Rules

Last year, I took Constitutional Law, and we discussed the court case Regents of the University of California v. Bakke. Bakke, a white male, was rejected twice from med school at the University of California, even though minority applicants who were less qualified than him were admitted. The Supreme Court precedent was that racial quotas are inadmissible, but affirmative action is A-OK. When we first studied the case, I sympathized with Bakke. It always sucks to see others get something that you think you're more qualified for, and he definitely was more qualified in terms of test scores. But ultimately, I decided I agreed with the Supreme Court precedent. The way society is set up keeps the poor poor and makes the rich richer, and in order to create a society where people are truly equal, we have to try to narrow that gap.

In Con Law, I got a lot of criticism for my views on socialism and communism. I said that even though they don't work in practice, as ideas, they're pretty great. When I took Con Law, the presidential election was going on, and many people in the class said that they were worried that Obama would be too socialist. I disagreed. I didn't think any of his plans were too radical (I still hold that opinion) and that perhaps they would help. Remember, FDR's New Deal helped many people through the Depression, and while his programs were not exactly socialist, they were a great example of big government helping the people.

The recession has hit many people hard. But even though my parents aren't millionaires, we've still been living fairly comfortably. My parents even commissioned an addition to our house recently. Sure, they'd always dreamed of a sun room and a larger kitchen, but I was appalled that we were expanding (and taking out loans to do so - in this economy!) when so many others were cutting back. I wish my parents had taken into consideration all the people who find themselves homeless, all the people who are incapable of escaping poverty, and all that we could have been doing to help the dreams of others. Sure, I like the sun room. The kitchen is nice. But when I think about the unemployment rate and the numbers of homeless people, I wish we hadn't had the addition in the first place. People can condemn socialism all they want, but the rich are only going to get richer and the poor will only get poorer unless we redistribute some wealth. Humans are so obsessed with money, which I think is ridiculous. How can we be happy living comfortably in the suburbs when people are struggling to eat in the slums? We need to care more about others.

Positive Deviance

Last Saturday night, my sister and I went out for dinner and planned to go to Showcase afterwards. However, we thought the show started at 7:30, when it had actually started at 7:00. So instead, we went to Brunswick Zones, up near the mall. We played a couple games, and then my sister wanted to go play the kiddie arcade games. They're kind of like Chuckie Cheese games, where you buy tokens and play for tickets, which you can then use to get prizes. I spent two dollars on tokens, just because I'm a sucker for kiddie games. Anyway, I ended up getting the jackpot on a game I played, which was 300 tickets. My sister was really jealous, because she had spent at least five dollars, so I gave some of my tickets to her and then asked the guy at the counter (they had to manually count the tickets, because the machine wasn't working) to just add the rest onto the total of the next little kid to play at the arcade. He was kind of surprised that I wanted to do that, because I guess most people don't say things like that, but he agreed. As my sister and I drove home, I imagined a little kid getting a bunch of extra tickets, and hopefully being happy. It made me happy to think about it.

What people say is true: when you do things for others, you feel good about yourself. Most of the time, society teaches us to keep to ourselves. When other people say things that are offensive, we're supposed to keep quiet. It's considered weird to speak up. Most people ignore homeless people begging on the streets. When people cry, most others ignore them. But if we tried to help other people more, I think the world would be a much better place. Helping others benefits them, but if you need a self-directed motive, helping others makes you feel really good about yourself.

Masculinity and Homophobia

When we talked in class about how masculinity is intrinsically tied to homophobia, I really connected it to my own life. Sure, I'm a girl, but so many times, guys have acted really homophobic around me, and now I understand that it's part of their need to assert their masculinity.

I'm an FMP, and there's a kid in my advisory who I'll call D. He's a scrawny kid with a delicate face. There's another kid who I'll call N. He dresses like a gangster, has received numerous in-school suspensions, and has no respect for authority, which includes his FMPs. N will bully D relentlessly, and when we ask him to stop, he just picks on D more because he thinks that D needs others to fight his own battles. Our faculty advisor has referred N to his dean many times, but N literally doesn't care at all about being punished. He got expelled from two middle schools and hasn't learned anything from the experience. Anyway, one day, N was making fun of D, coming up with nicknames for him, and he said, "D 'fag' [last name]." I was in shock that he would say that, but two of my co-FMPS (who are guys) LAUGHED about it! I wanted to say something, but N, though a freshman, is kind of scary. None of us really know how to deal with him because he so obviously doesn't care at all about any punishments we threaten him with. I really regret not speaking up, and it still bothers me that my two co-FMPs, who are supposed to respect others, LAUGHED. I've always thought I'm an assertive person, but maybe I am a socialized girl, completely docile.

Yesterday on the bus, two guys behind me were making fun of this guy who had flowers and was walking with his girlfriend (they were holding hands) to school. We got stuck at the tracks behind a freight train, and as we waited, the guy handed the girl the flowers and then kissed her. The guys behind me were like, "Dude, that guy is SO gay." Remembering what Sal said the other day about girls standing up to guys about their homophobia, I turned around and said, "Oh, yes, he's obviously gay for kissing that girl. He definitely likes guys." One of the guys replied, "No, we're not saying he's LITERALLY gay. He's just whipped." I told them, "Oh, so you don't think guys should give girls flowers? Okay, let's see you find dates to prom." That shut them up. I'm glad I said something, but I also wish I could have found a way to do so WITHOUT attacking their masculinity (saying that they're incapable of getting girls).

So I've been noticing masculinity and femininity a lot recently, and I think it's really interesting to see how we've all been socialized to act.

Over and out,
Bex

Body Image

I think every girl relates to the pressures to be "perfect." When I was in 8th grade, my best friend had what I, and many of our other friends, thought was an eating disorder, though she will to this day refuse to call it that. Anyway, she would constantly count her calories and take pride in how little she could eat. Back in 8th grade, I was a small kid, maybe about 4'9". She was about 5'4". I remember one time, she asked me what size jeans I was wearing, and I was wearing a two. She was so proud of the fact that she was wearing a double zero, and she made me feel bad about myself, even though thinking back now, a two is still really skinny, and she obviously had a big problem if she was so competitive and proud about her jean size. Now I'm four inches taller than I was then, I wear a much bigger jean size, and I try not to care.

Change of subject: One thing that I've always debated internally is the bikini issue. I mean, the bikini reveals so much - it's basically underwear. You could easily see it as clothing that turns women into sex objects. Right now, my friends are getting ready for summer and trying to be healthier so they'll feel confident in bikinis. I think feeling confident is really important for girls, but I kind of wish we could feel confident without feeling the need to show off our bodies to men. For my self-designed essay last semester in AP English, I actually wrote about growing into womanhood. A lot of what I see in people around me is self-validation through the attention of guys. I talked a lot about Halloween and the things that some girls do: dress like prostitutes so that guys will notice them. One of my friends literally told me, "It's the only time of the year that we can dress for guys without being called sluts." Why do we need to dress for guys? I think it's kind of ridiculous. We have all these societal pressures that force girls to subjugate themselves in the interests of men, and I think it's really sad.

Anyway, that's all for now!
- Bex

French Exchange

I just got back from the French exchange on Monday afternoon, and it was a fantastic experience. Not only were the food and people just the best, I also picked up on a lot of cultural differences. Since we recently wrapped up our culture unit, I thought I'd back-track a little bit and mention some interesting cultural differences.

The one difference that I found the most interesting was that French teenagers can drink at the age of sixteen, but they can't drive until they're eighteen. In America, it is most definitely a fact that many teenagers drink illegally. I think the danger comes in when these teenagers, who hide their drinking from their parents, get into cars. In France, teenagers can drink if they want, but they have to call their parents to get picked up. By the time we reach the age of twenty-one, we've all been driving so long that I think that even though drinking is legal, it's not always safe. Though people may try to adhere to the .08 limit, I still think by then we're just too comfortable in our cars. We don't necessarily take the caution we should. French teenagers can experience alcohol, get over the novelty of it, and then get their licenses. It seems smarter and safer to me.

Something else that interested me was French bathrooms and showers. The French keep their toilets in separate rooms than their toilets, which, thinking about it, seems really smart to me. After I came back home, I went to take a shower and saw the toilet next to it. After being in France, it just seemed so nasty and gross to me! Why put the dirty toilet in the same room as the thing you use to get clean? Another thing about French showers is that they have hand-held heads. What you do is rinse your hair and body, then turn off the water, shampoo, then turn it back on to rinse, turn it off, condition, and so on and so forth. At home, my showers probably use gallons and gallons of water, but in France, I felt so much less wasteful. The French seem to really value prudent use of resources. What would happen if all Americans took showers the French way? Our water bills would be lower, that's for sure. My idea for world change is that we all start taking French showers, and then donate the money we save to organizations that bring clean drinking water to other countries, like that well charity we're raising money for with the t-shirts. What do you guys think?

A couple things before I wrap this up:

You wouldn't think that other countries would have different keyboards, but it's true. In French, certain letters are used with different frequency than in English. For example, in French, the letter Q is very frequently used! Take a look at the French keyboard:

Another thing, quickly, is that brands are packaged differently in France. I use Herbal Essences shampoo, but when I went to a French grocery store, I didn't even recognize it. Maybe we can get Herbal Essences like this in the States too, but I've never seen it (image on the right). Compare it to the kind I use (image on the left):

The packaging for the image on the right emphasizes nature, whereas on the package for my kind, the only thing remotely nature-related is the name of the brand. The package is glaringly orange. In America, we're very interested in modernity and newness, but in France, they were so proud of the natural beauty of their land. They have monuments that have been preserved from the Roman times. America is a much newer country, and we've always exuded energy and drive for better and more modern things. I think these differing attitudes are definitely reflected in the packaging of the hair care products.

That's all for now! - Bex