Race Gender Stereotype

2-22 9:30 pm

Dave Chappelle stand up

white people aren't scared of cops

Racial Stereotype

2-22 10:00 pm

Heineken beer commercial

walk in closet

Gender Stereotype

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0LgJo9Do-8

2-22 4:30 pm

American History X (movie)

nio nazi

racial stereotype

2-23 5 pm

Crash (movie)

a movie based on racial stereotypes

racial stereotype

2-23 10 pm

Summer Heights High (show)

called a red head a ranger referring to him as an (orangoutang)

racial stereotype

2-23 9:30 pm

OU vs. Kansas

women announcers always give half time interviews of games (because coaches are nicer to women)

gender stereotype

2-24 noon

radio - wild 104.9

If I were a Boy by Biance 

gender stereotype

2-24 3:00 pm

TV- BET 

black entertainment network, a station dedicated to a single race

racial stereotype

2-24 5:30 pm

went to a Ted's 

every worker was hispanic 

racial stereotype

2-25 noon

movie- Beerfest

German's were the best drinkers

racial stereotype

When trying to notice stereotypes it was amazing to see how obvious these stereotypes are and how I have never noticed.  They are every where and on every media outlet.  There are movies and songs dedicated to gender stereotypes.  There are also movies that exploit racial issues.  It is so embedded in our society that it is almost a joke.  

I didn't really get to document a personal stereotype for this assignment but it was very interesting witnessing the fact that every employee at Ted's mexican restaurant was hispanic.  I also thought it was interesting taking a closer look at films such as Crash and American History X that focus on racial matters and differences.  These movies are extremely racially charged and really display how the American society is when regarding race.  During this assignment I also witnessed a racial stereotype that I had never heard of before.  When watching the HBO series Summer Heights High, a character referred to another character as a "ranger" because he had red hair.  

When observing gender stereotypes there were much more obvious occurrences.  For instance Beonce has a song called "If I were a Boy" which pretty much names every male stereotype anybody could think of.  I also observed the Heineken Beer commercial which was in my opinion hilarious.  This particular commercial involved women going crazy for a closet full of shoes and men going crazy over a closet full of beer which is extremely stereotypical.  

After completing this assignment I realized that these stereotypes are all within out comfort zones and are made by society.  Everybody has certain stereotypes in which they are used to and would be uncomfortable of things were different.  In my opinion I think that some stereotypes are harsh and others are for the most part harmless.  The Heineken commercial was harmless but on the other hand the stereotypes at seen in American History X and Crash are offensive to most.  

I have nothing more to say about this.

Privilege

After watching the Tim Wise video on privilege I reached a better understanding of exactly what privilege is. For the most part I find the majority of Wise's comments to be true. I believe that privilege plays a big part of people's everyday lives and white males tend to receive the most privilege. Perhaps the most obvious supporter of this accusation is the fact that most supervisors, administrators, CEOs, etc... are white men.



I think the way media represents privilege the most is through movies, TV shows and commercials. All of these mediums tend to portray the boss, principal, etc... (person in charge) as a white male. Rarely do you see a non caucasion male or even a female playing the roll as the head authority figure. When this is the case it seems as if the that person is the bad guy and not very effective in the authoritative position.



Daily Observed Privileges:



1. The president of the University of Oklahoma is a white male and has never been anything but a white male it the history of OU.

2. More females get accepted into OU than males.

3. When a college person gets pulled over in a weekend night in Norman they are almost always questioned for driving under the influence and adults are rarely ever questioned.

4. Males are issued more tickets than females in relations to the amount of times each gender gets pulled over.

5. Recent studies show that women make 72% of their male coworkers salaries.

6. Land lords discriminate against males when in search of renters and prefer female renters.

7. Last night at the bars I was served faster than any ethnic person or female, assuming I had money or my daddy's credit card. (perhaps the most commonly used stereotype of young men in college)



I strongly believe that society believes in the one drop rule. Take famous icons in the U.S. today such as: Barack Obama, Tiger Woods, Jimmy Hendrix. All of these men are considered black when in fact Obama is half black and half white, Tiger is half 50% black, 25% Chinese and 25% native American, and Hendrix is half black and half Jewish. This to me is the definition of the one drop rule.

When Wise talked about identifying new information and changing behaviors in relation to this information. He was referring to the fact that most adults recognize the fact that privilege is a real thing. Further, he encourages people to change their behaviors based off of this recognition to attempt to eliminate privilege. I think that he is a little naive in this regard merely on the fact that people recognize privilege but the most recognizable privilege is when it is not working in your favor. I think that people naturally victimize themselves and shut out the fact that they may not be the victim. If everybody from all races and both genders recognized that privilege is everywhere and favors all different backgrounds than we could eventually begin to eliminate but we will continue to go no where if we just focus on white male privilege although it is the most apparent privilege.

MLB and Steroids

If anybody watched ESPN for more than 2 minutes today you probably already know that Alex Rodriguez has been found guilty for steroid use while in the MLB.  Further, he admitted to taking them from the 2001 season to the 2003 season when they were "legal"... This comment puzzled me since I don't believe steroids have been legal since I've been alive in the United States much less the MLB.  

The best part about this whole news story is that ESPN did a poll earlier today asking if people were disturbed by this news.  Most sports fans responded that they were extremely disturbed which indicates to me that they were surprised that arguably the best player in baseball was steroid free.  

How can someone be lead to believe that a man who has the physique of a Clydesdale Horse, the ability to run like a deer and can hit a baseball almost a quarter mile is not taking some kind of performance enhancing drug?  When I saw that this was late breaking news and observed peoples reactions in regards to the news I was in shock.  Of course I didn't jump to the conclusion that A-Rod was on steroids but I was in no was surprised.  I feel like baseball fans feel let down by this news when in reality he's just another super star who was cheating and in some ways a phony.

Personally I am not a huge baseball fan nor do I keep up with baseball but as a sports fan I think that players like A-Rod are a disgrace to the sport and should not only be banned from the sport but be erased from the record books.  I think the only way to fix the problem of steroid use in baseball is to show no reward for using such drugs.  These players are taking away from the true talent of the game and are making it look like anybody who wants to poke themselves with a needle can play the sport.  To me these are actions that can't go unpunished.

What to do this summer

It's about the time of year to start thinking about what I am going to do this coming summer.  Ever since I've been in college I have lived away from home which, is the way I prefer things to be.  The summer after my freshman year I lived and worked in North Carolina.  This past summer I lived in Norman and did absolutely nothing productive.  On top of that I worked 40 yours a week and went to rush events the entire summer before college meaning I have practically lived away from home for the past three summers.  

My summer of living in North Carolina was a blast although I worked a lot.  I stayed in Chapel Hill so I was 2 hours away from the mountains and 2 hours away from the beach.  Aside from being away from my friends it was one of the most fun summers I have ever experienced.  I learned a lot about how different the culture was just 1200 miles down I-40.  My only regret is not taking enough time to enjoy living there.

My summer living in Norman was absolutely crazy.  I was payed by my fraternity to recruit new members meaning all expenses were taken care of.  My days consisted of waking up around noon and going to the pool.  Later in the day I started coordinating recruiting events.  At nights we went out to the bars and all of us were pretty much worthless.  I worked 15 hours a week for the University Development office where I pretty much did nothing.  It seems like a pretty dull summer but I cant imagine having a better one.  Nothing beats living with 10 of my best friends and doing whatever we wanted whenever we wanted.

This summer I think might be my first summer to live at home since being in college.  I have a feeling it will be a long summer.  I live at home during winter breaks and I have a hard time living with rules.  I think three months of my parents rules will be a little too much for me.  I plan on interning for a lawferm and studying for the LSAT which I will take on June 8th.  But I will still be living under the same roof as my parents which will be an experience.  The only thing that will keep me from going insane is if I become a nomad and stay at random people's apartments in Norman.  If anybody is experienced in the field of living at home let me know.  I need advice.  Please pray for me.

Football Recruiting

For the past month every college football coach has been working around the clock trying to bring in the next generation of players to their program.  At the same time, obsessive fans have been monitoring the progress of their teams recruiting around the clock.  

This year OU's recruiting class is sub par when in comparison to past years and these same obsessive fans have been filling up the chat rooms and blog boards with complaints and irate suggestions.  The reason for this is because of the hype surrounding these high school players entering college.  The hype is so big that schools hold school wide assemblies and some players even make their announcement on national television either at their assembly or during high school All American games.  Even forming more hype are websites such as rivals.com and scouts.com which focus almost exclusively on NCAA recruiting.  

For those of you out there who are guilty of being one of those obsessive fans who constantly monitor rivals.com and scouts.com, I am not knocking you.  I happen to be just as upset as you... But for those of you who get all bent out of shape when OU has an off year in recruiting and then decide to blog about it, I am knocking you.  First of all I think that a top 15 recruiting class should hardly be considered an off year.  Second, if you look back at the history of coach Stoops' recruiting you will find that five star recruits rarely live up to expectation.  When you're considered to be at the top the only direction you can go is down.  Third, the last time Stoops brought home a National Title was with a bunch of "scrubs" who could just play as a team.  

Personally, I prefer a recruiting class with a lot of raw talent and less egos.  I think that egos can be to blame for a lack of success in the past.  I will leave you with this...(Sam Bradford was a 3 star recruit and was recruited as a back up... Rhett Bomar was a 5 star recruit and was recruited to be an all star)  Bomar's touchdown to interception  ratio was 10 and 10, Bradford's was 36 and 8.