Engaging Justice GWSS 1005

Ask Me Now What Justice Is

2011-12-19T07:10:00Z

After completing the course, I'm still unsure as to what justice is. Personally, I would say that justice is thinking of everyone as equal. Everyone is normal and there really isn't a category of different. This is a problem because although we should treat everyone as equals and be kind to everyone, some people need more assistance than others. Considering them equal would remove the assistance that they need to survive. Although we should see disabled persons as equal, we define them as disabled for a reason - we know they need more help doing certain things than the rest of us. If we consider them equal and remove that assistance, they won't make it because the rest of us will "run them over" in the "race to survive", so to speak. Because of this, justice isn't seeing everyone as equal. Justice is... giving everyone what they need to be equal. Yet, even that has its flaws - you can't just give people anything they need. Although I feel I have the right idea of justice, I don't think I can define justice.
I do feel that I have a better understanding of justice than when I first began this class. Looking back at my previous post about what justice is, I don't think I really had a grasp on the concept. Especially not like the one I do now. Maybe someone out there can spend their life creating a million page document that defines justice... maybe. I, however, cannot. My best, yet flawed, answer would be "treating everyone as equals". Or maybe "seeing everyone as equal".

Final blog about justice

2011-12-15T20:29:28Z

In this semester I have the GWSS class, in the past four months this class gave me a lot of knowledge about different part of justice in the world, and also gave me the big challenge and the refresh about my old ideas, when I walk into this class I can feel my eyes open, and our focus is on the most important point of this world.

I really interested in the terrorism and gender topic, because I never learn and talk more about these topic in China, the movie in class was really attractive, I never watched the movie can touch my heart so much, when I watched movie about terrorism, every seconds was a kind of baptism and shock for my heart. The freedom of media and speech also makes me feel comfortable, I can talk and watch any kind of movie about sensitive topic I want, the professor gave me the respect as a Chinese international student. I did not found the Discrimination against Chinese. This make me feel really good.

For the justice, at the beginning I think justice topic is really far for my life and is really boring, in Chinese culture justice is the topic that American always argue about and not have any practical significance, but when finish the study my mind changed and I really like to talk about the justice, I realize injustice and justice in the daily life. Talk about justice with my friend, not only the American friends, but also the Chinese friends. I think the day when I go back China this class will always influence me a lot, I will try my best to fight for the justice in China. This is I never image before the class.

For me justice is : equal, balance, life, education, brief, and the pursue. This class changed my world and open my eyesight.in the end I want to say "Justice is for every one ,every time. "I really love this class!

Ableism

2011-12-15T20:28:03Z

I think the ableism is kind of insult to the disabled people, the disabled people always living in the low self-esteem and the world they think is dark and unfair, "I can't have the healthy body like others? Why I was disabled by this kind or that kind of reasons? The world is unfair to me " these sentence it seems always said by the disabled people.

In our primary school the teacher want us to give the respect to disabled people and know the world they life in, so she let us play a game, she bounded some classmates hands, use the scarf to covered others eyes and plugged the ears, suddenly the world was changed, we can't do anything like usual, and the easy things like eating, walking, talking was really difficult for us, somebody can't heard each other, somebody crashed to the shelf or desk, somebody cannot ate cookie without hands' help, everything at that time are difficult for us, after 30 minutes when the game finished, we back to the normal state, all of the classmates thought it is lucky to be a normal people, the disabled people world is really difficult , we should try our best to help them and give them more respect. For that time the non-ableism is stayed in every classmates mind.

At now, when I see the disabled people need help, I will try my best to help them, because I know they really need help and also need respect. I think in the future I should also try my best to let all the people know everyone is equal, the ableism should disappeared in everyone mind.

The Terrorism

2011-12-15T20:27:07Z

No one could forgot the 911, the black day in the American history. The whole world was shocked and sad when the 911 happen. The terrorism give thousand and thousand family in America the deep hurt, and give the whole world a big challenge to solve the problem about terrorism. The murder aim to the specific person, the political assassinations aim to the government, this kind of crime can be called the crime which have the reason, but the terrorism is the crime which have no reason. Aimed to the innocent people, this kind of crime should be despise or everyone. I never image the someone will kill or hurt others without any reason. But the terrorism make me believe, the extreme people can do anything beyond you imaginations, and break your perception of crime. In the class video, the crime and violent give me the deep feeling. The poverty can cause a man a city or a country get crazy and do anything no matter how violence it is. it also make me think about the gap between poor and rich. If these people have no pressure about housing or food, what is the result? I am fully convince that the terrorist have their own reason to become a terrorist. These reasons I think is all about the material. Life is the most valuable thing, if someones life faced challenge or can't life, The power he or she can break is really big and the desire for survive can lead he or she do anything, the crime or terrorism is the worst. For my opinion solving the problem about the terrorism is found the deep reason why the terrorism happened and what the terrorists want before they become the terrorists. If can know these things I think the thousands of people can be saved.

Human trafficking

2011-12-15T20:26:31Z

I can't imaging the human can be a commodity, in our history test book, we know the black triangle marketing about the human trafficking, the African young men are like the commodity which be sold by the white men, lots of people died in the long sea trip. The sharks always followed the ship how do the Human trafficking, because the sharks know the food was come, the trafficker will throw the died people body in the sea, and these died people will become the sharks dinner. It really makes me feel scared and angry why the horrible things happened. In my opinion the human trafficking deep reason is the money, the huge interest makes the trafficker do the trafficking without any guilt feeling. The human trafficking is not only happened in black and white people, but also the male and female, lots of female are sold to the different part of the world, their poor life began at the time when they were sold. In last year I went to a small village in Veteran, some strong people like the football player asked me to bought a young girl, I never had this kind of experience before, shaked my head and drove away quickly. Now I know this is a kind of human trafficking, and it is also real happened in the world. But these kind of horrible things should disappear in the world, let us us our own power to resist the human trafficking.

Gender identity

2011-12-15T20:23:10Z

When talking about the Gender identity, as a Chinese it is very embarrassed, because in China the Gay and Lesbian is the sensitive topic and I don't think In China the Gay and Lesbian have their rights like America Gay and Lesbian have. In Chinese culture it is hard to accept the man or woman become a gay or lesbian.if someone become a gay or lesbian, other will look he/she very uncomfortable, and he or she maybe become the topic that all the people talks about and will have a lot of troubles when he or she working in the office with others. Although choice the lifestyle is every ones freedom, but when choosing the gay and lesbian, it will face the big pressure. And the pressure can make someone get mad. I can't understand the reason why the people become gay and lesbian, but I think the treatment Chinese people for gay and lesbian is too serious. The gay and lesbian always live in the dark and didn't have any connection with others. How poor they are. In the recent years, because many young people go to abroad the concept about gay and lesbian is changing, more and more people are try to accept the gay and lesbian. The gay and lesbian are not like the strangers in the past, maybe in the future the Chinese can totally accept the gay and lesbian gay and lesbian will find their rights which are coming late.

What is Justice

2011-12-15T20:09:42Z

For my opinion justice is the balance in the social real life. It is hard to remove all kinds of conflict in the social real life, but it can found the balance to keep all levels people remained stable, and not have the apparent conflict. The balance I thought is the justice.it is also hard to give a destination about what is justice, because in the different values, the way to judge is also different. Because of the different values about the judgement the justice will be changed. Maybe somethings happened in America caused the citizen strong dissatisfaction and make the citizen think is injustice, but no dissatisfaction in China and maybe think it is justice. Although justice is the people's requirement in life, live better is an topic for every time, every one. Having a rule to regulate the way people found their better life is important, and this rule also can be called "justice", sometimes justice likes the air which can not be seen but does real exist. In the past 100 years China, the concept of justice is more and more clear in the citizen's memory, and requirement is stronger and stronger. The area that Chinese people ask justice is not only confined about their personal life, but also including the environment, national sovereignty and some big topic. The website is talk about the Chinese citizen ask the environment protection and resist the chemical factory in Dalian the city located in eastern China. And found their justice about living safety.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-14520438

feminist blogging and disability

2011-12-13T20:36:10Z

I recently came across this really interesting post on the feminist blog Tiger Beatdown about disabled women and abuse. I thought it expanded from what we had been talking about in class in some interesting directions.
Also, I just think that Tiger Beatdown is a really cool blog and wanted to share it with all of you. I feel that I get a lot more from it from regular news sites because it's commenting, and outside of the mainstream.

gender justice

2011-12-13T20:28:36Z

For me gender justice means that everyone gets the same respect and opportunities regardless of their gender. It isn't just about male/female equality, but ending gender as existing as a categorical reason to be discriminated against. I'd like to see the concept of gender to open up, from the simple binary of man or woman to include bending, overlapping, transformative queer identities. The idea of justice based on gender doesn't make as much sense when gender is seen as an essential inherent trait.
I don't really know what I'm going to do to use what I've learned in this class. I hope to somehow work got social justice, but am not presently involved in anything. I guess I'll just keep on living and writing and try to create discussion around me.

A few final thoughts.

2011-12-13T16:13:21Z

The most impactful moment for me while taking this class has to have been the day I saw my ignorance and its hateful consequences thrust before my eyes. We had just finished watching the film The Aggressives and were discussing it afterwards. At one point during the talk I became confused as to Marquise's (I believe) gender. I thought argued that he was not transgender, but merely denying societal gender roles and norms as a female. Throughout the remainder of class I was stuck in that rut of a mindset; I justified it as ignorance on his part that he didn't know the proper terms that I (apparently) knew. I argued that not only was Marquise female, but that I was justified in determining his label since I was the "educated" one. I kept this belief throughout the day--partly out of belief that I was right, but mostly out of fear admitting I was wrong and had committed the same ignorant subordination that I believed against.

It wasn't until later in the day that I realized how wrong I was. I had spent the walk home constantly questioning myself whether I was right or not, but still a bit desperate wanting to believe I was. It wasn't until I returned to the dorm and struck up conversation about the topic that I began to really understand my error. I was so convinced that I had to put a label on each person so as to understand them, that I completely neglected the purpose of labels and the right of individuals to choose them. Labels do not define a person; rather, they offer some explanation to the life of the person who chooses them.

This whole situation was a bit of a shock to me; after all, I knew that I was more than just my labels and would speak out against those who would work to only see me as my labels and the believed definitive traits that come along with that label. So here I am assuming the role of the majority and assigning superficial traits to the minority based off my own ignorance and the subsequent fear of that ignorance. Because at that time I thought that if I could label them, I could understand them. And understanding means sympathy, right? Not when it comes through the denial of one's rights to self-autonomy.

Though I have learned many things in this class that have taught me about the injustices in the world, the one that remains the most potent comes from recognizing my own parochialism and the subsequent attitudes used to maintain it. In this world there are innumerable differences in each individual and each day an opportunity to go beyond the selectively viewed traits and see the real life in each other. And ultimately that's what justice is to me.

What is justice?

2011-12-13T04:29:07Z

What is justice? This is such a simple question, yet it requires the most complex of answers. I want to start out by telling what justice, to me, is not. I do not believe that retaliation in any way, shape, or form is justice. If someone does something to you, you should not look for any and every opportunity to get back at them. That is something that will only worsen the situation. One of my life-long favorite quotes has been, "An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind," which was given to us from the heart of Gandhi. I believe it is wise to never retaliate, but to try and understand the motives behind the person who wronged you. I, also, do not think it is just to try and tell people what they are and what they are not. I think that the only person who has the ability to define an individual is the individual themselves. People who place labels or titles on people by just looking at them really get to me. I think people need to take the time to get to know people before making any statements pertaining to them. Now about what I think justice is... I think justice is present where respect, love, and acceptance are overflowing. If you aim to respect someone, you will not go tearing them down or telling them who or what they are or should be. I think that respect comes when you are able to understand something, so that is where acceptance comes in. You need to take the time to be mindful of what something, or someone, essentially is to be able to accept it. Once you are able to understand, then it is easier to relate, or to view things from that different perspective. It takes respect to accept something and acceptance, in turn, brings more respect. Where love comes in is basically all around and over the situation. I don't mean you have to fall in love with every person you meet or thing you come across, but I really believe there is power in being a loving person. I really believe that happiness stems from love and that acting out of love is the way to ensure peace.

Gender Equality

2011-12-13T03:12:27Z

I found this article very interesting and thought I would share it with all of you.
"Are Alpha Males in Danger of Extinction?
As male drive seems to be slowing down, women are becoming increasingly ambitious. Will the alpha female take over and how will that affect us? An investigation yields some startling consequences."
http://www.womenshealthmag.com/sex-and-relationships/changing-gender-roles?cm_mmc=Twitter-_-womenshealth-_-content-sex-_-alphamales

2011-12-11T17:04:32Z

disability notes.pptx

Final Notes on Social Justice

2011-12-11T17:02:22Z

justice eden torres.pptx

cocoa cocoa baby.. group members.

2011-12-08T18:15:06Z

Since we could not include our names in the photographic blog that we used for the presentation. I am going to just post something new to ensure that you know who played their part in this group case study.

Cocoa Production and SAP's in the French Ivory Coast group members:
Erika Farrell.
Gabe Hilden-Reid.
Rebecca Mahoney.
Alyssa McCoy.
Aria Weatherspoon.