stop and frisk.

Stop and frisk is a program located in New York practiced by the New York Police Department.  It is when police officers stop pedestrians, ask them questions, and frisk.  This program monitors urban environments to prevent vandalism, illegal substances, and other crimes.  

In the video Stop and Frisk, a high school senior, Kasiem Walters, talks about being stopped and frisked by the NYPD.  Because this senior was stopped numerous times by police, he realized it wasn't what he is wearing, but his race.  He is judged, stopped, and frisked, because of his race.  Kasiem even has to re-evaluate what he wears and how he acts.  Stop and frisk affects and impacts the community and everyone in his community. Everyone he knows have been stopped and frisked before, once or even more than 20 times. He questions why are African Americans are always stopped and frisked?  Kasiem cannot even go to the police for help.  The police are supposed to protect the community, not abuse and judge the community by the colour of their skin.   

“I think people shouldn't have to live in fear. The point of police is not to instill fear. I think the point of police is to protect people and have them not feel fear.”  Kasiem Walters

Much is needed to prevent this treatment.  This is an issue of racism.  These people are being stopped, because of their race, the colour of their skin.  But what does race have to do with anything?  How can we find a solution for this problem that has been going on since forever?   We are taught about racism, the importance of Black History Month, but we are still ignorant over this matter.  We are ignorant because it makes us feel superior, that one's race is better than the other?

I believe we have similar issues in the city of Toronto.  Although it may not be in the news, but I am sure this does happen in our city.  We are too busy focusing on things that are not important.  We don't seem to care, because we never been stopped and frisked before.  And many of us do not know there is such a thing as this happening in our world today. Toronto may be diverse, but are we really?  We even have a law, the charter of rights and freedoms states everyone is equal under the law, regardless of race, creed, gender or sexual orientation. 

Racism has been with us for so long, it has become hard for it to leave. Racism is everywhere. Racism is global situation. Most of us witness racism, but don't do anything about it. People are judged because of their race.  Why do we do this?  Is it human nature to be arrogant?  We need to shed light on this issue.  Are we all not the same?  We all have morals and dreams, no matter what race you belong in.  I think that racism exists, because of discrimination, stereotypes, and fear.  We fear what we hate, we fear difference. We are brainwashed by these stereotypes.  We need to accept people for who they truly are, not their physical appearance.    

Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving (in the U.S) where retailers offer deals for customers.  It is traditionally known as the beginning of Christmas shopping. Also, a time where we buy more things that we don't really need each day.  We do this, because, we use Black Friday as an opportunity to buy items we would of never buy and do not need for a lower price. We already have what we need, but it's the feeling of accomplishment when we buy things on sale and also a bragging right. We, as a culture, feel compelled to buy things we don't need for survival.  Is it the marketing techniques used? Or is it that everyone has it? Or are we just impulsive?

Commercials and advertisements make us feel like we need things, even when we don't.  But we are drawn to it. Brands can influence us, advertisements make us recognize their brand through a simple ad.  And we buy products based on design.  If it looks cool, we buy it. Culture and media encourages us to buy things constantly. Culture influences us by, for example if everyone has this product, we are influenced to buy it just because everyone else has it.  We have to be in the know with new products.  We are motivated to buy products after we see an ad that affects our emotions.  The only con is that we don't see this as a concern when it really is.  We just keep buying things, without concern.                    

social media.

Social media is where people interact, create and share information online.  I can admit that I use social media too, I mean even our parents are on Facebook.  I can say that I've been using social media since second grade, when I made my first email so I could play Club Penguin.  The whole social media thing amazed me.  I could easily chat with my friends on MSN and send cool emojis to them.  Forwarding chain mail and comic sans was super cool back then. Nowadays we just brag.  We share what we're eating, what we're doing, and the occasional selfie.  That's kind of interesting I guess??? We've become so used to it, it has become so natural. Documenting our lives and sharing it with others is the norm now.  

The 'good sides' of social media is you can communicate/socialize with you always see, or never see.  Social networking sites can reconnect family and friends together.  As well, a place where I can share my opinion. For example: on Tumblr I am open to share my opinions and how I feel.  I can express myself through edits, images, textposts, gifs, and "feels".  Most social media sites allow settings to be private or viewed by the whole world.

The 'bad sides' of social media is like Jack Vale, the ability to easily find someones information my the power of social media.  Anyone can be accessing your information.  Jack could conveniently find out a complete stranger's name and what they were doing with the power of social media. Jack just wanted to make sure we were cautious about what we share on the internet. As well you have to be extra careful when sharing anything really, from pictures to point of views. 

I don't really share much on social media.  I don't feel the need to share that much on the internet.  Mostly I just go on Facebook, wish people Happy Birthday, share a few edits on tumblr and that's really it.  I don't really like documenting every move I make for everyone to see, but that's just my opinion. 

autocomplete.

In the United Nation ad campaign, Autocomplete, it clearly shows that sexism is still predominantly evident in the world today.  Sexism is gender discrimination, stereotypes of gender roles. When one believes that their sex is more "superior" than the other person.  There is such thing as extreme sexism and is sexual harassment, rape, and sexual violence. Women are people too and are capable of many things. Women are undervalued, even though women have great value.

My reaction of what I have seen and read is discrimination and prejudice and how cruel it is to believe that one's sex is better than the other. After what I read, the only thing I could think about was how can we stop it?
Sexism has been around since the beginning of time and really cannot be stopped until everyone realizes its a concern and threat to women.  

Why do you think these sexist attitudes still exist? 
I think these sexist attitudes still exist, because society still believes that women are useless, weak, or even objects.  Women are classified as entertainment and toys used to pleasure men.  Sexist attitudes are easily influenced by society, for example in music, artists often degrade women in music.  But why? Simply because these terms are used casually by men and women.  And in television programs and movies, women' breasts are censored, but why do they not censor men? In the past, we learned that men did all the work, and women belonged in the kitchen until late 1900's, but many today still continue to live by this traditional stereotype. Absurd, because we are supposed to learn from our mistakes.  But in the bible, we are also taught that everyone is equal.  The messages we are given are contradicting and confusing. 

What affects do these attitudes have on women, cultures and societies? What can we do to change these attitudes? 
 We can't really change these attitudes, it has been with us for so long. Sexism is an important matter in society,because there are always going to people who believe they are better than others, in this case when one's gender is better than the other, it's human nature to be arrogant. For example. the rape anthem that topped charts, teaches us about sexual advances, consent, and assault: Blurred Lines.  This song addresses that consent is a blurred line. Blurred line meaning having difficulty understanding that no means no.  But most importantly the song expresses male dominance (ok I'm getting off topic).  

Sexism is everywhere.  Women are classified as objects.  We (women) are told to have self respect, but all we need is recognition of importance.  Women are people too.  Men and society put women in impossibly high standards.  Men cannot threaten the entire population of women, we are stronger than that. Women need to be exposed to revolutionary ideas.  

In the wise words of Alana Haim from the band Haim, "the more powerful girls are, the more interesting they are”.