RGM Blog

  How Representation of Gay People Affected Me https://www.blogger.com/u/1/blog/post/edit/8991169921097269195/3321463780228017276      As a child growing up in the era of the legalization of gay marriage, I was completely oblivious to the major societal changes happening around me. I distinctly remember finding out what it meant to be gay from the Macklemore song, Same Love. I did not have any immediate influences in my life that were part of the LGBT community so it wasn't really ever at the forefront of my thoughts. My parents, although accepting of the community now, somewhat hid the existence of gay people from my sister and me for most of my childhood.      As a result of a childhood of ignorance, when I got older and became friends with gay people in middle and high school, I had to learn about the injustices the gay community had faced and was facing at the time from my peers. Although they taught me a lot, my friends were finding their own...

  Why The Texas Education System Failed Me https://www.pexels.com/photo/photo-of-empty-class-room-2675061/     My Race, Gender And The Media class has opened my eyes on just how extremely uneducated I am. My first overt realization of this fact came to me during a discussion about sports mascots. Until that moment, I had not once considered the horribly offensive theming behind one of my high school's biggest rivals', The Indians, mascot. This is due to the fact that while I was in high school not one of the people around me pointed out the, now clear, issues with the school. I was ignorant of the thoughts of Native Americans and those affected by such negative stereotypes.      Then, the next week in class, we discussed Islamic culture and learned the true reasoning of wearing religious garments. I was once again shocked by my ignorance and by the utterly misguided, inaccurate information that I was taught while in school over the topic. Actually, mos...

  Why I Hate Football              I grew up in a semi-obsessed football family. We were Dallas Cowboys fans through and through, with the matching t-shirts to prove it. In fact, in middle school, I even begged my parents to let me play for the school team.     However, all of my love and appreciation for football disappeared after devastation struck my high school my freshman year. One of the up and coming stars on the team, a sophomore named Aaron Singleton, tragically died from an injury he got on the field. He had gotten a concussion during practice the day before the game, and in true football "be a man" fashion, was encouraged to play concussed at the game.      After this event, I realized the truly horrific reality that can be produced by football culture. Since then, I have sworn to myself that my future children will never play the sport. Although it may be a hasty generalization based on one horrific event,...

How has DUFF (designated ugly fat friend) culture affected me? https://www.pickpik.com/woman-glass-mirror-animal-mirror-fairy-tale-nature-66512      As a child and throughout most of my adolescence, I was blissfully unaware of my flaws. It wasn't until middle school that I, along with every other girl my age, discovered how "ugly" I was.       From a young age, girls are told by society that their job is to look pretty. Although my parents tried their best to fight that stereotype, they could not keep the internet and my peers from forcing beauty standards onto me.        Generation Z is the first generation to grow up with social media. Most of us downloaded Instagram when we were just preteens, developing as individuals and creating our own identities. We went through puberty while the world watched us, and our parents were not technologically aware enough to limit our screen time.      While I can't speak for ...

  How the Lack of Representation of Disabled People Affected My Perceptions https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.flickr.com%2Fphotos%2Florenjavier%2F5767961559&psig=AOvVaw3L7kqGpPeJckfwj7A0y3nP&ust=1696526281633000&source=images&cd=vfe&opi=89978449&ved=0CBAQjRxqFwoTCPDr4YTz3IEDFQAAAAAdAAAAABAE     Shows that depict disabled people in a harmful manner have existed since the beginning of entertainment. As we know, the media deeply influences people, which has created a negative connotation around disabilities. We must recognize the issues with depicting disabled people as helpless and "victims" of their disabilities and acknowledge the silencing effects of placing able-bodied actors in the roles of disabled characters.      Furthermore, when people are constantly exposed to negative attitudes toward disabled people in the media, they tend to begin to believe the negative comments. For example, as a child, I was fir...