Visual Update to Land of Limitations

U.S.A. - Land of Limitations
Nicholas Kristof

Kristof felt that America is boasted as the "land of opportunity." Kristof does not believe that America gives us all opportunities. He said that "my friend, Rick Goff was smart, talented and hard working, but he faced an uphill struggle from birth. "Talent is universal, but opportunity is not."

Kristof believes that you are born into a social class and you are bound to that social class for your reminder living. Kristof friend, Rick experienced a less than fortunate life. His mom passed away when he was 5, and his dad was an alcoholic who abandoned the family. His grandmother took over the authority. He was not an excellent student in school so he ended up dropping out at 10th grade from a lack of support and drive.

I do not exactly agree a 100 percent because there are some exceptions to this idea. The site, People Like US that gives resources and stories of how people are affected by social class. One of the stories is about Charles Stoughton. He was raised in Chicago suburb of Lake forest. Charles was the third son of well known local surgeon. Charles is good looking, well spoken and spent his education at private schools. He was suppose to carry on the line of attending medical school within his family as his sister, and brothers had. Charles decided to drop out during his sophmore year at Stanford. He moved to Louisiana, where he worked on a shrimp boat. As time passed, he worked as a housepainter in the area. He lives in a double wide trailer with his wife, who works as a K mart chaser along with their three children. Due to his lack of a degree he only makes $25,000 and his parents do not visit.
Charles was born into a great family of wealth, popularity, and success.

Regardless, Charles was given a choice just like his other siblings. His brothers and sister chose to continue on the line of medical careers in the family while Charles gave up that life. He may have been exposed to a great life but it did not seem to strike his fancy. The whole of idea of being stuck in the same social class according to the "societal system" is not 100 percent valid. There is always an exception to the rules.

Diversity Week: Advocacy and Beyond

How would you define blindness?

Eye Opening Experience
Annual Fall Access Challenge

Sponsored by: Advocacy and Beyond Club, Sherlock Center and Disability Services Center

Visual impairment also known as vision loss, it is the decreased ability to see to a degree that causes issues that can not be solved by aids, such as glasses. Prior to this event, I did not know what being blind meant. I went to a conference geared to young people dealing with a disorder. I spoke with another delegate, who experienced visual problems. They said they see only what is right in front of them while everything else around them is unclear. Despite that explanation,
I was still confused.

My dance teacher suffers from astigmatism

What I learned today is that there are different levels of being blind. There are 4 levels of visual function. They are normal vision, moderate visual impairment, severe visual impairment and blindness according to the International Classification of Diseases.





What is so mind blogging is that the causes of visual impairment that is uncorrected refractive errors comprises 30% to 43%. An example of uncorrected refractive errors are myopia and astigmatism.  Myopia is when things that are close in sight are clear while things further away in distance are blurred. This occurs as the eyeball could be too long or the cornea may have an over abundance of curvature, the clear front cover of the eye. Another refractive error is astigmatism. It is a vision condition that creates blurred vision due to irregular shape of the cornea or the curvature of the lens inside the eye. This keeps the light from properly focusing on the retina that leads to blurred vision at all distances.

Looking at all of the technology that help people who lack some sort of vision put it into perspective. There are aids such as braille, walking canes, and verbal technology for computer use. For example, Kurzweil 1000, it is a software technology designated for people who are blind or visually impaired. register the text and read it aloud, take notes, summarizing the text. This brand is currently used within the Disability Center here at RIC, and I have been told such positive feedback about Kurzweil.

Imagine living in this world without a vision.

The system will

Of all of the assistive technology, I find braille as the most interesting. I learned that braille is formed within a unit of space called braille cells. The position of all of the dots are determined by the numbers, 1 through 6. To make a letter, you must type the right numbers on the braille applicator. To make a uppercase letter, a specific button must be pushed and then the corresponding numbers to the right letters. While watching braille letters formed by the expert, I was amazed because that is
how people with low vision communicate and
 do their work for school. It seemed like such a
process as a code that must
be decoded not a language.

Its better late, than never! U.S.A. Land of Limitations

U.S.A. - Land of Limitations
Nicholas Kristof

Kristof felt that America is boasted as the "land of opportunity." Kristof does not believe that America gives us all opportunities. He said that "my friend, Rick Goff was smart, talented and hard working, but he faced an uphill struggle from birth. "Talent is universal, but opportunity is not."

Kristof believes that you are born into a social class and you are bound to that social class for your reminder living. Kristof friend, Rick experienced a less than fortunate life. His mom passed away when he was 5, and his dad was an alcoholic who abandoned the family. His grandmother took over the authority. He was not an excellent student in school so he ended up dropping out at 10th grade from a lack of support and drive.

I do not exactly agree a 100 percent because there are some exceptions to this idea. The site, People Like US that gives resources and stories of how people are affected by social class. One of the stories is about Charles Stoughton. He was raised in Chicago suburb of Lake forest. Charles was the third son of well known local surgeon. Charles is good looking, well spoken and spent his education at private schools. He was suppose to carry on the line of attending medical school within his family as his sister, and brothers had. Charles decided to drop out during his sophmore year at Stanford. He moved to Louisiana, where he worked on a shrimp boat. As time passed, he worked as a housepainter in the area. He lives in a double wide trailer with his wife, who works as a K mart chaser along with their three children. Due to his lack of a degree he only makes $25,000 and his parents do not visit.
Charles was born into a great family of wealth, popularity, and success.

Regardless, Charles was given a choice just like his other siblings. His brothers and sister chose to continue on the line of medical careers in the family while Charles gave up that life. He may have been exposed to a great life but it did not seem to strike his fancy. The whole of idea of being stuck in the same social class according to the "societal system" is not 100 percent valid. There is always an exception to the rules.

Diversity Week: Disability and Employment

Diversity Week:
Disability and Employment:
What you Need to Know

Overall, the research and laws regarding disability in the workforce were valid. They all hold power such as the ADAAA, which is the Americans with Disability Act Amendments Act. This act keeps all people with disabilities, who hold jobs a fair chance as this act does not allow discrimination in any way. However, the way the information was given could have been completed differently.

The speaker was like a magic eight ball, simply spitting answers out. While she spoke, she utilized a power point. In theory, it was a great tool for presenting. Despite that it was not executed successfully. Many slides had densely phrased facts and information. It was very difficult to pay attention. When making a slide the idea does need to be explained but it should be done in a list form so it is easier for the audience to read.

Another aspect that could have helped her presentation is using real life experiences. It could be of herself or someone dealing with a disability, who is willing to share their experience in the working world. When examples of people are used, a presentation comes to life. It could be a student who recently graduated, who deals with a disability in the working world. If we were to hear someones real life experiences I believe it would have made all of the audience members listen more closely.

At the beginning of the presentation, the audience was given a copy of the power point. While working through the presentation, I leafed through the power point. One slide stated "Impairments That Should Be Found to Be Substantially Limiting." The list included disabilities such as Deafness, Blindness, Mobility impairment and Intellectual Disability. Despite those, I did not see language based disorders. I found this offensive because our language can act as a barrier as much as Deafness can. It may be different but it still affects how we function in day to day life. I thought how wrong this is because there are so many language based disorders.
The Learning Disabilities Association lists 11 different disorders on the homepage of their website. Of the 11 stated disabilities is regarding to memory. It is comprised of our "working memory", "long term memory", "short term memory." If someone has an issues with all parts of our memory or even one part of their memory, the capability to store and recall information required to complete a task can be comprised.

Another statement the speaker stated that I do not exactly agree with is when to tell the possible employer of your disability. The speaker said that at pre offer of an interview you may not mention any detail regarding your disability. She continued on by saying that is okay once it is post offer before employment is over, which is when the new employee can about health related questions. I went on an interview for a Daycare center, called "Way To Grow" in the summer. In my interview with the director and owner I purposely mentioned my experience with dealing with a disorder because that was part of the reason I was applying to this specifc job. I stated how my disorder, dyslexia has allowed me to grow to see children in two different perspectives, without a disability and with a disability. The owner and director saw how my disability assisted in forming a passion for helping children. As a result, I was hired. Before I was graced with this great news, they told me that it would be a couple of days till I found out my employment status. Despite that, I checked my email that night and the owner sent me an email stating that I was being offered a position.

With every "do and don't " there are always exceptions because every career is different so each business looks at perspective employees in different angles.

" Johnson's" Privilege, Power, and Difference

Power, Privilege, and Difference
By Allan G. Johnson

Quotes:

Dictionary.com defines Power, Privilege, and Difference as....

Power means to have possession of control or command over others.

Privilege means a grant to a individual of a special right.

Difference means to be not alike in character or quality; distinct

I believe that to understand what Allan Johnson is trying to tell us, we must understand the idea of what the words, previously stated. All of these words holds a much stronger meaning, they tap the glass and breaks down what world we actually live in, the reality.

“People are tagged with other labels that point to the lowest-status group they belong to, as in "woman doctor" or "black writer," but never "white lawyer" or male senator". Any category that lowers our status relative to others' can be used to mark us; to be privileged is to go through life with the relative ease of being unmarked.”  "Allan G. Johonson"

It is so frustrating that people, specifically women are seen as the "woman lawyer" or as the "black CEO." We as people should be simply know for being that amazing lawyer, who has won many cases with great success. Or be that CEO who is respectful and does the best for his company. Our gender and race should not have anything to do with our success. If you want to be successful you have to try, from personal experience while I am working towards a certain goal I do not think how I am white. I work till I achieve my goal. I remember one day, I was home my mom called me to come watch something on ABC news. She mentioned that it was about a ballet dance, I rushed in and ended up missing the tide bi about her. However, my mom explained what it was all about. "Her name is Misty Copeland, she recently made it big in the ballet world." My mom continued on by saying how she would be performing in some shows in the month of December. She also mentioned that Misty was in a commercial about preserving to reach your goals, I needed up watching it on youtube. I was in love but my mom told me that it was not aired. I felt an uproar of emotions. I said to my mom, "she should be known for the dancer she is, not that she is a great black dancer." Misty Copeland took ballet classes because she loved ballet, this has nothing to do with her skin color. 

While i watched this, i was in awe. I remember saying to my mom, "I hope I could be a as great a dancer as Misty." What I about her is that she tries her hardest to put all of the harsh comments about her enthcity because she knows herself that it has nothing to do with her talent in dancing. 

“Male experience is what patriarchal culture uses to represent human experience, even when it is women who most often live it.” Allan G Johnson

Patriarch is defined as a person regarded as the father or founder of an order or class according to dictionary.comDictionary.com. The idea that men are in charge while women have deal with being second to the male gender is ridiculous. My mom always says that we come into this world the same way and we all leave this world the same way, so none of us are better than anyone else. Male and female are difference biologically and mentally but that is not a negative thing, it is how we were meant to be made. If we are living in the same world we should be experience our life fairly Within the idea of SCWAAMP, "M" stands for maleness. This screams how males are favored, for example they paid more for the same job a women holds simply because they are male. A women is paid 79% of what a man is paid for working at the same level. There is no legitimate reason to discriminate women in the work place finically  because of their gender.  For example, my sister went to school for civil engineering  Her school of engineering was a ratio of 3 guys to 1 girl. Since she graduated she works at General Dynamics in Groton, CT that is government established facility working nuclear engineers. In the departments she has worked in there has been two thirds male in her office. This should not matter in any regard. 

I have watched my sister work tirelessly through out the week, many filled with over time completed some successful work. While working, she has seen many male co workers slacking off, enjoying a fight of throwing food at other co workers in the office. Why are paying women only 79% of what men earn then?
At General Dynamics there has been an acceptance of women applying to the corporation as this company has been supporting women, whether of color, and decent. For there to be a change, there must be more companies standing for this as it is a different world now. 


“The public response to feminism has been ferociously defensive precisely because feminism touches such a deep nerve of truth and the denial that keeps us from it. If feminism were truly ridiculous, it would be ignored. But it isn't ridiculous, and so provokes a vigorous backlash.”  Allan G Johnson

Johnson strikes such a chord with this statement. Feminism now has so accumlated so many meanings as the world has evolved. According to Dictionary.com, feminism means "to advocate for social, political, and other rights of women that men have acquired".  While the Merriam Webster Dictionary states that feminism means, "a belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities." Dictionary.com stated like women must work for this goal of equality while Merriam Webster states it like women already have the same rights that men have. In the year, 2015 the idea of feminism is the opposite of narrow. An article done by CNN states that less women are getting married or women chose to marry later in life. It is different but I do not blame any women for the choice they make. For the longest time, women were seen as a dependent to a man. Now that we have more freedom to be on our own, many women take the chance to be single, get their masters degree, travel constantly simply because they have the opportunity. 

Personally, I love this idea. I do not live my life looking for someone depend on because being independent is amazing. You can accomplish so much on your own as you have time for yourself. I work for a mother who went to school to find a husband and have a family. She told me that it was a year after she graduated that she was married and months later was pregnant. I can remember going home in such confusion. I said to my mom how I never would consider going to school to find a husband. Going to school is something you should do for yourself, to better yourself as learner and make a happy world for yourself. This mother is almost living in movie like "The Help." Where the women would go to school and then move on to family life while the man worked outside the home. It drove me crazy. 

Emma Stone, who played as Skitter, who was the one girl who went away to school outside of the town where she grew up. She continued on to get a job at the Jackson Journal once she came back home. Her mother said, "you can write my obituary and mention that she has a daughter who is single." Skitter's mother did not understand her daughter. She was proud of skitter but could not comprehend the life she wanted, working for a paper, traveling and going beyond Jackson. Skitter's mom was a true southern women, who had a baby, had a black nanny to care for Skitter and for the whole house while she did whatever she felt she wanted to do. Skitter represented the women in the coming generations, such as myself. This character and I had the same intention to go to school beyond high school to better ourselves so we could find a great career, where we can benefit from. Skitter and I also have anther trait in common, boys. Throughout the story she has one "boyfriend"and I have few to count as well. Both my relationships and her relationship did not last because the guy wanted something completely difference; power, domaince, being a follower, and a kind of girl who wants to stop her life after making a family. 

Addition to Generation M

Questions/Comments:

The way women are viewed is quiet daunting. If any change is made it must be a strong force of making a difference. It would be great to know that women are getting paid as much as men are and treated as equals in the work force. The question is how will this change take place? Who will be a part of the movement? How will others respond to this change?

Generation M

Media as a Feminist Issue
Generation M viedo

Hyperlinks

Generation M reminds us that at a young age, girls are told that they find happiness through their appearance. We are told that girls focus on make up and shopping. This idea or "norm" is false. The media teases us which leads to girls believing in the messages from the media. For example, one in five girls feel negative affects when not wearing make up according to an article called, "From Barbie's to Blush." That is ridiculous, I did not start wearing make up officially until I turned 18 years old. I would wear it sometimes before then, however I did not feel the most comfortable wearing it. I did not understand the reason for make up. It seemed more like paint to me. It was more enjoyable to use paint on a canvas than your face. Make up shows you an ideal of what you could look like but underneath it is simply a accent to your appearance.




There are so many other negative effects of the media put toward young girls and women. The video, "Generation M" reminds us of that as it states, 95% of people affected by eating disorders are women and 80% of girls who live in California have been on a diet by 4th grade. http://www.mirror-mirror.org/perfect-body-image.htm  This link states the reality, something that the media neglects to mention, what really happens beneath the surface. Girls should not have to feel that they can only eat this much or eat this because that dessert has too many calories. Girls and women should feel that it is okay to eat what is appropriate for you body. Women and young girls go to doctors so they are told what is good to eat and what should be avoided. These doctors are being ignored because of the media, the media does not know what is the right height and weight for a girl or women. A doctor knows, someimtes I have to remind myself that I look great and do not need to go on diet. Its difficult but I could not image cutting a sweet like cookies out of my life or throwing it back up so I look a certain way. I do not understand why girls feel the need to be constant diet after diet. Listen to the people you trust because the media is not something you can trust.

Even though my perspective on my body image is positive now does not mean it was like that while growing up. I am sure that i can vouch for other woman as well. It was embarrassing when you knew you could not fit into the clothes at the store Limited too. It was crisis because at the time everyone wore those clothes, so it did leave others out of the club. I personally felt uncomfortable because whether you like it you would be judged by what you wore to school. During elementary school and middle school we all wanted to conform to being essentially Barbie. A doll, who was skinny, had pretty blond hair, very tall and great size feet. Thankfully at some point we all discover how that is impossible. The article from New York Daily news states that her measurements of her body would not allow her to walk and function as a human. Barbie would have to walk on all fours, like a dog or a cat. Barbie was made to 5' and 9"and weight 110 pounds. The average american women is 5'4" and weighs in around 166 pounds. Barbie's waist does not even hold all her organs as it is only 16 inches. Which only holds half a liver and a section of intestines.  There is a picture alongside Barbie, it is a women who looks like an average women. She has proportional height with realistic size feet, and she can walk on her feet.

Women are forced to look a certain way. Through this force, women are only hurting themselves. Looking at the bigger picture, all women are beautiful. The beauty is seen through our differences. This women within the video tells us about her life, how she is seen as a tall women. The media is so focused on our appearance when beneath the skin is far more important.