Show and Tell Post 3

I wanted to know more about the different divisions of rape.  I found a Wikipedia site (www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CDMQFjAA&url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Types_of_rape&ei=nqC3UJ3tFoWo8QTWhYCACA&usg=AFQjCNGdS3leHas-oQufohWz8cTM2qtI_w&sig2=066Y7q46Lt1X3Qay8zy98Q) that gave a list of eight different types of rape.  The first one is called “Date Rape.”  This is the most common type of rape.  It is defined as rape by someone you know and/or are close to.  This includes coworkers and schoolmates.  This type of rape can also occur between two people that are dating and who have had consensual sex before.  Anytime that it is not consensual, though, it is considered date rape.  The second type is “Gang Rape.”  This happens when a group of people are involved in the rape of a single victim—usually about three violators.  There is also a division called “Spousal or Partner Rape.”  Even if you have been married for twenty years or more, it is still rape if you force yourself onto your spouse.  “Statutory Rape” is defined as having sexual intercourse with someone who is underage and unable to give consent.  Even if the underage person is the one who initiates the behavior, it is still considered rape because that person is deemed incompetent to give such consent.  Rape between inmates is called “Prison Rape.”  These rapes are mostly same-sex crimes, due to prisons being separated by gender.  However, these rapes are not out of acts of homosexuality.  Instead, these acts are out of power.  The inmates want to force their power onto the other to show who is in charge.  “War Rape” is what happens when a prisoner of war is raped in order to humiliate them and to exert dominance.  Any rape that occurs when the violator tricks the victim into giving consent is considered “Rape by Deception.”  The last form of rape listed on this site is called “Corrective Rape.”  This type of rape is used as a punishment for homosexuals by heterosexuals.  The rapists feel that their actions are justified because of the victim’s sexual orientation.  They feel that the victims deserved what they got. 

Rape is Rape

People need to be better informed on what exactly rape is.  To be able to give a precise definition, I googled “rape.”  What came up was, “the unlawful compelling of a person through physical force or duress to have sexual intercourse; any act of sexual intercourse that is force upon a person; statutory rape.”   I then looked up statutory rape, which is “sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of consent.”  This definition struck me as strange.  So it is only statutory rape if the girl is underage?  A boy cannot fall victim to this type of rape?  What if he was forced into it by an older woman?  There are so many different divisions of rape that most people do not know about.  There is a such thing as spousal rape or partner rape.  Just because you are in a relationship with someone it does not mean that he or she can just have their way with you whenever they feel like it.  It is still rape.  It is still someone using force to have intercourse.  This is wrong!  It is wrong to force anyone to do anything that they either do not want to do or do not feel comfortable doing.  These are the type of things that we need to be more educated on.  Rape is rape, and all rape is bad.  

So Many Privileges

One thing that I never really thought about before this class was privileges.  We are privileged with so much that we do not even realize just for being who we are, just for being born where we were, etc.  I never realized how privileged I am for simply being a white American female.  I have the privilege to go to school and earn a degree.  I have the privilege go where I want to go and be who I want to be.  I am so very thankful for the privileges that I have.  Because of this class, I can now better recognize when I am taking advantage of a privilege and I am humbled by it.  I am very grateful for the things that I have been blessed with and for the opportunities I have been given.  Sometimes I feel guilty for the privileges I have been given.  This class has taught me that everyone is privileged in some sort of way.  The best thing we can do is to not let these privileges go to waste.  We should make the most of what life has given us.

Pro-life

My dad and I were talking about this subject last week.  We got into a discussion about when, if ever, is it okay to have an abortion.  I stand firm in my beliefs of pro-life.  I believe that once there is fertilization, there is new life.  Having an abortion would be ending a life and that is no one’s job but God’s.  My dad and I are both pro-life, but he held the argument asking, “what if the girl was raped and she got pregnant?”  He continued to reason that the child would only be a constant reminder of all the torture and struggle the poor girl went through.  He thinks that in this circumstance it is okay to get an abortion.  This really got me thinking.  If I was raped and got pregnant, what would I do?  Right now, I tell myself that I would keep it.  The baby would be a part of my attacker, but it would also be a part of me.  In the end, I might end up giving the baby up for adoption, but I cannot see me ending its life.  Some people say that if a child is conceived through rape, then it was God’s plan.  I do not necessarily agree with that.  However, I do believe that if you decide to keep that baby, then God will have great plans for him or her.

Objectified

I used to work in a grocery store in my hometown.  While I was there, the guys would constantly harass me.  They would always ask me if I had an old man.  Even though at the time I did not, I would lie and say I had a boyfriend just so they would leave me alone.  One of my guy friends that worked with me would always accompany me whenever I had to go into the backroom to keep all the other guys at bay.  At first, I was flattered that I was getting so much attention.  I thought, “Wow, these guys must really think I am cute and like my personality.”  False.  Most of the guys I had never talked to before, so how could they know what my personality was like?  Some of them kept trying to give me their numbers asking me to call if I was ever lonely and was feeling frisky.  This disgusted me.  They did not want to talk to me.  They did not want to get to know me.  All they wanted was to get with me.  I was embarrassed that I ever let any of them talk to me.  I felt like I should have known better.  I am usually the type to always think the best of others.  Now, I have to second guess the intentions of everyone I meet.

Extra Show and Tell post

My mom and I were talking the other day about how Halloween costumes have changed so much, especially kids’ costumes.  I was looking online for costumes when I came across this site, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/25/sexy-halloween-costumes-for-girls_n_2011943.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular#slide=1687821.  On this website, it compares Halloween costumes from 1990 to 2012.  The differences are unsettling.  Please notice that all of these pictures are of young girls, no boys.

            Twenty years ago, you would not have found young girls dressed in outfits consisting of cut off tops and short skirts.  One lady reports that she went shopping for a costume for her 3 year old and was expecting to find big princess costumes and accessories.  What she was not expecting was costumes including knee high boots and pleather outfits made for 4 year olds.  She continues to report how the young models were posed, “hip thrust out, chest forward, lots of makeup, come hither look.”

 Like the title of the article states, Halloween costumes have shifted from fun and silly to almost sexy looks; and these girls do not know what their poses, expressions, and outfits even mean.  Halloween used to be about trying to be either the scariest or the silliest. It has now shifted to who can look the sassiest.  A quote from Mean Girls sticks out to me, “In Girl World, Halloween is the one night a year when girls can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it.”  Granted, these girls are in high school and should have a clue about what they could be getting themselves into.

After looking through some of the pictures shown on this website, I have to ask myself, “How do parents think it is okay to let their child run around practically half naked?”  I know the kids do not mean anything by it.  They do not know what their cute little outfits symbolize, but the parents should know better than to, in my opinion, objectify their children.

Show and Tell post 2

After Liz Fletcher-Brown’s presentation Monday, I became very curious about guys’ views on self-image and body image.  I never really thought about how a guy’s mindset about constantly going to the gym and to bulk up is related to a girl’s mindset that she has to starve herself to make herself be thin.  For both sexes, the end result is all about giving themselves a better body image that they think society is looking for.  I found this website (http://kidshealth.org/teen/your_body/beautiful/male_bodyimage.html) that talks about guys’ body images.

            This website points out that during puberty it can be especially easy for a guy’s self-image to be based particularly on looks.  Puberty is the time when a teen’s body is changing greatly:  voice is changing, muscle tone is changing, and body hair is growing.  Being the first, or the last, guy to hit puberty can make some guys highly self-conscious.  Another point this website has is that body image can be in your genes.  A lot of negative body image comes from having high expectations for puberty and then not getting what was wanted.  A tip is to not assume to look a certain way, and to look at the family.  How are your father and grandfather built?  How are your uncles and cousins built? 

            It used to be said that only girls felt the pressure to be “picture-perfect.”  This is not necessarily true anymore.  Many magazines and ad agencies have put a great deal of emphasis on male body image.  In reality, that “as-advertised body” is unattainable because the males you see on the covers do not exist.  They have been photoshopped because even the “perfect bodies” are not perfect enough so they are taken one step farther.

A quote that I like from this website is, “Having a positive body image means feeling pretty satisfied with the way you look, appreciating your body for its capabilities and accepting its imperfections.”  We can get so wrapped up in what we think society wants from us, that we forget to be grateful for the bodies that we do have and the privileges that come with it.  We forget that no one is perfect and it is these imperfections that make us who we are.  They are what distinguish us as individuals in the world and not as a bunch of clones roaming around each seeking another way for attention.