The Influence of War on Women's Clothing

     Throughout American history our nation has been involved with many different wars, which affected our society in a good and bad way.  One of the positive outcomes from our nation's wars is the evolution of Women's clothing.  On the other hand, during each of these wars many people lost their lives and loved ones.  For this project my main focus is to combine the two in order to show people how the struggles that women faced and had to endure reflected their clothing during that war period.
     The significance of my project is people should be aware of how far the role of women in society has changed over the years.  Even if this change is as simple as clothing.  People should care about how they dress because how they dress now will impact future generations.  If women during the war years did not change their clothing style, then today women would be wearing something different.  Even something as simple as clothing can have a big impact on a group of people.  As I was searching through the interenet for information on Women's fashion, I came across a site which has useful and interesting information about Women's fashion during the Great War.  Here is the hyperlink for the site.

Tragedy or Justice?

     In Steubenville, Ohio, two teenage boy football players, Trent Mays (17) and Ma'lik Richmond (16) were found guilty of raping a sixteen-year-old helpless girl who was intoxicated and unconscious after a night of partying.  This crime became known as the Steubenville Rape Case to the nation.  From each of the three articles that I have read I came to a conclusion that each one has similar and different views of the case.  For example, in the beginning of the article The Case, the author portrays the offenders as the victims of the crime, but then the author portrays the two teenage boys as ignorant offenders.
     Overall, I believe that this crime committed by both of these boys was an act of arrogance and ignorance. Although the two teenage boys thought of their actions as a joke at the time, the crudeness and vile actions that they did to this helpless and unconscious young girl is unacceptable, disgusting and downright evil.  Did they even think about the repercussions of the harsh attacks against this young girl would have?  Or were they too caught up in their own arrogance to realize that what they were doing was wrong?  Also, where were the parents of all of the teenagers?  Without the right guidance and enforced rules teenagers are bound to exploit the freedom that they possess in a negative way.  There are many questions that can or cannot be answered by the three articles that I have read.  Although anyone who learns or reads about this crime will have a different perspective, the main point that needs to be addressed is that rape is a terrible crime and people should be more aware of how damaging this can be to anyone.

Women's Rights

Protecting Ben Ali's Feminist Rally

     I believe this article is a great example of feminism because it calls into question the future of women's rights in Tunisia, a country that is recovering from a revolution in January 14, 2011.  Ever since the overthrow of Ben Ali, the former Tunisia authoritative leader, feminist groups feared that their rights would be taken away.  Thus, demonstrations were held in fear of losing their rights.  For example,  "the ATFD and AFTURD organised a march under the slogan 'March for citizenship and equality'. Women walked with banners that featured slogans such as 'Don't touch my PSC', 'All united for our achievements', and 'A constitution that guarantees the rights of Tunisian women'" Soon after problems surfaced on how to to deal with this problem politically, thus the Tunisia government is now at a crossroads of authoritarianism or democratic rule.  Tunisia's decision of a type of government will change the future of the citizens of Tunisia, especially women since all of the laws that were made before the overthrow would be reevaluated if the government became a democracy.  I believe that the Tunisia government is handling the situation well regarding women's rights and I hope the government can come to a decision that is in the favor of both sides of the community without chaos. 

Human Trafficking

     Looking through all of the different blogs on the wiki I came across Alyssa Sasaki's blog about Human Trafficking.  Her blog about human trafficking reminded me of my final project in a writing course I took this past summer.  My paper and presentation was on how to create awareness of human trafficking in my community.  Going back to Alyssa's blog, I absolutely agree with her perspective of human trafficking because of the horrifying information that I learned from my research during the summer.  The victims of human trafficking have an inexplicably oppressive and cruel lifestyle.  For example, during my research, I came across a personal experience of a young Cambodian girl named Srey Pov, who was involved with sexual slavery at the age of six.  However, she was fortunately saved by Somaly Mam, an anti-trafficking activist.  On a positive note, there are people in the world who are making a difference by spreading awareness and taking action by saving young girls from vile brothel houses.
     Regarding Alyssa's question of the movie Taken:  "Not once in the movie was a male a victim of this horrendous crime and doing. Is this a correct or incorrect portrayal of sex trafficking?"  I agree with Alyssa that in the movie a male was never portrayed as a victim, but I am not sure about my answer to her question.  On the other hand, I do believe that media glamorizes the idea of females as the victim of sex trafficking.  Although males are not primarily used as sex slaves, males can be trafficked to other countries to do forced labor.  So, human trafficking is the trading of human beings for not only the sole purpose of prostitution, but also forced labor, and other forms of exploitation.   In this case, the media uses the movie Taken to portray women as the victim rather than the entire human race despite gender.

Boy vs Man & Girl vs Woman

The Difference Between Boy and Man & Girl and Woman

    

 I consider a boy to be an immature child who lacks judgement of right and wrong.  A boy is playful and silly.  He can never sit down in one place for a long time and says things without thinking.   Boys like to play around in the dirt and mud.

Girls are young, immature and silly like boys, but girls can be more caring and sensitive to other people's emotions.  A girl does not have the many responsibilities that a woman has.  Girls are unmarried and not well-developed like women.  Girls do not like dirty or stinky things. 

A woman is an intelligent, confident, and independent adult who has more responsibilities than a girl.  I consider a girl a young woman when she receives her period.  A woman's body is also more developed than a girl's.  A woman has breast, bigger thighs and hips and are able to have children.  A woman is also married or single.

A man is the opposite of a boy.  He is an adult who is responsible for his own well-being and others.  He is mature and capable of more than a boy. For example, men above the age of 21 are able to drink, smoke, drive, have ownership.  A man is an intelligent, strong and responsible adult who can support themselves and others by making the right decisions in life.  A man is also in control of his surroundings and is not as open with his emotions than a woman is.

More than a Costume

     As I was exploring the 'Iolani Women in Literature wiki I came across an article titled, "'We're a culture, not a costume' this Halloween" that made me realize how some costumes that people dress up as can be seen as a joke, but also as an insult to others.  I agree with the main statement of the article since costumes like a "white guy wearing a traditional ghutra and iqal over his head, [and] bombs strapped to his chest", can have a negative impact on the Muslim culture and people.  People assume that dressing up as an ethnic stereotype may not hurt anyone physically, but emotionally this simple action can have and has a negative impact on the culture and ethnic groups that these people impersonate. 
     This article provides a great example of how society perceives ethnic cultures in a particular way.  By dressing up in stereotypical costumes society expresses their perspective of that culture.  For some this can be seen as a laughing matter, but for others this can be a nightmare since society's assumptions may not be entirely true of that ethnic group. 
     I even have a personal experience that relates to this article.  Two years ago many people dressed up at school on Halloween.  Walking in the halls of I-building a student wearing a Hijab, a scarf covering her hair and a Chador, which covered her entire body shocked me because I knew that that student had impersonated another whose religion was Muslim.  At first I thought to myself, that girl has guts, but then I thought about the girl who she had impersonated.  Was she okay with this?  Does she even know?  Is this even right?  Come to find out the girl had asked permission and both were okay with it.  However, I believe that this action was not right because of how this custom was disrespected.  Customs should not be taken as a joke.
     In conclusion, I support the ad campaign that members of Ohio University's Students Teaching about Racism in Society are launching or have already launched.  I believe people should think twice before dressing up as an ethnic or racial costume because there can be a negative outcome to their actions.

You make an A** out of u and me when you "Assume"

Society can create many assumptions of men and women, which can be either degrading or positive. However, the main questions are: how are these assumptions made? What information are these assumptions based on? And why would society judge men and women based on information that may or may not be true? People choose to believe certain things that appeal to them. From this knowledge or information, society will make assumptions, which are true or false. Unfortunately, sometimes society is not capable of determining the fact from fiction.  Thus, society's assumptions can turn into stereotypes that are based on false information.  I believe that a simple assumption can turn into a big problem.  Now here are two lists of common assumptions that I believe society appears to hold about men and women:

Men:

· All men love sports and are capable of physical activity

· Men are always in the dominant position

· Physically stronger than women

· Always the foundation of a family (Financially)

· Men do not have a soft side

· Men are only interested in sex and physical attractions

Women:

· Women are fragile and weak

o"Damsel in distress"

· Inequality is acceptable

oLower wages

oHigh-ranking positions

· All women know how to cook and clean

· All women dress feminine

· All women are nurturing

· Women are emotional and dramatic

I believe society view men and women under false pretenses because of media's influence on them. Besides the true portrayals of men and women in movies, music, television programs, commercials, etc., there are negative and stereotypical aspects of men and women, which influence the minds of the next generations with assumptions that are not entirely true of ALL men and women. These assumptions are created from an honest or false perception of men and women in society. My advice for society is to find the truth before making an assumption because the outcome can be either positive or negative, and no one wants a negative outcome.