24. April 2009 by student.

Do to what has happened, and is still taking place in Afghanistan, you can look at how Afghan women fare in American many different ways. Sometimes Afghan women do not get much respect or are looked down upon in America, because of what has happened, including September 11^th. On the other hand one can argue that their a lot better off in America then in Afghanistan.

In America, Afghan women can be seen as bizarre or out of the ordinary, due to their religion. Afghan women usually wear burqa’s and veils that may represent purity, religion, and honor. The veil has a divergent understanding. People in America show ethnocentrism towards Afghan women culture, they aren’t aware of the reasons why they wear burqa’s. Hilary Clinton even went to Afghanistan and told the women that they don’t have to wear burqa’s, she looked at the veil as a degrading symbol towards women.

Also, because of what has happened on September 11^th, Afghan women don’t receive the same amount of respect as American woman due. Some American people are biased towards Afghan women. They may see every Afghan as a terrorist, or someone that hates our country. September 11^th has made a tremendous impact on Afghan women in America.

However, America is a better living environment then Afghanistan. It gives them a chance at a better quality of life. In most parts of Afghanistan women aren’t even given the opportunity to receive education. In Afghanistan the women are expected to marry young and become house wife’s. It is uncommon for an Afghan woman living in Afghanistan to have a career or a job. Even after the fall of the Taliban, only a small percentage of Afghanistan allows women to work. Women in Afghanistan hardly ever leave their husbands, or get a divorce, because they usually end up homeless.  Still in some parts of Afghanistan, if an Afghan woman is spotted with a man other than a relative or husband she is instantly arrested and taken to a hospital that examines whether or not she has had sexual intercourse. It is also not uncommon for a woman to be killed for disobeying their family.

In Afghanistan women are looked at as inferior to men. But in America women are seen as equal to men. Afghan women who live in America are able to go to college and receive degrees. They are also able to work, and form some sort of career so they can be independent. Women in Afghanistan often commit suicide due to risk the high violence and rape. Even though America is trying to help Afghanistan , Afghanistan is still dealing with all these problems.

You may ask yourself whether or not life for Afghan women was any different before the Taliban seized power. The answer is absolutely! Afghan women were much better off. They went to school, had careers, and had freedom of choice. After the Taliban came, women were getting beaten for showing any type of skin. Before the Taliban seized power a women could walk to the market place without fearing any kind of danger. When the Taliban came women were fortunate to even make it a few steps out of their house without getting beaten, raped, or killed.

When the Taliban seized power men even had better health care than women. Also, when they came you were forced to be married at the age of 13. Women were forced to marry. Pre Taliban a woman can marry any man she pleases to. Woman of all ages were getting stoned to death for committing adultery on their husbands.

Posted in Social Problems | 1 Comment »

24. April 2009 by student.

             I really do not understand what is the reason for some people to be racist. Racism is still a big  issue among society. There’s a large variety of nationalities in our country, and of course a lot of different individuals. But at the end we are all the same, even though some people don’t believe so. We are all human beings with dreams, fears and issues. Being brown or having an accent doesn’t make us less than the rest. Nationality does not define personality. A smart person or a killer can be either white or black..could be either Hispanic or African. There’s not really a sign that can tell you how is that person. Why hate somebody you don’t even know, if you know nothing about them. Judging a person by their looks and just because…. that’s pointless! You never know whose you’ll need a hand from. Every human being has something good to offer.

Posted in Introduction to Sociology | 2 Comments »

24. April 2009 by student.

                                                                                                   Would you allow your baby to smoke?

 Every time you inhale the smoke from a cigarette you are inhaling around 4,000 toxic chemical into your body.  The definition of toxic is -acting as or having the effect off a poison; poisonous: a toxic drug.  When pregnancy occurs everything that enters your body the baby gets too.  Would you give your baby poison? These toxins reach your baby through the placenta and when you smoke it also damages you and your baby’s blood vessels. A damaged placenta can cause the baby to starve for food and oxygen and as a result the baby could be smaller and stressed or can be born prematurely.  Smoking while pregnant nearly doubles the chances of having a low birth-weight baby.  Heavy smoking can cause death to your baby and serious risk for the mother.  Around 10% of all prenatal infant deaths are due to heavy smoking during the pregnancy.Studies have shown that smoking while the brain is developing or the late stage of pregnancy can cause ADD and other learning disabilities.  Just like the mother, the baby will have a nicotine addiction as well.  After the pregnancy the baby will become increasingly irritable as they withdraw from the nicotine.In the United States, 18% of women smoke.  If all pregnant women in this country stopped smoking, it is estimated by the U.S. Public Health Service that there would be an estimated 11% reduction in stillbirths.What can we do about this issue?  March of Dimes is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to preventing birth defects, premature birth, and infant mortality.  Get involved!  Do the march this Saturday in Ft. Myers or next Saturday in Collier County.  Show your support by donating to the cause, spreading the word of the dangers that cause defects and deaths in babies.I don’t believe in bringing children into this world disfigured or unhealthy.  It causes a lot of problems for the future of the baby depending how the baby was born.  It is selfish to bring life to this world unhealthy so that you can smoke cigarettes.  It’s one thing to do it to yourself but not to a innocent child that has no control of it.

Posted in Social Problems | 1 Comment »

24. April 2009 by student.

There are many advantages for elderly people but sometimes many of them that take that advantage to a higher level. In most cases elderly citizens get discounts at hotels, stores and restaurants but when it comes to needing extra time and help many of them take advantage of their needs. For example, I was on an airplane recently and when we started to board they called for passengers with young children and passengers needing some extra time such as those really old or sick. As soon as that was called just about every elderly passenger got up to get in line because they needed extra time. I feel most of those passengers that got in line for the extra time boarding took advantage of their age because most of them were healthy and how much time do they really need when all you are doing is finding your seat and sitting down. Although some elderly actually need the time, others just get in line and still hold up the boarding calls because they are standing up in the plane’s aisle as other passengers are trying to find their seats but can’t get through. Furthermore besides my situation on the plane, elderly citizens think they have the right to cut in lines and think everyone else is going to open the door for them. It is one thing if it was a nice old lady or man to let in front of you in a line or help out when it looks like they need help, but it is another when they wait at the door for you to open it or look at you with a smirk and just walk in front of you when you are waiting in a line or moving your cart in the grocery store. But in today’s society it seems too much to ask for. If only they asked can you move your cart instead of pushing it on top of you or giving you smirks. Why is that elderly people get discounts for hotels, stores, and restaurants and why not anyone else? Yes some of them deserve certain things, but others are just rude and take advantage of what they get and try to walk all over. Not only do you see elderly taking advantage at stores and airplanes but even on the roads we see certain actions. Because they are driving slowly I feel they expect us to just deal with it and give them the right of way, but when it comes to speed limits if you’re not going the speed then move over and most of them just stay in the same lane causing traffic to slow down and build up. Elderly should have to take a driver’s test when they reach a certain age because it is mainly elderly drivers causing accidents and traffic problems. The advantages they get sometimes get taken to another level and I feel we shouldn’t have to comfort them in every direction and they should do some things their selves without assistance.

Posted in Social Problems | 1 Comment »

24. April 2009 by student.

One of the many social problems that we as Americans face today is that Illegal Immigrants are flooding our borders and sneaking into the country. Illegal immigrants serve as a major threat to our society and they must be stopped. By allowing illegal immigrants to sneak into our country, we are only hurting ourselves. There was a time where the white man was the one doing all of the manual labor and getting paid low wages to do the jobs that allow the wealthy to live in a care free world. That was until illegal aliens were snuck into the country to do the work for a much lower paycheck. In my mind, it is safe to say that illegal immigrants are responsible for taking many jobs from the hardworking American. These illegal immigrants are also mooching off our American way of life. It is unfair for these people to cross the border and be able to go straight to work without having to pay taxes. Illegal immigrants are scamming our government by using phony social security numbers to file tax returns in order to get some money and its just not right. These immigrants should go back to where they came from and stop mooching off our success.

Posted in Social Problems | 5 Comments »

24. April 2009 by student.

It seems to me that marijuana being illegal is causing more of a problem than it would be if it was legal. If the government was to decriminalize marijuana they would helping not only the users of this drug, but they would benefit from it themselves. If marijuana was legal, it would eliminate it from the dangerous black market. Gangs use the black market to make money, and the more money that gangs have, the more power they have. By pulling marijuana from the black market, you are decreasing gang violence. Plus, if this simple plant was not prohibited, the government would be able to put a very high tax on it and that would benefit the economy. Legalization of marijuana would also cause the hemp industry to skyrocket. Hemp is an industrial material that comes from the marijuana plant. Hemp can be used to make clothing, paper, and even oil. Hemp could cut out the cotton industry, and it would not be as harmful considering that 50% of the worlds pesticides are sprayed on cotton. Marijuana is a cash crop that can benefit everyone. The legalization of marijuana would also save money in our prisons. Considering that it costs around 53 dollars everyday to house an inmate, the government would save millions of dollars across the country if law enforcement was not arresting people for marijuana charges. This way we could save the cell space for real criminals. There are so many reasons why legalization of marijuana would benefit the economy, I just don’t understand why the government is completely oblivious to all of them.

Posted in Social Problems | 1 Comment »

24. April 2009 by student.

the crime that they do is dangerous and stupid so they should do time for that, not get their license taken away that’s just not right. taking that away from them, they can not buy a car or register it it would be a smart move. it would save those people on the road trying to get home to their family. the laws on it today are no strict about it and that wrong for the ones that follow the rule but have to pay the price of a stupid drunk driver. this crime is a deadly one it always endangers everyone on the road. we should keep these drunk drivers off the road and less people would die.

Posted in Introduction to Sociology | 1 Comment »

24. April 2009 by student.

All over America, you will notice yourself spotting out homeless people. And the sad thing is, that one third of the homeless men in America are veterans. The Veterans Administration estimates that 300,000 veterans are homeless on any given given night. This is a social issue that needs to be looked into with great care. Veterans are considered to be twice as likely to become homeless than anyone else and it is just not fair. About half of these Vet’s are suffering from mental illness (a.k.a psycho), and 70% of them are fighting problems with drugs and alcohol. I just dont think that it is fair that people can pass by these homeless Vet’s without caring, even after they fought for our country and enable us to live in the worry free world in which we are in today. It’s one thing to not give them money in fear that they will buy drugs or alcohol, but if you pass buy and have some extra food or a half empty drink, I feel that sharing with them is the right thing to do. Another idea that has been brought up by the corporation of supportive housing is developing permanent supportive housing for homeless veterans. This is a great idea, with supportive housing the Veterans will live a much healthier life. This idea of supportive housing will benefit everyone. Getting the homeless off the streets will help keep the cities cleaner and would be much better for the economy. Studies show that Supportive Housing will have a :