Rebecca Skloot

The presentation was pretty cool actually.  I got a kick out of her telling stories about the Lacks family.  It was different to see the writer in person and think back to her story and just imagine her being there and dealing with everything.  It was neat too that she wanted to be a vet tech before a writer and that one class in college changed her mind.  Or rather refined her ambitions.  She could still be involved in science but also use her writing ability to reach others, thats what she said anyway.  It was alittle long but over all not as bad as i thought.  The questions asked by other people attending were some of the same ones i had but was no courageous enough to get up and ask.  I still wonder if the Lacks family will ever get any part of a settlement or money for what theyve been through and the great things that Henrietta gave to us all.

Soul Plane

The movie we watched in class was actually really funny, way better than the movie from last week!  I think maybe because it was a newer movie or maybe because the humor wasn’t so sarcastic. It was just funny.  There were definitely some racial things happening in the movie with the airline being primarily African American. It was named Malcolm X, come on!  The black people in the movie were all gangster with their baggy sweat suits and jeans and the women had their skin tight pants and cleavage hanging out.  The plane was purple and had spinners for gosh sake’s!  The pilot, Snoop Dog, was dressed in what looked like a mechanics shirt and wanted to smoke weed.  The white family did not adjust well to their fellow passengers, at least from as much of the movie as we watched.  The son did get some clothes and a bandana but the dad is just in utter shock with all the ghetto booties surrounding him and the wife to be is petrified.  The daughter just wants to get away from the family and her teenage hormones let her settle in with the dark skinned boy she sits next to on the plane.  I really want to find this movie and watch the whole thing! It just seemed like a simple humorous movie.

Bamboozled

The movie wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, although it was really long.  I wouldn't have picked it to watch but all in all it was a decent movie.  I didn't feel it was very offensive but I could definitely see how the jokes would be to some people.  The watermelon thing was hilarious to me but I know some people who wouldn't think that was funny at all.  I think it is the kind of thing where the movie didn't make fun of anything about me so it wasn't bothersome to me.  But say if it had been about West Virginia I would probably be somewhat offended at what they would depict as our norm.  It would still be funny but it would also irritate me that we would be thought of how most people picture West Virginians.  Mantan was a bum off the streets, living in an abandoned building, performing on the street for money.  His friend was like a manager to him; he got the crowd interested and collected the money.  If they had been in a studio with fancy clothes then nobody would have thought anything less of them than respectable artists and men.  It is weird how much emphasis we put on jobs, race, class, and education.  I, myself, did it and still catch myself doing it even though I know that just because someone doesn't wear the most expensive clothes or have a college degree, they can still be the best people in your life or the smartest and most genuine person you know.

Presentations

The story of the Indian woman, Mankiller, was the most interesting to me.  The name caught my attention of course but her story was so interesting.  I just find it so crazy that she was driving along and wrecked.  But not only did she wreck, but killed the other driver.  But not only was it just a driver, it was her best friend!! It was just shocking because whenever I imagine a car crash I never consider that the people involved would know each other.  I also never thought of Indians having cars.  I know it sounds dumb but my mind was stuck in the stereotype of them riding horses and wearing loin cloths. I never thought about how they evolve as the majority of our societies do.  The name was also a neat story.  It’s a name of respect where she’s from.  In our society if someone earned the name “mankiller” we would be afraid of them. I sure would be! Because in our society killing someone usually doesn’t mean strength or gain respect.  Our killers get locked up, most of the time.

Class Week 9

Ever since we looked at the photo shop disasters website I have been looking at ads and T.V. commercials completely differently.  I have been looking to see what work theyve done on that person to make them look so perfect instead of thinking about what I would have to do to look like that.  I knew there was photo shopping but I never really thought about what that meant.  You can make a person look completely different with photo shop! We talked about how it is used to cover up flaws and how scars were flaws on women but are thought to make a man look more attractive because that means he’s a "badass."  That goes along with the persona that is tied to each gender.  Women are supposed to be soft and gentle whereas men are supposed to be edgy and tough, rough and dirty.  The pictures each group had printed out based on genders or sexes and class were great!  A couple groups did some redneck pictures or low class white trash.  I think that’s because we get that stereotype so often it is just the first thing that came to our minds.  The “People of Walmart” website had a lot of pictures of people who look completely low class and uneducated but you never know! Those same people could be rich or brain surgeons and just not care about their looks.

Class Week 8

There was sooo much masculinity in The Longest Yard.  The guy beating his head off the wall and bleeding and not showing any sign of pain was basically the biggest show of "tough guy"! Paul Crew showed his manly side when he ran from the cops without a thought to consequence.  He also showed that he wasn’t the alpha man because he gave into the guard when he first got in the jail and the guard beat him so he would say no to the warden.  Then the cafeteria scene Crew stood up to the guard which the guard didn’t like and had to prove his power by having the other guard punch Crew’s lights out, therefore he’s trying to act masculine but the other guy takes care of his business for him.  The “cheerleader” inmates definitely weren’t masculine, they had transgender identity! The one was feisty but fought like a girl by using insults and humiliating the one Mexican guy.  They also dressed as feminine as possible by tying up their shirts and wearing make-up to make themselves more attractive and appealing like actual women do.  The huge black guy that cried because the giant guy broke his nose was definitely not masculine.  He cried which just isn’t accepted as a “male” quality.  He also really liked to hug people and smile which are two traits most men do not have or don’t show.  We talked in class about how men are supposed to subdue their emotions except anger.  He did not tone anything down; he jumped and was giddy like a girl would be when the giant apologized for breaking his nose.

Midterm

I have to say I LOVE watching NCIS as part of a midterm!  Zeeva is not the stereotypical woman but Tony is a giant stereotype.  The one lady turned out to be the killer, also not usual.  Zeeva was sent to search the house at the time the initial interview was going on after finding the two dead women because she is not empathetic which is a more usual trait in a women.  Gibbs also holds the baby and comforts it when it is crying, that would be thought of as a feminine trait.  Abbey is definitely not the typical woman physically, but her need for human contact is a stereotype.  She is constantly giving hugs and worrying about the safety of the other team members.  Gibbs is typical in that he always gave the orders and the team was expected to follow all of them.  He is the definition of an alpha male in that respect.  The written test was really easy I thought, hopefully I did well! It was basically definitions and applying them.  The scenarios were clear cut and not meant to trick you which was greatly appreciated since all my nursing tests are based on trick questions!