Final Blog Post #10 Women's Discrimination Project

I think this project was very beneficial. It was really eye-opening to read all of the statistics from the past and modern statistics about several aspects of women's discrimination. You still don't realize how often this goes on in the lives of many women and how many different types of discrimination there are. I'm a 15 year old girl and the people that are my age as well only experience a percentage of this so it was just really interesting to learn about. It makes you realize that something needs to be done about some of the things that go on in society whether people think they have already been taken care of or not. I enjoyed this project and it allows you to think about things that still need to be done in the world today and has you to brainstorm different ideas on how we could fix them and in my opinion, that's what the people of my generation should be doing nowadays.

Blog #9 Women's Discrimination Project

While doing this project, my group had been researching sexual assault and rape cases during the Women's Rights Movement and before then. They came across several interesting facts like the fact that women could not deny having sex with their husbands because they had legal authority over them and women were considered to be property to men. Marital rape wasn't recognized until the mid 70's and wasn't criminalized until 1993. Also, enslaved women could not refuse to have sex with their masters and if they brought the case to court they could not testify against them otherwise it would be considered disrespectful. Lastly, if a women was raped it was only considered rape if the woman was white and the perpetrator was black. This means that if a white man raped a white woman or a white man raped a black woman, it would not be considered rape in court. It's very interesting to me how some things have and haven't changed between then and now. Sex trafficking still exists in our modern society and women typically don't speak up about it in court just like they did in the past. Women also don't typically speak up about marital rape even though they are not considered property of their husbands in the eyes of a jury or a judge. But, it's a good thing that race has nothing to do with rape anymore otherwise a lot of women could still be suffering from these types of situations more than they did back in the past. Rape is rape and should not be tolerated by anyone in any type of society. 

Blog #8 Women's Discrimination Project

My group and I while working on this project have come up with several ways that discrimination against women can be taken care of in hopes of it becoming less of a problem. We think that it could be effective if women were given equal wages as men who have the same position as them within their occupations. This would take care of the approximate 25% less that women make compared to men. Also, within the workplace, we think that women should be given more of a chance when it comes to being higher up in a company such as a boss, manager, CEO, etc. This would lessen the large percentage of men who have management roles in a workplace and make it a more equal playing field for both men and women. Lastly, we think that boys in their required health classes should be taught self control so that women can feel more comfortable and not have to worry about getting raped as much as they do now. One thing that everyone needs to understand more is that not just women but anybody should be treated with respect no matter what they look like, what gender they are, etc. 

Blog #7 Women's Discrimination Project

After doing research for this project, I've realized that the discrimination that happened in the past is still happening today and developing over time. We have made much progress though. We can get a thorough education in a college and go to school, we can participate in public speaking, we have our right to vote, run for president and so much more. But often we find that since have all of those privileges, other forms of discrimination are neglected. Before the Women's Rights Movement, women were expected to take care of domestic duties which I explained in my previous post and are still to this day expected to complete those jobs more than men are expected to do them. Some men still believe they are superior over women making them think it is okay to rape and abuse them. Just like in the past when a women could not say no to having intercourse with her husband and when men had legal custody over women. Women are still expected to dress like a girl just like when they were expected to wear dresses and skirts instead of pants. The same discrimination is still existing in modern society it is just in a different context than it was before and it is something that Americans should work towards fixing. 

Blog #6 Women's Discrimination Project

Before the Women's Rights Movement, women within society were expected to take care of domestic duties. That includes cooking, cleaning, caring for children, etc. Women were required to wear skirts and dresses and dress "like a lady." Nowadays, women are still expected to take care of things around our homes more so than men are. Our expectations on how we look though have developed a bit more. We are expected to have a certain body type, dress a certain way, have perfect skin and so much more. Women are often judged or turned down by not only just men but other women as well all because of the way they look or dress. This creates a HUGE problem for women because they feel like they cannot express themselves and have to meet all of society's requirements instead. 

Blog #5 Women's Discrimination Project

I've recently learned that women make 76 cents to every man's dollar. It's approximately 25% less than what a man get paid. 24 cents doesn't seem like a ton of money but it still is a significant amount that all adds up. I think this form of discrimination could be easily fixed if men and women within their certain occupations made the same amount of money if they held the same position as the opposite gender in the workplace. Also, women of all races and cultural backgrounds should be paid equal amounts as well because just from coming from a different background does not change who you are as a person and nor does your gender. What you look like does not define you. 

Blog #4 Women's Discrimination Project

Women within the workplace are often discriminated against for several reasons. One specifically being their management roles. Men are more often to have higher roles in management than women are, like being a boss in a company. Women are less then 40% of those with management occupations. They are disproportionately represented with many occupations such as electrical engineers, computer networking, architects, ect. This is very unfair to women because we are not, with some occupations, given an equal opportunity to be a boss of a company of a manager. This could be easily fixed within several companies if women were given an equal chance to become a manager or a boss and were considered more often to hold that high of a status in the workplace. 

Blog #3 Women's Discrimination Project

While I was finding my research for this project, I came across several different scenarios where a man, went and shot up or killed several women at a time simply because of her gender. Majority were recently or within the past 10 years, which is extremely disappointing. In Pittsburgh, George Sodini opened fire in a gym killing 3 women and injuring 9 others. On Sodini's blog, people later learned that he specifically targeted women because they were female. In 2006 there were two other occurrences. The first one was where a gunman went into an Amish schoolhouse in Pennsylvania; he sent all of boys outside and opened fire on over a dozen girls. He killed 5. The second occurrence was in Colorado; a man sexually assaulted six female students that he had take into hostage before killing all 6 of them. Just between these three past situations, it shows how big of a problem discrimination against women in America is. 

Blog #2 Women's Discrimination Project

Just recently, my group passed out our surveys to 10 people each giving us combined data from 30 people total. Our results were actually very surprising to me. I thought that more people would say that women today are not discriminated against but actually, everyone who took the survey said that women today are still discriminated against. We asked 5 questions total and all of our results supported our argument and what we would be saying in our speech. Since these random 30 kids from our school think that women are still discriminated against, I wonder why none of them have stepped up to do something about it or even stop being sexist towards females themselves.I think if kids did this at our school, it could improve the amounts of bullying/hazing that goes on on a day to day basis. 

Blog #1 Women's Discrimination Project

Over the past few days, I have been researching the modern discrimination against women for my group. I've come across many statistics that have been a big wake up call for me about have evil the world can be sometimes. It's sickening to think that over 17.7 million women in the United States alone are victims of rape or attempted rape. And it doesn't just end there. Not only are that many raped but they are also often blamed for their own rape. This is otherwise known as "rape splaining." I didn't even know this existed until i began this project. I hope that eventually women can feel safer going out alone or even just walking to her car without having to feel unsafe.

SUMMER READING ASSIGNMENT: Entry four

I chose to read this book because I LOVE the author John Green. I've read almost all of his books and still have one more left to read so when I saw Looking For Alaska on the list I had to read it. Something that drew me to this book was the fact that it about something totally different than I expected it to be. I was thinking it would be about someone going on this journey to Alaska but I was completely wrong. Honestly if it was what I thought it would be about, I probably wouldn't have read it . This book can be easily connected to for me because in a sense I've gone to seek a "Great Perhaps" or in other words, look for some sort of meaning to my life. I used to be a lot like Pudge in this book. It was hard for me to find/kepp friends because I was very shy and awkward. But now that I've had a lot more experiences with people and being in situations that force me to interact with people it's caused me to become a lot less socially awkward and introverted. I can also connect to Alaska in  some ways because I admit, I have times where I dont fully think through my decisions and end up regretting them later or i choose to disgregard certain things that i shouldn't. But I've definately been able to realize this for myself and work on it. I would reccomend this book to anyone, boys and girls, in high school because there are many aspects of the book that both boys and girls can relate to. It's also told from a guy's perspective. It is definately one of the best books I've read in a long time and highly reccomend it to those looking for a good book to read(:

SUMMER READING ASSIGNMENT: Entry three

"Those awful things are survivable, because we are as indestructible as we believe ourselves to be. When adults say, "teenagers think they are invincible" with that sly, stupid smile on their faces, they don't know how right they are. We need never be hopeless, because we can never be irreparably broken. We think that we are invincible because we are. We cannot be born, and we cannot die. Like all energy, we can only change different shapes and sizes and manifestations. They forget that when they get old. They get scared of losing and failing. But that part of us greater than the sum of our parts cannot begin and cannot end, and so it cannot fail."

 

Pudge writes this as a part of an essay he was assigned. The question all of the students were asked to answer is, "How will you ever get out of this labryinth of suffering?" He explains that there is no easy way out of the labryinth and that some people think it's easiest to just get comfortable and end up pretending that the labryinth does not exist. So they build a small, self-sufficient world in a corner somewhere. But he says that it will only lead you to a lonely life accompanied by the words asked in the question. Pudge goes on to say that some come to look for a Great Perhaps or like Alaska, they choose to leave the labryinth "straight and fast" because they collapse into the enigma of themselves. Although they will be forgotten, it's hard to think that they will just dissipate into the earth to be mined by humans or used to heat their homes. Pudge realizes that this can't be because Alaska was not just matter, she is her own genetic code and her life experiences and her relationships with people and her memories and dreams and hopes and desires. Those can't be destroyed because after all, we are greater than the sum of our parts.

SUMER READING ASSIGNMENT: Entry 2

Looking for Alaska contains several complex characters that are each different in their own way.

Pudge can be viewed as a very awkward person. He doesn't have very many friends, close to none and chooses to instead have his nose stuck in biographies. he memorizes the last words of famous people and as mentioned in my last entry, is out to seek "a Great Perhaps" in order to give his life meaning. Pudge is very firm in finding a place of belonging and improved life at his new school in Alabama. His character develops greatly throughout the story. When he first arrives to Culver Creek and begins to meet people, you can tell that he lacks a great deal of social skills and can be easily considered as the innocent one in the group. The colonel and Alaska both smoke, drink, play pranks and more. Pudge has never experienced any of these activities which later become a symbol of friendship for the group. As time passes, Pudge develops a strong identity for himself. He overcomes his shy nature and becomes more independent. He no longer relies on his parents and other people to make decisions for him. But instead, he makes them for himself. The Colonel and Alaska also teach him what true friendship is and how to live a more exciting life.

Alaska is most certainly the most important character of the book. She is viewed as the gorgeous, rebellious, and self-destructive but fascinating teen. She lives the life of the party and doesn't care about the rules in place. She often doesn't think about the consequences of her actions which causes her to be reckless. The whole story revolves around her and her mysterious nature. Ever since the death of her mother , and the guilt she's carried, she's impulsive and quickly makes her decisions in fear of messing up that bad again. Although she is the most outgoing person in the group, she is often very moody leaving the other charcters confused as to how she is feeling. In other words, she's exteremly hard to read. Since she lives her life in regret and guilt, this could be the main source of her moodieness but it's hard to know for sure. Alaska is a very independent person and came to Culver Creek to get away from her home. After she makes a decision that was clearly not thought through, Colonel and Pudge dedicate their lives to figuring out the mystery of Alaska.

The Colonel is a very straight forward character. Very intelligent, and is important to the story because he's been friends with Alaska for a long time and becomes a stablility for Pudge. He comes from a poor background, but you are often reminded throughout the story how much of a genious he is. He knows every county by heart and later memorizes each and every capitol. He's considered the leader of the group. He's very protective of his mother and each of his friends and is always there for others. Colonel is important to the story because he too adds an element of mystery just like Alaska. But he's a different kind of mystery. He's a very confusing individual and hard to understand sometimes but is Pudge's best friend.

Each of these characters adds a different dynamic to the story and makes it more interesting in their own way. One of the biggest themes of the book is how will we all get out of the labryinth of suffering? Some view the labrynth as the suffering of life. Others view it as the escape from death. Pudge realizes this and comes to the conclusion that the labryinth does not have a singular meaning - rather, it represents personal struggling. another theme that is very important to the book is the meaning of friendship and how beautiful is. In the beginning, Pudge struggled with making friends and really didn't understand the meaning of true friendship. But by the end, he cherishes the friendships he has developed and realizes that he has found his "Great Perhaps" and a meaning to his life.

SUMMER ASSIGNMENT: Entry one

 Looking for Alaska by John Green tells a great story of a group of friends who all share the same traumatic experience but comprehend it in their own differents ways. It begins in Florida with the main character Miles, who later get renamed Pudge, as he prepares to go off to boarding school. The rest takes place at Culver Creek boarding school in Alabama where he then meets his soon-to-be best friends Chip Martin (aka coloniel) and Alaska. Pudge comes to this school in search of "A Great Perhaps" or in other words, some sort of meaning to his life. This becomes an internal conflict for him as he begins his endless earch. All throughout their time at this school, they begin to learn a lot about each other's past lives which unravels one of Alaska's internal conflicts. Her mother died when she was at a very young age but something about her mother's death had caused Alaska to carry a lot of guilt with her throughout her entire life. She had noticed her mother had fallen over one day and she just sat by her mother's side not knowing what to do and didn't think to cal 9-1-1 until it was too late; her mother had died of an aneurysm. This guilt later pushes Alaska to do something which creates the major conflict of the book. On the day of her mother's death, Alaska had gotten terribly drunk and had forgotten that she always puts flowers on her mother's grave. She then becomes angry with herself and decides to leave the school late at night driving as fast as she could. Pudge and the Coloniel later find out that Alaska is dead. Both characters along with several others begin to struggle with the idea that she is dead. They cannot figure out if Alaska simply just crashed, or succeeded with a plan of suicide. One question I have is how will Pudge's interest in last words play a part in the book? Will this story have a happy ending after Alaska's death?

3rd Quarter Independent Reading Reflection

• To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (323 pages)

• This Present Darkness by Frank E. Pieretti (376 pages)

• Portrait of a Killer by Patricia Cornwrll (361 pages)

• Extreme Measures  by Michael Palmer (343 pages)

• Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (158 pages)

This quarter I really did not meet my goals in reading. I had planned on reading at least one romance novel and completing 6 books. This quarter I did not read any romance novels and I also only finished 5 books. I was more focused on really challenging myself last quarter and reading more rigorous books then I might usually read on a regular basis. I feel like this is why I was not able to get through 6 books for the 3rd quarter. As for the romance novel, I was focusing on reading classics this quarter and got sidetracked from accomplishing this goal. I do feel like I accomplished a lot more reading this quarter and really took a step up by completing several challenging books. As for 4th quarter, I would like to read two more books than I did this quarter because I think 7 books will be a good way for me to continue with my reading schedule and staying on top of it. I would also like to read a historical fiction book because this is a genre I rarely ever read so I think it would be good to experiment with it. 

Point of View-Sheila Moss

Sheila Moss has her own unique style of writing. She has a very humorous point of view. Several of her columns are about modern day things and her critiques on them (since she’s an old lady). Her columns often have a funny/intriguing title. For example, some of her columns are, “Speaking of Starbucks”, “Confessions of a Couch Potato” and “OED says OMG, FYI, LOL OK”. Just by reading Moss’ titles, you can tell that her pieces will be humorous and interesting as well, which gives her her unique humor point of view.

In two of Moss’ pieces, “Speaking of Starbucks” and “OED says OMG, FYI, LOL OK” she uses
exaggeration and sarcasm to enhance her humorous point of view. She writes about small subjects in a funny way. In her “Starbucks” column”, Moss describes her first experience drinking coffee from this joint and says, “Oh!My!Gosh! The caffeine hit my veins with a jolt! My eyes may never close again. Wow! That’s some powerful stuff. I won’t sleep for a month! Maybe never!” The use of exaggeration here adds to the column by making it funny in the sense that an old woman thinks she may never sleep for a month because of her cappuccino from starbucks. In “OED says OMG”, Moss uses the same technique. When critiquing the Oxford English Dictionary for allowing texting language to be actual words she says, “BTW (by the way), Google is both a proper noun and a verb these these days. Pretty soon it will probably be an adjective or an expletive.” This too, adds to Sheila’s humorous point of view in her columns because one, throughout her column, she uses texting abbreviations and at the same time she’s also critiquing them. And two, she makes a sarcastic comment on how maybe google will soon be not only a proper noun and a verb, but an adjective and expletive too.   Both Moss’ sarcasm and exaggeration add to the overall humor to her columns and make them enjoyable reads.

Things I learned Last Year(:

Anyone can run for president,

even Donald Trump.

 

Coloring for 20 minutes before bed

can relieve stress.

 

A movie director, somewhere in the US,

can make thousands of dollars

off of a horror movie about

a trip to your grandparents house.

 

It's true, Miley Cyrus

could in fact get crazier.

 

Insomnia certainly

does not suit me

 

It is possible for

the person you thought of as

your best friend

to drift apart from you

 

Nobody can say Hello,

What do you mean or Sorry

without singing the song.

 

 

While I was writing this I related it to William Stafford's version as closely as I could. I followed the same 2,2,4,2,2,4,3 pattern and also tried to make the subject matters the same in each stanza. In my poem, the first stanza is not an intriguing nature fact like Stafford's is. Instead, I chose to have it as something with a sarcastic tone. For the second stanza, just like Stafford's version, I made this a life fact/life hack. As for stanza 3 and stanza 7, I made these have a more sarcastic tone just like in Stafford's version. William Stafford makes references to famous people and also random people so, in my own poem, I did the same in the correlated stanza. Overall, this poem has a more sarcastic tone but the content varies and could be considered as a very random piece of writing.