March Monthly Connection

This month contained what I thought was some of the most heated debates in the classroom I have seen so far. Bearing that in mind, I know I tread on thin ice when I say that the topic of my blog discusses the portrayal of women in society. It seems like the past few books we have read could have made good points, but ended up just sounding like angry women ranting. In a sense, I think women do have a right to rant. Since the dawn of humankind, women have been regarded as the inferior sex. They were the ones to be protected and kept from the horrors of life outside the kitchen. Just recently have women begun to find a voice to claim that they aren't as weak as they are thought to be. All of these things I agree with, to an extent. While I think it is good that women want to be recognized, I also think that the world needs to drop its views of perfectionism and total equality. Women need to realize that they are not the equals of men, or else they would be so. In a battle of two equal forces, one should not be oppressed. If it is, then that force is obviously not equal. While I do not condone women being relegated to the house and forbid from taking on jobs, I just want women to start realizing that they simply aren't equal to men in some aspects. The inequalities are primarily physical. I hate hearing about the girl that thinks she is "tough" and can "hang with the guys." She can not hang with the guys. I speak purely from a realists point of view. A woman wont be able to lift more weight then a man any more than a dwarf will be able to clear a six foot high jump bar. It is not physically plausible. Obviously there are exceptions, and I think this would be a bell curve of data. But the overwhelming majority of women fit into the category of inferior. Again, my personal beliefs are not reflected in any of this writing. It is merely the speech of a realist.
Personally, I think it would be fun if women could compete with men in all aspects of life, and vice versa. I think we would see the quality of every profession increase. I think that if there ever is a day where women are thought of as total equals to men, then maybe other social issues such as racism might finally start fading away. But when I look at different cultures, my own included, I see that the light at the end of the tunnel is years away.

February Monthly Connection

It seems like this month the topics we debated varied greatly, and it was very hard to pinpoint something to get into. But, after writing the thesis paper for heroes, I have finally found something I think is worthy of talking about. In class, we have learned about the multiple varieties of the hero. I dont think "hero" should be categorized into something with so many different forms and definitions. I dont think a hero has particular qualities, especially not physical ones. To me, there is no modern hero, epic hero, tragic hero. A hero, be it a warrior from 3000 years ago, or a man saving a young child from being hit by a car, has only two traits; the desire to serve, and acting upon that desire. The deire could stem from their family, a stranger, their country, or an ideal, but it needs to come from somewhere unselfish. I believe that if the primary goal of a person is not to serve, then they are not even eligible to be considered a hero. However, wanting to help simply isnt enough. That person needs to act. Their actions, whether successful or not, are going to be what fully enables them to become a hero, even if it is just in one person's eyes. Im going to use the extremely cliched but extremely effective example. Hitler, one of the most evil men known to modern man, was considered a great hero by the Aryan nation, and much of Nazi Germany. His only goal was to serve his people, to protect them from what he thought were the evils of the Jewish race. Compare him to another World War figure, Audie Murphy. His only goal was in the service of his country. Both men had different ways and ideas of serving their country, but both had the idea, and both acted upon it. That makes both of these men heroes. While I believe that his actions were wrong, I can confidently agree that Hitler is indeed a hero, because he was devoted to an ideal, and to serving his people. I think the point I am trying to get at is that there should be no need for distinction among heroes. There is and there is not. Beowulf is the equal of Hitler and Osama Bin Laden. Their personalities dont qualify them to be different levels of hero. To me, the role of hero is a plateau, not a mountain. Once you are on it, there is not degree of variability, it's a flat plain that contains everyone.