Imagine seven women surrounding you to hold down your limbs as another looms over you with a crude medical instrument and, if you’re one of the “lucky” ones, a syringe filled with local anesthetic used for the many girls that have undergone the same unnecessary procedure before you. The elder preforming the cutting is no medical professional. The only training she has is from the procedures she has performed on the other girls in your village. Your bloodcurdling screams rip through the town as they beam with pride that you’re following the cultural tradition that has been waging war on the given right of sexual pleasure and choice for women for 5,000 years. As you sob, the woman sews your labia closed and tie your legs to promote quicker healing. Your mother is no doubt cradling your head, smiling and whispering, “now, you are pure. Now, you are a woman.” Every detail will remain etched into your memory as you’re between two and fifteen-years-old.…
It was evident that Anne Frank was a young girl who was in hiding due to war and hoping to make it out.…
“If you’d care to hold on, I’ll check our records – it’ll be a few minutes.”…
After Big Sur and spending the night in Pacifica we went further north to San Francisco. When we spent the night in Pacifica our hotel was right near the ocean. It was such a beautiful view to wake up to. I just absolutely love the sound of the ocean. In San Francisco we went over the Golden Gate Bridge. It was a pretty cool thing to see with the views of San Francisco and the ocean. We then went to the park across from the Painted Ladies. The Painted Ladies are the houses that appear in the background of the opening of the original Full House series. It was an awesome thing to go see as I grew up watching Full House and will still watch it from time to time. Once we were done at the park we went to the San Francisco Giants stadium. Although…
The slave narrative was a literary form of African-American writing that developed in the middle of the nineteenth century. This genre that grew out of the written accounts of fugitive slaves about their lives in the South was integral to African-American literature. It depicted the brutality of whites as slave owners and was categorized into three subgenres: tales of religious redemption, tales to inspire the abolitionist struggle, and tales of progress. Those classified in the second category are usually autobiographical and they are considered the most literary writings by nineteenth-century African Americans. Two most famous of such works are Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (1845) by Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) and Incidents in…
Growing up as a child was very met morale and a sometimes fun other times not experience. Many memories are developed during your childhood but many memories are forgotten. Memories that are remembered are apart of who we are today an what makes us how we are. These memories and experiences tech us life lessons that we use without knowing it everyday. A memorable day for me was in a lacrosse game in the 2012-13 lacrosse season.…
My life changed for the better on August 4, 2008. The first time I had ever interacted with Lisa Stapleton. “Hello! Yes my brother did mention you...and what he said wasn’t nice ...” Lisa then told me how proud she was of me for deciding to go to preaching school. To gain some vital information for this article, I reactivated my old facebook account. I would be a liar if I said that my eyes didn’t well up with tears. I was actually able to see the exact time stamped dates that my life took an incredible turn for the better.…
Hilary Clinton once said, “Everyone is entitled to all rights to freedom set forth Declaration, without disconnection of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion, sRights has positively has positively impacted American culture because independence from men and traditional roles, gave equal rights, and what big changes happen for women in the 1920’s. What intrigues me the most is women would try to over power men and get a death sentence for what the believed in. These women who spoke up changed us as women today; we have more rights and power. “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that al men and women are created equally.” (Civil Rights in America) Women’s Rights began in the 19th century when women reformers demanded the right to vote and the same legal rights as men; women would stand up and fight for…
Everyone knows that one person who never seems to lose their cool or give up. My seventh grade teacher, Mrs. Shoemaker, was that person who never seemed to lose it. She taught many students who created a plethora of stress and heartache. Additionally, she helped me understand and finish hair-pulling assignments.…
At the societal level, those who participate in the sex-trade, whether as consumers or workers, often face stigmatization that necessarily limits their ability to fully and actively engage with society on a level that reflects any form of acceptance. Such stigmatization, may be mitigated or perhaps eliminated if the government were to legalize some forms of sex work. With that said, it is understood that sex work, and those who participate in its activities, will always encounter resistance from those who formulate their world views from religious, paternalistic and or authoritative positions.…
A very surprising science fiction story that reverses the werewolf idea. A wolf turns into a man and scares the living daylights out of his wolf wife and wolf children. What makes this story amazing is that LeGuin tricks us, throughout much of the story, into believing that the tale is about humans. She teases us with issues of child abuse, male-female relationships, life in a small town, and sisterly devotion, but she upsets our expectations, forces us to ask questions, re-read the story, and come to see that man is just as frightening as beast.I have to admit I had to read this story 2 times before I could really understand the meaning of it but when it finally came to me I was just amazed. This story is great.…
For many centuries, women have suffered oppression and repression because they live in a patriarchal society. Primarily, the gender roles and the societal structure have for a long time been designed to put women under the control of men. Consequently, this has led to the quest for freedom on the part of women. In her short story, The Story of an Hour, Kate Chopin explains that when women enter the institution of marriage, they lose their freedom.…
I remember the mixed, overpowering emotions inside of me during my first and last high school play, I was overwhelmed with what had happened and what was to come. Every moment leading up to this night had evolved my self-concept, and molded me into who I am today. In simpler terms, “The Cover of Life” play help establish the basic self concept of myself.…
taken for granted that people defered to those of a higher social class, and the young were expected to…
In life, there are some teens who seem to think they have life all figured out. They know exactly what they want to do in life and how things should go. Some individuals plan long before their time has come, and sometimes, this can be devastating when the plans do not go as planned or an obstacle is placed in front of them. Some people seem to think that life is a one-way street, without bumps, curves, and sharp turns. Joyce Carol Oates proves that this is not the case with Connie. Some teens are just like Connie—thought she had life all figured out. All Connie thinks about is how she looks and boys. Little did she know, she had a huge obstacle in her way—Arnold Friend. In ‘Where Are You…