first blog

Justin Piteleski

3/26/05

History 100

Stereotypes Diminishing

Stereotyping is something that is so critical for defining historical patterns. A person releases judgement onto another by their attention to reoccuring traits over time, which tries to help someone measure the characteristics of a certain kind of human being. Unfortunately sterotypes are a key to falsified judgement. There are infinite examples of stereotyping that are used in our everyday world. One huge example of that is how we stereotype genders, and one of the most classified of the two are females. History has shown that we have underestimated the abilities of our females in this world by false judgement dating back to the start of Western Civilization, and therefore, women for the longest time have had to struggle, leaving them to have to keep pressing for equality in a world that is slowly understanding their importance. By looking back to the early progression of Western Civilization we can easily see that even with the limited opportunities that they had, women were already moving towards change.

A strong family is bound by a strong woman, and in the start of Western Civilization, dating back to the Hellenistic time period, it took great requirements in order for a female to do so. They were married at very young ages in order to carry out a larger family with more time for multiple pregnancies. These occuring at ages that we couldn't imagine even today, starting with early teenagers. This meant that a woman had to go through a quick change to maturity at a very young age. When the thought of giving birth arose, women were also looked upon to be pure. Purity was an idealogical trait for a woman back then, because it was thought that a purer woman would give birth to finer children. 1. "Aptitude for bearing and giving birth to many fine children." Leon Battista Alberti said this in On the Family. Also back in those times, it was a great deal of risk for a women to even have children as 10% of females in that time period died giving birth.

Loyalty to the husband was also an important factor. Women's loyalty was highly regarded by men in order for choosing a spouse. 2. As this quote explains from The Secret History by Procopius of Caesareas.' "Putting her whole body at his disposal." Throughout this time period we see the importance of this as we study some of the different ages. An example of this is the Franks, who for the crime of adultery a woman was either strangled or burned alive as a consequence. Loyalty continued throughout even more through this early period. Another strong example through text is, 3. The Funeral Eulogy of Turia, where a man reflects many of the noble things that his wife was willing to do for him, including proposing to letting him have children with another woman to fulfill his name, helping him politcally when he was brought into exile, and as explained in his words, helped him make many life altering decisions. With this loyalty given, was loyalty earned as well, and through the eulogy is prime evidence that the men during these periods were very grateful for the love of their spouses.

When one tries to put a label on women we put them directly in the household, and on this so common label we disembody the importance of this. Women who lived from the Hellenistic age onto the French Revolution were still the core of a functionable household. A women's priority was to protect the dwellings where families resided everyday. The female gender has been trying to get out of this role recently, and move themselves into the economic equality that we need to keep improving upon even today. However throughout the Antiquity to the Renaissance, sociable traits have shown that work for women was to stay in the home, and was taken very seriously. As time goes on throughout this time period we notice that this does not change, but women through their strengths that people had witnessed, were granted privilages surrounding the home. Such as, owning land, selling land, trading land, and even loaning land. 2. "He should act as do wiseheads of families before they acquire some property." Leon Battista Alberti said this in On the Family.

Even through this time of change when Western Civilization was uprising through the time periods of The Antiquity to the Renaissance, changes started occuring for women, as they are now rapidly doing in our modern era. They were starting to get a hold of the social structure of their time. They were able to enter themselves into politics, despite by the relation of the husband. They were also paving marks economically as well, as their ownership of land was improving, and they were given jobs working in fields, and they were able to participate in management along the economic front. Along with working, women found themselves finally starting to recieve an education, although it wasn't as good as an education for a male, it was still a foundation of what was to become. These new opportunities were some of the original stepping stones for womens liberation.

Even at the present time, women don't receive the outright respect that they deserve. Hopefully history has proved that stereotyping is only a mere myth for women as they are bending what people come to believe as impossibilities at every opportunity. As we look back at early Western Civilization, it should be common knowledge that at the boundaries that women already had to go through then, they have the capabilities even now to keep improving, going from having little or no impact in society, from being the cornerstone of much of the greatness which makes our world possible.

#13) 9/11

I remember it like it was yesterday.  At the time when I was so innoent and care free.  I thought nothing could happen to any of us.  However it was sophomore year and I was sitting in my health class when I realized this was wrong.  The announcement was brought through P.A. by our shocked and stunned principal of the tragic events of 9/11.  After she dewcribed the accident everyone in the room looked at each other in shock.  That's when we realized that this day would change our lives forever. 

The day started out unbelievable to me, and later in the day started to become more real and real every minute.  Every new class of the day that passed, seemed as if a news session, for every period of the rest of the day, as we watched on t.v the planes hitting our buildings.  The truth was so evident of how easily our country's protection can be breached, and left scare throughout everyone. 

My attention throughout my day towards my classmates, brought me the most realistic sensation of the following events of the day.  Many were scared for family members(Pentagon workers, and firefighters), which made me want to help.  Also many of my friends were scared for their lives, which I didn't know how to react with.  I remember a few of my good friends leaving the D.C. area for protection, for the fear of more terrorist acts. 

School ended, and to the point I was incredibly glad it all did.  My mind needed some ease of the reality of the tragic events that we had been faced with that day.  The news of that day was shocking, and the attention it recieved shocked America for months, and kept us glued to our t.v screens.

As I was sitting in that classroom, I never realized the significance of what this day was going to bring for our future.  I never knew it was going to have the impact of something like say Pearl Harbor.  My right mind never dreamed of the patriotism the U.S. carried out.  I never believed it would start a high impact war.  Unfortunately the scary fact, is there are probably more implications to come of 9/11.  I didn't understand everything at that moment, but it something that I will never, never forget. 

GROUP TYPEPAD POST #12: "Wall Street"

Wall-Street dealt with a lot of socio-economic and business morality issues, the film also focused itself on some important historic events that occurred during the early nineteen eighties. Issues such as unemployment, economic recession and scandals were all visible in this movie.
The issues of this movie may have been broad but the plot resembled an actual historic event. This film may have been based on a similar historical event of stock scandals involving Ivan Boesky and Michael Milkin. Ivan Boesky and Michael Milkin admitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission that he had used confidential information about upcoming corporate takeovers to illegally play stocks in his favor. Milkin, his associate sold junk bonds and discovered a method of reaping astronomic profits from buying weak firms as tax pay offs for the rich to be merged and sold again; this scandal is directly associated with mass unemployment throughout America at the time.   These selfish gains in personal wealth directly contributed to the stock market crash of 1987. [1] What can be learned from watching Wall Street was that proper conduct of fair business affairs will always benefit citizens more than the selfish greed of the capitalist tyrant.

[1] Frauger et al, Out of Many. Page 615.

In the beginning of the movie Charlie Sheen, who plays Buddy Fox, was seen drinking at a bar with his father. They conversed about Buddy’s financial situation and how bad the economy has been for both father and son. Buddy then concludes the scene by asking his father for three hundred dollars to pay for his debts as a Broker.

Buddy’s father was pessimistic about his future and wondered why Buddy didn’t just stay in a stable blue collar customer relations job at Blue Star airlines (notice the movies hidden puns). Buddy retaliated by saying that stock-broking was an easier and quicker way of making more money; “I can make money in one year as a broker than I can in five years at this airline”.

His father wondered why $5,000 dollars wasn’t enough for Buddy to survive and make it big at Wallstreet. His father’s generation did not understand why property values were so high in his son’s generation compared to the Great Depression.

Buddy revealed that the living expenses in Manhattan near Wall-Street were more costly: “A 5 percent mortgage rate was in Queens. Manhattan costs more to live in.”

Buddy’s father later talked of his frustrations with new mandatory drug testing policies that were now being passed into work places in the early 80’s.

Buddy’s dad seemed upset with the new workplace policies that were being enforced; however, he was relieved that he wasn’t blamed for a massive airplane crash incident that would have left him jobless.

Buddy’s dad started to speak of an airplane accident that occurred in which mechanics were suspected of causing the accident until the manufacturers were investigated the blame was put on the working class first.

“The FAA is going to rule that it was a Manufacturing error in the door latch mechanism. I knew it all along! I told them it wasn’t me that did it! It was those god damn greedy manufacturing companies in
Cincinnati.”

Group Summary:

Everyone gathered at the Johnson center to view Wallstreet.  We then later gathered all our inputs about what the movie's theme was about and then went home and started to work on the assignment.
Anh and Justin collect information about the 1980's, Shannon found more information about the movie and sent a script to Nhat for closer examination.  A draft was formulated and thanks to GMU's reliable mail server that had to crash at the final steps of our project we quickly perservered and scraped together the blog.
 

*Professor GMU mail system has crashed please allow the rest of the group more time to post.

#11 Group Post Top Ten in the 1970s

The whole of American media was culturally transformed by the 1970s.
The Top Ten Songs and Movies of the seventies varied in their motives and themes tremendously but they all reflected the feelings of a nation that was at war with its own government at home, as well as, at war with a foreign government abroad.  The Top Ten Movies were excursions away from the current events that were constantly broadcasted on television, while The Top Ten Songs were emotional outlets in response to the Vietnam Conflict. 

Top Ten Songs:
10 Beatles "Long Winding Road"
World War 2 was over and Americans at war were finally reunited with their families and loved ones this song reflected the carefree and family oriented decade before the seventies.

9  Ray Stevens "Everything is Beautiful"
Ray Stevens wrote this song in as the theme song for his own show "Andy Williams Presents Ray Stevens" on NBC.
President Johnson had hoped that his plans to remove communism from Vietnam and support a ruinous South Vietnamese government would have been a success rather than the mistake it became for America. Americans had hoped for a quick successful operation and were confident of it's abilities in defeating communism and fascism.
The public had not yet seen any real photographs of wars in progress the Vietnam Conflict became the first “Television war”. [1]

1] http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/V/htmlV/vietnamonte/vietnamonte.htm

8 The Guess Who   "American Woman"
The subject matter of this song was about how American woman were growing up to fast compared to girls in other countries mainly because of the 50's rebellious era and the theme of loose sexuality. More and more American troops were stationed in the major cities of South Vietnam. Ironically the American deployment was part of the reason that nearly all of the South Vietnamese were forced to flee their villages and homes to become refuges in the major cities [1].  Furthermore with a ruinous and corrupt government refugees were forced into camps and many resulted to crime and prostitution for survival. [2]

[1] Frauger et al. "Out of Many" p 571

[2] http://www.davidpye.com/tourofduty71/

7  Jackson 5 "ABC"
Written in Feburary 24 1970. The Hippie years were beginning and themes of free love and peace were becoming popular and motivated by anti-war activists. The lyrics to this song were about how easy it was during this time to fall in love at a young age and not worry about the consequences such as family because during this time American men were beginning to be drafted into the war. [1]

[1] Frauger et al. "Out of Many" p 575

6 Beatles "Let It Be"
Let It Be could be interpreted as the acceptance of loss and salvation in times of need.  The war in Vietnam was at its apex and during this time American casualties were increasing with any signs of surrender from the Vietcong.

5 Simon Garfunkle "Bridge Over Troubled Waters"
Another yet depressing song for a depressing era of international affairs, President Johnson was dealing with opposition in the war-front and home-front.

4 Bill Crosby, Nash Stills, Neil Young "Ohio"
Ohio was a song about the Kent State Massacre that occurred during May of 1970 in which four students were killed and nine wounded. [1]

[1] Frauger et al. “Out of Many” p 590

3 Sly and Family Stone "Thank you for Being my Friend"
This song must reflect the emotions of every American soldier who had lost a friend in the war.

2  Jackson 5 "I Want you Back"
This song must have reflected feelings of relief at home when troops were withdrew from Vietnam in March 1973. [1]
[1] Frauger et al. “Out of Many” p 591

1  BJ Thomas "Raindrops keep falling on my head"
This song reflected the Nations feelings of finally impeaching Nixon because of his abuse of the Presidency during the Watergate Scandals. [1]
[1]  Frauger et al. “Out of Many” p 593

Top Ten Movies:

10. The Godfather (1972) was a movie about mafia life in America during the 1940s and 50s. It was the first of a trilogy that placed a great emphasis on family ties, and created one of the most memorable characters for Marlon Brando as the Godfather. Box Office Gross: $134,966,411

9. Saturday Night Fever (1977) was a movie about Brooklyn youth struggling to escape their unsatisfying lives for freedom and adventure in Manhattan. It depicted a generation of disco dancers and 1970s youths rebelling against the more traditional expectations of their parents. It made white polyester suits an instant fad.

Box Office Gross: $139,486,124

8. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) was another musical about sexual liberation, but this time it was focused around alien transvestites. It was an immediate cult favorite and developed a following of devoted fans who dressed up and created their own dialogue with the characters on screen.

Box Office Gross: $139,876,417

7. National Lampoon’s Animal House (1978) was a film about the adventures of a group of college misfits who center their activities around terrorizing the dean and other fraternities that turned their noses up at them.

Box Office Gross: $141,600,000

6. The Sting (1973) was a 1930s gangster movie, revolving around one man trying to avenge his former partner’s death. The score brought back a revival of ragtime music. Box Office Gross: $159,616,327

5. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) was a film about a man obsessed with UFOs. It was another science-fiction movie of the time that audiences flocked to.

Box Office Gross: $166,000,000

4. Grease (1978) was a high-energy musical about a group of students in the 1950s. It captured the rebellious state of mind and sexual liberation of the teenagers of the time.

Box Office Gross: $181,518,204

3. The Exorcist (1973) was a heart-stopping terror film that led to religious boycotts. There were even some audience members who fainted or grew nauseous while watching the story of a twelve-year-old girl being possessed by the devil. Box Office Gross: $204,632,868

2. Jaws (1975) was a suspense/horror film that evoked one of the most primal human fears-the unknown. It had a similar affect on audiences as Psycho did in 1960, where people were afraid to take showers, after seeing Jaws people were afraid of the ocean.

Box Office Gross: $260,000,000

1. Star Wars (1977) expressed the adventurous side of the 1970s. It set box office records for the time. It also launched a trend towards special-effects-driven movies that were aimed at teenagers. Box Office Gross: $460,998,007

All information on top ten movies from Yahoo! Movies. http://movies.yahoo.com/

My Fifties Photo Album

My Fifties Photo Album         

Comments

Glen's Comments

Jessica's Comments

Andrew's Comments

In the State vs. Rehberg we the jury find Mr. Edward Rehberg not guilty of the murder of Clara Rehberg but we find him guilty of child negligence. The main evidence that we base our verdict were from Dr. Von Holzchuner’s and Dr. Steele’s expert testimony.  In the twentieth century scientific evidence is considered more valid then any other type of witness testimony.The other evidence that supports Edward Rehberg’s innocence was many of the other witnesses’ testimonies about Edward Rehberg’s physical location during the times Clara was beaten.

Dr. Van Holzschuher’s testimony revealed many facts about Clara’s injuries and supported that “the defendant did not and could not have inflicted the injuries.”
His testimony established that the causes of Clara’s injuries could have only been committed in a facility of the Rehberg house with hot water. This includes the family’s kitchen area but excludes the barnyard area as a possible place Clara was injured at.

“The surface of the skin was red and looked to me as though there had been hot water thrown on her.”   

His testimony also revealed that her injuries were caused by an assailant with long fingernails.

“I thought I saw fingernail marks on the neck.”

Dr. Van Holzschuher’s testimony lastly revealed that her abuse had been occurred for a long time and she died from “gangrene”, this supports Mr. Edward Rehberg was an irresponsible parent negligent for the failure to treat his child sooner. [1]

Dr. Steele’s testimony further supports the argument that Clara was abused by an assailant with long fingernails typically non-male.

“There were also marks on the child’s neck, which in my judgment were produced by fingernails.”

His testimony reaffirms the fact that Clara’s death was from the continuous accumulations of wounds she had received.

“The immediate cause of her death was septicemia and piemia produced by the condition of these wounds”

Although Mr. Rehberg is not guilty of murdering his child he is guilty of her negligence and for allowing such cases of chronic child abuse that he knew about to continue.
Clara’s deathbed declaration cannot be accepted as enough evidence to convict Louis Rehberg her mother or prove that Edward Rehberg was not guilty.

In the 19th century Edward Rehberg may have been judged as not guilty from the contextual evidence provided by the witnesses supported by expert testimony.  A 19th century jury would have also interpreted Clara’s death bed declaration as their main evidence because during 19th century “religion was still a parliament concern of the government” [2].
In the 19th century Louis Rehberg may also not have been convicted for crime of killing Clara Rehberg because family limitation considerations may have excused her. 
Louis Rehberg may have married Edward Rehberg to take advantage of the “Homestead Act which allowed married women to claim territory in the Western frontiers but didn’t allow unmarried women to.” [3]
Louis Rehberg had killed Clara Rehberg with Edward Rehberg’s consent because of family limitation issues.

[1] Reader, State v. Rehberg (1885) p.21-22.
[2] Petrik, Paula. “State v. Rehberg” GMU Innovation Hall, Virginia. 27 Oct. 2004.
[3] Frauger et al. Out of Many, p 335.

#6) Comments

Jacqueline Hollinger: Group Post # 5

Jose Yanez: Group Post # 2

Stuart Oates: Individual Post #4

#5) Nothing Short of Utopia

Convenience is a key to any village, land, or in this case a Utopian community. Since majority of upstanding American citizens do not prefer complex lifestyles, the Utopia is designed to be extremely accessible. The community revolves around both an agricultural and industrial lifestyle. In this case, residents are given a choice to whether they want to work in a factory or a farm. Since the farming land is encompassed with an urban setting, the residents virtually live in the best of both worlds. Also, equality between sexes and freedom of religion are promoted through the land. All types of prejudice towards people—including blacks—are eliminated and replaced with mere acceptance. Inhabitants of this Utopia will live the most harmonious lifestyle a society can offer.

This Utopia's main source of income will be through industrial means. Therefore there are many factories/mills located in the urban part of town. The homes are placed in close proximity to these factories/mills so that the workers do not have to spend much time walking. This will ensure more energy for the work days. To avoid a potential fire, the factories/mills are strategically positioned away from the woods. In this case it is impossible for a fire to spread to the woods from a malfunctioning factory machine. This promotes safety throughout the community. The second source of income will be through agriculture. The farms, located in the rural area, are by the river for a better source of water. Since the river enhances the ability for a fertile farmland, there will be the growth of fruits and vegetables, from squash to berries. Again, homes are placed near the farms so that workers do not have to spend all their energy walking. This community will be a commercial enterprise where crops are traded for goods, and factories mass produce products that are in high demands.

In the urban area there are many public parks and sociable buildings spread throughout. This gives the residents the advantage of getting to know one another in a friendly atmosphere. There are roads that lead to the river for avid fishers or for those who simply enjoy the water. In the rural area, there is a public building for residents to take a break and unwind. There are beautiful orchards added to give the farmland an aesthetic appeal.

In the effort to help steer individuals away from drinking, a public building will be used to inform the dangers associated with alcohol. Since the equality of women has always been a prominent issue, a town hall will serve as a place for women to voice their opinions. This ensures fairness between the sexes. This Utopia will not be a religious community; there is not just one belief. Instead, residents are free to practice whichever religion they please.

Group Commentary:
We met on Thursday, September 30th on the 3rd floor of the Johnson center from 12:30 to 1:30. Prior to the meeting, we each read over the assignment on our own and jotted down ideas of what we think the Utopia should look like. At the meeting we read our ideas aloud and all decided what would work and what wouldn't. After, we combined all of the ideas onto a list. Shannon and Laura took the list home and worked together to design a map. Nhat wrote the first draft, and Justin revised to make sure that it is compatible to the map. When the draft was done, Anh edited it for any grammatical errors. The map and essay were sent to each group member via email. Anh did the group commentary.

#4) George Catlin's Pigeon Egg Headed Indians

This picture is a ridiculed one of the Native American Indians that were about to settle in the new world of America in the early 19th century(1830-1850). Catlin tried to show that the Indians at this time were not meant to be had in our new up and coming country, and there would be no place for a typical Native American in our new society. This picture depicts numerous mocking and unjust ways to portray Native American's during the 1830's to the 1850's.

One could break down this picture in many ways and will visualize the satirical image in which Catlin is trying to poke fun. The strategies that Catlin used is to depict the Indians as people who could certainly not function in the society at the time. On the left you see an Indian as you would most likely know how they are supposed to look. He is decorated finely in attire what looks like he would be a chief or something a little down in the social pole. He has his mocasins and peace pipe. He is tuned with a stern look of expression, and his head is decorated with feathers passed his lower back. He is covered with what looks like a buffalo skinned pauncho that is frayed at the bottom and is designed with Indian symbols near his upper chest and arms. Lastly we notice the capital building that is in the distant background of the Native American and notice that he is on land that is fertile with growth of government. Thus this symbol shows that it is time for the traditional Native American's to get out of the area of a new founding government. Here we view not only how the Native American's mannered their image as people part of the earth, and also how the American's viewed them. Analyzing the right side of the picture you can notice how the American's would view the "new sighted" Native American.

When we break down this photo we can see an image of an Americanized Indian. Ofcourse an image that a real Native American would find to be a grotesque depiction. He is tainted in a dark blue suit, and everything seems to be modernized in his attire. He seems to be leaning on his umbrella to show that the liquor in his back pocket has obviously gave him something to get the stumbling on. His shoes are finely decorated and shiny boots. His head seems to have changed hugely as his hair has begun to dread out, and instead of a decorated band of feathers, he is armed with a top hat. As he looks on into the distance you notice two Americanized mannerisms, as the Indian is no longer trying to smoke a peace pipe, but moves on to smoking a ciggarette (an Americanized Agricultural Enterprise). He is also holding a fan to show that he wants no part of the heat of the natural world. Differing from the left side of the photo you don't see a capital building, but instead a row of tee pee's. The Indian could be showing that he is no longer looking for a traditional Native American look, but might intend to try to change the settlement into an American one as his gaze is for improvement.

Through this picture you see how American's portray the views of the new revolution of how Indian's should be treated. Sadly the picture is unfortunatly true, and you can tell how they took over through the backgrounds of the portrait and notice that the Indian's are getting outran out of their settlements, and are moved to improve the new American government.

http://www.hanksville.org/NAresources/