I've had discussions with people about the differences in males and females. They usually go well, with each of us leaving with a better understanding of things. I was speaking with a girl about boys and girls at young ages and their prefrences to things like toys, clothing, colors etc. We both acknoledged that there was definitely a trend in what girls like and what boys like. Our reasons for this differed. She claimed that there was no difference in the male and female brain at all. And that the only reason for these preferences is because society tells girls to like one thing and boys to like another. What struck me as odd was why she believed there were no differences. She had no evidence to support this, infact, I had evidence saying otherwise. There haven't only been studies on a psychological level, but on a biological level. Men and women's brains are different.(http://www.wisegeek.com/are-there-differences-between-the-male-and-female-brain.htm) She believed there were no differences not because of studies or evidence, but because she just simply wanted to believe that.
I'm big into evolution. So I like to think of things from an evolutionary perspective to get a better understanding of things. When I look at our primate ancestors, I can see that there are differences in the way females and males behave on a social level. They were born into a sex, and from the beginning shows social characteristics of their sex. They weren't pressured into it by parental encouragement, advertising, or peer pressure. In the simple primate life (excluding humans) males and females have certain roles they take to ensure the survival of their troop. This doesn't mean one is better than the other, people get that confused.
As in young monkeys and in young humans, we both show characteristics of our sex very early on. Girls are attracted to dolls, while boys trucks and mechanical things. Boys are more adventurous. One might argue that societies influence has already reached them at a young age. But I don't think so. At a young age of around 2-4 children are barely aware of their sex. I don't have anything to back this up but, I feel as if they would be too young to feel pressured into doing something girls or boys usually do.
I recently stumbled upon an article written about a study done on young rhesus monkeys and the results blew me away. Finally, some proof that we are drawn to certain toys and activities not because society pressured us to, but because our brains work in a different way so for whatever reason we find some toys and activities more appealing than others.
The study took 44 male monkeys and 44 female monkeys, and watched them play. They included certain gender specific toys, like dolls, balls, cooking pots, and trucks and certain gender neutral toys like a book and stuffed dog. The scientists then measured the time they played with each toy. They found that the males spent a significantly longer time playing with the boy toys than they did the girl toys. Likewise, the females spent a much longer amount of time playing with the girl toys. The males and females spent the same amount of time playing with the gender neutral toys. In a video of this you can see the female checking the dolls genital area, while the males were rolling the toy truck on the ground. (http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/108552)
Though I do think peer pressure and advertising pushes both genders to extreme of ultra-feminine and ultra-masculine behavior and looks, we are born with masculine and feminine behavior and preference. Back to this girl, she seemed to believe that any difference between a male and female meant inequality. She felt that any difference brought to light was sexism. This is not true, different does not equal unequal, it just means different!

Who gives you the right??

This nation has strict policies on speeding. Each state has various consequences for speeding but each state has speed limits. Police officers are the enforcers of these speed limits. If you go over the limit, then you’ll receive a ticket for it. Tickets are huge pains in the ass. You have to appear in court, pay a fine, worry that points may be added to your driving record, etc. Everyone hates getting speeding tickets. I hate getting speeding tickets. But there is one thing that I hate more than getting speeding tickets. I hate when police officers think they have the right to speed whenever they please. Speed limits on roads are there to protect people by regulating safe driving limits. So how can a police officer claim to PROTECT and serve? There is not one person who has not seen a police cruiser fly by them. Yes sometimes it is necessary for a police officer to speed but that usually entails an emergency and the police officer uses its lights and sirens to warn other drivers that there is an emergency that needs to be tended to. There is no reason for a police cruiser to speed when there is no emergency. Do they get punished for speeding? No.
One day I was driving down the highway and noticed a police cruiser coming up from behind me. I was going around 70 mph on a 65 mph highway. I pull into the right lane and the cruiser flies right by me going probably close to 80 or 85. As I get pissed and think that its bullshit that he has the right to speed, I decide to speed as well. I pick up speed to around 75 or 80 and just as I do so, I see that same cruiser pulled over on the side of the road running radar. I get pulled over for going 77 when he flew by me going closer to 85!! Seriously, who gives you the right?

Whats the deal with weed?

So the other day me and my friends were just hanging out just having a good time and we stared to wonder out of many times we have wondered, "Why is Weed Illegal?". All of us came up with some thoughts to share, but no one knew the correct answer to why it is in fact illegal. The one reason that it is illegal is because it is perceived to be harmful. Half-baked, Friday, Friday after the next, How High, Pineapple express and Cheech and Chong are all movies that revolve around the culture of smoking marijuana. I started to think if there were any comedy movies out there that influence the use of heroin, crack, cocaine or any other insane drugs. The answer is no, making the point that marijuana is not all that dangerous. People think it’s dangerous when they never look at how dangerous alcohol is. If you drink a lot, you may be in risk of getting alcohol poisoning, but if you smoke too much weed, you’ll just simply fall asleep. Also, it’s just a plant, it’s grown, and simply picked out of the ground and unlike tobacco, it has one ingredient, THC. So we were still wondering, why is it illegal. One of my friends said that the reason is because the government cannot tax it, but then we realized that tobacco can, and that if weed was legal it could be taxed just like tobacco. The government could be making so much money off of marijuana, but if they made it legal cops would be so bored, especially in Howard County. In health class years ago my teacher said that marijuana is a gateway drug and can lead to others, when in reality this statement is crap. Somehow throughout high school I managed not to become a crack head and I still would never mess with anything like crack or cocaine. Although no one really knows why it is illegal, it is, and it’s not going to be legalized any time soon.

Insecurities & socialization

Insecurities cause problems with socialization, I find that some people need to take a close look at how this can create problems for not only themselves but others. It was made really clear to me this past weekend. While attending a barbecue, a female created a big scene and embarrassment for her boyfriend as well as herself, due to her own insecurities. Trying to understand the situation, I began to observed this female very closely and reflect back on her interaction with others before the incident (where she began to argue with and fight on her boyfriend). I recalled that she appeared to have a attitude and had no socialization before or after the incident with females. I later found that her anger was due to jealousy when her boyfriend interacted with other females; as long he was talking with males she was ok, but when it came to females she would become extremely angry. But why? This man was with her and made it clear to everyone that this was his significant other. I feel that if a person is disrespectful enough to persue another relationship in the presence of their husband, wife, or significant other, then WHY would you be with them! Why is it that she felt so threatented? Was she insecure in the relationship, did she have low self esteem, was she jealous of attractive woman, or was it she didn't know how to socialize? Whatever the case, her insecurities caused for others
to feel uncomfortable to say anything to her or him. Her actions made her boyfriend appear embarrassed, angry, and anti-sociable (due to her actions he dared to move out of her sight). Im almost sure it caused a problem for their relationship and his relationships with others as well. What is it that causes a person to be so insecure with themselves that because they cannot socialize they don't want to see their husbands, wives, or significant others, socialize either?

What is wrong here???

I want to know why people find celebrities lives way more important to follow than the news that is going on in our world today. It really pisses me off that people are tuning in more to these reality shows Mtv cribs, rock of love, the biographies of so and so, rather than watching the news and learning about what is happening with us. I guess maybe it is more glamorous and filled with drama to watch these rich people buy ridiculously lavish things, or this one is cheating on that one, or this girl is now a lesbian. Who freaking cares! These things happen on a regular basis and I just really do not understand the obsession with these celebrities. Next thing you know people are following John and Kate’s split like as though it were a presidential debate that could change something. I think that some people live in a fantasy world and feel like maybe by following these celebrities dramatic lives it gives them something to look forward to because they may be lacking in their own lives. Look at it like this the next time you go over a friend’s house take a look at what is on the coffee table. My guess is most likely filled with People magazine and Us Weekly more so than Time and US News and World report magazines. It also could be a way that people can hide from the reality of what’s really going on in the world. I often think of how different it was back in the day when there was no television, no internet that people could consume their lives with other people’s problems rather than the reality of the problems that we face as a society. I feel as time goes on people become consumed with these celebrity lives rather than being educated and in tune with what is happening in our society. I wish we could go back to when simpler times when people didn’t care so much about sensationalism.

False Impressions

Many people do not understand what they say may hurt other people. I work with specail needs children with a range of disabilities and I see this everyday working with my students. Everytime I take my children out of their classroom into the so called" norm classroom" with "normal children" my children with disabilities are made fun of, looked at weird, and are casted out. People my ask why? or the children may not know and are to innocent to understand this? Yes i did agree with this, but when taking my students out, aduts, who we may think know better, do the same things that these young children in classrooms do. They will look at my students with weird expressions or laugh at them when they do something that may be "weird". My students are not different than any one else. They have feelings just like everyone else and yes they may not releieze that they are being made fun of, but people or parents of these children do understand.
When taking a couple of my students who are autisitc to the circus a woman had enough audacity to ask me to move my children because they were standing up moving and jumping. Yes, i know that child with the parent had the right to enjoy the show without my kids in his way. But, the way this woman asked was not necessary. She could of polietly asked me if there was a way I could have switched seats with them so her child could see. They paid money just like we did to see the circus. I tried to explain to the woman that my children were autisitc and when they are happy they may stim by jumping up and down or sceaming. She just looked at me and then proceeed again to ask if I would move into a different section of the arena. The way she looked at me saying this was in such a way that my children were not allwowed to be there because they had a disability. Why couldn't the woman just asked polietly or just listen to what i was saying. This was not the first time this has happened to me with my students out in society.
We take our children out in society so they can learn life skills. When made fun of, it doesnt let our children learn these skills it only puts them down. So my question why do people judge before getting to know my students? My students are just as smart as any other children. Yes, they may learn at different speed or just learn differently in general, but they play just like so called normal children play, they eat, they communicate, and most of all they have feelings to.

Generations

The other day I was at the mall with my mother and my grandmother. We were walking out of the food court on our way to the car. Right when we walked out the door we noticed a middle-aged woman, who was with her mother, waving at us. We looked around confused wondering who knew her, realizing none of us did we politely waved back. The middle-aged woman then proceeded to walk over to us. When she reached us she looked at me and asked “How old is she?”, with a huge smile on her face. At first I was confused as to who “she” was, until I realized she was pointing at my grandmother. I then looked at my mom confused as to why the lady was asking me, and my mom just smiled and answered “83”. The lady then smiled and pointed over to her mother and said “87!”. We just smiled and got into our car, and as we were driving off the woman took her moms arm and started waving and smiling at us. Now once we left, I right away found three things very strange about that situation. The first being; no one I was with knew the lady that had come over to us. Second, what had compelled her to wave over at us to begin with? Third, when she wanted to know my grandmother’s age why hadn’t she just asked my grandmother? This made me start to think about how our cultural treats certain age groups. For example, when you’re a child people will talk down to you in a “cutesy” tone, and maybe take your hand when mom or dad is leaving and wave bye. In your teenage years some middle-aged people could assume you’re sneaky and kind of feel on edge around you. As you start to get older you start earning more respect solely based on your age. Which brings me back to my third thought, why hadn’t the woman just asked my grandmother her own age? In a way, ignoring my grandmother and asking me how old she was, made me think back to whenever I would run into a family. Instead of turning to the two year old child to ask their age I would always ask the parents. So why did this woman see nothing wrong with ignoring my grandmother and treating her as though she was a two year old child, when my grandmother is fully capable of answering questions for herself. What through me off even more however, was that she took her moms hand and waved by to us, just like you would a child. I started to notice a common theme with this. I see daughters or sons talking to their elderly parents, almost like they were children, loud and slow. Our society always tells us to respect our elderly, but do we really mean it? Or do we just hope that when we start to grow old, that saying will help protect our sanity?