The Bruce Jenner interview was really something.
I always saw him as the least-diva asset of the Kardashian family tree. I think, more or less, that she’s been really brave about this whole thing. Mainly because she never really had attention to begin with? Like everyone wants to see Kim, Khloe, Kris, Kylie, etc etc etc. but Bruce is kind of off in the wings being in the background. Now the one time that she gets attention, its for something so personal and private. Personally, I think Bruce made the best out of the situation. But you can clearly see how society can really mess someone up when they’re going through a change like that. Bruce contemplated suicide. Many people actually commit it and go without a word. Bruce holds so much power right now with this situation, I’m glad that it’s happening the way it is. But people need to be more accepting of situations like this because it happens to non famous people too, and they don’t get two hour interviews with Diane Sawyer. Historically speaking, transgender individuals have gone through so much to gain a grain of acceptance. There is a day dedicated to trans called the Transgender Day of Remembrance that shows respect to those whose lives have been lost due to their gender identity. Bruce Jenner has it easy and has the potential to change the way people view transgender individuals. Food for thought.

Today in section and lecture we talked about President Nixon and the watergate scandal. In 1969 president Nixon was elected the 37th president of the United States of America. Nixon was elected for his second term as president in 1972. August 8, 1974, Nixon would resign the next day. Nixon was quoted stating, “that process of healing which is so desperately needed in America.” By the time of his death on April 22, 1994, he had written numerous books on his experiences in public life and on foreign policy.

This week I focused mostly on the Gay Liberation Movement. Just as African Americans and women all fought for equality, gay women and men fought for legal equality, such as marriage rights. This movement was sparked in 1969, after a riot began in the Stonewall Inn in New York City between the police officers and gay men. I have personally experienced my own participation in antidiscrimination for gay men and women. Last year I attended the Gay Pride Parade in hillcrest, which really allowed homosexuals to feel at peace and were able to experience no judgments from others. Even as time passes and society progresses, there is still room for more improvement regarding equality.

1969: the year of sex, drugs, peace and music.  This was also the year of Woodstock, a 3 day music festival set to appreciate the world, other people, music, and overall life.  During this time period, the generation that mainly made up the “Hippie” movement fought social norms and standards on a daily basis.  One of the way they fought back was through their clothing and outfit choices.  Being raised in a society that was clean-cut and rather conservative.  The new generation believed in a more free society and they exemplified this by starting the trend of bell bottomed jeans, flowy or cut tops, or in some cases, just large t-shirts or no clothing at all.  They did this to stand for free will and individuality.  Flash forward to 2012-2015: Coachella.  While there are minor similarities between the two styles at these music festivals, teens and young adults in the current generation wear these outfits to fit in to the festival scene or to try and replicate the fashion.  But that is all this is: replication.  Coachella go-ers try to be cute and/or trendy, but the history behind that style came with sacrifice and passion.

Although we’ve come a long way since the 1970s in terms of advocating for sexuality based equality, and have even begun to legalize gay marriage across the nation, the fight is long from over. The band, Panic at the Disco!, recorded one of my personal favorite songs emphasizing bisexuality called “Girls/Girls/Boys”. The chorus is intent to prove a point to audiences around the world with its final (and perhaps most important) line, “and love is not a choice” in order to continue to fight the prejudice in our nation that once outlawed same sex relations in the bedroom altogether. “Gay Power” is still being fought for in this progressive day and age through many art forms such as music in the song linked below.

Panic at the Disco’s lead singer Brendon Urie on the cover of the band’s latest album

We didn’t talk much about dress codes in lecture recently, but due to the heat I thought it acceptable to bring it up. Today I stumbled upon a post of a 5 year old girl being dress coded for her tank top maxi dress because it was “distracting”. Keep in mind she is 5 years old, the schools have implemented dress codes to keep girls mainly from distracting male students and faculty which I find to be extremely sexist. At my old school shorts had to be at finger tip length, which first off is not very fashionable and completely unfair. With dress codes come the fantastic part of having to change into gym clothes if you could not follow the codes. This not only is embarrassing, but is a form of slut shaming the young women. It is understandable if a young lady is dressed completely inappropriate, but being dress coded for shorts and a tank is beyond ridiculous. Dressing is a form of expression and is very important to our youth. And dress coding a five year old is absolutely absurd.

When watching the clip of “All in the Family” in lecture today, I immediately drew connections to a show that has been on TV more recently, “Last Man Standing”. They both feature patriarchs from white, middle class families who possess fervently conservative political views. One thing that stuck out for me however is that, as Professor Putman pointed out, Archie Bunker’s political views were usually framed as narrow-minded and sometimes even offensive while Mike Baxter is usually (though not always) portrayed as being on the right side even when it is a bit over the top. It seems like rather than accidentally playing to the “unheard majority” like Archie did, Mike Baxter’s character purposely caters to the far right viewers who view themselves like the conservatives of the 70s. They fear their values are under attack by new liberal ideas and are searching for people – or characters – who share them.

During the large lecture today in class, Dr. Putman talked about the fall of Saigon in 1975. During my senior year of high school, Eastlake High School put on the play “Miss Saigon”. It was about  an Asian woman who gets abandoned by her lover who was an American Man. This play is also a musical that went on Broadway in 1991.

As I was reading the discussion questions for this week’s class, I noticed one mentioned the Gay Liberation Movement. As I was scrolling through my twitter feed today, I had come across this promotion about how Russell Simmons was advocating for gay rights. The gay community, just like any other community just wants to be accepted. It is crazy how that even in todays society and how we are advancing everyday, some people still look at gays as out of the norm and we have to continue addressing a subject that shouldn’t be a concern in the first place. Gays are humans too and don’t deserve to get the third degree.

Today, in our small section, our discussion question was about the gay rights movement. A large symbol of gay rights is the rainbow colors or the rainbow itself. I was looking around my room, and I noticed that my roommate had a drawing that she made of a rainbow zebra, that has the quote “Hey there little fighter, things will get brighter.” This reminded me a lot of our discussion question. We researched how the gay rights movement was seemingly at a halt, while religious and race groups were gaining ground. The gay movement didn’t let this get them down and still tried to make strides toward equality. The rainbow can be seen as representative of the diversity in the gay community.