gay rights

The liberal viewpoint on gay rights is that it should be allowed, no questions asked. They believe it is not the person's fault that they are gay so they should not be penalized. The conservative viewpoint always makes the statement that "marriage is a special bond between a man and a woman" and that no other combinations should be allowed to part take because that is what the sacrament of marriage has always been. There is also the argument that conservatives say there is no genetic predisposition that makes a person gay, like you cannot differentiate between a gay and straight person by looking at their genetics. Liberals say the opposite, but neither seem to really have proof either way.

I believe that gays should be allowed the same rights as heterosexuals because i don't understand why someone would choose to be gay when it is (a) so looked down upon and (b) that homosexuals are a great minority. I don't see why it hurts anybody for them to get married, especially since states are all starting to allow it. for instance, Ellen Degeneres and her parter were married in California. I understand that originally the bond of marriage was meant to be between a man and a woman but i also believe that times are changing and they shouldn't discriminate against homosexuals like how people discriminate against race, it is the exact same concept.

Abortion

The conservative view of abortion is that of the bible, that as soon as a child is conceived it is alive. Therefore, the conservatives think that even during the first few weeks of pregnancy that gettine an abortion is murder. The liberal viewpoint is pro-choice. They believe that it should be ok for a woman to get an abortion as long as it is early enough in the pregnancy. Liberals also seem to be much more open-minded on the topic because they believe that a woman should be able to get an abortion at any time. This is because, what if the woman was raped? or what if she would never be able to take care of the baby? Both situations, liberals believe, should allow women to get an abortion. Conservatives believe that it is always murder except for maybe some circumstances where a rape is involved.

I believe that abortions should be allowed but that they should also have parameters. It should not be ok to use as a form of birth control that bails people out. But it should be allowed under circumstances such as rape. Many times women can also feel pressured in to having sexual relations even though it is not rape and they should be able to also get an abortion. But it should be a very last resort, it shouldnt be allowed more than once or something.

Liberal Vs. Conservative

One of the key differences in the opinions of those who are conservative and those who are liberal right now is their views on the war. Liberals like Clinton and Obama want to pull all of the troops out of the war in Iraq while McCain wants to keep the troops there because homeland security is one of his main concerns. Liberalism is generally associated with democrats and conservatives are associated with republicans which is what is currently going on in our election. I just found out the other day that both Obama and Clinton voted to not have English as our country's official language, which to me is very liberal because in a way they are trying to create a new America.

Another big difference between conservatives and liberals is their opinions in the abortion topic. Many conservatives are taking the God side of the argument and saying that by getting an abortion you are killing a human being, but many liberals have taken the pro-choice route and say that it should be up to the women. The differences between liberals and conservatives change from topic to topic, but in general, liberal means "favorable to progress and reform" while conservative means "disposed to preexisting conditions", which I think is really the major difference between the two.

blog #5

"It's a shame that the people who are listening to you the most are only interested in you because they want you and your peers to buy their product."


I definitely think the quote is true. My dad knew has a friend who works for one of those marketing companies so he would sometimes call to ask questions about what i had bought recently and which ads i liked and things i have seen around that seem to be popular. I dont think though that it is intrusive or anything, their goal is to make money and they are being smart by going right to their audience and asking them what they would want to buy. I dont consider it a "shame", theyre just doing their job. Yes there is too much marketed towards my age group but i would personally much rather see things that interested me than things im not interested in at all.

"I Want it That Way"

BACKSTREET BOYS LYRICS"I Want It That Way"
Yeah

You are my fire
The one desire
Believe when I say
I want it that way

But we are two worlds apart
Can't reach to your heart
When you say
That I want it that way

[Chorus:]
Tell me why
Ain't nothin' but a heartache
Tell me why
Ain't nothin' but a mistake
Tell me why
I never wanna hear you say
I want it that way

Am I your fireYour one desire
Yes I know it's too late
But I want it that way

[Chorus]

Now I can see that we're falling apart
From the way that it used to be, yeah
No matter the distanceI want you to know
That deep down inside of me...

You are my fire
The one desire
You are
You are, you are, you are

Don't wanna hear you say
Ain't nothin' but a heartache
Ain't nothin' but a mistake
(Don't wanna hear you say)
I never wanna hear you say
I want it that way

Tell me why
Ain't nothin' but a heartache
Tell me why
Ain't nothin but a mistake
Tell me whyI never wanna hear you say
(Don't wanna hear you say it)
I want it that way
I want it that way

Honestly, I never really thought about the words to the song, i have just had the lyrics to almost every backstreet boys song memorized since third grade. But now that i look over the lyrics, i notice that they are more sad then i thought they were. Saying things like "its too late" makes it seem like theyre breaking up but i always thought that it was a happier song about love just because of how upbeat the music seems to me. The song has always been a favorite of mine, along with each of the backstreet boys themselves so i was just happy listening to it and not really digging deeper into the meaning.

The Backstreet Boys

Does your chosen musical artist (for the CD project) represent the values of your generation?

I think the backstreet boys represent the values of many generations, not just mine, especially because of how most if not all of their lyrics are focused around women. The heritage artists that i featured in my CD project also sang about women and i think being with someone is usually a topic of lyrics, especially for a boy band. How the Backstreet Boys differ from earlier bands, however, is that how they describe women is in much more detail and is much more sexual. For instance, the Monkees say, "I saw her face, now I'm a believer" but the backstreet boys talk about how her body moved and things much more specific. They also represent the open-ness that there is about sexuality among my generation because of how they talk about cheating on their girlfriend by going to the appartment of some girl that they just met in the song "The Call". The Jackson 5 would only say something like "i did you wrong", never in the detail that bands like the backstreet boys do today.

Its a good thing Britney Spears wasn't around in the 50's

vs.

After watching the documentary, Elvis clearly was a controversial celebrity of his time because of the way he shook his hips. But he also opened up the door for other people to express their sexuality in their music, some more than others. Elvis was banned from some cities because they thought he wasn't something that was appropriate for people of the time. But look at us now, stars like Britney spears choose to wear virtually nothing in front of millions of people. And while some mothers try to prevent their children from seeing this, there is no way that she can be banned from entire cities. While Britney Spears is an extreme case, considering her most recent episodes, we cant necessarily say that she would be the same in terms of what music she produces and the clothes she wears if it weren't for elvis presely. Sure its probably true that someone else would have come along eventually but the differences between then and now in terms of what is appropriate clearly are pretty shocking.