What's Said And What's Done

"ManKind Initiative", a British charity for male victims of domestic violence, created a video to display two different scenarios in the United Kingdom. The video shows the contrast between how people react to abusive males toward women, and abusive females toward men. Check out the video right here.

When the boyfriend grabbed and yelled at his girlfriend, people immediately reacted. Not only did they reprimand the man, but they advised the woman to call the police and encouraged her that she "doesn't have to put up" with his behavior. Bystanders might have thought that the boyfriend was using his aggression on his girlfriend, and therefore, the woman didn't deserve what she received. This is a complete contrast with the reaction of the people when the woman was the abuser. The girlfriend hits and yells at her boyfriend as well, but no one helped the man, and people were clearly laughing at him. The bystanders probably thought the man was merely getting picked on by his girlfriend or that the boyfriend did something to deserve the treatment. This leads to my question: Why are people more prone to stop male abusers than woman abusers?  

Although this was a fake scenario the reaction of the people were all real. Some also think that people in the U.S. might have acted differently, but I believe that the reaction of Americans would be very similar to those of the British. I believe this because the idea of male dominance is evident regardless of which country a person is in. In history, women have always been looked at as weaker than men, so I think that often times people react immediately to the male abuser because they don't think that the woman can defend herself. "Desertphile" comments under the video, acknowledging that he himself would not react if he saw a woman abusing a man and understands that it should be not different, but because the victim is a man, "he has more options for ending the abuse". I believe that by "options", the commenter means more power. Society gives men this expectation to be stronger than women, and for that reason, I think that people were laughing at the man because it's embarrassing for a man to get bullied by a woman.

What would Americans say if they heard a man was a victim to domestic violence vs. a woman like in this video? Does that differ with what you think Americans would actually do if they witnessed this situation? Why or why not?

Not Always A Happy Ending

I was reading a blogpost called "I'm An Upper-Middle Class White Girl, But I'm Not Entitled" whose author talks about the sorority girl stereotype and how she and others should not be negatively stereotyped under that labeled. I think that this blogger has a right to stand up for herself, but I have mixed feelings about some of her comments. Check out the blog post by clicking right here. 

I definitely agree with "RecruitmentChairTSM"that girls should not be judged by others just because she's in a sorority. I acknowledge that Greek communities are known for partying, but they also raise a lot of money for the partners and foundations that they support. For example, greeksforgood.org is an organized website where Greek Houses can track their earnings for their foundations. I also like how she understands that in reality, appearance does matter in society. A lot of people will judge a person or stereotype him or her based on that person's clothing and belongings. For example, there are obvious apparel and behavior do's and don't's for a job interview. 

One thing that I do disagree with though, is that the blogger says that a "Daddy's credit card...doesn't exist". Yes, maybe she worked hard to get to her current point in life, and she works for most of her spending money, but I think that she doesn't acknowledge that money that her parents most likely payed for most, if not all, of her college tuition. I understand that she wants to show her independence and hard work, like many other people who come to America. The idea of the American Dream is something that many people strive to accomplish. 

Although this sorority girl might not have lived the typical scenario of the American Dream, the same concept is there: striving towards excellence from hard work. "RecruitmentChairTSM" wrote this blogpost to defend her own story of the American Dream. She believes that she is "not entitled" or does not deserve the stereotypes that people face on her because of the effort she has used to get to where she is now. It's like because she has become successful and worked hard, there must be a happy ending, but is this true? Is there such thing as a "happy ending" with the American Dream? How do people view or talk about the American Dream? Do Americans aspire to fulfill the American Dream? Why or why not?

Social Class On A Bus

A couple of days ago I took my high school's shuttle bus to get to it's other campus. We usually have a specific group of buses and drivers for campus transportation, but this time, it was a bus from a Chicago Public School. I will not disclose the name of the school, but note that the bus was very different from my school's bus from the Northshore suburbs. Before getting onto the bus, I immediately saw a sign that said "This is a crime and drug free bus". I had never seen a sign like that on any of my high school's shuttle buses before. When I got onto the bus, I noticed that there were at least 3 security cameras. The bus driver also yelled throughout the bus, "I don't care if you guys have 3 to a seat; you can do whatever!"

Just the difference in the buses show that the experience at school is different for a student in the Northshore and in Chicago. Having the sign on that bus shows that they need to remind students of what a school bus should not have. Having a security camera on a school bus is not typically strange, but having three shows that there is a safety issue on the CPS buses. Again, there is a sense of carelessness, when that driver told students to risk their safety by breaking the bus rules, when New Trier's bus drivers are pretty strict. Even the way New Trier calls it a shuttle bus, and CPS schools call it a school bus shows a difference in social class. New Trier's buses aren't even shuttle buses, but we call them that anyway. Why is that? 

What social class do you think an average student would be in if they rode in the "shuttle bus" and the "school bus"? Also think about the stereotypes that downtown city schools have compared to suburban schools. More importantly, where have these stereotypes come from? Some people believe that you can tell what social class a person is by their dialect, what they have, and their possessions. Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Why?

A Perspective Other Than Your Own

Peer editing is a common practice in high school classrooms, but I think many students take it for granted. I know that personally I didn't really think much about the process, but I have realized how helpful it can be for the writer. After having a fellow classmate edit my Junior Theme, I understood how she viewed the paper from her perspective in contrast to my perspective. Some ways in which I phrased a sentence was not clear enough for her, and she also gave me suggestions as to what I could do to make it clearer. You can use your editor's suggestions or combine their thoughts with your own to create something even better. 

I think that the core of peer editing is to understand different viewpoints that are different than your own. This is an important idea in America today because being able to look at something with different perspectives is a vital skill in the workplace as well as in general. Because technology and ideas are always transforming and improving, we have to be able to think out of our comfort zone. That is why articles and ideas go through a process of being reviewed by multiple editors and higher officials in companies. That is why I believe building a strong foundation on peer editing in middle and high schools would be beneficial to students. 

To read more, here is a great article that goes in depth about peer editing and its benefits.