Do you think this is funny?

Before I state my reaction to this true story, I want to say something about the movie. The movie was boring. I didn't feel excitement, nor was I intrigued while watching it.

       My opinion on this true story:

 It was bound to happen, it wasn't even the first time it had happened. I am not sure why we are studying this event, it's not that important in human history. I did identify myself with it though. I also fight for my rights. 

      About her telling her secret:

I am not in a position to judge her decisions, nor anyone's. Everyone does what they want to do, as long as it does not affect me. Yet, I don't think it was a bad thing that she told the truth. It was an honest, and true to self thing to do. Also, I believe that judging someone by their sexual orientation is stupid! Like, it's not anyone business who you decide to love and be intimate with. In fact, i don't believe in sexual orientations, and I know it's controversial but it's my honest opinion.I believe people fall in love with a person, not to the gender of the person. 

Also, when she admitted to be lesbian in front of her superiors, she did not know it was prohibited to admit it in the army. That's why she didn't have that much of a conflict with admitting it, specially since it didn't affect her efficiency in her job. She was a simple citizen, working hard to get by in life. 

I want to include that this all began because in her interview, she was asked if she ever committed immoral conducts. Obviously she felt that she didn't do such things, but to be secure, she asked what were these conducts. One of them was "stating of being a homosexual." Now, why would she lie about that?

Serving in Silence Answer's

1) Describe these reactions:
A. Military

When Margarethe Cammermeyer told the military about her sexuality, their reaction was to immediately discharge her, but as an “Honorable Discharge”.

B. Father

When she told her father, he somehow understood, but feared for her position in the army. Also, he believed that she should not tell everyone about it because it was an inside-of-the-house matter.
C. Children (in order from oldest to youngest):

Matt: He said he already knew and he understood completely.

David: He was understanding and decided to go to live with his mom after he had problems with his dad.

Andy: He asked her if she decided to become a lesbian, but accepted her anyways.

Tom: At first, he was avoiding her. But as the movie goes on we see that he accepts her mom in the end.

2)Margarethe's decision to tell:
A.  The military: Margarethe had never been asked before whether she was a homosexual or not, so she was never put in that position before. In the moment she was asked, she did not lie about her feelings and told the truth even though she was sure that would affect her in a bad way. The Army felt that it would have been better if she had kept that information to herself.
B. Her children: As Margarethe told the military and was facing the problem, she decided to fight back and sue the Army. Of course, this will to fight would bring a lot of public attention to her and that would affect, not only her, but also the members of her family, including her children, and that was why she decided to tell them the truth.
C. Her father: Margarethe was particularly afraid of telling her father, being the oldest and most conservative of her immediate family. When her father told her that he was coming to live with her, she decided to tell him before he found out by himself when he arrived.

3) What is your reaction to this true story? Do you believe that she should have kept her secret or told it to everyone? Explain your reasons why.

I think she did a good thing telling people and not lying, since she wasn't doing anything wrong.  I know that at this decade was a taboo, so she did make a statement by suing the military, because they had no reason to fire or discharge her.

4)How would Dr. Kinsey explain the Margarethe Cammermeyer’s sexuality?  She is a mother of 4 boys so how can she be lesbian? Is it her choice?

Dr. Kinsey might have said that Margarethe’s sexuality changed over time.  First she was married to a man and had four children.  According to Kinsey, it would be normal to love a man, and over time, love a woman.  Margarethe made her choice to marry and have children.  One might argue that she had been distracted from her homosexual identity for a time. Then she meets Diane.  For whatever reason, Margarethe had been able to discover, or re-discover, her identity as a woman who is attracted to other women.  In turn, it was her decision to act and live with Diane.Once, she was married to a man and had four children.  For many years, she was married to a man she loved.  Then she divorces the man soon to assert her interest in women.  She then meets Diane whom she had fallen in love with.  Margarethe made her choice, two choices.

What does Margareth believe about her sexaulity as it relates to her identity?

Margarethe tells her sons when she reveals her sexual orientation to them, that she has somehow always known that she was a homosexual. It is not something that she chose to be but something that defines her as a human being. She explained to her family, her superiors and the man that interviewed her for her security clearance, how her sexuality is characterized by her identifying and forming emotional bonds with women and that in turn is part of what makes her who she is.

Student Research Conference

In on our Advance English class, we were asked to do a reflection on the Award Ceremony of The English Literature Contest 2015. We were very proud of two of our classmates, since they won 2^nd and 3^rd place in such contest. I attended this conference, but sadly I had to go early since I was called for work, and didn't stay much time in the ceremony. For this reason, I will be doing a reflection on the Skit we did for a Student Research Conference, a couple of weeks ago. We were assigned to create a skit with a discrimination topic, and performed it in front of an audience.

My group and I, THE writers, choose the topic about racism to Latin Americans. So we created a scene, where a professional person has to go on a business trip and is wrongfully accused by a TSA agent. Creating the skit was a bit of a struggle, since we are not producers or actors, and to write a whole play is not easy. We have to think of every single detail, and as easy that may sound, it’s not. Another hard part of doing this skit was including a poem about discrimination into the script. My group and I decided to make the poem part of the dialogue. It was hard to make it work, and make it look like a normal dialogue but that the audience understood it was a reference. It was scary, since it was different than doing it in front of the class; instead we were perform it in front of strangers. We had to make them understand what we were doing and why, and deliver the message. At the end of the day, I enjoyed writing the play and acting in it.  It was a good experience since we could see what playwrights and actors go through and we take for granted.