Video of Transfer of Power to New Leader Snow Hare

Video of White Tiger (me) transferring Power for the leader, Snow Hare, of 4/30 class:
http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~bump/30213/movies/SnowHaretoWhiteTigerPT.mov

Best and Worst

 Best : Knowing that this is my last week of school is the best feeling. Although I will miss my friends and some of my classes, I have had a very tough semester and knowing that in just 4 short days I will be done, with exams, homework, and quizzes fills me with relief. I am excited, inspired, jubilant, and gleeful!

Worst: I had to register late because of a bar that I did not know I had on my account and I did not get any of the classes I need. I am currently on a wait list for 3 classes I need next semester and if I do not get in these courses, I will end up being set back a semester. I feel like this is a waste of time, spending a whole semester taking classes just to fill up my schedule. Knowing that I may have to be in school an extra semester is stressful, frustrating, and annoying. I know that I am under prepared for the exams coming up this week. I tried studying all weekend but I was not very productive and seemed to be working very slow. I am worried that I will not do as well as I need to on my two exams this week. I am now anxious, tired, irritable, and discouraged.  

Thanks Ryan.

Diversity In College

 I have always identified as an American. That is all I have ever known. I coloring a map of the United States in Kindergarden and carefully labeling each state name and capitol in cursive.  I was so proud to know every state and capital and my parents kept it taped on the kitchen door for as long as I can remember. I can remember how I excited I was to learn the pledge of allegiance and how silly I felt when I learned I was supposed to be saying "states" and not "steaks". I always remember having fun in kindergarden through middle school and never once realizing that I was the "only one".   When I was in New Jersey, I was always the only person of color out of all my friends in school. In church I had friends that were black, white, and asian, but I truly grew up not noticing the different races of my friends. I know that the United States was a diverse country and that all sorts ethnicities came to the United States for better opportunities.  "The land flourished because it was fed from so many sources-- because it nourished by so many cultures and traditions and people." (Johnson 442)

   

It was not until I moved to Texas for High School that I realized that I had been so clueless. The first few weeks people were confused by the fact that I so called "dressed white". Their fascination with my Jersey accent soon turned to more confusion on why I "talked white". My dad was always very strict on grammar when I was growing up. He always said that the way I talk is how people will judge me. Slang was never allowed and I was praised for annunciating. I was shocked to see that white students did not hang out with black students or mexican students unless they "acted white". The term "acting white" is something that baffles me and has followed me to college.

  

   

When reading Miguel's story and how he did not feel he fit in, I could relate. He said that "Many Latinos on campus think that they are not Latino enough, so they take steps to enhance their Latinoness. Unfortunately, they often confuse ghetto authenticity" (448) Somehow society has convinced minorities that being educated is something for white people and in order to act more of your culture you must dumb down. This is not true in most cases but yet, I see it happing all the time. "...my parents have always said my sister and I we were Mexican. We refer to Caucasians as 'Americans'" (444) Growing up Miguel only saw caucasians to be American and unlike me, I always believed being American to be a blend of all races who were born here or lived here. 

People need to be educated before they get to college to realize that the reason why America is great is because it is so culturally diverse. People need to stop confusing a country with an ethnicity. The clip below from Mean Girls is a perfect example of how most American students relate a country with an ethnicity or race.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8wrqe72YG4

 I find it very disturbing that society associates beauty still as fair skinned. My whole life I have been told I was beautiful and I had great skin. I could only assume they are referring to the tone of my skin, tan not dark. I was hurt to hear Norma tell her story and when she said, "My family believed in the notion of adalantar la raza (improving the race) simply by looking white.I was always referred to as la morenita (brown-skinned girl) or la prieta (the blackish one) in a family where most are light skinned." (452), I could not help but be upset. Not only did her family single her out by the way she looked but they are part of the reason why society is so messed up today. Because they singled her out and made her feel less then by the color of her skin, she grew up thinking that she would never be goof enough because she was not "light" enough. People will go through all sorts of painful and harmful measures to get the lighter look. The video below shows that people live lives bleaching their skins every day!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyMVgsHazQ4

Bulock Museum - Deep in the heart of Texas...

 There really is nothing else like Texas Pride. Coming from New Jersey to Texas I saw Texas Pride as soon as I crossed the boarder from Louisiana to The Lone Star State. There were giant Texas flags flown at the same height as the American Flag, and Home Depot was a Texas Home Depot. Everything and anything revolved around Texas from the highways branded with the state outline and stars to the gas stations. Everything is bigger in Texas!

The Bob Bullock Museum was the epitome of Texas Pride. The museum describes Texas as a place with a rich culture and various history. It portrays what it was like to be a Texan throughout history with pride and how Texas became the place it is today. The Spirit Theatre performance "The Star if Destiny emphasized the stubborn and go getter attitude that Texans portray and that have brought them success. Like when a storm hit Galveston Island and destroyed everything, the little girl narrator tells the audience how everyone was told to evacuate the city. However, her dad and other people ignored the message and with Texas Pride started rebuilding the city higher and constructed a wall around the ocean. That same go getter attitude of a Texan again is shown when failure after failure of trying to strike oil, they did not give up until it finally happened. The narrator proudly says, "If you want something done, tell a Texan that he can't do it", once again readdressing the strength of Texan Pride.

Texas women played a very important role in the development of Texas as a state. The women of texas  did not waste time and quickly took public jobs of school teachers and soon "outnumbered men". I was very impressed to learn that Annie Webb Blanton pursued a 59 year career in education and even started Delta Kappa Gamma an honor society for women educators. Also Anna Hiss was appointed director of physical training for female students at UT in 1921.  These names I hear all of the time are more than just rich people who have donated enough money to put their name all over the University of Texas's building, but rather they were heroes to Texas women and did outstanding things that are remembered today. Portraying Texas to be a place of success and leadership in our Country. 

"A Texas Ranger" - Charles Goodnight

Leading Class Discussion : Sexism and Speicieism

Outline of Blogs for Class Discussion :

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AbLN4ko_HTwrDn86sOmLwlNjT9LsrK6ldn0S0CjBNo0/edit?usp=sharing

Power Point for Class Discussion:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/1A-YCnKM1uAevV1yf0nTNApw27xxCQVyNBprt_bBVXFUxu1YU2P_ylI-thprq/edit?usp=sharing

All Animals Have The Same Parts...

Speciesism -- "Discrimination against or exploitation of certain animal species by human beings, based on an assumption of mankind's superiority." (Oxford English Dictionary 399)

Ever since I was a little girl, the only time I can remember my dad or uncles cooking was when they were on the grill or making sandwiches. My uncle always made the best ribs, wings, and steaks, and when it came to my dad, the more cold cuts in the house, the better. My mom was the primary cook of my household but, whenever steak was served for dinner, I knew that my dad was always the one to prepare it.  The video below shows a man, grilling steak. Not only was it true in my household but, America wants it to be this way. TV commercials, movies, and even some music, emphasize the importance of a man cooking  and eating meat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IfZlmmACo8

When reading The Preface of "The Sexual Politics of Meat", I could see that the way we view gender and food is the way society tells us to. "When meat supply is limited, men will receive it. Assuming meat to be food for men and consequently vegetables to be food for women...because meat eating is a measure of a virile culture and individual, our society equates vegetarianism with emasculation of femininity."(734)
The video below, shows a variety of women eating salads, vegetables, and fruits, which was very easy to find, and the fact that there are so many pictures of vegetables and fruits associated with women is an example of how society wants us to view women.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JjjcAvYBHI

(Disclaimer: There is a very obnoxious man making laughing noises to the images in the video. I would recommend watching the video without audio, but if you so choose to listen to the audio...you have been warned.)

 

"Vegetarianism defines meat eating as an effort at subordinating the natural to the human" (738). The definition that vegetarians use to describe meat eating is awfully similar to that of Speicisism. In a matter of fact it, these two words have the same meaning.  Speceisists discriminate against anything that is nonhuman to show that humans are superior to all other beings. The vegetarian definition implies that if you are a meat eater, you believe that humans are superior to all. Language is everything and very powerful. The words and phrases we are taught to say, often help to belittle animals without us even knowing it. Our language is human male focused and the source of language.  "...we use the word 'animal' as though it did not refer to human beings, as though we too are not animals...We have structured our language to avoid the acknowledgment of our biological similarity." (739) As humans, in a male dominated language, we use several words to separate ourselves from all beings giving humankind superiority and even words that give human males superiority over women human beings. Adams and Donovan further explain this : "Humans generally justify their exploitation of other animals by categorizing 'animals' as inferior and therefore rightfully subjected while categorizing humans as superior  and naturally entitles to dominate." (Adams and Donovan 742). By calling animals "animals" and referring to them as "it" we are putting them below us in status and value when, in fact, we are not that different after all. 

The above chart shows how each animal is unique and how we have the same traits as most of the animals in the world. It also shows which animals are superior to us in many activities such as : swimming, speed, hearing, eyesight, and even life span.

I found this advertisement for PeTA very disturbing. Although they are trying to show that  animals and humans "have the same parts" and that the viewer should "go vegetarian", they are using female sexuality and referring to a woman as a cow. "As a term for a woman, cow is, in anthropologist John Halverson's words, 'thoroughly derogatory', characterizing the woman as fat and dull." (745) People use all sorts of words such as cow, bunny, and bitch to negatively talk about a woman. Insulting both non-human animals and human women. Because of speciesism, the source of all the negativity, domestic animals are forced to serve humans therefore causing humans to have little to no respect for these animals. So when human males or even  human females, refer to other human females as animal names it becomes an insult, when in fact it should not. Nature is beautiful and the way that non-human animals function and the way that human animals function are unique and special which should all be exemplified and respected. 

Day at the Blanton

Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo, a Venetian painter from Venice, is the creator of the painting titled The Storyteller. Tiepolo studied under his father who was an artist. He started creating art at a young age and by the age of 20 he was working for commission.  In his paintings he usual told some sort of story whether being religious or just portraying his surroundings. Besides painting scenes with men and women, Tiepolo usually included a dog “dogs were his favorite animal characters…” (Gealt 74). 

In the painting, made with oil on canvas, The Storyteller, Tiepolo paints a scene where on the edge of a Venetian piazza, a storyteller (aka cantastorie) entertains a group of a higher class.  Tiepolo uses shadow and vivid colors to portray the colorful and lively scene at a low viewpoint. The people in the painting are entertained and mesmerized by this storyteller and they seem to be in the shadows and in dull colors. I found it  very interesting that even though no one in the scene is paying any attention to the dog, which appears to be an English Springer Spaniel, that the woman and the dog in the front of the scene are the easiest to spot and is a focal point in the painting.

The relationship between dogs and the people in the painting is not a good one. These wealthy people seem to pay no attention to the dog, who seems to be looking for scraps, which indicates he is more than likely a street dog. The dog is not bothering anyone nor do the people even seem to be taking notice to the animal at all. Tiepolo places the dog in the center of the painting right next to the woman in orange the brightest and lightest area of the painting.  I found it interesting that no one even notices the dog in the portrait, which indicates that being surrounded by dogs, personal or stray, is something of a normal for these people.  Although you can tell the animal does not belong to anyone in the painting, you can see that he is not starving but is skinny. His weight also indicates that even strays are getting food, which shows that people have compassion or pity for the animal and must feed it scraps often.

Tiepolo, Giovanni Domenico, Adelheid M. Gealt, and George Knox. Domenico Tiepolo, Master Draftsman. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1996. Print.