Topic #2: Sexism

‘Sexism is the cultural assumption that men are superior to women and deserve preference and power over them.’ Yes that’s right folks, sexism is when men think they are better than women. Not wasting any time, can’t women think they are better than men? I mean, kids, let’s not forget that rhyme that goes ‘girls go to college to get more knowledge, boys go to jupiter to get stup-id-er’. That definitely shows some superiority against boys, saying we are smart and they are stupid. It seems as if people are thinking too loosely now a days of discriminating, based on sex or anything. Last year, my english teacher loosely shouted ‘racist’ at the most random of times, and when a teacher called on people from only the left side for some questions, for example, we students joked around and called that teacher ‘side-ist’.

People are thinking, as we are getting farther and farther from the Civil Rights movement, that it is ok to revert to our old ways of ‘I am better than you because of blah.’ As I said, we are joking, but what happens when someone takes it that extra step, 'till it isn’t joking and we are all fighting to defend who we were born to be?! I don’t find discriminating funny, but we have to admit we all think we are better than someone whether it’s what our grades are or how thin we can be. The thing is, society made us feel superior, since all the latest gossip is on power struggles between celebrities. Yet if we are so past that 'era' of letting media and others control us, why can’t we put an end to it? We all are ashamed of racism and sexism in the past, but how come now one seems to find it a problem now-a-days? In my article, it mentions that women still make around 77 cents to the male dollar, and that the ‘top 4’ jobs that women are is a nurse, teacher, etc.

It seems as if America is forgetting it's roots, and living life as one big power struggle. Not only are men sexist against women, but some women are scared to get a higher power in their job, in fear that since they are a women, people will think they are a bossy bitch (as mentioned in my annotated article). Is sexism all a man’s fault? I mean, that’s a big weight to put on people, much less men’s shoulders. Tradition is hard to break, and though discriminating against someone because of the body parts they may or may not have is wrong, people aren’t easy adjusters, and we can’t simply expect everyone to ‘get used’ to women being in power. As time goes on, though, we should expect to see improvement, which the article I read talked about, and said ‘We’ve come a long way, baby. But there’s still a long way to go’ (this article was written in March 2010).

sources:
Mankiller, Wilma, and others. "Sexism." The Reader's Companion to U.S. Women's History. Dec. 1 1998: n.p. SIRS Researcher. Web. 27 Nov 2010

Bennett, Jessica, Jesse Ellison, and Sarah Ball. "Are We There Yet?." Newsweek Vol. 155, No. 13. 29 Mar 2010: n.p. SIRS Researcher. Web. 27 Nov 2010.

Research Assignment Topic #1: Anorexia

When reading articles on anorexia, all of them said that doctors and therapists were trying to study the disease to control it. After reading books and other articles on anorexia, I realized what to study in anorexia would be the mind. Anorexia is mostly a disease of the mind, in where the mind turns against your body and forces it to shut-down to ‘look better’ in the critical eyes of the world. Anorexia and starving yourself is not easy to ‘do’, or get out of, for it is a vicious cycle. Through these poems, though not a simple task, I tried my best to jump in the mind of an anorexic, or lover of an anorexic, and see how they feel and what goes on to make them starve themselves of food and love.

In my eyes, the 1st poem portrays how an anorexic thinks, and how they believe the world sees them. The 2nd poem's intention was simply to show how hard it can be to move past something like anorexia. The final poem was an overview of how you go from a normal, happy person into an anorexic, which to me is one of the saddest stages you could fall to.

If I did write a picture book based off of anorexia, I think I would do it something like a girl’s world is good, life happy, but she still isn’t happy with how she has it and who she is. Maybe she would have these small moments/feelings I put in the poems above, and then, since it is a children’s book, learn to accept herself how not only others/media see her, but how she sees herself.


The Mirror

The mirror frowns at me
cold and mocking
whispering words that penetrate my heart
more than the hunger penetrates my stomach

I cross my arms
the mirror smirks
I cry
the mirror watches
It knows
for it’s seen it all
the girls shedding rapidly
shrinking, their silhouette melting
as they fall
one by one
ears too accepting
to the critical world
stomach too small
to want more food
hearts too dry
to accept more love
bodies too used

to the way they made it


1 Step Forward, 2 steps Back

pushing
walking
stumbling
running
stopping

stopping

stopping

Give it back
Take it all

pushing
walking
stopping

stopping

stuck



Girl

The girl laughs
turns her head,
the light hitting it at an angle
to make it glow

She dances in the rain
singing and skipping
kicking off her boots at the door
trudging through the house

The mom laughs and says
“You got water on the floor!”

“Let the heat dry it”
she says

The girl is older
she comes home,
plays the music filled with
words of anger and obsession
stomps around
searching for love,
and clothes
and hair

The girl is now
sad
no love
just glances

No clothes
that fit at least

No hair
for it falls out as she combs

The routine is simple
don’t eat

That’s it
In all its nothingness

She doesn’t like how hard it is
misses the things
and people she used to love

All she does now
is dream about a life
A normal life


Silly little girl
she gave it up that day
when she started losing
to all the winners in the world

2 sources:
Deardorff, Julie. "Eating with an Anorexic Child: A Controversial Treatment." Chicago Tribune (Chicago, IL). 25 Jun 2010: n.p. SIRS Researcher. Web. 27 Nov 2010.

Marano, Hara Estroff. "The Skinny Sweepstakes." Psychology Today Vol. 41 No.1. Jan/Feb. 2008: 88-95. SIRS Researcher. Web. 14 Nov 2010

Social Awareness Project #5: Respond to a Song

In the song 'One Tribe' (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IisSJsSaA0o) by the Black Eyed Peas, the main message is that the world needs to come together and be united. Another part of this song is acceptance vs. intolerance. ‘If I had an enemy then my enemy’s gonna try an’ come and kill me ‘cuz I’m his enemy’. That line is so sad, that just because we put the label of ‘enemy’ on someone that we may not agree with, we have to kill them! We can’t tolerate things not going our way, so we use violence to ensure that they do. In this song, it makes it sound so easy to just treat everyone as equal and never cause any harm. The song says, and I quote, “Let’s cast amnesia, forget about all that evil.” Not to be a downer, but I don’t think any drug could erase the existence of hatred and using violence as a way to solve our problems. In a way, even if we ‘forget’ (using amnesia) evil, evil in sense is in our nature. From as long as the earth has existed, people or even animals have fought to get what they want, possibly resorting to violence to get there. Is this song too hopeful, or is it just what the world needs to finally get the message that we should at least make a small effort to become ‘one’?

I am really not sure. Like the song Imagine, the ideas for a world of peace now seem so far off, but like John Lennon said ‘I’m not the only one’ (who thinks peace can be made). In a sense, if we don’t think or believe peace can come, it won’t, but even if we get influenced in the slightest sense by a song maybe we can make small steps. Peace obviously is a huge thing, so even though this song is suggesting we change immediately and forget everything, the reality is that it is showing us a path of small steps toward one day hopefully achieving that goal.

Another part of the song that stood out to me is when it says “Forget about all that evil, that evil that they feed ya.” Do we really get fed evil? I suppose in a sense the media feeds us evil -- gossip, rumors, influences etc. It sort of ‘feeds’ us in the sense that sometimes people are satisfied that other people are below them or struggling. Could we ever stop that ‘evil’ from being broadcasted? Is it good to be satisfied off of someone else’s hardships? Don’t know if I could answer that...

Basically, One Tribe is about how wrong our world is, and how it should be easy to move on from that evil, but since we live in this messed up world where we get fed evil, we can’t. Honestly, I think it’s easier to sing about curing evil then to do it, but maybe this song can nudge us a bit in the right direction.

Social Awareness Project #6: Write a Poem

We are born to
be the same
our minds fooled with whispers
that tell us of games

We are born to
dream big, eat small
live a life of wonder,
the one everyone wants

We are born out of
love
made for
love
and what we get in return
is love
and hate

Be
like this
No No, I’ll show you again
Like This,
you see
take a step this way,
Not there, Never there

We preach for our own selves
be who you want to be
and yet, we ask
Is this person Okay?
No,
the whispers say

We are born to be the same
our minds fooled with whispers
of another man’s game


This poem is about the social issue of peer pressure, one that almost everyone faces. Even though we are supposed to be ourselves, we constantly are pushed by others and ourselves to take the easy route and blend in with everyone else. In my eyes, the 'whispers' not only represent others, but our consciousness which also tells us what is wrong with who we are.