Health Fair

Yesterday I spent 9 hours at the health fair. It started at 7 with blood screenings where you could have a vial of blood taken and have it screened for various things such as risk of coronary heart disease, triglycerides and other things. This lasted until about 10:30. At 8 is when the actual health fair started, downstairs of the fitness center, in both gyms there was a variety of booths from area business and TTU departments. These booths were mainly informational, but at some booths you could register to win give aways! I actually won an emergency roadside car kit! The health fair also provided other prizes as well such as an ipod nano, 2 ipod shuffles, a digital camera. I didnt get to win any of these prizes, but I was still happy with my little roadside kit! I also got to play cornhole for a while with all the other people that were working. The health fair ended at 4:30 and we drew prizes and then we broke everything down and moved tons and tons of stuff. I missed my classes yesterday, but I didnt have anything really big going on except for english but hopefully I can make it up with this blog for citizenship credit! I really had a lot of fun at the fair and I hope everyone gets a chance to go next year!! :)

Cell Phones!

So, I read the cell phone article because it was the one that interested me the most being a cell phone user. I have never really thought much about how my talking on the phone could really interrupt someone’s day. The writer of the cell phone article goes to explain how cell phones are like cigarettes. No one wants to breathe in anyone else smoke, and in the article conversation is like smoke and no one else wants to hear your conversation. Have having a cell phone for the past 5 years I haven’t really thought about my talking or texting being rude really, but I have caught myself getting annoyed when I’m talking to someone and they are texting so I have really tried to cut back on that. And even just right now, sitting in the library I answered my phone and had a conversation! I tried to make it as quiet as possible though. So it really does make sense when he says that cell phones are like cigarettes, but I don’t think he should go as far to say that they should be banned from public places because that is a little ridiculous, most of us wouldn’t carry and use our phones unless we needed them, so they shouldn’t be banned. I also really liked that he gave some statistics about cell phones, such as 61 percent said that it was ok to use a phone in a grocery store, and 62 percent find it ok to use them in the restroom, but in 2001 only 39 percent did. These statistics just really show that we have come to rely on our cell phones more heavily over the years since more and more people are getting them.

Take Back the Night

So, last night I went to see Take Back the Night. I honestly probably wouldnt have gone unless my sorority hadnt required me to. So I went. Going into this I didnt really know at all what it was about. But I then realized that it was about stopping violence against women. I really felt like I had been to a lot of stop the violence things this month. First with the Vagina Monologues and now Take Back the Night. The event first started with opening comments and then a couple of short speakers. One, specifically was by a woman, and I forget her name, but she read us something called "Stop This Madness" which was basically a cry out to stop the maddness of violence against women An award was presented to Dr. Ojo and that was really interesting to see because I had never seen her before but she was so happy and gave a really nice speech and so I liked her a lot. Then we had some poems read to us by some students. Two by Maya Angelou and one called "I Fight like a Girl" which was pretty intense. One was by a student who had written it herself. This was was very deep, because it was an actual recount of an event of domestic violence in her life. Then they concluded the ceremony with some remarks and we were let out. I really only went because I had to, but I wish that there had been more information about the presentation and what it was all about because I really would have liked to know more about it. But overall it was a decent presentation and I am really glad i went to see it.

Vagina Monologues!

So, I went and saw the Vagina Monologues this past Thursday, and it was my first time seeing it. I wasn't completely sure what to expect going into it, because I had read most of it from last semester, and the readings seemed overwhelming to me. I have never been used to hearing those kinds of things talked about in public. I consider myself quite conservative and don't really think its appropriate to discuss your private life with others. But my mind was quickly changed when I saw the play. I realized that this was not a scandalous form of entertainment. It was witty and very informative. I as well as many others had no idea about the violence against women and the sufferings of women all over the world. Still there were a couple of scenes that made me blush, like the whole "c word" one. I'm just really not a big fan of that word at all, and I dont say it. Hearing everyone yelling it i was like what the heck. But it's whatever, I got over it. I did actually like the dances in it too. At first I didnt think I would like them because I thought they would take away from the performance, But I really did like them, because it actually added to the performance. My favorite monologue would have to be the "angry vagina" one. The actress that performed it is amazing and I have seen her before in "Assassins." The monologue was very clever and somewhat true to women. I was thoroughly entertained by the performance. So overall, I really enjoyed the production of the Vagina Monologues and I would reccomend it to anyone and I think they would get the same experience I recieved.

Racism articles.

After reading the two articles on race I was actually really surprised to find out about some of the things listed. When reading Defining Racism I found that even in our early years we are discriminating and making assumptions. I really liked the example with the preschoolers and the Indians. It really is true though, even myself as a child thought that all Indians wore big feather hats and carried around tomahawks. I also really like where she says “ We may not have polluted the air, but we need to take responsibility, along with the others, for cleaning it up.” This makes so much sense because although we may not have known what we were doing, most of us have still contributed to racism as a whole.

When I read the McIntosh article, I was quite shocked when she showed us how white people get benefits that we don’t even know about. As a white female, I never really realized that I had certain privileges that an African American or and Latin American might not receive. She makes a point that whites aren’t followed around in stores, or worry about the way we dress or act being a reflection of our color. This article was very eye opening for me, as a white American, I should really take on a better stand on racism, being a contributor to passive racism I had no idea how it could effect society as a whole!

I have really NOT considered myself racist by any means, but after reading this article I found that just not saying anything is considered passive racism. I now need to change the way I take things and not take them lightly. I should also be thankful that I have the status I have and be thankful that I don’t have to suffer for being my color. And with that said I should try to help those that do suffer because of their color, by changing my own actions.

Iron Maiden

After reading The Iron Maiden: How Advertising Portrays Women, I actually wasn’t too shocked or anything. I knew this was a growing problem because I have seen it before myself. As a young teen I was thrown into the world of magazines and pop culture. The advertisements at first did not depress me, but encouraged me to become more fit and healthy with my life. But as the years went on, I soon came to find that I was never going to look like the models in the ads, and that was depressing. I then became extremely self-conscious of myself, and now looking back I really shouldn’t have been. The advertising world is a cruel and harsh one to live in. Women are idolized as being skinny and beautiful women with perfect hair and flawless skin. This is basically a lie. No one is perfect, well, except for in the pictures, but professionals digitally alter those. The scary thing is, is that young teens are seeing this ads as they keep getting worse, and they feel that they MUST look like that in order to be liked or successful in life. And teens are young adults are now taking looks to the extreme by radical dieting or self induced vomiting. I have come to find out that women come in a variety of shapes and sizes, and that is beautiful, God wouldn’t have made us if he didn’t think we were each beautiful in his creation. The hard thing is that most of society cant seem to grasp that reality and struggle constantly about appearance.
The pictures in the article are also very accustomed to me. There are women being shown half clothed as if they were ornaments. Men are being shown, more times than not, with out t-shirts and with extremely athletic bodies. These pictures are perfect examples of what is WRONG with advertising. Making sex appeal an object that sells is totally wrong when your not even selling sex! Anyways, advertising is garbage when it comes to the well being of society, and I really hate that. :(

Sweat-shops

So, I have jusy finished with my assigned readings on sweatshops. The two storys were both interesting and kept my attention which made me happy! To the main point though, was that they were both very different. "Two cheers for sweatshops" was an informative work that explains the positive sides of sweat shops. This article explains exactly how they writers came to their views on the subject. Kristof and WuDunn spent years in Asia interviewing workers, owners, and they studied how these two groups felt about the work. The Asian people working in the factories really have no complaints about working, and they even want to work more hours. They see working in a factory as an opportunity to better themselves and get money to provide for their familes. Kristof and WuDunn, do not feel that they are being opressed because its something that they themselves want to do.

"Pennies an hour and no way up" is written by Hayden, a former CA state senator, and Kernaghan, director of National Labor Committee (NLC). This article basically goes to describe all of the downfalls to sweatshops. The pay is extremely low, and conditions are very dangerous. The NCL wants to make a move to put more bans on factories in the East and other industrial areas. It says that in Bangladesh women recieve 5 cents for the $17.99 Disney shirt they sew. The article is very informative, and shows the reader that sweatshops are vile and hazardous to the population working in them.