Bromance?

You've seen it MANY times. Facebook relationships and marriages between two guys or two girls that are JUST friends.  No homosexual intentions or scrutiny. Perfectly accepted in our day and age as a generation.  I know of at least 4 'bromances' that are listed on Facebook as two guys being married or in a relationship with one another.  Do you have a bromance or know of some on social networks like Facebook? What are your thoughts/ reactions to these bromances and false relationships?

Is it okay to have a gay crush?

You may be completely straight, in a long term relationship with your (wo)man, but still have a 'girl crush'/ 'man crush' on a celebrity.  I mean really? I personally have NO problems saying that Angelina Jolie is absolutely gorgeous as well as Victoria's Secret Angel Alessandra Ambrosio.  They have everything going on for them and I will admit that Alessandra Ambrosio may be my 'girl crush.' That is not saying that I have any hidden volitions or any homosexual thoughts about my 'girl crush' but it is just me acknowledging her gorgeousness. So I ask you...who is your 'girl crush' or 'man crush?'

Bar-Sexuals

What do you think about Bar-Sexuals?
Well first, let me tell you what/ who they are.  Bar-Sexuals are women who are predominantly heterosexual and go to bars and to gain attention from men, after having a few drinks, they will experiment with each other and do things such as make out or play with each other's breasts to impress and visually stimulate guys at the bar.  There was a whole segment on the Tyra Banks show about these self-proclaimed 'Bar-Sexuals'.

Provincetown, Mass

The happiest place on earth to some, to others, a tourist spot. It is honestly an experience to remember!  As you can see in the photos above, people are free to express themselves as the wish without any concern about public scrutiny.  In Provincetown, being a member of the LGBT community is the norm.  Walking down the streets, shopping, sight seeing and eating out, you can see a multitude of people just being their happy selves.  I have not seen more muscular guys with great tans and tattoos walking hand in hand with little pomeranians or shitzus ever before in my life.  The rainbow LGBT flag is hung and displayed ALL over town and it is a known spot for LGBT community members.  There are parades every Thursday and people who dress in very ornate costumes.  This town is on the beach and is also a town that offers whale watches on the water.  All the pictures above are from my two trips to P-town with my boyfriend and his parents over the summer on the Cape.  Dame Edna was by far the funniest comedian we saw there!

Transgendred Athlete

I read this article this morning about a transgendered basketball player on a Women's Division I Basketball team.  He plays for George Washington University in D.C. and on the school's website under athletics, it says that he is a male playing on a Women's team.  He has not yet undergone any surgery nor has he undergone hormone treatments.  He says that his team is very supportive of his decision and he will not undergo any such procedures until hiss basketball career is over.  It is a very rare occasion that a Division I athlete would reveal a secret of this magnitude out to the entire world. I commend him on his bravery especially for facing adversity within his own household.  He knew at a young age that he felt more like a 'boy' rather than the female body he was born into.  He used to want to dress in shorts and a shirt and much more baggy clothing but his mother would never allow him to leave the house looking like a boy.  She made sure that he wore 'girls' clothes at a young age to maintain her identity as a girl.  He was so desperate to show hi true personality that he packed clothes to change into once he got to school and could be who he wanted to be; though every night before heading home, he would change back into the clothes his mother saw him leave in.  Overall, I very much enjoyed this article and would recommend it to anyone looking for a quick read that leaves the reader with a sense of optimism and hope at the end for our futures.

Does a Halloween Costume Determine Your Sexuality?

So I just read a really interesting and thought-provoking article.  The basis of it was a mothers enraged reactions to the reactions that some people had to her 5 year old son's Halloween costume.  He loves Scooby-Doo and was Scooby-Doo a few years back for Halloween and this year decided he wanted to dress up as Daphne.  His mother hesitated to order the costume because she thought that he would flip flop and decided he did not want to dress up as Daphne, so when he finally said yes for sure, she ordered the costume.  The child attended a church-based preschool and they had the children dress up for school for Halloween.  When the boy got to school, he became very nervous and some parents had the nerve to verbalize their dissenting opinions about his costume.  Basically, they figured that since he dressed up as Daphne he was destined to be 'gay'. Read the article and please comment with opinions.

Event in 2001

The Netherlands became the first country allowing same-sex marriage. (In 2001).
Countries today allowing Same Sex Marriages:
The Netherlands
Sweden
Argentina
Iceland
Belgium
Canada
Norway
South Africa
Spain
Portugal
United States: (states)
Massachusetts
Iowa
Connecticut
Vermont
New Hampshire and the
District of Columbia.

Jane's Driving Lesson

So a few nights ago, I was sitting in the common room of Pauley Hall and the Flintstones came on.  I, being a complete child at heart, WANTED to watch the Flintstones! (The 50th Anniversary of the Flintstones was yesterday).  Then the Jetsons came on! I was SO excited.  These were shows I grew up with as a child on Cartoon Network.  The episode that came on was The Jetsons: Jane's Driving Lesson.  You can watch the 30 minute show if you would like.  The hyperlink above will take you straight to it.  The show is entirely about how women should NOT be allowed to drive. While I watched the episode with three male friends, they could not stop laughing!  I will admit, the jokes did not phase me much at all and I occasionally laughed too but it was very weird to see that the notion that all women are bad drivers and should not be allowed to drive was being portrayed through a children's television series.  It is a funny episode, or at least I thought so, but it does dive into gender roles and gender stereotypes.  So, if you're interested, give it a look and comment on what you think.

What really is race?

I liked the way Haney Lopez started off with the Wrights case and explained to us as readers that status as either a free person or a slave was determined by the maternal line in the family.  I, personally thought it was crazy to generalize all humans of African-descent as having two outstanding traits, "a flat nose and woolly head of hair" (p.191).  They then freed the three generations of women based on the fact that Hannah's hair was long and straight.  This opening case kind of set the tone for the rest of the piece.  The idea that racial status is a human fabrication and construction actually makes a lot of sense to me.  While reading the second packet, keeping in mind the first, I really came to see the evolution of race.  It was incredible to see how being Mexican was no longer viewed as a nationality but rather a race.  The comparisons of race with science, law, government, color, blood, gender, genetics and class distinction in economies was fascinating to read about, especially when certain theories got disproved through court cases and trials.  The notions that race fills a psychological necessity and that the definition of 'being white' is a double negative and is defined as not being non-white were two compelling arguments to me.  To this day, I still do not believe that there is or ever can be a true definition of what 'being white' is supposed to be.  The racial hierarchies also proved to be a good argument because the exclusivity of the 'white' race keeps them as superior.  "For each negative characteristic ascribed to people of color, an equal but opposite and positive characteristic is imputed to Whites." (p.548)  "When confronted by the falsity of White identity, Whites tend not to abandon Whiteness, but to embrace and protect it  The value of Whiteness to WHites probably insures the continuation of a White self-regard predicated on racial superiority." (p.549).  Though each reading provided valid information on race, and Haney Lopez actually provided a definition of race, defined "as a vast group of people loosely bound together by historically contingent, socially significant elements of their morphology and/or ancestry" (p. 193) the definition changes from person to person.  So I ask you, how would you define race?

Thoughts on Free Papers

While I did understand the majority of the viewpoints in the article "Free Papers," I did think that it was very biased.  The article, to me sort of grouped all caucasians into one cluster.  The writers basically imply that 'the white man' has more power than 'us' as a minority, specifically African-Americans.  The articles go back through time and show the power that 'the white man' has over other minorities.  The writer also describes a situation known to him and other writers who submitted pieces to 'Free Papers' as "a DWB: Driving while Black."  There was an example given of how a collegiate at Brown had been stopped numerous times (17) in a span of two weeks because he fit the description of "'a 5'8''-5'10'' light-skinned black or Hispanic male, possibly wearing a mustache.'"  Even after having shaved his mustache, he continued to be stopped by the police along with two other collegiate friends including "Tyrone, the 6'8'', purple-black, backup center on the basketball team" and John, who "ain't but 5'2''. And coffee-bean colored to boot."  It raised problems for the college boys from the elite Brown University and forced them to walk around with their Brown University IDs.  They joked about carrying their IDs, comparing it to slavery days when "Blacks in both the South and the North carried free papers, which theoretically (though they were routinely ignored) protected them from bounty hunters and others who would sell them back into slavery."  They would say to each other '"Got'cha papers on you, man?"' This to me, was a bit disturbing because slavery is such a touchy subject and if it were not someone of their own race joking about it, it would be looked down upon.  This text drew a very extreme line and to me the most impacting statement was when the writer was talking about the differences in power and opportunity between African Americans and "America for the rest of the world." The text says, "The right to write and, if pen did not prove mightier than sword, the means and privilege to tote both and draw either indiscriminately." That metaphor had a lot of power in it and drew a distinction between African Americans and other Americans.  The text made it seem like 'the white man' had so much more power than everyone else and could do as he pleased.  The part in the text when Mr. S was talking about the Japanese internment camps was really striking, as was the part with the Gila reservation and how the Gila river was dried up to provide water to Phoenix.  I do not understand how it is possible to completely dry up a river in order to provide the water to another people.  The water from the river was taken from the people of the Gila reservation to be given to the people of Phoenix.  Overall, this reading evoked a lot of emotions and thoughts both empathetic and some of disagreement, and it was a good icebreaker to the course.