Author: Alex Xiong

Final Blog Post

Throughout my time writing my blog posts, I could see that I made some improvements. From my first couple post, I did not link any outside resources, but now I have some. I made some good connections to what I have learned and what I already knew about the topics at hand. I also made a deep connection personally to the post about a crisis in masculinity because I felt that I had the most knowledge about that topic.

When discussing these topics in class, I found that many people had different opinions and it was an eye opener to see that first hand. This gave me different thoughts and a new perspective into what I was thinking and what others think as well.

I see that I did not cover much about classism, but it was a prevalent topic that we discussed about in class. I wish to expand my knowledge more on topics such as that to better understand and analyze what issues my arise in the future.

Looking towards the future, I plan to connect with others and bring the knowledge that I gained in this class and in my post to express not only my ideas and opinions but others as well to educate people who may not know these things.

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Blog Post 8

There is no real definition to being a good mother, but I did find a link that covers the area of what being a mother is in modern times. https://revolutionfromhome.com/2018/01/modern-day-motherhood-feels-frustrating/

Apart from that, for both men and women, I believe that it differs. For example my parents are old school. They have an older thinking about what roles they have as parents and what they should be doing gender wise.

Being a good mother can be very taxing on the body and mind. I think that for women now, they will have to deal with what society expects out of them more because of social media outlets pressing on the issues of how good other celebrity parents are or are not.

For men, I think it’ll be hard for them to accept the fact that being a good mother is a lot of work. That being said, men will have to understand that not all hard working mothers are as free as they might think. Although now, it can be said that men are contributing more and more to the aspects of motherhood because they understand the hardships.

Even though there are still a lot of things that can be said about motherhood, what I can see is that both men and women have to contribute their time and energy to have a healthy relationship. Motherhood is very taxing all on it’s own already, so with enough support, it can lighten the load.

 

Blog Post 7

I think the documentary, Tough Guise, covers a lot of things that goes left unsaid. There is a huge issue in today’s society with the thinking that men should always stay dominate and in control. The power aspect and controlling aspect in a man are what makes them a man. There are many differing views about this and the bigger question that everyone asks is, is masculinity in crisis?

I wrote a research paper about this topic about 2 years ago and would like to share it. Here is the paper: https://rangersuwp-my.sharepoint.com/:w:/g/personal/xiong065_rangers_uwp_edu/EQwqrdGWiKBKkbSw4vhUL9gBV3d2y4_-Htbh83m-V20sZg?e=DIyZ7T

To briefly summarize, I stated that the crisis in masculinity can also be seen as a crisis in society. I said this statement because I felt that after looking through all my research and data, it comes down to social construction.

Social construction is the base of all things that we believe to be true or believe to know of. We construct the idea that masculinity is in crisis because people do not want to see the change in what modern men are becoming. The idea that people should stay the same based on a principle that was once thought to be right is not actually true. We only believe in what we want to believe in and because of that, we now have a crisis in masculinity that does not really exist. It is only an assumption because others do not like what is happening today and so they come up with the idea that masculinity is in crisis. We need to see that everyday, there is social construction happening around us and that everyday, people will always be changing and reforming their ideas and beliefs. Again, this is a crisis in society.

Blog Post 6

Hidden Figures  is a story of struggle and willpower, but not of individual glory. Set in 1960s Virginia, the film centers on three pioneering African American women whose calculations for NASA were integral to several historic space missions, including John Glenn’s successful orbit of the Earth. These women—Katherine Johnson, Mary Jackson, and Dorothy Vaughan—were mathematicians and engineers despite starting their careers in segregation-era America and facing discrimination at home, at school, and at work.

Hidden Figures shows the impact of racism at the international level by highlighting the racial implications of WWII. While the United States fought for equality and freedom abroad, the country demonstrated its hypocrisy by enforcing segregation on its own soil. Hidden Figures takes place against the backdrop of World War II, with Americans (black and white) following with horror the torture and deportation of Jewish people in Europe.

Hidden Figures denounces the contradictions inherent in the Jim Crow laws that kept the NACA segregated in the years during and after WWII. At an international, national and interpersonal level, it shows how racism impacted not only the oppressed but the people in power who were doing the oppressing, requiring the United States and the NACA to act in self-defeating ways that, illogically, worked against their own prosperity and success.

(LATE) Introductory Bio

Hello, my name is Chimeng Xiong, but I go by Alex which is my middle name. Growing up as an Asian American, I could see that there are things that I saw different from others. Being a person of color and a minority in a predominantly white population, I could see the difference in interactions and judgement people had towards myself and others.

Other classes I have taken pertaining to media, race, class, gender, and/or sexuality are COMM 320 about white privileged and COMM 315 – Communication and Gender. 

Being able to integrate race, class, gender, sexuality and other forms of differences into your personal life is a good thing. Having the knowledge of all forms of differences is good to know because you are then able to connect and educate yourself. Being able to educate yourself about the differences in people will help you better communicate with those individuals and better understand their perspectives. As a minority, I am always educating myself about all forms of differences in the world. Being able to do this allowed me to better understand where people are coming from and the way they perceive the world around them. I am able to incorporate myself into the beliefs of others and not judge them based on their differences. This reflects into my identity as an individual, but that does not mean my identity is not changing as well.

 

Blog Post 3

The Help shows us the inner workings of a segregated society against the backdrop of the growing US Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. Although there is some variety in economic and social class, race is the number one determinant of a person’s place in Jackson, Mississippi. Race also determines who has access to educational, occupational, and economic opportunity. Racial tensions are high as white community members employ violence and coercion to try to keep the Civil Rights Movement from sweeping into their Mississippi town. At the same time, it shows us how, against all odds, Skeeter, a white woman, daughter of a cotton family, joins together with Aibileen and Minny, two black women who work as maids, to challenge the unfair practices that make the lives of the town’s black members so difficult.

When discussing hegemony, what comes to mind? Hegemony is the dominance one group has over another. In class, we talked about the movie, The Help. This movie covers the term hegemony very well. Not only was hegemony very prevalent in the movie, but so was microaggression. Microaggression is when there are comments against someone that indicate some kind of racism.

The Help, showed both of these terms. Throughout the movie, Skeeter, who is the main character, is sort of like the white savior for the film. Hollywood likes to put white actors and actresses in roles where they are portrayed as the “hero”. Hilly, another important character, tries to control the white women in Jackson, Mississippi, and holds tight to power through blackmail, and threats. Hilly fights to maintain power throughout the story. As a wealthy white woman in the South, she enjoys a position of great influence, but because her status is often maintained through bullying and threats.

Blog Post #2

I think that throughout the film, the display of racism was significant enough to notice and the way they portray it shows.

In class we discussed about the relativity of intersectionality. With the TED Talk, Crenshaw talks about not only facing race, but also sexism when it comes to intersectionality. Intersectionalty does not revolve around one criteria, but many factors that shape your life and apply to you. This also applies to what Bell Hooks talks about wen she says to not look thorough one looking glass.

We also talked about hegemony. While discussing, we talked about the movie Green Book. The movie highlights a lot of hegemony, for example, Tony telling Dr, Shirley to just eat somewhere else when the host and manager did not let him be seated. The policy of the restaurant was that they do not serve people of color and that rule allowed for the manager to get away with his racism towards Dr. Shirley. It gave the manager power over Dr. Shirley. Another interesting scene was when the camera points back a the tables and you could see that all of the waiters were African American.

 

Diversity Reflection

In my life, I have seen many things that revolve around race. Since I am Asian, I do get treated very differently than others, or others expect something from me that I, myself, am not aware of. Since I was young, I’ve been expected from my peers to be “smart”. I think that the notion because I’m Asian, certain remarks such as “being good at math”, or “you probably only get A’s” are just general cases for many if not all Asians. Being that I am of a different race, gives other people different views of me. Of course, that can be said to every race. To me, growing up Asian, has been a struggle.  

Many things annoying me, but the one thing that bothers me the most is the fact that people believe all Asians are the same. Of course that is not true and far from it at the least. Many people are either unable or unwilling to distinguish between different Asian ethnicities: Korean American from a Japanese American, Filipino American from an Indonesian American, etc. This becomes a problem when people generalize certain beliefs or stereotypes about one or a few Asian Americans to the entire Asian American population. The result is that important differences between Asian ethnic groups are minimized or ignored altogether. Another stereotype is that all Asians are foreigners. For me, my grandparents and parents are foreigners, but for me to be assumed by others that I am not American born is an issue. Many non-Asians simply assume that every Asian they see, meet, or hear about is a foreigner. Many can’t recognize that many Asian American families have been U.S. citizens for several generations. As a result, because all Asian Americans are perceived as foreigners, it becomes easier to think of us as not fully American and then to deny us the same rights that other Americans take for granted. Yes, that means prejudice and discrimination in its many forms. 

Being able to integrate race, class, gender, sexuality and other forms of differences into your personal life is a good thing. Having the knowledge of all forms of differences is good to know because you are then able to connect and educate yourself. Being able to educate yourself about the differences in people will help you better communicate with those individuals and better understand their perspectives. As a minority, I am always educating myself about all forms of differences in the world. Being able to do this allowed me to better understand where people are coming from and the way they perceive the world around them. I am able to incorporate myself into the beliefs of others and not judge them based on their differences. In my professional life, being able to understand diversity will benefit me. Having the knowledge to know that there is a difference between me and others will allow me to know where I stand. Moreover, this will allow me to help educate others who are not knowledgeable about the forms of differences there may be between them.

           As a journalist, I want to be able to integrate all forms of diversity into my subjects. I will continue to educate myself to better understand all kinds of diversity. All the differences in the world are what make this a beautiful place to live in. I hope to in turn educate others as well. I want to educate others to learn about diversity or more about diversity. Being able to educate others will make them understand where people come from. Hopefully when I educate others, they too will help to educate others as well.