From reading the title of this post you undoubtedly have no idea what this post is all about. Well, it's mostly about sexist thoughts, feelings and attitudes. Some are blatant, some not as much so. There are many women and many men who are sexist. They have labels, stereotypes, etc. for the other gender. If I'm in a bar and I see a woman drinking a bottle of beer, it would be immoral for me to think that she should be drinking a wine cooler instead. If I am watching football on tv, and a woman is a commentator for how the game is going to turn out, it is wrong for me to think that she doesn't know what she's talking about. That's why I don't do it. Are there differences between men and women? Sure there are!! In my Bible Study Group, some of the best cooks that we have are women. But there are guys who are excellent cooks too. Also, guys do tend to fart more than girls. Considering the fact that I grew up with three brothers, I know what I'm talking about. But I have heard women fart too. Despite some differences between males and females, I do my best to not stereotype, to judge, etc. But that can't be said for everybody.
My Mother has three sisters and a brother. My Grandma Roseva deserves an Olympic Gold Medal for having successfully raised these five individuals to become the adults (ahem) that they are. There are four women (my Mother and her three sisters) and one man. I have obviously gotten to know these four women very well. The Albertson Ladies are all strong supporters of women's rights. Guess what? I am too. But I prefer to be known as a supporter for people's rights. Now I love all four of these women as much as any son or nephew should. But, whether I like it or not, sometimes they have said or done something that suggests that they are sexist. My favorite example of this comes from the youngest of the family. I was having dinner with her and her kids and a conversation broke out between her and me.
Her: Oh yes, I believe that Bill Clinton is one of the best presidents that we have ever had.
Me: Do you think that it is a good thing for a man to cheat on his wife?
Her: Well, Ryan that's the thing. That's a very common thing for men to do.
Me: What do you have to base that off of?
Her: (Pausing for a moment)....Statistics.
(without her mentioning a single statistic I then spoke.)
Me: So, for instance, you're telling me that George W. Bush has cheated on his wife because he's a guy?
Her: I'm sure he has.
I still am very puzzled by this. Now look, this isn't about Democrats vs. Republicans. This is about one of the Albertson Ladies not just accusing, but KNOWING, that George W. has commited adultery. During that brief moment, she was the judge, the jury, the prosecution, and the defense all rolled into one for the case of whether or not George W. Bush has cheated on his wife. According to her, he's guilty until proven innocent. If that's not sexist, then I don't know what is.
I have known my mother for a long time. There are good things about her that are not taken for granted, as she already knows that. But, the truth is that she has proven from time to time that she is on the side of women more than men. Growing up, we would watch a few tv shows of her choosing. Some noteworthy ones are Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, Star Trek Voyager, Medium, The Closer, etc. After enough thought it is clearly obvious that my Mom prefers a show in which a woman is in a leadership role. She admitted that once, explaining why she liked Cagney and Lacey so much. However, one exception is that she is a diehard fan of NYPD BLUE. When I choose a tv show to watch, the gender of the lead character is not a decision maker or breaker by any means. My favorite show of all time is The Shield, and during half of the series, a woman is the Captain of the Barn. I am also a big fan of The Closer. One time I was having dinner at home with the family. It was about this time when Obama was beating Hillary in the primaries and caucuses. My Mom then made a comment that a woman as president would not send us to war as likely as a man would. Whatever way you look at it, that is a sexist comment. That is a statement that only somebody with a mild grudge against men would make. If I made a comment that a man as president would not be as tardy to a formal speech because he spent too much time polishing his nails and putting on lipstick, I would look like a buffoon as well. Why does my Mother have this attitude? Part of it is because she's still vehement about Title IX. As a student at Ames High School, she had no opportunity to compete in sports. Literally forty years later, she still complains about it. What somebody is supposed to do in this situation, is move on and realize that even though life sucked, and it was unfair sometime ago, that was then and this is now.
On the complete opposite side of the spectrum, is a man named Marc Rudov. To be honest, I feel kind of sorry for Marc. He is a man who is clearly sexist. The radio talk show host does clearly have a grudge against women. Some of you might think that I should have replaced his name in the title of this post with Rush Limbaugh. You might say that Rush is a much more well known person who has said mean things about women, particularly calling some of them feminazis. Here's the reason why Rush is not the guy who I'm going to go after. If you turn the radio on to listen to him the next time that he's on, I guarantee you, I bet you every buck I have, he is not going to harp that much, if at all, about women. What really gets his blood boiling is the Democratic Party. I personally almost never listen to Rush, but I know what I'm talking about. Marc Rudov has a radio show and he has been on television a number of times. Every time that he argues something, he argues in favor of men instead of women. Now, I'm going to show a few of his opinions, some more ridiculous than others, and give my 2 cents about them.
1) Actor Wesley Snipes is being punished more harshly for tax evasion than if he were a woman.
Okay Marc, listen. Where exactly in the judicial system would he have been treated more mercifully if he were a woman? Would the jury vote for a less severe punishment? Would the prosecution be more lenient? Marc Rudov then says that Martha Stewart commited a far worse offense than Mr. Snipes, and so did Dionne Warwick. I am not convinced by Marc Rudov's claim, but his accusation isn't necessarily outrageous.
2) Men should boycott Valentine's Day.
This one is where Mr. Rudov really shines. He gives a statistic that men spend twice as much money as women do on Valentine's Day, so therefore men should boycott Valentine's Day. Now, I think that if he gives out that statistic and says that he feels that that ratio 2 to 1 should not be that high, fair enough. That is a fair and reasonable opinion. But boycotting Valentine's Day because of it is not. For the very humorous debate about that subject, please click on the following Youtube link. One of the arguments that his opponent makes is that when a man buys his girlfriend/wife a piece of lingerie, that is a gift for him as well. GOOD POINT!! Thank God for Victoria's Secret! But on a more serious note, any man who would even consider boycotting Valentine's Day does not know what falling in love with a woman is all about.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgFNqkO-jmY
3) Hillary Clinton was in Las Vegas giving a speech, and a man asks her for help. The man tells her that his wife is an illegal alien. Hillary then responds with saying "No woman is an illegal." That's not right.
I agree with Mr. Rudov on this one. "No woman is an illegal?" Hillary made a sexist comment, it was degrading to men, and it's unethical. If you are an illegal, you are an illegal. One might argue that a nut like Rudov is someone you should never agree with, but I say that broken clocks are right twice a day.
I once had an English Teacher who mentioned how we should avoid sexist comments in our papers/speeches. For example,
"The man who is unwilling to take a risk will accomplish nothing in life." WRONG!!
"The person who is unwilling to take a risk will accomplish nothing in life." BETTER!!
There is a show that I watched a long time ago with my brother called street smarts. It was a dumb show about how two contestants could guess whether or not these people on the streets would know the anwer to a stated question. 100% of all the episodes that I saw pitted, yes you guessed it, a guy against a girl. Why? The show's abysmal ratings had to be lifted somehow by forcing you to root for whichever gender you belonged too.
There are many differences between men and women, as we all know. Not just accepting the opposite gender, but also admiring the opposite gender just as much as our own is a difficulty for too many. It is a chore for the Albertson Ladies and it is a chore for Marc Rudov. Hopefully it's not a chore for you.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Saturday, March 13, 2010
The Wire
One of my favorite tv shows that I have ever watched is a show called The Wire. This show was on HBO and it almost broke my heart when the credits came on for the final episode of the series. There was more originality in The Wire than you might be able to imagine. Even though it's a police drama, you have never seen a police drama like this.
This tv series takes place in Baltimore. Almost every single second of every episode is filmed in Baltimore. There are five seasons of the show, and each season focused on a different part of Baltimore. The first season concentrates on the Projects. The police try to reduce drug trafficking by focusing on the ghetto area where drug dealing takes place. The second season explores the ports. The shipping industry is big in Baltimore, and like most major cities is the reason why it became a major city. The third season focuses on the bureaucracy, government, whatever you want to call it. The fourth season deals with the school system, and how it becomes involved with crime. Lastly, the fifth season is centered upon the media, or more specifically the Baltimore Sun. The creator of the show, David Simon, actually worked for the Baltimore Sun in real life. Also, it is called The Wire because the police try to bring down the bad boys through some sort of way of infiltrating their communication.
Because of the numerous facets of Baltimore that The Wire shows, the amount of characters is almost unfathomable. Let's compare The Wire to a show that you're probably familiar with. In the show Seinfeld, there are four major characters; obviously Jerry, Elaine, George and Kramer. IMHO Newman is the most recognizable minor character. So, the most well known sitcom of all time has only five characters that really stand out. Yes, there were others, but just not as memorable. Well, let me list off all of the characters that I can off of the top of my head in The Wire. I promise that I'm not looking at a list as I type this up:
Jimmy McNulty, Shakima "Kima" Greggs, Carver, Lester Freamon, Bunk Moreland, Herc, Cedric Daniels, Bodie, Poot, D'Angelo Barksdale, Wee-Bey Brice, Namond Brice, Avon Barksdale, Frank, Nick and Ziggy Sobotdka, The Greek, "Bunny" Colvin, Carcetti, Mayor Royce, Clay Davis (my least favorite), Cheese Wagstaff, Brother Mouzone, Omar Little, Slim Charles, Stringer Bell, Marlo Stanfield, Chris Partlow, Snoops Pearson (my favorite), Bubbles, Michael, Cutty, "Dukie" Duquan, Randy, Prezbylewski, Scott, Commissioner Burrell, Little Kevin, Prop Joe, etc.
Now why is this? The Wire unapologetically has so many areas to cover and so many people that even the main characters are more like supporting roles than lead roles. But, trust me, all of these individuals truly have some very defining moments, which is why I remember so many of their names. Along with showing police business, there is a large amount of "criminal business." The Wire focuses extensively on the work that the criminals themselves do. It's like NYPD BLUE and The Sopranos combined together.
One fact about Baltimore is the very high percentage of blacks. The city's population is roughly 65% African-American. Are there some white people in The Wire? Sure there are. But the show is composed mostly of black people. Because of this, this show is sometimes featured on the tv channel BET. This fact might give you the wrong impression. This show really has nothing to do with racism. It's not about blacks hating whites, or whites hating blacks. It's about people living and working in the city of Baltimore.
When I watch a show or a movie, sometimes, I think back to a situation that I find particularly interesting. In The Wire, there are a number of unique incidents that are thought provoking and require our keen intellect to understand. **SPOILER WARNING** One example was when a bunch of drunken fools went to the projects and stirred up some trouble. One of these fools punched a kid and cost him his eye. The next morning, Cedric Daniels then scolds these men, and demands a confession as to who did it. When you watch what happened, you just feel in your bones the necessity for the guilty one to confess. It might be hard to understand this, all the more reason to watch it, but man it does mean something. When the human heart and the human mind combine to cause everything that we do, especially in unfamiliar situations, that is intelligence at work. **SPOILER WARNING** Another very interesting (and kind of funny) moment was how the police apprehended the one and only Wee-Bey Brice. There is something that they do to lure him into a trap, and the great thing is they knew exactly how he would react to their trap.
The amount of content, creativity and so on put forth in creating The Wire is unlike almost anything. Every episode starts with a meaningful quote that you will hear in the episode. It also shows what person will say it to help learn the characters' names. My favorite quote that I ever saw was
"Deserve ain't got nothin to do with it." -Snoops Pearson
Also, to symbolize the fact that each season is very different from the others, each season's opening song is a different style from each other. The words and lyrics are exactly alike, but the musicians, the instruments, the tempo, etc. are all different. Also, The Wire is Barack Obama's favorite show of all time. His favorite character is Omar Little. I will choose to not give my opinion of Obama, and his opinion isn't necessarily relevant as to whether or not you should check The Wire out. The real reason why The Wire might be worth your time is how great it really is.
The Wire both bent and broke the rules that television shows had. From the complete shift in each season's focus, to the vast cast of characters, The Wire was solid gold, or even platinum, and will always be one of my favorites.
This tv series takes place in Baltimore. Almost every single second of every episode is filmed in Baltimore. There are five seasons of the show, and each season focused on a different part of Baltimore. The first season concentrates on the Projects. The police try to reduce drug trafficking by focusing on the ghetto area where drug dealing takes place. The second season explores the ports. The shipping industry is big in Baltimore, and like most major cities is the reason why it became a major city. The third season focuses on the bureaucracy, government, whatever you want to call it. The fourth season deals with the school system, and how it becomes involved with crime. Lastly, the fifth season is centered upon the media, or more specifically the Baltimore Sun. The creator of the show, David Simon, actually worked for the Baltimore Sun in real life. Also, it is called The Wire because the police try to bring down the bad boys through some sort of way of infiltrating their communication.
Because of the numerous facets of Baltimore that The Wire shows, the amount of characters is almost unfathomable. Let's compare The Wire to a show that you're probably familiar with. In the show Seinfeld, there are four major characters; obviously Jerry, Elaine, George and Kramer. IMHO Newman is the most recognizable minor character. So, the most well known sitcom of all time has only five characters that really stand out. Yes, there were others, but just not as memorable. Well, let me list off all of the characters that I can off of the top of my head in The Wire. I promise that I'm not looking at a list as I type this up:
Jimmy McNulty, Shakima "Kima" Greggs, Carver, Lester Freamon, Bunk Moreland, Herc, Cedric Daniels, Bodie, Poot, D'Angelo Barksdale, Wee-Bey Brice, Namond Brice, Avon Barksdale, Frank, Nick and Ziggy Sobotdka, The Greek, "Bunny" Colvin, Carcetti, Mayor Royce, Clay Davis (my least favorite), Cheese Wagstaff, Brother Mouzone, Omar Little, Slim Charles, Stringer Bell, Marlo Stanfield, Chris Partlow, Snoops Pearson (my favorite), Bubbles, Michael, Cutty, "Dukie" Duquan, Randy, Prezbylewski, Scott, Commissioner Burrell, Little Kevin, Prop Joe, etc.
Now why is this? The Wire unapologetically has so many areas to cover and so many people that even the main characters are more like supporting roles than lead roles. But, trust me, all of these individuals truly have some very defining moments, which is why I remember so many of their names. Along with showing police business, there is a large amount of "criminal business." The Wire focuses extensively on the work that the criminals themselves do. It's like NYPD BLUE and The Sopranos combined together.
One fact about Baltimore is the very high percentage of blacks. The city's population is roughly 65% African-American. Are there some white people in The Wire? Sure there are. But the show is composed mostly of black people. Because of this, this show is sometimes featured on the tv channel BET. This fact might give you the wrong impression. This show really has nothing to do with racism. It's not about blacks hating whites, or whites hating blacks. It's about people living and working in the city of Baltimore.
When I watch a show or a movie, sometimes, I think back to a situation that I find particularly interesting. In The Wire, there are a number of unique incidents that are thought provoking and require our keen intellect to understand. **SPOILER WARNING** One example was when a bunch of drunken fools went to the projects and stirred up some trouble. One of these fools punched a kid and cost him his eye. The next morning, Cedric Daniels then scolds these men, and demands a confession as to who did it. When you watch what happened, you just feel in your bones the necessity for the guilty one to confess. It might be hard to understand this, all the more reason to watch it, but man it does mean something. When the human heart and the human mind combine to cause everything that we do, especially in unfamiliar situations, that is intelligence at work. **SPOILER WARNING** Another very interesting (and kind of funny) moment was how the police apprehended the one and only Wee-Bey Brice. There is something that they do to lure him into a trap, and the great thing is they knew exactly how he would react to their trap.
The amount of content, creativity and so on put forth in creating The Wire is unlike almost anything. Every episode starts with a meaningful quote that you will hear in the episode. It also shows what person will say it to help learn the characters' names. My favorite quote that I ever saw was
"Deserve ain't got nothin to do with it." -Snoops Pearson
Also, to symbolize the fact that each season is very different from the others, each season's opening song is a different style from each other. The words and lyrics are exactly alike, but the musicians, the instruments, the tempo, etc. are all different. Also, The Wire is Barack Obama's favorite show of all time. His favorite character is Omar Little. I will choose to not give my opinion of Obama, and his opinion isn't necessarily relevant as to whether or not you should check The Wire out. The real reason why The Wire might be worth your time is how great it really is.
The Wire both bent and broke the rules that television shows had. From the complete shift in each season's focus, to the vast cast of characters, The Wire was solid gold, or even platinum, and will always be one of my favorites.
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