Jamie B.

2-2-04

 

Activist Journal 1

“Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.”

-William James

            I think James’ assumption is correct. Any effort that anyone puts into attempting to make a difference is important, because it is means something to that person. Just because somebody else might not agree with you, doesn’t mean what you believe lacks significance. Additionally, it’s amazing to just show that you care about something so strongly. For instance, this summer I worked with the C.T.T’s of Morry’s Camp, a summer camp for underprivileged children to create a service learning project for kids going into high school. We addressed numerous topics and fears such as drugs and alcohol, peer pressure, etc. Although some people may not agree that it was an appropriate topic, I really felt good after I finished and presented it, especially after befriending some of the campers at Morry’s Camp. Therefore, I believe that William Jame’s belief is true because as long as you feel it makes a difference, because it does. It’s better than not helping at all.

 

Activist Journal 2

            What is the “typical” American family like? One would probably say a mother, a father, three kids and a dog. However, are all families in America like this? Clearly not. Due to the extreme increase in divorce rates, it has become more and more common for households to consist of a single parent with his/her son/daughter. It ahs been proven through various case studies that families who have single parents, have children who are more likely to engage in promiscuous sex, drugs, and other types of destructive violence. Besides families with a single parent, today, there are more and more families with two fathers or two mothers. Whether the issue of gay marriages is more widely accepted today than it was many years ago, or of people are just more willing to “come out of the closet,” it is a very controversial issue. Another exception which is unfortunately rather common is abuse in families. Whether it is a husband to a wife or parent to child, the cat of abuse, both psychical and emotional, can have long lasting effects on people. Especially, if the victim of abuse is a child, they are much more likely to abuse their children when they are older. All in all, the stereotype of a “typical” American family, being just one of the billions of stereotypes in society, is not true, especially because every family has their own problems.

 

Activist Journal 3

            The media, today, has done an excellent job in perceiving the images of certain groups of people incorrectly. For example, in many of the teen magazines such as YM or Seventeen it is blatantly obvious that all of the ads for makeup or clothing companies include extremely thing, gorgeous models, which problem don’t even make up 1% of the female population. Advertising agencies are pure geniuses, yet, at the same time, cruel villains. By having young, beautiful girls who look good in their clothes mmodel for them, it makes other people want to buy them beause they hope it will look good on them, as well. However, this is not reality, nor is it a safe and healthy way for ad agencies to advertise. In doing this, girls around the age of adolescence become corrupt and begin to obsess over their weight. Subconsciously, ads do have a major impact on eating disorders and the perception of self-images. By portraying women in a certain way, that makes other women believe that they “must” look like that, as well, because that is what is socially acceptable. Additionally, at the back of every teen magazine are at least five ads for modeling agencies. Not that this shouldn’t be allowed, it’s just that when a magazine is swarmed with five of them it begins to send out a certain message.

 

Activist Journal 4

            Obviously, over the past century women have fought for their rihts and have gained most of them. One hundred years ago, women were only thought of as domestic housewives and couldn’t earn nearly as much money as men. Today, event hough in some cases, women usually re given the same salary as men are. However, there are still some men that have a very sexist view of women and then think they are superior. For example, when I was in elementary school, my gym teacher never believed that girls could play sports as well as guys could, which is completely incorrect. He would make up a girls game of basketball and a separate one for the guys, sometimes. I thought this was a relatively demeaning act because, yes, even though some of the guys are stronger, there are some that aren’t. Plus, the challenge is also fun. Additionally, another issue towards feminism that irks me is the whole issue with whether abortion should be legal or not. To me, it doesn’t really make sense that a lot of men are making the decisions, when really women should be able to make that choice. Although, in the majority of situations, the superiority complex of men has diminished, in some cases it still exists and there is no excuse for that. Women should have equal rights, when being compared to men.

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