Beauty or the Beast

                In this week’s reading I really focused on Valenti’s Beauty Cult chapter. She talks about how if you are ugly then you should just give up on life, because nobody should be ugly. Being ugly is literally killing us. We suffer from diseases such as anorexia and bulimia that have devastating effects. These girls know these effects but they continue to do it because they don’t want to be considered ugly. And we all know that if you are ugly then nobody will love you, you will never have a boyfriend, and you won’t get a good job. This is so bad that we are punishing ourselves for stupid things like this. And this is all because society is pressuring girls to be perfect; such as having flawless skin, a skinny body, and nice cloths. Well not all of us have these physical features. I don’t for sure.

                Another thing she mentions in this chapter is plastic surgery. Women are going to extraordinary lengths to make themselves look better. Women make their breasts bigger because they don’t like them or get nose jobs. This is becoming a regular thing. Why are we paying doctors to cut us open and put things in us? A lot of the time it doesn’t even come out the way you want it to. And it also can have bad effects. But we still allow doctors to do this to us because society wants us to think if we don’t have big tits and the perfect body then we won’t be accepted. She mentions this show where they go out and find the ugliest women in America and they give them a makeover. Not only is that bad but they ask the family members and friends to say something about their appearance before and they would describe these women as ugly. Their families say this about them! Wow this is horrible to me. Then it brings up the issue of women getting their vaginas fixed because no one wants an ugly vagina. They pull the outer labia back in this surgery. This is the dumbest thing I have ever heard.

                Overall we should not be influenced by society and we should be proud of what we have. It is what makes us different from other people. Stop trying to be like everyone else and be a fucking individual for once. I’m so tired of society telling women they are ugly, we are not ugly.

I'm Stong

            After this week’s reading I was very upset to know that some pharmacists are refusing to fill prescriptions because they don’t believe in premarital sex. These girls should trust their pharmacist. It’s ridiculous how pharmacists are going against their legal obligation and not filling prescriptions. You don’t hear stories about how a guy walks into a health department and is refused medication say to a sexually transmitted disease because they are just “boys being boys”. Fuck that, just because they have a penis doesn’t mean women should be refused medication. Women have just as much right to have premarital sex as men do and it really pisses me off that women are the ones being judged and called names.

            We are being treated unfairly and it is time for this shit to stop. Without women we would not be able to reproduce, and we are the ones devoting more time to raising the children. We also have to go through childbirth. I think we deserve to be treated as equals if not more. We don’t only work full time jobs but we have to come home and do chores around the house, cook food, help with homework, and make sure the kids are in bed. Then the process starts all over again. We are strong. I don’t care what guys say, I know I am strong and nobody can make me believe otherwise.

            Being refused medical assistance is against the law. They are required to treat you and not being able to go into a damn pharmacy and have your birth control prescription filled pisses me off to no end. Not only that but being asked if it’s to make your period lighter. What the fuck? Seriously? His vagina isn’t bleeding so he should mind his own fucking business. It’s you that even gives him a damn job and he has no right to judge you. Guys are not interrogated like this, why should we have to be? We should not have to hide having sex, it’s a natural thing.

            Another thing that upset me was if you get raped it only counts if you’re a virgin. Really? Do they thing we would enjoy being held down for God knows how long, being beaten, and having some guy shove his penis in our vagina? How does not being a virgin make that fair? Not only would you be physically injured but emotionally it would be horrifying. Having to remember how some guy fucked you against your will then left you there naked, hurt, bleeding, and who knows what else. It is a horrible thing. Rape is rape and should be treated as such no matter who it happens to. It could happen to anyone not just women. Then having your whole town know about it, it’s horrifying to even think about. These creeps should be put in jail for the rest of their lives and never be let out. They are obviously fucked up and will do it again.

            Just because I am a girl doesn’t mean I fight like one either. I am just as good as any boy and I don’t have to prove it. Don’t let anyone ever tell you that you’re not good enough because you’re a girl. Just let that push u farther to do more and prove them wrong. We women are strong and no one should tell us otherwise!

Results of Sex Education

In high school I never went through a sex education class, it was never offered. According to “Early Sexual Initiation and Subsequent Sex- Related Risks among Urban Minority Youth: The reach for Healthy Study”, sexual intercourse in minority youth has decreased. This article shows the problems that can occur in having unprotected sex such as pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, and emotional stress.

            In Douglas Kirby’s journal “Abstinence, Sex, and STD/HIV Education Programs for Teens: Their Impact on Sexual Behavior, Pregnancy, and Sexually Transmitted Disease” he introduces the fact that most sexually active teens accumulate more sex partner’s as they become older. It is said by Kirby that mainly condoms and oral contraceptives are more common among teens. Since the mid 1980’s studies have shown that the use of contraceptives has increased, mainly because of HIV epidemic. However Kirby also notes that the use of contraceptives decrease with age and experience, and the longer a couple is together they are more likely to not use a condom. Not only adults but teenagers are not consistently keeping up with their contraceptives, making them more prone to pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases.

            Sex education classes are being taught and they are covering a wide variety of areas focusing mainly on education about sex rather than providing contraceptives. This program is meant for middle school and high school as well as parents who have teenage children. This program wants to create health goals and help to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy. As well as showing risks that can happen and how they can avoid these risks. These classes will be taught in a safe social environment for the students, and will include multiple activates to help prevent these risks.

            Some parents feel the need to talk to their own kids about sex but they feel uncomfortable doing so. This program that is offered helps kids and parents communicate and help educate youth on sex. Condom use is being taught and remarkably the condom use among teens has gone up, as well as self-reported pregnancy has gone down, and the self-reported sexually transmitted disease rate has decreased as well. Studies show that this program is working for youth bringing up the question “Why isn’t this program being offered in all schools or communities?”

Sex Education

                 I have chosen to write a paper on sex education and the effects it has on teens. I am hoping to find a number of things when writing this paper. I want to find statistics on schools that do offer the program and statistics of schools that don’t. I am hoping to find that the schools that do offer the program have lower rates of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. I am hoping to find research on what is taught in the sex education classes also if they teach different forms of birth control. I also would like to find statistics on which the class interests most boys or girls.  

            This issue may raise conflict because some parents don’t want sex to be mentioned in school they feel like as the parents they should be the ones to teach their children. Some parents say they don’t want their kids to be thinking about sex and only should focus on school, and some say they don’t want their kids to know about birth control. Whatever issues come up it is a safe bet for the teens to be educated on the subject and be aware of all their options.

            If my theory is true why would the government not enforce sex education classes for all schools? If it keeps teens on birth control and teaches kids about what finances are ahead of them if they do have a kid. It gives them a reality check as to what comes with a baby. And they should know that having a baby shouldn’t be a reason for strengthening a relationship. They need to educate themselves to protect themselves.

"Back to December"

                You may have heard this song before on the radio; it is played quite often and is very popular. This is a song about a love story that didn’t work out the way it was supposed to. Two people who cared for each other very much had their hearts broken. But that’s really what love is, just heartbreak. It seems like there is no point in trying anymore. But not for Taylor, she is apologizing in this song to the boy that she hurt. This is unusual for Taylor because she is normally singing about someone who broke her heart.

                The song starts out with her saying she is so glad he made time to see her and she is asking about his family, it has been awhile since she had seen them. He tells her he is good and they make small talk about what they have been doing. She notices his guard is up and she understands why. Due to the last time they saw each other, he gave her roses and she left him in the cold. She explains in her song that she wrote this song because she is swallowing her pride saying she is sorry for what happened the last time they met. She says she relives the moment all the time entitling her song “Back to December”.  Now she realizes what she has lost and her freedom is only missing him. She explains she hasn’t been sleeping because she keeps thinking about that night and his birthday came and she didn’t call to wish him a happy birthday. She starts to reminisce about their times in her car when he would ride in the passenger seat and they would be laughing, then she realized she loved him in the fall. Then when winter came danger set into her mind and when he gave her love she gave him goodbye. She explains how she misses him texting, his sweet smile, and how good he was to her. Then at the end of her song she says if they would love again she swears she would love him right. She says if she could go back and change it she would and if a chain is on his door she would understand.

                This song employs pathos because it brings sadness to anyone who has had a broken heart. The feeling that when you have lost someone and you won’t get them back is a gut wrenching feeling and it hurts. You don’t know how much you love someone until they are out of your life then you start to think about the past. Wishing you could change it but you can’t. You feel lonely and you can’t get that person off your mind.  Time is the only cure. Even when you do move on the thought of that person is still in the back of your mind, and no matter how great this person is they will never compare to that one person. How would this song not be sad? Anyone who has been through this would know how hard it is and that it is sad.

                Love is tricky sometimes but it is a challenge and that is why we crave it. We like the feeling of having someone there for us in our times of need. Someone we can laugh with, cry with, and tell anything to. There is no pattern to love and nobody can control it. That’s why we want it. It is sometimes tragic, confusing, and painful, but when it does come around every once in a while it is such a beautiful thing. And Taylor found enough reason to write a song about it.

Sisters

            I am the oldest out of me and my sister. I feel obligated to be perfect and not make any mistakes, because she looks up to me. Even thought she is already sixteen, I know I am still a role model for her. Just last night I was helping her study for a test. The fact that she asked me to help her made me feel like she can trust that can help her better understand.

            Growing up me and my sister Morgan played every day.  But when I went to school she cried. After I started going to school, she wanted to go to school as well. Her and my mom would be waiting for me to get home so we could all play together.  Those were the simple days, and sometimes I wish I could go back to the simple life.

            As we grew up we would fight a lot. About cloths, boys, hair, etc. stupid things that didn’t matter. We were so mean to each other I am surprised we didn’t kill each other. As the phase continued I had to move my room downstairs just to get away from her. I needed my own space and so did she so we could both grow up. I remember hitting her in the head with a bag of rocks because she made me so angry. Those were the growing up days.

            But though all of our stages we have both turned out to be pretty good girls. We are very close and actually share a room now. She is going into nursing because I have caught her interest in the Health Occupations class at Savannah High School.  We tell each other everything; she is like my best friend. I don’t know what I would do without that crazy girl. Now more than ever I try to do as much for her as I can including giving advice, money, food, etc. I love her a lot and try to protect her from everything, especially boys. This is why I feel the need to be perfect because I don’t want her to make the same mistakes I have.

            But she doesn’t know I look up to her as well. She is such a strong individual; she is smart, pretty, and caring. She has a good head on her shoulders and I know she will do well if she keeps up her hard work. So not only is she looking up to me but I am looking up to her. We push each other to do our very bests. This is why I love her.

How the Media Portrays Women

I have chosen an ad from a cover of Vogue magazine.  I am not personally a reader of this magazine but I know a lot of people that are.  I came across it when I was searching on Google images for how the media portrays women. I found some pretty interesting ads. I have chosen this ad because Vogue is a very common magazine that a lot of people read and it involved the media.

On the cover of the ad is a young woman with curly blonde hair. She is sitting in a chair leaning forward slightly like she is eager. The black eye mask she is wearing takes up half of her face and is pointed on both sides. She is wearing underwear with fishnet hose and her breasts are being covered with her hands. On the bottom of the magazine reads “SEX”.

This ad objectifies women by making them out to look like sex toys. A half naked woman on the front of a magazine holding her breasts is degrading to women like me.  People wonder why this society is so messed up, when we let media portray women like that of course it would add to the cause.  When young girls see this they will think “I want to be pretty just like her when I grow up”. Making them think it is okay to show off their bodies like some sort of toy. There is no way to avoid it, because the media is everywhere.  Women should not be portrayed like that. We have more to offer than just sex.

The intended audience would probably eighteen to forty year old white women. Since this is a magazine intended for women. But I could see men read it just because of the cover. This ad supports this audience because women between the ages of eighteen and forty are sexually active in most cases and want to read it to somehow spice up their love life.  Get tips on how to make you better in bed.

I find this article very sad to know that this is how women are being portrayed. As a young woman I find that I have more to offer than sex. It disgusts me that men only want one thing and that is sex. Young girls are giving in a lot sooner to having sex because they think they will keep their boyfriend forever. But once they get what they want they are done and want nothing to do with them anymore. I don’t want to be portrayed as a sex object. I am a smart intelligent young woman and I do have goals, but they are not to pose half naked on the cover of a magazine.

Reading

Writing Assignment: Construct a writerly biography. Who are you? Where do you come from? What have been your experiences with reading and writing? What do your classmates and I need to know about you as a reader and writer? What are your strengths and weaknesses as a reader and writer? How do these practices intimidate or excite you? (This assignment should be posted to your blog.)

Hello, my name is Ashton Knorr. I am 19 years old and I live on a farm.  My dad, Richard, is a farmer. My mother, Kellie, works at a vet clinic as a secritarty. And a little sister named Morgan who is very good at basketball. I have a dog named Grace and she is soo cute and I love her very much. I am currently employed at LaVerna Village Nursing home in Savannah Missouri. I hope to become a nurse someday so I can use critical thinking to help my patients. I currently attend Missouri Western State University (the best college ever!).

As a child I had better things to do than read.  I was outside a lot and reading was the last thing on my mind.  But as I entered the fourth grade my teacher Mrs. Talmadge assigned us to read in our free time. So I went to the library to find something that looked simple I could read to pass the time. I picked up a Laura Ingles Wilder book. After reading the first few chapters I was addicted. Every chance I got I was reading those books. Since that year I have enjoyed reading books that interest me.  Reading is my chance to let my imagination soar and take flight. I created pictures in my head and I didn't need television anymore as long as I had my books.
As I got into highschool I was forced to read book's that did not interest me as much such as the Scarlet Letter. That has to be my least favorite book to this day. But I was asked to read How to Kill a Mocking Bird for another english class I had. It kept my attention until the very end. So in some ways teachers trying to broaden my reading was a good thing. To this day I still love to read if I get a chance. The latest book I have read was the Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls. This book was also assigned, turns out it has to be one of my favorite books I have ever read.
Reading is easy to me but writing scares me. It is easy to me to write down my thoughts and opinions but I am not good at struture, grammer, or really anything that has to do with writing.  But I do enjoy it even though im not good at it. Last semester I wrote a paper about my Grandma and I think it really helped me to let go of some grief I was holding inside. I believe writing can be very theraputic and it helps the mind to relax. Even if I do try to escape reading and writing as much as possible I find myself doing it everyday. When I am working by charting on my patients. When I am texting my family and friends or even when I have to read simple everyday assignments for work or school. No matter how hard I try reading and writing are all around me, and the better I get at it the more prepared for the future I will be!