This One's for the Girls

I am a girl with many dreams. For as long as I can remember, I have always wanted to change the world, but the shadows of racial injustice haunted me as I experienced girlhood in America. Born as an Indian girl into a conservative Hindu family in America, my cultural expectations were high. Culture dictates for girls to be traditional, but the average American household was not similar to mine. Not only were these expectations high at home, they were also prevalent at school. My race and…

Alexandra Duma Professor Helen Kapstein LIT 316 Defying the Gender Binary in Luna Gender identity is the subjective understanding of one’s gender (Morrow 7). The way in which an individual forms a gender identity relies heavily on the socio-cultural environment in which one lives. Gender identity is different than biological sex and sexual orientation. Luna by Julie Anne Peters follows the coming of age story of Luna, a boy who struggles with gender roles and expectations imposed on him by his…

focus on adolescent girls has drastically lowered body satisfaction. Advertisements have created what is know as "the new normal" by hiring models with unreal body types and using the infamous program, photoshop. "Adolescent Health" stated, "Fashion models weigh 23 percent less than the average female, although these representations are perceived to be normal," ("Adolescent Health"). In addition, it's alarming to know how many…

group. In the articles, “Hyper-sexuality of the Dark Body” by Siobhan Brooks and “We Don’t Sleep around like White Girls Do” by Yen Le Espiritu, the author exemplifies the theme of sexual oppression and how that has ruined the reputations and lives of colored women. The authors have taken their perspectives into account to show how much of a damage society has put them through. From this, both of the authors were able to exploit society of its crimes. It is beyond cruel to manipulate and…

Obscurity and void in one’s heart cannot assure the stable mentality of their health, more so in a 9 and 11-year old’s mind. The origins of one’s understanding of action and consequence can manipulate their lifestyle and logical decisions. The mistakes and the consequences that occur in the Puritan region of Salem can be seen as the result of one’s obscurity. The Salem Witch Trails are seen as events that executed and accused many people of using or practicing witchcraft. Despise being an event…

the dress code has had many negative effects on young girls. The dress code is not…

Italian restaurant on a night in late September. They sit down together at a table in the corner of the restaurant. After their meal arrives, Diana notices that Jack’s phone screen lights up, revealing a text message from a girl named Amanda. Diana questions him about this girl. Jack tells her that Amanda works with him at his real estate company. He says that she has been talking to him recently about a house that she is having difficulty selling, and is wanting some…

Representation” is a sort of play on words on the vast underrepresentation and misrepresentation of the Misses and Mrs. in American media and the conditioned idea that their appearance and how they come across to men are the most important things about them. This is evident in a number of ways. For example, the focus on women’s bodies and aesthetics, in television, movies, and advertisement serve as pervasive agents of socialization that propagate the idea that a woman’s value and power is…

At first sight, you see a little girl painted black and white with her red balloon against a gray brick wall. The image takes on a playful and youthful message when first looked at. Then taking a closer look, the girl’s face and the front of her dress are white as if illuminated by the…

throughout her works and her lyrics are a raw and open account of the difficulty pressure from society can bring to those who struggle to accept themselves. In her songs “I Know Girls (Body Love),” “Sum of Our Parts,” and “Lay Your Head Down,” she references mental illness and the direct impact societal expectations can have on one’s mental health and self-esteem. Now more than ever, mental illness has become a…