Human Sexuality 2010

My Last Post

Well today was a little bitter sweet. I am excited to be done classes however this was my last class with Rob for the year.

I will take away a lot from this class! One thing in particular is Habermas’s paradigms. I feel by using them it allows you to really look at something at every angle. It is hard not to immediately judge something or someone but by using the three paradigms it allows you to stop and try to understand it or them better. The one I find myself using the most is the situational interpretive paradigm. Because my focus in education is psychology I always try to see things through a lived reality. I feel it is the easiest way to understand why people do the things they do. I hope to someday be a school counsellor teacher and I intend to use these paradigms. Children are particularly hard to really understand but I intend on trying my best to stay open minded. I am a very caring and compassionate person and hope that it will help me reach out to others and help.

Rob has taught me so much. Not just in content but as a future educator. I have said many times before how his passionate and caring attitude is very contagious. He makes you want to learn more. I have never had a teacher that showed me what I was capable all by allowing me to talk about my opinions. Rob always asks his students for their opinions and thanks them for sharing no matter how irrelevant their answer may be. He truly appreciates what you have to say and always listens with a supportive ear. When I interviewed Rob last year for a school project I came to discover that his favourite class was one in which he was able to express himself and his beliefs. It is to no surprise that this is the way he structures his classes. I hope to get into the middle years program so that I will be fortunate enough to have Rob as a teacher again. I hope he knows just how much he has made a difference in my life and as a future teacher. I hope to stay in touch with Rob for years to come as he will allows me to be myself and I think he appreciates my hard work and enthusiasm. I feel he believes in me and it means the world to me. Thanks Rob! What a great semester!

Thanks for reading My Thoughts and My Beliefs!

Ps. I am grateful for this opportunity to Blog about this class. I am glad I structured it the way I did as it allows me to see what we covered in this class. I really enjoyed this project. I hope Rob continues this project as it allows people the opportunity to reflect on topics which may make them uncomfortable speaking about in class.

Post Number Fourteen

On December 6, 2010

Well today was the last FAM 322 class. Rob continued talking about prostitution and showed us a video clip. The video was of a man named Victor Malarek talking about his views on prostitution. He felt that it was not the women’s fault but the men who engage in the act. I found it interesting when he mentioned that in Sweden they see it as an act of violence and that it is illegal for men to purchase sex. It was surprising to hear that even with making it illegal they are still having issues with it. I feel it is a hard thing to enforce as it can be done in a very sneaky manner. The reason I feel so strongly against prostitution is because I feel for the women who are involved. I believe that there must have been something horrible happen to them that would cause them to put themselves at such risk. I guess I am looking through the critical theoretic perspective. There must be something else going on.

Post Number Thirteen

On November 29, 2010

Rob showed us a video of a man named Stephen Lewis. He was a very famous Canadian, who was passionate about making a difference against the spread of HIV. His speech was very empowering and honest. You could tell that he was very driven and hard working man. I am a proud that we have such a man that is Canadian and making a difference! I will post the link to this video because I feel it really showed how passionate this man was about trying to make a change.

On December 1, 2010

During this class Rob talked about HIV, which is an STD that destroys white blood cells in the immune system leaving the body vulnerable to life threatening diseases. It can lead to AIDS. People can prevent HIV from turning into AIDS through medication. AIDS stands for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome which is caused by HIV characterized by destruction of the immune system so the body is stripped of its ability to fend off life threatening diseases.  I was shocked to hear that 33 million people live with HIV AIDS and the majority of them live in poverty in Africa.

During the class Rob had mentioned that the critical theoretic perspective would ask why the west has taken so long to respond. Potentially maybe there is underlying global racism. I would have to agree with that question. Why? Whenever there is a natural disaster people rush to help make a difference. Yet, there is a global issue and it has yet to be resolved. How can that be? Well I can’t say I have an answer and apparently no one else does otherwise this question would have been resolved by now.

Rob ended the class with a video from a show called, “Kinked.” This video was very sexually explicit. Rob posed a question for us to blog about: What are contours of your own limits of comfort level and why? I am a very comfortable person. It doesn’t take much to make me uncomfortable. I am lucky to be in a relationship with my best friend as it allows us to be very open and honest with each other. We both know each other’s comfort level and I believe that is very important. Public affection or people talking about sexual issues do not make me feel uncomfortable because I feel it is something we all are aware of and should be mature enough to deal with it.  I personally choose not to be overly affectionate in public as I feel there is a time and place for things and making out in public is not my idea of appropriate behaviour. But that is just how I feel.

On December 3, 2010

During this class Rob talked about paraphilia and prostitution. Paraphilia is a typical pattern of sexual arousal or behaviour that becomes problematic in the eyes of the individual or society. Examples of this could be fetishism and exhibitionism. Kinked is a television show that proudly represents paraphilia. Our society is definitely becoming a lot more open when it comes to discussing sexual content. I wished that families would be more open with their children as it is so important to know what and why your body experiences the things it does.

Rob second topic was about prostitution, which is defined as the sale of sexual activity for money or goods of value such as drugs. I personally feel that prostitution is wrong and should be illegal in every way. I feel it is degrading to women and is extremely unsafe. Not only does it increase the risk of STD’s but it is generally unsafe as you do not know the person and what their intentions are. It scares me to think that someone’s life could be so bad that they would have to resort to prostitution just to provide for themselves or their families. Prostitution is a topic that I have a hard time considering the reasons people would chose to be involved with. Drugs, gangs, human trafficking and or past trauma histories are all things that could lead to involvement, I just feel that there is resources available to get help with issues such as those. I do however feel that our societies need to make those resources more available and affordable. Human trafficking and gangs need a bit more involvement from our societies as they need to become more aware of these problems. Preventative measures need to be enforced and enhanced. I know our world will never be free of this situation however, I do feel it could be lessened.