White People and Black Girl Essay Example for Free

White People and Black Girl Essay Since African American literature started back in the 18th century, the majority of these writings mainly focused on racism, ethnicity, and the struggle of African-American people. Nadine Gordimer and Patricia Smith are but two contributors to this area of literature. In my paper I will compare and contrast the short story by Nadine Gordimer, â€Å"Country Lovers†, and the poem, â€Å"What It’s Like Being a Black Girl†, written by Patricia Smith. In both pieces of literature, the focus is put on the racial background and ethnicities, considering that the main characters or protagonists are black women, dealing with some degree of discrimination because of the color of their skin. It is common knowledge that racism has been a major issue which has tainted society, and the African-American people, particularly females have been dealing with the effects of racism, and have experienced the effects of discrimination and racism. (Clugston, 2010). In the short story â€Å"Country Lovers†, a forbidden love between a black girl named Thebedi and a white male named Paulus, is depicted. In the story, two main characters are brought together since early childhood, spending much of the childhood days with each other. As they grow up, they became even closer, eventually falling in love. They soon realize that the racial politics of the time would not allow them to maintain their relationship simply because, Paulus, being the son of a white farm owner and Thebedi, the daughter of a black farm workers, would be unable to show or share their love publicly. I found that there were many dramatic effect throughout this entire story. For example, when we read about the part were Paulus is going way to school, â€Å"This usefully coincides with the age of twelve or thirteen; so that by the time early adolescence is reached, the black children are making along with the bodily changes common to all, an easy transition to adult forms of address, beginning to call the old playmates missus and baasie little master. † (Clugston 2010). When Paulus watches Thebedi wading in the water, is the part of the story where I interpreted the loss of innocence and the description of a forbidden love. â€Å"The schoolgirls he went swimming with at dams and pools I may bring farms were bikinis but the site of their dazzling bellies and thighs in the sunlight had never made him feel what he felt now when the girl came up to the bank and sat beside him, two drops of water beading offer dark legs the only points of light in the earth -smelling deep shade. They were not afraid of one another, they had known one another always; he did with her what he had done that time in the store room at the wedding, and this time it was so lovely, so lovely, he was surprised†¦ And she was surprised by it too he could see her dark face that was part of the shade, with her big dark eyes, shiny and soft water, watching him attentively: as she had when they used a huddle over their teams of mud oxen, as she had when he told her about attention weekends at school. â€Å"(Clugston, 2010). It is towards the end of the short story where you realize the racism. It begins when Paulus arrived back home from college over the holidays, and finds out that Thebedi had given birth to a child. When he decides to go and see Thebedi and the child, he said, â€Å"You haven’t been near the house with it? † (Clugston, 2010). His reaction alone reiterated the fact that such a thing would not be tolerated in his community. As the story continues, Paulus returned to the head later on: it states, â€Å"She thought she heard small grunts from the hut, the kind of insufficient grunt that indicates a full stomach, a deep sleep. After a time, long or short she did not know, he came out and walked away with plodding stride (his father’s gait) out of sight, towards his father’s house† (Clugston 2010). For me as a reader, it became apparent that Paulus actually killed the child. After analyzing that particular part of the story it became evident that Paulus was afraid the relationship between him and Thebedi would become common knowledge, so in murdering the child, it would serve as a cover-up as if nothing happened between two of them. In the ending of the story, the police assumed the baby’s body and charged Paulus with murder. During the trial, the story states that Thebedi took the stand. â€Å"She cried hysterically in the witness box, saying yes, yes (the gilt hoop earrings swung in her years), she saw the accused pouring liquid into the baby’s mouth. She said he had threatened to shoot her if she told anyone† (Clugston 2010). A year later, when she returned to the courthouse, she tells the court that, â€Å"she said that she had not seen what the white man did in the house† (Clugston, 2010). Because she altered her testimony, â€Å"The verdict on the accused was â€Å"not guilty† (Clugston, 2010). In the poem â€Å"What It’s Like to Be a Black Girl† seems to depict a very similar theme. In the poem, Patricia Smith tends to use rigid and strong words in order to show the seriousness of the topic she is writing about. From the very beginning of her poem, â€Å"First of all,† I sense of how the story is going to be told and is laid out for the reader. It presents the audience with a picture of a young black girl transitioning into black womanhood, a place where being a black girl as well as being a black woman is often not a welcome thing. To help the reader understand the thoughts that run through the mind of this puberty stricken young girl, she writes,† Its being 9 years old and feeling like you’re not finished, like your edges are wild, like there’s something, everything, wrong† (Smith, 4) This particular poem, in my opinion, is how racism and discrimination, both of race and gender, affects this young girl as she is transitioning from a young black girl, into a young black woman, while trying to accept all the changes that are happening to her. In the line, â€Å"Its popping a bleached white mop head over the kinks of your hair and primping in front of mirrors that deny your reflection. † describes how this young girl wishes to look like other girls in order to be accepted in society. I found several tones in this poem that included not only pain and suffering, but courage is well. The poem discusses this young lady’s loss of innocence as a direct result of being raped. In the line, â€Å"It’s dropping food coloring in your eyes to make them turn blue and suffering the burn in silence,† in my opinion is the showing of this young girl’s pain of being raped by a white person. Since the color blue plays a significant role in this line, it shows not only this suffering, but the despondency this young black girl is experiencing. In both the poem and a short story, the main characters have been negatively affected by the discrimination of a society in which the color of their skin is not accepted. Both of the female characters lost their innocence, the only difference being, that Thebedi lost her virginity under the mask of the forbidden love, and the young girl in the poem lost her virginity is a direct cause of her rape. The sufferings of both characters is basically the same because the color of their skin and nothing else. The gender plays a very important role, but only after the race they belong to, as well as the alarming situation of the issue is accurately brought into the light and both of these literature works. It clearly indicates the suffering in the pain both these women experience. (Fluehr-Lobban, 2010). The mindset of a common young black girl is accurately presented in the poem â€Å"What It’s Like to Be a Black Girl†, and shows the effects that the society leaves on the mind of young black girls who wish to have the appearance like white girls simply because white girls are accepted in the society and the black are usually misused, refused, and disrespected. (Clugston, 2010) Both the story as well as the poem distinguish ethnicity and radical backgrounds, as well as explaining how women experienced cruelty for white racists. I found limited separation between race and gender issues within both authors work simply because they elaborated the fact that they could not, and would not be on the same side with sexists or races. While reading Patricia Smith poem, it gave me the impression she was demonstrating her anger to the fact that white patriarchy confines and limits black women. Black females have been tormented by discrimination racism, and ethical and racial discrimination, as characterized in both the poem and short story can be affirmed as a depiction a reflection of racism and its effects on society. (Dovidio, Gaertner, 1996). In conclusion, I truly feel that both authors share the same sentiments. First and foremost, both of their main focus was on the role of the black female. Not only did the Explorer the victimization of the black woman, but also brought to light their emotional struggles as well as her experiences. I also feel that both authors were the obstacles of racism and feminists’ society that same time expressed that defeat does not mean giving up, but offers the opportunity to conquer negativity in life. References Clugston, R. W.(2010), â€Å"Country Lovers, Nadine Gordimer. In Journey into Literature (ch. 3): retrieved from http://content. ashford. edu/books/AUENG125. 10. 2/section/h3. 2 Clugston, R. W. (2010), Poems for Reflection. In Journey into Literature (ch. 12. 2): retrieved from http://content. ashford. edu/books/AUENG125. 10. 2/section/12. 2 Fluehr-Lobban, C. (2010). Race and Racism: An Introduction, Rowman Altamira: pp. 111-116 Dovidio, J. F. , Gaertner, S. L. (1996). Affirmative action, unintentional racial Biases and inter group relations. Journal of Social Issues, Vol. 52, pp 51-75.

The Feminist Perspective of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Essay -- Buffy Va

The Feminist Perspective of Buffy the Vampire Slayer In her feminist critique of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Anne Millard Daughtey described Buffy as a show which "obviously promotes female strength and power" (159). Buffy herself is a "symbol of female empowerment" (149); as feminists we can all take comfort in the fact that Buffy "kicks butt and so can we all" (164). Sherryl Vint agrees that Buffy is a "positive role model for young women, one which feminism should celebrate" (para. 3). I find this understanding of Buffy, both the character and the series, to be very problematic, and with this paper I aim to undertake a revised feminist critique of the show, and expose the Buffyverse as the product of a very traditional patriarchal world view which pays lip service to a superficial feminist fashioning. This is not to deny Daughtey and Vint's reading of the Slayer completely; a defining feature of Buffy the Vampire Slayer is the liminal position it occupies, at once advocating and refuting positivist feminist readings. However, it is my contention that women in the series are all portrayed in stereotypical ways which have been generated by patriarchy throughout the ages, and all of which serve to empty femininity, leaving the women as functional (fantasy) symbols only: the bluestocking (Willow, Jenny Calendar), the dumb but pretty cheerleader (Cordelia, and to a greater extent Harmony), the witch (Willow, Tara), the sexual hysteric (Dru), the madwoman (Glory). To return to Irigaray, in the Buffyverse there is "no such thing as woman", only artificial constructions of femininity, a theme neatly encapsulated in the character of Buffy's 'sister' Dawn. Dawn suddenly enters the show in season five in an initially bewildering ser... ...ague Summers. London: Arrow Books, 1971. Playden, Zoe Jane. "What you are, what's to come: Feminisms, Citizenship and the Divine". Reading the SIgler: An Unofficial Critical Companion to Buff and Angel. Ed. Roy Kaverney. London; New York: Tauris Parke Paperbacks, 2002. 120-147. Purkiss, Diane. The Witch in History: Early Modem and Twentieth Century Representations. London: Routledge, 1996. Vint, Sherryl. " "Killing us Softly': A Feminist Search for the 'Real'Buffy". Slayage 5. 9 Dec 2002. <http://www.slayage.tv/essays/slayage5/vint.html> Whedon, Joss. Interview with Tasha Robinson. The Onion AV Club 37.31. 13 Dec 2002. <http://www.theonionavclub.com> Winslade, J. Lawton. "Teen Witches, Wiccans, and "Wanna Blessed Be's": Pop Culture Magic in Buffy the Vampire Slayer". Slayage 1. 9 Dec. 2002 http://www.slayage.tv/ essays/slayage 1 /winslade.html

Economic Levels vs. Food Choices

Overtime the ability to make healthy food choices while living in a community of low class Americans has become difficult to do. Poor communities are forced to make unhealthy decisions because they are not offered affordable, organic foods at their neighborhood markets. This causes drastic increases in obesity cases across the country and also sets boundaries between low class and high class.In order to change this, the government needs to construct more markets with broad choices of healthy meals and also offer help to low class citizens with cheaper alternatives of ood of better quality. Income If a single-parent household of six depends on a minimum wage budget, their food choices are affected. With the goal of stretching their budget in order to feed many mouths, they turn to Junk food as an alternative. Although they can buy an excessive amount of cheap food, that cheap food is often high caloric and unhealthy for young children.Many parents disregard the quality of the foods be cause they Just see it as an alimentation they can afford. In other words to many low class families food is scarce and regardless of whether is healthy or not, it keeps they from starvation. Overall, less income leads to more quantities of unhealthy foods and since high class households can afford more pricey organic foods, their food choices increase in quality. Food Availability People start to learn to like foods that are appropriate to their class while they are children. Children's habits are based are what they are taught to eat. †¦ many poor neighborhoods are, indeed, food deserts (as cited in Miller, 2010 pg. 117) and that causes these families to have Junk food and fattening meals at their reach. As opposed to wealthier communities that have many Safeways and Wholefoods vailable in their neighborhoods where they have access to healthy food. This causes obesity to rise mostly in these low income communities because they are so used to driving five minutes to a McDonald s rather than a market that is half an hour away that has foods they cannot even afford.They save themselves the time and humiliation they are put through when they see that the money they spend on a healthy meal that will last two days can be switched for unhealthier food that will fill them faster and last longer. Supermarkets have tried to build markets with organic ood but it comes obvious to investors that if they build one of their properties in a neighborhood that will not be able to buy have their products, they are in for a loss. â€Å"Without access to healthy foods, a nutritious diet and good health are out of reach.And without grocery stores and other fresh food retailers, communities are missing the commercial nubs that make neighborhoods livable, and help local economies thrive. † (The Food Trust Organization, 1992) Expensive Healthy Foods In 2010 CBSNews brought forth an update that explained to Americans the importance of eating healthier for the sake of setti ng an example for younger enerations and the Journal Health Affairs said that â€Å"†¦ if they did that, they would add hundreds more dollars to their annual grocery bill. When informed about this, many low class families dreaded the idea that they would have to do the impossible Just to provide their family with healthier meals. Two children attending the same public school, for example, would differ in the kinds of foods they would be eating for lunch since the child coming from a high class family can afford healthier foods and is used to eating those foods. Some children are exposed to different varieties of meals rowing up and those children mostly grow up in small high class families that have no problem spending more on higher quality meals.Low Class vs. High Class This separation between low class and high class has become more obvious as a decrease in income around the world has come forth. Healthy foods have become a luxury only wealthy families can afford to enjoy.

Essay about G.I. Jane Women in the Marine Corp - 1673 Words

G.I. Joe, the white and brave American male soldier, was firmly the symbol of American freedom and patriotism during WWII. Meanwhile, women were encouraged to be nurses, mothers, and some were paraded around as tokens of â€Å"equality† like Rosie the Riveter and â€Å"Marinettes.† Now, the second World War has been pointed to as a turning point in womens rights. However, few Americans recognized the achievements of women and most even discouraged them. Because the many contributions of women during WWII went unnoticed, even today, Americans need to learn the sacrifices many women made while still being treated as less than a man. Only from these mistakes can the United States learn to recognize the women that serve this country on a daily basis.†¦show more content†¦The National Womans History Museum says, â€Å"Recycling was a patriotic duty. Lard replaced butter as women adapted recipes to deal with shortages of sugar and dairy products†(12). Women ch anged and adapted their lifestyle, source of income, and even their recipes to support the war. Yet no medals were handed out to women who spent their days collecting tin cans and old tires while, at the same time, raising children. Womens aid toward the war effort continued with many other projects that were targeted at reducing the waste of American citizens, which would in turn benefit the Armed Forces with supplies. The National Womans History Museum adds, â€Å"Women were encouraged to grow food in Victory gardens and preserve their home grown vegetables. In 1944, 21 million families planted 7 million acres that yielded 8 million tons of vegetables†(12). The benefit of millions of tons of vegetables is unfathomable. How much other food was sent directly to the troops and Allies because of the frugality of the American housewife? The cause of this burst of patriotism was propaganda that portrayed good citizens as those who started Victory Gardens. So whereas men who volun teered for service were labeled as brave and selfless, it was a woman’s duty to grow vegetables. Women served in countless ways beyond the home, filling military duties once held by men. According to theShow MoreRelatedGi Jane Essay1135 Words   |  5 PagesThe film G.I. Jane takes place in the 1990s and shows discrimination of a women in the United States Navy. Lieutenant Jordan O Neal played by Demi Moore, is a naval intelligence officer who has ambitions of moving beyond her military desk job, to become a member of the Navy Seal. Thanks to the political maneuvering of a female senator, O Neal becomes the first female candidate for the Navy Seals. The Seals are the militarys elite Special Forces team. O Neal becomes the guinea pig of senatorRead MoreThe Discrimination Of Women During The U.s. Military Essay1767 Words   |  8 PagesThis paper will point out the discrimination of women in the U.S. military. The paper will describe the sexual harassment that is constant ly occurring and has been increasing in counts over the past twenty or so years. It will involve many debates about whether women should be in combat role or not and how that history shows that women have already been around the harshness of warfare. Then bringing up, if women are not able to be away from home with just a big time job how will they be able to reactRead More Gi Jane Essay1107 Words   |  5 Pages The film G.I. Jane takes place in the 1990’s and shows discrimination of a women in the United States Navy. Lieutenant Jordan O’ Neal played by Demi Moore, is a naval intelligence officer who has ambitions of moving beyond her military desk job, to become a member of the Navy Seal. Thanks to the political maneuvering of a female senator, O’ Neal becomes the first female candidate for the Navy Seals. The Seal’s are the military’s elite Special Forces team. O’ Neal becomes the guinea pig of senatorRead MoreFrom Corsets and Crocheting to Kevlar and Combat: The Journey of a Female Soldier1728 Words   |  7 Pagesengagements in the Middle East and the change from a traditional style of battle causes the issue of allowing women in combat arms branches to arise as some see their current situations as a direct violation of the policy. The issue revolves around whether women should be assimilated into US armed forces and have no different rank statu s than men and the current complications that are caused by women experiencing combat because of the changing style of warfare. The change was influenced by a change in