Friday, February 28, 2014

Jayshawn Pickett - The portrayal of feminism in america.



The portrayal of Feminism: Then and now.
By Jayshawn Pickett

America sees feminism as a way for women to try and be better than men which is not the case. Women just want to be treated equally socially, economically, and politically. Feminists are also portrayed as being lesbian and too good to date men because we Americans are so ignorant and judgmental. After doing the survey at the beginning of the year, it is clear that 80% of the people I surveyed knew nothing about feminism. Then after giving an incorrect answer they didn’t even bother asking what it was, they all continued to believe what they wanted instead of opening up and accepting that others are different and we all should be treated equally. After learning the true definition of feminism, I can proudly say I’m a feminist. Society doesn’t accept the fact that women are equal. We as a whole don’t understand that we aren’t in the past. Women aren’t just stay at home wives that take orders from their husbands anymore, times have changed and so should our mindsets.
Slowly, feminism is being learned and accepted throughout America. In contrast, there are myriads of Anti-feminist activists that are trying their best to take away the rights of women. They are often violent and disrespectful to women. Being a feminist doesn't mean you agree with every other feminist and the truth is that there are some feminists who say and do fairly awful things.
Women are also giving themselves a bad name. Some enjoy being called “hoes and sluts” while others don’t. Pornstars, prostitutes, and video vixens are all negatively impacting the feminist movement. Women don’t want to be seen as individuals who are explicitly sex figures. They want to be seen as educated individuals who are capable of running businesses, taking care of children, and even becoming the president of the United States. Feminism is mainly about women being treated as women, not being treated as dirt. Men have never been portrayed as anything less than a man, so why should we treat our women less than human beings.






Daft Bord. "AskFeminists." Why is there such a negative portrayal of feminism? :. http://www.reddit.com/r/AskFeminists/comments/1q0pod/why_is_there_such_a_negative_portrayal_of_feminism/ (accessed February 28, 2014).
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Rape Prosecutions: Colonial Era to Present Day


Rape Prosecutions: Colonial Era to Present Day
By: Dina Pobudanovic

In today’s society, rape is considered an extremely heinous crime. Whether it’s statutory rape,
date rape, gang rape, and even spousal rape, each case will be taken seriously and handled accordingly. However, in the colonial era, the way they handled rape was very different. There were many instances of rape that went unnoticed because these standards were not met and many rape victims never received justice.
In the colonial era, “for a rape case to be noticed, there had to be a witness who could hear the victim crying out that they did not consent to this act of sex.”[1] Also, the victim had to be under a certain age for it to actually be considered rape. All the rape cases, in the colonial era, had to fulfill these standards or else they wouldn’t be tried in court. It’s sad that so many rape victims never received compensation for these horrific events they went through.
However, today in North Carolina, “it’s illegal for an adult to have sex with a minor even if it is consensual.”[2] Along with paying heavy fines and possible jail time, the law states that people convicted of sexual crimes must register as sexual offenders. Becoming a sexual offender means that the court can regulate where you can live, work, and who you may have contact with.[3] Getting a job would be nearly impossible because no one would want to hire a sexual offender to work for their company.
            Also, today, rape prosecutions are very diligent and all rape victims must partake in rape kits. DNA is collected from the victim and the perpetrator, and the case will stay on file for many years. Today, we don’t need witnesses or certain age requirements to convict a rapist. Now in the 21st century, we have the ability to collect DNA and we can prove these things and not have to worry about who said what.
            
Overall, rape cases were prosecuted completely differently from the colonial era to now. Back in the day, if you were convicted of rape then that pretty much meant that you were subject to the death penalty. A lot of rape cases went unnoticed because they didn’t meet certain requirements. Today, rape can be proved through DNA, which doesn’t allow rapists to get away with their crime. Even if they are convicted of rape they will face inevitable jail time and then when they’re released, they will be registered as sex offenders and their lives will pretty much be over. But the difference between the prosecutions, then and now, was extreme and I couldn’t imagine justice not being served.
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Drugs, Sex, Decision, and Students. By: Jalen Robinson

Drugs, Sex, Decisions, and Students
When you hear the phrase “Date Rape Drug” what is the first thing you think about? Most people would think about rohypnol, ecstasy, or even molly. These are all used on college campuses but these examples are not even the most used/ accessible date rape drug for college students and young adults. The most used date rape drug is actually alcohol, think about it.[1] Alcohol is one of the easiest drugs to pick up from your community store besides tobacco products. During teenage and college years this is when people become experimental with alcohol and other drugs. Also when you hear about rape incidents regarding young adults it almost always involves alcohol. In class Professor Moore mentioned how she wanted us as students to have a great spring break and to be safe. She also said that she was tired of students crying to her about being raped, she emphasized that we should make smart decisions.
But how can you expect students to make logical decisions when they don’t know any better? Generation after the next young adults aren’t taught the right way to drink responsibly. Drinking is considered a social event, more like a sport to get drunk rather than a social buzz. I am blessed with parents who taught me the right way to drink and pace myself. But what about the other young adults out here that are not being taught the right way? I believe that it’s up to the school system to teach the right way to drink. At least provide a course or a class teaching it. Did do some research and find a national college network that touches on the subject. It’s called the BACCHUS Network.[2] Through the progress of a little research I found out a plethora about it. There are a lot of benefits of the network that could be pointed out but there are also negatives that I could talk about. The main focus of the BACCHUS Network is to teach young adults and students the importance of a healthy lifestyle. Some of the health decisions that are discussed are Alcohol, Sexual Activities, Tobacco, and eating habits. Now we all know that people will make their own decisions in life but I see the way society is going and BACCHUS needs to step up more to the plate to combat that. The number of fatal deaths from unhealthy lifestyles has dropped from the BACCHUS Network’s starting days in 1975 but times have changed; the BACCHUS Network needs to evolve with the times.
When you listen to today’s music they don’t just talk about regular drugs anymore, they now talk about a wide variety of drugs.  I have seen the drugs done on UNC Charlotte’s campus and obviously there was no remorse when the drugs were being taken. According to Fox News drugs are easily accessible in schools and at concert venues[3]. What are the BACCHUS Network’s messages at those times? There is none, well at least none I found. The BACCHUS Network must attack these new problems with full force and not just touch on them. I would focus on teaching students how to use legal drugs the right way and the negatives effects of illegal drugs.
  I honestly believe if the BACCHUS Network put their efforts into the drugs that are relevant now then it could affect young adults even more than they do now. It would be a good idea for the network to do some research and find people that have actually done the drugs with negative effects. The truth can’t be run away from and you can’t circumvent the problems that this generation now faces. So let’s come together and make on conscious effort to fight for the future of someone’s life or sexual sanity.






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Family Changes through the Ages by Kate Potenzano

Family Changes through the Ages
Kate Potenzano



Throughout the ages, family sizes and ways to control reproduction have changed. Families became smaller and birth control bec
ame more and more prevalent for protection from unwanted pregnancies and disease. In the colonial American era, families were ruled over by a system of patriarchy, with male dominance (a father figure) and subordination of women (a motherly figure).[1] In this family style estates would be passed on to the father’s eldest son, keeping traditions once again controlled by the men of the household.[2] Males in society even controlled women’s rights, a single woman would be considered femme sole that could sign contracts as well as own properties and wages while married woman lost those rights to their husband becoming femme covert.[3] After the colonial era, there was less and less land to pass out throughout the families. During the 19th century, life expectancy increased and family size decreased. Contrasting to the colonists’ strict Christian views on sex in the family, the Second Great Awakening weakened the idea of predestination. Families no longer had to be a family of 10 or 12 just because ‘God’ wanted.  The movement was largely supported by society because it granted them the freedom to take responsibility for their fate.[4] Contraceptive use increased dramatically, not the most effective methods but never the less they still considered pregnancy prevention.  Birth Control gave couples more control over their family size. However because it was not as effective as methods used today, woman would try to induce their own miscarriages by drinking tea made of rusty nail water or jumping up and down to make the fetus fall out. Due to the lack of funds and land, families couldn’t afford being so large in number. I believe that during this time period it would have been a smarter idea to try to have fewer kids than in the colonial era. 10 to 12 mouthes to feed gets expensive and there is no way that the hygiene would be up to par with a family that large. The average family size in the United States today is two to three children, while in the Victorian times families would be up to 6 people. In the past 200 years families have continued to shrink, which I believe is a smarter economic decision. Humans have very expensive needs; especially in America we tend to spend more money than necessary due to commercialism. Just recently family sized increased by .02 according to a most recent census that may mean change is coming. [5]Will we become families of 12 again by the year 3000? Only time will tell.



[1] Crystal Moore, “Sex in Colonial America” (PowerPoint lecture, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC January 27, 2014)
[2] Crystal Moore, “Sex in Colonial America” (PowerPoint lecture, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC January 27, 2014)
[3] Crystal Moore, “The transition from Colonial to Victorian Sexuality” (PowerPoint lecture, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC February 10, 2014)
[4] Crystal Moore, “Within the Family” (PowerPoint lecture, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC February 10, 2014)
[5] Nassar , Hayer El. "After 50 years of decline, household size is growing." USA Today, May 5, 2011. http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/census/2011-05-04-Census-Households-Demographics_n.htm (accessed February 28, 2014).
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