Just a question I wanna throw out there with not much detail
Answer in anyway that you think it pertains
Peace


as i paint to the wind's breath
freestyle to my footsteps
and create till the heartbeat's got no rhythm left...
-archangel_500years

Continue to ignore yourself and your hearing will be no more...

I just started classes again on Tuesday, and this semester I have a sociology class that focuses alot on the impact television has on society. But anyway, I just wanted to give you a little information first.
So anyway, my teacher was talking today and on Tuesday about how desensitized our society has become. First, she talked about how she walks around on campus and hears people throwing curse words around, and how it doesn't bother her anymore, because after hearing those words in society for so long, they have no effect on her. Just think about it though, remember when "hell" was barely said on TV? Now it's said all the time. I remember the first time I heard "bitch" on TV. I couldn't believe it, now it's just a common thing. Oh, I almost forgot about this. I was watching some local channel because they show music videos on Friday and Saturday nights (yea, I don't have cable), and I don't know if they TV station messed up, but the "n" word AND "fuck" weren't edited out. I almost fell off my couch. I mean, 5 years ago you couldn't say half the things said on TV now, so in 5 years are you going to hear this on TV too? I hope not.

Then she started talking about the word "fuck" and she has made sure that her daughter is NOT desensitized to that word. I'm not sure how old her daughter is though. She said that if she says "fuck" around her daughter, her daughter snaps to attention pretty much because she knows "Wow, mom is mad now." I thought that was pretty interesting. Just like she was saying today that don't say "no" too much, because it becomes desensitized. People hear "no" from you too often and pretty much take that with a grain of salt eventually. Of course, all this goes along with how society interacts, and other factors of speech communication and what not.

Another thing she talked about was those commercials for the starving kids in thirds world countries, and how you pay x amount of dollars per month to feed them. You know what I'm talking about. She said the first time she ever saw one of those commercials, she started crying, but now she doesn't even blink an eye when they come on. When I see those commercials too, it doesn't bother me at all. But I'm sure if I didn't grow up seeing them everywhere, they would have an impact.

I do think that society in general has become desensitized to a point. But curse words and horrid images aren't the only way.

Well, that was all the somewhat intelligent thinking I'm doing for today. I need a nap.

Mizzery...aka...Dmc

"There is only one race, and that is the Human Race. Everything else is culture."-James Olmos

"I'll ride your jellyroll, but you can't take my soul."-Anonymous

AIM: Mizz1825

Being desensitized is a means of selfprotection or adaptation/coping in a certain way. Look at how we're used to a mass amount of information or impulses (MTV, videos, commercials, ...) every day.

Ever noticed how a lot of older people can't cope with it ? It actually hurts for them, and they're not used to it.

If that mass of information or someone saying 'fuck' had that same impact every single time it happened, we probably wouldn't be able to deal with it. Maybe also becos, after the first time, you've developed a way to handle it, or you can compare with that first time.

At the same time it means we have a much higher tolerance for stuff that shouldn't always be tolerated. Some sort of accepting it, just cos it happens so often.

So being desensitized makes you stop caring about/for other people, which I think is something to be aware of.

krewcial

OKAYPLAYER COMPILATION 2000 !!!
http://urgent.rug.ac.be/vinylators/okpcompil2000.htm

OKAYPLAYERSONG PT. 2 :
http://urgent.rug.ac.be/vinylators/audio/okp2s.mp3

OKAYPLAYERSONG PT. 1 (the original baybee !!):
http://urgent.rug.ac.be/vinylators/audio/okplayer.mp3

HOME : http://urgent.rug.ac.be/vinylators

I'm part of this too ... :
http://www.thejawn.com/okprod/

the instrumentals for my next album (in MP3-format) :
http://urgent.rug.ac.be/vinylators/audio/instrus.html


'We've got to change our own minds about each other. We have to see each other with new eyes. We have to see each other as brothers and sisters. We have to come together with warmth'

>If that mass of information or
>someone saying 'fuck' had that
>same impact every single time
>it happened, we probably wouldn't
>be able to deal with
>it.
I think that's what my teacher was saying. Like after hearing the word "fuck" for so long, its effects wear off. We never react the same way to it like the ways we reacted when we heard it the first few times.

Maybe also becos,
>after the first time, you've
>developed a way to handle
>it, or you can compare
>with that first time.
>
It loses its effects. It just becomes another word.

As I said yesterday, this all my intelligent thinking for today. I still have another class today, I need to save my brain.

Mizzery...aka...Dmc

"There is only one race, and that is the Human Race. Everything else is culture."-James Olmos

"I'll ride your jellyroll, but you can't take my soul."-Anonymous

AIM: Mizz1825

Romans liked to see people get eaten by lions. Didn't the Aztecs sacrifice people to their gods? "I own 50 niggers. Lazy, always trying to run away."
"Yeah I have the same problems with mine." Not much sensitivity in that conversation.

AIM: mke1978

"L'actualité régionale: c'est vous qui la vivez, c'est nous qui en vivons"
In English:
"Local news: you live it, we live off it"
- Jules-Edouard Moustic, 20H20

"There's no blood in my body/It's liquid soul in my veins"
- Roots Manuva (check the fantastic album "Brand New Second Hand")

OKAYPLAYER COMPILATION 2000 !!!
http://urgent.rug.ac.be/vinylators/okpcompil2000.htm

OKAYPLAYERSONG PT. 2 :
http://urgent.rug.ac.be/vinylators/audio/okp2s.mp3

OKAYPLAYERSONG PT. 1 (the original baybee !!):
http://urgent.rug.ac.be/vinylators/audio/okplayer.mp3

HOME : http://urgent.rug.ac.be/vinylators

I'm part of this too ... :
http://www.thejawn.com/okprod/

the instrumentals for my next album (in MP3-format) :
http://urgent.rug.ac.be/vinylators/audio/instrus.html


'We've got to change our own minds about each other. We have to see each other with new eyes. We have to see each other as brothers and sisters. We have to come together with warmth'

...yeah the romans and aztecs and whoever else did some barbaric things, but OUR culture is not structured the same way...thus the need for some level of sensitivity and compassion.

I know that I am desensitized. I can't watch gory shit on TV because I never was exposed to that, but if someone was standing next to me and got shot or stabbed, I probably wouldn't flinch. I've just been around it a lot and if it affected me like things I don't have to deal with daily affect me, I'd probably be a mess.

Which makes me wonder, why do we inflict desensitation upon ourselves? I'm sorry but I know that the shit I've witnessed has made me cold in some aspects, and I'd be happy (relatively so) to trade with sometime who gets affected by ugly things. Why, when in a decent setting do people expose themselves to ugliness?

I dunno...it just pains me to see kids starting to wear hoochie mama clothes because of the visuals that are accepted in society...and no one raises an eyebrow about it....yadda yadda yadda.

_____________________ .
Peace.
Inez AKA Starli

Inez24@prodigy.net
_____________________ .
"Starli/gets the party started
like a car key" -Juice

"At times my going forward seems
like retreat" -Common

SUPPORT THIS!
http://www.blumagazine.net/

I had just got through having an argument with my sister about my 7-year-old niece watching Jerry Springer and wrestling on TV. I wanted to cry when my niece said to me...”auntie, can a boy and a boy or girl and girl have a baby together like a mommy and daddy” I couldn’t believe that my sister was being so careless with what her children saw. And then I began to question... if she didn’t see it here would she see it elsewhere? Are we living in a world where we have to train and inform our children about things I didn’t know about until JR High School? I mean look at the risks involved... if we don’t inform our children about different things that go on in the world today the RIGHT way they’re gonna end up hearing it from the mouth of another confused 7 or 8-year-old. And then we have to go and un-confuse our children... and that in it self will be a trying task that could have very bad side effects. And that’s not even the half! There are so many ways that we have become desensitized. Family life, the media, nature... theres so much.

It’s true the world is changing daily and we have to “keep up” in order to avoid confusion among other things. But theres this thing called innocence... and this is something that we should truly re-examine and explore. I often get upset with my parents for sheltering me from so much because there is ALOT that I don’t know about... but when I really look at it I feel that it was more of a blessing then a burden


as i paint to the wind's breath
freestyle to my footsteps
and create till the heartbeat's got no rhythm left...
-archangel_500years

Continue to ignore yourself and your hearing will be no more...

>I wanted to cry when my niece said
>to me...”auntie, can a boy
>and a boy or girl
>and girl have a baby
>together like a mommy and
>daddy”

i must be missing something. isn't it natural for children to want to know "where babies come from"?
isn't it a GOOD thing that the child is asking rather than wondering and getting misinformation? Isn't this a good opportunity to TECH the child something that might very well benefit them?

>if she didn’t see it here would she
>see it elsewhere? Are we
>living in a world where
>we have to train and
>inform our children about things
>I didn’t know about until
>JR High School?

yup we are. sad but true. BUT, in this case telling the child how babies are made isn't THAT unusual at that age.

i see your futher comments that basically agree with my views so i'll leave that alone...

>There
>are so many ways that
>we have become desensitized. Family
>life, the media, nature... theres
>so much.

I guess I missed how this ties in with the story you just told. Where does the desensitization come in?

>But theres this thing called
>innocence... and this is something
>that we should truly re-examine
>and explore. I often get
>upset with my parents for
>sheltering me from so much
>because there is ALOT that
>I don’t know about... but
>when I really look at
>it I feel that it
>was more of a blessing
>then a burden

i guess you're getting at the idea that exposing a child to too much can be a help as much as a hinderance? i'm kinda lost.

please explain...


------QUOTE STARTS HERE------
BooDaah-OkayActivist Moderator
** PLEASE READ THE POSTING GUIDELINES:
http://www.okayplayer.com/guidelines.html
-----------------------------
Sister SheRise's Activist Stew Recipe:
Step1:inform yourself step/Step2:inform others/Step3:discuss the problem/Step4: DISCUSS SOLUTIONS/Step5:EXECUTE SOLUTIONS/Step6:evaluate the results/Step7:start over at 1 until desired result is accomplished.
-----------------------------

it wasnt the fact that she asked where babies were made... I mean she actually has been informed to a certain degree... because she has explored this question in the past BUT... the fact that she wanted to know if a baby could be manifested from a homosexula relationship is what got me
only because I know that in her mind there was a lot of images that didnt need to be there... and it wasnt so much what she asked it was why she asked it...

but I truly see where you are comming from... its just frustrating for me because my sister lets my niece watch anything and doesnt really know how to deal with all of the questions and behavior that follows these influences

as i paint to the wind's breath
freestyle to my footsteps
and create till the heartbeat's got no rhythm left...
-archangel_500years

Continue to ignore yourself and your hearing will be no more...

now you're getting to a whole different thing.

the idea that your sibling is allowing your niece to be exposed to things she cant help her understand is scary (if not unusual). i guess that's where you come in as an auntie.

children are sponges intellectually and will inquire about EVERYTHING. you're right when you say it's better she get it (knowledge) at home than on the street, but they key is that the "home" part is up to the task.

but i still don't see what it has to do with being desensitized.

------QUOTE STARTS HERE------
BooDaah-OkayActivist Moderator
** PLEASE READ THE POSTING GUIDELINES:
http://www.okayplayer.com/guidelines.html
-----------------------------
Sister SheRise's Activist Stew Recipe:
Step1:inform yourself step/Step2:inform others/Step3:discuss the problem/Step4: DISCUSS SOLUTIONS/Step5:EXECUTE SOLUTIONS/Step6:evaluate the results/Step7:start over at 1 until desired result is accomplished.
-----------------------------

okay well as far as the reference I made to the ways that society has become desinsitized....

I feel that it all relates
because in some families well at least some that I know and Im sure others... its normal for thier children to be exposed to certain things...
things that in tha past would not have been acceptable in ANY family... thats why I feel that we are becomming desensitized because we are in a society where "anything goes" only because we have seen everything


as i paint to the wind's breath
freestyle to my footsteps
and create till the heartbeat's got no rhythm left...
-archangel_500years

Continue to ignore yourself and your hearing will be no more...

in that case, where do you think the line should be drawn given the pervasiveness of outside resources.

i do miss the "innocence of childhood" and am saddened by the exposure of children to adult concepts, but what good is it to be sad? the reality is the reality. children need to be equipped to handle the kinds of things that this world we have created for them will bring.

i agree that it's too bad, but again you still gotta "train a child in the way they should go".

------QUOTE STARTS HERE------
BooDaah-OkayActivist Moderator
** PLEASE READ THE POSTING GUIDELINES:
http://www.okayplayer.com/guidelines.html
-----------------------------
Sister SheRise's Activist Stew Recipe:
Step1:inform yourself step/Step2:inform others/Step3:discuss the problem/Step4: DISCUSS SOLUTIONS/Step5:EXECUTE SOLUTIONS/Step6:evaluate the results/Step7:start over at 1 until desired result is accomplished.
-----------------------------

i distinctly remember my mother putting up "barriers" as to what was and wasn't appropriate for me to learn. but the key with her is that she just didn't say it was "off limits" she explained why.

so, it's up to the parent to decide and be ready for whatever consequences result from the knowledge shared (or lack thereof).

------QUOTE STARTS HERE------
BooDaah-OkayActivist Moderator
** PLEASE READ THE POSTING GUIDELINES:
http://www.okayplayer.com/guidelines.html
-----------------------------
Sister SheRise's Activist Stew Recipe:
Step1:inform yourself step/Step2:inform others/Step3:discuss the problem/Step4: DISCUSS SOLUTIONS/Step5:EXECUTE SOLUTIONS/Step6:evaluate the results/Step7:start over at 1 until desired result is accomplished.
-----------------------------

>i guess you're getting at the
>idea that exposing a child
>to too much can be
>a help as much as
>a hinderance? i'm kinda lost.

boodah, that's a good point you've raised that clarifies the post a little..

I feel like childhood/innocence does need to be protected to some degree - to what degree though?
______________________________________

seize your time! - marley/wailers

blackboogeymanmanicmadmusicianmakerofnoise.. - black thought/roots

>I feel like childhood/innocence does need
>to be protected to some
>degree - to what degree
>though?

i'm not sure to what degree you CAN shield your children. As I said above, I think you just have to have the type of relationship where you filter the information from the disinformation. you gotta be honest to the extent that the child will understand (being truthful is the key). for example giving a clinical explanation for the where do babies come from question would be infromation overload for a four-year old. that said (going back to Nia's example) it isn't that hard to explain to a child tht two males can't make a baby.

------QUOTE STARTS HERE------
BooDaah-OkayActivist Moderator
** PLEASE READ THE POSTING GUIDELINES:
http://www.okayplayer.com/guidelines.html
-----------------------------
Sister SheRise's Activist Stew Recipe:
Step1:inform yourself step/Step2:inform others/Step3:discuss the problem/Step4: DISCUSS SOLUTIONS/Step5:EXECUTE SOLUTIONS/Step6:evaluate the results/Step7:start over at 1 until desired result is accomplished.
-----------------------------

..almost like lost innocence searching for ignorance is what this matrix's all about.

you're right, we need to try and flip it and reverse that process.
______________________________________

seize your time! - marley/wailers

blackboogeymanmanicmadmusicianmakerofnoise.. - black thought/roots

The things that used to bother and disturb me as a child, don't mean much now, and vice versa. I wish I could jump when I see Faces of Death-type programming.

Then, I did become sensitive to something when I was watching the Cell. When guy's father was abusing him as a child, and he grabbed the iron, I could barely watch, even though they didn't show anything.

Otherwise, nothing surprises me, shocks me, etc. We're so used to everyday violence that it has become a way of life. Live by the gun, die by the gun, for example. And we're this desensitized, imagine how the next generation will be...

*********************************************************
President and Founder of the No Booty Coalition (NBC) where our motto is "What we lack in ass, we make up for in heart (and breasts and thighs, etc.)".
To become a sponsor or member, call 1-888-5NoBoCo
Giving you no booty since 1977.

August is Top Ten Month, huh? Okay...
Top Ten Reasons Why Leos Are the Isht:

10) We look good.
9) We are intelligent.
8) We look good.
7) We are fun as hell to be around.
6) We look good.
5) We can be annoying, but you'll still love us. ;-)
4) We look good.
3) We are some creative mofos.
2) We look good.
1) We are some humble, yet honest people.


"Does the size of your signature reflect your cup size?"--bfnh

"Bush proves that he is a man who will best serve the people...their last meal."--Jon Stewart

"Put some clothes on! You're lowering my property value!"--guy from work to his neighbor.

"While you sittin' over there drinkin' that Snapple/You need to put your head between my thighs and start bobbin' for apples."--Brown Skin Lady to Naps

"We see through your voodoo, just like Eve's Bayou, you dealing with the Blackmagic..." Talib Kweli

do damage for damage be
unpredictable with map and compass
& weapons pressed against the cheek
--Sun Rise Missions, from Earthquakes and Sun Rise Missions by Haki R. Madhubuti.

Pick it up at your local black-owned bookstore today!

blackmagicallydelicious@yahoo.com