Conversation Reflection. October 28, 2010

Today we watched a Film entitled First Person Plural, by Deann Borshay Liem. The film and the assignment A^2 assigned helped me to put together some of the central ideas about English 150. One thing I put together was difference. Because Dean was Korean, she felt she had to impress her American parents so that maybe she would be reunited with her Korean Family. this is interesting to me because she was so young that she barely remembered anything of her original home. She felt some fundamental yearning to be with people that looked and acted like her. This key aspect of difference could be a innate reason why people in general have a hard time getting along. Deann admits during the film that she loved and cherished her American, adoptive mother because she was dependent on her for survival. So this love for her false mother could have been purely primitive survival instinct. Although, her mother loved her as one of her own, she never felt quite right. Once she gained Independence from her mother, and moved out of their house, she started to feel the yearning to know her mother and family again. It seems that people want to group up with people like themselves, who have a lot of common culture. Is this why when people of other cultures disagree with each other they turn to violence and war? People of different cultures and races do not completely understand what it is to actually BE someone else. They don't know how to live somewhere else. the only way to do that, is to fully immerse yourself in another culture. That seems like a tall order. Now take into account how many YEARS it would take to understand the motivation, joy, sadness, hope, recreation, social etiquette, family structure, class system, government and almost an infinite amount of interactions of an entire culture. Are we all to different to get along?

Class Reflection October 26th, 2010

Today in class, all we did was fill out the identity chart and work on the questions on the back of the worksheet. I didn't really feel anything new about my areas of privilege because I have been focusing on them for the rhetorical analysis draft. However, I am excited to watch the video on thursday :)

Johnson Chs. 4&5; Wise(D2L)

"The Consequences of privilege must be understood as lived experience that both damages people in the moment and accumulates over time to affect not only their behavior but also their understanding of themselves and life itself" (Feagin,Sikes). This excerpt from Living With Racism is key to understanding the social structures of privilege and oppression(p. 55, Johsnon). It helps us to understand that the human need for Inclusion and acceptance are the building blocks of the aspects of privilege. The list on p. 55-56 in Johnson summarizes the many ways in which a dominant group excludes the "Others", sometimes even unknowingly. Simple gestures such as a glance or the way people interact with their others play a huge part in the unknowing devaluation of people outside the dominant group. This exclusion, presents a set of problems for the excluded as well as the dominant group. "The same weapons used against gays and lesbians are also used among heterosexuals.. Power plays a key role in gender dynamics... the same insults and intimidation straight men use against gay men are often used to enhance straight men's status compared to other straight men (p. 61). This is because the idea of a man being gay violates the Heterosexual Model and men's clain to "real manhood" (p.62).
Johnson says at the end of chapter 4 that we need to "face the illusion and go through it to the truth on the other side". If we do not understand how privilege works to renew itself continually through ignorance, we as a people can never heal this social wound that damages us all.
The Problem remains because people like myself and Johnson ( White, Male, Middleclass, educated to a certain degree, heterosexual and non-disabled ) do not engage these trying issues (p.69).
There are two methods Johnson mentions to raise consciousness in organizations and institutions:
1.) "appeal to privileged peoples sense of decency and fairness." = "tin cup" approach (p.71).
It's the right thing to do.

2.) We should do something about privilege and oppression because it makes organizations work better.
Both work in the short term. It is the responsibility of dominant groups to feel a sense of ownership in relation to the problem (p. 75). That responsibility can only be gained in the long run by trancending difference and working through the structures of oppression.

Conversation Reflection, October 5

I felt like today it became apparent that we need to have a time management policy during class. We never get to cover all the conversation points that are put on the board for us. Today I feel like the participation level was at an all-time low since the start of classes this year. What can we do to fix this issue? One solution I was thinking of was to implement a rotating group of jobs such as archivist, time-keeper, board writer and so forth. By rotating I mean that the responsibilities would go down a list that we randomize and responsibilities are to be done on the day assigned. Just a thought. Hopefully we can all come to a conclusion.

Reading Notes October 4, 2010

· I don't like the idea presented on page 5 about men opening doors for women. "The door opening and similar services provided are services which really are needed by people who are for one reason or another, incapacitated." "So the message is that women are incapable."

· I open the door for a woman simply out of respect. I strongly believe than men and women are different for reasons that may be as basic as instinct. The view that Frye provides is cold and systematic as if we humans were only machines of efficiency. Only holding the door for a woman when she is carying something is fine, but how can one assume that the act of opening a door out of politeness is a caging in of women. I assume this Frye is a Feminist.

Johnson shares with us many insights on how I can, as a white, heterosexual, non-disabled, male, see how I have been born into a cycle of oppression. I have the advantage of not being looked at for being a potential for theft just because the color of my skin. However, this is not something I control and therefore I have privilege. If we can not change our predetermined notions about our Others, we can never stop the system of privilege and oppression.

Reading Notes October 6, 2010

Frye is a woman who clearly values very feministic Ideals.

· I don't like the idea presented on page 5 about men opening doors for women. "The door opening and similar services provided are services which really are needed by people who are for one reason or another, incapacitated." "So the message is that women are incapable."

· I open the door for a woman simply out of respect. I strongly believe than men and women are different for reasons that may be as basic as instinct. The view that Frye provides is cold and systematic as if we humans were only machines of efficiency. Only holding the door for a woman when she is carying something is fine, but how can one assume that the act of opening a door out of politeness is devaluing of women?