the 99%

This poor woman and her husband are both unemployed and can not find any jobs.  Her husband is a "master carpenter" and has not been able to find a job in three years!  They have a child, and she takes pride in making sure he is NEVER hungry or (too) cold.  She is trying to do the best she can for her family and finds deals wherever she can to make ends meet.  I think that since the husband is clearly a good carpenter he should be able to get a job as one.  He is qualified and could make a living by doing what he has learned to be.  This person knows she is unfortunate with money and nothing can go wrong or else she will loose it all.  She has to raise and garden her own food to provide for her family.  It is really sad to think about how she has to live with providing her own food and using wood to keep her house warm.  It's terrible that her husband can not find a job even though he is good at what he does.  I wish the best to her and everyone who is in a similar situation. 

She is unemployed and has lost her home because of her mother investing in the real estate business.  She has been abused by her real father who killed her step-father and got away with it.  She has overcome so many struggles in her life except for these issues.  She even went to school to be a nurse and finished.  But guess what?  They let her go for NO reason at all.  This poor woman worked so hard to overcome her previous obstacles and can not get a job even though she is qualified for one.  She should be able to get her job back or even a new one.  Nurses are needed, even though she believes they are not.  She has been through so much and has worked for her own American Dream.. which she only got for six days.

This person is without a job and can not find one.  There should be equality for everyone providing people with jobs, even if they are part time jobs.  People need money to survive and the government is not providing it to people.  This person knows they are unfortunate and to get out of their situation this person wants to commit suicide. This statement makes me extremely sad that people are so frustrated with the economy that they would rather die than be homeless and unemployed.  I want the best for all these people and they deserve help. 

Your Coffee Is On Me :)

I really wanted to do something out of the box for my positive act of deviance.  I really wanted to make an impact on somebody's day and make it better for them.  But to be honest, I could not think of anything super original and I just did not have the time to come up with something really cool.  So, as original as it is, I bought the person who was behind me in line their coffee at Starbucks.  When I walked in I was actually really nervous.  I am an extremely friendly person, but not always to random people in stores.  I was worrying that maybe someone would not walk in after me, so I would not be able to buy them their coffee.  Luckily I walked in, and told the cashier that I wanted a Tall Skinny Vanilla Latte.  And right as I was  about to pay, an older lady came in line behind me, who i'm guessing was about fifty years old.  I told her, hey what are you going to get?  Your coffee will be on me!  She was so confused and asked if I was talking to her.  I told her yes with a smile on my face, don't worry I got you.  I gave the cashier $12 and told her the lady's coffee was on me and to keep the change for herself.  I then smiled at the lady and walked over to the other counter.  I got my drink, and told the lady to have an amazing day!  The lady said thank you to me a couple of times and said I was such a sweet girl.  As I was walking to my car, I could not stop smiling. It felt so good to do something out of the ordinary for someone, and I could tell the lady was shocked but she had a smile on her face and was really nice.  I know it was a small act, but I really hope it made a great start to her day.  And  even though if it is a small thing, maybe she will "pay it forward" and the chain of random acts of positive deviance will continue on and make everyone's day just a little bit better.  This act of kindness is not a norm in our society.  It is very rare to pay for someone else's purchase, especially that of a stranger.  I would love for this to happen to me, not because I would not to pay for something, but because it is something so unexpected and just a nice thing to do.  I think our society needs to think about that, that little things make a huge difference in someone's day.  Just saying Hi to random people in a store or street can make someone's day that much better.  

Female, Male, Both, Neither?

This week in class has been one of my favorite weeks so far.  This week really made me think and reflect about something that seems so simple-being masculine, feminine, or both. Although we watched a lot of videos in class, each and every one of them really made a clear point.  I personally, really liked the According to Gym episode.  The show portrayed males as pigs, conceited, forgetful, sexual, athletic, insensitive, rude, and competitive. The episode then portrayed women as the complete opposite of men making them, sensitive, talkative, social, concerned about weight, clueless about sports, and needy. This look at men and women as completely opposite goes hand and hand with what the narrator was saying in the movie Gender Codes. In Gender Codes they compare the way men and women pose for pictures.  Women tend to have canting postures, which include being off center, knees bent, leg(s) up, faced sideways, head tilt, and arms on the body.  These poses all put women is a position of being vulnerable, defenseless, and accepting submissiveness.  On the other side men pose completely different, with their head low, hands in the pockets or folded, and confident.  They are NEVER off balance or pictured laying down touching their face. The reason behind this is because if men were posed like women, the message of the add would come off as a homosexual add, which are extremely rare.  These poses along with what Goffman calls "ritualization of subordination."   These poses are how we perceive males or females to be because of the media, and gender codes.  As it turns out though, these codes have changed. Both men and women have become objects of desire for the opposite sex.  The physical appearance such as big chested, muscles, athleticism, and clothes have become what we want in our partner.  We want to have the most attractive spouse.  Because of this, as shown in Killing Me Softly, women and men want to look like the models shown in ads even though we know it is impossible because of all the editing.  Women think that men are judging women, but in reality the women are more judgmental than the men.  The media has effected our gender roles greatly, and as Cindy Crawford could not have said it any better, "I wish I looked like Cindy Crawford."