important to define what exactly having privilege means. In it's simplest form, it means just having certain advantages from being born a certain social class, race, sexuality, or gender. IT DOES NOT MEAN YOU ARE A BAD PERSON. IT ALSO DOES NOT GUARANTEE YOU A PERFECT LIFE.
Racism is defined by sociologists as prejudice PLUS POWER. Meaning, BOTH are required for racism to exist against a certain race. And the kind of power I speak of is political power.
Now, how does this apply to white people? Can POC be prejudiced against white people? HELL YEAH they can! And they have every reason to, considering how their ancestors were treated and how they're still treated today. But do POC have equal political power? Have they ever passed laws forcing whites to be enslaved, defining them as less than human because of their race, or committed a mass genocide to steal land from a peaceful civilization? No, they most certainly did NOT! White people still hold an overwhelming amount of political power, even in areas where they lack a majority, and the laws that affect POC are still racist.
Old time racism was explicit. There were laws that literally said "white people are better" and "children of color don't deserve the same education because they're less human." Lynchings were common until the 1970's. I kid you not. And obviously slavery and laws that kept POC from voting were explicitly racist. The average person could look at a slavery law and see the obvious racism. I mean, black people only counted as 3/5ths of a whole person! Nobody could look at that and go "Nope, I see no racism here."
For an example of racism in my own everyday life, one need only to look at the synonyms for black and white. Black and brown are associated with dirt, grime, death, sorrow, bad, evil. White is viewed as pure, perfect, beautiful, innocent, good. With definitions like this it's no wonder POC tend to have lower self esteem than white people.
Implicit racism is a whole nother villain. It's the same nasty racism, but hidden undercover in laws, making it hard to detect and erase. It's the fact that most POC live in poverty, the fact that "stop and frisk" laws even exist! And implicit racism is like the nasty gum stuck to the bottom of your shoe. No matter how much or how hard you scrub, it won't go away. Because from the time you were born, you were absorbing the racist messages society sends out. And pretending to be colorblind will only make the problem worse. A problem doesn't go away if you ignore it-you can't will away cancer by ignoring it, it only spreads and gets worse. You can preach that you "don't see race" all you want but the fact of the matter is you're dead wrong. We all see race and it DOES matter.
What's even sadder is that even POC are prejudiced in favor of white people. They feel bad because they don't have the same skin color and are never told they're pretty. There was a doll experiment done on little kids, both black and white. They were shown 2 dolls, a white one and a black one, and were asked questions like "which doll is better" and told to pick the doll they wanted. Overwhelmingly, even the little black children were associating the white doll with good and the black doll with bad. That study breaks my heart every time.
In class we watched a video called "White Like Me" about a white guy preaching to other white people what POC have been saying for centuries, that "reverse racism" is utter malarky, having privilege does not make you a bad person, etc. etc. But of course, nobody listens until a white guy says it. That's ALWAYS the way it is with allies. A marginalized (yes this includes LGBT+ people and is a preferred term over "minority" because we're less rare than you think we are-speaking from experience here) group says something regarding their oppressed status but are ignored because they're not seen as humans and their experiences are not valued. Such is the case until an "ally" chimes in and basically repeats the same thing. Suddenly everyone listens. It's frustrating to the extreme.
But what can you, the Average Joe do? First and foremost, LISTEN to the experiences of POC. Do NOT let yourself get defensive. You are not being attacked when someone vents their frustrations. Privilege is not personal.
21 May 2014
11 May 2014
Deviance and Classism in America
So far this unit we have learned about deviance (violating social norms) and social class.
An example of deviance would be from the article called "Saints and Roughnecks" about rich kids who misbehaved and they were much less likely to get jail time or really in trouble called the "Saints," versus poor kids who caused the same trouble but were punished much more harshly because they're poor called the "Roughnecks." This shows that rich people can get out of trouble using bribery and getting a good lawyer, while also saying poor people are screwed. It should also be noted exactly WHAT crimes are mostly committed by different social classes. The rich are mostly stealing money, polluting the environment, and violating health regulations established by the FDA. Yet these horrible crimes get them few years in jail IF ANY at all! But the poor are doing mostly petty crimes like shoplifting clothes, tobacco products, or alcohol. Sometimes they have to steal just to get by. But they're punished much much harsher.
We also watched a movie called "The Line" on how poor people live dangerously close to the poverty line. It should be pointed out that being poor is expensive. They can't afford health insurance or good cars, so one medical bill or one broken car part can put them into poverty. The government services and food pantries do their best but they just can't do enough. Why the hell are the republicans cutting food stamps, WIC, and other helping services when more and more people are struggling to get by? It's INFURIATING! It makes me SO ANGRY that in the world's richest country so many struggle to get by!
Of course, I'm upper middle class/rich, so I realize that I'm no expert on poverty. I've never worried about where my next meal is coming from or had to wonder if I should quit school to help feed the family. I'm lucky. I'm privileged and I know it. But both my parents grew up poor. They taught me about poverty, and I've volunteered at a food pantry, I've seen homeless people. I know I live in the bubble. But I also know I have the power to change it. And boy will I fight the system.
My mom is the principal at a school in Mt. Prospect that has mostly poor children of color. Before she came to the school, the poor children were never even TOLD that college was an option. But since she came along, she's been pushing the school to teach all the kids that college is an option (where do you think I got my stubbornness and pushiness from?).
Let's not forget which races are trapped in poverty overwhelmingly. That would be POC, especially black women. Centuries upon centuries of institutionalized racism has kept them from education and other tools that could help launch them out of poverty. And society sees them as "welfare queens" who contribute nothing to society. But that's a bunch of racist malarky. The REAL "welfare queens" are the scumbag corporations that force us taxpayers to subsidize their starvation wages and take care of their employees' hospital bills. That's why I hate capitalism. Nothing good can possibly come from having wealth in only a few hands, poor wages, bad health care, polluted environment, etc. That's why socialism would be a much better choice.
I've very happy that several states (Washington and Hawaii off the top of my head) are pushing their minimum wages up more, and especially happy with Seattle for it's $15 minimum wage! Hopefully the rest of the country will follow in it's footsteps.
If you don't believe that people deserve an equal chance to succeed, then get out of the way or you'll be squashed by my steamroller. Change is coming and you better get with the program because you can't stop me.
An example of deviance would be from the article called "Saints and Roughnecks" about rich kids who misbehaved and they were much less likely to get jail time or really in trouble called the "Saints," versus poor kids who caused the same trouble but were punished much more harshly because they're poor called the "Roughnecks." This shows that rich people can get out of trouble using bribery and getting a good lawyer, while also saying poor people are screwed. It should also be noted exactly WHAT crimes are mostly committed by different social classes. The rich are mostly stealing money, polluting the environment, and violating health regulations established by the FDA. Yet these horrible crimes get them few years in jail IF ANY at all! But the poor are doing mostly petty crimes like shoplifting clothes, tobacco products, or alcohol. Sometimes they have to steal just to get by. But they're punished much much harsher.
We also watched a movie called "The Line" on how poor people live dangerously close to the poverty line. It should be pointed out that being poor is expensive. They can't afford health insurance or good cars, so one medical bill or one broken car part can put them into poverty. The government services and food pantries do their best but they just can't do enough. Why the hell are the republicans cutting food stamps, WIC, and other helping services when more and more people are struggling to get by? It's INFURIATING! It makes me SO ANGRY that in the world's richest country so many struggle to get by!
Of course, I'm upper middle class/rich, so I realize that I'm no expert on poverty. I've never worried about where my next meal is coming from or had to wonder if I should quit school to help feed the family. I'm lucky. I'm privileged and I know it. But both my parents grew up poor. They taught me about poverty, and I've volunteered at a food pantry, I've seen homeless people. I know I live in the bubble. But I also know I have the power to change it. And boy will I fight the system.
My mom is the principal at a school in Mt. Prospect that has mostly poor children of color. Before she came to the school, the poor children were never even TOLD that college was an option. But since she came along, she's been pushing the school to teach all the kids that college is an option (where do you think I got my stubbornness and pushiness from?).
Let's not forget which races are trapped in poverty overwhelmingly. That would be POC, especially black women. Centuries upon centuries of institutionalized racism has kept them from education and other tools that could help launch them out of poverty. And society sees them as "welfare queens" who contribute nothing to society. But that's a bunch of racist malarky. The REAL "welfare queens" are the scumbag corporations that force us taxpayers to subsidize their starvation wages and take care of their employees' hospital bills. That's why I hate capitalism. Nothing good can possibly come from having wealth in only a few hands, poor wages, bad health care, polluted environment, etc. That's why socialism would be a much better choice.
I've very happy that several states (Washington and Hawaii off the top of my head) are pushing their minimum wages up more, and especially happy with Seattle for it's $15 minimum wage! Hopefully the rest of the country will follow in it's footsteps.
If you don't believe that people deserve an equal chance to succeed, then get out of the way or you'll be squashed by my steamroller. Change is coming and you better get with the program because you can't stop me.
24 April 2014
Gender and Sexuality!
Hiya folks! I come to you today with a really great list of posts from tumblr about tone policing and "hate breeds more hate" and the like. http://unicornwithaflamethrower.tumblr.com/post/83424645464/kinglers-a-really-great-powerpoint-that-shuts?utm_campaign=SharedPost&utm_medium=Email&utm_source=TumblriOS
We have been learning about how men and women (there are more than 2 genders) are socialized to think and act according to their gender.
Women are socialized by the media, family, and friends that they must look, behave, and think a certain way. They are told they MUST have long, straight hair, be a size 0, be dangerously skinny, have large breasts, wear makeup, and dress to please men. If they're a WOC, they're told that only white women are beautiful so they must deal with hair relaxers and skin lighteners. This is a dangerous set of qualities that only a small fraction of women actually meet. As a result, there's an eating disorder epidemic, and women and young girls learn at an early age to hate their bodies and starve themselves. My 10 year old cousin already hates the way she looks. She's already gone through a diet where she lost a dangerous 30 pounds too quickly. I'm extremely concerned about her. Last year, my younger sister spent a semester abroad in Israel. She did her Junior research paper on Israeli vs. American media guidelines and found that in Israel and much of Europe, models below a certain weight and/or size are not allowed to model, so as not to give girls an unrealistic idea of beauty. The US has no such guidelines. The media is even allowed to photoshop pictures without telling us. It's horrifying and extremely disheartening to watch my sister and little cousins suffer. Even looking at those Dove "Love Your Body" commercials is disheartening. Dove isn't doing it because they truly care about the fragile and often attacked self-esteem of women and girls, they do it to make money, which makes me feel sick. It's disgusting to profit off low self-esteem.
Boys are also socialized. They're told by media, family, and friends that an ideal man is a violent man who takes what he wants, gets what he wants, and feels entitled to a woman's body without her consent. Being gay is shamed and often leads to being beat up and mocked heartlessly. Yet boys aren't observed with the same amount of societal scrutiny that women are. Even looking at instruments it's clear what's aimed at women and what's aimed at men. Men are encouraged to play a loud instrument like the trumpet or trombone. Women are encouraged to play a quiet and meek instrument like the flute. Which is why if you look at bands, you see a disproportionate amount of men on trumpet and a disproportionate amount of women on flute. When we watched the video about Disney and masculinity, it reinforced the idea that men must be burly, strong, and vocal. We also watched a video called "Tough Guise 2" about the male socialization process to be more violent. The rate of violence in young men is becoming disturbingly more and more common, as school shootings multiply is the face of a lack of gun control, while nearly every shooter has been a white man.
Society behaves in a very transphobic and homophobic way when encouraging and enforcing gender roles, trying to push the clock back to the 1950's.
Unfortunately I was unable to be on this year's LGBT+ panel, so the class didn't get a trans person's point of view, but if people have (respectful) questions, I would love to answer them.
My abridged story is that I always knew what I was, even when I was little and didn't have a word for it. But the hell really began when I hit puberty and my body was transformed against my will into a body that I never belonged in. All that pain and misery could've been avoided if I had been taught about LGBT+ issues at a young age. The boiling point was sophomore year during health, when they divided up the class by gender and sent the boys into another room to talk in a very transphobic way about genitals in disturbing detail. I couldn't take it and had to sit in the hall, which I was mocked for, thanks to someone who is supposed to be my best friend saying loudly enough for all the girls and boys to hear, "Hey <birth name>, why're you going to sit in the hallway?" I cried myself to sleep that night. My parents always said they'd love me no matter what, but then why didn't they teach me it was okay to be different? I was picked on in school for years, bullied to the point where I attempted suicide. And yet people still don't seem to realize that their ignorance hurts and kills people like me on a regular basis. The murder rate for trans people is 1 in 12. But for trans women it becomes 1 in 8. I've experienced more bigotry and hatred because of my hideous crime of daring to exist in my 18 years of life than most people ever will. I've lost friends over it. One of my friends is a freshman who's parents won't let him hang out with me only because I'm trans.
I know I can come across as cold or vicious, but that's not my intent. My inability to properly control my facial emotions and tone of voice comes from my autism, a whole different experience to be discussed at a different time. I hate yelling at people and being angry. It makes me sad and drains my energy, but sometimes it truly is the only way to make people see the light. If people won't listen when I kindly and politely educate them, maybe they'll listen to my anger and frustration. And if they don't, then they'll never listen. As Aang from Avatar: the Last Airbender said, "Words won't solve problems, action will."
I sure have a lot on my plate. I have mental and developmental disorders, I'm transgender, and gay. Oh boy it just keeps piling up. But I've got the mental strength to keep fighting, and will never surrender, if only to spite the people who want me dead. I don't care if you love me or hate me. I'm not here to make friends. I'm hear to make a difference in the world.
Toodles!
We have been learning about how men and women (there are more than 2 genders) are socialized to think and act according to their gender.
Women are socialized by the media, family, and friends that they must look, behave, and think a certain way. They are told they MUST have long, straight hair, be a size 0, be dangerously skinny, have large breasts, wear makeup, and dress to please men. If they're a WOC, they're told that only white women are beautiful so they must deal with hair relaxers and skin lighteners. This is a dangerous set of qualities that only a small fraction of women actually meet. As a result, there's an eating disorder epidemic, and women and young girls learn at an early age to hate their bodies and starve themselves. My 10 year old cousin already hates the way she looks. She's already gone through a diet where she lost a dangerous 30 pounds too quickly. I'm extremely concerned about her. Last year, my younger sister spent a semester abroad in Israel. She did her Junior research paper on Israeli vs. American media guidelines and found that in Israel and much of Europe, models below a certain weight and/or size are not allowed to model, so as not to give girls an unrealistic idea of beauty. The US has no such guidelines. The media is even allowed to photoshop pictures without telling us. It's horrifying and extremely disheartening to watch my sister and little cousins suffer. Even looking at those Dove "Love Your Body" commercials is disheartening. Dove isn't doing it because they truly care about the fragile and often attacked self-esteem of women and girls, they do it to make money, which makes me feel sick. It's disgusting to profit off low self-esteem.
Boys are also socialized. They're told by media, family, and friends that an ideal man is a violent man who takes what he wants, gets what he wants, and feels entitled to a woman's body without her consent. Being gay is shamed and often leads to being beat up and mocked heartlessly. Yet boys aren't observed with the same amount of societal scrutiny that women are. Even looking at instruments it's clear what's aimed at women and what's aimed at men. Men are encouraged to play a loud instrument like the trumpet or trombone. Women are encouraged to play a quiet and meek instrument like the flute. Which is why if you look at bands, you see a disproportionate amount of men on trumpet and a disproportionate amount of women on flute. When we watched the video about Disney and masculinity, it reinforced the idea that men must be burly, strong, and vocal. We also watched a video called "Tough Guise 2" about the male socialization process to be more violent. The rate of violence in young men is becoming disturbingly more and more common, as school shootings multiply is the face of a lack of gun control, while nearly every shooter has been a white man.
Society behaves in a very transphobic and homophobic way when encouraging and enforcing gender roles, trying to push the clock back to the 1950's.
Unfortunately I was unable to be on this year's LGBT+ panel, so the class didn't get a trans person's point of view, but if people have (respectful) questions, I would love to answer them.
My abridged story is that I always knew what I was, even when I was little and didn't have a word for it. But the hell really began when I hit puberty and my body was transformed against my will into a body that I never belonged in. All that pain and misery could've been avoided if I had been taught about LGBT+ issues at a young age. The boiling point was sophomore year during health, when they divided up the class by gender and sent the boys into another room to talk in a very transphobic way about genitals in disturbing detail. I couldn't take it and had to sit in the hall, which I was mocked for, thanks to someone who is supposed to be my best friend saying loudly enough for all the girls and boys to hear, "Hey <birth name>, why're you going to sit in the hallway?" I cried myself to sleep that night. My parents always said they'd love me no matter what, but then why didn't they teach me it was okay to be different? I was picked on in school for years, bullied to the point where I attempted suicide. And yet people still don't seem to realize that their ignorance hurts and kills people like me on a regular basis. The murder rate for trans people is 1 in 12. But for trans women it becomes 1 in 8. I've experienced more bigotry and hatred because of my hideous crime of daring to exist in my 18 years of life than most people ever will. I've lost friends over it. One of my friends is a freshman who's parents won't let him hang out with me only because I'm trans.
I know I can come across as cold or vicious, but that's not my intent. My inability to properly control my facial emotions and tone of voice comes from my autism, a whole different experience to be discussed at a different time. I hate yelling at people and being angry. It makes me sad and drains my energy, but sometimes it truly is the only way to make people see the light. If people won't listen when I kindly and politely educate them, maybe they'll listen to my anger and frustration. And if they don't, then they'll never listen. As Aang from Avatar: the Last Airbender said, "Words won't solve problems, action will."
I sure have a lot on my plate. I have mental and developmental disorders, I'm transgender, and gay. Oh boy it just keeps piling up. But I've got the mental strength to keep fighting, and will never surrender, if only to spite the people who want me dead. I don't care if you love me or hate me. I'm not here to make friends. I'm hear to make a difference in the world.
Toodles!
07 April 2014
A Whole Generation of Zombie Children
Hello audience! This week we learned about nature versus nurture and socialization.
Nature is more like our genetics and DNA, which is part of what makes us ourselves. But nurture is how we're taught to behave. So feral children, children who have been abandoned by their parents and raised by wild animals, behave like the animal that raised them rather than like a human, for example the child who behaves like a dog because she was raised by dogs. But isolated children, or neglected children who had no love or contact with another living animal, behave like an infant because their brains are missing the critical connections and learning that normal babies get. These are sad cases because these children will progress, but not enough to be able to ever live on their own.
We saw a video in class on a rescued isolated child named Danielle who was adopted by loving parents. When they adopted her she couldn't speak, eat solid foods, swallow, or use the toilet, and wanted to be carried everywhere, even though she was about 6 years old or so. She had the mental capacity of an infant. Now, she is mentally about 2 years old. So there's definitely been some improvement, but the damage done to poor Danielle will likely be permanent.
We also read about a study done to discover just how much nurture shapes us. It was done in an orphanage with 25 children followed from infancy to adulthood. 12 of the children were the control group, raised in the orphanage, given the basic needs but never loved, cared for, or played with. The other 13 were given to women in a mental hospital. Each woman was assigned to a baby to love, cherish, care for, and play with. The results were astounding. The control group had a hard time holding down a job, most dropped out of high school, and didn't go to college. Only one of them got married. In the experimental group, all of them flourished. They all graduated from high school, most went to college, and all held down jobs. Most of them got married. So even though they were raised by mentally ill women, they blossomed because they were given the love and attention babies need to build up their brains.
People are also affected by socialization. It tells us how to behave, what's right or wrong, and what to like. Things called agents of socialization are the main sources of our socialization like peers and family. Family raises us to behave a certain way, to have certain values, and to be a certain religion. Peers influence us to like a certain brand or toy, dress a certain way, and talk a certain way. In a vulnerable young child, this can have bad consequences.
What's disturbing is just how vicious and immoral companies will be to enslave the innocent, moldable mind of babies and young children by selling them toys or treats and teaching them what brands to buy. The media is probably the most affective way of socializing a person because we're bombarded with these media images from birth to death. Look in a toy store, the only toys available are from brands children are told to love like Disney, Sesame Street, Barney, etc. In that disturbing video we watched about media socialization of babies and children, they said that they know if they can get a child to buy their products, they will probably have a consumer for life.
Just yesterday when I was at my cousins' house, I noticed a child's birthday party invitation bearing images from "Frozen." Scattered all over the house are brand name toys like "My Little Pony," "My Littlest Pet Shop," "Barbie," etc. When I watched Spongebob with her, the only commercials coming on were for Lunchables, Sketchers, and McDonald's. There are literally no advertisements for non-brand name products, so my little cousin grows up believing what she hears and sees on the TV. She's too young to realize that the companies are trying to scam her.
I would say even my 6 year old cousin's older sisters (9 and almost 11) are too young to understand exactly what the companies want. I don't think I realized what they were doing until I was 13 or even 14. I don't think some adults realize it either. Because we're not taught in school to be smart consumers. We're not taught to think for ourselves and be self-aware. We're taught to conform into mindless zombies. Advertisements are everywhere, even schools. Nowhere is safe. Nothing is sacred. Not the innocent, pure, loving minds of babies and young children, not the education and wellbeing of young people, nothing.
When I was little, growing up in the late 90's and early 2000's, none of my shirts had characters on them. They were all plain, single colored, striped, or other patterned shirts. But now, I go into a store to buy birthday clothes for a little cousin, and I can't buy a single shirt without some character on it, it's impossible.
Nature is more like our genetics and DNA, which is part of what makes us ourselves. But nurture is how we're taught to behave. So feral children, children who have been abandoned by their parents and raised by wild animals, behave like the animal that raised them rather than like a human, for example the child who behaves like a dog because she was raised by dogs. But isolated children, or neglected children who had no love or contact with another living animal, behave like an infant because their brains are missing the critical connections and learning that normal babies get. These are sad cases because these children will progress, but not enough to be able to ever live on their own.
We saw a video in class on a rescued isolated child named Danielle who was adopted by loving parents. When they adopted her she couldn't speak, eat solid foods, swallow, or use the toilet, and wanted to be carried everywhere, even though she was about 6 years old or so. She had the mental capacity of an infant. Now, she is mentally about 2 years old. So there's definitely been some improvement, but the damage done to poor Danielle will likely be permanent.
We also read about a study done to discover just how much nurture shapes us. It was done in an orphanage with 25 children followed from infancy to adulthood. 12 of the children were the control group, raised in the orphanage, given the basic needs but never loved, cared for, or played with. The other 13 were given to women in a mental hospital. Each woman was assigned to a baby to love, cherish, care for, and play with. The results were astounding. The control group had a hard time holding down a job, most dropped out of high school, and didn't go to college. Only one of them got married. In the experimental group, all of them flourished. They all graduated from high school, most went to college, and all held down jobs. Most of them got married. So even though they were raised by mentally ill women, they blossomed because they were given the love and attention babies need to build up their brains.
People are also affected by socialization. It tells us how to behave, what's right or wrong, and what to like. Things called agents of socialization are the main sources of our socialization like peers and family. Family raises us to behave a certain way, to have certain values, and to be a certain religion. Peers influence us to like a certain brand or toy, dress a certain way, and talk a certain way. In a vulnerable young child, this can have bad consequences.
What's disturbing is just how vicious and immoral companies will be to enslave the innocent, moldable mind of babies and young children by selling them toys or treats and teaching them what brands to buy. The media is probably the most affective way of socializing a person because we're bombarded with these media images from birth to death. Look in a toy store, the only toys available are from brands children are told to love like Disney, Sesame Street, Barney, etc. In that disturbing video we watched about media socialization of babies and children, they said that they know if they can get a child to buy their products, they will probably have a consumer for life.
Just yesterday when I was at my cousins' house, I noticed a child's birthday party invitation bearing images from "Frozen." Scattered all over the house are brand name toys like "My Little Pony," "My Littlest Pet Shop," "Barbie," etc. When I watched Spongebob with her, the only commercials coming on were for Lunchables, Sketchers, and McDonald's. There are literally no advertisements for non-brand name products, so my little cousin grows up believing what she hears and sees on the TV. She's too young to realize that the companies are trying to scam her.
I would say even my 6 year old cousin's older sisters (9 and almost 11) are too young to understand exactly what the companies want. I don't think I realized what they were doing until I was 13 or even 14. I don't think some adults realize it either. Because we're not taught in school to be smart consumers. We're not taught to think for ourselves and be self-aware. We're taught to conform into mindless zombies. Advertisements are everywhere, even schools. Nowhere is safe. Nothing is sacred. Not the innocent, pure, loving minds of babies and young children, not the education and wellbeing of young people, nothing.
When I was little, growing up in the late 90's and early 2000's, none of my shirts had characters on them. They were all plain, single colored, striped, or other patterned shirts. But now, I go into a store to buy birthday clothes for a little cousin, and I can't buy a single shirt without some character on it, it's impossible.
18 March 2014
Service Hours!
For my service hours, I'm volunteering (Feb. 28, March 7, and March 14) at Treehouse, a sort of after-school/therapy for children with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder). Treehouse is run out of the Grove Medical Center, located at 4160 Route 83, Long Grove, IL by two psychologists that I've known since I was little. Dr. Nicole Hoffman (nicole.hoffman@longgrovepsych.com) used to be my therapist when I was a child and Dr. Chris Decker (chris-decker@sbcglobal.net) was my sister's psychologist so I know them very well.
Last year Dr. Nicole told me that she was starting the Treehouse and wanted to know if I was willing to volunteer my time on Fridays from 4-8p.m. and I said yes. I have since really bonded with the kids, and one of them even started crying when I told them I would leave in the fall for college. He said "I don't want you to leave!" and clung to my leg.
Here's the building, since I can't take pictures of the kids. I suck at photography.
When I first started I wasn't sure what to expect. I knew they would be energetic, because little kids always are (especially Ozzie), and since they all have ASD, I knew they would probably have some sensory issues or issues communicating, since those are things that often come with ASD, which I myself have. I was worried about getting them to listen to me and respect me.
The kids were definitely energetic. They were hyper and hard to control, which is why we did exercise first to rid them of excess energy. But they're all very sweet kids. I gained their trust by proving to them that I understand them, as a young adult with ASD, and now they listen to me and respect me. If I miss a week because I'm sick, they ask about me, and it's the best feeling in the world!
Most of them are still hyper during relaxation, so that doesn't go well. After relaxation, we split them up by gender. I go with Dr. Chris and the boys to her office for group (where they discuss their goals, like for Ozzie-using an indoor voice) followed by dinner and a short free time while Dr. Nicole, the intern Maggie, and the girls are in art therapy. Then we switch. The girls have group, dinner and free time while the boys are in art therapy. Then we all come together for music therapy.
My "job" is to serve as kind of a mediator between them and the therapists or a helper. I assist the exercise therapist named Cama, the art therapist named Julie, and the music therapist named Becca.
The kids really thrive in the attention they get and they feel special in art and have fun playing with balloons to music. I get the feeling they have a hard time making friends in school and don't get much attention at home. It's a really good feeling to know that I'm making a difference in their lives.
On Feb. 28, we went on a field trip to Brunswick Lanes where we helped children with more serious disabilities bowl. It taught the kids that there are people less fortunate in the world. It taught them to help others, and they really enjoyed being given roles as "helpers." Most of the kids behaved very well and helped their buddy a lot, but Ozzie decided to stick Skittles up his nose while Tim laughed instead. Those two are the troublemakers.
On March 7, we had an impromptu field trip to Main Street Sports because of a noise complaint from some grumpy old man in a nearby office. The kids were given a good opportunity to run down their energy. Zoe was an amazing jumper, maybe some day she'll be in the Olympics as a long jumper. We did some jumping exercises, played soccer, then field hockey (it was sad that the only time I was successful at an organized sport was while playing field hockey against a bunch of 10 year olds) followed by dinner and then finally dodgeball. Those kids kicked my butt at sports. Thankfully Ozzie didn't do something outrageous like eating foam from a hockey stick. We even got Tim and Michael to participate in the games.
On March 14, we were finally back in the office. The kids were extra antsy because of cabin fever. So instead of exercise (that grumpy old man got us banned from the room we did exercise in) we played with legos while the kids talked amongst themselves about spring break. They love legos, but I did notice already at this age that they were already thinking that the girls/boys have cooties. Society brainwashes them into following gender roles from a young age. So during art I've heard James yell at Michael "Pink is a girl's color!" so I told him there is no such thing as "boy colors" or "girl colors" and that everyone can like any color they want.
Last year Dr. Nicole told me that she was starting the Treehouse and wanted to know if I was willing to volunteer my time on Fridays from 4-8p.m. and I said yes. I have since really bonded with the kids, and one of them even started crying when I told them I would leave in the fall for college. He said "I don't want you to leave!" and clung to my leg.
Here's the building, since I can't take pictures of the kids. I suck at photography.
When I first started I wasn't sure what to expect. I knew they would be energetic, because little kids always are (especially Ozzie), and since they all have ASD, I knew they would probably have some sensory issues or issues communicating, since those are things that often come with ASD, which I myself have. I was worried about getting them to listen to me and respect me.
The kids were definitely energetic. They were hyper and hard to control, which is why we did exercise first to rid them of excess energy. But they're all very sweet kids. I gained their trust by proving to them that I understand them, as a young adult with ASD, and now they listen to me and respect me. If I miss a week because I'm sick, they ask about me, and it's the best feeling in the world!
Most of them are still hyper during relaxation, so that doesn't go well. After relaxation, we split them up by gender. I go with Dr. Chris and the boys to her office for group (where they discuss their goals, like for Ozzie-using an indoor voice) followed by dinner and a short free time while Dr. Nicole, the intern Maggie, and the girls are in art therapy. Then we switch. The girls have group, dinner and free time while the boys are in art therapy. Then we all come together for music therapy.
My "job" is to serve as kind of a mediator between them and the therapists or a helper. I assist the exercise therapist named Cama, the art therapist named Julie, and the music therapist named Becca.
The kids really thrive in the attention they get and they feel special in art and have fun playing with balloons to music. I get the feeling they have a hard time making friends in school and don't get much attention at home. It's a really good feeling to know that I'm making a difference in their lives.
On Feb. 28, we went on a field trip to Brunswick Lanes where we helped children with more serious disabilities bowl. It taught the kids that there are people less fortunate in the world. It taught them to help others, and they really enjoyed being given roles as "helpers." Most of the kids behaved very well and helped their buddy a lot, but Ozzie decided to stick Skittles up his nose while Tim laughed instead. Those two are the troublemakers.
On March 7, we had an impromptu field trip to Main Street Sports because of a noise complaint from some grumpy old man in a nearby office. The kids were given a good opportunity to run down their energy. Zoe was an amazing jumper, maybe some day she'll be in the Olympics as a long jumper. We did some jumping exercises, played soccer, then field hockey (it was sad that the only time I was successful at an organized sport was while playing field hockey against a bunch of 10 year olds) followed by dinner and then finally dodgeball. Those kids kicked my butt at sports. Thankfully Ozzie didn't do something outrageous like eating foam from a hockey stick. We even got Tim and Michael to participate in the games.
On March 14, we were finally back in the office. The kids were extra antsy because of cabin fever. So instead of exercise (that grumpy old man got us banned from the room we did exercise in) we played with legos while the kids talked amongst themselves about spring break. They love legos, but I did notice already at this age that they were already thinking that the girls/boys have cooties. Society brainwashes them into following gender roles from a young age. So during art I've heard James yell at Michael "Pink is a girl's color!" so I told him there is no such thing as "boy colors" or "girl colors" and that everyone can like any color they want.
Post 5
No creative title this time :|
More about American culture.
The world sees us Americans as youthful, energetic, loud, obnoxious, fat, and always eating unhealthily, with a thriving hero complex. And surely, this would offend some people, but it's funny because it's true.
We are very young compared to other nations-less than 300 years old, which seems like a tiny speck compared to China's 5000 years. And with youth comes energy, and lots of it. Americans are always busy doing something. We can never stand still. And if an American does attempt to chill out and take a moment to de-stress, like what we did by doing literally nothing (no thoughts, no communication), that American is seen as lazy or a weirdo. Though I personally didn't get a reaction because my mom and sister are used to my "strange" behavior, other people were getting alarmed reactions from strangers.
America is the second most obese country (Mexico takes spot number one), and our portions are enormous compared to the rest of the world. We eat too much grease, not enough fruit and veggies, and too much fat but don't get enough exercise. We looked at Kohl's American values, and one of them is efficiency. Americans value always being busy, so instead of going home for lunch or going to a sit-down restaurant, the average American just goes through a drive-through and grabs a fattening burger and eats in on the way back to work in an effort to waste as little time as possible.
And as for the hero complex-that explains itself. If we didn't have a hero complex, why would we ever invade another country under the pretenses of "helping out?" We call ourselves the "world police," but we do more harm than good. We really shouldn't be invading other countries, and we shouldn't intervene in another country's war or situation unless our help is asked for.
Hetalia is an anime where the characters are personified stereotypes of the nations. Just look at how America's portrayed.
Here's one mocking Americans for sucking at world geography
We also read an article called "Bemused in America" which was from a German perspective of life in America and how different and confusing everything was, from the idioms and expressions used in English to the 24 hour drugstores and supermarkets. When I hosted exchange students, we would take them all to Walmart and be amused at their expressions because they don't have such a massive corporation in their country. Even the Danish and German exchange students were shocked, amazed, and maybe even a little horrified at the size and amount of choices of everything.
In my personal life, I know that Americans are individualists who value spending time alone over spending time with loved ones. On my dad's side, we don't see them often and they don't get together often because that's not our culture (though we don't visit much because they live in Indiana.), but my mom's side, which is from eastern Europe (my mom's parents are first generation Americans), has weekly family dinners and is very VERY close-nit. To miss a family dinner (unless you're sick) is an insult to my grandparents that makes them very upset. Their parents brought over the European close-nit family values when they immigrated.
06 March 2014
Unit 2 Part 1
This unit we're learning about world culture, my favorite! But unfortunately, most Americans respond to a new culture with culture shock, literally feeling shocked when immersed in a new culture, and egocentrism, or thinking your culture is superior. (If the last part doesn't scream America then I don't know what does.)
We learned this in class through a game of silent cards. Each table was given rules for a card game and then the rules were taken away and we couldn't speak to emphasize how much we rely on language. But what we DIDN'T know was that each table was playing a different game of cards, which we soon discovered as we were rotating around the room. This gave a lot of frustration because we though everyone else was playing the card game wrong (egocentrism).
In an episode of Hetalia, an anime about personified countries, Japan decides to visit his friend America and gets hungry so he (Japan) orders a large fry but is shocked and horrified to discover that the fry is incredibly large (to him) so he begins to shake convulsively. Poor Japan gets culture shock easily. Also in the episode, America is visiting Japan and he (America) orders a large fry but is shocked and horrified to discover that the fry is unusually small (to him.) The culture shock goes both ways.
We also learned about cultural norms. For example, in America it's perfectly acceptable to call people by their first names. But in Japan, calling someone by their first name (or without an honorific) is incredibly offensive unless you're their older relative, their best friend, or their lover. And if my family lived in China, my little sister wouldn't even be allowed to call me Matt. She would only be allowed to call me "大哥 (da ge)／哥哥 (ge ge)," which are both Chinese for "older brother." If we lived in a Muslim country, I would be considered the head of the household because my parents are divorced and I'm the only male (except for the cats). In both Japan and China, the number 4, 四, (pronounced shi/yon in Japanese and si in Chinese) when said as shi in Japanese and si in Chinese, means death so it's an unlucky number, a taboo that people flee from. It's the American equivalent to the number 13, which our culture considers extremely unlucky.
We learned this in class through a game of silent cards. Each table was given rules for a card game and then the rules were taken away and we couldn't speak to emphasize how much we rely on language. But what we DIDN'T know was that each table was playing a different game of cards, which we soon discovered as we were rotating around the room. This gave a lot of frustration because we though everyone else was playing the card game wrong (egocentrism).
In an episode of Hetalia, an anime about personified countries, Japan decides to visit his friend America and gets hungry so he (Japan) orders a large fry but is shocked and horrified to discover that the fry is incredibly large (to him) so he begins to shake convulsively. Poor Japan gets culture shock easily. Also in the episode, America is visiting Japan and he (America) orders a large fry but is shocked and horrified to discover that the fry is unusually small (to him.) The culture shock goes both ways.
We also learned about cultural norms. For example, in America it's perfectly acceptable to call people by their first names. But in Japan, calling someone by their first name (or without an honorific) is incredibly offensive unless you're their older relative, their best friend, or their lover. And if my family lived in China, my little sister wouldn't even be allowed to call me Matt. She would only be allowed to call me "大哥 (da ge)／哥哥 (ge ge)," which are both Chinese for "older brother." If we lived in a Muslim country, I would be considered the head of the household because my parents are divorced and I'm the only male (except for the cats). In both Japan and China, the number 4, 四, (pronounced shi/yon in Japanese and si in Chinese) when said as shi in Japanese and si in Chinese, means death so it's an unlucky number, a taboo that people flee from. It's the American equivalent to the number 13, which our culture considers extremely unlucky.
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