Women in India

It is quite clear that women have little to no respect and rights in India. Whether this be because of religion, social standing, politics or whatever, this is an act of cruelty. In the article about if women dress sexy, then men will rape them is awful. The idea that being gang raped is suddenly being turned around on women is disturbing. It shows how terribly women are treated in this country. In this article, men believe that women should be home after 7pm, because if they are out later then that, they are "asking" to get raped. The men interviewed believed that if women get raped, some of the blame should be put on the women because of how they dress or how late they are staying out. Language plays a big role in this. One man said that all men will talk rudely to women, and if women are complacent and allow men to be rude to them, they wont get raped. However, if a women stands up for herself to a man, she is giving the man a reason to rape her. Now, women can of course exhibit more precaution (not walking around in the middle of the night alone), but the idea that they give men a reason to rape is ignorant and sick. 

Gender Roles

Gender equality has become one of the most pressing social hot-topics of the past 2 centuries. A while back, women had little to no rights at all. They weren't allowed to work, vote, or even be politically involved. Obviously after too long a time, America has grown out of that barbaric stage and has started to treat women with the respect they deserve. Women now legally hold nearly every right as a man would (voting right, can run for political positions, etc). But we can see a social (not legal) divide between what man can do and women cant, or in some cases vise-versa. Here are some important questions;

1. Which aspects of gender roles are true everywhere?

This is a difficult question to answer. Everywhere in the world we see a difference in gender roles, but it is often very different. As a whole, women are viewed as the stay-at-home figure of the family. They take care of the children and are the nurturers. This belief dates back to early points in our history. Though many don't believe this is the only role for women (myself included), this seems to be the biggest difference in gender roles.

2. Which are specific to your culture?

In my culture, the biggest difference is the way in which men talk to men, and how women talk to women. I talk to my father much differently then i would talk to my mother, and i would talk to my friend Shannon much differently then I would talk to my friend Alec. 

3. How does language reinforce or create or thwart those gender roles?

Language is used to persuade or sway certain genders. Language through advertisements and television is used to reach an audience, and often those audience are "male or female" demographics. Language is a great way to articulate thoughts and feelings in a beautiful way, and no violence needs to come from it. Without language gender roles would not be able to argued and discussed. Language has been known to divide people, but through that division a union follows that no other medium could produce. 

My shibboleth

Question 3: I am going to speak on the idea of people leaving others out because of the way they pronounce or use a shibboleth.

I believe a linguistic password is used to separate people. Of course one can make the argument that people are grouping together to do this and the group of people that know the linguistic password are celebrating their similarities. Some of the worst and most terrible things were done by a large group of people (Inquisition, nazi regime, socialist movement in Russia, etc.). The forming of groups of people with the intent to exclude and hate another group of people are extremely dangerous. Religion is the prime example, but I'll save that for another discussion. I believe if people only wanted to emphasize similarities, they would extend that idea to EVERYONE. When the emphasize of differences out ways that of the other, bad and dangerous actions have historically been the outcome.

Free Marketplace for Ideas

Mitchell Graham

             The Free Marketplace for Ideas is a very interesting an important idea in our current media and communication sources. Thomas Jefferson quoted that any man could express his ideas if he is willing for them to be disputed. We dispute and argue ideas everyday and we are rightfully able to do so because of the Free Marketplace.

Columbus Day?

I believe that Columbus Day should be recognized as a holiday. This is because without a man like Christopher Columbus, America may be very different. He shapped the outcome of America by conquering land. I believe that to call him a mass-murderer is very ignorant and irrational claim to make. In order for America to grow as a dominant country, men like Columbus needed to assort authority and make things happen. Without strong leaders like this, America would never have even started and turned into a power nation.

Magazine Ad

This ad assumes that more people read magazines now then before. I believe it is responding to the new technology of the internet and even television. The ad is displaying a strong belief that magazines are very important and are a better way of entertainment. The last line talks about how a fortune went into these online sources, but magazines still put out a lot of money to make sure they are printing good stories. I believe the audience is to people who are doubting the effectiveness and the relatively of magazines. This ad is meant to educate and persuade someone who is maybe on the fence about how and why they get their information. I enjoyed how they used magazine names in the ad. It showed power and confidence. It proved that magazines are still incredibly popular and well known.

"When Truth Survives Free Speech"

This article tells a very unique story of a passionate blogger who was charged for defamation. She wrote a lot about Mr. Padrick, saying he was an evil man that performed illegal acts while in court. She published so much and even devoted a website just to bash his company, that larger medi started becoming interested. This sent Mr. Padrick's firm down the drain. I believe that Ms. Cx was wrong for her doings. She made all of the assumptions without proper evidence and I don't believe that has a place in our Free Marketplace of ideas. I believe I order for it to be justified, she needed to use full evidence and admit she was wrong.