Young Women

my favorite service of any religion. At the end we got to ask two women about the faith. One was a younger wife and her children and the other was an old woman. They answered many of our questions. They told us that the person leading the service stood higher than the others, on an altar of some sort, because that is what Muhammed did. We asked when girls start to wear the hijab and we got slightly different answers from the two women. They both agreed that it usually starts at puberty, the…

shining eyes. A director’s board claps in front of her face, promptly followed with the question, “What does it mean to do something ‘like a girl’?” The director asks the blonde to demonstrate the meaning of running “like a girl.” Immediately, the young woman begins to imitate running in place, arms flopping in the air, hands daintily out to her sides to remain ‘balanced.’ She fidgets to adjust her hair, exclaiming a piercing, shrill, girly laugh. Similar scenes of flapping arms follow as…

The poem Mother Who Gave Me Life by Gwen Harwood and the novel The Penelopiad by Margret Atwood both demonstrate the oppression of women when their achievements are seen as a threat to the patriarchal views of society. Mother who gave me life implements the idea of feminine sacrifice in the biblical allusion, “your voice calling me in as darkness falls on my father’s house” expresses…

to start the “Like a Girl” Campaign. They said they want to “inspire, empower, and educate girls”. They want to change the saying “like a girl” to a positive meaning. They also talk about how 19% of women perceived “like a girl” as a positive meaning, whereas 6 months after their first video 76% of women thought of “like a girl” in a positive way. They talk about how they want more than just awareness to the subject, they want a solution. Always is partnering up with psychologist so they can…

took it upon themselves to “protect” women. These men created the ideals of the Cult of True Womanhood, and worked to preserve these virtues at all costs. The Cult oppressed both black and white women of this time because the men forced them to adhere to this restrictive lifestyle. While the Cult was made to restrict the actions of all women, it specifically applied to white women because black women were seen as incapable of being lady-like. Black women were forced to obey the restrictions…

the contrasting attitudes amongst prepubescent girls, and young adults. Creating this rhetoric in the form of a visual is beneficial in making this piece effective by creating the feeling of validity amongst viewers. Seeing real girls respond to these questions and take part in this social experiment adds to the emotional appeal. Women who are watching this may be able to directly relate to the scenario, whether they were an uninhibited young girl themselves or they are now subconsciously…

In the short stories, “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall” and “The Hills like White Elephants,” both have woman protagonist who face difficult hardships that women usually faced during the 30’s and 40’s. Granny Weatherall is an old dying woman who is lying in a hospital bed drifting in and out of what seems to be near death. While drifting in and out, Granny Weatherall starts to reminisce on her life and everything that she has left undone. While realizing everything she left undone, Granny…

It was a March morning when I came into this world. Of course being that young I don 't recall any memories other than the moments that I shared with my mother and father through their nurture. Although, when I reached the age of four, I discovered something about myself that classified me as a certain person; that being a girl. Furthermore, when I came to be that age I realized that my family also helped me become the girly girl that I am today, as well of what girls are expected to do.…

on her and rebels by treating the doll and others differently than the way people expect her to. Toni Morrison uses the Christmas gift, the doll, to highlight what she perceives to be proof that gender is socially constructed and is used to control women. When the little girl receives the doll for Christmas she is unsure how to act towards it and wonders “What was I supposed to do with it?”. According to the girl the doll was to represent her “fondest wish.”. Here Morrison is pointing out that…

deprived normal human rights such as participating in elections and even household decisions, to having women being able to be the sole bread winner of a household and even having a woman as a candidate to be the president of an entire nation! Then again, women are still being treated as if we have done something wrong. For some of us, having a normal and happy life is a distant dream. For some women, judgment from strangers, friends, co-workers and, most often family comes far too often and…