Blog 3

The Will to Change Chpt 3 (hooks)
1. B. On page 46, in an excerpt from James Saslow, “Daddy Was a Hot Number,” he states that children seek for their father’s approval, while their mother’s love is unconditional. I personally believe that many people want to feel the praise from their parents with the things that they do. With my family my mom always says good job when I get a “b” in the class where as my dad says why didn’t you get an “a,” never approving of what you did. Whatever you do is never good enough for him. You always know that your mom is going to approve of what you do, and when you try and get the same from your father you never do. There is always something wrong and no matter how excited you are to tell him what you accomplished, he is always just going to put you down. It is not like this in many relationships, but there are many that go through it and affect them later on in life.

Dude You’re A Fag Chpt 1 (Pascoe)
1. B. When discussing adolescent boys on page 17, they state that, “…boys are forced by families, peer groups, schools, and the media to hide their “true” emotions and develop a hard emotional shell that is what we know as masculinity.” I see this in everyday life through the movies that I watch, the news that I see and even in magazines. You rarely see celebrities crying or showing any form of emotion except for anger. The men that they see in everyday life do not show fear, hurt or sadness. It becomes a box that they have to fit into and if they do not hide their emotions then they aren’t “big boys.” Recently I saw on the news watching an interview of Ladanian Tomlinson, who was crying on national television about leaving the Chargers. It was one of the first times that I had seen such a masculine figure displaying emotions like that. It gives hope that those who look up to him, will see that it is okay to display those weak emotions, no matter if you are a woman or a man.

Dude You’re A Fag Chpt 2 (Pascoe)
1. C. When one of the teachers intervenes in the discussion going on with the boys in the class about the use of the word “gay,” I don’t understand why not that many teachers are like that. He was the one teacher that she had come in contact with who actually got involved in some of the discussions in a positive way. When you associate gay with being stupid, or not accepted, many who are not sure about their sexuality are going to be more hesitant with it. All teachers should take a stand to step in when discussions like this are going on, and put away their personal beliefs of what is right and what is wrong.

Dude You’re A Fag Chpt 3 (Pascoe)
1. B. When reading Ricky’s story about being open about his sexuality I applaud him. For many years he hid who he was until he figured out what the people were like before he was open with his peers. He shouldn’t have to care what others think. No one should be pressure to conform to other preferences despite their own beliefs. It is sad that society has that affect on people, where they have so much persuasion to keep those from showing who they truly are.

Dude You’re A Fag Chpt 4 (Pascoe)
1. B. When she discussed boys in groups and when they are just individuals in relationships and how they act differently in different company I see that a lot. When they are around their significant other they can show their true emotions because when they are with girls who tend to be more open with their emotions, they know that they wont be judged as hard as if they we’re in a group with their friends. Many of my friends put on that tough guy image when other guys are around but when they are alone with me they open up about what is really going on.

Dude You’re A Fag Chpt 3(Pascoe)
2. B. When reading about Ricky’s story, the whole time I was reading it I remembered this guy from high school, he was very open about his sexuality. He had a great personality, and was friends with almost everyone. One day he wore a skirt to school, not for a joke, or because it was some spirit day, he wore it because he wanted to. I remember very vividly that the administration sent him home because he was wearing it. They said he couldn’t return without wearing proper clothing, which in his case were pants or shorts. Everyone was really upset because he was sent home for it because it didn’t hurt anyone. It was really unfair to him and it shouldn’t have happened at all.