Week 13

Week 13

The Question that is being asked is, " What will you do?" When it comes to social change, that question is always being asked, due to the unfortunate fact that there is alway as problem or task that  need to be dealt with. As Johnson states in the introductory, “...privilege and oppression is not a thing of the past…”. Meaning, there will always be some type of social injustice or problems within society, also meaning there will always be a call to action. Just as there is a call to action, there is active roles in which people can’t take to effect the task at hand. Being both a negative effect or positive depending on the action that individuals chooses to enact. Johnson method in involves a few steps. The first step is very simple, it what any person trying to resolve a problem would do, which is acknowledging that there is actually a problem with something. In some cases this is actually the hardest step. For example someone that is experiencing or is a part of a privileged group within society, would have difficulty acknowledging the disadvantage to an individual outside of their group. After you acknowledge the problem you have to “pay attention” according to Johnson. However I would like to call this the analyzing stage, this is when you sit back, and see which side of the fence you reside on, and also who is this problem oppressing, what type of thing are you doing to contribute or denote to this situation. Following Johnson’s method, due to the fact that majority of people don’t have enough courage for the next step, which actually “Do Something”, this is the call to action. This is where and when we see individuals speaking out on situation big and small, even if it’s letting someone know that a joke isn’t funny and actually is harmful. This is where we see protesting and revolt against social injustices. Many different historical event became memorable due to people standing up, and simply just doing something about it. But this method involves taking as risk  you have to be willing to deal with the results and consequences. This is mostly the reason, because people do not like change, society doesn’t like change especially the people who are benefitting from it being the way that it is, although there are other individuals on the other side of that oppression.  It true that it will not be easy, you will probably get blamed “for trying to make something out of nothing” or “ looking for a problem” or “over- analyzing stuff”, but all that ridicule is worth it, if it brings up positive change.

Week 9

Stigma! Woah after reading all the material for this topic and watching the videos all I can say is. True! Very True! However, this is something you really don't know because we (men/boys) have been trained to think and act the way that we do and we try to portray it as normal. Before we even become the age to be a man, we are told to act like a "MAN", when in reality we are only babies and children and we are doing what kids do. For example crying to express sadness or disappointment while you're a child, you are often told "Toughen up and be a man", but you are just acting out your natural reaction to the situation. Once this action is repeated this over and over, you become equipped to it and now you're "tough, a bad a**, a MAN".
No to really, after reading the After There's Something Absolutely Wrong With What We Do To Boys Before They Grow Into Men shows that trying to make boys be men before the are even men has a negative and deadly effect on them. This Mask that we have to put on everyday, makes it difficult for young males to express there true feelings and sometimes even seek help when they need it, due to the fact that they fear being ridiculed by peers that are suppressed by the same stigma. As many other males have experienced, I have personally experienced the reinforcement of making boys "men". I have heard over and over how not to be like a girl and to not show emotions, because that's not what men do. This type of stigma is dangerous, due to fact that after it is experienced over and over one becomes desensitized to emotion. This just doesn't happen to your emotions it happens, ones starts to lose regard for how others feel. This can lead to violence on vast levels, and this is one of the major reasons that we see abuse and violent behavior among young males.
I after reading the 11 things that makes wish they could do. I felt uncomfortable just thinking about doing some of those things. This is because I have been so conditioned by the male stigma that thinking about, " wanting to say another male is attractive" is uncomfortable for me and it's hard for me to process it. Like many things on that list it hard for me think about doing those things, which should probably be normal things that human beings do.