every f*cking day of my life - a justified homicide?

  http://documentarystorm.com/one-minute-to-nine/

      Following years of brutal domestic abuse, Wendy Maldanado and her son, Randy, murdered her husband, Aaron.  Following the bludgeoning, Wendy received a ten-year prison sentence while her son received a six-year ‘shock probation.’  

            Maldanado simply reacted out of self-defense.  Previously, her marriage could have been defined as ritualism by Merton’s Strain Theory.  In a moment of rebellion, she walked away from the life that she had known. 

            According to Durkheim’s Structural-Functional approach, deviance reassures the values and norms of culture and encourages social change.  Although the homicide of one’s spouse is arguable and is commonly frowned upon, being able to successfully escape a relationship which was physically and emotionally damaging the victim, the children, and everyone around them.

            Given these reasons, I do not believe that their sentence was justified.  Imprisoning someone for merely protecting themselves and their family makes no sense to me.  I think that Maldanado and her family should have received rehabilitation and counseling rather than jail time.  It is my belief that Wendy and Randy Maldanado should be credited with justifiable homicide.

tv for tots ; a cultural deviation

 

            In his article, TV for Tots: Not What You Remember, journalist Jonathan Last makes the claim that children’s television programming is neutering their male characters, creating an effeminate generation.  However, a recent cultural shift may be to blame for this change in characterization.  While I believe that gender roles are important to the structure of our historically successful patriarchal society, I also believe that this can be beneficial to a moderate extent.

            “The men on kids’ shows tend to be either aged, and hence harmless, or young, and vaguely effete.” (202) This accusation was brought on by Last upon his realizing the drastic shift in television culture for children.  Last points to shows such as Yo Gabba Gabba!, LazyTown, and Sesame Street, none of which feature a man with strong elements of masculinity that is without old age or eccentricity.  

            I believe that this change can be explained by the strength in which the feminist movement impacted our modern family media.  When feminism spread across the Western culture, it carried with it one simple idea; that females should be allowed equal rights as males.  However, some individuals have received this message the wrong way, almost claiming that women should possess more power and that a matriarchal society would be preferable.  By idolizing the gentleness of the female sexuality, we almost demonize the healthy male sexuality, portraying them as harmful and predatory.  The truth is, most men are not predators and they accept no as an answer, but, our current culture praises femininity, stating that poise is power.  What if we were to accept that some men are manly men, some are not, and that either way, it is okay.

Works Cited

Last, Jonathan.  “TV For Tots: Not What You Remember.” The Blair Reader: Exploring Issues and Ideas.  Ed. Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell.  8^th ed. Boston: Pearson, 2014.  202-04. Print.

the sociology and senselessness of twenty-sixteen

Edit:  I have many worldwide readers, however, this particular post mainly pertains to American cultures and subcultures.  I'm a huge lover of globalization and will post plenty on that, promise.  However, to recap an entire year for a country that I've never seen first hand is a bit difficult.  53% of my blog readers are American, but I love my 47% equally!

  2016 has been quite the year.  Natural disasters to major celebrity deaths to hit movies to dumb people to new waves of technology - 2016 shaped us all. 
 
  One common theme for the year has been "2016 ruined us all", but, truthfully, I see this as a diversion of blame.  We mess ourselves up.  If we ruined our year, it was our fault for doing so, and not the years.  Father Time isn't sitting up in a pedestal somewhere laughing at Gen-Z and Millennial running around terrified.  No.  As a culture, we are going through major shifts, and this particular year has shown some ill effects.  In sociology, there are five ways in which a culture can change, and I believe that our Western culture has changed in all five.  Allow me to explain. 

  1.) Discovery

  Essentially, paying attention to something that we never knew existed.  On a menial note, Joe Biden has existed since 1942, yet he did not hit popularity for Gen-Zs and Millennials until this year.

   Yet, on a more serious note, we truly discovered the ills of natural disasters, such as Hurricane Matthew on the East Coast and the wildfires in Virginia/Tennessee/North Carolina.  But that's depressing and serious.  Have some more memes. 

  2.)  Invention

  Oh my, do I even have to elaborate?  We are in a time of technological invention!  Ironically, even though most of us find ourselves constantly surrounded by technology, if we were to be submerged into a past time, we would be of no help because we don't understand how any of it works.  What a strange time that we live in. 

  3.)  Diffusion

  Our clothing styles from overseas, our music, television, and movie culture rapidly adoring the Brits (okay, but seriously, why are so many of our things British?).  Anime and Hentai (gulp) are huge.  We are adopting the ideologies and becoming more global.

  4.)  Acculturation 

  See above.  Can you name more than three members of One Direction?  Yeah, I'm ashamed, too.

  5.)  Assimilation

  Although I believe that we have failed to reach this point, between immigrants and expats, we are approaching this point.

   I wish I could make some drastic ending point to make my English teacher proud, but honestly, I'm just going to conclude this post with some more memes.  Because, you know.  Memes.