Different Cultures and Lifestyles

The recent set of short stories we read, “J.A.P.-Slapping,” “To be Poor and Transgender,” and “White Privileged and Male Privilege” were extremely informative. I have never heard of the Jewish American Princess, I only heard Jap in the deprecating form in history class when we learned about World War II. I found that the Jewish culture also struggles with gender roles, and the scapegoat of these struggles are the Jewish women. Not being very informed of Jewish culture, I found it hard to understand how many would like to be called a J.A.P., but I also thought you could turn it into a somewhat positive way by bragging about it, as to show off that you have money. I think that the authors Ruth Adkin and Adrienne Rich build up the pathos extremely well. Also she shows her credibility by explaining that she is a Jew and does not like to be called or stereotyped as a J.A.P. The most interesting story, yet hardest to read, was “To be Poor and Transgender.” I had incredibly hard time getting through this story because to be transgender is against my beliefs. I understand that there is a whole different world outside of Indiana, but I would rather not be part of that world. I thought it was ridiculous that a paramedic would refuse to treat a transgender person, which is morally and ethically wrong. I also do not understand why these people would want to hurt or risk death to try to look like a male or female just to fit into society. Everyone is different and most people want to stand out so they do drastic things. But, by doing these drastic things to themselves they just make society notice them even more, which could result in a negative impact on what they truly desired. This story played up the pathos and logos, by moving you to feel pity for transgender people and what they go through and by listing statistics of HIV and suicidal rates. Lastly, the story “White Privilege and Male Privilege,” was interesting to read because I never thought about many of those situations, but I also think that times have changed since this story was written in 1988. I think that society as a whole has become more diverse and more open minded towards jobs involving race and gender. The story was crammed full of logos, Peggy McIntosh listed forty-six facts that she believed she was entitled to or did not have to worry about because of her race. The way all these stories were written put me in the shoes of each person in each story. These stories heightened my curiosity of different cultures and lifestyles.