THE GENDERLESS BABY: STORM.

Baby Storm with father, David Stocker.

A Toronto couple decided to conceal the gender of their child in order to keep him/her open to the option of selecting its own gender. Parents, Kathy Witterick and David Stocker have named their child Storm and are keeping their baby's upbringing gender neutral in all aspects ranging from its name to its clothing. Although the child is born a certain way biologically which is its sex, the parents want the infant to choose for itself what gender he/she feels comfortable in. Their reasoning behind this is that they don’t want the world’s gender roles to define their child’s personality.

I feel that this couple is making their child a social experiment by taking away its identity. Humans are either classified as male, female, transgender or another categorized being. By denying their child the label of a classification which is from Mother Nature is insensible. I don’t understand how they feel that a child will decide what gender he/she wants to be when they have been created with the body parts of one gender. If Storm has a vagina she’s a female and if a penis it is a male, simple as that. This is the time where parents have to come in and take a positive decision for the baby because he/she is unable to decide for itself.

Social stereotypes and gender roles will always exist and the only way to overcome that is to make sure the child’s upbringing is altered. The parents are teaching Storm to dislike a part of her/him instead of accepting who she/he is.

When you are born into a gender, you aren’t conforming to anything. This classification is just a way how we distinguish people due to their sexual organs. Your biological parts define what gender you are, not the gender roles one chooses to participate in. For most parts, I think people are happy with the sexual organs they are born with which defines their sex. The only thing they oppose is that gender roles which society attaches to each sex. Looking at the story from the parents' perspective I can see why they made such a decision but I think that they shouldn't deny Storm's biological reality. There's a place to draw a line; instead of broadcasting Storm like a no-name brand, they should raise him/her to break the stereotypical gender roles assigned to man and woman.

Watch the video from the following link it gives arguments from both sides by the ladies from The View (TV show).

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/video/view-raising-genderless-baby-13694201

Questions: 

1. By not being defined as a female or male, aren’t the parents taking away the child’s identity?
2. If you grow up genderless, do you think that will cause psychological and/or sociological disorders in a person? Or will it be beneficial for the individual? 
3. Are the parents imposing the gender free environment?
4. Are you happy with your sex? Would you like to have been born the opposite sex due to society's gender roles?

It Isn’t Sexist if Women Do It

Hello,

My blog focuses on the double standard between men and women, and specifically, on sexual violence between men and women. 

Watch this video, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrvDhSB7GHk.

This video clearly reveals a double standard on sexual violence between men and women.  As you saw in this video, a woman chopped her husband’s penis off, and threw it in the garbage disposal.  The audience, as well as the hosts found this hilarious. 

However, if a man were to chop off a woman’s breasts it would be deemed an abomination, and definitely not something that would be laughed about by an audience on television.

1      There are countless double standards present in society, which bother you the most?

2       Why do you think it is acceptable for women to laugh about sexual violence towards men?

3       Do you think this double standard empowers women, or do you think this double standard is inconsistent and wrong?

4      Why does society view rape differently when the victim is a man rather than a woman?

A bisexual singer and an overreacting fan base.

http://frankocean.tumblr.com/post/26473798723

This above is a letter posted by singer Frank Ocean on his tumblr blog. When he released his album, Channel Orange, there was many suspicions to what he was referring to most his songs as he constantly used lyrics directed towards the same gender. He made it clear when he posted this letter and told the world about his first love, which was a man. As you could imagine doing this caused an uproar in the industry and he lost many fans. Why? Because he had a relationship with a man. Does the fact that he fell in love with a man change his music? No. Then you have people saying things like his music is for gay people yet before anyone knew that he was bisexual his music was perfectly fine and you would listen to it? Is that what the media and our society has come to that we judge a person's talent based on who he gives his heart to? It's pathetic to know that we live in a society where being judged is the big base that we are all founded on. Especially in the media industry where the glamour and perfection they show to you is all a lie and when someone like Frank Ocean shares himself he gets bashed.

My questions to the class is that in the entertainment business, why is it looked worse upon to be bisexual or homosexual?

Think of yourself as a celebrity, if you were homosexual or bisexual, would you come out?

And would you, or do you, look at Frank Ocean's music differently after knowing the fact that he was bisexual?

I look forward to the responses! ~Onkar, and I do not travel.

Magazines & Our Teens

It is nothing new that the advertisments we see in various magazines are filled with gender sterotypes. They have the tendency to depict men in executive roles and make them seem taller and larger when a woman has a superior status. You will find many pictures of women preparing dinner in the kitchen with her brand new knife set and shopping in the supermarket advocating healthy choices for her family. The messages delivered are often subliminal and offers an idea of what we should believe about ourselves and the opposite gender. In many magazines there are a abundance of images where women are lying on beds and floors often using sex to sell.

The effect these magazines have on our youth is detrimental as 8 out of 10 girls, aged 10, have experimented with dieting. The average woman sees 400 to 600 advertisments a day; models in these advertisments are seen as perfect and 75% of women feel badly about their self image after flipping through some magazines. In France a bill has passed saying that the promotion of eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia will include a fine of $70,000 as well as a 3 year jail sentence. Certain websites will be shut down as they promote such disorders, embraceing the "thinsation" movement, and even provide teens with thin tips on how to shed pounds using laxitives and how to hide weight loss from their parents. The gender sterotypes in magazines has plagued the minds of society and subliminally regulates the way we think men and women should be and how they should look like.

With that being said I would be curious to know what readers feel about the nature of magazine ads and how they have affected your self image, if they have, and how they make you view men and women in society.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/16/world/europe/16france.html

'Not all Muslims are Terrorists, but all Terrorists are Muslim.'

Muslims are often misrepresented in the Media, and the image above clearly shows how people view Muslims.  Most of the time people associate Muslims with terrorism; though we should first define who a terrorist is in order to understand better.

Now it doesn't say anywhere that a terrorist is Muslim?

Unfortunatly, there are Muslims who do acts of terrorism and say that they are doing it in the ‘name of god’ but the fact is that Islam doesn't condone the killings of innocent people because it’s forbidden in Islam and to say that all Muslims are terrorist is impying that Hitler, the IRA, Tim McViegh, the Columbine shooters did not terroize/frighten others. I feel like often times the Muslims are being targeted because of the fact that people don’t understand the religion therefore the concept stands out to them because it is foreign. I understand where people are coming from but I don’t think that is fair for people to judge a religion based on a group of people. Islam has a population of approximately 2.2 billion people and if all of them were terrorists then... well... I’ll let you finish that thought.

Saying all Muslims are terrorists is similar to saying that all Germans are Nazis. As we learned in Class, media often contains belief and value messages meaning that the producers have their own beliefs, opinions and biases that can influence how the media gets told. And in this society we depend on the media too much in shaping the way we view the world. Media plays a big impact on our lives because we are surrounded by it every day. TV, social media, magazines, newspapers, and movies all impact our lives one way or another. It’s our job to think for ourselves and not rely on everything the media says.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAkdIihJTXM

Above is a video showing a segment aired on Fox where Judge Jeanine Pirro Talks about the Boston bombing and the Tsarnev family (who were still suspects at the time). Starts at 0:30

Questions...

What do you think of the video? Do you agree or disagree with her statement?

What do you think about Fox news for airing this? Do you think it was professional of her to give her own opinion?

5:55 onwards do you think that she was getting general and grouping all Muslims into one category and by saying ‘they’ do you feel like she was ostracizing Muslims and make them feel as if they are not part of the society? 

Lastly, do you agree with the statement that not all Muslims are Terrorists, but all Terrorists are Muslim?

To run or not to run?



                                        Female Atheletes

Lets talk about female athletes, Shall we? It is normal for a girl to play in school teams or outside school when she is young and many times respected for it. I assume that a lot of guys admire that trait in a girl, a girl who takes care of her body. I believe that many guys would like their girlfriends to play some kind of sport and be fit but when she decides to do that for profession the table turns. The time has changed of course and is obvious that women are given equality to do the same thing as men but does that change our perception? Media portrays women as sexual objects and weak. The fact that women in this picture have muscles and is able to achieve her goals may change views of many people towards her. She is considered to be unfeminine and portrayed as a tomboy. When talked about female athletes and their appearance on a front cover of a magazine. I have noticed that female athletes are feminized or sexualized. However, male athletes are considered to be strong and powerful. How many female sports have you watched? Media hypes males in sports a lot and the biggest athlete role models are always men. Would you ever choose to watch a female sports team over a male’s sports team? My

own personal thought is that females should be respected for playing sports since not many
women do it. If they deserve the title, than they should be given the title. Whether it is a male or a female I think they should both be treated equally in sports. Let’s talk about FIFA How many of can name female soccer teams, most likely not a lot of us. Obviously we can’t blame our self for not watching female sports but we can blame the media because they don’t advertise it. The sports that are hyped and people tend to watch with female athletes include gymnastics, swimming and tennis, tennis. What about the other sports, It is absolutely unfair for females to not get the same recognition a man gets in sports just because they are a famale.







Is being in sports a man’s task?

How many female sports have you watched?

How come female athletes are considered manly?

Does playing sports as a profession make girls seem less attractive?  

Is it okay for us to judge someone’s personality based on his or her profession?



Regarding female participation in sports do you think it is a reflection of the society or is the society the reflection of media?

Does having female participate in sports scatter a mans ego?

Overrated?

Hey class, before you begin reading I want you to see this....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uu4q2-nbvrw

I believe homosexuality is a very overrated topic which is discussed daily.. I don't believe it is a very big deal, like most people think. Being neutral in this situation is my thing. Your neighbor is gay, so what? Being gay has nothing to do with how you treat people. Eminem once said “I don't care if your white black brown asian tall short fat or gay, as long as you treat me in a good way I will treat you good too". That's the manner I believe people should obey. Race, religion, and your background don’t define you! How many people do you know that are straight and are douchebags? I know a couple of them. I have met one gay guy who was in my gym recently but left. He was a nice human being; he would always have a smile on his face and greet people in the locker. One guy came up to him once and asked him nicely “why are you gay?" The gay man replied back with “why does it matter?" This is why I'm telling this story, WHY DOES IT MATTER?

                                              

People are willing to go out and strike over this... Really? Why don't you guys strike against governments that are killing others, or why don't you strike against people that inspire terrorism? This is way too big to be talking about because what about poverty? Economy? Jobs? These are big deals but people want to judge, and criticize gays. I think it’s a bit selfish for people to be against homosexuality. 
People expect themselves to get married and live happily, meanwhile another person is being judged by everyone for liking someone of the same gender. Under what law, religion, or rule does it say you can judge?  Are you perfect? If you're perfect, maybe you should judge but who is perfect? Exactly no one is. We all make mistakes and errors. This is my view on homosexuality. Like what have gay people done to you? Let them live freely and enjoy themselves. Besides, people don't look at awesome gay people. I mean Neil Patrick Harris is gay and look at him, his freaking awesome. Freddy Mercury ? That guy can sing 50% better than today's generation. 

This is the way I feel about this topic(of course without the daughter part)...http://www.memecenter.com/fun/984358/badass-grandma-on-homosexuality

My questions for the class are : 1) Why do you think homosexuality is something talked about all over the place?
2) Do you agree with me that it is over-rated?
3) Why would people be so concerned about gays around them?
4) Do you think gay people should start telling the truth about themselves?

Should our gender roles be altered?

Throughout history it has always been mentioned that Females should stay home and  men should work and earn money.
Now in this era, since society has changed a lot and morals of people have been altered, there are still people out there who believe in that women should only stay at home 24/7, care for the kids, maintain the house, clean, cook, and obey all the stuff that his husband says.
Do you believe that this should be the case still?
Not only Cooking and cleaning, people also believe that women still are not strong enough to open jars and should only ask the men to open it.

Also not only regarding housework, people also believe that women should also only provide as much as sexual pleasure to the men because it's her job as a part of being a women and not sit around like a sloth.
And as you all know this, the most viral
Is a woman's place only in the kitchen or should she work as a man too?

Here i have a video showing and depicting the interpretation of Gender roles in our society now and before.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9d6Q72Gq850&noredirect=1

So the questions i want you guys to answer are as follows: -
1) Should Women only cook and clean and men should work?
2) Is it only the old generation people, who still have the sexist thinking about gender roles?
3) Should our gender roles be mixed or same as before where the women is the head of the kitchen?
4) Why should men also cook and clean like the women since it is not manly?

Who Murdered Chivalry?

Throughout high school, I have come across many people who believe chivalry is dead. I personally don't think its completely dead, but I do believe it is rare. Many of the males in my school would not want to be caught pulling out a chair for anyone's behind, other than their own. During a round table discussion, we talked about stereotypes regarding men and women. Some of the males in my class had a valid argument. They said, "It's cause of the expectations women have for males. They want to be equal, but they want us to treat them different. It's just confusing." After our discussion, I began to ponder this question regarding the death of chivalry. What do you think? Are women victims, or agents? Why?

Many males play a part in this as well. If a man listens to his girlfriend or pulls out a chair for her before taking a seat himself, other males start calling him names such as "whipped", or "pussy". How often do you hear these terms being thrown around? Do you find it offensive?

In the past, many of the men have risked their lives for women. Even Bruno Mars is willing to "catch a grenade for her". Have men just grown insensitive? 

A strange pattern was noticed that helped many males use to pin the death of chivalry on females. Chivalry rates lowered as feminism rates increased. Do you think feminism is the cause of this?

Perhaps, it's the media. In the media, males are stereotyped to be strong, and independent. They can "get all the girls without even trying". Women in the media tend to be paired with the good looking guy. Which makes sense, good looking girl, plus good looking guy, equals perfect, but most of those good looking guys turn out to be rude and insensitive. Do you think the debate of looks vs. personality is affecting peoples self esteem? do you think males, and females take this too seriously?

Here, I have a video about the death of chivalry:

Do you think this video is offensive? Why or why not? 

David Chapelle says the death of chivalry is caused partially by the lack of self esteem in women. Do you believe that could be true? 

What do you think is the cause in the declining rate of chivalrist acts?

Girls, do you think there's still a chance for you to find your knight in shining Armour? What expectations do you have from them?