tee ooh kaaay

ok so i just finished watching the funniest thing ever and a little creepy too. i was watching VH1 and a show came up about little girls in pagents… i think thats hw oyu spell it… well whatever…t he thing wa that these girls amazed me. they all loked like barbies… and not in the good way. they all looked so fake… like little plastic barbies literally. like looking at an adult barbie but … ok i cant explain it but that t not really my point either ahah… what surprised me soooo much was the parents! they were so into these activites that at times it lokdas if it were the parents who wanted to win more than these girls. something that i also found disturbing was that these girls werent judged to look like little girls, they were judged to look like adult women. one of the ocmmon things these girls did was that if they were missing teeth they would get  “flipper” which were like fake teeth that could be taken off really easily. a lot of them also got spray tanned because they might be a little “too white”. this is something that seems to relate again to that of what i said that children are rushed into losing their childhood… well… i just wanted to share my thoughts on this… ahah i dont really know if this counts as a journal but whatever… you gusy should watch the show to know what im tallking about and drop jaws and open your eyes wide ahaha

Soooo I just recently had a mental and physical break down and the sole cause of it is school. Now I know you might be thinking, her we go again, another I hate school lets banish it and be wild pigs. But no this is a serious thought I had and I’m pretty sure many students, in fact all students could agree upon. A student wakes up, does his/her morning routine, goes to school, he/she might have some after school activity, and after that another activity, and then goes home to study and do homework, hoping they’ll go to sleep by 12 the earliest. After this, he then again repeats the saaaame schedule over and over and over and over again. The weekend comes and of course they want to take their minds of the stress they have waiting for them at home in their backpacks and so they go out on Friday. Saturday then becomes either a day to do some of he work or to do more extra curricular activities. Sunday comes along and this is where he/she takes the whole day to finish their homework. After all of this happens, guess what happens? THE ROUTINE REPEATS ITSELF!! Amazing hu? Well this is to me not the best way to develop the minds of young people; in fact it seems as to be the wrong approach. Now don’t get me wrong, I think education is one the most important aspects in life and something one should value over many other things in life. I also know that without an education, in the society we live, you could not get very far unless your really lucky or really know what your doing. Though I am aware of all these factors I am here to also remind everyone that we are humans and that although these aspects are very important, our health and well being is the most important over everything else. By this time of the year it is obvious in the faces of many students that they are coming near to their limit if they have not reached it already. The truth is that the routine one goes through everyday is no good, it is as if we were basing our lives on how to live up to the standards of others… and who are those others? i have come to believe that education institutions and those creating the programs fail to understand that the years we are living are the most valuable. I also understand that these are also the years whre our brains can develop the most, but what good is it when we can barely keep our eyes open from the lack of sleep we are going through? All I am trying to say is that although expectations are high in life, the condition of the student t is far more important. In fact with the scheduals all students go through one is not really testing how smart they are but how much can they go without sleep… or who can forget the joy of life and focus on how to get into a prestigious college.

So this journal is gonna be about something I’ve been noticing this past year where I began to notice the way children are and what they say and think. I noticed that the kids in our society have grown at such a pace that is surprising, by this I mean that they have “matured” a lot faster than I had when I was their age. I first notice this when I was on my bus coming home from school and I was listening to the children sing. At first I was just really annoyed at the fact that I couldn’t sleep with them singing but then I paid attention to the song they were singing and oddly enough they were singing Hot N’ Cold by Katy Perry. I was so shocked by this that I actually started laughing out loud. I mean, how could kids, who were like 9 years old, be singing this song!? The second line in the song they were singing was “you PMS like a bitch…” I mean imagine this… children already cursing and maybe without knowing what they’re saying, but the most astonishing thing was that you could tell they knew what it meant with the tone they said it. This made me think, are these generations growing up to fast or too soon? I can’t remember myself listening to songs like that in an iPOD… in fact we didn’t even have iPODs! Nevertheless if I were to listen to a song with cursing it would be secretly because my parents would never allow me to listen to that. It is also visible when you see children already at the age of 13 drinking and smoking at parties and the most horrifying thing for me is when I listen of news saying that a 13 year old girl is now pregnant. At that age I was afraid of even holding a guys hand because I was too embarrassed, never did the thought of having sex cross my mind. For me children have now become so mentally advanced for their age. Now, is this a good or bad thing? In our culture (western), it is seen as a taboo for children to have sex at such a young age and is usually punished but oddly enough they amount of young girls having sex and getting pregnant does not diminish. Campaigns are created to promote safe sex and information that they need, this shows (to me) that in a way we have come to accept it, secretly. Though to my eyes this is a completely erroneous thing going on in our present day society, it might be completely acceptable in others. In nations where young women are arranges to marry men who are double their age it is common to see these circumstances. After a young woman gets her period she is now mature enough to have sexual relations. But imagine this, a young girl getting her period when she turns 8 has she the mental capacity to go through that experience? Allowing people to follow cultural traditions such as the previously states are depriving children to actually be children, enjoy their youth.

Throughout the past women’s role has varied from being a housewife to being the woman leading a nation. These roles have always been prevalent in all household though only recently have women begun to fight for what they believe should be their rights. Talking about this popped into my mind as I realized that I am girl who has already established her thoughts different to those of the “traditional” minds. By traditional I mean the common girl who dreams of getting married, having children of her own, being home and cooking, cleaning, all the chores a housewife is expected to fulfill. I was coming from some friends’ house and on the way back my dad and I decided to take back one of my friends back to her house. The ever so common discussion of “how many children …etc” came up. I immediately told them that the idea of marriage was not the most pleasant for me and that if I was to get married it would not be until I know I could take care and support myself. Marriage to me would only be a stronger between my boyfriend and I. I then went on to tell them having children was another thought that was not as pleasant either. I told them that if I was to have children it would be when I knew I was capable of economically supporting them, and something that I made clear is that if I were to have children a major probability is that some of them would be adopted. Now your thinking “wow, she said some” ajaja… although I said some for me my limit would be three kids and that to me is already a lot. After I told them this, my friend, (she’s 27) she was very surprised at my way of thinking. She began to say that her dream was to have a husband and have around 5 kids and that she could completely imagine herself staying home cleaning, cooking, etc. I was completely appalled by this way of thinking, specially coming from a woman who had her bachelors and was planning on getting a masters. I then realized that my way of thinking was still not very common although the amount is growing. I then began to question my way of thinking, asking myself, is this a good thing or a bad thing? This is obviously subjective to every person especially in what culture they find themselves in. another factor I began to consider, that made me question my thoughts even more, was the “nature” factor. The true role of women in nature is to nurture the child and look for a spouse that can provide shelter and food (this is referring to monkeys). My way thoughts completely contradict this natural aspect of life making me think whether the way I think is good or bad. I know that in other cultures, like that of Arab nations, Indian cultures, Asian nations, etc. pretty much around the world, women are expected to be submissive and answer only to a male figure, whether it be a husband, father, son, etc. though these customs are prevalent around the world it has now (recent 100 years) begun to change. Even though women are breaking a normal and “natural” cycle, this could not be seen as a negative aspect because like many other things in the world, we have learned to break nature’s rules. After realizing this I found myself feeling better with my thoughts, I reconsidered the fact that I had the right reach this type of mentality. This privilege is something that few women come to have, but are now fighting for it. Though it is scarce, we should try to spread this privilege and allow women to do what they choose with it. Just as I have had the right to push against the idea of a “housewife”, they should have the choice to choose that life if they please. Even though I am breaking natures cycle, I do hope one day women will question their roles in life, or even in their household, and take a step forward to changing that.

Now I know what Im about to talk about is a touchy subject but I’ve been thinking about our class discussion about life after death and the reaction everyone had when I stated over and over again that for me the life we have now is all we get, after we die there is nothing more for us except for becoming soil and a fertilizer for the plants. The reason why I want to talk about this is because I finally began to notice that it is not easy having different mentalities than those around you. Recent events have made me realize that not only does my way of thinking differs from MANY but also oppose their ideas as well. With this clash of ideas at times great things may occur like a new design for a tattoo but most of the time it results in anger, frustration and continuous contradiction. The discussion we had in class made me realize this and made me open my mind even more to the opinions of others. Life after death is a subject taken very serious by many because this affects millions of people around the world because the majority of their life is based upon the idea of earning a place in the afterlife. In the past Catholics were very strict on their followings of the Bible, an example of this is the Puritans where their whole lives revolve around the sayings of the Bible. Anything that does not follow these ideas is seen as sinful and in need of “purification”. .this did not allow them to explre beyond those teaching making them live a single way in order to have a certain place in heaven.Most religions have the idea that if they do wrong in this lifetime they will be denied the right to a better life after they die making every single moment in their life less significant losing the magic of what a day can hold. By magic I don’t mean only the good things a day can bring you but the magic of being able to make mistakes, have sad moments in life, making you feel even more alive. To me if I believed in an after life whether it be heaven, hell, or a big blur just floating around would keep me from experiencing every second in life to its fullest. I am completely conscious that the words I type are completely subjective but that is exactly the point I am trying to make. I’m sure that there will be some people who read this and think I am out of my mind and others who completely understand what I am saying. This controversy is the beauty of it, knowing that there are millions of minds with different thoughts. Different cultural upbringings, different nuclear family ideals, and different developments are all factors that allow a human being choose whether they choose to live a life thinking there is life after death or that there is only death after life. I know that the way I think is only a result of different situations I have gone through in life and the different choices I have been exposed to because of the culture I live in and the family I was raised in as well. i know that if i  hadn’t gone through everything I had I would not have the way of thinking I do today. there is a certain beauty knowing that there are billions of minds that contradict my way of thinking. this also makes me think of a comment made by Glori in class asking that if we had the choice of being objective would we want to be like that rather than being subjective? I changed to thinking, would we want the same mentality around the world or have millions and millions of ideas in the world? .This journal is completely based on my fascination of the human being and how amazing it is to see how each one reacts different to different ideas and situations and only this. I decided that this is TOK issue because although some people don’t understand my way of thinking and disagree with me I would like to ask them if they would prefer for me and everybody else agree with what they say or have the continuous conflicts people around the world have. I hope that because of what I said or stated offended anyone and I do hope that you like this Lissy

Ok so we all know now that the media takes a big effect upon the decisions we make on many aspects of our lives whether it be what shirt to buy to what president to vote for. Each form of media reaches out to different crowds and different types of mentalities and personalities. Important events throughout history have been affected by the propaganda placed by others to support their cause. In WW1 the US used propaganda to make people enlist to the US Army making the enemies seem like monsters that needed to be killed or else it would put the nation in danger and hurt the women. In this poster you can see how the enemy is portrayed. It is shown as a horrible monster with fangs, a terrifying non-human being that 1) is hurting and causing fear upon the women 2) stepping on America telling the men that action must be taken immediately before its too late. These two aspects of the posters show first of all the stereotype of women, the one that needs to be saved. It goes back to the discussion we had in class about the specific stereotypes each sex has how it they still stick with us today. Then, the poster also puts the nation in danger before it the threat has even arrived to the country making me ask myself, is it ethical to use events like these to draw people into what they want? Is it ok for a government to manipulate its citizens? I answered myself that although it might not seem ethical it was necessary to have the outcome of the war or else the world would defiantly be in different conditions.

Like in previous poster I ask the same about the next propaganda. I found this add as I went into slate.com to find something to base my journal upon and this was seen in the middle on an article. A little boy is shown crying over a grave of a lost one and most times when a person sees the assumption of a parent’s death usually comes to mind. This add immediately appeals to a persons emotions making one feel closer to the ad without even knowing what it’s about. The advertisement is promoting life insurance just incase something happens a payment can be given to the remaining family members. For example, a mother is diagnosed with cancer and has no life insurance; this allows this woman to gain this benefit and if she doesn’t defeat the cancer there is something to be left behind for her children. Although this is a good idea is it promoted in the best way? Is it too strong, ethical, and correct? Can’t these companies just inform the viewers instead of exposing such intimate moments to the world? Though like in the previous poster would the effect be the same if the company just set out the facts rather than showing something that catches their attention even more? I am pretty sure that if I were to say which one convinced me more I would say the one with a child crying because it would make me think, what if this happened to me? Breaking certain ethical boundaries are at times necessary in order to lure the masses in even more or to prove a point to a higher level. Without breaking these boundaries not as many men would have enlisted for the Army and without them the war would not have been able to be fought or won. Without appealing to the readers emotions the ad would not make the reader understand the importance of life insurance and the effect it can have upon the ones around you.

Music throughout the years has been seen as a way to express one’s feelings and to entertain others. Some songs convey certain messages in order for people to understand the composer’s way of thinking. For example, Rage Against the Machine has always been known for it’s distinct political views and lyrics. All of their concerts had a specific meaning and much of the money they made went towards specific political movements like the “Anti-Nazi march”. Though many see this to be a good cause there has been great amounts of protests against this group because of its opposition to certain aspects of the police and their methods and the explicit language they use in their songs. A specific song that caused much tribulation was that of “Fuck the Police”. The obvious opposition to an authoritarian figure was the first thing that caught many people’s attention and the explicit language used as well. So, does the act of having opposition to an authoritarian figure, which in their view has done something wrong, make the group a negative influence to others? Although in others songs there is explicit language, basing the term of “explicit language” on what is seen today, do they make them bad songs? I bring these questions up because a couple of days ago I was in the car with my dad listening to the radio. A song came up and I blasted the volume because I like the song and found it to be funny. It was called “Mi Amigo del Baño” by Kany Garcia; it had a mainstream rhythm, one that many of the large masses like. The song is about a girl that had just broken up with her boyfriend and went to the store and bought herself a dildoe, telling her boyfriend that this object was better than his company. As my father heard the song he started dancing along to the rhythm and so I told him to listen to the lyrics and tell me what he thought of them and the song as a whole. He immediately understood what the song was about but what surprised me was his reaction. As the song finished he said that it was a nice song because the way she expressed herself was not with “explicit language” and had good rhythm. He had previously told me that it wasn’t “healthy” for me to listen to Rage Against the Machine because of the way they expressed themselves and the type of music they played even though they conveyed smart and interesting message and morale. So I asked him, do you think its OK to expose people to a negative meaning with no interesting aspect to it just because it has good rhythm and “acceptable language”? Or is it better to expose people to a message where they can think and discuss although it has an uncommon rhythm and language? His answer was that he preferred good rhythm and bad message over the other option. This only showed that many of today’s’ society prefer to hide the truth or tabooed aspects of life or authoritarian figures than actually confronting them. The fear of questioning a powerful figure in one’s life is something seen even the music one chooses. So which one would you choose?

Well here we are again starting our TOK journals, making us think about the small things that happen to us everyday and the importance they have.

Boxing has always been seen as a very violent sport where men destroy each others face, like savages. This is the first impression everyone gets when boxing is mentioned. Many people think of massive men with huge arms and sculptured bodies, a body meant to hurt. Though this is what many believe, they find a way to ignore the beauty of boxing and the technique needed to be involved in this sport. A great boxer has self-discipline, a unique style, and a certain way of thinking. Each one has a different ways of fighting, different flaws and strengths making it the job of the opponent to figure these aspects out. Women have been entering the boxing world and have not always been welcomed with open arms. They are called either lesbians, “dikes”, and are thought of to be women wanting to be men. This sport is seen to be a men’s sport even today.

For the past year and a half I have been boxing as a way to keep myself fit and because I like the sport as well. When I first decided involve myself into this new world I feared the reaction of others making me think now, why was afraid of that? I now realized I was afraid of what others would think of a girl fighting and getting herself involved in such a “violent” sport. The cultural upbringing I was involved in created this idea and made me fear something I desired. After I started training I had different reactions some good telling me it was “cool” for a girl to box and that I should keep with it. Others were the complete opposite, some told me I was being a complete “tomboy” which many time have a negative connotation and others told me that this was a “guy’s sport” and that girls shouldn’t be involved in it. The most recent one was from someone very close telling me that he did not like the idea of me fighting because I was losing my femininity. There have been many other negative reactions from men and women. Some women have yet to break from many of the social limits set by men. it made me realize that still today in what we call a “developed” society women aren’t fully allowed to pursuit what they want and enjoy what they like without having others telling them it isn’t appropriate for them to do so.

It is obvious that many of the aspects in today’s society have developed and because of that I am able to study, learn and be able to make a difference and become a somebody. Although I do see this and am incredibly grateful I am and have seen this process there is still much progress to be made. Not only is there a need for progress from society but from the minds of men as well as for the women.

What is the source of the sense of right and wrong? For moral beliefs, can one distinguish between the source and the justification, or are the two the same?

The source of what tells each individual what is right and wrong, depends much on their cultural, social, political and religious background, amongst others. The individual’s upbringing and experiences creates the person’s reality, and therefore it creates their concept of right and wrong. One is brought up to believe certain truths that one does not dare to question or reject. For example, we had a friend who was brought up in a very strict, conservative and extremely religious upbringing. The slightest indication of a “hickie” caused her family to go into a frenzy, and strongly reprimanded her. In a less conservative family, like ours, although such an event would be met with consequences, they would not be as severe as the case of our friend.  The difference in moral opinions is influenced by many factors, and they create a well defined moral line. This  is a line which limits the individual from committing certain actions, and it cannot be contradicted or unquestionable. If the line is crossed, a certain sense of guilt and remorse appears. 

Whether the moral beliefs have a justified origin or the source is hidden beneath individual upbringing, depends much on the situation.  One instance in which the justification and the source was discussed yesterday (in our discussion of photojournalism-specifically the case of Omayra). What many of us thought was that it was wrong to take the picture of this suffering young girl, however the photographer’s justification was different, since it allowed him to take the picture. This justification was to help other victims and bring awareness to the situation, despite the fact that he thought it was morally wrong, he took it so that world could be AWARE. Justifications and these sources might differ, but they are independent from each other.

How important are values (“principles”, “ideals”) in politics? Is politics primarily concerned with what is or what ought to be? Is it better for society if politicians are skilled in the workings of power, or if they have strong principles that govern their actions?

Values are of great importance in politics, since the politician has to lead a group of people based on their ideals. They find themselves in the presence of power, and if moral values are not present, the politician can unjustly and unfairly use that power. One would hope that the politician has very strong ethics, due to the positions they might find themselves in, as  well as the possibility to do wrong.  Furthermore, politicians must make many decisions, and in many cases easier ways can be taken to get things done. However a Politician must be obstinate in their beliefs. Still, some personal moral values must be broken and put on hold for the benefit of the country or the matter at hand.  Although such factors contradict each other, both are necessary. A politician must be firm in their beliefs; however to a certain extent they must be willing to put some down if the country is in dire need.  Politics is concerned with “what is” and “what ought to be” in favor of their  own beliefs. An example of  this is if a conservative leader is in power, he/she might fight for the elimination of abortion, because they feel that it  is what is correct and what ought to be. Politicians do indeed base their actions on what they feel is correct, however what does vary is their opinions.   In conclusion, politicians need to fight for what they believe is right, because such demonstrates passion and perseverance. However this must be balanced with the knowledge of governing and the interest of the people being represented.

Does ambiguity in ethics make it “weak knowledge”?

As the question mentions there is a lot of ambiguity in ethics, making it nearly impossible to arrive to a conclusion on a topic relating to ethics. Some of us believe that it is a weak knowledge because this ambiguity, despite the fact that it makes us question most things (if not all), makes it impossible to come to an answer one can be sure is the right one. If one can never come to a concrete answer or conclusion, then it is a weak knowledge. However, others argue that this is the case for other knowledge as well, because we are constantly being proven wrong in different areas. As an example one can view the scientific progresses, which change the knowledge we consider to be true every few years. History is also another area that has several unknown factors, since we are unable to know why certain things occurred. The reason why this ambiguity is more present in ethics is because the uncertainty and change in ideas can be seen almost immediately, whereas the ambiguity in the other knowledge takes longer to be evident.

In the US there is a common conversation in many homes, immigrants and the closing of the border. About 75% of the America population wants to build a wall to prevent even more immigrants to enter the country. A major problem that immigrants bring to the United States is that of health care, taking jobs from American citizens, terrorism, and at times increasing the crime levels. All of these are problems that concern many people but there are those that believe that immigration is necessary for the United States.They believe that they strengthen the country with their hard work, perseverance, and skilled labor. I personally agree with this idea because my parents themselves arrived to the United States as immigrants and did nothing but work in jobs that not many Americans wanted. My father specially suffered as he went at the young age of 17, alone, to New York to find a job. He went through tough situations but was able to survive and now lives the life he wants to without having to work and still be able to have his daughter go to an expensive school. In fact, much of my family arrived to the United States as immigrants and are now living the American life as citizens. An issue I see with immigration is not the effect it has on the US but the exploitation many of the immigrants go through. Less than minimum wage is given to them because the employer doesn’t need to turn in papers to show the wage that is being given.

This issue has come to a great amount of people’s attention coming to the point where it even affected the music genres. Groups such as Molotov, a Mexican Rap/Rock group greatly known in the US, Elysia, a hardcore rock band showing lyrics like “building a wall to keep them out? I’m highly in doubt, more like building a wall to keep us in because we’re still judging by skin and so called “moralists” are blind of sin”. These lyrics show a powerful point of view that a certain population of the United States agrees with. Those that for the building of the border wall at times give the argument that they are ruining the pure blood of America. This brigs to me the same question as in a previous journal… If the US tries to portray itself as a multicultural country why build this wall? Is it not preventing a variety of cultures to come in?

There are dangers that many immigrants bring with them like drug trafficking, creating gangs, and even human trafficking. All of these are important issues to address but all of them could be solved in a less extreme way. Those who really have the desire to come and work will do anything to get that chance so new ways to only allow those to come into the country should be implemented.

Building a wall would not only be hurting the country itself but it would contradict the American ideology as well. It would deny men and women like my parents to achieve the life they deserve, if it weren’t for my parents hard work as immigrants I would not be writing this journal.