RA#2

Title: From Fly-Girls to Bitches and Hos

Author: Joan Morgan

Date:1999

Topic: Finding the Root to sexism in rap

Exigence: All the sexism and misogyny found in raps.

Intended audience: Anyone involved in rap culture, the black sistas and brothers, American society as a whole.

Purpose: To defeat the misogyny in the black community and understand why its happening

Claims: If rap artists have a safe space to talk and process all the “ uncomfortable issues of our failing self-esteem” (606), serious depression and pain, then maybe they wouldn’t demean and objectify women as a mask of all the misery they are going through.

Main Evidence: Morgan’s main evidence comes from her own experience being apart of the black community. She also uses lyrics from very popular Rap artist such as Tupac and Notorious B.I.G. to show examples of their self-loathing and inopportunity. Her main evidence is also seen through a feminist point of view. And she uses her analyzing of the hip-hop community to describe her claims.

Morgan uses Narration to explain what happens when she looks at the core of what is actually is happening behind all the sexism in rap music. She says “ I hear brothers talking about spending each day high as hell on malt liquor and chronic…What passes for ’40 and a blunt’ good times in most of hip hop is really alcoholism, substance abuse, and chemical dependency. Brothers… talk so cavalierly about killing each other then reveal that they have no expectation to see their twenty-first birthday” (603). Not only does this give a good description of what type of attitude rap music is composed of. Rap artists are deeply depressed in their social world and they demean themselves and especially women to mask their sadness and depression that they are feeling deep down. This narration also overlaps into Aristotle’s emotional appeal, pathos. Knowing that these young potential-filled men don’t have any expectation to live very long can definitely make you feel bad for them and maybe understand why they seem so angry in their music.

Morgan shows an example of cause and effect when she talks about the sistas that uses sex, and free participation in music videos to promote womens’ oppression. As she states, “ Many of the ways men exploit our images and sexuality in hip-hop is done with our permission and cooperation.” (605).  It seems as if women are being hypocritical by continually pointing out sexism and the objectification of women, yet thousands of women line up and willingly throw themselves at these rap artists so that they can sleep with them or even appear in one of the music videos. Morgan is saying that the cause of all the misogyny isn’t just the rap artists fault, it is women’s fault too because we aide to the promotion of our own objectification.

Pathos is also used to prove Morgans point. Emotion is prodded at when Morgan makes connections to the readers and to herself. She says “ So sista friends, we gotta do what any rational, survivalist-minded person would do after finding herself in a relationship with someone whose pain makes him abusive” (604). By talking to the reader in a casual way she connects with them. Once that connection is established, making herself and the readers a team by saying “ we gotta do” gives the reader a sense of unity. Then, when she talks about the type of abusive relationship that many women are in and need to escape, that gives you some empowerment and makes you want to act with her and your fellow sistas.

RR#2

In the “The Guy Code” the author Michael Kimmel describes the pressures of masculinity within the young males in our society. He explains that the guy code is “the collection of attitudes, values and traits that together composes what it means to be a man”(609). Pretty much, guys have to show they are masculine by showing no emotion, and not admitting to any form of weakness. This “masculinity” is shown in everything they do whether it is how they walk, talk, dress and even how or what they eat. They do everything they can so that they aren’t misconceived as homosexual. What I found interesting is that men are not doing this to impress women. It is to impress other men. It is the men that have the power to push you up or down in social ranking, not the woman. Woman, as Kimmel states, are just a currency by which men can negotiate their status

I first noticed “ The Guy Code” when I was in middle school. There was a main group of guys which all the girls had crushes on. Some of the guys in this group would really put other guys down, even the ones in their same friend group. “That’s so gay” and “Fag” were two of the most popular insults. It is true what Kimmel said, it doesn’t necessarily mean, “that is so homosexual of you” it is a synonym for bad, inadequate, stupid, wrong etc… However, if a boy were to do something to slightly even hint at being feminine, he would not hear the end of it. The guys would play off of each other and socially alienate who ever was being put down. That humiliation only motivated all the boys to conform to all the masculine norms such as not showing pain, or sadness but anger and boldness instead. Unfortunately, this type of behavior continued through high school and got so radical and ridiculous, that most of the girls in my grade wanted absolutely nothing to do with the guys. On several occasions I can remember my friends looking up at where the guys hung out and saying “They really think that making people feel like shit makes them cool don’t they?” Thankfully it was just this group of guys at my school. I’m sure they aren’t the only group of guys that have done something like this before. These guys put themselves, and mostly others down so much that they ostracized themselves from everyone else. Their constant need to be better, tougher and emotionless did not serve them any good besides trying to one up each other within their own group.

I agree with much of what Kimmel says in his passage. I completely believe that there is a guy code, and that males are the ones who give rank to those around them. However, I do not believe that it starts at such an early age. Kimmel gives the example of the 3 1/2 year old crying in the barbershop and the barbers saying that he needed to man up and not spend so much time around his mother. I believe that instance was an outlier in the general scheme of things. I would say that guy code really starts in late elementary school or early middle school. That is when boys start to know themselves as more of an individual and have more self-awareness. It is when they begin to form a solid social group of friends because they can start identifying whom they want to hang out around. When these social groups form, that, is when the guy code begins.

Final Final Prop 30 Op Ed

Jessica Zacarias

English 2, Knapp

October 14, 2012

Invest in Our Schools, Invest in Our Future

The foundation of California and our future is the education of its youth. Nearly everything human beings have accomplished as a society has been founded and supported by a solid and growing education. Therefore, if we want to continue moving forward as a society, we need to invest in our future, invest in our schools and not cut back on the potential of thousands of growing minds. Billions of dollars have been cut from the schooling system resulting in less teachers, bigger class sizes, less days of school, higher tuition rates and lower acceptance rates among many other losses. That’s why proposition 30 on the ballot this November is just what we need to start solving this crisis. It is essential that we stop this downward spiral and that we vote yes on Proposition 30.

Proposition 30 would place a temporary increase on income and sales tax. The top 1% of our population, people making $250,000 dollars or more will be charged an additional 1-3% on income tax depending on how much they earn per year for the next 7 years. The rest of us, the 99% of us will be charged one fourth of a cent more on sales tax for the next 4 years. That is 1 cent for every 4 dollars you spend, or 5 dollars for every 2,000 dollars you spend. 89% of the revenue would to K-12 schools and 11% would go to community colleges. Something not many people know is that it not only supports education but it also helps and supports rehab facilities and depopulation in prison as well as public safety and social services.

Now you tell me, who has more authority to decide and demand more money for California’s education system? Is it rich old men campaigning against this cause, who went to school in a time that going to UC Berkeley cost $700 a year, or is it students currently going to school and currently feeling the devastating budget crisis as more and more money is cut from education. Today, UC Berkeley has a 2,000 percent increase on their tuition. The same has happened with all schools across California as tuition continues to rise 4-10% a year.

Being a Cabrillo College student myself, I can directly feel the already excessive budget cuts to the school. It is almost incomprehensible to really understand the impact it would have on us students if even more money and teachers get cut from the school’s resources. Cabrillo has cut so many classes in recent years that in order to go to the school that I want to go to, I’m going to have to drive to a different Community College, about one hour away, two times a week to fulfill a required course for my major. By cutting essential and important classes, students have to stay at Community College for longer because all the classes are impacted and hard to get into. Not only are there less classes and teachers, there is an increasing amount of kids that need to get into community college classes because they are unable to afford a 4 year college right out of high school. It is detrimental to students and their family’s financial situation if getting your general education requirements completed means spending more and more time, money and semesters trying to get into classes.

If proposition 30 does not pass, Trigger Cuts will take place on January 1^st 2013. Trigger cuts are the states way of reducing California’s spending. These cuts will eliminate 5.5 billion dollars going to schools, which will result in 3 less weeks of school for K-12 children. It would cut $250 million from all CSU’s. That would mean more layoffs, fewer classes and an even higher tuition cost for students. Just at Cabrillo alone I have felt the effects of the 95 staff jobs cut, 400 classes cut and the 88.5% increase on price per unit.

 Some people have different views on this proposition. On stopprop30.com they state “California cannot afford to lose more jobs or to further damage our economic recovery. Now is not the time for tax increases which will only harm California families and small businesses.” However this statement ignores the fact that funding schools will actually lead to more jobs for teachers and all other administrative departments in the system. Since more students will get to go to school it will provide more capable citizens with new and improved ideas. With education they will be able to fill needed and crucial jobs to keep our society moving forward as well as create their own small and large businesses.

 People also complain that if Proposition 30 passes, the tax increase on the poor would not be fair. However, what really isn’t fair is if Proposition 30 does not pass and parents who are already struggling with money have to seek out and pay for 3 extra weeks of childcare. A tax increase of .25% will be nothing to complain about compared to the downfalls if proposition 30 is not passed. Compare one cent for every four dollars for a temporary amount of time to having to pay higher tuition for more semesters, and poorer quality education. It is not a hard decision to make.

We can all agree that the education system in California has been going downhill. Finally a solution is within reach. Lets think and act progressively for a prosperous future for all of us. Proposition 30 is that solution. Just adding ¼ of a cent to our sales tax for a limited amount of time could mean the difference between thousands of students not being able to go to school or get into classes or getting a solid education and continuing to getting vital and constructive jobs that could help and effect everybody’s future. You make the choice.  Our system needs to evolve with time, not disintegrate.  Help save our future by voting yes on Proposition 30.

Final Draft, Prop 30

Jessica Zacarias

English 2, Knapp

October 14, 2012

The foundation of California and our future is the education of its youth. Nearly everything human beings have accomplished as a society has been founded and supported by a solid and growing education. Therefore, if we want to continue moving forward as a society, we need to invest in our future, invest in our schools and not cut back on the potential of thousands of growing minds. Billions of dollars have been cut from the schooling system resulting in less teachers, bigger class sizes, less days of school, higher tuition rates and lower acceptance rates among many other losses. That’s why proposition 30 on the ballad this November is just what we need to start solving this crisis. It is essential that we stop this downward spiral that our educational system is going through and it is essential that we vote yes on Proposition 30.

Proposition 30 would place a temporary increase on income and sales tax. The top 1% of our population, people making $250,000 dollars or more will be charged an additional 1-3% on tax depending on how much they earn per year for the next 7 years. The rest of us, the 99% of us will be charged one fourth of a cent more on sales tax for the next 4 years. That is 1 cent for every 4 dollars you spend, or 5 dollars for every 2,000 dollars you spend. 89% of the revenue would to K-12 schools and 11% would go to community colleges. Something not many people know is that it not only supports education but it also helps and supports rehab facilities and depopulation in prison as well as public safety and social services.

Now you tell me, who has more authority to decide and demand more money for California’s education system? Is it rich old men campaigning against this cause, who went to school in a time that going to UC Berkeley cost $700 a year, or is it students currently going to school and currently feeling the devastating budget crisis as more and more money is cut from education. Today, UC Berkeley has a 2,000 percent increase on their tuition. The same has happened with all schools across California as tuition continues to rise 4-10% a year.

Being a Cabrillo College student myself, I can directly feel the already excessive budget cuts to the school. It is almost incomprehensible to really understand the impact it would have on us students if even more money and teachers get cut from the school’s resources. Cabrillo has cut so many classes in recent years that in order to go to the school that I want to go to, I’m going to have to drive to a different Community College, about one hour away, two times a week to fulfill a required course for my major. By cutting essential and important classes, students have to stay at Cabrillo for longer because all the classes are impacted and hard to get into. Not only are there less classes and teachers, there is an increasing amount of kids that need to get into community college classes because they are unable to afford a 4 year college right out of high school. It is detrimental to students and their family’s financial situation if getting your general education requirements completed means spending more and more time, money and semesters trying to get into classes.

If proposition 30 does not pass, Trigger Cuts will take place on January 1^st 2013. Trigger cuts are the states way of reducing California’s spending. These cuts will eliminate 5.5 billion dollars going to schools, which will result in 3 less weeks of school for K-12 children. It would cut $250 Million from all CSU’s. That would mean more layoffs, fewer classes and an even higher tuition cost for students. Just at Cabrillo alone I have felt the effects of the 95 staff jobs cut, 400 classes cut and the 88.5% increase on price per unit.

 Some people have different views on this proposition. On stopprop30.com they state “California cannot afford to lose more jobs or to further damage our economic recovery. Now is not the time for tax increases which will only harm California families and small businesses.” However this statement ignores the fact that funding schools will actually lead to more jobs for teachers and all other administrative departments in the system. Since more students will get to go to school it will provide more capable citizens with new and improved ideas. With education they will be able to fill needed and crucial jobs to keep our society moving forward as well as create their own small and large businesses.

 People also complain that if Proposition 30 passes, the tax increase on the poor would not be fair. However, what really isn’t fair is if Proposition 30 does not pass and parents who are already struggling with money have to seek out and pay for 3 extra weeks of childcare. A tax increase of .25% will be nothing to complain about compared to the downfalls if proposition 30 is not passed. Compare one cent for every four dollars for a temporary amount of time to having to pay higher tuition for more semesters, and poorer quality education. It is not a hard decision to make.

We can all agree that the education system in California has been going downhill. Finally a solution is within reach. Lets think and act progressively for a prosperous future for the all of us. Proposition 30 is that solution. Just adding ¼ of a cent to our sales tax for a limited amount of time could mean the difference between thousands of students not being able to go to school or get into classes or getting a solid education and continuing to getting vital and constructive jobs that could help and effect everybody’s future. You make the choice.  Our system needs to evolve with time, not disintegrate.  Help save our future by voting yes on Proposition 30.

Prop 30 Rough Draft

The foundation of California is the education of its youth. Nearly everything we have accomplished as a society has been supported by a solid education. Therefore, if we want to continue growing as state, we need to invest in our future, invest in the children of tomorrow and not cut back on the potential of thousands of growing minds. Billions of dollars have been cut from the schooling system resulting in less teachers, bigger class sizes, less days of school, higher tuition rates and lower acceptance rates among many other losses. Just at Cabrillo alone I have felt the effects of the 95 staff jobs cut, 400 classes cut and the 88.5% increase on price per unit. It is essential that we stop this downward spiral on our educational system and it is essential that we vote yes on Proposition 30.

Proposition 30 would place a temporary increase on income and sales tax. The top 1% of our population so people making 250,000 dollars or more will be charged an additional 1-3% on tax depending on how much they make for the next 7 years. The rest of the 99% of us will be charged one fourth of a cent more on tax for the next 4 years. That is 1 cent for every 4 dollars you spend, Or 5 dollars for every 2,000 dollars you spend. 89% of the revenue would to K-12 schools and 11% would go to community colleges. It also supports, education, rehab facilities and depopulation in prison as well as public safety.

If proposition 30 does not pass, Trigger Cuts will take place on January 1^st 2013. These trigger cuts will eliminate 5.5 billion dollars going to schools, which will result in 3 less weeks of school for K-12 children. It would cut 250 Million from CSU’s, which would mean more layoffs, fewer classes and an even higher tuition. For Cabrillo students this Proposition means the difference between being able to get into the classes you need and being able to transfer to a 4-year University sooner rather than later.

Being a Cabrillo College student myself, I can directly feel the already excessive budget cuts to the school. It is almost incomprehensible to really understand the effects if even more money and teachers get cut from the school’s resources. Cabrillo has cut so many classes in the recent years that in order to go to the school that I want to go to, I’m going to have to drive to a different Community College about one hour away two times a week to fulfill a required course for my major. By cutting classes, students have to stay at Cabrillo for longer because all the classes are impacted and hard to get into. Not only are there less classes and teachers, there is an increasing amount of kids that need to get into community college classes because they are unable to afford a 4 year college. It is detrimental to students and their family’s financial situation if getting your general education requirements finished means spending more and more semesters trying to get into classes and more and more time and money waiting to get in.

 Some people have different views on this proposition. On stopprop30.com they state “California cannot afford to lose more jobs or to further damage our economic recovery. Now is not the time for tax increases which will only harm California families and small businesses.” However this statement is completely false, funding schools will lead to MORE jobs for teachers and all other administrative departments.  And since more students will get to go to school it will provide more capable citizens with improved ideas and jobs to go with them in the long run. People also complain the tax increase on the poor isn’t fair. However what really isn’t fair are parents who are struggling with money having to seek out and pay for 3 extra weeks of childcare if even more money is cut from schools. A tax increase of .25% will be nothing compared to the downfalls if proposition 30 is not passed.

We can all agree that the education system in California has been going downhill. Finally a solution is within reach. Our system needs to evolve with time, not disintegrate. Lets think and act progressively for a prosperous future for the all of us. Help save our future by voting yes on Proposition 30.