Media as the Most Fundamental Source of Spreading - Thesis Example

La Conciencia de la Mestiza: Towards a New Consciousness? Thesis ment: Anzaldua is a multiracial lesbian who feels isolated from the society. Inthe male-dominant society of this world, rights of a woman are often usurped. In her feminism movement, she has voiced the need for the realization of a new consciousness that identifies the pains and worries of such overlooked members of a society as gays and lesbians, and Mestizas. It can be judged from the categories mentioned that Anzaldua speaks of the rights of specific minorities. She can not adjust in the society like others because she can not relate herself to one culture. To live in the American society, she has to respect opposing standards of different cultures simultaneously and hopes that such an attitude can give rise to a new culture that she and many like her would belong. Anzaldua’s concept of divided loyalties: Anzaldua is by birth, a Mestiza - a term commonly used for people having racially mixed ancestry. Anzaldua was born to a couple with different races and is both a Mexican and an American. Because of the differences that persist between the two cultures, Anzaldua has to go against one to follow the other. Yet she feels loyal to both of them. Thus her loyalties, are in a way, divided between the two cultures. And she argues that the only way this can be maintained is by developing a flexible attitude toward the standards of different cultures. According to Anzaldua, white people dislike colored people because they feel guilty for the stories of their cruelty and hatred against colored people reflected in the art, literature and folktales possessed by the colored people. Anzaldua thinks that colored people can win the affection of white people by sharing their history with them through their historically rich possessions. This practice would greatly serve to reduce the differences between races. Anzaldua feels that this would not only make Americans realize their injustice toward Mexicans, but also make confession of the same. Then they would recognize the rights of Mexicans and a way to the development of healthy and long-lasting relationships between the two cultures can be worked out. If the matter is analyzed in depth, it can be realized that Anzaldua has considered a division of loyalties between the Americans and the Mexicans, in which Mexicans open their arms to Americans to make them listen to the woes of the Mexicans so that both nations can live together and a social and cultural equality can be maintained between the two. I think that differences between cultures can be eliminated by extending a hand of friendship, yet the change should not be expected to come immediately. There is human ego involved which does not favor a quick change of attitude. Americans might finally recognize the rights of Mexicans in the way shown by Anzaldua but it may take very long. Critical analysis of the article: I agree to Anzaldua’s verdict on the gender discrimination that prevails in the society. She has rightly recognized the society as male-dominated and the trend is quite evident from a lot of matters we observe in our daily life. I feel that this difference is natural as reflected in the difference in the physique of a man and a woman. Nature has made man superior to woman in physical strength while woman is gifted with other areas of expertise that man lags behind in. I believe that tension between genders arises once we refuse to acknowledge our roles and responsibilities as naturally associated with our gender. A woman is naturally designed in a way that requires her to look after her babies while a man is out to earn the money for them. What is the use of physical strength gifted by nature to a man if he has to remain at home and babysit his children. Also, there is no use of a woman’s delicacy if she has to go out and work. If we realize and follow this rule of nature, we would understand why there are more jobs for men and not for women and not think of the matter as gender discrimination. Other than this, I fully agree to her stance on the development of a new consciousness. The racial differences among cultures should be eliminated. However, I do not recognize the rights of humans as gays or lesbians. It is against the law of nature and various societies have already suffered a lot because of such attitudes in terms of drastically declining population that calls for immigrants to take the load of work. This causes the original culture to extinguish with the passage of time. I believe that all humans should respect the laws of nature above their personal likes and dislikes. Media declaration of people’s sexual orientation: Thesis: William Gheen, head of the conservative, anti-"amnesty," anti-illegal immigration group Americans for Legal Immigration PAC (ALIPAC) declared US Senator Lindsey Graham a “gay”. (www.huffingtonpost.com, 2010). Gheen has addressed this issue to the public in a video that was posted on YouTube saying that Graham has kept his abnormal sexual orientation as a secret for long. The matter has been of much importance to the public who want to know if the news is true or not. The news that US Supreme Court Solicitor General Elena Kagan is a “gay” was aired by a blogger and was published on a website and it remained there for a whole day. The allegation was later negated by the White House. Kagan was accused of being a gay because she was noticed playing Softball. Also, her boyish haircut and single marital status supported the idea. (Moylan, 2010). The US nation has been quite concerned about the sexual orientation of the US Supreme Court Justice Nominee and the matter is being investigated. Critical analysis: Media has greatly served the purpose of spreading general awareness about the different sexual orientations that persist in the society. In my view, media assumes a very big responsibility of generating reports based on facts. What media reports may make or ruin a person’s social and personal life. Therefore, media should be very particular about spreading only true information. If an argument is made, it is the media’s responsibility to support it by evidence and mention it with the argument. Other reports that are about a specific person’s sexual orientation and are simply based on the information collected from unreliable sources must not be generated. The matter is very delicate in that it is media’s reports are a blow on the integrity of the accused person. Often some newspaper may place allegations on a certain individual and accuse him/her of having an abnormal sexual orientation to safeguard personal interests. Such efforts are made by adopting a biased approach toward the analysis of the matter. For example, US Supreme Court Solicitor General Elena Kagan has been accused of being a gay merely because she used to play softball, she has a boyish hairstyle and she is unmarried. Such features, by no means, prove that a certain individual is a gay or straight. I think she must be compensated for all the pain she went through in the course of justifying that she is not a gay, if she is not proved gay. Media absolutely holds no right of making personal judgments about the character of an individual and all such practices should be condemned. A person’s sexual orientation is plainly his/her personal matter and therefore, it should not affect his/her responsibilities towards the public in any way. This does not mean that I accept abnormal sexual orientation, but the consequences of accusing someone of being a bisexual or homosexual can be very severe since it is a matter of the integrity of that person. Also, it is ethically wrong to accuse a person of having done something unless he/she can be proved guilty. However, it is not unusual for a person to favor in some way another person he/she is sexually attracted to. And in such a case, public’s rights may as well be usurped. If someone is suspected of having involved in such practice, the cause of favor should be investigated and if it pertains to his/her sexual orientation in any way, it should be brought to the notice of the concerned as well as the public to avoid such happenings in the future. In such a case, if reasonable evidence is collected against such a criminal, the media should widely publish the matter and public hearings must be organized irrespective of whether the criminal wants to talk about his/her sexual orientation or otherwise. Conclusion: It is the nation’s right to learn only the truth and media serves as the most fundamental source of spreading awareness. Therefore, the media should respect the integrity of people and must not air rumors. I would conclude my argument with the statement that, a person’s sexual orientation, whether straight or otherwise, must not be aired only because he/she is at an important position in the society as long as he/she does not violate the rules because of this particular feature of his/her personality. Works Cited: Moylan, B. “Is Supreme Court Nominee Elena Kagan Really a Lesbian?”. 10 May 2010. Web. 05 June 2010. www.huffingtonpost.com. “Lindsey Graham Gay? Conservative Group ALIPAC Demands Senator Admit Homosexuality”. 20 April 2010. Web. 05 June 2010. Read More