#gen101

Reading the article, “Dear Young Ladies Who Love Chris Brown So Much They Would Let Him Beat Them”, was interesting. It is about how a lot of times, people like Chris Brown get a pass whenever they commit a crime. There are many examples of situations like this. You could like at big names like Louis CK who was one of the people that got called out in the #METOO movement. He was able to make a comeback without a problem. Or another example, can be Brock Turner, a man who raped a girl behind a dumpster and only got three months in jail. Not only did he just get three months, but they were pointing out how he was in the swimming team in new articles, instead of just calling him a rapist. A lot of times, when a girl gets raped it’s like they can’t get any help. The media focuses on those up and coming artist or athletes and how if they get punished then it’ll ruin their lives. Like it really is just frustrating, because those situations just completely disregards how this ruins and can just completely destroys a girl life. They also sometimes try to victim blame and say that girls should just dress differently and how they shouldn’t be in those places or parties. But it’s like what happens when it's a little girl that gets raped or a old lady. There really should be a move from victim blaming, like it doesn’t make sense. People should just stop being scumbags. The whole #metoo movement was to try and call out people like Chris Brown and Louis CK who get to just do whatever they want, because they are talented. The article mentions that there are girls who say they would be willing to let people like Chris Brown beat them and that is just sad. The fact that we put so much value into celebrities, that people would let them attack them.

In the article, Masked Racism: Reflections on the Prison Industrial Complex, speaks about the issues with prisons. It starts by stating that imprisonment has become the first response to many issues. Not only is that the first response, but there is also a race issue. The article states that there are around 2 million people in prisons, in the United States and that 70% of them are people of color. So this is a big race issue. There really needs to be a complete change in the prison systems for the United States. Drug addicts and homeless people shouldn’t be in prisons. There should be a change from giving out punishment, to rehabilitation. Focus on getting help for them, and preparing them to be back into everyday life. The issue is that, prisons have become this giant money making machine. So there really isn’t any plans to start releasing more people or changing what is being done today. If they change the system that they have now, then they lose their money. There have been different statements, saying that the prisons are just modern day slavery and I agree. If 70% of our prisons are filled with people of color then this really is just a attack on them. 

The article, Gender Advantage: Checking in on Masculine Privilege, is about how there is this idea that society gives advantages to men, just for being men. This in my opinion is completely true. Men in this society get to make the laws and policies that affect women’s reproductive system even though that has nothing to do with them. We get to travel late at night and not worry about being attacked. Like if you ask any man, being attack is definitely not one of the things on the top of his mind, when he is going out. There is also this issue that women face, where people sometimes believe they got the job because they are attractive. The success any man gets, is not at all tied to their looks. There are many things that men get to decide. So there really isn’t a idea that the society runs that way, it just does run that way. Looking at the government and really any list of people with power, you’ll just see men. It really is just depressing. Like as a male, the amount of privilege I get for no reason is huge.

When reading the article, Constructing Masculinity, it was very interesting. Seeing what was considered a man before and what we consider a man now. Just looking at how different each example is. Even looking at the way it affects science. The article mentions that even things like sperm and egg get given characteristic of male and female. It is just mind blowing, just how much value and just how important some people believe this stuff is. There shouldn’t be this pressure to become and fit this definition of what a man is, because we know that this can change any moment. In the class we have spoken about the issues with the colors and how before pink was for boys and blue was for girls. This has switched and I wouldn’t be surprised if it switched again. It in a way is just very depressing to think about. There have been examples of men doing just extreme actions, like killing someone or even just killing themselves because they get bullied and just put down. Just because they are not “man enough”. It is a very sad topic and is something that we as a society have to change. This idea of what a man or a woman is supposed to look like, should be stopped. It gives people impossible goals to reach. 

The article overall was okay. Like how this social construction of gender is explained and shown is good. I feel like it still missed some things. For example, the role that business play in keeping this idea of two genders alive. Like business make a lot of money by separating them. Then there's also the fact that while in cities like New York City there is more people changing the roles of men and women, I’m sure that in the more rural areas or even the smaller cities there isn’t that much of a change. It is hard to actually see what change is happening.

The article, Doing Justice to Someone: Sex Reassignment and Allegories, studies young children and looks at what makes them decide to be a boy or girl. It follows this study of Brenda/David, where a doctor messed a medical procedure on a young boy when he was really young, so the family decided to switch the boy to a girl. Reading what the was being done to the boy was in a way horrifying. They were forcing different procedures on him, trying to get him to commit to switching sex. For example, “it’s gonna be tough, you’re gonna be picked on, you’re gonna be very alone, you’re not gonna find anybody (unless you have vaginal surgery and live as a female).” Like it sounds what he was going through was a very cruel situation. Being forced to watch women give birth as a way to convince him to become one. It is very sad. Like I understand the want for knowledge, and how they want to prove whatever theories they might have, but there must be better ways of doing it. The article mentions that, when David was going as Brenda, he was told they he would be killed for peeing standing up. And how he wasn’t interested in dolls. He started asking for trucks and guns for his toys. Which that in itself, becomes another issue. Like why does what toys he wants, get attached to his sex/gender. Personally, I believe that there is to much that isn’t known about the brain and how to the body works for this study. Like there is to many things that can be put to question. Like did him having a twin, affect the way he thinks. The study that David had to go through was really a cruel and unnecessary one. Like trying to force him into a different gender was bad itself, but the treatment that he was going through was even worse. The issues with school, and how John Money showed him pictures and videos of other women. It was really just uncomfortable.