RC or What is it all about?

Rape culture. Why does it exist in a society today? Why do people make others the victims? Why does the rape as it is exist in general? WHY? A lot of scientists try to answer these and a lot of similar questions, connected with the rape culture, daily. Let us ask ourselves - why?

 

To my mind, rape, as an action, is the sickest thing ever. I cannot understand, how can one person make someone who is weaker feel uncomfortable with the full understanding and conscience? Probably, there is the only answer: every rapist is a weaker person himself. I think that a person who becomes a rapist has the inner complexes and umbrage inside. Sometimes, a rapist does not want to realize it, but this makes no change - the psychology claims that most of the crimes against another person are done by the people who get frustrated because of the life losses and unluckiness.

 

However, You, reader, may say that we all have the problems in our lives, and it does not make us doing something wrong against the others. Yes, that is true. Every of us has our own dark corners in the souls. But what activates this darkness in some of us? Mass media. This great power to influence the people - this is what wakes the evil side of a person up. We see the idea, and our brain products some conclusions; some morals - the image of what is wrong and what is right. Television, Internet and what not. Adults, children watch the violence and see that it is everywhere. What can be the reaction of their brains to it? Only the logical respond - of violence, cruelty spreads all over the world. The morality changes. The same - with the people, they change, too. And to which side: to the better or to the worse? Who knows, everything is particular in the different situations.

 

Every 2 minutes someone becomes a victim of the assault within the United States. This means that while You were reading this post, someone became a victim. So, think over it.

ME Project

Sociobiology – is the science which studies the biological basis of all social behavior. Sociobiologists identify the 4 main factors which influence the personality and character of a person. They are: heredity, birth order, parental characteristics and cultural environment. They are all special and “respond” for one’s personality particularly and differently. 

Heredity. Heredity includes those characteristics which are given to us with our birth. Among these characteristics are mostly the appearance features, such as skin pigmentation, color of eyes, physical building of the body and so on. Personally, I can, as any person, find a lot of similarities in my and my parents’ appearance. For example, the color of my eyes and hair is just similar to my Father’s ones. At the same time, I am also pretty tall and I took it from my Dad, too. Though, some of the other appearance features I took from my Mother. This way, I feel the influence of heredity on myself. Another point of heredity is an aptitude. An aptitude is some certain skills which we get from our birth. For example, an aptitude can be something like a talent to play some music instrument, or a talent to singing, etc. I can definitely say, for instance, that I got the skill of studying from the family roots from the side of my Mother. The evidence can be that my Mother’s family includes almost all the members who are or were connected with science this or that way. For example, my Mother’s Father, who is my Grandpa, is a professor in the College and teaches Math. So, I feel like I took the good ability to studying as the heredity from my ancestors. 

Birth order. Birth order stands for the dependence of Your character on the place in the order where You were born in the family. In the other words, what child in the family You are: whether the oldest, the middle, or the youngest. I am the oldest child in the family, and also have a younger brother who is 14, so I am not a single kid in the family. According to the theory, the oldest children usually tend to show more the qualities of a leader, be goal-oriented, and setting the getting of the good level of education as a goal. I would say, that some of these characteristics are common with those which are in my personality. Why does the birth order exist? Probably, it is so because this theory is based on the parents’ treatment of their children. How? Scientists claim that the parents tend to be more careful about taking care of their first children, because they are more inexperienced and not too risk-taking in letting their first kids do whatever the lasts want to. And with every next child in a family, the parents usually make their pressure on the life less and less and are getting calmer about the process of the children’s development. 

Parental characteristics. Parental characteristics is the factor which says that the parents’ influence itself depends on the personalities of the parents of a kid themselves. What it means is that the age, occupation, social class of the parents can be influential on the personalities of the kids in the family. For example, a child who is born to the parents in their mid-20s and a child who is born to the parents in their mid-30s can grow up as the different personalities. That is so because of the different attitudes of the parents on the aspects of the up-bringing of the children depending on their own age. This is also connected with the fears and personal priorities of the parents, which usually tend to get changed with the time. All in all, I would say that I did not feel a great influence of this factor on my personal life, as far as even my parents were in their mid-20s when I was born, they still wanted me to grow up in the atmosphere of education and quite a pressure in this question from their side, for what I am really grateful to them because, I feel, all I have today is due to it and due to their care about me and their support whenever I needed.

Cultural environment. The last factor, according to the sociobiologists, which is to influence a person’s character is the cultural environment. To my mind, this is the most major aspect in the question of the influence on a personality. The environment I live in – is something that mostly makes me the way I am today. Yes, to my mind, my social network, my inhabitance, the culture I exist in – this is what “shapes” me in the form I am. Personally, I think that if the family is something that gives us the basics ideas about how we should act within a society. Society, next up, is something that makes us develop our interactional skills and abilities to improve our characters and personalities in the way we want to. The culture we exist in gives us a lot of opportunities to discover ourselves by communicating, comparing, seeking for the right ways. I guess, my cultural environment is the factor which turned out to be the most important in my personal development. Ukraine, Ukrainian people, our values and attitudes – is what I mostly take the knowledge from. Now, American culture is also included, and I can definitely say that I do feel its influence on my personality. 

All things considered, I think that all of the four listed factors are influential on our lives. But personally for me, the aspect of cultural environment I live in is something that mostly in my age makes and develops me the way I am. However, anyway everything starts with the family, and that is why I think it is impossible to separate one from another.  

The Birth Order

 Some people say that the birth order means much in the formation of one's personality. In the other words, they claim that Your place in the family, whether You are the oldest, the middle, or the youngest child, can strongly influence what a person You may be in life. Personally, I both agree and disagree with such a view on the birth order.

On the one hand, I think that birth order does influence a person's character. The same is what a lot of the scientists say. Moreover, some of the "researches say birth order differences are as strong as gender difference". To my mind, there is really some difference between the children within a family. The oldest children usually tend to have the leadership qualities, tend to be perfectionists, and to make an accent on the education. The middle usually grow up as very competitive people, as far as from the very childhood they have to fight for the attention from the side of their parents. They are also usually creative and do not like to follow someone in the views or whatever, probably, because they get "fed up" with the authority of their older siblings in the early childhood. The youngest children of a family are in a lot of cases, according to the scientists and researchers, while growing up become very out-going and creative personalities, however, without any special ambitions about themselves. They also tend to be more dependent on the views and attitudes of their peer-friends. All in all, there is a lot of situations when this birth order depending does work. This way, I can say that I agree with a lot of aspects of this theory.

However, on the other hand, I think that anyway in the every single family there are certain special aspects, which can make a difference in the common view on the question of the birth order theory. For example, the atmosphere within a family may influence the lives and personalities of the kids who grow up in it. Under the word "atmosphere" I mean the way the children are bought up, the attitude and relationships in the parent-child communicating. By the way, the relations between the parent of a family are also of great importance. I am sure that these aspects play really great role in the formation of a child's character. And, of course, the environment in general a kid lives in - this is what mostly develops these or those particular traits of personality in him/her.

All things considered, my personal position is that the theory of the birth order works. But, at the same time, some aspects can possibly change it in a particular family. This way, parents should take care of their children very well and make them prepared for the adult life and try to influence their personalities in the best way they can, because not everything depends just on the birth order. And because, as one great person said: "Children are one third of our population and all of our future."

The product of Society or Not?

 

 

Yes. We are all the products of the conditions we live in - both material, and non-material. As far as all of these conditions are created by the Society and Culture within which we exist, this way, yes, every of us is a product of a Society in this or that way. Why is it so? To my mind, this becomes possible because our everyday routine, which is spent in some certain conditions, is something that influences our attitudes, lifestyle, habits, knowledge and experience, behavior and etc. As a result, I am definitely sure that our circle of communication, our family, friends, our mates, the school we attend, the way we spend our time, the way we celebrate any holidays, and the way we are used to do this or that type of activity - these all is what makes us the way we are.

 

An example of this straight interdepending of these aspects can be the history facts about the untamed children. In the other words, the life stories of the kids who, because of these or those reasons, were raised in the inhuman conditions - in the wild, or in the place far from civilization, or even far from any contact with another person. Such kids, been found after years of isolation, did not have most of the abilities which normal people, who grew up in the human society, had. This fact proves the theory that we all - are the products of the community we live in.

 

All in all, in my personal opinion, our language, customs and traditions, and even the emotions we express - these and other aspects are the result of our socialization and interaction. Without it, with only the lower level of communication, the human kind would, probably, look just like all the other biological species and would never achieve that progress which we have nowadays.

Nature or Nurture?

One's sexual orientation - what is it influenced by? Is it a question of one's DNA or a question of one's environment and society he/she lives in? Personally, I think that both of the factors can influence it. On the one hand, I definitely think that sexual orientation straightly depends on the Nature. To my mind, this is something that a person "achieves" just been born. And, I am pretty sure, that it can be extremely hardly changed during the life process. However, on the other hand, I guess and can say that, all in all, one's orientation probably can be changed. This becomes possible because of the society we live in, because of our social network, our circle of communication. In my opinion, one's sexual orientation can be changed under the pressure of all these factors. All things considered, I think that both variants are possible. Though, I still prefer the Nature factor in this question.

The school week

Here has just passed by my another week of living and studying in the USA. More knowledge, more experience, other 5 school days. What was new for me?

Probably, the most important memories are connected with the Veterans' Day, which took place on Monday, 11.11.13, this year. The Honor Ceremony will stay in my memories forever, as an integral part of my American experience. I could see the real pride for their country in the eyes of American people. Their unlimited feeling of the great patriotism makes me happy, because this is what makes the United States definitely United! People who feel proud about being the way they are, and even sing about it: "I am proud to be American!.." - those people who are with their Motherland with all their minds and hearts can be called the real citizens of their country!

Among some other important thoughts of the week was the one about voting. Why should every able single person vote in the elections or whatever? One of our teachers said that, at least, You should vote in the memory of Your ancestors who died in the wars, fighting for Your rights, for Your freedoms and for Your ability to decide the future of Your country, and this way, Your own future.


This passing week was, as always while my staying in the USA, full of the jokes, fun, and sarcasm. And it makes me feeling happy about this school year. I am extremely grateful to my Book of Life for such colorful and unforgettable pages, which are connected with my American being. Whatever happens - is leading to the better. And I am pretty sure that it is really so. This is what our lives are all about.

You only know when You are far

I still recall my first step on the American earth. You know, it was a very weird feeling. Why? Probably, because of some great expectations connected with the coming exchange year. Every of our FLEX-ers was so excited, that we just started talking about our plans for the nearest "American" future, hugging each other, and even crying. Strange,  isn't it? I still remember when we started singing Ukrainian National Anthem, right in the Dulles Airport. We were kind of joking about "how much we miss our Motherland", though even every single of us said it with some warm feeling in the voice,  we still didn't realize some points of our life. Yes, we did loved UA much at that moment. However, we could not even imagine how strong our love would turn out to be after some time of living in the USA. Now, I am hundred percent sure, any of my "colleagues" in this exchange year may say that he/she is proud to call him/herself Ukrainian. Simply because when you are far from your dear hometown, when you are surrounded by totally different people, you are in totally different conditions, - you get the sense of comparing and analyzing things which are around you. You find out that any aspect has two sides. And, this way, you come to understanding of your own happiness - happiness to be Ukrainian. 

Follow your heart. Even if it leads to something new and inexperienced yet, just follow. At least, because you have no clue where the exit is going to be. And what, if it goes straight to you American dream? Who knows. So, take a risk and get what You want. But start with simple: remember who you are and where you belong. And, what is the most important about it - do it with all your heart and sincerely. As far as being fair and true to yourself - is right what makes you the way you are. 

Ukrainians! Love Ukraine with all your heart and mind! Americans? Be proud of Your country, because for a great amount of people this is a dream - to come and live here. So, appreciate what You have. Because only Your own attitude can make You either happy, or not.