Prop 8

I know the election happened almost a month ago now, but tonight I took the time to read through the two websites posted on the main blog. I can say I was astounded, to say the least.

I think since I am a supporter on no on 8, I found more things wrong with the Vote Yes website as opposed to the No website. While reading through an article on the website, there was many problematic things with it.
Just an excerpt: from http://www.protectmarriage.com/article/misguided-activism
"Since most American voters oppose gay marriage, the question of how to proceed on the gay rights front now hinges on whether or not same-sex marriage bans constitute an act of tyranny of the majority—in other words, whether or not gay rights are minority rights. Many activists have described the gay rights debate as the most important civil rights issue of our time. This is not an apt description, as gay Americans are not being denied rights. This was not the case in previous civil rights movements. African-Americans living in the sixties were granted fewer rights than their white counterparts. Women living in earlier decades were granted fewer rights than their male counterparts."

The bolded is such a general statement that not everyone will fall into that category, which is ridiculous to say for everyone.

It goes on to say that gay couples are asking for additional rights as opposed to rights that they should be allowed. Personally, I think that this whole paragraph sounds like the writer, Lucy Caldwell, feels as though gay people are inferior. Opposite sex couples and people who believe in it are therefore superior because the law says it. The text also goes along to say that same sex couples believe that this would be a move for "civil union" but the law says that marriage is a matter of religion. What happened to separation of church and state? I just get the vibe that since they are against it, all of their information on the website has a more negative spin against someone, as opposed to the No on 8 website that are for ALL people.


While on the No website, it seemed as though it was a website filled more with clarification. There was a fact and fiction section that made SENSE of the prop, as opposed to saying what the YES people were doing wrong. I have few bad words to say about the No website, but I am clearly biased, although not gay myself. I think that everyone should have an equal chance to have a relationship with someone. I personally agree in same sex marriages, but I am not overly religious, or see anything wrong with it. They should equally have equal financial opportunities (the right to share benefits, to adopt, to be supported)


The actual Prop 8 page tells a totally different story. It says plain and simply that gay marriage will be banned on voting yes, and that man and woman will only be recognized. NOTHING about what will be taught in schools or how it is outrageous!

Another problematic part of the YES website:

Voting YES on Proposition 8 does 3 simple things:

• It restores the definition of marriage to what the vast majority of California voters already approved and what Californians agree should be supported, not undermined.

• It overturns the outrageous decision of four activist Supreme Court judges who ignored the will of the people. (clearly not ALL people!)
  

• It protects our children from being taught in public schools that “same-sex marriage” is the same as traditional marriage, and prevents other consequences to Californians who will be forced to not just be tolerant of gay lifestyles, but face mandatory compliance regardless of their personal beliefs. *neither of these things are specified, which makes a reader feel confused exactly about what prop 8 even means! What are "mandatory compliances"?
  

http://www.voterguide.sos.ca.gov/title-sum/prop8-title-sum.htm
http://www.protectmarriage.com/about
http://www.noonprop8.com/about

Extra Credit International Day

I attended "International Day" at the college of engineering on Nov. 19. It was really small, but it was enjoyable. When I arrived, there was a little boy playing the bongos, and an older gentleman playing the guitar and singing into the mic. It was pretty interesting to listen to the two sounds mixed together because they were a mix of identities- The little boy was dressed in a traditional African outfit and the man was playing the guitar and singing in Spanish to make a song together.


The next part of the International Day was young ladies and gentlemen from a Mexican dance group dancing Mexican Folk dances. I didn't catch the correct names of the dances, so instead of butchering it, I will just tell you about it and post pictures that I took on my cell phone. The first act was two guys and two girls. The girls were dressed in pretty, long, flowing dresses and the boys were dressed in all white except for their belts which were colorful red scarves. They danced as pairs to Mexican music.

The next dance was three girls dancing together (all dancing the same thing) to different, faster music. The dancing really focused on the use of the dresses. The girls held on to their skirts and spun around a lot, and you could see all of the layers of the dress and they looks beautiful. They had their hair in a braid down the back and a flower to match their dress.

Then the guy who was in charge of the group, Mike, got up there and explained that these children dance all over MI, and in the summer almost every weekend! They were all Mexican, and their families were there, so it had something to do with their culture and keeping it in their lives throughout the generations. The kids were in elementary AND middle school, and Mike said they spent hours and hours practicing these dance along with other things they did, including their social life, sports, and homework. Mike also said that they were nonprofit and their "costumes" were made ENTIRELY by the PARENTS! I thought this was shocking, but it also showed how close this dance group had made each of these families. They spend so much time together and by coming to the International day they were not only showing courage for performing in front of mostly adults and college students, but also exposing me and other students to a culture we wouldn't normally see.

Museum Visit

1. What issues of diversity are addressed in these two exhibits?

I think the main issue of diversity that was addressed in these exhibits was the different lifestyles different ethinicities and cultures have based on where they are located and the people there. Looking at how the Our Journey's exhibit was more geared towards these individuals life's based on their biographies that were summarized. Then the Mali exhibit used the pictures as the stories that were taken by these students but it didn't focus on the lives they have had thus far, just through their pictures.


2. Pick a narrative that intrigues you (in either exhibit). Whose story is being told and how?

The narrative I chose was from the Our Journeys exhibit. Pepon Osorio was an artist, which is something that I am very interested in. He was born in Puerto Rico and also lived in New York. General statements about his life were stated with quotes and paragraphs on the board in the exhibit. What really struck me was his quote: "My heart is where humanity is." This shows not only his interests as a artist, but as a person.


3. (Our Journeys/Our Stories Exhibit)-Focus on Sandra Cisneros. How does she or does she, discuss finding her voice?

She discusses finding her voice when she was a child and she realized that she didn't want to write like her classmates or teachers. She wanted to create literature that would be enjoyed by everyone, even laborers, "mi padre," by taxi drivers, even children.

4. (Our Journeys/Our Stories Exhibit)-Based on what we have read in class for today, what do you think of the use of Spanish and English texts? Why would they do this?

I think and know that some words and phrases are easier to explain in one language as opposed to another. It might be easier for someone who speaks Russian to describe something, like slang, in Russian as opposed to English. I think it works that same way in the Naomi Leon text, as well as how the exhibit was in both English and Spanish.


5. In the Mali exhibit – please read the first introductory panel. What do they say about telling stories? Do they discuss the insider/outsider perspectives? What does this mean to you?

This exhibit is their way of reaching out to us to communicate their vision of their own life. They decided what to photograph and shared it with their friends and family, and then the MSU Museum decided to share this because as stated in the Museum: "The MSU Museum has a commitment to understand, interpret, and respect cultural diversity." I think this shows how the museum wants to show insiders AND outsiders multiple perspectives of these Malian towns and lifestyles.


6. Was there anything else that caught your eye, intrigued you, you are questioning?

I loved the photography, but I wish it was in color. I do love black and white, but some of the pictures in color might have enriched my experience just looking at the photos. I also thought it was interesting and cute as well that the captions were so simply put: Here is my friend bathing his little brother. It didn't talk about look at how big my friend's brother's belly is huge because of lack of food, or it didn't at ALL talk about the hardships... it talked about their everyday life which I thought made this experience richer.


* I visited the Museum today, 11/03/08

the LGBT meeting- "For the Bible Tells Me So"

I went to this past Thursday's LGBT meeting and I was there for about 45 minutes. When I got there we were discussing questions that were on the table and then we went on to watch the "Unconditional Love" segment of the movie.

I think it was a great way to show us the different ideas everyone has because we got multiple points of view from different families. Some families protested, while some families just accepted how their child was no matter what- unconditionally. It was REALLY sad that the one girl hung herself before she felt that she could open up to her family and hung herself. The pictures were really disturbing.

What I didn't really get out of it was the way that Christians can accept homosexuality but for me, I don't really need to know myself because I really think that it's not up to other people to decide who other people can and can't love.

My mom and I were talking about it and we kind of put ourselves in groups: My generation is much more open and accepting (more than other generations) of gay and lesbian people. My mom was taught from the Church not to accept it, but she is in the middle on it. She doesn't think it's right, but she doesn't think it's her right to tell other people what they should do. And then my grandparents are people who don't accept it AT ALL and think it is morally and physically wrong. I know there are still people that are the exact same as my grandparents, but a lot less then there used to be.

Gina made a great suggestion that it would be good to have a panel of people from different religions and they feel about homosexuality. I think it would be good of families from every religion who have children or relatives that are gay and lesbians and discuss their feelings and the reactions and changes they have had or had to make.

Autism is a World

I really enjoyed the documentary we watched in class a couple of weeks ago. I love stories where a person can excel no matter what their situation was.

I was disturbed by the following:


-(I know you mentioned this in class) but how her mother referred to her as "mentally retarded." I did some thinking and I think this might have to do with the fact that it was before there was a lot of controversy surrounding being politically correct and actually acknowledging disabilities.

-How it was so unfortunate that she did have to have 24 hour care and she couldn't communicate unless it was through a keyboard or her typing instrument. Hearing her say, she wouldn't be able to call 911 on her own was very sad for me.

I was pretty emotional about this story because I work with children who are preschool age and always have, and it is so hard to know what children who can't really communicate (being 1-3 yrs. old) yet in their life might have something truly wrong with them. I'm glad her parents took note of things that she did because I know diseases such as autism go untreated for a while because parents don't really want to admit or look into the fact that their child might have a problem such as this.

Blindness

Sorry everyone about not posting the Native American Conference dates, I had a crazy weekend, and I will do my best to find another event. Sorry again.


I just read the two articles for the movie Blindness and at first, I wasn't sure which side I was on. I understand that it is very offensive to have blind people depicted in that light, but I don't know how far is too far.

The movie Blindness did take it to far. I can't get off this italics/bold combination. To depict human beings doing animal like things when faced with a problem such as blindness is outrageous. I don't think using the word blinded by something is a offensive.

I also understand that the writer of the book was just trying to be "controversial" which is something he achieved, but I think he offended way to many people in the process. I don't know that many blind people, but none the less, I still know people who are in my classes who get around just fine by listening and typing, and can EASILY walk around the building without people's help.

Al Capone Does My Shirts

I was really looking forward to reading this story because I could tell it had a funny aspect to it, as opposed to other stories we have read so far. I thought it was just about Moose living on the same island as the inmates, but I had no idea it had to do with the fact that his sister had some form of a mental problem.

It didn't exactly sit well with me the attitude/the way Moose's mother treated her children. I understand that it was the 1930's and during the depression, but it seemed as though she wasn't really fit to be a mother. She put adult responsibilities on Moose that were really her responsibilities, but I think it was also the time period. I don't know the exact way people acted in the early 1930's, but I do know how much it has evolved with children's laws and things.

I ultimately liked this story. I liked the idea of his sister getting better with the work that she did with Mrs. Kelley and working on her sickness, for I know they didn't really know what autism was at that time. People still don't know what autism is exactly or how to treat it. I was reading a website blogger I often read, Perez Hilton, and this link really struck me and reminded me of this story: http://perezhilton.com/2008-07-21-why-is-this-idiot-still-on-the-air
It is completely relevant and I just think it's shocking that people still think things like this.