In the news...

I just got done watching the AMA awards and was surprised when Taylor Swift won the Artist of the Year, but really happy for her. I was surprised she won with Michael Jackson up for the same award, but glad a young girl that has worked as hard as she has won. A young girl winning such a huge award is not very common.

Another thing I saw on the news was that it is being said that women's mammograms are now only needed to be done every two years. A lot of people are making a huge deal about that because they think the government is just trying to save money by saying it doesn't need to be done every year. It would be horrible if that is the case and the government would do such a thing. But honestly, with how the government is right how who would know? Making cut backs such as this one, is in my opinion not the way to go about getting us out of our debt. My mom heard that if every man, woman and child in the United States would give 1/2 a million dollars to the government it would get us out of our debt. That is absolutely crazy!! Maybe the government should be more focused on getting us out of that debt than some of the ways they spent the stimulus money, for example when they used it to build tunnels under roads for turtles. I think finding breast cancer in women is way more important than some other ways the government money has been spent.

Abuse of Power

Friday night I was being the sober driver and ended up driving a bunch of my friends around all night. I was driving down Chesnut and noticed a cop was riding my bumper, but knew I wasn't speeding so I thought I was ok. He continued to follow me all the way to Meredith and finally put his lights on. From the minute he came up to my window he was a complete jerk. He told me he pulled me over because my license plate wasn't lit up.. I didnt even know that was a feature on my car! I told him I was being the sober driver and thats why my car smelt like alcohol, he didnt believe me. He made me get out and proceeded to ask me if I had a weapon on me. Once again he didnt believe me and patted me down! I was very shocked by this. Then he gave me a sobriety test, like I would lie to a cop about drinking and driving. Throughout all this he asked me a bunch of random questions that were none of his buisness, like how I knew the guy in my car and other stuff. I always heard of people getting gift cards for being the sober driver, never being harrassed and questioned so much like I was. It may not sound so bad, but being there it was awful. It was like the cop was on a soap box and was taking advatage of his powers. This was a perfect example of a guy who thought he was better than a young girl and was on a power trip. Seems to be typical for a lot of guys these days. If they think they are better than you or of higher power than you they sure do have to show it. It seems like the police officer would appreciate what I was doing, not treat me like crap.

Change

Change is inevitable. It is everywhere, everyday. Sometimes the change is for the better, sometimes it's not. Women are starting to take a bigger part in seeing the chages they want to be made, and I like it. This year we actually had a woman running for president. That's huge for our country, but I don't think it should be. I think women should be seen just as capeable as men and should be in the running for president all the time.

At the beginning of Part 8 there is a quote I really liked. "You dont have to be Superwoman to change the world. You just have to take responsibility for your life and your community--and realize that you have the power to so, even from your own sticky kitchen table." I love this and think it is so true. Anyone can change the world, they just have to have the mindset they are going to be successfull and do what it takes to accomplish it.

The article from this chapter that really caught my eye was Article 40, "Ava Lowery: Teen Activist Making a Difference in the Iraq War." This is a perfect example of a girl who isn't letting her age or gender stand in the way of her fighting for what she believes in. I was shocked to hear she had gotten such rude comments and even death threats. But she didn't let those ruin what she is fighting for and I believe that shows a ton of character. She could have let those comments get to her and give up on what she believes in, but she didn't. If everybody had that passion for what they believed in this world could be a much better place.

Part 5 Readings

Article 24, Rape as Social Murder, definitely caught my attention. I have always thought rape was a horrible thing, probably one of the worst things that could happen to somebody. Reading those details and getting that mental image made me cringe for girls that have experienced such an awful thing. It's sad that so many girls have had to experience rape. I wish more girls had the strength to report these guys so the government could see how prevalent this situation is and come up with a much harsher punishment for the rapist.

Another article that stood out to me was Article 26, Trends in Delinquent Girls' Aggression and Violent Behavior: A Review of the Evidence. Its hard to believe that between 1991 and 2000 girls' arrests increased by 25.3% while arrests of boys decreased by 3.2%. I think girls are starting to fight back from all the shit they have been put through and that is where all this violent behavior is coming from. In the past girls have always been supposed to sit quietly and not voice their opinion or fight for something they thought was right. Guys ways have always been the right way, and that was that. Today, more and more girls are learning to stand up for themselves. Violent aggression and behavior is in no way the right way to stand up or fight for what you believe, but that is what a lot of girls have started doing. Also, I think so many girls have been abused by their boyfriends and see fighting as a way to channel negative emotion. They got abused when they did something wrong, so in return they abuse somebody else when something is done wrong. It goes back to the circle of violence. It's the only was some girls have been shown to solve problems, so they try to use violence to solve theirs.

Part 3 Reading

In response to Part Three, the article “Not Just a Paper Doll: How Models Manage Bodily Capital and Why They Perform Emotional Labor,” really caught my eye. It’s amazing to me what models will do to get the body they need to be recognized by modeling agencies. Modeling is such a stressful occupation in its self. Between the emotional labor and the physical labor, it can really be a lot for a girl to handle. Models are usually young in age, and all this stress at such a prime time in their life makes it even harder.
Models tend to become anorexic or bulimic because their weight is such an important thing. I’ve never understood why the models we are supposed to look to for fashion advice are always these girls that are so unreal in size. It’s almost kind of discouraging when it looks one way on the model and then looks totally different on someone of normal size. Why can’t models just be people of normal size?
I think the media is corrupting these girls by making them think they need to be super skinny to be able to be successful. I know it was their choice to become a model, but the lengths these girls are going to is way too far.

Its hard enough being a teenage girl...

I never knew fighting was such a huge problem among girls, especially high school girls. And I sure as heck never knew guys thought it was attractive (the opinion some girls in my class had). Where I went to high school we of course had fights. Usually it was fights between guys with the occasional girl fight. Once we even had a girl hit a guy in the face! But none of that has ever been seen as cool, or not in my eyes atleast.

I couldn't imagine being a girl and going to school everyday where I was scared I was going to be bullied and hazed. Girls have it hard enough growing up without the hazing and stuff they dont deserve to be getting at school. I think the girls being the bullies and doing the hazing are trying to come across as big and bad, like the top dogs of the school. When really it seems like they are just so low themselves they have to put others down to feel better about themselves. Girls are just plain mean and will do just about anything to hurt somebody if it means benefiting themself.

In refrence to, "When the Cool Get Hazed" by Tina Kelley, a "slut list" doesn't really surprise me. Girls today are getting the picture that being a slut is the cool thing. But who can blame them for thinking that way? Its all thats on the TV and in magazines that we read. Really, its the only view of a girl that is in public. Guys are starting to pressure girls at a much younger age, causing the girl to have to make a choice about sexual acts much earlier than she ever should. Some girls think they have to come across as a slut so guys will like them. Especially if the girl doesnt have the money to dress in all the nice clothes or have all the nice things, being a slut is a way she can stand out to a guy and get his attention.

With the way society is today, and all the pressure being put on teenage girls, who can blame these girls for some of the decisions they are making? To them, it just seems to be the way things are.

About Me

My name is Mary Bruce Watson, and I do go by Mary Bruce. I'm a sophomore here at WKU. I have an undecided major right now, but am interested in pre-pharmacy. I'm from a fairly small town not far from here, Glasgow. I have lived there my whole life and loved it! I graduated with the best group of people I could have ever asked for. After graduating I went to the University of Kentucky my freshman year. I found myself overwhelmed at such a large campus and being too far away from home. All my friends go to Western and love it, so I decided to make the switch.

From this class I expect to learn about the different roles women have and also how women are viewed and treated in different places of the world. From this university I expect the best education I can get and also many opportunities to prepare me for life and work after college. As far as what I expect from life-I believe life is what you make it! And I am trying to make it the best it can possibly be :)