SumBlog 12

Our continuing discussion on social inequality developed into yet another section this week. Technology and social change cover many areas in the social inequality unit, but I thought the most about social change and social movements. (Apart from maintaining the status quo because I couldn't stop thinking about the song “Stick to the Status Quo” from High School Musical.)

I find social change really interesting because if you look at how different our culture is now compared to just 10 years ago, you realize how often social change can really occur. While the change in clothes, actions of the public, songs, and more are usually minor changes, they still can have an effect on the society. Even last year, the clothing trends were way different than they are right now. A trend may not have a major impact on the society, but it is a brief change for a period of time. Trends also may not be considered social change because they don’t really have social movements prior to the change. Social movement is a collective effort to promote social change; so I guess if you want to get technical, you could consider clothing stores to be part of social movement.

One good example of social change that I can think of is sexual orientation equality. People have been trying to make this come a reality for many years now, but only recently has been extra effective. There are many social movements that have helped with increasing equality: events, alliances, and especially the votes for marriage equality. While we are still fighting for the complete social change, the movements are doing a good job of getting us closer to it.

SumBlog 11

There’s a part of me—sometimes small, sometimes large—that positively loves documentaries. Solar Mamas definitely put me in the large love category. Seeing what so many women go through in the eastern countries (and comparing that to those in the west) was remarkably eye-opening. The way Rafea and her family had to live in Jordan, their entire village unemployed, makes me feel awful about myself. The next time I want to complain about something in my apartment I’m going to stop myself, think about this film and how Rafea and her family lived in a tent.

The global inequality between us in the United States and Rafea in Jordan is unbelievable. What’s even more ridiculous is that we rarely think about how hard life is in those countries. Most likely, the majority of American citizens are unaware of the lives Jordanians lead—or even Kenyans or Colombians. In this documentary we got to see women trying (and succeeding) to prove themselves to their families, their villages, their countries. These women wanted so badly to gain an education and make something of themselves. And here we are, skipping classes and complaining about doing homework. It makes me feel really sad how often we take things for granted here in the US.

http://jeffiscool.com/pictures/Foxtrot/foxtrot_homework.JPG

This comic is a very accurate depiction of most American high school, middle school, and college students. To us, learning and going to school becomes a bit of a burden. During elementary school, we’re usually excited to go to school. But after many years of doing so day after day, we get sick of it. We get annoyed with our teachers, impatient with our homework, and tired of being cooped up for eight hours a day. Once we get to high school, we only like school because we get to see our friends every day. Is this how Rafea felt? Nope. Sure, she was happy to see her friends, but that’s not the sole reason she wanted to go to school. She actually wanted to learn. And she was even learning in a totally different language. Can you imagine us going to school and learning everything brand new in a language we didn't know? We certainly wouldn't take it as easily as Rafea and her friends did. When Rafea was struggling, she laughed. If only we all had such a positive outlook on life and learning like Rafea.

SumBlog 9

The discussion we had on Wednesday really got me thinking about today’s society and how drastically things have changed over the years. When I compare my life and the things around me to that of my grandparents when they were my age, I can’t believe the differences. It really makes me wonder what things will be like when I’m a grandparent. Obviously everything is prone to change, and everything eventually changes, but it’s crazy how norms can change. If something is the “norm,” how can it change? Well, when people in the public eye start to push the boundaries, the rest of society begins to follow the leader, and eventually that becomes the norm. Boundaries keep getting stretched, norms keep being changed, and we get further and further away from the original.

One topic we talked about on Wednesday was music. Popular music now is nothing at all like it used to be. We went from classy, appropriate music to disrespectful, improper stuff. Like we said in class, it’s become acceptable and almost necessary for songs to be about sex and the male taking advantage of the female. Is this an example we really want to be setting for the younger demographic? But it’s too late now, there’s no going back. At this rate, things can only get worse. Maybe in a couple decades, things will make a circle back and music will be respectful again. Right now though, songs need to be bleeped out when played on the air because of swear words and parents need to be ready to switch the dial every time and inappropriate song comes on the radio.

When we listened to “Blurred Lines” I thought of another song that is similar in topic. “Do What U Want” by Lady Gaga. In this song, the main line is “do what you want with my body.” Even though this one isn't about rape like “Blurred Lines,” it is still giving all the power to the man and is a very unsuitable song for children and young-adults.

SumBlog 8

When we played Monopoly in class on Monday I was in Group 3 which represented single females. If I remember correctly, we were given $870 at the start of the game. The biggest issue we had was jail. Every time we rolled doubles, we were sent to jail. Apparently my teammate and I are prone to rolling doubles because we did so almost every roll. When we were in jail the only ways to get out were to pay $100 or wait three turns. At the beginning of the game, we were upset that we were in jail all the time, but then later we realized that it was kind of a good thing; we weren't spending any money in jail. However, after rolling doubles many times in a row, we started getting a little annoyed at how often it happened. Our experience was very roller coaster-like; we would be excited at getting out of jail, but then would immediately get thrown back in.

Sociopoly related to real life in many ways. Group 1, who represented whites, was privileged throughout the entirety of the game. They were given the most amount of money to start, and received the most amount of money for passing Go. I’m not sure how they got into jail without picking a card, but Group 1 at my game never went to jail. But I’m sure if they were sent to jail, it’d be pretty easy to get out. Certainly a lot easier than it was for Group 3 or 4. Group 1 was also given houses every time they passed Go. With all these privileges, it actually would have been difficult for Group 1 to lose or come close to bankrupt. It was easy for them to buy properties, and then they were given the opportunity to put houses on their properties. Group 2 also had a lot of opportunity throughout the game…definitely more than Group 3 or 4. I really enjoyed playing Sociopoly and I thought it did a really good job at representing groups in real life.

SumBlog 7

Diversity in education is something that I've heard being discussed for as long as I can remember. Especially in high school. You know, when it comes time for applying to colleges? Diversity is such a hot topic during that time period. To me, diversity is very important. Not just in schools and universities, but in everyday life. There are so many different types of diversity and I think they’re all equally important; race, class, and ethnicity. I think it’s great for people to be around others that are different than them. If we were all the same, life would be kind of boring, don’t you think?

I think there can never be too much diversity in ourselves or in the people around us. It makes life more interesting because things are always changing. While there are some people who dislike diversity and think everything should be one way, I disagree. Like I said above, life would be boring and monotonous if everything was the same. Experiencing any type of diversity in our lives opens us up to be more accepting of differences. The more you experience, the more open you can become. 

The Paradox of Diversity: Dr. Marylin Sanders Mobley at TEDxCLE 2013

I found this TEDx Talk on YouTube and I think it fits very well with our discussion of diversity in education. Dr. Mobley discusses her experiences in dealing with diversity and how it affected her throughout her life. She talks about the decisions she made to overcome challenges and how they helped shape her. It’s definitely interesting and encouraging to listen to and I think we could all benefit from doing so. Hearing people’s real life stories and experiences is never a bad thing, and Dr. Mobley is no exception. 

SumBlog 6

I really enjoyed the video we watched in class on Wednesday; it made me appreciate custodians even more. It also reminded me of the janitor we had in elementary school. We called him Mr. Tom and he was so well-loved throughout the school. Teachers and especially students could never get enough of him. Unfortunately, Mr. Tom passed away in early 2011. During this time, I was in a creative writing class at my high school. I decided to write an elegy to him for one of my assignments. To this day, it is still one of my favorite creative works of mine—although it could use a little bit of editing. The impact that Mr. Tom had on me, and hundreds of other Clovis Grove students, is remarkable. He may not have been our teacher, but he taught us many things.

If Mr. Tom is just one custodian the world has had, I can’t imagine how many other great custodians are out there that have gone under-appreciated. This remembrance makes me want to have longer conversations with the custodians we have on campus. Where did they come from? What are their stories? Maybe one of them will impact my life as much as Mr. Tom did.

The issue of false consciousness is almost always relative to custodians. Most people think a custodian has that job because they can’t get anything else. A lot of times, however, the person chose to have that job—for many possible reasons. Because the world sees custodians in a less fortunate way, the custodians sometimes start to think of their self that way too. This leads to a false consciousness within these individuals. While Mr. Tom is not an example of a false consciousness, many custodians are—including ones from the film we watched.

I posted my elegy on this blog; here’s the link to it:
http://mollyhendries.blogspot.com/2014/03/if-it-were-up-to-us-elegy-to-mr-tom.html

If It Were Up to Us: an Elegy to Mr. Tom

For six years at Clovis Grove you made me smile,

even on my worst days.

The six years when I was most naïve;

but even then I knew

you were an extraordinary man.

You knew my name, and everyone else’s too.

We were your kids, the ones who made you happy;

the sunshine in your day—as you were in ours.

Even though you were just a janitor,

you never once let us down.

And even though you weren't our teacher,

you taught us to love life,

live life, and to

enjoy our time here.

We watched your biceps move up and down

like the teeter-totter on the playground,

as you gave them a beat to dance to.

Going to those Muscle Dances was our

favorite thing to do as little kids.

We would've gone to many more

if it were up to us.

Or we’d sit on your big comfy lap,

as you pretended to be Santa Claus,

with that perfect white beard of yours.

That beard that I will never forget.

That beard that I will always love.

Crossing your path in the halls

was the best part of my day.

I always knew you

would be there to make me smile and laugh

with that deep, jolly voice of yours.

Laughter has gotten me so far in life,

and I have you to thank for that.

You taught me to

laugh often,

laugh loud, and

laugh much.

Now that we’re in high school and college,

we’d give anything to still be

in the lunch room that was too big,

or in the hallways that we drew in,

or in our classrooms that you loved to visit;

laughing along with you,

if it were up to us.

The sparkle in your eyes,

like the moonlight in an ocean,

will forever be ingrained in my mind.

As will your presence in my heart.

It was contagious the way you were to us:

we became your copy-cats, your mini-me’s.

Your strive to be free, fun, and considerate was

exactly what I wished I was like.

Now I look in a mirror and picture you

there with me, telling me jokes and then

laughing at yourself, increasing

the wrinkles on your face.

Each time I see a mop bucket,

I chuckle to myself,

remembering how you let me ride on it.

And now, you’ll laugh with me too,

while you’re up there.

You’ll impress everybody with everything you do—

laughing, caring, being free.

You've done it to thousands of young kids here,

you can easily do it to millions of people

where you are now.

I wish you didn't have to impress the ones above

so soon, but someday

I’ll be up there with you too.

And then we can show off our laughter;

laugh until we cry, until our stomachs start to hurt.

But if I could, and if we could,

we would come visit you.

Not up there,

but at your home or

at your school.

If only it were up to us.