Lyfe

The movie we watched in class about living on minimum wage was surprising. It's really hard to do anything with just the income of 6 or 7 dollars. The reading about Barbara, the journalist experiencing the life on minimum wage was shocking.as well. Her journey was definitely an adventure as she met many different people at her new jobs. The employees at the Hearthside and Jerry's living conditions were terrible. They had great trouble in making ends meet. To get out or poverty is very difficult because of the way our society and the system is set up. People's perceptions of people living in poverty is negative and they're not given much credit. People don't realize how difficult their circumstances are. When I was reading this chapter and watching the movie, I was shocked about the stories and how hard it is to live comfortably when you only get minimum wage. It made me more grateful for where I'm at and what opportunities I have.

Poverty

While watching the movie about Tammy and her sons who live in Pike County, Ohio, I was amazed at how bad their conditions were. Every room was tiny, they threw junk that had no place in the overgrown grass surrounding their home, and Tammy had to walk a ridiculous amount of miles to get to work at Burger King. Her goal is to become a teacher, yet I'm not sure that dream will come true. She was born and raised in poverty and for her to get out of poverty would be very difficult just because of the way our society is set up. Her son has large dreams also, aspiring to be an architect or lawyer. For them to reach these goals, they would probably have to know people who are successful who could help them get reestablished, or have a rare chance where they're recognized and then become successful and well known. We always hear these stories of famous people who were poor at one point and then this rare opportunity came up where they became famous. It is possible, but it's rare. Also the fact that they aren't very educated gives them more difficulty in progressing. It's sad that there is such a large gap in America between the rich and the poor. It's also shocking to see how many citizens in America live in poverty. People limit and look down upon those who live in poverty and don't give them any chances. It's a shame to see Americans live in such conditions with very few people trying to help them escape it.

30 Days

We watched a video in class about a guy going to jail to see what it would be like. He went for 30 days at a jail in Virgina but got out early because he spent 80% of the time there so as a reward, he got released. This video was really interesting to watch and it really surprised me. I didn't expect them to sleep in such crowded rooms where there's no privacy. Although I expected them to be very limited in activities, I didn't expect them to be stuck in the same place the entire day with no windows. The reading, Courtrooms 302, about the Cook County Jail downtown was also surprising to me. The system of which America uses is proven not to work. The people who get sent to jail most likely end up back in jail once they're released. The makers of the system don't truly want the best for the inmates. If there are people who have mental health problems committing crimes, they're sent to jail instead of a mental institution. The officers treat them the same regardless of their mental state, when the mentally sick people should be sent somewhere better to get real help. People would rather pay for prisons than for rehab programs or institutions that would cost more money. The rehab programs and institutions would help more than cheap prisons where the officials don't care about you. All of the people who go to jail aren't necessarily "bad" people, they just make stupid decisions and those decisions grow and progress into more bad decisions. It would be difficult to relate jail to my life because I've never been there, but I'm grateful for my circumstances and opportunities.

S v. R

We read a study by Chambliss called "The Saints and the Roughnecks" in class this past week. The study consisted of the "good", wealthy, white students who were known as the "Saints"and the "bad", poor, minority students called the "Roughnecks". The Saints pulled many dangerous pranks and broke many laws, yet they were hardly ever given the appropriate consequences, let alone any consequences in general, for what they did. They were perceived to be as the good, smart, rich, white kids who never did anything disobedient, when in reality they broke many laws and schemed their way out of school early every day and ended up doing even more illegal acts. The Roughnecks on the other hand were poor, minority kids who got in fights and were caught stealing. Their consequences were much larger than that of the Saints primarily because of the way society perceived them. The Roughnecks didn't dress as well and weren't as wealthy, they were forced to stay around their houses because they had no transportation to get out of their town. The Saints had cars where they could escape and go to the outer edge of town where no one they knew would see them. I think our school has this to some degree because there's a huge diversity in people with all different ranges in wealth, ethnicity, etc. I don't think it's as obvious as it is in some other schools, but I do see differences in the way people perceive others.

Discontinuous

The transition from being a teen to an adult is very odd and awkward. There isn't really much time to adjust because technically, according to the law, once you're 18 you're an adult. Yet, many 17 year olds don't feel ready to tackle all of the responsibilities an adult takes on. The time it takes for an individual to be completely independent is usually a long process, although it does vary from person to person. I feel like the transition one goes through from being a Senior in high school to a Freshman in College is huge. In high school there's much more restraint and in college there's so much more freedom and independence. But, there's only a few months for this transition to occur. Many high schoolers or teens are looked down upon as being inadequate or irresponsible. Many college students are given a lot more respect and responsibility but the age difference is not big. Once one graduates from college they are still dependent on their parents. I don't think one becomes completely independent until later in life. The way America has  discontinuous culture is a key aspect in this. This makes it difficult for teens to find their place in where they stand. Other cultures have a culture where once one becomes mature, they're allowed to handle a lot more, but they do it when they're ready. When we were talking about the discontinuous culture of America, I saw how that rang true to today's situations.

Lame-o

Society has too much of a negative influence on both men and women. The fact that society has the ability to alter the way an individual acts or thinks is totally whack. Men are taught to act tough, guarded, aggressive, strong, independent etc. When men feel that these characteristics are either threatened or misrepresented, they act violently in order to prove their status as being manly. If a guy isn't acting manly, he's called a multitude of names and told to "man-up" and "quit acting like a girl." Both men and women are sent subtle messages through cartoons, movies, action figures, dolls, etc starting at a very young age. For example, looking at the change between an older action figure vs. a present day one. It was brought to my attention while we were studying this, that this is definitely true and is displayed in more aspects of our lives than we think. While growing up I've noticed the act or mask that guys put on to act tough because that's what they've been told to do their whole lives. The same is true with girls, but in different ways. We've both learned how to conform. I think being a man is defined much differently than it is in society.

Subliminal Messages

The difference between the photoshopped pictures and the real models is astonishing. We've been talking about media and how it affects men and women differently but significantly. In class, while looking at the offensive ads about women that are plastered all over magazines, billboards, etc it brings my attention to how many of them that are out there. Girls are trained to think that they have to be absolutely flawless, feminine, and only do "what girls do". For example; Sal's daughter, it's so lame how society has slightly influenced her already by thinking that it'd be out of the ordinary to have a play date with this boy, Charlie. Men and women shouldn't be affected by media so much that it affects our day to day decisions, yet it does. I know that for girls in every age group, the media affects us all greatly but subliminally. The media impresses ideas and looks into our heads that we are supposed to conform to. We look at magazines and comment on how gorgeous and flawless the models are and that's one way the media entices us. We observe their perfections and we subconsciously aspire that beauty. We don't consciously think of how casually flipping through a magazine will affect our self-esteem or body image, but in reality that is how the ads seep into our subconscious mind and derail our judgement. I think companies like DOVE are promoting great ads that feature normal, average women in their ads and encourage women to be content with their unique body type.