The topic blog that our group chose for this week is called Gay Rights: Change. This blog deals with creating equality for gay and lesbian couples across the country. Topics within the blog range from anti-gay hate crimes, to gay marriage, and even news stories related to gay rights. Various aspects of the blog can be studied such as the credentials of the others, the way the information is presented, and even the topics covered.
Link: http://gayrights.change.org/blog
I am responding to the blog about Margie Phelps, an anti-gay activist. First of all, the blog emphasizes her stance by repeating the term "anti-gay" throughout the article. Whenever we hear the prefix "anti-" we usually think of it as being negative. This idea allows the writer to influence the opinion of the reader. Nobody wants to describe him or herself as "anti-" anything. When we hear that someone is "anti-" we tend to think less of him or her. The goal of this article is to put Margie Phelps in a negative light, through slander, which can be a logical fallacy, but this article does provide enough reasons as to why she is to be disliked, and in doing so, acquire sympathy for those whom she hurts. It states that her job is to provide correction services for those recently released from prison and says that her anti-gay attitude could lead her to give less help and attention to LGBT prisoners. This point can work in more than one way. It can be an effective tool for gaining support through emotion, but can also be considered a logical fallacy. There is no evidence given in this article that Margie Phelps does not do her job well, or that she does give special treatment to heterosexual inmates. This can be called false cause and effect. Her anti-gay beliefs do not necessarily cause her to discriminate against gay inmates. This is a logical belief and could be true, in fact it probably is, but the only evidence of this in the article is the author's poor opinion of her.
ReplyDeleteThe blog i thought was put together very well. The blog clearly states what its cause is, unlike the lazy environmentalist, where it was hard to tell at first what side of the argument it supported. In the upper right hand of the site there's a picture faded in the background, brighter colors used throughout the blog, articles outlined in red font. The blog in the margin gave the viewer good links including: an area to sign various petitions for gay rights, a common/general topics of gay rights, and a section of what the popular stories in society are for gay rights. It also gave a tool bar at the top of the site to easily view topics, see petitions, and even a tab to start your own petition.
ReplyDeleteI thought this was more like a website because there were various authors, and not too many opinionated stories, mainly articles of recent events. The only part i thought that it made it more like a blog was how people could comment on the articles.
The comments of these articles were all positive, of the few articles i read there were no disagreeing comments. I thought this blog was well put together and their ethos seemed to be there because of the professionalism of the site.
The Gay Rights part of the change organization has the exact layout as the other segments of change.org, however, the background image of a faint rainbow flag and woman holding another are seen. This flag, also known as the freedom flag, symbolizes the diversity of the LGBT community. On the right side of the website are several gay rights petitions available to sign. This is a good thing because it is getting the community of almost 320,000 people actively involved in the outside world instead of just commenting on blog posts online. The authors have lots of credibility. Michael Jones was the former Communications Director for the Humans Rights Program at Harvard. Most of the other writers have graduated from college and have a media-related career.
ReplyDeleteFrom the “Carl Paladino just being Catholic” post, it linked to another blog post on cause.org that said that Catholics “are funneling resources away from fighting poverty to stop gays from marrying”. Clicking this link to this blog post I saw that they used words phrases such as “attacking the institution of marriage” instead of saying that the Catholic Church is “not supportive of gay marriage”. This makes the reader feel as though the Church is being violent towards gay marriage.
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ReplyDeleteThe blog I read was by Michael A. Jones, "Universal Pictures Thinks Anti-Gay Language Is Hysterical". This article discuss how in Universal's upcoming movie "The Dilemma", the use of the word gay, is said in a very derogatory and demeaning manner. The author uses his pathos to show how Universal is wronging and hurting the gay community through making homophobic language a punchline. He does so in a persuasive and informative manner, but with a little bias from a quote from Anderson Cooper. The author also seems to be very eager to invite others to join his stance, with even running a petition for this issue at the bottom of his article. He shows his ethos as a writer in the bottom corner of the page, where it explains he has been writing for human rights for a decade now, most recently at Harvard Law School.
ReplyDeleteI read the article "The Monster Under the Bed." In the article, the author quotes studies such as PEW where he says that Christians know less than aetheists about their religion. He uses logos to make the point that if the Christians use religion as a justification to not allow same-sex marriage, then why do they know so little about Christianity. The author also implicitly states that religion is a monster under our bed, terrifying us yet it is ironic since the author's only credibility on the issue is that he, himself is involved in a same-sex marriage. The author uses logos by saying that many LBGQT members do not live the extreme lives that many people think they do and that families who are religious but have a gay member in their family are also pinned between the word of God, who tells them to love one another but hates their family member who is gay or chose them over religion. With the latter statement, the author also appeals to people's emotions
ReplyDeleteI found it interesting how Kevin mentioned Gay Rights bloggers were on the "right side" of the Carl Paladino article. After openly siding with the bloggers, he then continued to criticize the ways in which they went about going against Carl Paladino. I think it is human nature to want to agree with everything we read about a side of an issue that we agree with, and find every mistake and flaw in the readings that we don't agree with. I just found it interesting how Kevin was able to stand beside his views and openly criticize people on the same side as him. Which leads to the question: How does human nature influence our thoughts when looking at blogs of current activist movements in which we either disagree or agree with the bloggers standpoints?
ReplyDeleteHere's some food for thought: If a child wanted to know why an adult male was on a computer at all hours of the night, how should he respond? Let's say he is an honest pornography addict and he decides to declare this to the child pridefully. While this is an extreme example, one of the blogs from the gay rights blog site made me think about the timing in exposing children to adult situations.
ReplyDeleteMichael A. Jones' blog titled "Gay Student Teacher Fired for Saying He Wanted to Marry a Man" tells us about Seth Stambaugh. He was a student teacher at the Beaverton School District until he told a student he was not married because he wanted to elope with another man and it was prohibited by United States law. The district deemed Stambaugh's comment as inappropriate and had him relinquished of his duties at Beaverton.
Personally, I respect Seth Stambaugh's decision to be openly gay. However, as in all situations in our society, there must be some parental boundaries. The blog states that the children in Stambaugh's class were around the ages of 4th and 5th graders. I feel children should not be exposed to any romantic behavior in the adult world until they reach adolescence. I feel that Stambaugh could have left out the details of his marriage dilemma, as the average parent does to prevent children from being preoccupied with mature situations. Their primary concerns should consist of recess and cooties.
This blog does a very good job of organizing and categorizing other activist blogs. However because of the sheer amount of articles that are allowed to be posted, some articles slip in that are absolutely senseless and maybe even detrimental to their causes. The article entitled "Would Transsexuals Exist in Utopia" is a article about the place of trans genders in a utopian society. Considering utopia literally means "no place", why waste time arguing about a hypothetical situation? The fact that someone thought that this article was worthy of a spot is saddening as it detracts from the overall credibility of the blog.
ReplyDeleteI read the article entitled, "Will Lady Gaga's New Song Be a Gay Anthem?" In this article, the author, Brandon Miller, states that Gaga's song is a way to reach out to the gay youth. This leads me to think: Is this the way the gay movement is going? Television ads and gay awareness classes have been around for a little bit but now this song is reaching out to the gay youth as well as the rest of the world. Because of Lady Gaga's fame, I believe her message in her new song will be heard by a vast audience of different people. I think this is a good thing because people need to learn more about the gay rights movement before they judge homosexual people. Also, this song is being followed and praised by Elton John. As you know, Elton John is gay and a very influential man in the music industry as well as the world. The fact that he endorses the production of this song adds credibility to Lady Gaga's message. All in all, Lady Gaga's song will be a great way of communicating with the gay community.
ReplyDeleteIt is clear that this blog is kept up to date and has a nice lay-out and features. Daily new blogs are posted, all relevant, and the pages are not over stuffed with information. Now, in particularly, the blog titled “Transgendered Student Barred from Running for Homecoming Queen”. It talks about students who registered into school as one gender, for example male, but are transgender, and were denied the right to run for homecoming queen. This was due because he was born and registered with the school as a male and was therefore ineligible to run for queen. This was the principals’ decision and was not a current policy; however the school district agreed with the principals’ decision. Now I personally agree with the decision being as it is not who they are but who they want to be.
ReplyDeleteLady Gaga, singer of the new "Gay Anthem"? Music legend Elton John seems to think so. Blogger Brandon Miller writes about Lady Gaga's upcoming cover song "Born this way". Miller explains that Elton John, "a musical genius", speaks very highly of Lady Gaga and her upcoming song, which he calls a new "Gay Anthem". Miller supports John's claim by reminding the reader about her recent plea to the U.S. Congress to repeal "don't ask, don't tell" policy, and that she recently devoted many of her awards to her gay fan base. Finally, Miller postulates that the song is directed to gay youth who, in recent news, have been committing suicide more and more.
ReplyDeleteI read the article "Glenn Beck's Expert Who Wants the Government to Regulate Homosexuality". Glen Beck is a conservative radio and talk show host who believes that we are heading towards a socialist society and that the government is taking over. One of Glen Beck's best advisors, David Barton, actually thinks government regulation would be a good thing, but he is talking about regulating homosexuality. He thinks that since homosexuals are more likely to commit suicide, die sooner, and they have too many partners, that they should be regulated because they "don't sound very healthy". The writer then goes on to bash Barton and question his logic and say how ridiculous of an idea it is. I agree with the the writer because the idea is completely illogical because there would be no way to regulate homosexuality.
ReplyDeleteIt's clear that the Gay Rights part of the change.org website is heavily focused on its mission, which is to bring about positive change in society towards lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgenders. The topic of the blog posts range from news involving gay rights in popular culture to issues that deal with politics. On the blog, there are petitions that the readers can sign to get them involved. The editors of the blog are not necessarily gay, bisexual, etc., but they support it, which could convince other readers to realize that they don't have to be LGBT to support it.
ReplyDeleteThe thing that initially struck me about this blog is the fact that it is extremely bias. They clearly lean towards one side of the argument in order to sway the readers views, but i guess that would be the point of a blog. In the story asking if Lady Gaga's song would be a new gay anthem the opening was rude and generalized the entire gay population. Saying that no one is gayer than Elton John, but how can u rate gayness on a scale? By the amount of jewelry a person wears, I dont think so. So I thought that it was interesting that they included this little snippet. But just so that I am not completely biased myself and look at all sides of the story, I guess the author is trying to make his/her blogs more readable and tries to make his voice heard in the piece, even if its the wrong one.
ReplyDeleteThis is a good example of a blog done right. The layout is simple, memorable, but is not quite new- you've seen all the elements before, just not in this specific order. This is key for ensuring usability- by using elements that have been used before, the reader can quickly and simply navigate.
ReplyDeleteUnlike the past blogs, this one knows how to keep relevant information on the front page in moderate amounts. The 'Read More' button is liberally used to keep the front page clear of things that you might not want to read, but there is still enough text for you to know if you want to or not.
Another thing I found interesting is that their 'petition bar' bears a very noticeable similarity to the Digg bar from Digg version 2. This is, most likely, very intentional, as most web surfers are conditioned to look for that yellow box and click it if they like the site.
I also find it interesting, and that's the proof that they did it right. I'm pretty neutral about gays, so making me find the various articles interesting shows, at least to me, that these people know what they're doing.
I also wonder if the whole Change.org thing was trying to work off of president Obama's campaign.
After skimming through some blogs about trans genders running for the Homecoming courts, anti-gay professor’s sons, Lady Gaga’s gay activism songs, and anti-gay bullying outcomes, this activist site appeared to relate more to its main issue than blogs on Feministing. Furthermore, some blogs include petitions to support the cause of the issue presented in the blog. I love this feature, but I wonder, what’s the point? It seems to me as if having more signatures on an article helps it become more popular and move up to the list of top articles, gaining more attention and more chance of being acted upon.
ReplyDeleteConcerning an article from yesterday titled “A Die-In Flash Mob at Grand Central to Raise Awareness of Homophobia”. This blog sums up the incident nicely, and in the end the author states “all-in-all, a successful die-in”. During the die-in, people fell down and crossed their arms (played dead) while someone read the names of people who died from anti-gay bullying. However, the author had to rate how well planned out the die-in was and how great of a performance was put up while she witnessed the whole incident instead of reflecting upon how much courage the flab mobbers had to pull a stunt like that to act for what they believe in.
Great comments, guys! Keep them coming! I hope we have a lot to talk about today!!
ReplyDeleteThis blog is very good source on information about the topic gay rights. It doesn't attack the opposition instead it informs the people. This is very helpful since most people don't like to be told what to believe in. Many of the articles that where posted on the blog were on news articles which means they were based on past events, and things that have been proved because it happened. I saw that in the last few posts they have been talking about anti-gay bullying and how it has cause the suicide of a couple of kids. They explain what is happening at schools, entertainment venues and other public places that have created these bullying incidents. There was one post that asked if religion could be used as a way to stop anti-gay bullying. This shows that there are also some post in trying to find solutions to the problems that we have today in society. In overall I really liked this blog and found it very interesting since it is my Analytical Research Project topic.
ReplyDeleteI thought the blog was well written and was a very good blog choice. Gay Rights are today's Civil Rights. They only apply to a minority of people but are important nonetheless. I read the article about Lady Gaga and the possibility of her new song becoming a gay anthem. It is interesting because, Lady Gaga's sexuality is not known. It is rumored she is gay, straight, or bi but no one actually knows. If Lady Gaga is gay or bi, she could become the head of the Gay Rights movement but if she is straight, her credibility as the head of the Gay Rights movement deteriorates. I think the blog is well written, it has interesting topics and is based somewhat on popular culture which makes it incredibly relevant to us all.
ReplyDeleteWhile yes, the blog is laid out very well and has an interesting tone to it, what I find to be more interesting is their view on homosexuality. For a group that is trying to gain tolerance of society for who they are, they do not seem to be tolerant of any other point of view. One of the more recent blogs by Ashley Huey even states how "it’s worrisome that the brave writers of Glee somehow decided to take a Fox News style 'Fair and Balanced' approach. How can someone expect to get support when they are offended that someone was being fair about their issue. Another note is their petitions, one which is titled Tell Wal-Mart: Don't Sell Books About Curing Gay People. The group is saying that it is a travesty for someone to try and change who they are. For a movement that bases itself on be who you really are and who you really want to be it is very hypocritical to try and ban a book that tries to help someone become straight if they want to.
ReplyDelete