Apparently I was never able to accurately do this from the ages of 6 to about 13.  I didn’t live the safest, cleanest neighborhood in the city which had shit sprawled across the local football field from the neighboring homes that weaved their dogs in and out of the heavy sandbags players pushed during practice.  There was also the corner store that would become abandoned every three months or so following an intense robbery or drug deal gone wrong leaving behind empty freezers and gang graffiti spelling out a person’s name with the last letter “cleverly” replaced the a “Z;”  ”Lucus” became “Lucuz” in the Fall and Winter while “Stephen” became “Stephez” in the Spring and Summer.  My parents knew of what went on in our neighborhood and I was never allowed to play outside for fear that I may get kidnapped and sold into little Asian girl slavery or have my head blown off by an assault rifle whilst riding my tricycle up and down the street.  But this rule only applied to me, of course, as my brother was happy to do as he pleased outdoors.  Each year when it snowed he played football with his friends two blocks away in their backyard.  Do they not care about my brother being held as a slave? I would think to myself.  Sure girls are longed after for sexual purposes and viewed as weaker of the two sexes but my brother was no Hercules as he stood shorter than average boys his age and was approximately 10lbs overweight at this time.  I figured someone could always use a small boy to chain down in their backyard to break up rocks with a hammer or scrub off the sidewalk on a humid, dry day.  And I knew my brother was not invincible against bullets. Sure he probably runs faster than me because his legs are longer and boys would push themselves to the brink of spontaneous combustion to beat their sisters at a race but no one is faster than a bullet (besides Superman of course) and so I went on being bitter and resentful.
I had decided to ask my mother about all of this during a monthly trip to the Asian supermarket.  I was also always expected to join my parents when they would run errands which I didn’t mind because the Asian Supermarket was far more entertaining than a standard American market.  Everything was fresh and alive and I found humor in making faces at all the fish waiting to be decapitated and taken home swimming in murky water.  These supermarkets always held a musty smell from these fish which mixed with the odor of an old freezer stuck with dried Coke that had exploded from an absentminded individual too impatient to cool down their drink with ice and too distracted to remember they were thirsty.  The live produce was also sad at times and made me happy to not have barbaric Vietnamese parents who would bash frogs’ heads with rolling pins or tear out the soft bodies of turtles from their shells.  I always begged for candy and was allowed to purchase one bag of white rabbit candy which was vanilla flavored taffy wrapped in rice paper that dissolved and melted into a warm sugar jolt puddle on my tongue.  Whilst holding onto my candy and strolling with my mother past the pork butt and wonton wrappers I brought up the topic of my brother not because I believed there was a alternative explanation but because I wanted justification and some form of honesty from my parents.
“Mom,” I asked “Why does Luan (pronounced Lung) get to do things with his friends and I don’t?”"Don’t ask that question” my mother replied, pushing the cart and acknowledging the fish monger waving to her  down the aisle.”Why not? He gets to play outside and go over his friend’s houses but I can’t do that.”"Don’t compare.”"Well I want to know,” I began to whine “it’s just not fair.”"Not fair, not fair that’s all you ever say.” She mocked, “He is your brother that is why he can do those things.”"So is it because he is a boy?” I asked as I eagerly looked up towards my mother who had stopped her cart and began rummaging through a pile of plastic wrapped dried fish.She took a deep sigh and shook her head, pursing her lips as her eyebrows frowned and refused to answer me.
I no longer asked from this point forward and went about staying indoors playing with my plastic kitchen and learning all about American culture from “The Wonder Years” and “MTV” while my brother ran up and down the street dousing his friends with water from his Super Soaker.  
When I was about 10 or so I began to partake in sleep overs at my best friends home.  She was one of few white girls who lived in my neighborhood and everyone at school, along with my family, knew she was my best friend.  We did pretty much everything together; wore the same types of clothing, had similar lunch boxes, listened to the same music and, evidently, spoke the same as well.  I truly enjoyed spending time with her and never found there to be anything wrong with us being friends.  I knew we were racially and ethnically different but from all of the television shows I watched on WHYY this wasn’t an issue; I was just expected to be a nice person which, being young and having no bills or real responsibilities to measure this, I thought I was.  Fellow classmates disagreed to what was shown on television and read to them in books about Pocohontas and the colors of the wind.  To them my race mattered which essentially made up a large part of who I was and I was expected to “act where I came from.”  
I learned this whilst sitting in my language arts class next with a boy named Anthony.  Anthony had been in my previous grades but I paid him no mind as he never paid me any of his.  He was somewhat of a bully in school; the type of kid that pushed smaller kids around in a fit to make himself feel better about his weight, copied off of everyone else’s test paper, stole lunches from people’s back packs and ate them in their faced while he laughed and spit crumbs all over their desks.  I was never victim to any of these things but I did not like him and chose to stay away from him in a way that Hush Puppy stayed away from Charlie Horse during an episode of Lambchop’s Play Along I watched over the summer.  I had most of my classes with him and he had a few with my best friend so he frequently saw us spend time with one another.  We were completing reading exercises where we read a short story and answered several open ended questions.  We were expected to answer these properly, meaning we had to reiterate in the answer in our questions.   I took great pride in being an A student and thoroughly enjoyed being proper whilst following the instructions.  I often volunteered to read my answers when we reviewed the questions.
“Why did Mr. Frog and Mr. Pig walk to the end of the forest instead of crossing the river for their food and shelter?” my teacher asked.I diligently raised my hand up high and the teacher scoured the outstretched arms, calling on a student who gave the incorrect answer then it was my turn.”Mr. Frog and Mr. Pig walked to the end of the forest instead of crossing the river for their food and shelter because they wanted to visit lonely Mr. Rabbit to make him feel better and be his friend.” I answered.”That is correct!” the teacher exclaimed.
“That is correct,” Anthony mocked, “white girl!”The class began to chuckle while the teacher moved on, attempting to ignore what was said.
A few more questions had been answered but only raised my hand for a few as I was slightly confused by the remark Anthony had made.  When I was called upon to read what I had written again he continued with the heckling.”Way to go white girl” he cheered and more laughter ensued, this time at a higher volume and more people joining in.”Focus class!  Anthony stop it!” the teacher attempted to reconcile the laughter.

I sat completely embarrassed and bewildered.  I had been in this school since the first grade and not one person had ever spoken to me about race.  It became a topic that was used to educate others through scenarios developed for entertainment but something I had dismissed as ever happening to me.  It was one of those scary situations where I would place myself into the shoes of the victim and attempted to find comfort in knowing since I was nice no one would ever have the heart to painfully tell me I was different.  I knew I was Asian and was always proud of it and while there was nothing wrong in being white my classmates said it in a cruel way, pairing with other insults that suggested it was negative to be told you are another race when you are, in fact, not.  It struck a chord of shame in me as if I was placing great insult on my family and culture for speaking and acting a certain way which was the only way I ever learned how to be.  More and more people began to call me “white girl.”  When I refused to help someone cheat on a test or “have” my mechanical Hello Kitty pencil they insulted me.
“You’re so mean white girl.” a Korean boy would say.”I’m not white” I yelled back “I’m Vietnamese!”"Then why do you talk white?” he asked sticking up his nose and closing his eyes as if he had just made a statement that would end all arguments we had from that point forward.
I didn’t have an answer but I was baffled by this response.  Talk white? I thought to myself.  How can you speak like a color?  The difficult part was even my father would claim I was “white” one evening whilst watching an episode of “The Simpsons.”
“What is this cartoons?  Are you too old for cartoons?” he asked in Vietnamese.”But I like this show.” I told my dad who was motioning for me to hand over the remote.”Yeah?  You watch this over your friend house too?  You are white just like them.” And he switched programming over to CNN.  
I truly disliked that so many people were calling me “white girl” and even tried to stay home with my mother so I wouldn’t have to hear it.  When she asked me why I wanted stay home I made up lies about throwing up in the toilet or having temporary blindness.  I was too ashamed to say people were calling me “white” for fear that she would also tell me I was and only make me feel worse.  She yelled and threw my clothes at me telling me to get dressed.  I did this and soon I felt as if I only had one friend, my white friend, and all others had isolated me; treating me as if I was a trader of  my tribe choosing to take part in the slavery of my indigenous, ethnic people for wealth and companionship.  When my best friend moved the following year and attended another school the name calling continued and I was left with little options.  I wanted to know what exactly I could do to change their perceptions of me so I tried to not “talk white.”  
According to my classmates, this meant that I was to “talk black” which, in turn, was how the rappers spoke on the MTV music videos I had watched. Seeing as in my neighborhood everyone spoke this way, black or not, I was expected too as well.  I watched reruns of “The Jeffersons” and “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air” attempting to learn what it meant to do this.  I also listened to my brothers Bone Thugs-N-Harmony CDs and read the lyrics from Tupac albums.  I believe I learned more about “bitches,” “40s” and how people had parties during the first of the month more than anything else.  I had no idea what I was doing and felt completely uncomfortable speaking in broken slang but I wanted to try my best to let everyone know I was Asian.  I briefly contemplated turning over to broken English which was common among many of the Cambodian and Korean students in my class.

“I walk-ded to da store” I would say to myself twisting my hand towards the ground and making a scissor motion with my index and ring finger.
“Teacha! I dun undastand! Why you no halp me?” I yelled flailing my arms in the air.  I didn’t imagine I could do this for much longer and believe my teachers would have an anerism listening to me read aloud so it was out of the question.
The following morning when my father dropped me off at school I entered the school yard and searched for classmates who had led the brigade of insults.  I saw Anthony who was standing against the wall closest to the front door, one knee bent with his foot on the side of the building the other planted on the floor talking to another boy who often joined in on the laughing.
“Anthony!” I said, walking towards him.
“Hey, like, how it is going white girl?” he put his hands on his hip and tilted his neck, twirling his finger at the base of his neck.”Yo, don’t call me dat aight?” I immediately snapped, staring him down placing my hands on my hips and pushing my neck forward.”Ummm what?”I sucked on my teeth, “I saaaaaid don’t call me dat!  I ain’t white, aight?” Anthony and the boy stared at me, their mouths slightly open as I hoped they would and beam with pride that I was finally not “talking white.”  Instead they burst into laughter.”What? Now you’re trying to talk black?  You so crazy white girl” he scoffed and walked to stand in our designated class lines.
I was at a lost of what to do with the concept of fitting in, “talking white,” having friends or anything else that involved engaging with people who only acknowledged how I spoke and acted not what I said or did.  I eventually stuck to myself and my teachers who cared about how I did in school, constantly telling me I was a great person and had tremendous talent.  It was more of a self esteem boost than I ever received at home or from my classmates.  Eventually, about a year before I began high school, people stopped calling me names because I realized I stopped allowing it to bother me.  I believe I over came all of it once I acknowledged that some people are born and bred to define others by what their eyes can only see.  Every so often I hear a person in passing call me white and it brings back these memories to remind me of what it meant to lose the innocence in believing the world was created equal, something I have come to ensure my children understand is possible in their hearts and how they treat others, in spite of backlash they themselves may receive.

I will always take pride in being from North Philadelphia and the unsightly images and richness I was exposed to where changes were not left just to the seasons.  A part of this city taught me how to love myself because it always loved me and I plan to continue holding responsibility to that faithfulness.

We should be proud to be called American and have that beautiful skin tone. I love my hair even if it knots up at times. Yes, its like wool but so is Jesus hair and I may use some Ebonics here and there but I’m still proud. Let the schools know that it is alright to celebrate this month and allow all the children to join in. I’m brown skinned and I’m proud of it. I was not born in the50’s or 60’s but I have some idea what other’s thought of us. I have experience racism and being pushed in back of the line. I cry when I watch Mississippi Burning but I don’t want any other race to suffer because of it. Black history is want I want to hear about this month and I want stand for nothing less. I’m proud of who I am and where I came from.

The children need to know how proud I am and when they return from school I’ll let them know, although they may look at me crazy. I will shout I’m proud and walk like it too. I’m an African American and not a nigger, negro, black or colored but African American and I want to celebrate it. Thanks for allowing me to be expressive . Good day!

This racial ‘trap’ is exploited daily, all over the world.  The Con man will always find a group of ‘his people’ and exploit them, rob them, and feel not a tinge of remorse.  Why should he?  ‘His People’ won’t rat on ‘one of their own.’

This factor has played a significant role in scams. 

Gender is another feature often used to gain dupes.

Many quite dishonest women have pushed themselves into feminist organizations or offered themselves to groups as a professional. They gather a great deal of money for their own use, and often, with Outsiders eyes scrutainizing, they are not sent to prison.  How would it look? 

The racially conscious person puts him or herself in the path of disaster.  He hires on complexion.  He finds one of ‘his own’ to transact business.  He is not judging on character his choice is based on color.  

For example, at a particular University one of the maintenance men was arrested.  He asked another to ask one of the Law Students who was working in the Legal Aid Office to help him, specifying that he didn’t want any white boy or gal.   The only student willing to run to the police station to assist was a white one.  The black ones who were asked declined.  

The maintenance man not only spent two weeks in jail but lost his job. 

This could have been avoided if he had accepted the white student’s assistance.

An agency needed a specifially qualified person for a very important position.  The top six candidates were not black.  The 7th was and gained the post.  The work was beyond her, and she had to take a leave of absence. As the criterion the Board had used became notorious, the higher ranked candidates demanded very high perquisites before ‘filling in’.  The agency had no choice but to comply.

When one can chose among a very large pool of persons of one’s ethnicity, the selection is based on merit. When it is looking for the one or two ‘brothers’ one will usually find their downfall.

Race:
What does it matter if you’re black, white, yellow, or green? If you’ve got a heart, a brain, eyes, and you’re not controlled by a remote, it shouldn’t matter what color you are. I hate how people can’t drop this race thing; I hate it even more when political figures (*OBAMA*) use the race card to get extra points, or votes. Seriously, if you’re going to vote a president in because he’s black and you want to “make history” you need your brain checked out. Obama is sketchy anyway, and I honestly don’t think he earned the right to be our president. I hope he doesn’t make it another term.

Teen pregnancy:
I attended school with several pregnant teenage girls, as well as a few who already had their children. No, I do not approve of it; I think that they should’ve kept their legs closed. With that said, I applaud them for raising their kids, rather than turning to abortion. If you’re big enough to get pregnant, you’re big enough to raise that baby. Dirtbag guys who get the girl pregnant and then turn tail and run the other way, need to be brought back and help raise that child. My momma always said “if you’re man enough to lie down with a lady, you better be man enough to raise a baby.” and she’s right.

Politics:
We’re screwed & that’s all there is to that. We need to just clear the board and start all over. My only opinion worth voicing, is that Congress needs to stop wasting money and stuff that isn’t worth debating. Seriously, pizza is a vegetable? Wtf?!

Abortion:
This goes right along with teen pregnancy. That baby did absolutely nothing wrong. She or he hasn’t even had the chance to take it’s own breath; what good is there in murdering the poor thing? Unless you’re being put in danger by carrying it for full term, don’t terminate the pregnancy. Please. If for some reason you don’t want it, put it up for immediate adoption after birth. Abortion is just.. inhumane.

Religion:
I myself am a self-proclaimed agnostic, which in my mind, is believing there is a God, understanding what Jesus did for us, and just not having the damn energy/time to pursue it past that. I believe everyone has a right to their own religion. If you wanna believe that Darwin bull, that’s up to you but do not, under any circumstances, push that on to me. Believe what you want to believe; just do it in your own way. Please, if you’re a Jehovah Witness, or something along those lines, do not knock on someone’s door, learn that her brother is in the Army, and promptly tell her that he deserves to die for fighting for our country. She will go ghetto on you! Just sayin’…

If you read all that and you were not offended, yay! I tried to get my point across without being judgemental, or offensive. If I did offend you, I apologize, sincerely and profusely. As I said, I tried not to.  Thanks for reading

As of now, it is unclear to why Perry decided to step out of the race and pack it home to Texas. Perhaps it was money, a primary run certainly can give quite a blow to someones bank account. Although he did say he felt secure enough to continue in the race. It might have been the serious blows to the guy’s egos, which is understandable. He hadn’t made it in the top three so far in the race. There could have also been other contributing factors, but he is out of the race.

I’m willing to bet, however, that he will be in the next race when it comes his time again.

While I’m sure that Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney won’t be dropping out of the race, I’m curious about Ron Paul and Rick Santorum. Ron Paul seems as though he has just enough crazy to stick it through, and I think  had a bit of a boost when he found out he was actually the winner of the Iowa caucus. 

Guess we’ll just have to wait and see!

When the Mexican revolution erupted, some Romneys decided to head back into the United States. The group of Romneys that returned to the United States included George Wilcken Romney, who was born in Mexico. If many of you care to look back and Mitt’s family tree, you will see that none of his ancestors were not of Mexican descent. They were Americans who immigrated to Mexico and did not intermarry.

The issue whether Mitt Romney is of Mexican descent, or not, brings lots of questions to mind. What makes a person a Mexican, Latino, American? Many people that are born outside of the United States get offended when people from the United States call themselves American as if the United States alone was all of America. There is a saying that America is from Canada all the way down to “La Patagonia.” This means that everyone that is born in the American (South, North and Central) Continents is American. I think that includes by default those living in the Caribbean. So, if we apply the same reasoning, that those who are born within the geographic boundaries of a region get to call themselves “of that region.” For example, if you are born in America, then by definition you are an “Americano” or “American.” Same as the Romneys from Mexico that are born in Mexico are “Mexican.”

While it is hard to admit, if people who are not born in the United States claim they are American, because they where born in the American continent then the Romneys by the same definition can be considered Mexicans if they were born in Mexico. So what is all this outrage about? For one, while I can admit that perhaps by being born in Mexico a person is called Mexican, I believe that legally, at least on paper that person is a bona fide Mexican, when it comes to the law. On the other hand, I do believe that being a Mexican or American goes beyond geographic boundaries. A collective identity is formed by a collective or groups going through the same historical events. It is shared by a group sharing a language, and traditions.

If we speak of traditions, language and customs, perhaps the Romneys of Mexico are the whole enchilada, the real deal. I do not believe that even if the Romneys in Mexico are more Mexican than el chile, Mitt Romney could consider himself a Mexican, because he does not share the same traditions as other Mexicans. He does not even share the religion, nor does he share the same “brand” of religion that is Christianity. Mexico’s chief religion is Catholicism and Mitt’s is Mormonism.

I cannot close this without saying that people that are born of foreign parents in the U.S go though the same kind of skepticism. Some in the United States are working hard to deny them automatic citizenship. I want to say that those born in American soil, while they do not share the same customs of the land they are born into, are still Americans, because once they grow up, they learn the language and take on American traditions. This is contrary to what Mitt Romney does, he is as American as apple pie and if he ever tries to show his “Mexican Roots” it will be just to get votes. While Mitt Romney has Mexican roots because his dad was born in Mexico, he is still not considered Mexican, because he does not share the same traditions and customs as people in Mexico, he does not even speak the same language

What do you think that defines race? Is it your national origin, your language or traditions? Share your thoughts and share this story.

Image via Wikipedia

Image via Wikipedia

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Villages start out small and simple….

Villages are randomly generated around the map for you to find however, they are unlike normal NPC villages and have different NPCs who are tasked with different jobs. From harvesting to managing the village, to trading with you and building houses, each NPC has a role to play in the village. Trading with the village will increase your reputation with them and also help them to grow larger and expand.

..but can grow to be very large!

Chests spread out amongst the houses contain valuable resources that the villagers have gathered. They are however locked. Killing the all the villagers will unlock all the chests in the village. Be warned however, as all the villagers will start attacking you the minute one of their own is under attack! Also, killing villagers reduces your reputation with the village and its culture! Also, once an NPC dies by your hand it doesnt respawn! Other sources of damage like falling and lava will make the NPC respawn shortly afterwards.

A Hindi Village, one of the 4 cultures in Millenaire

Millenaire also features cultures! There are 4 cultures in Millenaire: Norman, Hindi, Mayan and Japanese! Each culture has their own unique items and archetecture. Once you reach a certain reputation level with a culture, you may build your own village of that culture’s type! Village construction is up to you, from placement to design to building type, the choice is yours to shape your very own village!

Quests, the most interesting feature in Millenaire

Some NPCs will readily give out quests to the player such as delivering an item or gathering items. Some quests may be much much more elaborate than that and therefore are much more difficult to complete (but have grand rewards)!

If you think you have what it takes to turn a small village into a thriving comunity then the Millenaire Mod is for you!

Unfortunately, the mod is not compatible for SMP. It is however compatible with SSP MC 1.0.0!

Download the Mod Here

Read More About The Mod Here

Also, try the Industrial Craft Mod

And

Biosphere Mod

Running a public server? Scraping to pay the server bills every month? Then how about some internet Moneyz to lighten your load!

Paid-To-Click Advertisements Site

Article Writing Site: (great for part-time article writers) 

Get Paid To Shorten Links!

Introduction

This paper attempts to integrate findings from both the political science literature and the NES times study series. This paper looks at the ability of an individual’s gender and race and how those factors affect voting behavior.  It also looks to see if women vote more democratically than men. The results of the experiment show race to have a significant effect on voting, and women to present tendencies to be more democratic than men.

The ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920 brought with it monumental changes for the United States. Any individual, regardless of sex, was now given the freedom to vote. What was once considered a man’s domain now included a woman’s voice, which went unheard for so long. Initially, there was much speculation on how women’s votes might affect the system. Many believed that the “newly enfranchised women voters would back candidates supporting a wide range of “maternalist” social policies such as protective wage and hours, laws, expansive health and housing policies, and other types of social provision for indigent women and families” (Paget): while others believed that women would vote along more conservative lines than men. This belief was mostly attributed to the role that women were perceived to have during the era; which resulted in many women aligning themselves with conservative values. 

For the first few years, the voting behavior between men and women did not differ significantly. Early work on voting behavior demonstrated that “men and women voted largely along the same lines, but when differences occurred, women consistently tended to be more conservative” (Studlar). It was not until recent years that women’s position on voting took a more leftist turn that resulted in an increase in democratic support (Paget).  This increase came to be known as the gender gap.  The term gender gap can be “understood as the partisan difference in behavior between men and women” (Kaufmann). The term was coined “ in response to exit poll data from the 1980 presidential race that showed women’s support for Jimmy Carter exceeded men’s support by a statistically significant margin of nearly 8 percent” (Paget).

In the historic 2008 presidential campaign, democratic candidate, Barack Obama, won the office for presidency over the republican candidate, John McCain. The results of this election held constant with the theory of the gender gap, as more women supported the democratic candidate versus the republican.  Although the gender gap encompasses a growing divide between male and female voting behavior, race is often a detrimental factor that is overlooked when analyzing the variations between male-female voting patterns. The gender gap fails to take into account the male-female variations within a particular group, as noted by Welch and Sigelman (1989) who observed that variations in voting behavior were more prominent in whites, as compared to blacks.

Political Science Literature on The Gender Gap in Voting

Can gender be attributed to the way men and women vote? The political science literature on the effect gender has on voting is mixed. For instance, some studies have found that gender’s role is minimal (Lien 870). While others argue that gender is a central factor that affects whether an individual votes democratic or republican (Kaufmann).

After carefully reviewing the various articles written on the subject, Kathleen Frankovic concluded, “since the 1980 presidential campaign, sex differences in basic political evaluations have appeared and have persisted.” (Frankovic). Her theory, while vague, demonstrates that there is, in fact, an underlying difference in regard to the way men and women vote that can be attributed to sex. Using data collected from the 1980 presidential campaign, Frankovic noted that a larger percentage of women favored Democratic candidate Jimmy Carter as opposed to republican candidate Ronald Reagan. However, Frankovic expands her findings noting that among race there are other factors that could have influenced the opinion of women. Such factors included opinions on war, the economy and education. Although Frankovic is not explicit in defining the relationship between sex and party identification, she provides a foundation for the further evaluation of party support due to gender.

Daniel Wirls presented another plausible theory stating that, “women [were] more liberal or democratic than men at discrete points in time over the last several years” (Wirls). Wirls also proposed that the gender gap is the direct result of both men and women moving away from the Democratic Party at distinct pace. Essentially, Wirls believes that the gender gap does not measure how much democratic support each gender has, but how much each gender is moving away from its liberal values and more towards conservative views. He argues that “both women and men [were] defecting from the Democratic Party and liberal values…” (Wirls 317). In his data, Wirls supports his theory by noting that in 1980, women as well as men made a shift toward the republican vote, as compared to previous years. Furthermore, he stated “male voters made the [most] dramatic shift in voting behavior…from a slim majority for Carter and the Democrats in 1976 to a 61 percent majority for Regan in 1980” (322). Although Wirls supports a “dynamic” interpretation of the gender gap, it is clearly evident in his data that gender still plays a determining role in the party identification of an individual. Wirls data suggests that men still hold more of a preference for republican candidates, which explains the major shift in voting behavior. Thus, it can be said through his data that in this particular instance, women voted more democratically compared to men.  Similarly, findings from Kaufmann and Petrocik’s analysis on voting also support the idea that women vote more democratically compared to men. They found that “Democratic identification among men, by contrast, consistently declined after 1964 and has not been above 50 percent since 1980 “ (Kaufman). Their findings are consistent with the data that Daniel Wirls and Kathleen Frankovic found as well, thus illustrating a possible connection between gender and party identification.

Political Science literature on the Gender Gap and Race

Is the gender gap even more prominent when race is factored into the equation? The political science literature that takes into account race argues, for the most part, that voting disparities are larger in whites, compared to non-whites. Welch and Sigelman suggested that “black men and women appear to have more in common politically than white men and women do” (Welsh). In other words, the gender-gap between blacks is significantly smaller than that of white individuals. Welch and Sigeleman analyze the differences between the size of the gaps across Hispanics, Blacks, and Anglos; maintaining that across all three groups, women were still more liberal and democratic than men. They also noted that the gender gap was least pronounced among blacks, with “mean differences ranging only from 5.2 for vote choice to 6.8 for party identification” (Welsh). These findings correlate with the idea that women vote more democratically then men.

Theory and Hypothesis

The literature on the gender gap suggests that men and women do in fact have apparent differences when it comes to choosing a democratic or republican candidate.  Wirls notably made the astute observation that males were drifting away from democratic values faster than women, therefore leaving women as the majority who favored democratic candidates.  Similarly, Welch and Sigeleman noted the differences within each race, which still held constant the idea that women were more democratic: although men fluctuated in party preference when race was added as a measurement.  In accordance to the various sources that I have acquired and the data from the experiments, I propose that not only are women are more likely to vote for Democratic candidates, and less likely to vote for republican candidates, but—with only slight variation—this preference is relevant across population subgroups as well.  In essence, strengthening the idea that women possess more of a democratic viewpoint compared to men, regardless of race. 

This paper will attempt to measure the connection between gender, race and voting using the 2008 election data.  This present experiment will address the following hypotheses; if gender is related to voting behavior, then females are more likely to vote for a democratic candidate, as opposed to males; second, is there a relationship between race and voting behavior across the gender?

Methods

For this paper, I utilized the 2008 NES times series study. NES is a representative survey that was conducted in two waves: one before the 2008 election, which surveyed 2,322 individuals, and after the election, which surveyed 2,102 individuals (American).  Surveying was done face to face, and covered a variety of topics ranging from public opinion to electoral participation.  The variables I used to conduct my tests focused on gender, race, party identification, and provides an estimate of the population in regard to candidate preference.  The data collected however, can be questionable due to the fact that many individuals cannot be forced to tell the truth, but I digress.  The dependent variable in this paper is the voting behavior and the independent variables are race, and gender.  For my dependent variable, I am focusing on two levels, Democrat and republican. And for my independent variables, I will be focusing on five levels (Black, White, Hispanic, Asian, and Native American).  My other independent variable will consist of two levels, Male and Female.  Although there are more levels given in the output, I chose to focus in on those key ones in order to produce data that is consistent with my hypothesis.  The question that I used in order to measure my hypothesis was, “Q1a. Who does R think will/would vote for President”; which is taken directly from the NES data.  In addition, for my particular hypothesis, I utilized a chi-square as well as a factorial ANOVA respectively.  For my hypothesis measuring gender and voting behavior, I applied a chi-square test in order to see if women voted more democratically than men, since I was dealing with two nominal variables.  And for my other hypothesis relating gender, race, and voting, I employed a factorial ANOVA to observe the effect that race and gender had on voting behavior.

Results

Based upon the data, most individuals (both men and women) claimed that they would vote for candidate Barack Obama for he had a 58.8 percent frequency, which is significantly higher, compared to the other candidates.  However, when you further break down the data in terms of gender, the disparities between the male-female votes are evident.  Out of a total of 1081 females, 721 claimed they would vote for the democratic candidate Barack Obama.  Conversely, the males turned out only 515 individuals that would vote for the democratic candidate.  While both groups preferred Barack Obama to republican candidate John McCain, women in this aspect had a larger number of individuals willing to vote for the democratic candidate.  Based off of this data alone, one can begin to see that females are more likely to vote for a democratic candidate.  Similarly, the results of the chi-square test that was administered to see if there was a relationship between gender and voting behavior, demonstrate there is in fact a statistically significant relationship between gender and voting behavior (chi-square with three degrees of freedom = 7.708, p=.052).  Thus solidifying the hypothesis that females vote more democratically than males.

By utilizing a factorial ANOVA on race gender and voting behavior, I was able to see if race and gender truly had an effect on who an individual votes for.  As indicated in figure 3, because the significance value for race (.000) is less than the threshold value (.05), it can be concluded that race affects who an individual votes for.  Conversely, the value for female is (.362), which is larger than the threshold (.05), therefore the factor of female does not affect who an individual votes for.  Similarly, the interaction between the two factors, race and females (.107), is more than the threshold (.05). Essentially, this signifies that the interaction between race and female do not have an effect on who an individual votes fore.  Therefore, leading to the conclusion that race is the only factor that affects who an individual votes for.

Conclusion

The political science literature on the gender gap in voting presented a variety of opinions regarding the idea of gender affecting an individuals voting behavior.  Kathleen Frankovic supported the idea that there were differences in voting between men and women, but advocated that other factors were at play as well.  On the other hand, Daniel Wirls indicated that the disparities between voting behaviors were the sole purpose of men.  Wirls also made an important observation in regards to voting behavior.  He noted that men were moving towards Republican Party at a faster rate than women, thus allowing women to take the reigns as the main supports of the Democratic Party.  Both Frankovic and Wirls notably came to the conclusion that there is in fact a disparity between male-female voting behaviors.  The hypothesis of this paper, which takes into account gender as the main reasoning for women choosing to vote for a democratic candidate is in fact, supported though the data.  The chi-square test that was preformed resulted in significance at the .05 level between gender and intention to vote.  Although one can never fully be sure whether the individual is truthful in responding to the survey, the NES times series study does provide data that is useful.

The hypothesis on race and gender affecting voting behavior turned out only one variable that proved to have an affect.  Utilizing a factorial ANOVA, the affect race has on who an individual votes for is significant at the .05 level.  Gender, and the interaction between race and gender proved to not have any affect on who individual votes on: for they did not present any significance at the .05 level.  This finding thus illustrates that there are other underlying factors that go into the processes of choosing a candidate to vote for.  This experimentation is not detailed, and if one were to delve further into the underlying factors that affect voting behavior, aside from gender and race, one would be able to understand (to a point) what truly influences an individual.  Untimely, this experiment is limited to the categories of gender and race; and with those variables, demonstrate that women do tend to vote more democratically than males, and that race affects who an individual votes for.

Figure 1.

Figure 2.

Figure 3.

Figure 4.

Works Cited

Frankovic, Kathleen. “Sex and Politics, New Alignments and Old Issues.” PS 15.3 (1982): 439-47. JSTOR. Web. 1 Dec. 2011.

Kaufmann, Karen M., and John R. Petrocik. “The Changing Politics of American Men: Understanding the Sources of the Gender Gap.” CSA. EBSCO. Web. 1 Dec. 2011. .

Lien, P.-T. “Does the Gender Gap in Political Attitudes and Behavior Vary Across Racial Groups?” Political Research Quarterly 51.4 (1998): 869-94. Print.

 Manza, Jeff, and Clem Brooks. “The Gender Gap in U.S. Presidential Elections: When? Why? Implications?” American Journal of Sociology 103.5 (1998): 1235-266. Print.

Paget, Karen. “The Gender Gap Mystique.” The American Prospect. 19 Dec. 2001. Web. 1 Dec. 2011. .

Studlar, Donley T., Ian McAllister, and Bernadette C. Hayes. “Explaining the Gender Gap in Voting: A Cross-National Anaylsis.” JSTOR. JSTOR. Web. 1 Dec. 2011.

The American National Election Studies (ANES; www.electionstudies.org). The ANES 2008 Time Series Study. Stanford University and the University of Michigan.

Welsh, Susan, and Lee Sigelman. “Gender Gap Among Hispanics? A Comparison with Blacks and Anglos.” The Western Political Quarterly 45. JSTOR. Web. 1 Dec. 2011.

Wirls, Daniel. “Reinterpreting the Gender Gap.” The Public Opinion Quarterly 50.3 (1986): 316-           

            30. JSTOR. Web. 1 Dec. 2011.

Furthermore, colorblindness promotes the neglect of discourse revolving around race leading to an atmosphere of unwillingness, or at the very least unawareness, to see the truth.  RuPaul’s Drag Race is viewed by thousands of Americans.  Its popularity directly relates to the difficulty of seeing through the colorblindness that surrounds it.  “If we live in a ‘smoggy’ place how can we avoid breathing the air” (Hill 2008)?

            The most prominent examples of the stereotypes seen in the season are within the episode, “Ru Ha Ha.”  Here the queens are asked to perform comedy routines, with no specific guidelines or prompts.  Before their shows, the men are given the opportunity to roast one another light-heartedly.  Miss Delta seems to cling to race almost immediately as she tears into Puerto Rican, Yara Sofia, “Isn’t it interesting that when you’re flight came into town that the sightings of chupacabras increased?” and Korean, Manila “What are we going to do when a hurricane hits all of Asia? You won’t have any material left” (Stevenson 2011).  These comments may seem to be “active racism,” but the real issue here is that none of these comments are directly addressed as such (Tatum 1997).  Colorblindness is exemplified here in the silence:

“This partly stems from a desire to avoid conflict and partly from a belief that acknowledging race in any form creates the problem in the first place.  Not talking about race may avoid short term conflict, but in the midst of a society that is racially structured, to say talk creates the problem will keep people from discussing what is needed for solutions.” (Hitchcock 2002)

When a complaint was made about the raciness of these comedy routines, one colorblind queen defended by saying, “it’s for entertainment” (Stevenson 2011).  This response comes from the colorblind belief that “intent, not effects, are important” (Hitchcock 2011).

While Miss Delta’s bold statements are easy for anyone to pick up on as racist on some level, in the episode of the Patriotic Challenge, there are more subtle stereotypes played on.  All but one of the drag queens dress in sparkling outfits involving red, white, and blue.  Raja, in contrast, dresses in ‘traditional’ Native American attire.  However, the correct term to describe her costume is just that, a costume; she was very obviously playing Indian.  Using a large, unnaturally colored headdress and scarce clothing.  In another challenge Raja destroys the African tribal culture, as she, dressed scantily, makes clicking noises as to imitate her African background. Raja’s representation of Native American and African people allows colorblind people to look at racism and race in general as a thing of the past because they are “unwilling to look at race, or even name it, colorblindness is sometimes unable to spot racism” (Hitchcock 2011). This false depiction of Native Americans, won the Patriotic Challenge because “most or part of these views are widely held by many Americans… They accept these views because no alternative has ever been clearly presented to them” (Graves 2004).  Having done their part to demean other races, the queens do take on their fair share of victimization, as well.

“Even a member of the stereotyped group may internalize the stereotypical categories about his or her own group to some degree” (Tatum 1997).  Alexis Mateo and Yara Sofia demonstrate this internalized racism in their comedy routines.  Both of them are from Puerto Rico, sporting heavier accents.  Alexis’ standup relied heavily on the stereotypes that any Latina coming to the United States only has two jobs: clean or become a stripper.  She also says, “I rode first class, right in front of that boat, Baby!” (Stevenson 2011).  Similarly, Yara uses poverty as a selling point to get laughs.  Manila ends up doing the same thing when she performs a cameo of Connie Chung.  Her impersonation is filled with what Amy Tan would call broken English, making Chung out to be babbling incoherently (1990).  Again, a colorblind person will attribute this joking to good intent and move on without talking about the serious implications.  In the rare occurrence that the person actually takes into account the underlying patterns of poverty in the routines, all thoughts will eventually be dismissed under colorblind theory:

“Colorblindness denies that race makes a difference in people’s lives.  This is colorblindness in its vanity.  Convincing itself that its final goal has been achieved, colorblindness says we are all the same under our skin.  We all have the same chances and opportunities in life, so there is no need to dwell on race.  When people of color do not achieve, it’s not because of race, but rather is the individual failure of the people involved.” (Hitchcock 2002)

This type of analysis, or lack there of, is unacceptable because it allows for the institutional racism to go on unseen as well.

            Institutional racism has also found its way into RuPaul’s Drag Race.  Near the end of the season the remaining queens are asked to give the judges reasons to keep them, Yara Sofia opens up and tells the judges her situation and how becoming a famous drag queen in New York is really her only shot to make it out of poverty and support her family in Puerto Rico.  At this, the judges dismiss her making up their minds that her speech was simply not superstar material like some other vapid responses given.  The colorblind viewer looks at Yara Sofia and sees a failed individual, but:

“In between being completely unique as individuals and completely identical as human beings, we are all members of social groupings, be it men, women, white, black, red, yellow, brown, mixed, gay, straight, middle class, upper class, lower class.  Our social group status does not define us exclusively.  Nor does our common humanity.  Nor does our individualism.  Each of these contributes to our experience and our nature.  To single out one and hold it above all of the others is arbitrary and misguided.” (Hitchcock 2002)

Weighing each aspect of the self respectively gives social groupings, and by extension institutional racism, the attention that it deserves. Recognizing patterns in individual racism is among the first steps to becoming an antiracist. 

The most difficult aspect of colorblindness is that it has integrated itself into the American culture so much that it is comparable with “mom, apple pie, and the American flag” (Hitchcock 2002).  And since it is so imbedded within our society it exists within our media and within the common discourse among American citizens.  In the ideal, where color is really only a visual illusion made by the mind and people are not chained to it in any way, colorblindness is a great idea.  Unfortunately that is not the stage we are at here, in the United Sates of America.

While Yara Sofia’s makeup had been without smudges, her outfits without snags, and her performances without flaws, she still lost Season 3 of RuPaul’s Drag Race.  Her speech may not have been superstar material and maybe that is why she lost after all “it’s for entertainment” (Stevenson 2011).  However, the financial grief that plagued her and her family, the internalized racism that welled from her, and the incessant issue of a language barrier expressed throughout the show, are problems that can be remedied, slowly, by an active resilience to colorblindness.

The reality of colorblindness is that it hampers any progress that can be made toward antiracism by avoiding discussion, refuting race, denying evident consequences, discounting categorization, and disregarding color.  “Color is beautiful, and colorblindness can’t see it (Hitchcock 2002); not the colors of Skittles, the colors of people.  By fighting against a colorblind outlook, the smog clears just a little (Hill 2008).            

Works Cited

Graves, Joseph L, Jr. 2004. Why We Pretend Race Exists in America, in The Race Myth. NY Dutton. ix-xvi.

Hill, Jane H. 2008. The Persistence of White Racism. in The Everyday Language of White Racism. Chichester, U.K.: Wiley-Blackwell. 1-13.

Hitchcock, Jeff. 2002. Colorblindness, Personified, in Lifting The White Veil: An Exploration of White American Culture in a Multiracial Context. Roselle, NJ: Crandall, Dostie & Douglass Books. 53-72.

Stevenson, Ian, dir. “Season 3.” RuPaul’s Drag Race. Prod. RuPaul A. Charles. 2011. Television.

Tan, Amy. 1990. Mother Tongue.

Tatum, Beverly Daniel. 1997. Defining Racism: “Can We Talk?,” in “Why are all the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?” and Other Conversations about Race. New York: Basic Books. 3-17.

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Overhearing the conversations of old people can be refreshing, if not a shock. By “old” I mean those over 65 or so. Not wishing to be ageist, I have to report the stark truth here. If you watch the TV Series “Life on Mars” or “Ashes to Ashes”, set in the 1970s and 1980s, you will begin to get a flavour of the Political INCorrectness I have heard.

They say things like, “I can’t abide puffs. They are filthy b***s.”

Or: “Enoch Powell was right: we ought to send those n***s and P***s back to their own country!”

Or: “You can’t trust a Catholic (or alternatively, Protestant)!”

Or: “I’m not a Tory myself, but I agree with them that we should get out of Europe ASAP, away from those K***s and Froggies.”

Recently I heard one say, “Jeremy Clarkson was only being sarcastic but really he was right: shoot those b*** strikers! Those train suiciders Are selfish too.”

I suppose the Politically Correct brigade will say that I should turn on these folk and say, “That’s unacceptable!” In a world where looking at someone “wrongly” or looking vulnerable can get you knifed! No, I was never one for direct confrontation. Ever the wimp, me. I just nod in agreement, then ponder over my private thoughts. If ever there was a telepathic “Thought Police”, I would be in trouble!

To be stupidly honest, I do have some sympathy for those “old fashioned”, bigoted views. As regards Gays, most of them seem good, decent folk, but the thought of anal sex still revolts me. Call me Homophobic if you like, but conventional heterosexual sex is the only way to go. Sex is primarily for procreation, after all.

As for racism, well for me the colour of your skin is no more important than the colour of your eyes or hair. However, we have to concede that over the past hundred years the UK has been rather liberal with its immigration policy. But it’s too late now to “send them back”. The younger generation of “blacks” are now fully British. What galls me though is that the PC wallowers have slanted everything in favour of non-whites. How can I argue when those Oldies say, “They are taking over! Look at them all, on the telly – all those black presenters!” Or when they say, “We cannot call them, but they are allowed to call us White Trash, Limeys etc.!” The PC faction have much overcompensated here, I feel.

On the Religious front, I have to agree that Moslems in particular have much to answer for. All their talk of world domination and “Jihad”. Their use of suicide bombers. Well, their extremists have much to answer for, let’s agree with that.

I don’t hear much about Catholics these days, or encounter any that I know of. I am sure there are faults on both sides of this particular divide. “Religious People” in general sometimes come under the cosh these days. Tales of child abuse by priests  etc. do fuel these fires.

Of course, who knows what these Oldies say about Me once I’m gone? Bet that’s not too PC either! I’d better grow me a thick skin. At least The Truth is out there.

Paul Butters