http://www.azcentral.com/ent/celeb/articles/2009/06/10/20090610prejean.html
She is the same woman during the Miss America Beauty Pageant that believes a marriage is between a man and women. This caused a huge controversy.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Wednesday Assignment 1: Hot topics: gay marriage
Hello everyone,
In this blog, I will be focusing on the concepts of assimilation and radicalism through the readings from class and how that applies to gay marriage. Assimilation is a group of people assimilating to the culture and society that they live in and radicalism is bringing about change. There are four different movements that will be examined through these concepts. They are the Anti Vietnam war movement, Women’s movement, the Gay rights movement (based on the readings), and the Chicano movement.
First is the Anti Vietnam movement, in the article entitled, “Overview of Anti-Vietnam War Protests”, by Tom Wells, he talks about how people protested the Vietnam War in the 1960’s. One notable thing that makes this protest interesting is that many students were protesting the War at this time. With these students, they were a bunch of young idealists who wanted to raise awareness about the moral wrongness of this war. If you did not know, these students were actually more peaceful protesters. In his article, Wells says, “However, construction workers in New York assaulted a group of peaceful student demonstrators, and (with White House assistance) some union leaders organized pro-administration rallies (Wells 2).” Even though students did in fact were using peaceful means of protests, they did in fact set up protests and demonstrations as well as the government using demonstrations of their own to support their cause. It was those who did not agree with the anti Vietnam movement like the construction works and the government responses to demonstrations resulted in violence. This movement, I think, falls under assimilation because the goal was a more peaceful demonstration do bring about change to end the American participation in the Vietnam War. The next examination is on the Women’s Rights Movement.
The Women Rights Movement has a long history where many women are fight for equal rights that men have. As we know in a historical sense that women were in the subordinate role in a patriarchal society. Coinciding with the Civil Rights movement, the women’s rights movement also took off. In the 1970’s, this movement got through the government an amendment called the “Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)” that would allow equality based on sex and gender, thereby providing equality between the sexes. Surprising, there were women, particularly Mormon women, who were opposed to this amendment. So this group of women was resisting the women’s movement resisting patriarchy. These women primarily found out about this amendment through their churches. In the article, “’The ERA Is a Moral Issue’: The Mormon Church, LDS Women, and the Defeat of the Equal Rights Amendment” by Neil J. Young, says, “Across the nation, Mormon women stepped forward to carry out their church’s fight against the equal rights amendment. Most remembered having never heard of the ERA until learning about it at church. Ruth Peterson Knight was raising three small children in Virginia when she received an anti-ERA pamphlet in church one Sunday (Young 624).” This goes to shows that the church was getting involved with politics through their church members (although this action is not the point of this entry). They were claiming that because women subordination role was a part of their religion’s way of life and is defined in the bible in that way, the government should not redefine this role and go against g-d. Although Mormons do not have much political influence except in Nevada, Utah, and Idaho, it was enough to prevent the amendment being passed. This was a type of peaceful resistance in the form of politics because the way they resisted was based on persuasion, voter support, legislation, and Mormon religious morality. Up next is looking at assimilation of the gay rights movement.
The Gay Rights movement is a current civil and social rights movement that has been in the news. In the sense of this movement, it started out as radical. According to the article, “The Gay Liberation Movement” by John D’Emilio, he says, “Rioting continued far into the night [referring to the riots in 1969 where the police raided gay bars]… (D’Emilio 36). The point here is that the movement started out as radical for a reason: to get the message out that people were gay and the community is looking for equal rights as heterosexuals. Nowadays, the movement takes more of an assimilation standpoint in the sense they are looking at legislators, public education, and supporters of civil rights and social justice to spread the word that this lifestyle is fine and that you should support it because you are striving for equality for everyone. Finally, the last movement looking at radicalism and assimilation is the Chicano movement.
The Chicano movement is the movement involving Mexican Americans. There is a dispute as to when this movement began, but the latest one was since the civil rights movement. But since the 1960’s, their struggles have paralleled the civil rights. In addition to that, the Chicano group is looking for a cultural and acceptance as well. Though there is difficultly with this movement. In the article “The Origins and History of the Chicano Movement” by Roberto Rodriguez, he says, “The reasons: lack of historical memory, regionalism and sectarianism, but also government efforts to destroy this nascent movement (Rodriguez 9).” This movement has been more or less quite unless you have the issues of Sheriff Joe Arpio’s crime suppression sweeps in Maricopa County. This group goes along with assimilation because they are very quiet and the only thing they do is protest when they feel like there is an issue of injustice.
The article, “The Unfinished Dialogue of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X”, by Clayborne Carson, talks about MLK and Malcolm X’s preferred methods of protests. MLK preferred nonviolent and civil disobedience opposed to Malcolm X’s militant perhaps violent methods of civil rights. The gay rights movement, I feel that it followed more of MLK’s footsteps. In the current movement, the movement has been trying many methods to try to pass laws and create awareness to achieve equal rights. Their current movement uses tactics such as public education, holding vigils, talking with legislators, and looking for public support.
In Carson’s article, he argues that both MLK and Malcolm’s preferred methods of movements can work side by side. I do not think that is possible. With at least 3 movements, I think that MLK’s version of movements work. With Gay rights, women’s rights and the anti Vietnam movements, non violence captured the nation’s attention and allowed for changes in the law and society regarding each movement.
Sincerely,
Steven Weingarten
In this blog, I will be focusing on the concepts of assimilation and radicalism through the readings from class and how that applies to gay marriage. Assimilation is a group of people assimilating to the culture and society that they live in and radicalism is bringing about change. There are four different movements that will be examined through these concepts. They are the Anti Vietnam war movement, Women’s movement, the Gay rights movement (based on the readings), and the Chicano movement.
First is the Anti Vietnam movement, in the article entitled, “Overview of Anti-Vietnam War Protests”, by Tom Wells, he talks about how people protested the Vietnam War in the 1960’s. One notable thing that makes this protest interesting is that many students were protesting the War at this time. With these students, they were a bunch of young idealists who wanted to raise awareness about the moral wrongness of this war. If you did not know, these students were actually more peaceful protesters. In his article, Wells says, “However, construction workers in New York assaulted a group of peaceful student demonstrators, and (with White House assistance) some union leaders organized pro-administration rallies (Wells 2).” Even though students did in fact were using peaceful means of protests, they did in fact set up protests and demonstrations as well as the government using demonstrations of their own to support their cause. It was those who did not agree with the anti Vietnam movement like the construction works and the government responses to demonstrations resulted in violence. This movement, I think, falls under assimilation because the goal was a more peaceful demonstration do bring about change to end the American participation in the Vietnam War. The next examination is on the Women’s Rights Movement.
The Women Rights Movement has a long history where many women are fight for equal rights that men have. As we know in a historical sense that women were in the subordinate role in a patriarchal society. Coinciding with the Civil Rights movement, the women’s rights movement also took off. In the 1970’s, this movement got through the government an amendment called the “Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)” that would allow equality based on sex and gender, thereby providing equality between the sexes. Surprising, there were women, particularly Mormon women, who were opposed to this amendment. So this group of women was resisting the women’s movement resisting patriarchy. These women primarily found out about this amendment through their churches. In the article, “’The ERA Is a Moral Issue’: The Mormon Church, LDS Women, and the Defeat of the Equal Rights Amendment” by Neil J. Young, says, “Across the nation, Mormon women stepped forward to carry out their church’s fight against the equal rights amendment. Most remembered having never heard of the ERA until learning about it at church. Ruth Peterson Knight was raising three small children in Virginia when she received an anti-ERA pamphlet in church one Sunday (Young 624).” This goes to shows that the church was getting involved with politics through their church members (although this action is not the point of this entry). They were claiming that because women subordination role was a part of their religion’s way of life and is defined in the bible in that way, the government should not redefine this role and go against g-d. Although Mormons do not have much political influence except in Nevada, Utah, and Idaho, it was enough to prevent the amendment being passed. This was a type of peaceful resistance in the form of politics because the way they resisted was based on persuasion, voter support, legislation, and Mormon religious morality. Up next is looking at assimilation of the gay rights movement.
The Gay Rights movement is a current civil and social rights movement that has been in the news. In the sense of this movement, it started out as radical. According to the article, “The Gay Liberation Movement” by John D’Emilio, he says, “Rioting continued far into the night [referring to the riots in 1969 where the police raided gay bars]… (D’Emilio 36). The point here is that the movement started out as radical for a reason: to get the message out that people were gay and the community is looking for equal rights as heterosexuals. Nowadays, the movement takes more of an assimilation standpoint in the sense they are looking at legislators, public education, and supporters of civil rights and social justice to spread the word that this lifestyle is fine and that you should support it because you are striving for equality for everyone. Finally, the last movement looking at radicalism and assimilation is the Chicano movement.
The Chicano movement is the movement involving Mexican Americans. There is a dispute as to when this movement began, but the latest one was since the civil rights movement. But since the 1960’s, their struggles have paralleled the civil rights. In addition to that, the Chicano group is looking for a cultural and acceptance as well. Though there is difficultly with this movement. In the article “The Origins and History of the Chicano Movement” by Roberto Rodriguez, he says, “The reasons: lack of historical memory, regionalism and sectarianism, but also government efforts to destroy this nascent movement (Rodriguez 9).” This movement has been more or less quite unless you have the issues of Sheriff Joe Arpio’s crime suppression sweeps in Maricopa County. This group goes along with assimilation because they are very quiet and the only thing they do is protest when they feel like there is an issue of injustice.
The article, “The Unfinished Dialogue of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X”, by Clayborne Carson, talks about MLK and Malcolm X’s preferred methods of protests. MLK preferred nonviolent and civil disobedience opposed to Malcolm X’s militant perhaps violent methods of civil rights. The gay rights movement, I feel that it followed more of MLK’s footsteps. In the current movement, the movement has been trying many methods to try to pass laws and create awareness to achieve equal rights. Their current movement uses tactics such as public education, holding vigils, talking with legislators, and looking for public support.
In Carson’s article, he argues that both MLK and Malcolm’s preferred methods of movements can work side by side. I do not think that is possible. With at least 3 movements, I think that MLK’s version of movements work. With Gay rights, women’s rights and the anti Vietnam movements, non violence captured the nation’s attention and allowed for changes in the law and society regarding each movement.
Sincerely,
Steven Weingarten
Friday, June 5, 2009
Assignment 1: Hot Topics1: Part 2 Theory
Hello
Part B: The mass society theory asks the why’s and how’s of protests and social movements operate. The rational approach uses logic to explain how these movements come around. The cultural and emotional approaches use the appeal of cultural beliefs and the emotional appeal to obtain supporters.
The mass society theory asks the why’s and how’s of social movements according to The Social Movements Reader: Cases and Concepts by Jeff Goodwin and James M. Jasper. The thing is that this can go to both sides of the issue. On one side, you have supporters who are trying to achieve equal status quo and the opposition is trying to keep the status quo as it is. Why are same sex couples looking for equal rights? How can we achieve equality? Why same sex couples looking for equal rights? How can we keep the status quo as is? But if you are looking at the mass society theory in the sense of mobilizing as many people through proper persuasion to your side, then it stands to reason that you would protest, educate the public, comment on news shows, talk to politicians, and many other kinds of activism to raise awareness. Both sides in this side are looking for persuading as many people to share their view point.
The cultural and emotional best explains why there are supporters of this cause. It is because if you are homosexual, you should have the same rights as heterosexuals. Supporters go under the emotional/ cultural approaches to appeal to the community and use emotion to pull others into believing their side. This is different from other social movements because in the past = marriage has never been an issue. Historically, marriage, especially in historical European and Asian countries, marriages have been arranged have been between men and women for the purposes of social bonds. That was their culture at the time. This differs from current America because we want relationships to be based on love and that is a powerful emotion. That is what America is seeking in romance in our culture. Supporters of gay marriage argue, “If you can marry and experience love with your partner of opposite sex, why can’t we?” Since same sex relations did become an issue since 1969 with the New York raids (see earlier), it has been in the spot light.
Opposition falls under the rational approach because usually they rationalize their opposition by saying marriage is only for straight couples or using something like religion to support their cause. To the opposition, typically use vague and selectable references of the bible such as “one shall not lay with a man as you would a woman”. Just like any other opposition to civil rights movements they try to keep the status quo as it is. Furthermore, they try to use science to say that gay marriage is a slippery slope to other bad sexual acts such as polygamy, pedophilia, sexual attraction to animals, and so on. This kind of rationalization is just an excuse for this kind of bigotry to continue in this subject.
I hope you enjoyed,
Steven Weingarten
Book and news print references:
The Associated Press. "A Timeline of Events Involving Gay Marriage in Massachusetts." The Associated Press State & Local Wire June 14 2007.
Goodwin, Jeff and Jasper, James M. “The Social Movements reader: Cases and Concepts. Wiley-Blackwell. 2009.
Part B: The mass society theory asks the why’s and how’s of protests and social movements operate. The rational approach uses logic to explain how these movements come around. The cultural and emotional approaches use the appeal of cultural beliefs and the emotional appeal to obtain supporters.
The mass society theory asks the why’s and how’s of social movements according to The Social Movements Reader: Cases and Concepts by Jeff Goodwin and James M. Jasper. The thing is that this can go to both sides of the issue. On one side, you have supporters who are trying to achieve equal status quo and the opposition is trying to keep the status quo as it is. Why are same sex couples looking for equal rights? How can we achieve equality? Why same sex couples looking for equal rights? How can we keep the status quo as is? But if you are looking at the mass society theory in the sense of mobilizing as many people through proper persuasion to your side, then it stands to reason that you would protest, educate the public, comment on news shows, talk to politicians, and many other kinds of activism to raise awareness. Both sides in this side are looking for persuading as many people to share their view point.
The cultural and emotional best explains why there are supporters of this cause. It is because if you are homosexual, you should have the same rights as heterosexuals. Supporters go under the emotional/ cultural approaches to appeal to the community and use emotion to pull others into believing their side. This is different from other social movements because in the past = marriage has never been an issue. Historically, marriage, especially in historical European and Asian countries, marriages have been arranged have been between men and women for the purposes of social bonds. That was their culture at the time. This differs from current America because we want relationships to be based on love and that is a powerful emotion. That is what America is seeking in romance in our culture. Supporters of gay marriage argue, “If you can marry and experience love with your partner of opposite sex, why can’t we?” Since same sex relations did become an issue since 1969 with the New York raids (see earlier), it has been in the spot light.
Opposition falls under the rational approach because usually they rationalize their opposition by saying marriage is only for straight couples or using something like religion to support their cause. To the opposition, typically use vague and selectable references of the bible such as “one shall not lay with a man as you would a woman”. Just like any other opposition to civil rights movements they try to keep the status quo as it is. Furthermore, they try to use science to say that gay marriage is a slippery slope to other bad sexual acts such as polygamy, pedophilia, sexual attraction to animals, and so on. This kind of rationalization is just an excuse for this kind of bigotry to continue in this subject.
I hope you enjoyed,
Steven Weingarten
Book and news print references:
The Associated Press. "A Timeline of Events Involving Gay Marriage in Massachusetts." The Associated Press State & Local Wire June 14 2007.
Goodwin, Jeff and Jasper, James M. “The Social Movements reader: Cases and Concepts. Wiley-Blackwell. 2009.
Assignment 1: Hot Topics1: Part 1 Gay Marriage Timeline
Hello Everyone,
FYI: Assignment 1 will be posted in 2 blog entries. Part 1 will focus on the timeline of Gay Marriage and the second will focus on the theory around this issue.
Intro: The following blog entry is about the timeline of gay marriage and some theory regarding how some theory plays into this particular protest and conflict. The timeline section will focus on the timeline based on the legalization of gay marriage in Massachusetts and the key events that played into this movement. The theory section will focus on the social movement theory, the rational approach, and the emotional/cultural approach as well as how supporters and opponents fall into each theory.
Part A: The timeline of the same sex marriage/relationships is a broad and huge subject. If you want a full coverage of court decisions relating to gay relationships, see the following link from the HRC website at: http://www.hrc.org/justice/resources/justice_timeline.pdf. In the interest of length, I will focus on Massachusetts. It is the first state in the United States to legalize gay marriage. “A Timeline of Events Involving Gay Marriage in Massachusetts” is an article that gives a great description. And the following is the time line of 4-6 major key events for the legality of approving same-sex marriage in Massachusetts (reference at the end of the blog):
April 11, 2001 Seven same-sex couples, denied marriage licenses, sue in Suffolk Superior Court in Boston to challenge the state's gay marriage ban.
Nov. 18, 2003 The SJC rules it is unconstitutional to bar gay couples from marriage, and gives the Legislature 180 days to come up with a solution to allow gays to wed. President Bush, in a visit to London, criticizes the decision and vows to work with Congress to "defend the sanctity of marriage."
Feb. 4, 2004 Acting on a request from state lawmakers, the SJC clarifies its earlier ruling, saying only full, equal marriage rights for gay couples rather than civil unions are constitutional.
Feb. 11, 2004 Massachusetts Legislature opens constitutional convention with debate on a proposed constitutional ban on gay marriage and adjourns a day later deadlocked, after failing to pass three separate proposed bans on same-sex marriage.
March 29, 2004 State Legislature approves proposed constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage but legalize Vermont-style civil unions.
March 31, 2004 State Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly says gay marriage will apply only to Massachusetts residents because of a 1913 state law that prevents out-of-staters from getting married in Massachusetts if they are ineligible for marriage in the state where they live.
Part B: Now I will look at 3 – 4 key events that have (and still do) affect this movement:
1. In the 1960’s/1970’s after a serious of raids of gay bars. John D’Emilio, in his article, “The Gay Liberation Movement” says, “The Stonewall Inn was an especially inviting target. Operating without a liquor license, reputed to having ties with organized crime, and offering scantily clad go-go boys as entertainment, it brought an ‘unruly’ element to Sheridan Square, a busy Villiage Intersection” (D’Emilo 36). After that, it lead the gay community to pull together and start their journey to obtain equality. This is a key event because it allowed his group to legally obtain all the rights straight couples receive in marriage. This was one of many targets that the police raided and allowed this movement to begin.
2. As the timeline above shows the legality of approving same sex marriage in Massachusetts, it was the first state in the United States to allow same sex marriage. It allowed for in state gay couples to marry. This is a key event that leads to other states to allow same sex couples to marry. Other states include Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire (NH signed into law today see following link at foxnews.com: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/06/03/new-hampshire-lawmakers-approve-gay-marriage/).
3. Lastly, the California situation is another key event. Since the approval of marriage last year, it has been in a constant state of flux. Last, roughly May, the state law banning gay marriage was overturned. Then, in the last election, a voter approved proposition (Prop. 8 in California and 102 in Arizona) constitutional ban on gay marriage. A week ago, that ban was upheld, but those who did marry remain married. Now the movement is going to put another ballot on the ticket for the next election.
These three events affected the movement because it shows how far the group has come in fighting for and obtaining the rights they deserve in regards to their status quo in society. It also shows that some people still opposes the gay community while others embrace them. As shown, the citizens in each state are actively involved in this issue. This has come a long way and looks like the momentum of equality started after 6 states officially approved same sex marriage.
Sincerely,
Steven Weingarten
FYI: Assignment 1 will be posted in 2 blog entries. Part 1 will focus on the timeline of Gay Marriage and the second will focus on the theory around this issue.
Intro: The following blog entry is about the timeline of gay marriage and some theory regarding how some theory plays into this particular protest and conflict. The timeline section will focus on the timeline based on the legalization of gay marriage in Massachusetts and the key events that played into this movement. The theory section will focus on the social movement theory, the rational approach, and the emotional/cultural approach as well as how supporters and opponents fall into each theory.
Part A: The timeline of the same sex marriage/relationships is a broad and huge subject. If you want a full coverage of court decisions relating to gay relationships, see the following link from the HRC website at: http://www.hrc.org/justice/resources/justice_timeline.pdf. In the interest of length, I will focus on Massachusetts. It is the first state in the United States to legalize gay marriage. “A Timeline of Events Involving Gay Marriage in Massachusetts” is an article that gives a great description. And the following is the time line of 4-6 major key events for the legality of approving same-sex marriage in Massachusetts (reference at the end of the blog):
April 11, 2001 Seven same-sex couples, denied marriage licenses, sue in Suffolk Superior Court in Boston to challenge the state's gay marriage ban.
Nov. 18, 2003 The SJC rules it is unconstitutional to bar gay couples from marriage, and gives the Legislature 180 days to come up with a solution to allow gays to wed. President Bush, in a visit to London, criticizes the decision and vows to work with Congress to "defend the sanctity of marriage."
Feb. 4, 2004 Acting on a request from state lawmakers, the SJC clarifies its earlier ruling, saying only full, equal marriage rights for gay couples rather than civil unions are constitutional.
Feb. 11, 2004 Massachusetts Legislature opens constitutional convention with debate on a proposed constitutional ban on gay marriage and adjourns a day later deadlocked, after failing to pass three separate proposed bans on same-sex marriage.
March 29, 2004 State Legislature approves proposed constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage but legalize Vermont-style civil unions.
March 31, 2004 State Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly says gay marriage will apply only to Massachusetts residents because of a 1913 state law that prevents out-of-staters from getting married in Massachusetts if they are ineligible for marriage in the state where they live.
Part B: Now I will look at 3 – 4 key events that have (and still do) affect this movement:
1. In the 1960’s/1970’s after a serious of raids of gay bars. John D’Emilio, in his article, “The Gay Liberation Movement” says, “The Stonewall Inn was an especially inviting target. Operating without a liquor license, reputed to having ties with organized crime, and offering scantily clad go-go boys as entertainment, it brought an ‘unruly’ element to Sheridan Square, a busy Villiage Intersection” (D’Emilo 36). After that, it lead the gay community to pull together and start their journey to obtain equality. This is a key event because it allowed his group to legally obtain all the rights straight couples receive in marriage. This was one of many targets that the police raided and allowed this movement to begin.
2. As the timeline above shows the legality of approving same sex marriage in Massachusetts, it was the first state in the United States to allow same sex marriage. It allowed for in state gay couples to marry. This is a key event that leads to other states to allow same sex couples to marry. Other states include Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire (NH signed into law today see following link at foxnews.com: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/06/03/new-hampshire-lawmakers-approve-gay-marriage/).
3. Lastly, the California situation is another key event. Since the approval of marriage last year, it has been in a constant state of flux. Last, roughly May, the state law banning gay marriage was overturned. Then, in the last election, a voter approved proposition (Prop. 8 in California and 102 in Arizona) constitutional ban on gay marriage. A week ago, that ban was upheld, but those who did marry remain married. Now the movement is going to put another ballot on the ticket for the next election.
These three events affected the movement because it shows how far the group has come in fighting for and obtaining the rights they deserve in regards to their status quo in society. It also shows that some people still opposes the gay community while others embrace them. As shown, the citizens in each state are actively involved in this issue. This has come a long way and looks like the momentum of equality started after 6 states officially approved same sex marriage.
Sincerely,
Steven Weingarten
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