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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY, APRIL 8, 2014
PAGE 4
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TEXT
FREE FOR ALL
Text your FFA submissions to (785)289-8351 or at kansan.com
Kansas is known as the Sunflower State. The state flower is the sunflower and we have a fight song called "Sunflower Song." so why don't we have any on campus?
I hate people who are intolerent.
Let's call it like it is. Your chubbies are pink, not salmon.
Sincerely, a GDI.
How can anyone focus on student senate elections when the iron throne is at stake? #GrowWesteros
I didn't realize people do this sober
- I drunk text FFA at least twice a week!
I tip 15% for OK service, 20%
for good, 10% for bad. Your
restaurants payroll issues aren't
my problem.
Guys - If your shorts are above your knees, get new shorts. Sorry Frats, adjust your uniforms.
I love how Greek people use GDI as an insult, like being independent is a bad thing.
I got 99 problems, and it's that I suck at counting.
If you put powerade in a Gatorade bottle you are asking for trouble.
I will chalk the history of life timeline on Jayhawk Blvd.
I promise you.
Way too many guys at the rec have clearly skipped multiple leg days. Your arms are nice, but are those legs or twigs?
I'm torn between thinking it's awesome my physics teacher got banned from Russia and worrying that he will get us all blown up.
Being on the Internet during class can be dangerous if you're looking at sites with videos and your volume isn't down...
Nothing quite like wearing a coat to bed and shorts to class.
The grass is actually greener on my neighbor's side...
Every time I think it's spring, Kansas changes it's mind. I think that must mean the weather is a lie.
I wonder if Jayhawks migrate for the winter?
Best part about the start of this week is knowing that senate elections are almost over!
Some days you just want to lie outside. Today is one of those days.
Both sexes need to respect each other
GENDER
Recently an article from Wall Street Insanity, "50 things every woman should realize about men," blew up all over my Facebook newsfeed. Chuck Henderson, the writer, lists things women should do and accept, no questions asked. I read the article thinking it would be more humorous than it really was, but after reading it I was left feeling disgusted and highly offended.
The list included "he's not as complicated as you are," "you should always take his side," "if you make him watch a chick flick, at least give him a blowjob afterwards (sic)" and "you've got to watch your weight." There were several others that made me laugh out loud, not because they were funny, but because of how completely idiotic Henderson sounds.
The fact that Henderson assumes all guys have this same mindset is completely ridiculous, and I love how he assumes these "problems" are something only men have to deal with. Basically 90 percent of the things on Henderson's list apply to men and women. For instance, men can be equally as complicated as women. He proceeded to say that when men have their simple, uncomplicated thoughts, women should not assume that women are deeper or smarter than men are.
Oh, of course women shouldn't assume they could be smarter than men
because men are obviously the dominant figures who know the answer to everything. It would be absolutely preposterous to assume that a female could be smarter than a male.
Moving on, Henderson talks about how women should always take the man's side no matter what, especially if it is in public. If I don't agree with a guy about something, I'm not going to "take his side," publicly or privately. I'm not going to dumb myself down, or disregard my beliefs just to make a guy feel better about himself. If that offends a guy to the point he will hold a grudge about it in the future, then he obviously isn't worth the time or effort.
The point that bothered me the most was about guys watching chick flicks, which suggested that women should reward their significant other with sexual favors every time they watch one. First of all, men should never expect anything like that from a woman in any situation. Men need to have more respect for their women, and women need to respect their men, too. It doesn't mean that sexual favors have to be owed just for watching a silly movie.
A lot of the things on the list were extremely degrading to women. He basically tells women to disregard any sort of self-respect they have for themselves and bow down to the man.
What was particularly shocking to me was that the majority of people sharing this article on Facebook were women. If we are suggesting to other women and men that these expectations are OK, then we are going backward, not moving forward.
Women have faced a lot of oppression in the past and still do today. We still have men, such as Henderson, subjecting women this way and thinking it's OK, and it's because we have people agreeing with him. This should be something we are fighting against, not sharing.
When women agree with these ludicrous ideas, what is stopping men from treating all women this way? I won't take a guy's side when they are wrong. I won't reward a guy for watching a chick flick with me and if I want to skip the gym for a week, month, or even a year, I will because I respect myself enough to not be with a man who holds me up to a ridiculous standard.
Cecilia Cho is a junior from Overland Park studying journalism.
THE MISSING PLANE
JAKE KAUFMANN/KANSAN
DIVERSITY
No one characteristic determines ethnicity
"You aren't Hispanic?" "No. I'm black."
"But you're not Hispanic?" The woman cut me off.
I turned and looked at her staring figure.
"No," I said, "I don't think so."
This has been a recurring conversation in my life. I've been asked if I'm Hispanic, Caucasian and even Brazilian. Rarely am I considered black, even by other blacks in the United States. I find this interesting and have spent time staring at my eyes, nose and skin tone in the mirror. I mainly identify as black or African American, but at the same time, I consider myself multiracial. What do people see that makes them question my African ancestry? Or the ancestry of others?
This leads to a growing question within the U.S.: What exactly makes up a person's ethnicity? In certain cases, phenotype is a big factor. Those with light complexions are often identified as Latino, mixed, or Caucasian. Those with darker skin are identified as more African.
Language is another key factor. There have been numerous incidents at work that I've been spoken to in Spanish. I respond back in Spanish and this reconfirms to the person that I'm Latina.
Unless I say I'm black, the person doesn't know. If someone spoke in an African language, I wouldn't understand a single word. So does this make me less African? Some say yes, others no.
Ancestry is a huge factor as well. Usually where your ancestors are from determines your ethnicity, which is fine for those who only claim one ancestor. What about those who have ancestors from more than one country and therefore claim several ethnicities? As a child, I was puzzled over how to identify myself for school tests because of my family's mixed background of African, Native American and European descent.
I remember asking my mother about it. Her response had been to put black or
African American. She explained that black was the ethnicity that my family most associated with. I learned very quickly that though my family associated themselves with African ancestry, others did not.
According to Benjamin Bailey's article "Dominican-American Ethnic/Racial Identities and Social Categories," "Race based on 'one drop' or 'hypodescent' rules has historically been pre-eminent criterion for social organization in the United States, preceding national, ethnic and religious allegations." The "one drop" rule, according to PBS Frontline, is "that a single drop of 'black blood' makes a person a black." This "rule" is now shifting due to interracial marriages and immigration.
So the question is: What are we? Do we identify by our phenotype or our ancestry? A conclusion I've been pondering is that we are all multiracial, meaning everyone has intermixed blood regardless of our phenotypes. With some, such as my family, it's more physically apparent, but inside, everyone's DNA has pieces of generations of interaction between various races.
Racial identification will only become more complex, not simpler in the future. Therefore, who we are will be a continual debate. But what we can never allow to enter into debate is our humanity. Regardless of our phenotype or ethnicity, we are all human and that is what truly bonds us all together.
Crystal Bradshaw is a freshman studying English.
FFA OF THE DAY Ah, that time of year when you trade wearing jackets outside for wearing jackets inside.
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CAMPUS CHIRPS BACK
What is the best part about April?
@KansanOpinion April showers lead to May flowers. May flowers lead to pilgrims. #Fun #Jokes #Spring
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means it's time for the tulips to bloom around the Chi O Fountain! I've seen a couple blooming already. :D
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THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Members of the Kansasian Educational
Katie Kutko, Alisa Johnson, Lauren
Armendard, Anna Wenner, Sean Powers
and Koby Bots.
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