Moved from The BBQ Pit to Mundane Pointless Stuff I Must Share.
Gfactor
Pit Moderator
I think it could be an awesome assignment. If the instructor had spent any lecture time allowing for discussion on how globalization can be beneficial to everyone (including women) or asked us to write about globalization in a more balanced way, I would have loved it.
Instead she gave only readings and lectures specific to the evils of globalization, and the essay prompt requires researching a “feminist organization that is fighting globalization”. Even more disturbing is that the instructor seems to really mean that word “fighting” because the prompt asks for specific examples of resistance strategies.
I have an A in the class going into this final paper, I guess that should cushion me a bit if I decide to throw caution to the wind and write outside the prompt.
What are you, a high school guidance counselor? (Which would probably be ideal if you get off on telling people what career paths they should be pursuing.)
The OP should just write his/her paper on the whole American Apparel scandal. Lots of globalization/immigration/teen girl sexification there.
Not major in women’s studies and get a graduate degree from a top school.
But that last one in particular is gravy.
I agree with you completely. I don’t know much, formally, about gender discrimination, to be honest with you. But I absolutely feel it is a worthwhile pursuit specifically for the reasons you mentioned. I wasn’t suggesting I was perplexed because it was a stupid premise, I was perplexed because I’d literally never heard the argument and was hoping someone might outline it for me.
I am quite aware of the nuance thing. I feel that we need more nuance in our discourse, no matter the subject, and the best way of getting that nuance is to ask critical questions of our own positions and not just the positions of those who disagree.
I have mixed feelings about globalization. When I was a senior I had a Spanish class entitled ‘‘Culture and State in Contemporary Mexico’’ and I chose to write my final research paper on NAFTA’s impact on the Mexican economy and the immigration phenomenon. I had my feelings, but I tried to ask myself the hard questions. Then I actually went to Mexico to try to understand what the articles were talking about. The reality is I have far more allegiance to making the world a better place to live than I do to any particular political ideology. I’m not interested in being right, I’m interested in fixing the problem.
Recent research on teen pregnancy (comparing teens who got pregnant and miscarried to those who gave birth and raised children) indicates that there is no difference in life outcomes for those who have children as teenagers vs. those who don’t. Though the infant mortality rate for blacks is twice the rate for whites, black babies who are born to teen mothers have better health outcomes than those born to older mothers.
Drug use occurs in equal proportions across race, class and ethnicity, and yet there are disproportionately more blacks in jail for drug-related non-violent offenses than for any other race.
Research on urban minorities indicates that there is no significant difference in employment outcomes among those who graduate high school and those who don’t.
White convicts are more likely to be hired than black convicts with the exact same record.
Your own enlightened opinion has shaped public discourse on this problem over the last 30 years. And by your own admission things are getting worse.
Wow, ignorance fought.
ETA: I wish we had a “no irony” flag that I could have used.
With a knick-knack, paddywhack,
Never near a bone!
Human rights groups have actually petitioned the UN to scrutinize racial unemployment disparities in the US for violations of various UN human rights treaties.
This should be in a sticky.
[quote=“DanBlather, post:55, topic:539399”]
The chattel slavery in the US was horrific, and it has created scars, but it’s more important to have in demand skills than knowing the details of the slave trade. We have people arrive in this country from villages without running water, who don’t speak English, and have no cultural ties to the west. They seem to do fine with the SATs and don’t have any problem with questions being culturally biased. They don’t need pictures of famous Chinese people in the wall, or Korean history month, or other bullshit.]
Right, so is that is why there is no sense of Italian or Korean or Irish pride??? Come on man, all sorts of ethnic groups draw benefits from knowing their history and culture. Can’t be proud of who you are unless you know who you are, and your people’s history is an unavoidable constituent of your identity.
Bonus point: “In demand skills” are useful, but they do not make you a self-aware human being capable of being a good citizen in a democracy. That takes some extra training.
Bumpity bump. How’d the paper go?
I just have to ask–is this really required for all students? No other options? Has anyone tried to challenge the requirement?
What kind of “university” is this?
It sounds like a place where any independent thinking is prohibited, and everything has to be approved by the Thought Police to make sure it’s politically correct.
This more or less describes universities in general or so I’ve been told.
I decided to write about an organization that focuses on food scarcity in American children, and the paper got an A 
It’s a Cal State University, and there are four general ed requirements that must be taken at the university (can’t be transferred). And sure, there is a list of classes for each of the requirements, this one just fit best with my schedule and major.
I guess I’m more well rounded now 