Lots of Little Thoughts

Reading through the various sections of the Rothenberg book this week, I seemed to have a comment on most of the readings. In Smells Like Racism I thought it was interesting that a small portion focused on accents. I never really considered basing an opinion on an accent to be racisist but I can see how in some cases it is. The thing that first popped into my mind after reading this was the idea of the English accent. I feel that the English typically are viewed as pompous or overly propper, in large part due to their accent. In numerous interviews I've seen, mainly with British actors, they tend to comment on the fact that everyone believes they're prim and proper just because they're from England.



One of the points from the Opression article kind of bugged me a little bit. I felt like too much was being made about the man opening the door for a woman. Call me old fashioned but if I'm with a guy I feel like he should open the door for me. I see this as a common courtesy. I know I can open the door on my own and I'm happy to do so if necessary. But I don't feel that a man opening a door for me means that he thinks I'm "weak" in some way. But maybe this has to do with the way that I was raised and the fact that I don't feel I've experienced a lot of oppression in my life because of the time in which I was raised. I know that women have had it rough in the past and that it still continues today. I've been fortunate enough to work in a field that is typically dominated by women. If fact, for the past 5 years or so by direct supervisor has always been a woman. I'm sure at some point in my future I will experience opression but luckily I have yet to be affected by it.

Recurring Thought

As I was doing the reading for this week, one thought kept coming to mind.  Are those that are discriminating always doing so on purpose?  Don't get me wrong.  I understand that there are hateful, racist people in the world who discriminate and do it knowingly.  But this can't always be the case.  It just makes me wonder if people are discriminating or just acting in accordance with the way they were brought up or raised. (does that make sense?)  And if so then whose to blame for their acts of discrimination?  The person themselves because they should know better?  Their parent's for teaching them that attitude?  The grandparents for teaching the parents?  You see where I'm going with this.  Anyway...just a thought I felt like sharing.

I enjoyed all the readings this week.  Like I mentioned last week I like the Rothenberg book and how it's broken down into anecdotes, news stories, and short articles.  Now a days I don't ever think about discrimination against women, but thanks to the Women in the State Police article I realize it's still very prevalent.  It was shocking some of the things that happened to the female officers.  To be honest all the readings made me think and realize even more how much I take for granted.

I really liked the two articles that we had to read as well.  I like how both studies had personal aspects to them.  Using personal stories and experiences made the articles much more enjoyable to read.