Feminist/women Perspectives from 50's to today

From the beginning, women were always struggling to gain admiration, status and rights in their society. According to the Oxford dictionary:"Feminism is the idea of equality of the sexes, giving an equality of rights and position in society, it is based on social, political and economical equality for women." The movie Monalisa Smile is important to begin a discover and analyses on feminism since the 50's to our days. Another significant fact of the matter is Betty Friedan. She was one of the most influential women in the history of the feminist movement and her ideas were revolutionary for that epoch.

Set in 1953, the movie Mona Lisa Smile tells the story of Katherine Watson (Julia Roberts), a young art history professor in an all-female campus with a prestigious reputation for academic excellence. She broke taboos, because tradition told women they would be wives and she supported her students to be more than that. Feminine women did not want things like an education, career or independence. She changed their thoughts that finding a husband and having a family was the only option and more important than other things such as a great education. Katherine Watson found the girls very intelligent, but she realized they were only attending school until they found someone to get married. The movie showed how Miss Watson encouraged the girls to go to school, she had a voice. Miss Watson found that having an open mind about the ways of society isn't the way a lot of people thought. The school administration thought that the only way to teach was to follow the books rigorously. Her best student, played by Julia Stiles, has been accepted into Yale Law School, yet decides to get married and forget about a legal career. Can a brilliant woman be happy solely as a wife and mother?

"A woman has got to be able to say, and not feel guilty, who am I, and what do I want out of life?'"-The Feminist Mystique, written by Betty Friedan, who recognized that women needed an outlet for their intellect and their education. In the book, Friedan defines women's unhappiness as ‘‘the problem that has no name”. She blames the idealized image of femininity, which she calls the feminine mystique. According to Friedan, women have been encouraged to confine themselves to a very narrow definition of “true” womanhood, forsaking education and career aspirations in the process by experts who wrote books, columns and books that told women during that era that their greatest role on the planet was to be wives and mothers.

If a woman had a problem in the 1950s and 1960s, she knew that something must be wrong with her marriage. Just what was this problem that has no name? Women were felling incomplete, empty, like they didn't exist. Emptiness was inside those women and they started to realize that something was wrong. They thought the trouble was a crisis in marriage, but the problem was logic, they did not have any challenge, and in life people need something to fight for, a goal. Without an object, there is nothing to accomplish, and this was the dilemma surrounding all these ladies. The wrong part of the life that those women were having was to be accustomed with the household life, and be satisfied with that. If they get together with other housewife’s, the subject was superficial, only relationships and emotions. They had no great and new experiences to exchange. Those women had to look for achieving power, energy, influence and most of all they needed ambition, that is a good thing if the objective is to obtain success and prosperity in life.

They were frightened that too much culture would be a barrier in their life, and they would not be able to concern for the kitchen. This typical housewife life was considered the only normal path for a woman to follow. Betty Friedan's Problem That Has No Name describes what women were feed as what should be done and how to do it: Over and over Women heard in voices of tradition that they could desire no greater destiny then to glory in their own femininity. The problem was an idealized image of femininity.


The movie “his girl Friday” is an illustration of how it was for woman. They were sure that they had to decide between having an occupation and a career, or a family life. The schools instructors and gentlemen’s supported that idea, and the women had to accept that and be all right. Hildy Johnson was a very intelligent and classy woman that helped to save a criminal guy life, because she wanted an interview. She was going to settle down with a husband and turn out to be like all other women, but she had principals of morality, and she took the right conduct, following her ideals. Hildy would agree with the women that wanted something else, because she had substance. His Girl Friday marked the transition from working women for ends other than marriage to statements regarding money.

With the start of the twentieth century, more and more women carry the desire to have a career outside the home. Men frequently represented women as unworthy of a more active role in society. While today's young women have the independence and opportunities that previous generation could only dream of, some don't seem all interested in have them. Paris Hilton is an example that scares me. My generation has her as an icon and idol. Should anyone have a role model like that? Celebrity culture has entered the collective consciousness of modern society to an extent that the phenomenon of celebrity is not earned by any personal talent. For me an example of woman would be someone with at least a degree. Someone who could speak, showing intelligence and knowledge about any subject, someone with values of perseverance, integrity and devotion in life.

In brief, those entire women in 1950 and earlier 60s had no responsibility for taking those choices, it seemed right for them; they could tell that they were born just for that. They had no examples of very powerful women to follow. The typical model of the perfect family doubtless did not work for so long because the emptiness of a life for others was evident, and everybody needs to nourish the mind with information, and only having a degree or a career they would percept the essentials of living, being independent and having moments for their own as well.

It is very important for a female to educate herself and to have a career. If women keep fighting for what they want some day all people will be treated equally no matter what their gender is. Women of the past fought long and hard for equal rights and we have to appreciate that. Before, their only purpose was to procreate and serve men. We can find ourselves overwhelmed by our many responsibilities. In today's society, a woman has the opportunity to perceiver in whatever she chooses to do, whether it be a housewife or the CEO of a major corporation. The impact of feminism on today's society is amazing, because more women are working outside the home than ever before. Women have more opportunities to go to college, and to better jobs than any other time in history. Today I see a large proportion of women in many countries that are as well qualified as any man. Unfortunately, today, women are still paid less than men are, even when they do similar work and have similar education, skills and experience.

Women can't retreat to a life of raising children and cooking meals just because of the society pressure. How can a lady enjoy any liberty if she lacks knowledge? Women have now emerged from laundry rooms and kitchens across the country and changed the demographics of the American workforce.
Even in some of the most male dominated industries the female’s perspectives are increasing. Women got to work for reasons that are every bit as particular as men's. Also, work provides individuals sense of dignity and self-worth.

The media has prejudices and stereotypes through its representation of women and has impact on everyone, everywhere. The magnitude of the problem varies from country to country, but the inequality between men and women is caused by stereotypes. American culture has devoted them to a mass communications lifestyle in which they base most of their well being upon. It is very unfortunate that the media influences American society to the point that it defines the "ideal woman". Society and culture are what influence a person’s view on beauty. The media has the greatest influence on western society. The more technology that is created, the more unrealistic our ideas of the "perfect" woman become.

For businesses, having women leaders isn’t about being politically correct. It’s about survival, says Joyce Gioia, co-author of How to Become an Employer of Choice. "Women will lead the corporations of the future, and if you don’t have women leaders you might not be in business in the future," she declares.

Although, females as a whole remain at a distant disadvantage in many aspects of life, they have still gone a long way from the days of the kitchen. The ideology is dominant throughout western history and what is believed as 'normal' to the society. Most women today are seeing themselves through different eyes. The women's movement started decades ago but still many women choose one or the other, family or career. We must learn from our history or we will repeat it. For women of all economic status, capacities, races, ideologies and abilities to become equal in this society they need to earn equal pay for equal work and have acceptance from the "machos" in the workplace.

Immigration in the United States

Immigration in the United States can be a controversial issue; many people say this phenomenon is irreversible. Millions of people are tempt to leave their homeland and cross national borders to improve their quality of life. Unauthorized immigration has been a major political issue in the U.S. Many of these immigrants come here with nothing more than their bodies. The truth is America has always struggled with the issue of immigration, both legal and illegal. Americans claim that the immigrants are destroying the American culture, way of life, and are responsible for a big part of crimes and drug trafficking. This issue has a bad impact in the education, business, social services and poverty but also has some advantages. The low paying labor jobs case is an example, Americans refuse to do it. Would Americans fill these jobs, at a higher wage, if foreigners were not available? Honestly, there are many different perspectives of the American Dream and the point is whether to treat illegal immigrants as victims, criminals, or as potential U.S. citizens.

They generally know the language less well and are less familiar with the culture. They often work harder and for longer hours. The argument is that the illegal immigrants are taking jobs away from American workers, hurting the economy. In many parts of the United States native-born workers still do the jobs. When employers say immigrants "take jobs Americans don't want," they really mean that immigrants "take jobs Americans don't want at the wages I want to pay." Policing the places where immigrants work can reduce the number of illegal immigrant living in the United States, because it can reduce the number of jobs open to them and also eliminate a principal reason for coming. Despite government efforts to control immigration, the United States population includes millions of illegal immigrants who choose to turn a blind eye to the law and become U.S. residents without official permission.

According to the Wikipedia, "Most illegal immigrants live in families where the adults are undocumented, but the children are U.S. born. An estimated 13.9 million people, including 4.7 million children, live in families in which the head of household or the spouse is an unauthorized immigrant". The children of these immigrants will soon enter the labor force and begin paying taxes, supporting their kids' education.

Americans are less opposed about immigration than they have been before, according to a new poll by NPR, the Kaiser Family Foundation and Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. People may just want a fresh start, why deny them of that?

Illegal immigration is an on-going issue, which is of much importance in the United States today. There are people on the U.S. side who speak no English, read no U.S. newspapers, and watch no U.S. television. Perhaps the most telling way to assess the immigrant contribution is to ask what would happen if the influx stopped or if those already here left the country. How does illegal immigration affect U.S economy? Immigrants increase the supply of labor in the economy, and for a change America provides them with a higher income and quality of life.

What do American citizens feel about illegal immigration? In Washington State, the Elway Poll showed that Washington voter’s biggest concern was that illegal immigrants use services, yet do not pay for taxes. Is not possible to predict the role of immigration in America’s future but if this tax problem doesn't reach an end, the economy is going to suffer a decline soon.

An advantage about immigrants, according to the site http://www.newsbatch.com/immigration.htm, is that "Studies have indicated that because most immigrants occupy low-paying, low-skill jobs, their presence is complementary. Because of their contributions, the overall economy is stronger and the wage level and standard of living of most native workers is higher than would exist if they were not present. In particular, the high concentration of undocumented workers in the agricultural industry keeps food prices relatively low." This is something considerable, the immigrants in this case can complete what people really need, low prices on food.

According to the site http://www.nytimes.com, the fast food business has spread all over the nation and is now served at restaurants and drive-through, at stadiums, airports, zoos, high schools, elementary schools, universities, on cruise ships, trains, and airplanes, at K-Marts, Wall-Marts, gas stations, and even at hospital cafeterias. Eric Schlosser wrote the book "Fast Food Nation" and according to him, Americans spent more than $110 billion a year on the fast food. Americans today spend more money of fast food than in higher education. This growth of the fast food industry demanded workers, and the people that want to take these jobs are immigrants. "McJob, a low-pay, low-prestige job that requires few skills and offers very little chance of intercompany advancement." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McJob). McDonalds makes billions and billions of dollars every year by selling things for such a low price and making a very large profit. Eric Schlosser, presents the harsh realities of the unfair labor practices of the fast food industry. Fast food corporations employ more people than other corporations in the world. They prefer unskilled workers that have absolutely no experience. Americans think that Non-English speaking workers take jobs away from American people because they will work for cheaper wages. When Americans prevent immigrants from taking those jobs, producers and consumers suffer the consequences.

Especially since the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001, Americans have attempt to find a elixir for the immigration issue. Visa process has become so hard to attain in order to visit, study, and work in the United States. Most international arrivals to the U.S are expected delays because of the immigration process they have to go through.

International borders have always been centers of conflict, and the U.S.-Mexican border is no exception. One of the most controversial political issues of today is that of illegal immigrants from Mexico. Americans need to recognize that migration from Mexico to the United States is here to stay. So they need to realize, as Wayne Cornelius expressed in the LA newspaper on Mexican immigration "These migrants pay into the Social Security trust fund millions of dollars that they will never collect, as well as state income taxes, and even property taxes for which they will receive relatively few benefits." This is a point of view that many Americans don't know about it. When they are trying to exterminate Mexicans, they should think concerning the benefits.

The United States takes on most of the deficits that illegal immigration causes; having to deal with the abuse of social services by non-citizens. The United States had long been the world’s chief receiving nation for immigrants. The continued influx of illegal immigrants promotes disrespect for the law. Also population increase which results in the overcrowding of cities.

United States had witnessed the transformation from American Indian to a rich array of ethnic and racial population. Immigrants give America the chance to know the culture of many countries. They bring in their religion, culture and ideology.
Without any restrictions the country would be overflowing with immigrants, but if completely prohibited the country would lose its diversity and much of its low-income work force.

Immigrants help build this country, the government must make sure that the rights of the immigrants are respected, in order to improve not only their lives but also the economy of the whole country. A diverse population with countless ethnicities, races and creeds is what makes America special.....immigration statistics must be studied by both sides in order to reach a decision most beneficial to American nation. International migration is a practical element of modern societies, rich and poor, that resolves the uneven distribution of people and opportunities.

Euthanasia - Artificial Life or Natural Death?

Euthanasia has to do with the quality of life, dependency, personal beliefs, suffering, morality, and death itself. The practice of euthanasia is illegal in most countries. According to the site http://members.tripod.com, there are three basic types of euthanasia: voluntary, non-voluntary and involuntary active or passive. Everyone deserves respect and the power to control their own destiny. There are medical, religious and ethical arguments about euthanasia.

The issue of euthanasia has been on the media's forefront for several years. There are several pros and cons to this issue. With an assisted suicide a person and his or her family can be relieved of the agony of the illness. According to the Newsweek magazine from last January, some people have suggested that we legalize physician-assisted suicide in California. They argue that we should find death before it finds us, and that the right to die is the right-to-choose. On the other hand, if killing sick people began legal, then people may die simply because they have become a burden. One of the very important things about euthanasia is that it keeps people from suffering like family members, and also the person. If they are choosing euthanasia is because they are experiencing a lot of painful and traumatic illnesses and is it is better to practice euthanasia when there is no cure for them.

It bothers me just to think that someone would kill his or her loved ones, but sometimes is the only way when dead is the one which is extended, and life is hidden with machines making terminally ill patients into prisoners of technology. People should have the right to take their lives if they are totally dependent on others or machines. I feel a person is entitled to
that choice.

Supporters of euthanasia hold autonomy, individuality, and self-determination as their highest values. I think that voluntary euthanasia should be permitted and unnatural death should not be considered unethical or suicide. A person's life and body are their own business. I think we should legalize Euthanasia. We live in a democratic society where we are free to make these decisions.

The assistance by a doctor is not euthanasia, but a relief of pain administered by a doctor. There is an injection to make the patient comatose, followed by a second injection to stop the heart (www.euthanasia.org/dutch.html). This circumstance is obviously one in which the patient is destined to death and is in pain. Euthanasia affects not only the person who dies, but other family, friends and those doctors or individuals who help make that decision.

In the Non-Voluntary Euthanasia cases, the decision is not made by the person who is going to die. The patient must be an infant, very old, mentally impaired, very ill physically and mentally, unconscious, or not competent to make such decision. Is euthanasia ethical? According to religious organizations, some fear that the act will be the first step to a society who will kill elderly or disabled people against their will. If voluntary euthanasia were to become legal, it would not be long before involuntary euthanasia would start to happen. But only the voluntary should be legalized.

The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, in an entry last updated on Feb. 19, 2007, defines voluntary euthanasia in the following way:"Those instances of euthanasia in which a clearly competent person makes a voluntary and enduring request to be helped to die." Should voluntary euthanasia be legalized? If the lack of money or health insurance exists, why not? Having to lay in bed twenty-four hours a day is no way to live a life. Voluntary euthanasia is when the patient requests that he wants to die by the drug. Someone argue that euthanasia can release pain of patients and it is a mercy way for those who are near death. Should people have the choice to end their own life? The main reason for euthanasia would have to reside upon the unbearable pain of the patient. I believe people should never take the fast way to end their lives, but should be their decision in a extreme case. Some people can just commit suicide without any help. If is legalized, they can say good bye to the loved ones. Let people die in peace, rather than suffering to the end. I am talking about a terminally ill patient’s life that should be ended at his /her request. People shouldn't just give up on life; they should live it out to the end, but when they are sure that the end is very near, why not evict the worst phase of life? Death is an unavoidable event and happens to everyone.

Passive euthanasia, on the other hand, is rarely debated and usually never enters the mind's eye because it is typically looked at as letting someone die naturally. There are many cases in which euthanasia is acceptable. Brain death is one situation. Not one person should have to suffer from a disease that is incurable and leads inevitably to death. Death in dignity is a very important part of life. Euthanasia allows this to happen.

Active euthanasia is a cowardly thing to do because it is like giving up on life as soon as something goes wrong. Is it not better to attempt to keep them alive and they still die a natural death than to not try and give up all hope on our loved ones? My argument is that the person can be sick for twenty years, lying in the hospital bed coupled to machines. After time, this won't be the person that you knew and loved.

Dr. Neil Campbell, author of "A Problem for the Idea of Voluntary Euthanasia," questions whether there can be a such thing as voluntary euthanasia. Euthanasia, or physician-assisted suicide, is the intentional termination of life by another at the explicit request of the person who dies. Dr. Campbell's main argument is that "if the pain and suffering are by definition unbearable, then it seems clear enough that the decision to die is not freely chosen but is compelled by the pain." Dr. Campbell, a Seasonal Instructor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Calgary, believes there is no clear cut way to differentiate between "voluntary" and "involuntary" euthanasia under certain conditions. Involuntary euthanasia is when the person who is killed made an expressed wish to the contrary. This is really hard, but some cases such as coma or in a very young baby case, is necessary to make the decision.

Somebody said to me once that euthanasia was bad because it messes with God's will, and I argued that if that were true then keeping people alive with machines was also messing with God's will, and is just as unnatural. People who have experienced this case say that euthanasia is the best option for the patient and the family. People should have the right to end one’s life in a peaceful, dignified manner.

One of the biggest controversies of this decade is euthanasia, is a struggle that involves different points of view. I strongly believe that everyone has the right to choose how to die, if the person is very sick. There are so many different arguments possible on each side of the case; such as it's the people right to choose to pass on or it’s ethically wrong to do this. In either case, active or passive, the victim will die.

Miley cyrus

The Walt Disney Corporation was not a bit of outraged when its billion dollar child star Miley Cyrus appeared in Vanity Fair wearing only a bed sheet, as shown in the leftmost image above. The last cover of Vanity Fair magazine brought a considerable reaction on the American nation. People are concerned, especially parents of young children, they think the picture was very inappropriate for a kid of her age, fifteen years, and that children should not be portrayed as sexual beings. In the cover you can see Miley Cyrus, which is a singing and acting sensation known to her legions of teenage fans from the Disney Channel series "Hannah Montana."

There are pictures where she appears with her dad, but the one that is generating “embarrassment” is the picture where she is half nude. The photo, and subsequently released behind-the-scenes photos, shows Cyrus without a top, her bare back exposed but her front covered with a bed sheet. The Cyrus family was completely involved in the shoot, maybe which is why she looks natural, and pretty. It is art. Compare these photographs to other scandals and you can see is not that bad, the problem is that she is a young woman and a role model to younger girls.

According to the newspaper L.A Times the Vanity Fair site crashed because of high traffic Monday April 28, 2008, the day the photos were published online. The Vanity Fair shoot could have been an attempt to rebrand Cyrus as an artist in her own right, paving the way for a post-Hannah Montana career. Vanity Fair defended the shoot, reminding people that the young actress father also posed in the session.

In an interview with USA Today, Cyrus was quoted as saying her faith is "the main thing" and is the reason why she works in Hollywood. A Disney Channel spokesperson says: "Unfortunately, as the article suggests, a situation was created to deliberately manipulate a fifteen year old in order to sell magazines." Miley should not be blamed for the picture because she is too young to see herself in a sexy way, and probably the parents didn't think the picture would be taken that seriously. At the same time, she is growing up and singing her own music, with a more distinct personality, talking about relationships but in an appropriate way for her age. In the site www.metrolyrics.com, is possible to find the lyrics from the songs she is singing at the moment and being recognized for, such as the hit "see you again", which has this chorus "I knew you were something special, when you spoke my name, now I can't wait, to see you again". Her music sounds cheese, obviously sentimental, but is not infantilized nor too sexually advanced. In a couple years Miley is going to change her image from innocence to sexy when her fan base become teenagers.

There has been a lot of controversy surrounding Miley Cyrus Vanity Fair photo that everyone from Cyrus to photographer Annie Leibovitz are apologizing and backtracking on the entire incident. This photographer is the same person that took the picture of Lebron James and Gisele, which also created a situation of controversy. The reality is Annie Liebovitz is the most iconic photographer of her generation. She is not culpable because probably there is a team of experts on images, professionals that are ready to look attentively and give their view on the circumstance. As stated by Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, since 1983, Leibovitz has worked as a featured portrait photographer for Vanity Fair, and I think she has personal experience to know the power of this magazine influence. The wikipidia display a statement that Leibovitz released saying:"I'm sorry that my portrait of Miley has been misinterpreted". Responding to all the media expressions and feelings, Cyrus apologizes: " took part in a photo shoot that was supposed to be ‘artistic’ and now, seeing the photographs and reading the story, I feel so embarrassed. I never intended for any of this to happen and I apologize to my fans that I care so deeply about." Hannah has expressed embarrassment about the pose. I'm sure she didn't have any problems with the pictures until she got some negative feedback. This is wrong, a fifteen year old girl perhaps don't relate with sexuality, and since she doesn't have the mental capacity to make adult decisions, her manager or parents have. They were all there to analyze the cover situation and concord with that. It is undeniable, that she is getting older and changing her manners. But she still a kid and can be manipulated, the adults involved need to be held responsible for her next moves, pay attention to not bring this kind of exposition again. She needs to focus on her career.

Magazines and internet are a vital source from which many Americans receive information. Both the publication and the singer Hannah Montana can help. Vanity Fair can start a campaign to achieve opportunity for poor kids. Poverty is something that not only effects adults, but children as well and is a growing problem every day. Also children maltreatment and abuse should be explored and communicated for all the readers. Miley Cyrus could get the money earned for the cover and voluntarily engage her in various sorts of children charity, doing an effort to help the disadvantaged kids, for example providing funds to financially support education for them. The Disney Channel should offer concerts with a charity purpose more often, since Miley is very well known person, her popularity can be intend to the benefit of helping people.

Of the many atrocities committed against the innocent youth of the world, the commercial sexual exploitation of children is perhaps the most abominable. Everybody worried with the Miley Cyrus cover should be preoccupied with real problems like child prostitution. According to UNICEF, one million children will enter the sex tourism industry next year. An estimated 1.2 million children were trafficked last year and exploited for various types of labor, including prostitution. A child deserves to be respected and safe. The quality of schools attended is important but for the children without access to education is important to have parents at least try to give expectations.

Some of the most preventable diseases known to humans are hate and gender differences. Instead of perturbation about the cover of Vanity Fair, those unoccupied have to bother about hunger children. Due to insufficient resources some families don't have food. This is also a disorder.

I think we have allowed the media to determine what is moral for us. In general, are they infecting our young people with these negative self-images as exploitation? People lately seem to see something perverted in everything they look at. Michele Combs, a spokesperson for Christian Coalition of America, told Usmagazine.com that “Disney should reprimand her.” I agree that young girls need positive role models, but this is a artistic image that should not be viewed at sexually, but rather artistically. It seems like people jump at any excuse to criticize, She is a teen and child symbol. The picture can be considered a transformation of a child to a young woman.

In this case there is no difference between a blanket and a dress. I don’t see the huge deal with this picture, is just showing her back, that picture is hardly exposing, would it be worst if she was wearing a small bikini.

The New York Times originally published a sensational front cover with the headline “A Topless Photo Threatens a Major Disney Franchise.” They are overreacting. Maybe the problem isn’t so much sexual promotion, but rather commercialization. The Times should go after the alcohol and tobacco industries, which is influential in a bad way and inadequate for children.

In conclusion, I must remind everyone that there is not one single consumer in the Hanna Montana universe who reads Vanity Fair, if children are too young to understand these pictures, and then they are probably too young to be reading Vanity Fair. From my perspective, there is nothing wrong with the picture, she was not exploited. I don't blame her at all. If there was a responsible should be the parents and her representatives. Now if a parent does not want their children idolizing Cyrus only because the picture is a little unsuitable, it is up to them to tell their children that is pornography, which do not qualifies. A little overexposed? Yes. Not indecent. Although I'm not too much of a fan with the music and shows, I am aware of the Disney image she's obtained and with or without these photos she is an icon for the next teenager generation.

Hip Hop and Rap

Commercial hip-hop has worsened what singers in the past decades tried to establish. A new culture of music, attitude and dance. Today hip-hop culture is identified with cash, cars, violence, war, diamonds, racism, guns, sexual promiscuity, and drugs. By promoting illegal activities, is far away from delightful and peaceful lyrics. Hip-hop can be explored and used as a valuable tool in examining gender relations. Hip Hop was a movement and in the present is an obligatory tendency for most of teenagers. Hip-Hop has undergone changes that traditionalist would consider degenerating to our civilization. I like the beats, chorus, the honest way that portray reality of the conditions they were exposed to and the way it takes me to “the top of the charts”.

The culture associated with the music has drastically changed. Hip-hop represents race, ethnicity, class, gender, and generation. Hip-Hop culture has always been popular among young people, and the rappers don’t seem to be concerned about their music effects on kid’s behavior. Although created by black youth on the street, hip hop's influence has become worldwide. The issue is that Hip-hop is spreading everywhere, is all pervasive in the charts and fills the clubs and homes of people from all genders, ages and ethnics. Many other types of music can be a culture too, and each person feels if it is a culture to them or not.

As stated by Light, Alan, ed. The Vibe History of Hip Hop. New York: Three Rivers Press, 1999. "In the late 1970’s a new, popular form of urban youth culture emerged in the Bronx that changed the face of popular music and American culture." According to the Wikipedia, Hip Hop began in New York City predominantly among African Americans, arose during the 1970s when block parties became common, especially the Bronx. Rap continues to be popular among today's urban youth for the same reasons it was in the early days: it is still an accessible form of self expression.

Music deserves as much scrutiny and discussion by educational scholars as television, movies, or other media. The music industry plays a huge role in today’s society from many different angles. I am addicted to music. People that don't listen at home probably listen when driving or at a bar. With the actual technology, everybody can download music for free on the internet and update their mp3 players and iPods. Rap music has a major effect on the violence that teens involve themselves in today. The negative aspects of rap music is revealed through artists not setting good examples, the disrespectful, explicit and violent lyrics Rap music influences teenagers negatively by increasing violent attitudes and promoting sexual aggression against women. Talking about the ladies, Lauryn Hill blends all that is good about hip-hop, soul, reggae, and rock without the self-consciousness of other genre hoppers. She has the best voice in the world and she knows how to talk about freedom. She used to sing only hip-hop but not in an aggressive way, she says that "we must destroy in order to rebuild", and she sings about rebellion but in a reality form that brings progress for her listeners. Her last CD acoustic had this lyric:

"Yo, there's a war in the mind, over territory
For the dominion
Who will dominate the opinion
Skisms and isms, keepin' us in forms of religion
Conformin' our vision
To the world churches decision
Trapped in a section
Submitted to commiting election
Moral infection
Epedemic lies and deception
Insurrection
Of the highest possible order
Destortin' our tape recorders..."

She is an example that you can talk about real issues and still be triumphant in the public eye.

Popular music, for teens has always been controversial, but sex, violence, beatings, and suicide are considered extreme ideas. Entertainment corporations, record labels, producers and directors give the sensation that they think this is very normal. Today's teenagers would not read poetry and comprehend the message, but, they would listen to rap and be able to understand the idea that the artist is trying to express.

Now Hip Hop has become a symbol of corporate America, and it is unlikely Hip Hop will have the free expression and voice it used to have. All musicians have a right to say whatever they want in their music. Listening to famous artists who have become successful for singing about their struggles helps kids to deal with their problems, because this form of music was formed in this poverty stricken areas, the lyrics tend to be somewhat provocative and politically incorrect. Most of the rappers are distorting an interpretation of what actually happens on the streets, because they don't live there anymore and are full of money in their pockets. From films to magazines, to music, to fashion, the Hip-hop business has impression on all atmospheres of American mass culture.

What hip-hop culture has essentially done is make explicit the very crisis of identity that the black public at large faces. According to literary scholar Sharon Patricia Holland, “identity only becomes an issue when it is in crisis, when something assumed to be fixed, coherent and stable is displaced by the experience of doubt and uncertainty.” (See Sharon Patricia Holland, Raising the Dead: Readings of Death and (Black) Subjectivity [Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2000], 137). The word “nigger” is one of the many popular words of hip hoppers. They use the word as a term of affection, contrary to the standard insulting meaning of the word. Post Civil Rights, post LA Riots, post MTV, the hip-hop generation has been less concerned with the sound of the term “nigger”.

In direct contrast to the public impression of hip hop, some authors have positive messages: “Hip hop is a cultural form that was originally created by African Americans and was once owned and controlled by them. More recently, however, the culture has been hijacked by white music executives who have transformed its message into a glorification of violence, crime, drug abuse, and misogyny. As a result, the white establishment in the music industry has perpetuated false and negative stereotypes of black people. This has proved damaging not only to the African American community, but the nation as a whole.” Nelson George, Hip Hop America. Nelson George has written a history of hip hop culture. He discusses its origins, the influences , the businesses that grew up around it. I read his book and I realized that are many Hip-Hop artist that put out a positive vibration in their music, the main problem is that those singers are currently absent from many major radio stations that predominantly play songs dominated by futile, pointless, senseless, insignificant, meaningless, and trivial lyrics. Not that there’s anything wrong with that sometimes. There are days and nights where you just want to dance. But this generation needs a bigger vision.

Hip hop culture is really amazing and people who listen to rap and hip hop in the radios today may hate it, but they don't understand the history that comes behind. Also, many individuals can confuse hip hop singers, which have political awareness, with bad rappers. The glorification of drug dealing, pimping, pot smoking and violence is common in gangster rap but many hip hop songs talk about love in an entertaining way. Many times many of these rappers like 2pac contradict themselves talking about killing each other in one lyric, and changes and better days in other. He would engage in a speech against women, and then protect them bravely. He was a tremendous inspiring and fantastic singer/men, even though controversial. Still 2Pac had profound and heavy letters; he used his feelings from his unstable childhood and life in the inner city. Today is hard to find a rap singer that talk about issues so well like he did. I'm not going to say that some youth won't listen to some rap music and get the wrong idea, but that also can happen with other types of music such as Heavy Metal.

From my experience I see that Hip Hop is huge in California and New York City, where was originated. East and West coast have introduced the most famous rappers from the past to today. Regularly new songs and artists are presented in the media, and there is plenty space for all the ex-amateurs. There is a big sphere for the talented ones. By listening to Hip Hop in the radios is realizable that there is a mixture of rhythmic sounds, since the technology these days has all kinds of devices, sometimes you can't differ a real voice from one created in studios or a instrument from a machine tool.

Society has always been able to move on and eventually accept different ways of expressing oneself, and hip-hop should be no different. Music has a very powerful influence on our emotions, moods, and behavior. If more artists concentrated on positive messages, since Hip-Hop is the main money maker in the music industry, the impact could be revolutionary. Regardless of how many rap artists land in jail or end up dead, this music will live on.

Sex Roles

The most common and traditional gender roles imply that men are supposed to be “masculine” and women are supposed to be “feminine.” Defined using dictionary.com, masculine means “having qualities traditionally ascribed to men, such as strength and boldness,” while feminine means “having qualities traditionally ascribed to women, such as sensitivity or gentleness.” The society regard that women accept what happens and allows what others do, without response or resistance, and that they require someone for financial, emotional, and other support, all of this by its nature. On the opposite side, men should have the courage to face extreme danger and difficulty, without retreating, and have the power to perform physically demanding tasks. Many social scientists are interested about studying these stereotypes. How do these gender differences occur? Is it because of the cultural influence or the biological condition? Do their hormonal differences influence their behaviors and attitudes? Does culture determine gender roles?

Men and Women have different chromosomes and the genetic structure is a decisive factor for the physical development of the human body. In earlier periods was understandable roles, man had to hunt and women were limited to the domestic sphere. Today with developed industries and suppose equality among any gender, this role should not be the reality .Gender roles are what men and woman learn as the way they are supposed to act.

Jerry Levy of the University of Chicago has found differences in the way male and female brain are arranged, in a systematic way, and he said that these differences in brain function are caused by the hormonal effect. As far as the theory that hormones or genes may control the personality traits or behaviors of each gender, so far, there has been absolutely no direct evidence that this is the case (Renzetti & Curran, 1989). Professor Steven Goldberg, Chairman of the Department of Sociology at City College of New York has written a book with the provocative title, Why Men Rule-A Theory of Male Dominance. He believes that the high level of testosterone in males drives them toward dominance in the world, while the lack of high levels of this hormone in women creates a natural, biological push in the direction of less dominant and more nurturing roles in society.

Women and men are settling into predetermined cultural molds when it comes to gender in American society. The notion that women are more emotional, and men more logical and mathematical, is mostly stereotype. Women just are more concerned than men about the quality of interpersonal relationships. Part of the masculine gender role is to be independent and assertive.

According to Hamilton McCubbin and Barbara Blum Dahl, the writers of the chapter “Sex Roles " , from the book marriage and family: Individuals and life Cycles (1985) "most differences between females and males are learned through family interactions, socialization in schools and the mass media." Men are more likely to be perceived as aggressive and competitive, women are more likely to be viewed as passive and cooperative. Traditionally, men have been viewed as financial providers, whereas women have been viewed as caretakers.

In the past decades, men were defined through their employment; women were identified with reproduction or domestic labor. In terms of gender roles, a functionalist would argue that in preindustrial societies, such as those which depended on hunting and gathering, men and women fulfilled different roles and took on different tasks because it was most useful or functional for society to do so.

Women and men communicate very differently. Communicative behaviors that are acceptable for gentlemen, for example, may be considered completely inappropriate for ladies. When women have to make a decision they will often process and look at options out loud while men tend to process internally until they come up with a solution. One of the most traditional hypothesis is the one John Gray wrote about in his book Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus, which essentially points to differences in brain structure, hormones, and socialization as the cause of such an enormous gender gap in communication. The attitudes and differences for men and women towards communication are starting to increasingly get better through each decade. Much of this change can be explained by social changes.

Sport on television is ruled by men and this determines men in relation to rivalry and power. When we watch TV ads we see that women are always connected somehow with ads for soap or for food products that need cooking. The men tend to be focus in any ad involving something mechanical. The media influences children into traditional stereotypical roles, because of the prevalence of such images on TV, which offers a wide range of potential role-models, both positive and negative. According to Van Evra, Repetti (1984) found no relationship between the amount of viewing time, and the amount of gender stereotyping in children. What Repetti did find, however, was that the amount of viewing was found to be negatively associated with stereotyping.

Women have had equal rights in the United States for quite a few years now but most societies are not used to women being in roles that men traditionally hold. The impact of these prejudices reach into the lives of all women as they make decisions about what to aim for, what to study, how to support themselves and their families economically, and what they might contribute to their communities at the local, national, and global levels.

As soon as a baby enters the world, it receives messages about gender. Culture dictates, at a very young age, how boys and girls are supposed to act, feel and respond to certain situations, in the United States, for example, disposable diapers come adorned in pink for girls and blue for boys. Girls study faces while men are obsessed with sports.

A women's role has changed in a impressionably way and is creating its greatest impact in our society today. Years ago, women's contribution to society was limited and managed by men. Women’s impact is simply due to the fact that they are now educating themselves. They are now involved with the improvement of their own position. Women are fighting for their rights and are slowly progressing and participating in activities that they were not allowed before; they have achieved power and now have an appetite for it.

Women find maturity younger than men for physical and emotional reasons. They are more advanced in all social skills since childhood. Girls start to show interesting in boys while they still want to play with toys.

I am young and never experienced myself marriage and the problems that comes with it, but I hope in the future the duties of a father will vary greatly throughout the world. Is important for the father to share the household tasks, be ready to help, even though it's something women are usually better at, mom and dad should share household responsibilities.

Communication between the genders has become more prevalent in society, as norms have changed. When one adds the mobility of the American population and the differences among the cultures they represent, both the importance and difficulty of effective communication increases. Men prefer just the facts, women tell the whole story.

Since scientists would have to use a lot of evidence in order to establish the male/female differences, I find hard to get in a conclusion. Males and females play very different roles and these differences are apparent in our everyday lives. These differences are not the same as they used to be. Society has changed the way it treats men and women over time. The role process depends on the education people had and that can determine the "part in a play”, in this case, real world. Gender relations are a part of the socialization process, and parents should teach their children certain important values since their beginning in the social life. Our society has seen numerous changes in these roles.

Americans Values and assumptions

Americans uphold the ideal that everyone "is created equal" and has the same rights. This includes women as well as men of all ethnic and cultural groups living in the U.S. There are even laws that protect this "right to equality" in its various forms. The assumption that equality is a major point in American culture is beneficial for all the races and genders is very appropriate when a person comes from other country and have the opportunity to get a job. America started as an immigrant nation and has continued to be so. People all over the world come to America for several reasons. The question is: Equality among whom? Equality for groups rather than individuals. For poor communities, disabled children or groups that suffer racial and ethnic prejudices. The concept of justice in this case is what is important, and the moral equality needs ethical behavior.

The Americans are advantageously better educated compared to most of the cultures. Individualism and self-reliance are valued traits in American life, and society encourages people to make most personal, career, and educational decisions independently. Equality is one of the most cherished value and Americans believe that competition brings out the best in any individual. Also, communication is the most important quality for anyone to work on if they want to be part of an intercultural society, such as the American.

A very important part of this whole process of becoming independent is going away to college. In the United States when teenagers graduate from high school, they leave their homes to start college in a different city, and become independent. This is good because the student gets a new life with obligations that make it dependable of himself. Modern society finds important that people think independently and this is considered a positive skill, to have the absolute freedom to do what you want.

In the world, we meet different kinds of people every day, they come from different cultural background and this is a type of intercultural communication. Many Americans tend to be outgoing and are willing to assist international students, sometimes offering hospitality in their homes. You may find the competitive value disagreeable, especially if you come from a society that further the progress of cooperation rather than competition, but when I was sixteen years old I went to live in Arkansas for six months as an exchange student. With this experience I learned about American culture and I observed that competition, not only in grades but in sports, makes you do your best, and this attitude reflects on who people can be. The advantage of a good education is to give a person the chance to make the most of his or her talents. Learning is the most powerful tool in the world.

Americans view themselves as highly individualistic in their thoughts and actions. Individualism leads to privacy, which Americans see as desirable. According to the book The Myth of American Individualism, published Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1994. Individualism is "a man dependent on himself and refusing to conform to social standards and expectations. The individual stands alone against the wave of society, listening to his own heart and disregarding the thoughts of others. He dismisses any inter-personal connection that holds humanity together in families, friendships, and nations, arguing that man's only true support is himself. The true individual will follow his own path, and not look into the past or to other people for help; he will be a monument to himself and exclude any ideas that are not his own." I personally think that this idea of individualism is to extreme. Individualism can be a very good thing when people want to develop in life. For example, doing the possible to stay alone, have silence and privacy to study, and then get good grades and a diploma. Or concentrate in a job by working hard. This value is acceptable. On the other hand, I believe that happiness is only real when shared, and people who are individualist should know when to share emotions and needs. Since individualism has long been considered a defining criterion of American culture, I realized that independence of action and thought is one thing, isolation and egoism is other totally different.

Foreigners generally consider Americans very materialistic. Some people say they are all about making money. I suppose we can blame Hollywood and the media for all the influence about money, society values and encourages people to attain affluence and status, and since I live in Los Angeles I can say that people judge you for the car you have. Americans are materialistic and this is a fact. Anywhere you go you can find a store, a coffee place, car dealers or a mall. People can become obsessed with making money that it will solve any of life's problems. Materialism is, in the simplest form, a belief that reality simply consists of material objects. Is a good thing that Americans are hard workers and poverty here is not a really big issue comparing to other countries, but when I see someone at a restaurant ordering fillet mignon for their dog, I wonder why this person is not feeding the poor? This attitude is an example of individualism and materialism in a really bad way.

The notion of equality leads Americans to be quite informal in their general behaviors and relationships with others. Almost all the races in this country struggle for equality. The Asian-American, African-American and Latinos in general want to be treated and have the same exactly opportunities in education and work. Even with all the equality laws, racial-ethnic minorities are still not getting the same education that a white American access. Living with people of all races and ethnic backgrounds illustrates that people hold rigid opinions of members of a different social category.

Diversity, as it relates to thoughts, ideas, ethnicity and race is the most important thing to establish a free nation. A broad definition includes not only race, gender, ethnicity, age, national origin, religion and disability, but may include sexual orientation, values, personality, education, language, physical appearance, marital status, socio economic status and so forth. People need to have equal employment opportunity, no matter race or ethnicity. The UNESCO’s universal declaration on cultural diversity, which people can look at the site www.unesdoc.unesco.org, says that "Culture takes diverse forms across time and space. This diversity is embodied in the uniqueness and plurality of the identities of the groups and societies making up humankind. As a source of exchange, innovation and creativity, cultural diversity is as necessary for humankind as biodiversity is for nature." With the time more and more people are living in other countries and cultures and the world became a mixture of races and genders, just how many different societies, cultures, and ethnic groups make up the world's population is not certain.

All of the people should have an understanding of their own cultural assumptions and values. American society has forgone many challenges and obstacles yet it makes the strongest nation in the world. Observing some people in the United States is possible to notice that Americans believe that equality is always something that they strive to provide and maintain. Individualism, materialism and independence are very important, but the tranquility for accomplishing a family is extremely important. Also, when people regardless of their race and ethnicity, start to have the same opportunities as the white-Americans, the ethnic equality for the minority will succeed and we can celebrate diversity.

Desegregation In Arkansas

The Constitution of the United States of America, Amendment XVI states that: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States of America, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make ore enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." The United States government obliged all public schools to let black people join in. Apparently a man named Faubus wasn't following the law. About fifty years ago in the city of Little Rock, Arkansas, a govern called Orval Faubus separated nine black students from a high school, for no apparently reason, besides their black color. This action turned into a crisis. According to what Faubus said which you can look at the site npr.com, "the maintenance of the peace and order of a community is paramount to other considerations. And I found it necessary in order to preserve the peace and order in the community, and to protect the lives, even of the Negro students and the Negro people, to take the actions which I did." He also proclaimed that "if the black students attempted to enter Central, "blood would run in the streets." The school began to get national attention and the students were labeled as the Little Rock Nine.

Imagine is going to be your first day at school. There are many questions in your head. Will the teachers be friendly?
Will the students like you? Children can think about many things, but I believe the black ones were not expecting all that was due to happen in that school year.

The white population of Little Rock was furious that they were being forced to integrate their school, but after all the students were able to stay at the school. After the troop’s intervention and federal issues, the government understood that the constitution of the country is more powerful than the state. The idea of an all-white school is wildly unreasonable, illogical and very inappropriate. Faubus was essentially saying that blacks are not up to any objective measure of value.

Segregation was also present on the buses; blacks had to sit on the three back seats and if the bus was full and a white person got on the bus the black person had to give up his/her seat. There was an incident that sparked the whole pacifist movement from Martin Luther King. Rosa Parks was going home from a day shopping, the bus she was on was packed. A white person got on the bus and told her to get up and let him sit down. She refused profusely and was physically thrown of the bus. She was then arrested and imprisoned. This caused a boycott of the bus service from the black population. Many businesses went out of business and the segregation on the buses came to an end. This forced a bill to be passed, denouncing this kind of treatment of blacks and were ordered to stop this system.

According to the site www.philorum.org "racism derives from ignorance, fear (stemming from a socialized identity) or psychological inferiority (low self esteem)". The same source explains that Faubus was elected governor of Arkansas six times and served in the post for twelve years. Some people would think how come he was in charge for so long? Since when I was sixteen years old I went to live in Arkansas for six months as an exchange student, I can understand. The reason is that most of the Arkansas population is racist, black people there are set apart from the whites. Is not like California, Georgia or New York. It is very segregated. Also, people are very religious there, so I remember my step dad saying that “God did not create black people”, which I totally disagreed.

Melba Pattillo Beals was one of the nine students who attended Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957. She wrote a book, called Warriors Don't Cry, which is the story of her when she was a child, who was one of the first who forced racial integration into the Little Rock school system. According to the book, during the crisis, Beals was assaulted and at risk: "[People yelled] 'get her,' 'kill her,' 'hang her,' 'we got us a nigger' . . . Parents were hitting, parents were throwing things. You would get tripped. People would just walk up and hit you in the face." On one occasion, Beals had acid sprayed in her eyes by a white student. I can imagine a black children going to school and being stop from a guard for the reason of her skin color. It doesn't make any sense. The guards wouldn't let black children inside the school to study? Segregation is unlawful and unconstitutional. According to the book, she lived with her family in a religious household. Her family had come to accept the fact that they would always be mistreated because of their color, this was seen as normal. Melba did not want to accept this as many others, and she was in a war against color discrimination. At the end of the school year, the black students moved out from Central High triumphantly. They had survived one year in the hostile territory of the school. They went through a lot of cruelty, but in the end the opened the doors for other black students, not only in Arkansas but in the whole country, to attend white schools. Melba was revolutionary. This was a huge victory for the entire African-American society.

Melba and the other students were people trying to find integration in America. They demonstrated bravery when they decided to proudly fight segregation and end the oppression of the white people. Their story is an inspiration to anyone who finds it hard to stand up for their beliefs. According to the site http://www.centralhigh57.org/The_Little_Rock_Nine.html, today Melba is an author and former journalist for People magazine and NBC and lives in San Francisco, and the other eight students are still alive and they all graduated from college and are successful. I believe that after everything they went through nothing in the world would stop them. They are example of perseverance. I admire them for outstanding achievements and their noble qualities.

There is a foundation called Little Rock Nine. According to their site, http://www.littlerock9.com, the foundation "was created to promote the ideals of justice and equality of opportunity for all. Forged in the crucible of fierce opposition to the educational pursuits of nine young black children, the Foundation is dedicated to the proposition that racist ideology will not dictate educational policies and practices in the twenty-first century." Their mission is an important assignment carried out for political purposes. People can help by supporting, buying a cap, which is a tax-deductible contribution, and help to make it possible for young people of color to go against ignorance and lack of skills. They all deserve a good opportunity.


There are still some traditionalists today who still believe that the races should not integrate. This story shows you how hard whites would work to stop Blacks from integrating and how far Blacks will go until equality win. There are scores of racist groups out in the world today. They mostly have the same belief, which is, that white people are the superior race. Americans eliminate the problem, but the fact is segregation and discrimination is unavoidable in every society in the world. This event helped settle new systems of integration, while fixing an example to the rest of the world, that old forms of segregation would no longer be accepted or prevalent. The valorous actions of the Little Rock Nine had made easier for the next generations’, without giving up; they opened the door of education for African Americans all across the nation.

Vogue magazine

Vogue is one of the best magazines in the women world, when reading it, people can find all kinds of propagandas, modern manners, nostalgia, fashion, interviews, trends, star search, beauty notes and much more. However, everybody is commenting about the last cover from april 2008, is even in the morning news. Is the first time a black male is on a cover. The matter is, because its a magazine for ladies, only two men were in the cover and they were george clooney and richard gere, two sexy symbols. What I think is that its almost a privilege to be the third man to appear in this kind of publication. According to the site sportswrap.com: "Gisele’s dress looks a lot like the one Naomi Watts wore in King Kong, no? They wouldn’t be trying to do a King Kong thing with King James, a black man, in the role of a giant monkey and a white woman as the damsel he’s trying to possess. Oh dear…some might take offense to that, don’t you think?"

This kind of comment is very cruel and unecessary, if you open the magazine you can find another picture and Lebron James is holding the brazilian model like a gentleman. The cover is just normal and shows one of the best players since Michael Jordan, and one of the most gorgeous women. The discrimination against Lebron is visible, in the site publication about the magazine there is a belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specifics to that race, and for that they can't be on a significant position that has nothing to do with sport or music. Besides, wouldn't someone like LeBron and Gisele get to approve a cover? If he had no objection to the photo, why should someone else? he's the one in the picture. That King Kong reference is far more insulting than any other implications about the photo. He makes those faces regularly on the court. LeBron is smart enough to know that it doesn't hurt to be on the cover of a popular magazine with a well known beautiful model.

This photo should be pleasing to all eyes. Some people see racism where there is none, Vogue cover is not racist, but the media and websites are. There is real racism that exists, this is not it. The only racism I see here is coming from the people who brought it up. Would all break loose if they put Giselle on the cover with a white player, doing the same pose? Why is this racial stereotypes? If the athlete was white, would it be racial stereotypes?

With all the acusations of racism, at first glance I would agree this could be taken the wrong way, why can’t he be wearing a suit and looking fashionable? Is a fashion magazine,not a sportive one,we don’t need him in a jersey and shorts. Also, he looks oddly agressive next to her and she looks weirdly delicate. But that's exacly who they are, and that cover should be expected.The gossip is probably around because the vogue magazine always presents women models in the cover, and this broke a rule in two ways, since he is a man and african american.

I didn't think about race at all. I saw an athlete and a fashion model, two very different physical types. LeBron James is a basketball player so they want to see this. He’s in shorts much like he would be normally dressed on court, those are the tools of his trade. The tools of her trade are a a tight dress , smile, a pair of heels and a well done hair.

Racism is something extremely difficult to control in today’s world, as we live in a fairly democratic world people have a right to air their opinions. It is done in a sensitive way. Laws have been passed making it illegal to be racist to ethnic citizens. That has helped the society but still it exists in society today.People are not born racist. Most children who grow up in an area that is mixed and their parent’s are racist grow up not being racist; on the other hand, people that have racist parents and live in predominantly once race neighbourhood grow up being racists.

The cover has caused a lot of gossip over whether the shot encourage racial stereotypes, now everybody that looks at the cover will notice the "kink konk" picture. That was a ridiculous comparation.Gisele looks like she is having a blast, not like she is being taken away by King Kong.There are much more important issues to deal in this world than trying to find trouble where none was meant. People are making a big deal about this, no person with common sense would look at this cover and think anything other than it's a big tough basketball player and a pretty model on the cover. For example: Economy, poverty, global warming, education and racism are issues that really matter, this cover controversy is so crazy that can't be considered racist, there is just nothing wrong with it. Vogue’s spokesman, Patrick O’Connell, says the magazine “sought to celebrate two superstars at the top of their game.” I see two people who have made it to the top of their careers at such a young age, have more money and popularity than they know what to do with and have made their mark in two diversely different ways." Sometimes I think people are so intent on finding the racial angle to everything that they see it where it's not present.

The mentality of superiority over other races that is passed on from generation to generation still remains a major cause of racism. Many people believe that it depends on if a person was brought into the world as a racist,but I find that after growing up this person can change its mind by itself. However, my impression is that we live in a world where some one always seems to find a racially motivated conspiracy in everything. This is another example of media creating a news story that doesn't exist, the fact that this is the first black male on the cover means Vogue magazine is attempting to move forward and forward is where we should be going. All kinds of other magazines should take it as an example and display more covers and reportages with/about black people.

Since when is a woman standing next to a man racist? This is a case of racism being in the mind of the beholder, those making the accusation that this is a racist cover need to look more carefully at their own prejudices. The face compared to an ape is a representation of the intensity that James shows on the court, I saw an exceptional athlete and basketball star standing next to a pretty woman, their skin tone was not my first thought. There is nothing racially insensitive about the cover of Vogue, Giselle looks more like a perfectly content piece on the arm of a professional athlete. I hope they would not see a gorilla.

The picture I selected for my blog can disapprove all that I wrote, but I choose it just because I think it was a simple coincidence between the pictures. She’s not being held below the waste and being dragged. She’s standing. I don't see any type of abrupt or symbolic racism in the photo, people are taking this too far. It looks like any action shot taken in a photo shoot, If he doesn't mind, why should the world care? Why is there so much negativity focused toward this cover? I choose to focus on the positive. It was a great move for Vogue to have a young, African American man on their cover for the first time. Lebron James is a huge icon for this generation. Some people will see racism and controversy in every comment or picture, and that will probably never be able to be controlled. I honestly don't believe Vogue would intentionally put anything they thought would even be perceived in that way on the cover.

Generally when people are unaccustomed to something they judge it. Racism is ignorance and to end we must be able to understand each other. Race will always be an issue, but I believe we need to change society by teaching the children about it, then we can seek an end for racism. Magazine covers are made to get a strong reaction. Anyone who see James as King Kong is a racist. It's that simple.