The World Is Ending

Well the readings for this class are just getting more disturbing every time! Like the story of Brandon Smith from Hanna Rosin’s article for example, a story about an 8 year old boy who desperately wanted to be a girl. He would dress up in his mother’s clothes, put on her make up, and insist on playing with Barbie’s and doll houses. His mother told him that he was supposed to be a boy, and that was how God made him. Brandon’s response was, “God made a mistake.” They went through therapy sessions, transgender conferences, and for a while they forced him to be a boy. But after awhile as disgusting as it is his mother, Tina, gave up on him. She even went as far as calling him Bridget and moving states so that Brandon can grow up as a girl.

            We discussed in class that people who are “transgender” should be able to decide for themselves rather or not to switch sexes. Which means that they would have to make this decision at a very young age. And in my opinion 8 years old is not old enough to make this decision. In fact the child should be told that he she is wrong and should be forced to act like what ever sex they were born to be. I don’t know this sounds a little harsh, but gee wiz. If  God wanted Brandon to be a girl then he would have made him female. I guess the whole phrase, “Jesus is coming back,” and the meaning behind it is finally playing out! The world as we know it is ending.

Up, Up, and... Away??

According to this week’s reading assignment I have a low chance of fulfilling my dreams. Because I closely fit the American Profile of Cheryl Mitchell, from Gregory Mantsios’s journal, I will grow up to have 5 fatherless kids, work 2 min. wage jobs, and live below the poverty line.  Awesome!! It doesn’t help that my mom raised my siblings and me all by herself for over half of my childhood, I’m a female, and oh no… I’ve got some African American in my blood. And based off the “The Missing Class” article by Katherine S. Newman and Victor Tan Chen, nothing gets better for me. Because I worked during high school I was overwhelmed, and because of that my studies habits became haywire and some of my grades slipped. And because I can admit to that I will probably face the same struggles in college. Only it’s so much harder in college, so instead of my teachers working with me to maintain and balance both my school work, and my job work, I will just drop out and end up at Wal-Mart… then McDonalds, then the gas station, and maybe a daycare. Sounds about right according to the text. Basically the cycle never ends. This means I won’t graduate from grad school, let alone an undergraduate university. I wont be in a position to properly provide for my family, and because I am a black female, my life is pretty much already on it’s way down a drain. Well the good ole phrase, “You lean something new every day”, isn’t a joker! I’m just glad I found that out now! Thanks Rereading America!!(: