Blog Post #5: Outline

Thesis Statement: When compared to children of heterosexual couples, children who are raised by same sex couples are not at a disadvantage, nor are they less likely to be happy, have academic success, and have strong parent-child relationships.

I.              How children of same sex couples compare to those of heterosexual couples:

A.    General happiness

B.    Academic Success

C.    Parent-child relationships

D.    (note: depending on the amount of research I find on these three topics I might split it into multiple paragraphs)

II.             Rebuttal (Children suffer from having homosexual parents):

A.    Kids need a mother and a father

B.    Societal beliefs/standards of what an “acceptable” or “good” parent is

C.    Homophobia/prejudice toward same sex couples
D. Religious views

E.    Rebuttal is weak because it is based only on homophobia

III.            What happened to the children’s voice?

A.    People are concerned for “the children” and what is best for “the children”

B.    The children have no voice in this argument

C.    Adults and parents are taking over the argument and turning it in their own favor, not the children’s.

IV.           Myths about same sex parents and their children:

A.    parents’ gender and sexuality negatively affect their children

·         Only gay and lesbian couples are critiqued for influencing their children’s sexuality, even though heterosexual couples (especially homophobic ones) tend to influence their children more.

B.    Children are at risk of sexual abuse

C.    Children do not develop properly if there is not both a mother and a father

Conclusion: The issue of unhappy families and children is not in the gender or sexuality of the parent; it is in the lack of love and support the parent has for the child. Therefore, children of same sex couples are just as able as children of heterosexual couples to be happy, excel in academics, and form strong bonds with their parents.

I commented on Britainy and Andrew's blogs.

Blog Post #4

click photo to enlarge

       The purpose of my compare and contrast paper is to show the two subjects (bulimia nervosa and anorexia nervosa) by comparing them both side by side. I won’t show my bias or choose which one I think is worse; I will simply be comparing and contrasting aspects of the two eating disorders. I chose this topic because I have always been interested in helping people with eating disorders or mental illnesses. This is a subject I am very passionate about and I am eager to gain a deeper understanding of how two of the most widely known eating disorders are similar and different. Mostly, I am hoping to develop a new outlook on how bulimia nervosa and anorexia nervosa work and how they intertwine.

I commented on Britainy and Leonard's blogs. 

Blog Post #3

          In the first article, I Want a Wife by Judy Brady, the main point is to make wives sound like they are meant for nothing more than working, cooking, cleaning, and caring only for their husband’s needs. The author writes in a way that makes it sound like the wife should put their husband’s needs before anything else, even if that means being replaced by another woman. The purpose of the author writing with such exaggeration and stereotypes is to clearly show how wrong it is to place these kinds of expectations on women and how wrong it is for men to expect all that of their wives.

          In the second article, Men –It’s in Their Nature by Christina Hoff Sommers, the main point is to show that men acting like men is not necessarily a bad thing and can even be a good one. Men and women have differences; it’s just a fact of science. The purpose of the article is also to explain that even though our society offers equal opportunity to both genders, it shouldn’t try to force boys and girls to act the same –not only is it unfair to force people to be something they’re not, but all that will come out of it is agitated boys and girls.

          I am choosing to analyze the article Men –It’s in Their Nature by Christina Hoff Sommers. There are some parts of the article that I agree with and others that I disagree with. Because my views on this article are a bit contradictory, I believe analyzing this article will give me a greater understanding of what the author is really trying to say and how I feel about it. I think I will have an easier time challenging what the author is saying and expanding and analyzing their ideas.

I commented on Charlotte and Gary's blogs.

Blog Post #2: Describe a Favorite Place

         When I am here I breathe in an entire spectrum of smells. They are so diverse you couldn’t pinpoint them all if you tried. I can taste the salted air on my tongue and feel the thickness of the atmosphere in my lungs. There is nothing like the feeling of breathing in the sweet, crisp air of this place and it wakes me up faster than a cup of black coffee ever could. Underneath my feet I feel the earth shifting to mark where my feet have fallen. Occasionally I feel the smoothness of a stone pressed against the heel of my foot, so I pick it up to memorize its scars before throwing it as far I can into the blanket of blue. Sometimes I close my eyes and let my ears see what I can’t; seagulls shrieking, thundering drumming, and the shifting of stones the size of dust. Then I open my eyes and blue comes crashing into focus. Not just blue, but a whirlwind of every shade of blue, grey, and green imaginable. Colors and shades shift and blend—blue becoming green, green becoming grey—until there isn’t a word in the entire English language to describe it. I can stare for hours on end at how powerful and infinite the cycle of this place is. The world changes, people come and go, yet this place remains a firm, unchanging constant.

I commented on Cathy and Britainy's blogs.

“Destroyed" by Peter Martin

Summary:

         Peter Martin makes his point that athletes on performance-enhancing drugs are not simply trying to cheat their way to victory; they are victims who are risking their own lives. First, he addresses the fact that performance-enhancing drugs are used in every sport and, unfortunately, are here to stay. Second, he talks about how the fans, writers, and other people connected to sports are upset about the way the sport is being tainted by the use of drugs. He continues by comparing today’s sports to that of the first Olympians, where cheating and enhancement drugs were taken more seriously. Martin concludes his piece by saying the purity of the sport doesn’t matter as much as the health and safety of the athlete.

Paraphrase Paragraph 10:

         Martin states that performance-enhancing drugs are indeed tainting the pure image of sports, however that is all the fans and observers seem to care about when they should be more interested in the health of the athletes, who are more important than a game (582).

Quote:

“It is the players, much more than the games, that we must protect” (Martin 582).

         I particularly like this quote because it conveys the heart of Peter Martin’s message and holds everything he is trying to tell the reader. It also touches on the idea that the glamorization of sports –or rather the fans getting too caught up in the game– has made it so that athletes tend to become faceless people who are only there to make a touchdown for the viewers’ entertainment. Fans and viewers seem to frequently forget that athletes are humans too, and that their life is more important than a Sunday night football game.

I commented on Jennica and Andrew's blog's.

Works Cited:

Kennedy, X.J., Kennedy, Dorothy M., and Aaron, Jane E. "Destroyed" by Martin F. Peter. The Bedford Reader. 11th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2012. 580-582. Print.