Dateline MSNBC

To Catch a Predator  was a popular show that opened the eyes of a lot of people to the "real world" of chat rooms on the internet. The TV show broadcast men caught in the act of meeting up with young teens (often 12-17) usually to have sexual encounters. It is illegal in the U.S for an adult to perform any sexual acts with a minor. Here is a video I found where a guys puts himself into a situation he cant lie himself out of.

Gay Adoption

Here is a list of which states in the U.S allows LGBT couples to adopt. Also, there is a link that explains what the different types of adoptions are. This list sparked my interest because I've wanted to know which states allowed same sex couples to adopt, for informational purposes.

Enjoy

-Trenee V.

Gender Roles in Politics

Hi, I'm Kira and for my subtopic I've chosen Gender roles in Politics. Well, for starters, I'll go into more depth of what gender roles and politics really are. Gender roles are a role in which most people are categorized into whether they choose to or even if they don't even identify as male or female in my opinion. As the published definition on Dictionary.com it's "the public image of being male or female that a person presents to others" or " a set of behaviors that indicates one's gender, specif. the image projected by a person that identifies their femaleness or maleness; an overt public presentation of gender identity". That becomes tricky when a person doesn't identify as male or female. Plus, there are chinks in the defining of gender roles because how a person presents themselves and acts isn't a solid clarification of how or what they identify as. 

Then there is politics, in my own words it's the cutthroat business of debating and dealing with political affairs and displaying opinions and principles with the world. One of the few actual definitions is that politics is "the science or art of political government". Politics tend to become complex depending on how a person views it and interprets it. Typically, most don't discuss it due to its touchy subjects and what it tends to lead to. 

Ultimately, I will be posting articles, vlogs, and others sources that represent and explain my subtopic. Hopefully you readers out there will enjoy and continue to read the updates.



Thank you, 
Kira.

The Roles That Exist

So, when you think of politics, do you see strong feminists and cover pages with women standing strong? Well, not very many, you probably could count themall on both hands. I read this article by Molly Whiteman that did some surveyson whether or not these students taking a Law School Admissions test wouldpursue a career in politics. The results showed not many females preferred tohead in that direction. I want to know why. It raised some questions in my mindbecause in this time frame women are doing and becoming so much more careerwise despite the differences within treatment of genders. Yes, there is thatfact that female politicians have a harder time getting people to take themseriously, and by them I mean male counterparts.

Women already have a hard enough time making their way into the world as it is;now doing something predominately male doesn't ease that task. I wanted to knowthat would becoming a politician solely judge a candidate due to the gender aperson has? Is that even moral? Or fair? Then it makes me wonder if sexualitywould ever come into that judgment.

Here is something interesting to think about.

Was the reason for the lower results for females who didn't want to pursuepolitics caused by how dominant politics are by men? Or was it simple nothing?Or was there not enough data or wide variety of participants to gain insightfrom?

-Kira M

Gender Roles in Politics-- Link

LGBTQ and Politics

Hey Everyone!

I just found an AMAZING website that has a bunch of LGBTQ information in regards to the law and politics.  It has things like new laws and campaigns and even politicians that are advocates for the LGBTQ community.

This makes me so happy!

Here is the link
LGBT Community Gay Politics

-Cherokee Gonzalez

It gets better

"It Gets Better," is a message to the LGBTQ community that has gained a lot of popularity over the past few years.  This uplifting message is addressed in a newspaper article in Windy City Times, written by John Fenoglio.  This article addresses the multiple LGBTQ suicides, and states that the main goal of the project is to show LGBTQ community that they are not alone, and that, well... It does gets better!
LGBTQ people are too often harassed for being who they are, and unfortunately, there are politicians that don't exactly act as proponents for the LGBTQ community, but there are many people that are involved that are more than willing to lend a helping hand.   
So next time a restrictive law is passed, or another state makes it illegal for people of the same sex to get married, or someone decides to make a smart remark, just remember that it gets better.


-Cherokee Gonzalez

Also, an "it gets better" video from a friend of mine, Allie Vail

Here is a link to John Fenoglio's article
http://proquest.umi.com.ezproxy.emich.edu/pqdlink?vinst=PROD&fmt=3&startpage=-1&vname=PQD&RQT=309&did=2184046301&scaling=FULL&vtype=PQD&rqt=309&TS=1328655710&clientId=594

Men Are Victims Too

This article that I found states that men can be identified as rape victims. I found this article very interesting because it shows the equality between men and women. For years women have been the only gender view as victims of rape, but surprisingly men can be classified as well. With various crimes and unlawful acts that are soon to be done, whose to say we all aren't victims?

The Article


-Trenee Vaughn

Politics-- Bullying?

For years now there has been this rising trend within schools starting mainly in middle school. Bullying itself has escalated to drastic measures. Every person is susceptible to bullying but there are different types of groups who are actually bullied. Bullying depends on the person. If a person stands out or is deemed different for some list of reasons, they are more likely to be judged and criticized for every little thing that they do. The actual bully depends on how they stand in society (within the school). How politics comes into play is that much work isn't really being done to prevent this epidemic. Bullying is still getting worse and lives are being lost because of it.

In this article, Challenging homophobic bullying in schools: the politics of progress discusses that the government isn't doing much to put a hold on this escalating problem. Yes, small governmental groups for rights are stepping in to make things a tad bit better, but in my opinion; it is going to take more than that. We need the "big guns" to intervene and create more stable laws on bullying and all its types. 

To grasp every aspect, there isn't just bullying occurring among young teens and adolescents. There is bullying with adults within jobs and so on. Even in politics lies bullying. It may not be as drastic in contrast to younger teens, but it does exist. My thoughts seem to be all over the place, but the aspect of my point is that we desperately need more government involvement.

The government has recognized the toll that bullying has taken on the U.S. and made some efforts of changing it. There are bullying laws, but how much is that actually helping to solve the problem? Most victims don't even speak up about being bullie4d so how can bullying laws be thrown into action? In the end, our society as a whole has chinks in it. It's not fully developed when it comes to the topic of homophobic bullying or just bullying in general. What we need is something to take the laws more in depth to making living as a person classified as different better.

To wrap things up, below, I'll give you the link to the article that fueled my questions and concerns.

Article Link

Kira M. 

Works Cited

Daniel Monk (2011). Challenging homophobic bullying in schools: the politics of progress. International Journal of Law in Context, 7 , pp 181-207 doi:10.1017/S1744552311000061