Category Archives: Assignment 5

An Increase in Aids Cases in Muslim Countries

Posted on August 18, 2011 by nancy.murphy

Here is a relevant article that was recently posted in the New York Times. According to the article, Muslim men are more at risk for HIV and AIDS than ever before. Men are increasingly engaging in unsafe sex with other men. The reason for the lack of protection is due to homophobia and religious intolerance, since having gay sex can get you jailed or executed. Therefore, these men feel that they have to hide their homosexuality, especially from their wives. Male prostitution is also on the rise, which can help account for the rapid spread of diseases. These men are also infecting their wives just because of these cultural norms and religious taboos. This relates to the article we recently read that addressed homophobia and conservative view points. According to them, homosexuality in itself will lead to a shorter lifespan. Having gay sex was also considered one of the biggest sins one could commit, because there is no hope of having a child through it. The fact is though, that this fear and homophobia alone are what is causing these men to live shorter lives due to HIV.  If these men lives in a more accepting culture, then this risk would very much be minimized. While the United States isn’t the most gay friendly country, I think most people can at least agree that if it’s going to take place, the men should be careful and wear condoms.  I truly do feel sorry for these men, because they can never come out of the closet and must always live a lie, or face punishment.

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Exploiting Gay Sentiment

Posted on August 17, 2011 by irina.tyumentseva

After watching a movie on same-sex marriage we started the discussion about how different politicians spoke out about same-sex marriage legalization in NY.

I would like to expand more on how gay sentiment gets played out in different fields of social life, mainly politics and marketing. Election campaigns are staged around controversial topics that candidates debate about. The job of political analytic for candidate is to find out what opinion on issue is more popular among his/her electorate and  build the campaign accordingly. Therefore candidates from conservative areas would be more likely to oppose same-sex marriage. Good example of it is possible GOP presidential candidate and Minnesota representative Michele Bachmann, who supports so called reparative therapy and theory that homosexuality should and can be cured. On the other side of political spectrum, politicians in urban areas with large and organized gay communities, like New York, use issue of homosexual rights in opposite way. They learned to gain from exploiting gay sentiment and get actively involved in gay rights legislations  and in  queer events, like pride parade that boasts more and more politician’s floats. Perfect example of such politician is Andrew Cuomo, whom HRC (Human Rights Campain-enormous national scale organization that promotes LGBTQ rights) portrayed as a hero of NY same-sex marriage legalization. HRC was giving out “Thank you Cuomo” (showed above) and “Promise Kept” banners and also send out all members emails asking to sign under a Thank You letter to him.

Marketing industry was a way ahead of politics in exploiting the likes and desires of queers. Not only in gay media, but everywhere on the streets, in the stores and on TV we can see adds that speculate on homosexual strive for equality, or use highly sexual gay images or emphasize company’s commitment to the equal rights.

Maybe Andrew Cuomo learned how to become popular in LGBTQ community and benefit from it, from his brother in law Kenneth Cole. Designer’s latest pro-gay marriage adds can be seen everywhere, including one outside of Vertical Campus on the side of 25th street.

Just one more add that ties together advertising and politics…

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Family Happiness and the Overbooked Child

Posted on August 13, 2011 by lily

The article of NYTimes.com talks about most parents are in effort to pay for their children’s activities which can not guarantee their later success according to many experts.  They pay for their children to take music lessons, gymnastics, horseback riding, tutoring, and summer-long residential camps, etc.  In fact, they believe these experiences are not just for good grades, or are the key to the right college, but also are for the opportunities they give children.  Somehow, not offering children every possible opportunity makes parents feel that they are in bad parenting.  They believe that every child has a “hidden talent”, and they will fail their kids if they do not do everything possible to bring it to light.  So a lot of parents are exhausted by their own overparenting which takes up much of their money, time, and emotional energy.  However, there is no evidence that supports that sore of parental choices can be correlated at all with academic success according to Professor Levitt, a co-author of the New York Times blog Freakonomics.  Professor Levitt also says that being rushed from one event to the other is just not the way most kids want to live their lives. Moreover, Professor Doherty suggests that parents have to move away from the idea that if they do not start children early, they will not reach their full potential.

I think this article is interesting because it describes a very common parenting issue in our society.  Actually, I have known that a lot of my friends and relatives just like most parents think good parenting is to give their children everything possible.  They believe that a myriad of skills are very important to their kids’ future success.  One of their kids starts her drawing class when she is only 3 years old.  As a parent, I think that there is no single answer for the question of how we should do so we can help our kids get a better future.

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Social Media and Conventional Interactions

Posted on August 10, 2011 by sarah.deikun

In a New York Times article, the Boston Public Health Commission argues that changing your Facebook status to single before telling your ex-parent is not healthy. The fact that a whole convention was held on such topics seems ridiculous to me. The health commission argues that before posting a single status, ex-partners should come to an agreement to break up and stay informed. This is not a social media phenomenon, people have moved on to new partners or been over there old one before letting them know way before social media was invented. Social media is now just a visible extension. Anyway, how did they really come to the conclusion that breaking up in person is more “healthy” than doing over the internet. In person, there may be a chance for a physical altercation or less chance for one person to get their opinions out if they are not well spoken. Of course, there are pros and cons of the internet and social media specifically, but I am not sure the issues covered by the convention are those that deserve such attention. If parents and families foster environments of encouraged communication and interaction I believe there would be less impersonal interactions among peers. If parents spend all night on their blackberry and laptop, it sets an example for teens on how they should conduct their relationships with others.

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