Has Anything Really Changed

Has Anything Really Changed?

An idea and connection came to me in a conversation I had with a friend that involved lynching and how the practice of lynching in America must have made black people feel at the time.  In pictures that you can see not only was this not a hidden or taboo practice in our countries past, but on the contrary these lynching’s seemed to be an institution of socialization in their own right.  They stated, by the unashamed and open participation of so many whites, that white people had the power to do what they wanted because of their whiteness, and also let black people know without a shadow of a doubt that even the institutions that were in place to work for and protect the American citizen, like the police and the government, were not to be trusted.

Racism has a very colorful and ugly past in this country.  And even though things have improved in the last 50 years, unfortunately the problem has grown more and more subtle as time goes by.  No longer can people openly state that they are treating a person differently because of the color of their skin, but does that mean that white people’s actions are not portraying the same images and creating the same feelings between black people and the institutions that are put in place to “protect” them? My idea and argument is that the way our society has normalized the massively disproportionate incarceration of millions of black people along with the killing of black people by the mostly white police force of America has recreated the same dynamic and feelings as the lynching’s did. 

Even though black people only make up approximately 12.6% of the country’s population, they consist of almost half of the prison population today.  According to the NAACP website there are 1 million black prisoners out of 2.3 million totals.  Is this because black people are just criminals and cannot help but commit crimes and therefore must be locked away? To that idea my answer is obviously not, the fact remains that police are searching, finding, apprehending, and locking away young black people specifically and intentionally in their war on drugs. This is a major problem because when you have so many people who are locked up and now have felonies you are disenfranchising them as citizens in the United States and this allows many places in our society to now discriminate against these people not as Black men but now as Felons.  These people have a hard time accessing benefits from the government, finding housing, finding jobs, and cannot vote for the rest of their lives a lot of times.  These facts alone serve to create a non trusting and splintered relationship between black people and the “system”. When you couple that with the fact that white police officers are not only looking specifically for black people to lock up but that they are killing on average 2 black people per week per year with little to no consequence, it is a smack in the face for many black people around the country. 

The reality of the race situation in our country is that while it is not politically or socially correct to speak openly about racism, that it still exists and is alive today victimizing and creating the same kind of distrust and divide as it did in the 1800s and early 1900s.  In too many places in our country black people do not see a friend or protector when it comes to the police and the government.  Instead what many people see is another potential enemy who can do what they want and even kill without serious thought of reprimand.  Imagine what life would be like if you felt that way about the very people who were paid to protect and serve you.  How would that change your life?

Russia Punishes the West, Damages Self, Incites Change.

In response to sanctions from Western countries against Moscow, Russia banned the import of many food and agricultural products in August. The prime minister of Russia announced that they would ban all beef, pork, fish, fruit, vegetables and dairy products from the European Union, the United States, Canada, Australia and Norway for one year. Aside from the United States, Russia is the largest market for European agricultural exports, last year summing up to about 15.7 billion dollars according to the European Union’s statistics agency. In the short term finding new suppliers will be difficult for Russia. With Putin’s approval rating at 87% he isn’t facing dissent for this action. Some consequences of the sanctions include an increase in food prices, Inflation rising to 8.3 percent. Prices for meat and poultry rose more than 18 percent and dairy prices are up by over 15 percent, according to Russia’s federal statistics agency. Despite these facts, the Russian public for the most part supports the sanctions, possibly as a result of effective propaganda run on their televisions.

30% of Russia’s population earn their living from agriculture or related industries. Before the sanctions these people were urging for an emphasis on local goods. As an unintended consequence of the ban on foreign suppliers many local farms and businesses have received the opportunity to be successful. Ten percent of chickens sold in Russia came from abroad, mostly the United States. The sanctions were very useful for local producers who no longer had to compete with America’s low prices.

Most noticeably, the sanctions produced a change in the mindset of the citizens with an increased awareness of the origination of their goods, as well as the rise of a social movement. The sanctions spurred desperation in many major Russian grocery chains. Clamoring to stock their shelves, they began to turn to farm to table organizations like LavkaLavka.  This organic farm cooperative doesn’t produce nearly the amount of food the grocery chains need but the attention given to them is vital to the spread of their ideology. The sanctions are giving a chance for local farmers to develop and sustainable agriculture to grow. Increasingly, the public is considering where their food comes from as a result of the sanctions.

Ponomarev The New York Times, Sergey. Boris Akimov, who runs LavkaLavka, an organic farm cooperative, hopes that with the ban on Western imports, Russians will explore local foods. Digital image. N.p., n.d. Web.

Some citizens hope the sanctions last long enough for Russians to become knowledgeable about the food their country produces as opposed to finding new suppliers to replace the banned ones. LavkaLavka has begun a monthly food festival celebrating something local each month. The month of November celebrated the Parsnip.

The citizens of Russia’s everyday lives were impacted by a large societal process. From a sociological perspective, the increased awareness of the citizens towards local goods as a consequence of global politics is an example of a macro-micro connection. On the macrolevel of analysis lies the politics between the countries and their incentives for imposing these sanctions. The interactions of the nation’s governments, which are in themselves large social structures, is an example of a societal and historical process. These sanctions resulted in a change in ideology in the citizens which would place it on the microlevel of analysis.  The people of Russia’s new consideration of food and where it comes from was a direct result of the interrelationship between the macrolevel societal forces and microlevel everyday processes. 

Video: Siberian farmer is ecstatic he can sell his mozzarella now that Italy is out of the market.

This Battered Woman Wants to Get Out of Prison

“This Battered Woman Wants To Get Out of Prison”

I was reading through BuzzFeed as I do a lot to waste time and came across this article. I was wondering if the battered woman had been battered before or after she had been put into jail, what her story was, and it turned out to be a very interesting as well as aggravating one.

This article tells the story of a man, Robert Braxton, sentenced to two years in prison for breaking the femur and ribs of his 3-month-old daughter and his wife, Tondalo Hall, who was sentenced to 30 years in prison for not intervening on the abuse he was enacting upon her daughter - even though she never actually caused any physical harm to her daughter.

There was also evidence proving that Hall was also being violently abused by Braxton herself.

Seems unjust, doesn’t it? Agreed.

It turns out that, according to BuzzFeed News, there are at least 29 states with laws that criminalize a parent’s failure to protect their children from abuse. It’s known as injury to child by omission in Texas and as “permitting child abuse” or “enabling child abuse” in other states. There is an understanding that a mother is responsible for her child’s safety - this is something I agree with, but these laws against parents make them responsible for what they did not do and they often place more blame on the parent who failed to seek help rather than on the one who enacted the assault.

The case of Hall and one’s like it bring up a great number of inconsistencies and inequities that exist in our society today. To begin, we can talk about what cases like this say about gender roles.

While most cases of domestic abuse are committed by a father or stepfather, it’s a fact that 34% of cases of child abuse are enacted by women. However, interviews and BuzzFeed News’ analysis show that fathers in very rarely face prosecution for failing to stop their partners from harming their children. Through their studies, BuzzFeed found about 73 cases of mothers who were sentenced to ten or more years under permitting child abuse laws while they found only about four in which fathers were sentenced for the same thing.

It rings true that women bear the weight of these laws. A law professor at the University of Denver reflects on this truth saying “Mothers are held to a very different standard...the lopsided application of these laws reflects deeply ingrained social norms that women should sacrifice themselves for their children.” So what about the fathers? Reading through this article, I find myself asking questions like “why is it that the mother is sentenced for more time in prison for not stopping the abuse executed by her husband? Shouldn’t the father be sentenced for more time for actually perpetuating the abuse?” The father should have the same expectation to protect his child as the mother does, but, for some reason, that expectation is not applied to the father in the same way as the mother in many of these cases.

The fact that Hall was sentenced to more time than Braxton was enforces the very confusing idea that, to some extent, what he was doing to his child is deemed as OK, but her not intervening was much less OK.

“Her tough sentence was meted out despite evidence that Braxton had also been violently abusing her. In statements to authorities in and out of court, and in a recent interview with BuzzFeed News, Hall described Braxton choking her, punching her, throwing things at her, and verbally assaulting her. Even the judge who sentenced her said that during her testimony, Hall seemed to fear her boyfriend.”

There is also a conversation to be had concerning the fact that in many of these cases, the mothers were also being physically abused by their husbands/boyfriends. The biggest reason that they are persecuted under the charges of failing to intervene on their children’s abuse is because, as many attorneys say, “she should have called the police, she should have gotten out of the abusive relationship before she let it get too far.”  

These kinds of cases bring up a common misunderstanding of what it means for women to be trapped in abusive relationships. There is a kind of unspoken culture that exists among women who are victims of domestic violence. From the outside looking in, it may seem silly and irrational that a woman would not do everything she could to get out of the violent relationship that she’s in. However, it seems to be very different for women who are actually in these relationships. Many women reflect on how they wanted to leave, to call the police, to ask for a friends help many times but when they did, it only made their partner angrier and more likely to harm their them or their children.

This whole story and one’s like it are blatant instances of victim blaming - something that seems to exist in multiple corners of our society. Women are in dangerous situations in which they face physical and mental harm to themselves, and then many people put them at fault when they did not leave the relationship. There is some idea that suggests that it’s their fault for not taking a stand against their abusive partner. This makes me ask questions like why are we paying more attention to the fact that a woman didn’t run away from her abusive relationship, rather than the man who is abusing his partner and children? One could possibly make the argument for men in terms of masculinity. It is understood in our patriarchal society that men should be strong, should be dominant, and should be the leaders in the home. Is the reason that we lend so much slack to men in these situations because, as far too many people still say, “boys will be boys”? Because that is not at all a strong argument, nor is it true.

Based on this case and ones like it, I would like to argue that there needs to be more light shed on the abusers role in abusive relationships and what we can do to punish them. I also believe that these enabling child abuse laws need to be re-looked at because it seems that they are causing innocent women who are often also victims to be punished rather than the person who is causing the actual harm. This is unfair and it is contributing to the patriarchal society already in existence.

The Key to Happiness

Happiness is a deceptively complicated thing.

How many people do you think are really, truly, happy? And does this have anything to do with where you grew up or currently reside?

The United Nations passed a resolution in 2011 that looked into the Gross National Happiness (GNH) of different countries. The idea here is that this knowledge will help policy makers decide how they can improve their country or what they need to work on. But it's more than that.

This data further shows what our societies really need, regardless of what we want. Many in our society have aspirations to become wealthy, loved, and respected. These things are desirable because they are thought to correlate with happiness. As happiness is hard to quantify, no one really knows how to get there. You cannot ask for directions, you just have to do your best.

From that another important question arises: how do you measure GNH?

This graph below shows seven different criteria that were deemed important in contributing to the happiness of a nation, from GDP to generosity. Each one is likely to contribute to happiness, so the country with the most all together would be the happiest place to live.


Source: World Happiness Report 2013

The diagram goes further to point out similarities between the top half and bottom half of the list. Apparently a country is more likely to be happy if it is cold, has less guns, and higher taxes . The cold is likely a spurious relationship (what effect would weather have) but less guns would likely mean less violence (and therefor less fear and stress). However, I think the difference in taxes is the most important factor because of the implications carried with taxes. Higher taxes are usually different between socioeconomic strata, which means that the wealthier are taxed more. This decreases the wealth gap and helps those who cannot fully support themselves. It also prevents the wealthy from getting self-obsessed and greedy about their money.

A parallel problem with low taxes is the individualist culture that usually accompanies it. For example, in the United States we are taught that we have to work for everything we have, and in that way we earn it -- fair and square. Right? Wrong. Not everyone has the same opportunities or outcomes even if they work just as hard as their peers. The belief that the homeless are just lazy or gave up is ignorant to the inherent inequality in our societies; we should be compassionate and helpful instead of snobby and self-important.

The top few countries on the happiness scale are overwhelmingly Scandinavian. These societies have fantastic welfare systems that aid those in need. It also leads to a culture of helping out your neighbor, instead of screwing him over for your own personal gains. If we worked for our community instead of ourselves, where would the United States be on that list today?

Fifty Shades of Gay

The video above is about the spectrums of sexuality. One of the key points that iO Tillett Wright is trying to get across is that sexuality cannot be placed in boxes. Our society loves categorizing people and placing labels on them, and without labels, we tend to feel more uncomfortable. Labels are put on everything: politics, relationships, sexuality, gender; we even put labels on people based on something so simple like whether or not they seem dangerous. All of these labels end up leading to advanced judgement and fear of other people who are "different" from us. This is something that many people across the board are working hard to combat.

iO Tillett Wright is, a photographer, artist, actor, writer, filmmaker, activist, and director, and she is attempting to humanize the idea of sorting boxes in our heads. Her goal is to get across the idea that we are all people regardless of how we might be characterized, and sometimes the things that cause judgment are not openly visible. In her earlier years she spent one year photographing young women who felt like she did: not belonging anywhere, even in the socially-granted boxes. All of these women that she photographed felt as if they fell somewhere along the LGBT spectrum.  She took photographs of these women to prove the point that girls could look anyway that they want and that they can be attracted to anyone based on personality and not based on gender or sexual orientation. iO Tillett Wright was raised in a neighborhood where being gay, being a drag queen, and being a tomboy was considered normal. She realized later that she was lucky because she felt safe and always appreciated but, she also realized that she was considered part of a minority. She soon decided that she wanted to make her project on photographing women bigger and broader.

She began taking photographs of any single person who felt that they were anything other than 100% straight. Society likes to box up sexuality. If you are a guy dating a guy people will automatically ask, “Are you gay?” Or vise versa; when a girl is dating a girl they are immediately tagged as a lesbian. However, what happens when a girl dates a guy and then her next partner is a girl? Does that automatically make her 100% bisexual? The idea of a spectrum of sexuality scares people because then they don’t know where anyone fits in society, an idea that is so painfully unnatural to so many people. People feel the most comfortable when they tag others and say, "You are gay, and you are straight." It's important to keep in mind that not only openly queer-identifying people are put into boxes. Plenty of "straight" people are put into that box as well. Why can’t the idea of loving people be accepted?One of the key points that iO Tillett Wright is trying to get across is that sexuality is a spectrum and there’s a million different shades.

At one point she asked people to place their sexuality on a scale of 0-100% gay and people almost didn’t know what to do because people didn’t know what to do with the option of being open about their sexuality. A good example of the open “boxing” is when a boss can fire an employee for being homosexual. But where is the line drawn between being "straight" and being "gay" if those people cannot even identify it for themselves? Is one girl considered homosexual if she happens to kiss another girl on one occasion? Is she considered a lesbian now and can she now be fired for that? There are so many shades of sexuality that putting someone in a box simply doesn’t work.

Sociology Blog

The video above draws on privilege white people have over African Americans.  While Whites are more likely to get jobs, go to college, and be perceived as sophisticated over African Americans, when researching instances of in-prison racism and white privilege nothing came up except for statistics of White versus Black incarceration rates.   This not only made me frustrated but it also made me angry. Why is this?  Why is there no records of in-prison white privilege?  While my cousin, a cop, from Thousand Oaks, California, believes its simply because it does not  exist, I'm not so captured by the idea. 

We know that African Americans make up 12.5-14% of the US population, but it is unbelievable that 38% of this population of African Americans are incarcerated for many offenses white people have often gotten away with.  For example, 5 times as many Whites are using drugs as African Americans, yet African Americans are sent to prison for drug offenses at 10 times the rate of Whites. African Americans are also incarcerated for any given crime at nearly six times the rate of whites.  This is hardly astonishing as white privilege is a current and an unending institution in the United States.  But as I said, there is no evidence of racism or white privilege existing inside prison walls, which can be explained by one thing, and one thing only: when it comes to knowledge of white privilege in prison not being announced to the public it is “cuz the white man said so.” Said by Watson in the first season of Orange is the new black. It is perfectly possible for inmates complaints of white privilege or quiet racism to be muffled by the prison system itself, as inmates have no rights, and are constantly beaten for misbehavior or attitude against what is “rightful” treatment of prisoners.  Orange is the New Black may be a distorted and more pleasant look on prison life, but it still asks its audience to consider certain issues that are overlooked or unknown by the U.S. population.  "In 2011-12, an estimated 4.0% of state and federal prison inmates and 3.2% of jail inmates reported experiencing one or more incidents of sexual victimization by another inmate or facility staff in the past 12 months or since admission to the facility, if less than 12 months,” although this is lower than expected since many sexual assault victims never come forward. This shows that much of the “drama” that makes up Orange is the New Black, is drawn from real life statistics and encounters by inmates in real prison institutions, so we can conclude that, although we have no sufficient evidence proving white privilege or quiet racism inside prison systems exists, the fact that no one is talking about it or question the institution means that maybe prison systems have something to hide regarding such issues. 

Whats going on with our public schools?

 



 

Approximately, 3,000 students, 1 college councilor, 10 class advisors, and an average of 40 to 50 students in each class.  This was my experience at a public high school in southern California.  There was little staff or resources available to students and opportunities continued to decline as the district LAUSD received numerous budget cuts.  As a result, many students did not receive a good education, classes were too full, there wasn't enough funding for science projects, and there was no one on one time with teachers. 

 

Total Per-Student Expenditures Versus Student Poverty Rates for U.S. School Districts with More Than 1,000 Enrollment

Source: Prepared using information from the Common Core of Data for 1995, School District Data Book, National Center for Education Statistics (2000b).

 

This graph shows the relationship between low income students and the amount of money allotted from the government to each student.  Many minority students live in these areas and would explain the correlation of minority students that go on to college.  As a result, these students have to face more difficulties than students who have a private school education. 

 

I went to a predominantly Hispanic high school and during the college application process, every day I saw one my friends ruining their lives because they didn’t think they could get in to college or they didn’t have the ability to pay for it.  It was until I got to college that I have been reflecting on this experience.   The only reason I was able to prepare a good college application and get a private school education is because my parents were motivated and got the information that we needed to succeed.  Otherwise, I would have been another one of those kids trying to find my way through the complicated politics and information of the college world.  Although I have always admired the staff at my public high school, there was just simply not enough resources and information given to the students for them to succeed.  We wonder why there isn’t a lot of diversity on a lot of college campuses.  We are led to believe that a minority student going to college is someone who is rising up against the social norms, which is why we put this on our college application.  Apparently, it is something “unique” and “special” for a Hispanic woman to get a higher education.  It is it precisely this type of thinking that discourages minority children to seek out higher education. There are ways to pay for college and get good grades, but unfortunately nobody knows about them.

 





The Distortion of Feminism Through Social Media

http://time.com/3576870/worst-words-poll-2014/

On November 12, TIME Magazine published a list of words that should be “banned” in 2015. Among made-up and misused words popularized through social media such as “turnt,” “bae,” and “literally,” the publication decided that the word “feminist” was unworthy to exist in the English language. According to TIME, “You have nothing against feminism itself, but when did it become a thing that every celebrity had to state their position on whether this word applies to them, like some politician declaring a party? Let’s stick to the issues and quit throwing this label around like ticker tape at a Susan B. Anthony parade.” The fact that TIME, a relatively reputable publication, is ready to condemn this word to nonexistence speaks to the level of distortion of the public perception of feminism. 
 

It seems that the decline of feminism as a legitimate agenda can be traced to the rise of social media. The topics of sexism and feminism have been trending among social media users lately, especially through platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and Upworthy. In a way, having these widely accessed websites addressing these issues can be positive. It attempts to illustrate the scope of sexism to the masses, many of whom are never subjected to this reality. However, there is an issue with this type of social media bringing attention to sexism. The danger arises when popularization, not
necessarily understanding, develops around the issue and it becomes a trend for self-proclaimed and often misinformed "feminists" to briefly address. The internet has made it possible to popularize a cause without actually doing anything. Now, by simply retweeting and reblogging, anyone can publicize their opinions. In turn, the public is presented with a conglomeration of miseducated "feminists" as leaders of the movement rather than serious feminist activists who may lack the same social media presence. Feminism has been popularized as a bandwagon cause and I'm still unsure as to whether the attention brought to the cause is helpful or harmful. Media attention is media attention—even if people don't agree with certain claims about gender inequality, at least they are exposed to the topic. However, because these this corrupted "internet feminism" most often generates buzz and conversation rather than understanding and action, I see the deep-rooted and very real issue of sexism being cheapened and commodified through social media. Many corporations and celebrities have begun to endorse feminism, only adding to the bandwagon appeal. By simply acknowledging gender inequality, it seems like these celebrities assume that they are enacting change or making some controversial, edgy statement. This example set by celebrities is projected to the public who in turn believe that by simply being aware of sexism, that they are contributing to the cause. At this point, feminism doesn't need more internet buzz or celebrity attention, feminism needs solidarity, dedication, and action.

Within the past few months, several viral videos attempting to explain and demonstrate street harassment have captured public attention. Most of these videos attempt "reverse the roles" of sexism to show how badly this issue affects women. Though the initial videos that prompted this trend intended to be serious, they generated comedic responses that gained even more attention. The predominant flaw I see in these videos is the entire concept of role reversal. The roles don't need to be reversed because sexism affects both men and women. While it is true that more women are subject to catcalling and verbal harassment than men are, these videos offer an incomplete, one-sided argument about sexism. Also, using comedy to address such an issue can make it more accessible to the public, but at the same time it undermines and trivializes a serious social problem. I am not condemning feminism; I support it whole-heartedly. I am, however, condemning "feminists" who believe they are solving anything through generating harassment/abuse back towards men. These actions are not only irrational, but they also corrupt the public perception of modern feminism and undermine the intentions of informed and serious equal rights activists. At this point, I don't think simply "making a statement" (especially through comedy/trivialization) is a productive avenue if we are serious about enacting a legitimate change in the way our society contributes to sexism.

Eating Disorders and The Media

               There are many different types of eating disorders and reasons why people adopt them. The two most common disorders are anorexia nervousa and bulimia nervosa. Anorexia nervosa causes people to have a distorted body image where they think they're overweight when in reality they're dangerously thin. People with this disorder often refuse to eat, exercise compulsively, and develop unusual habits such as refusing to eat in front of other people. Individuals with bulimia nervosa eat excessive quantities, then purge their bodies of the food and calories they fear by using laxatives, enemas, vomiting, or exercising.

               Women are much more likely than men to develop an eating disorder. Only an estimated 5 to 15 percent of people with anorexia or bulimia are male. An estimated 0.5 to 3.7 percent of women suffer from anorexia in their lifetime. An estimated 1.1 to 4.2 percent of women have bulimia in their lifetime. Teens and young adults between the ages of 12 and 26 make up 95 percent of those who have an eating disorder. Anorexia is the most common cause of death among young women ages 15 to 24. 

          The media is one of the largest culprits for eating disorders.  Mass media provides a significantly influential context for people to learn about body ideals and the value placed on being attractive. The effect of media on women's body dissatisfaction, thin ideal internalization, and disordered eating appears to be stronger among young adults than children and adolescents. Pressure from mass media to be muscular also appears to be related to body dissatisfaction among men. Magazine covers like the image above display unrealistic bodies and give off the illusion that if you don't have a body like this you're not considered beautiful. Magazine covers like this give the wrong impression to young children, because contrary to popular belief you can still be beautiful without being as skinny as the women on the covers. 47% of girls in the 5th-12th grade reported wanted to lose weight because of magazine pictures. 69% of girls in the 5th-12th grade reported that magazine pictures influenced their idea of a perfect body shape. 42% of 1st-3rd grade girls want to be thinner. 81% of 10 year olds are afraid of being fat. These statistics are extremely concerning. Due to the exposure at a young age to such unrealistic ideals girls as young as the age of 10 fear weight problems. 

          Although not all media contributes to unrealistic ideal of how a women should look. The video above is a campaign from the skin care company, Dove. The campaign, Real Beauty, was launched in 2004 in response to the findings of a major global study that revealed that only 2% of women around the world would describe themselves as beautiful. The main goal of the campaign is to "change the status quo and offer in its place a broader, healthier, more democratic view of beauty." In this specific video Dove is trying to send a message to the artists that manipulate photos by releasing a Photoshop action called "Beautify" that reverts images to their original state and overlays a banner proclaiming "don't manipulate our perceptions of real beauty." More companies should follow in the footsteps of Dove and work toward ending eating disorders instead of contribute to them.

The picture on the left is the cover of Paper magazine which was released on November 11, 2014 portraying Kim Kardashian. The image on the right is of Grace Jones placed in a collection entitled Jungle Fever by the photographer of both photos; Jean Paul Gaude. The primary focus of both photos is the fact that both women can balance a champagne glass on their behinds. Whether it is obvious or not, Gaude altered the photos in order to extend the behinds of both models in order for the champagne glass to sit comfortably. The original photo of Grace brings about concerning issues about race due to the fetishization of Grace's body as an archetype of the stereotypical "black female body". The archetype of the black female body as having dark skin, a naturally curvy figure (accentuated by the edited butt), and maybe not as present in this photo but unique hair. The fetishization of black women is then perpetuated through not only the name of the book in which this image was published but as well as the images that are along side this image. The fact that the book is called Jungle Fever is a racial term to describe someone who is interested in black individuals, therefor giving Grace the spotlight in order to falsely represent an image for black women. 

In lieu of the background concerning the fetishization of Grace Jones's body. The question that must be asked is why Kim Kardashian was placed as the model for Paper magazine instead? Kim Kardashian's celebrity status can be easily attributed to her sex appeal, but mainly the appeal of her behind. As previously stated the fetishization of Grace Jones, as well as black women in general is to have a curvy figure, in this portrayal the curvy figure is accentuated by a big behind. Kim Kardashian was chosen for this photo because of her close proximity to the archetype of a black woman. It is also key to understand what is lacking from the black archetype that Kim Kardashian is embodying. Black woman have been recognized as the least desirable race, while white women on the other hand are recognized as more if not the most desirable. Therefor recreating the image with a white woman embodying the archetype of black woman's body is more desirable, gaining more publicity. 

http://www.transequality.org/PDFs/NTDS_Report.pdf

Jokes are all over the internet, on Reddit, Facebook, and other sites that distribute these “ memes”.  Many places now, children are growing up reading these posts about “ traps”. A trap is someone who was assigned male at birth and presents as female, the implication behind this is that this “ trap” is trying to trick a male into believing they are a women. These jokes  no matter how insensitive and offensive are often talked about as just jokes.

However, these jokes are a marker of our society’s thoughts on transgendered people.

The respondents to these were thousands of trans men and women. The statistics of violence on trans people are staggering. This is because our society has adopted the norm to look at trans people as “traps”. When we look at these statistics of trans issues in the same view as rape and violence toward women. We quickly see that society has deemed it ok, for assault and domination to be enacted upon trans people. Over half of trans women will experience sexual assault. It is almost expected for a trans women to be assaulted in our culture today, yet our conversation on the topic is very limited.

My perspective may come into play, for I am a trans women, when I state that these acts of violence are normalized and perpetuated by these jokes. In movies such as “White Girls”

 

where men dress as women to as a means to achieve people for their end goal, or there is an idea in many portrayals of cross dressing and trans women in cartoons, as only trying to trick a male into “believing she is biologically female”. we perpetuate the idea that trans identities are not real, and only used to achieve an end.

These statistics seem to indicate then that our reaction in real life to this “trickery”  shown in the media is violence and discrimination. There are very obvious acts such as beatings, and sexual assault, but it also reaches deeper into our everyday conversation.  When transgender people are deliberately misgendered it is an act of violence. While the physical threat or sexual domination is not present, it does push home the idea that the cultural does not see them as the gender they are, therefore dehumanizing them by invalidating their identity. Deliberate misgendering is very present in our society, in things such as movies and jokes, this causes harm to the individual. I have no qualms in saying the rate of suicide is the result of society’s portrayal and view of trans and can be changed. This act of continual dehumanization and invalidation, is a constant reminder that society thinks they are “tricking” people about their identity and acts of violence both sexual and physical encourage suicide. It suggest that society does not want them around. When one is under constant threat based on their own identity it becomes societies problem when these people die and not necessarily mental illness. In fact up until the recent addition of the DSM (The Diagnostic and statistical manual), which is used to diagnose mental illnesses,  being trans was labeled as a mental disorder, a course of thought many health professionals still sadly use. As a culture we must address this discrimination. 

These statistics are often 5 and even 40 times higher than national averages. I will again highlight my perspective as a trans woman myself, I can not see a way in which we can progress in human rights in our country without trying to drastically change the perception of transgender in our media and our speech. It is a danger to many people and can generate constant fear in the lives of thousands. For very good reasons. The threat of not only discrimination but violence, death, and suicidal tendencies is a result of our mockery and what seems like distrust and disgust of trans based in many parts of our society.