Reflection: The Blog

I enjoyed the blogging experience, it was something new to me. I didn't know or hear anything like the blog. I think the nice thing about this blog is writing your own opinion and expressing your feelings over topics. I never done anything like this before in any of my classes. I tried to spruce up my blog and be creative, but this all I could do.

What is your attitude toward blogs and blogging after completing this course?

I think blogging is a good way of communicating with people through comments and reading their thoughts about a topic. I enjoyed reading some of the students blog in class.

What is the future of gender and blogging?

I would say that gender in the future and blogging would always be an issue. We would think that discrimation towards women would end because of the 21st century and moving into the future, but no. I think women would always be 2nd class, I live on the Navajo reservation and I struggle with my gender in my community. Even though in books it says that the Navajo society is a materilineal clanship system. I feel that being a Navajo woman I am still fighting to have my voice heard. I guess my experience is that Navajo men are intimated by a young, educated, woman. In 2006, the Navajo Nation was electing the next presidential candidate. For the first time in history, a woman ran for the Navajo presidential. Her name was Linda Lovejoy. She had alot of critizism for being a woman from the Navajo people, mostly towards her gender. I voted for Linda Lovejoy, but she lost the election. But I admire her for standing there and taking all the critizism that a "Woman can not be a Leader."

How does Web 2.0 contribute to making feminist futures?

I would say that Web 2.0 contributes a window for feminist. It's great that this blog is global and everyone can read your expression and leave a comment.

Queer Occurrences in the Blogosphere

I just got done reading this week's reading on The Gendercator, or How I learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Blogosphere. I noticed on the syballus it mentions making an arrangement to watch the film. I am curious about watching the film when I was doing the reading, I kept wondering on watching the film.

The reading mention about if this would be shown as an education film to the public. I would say yeah, mostly every film or movie is an education film to the public in different ages.

One of the questions in the reading asks, What do these different postings and this situation tells us about (trans) gender, Web 2.0, and activism? I would say that transgender is being disscrimated. I am taking a Human Sexuality class and in the reading I read about people who are transgender and homosexual. The reading mention about hate crimes towards an individual who is transgender and homosexual. It's sad to read some of their stories when they realize that they are different and that they dealt with this issue through high school and college.

I am curious about this film, watching it. It's hard to picture what the issues are in this reading. They are so many different opinions on this film and it's diffcult to view this issue. I am a vision learner and reading this blog there's political, painful, and ironic on the film. For me, it's difficult to make a point on this issue, becaue in my mind I kept thinking it's a film and I want to watch this film.

I have a story to share, I am a Navajo and we have a story that media has related it to transgender or homosexual people.
In the beginning of time when Navajos were emirgating through the Four Worlds, Men and Women seprated for awhile, because of an disagreement. Women went to the west and Men went to the east. Women already knew what to do like cooking, hunting, gathering, building shelter, nuturing the young. For Men that went to the east, they didn't know what to do, they knew how to hunt and gather. Men almost went extinct, but out of a hundred men only one knew how to cook, hunt, gather, build a shelter. Without this one man, the men would have gone extinct.
Men realize that they can not live without Women, so they joined up with the Women and made an agreement to never separate again. The man that had save all the Men, he was looked as a High Individual. He was consisted both man and woman, so he was never looked down among any individual.

Girl Blogging, Dimensions Pt 2

Wow, this week's reading was more interesting than last weeks reading. I wasn't expecting anything interesting from this reading, but it was an eye-opener for me. I will admit that I didn't or never wanted to read anything about Iraq, because of religion beliefs, having family and friends serving in the military and of course, what happen during 9/11.
What made me read these reading assignments was that in one of my classes, my professor was talking about seeing and understanding things from another view, instead of your view. And I know that my parents have always told me to see and understand from a different view of your view before you make judgement. So, doing the reading was an eye-opener for me to see and understand an Iraqi woman that blogs about her daily life during the war.
I enjoyed reading the "Baghdad Burning" by Riverbend, it gave a good description on what was happen to this Iraqi woman and how she lives and thinks about what's happen to her country. I thought the interesting part was how she kept mentioning that the power was out and the phone line was down and that she couldn't write on her blog. I liked her judgement on how she was watching tv on For Females Only by Al-Jazeera, where they interviewed 3 women on the show and they discuss women's rights in Iraq. She tells how she agrees and disagrees with some of the women.
I liked her writing on the blog about Sharia and Family Law, it was an understanding and very interesting fact about marriage between men and women in Iraq. I also thought that Iraqi men were women beaters, I am a sterotype person, but I was wrong about that, women in Iraqi do have a choice to get an divorce from their husband. The one part that I was touch about was when she was explaining the temporary marriage. I thought that was sad how she put it that it's a form of prostitution that leads into illegitimate children and spread of STDs.
Another reading that got my attention was when she was talking about her New Years with her family. Here in America, we celebrate New Year's in a big event with many people like family, friends, and people we don't know. But for her, she explains that it has to be a small gathering, because if it was big, they are mistaken for a "terrorist cell".
Yes, this blogging does demonstrate the power of blogging. She starts her blogging by saying that she started one, but didn't think it was going to capture many people from the internet. In the reading "The Girl Blogger from Iraq", she talks about how she started her blog and how it helped her to vent her fears and anger.
Again, it was an eye-opener for me. Like I said early in my writing, I am sterotype person, so doing this reading made me understand another country, which is Iraq. I watch news every night to see what's going, but that's the part that the media leaves out, the understanding of the people in Iraq. The problem I see with this is that not many Iraqi women would have the same thoughts or sharing their ideas like what she wrote on her blog. I am sure many Iraqi women have their own point of view and opinions on the war that live in Iraq. But she cleared some of my questions I had on women in Iraq about marriage. I guess I would say it's not what I thought it was like.

Girl Blogging, Dimensions Pt 1

I enjoyed this week's reading, it was interesting reading the "Female in a Male-Dominated Blogosphere" and I really got interested in reading the next reading "Blogging While Brown and Female". I really didn't care for the last 3 readings on "Economy Girlfriend", NY Times get punk'd", and the ugly truth about the poor...etc."

The one reading that I found very interesting and thought alot about it, is the " Threatened into Silence." It was interesting knowing that behind a hidden face and knowing you are a woman can still be threaten by expressing your opinion. I felt sorry for her, BB when she talked about how she stop writing on the blog after the threates by both sexes on the "checklist about rapists." She didn't write anymore because she didn't have it in her to write anymore. It took her passion of writing about her opinions away, but in the end I am glad she started writing again. I think it makes her a strong person to come back after sooo many hate emails and comments.

I think intimidation and silence tactics affect the power of blogging is by silencing the individual with threates. The words are stronger than verbal abuse. You know as a person that words stay within and you can't get them out of your head. You read what people say and it stick with you. As for me, I can chose to brush it off and say that person is an idiot or I can start thinking, which will definitley have an effect on me.
I think for blogs to overcome silence is to have strong support from people or followers on the blog and having good friends and family to help and support you. With this BB story, it affected her physically and it took her to write again. Than again, people don't really try to see a situation as a 3-D dimensional, the minute they see the word abortion, rapists, hatered, racism, religion, etc., it's a big issue. The sentence is never read at the end or paragraph to hear the conclusion.
I think blogs can be spaces of resistance by reflecting the speak out of "Freedom of Speech." I don't think there's really a space of resistance, there well always be a attack on bloggers who express their opinions. Right now, I could have a blogger that hates my comments on my blog, who knows.
That's a hate question to answer on how can a blog and media demonstrate the truth about society and some view of women. It's hate to tell what's the truth on a video if it's real or not and now a story. I can't tell if it's real or not. I still get trick on jokes, but I think if it's something like or I am reading something on some who is complaining, I usually put it down or don't bother to listen. I read parts of reading on the last 3 reading and I really didn't care to much to read it. I am not really interested on how much money people make then me or how someone is not getting enough sex from their boyfriend or husband.

Cultural Analysis, Cultural Activisms

For this weeks reading was very interesting, especially the videos. I enjoyed watching the videos on Sarah Haskins and Amy Poehler.
My reflections on this weeks reading were surprising on racialicious with Carmen Van Kerckhove. Some of the paragraphs were based on race and some were off the discussion about race being on blog. She tried to mention more on race and interracial couples, but the discussion kept coming up with how it's more pop and culture. I thought the reading would be more on how or if the blog is a racial blog, but none of the reading mention anything about racism.
The Blog is Beautiful reading mention that there's race blog for many races out there or they have their own blog for discussions. When I was reading this article and designin my blog, I thought to myself, "I wonder if there's any blog for Native American People". I am a native american student and again thought about if there any blog or if any nativer american know about this blogsphere.
I read the article on "Feministing", there was some pros and cons about the reading that I agree with. One sentence that I was reading was the abstract that said Feministing stands on debates around politics for a third wave feminism. Last week readings were that there wasn't enough women on discussions about politics for blogs. The reading mention that there was more women than men who join or sign up for these blogs. I thought that was true and I agree with that.

The blogs function as a cultural activism by having celebrity with their own show like Amy Poehler with Smart Girls at the Party and showing pictures like the Blog is Beautiful, they showed the person as a DJ on a radio show. The videos were like a daytime show or the talk show theme. The video showed or discuss issues on women and girls. They discuss the dislike and like of shows on women with the Sarah Haskins show. The Amy Poehler show interview young girl about their hobbies and interest. I enjoyed watching the Feminist with Ruby on the Poehler show, she was a very smart little girl for her age. I was 30 years old to find out what feminist was.

I liked the videos, I enjoyed them and they made some good points about discussions on the show like with Sarah Haskins with Snapped, Barbie, Lifetime. I watched Amy Poehler with The Dancer-Kenauda and of course, Feminist-Ruby.