Chapter 24 Accelerating Global Interaction

I felt that the topic in this chapter related back to when we talked about colonization. The spreading of cultures and goods from around the world and whether that is a good or bad thing. In one aspect it is a good thing because we get to learn more about other cultures and understand them better. The problem is that each culture has different morals and beliefs among their people that may be compromised by outside influences. When goods from across the world enter a culture they are not based on the same morals that culture lives by and therefore may not be acceptable to them. The prime example is of the Barbie dolls. This chapter spoke about the negative influence Barbie dolls have on the children in Iran. Barbie is an American doll that is famous among young girls. When these dolls were introduced to the women of Iran they represented everything the girls were taught not to be. Barbie is a very slender blonde who dresses freely showing a lot of skin. Barbie and Ken are not married but act like a couple together. In Iran the women are not allowed to show their skin and would be severely punished if they were caught flirting with men. I never realized how seductive and influential Barbie dolls are until I read this chapter. Even thought the women of America are much more free to dress and act how they want, I don't understand why it is acceptable to introduce young girls to this idea of perfection at such a young age. Barbie dresses like a very loose woman and portrays the media's idea of the perfect body. It is no wonder the girls in America are so obsessed with beauty in the concept of the media's standards. Introducing our children to these little images of perfecting may be the reason young girls grow up feeling they must be anorexic and perfect to be beautiful in other people's eyes. It is sad to think about it now that Barbie dolls are so popular among children and I agree with The Iranian toy seller Masoumeh Rahimi. The point about my interest in this topic is that although globalization allows us to interact and learn from other cultures it also has the potential to tarnish cultures. Through globalization something as simple as a doll can influence the morals of a young girl and her society.

Religion often leads to war because people base their lives on religious beliefs and feel passionately about them. Hostility accumulates between groups with conflicting beliefs and becomes violent to the point of war. Many people grow deep in their religious beliefs because religion gives "a sense of identity" (461) that gives the person a feeling of belonging to a unified group that shares the same ideals and beliefs. When acts of violence are committed out of religious beliefs people tend to rationalize with it more than a random act of violence not motivated by religion. It is ironic that religious violence is an accepted social concept for religion is normally seen as revolving around purity and peace within yourself through God. Some religions even claim to preach the killing of others such as the muslims' justification for performing terrorist attacks on America. Although to them they are not the terrorists, Americans are because we allow things such as abortion and homosexual relationships. They believe it is their duty as a servant of God to punish the Americans for allowing such "sins", things Americans see as freedoms. Religion has a power that allows people to justify their terrorist actions with religious beliefs.

Chapter 23 Independence and Development in the Global South

Ghandi played a big role in India's struggle for independence. Ghandi preached the effects of peace instead of violence and worked to better the souls of the people as individuals rather than group them into a nation that needed to be fixed. He wanted to bring together both Hindus and Muslims as equally important parts of India. Ghandi believed that the people of India should forcus more on religion and tradition rather than modern industrialization. He felt that the modern industrial world was oppressing India more than the Brittish were. Many people began to believe that Ghandi's indeas were drifting from the main goal of gaining independence from Britain. The Muslim and Hindu religios groups began to resent each other despite Ghandi's teachings. This resulted in the independence of India as two countries, Muslim Pakistan and Hindu India. This partition resulted in many deaths caused by much violence that left Ghandi grieving instead of celebrating the new independence. Ghandi played an important role in setting the example of a peaceful leader, but sadly students ended up going against his beliefs.

South Africa's situation was very differnt from India's in their fight for independence. Although black natives made up the majority of South Africa they had no control because of the reigning minority of white settlers that also lived in South Africa. South Africa was ruled by people of both Dutch and Brittish descent. unlike the colinization of India there was a prodominant industrial ecnomy in South Afrca that enforced slave labor and created more incentive for the colinizers to remain in control and benefit from the production of South Africa. The racial issue was much nore extreme in South Africa than in India, fore many natives were forced to live on "native reserves" often away from their families so they could be more efficient in heir work. The native South Africans were severly restricted in their freedoms to move about their own countries. They were basically slave laborers in all aspects of their lives, treated no differently than a settler's herd of cattle. The settlers completely controlled South africa and even kept influencial leaders such as Nelson Mandela from supporting the natives to independence. Finally after strong internal and external preassures, Nelson Mandela was released from jail and was able to lead his county to independence. Although India and South Africa differed in their routes to independence they were both faced with many struggles.

Chapter 20 Colonial Encounters

The story in the beginning of the chapter tells about how an english man spoke swahili to young Kenyan boys who spoke perfect english. The englishman explained that they normally did not speak english to the "natives". This made me think about some research I did on Zimbabwe. I was suprised to see that the official language of Zimbabwe id english. This is a result of the colinization of Zimbabwe by the British. I thought it was ironic that the emglish man refused to speak english with the native people considering the english were the reason for the natives converting their language to english in the first place. The colinization of countries resulted in loss of individualism and culture within the countries. Plantations were formed and the native people were put to work for the colinizers' benifits. A picture of native people working on a tea plantaion with the label Lipton printed across the tea bags made me think about the major corporations that include slave labor today. I began to wonder if the large corporations will ever be able to produce their products without the use of slave labor in foreign countries that had formerly been colinized. The colinization of countries often resulted in slavery and cruel gorverning. I am not sure that colinization was a good thing even though it did introduce new things around the world from different cultures. I still believe that we might have a better sense of these cultures if they were never colinized in the first place.

Chapter 22 The Rise and Fall of World Communism

When reading this chapter I was particularily interested in the communist feminism section. Communist countries set the foundation for the upcoming feminist movements in the West. Numerous laws were passed to give women more rights and freedoms such as having the choice to taking their husband's last name or easily getting a divorce. Women were also allowed to make their own decisions about abortion and were given maternal leave from their jobs. The fact that women had jobs in these communist countries shocked me because at this time the women in the US were fighting for places in the working field even though the US was supposed to be a free country. Women became a large part of the industrialization and were trained to do many of the same jobs as men. An organization called Zhenotdel was set up to establish womens' place in the world with their new freedoms and opportunities. This organization promoted women and taught classes on literacy and prenatal care. When I read how the women in this group encouraged Muslim women to take off their veils I was reminded of the oppression of women in the middle east. I find it remarkable and sad that these communist countries gave their women so much freedom back in the 1900's and today the Muslim women have little if any control over their own lives. Even the women in China progressed in spite of the strong patriarichal society. They managed to enable the Marriage Law of 1950 that allowed the women to choose their own partners, own their own property, and put an end to child marriage. The Women's Federation was created and helped women become more active in the communities outside their homes. Even though many of these women's movements did not last very long they introduced women to the idea of equality. I think it is incredible that the women of this time were able to make such an impact despite everything else that was going on in the communist countries.

Chapter 21 The Collapse and Recovery of Europe

When reading about World War I, also known as the "Great War" I realized how much of an impact the war had on the contries of both sides of the battle field. Germany and Britain were both deeply effected by the war they engaged themselves in. The war was "Great" because it took on immense power because the ally system that was created to maintain peace between the great nations of the world backfired to back up the opposing sides in World War I. The people back home in their contries believed the war would be over soon and their men would be home before Christmas, but were only left to keep hoping as the war trudged on for four years. There was little advancement in the war because of the system "trench warfare" that left millions dead in fights that only moved enemy lines a few yards. The impact the war had on its homelands led to "total war" in which the participation of the people at home in the nations at war was required to help support the troops. The poster shown at this part in the chapter shows the propoganda used to encourage women to join in the working class in factories to produce the supplies needed by their troops. Women on both sides of the war took over the jobs their men had left behind as their efforts to support their nations. I found it interesting that this part in the book did not speak more about the role women played in World War I. Women were the diving force tat supplied te products needed such as uniforms and artillery. In the time of the Women's Suffrage Movement, these women were finally given a chance to work in the factories that were previously limited to men. Women were able to experience the liberty of working for themselves and feeling that they too could be an important part in the fight for their countries even if they were not allowed on the battlefield. This movement ultimately led to the increase in jobs for women and was unintentionally a big step in their movement towards equality.

Comment on What kind of -ist Hannah Teter Is

Hannah Teter and Vonn are humanists. They believe in the natural beauty and wonders of the human body. As olypmic athletes these women know a lot about the abilities of the human body and probably have a great appreciation for all the body can do. Vonn and Teter are women who train constantly and push their bodies tho the limit, it is only natural for them to love their bodies. Taking pictures of their bodies does not bother Vonn becasue she thinks that people should be more comfortable with nudity. I agree with the athletes that the human body should be observed and appreciated for its beauty. The body is incredible and should be marvelled for its abilities. I feel that people like olymipic athletes have more right to show off their hard earned bodies than the women in other magazines who have artifically created their bodies.