This One's for the Girls

That was what King Charles VII was facing while trying to keep his country, France together. In all that misery, a customary girl saw the mistreatment the nation was facing and she was ready to fight for justice. King Charles VII saw no lighter and gave her what she was asking for, armor, horse and a group of soldiers. That girl was Joan of Arc, an eighteen-year-old girl that had a dream of peace and justice. With her passion, she defeated the English crown which at that time owned part of…

can easily take esteem of one’s self away. In the short story “Boys and Girls,” author Alice Munro establishes the idea that when strong tribulation originating from elements of setting burdens characters then individuals’ resilience is destroyed, which results in the destruction of self-worth. This is seen specifically with the antagonist, who is a young girl, and struggles against the expectations of her mother and others around her that she needs to be ladylike. The girl resists the change,…

turned into a monster as a result of his actions. Fractured fairy tales are altered in some way. The boy has two years to find true love and to kiss a girl while being a beast. If the boy cannot do this, he will stay a beast forever. Although they are not realistic, fairy tales do present positive messages; in this fairy tale, the message is that one’s whole life can change at any given moment; earlier actions, good or bad, can start the change. Kyle Kingsbury was a rich, good looking…

recognizable; it's hard to find your identity, it's even harder to keep it. Experiences and obstacles define one's identity. This is shown through the eyes of the characters in the novel The Bluest Eye. This novel follows the life of a girl struggling to find her identity through different obstacles and events in her life. The past, other identities, and societal norms all builds and challenges one's identity. The past is a vital aspect that builds and challenges one identity. To elaborate in…

The year 2014 was the year in which all had changed. I was only a young adolescent girl in the midst of another middle school year, who was getting all of her ideologies, beliefs, and values in place to develop the morals she wanted. However, middle school is not always going to sway with one’s true ideologies. See I had to overcome the thing I feared the most, having to speak on a side of a debate I did not believe in. When you think about it, one might not think it is so bad. However, to us,…

We live in a “media-saturated” world (National Eating Disorder). This disconnect from reality and over connect to the media inevitably influences one’s self-perception. Media most often targets adolescents who are susceptible to peer pressure and most easily influenced by the images projected in the media (Tiggeman & Pickering, 1996). This can have detrimental effects on how they perceive their bodies (Clark & Tiggeman, 2007). A negative body image is often associated with females, yet in…

There is an array of different variations of prejudice in this extravagant world. Two hefty forms are racism and sexism. Racism is living prejudice or discriminating someone of another race in the belief that one’s race is superior. Sexism is the prejudice or discrimination against one’s gender, typically female. I have experienced both of these variations of prejudice bounteous times throughout my life from both ends of the stick. Allow me to have the honor of elaborating my profuse experiences…

better than girls. For many, this stereotype is something they think about subconsciously. It has been drilled in their head either intentionally or not. An example of this stereotype taking root in the minds of the children is in the article Little Girls Doubt Women Can Be Brilliant, Studies Show. The article discusses how children’s view of brilliance changes at around the ages of 6 to 7. The article goes over some reasons why they believe many children, especially little girls, have this…

women pop up on your feed. Not just beautiful women, but women with incredibly voluptuous and fit bodies. There is so much pressure to achieve that “hour glass” shape body that even celebrities such as the infamous Kardashian’s have contributed to this extra pressure on women to have a tiny waist by promoting “waist trainers.” As a result, not only do women face the pressures of having a career and a perfect family, but also highly aesthetic bodies that today’s society views as “beautiful” and…

The importance of identity is so prevalent and relatable in today’s young adult and children’s stories. More importantly is the significance of being faithful to one’s own identity, and how at times one may betray that faith leading to deception as well. Yang’s American Born Chinese, Aesop’s Fables, “The Kites and the Swans”, and “The Crow and the Raven”, paint a message that one can easily deceive and betray their true identity, and although the path to redemption is difficult in some cases it…