Bananaland documentary.
This documentary is just one of the many examples of what is happening to keep up this capitalist era. Seeing what it takes to provide these low prices is horrifying. I am very passionate about this topic, seeing the corporations and what they do for profit. It is as though profit has trumped humanity, as though human rights are not as important as money. Being exposed to just a few examples of what they do, I can guess that these people are only focused on money. They live, breathe, and worship money.
In this documentary, there was a story a woman had about when the terrorist organization Chiquita hired murdered her husband and raped her little 11 year old girl in front of her. These people were paid by Chiquita to keep the people under control, as though paying this money to them could not have been used to just pay the workers fair wages? These people are not asking to have better jobs, they are merely asking for fair wages from these corporations but instead this corporation thought a better allocation of money would be to hire a terrorist organization to keep them under control.
These people running these corporations are hidden, seeing as how when a corporation is put in the spotlight they are dubbed the corporations name, such as "Dole". They are not the people's names who made these decisions that the press let out. These companies do not run themselves, they are run by people. People like you and me, but people who have a very skewed way of thinking how life should be; all about profit. Being exposed to just a fraction of what happens behind closed doors has motivated me to give an honest effort in supporting an organic and fair society. It is cool to have things cheap and disposable, but at what cost? Seeing what happens to make these low prices happen makes me sick and hope for a better world in the future.
What is money if you do not have a family, friends, or respect for yourself? The worshipping of money is why the capitalist society thrives as it does and I know that voting with my dollars for a better world is a very small thing in the big-bad corporate world but at least it is something. Standing back and doing nothing is not an option.
Saturday, February 27, 2016
Sunday, February 7, 2016
Blog #3
"Be a man about it."
I have heard this saying numerous times in my life, and I am not even a man. Jon Dukes came into our class with a very interesting, different topic to talk about, something called the "Man Box." Now, whenever people think of someone being objectified, or being held to unrealistic standards, our minds always jump to women. It is not our fault, it is just what we are exposed to (AKA the social media). Jon, on the other hand, brought up these topics but with men in mind. Men, just as women, face the unrealistic standards imposed upon us by the media. Why does no one talk about men? Well, my theory is because they do not talk about it themselves.
The men in my life, most anyway, fit fairly well into this thing Jon introduced, a "Man Box." A "Man Box" is something that women and men have put men into. "Be a man about it" is just one of the examples that men hear on the daily. It is society's view that men should have the power, be the breadwinners, have exceptional muscle tone, and so on. Everyone knows it, this is what we consider to be a so called "man." And this is what the "Man Box" is, where all of these traits lie and thus, where men "should" lie as well.
Now, these traits are not by any means bad, for if we had no one to lead, we would not get anywhere. If families did not have anyone to make the money, they would starve. And having exceptional muscle tone can, if speaking about all natural muscle tone, be indicative of a very healthy individual. It is the fact that these traits that men are "supposed" to have have caused those who don't match up to feel inferior and bad about themselves that makes the "Man Box" bad. Who is to say that a man cannot be a stay-at-home dad? Or brush his daughters hair and paint her nails? These acts have been seen as "women's duties" and therefore if men do them they are some how emasculated. Now, these views I believe are starting to change. I believe that we are already seeing a shift-change to being more flexible about what is feminine and what is masculine, and it is awesome to see.
Thinking that men go through having to live up to unrealistic standards just as women do is, in an odd way, enlightening. I mean this in a way that, as much as men make themselves seem emotionless and strong most of the time, that they too are human and feel just as much as women do but just express themselves differently.
I have heard this saying numerous times in my life, and I am not even a man. Jon Dukes came into our class with a very interesting, different topic to talk about, something called the "Man Box." Now, whenever people think of someone being objectified, or being held to unrealistic standards, our minds always jump to women. It is not our fault, it is just what we are exposed to (AKA the social media). Jon, on the other hand, brought up these topics but with men in mind. Men, just as women, face the unrealistic standards imposed upon us by the media. Why does no one talk about men? Well, my theory is because they do not talk about it themselves.
The men in my life, most anyway, fit fairly well into this thing Jon introduced, a "Man Box." A "Man Box" is something that women and men have put men into. "Be a man about it" is just one of the examples that men hear on the daily. It is society's view that men should have the power, be the breadwinners, have exceptional muscle tone, and so on. Everyone knows it, this is what we consider to be a so called "man." And this is what the "Man Box" is, where all of these traits lie and thus, where men "should" lie as well.
Now, these traits are not by any means bad, for if we had no one to lead, we would not get anywhere. If families did not have anyone to make the money, they would starve. And having exceptional muscle tone can, if speaking about all natural muscle tone, be indicative of a very healthy individual. It is the fact that these traits that men are "supposed" to have have caused those who don't match up to feel inferior and bad about themselves that makes the "Man Box" bad. Who is to say that a man cannot be a stay-at-home dad? Or brush his daughters hair and paint her nails? These acts have been seen as "women's duties" and therefore if men do them they are some how emasculated. Now, these views I believe are starting to change. I believe that we are already seeing a shift-change to being more flexible about what is feminine and what is masculine, and it is awesome to see.
Thinking that men go through having to live up to unrealistic standards just as women do is, in an odd way, enlightening. I mean this in a way that, as much as men make themselves seem emotionless and strong most of the time, that they too are human and feel just as much as women do but just express themselves differently.
Saturday, January 30, 2016
Blog #2
Today I am going to write about the documentary we watched in class, "The hidden face of Globalization". I have been told numerous times, "eat that, there are children in Africa who have no food" (as horrible as that sounds), or "recycle, it'll help save the world!" As a kid, I did not realize the reason why my parents and elders told me these types of things numerous times. Well, today I now know that these types of things are very, VERY important at their core.
This documentary put things into perspective for me. I never really thought of myself as privileged, having grown up in poverty. But, I have always had something to eat and a roof over my head. I did have to work until I was 15, and even then I did not really need to work. These types of things I did not realize not everyone has. This documentary showed me things I do not see from day to day, women working 20+ hours for 11 cents to 17 cents an hour to produce shirts for Wal-mart. Women being beaten and sent to prison if they asked for the wages owed to them. And here I am, complaining about my five hour shift at Domino's where I get paid about 9$ an hour. It is amazing to me the difference in economy and lifestyle across the world, and how putting things into a world perspective as an American makes me see how truly lucky I am. I have never had to starve, sleep in a hut, or work 20+ hours a day. It seems to me a big reason for this lifestyle difference between different parts of the world is the advancement of capitalism and who is at the forefront of this movement.
The U.S. has developed seriously fast, going from the industrial revolution where child labor was prevalent and working 20+ hours a day was common to working a mere 8 hours a day 5 days a week for a good amount of money, in comparison to the rest of the world at least. But, with this serious revolution it has had consequences for the rest of the world. The U.S. has become so much about consumerism that people base their worth, their own self-worth, after their material goods. To keep up with this demand, corporations have had to do some seriously horrible things to keep up. The documentary shows women working hours and hours on the same exact activity, whether it be sewing a button or folding clothes, I cannot imagine how horribly boring that would be or how tired you would get doing this for 20+ hours some days. Not to mention, they make little to nothing doing it. They have gotten stuck in depending on these jobs to, so they cannot complain otherwise the corporation will threaten to leave and take their business elsewhere.
When it comes down to it, I believe the reason why these women are suffering is because of us, the consumers. This documentary just showed one example of the unfair treatment people are getting across the world in factories. The U.S.'s value system has become based on profit and consuming, the cores of capitalism. This documentary has caused me to be much more wary of my buying, and try to buy local as much as I can, because the only way this serious issue is going to be solved is if us, as consumers, start buying from the people who give their workers fair wages, and create products that are environmentally stable and healthy for people. Many people think they cannot do anything about this issue, being a small person vs. a corporation. But us, as a whole, do have a vote. And that vote is in how and where we spend our money.
This documentary put things into perspective for me. I never really thought of myself as privileged, having grown up in poverty. But, I have always had something to eat and a roof over my head. I did have to work until I was 15, and even then I did not really need to work. These types of things I did not realize not everyone has. This documentary showed me things I do not see from day to day, women working 20+ hours for 11 cents to 17 cents an hour to produce shirts for Wal-mart. Women being beaten and sent to prison if they asked for the wages owed to them. And here I am, complaining about my five hour shift at Domino's where I get paid about 9$ an hour. It is amazing to me the difference in economy and lifestyle across the world, and how putting things into a world perspective as an American makes me see how truly lucky I am. I have never had to starve, sleep in a hut, or work 20+ hours a day. It seems to me a big reason for this lifestyle difference between different parts of the world is the advancement of capitalism and who is at the forefront of this movement.
The U.S. has developed seriously fast, going from the industrial revolution where child labor was prevalent and working 20+ hours a day was common to working a mere 8 hours a day 5 days a week for a good amount of money, in comparison to the rest of the world at least. But, with this serious revolution it has had consequences for the rest of the world. The U.S. has become so much about consumerism that people base their worth, their own self-worth, after their material goods. To keep up with this demand, corporations have had to do some seriously horrible things to keep up. The documentary shows women working hours and hours on the same exact activity, whether it be sewing a button or folding clothes, I cannot imagine how horribly boring that would be or how tired you would get doing this for 20+ hours some days. Not to mention, they make little to nothing doing it. They have gotten stuck in depending on these jobs to, so they cannot complain otherwise the corporation will threaten to leave and take their business elsewhere.
When it comes down to it, I believe the reason why these women are suffering is because of us, the consumers. This documentary just showed one example of the unfair treatment people are getting across the world in factories. The U.S.'s value system has become based on profit and consuming, the cores of capitalism. This documentary has caused me to be much more wary of my buying, and try to buy local as much as I can, because the only way this serious issue is going to be solved is if us, as consumers, start buying from the people who give their workers fair wages, and create products that are environmentally stable and healthy for people. Many people think they cannot do anything about this issue, being a small person vs. a corporation. But us, as a whole, do have a vote. And that vote is in how and where we spend our money.
Saturday, January 16, 2016
Blog #1
Skin lightening is something I did not realize even existed.
I learned about this phenomenon in the "Yearning for lightness:
Transnational circuits in the marketing and consumption of skin lighteners by
Evelyn Nakano Glenn" within Chapter 6 of the E&Z book. Racism, as
everyone knows, has been around for a very long time and still exists today. I
believe the reason I have not heard of this new trend is because, as you may
have guessed it, I am white. I am also a woman, so I do know the pressures of
society to be beautiful are daunting.
It was said in the book that "women's worth is judged
heavily on the basis of appearance" (Glenn). It is sad just how much this
quote is true. The trend of skin lightening stemmed from a long history of
racism, where being of a lighter color has many advantages. These advantages
still persist today. In the African American community, "mulattos"
are people who are mixed in color between black and white. These people were
treated with more respect than people with darker skin back when slavery was
very prevalent. It is interesting how a person could be treated like dirt or a
peer based solely on the color of their skin. Skin lightening now is a fad
because of this history.
All over the world, "white privilege" has been for
a long time. Within Chapter 6 in the E&Z book, Evelyn Glenn said “the
ideology of white supremacy … included the association of blackness with
primitiveness, lack of civilization, unrestrained sexuality, and dirt” (Glenn).
This ideology is why skin lightening exists today, those of color want
opportunity. Skin lightening is very dangerous and has been banned in many
places, including Southern Africa. These products are banned for good reason, “containing
mercury, corticosteroids, and high doses of hydroquinone” (Glenn). Even though
the people using these products are aware of the dangerous, life threatening
side effects it means more to them to live a short life of being beautiful and
having opportunity than a long one full of experiencing injustices
done to them and an overall unfair life.
There have been many effects of the harsh racism that once
existed, one being that it still exists today, in a different form. Also, the
beauty ideology has been formed through this part of our past, with most
wanting to be “lighter.” Even those who obtain the most power in the world are
white, and this was influenced by the ideology that “white supremacy” is fact. Overall,
this trend is sad to see but is just one of the horrible things that have
stemmed from a long tension between those of color and those not.
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