Okay, so I liked this topic and spent a lot of time figuring out what I wanted to say, so hopefully I can make some kind of sense. Discrimination has been a natural part of our history, based on race, gender, and other qualifications. Many people have participated in discrimination even without consciously realizing it, by their actions against certain people. Laws have been set up for lowering the amount of discrimination that is apparent in our society, and they have had varying amounts of success.I don't know much about individual anti-discrimination laws, but they seem to all relate to giving minority groups more rights, correct? Also, the definition of a "minority group" is a little fuzzy to me. Why does women count as a minority group? Aren't there just as many women as men, or is my perception of our population just majorly screwed up? I don't know, I could be wrong, I have no idea. I understand Hispanics or blacks in the United States being a minority group, because there is a lesser percentage of them compared to the whole. But isn't the gender ratio relatively equal?
So, I also don't really understand feminists who are obsessed with getting absolutely equal rights and then get pissed when the men fire back at them about things like maternity leave. I don't really get that, but then I also have no idea about the discrimination in the workplace, which is what I think people are generally getting at when they are talking about such issues. I think that if is isn't really a big issue for you, don't worry about it. It's not really worth all the fuss to just get a raise or something just because of being a woman, instead of just taking it. But then, I'm a really easy-going person and don't care much about working politics.
Races are also an interesting discussion. Due to the lovely racism prior to the Civil War, we seem to still have a general spat between blacks and whites, even though most people have gotten over it all. It seems to have gone crazy, with a fuss being made when whites do something racist towards minority groups even if there are cases of the opposite happening. Or maybe that's just what you hear more of, I don't know. I think the laws pertaining to races should be equal, just on principle. I have no idea of they are or not, but they should be.
Now we get to sexual orientation. I think the Chick-Fil-A deal is a bit worn out by now, and I won't go into that at all. I personally think that non-strait people should have all the same rights and freedoms and such that straight people have. It should just be like that, and there shouldn't be a major fuss about it. I could probably go longer on this, but I won't for the sake of everyone reading this post.
So hopefully that wasn't too ramble-y and chaotic. Enjoy reading the news topics that every is going to be posting next week!
Hey Laura, this is more of a general response to posts this week, but also sort of a response to what you had to say.
ReplyDeleteRacism = power + prejudice, so particularly in American, Caucasians hold the institutionalized power and therefore are the ones that can be racist. Minorities can be prejudiced, but lack the power the majority has.
If we are looking for discrimination or racism in obvious ways, I don't think we are going to find them. That's why I focused a bit on the entertainment business. I think they are a great (though unfortunate) example of the institutionalized issues of race, from the way they see light skin as the ideal beauty, to the way so many movie roles are designated Caucasian only because companies believe that is what will make the most money.
I mean, our posts about how we want the world to have everyone on an equal footing were nice, but I still don't think that we have the right to declare whether or not discrimination or racism exist and whether or not anti-discrimination laws are needed. The only ones who can do that are the ones to which the racism/discrimination is happening.
I am, like most of my blog post, focusing on the issue of race. Like you I'm not so concerned with gender issues, mostly because I haven't reached an environment where I am affected. But know that the foreign policy field isn't full of a lot of women, I feel like this is an issue I will end up having to deal with, and care more about beyond health and pay.
"I mean, our posts about how we want the world to have everyone on an equal footing were nice, but I still don't think that we have the right to declare whether or not discrimination or racism exist and whether or not anti-discrimination laws are needed. The only ones who can do that are the ones to which the racism/discrimination is happening."
DeleteThis attitude is something that strikes me as seriously flawed. The underlying prejudices are the problem, and the fact of the matter is that regardless of who has the power, the prejudices go both ways.
I honestly don't have much to say about racism due to relative inexperience with it as an issue, but I would find it incredibly difficult to believe that people don't get screwed out of opportunities due to the fact that they're white.
When it comes to the issue of gender, women are generally considered a de facto minority because of the fact that men have the power, but a discussion I had a few days ago led me to a very interesting comparison. A chick trying to get into game design may be at a slight advantage due to the novelty and wanting to avoid appearances of discrimination, but a dude trying to get into teaching may be seen as creepy or weird and would likely be at a notable disadvantage because of these prejudices.
To sum up, the whole "well, if you're not the minority, then you don't really get to talk about discrimination" attitude seems like bullshit to me.