Teachers and Strippers

On most mornings I listen to “Elliot in the morning” on my way into work. One morning last week, they were discussing the issue of teachers that have worked as strippers. After our reading on socialization last week, I thought it might be a good topic to look at sociologically.

I guess the first question to ask is, “why are the lives of teachers so susceptible to scrutiny by the community?” The answer is obvious. Because they’re teaching our children more than arithmetic and reading, they are also teaching them to be functional members of society. In other words, they’re agents of socialization and important ones at that. In fact, after starting on this, I looked over the section on agents of socialization in the course text and found that teachers are mentioned explicitly on page 127. On page 132, the text talks about roles and role conflicts.

The roles of teacher and stripper conflict. In the US and in many other countries, we’re uncomfortable with open expressions of sexuality, especially when it involves an exchange of money. I think it’s reasonable to say that stripping is seen as immoral by many in America. If that is a fair judgment is another discussion, but we all agree that teachers are supposed to be upstanding members of the community. They address the hidden curriculum, teaching us to be productive people and also influencing our ethic. On the other hand, there are other activities that teachers could be involved in that may or may not be seen as acceptable by a majority. A pro gun-control parent probably wouldn’t like it if his children were taught by an avid member of the NRA. But membership in the NRA definitely wouldn’t be grounds for dismissal from a teaching position, as stripping might be. Why would we allow one situation and not the other?

A good teacher leaves their “controversial” beliefs at home. You could say the gun enthusiast would leave his politics at home. But couldn’t the same be said for the ex-stripper. If there is a role conflict, a good teacher should be able to reconcile those roles. Maybe by exiting from one role, as with stripping, or by not promoting individual beliefs, as with the gun enthusiast. Therefore, we should be concerned more with the teacher’s ability to recognize what beliefs are widely accepted and only bring those to the classroom. And, of course, the other primary concern is the ability to actually teach the academic subjects.

Why?

How many of us have been unlucky enough to flip through the channels and stumble across a show called Tiny & Toya? This show stars Tiny who's claim to fame is being rapstar T.I.'s "babies momma." Tiny was also a singer in former R&B group Xscape in the late 90's. Even less remarkable, is Toya whose superstardom comes from being rapstar Lil Wayne's ex-wife. My question is: Why is this a show? This show consists of a half hour of random nothingness and makes me question who's bright idea it was to give these two 'hoodrats' air time on what used to be a fairly good network. Why do people care about the lives of two has beens that are only know because of what their BETTER halves have achieved? Its' almost like teaching your son to shoot for second string on the football team and telling him as long as the starters play well he will win too without having to do SQUAT!! What message are we sending our teenagers who tune in every week unknowingly having their young minds turned to mush.In a micro point of view that teenager might be sitting on someone couch now vegging-out to some of that garbage right now. The values that you may teach them are being pushed to the side and the crap that is seen in the street is being reinforced. People then wonder why their teenagers make dumbass decisions and the first thing parents say is he\she should know better.On a macro point of view when people come from different countries an they see what American kids are watching they almost fall out of there chairs or either jump on their pc's an blog about how dumb American kid are. Personally this embarrassment makes me want to tell people I am from elsewhere.In conclusion, parents please spend time teaching your kids or BET and MTV will do it for you.

Idiocracy in America

We all know someone who has been ridiculed for being a “nerd” or a “fag”. Chances are, this happened in middle school or high school, when people are still trying to find their identity. But, whether they’re just a book-smart kid who plays chess instead of sports, or just someone who has their parents guiding their lives throughout their entire school life (cheap, outdated hand me down clothes, taking school extremely seriously, or just having a strange sense of how to talk to others), I’m fairly confident that someone you know has been made fun of for being different or for even being smart.

In the movie Idiocracy, our society’s typical “average Joe” takes part in a test experiment that keeps his body from dying when he enters a special coffin like pod.

When Joe wakes up in the future (the year 2505), he finds that every single person on earth has gotten extremely stupid and the English language turned into a hybrid of “hillbilly, inner-city slang, valley girl and various grunts”, as well as having giant corporations (Costco, Carl’s Jr., Fox News, etc.) controlling the entire population. Most chains we know nowadays have turned into legal prostitution rings (with Starbucks selling “exotic ‘coffee’ for men”). Water doesn’t even come out of water fountains anymore. Instead, a green Gatorade like drink (called Brawndo – The Thirst Mutilator) has replaced water in every sense that we use water today (except for the toilet water).

Although Joe can understand what the future Americans are saying, when he trys to talk to them (in an extremely normal and average way), they call him a “fag” and a “retard”.

Eventually, Joe uses his average intelligence to change the world and tells the people of the future that long ago, people that read and wrote weren’t considered ‘fags’ – they were even looked up to.

When I saw this movie, it hit me very hard in the sense that I could see this future slowly unraveling. In high school (10 years ago now!), I thought it would be ‘cool’ to skip classes and party all day. Meanwhile, at school though, teachers are doing their best to help the children learn things they need for college and 25% percent of the kids just laughed at the teacher’s face and did all they could to disrupt the class, which made the kids who wanted to learn, learn less.

It’s kind of hard to sum this up, and this blog is pretty fractured, but what I really want to say is PLEASE don’t be controlled by what your peers or the media and advertisers want you to do. Turn off the TV and video games, and start channeling your energy into something where you can help other people, instead of bringing them down. (Not that any of you do that anyway) J I just don’t want our society to turn into an idiocracy.

Yes, I Need Help

Why is it so hard to say those very words? Why is it so difficult for some people to stop and ask for help? Some people would rather go on and fall flat on their face then stop and just ask for help. Is it the essence of pride? Pride: A sense of one’s own proper dignity or value; self respect. I can understand in some situations how it is beyond difficult to swallow your pride. What I don’t understand is why some people are not able to do it in some of the simplest situations. Everyone has heard the cliché situation of a couple getting lost and the man doesn’t want to stop and ask for directions but the women keeps insisting that they should. WHY DOESN’T HE STOP ASK FOR HELP?! I don’t feel like in those types of situations it really jeopardizes a person’s pride or self respect. Some people will reject some one’s help just out of habit. I work at Zumiez (a retail store) and every time a customer walks through the door I have to ask, “Is there anything in particular you are looking for today?” The most common guaranteed and automatic response to that would be “No thank you! I’m just looking.” I can honestly say about 80% of the time the customer knows exactly what they came into the store for but would rather take out the time trying to find it themselves than actually ask me for help on pointing out exactly where the product is. Yes, there is the occasional customer who actually doesn’t need help but it’s less times then more. This brings back the question why can’t someone just say, “Yes, I need help?” How many times have you hid behind the words, “I’m just looking”?

Creating your alter beauty: plastic surgery.

Plastic surgery has evolves in the past few decades . Today it is not just limited on being a method used by people who wants to lose signs of aging .These days, plastic surgery has increase its numbers within teens of ages13-19 ; they frequently acquire surgery such as breast augmentation , male breast reduction , nose reshaping , botox , laser hair removing .Teens are forged into the psychoanalysis of our society due to their fear of rejection . These sociocultural attitudes towards the appearance of adolescents who feel the urge to look appealing to the public eye and to be accepted by their peers. Many people assume a good looking person automatically has to be intelligent, competent, pleasant, and healthier. we often see that, if two people are on a job interview, the one who is more likely to get the job is the one who is more alluring to the interviewer. Everyday we look up to personalities such as models, and celebrities that we often idolize, because of their perfect body, bone structure, shapes and facial beauty. our ego has became a part of our scholasticism which englobes both body , soul self confidence, and image .Everyone wants to look good and feel good about themselves , that is the reason plastic surgery is a compensation in our life.

Sensationalism in the Media - Are we going too far?

It's another day.

Plastered on the front page of most available newspapers and websites are reports of violence, misfortune, and all of the latest in politics and celebrity scandals. While not particularly pleasant topics, it's become something that all of us expect. You just don't pick up the daily paper or turn on your favorite news channel anymore with the expectation of being uplifted.

It is simple human nature to be curious of the things outside of our own experiences – that's why news exists in the first place, after all. Lately, however, there's been a growing emphasis on reporting the negative aspects in our lives and culture.

We're keenly aware of every celebrity that's died... how could we not be, when there's nearly twenty-four hour coverage on them, and several magazine special editions being released of their life story? Every politician whose tongue gets away from them is submitted to nearly instant scandal and public scorn, often forcing resignation.

Less surprising is that any tragedy that they can sink their claws into is instantly seized upon by the media and reported upon extensively. Who's been murdered today? Who's died in a fire today? Who's been robbed, who's been in a car wreck? Pundits rant at their pulpits on both sides of the table, stirring up not just support for their cause, but actively seeking to create hatred of their opposition.

Frankly, I feel it's all gone a little bit too far. For the sake of ratings and personal profit, we're being subjected to all of the worst of humanity without often being reminded that the good things in life exist.

This, I feel, is every bit as socially damaging – if not more so! - than anything you could point to. I feel that our media is turning a spotlight so brightly on violence, racial and class tensions, political tensions, that it's all that we can see anymore in America.

If you spend your entire day hearing about murderers, racists, thieves, the evils of the opposing political party – what will that do to your perception of your neighbors, or people you pass on the street?

In reporting so extensively on these topics, I almost feel like we're creating the very social problems we're so appalled by and... go figure, then feel compelled to report on.

What do you think?

Is racial socialization destructive or constructive?

Racial identity is assigned to us at birth, no one get to choose the race they want to belong to.
In our society, racial socialization is a major issue. Let’s take USA as an example since racism still exists in our society. Black folks aren’t born expecting discrimination; no one present you with a handbook on how you should behave.
I think that racial socialization can be constructive in that It can create resiliency in black community, because they are not given an equal opportunity, that should make them want to work even that much harder to beat the adds.
It can be constructive in a white community as they are expected to go to school and be successful and are presented with opportunities to acheive success.
It is mostly destructive as it creates hatred for one another, creates inequality…etc.
I think it is entirely unfair to be discriminated against based on race because you didn’t choose your race.