B. Rosette-Jones: Mother in hot-car death indicted for allegedly “sexting” minors

Justin Ross Harris, shown here at an earlier court hearing, has been indicted on “sexting” charges. Photo cred: CNN

What an uproar such a headline would cause? The original article is actually about Justin Ross Harris, a Georgia man facing murder charges for the hot-car death of his 22-month- old son in 2014. For the sake of the argument Justin will be called Jasmine Rose Harris .

Harris, a 34-year-old resident of an Atlanta suburb, was charged with two counts of sexual exploitation of children and six counts of dissemination of harmful materials to minors, according to the bill of indictment from the Cobb County grand jury.

The indictments involve three boys under the age of 18. Harris is accused of possessing digital photos of the genitalia of two of the boys, sending digital photos of female genitalia to two boys and sending “detailed verbal descriptions and narrative accounts of sexual excitement and sexual conduct” four times.

Imagine if this were an actual story written by CNN. There seems to be a calm tone in this article which is shocking considering the seriousness of the context. An article written about Jasmine would undoubtedly contain more harsh language and critique.

When dealing with sex in general women tend to get the greater backlash. In no way supporting sexual violence but a man sexually violating a woman is not a ‘big deal’ as is a woman violating a man or boy. The image of women has always been soft, helpless, pretty etc. A woman being accused of sexting a teenage boy would be shredded to pieces in the media. Men get sort of a free pass in regards to sexual violence.

Substituting genders to help understand stereotypes is a great technique. I believe that I was able to sought out more stereotypes and it makes things more realistic for readers. I think I have an even better understanding of stereotypes because of it.

 

M. Sykes-Women and Political Opinions

By Melvina Sykes

In an USA today article in the “Opinion” section titled “Mitt Romney jumps on #NeverTrump: Our Opinion” written by The Editorial Board, Romney’s recent political statements were discussed. With the primary election voting opening up this week, many people were shocked to find out the results, including Mitt Romney a former GOP candidate from 2012.

Mitt Romney stated that Trump was a fraud, a phony, and that his promises were as worthless as a degree from Trump University. These were some of the comments that stood out the most, but it didn’t start there. It was obvious that he shared the same disdain for Trump as millions of others, especially the Democrats. He stood in a very domineering stance, with a frown on his face, wagging his finger. Yet the writers of this article described his speech as “an extraordinary and eloquent speech”. Even The picture used for this article from the conference shows him in a very serious manner.

Just think if the gender of Mitt Romney was to change and he was to be a woman, standing at a press conference, with the same mannerisms as Mitt Romney. If you put a woman in that photo used in the article, it definitely wouldn’t be considered a good look for a woman. After all, he isn’t smiling. Also, she would be called everything but eloquent. If a woman was to complete these same actions they would probably compare it to a “woman scorned” or an “angry woman”. Even worse, just imagine a black female Mitt Romney in this position, then she would no doubt be an “angry black woman”! However regardless of race this would not be acceptable for a woman. Woman are expected to always remain well-behaved. You know, a “go in the kitchen while the men are talking type of deal”. As if women are not expected to have an opinion, or to experience more than one mood. If women do, the media tries to do everything in their power to make it seem negative, as they did with Hilary Clinton. Do you think that’s fair? Will things ever change?

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2016/03/03/donald-trump-mitt-romney-republican-gop-editorials-debates/81263186/

 

 

Bobbi Kristina’s cause of death: Water,Drugs

On USA TODAY Maria Puente did an article on Bobbi Kristina’s death that revealed that the cause of her death was due to an immersion in water and a drug mixture.  the autopsy report on Bobbi Kristina concluded her death was not natural , but is relevant to the ongoing police investigation, it still cant be determined if her death was intentional or accidental.  I feel like if this was a guy that they would have made it more relevant to the media. Bobbi Kristina’s death was not as big as it would be if she was a dude.  she was a child of two idols back in the 1980’s-1990’s and she was always in the spotlight because of her mom and dad.

T.Johnson: Female Soccer Player Donates Brain

Brandi Chastain scored the winning shootout goal in the 1999 Women’s World Cup finale. Chastain has decided to donate her brain to Boston University for research on Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy also known as CTE. She’s currently coaching at Santa Clara University helping soccer players to avoid concussions. In soccer heading is responsible for approximately a third of all concussions. Statistics show girls were more likely to experience concussions than boys.

            The article shows a picture of Chastain with her fist balled up, her shirt was taken off, and she fell to the floor. This picture was known for one of the greatest moments in U.S women’s sports. She looks masculine and not lady like.

            What if we flip the script and turned this article into one that puts a man in her position? I learned the article wouldn’t be focused on her picture when she’s looking masculine. It wouldn’t be considered the second most iconic cover of all time by Sports Illustrated. You expect a man to whip off his shirt, ball his fist and yell with excitement in sports.  The substituting the genders did show me more of the stereotypes. 

Article link: http://edition.cnn.com/2016/03/03/health/brandi-chastain-donate-brain-cte/index.html

S. Bryan: Refusal of menstrual leave

I read an article about women in Japan who have the option of taking time off from work when they are having severe menstrual pain. They have had this option since 1947 but many of the women still won’t take time off and if they do, they make up another reason as to why they need the time off. There are numerous reasons why women refuse to take the time off, some said that they felt uncomfortable telling their male boss about their cycle, while others said that they don’t want their male colleagues to know because it may lead to sexual harassment and it would be seen as a  sign of weakness.

If the genders were switched, I honestly don’t feel that this would be that big of an issue. If men had a policy that states that when they don’t feel well they can take time off, they would probably do it without a second thought. Some might actually use it as an excuse unnecessarily. These women obviously shouldn’t feel ashamed or uncomfortable for a natural bodily function that they can’t control. I think these women feel that taking time would make them seem weak because according to society they already are in comparison to their male counterparts.

By switching the genders in this article, I realized that women will basically go through anything just to have the respect of their male counterparts, despite how they’re truly feeling. Doing this exercise just shows me how much control society controls women into thinking a certain way.

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/mar/04/period-policy-asia-menstrual-leave-japan-women-work

A. Fuller: Beyoncé takes a stand

Beyoncé is known to be America’s diva but also a sweetheart. Well, that lasted up until Super bowl 50 when Beyoncé decided to perform her single Formation that she had recently released a day before. Now many people may be wondering why is this such a big deal?

It was the purpose of the song slash performance the people didn’t like. The music video itself consists of disasters that has happened like Hurricane Katrina and also the Black Lives Matter Movement. In the Halftime show Beyoncé dressed in homage of Michael Jackson and had dancers behind her dressed as black panthers.

She took a huge criticism that the purpose of the performance from Beyoncé was to attack Police officers. it became so serious that they even began a #BoycottBeyonce movement with a slogan of “Are you offended as an American that Beyoncé pulled her race-baiting stunt at the Superbowl?” the invitation asks. “Do you agree that it was a slap in the face to law enforcement?” “Come and let’s stand together,” the notice says. “Let’s tell the NFL we don’t want hate speech & racism at the Superbowl ever again!”

Why is it so that when black women affirm Blackness or Black womanhood, they are attacked and silenced? By her being a woman they came at her as aggressive as they could. If it was someone like Kanye West they wouldn’t have much to say, but by being Beyoncé supported her culture, her race, it became a problem.

It was that they didn’t expect that from Beyoncé, America’s diva. They didn’t expect her to be bold and proud of who her people are. They didn’t expect her to promote her race and thoughts about black lives matter.

If this was a male who had done this, I don’t think it would be as big of a deal because men are already expected to be superior, bold and aggressive. I learned that switching enders of a story could make a huge difference on whether the story would be as relevant or not.

L. Singleton: Sexual Assault Victims Stand Up

During Lady Gaga’s performance at the 2016 Oscars there were sexual assault survivors on stage with her as a part of the performance. Two of them, Robbie Woodsum and Stephanie Feldman decided to open up about there decision to be a part of it.

One thing that I did notice is that there is very soft vocabulary that is used throughout the article and another thing I noticed in correlation to that is that the article was written by a woman. Are women the only ones that can cover sexual assault stories and/or does this account for the “soft” vocabulary used. Overall the tone of the article is to uplift and it is in fact inspiring in a way. The author describes these women as being strong and brave and supports this by adding the interview that was done in the article. By reading the interview one can conclude that these women are trying to send a positive image via bravery despite their previous circumstances. Feldman quoted, “It’s hard to put yourself out there, especially with something this personal, but I’ve made that decision not just for myself but for the cause, and I don’t regret that for a second.”

The final analytical questions that arise from reading this article are: Is this article meant to publicize and encourage sexual assault survivors to speak up? Because this article was written by a women was it given an “upper hand?” and Were these survivors really comfortable with performing or was this because of publicity?” Critical thinking and properly breaking down the interview and article could help answer these questions and also cause a debate.

The article will be listed below and I would like for you all’s feedback or comments.

 

LINK

https://broadly.vice.com/en_us/article/how-it-felt-to-be-a-sexual-abuse-survivor-on-stage-at-the-oscars-with-lady-gaga

 

j:ware:Beloved Decatur Schools clerk

In Georgia’s workforce no employee has to legally be given a reason for termination, they can be fired at will. This was the case for Decatur’s 19-year veteran  Susan Riley. The reason initially given to Riley according to her attorney was that she checked out an I-Pad and wasn’t following the guidelines of her job plan. She also voiced her opinion about her treatment by her co-workers in the media center department and spoke on filing a complaint for the record. 48 hours after word spread of Riley’s dismissal, hundreds of her former students responded with a rally, and current parents and students flooded Superintendent David Dude’s email. Current teachers wore black in silent solidarity outside the school.The reason for her dismissal is still unclear, however  Superintendent Dude and dismissed the dismissal and Riley is hopeful to move forward with her job.

If Riley were a man, everyone would have known why he was fired, and most times  he would have been put on paid leave until the matter is sorted. The reason why many people supported this teacher is because she wasn’t given the respect to know what she had or hadn’t done wrong. I believe that the reason why her dismissal was overturned was due to lack of evidence. Dude would have given a Riley the man a answer and that would have been that. He would have been given a clear answer as well.

 

A Cooley: gender roles

A biopic about singer Nina Simone has faced criticism over its film trailer that is starring Zoe Saldana. The criticism started back in 2012 when Simone’s daughter suggested that they find another lead actress.

The lead actress is facing criticism simply because she is not African American. Saldana is of Dominican and Puerto Rican decent. the movie received a lot of controversy because critics felt she was not the right person to play the role of an African American world famous jazz singer, and civil rights activist.

With race being an very important role in the biopic, many fans believed an African American actress would be more suitable.

If the movie was an biopic about an African American man,would the movie be facing the same criticism?

It was easy to pick on Saldana because she is a women and women are usually looked at as inferior and weak. Women are known to stay quiet when criticized through media outlets, while men are known as people with authority who command respect. If it was a man playing the role instead of a women there would not be as much commotion.

Due to the way society is conditioned its more accepted to target women and comment on the things they do. They are targets mainly because women are not considered strong and able to defend themselves.

men are seen as tough, fearless and commanding. The media leads their audience to think that man can only be strong as long as women remain weak.