Raising a Gender-Neutral Child

Fascinating! A Canadian couple is raising their child in a gender-neutral manner in order to allow him/her to eventually decide which gender he/she identifies with: http://thefeministwire.com/2011/05/gender-neutral-or-wishful-thinking/

(May be old news, but I just came across it)

Vatican Official Stance on Marriage v. An American Sister

This post seems like a good discussion tool for me to end my discussion with. An American catholic sister wrote a book entitled  "Just Love: A Framework for Christian Sexual Ethics", which apparently does not line up with Vatican teachings.  Here is the yahoo article that goes into detail on it.

 http://news.yahoo.com/vatican-criticizes-us-nuns-book-sexuality-122647476.html

This article brings me back to our discussion on GBLTQI people with Jordan Garcia.  Although gay marriage and equality are not rights the Catholic Church officially stands for, the book is not going against dogma; in effect this is something that could be changed. “Farley wrote that homosexual people as well as their activities should be respected. Church teaching holds that gays should be respected but that homosexual acts are "intrinsically disordered."’  I suppose the first question that comes to mind here is how is possible to respect the person and not the acts that the person does? This is apparently what the church is advocating for.  According to the article Sister Margaret’s book calls for the legalizing of gay marriage, in that it could “help transform the stigmatization of gays”, according to Nicole Wintfield in the article.  Yet the church is taking its official stance on this issue that it somehow lessens the value of marriage that takes place between a man and a woman.  I do not see how this has any negative effect on the relationship between any people that love each other.  I am curious as to what the rest of you think about what Sister Margaret Farley is advocating for and the position of the church on the issues that she presents.

For Skittles, Death Brings Both Profit and Risk

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/29/us/skittles-sales-up-after-trayvon-martin-shooting.html?_r=2&ref=advertisingandmarketing


The controversies over Trayvon Martin's  death (Feb. 26th, 2012) continues to be a hot-topic in the New York Times, this time not just on the faulty manslaughter charges being examined by prosecutors but because of the recent increase in revenues by Skittles candies. The 17-year old African American teenager was shot by neighborhood watch volunteer, George Zimmerman, while walking through a gated housing community in Sanford, FL. Martin had just come from a nearby convenience store (where he purchased a bag of Skittles and a bottle of iced tea) while on his way to his father's girlfriend's home. Mr. Zimmerman was in his S.U.V. on neighborhood watch when he claims he was forced to shoot Martin out of self-defense and therefore was not charged (until after the trial took place). While the sweeping self-defense law in Florida was once held as the center of debate in this case, the most recent outrages have come from opinions surrounding the increase in Skittles candies and whether or not the increased profits should be going towards a case-related cause. Like the hooded sweatshirt he was wearing, the candy has been transformed into a cultural icon, symbolizing the 'racial injustices' of Martin's youth and innocence and the 'underscores' surrounding his sudden and tragic death. 

Several people on social media sites including Facebook, Twitter, etc; feel that Wrigley (distributor of Skittles) should donate money to Trayvon's family or to causes that would "help with racial reconciliation or underprivileged communities" because of the huge increase in sales, according to the NY Times article. Some even feel that people should stop buying Skittles until the company gets move involved in the case & gives in to donating at least some portion of its profits. 

Skittles spokeswoman, Jennifer Jackson Luth, would not comment on the impact of Skittles sudden popularity on profits. However crisis management and public relations experts who are watching the Skittles situation unfold say that the company has taken the correct initial stance, since any moves they make could cause backfire. For example, if it does donate money people will criticize them for it not being enough. If it speaks publicly, people will say they are capitalizing on it... Either way it's a very complex and dangerous position for them to be in. 

After examining both sides,  I feel that Skittles was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time and that they should stay out of it/ refuse to comment until they absolutely have to. This social media & icon trend will pass soon, if they can just wait it out long enough for profits to return to their stable and initial revenue levels from before the murder took place. When I saw this article I felt this related to some of the discussions and articles we read about particular trends & surges that have taken place due to racial outbursts. For example in the stories we acted out during the LGBT guest speaker group exercises, many of the crimes committed by government/ prison staff members were committed on racial grounds or motives. In Trayvon's killing, the neighborhood watch patroller thought he "was up to no good" largely because he was an african american male in a high-class neighborhood. There were very few causes indicating this was not the primary motivation behind the initial confrontation- which eventually lead to the shooting by Zimmerman. However the rippling effect on a company like Skittles is what is most interesting in this particular case, since there are so many events & subjects involved here- Ultimately linking a candy company's increase in profits with a racially- motivated manslaughter case. 

Women, are we wearing less and less?

I remember once I talked to my mom about women's summer dresses. My mom mentioned that it is funny that when she was young, women wear long skirts, and long sleeve shirts, to protect the reveling of too much skin. On the contrast, men wear short boxers walking in the street, and flip flops, etc. Years later, even thought it is still common to see men wear flip flops and shorts on the street. It is not quite that common to see men dress like that in Asia. Except for being in the swimming pool, all people in my dad's generation wear long pants during the hot summer, and so as the young men.

Let's see what girls wear, in a night club, on a performance, or even when we attend a show. We think short shorts make legs look longer, that is why we are in favor of those cloths that would help on this. Years ago, if one wears bikini on a beach, people would consider that person has a lot of courage. However, if you walk on a beach wearing a normal full-body baking suit, people would wonder, " hey girl, are you here for a swimming lesson?"

How could one get a lot of media attention really fast? It is apparently easier for girls than boys. The answer is, take off the cloths! It is not comfortable for every girl to do so, like to dance in public wear what the girls in the picture wears, however for those who wants the attention and dare or enjoys it, using the body is a very powerful tool. They do not feel offended by people's judgement. They might even proud of their moves, their dresses.

It is really one individual's will to choose what to wear, what to show to the world. We always hear that people say " Show the world what you've got". It might just be one way of showing the world a real myself. However is it the world/society's fault by structuring the image of reveling body is good? And thus encouraged more young girls to do so? Is it because men like to see that, so girls are willing to sell meat for attention, money and other things?

The Japense ladies after Tsunami hit

What happens after the 2011 Tsunami in Japan? As we all known, people got negatively affected by this. However I had never realized how much it affected women differently until I start to think about it.

A few months ago, during the winter break, I went to visit Japan. In Tokyo, the fast moving city, people still move around light-speed and dress nicely. However when you go to a grocery store, you will find people look clearly into the details of, let's say a bottle of water, a box of yogurt, etc. What are they checking? After a few conversations with them, I learned that people check where those products were made. If a bottle of water was from the south Japan, and far away from Sendai and Tokyo, people would like to pay more to get this bottle of water than the ones that were made locally or from the North. When I went to my friend's house for dinner, she was talking about the rice we were eating, very proudly. Because the rice were from the south part of Japan which is a bit further away from the radiation.

Clearly, the radiation scared everyone. I remember that before I took the trip to Japan, my doctor, who is really good at using natural herbs and Chinese Medicine to cure almost any kind of disease, has warned me seriously that the radiation would negatively affect my fertilization and become hard to get pregnant later. What happens after I got this advice and saw how carefully the Japanese chose their food? I left the country two weeks earlier. Yes, I changed the plan because I need to think of my chance of giving birth to my kids.

Women, by nature, do carry the duty of reproduction and take care of the family. Therefore the radiation from the disaster left every women there in panic. Not only did they need to check the original souse of the drinking water, but also they need to carry the extra burdens. 

Women, are we weaker than men by nature?

I have no answer to this question. However, since I’ve been holding for this question in myself for too long, thus I want to ask and share it with you all.

It is no doubt that men are stronger, physically. They can jump higher, run faster, hit harder and even survive longer if they do not have bad habits. When you turn on the TV and start to watch sport. How many of you would like to watch a women’s team play over men’s team. Even with the same media coverage, I will for sure watch the men’s game, for most of the games. Men’s basketball game, football game, swimming competition, gymnastics, etc, all of those games are more excited to watch. It is no doubt that the excitement of watching the NBA game can never be brought out by watching women's basketball play.

In the field of science, even though we have genius female scientists like Marie Curie, it is mostly men that push the world forward. As a woman myself, I am not saying that women are not important, however I am just interested in why there are a significant less amount of women when you go to the top of every field. Mostly, every women cook, however the top cook in world famous restaurants are 90% men. Mostly every women take care of their kids, however the world’s best educators/ professors, etc are mostly men. Even though girls might be just as good as boys or even better than boys in school, however when it comes to life, a tens of years of circle, men always exceed women in some way.

Is it that female has a nature to take care of the family and do not want to put themselves all out in the career? Or is it that women by nature are weaker which leaves male the main force to push the world forward? I think that the answer differs and it might be not possible for anyone to figure it out. It might also be that female and male are by nature different from each other, we have different duties and work to finish in the world, no one should judge which one is better which one is not. We should just live with it.

Female Sex Offenders: Getting Off Too Easy?

            I read this article a few weeks ago and was really interested in the idea that men and women are treated different in accounts of perpetrating sexual abuse. In this case, a former teacher’s aid was convicted of three separate accounts of sexual abuse with a minor, and she has received lifetime probation and no jail time. This article points out the interesting double standard wherein male sexual predators generally go to jail and for a much longer time than their female counterparts. I actually had a teacher in highschool who was a female who was mixed up in a sexual abuse scandle with a student, however she remained teaching at my school and has continued since. Our male band teacher did not fare so well under the same charges.

            Generally, women are the victims of the legal system, however I believe that this is a huge concern and problem. A minor is a minor, female or male, and they should have their sexual rights protected, particularly from adults that are supposed to be in positions of utmost trust. While there are considerably fewer accounts of female teacher’s sexually abusing their students, it does not mean that the women who commit these acts should not be treated equally and fair under the law.  If women want equality, we must be willing to accept the downsides of equality as well.

Here is the article: http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/crime/2012/05/gabriela_compton_received_lifetime_probation_for_sexually_abusing_two_boys_.html

Born This Way Foundation Launch Event @ Harvard

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSzlPKGoOTA

Throughout the research that I did for my final project on Stefani Germanotta (Lady Gaga) I came across this video the launch event that was hosted at Harvard University for Lady Gaga's non-profit, The Born This Way Foundation. It's pretty long so I don't expect you to watch the whole thing however, I thought I would post it for those who are interested in knowing more about her involvement in empowering LGBT homeless youth. When I discovered this video I was surprised to learn that Harvard's graduate school dean, Kathleen McCartney also played a major role in the development of the foundation. She is the woman speaking at the beginning of the video and announces the mission, values, and goals set forth by Stefani Germanotta and her mother, Cynthia. As I mentioned during my presentation, the Born This Way Foundation was founded by Lady Gaga whose vision is to foster a more accepting society, where differences are embraced and individuality is celebrated. By developing the Foundation she is committed to creating a "safe community that helped connect young people with the skills and opportunities they need to build a braver, kinder world because she believes that everyone should have the right to feel safe, to be empowered and to make a difference in the world," according to the Foundations mission statement. Additional information about the foundation can be found at: http://bornthiswayfoundation.org/

Enjoy!