Stereotypes

If our biology was what influenced our characteristics, whether we are meek or out spoken, strong, timid and other gender associated traits, then every girl would be the stereotypical female and every guy the stereotypical manly man. More and more we are seeing both genders breaking from these roles and many men are nurses, secretaries and teachers and many women are truck drivers, high up business executives and construction workers.  This leads me to believe that whether or not our biology originally had a say in these traits they are more a culturally acquired taste.

Anyone who says that a woman needs to get in the kitchen because that is what she was born to do is outrageously mistaken. The only reason that gender roles are even around is because as we look around the world our brains comprehend it by putting different people into categories. This is how prejudice, racism and sexism starts. We see a couple women who are good at taking care of children so we assign women that quality. We see a young black man stealing and assume they are all trouble makers. We see a couple Mexicans gardening and say that that is all that Mexicans can do. We are not biologically programed to fit into stereotypes, we are socialized to and this causes the stereotypes to persist.

Gender Roles

We talked about the gender roles and whether they are generated buy nature or nurture. The gender roles as we see them are specific to western industrial cultures. There are native cultures that have changed little since their creation. They have gender roles that are switched compared to our ideas of gender roles. This suggests that nurture is more the reason for effeminate and masculine traits. The interesting thing about the other cultures that have switched roles is that the men of the culture are still the dominate sex.

Another curious case about gender roles in our culture are the effeminate guys and masculine girls. While these traits are associated with the gay community there are effeminate guys and masculine girls who do not identify as being attracted to the same sex. No matter what biological 'inclinations' we have towards each set of traits there are many cases where the traits are seen in the 'wrong' sex.

Evolution

Darwin said that evolution, is the change of features and adaptions in creatures based on a progression  and in a way that betters the creature to it's environment. A key component is not that evolution creates the best of the ultimate creature but that it makes better creatures than the one before and if this creature is the best adapted and nothing changes in it's environment then evolution will pause. Man is creating creatures that have to evolve in a way that is beneficial in one way and not so much in another. There is a species of elephant that has evolved to have a recessive gene for tusklessness. The reason behind this is that poachers will not kill an elephant that has no tusks, they are not worth anything. This is a good defense against poachers yet is not a good in the terms of the fitness of an elephant. Tusks are a sign of strength to potential mates and are used in fighting other elephants for food, territory etc. Is this really an evolutionary trait if it is brought on by something not in their natural environment? I would say yes because whether or not humans should be in the African jungles and shooting elephants, they are, and if the elephants can find a way of defense,then good for them. Is this however something we as humans, should allow  to happen? Should we let our power hunger and want for dominance destroy the rest of the Earth, no. As much as we choose to ignore that we are cut from the same cloth as all living things, it is not something we will get rid of anytime soon.

Changes

We talk about nature and the world we live in as two separate things. Quotes like, "I'm going to go bond with nature" or "Let's take a trip to the wilderness this weekend". The truth however is that there are few areas of the world where man has not been and these areas are the few that are still completely wild. Counting out of course areas that man cannot go because of biological and technological restraints everything is effected by man. You go in a walk in your back yard and may appear to be surrounded by the forest but can hear cars rolling by on the nearby highway. Even reserved areas where man is not allowed to go, it has only retained it's original habitat due to the interference from man.

If we think about the number of species we have captured, domesticated or simply tried to preserve in captivity, this number exceeds imagination. All of these creatures have been directly affected by man, but what about the indirect effects we have. We emit pollutants and allow pounds of debris to fall into streams and rivers that lead to the ocean. This then leads to changes among species that are irreversible. My question from these observation is, How has man changed the process of evolution and can mutations that are for the better yet caused by our interventions still be considered Darwin's evolution.

Survival

Survival of the fittest. Interesting concept, the fittest survive. Not the one who is able to outsmart the system, the one who is the nicest, the one who is the best. The fittest. What is fittest really though? Nowadays it is the person who can live the longest, have the most money and be able to get whatever they want. This is the fittest person especially in a capitalist society where the goal is to get all the money. Then we look towards nature. The fittest is the creature who can hunt and forage and usually work with their pack, unless we are talking about lone creatures. This is where we started out. As hunters and foragers who relied on each other to survive. We still rely on each other and some still hunt and forage, but the number who produce and the number who consume are drastically different. Hardly anyone is self sufficient or even sufficient within their community. We have tried and tried to separate ourselves from nature but that's not the way to go. Nature can teach u so much yet we have decided to use and abuse it. Without a full knowledge we have taken species, changed landscapes and altered habitats. Why have we not embraced that side of ourselves and learned from them?

Many cultures worship spirits that have to do with nature. The water god, the god of fertility and the god of death. These societies are seen as primitive yet they are probably better off. They do not have constant communication with the world or running water or any luxuries that we have yet they are more in touch with each other and know how to fend for themselves. Who is really better in this situation? If tomorrow all of the technology was gone and we all had to fend for ourselves and live off of the land like we once did who would survive?

We are free, aren't we?

So, Sartre focused on freedom. What would he say on political freedom? I am not talking about the right to say what you want or the right to vote I am saying freedom from the political. We allow politics to govern our lives which is all fine and dandy if your rich white and powerful. Yes women and blacks can vote and we all have due process under the law, technically. Remember learning about Jim Crowe laws? They were the laws that didn't SAY you cannot vote if your black but they said you need to be able to read and we will test you before you can vote. These tests were run by white males, usually who didn't want blacks to vote. The white male who wanted to vote would read, see dick run while the black male would read, the United States Constitution. Thats fair isn't it? Today these laws aren't there however there are people who think this way. There are stereotypes and misconceptions and while people will not say they are racist, they secretly are. They walk on the other side of the road to avoid a group of black teenagers. What would Sartre say about this?

I know that everyday people are not the government so when they discriminate, its not that bad. Unfortunately everyday people make up the establishment. They are law enforcers, lawyers, doctors and teachers. These people give preference to those who are like themselves. This is where society has gone wrong. While Officer Bob down the street isn't part of  the KKK he sees a young black male walk into a convenience store with a hoodie and his hand in his pocket and he unconsciously puts his hand closer to his radio or gun until the boy leaves. He gives this same young man a speeding ticket for going over the speed limit by 5 miles when he lets his white counterpart speed by. Why would he do this? He sees the white male and assumes hes speeding to go to class or work. He sees the black male and sees a trouble maker. These unfortunate results of our country and it's systems makes some of us more free than others. Some groups can get away with crimes while others cannot. The issue of laws and making some thing illegal is not an infringement of our freedom. Special treatment of some and the preferences law makers make and the enforcers act upon are what is the issue.