They Can Do It; Why Can’t I?

“This is a man’s job, Laura Jane, which means that you can’t do it,”—a phrase that has been addressed to me countless times by both family members and fellow students.  Women are looked down upon because of their petit structure and the belief of some people that they are not as strong as men.  This problem has affected reputation that my family has of me, along with myriads of other females like myself.

Last spring, my uncle decided to start a vineyard business on my grandparents’ farm.  He quit his job and bought hundreds of grape vines in preparation for the debut of his new hobby and future occupation.  Of course, planting acres of vines involves hard work and many helpers, so my family traveled to Salisbury to help plant the beginnings of his crop.  Everyone was grateful that we had come for this one weekend, and they immediately put us to work digging holes and watering newly-sowed plants.  With the help of my family—along with several others who had been recruited for the job—the day ceased with the birth of 900 baby vines, neatly lined in perfectly straight rows, each stretching about three feet into the hot, dusty air. 

            The time came for the crew to pack up shop, so we gathered our things and prepared to depart for the house, which is within a short walking distance from our masterpiece.  Before everyone had left, my uncle told his son Alex to drive one of our tractors to its designated parking spot, a small barn in close proximity to the field.  Now, before I go any further, I would like to take this time to explain that, at the time of this event, my cousin was only 13 years old, and had just recently become tall enough to see over the counter in the Subway Restaurant.  Furthermore, he had had no prior experience in the driving area, much less any idea of how to start this massive apparatus.  I suggested that my uncle should let me drive, since I had much more experience behind the wheel, but I was hastily shut down because, “girls can’t operate heavy machinery.”

            It became clear to me that my own family regarded me as inferior.  I realized that, “Ideas about masculinity and respect are linked to the fact that men are supposed to be able to support women (Stereotyping).”  The male of the family—supposedly—is in charge of all the yard work, while women are thrown upon the jobs of watching the children and providing lunch.  Apparently, in this case, “only manly men” are capable of driving tractors and operating heavy equipment.  However, women are belittled in other places besides rural areas.

            “Superiority” of the male figure is present in the business workplace, as well.  While women have made huge professional gains in the past three decades, progress now appears to have slowed or stalled.  In 2006, women over the age of 25 earned 78.7 cents for every dollar earned by men, according to the most recent statistics from the U.S. Labor Department. That’s a decline from 2005’s figure of 79.4 cents on the dollar.  Also, in the legal profession, the American Bar Association says the salaries of female lawyers are slipping in comparison with those of their male colleagues. Again according to the most recent statistics available, female attorneys’ weekly wages amounted to 70.5 percent of male lawyers’ in 2006, compared with 77.5 percent in 2005 (Sexism).  From this information, it is apparent that men and women, although occupying the same jobs, are treated as unequal, women being the more substandard of the two.

Stereotypes of women today are still made by those who believe that estrogen should be contained inside the home.  Females, by both men and women, have always been considered the second-rate gender.  However, I have but one final point to address: if it were not for women, the human race would be nonexistent.  How inferior are we now?

 

Works Cited

Gender Stereotyping and the gender division of Labour. 26 March 1995. University of Warwick. 9 April 2008 [http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:wOoDZ-XtnH4J:www.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/complabstuds/russia/documents/

            cambpapw.doc+stereotypes+ of+women+and+operating+machinery&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=8&gl=us].

Sexism. April 2008. Condé Nast Portfolio. 13 April 2008 [http://www.portfolio.com/executives/features/2008/03/17/Sexism-in-the-Workplace]

 

Majestic Manatees

          Before:

          Manatees are one of the world’s most tranquil and serene mammals.  Essentially, they are mammals that live their entire lives underwater or at the water’s surface.  Besides the fact that they are water-dwelling mammals, there are many fine and amazing points about Manatees, such as their behavior in the wild, the different kinds of food that they eat, and the way that they look.There are several different kinds of manatees.  The common name for the one that lives along the coast of the United States is called the West Indian Manatee, and the scientific name for this certain kind of creature is Trichechus manatus.  Some other types of manatees include the Amazonian Manatee and the West African Manatee; however, all of these animals fall under the phylum “Chordata”.

          The West Indian Manatee is truly one of the most remarkable creatures on earth.  They live on the eastern coast of the United States, and in the winter, they migrate down to Florida to spend the cold months in an area that is more tropical.  In their homes along the United States coast, (including estuaries, saltwater bays, canals, and rivers) these marine mammals live a very unique lifestyle. 

          Because manatees need air to stay alive, they must swim to the water surface.  This event could take place every 30 seconds, but it can be postponed for as long as 15 to 20 minutes.  Communication is one of the manatee’s most unique characteristics.  They usually converse in a series of chirps, whistles, and squeaks in a range of about 3 to 5 kilohertz.  However, they are known to send out noises with frequencies of 20 hertz, an extremely low range for a manatee.  Typically, mammals only make sounds when they are angry, scared, or in pain.  Their communication is more frequent when it is between a mother and her calf.

          Manatees have no natural predators, so the main reason for their mortality is the carelessness of human activity.  Today’s motorboats are the primary cause of the death of these tranquil animals.  In addition to motorboats, West Indian Manatees; along with all other types of manatees and marine animals; can be killed by water pollution such as plastic bags and mysterious chemicals in the water.  In some areas where manatees are common, these docile mammals are even killed for food.

          Although West Indian Manatees are classified as herbivorous, there is rarely a day when a manatee is seen eating any kind of animal at all.  Sea cows are usually spotted devouring the following: sea grasses, shoreline vegetation, manatee grass, turtle grass, algae, mangrove leaves, and water hyacinths.  Occasionally, manatees will indulge in a small fish.  Clearly, the manatee’s main purpose is not to consume helpless animals, but to live in tranquility with the marine life that surrounds it.

          Because of their great size, sea cows have a longer gestation period than smaller mammals.  Manatee calves generally live inside their mothers for 13 months.  A female can usually give birth to a calf every 2 to 5 years.  Female calves are sexually mature by the time they are 7 years old, but male calves are not mature until they turn 9 years old.  The average life span of an adult manatee is 60 years, which is quite a long time in comparison to many other animals.

          Overall, it is rather obvious that these animals are unique and exciting in a number of ways, including their looks, habitats, and behaviors.  Today, manatees are used to symbolize peace, and are also found on many collectibles, such as plates and stamps.  It is truly remarkable to see how loved these marine mammals really are.

High School Never Ends: The Similarities Between The Crucible and High School Life Today

          When reading The Crucible, did you make connections between the events in the play and your everyday life?  Although the play was written in the 1690’s in a much different society than what we live in today, there are quite a few similarities in the famous production and our life in high school.  Peer pressure, rumors, and authority issues are probably some of the most evident relations between the two.

          In The Crucible, Abigail tries to urge the other girls her age to follow her lead and do whatever she does.  Most of these things are wrong, but the girls do them anyway.  For example, when everyone goes to court, Abigail starts to pretend that Mary Warren is “witching” her right there in front of everyone when she says,“The wings!  Her wings are spreading!  Mary, please, don’t, don’t-!” (page 51).  Of course, Mary Warren is not harming her in any way at all.  When the other girls see Abigail pretending to be under a spell, they start pretending as well.  Abby is the leader of the group of teenage girls because she is the most outspoken and opinionated among the clan, and she seems to own up to the position of authority very willingly.  When Abby says, “Now look you.  All of you” (page 13), she takes the opportunity to tell the girls what to say in case they were questioned.  Since she is proclaimed (by herself and the rest of the girls) to be the leader, everyone naturally thinks that anything she does is the best choice.  In high school, teenage girls do the exact same thing.  There is usually a leader of all the girls in a clique, and whatever she says, goes.  In today’s society, there may not be a witchcraft craze, but there are an awful lot of other activities that involve peer pressure.  Alcohol is a major issue these days, and a lot of students have fallen into the trap of binge drinking.  Every day, more and more people are getting pressured into things that aren’t right by people like Abigail.  If Abby were living in our society, she would probably be the type of person who would try and urge other kids her age to follow in her footsteps and throw parties where there is alcohol involved.  There has always been peer pressure in the world, but the activities that are pressured change with the changing cultures. 

          Another major similarity in high schools today and The Crucible is that there is a surplus of rumors.  At any given high school, the students leap at any opportunity to share a secret about themselves or gossip about one of their friends.  Everyone knows that news travels by word of mouth very quickly in a high school society, but sometimes, kids don’t think about spreading until it is already said.  Rumors of any kind are unnecessary, but when someone tells a personal secret about another person that may or may not be true, the situation could get out of hand.  Sometimes stories are passed along to teachers, which poses an even bigger problem.  The person that the rumor is about may get in trouble or even arrested for something they may not have even done, which corresponds to the situation in our play.  Innocent people living innocent lives got swept up into the lies that citizens were telling about them.  In high school, you could get someone in trouble, but by accusing someone of witchcraft in The Crucible’s society, you could put someone’s very life in danger.  If someone accused the little old lady down the street of being involved with witchery, the police would take the lady under custody, no questions asked.  In the court, Giles randomly states, “I only said she were reading books, sir, and they come and take her out of my house” (page 40).  At the mere mention that Giles’s wife was interested in an odd pastime, authorities were immediately questioning.  Countless numbers of people in the 1690’s were killed on the grounds of taking part in black magic, even though there were only a few people who were actually involved.  Elizabeth was arrested in the middle of the night for being a witch, just because someone hinted that she was acting a little fishy.  It is as if the authorities in the play only believed what they heard from the other potentially guilty people of the town.

          Speaking of authority, there is a similar system of power between The Crucible and high school life today.  At school, students seem to always want to do what is the most incongruous with their teacher.  No one ever desires to just cooperate with one another and help to make everyone’s lives easier.  When a certain teacher is disliked, students like to partake in rebellion against that teacher, just so they can go against everything he or she says.  However, in the end, the teacher has the final say on whether or not a student stays or gets thrown out of class.  In the story, the children found it easy to disagree with whatever the older townspeople told them to do.  As we all know, witchcraft was frowned upon back then for obvious reasons.  So, when the citizens of Salem warned the girls not to get caught up in black magic, they couldn’t resist the temptation of fighting the power and practicing their witchery with Tituba in the woods.  It just goes to show that there will be problematic issues with rebels and authority in almost any culture.

          You may not notice the many similarities in today’s world and the witchcraft-ridden world of the 1690’s as soon as you read the play, but given time, the connections will surely be made.  Be it peer pressure, rumors, or the everlasting concern of rebels and authority, there will always be something that will relate what you are reading to the events and dealings of your everyday life.

The Meaning of Freedom

          Freedom today doesn’t mean being free of everything.  Sure, we live in a democracy and can say anything we want, but what about all the other costs?  In order to live in America legally, you have no choice but to pay your taxes, or else you must live on the streets.  If you want to be able to drive around on the highway, you have to pay for gas.  We must follow all of the laws, or get thrown in prison.  What’s the point of categorizing America as a “free country” if we can’t even have the freedom of choosing whether we want to attend school or not?

 

Logic vs. Emotions: Which Is More Valuable?

           I value logic more than emotions, because loving what you do doesn’t necessarily mean you’re good at it.  Just because you love working doesn’t mean you are going to get anywhere.  Logic is also more esteemed in today’s society, because the world today is always looking for improvements on how we live.  Having feelings about something is not going to help build skyscrapers.  The same thing applies in schools.  However, in the subject of religion, feelings are definitely more important, because your faith and beliefs discern whether eternal life is in order.

 

The Effects of Dropping Out

          Every day, more and more high shcool students start believing that their classes are too difficult for them, and they drop out.  Most of the effects that occur from this act are negative, including depression, difficulty getting a job, and higher chance of getting involved in criminalism.

          People who drop out of high school tend to undergo depression.  This could be because they are ashamed of what they have done.  The dropout’s peers will probably look down on him or her, and the dropout will become the target of teasing and bullying from other kids of the same age.  Most students’ friends are from the school they go to, so the dropout would probably lose some of his companions, which could start depression in itself.

Eyes Wide Closed

          When moving my hands around on my desk, I could feel the edge of my voice lesson worksheet.  The paper was significantly warmer than the icy surface of my table.  My left hand ran over the stack of lined paper that is bound together as a notebook, and I could feel it sink under the pressure of my fingertips.  Moving to the left, my hand discovered the cold, metal rings that hold that loose-leaf paper together so tightly.  Back on the right, the pinky finger of my right hand touched the rigid side of my plastic water bottle.  Even without getting wet, I could still feel the temperature of the liquid: colder than room temperature, yet not quite “refrigerator-chilled”.

Stream of Consciousness

          I just got back from lunch.  I ate a snack wrap from McDonalds, but I had another one left because I originally had two.  Then I ate a Kit Kat.  I’m lucky I still had it because Mom ate all the leftover candy from Halloween.  I wish I could have given out Halloween candy, but I had to do the Haunted Trail.  I guess the Haunted Trail was okay, but everyone said it was really stupid.  Ryan came on the second day of the trail.  Today he told me that he had a DVD of songs by The Who, which made me very excited.  I can’t wait ’till Thanksgiving because Emily is coming with me to visit my grandparents like last year.  That was fun.  We’ll go to Condord Mills and shop ’till we drop.  Then we’ll call Jacob and count the plants with him on the porch.  I love sitting on my grandma’s porch at night with candles on, while playing TELLMETHETRUTH.  It makes me feel safe and warm.  One Thanksgiving, we went to Myrtle Beach and played it on our hotel balcony.

 

The Declaration of Independence From Homework

          When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary to fight for what we believe is right, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes that impel them to such a course. 

          Homework is taking over the lives of students!  To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world. 

          Schoolwork has never allowed a night that requires no studying.

          It causes kids to be deprived of sleep.

          It makes some students feel inferior to others.

          Now, in view of this entire disfranchisement of all the children of America, I insist that they be rid of all homework and live their after-school lives with joy, finally.

Digging Deeper: An Analytical Essay on the Psychological Disconnections in Fredrick Henry’s Life

            From the very beginning of A Farewell to Arms, it can be seen that Fredrick Henry is intensely engrossed in nature.  Venturing deeper into this novel, it becomes evident that Henry is not only conscious of the nearby scenery, but he is uninvolved in the events that occur around him.  By thoroughly analyzing the novel, it can be inferred that Ernest Hemingway portrays Fredrick Henry as psychologically disconnected to numerous things in his life; Henry is socially separated from his mess friends in regards to the young priest, is not in love with Catherine, and is ultimately detached from the war altogether.

            From the very beginning of the novel, it has been apparent that Henry is unlike most of his friends in his mess.  The captain, along with the rest of Henry’s buddies, constantly makes fun of the priest, claiming, “Priest not with girls.  Priest never with girls” (7).  The only soldier who seems reluctant to criticize the priest is Henry himself.  Whenever Henry’s buddies begin to “interrogate” the priest, the respectful ambulance driver inconspicuously withdraws himself from the discussion.  This is a very civil thing to do, considering all of the other crude things that Henry does, including killing a soldier and being rude to the nurses in the hospital.  When discussing where he should take his leave, the priest suggests he go to Abruzzi, but he decides not to go.  Henry later proves he truly does have a conscience when he admits to himself, “I myself felt as badly as he did and could not understand why I had not gone” (13).  He is clearly not as deprecating toward the priest as the rest of his war mates are.  Even when Henry is very far away from the young priest, he still worries about him, thinking, “I wondered what had become of the priest at the mess” (232).  This statement shows that Henry is far more compassionate than his fellow troops.  The incongruent aspects are reflected in his actions around different people.  When he is with Catherine, Henry ultimately portrays himself to the reader as a shallow, inconsiderate pig, but in the presence of other men, he is the most sympathetic and respectful of them all. 

Obviously, Henry has a strong longing for Catherine, but sadly, his attraction can solely be viewed as one of a physical nature.  Even though he says he is in love with his tall blonde dame, their relationship to Henry inherently and indiscernibly consists of pure infatuation.  Once, when Catherine came into his hospital room, Henry inwardly admitted that when he saw her he was “in love with her” (91).  However, this statement is hard to believe.  Catherine and Henry have never really gotten to know each other on a deeper level.  All of the common interests they share are focused on bodily actions.  When the young soldier is lying on the floor of the flatcar, he thinks to himself, “I was not made to think.  I was made to eat.  My God, yes.  Eat and drink and sleep with Catherine.” (233).  whole book.  Henry obviously doesn’t love Catherine; he just wants to get closer to her to suit his own piggish needs!  Henry’s views on their relationship are clearly not emotional at all.  The lack of connections found in his affiliation with Catherine can also be seen in the prospect of war in Henry’s life.

Although the war is a large part of Henry’s life, he seems to be completely separated from it mentally.  He is more concerned with the things that are happening to him and less concerned with what is going on around him.  According to Henry, “[the war] does not have anything to do with me” (37).  However, everything that happens in his life during the course of the book is an indirect effect of the war.  Henry would not even be in Italy if it were not for the war, much less would he have met Catherine, the “love” of his life.  In essence, Henry thinks the war is a waste of time, even after he is awarded a silver medal.  Clearly, he does not believe he did anything special in order to receive the medal; he was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.  Henry “was always embarrassed by the words sacred, glorious, and sacrifice and the expression in vain,” because he “had seen nothing sacred, and the things that were glorious had no glory and the sacrifices were like the stockyards at Chicago if nothing was done with the meat except to bury it” (185).  Henry believes he is undeserving of the previous titles.  The only thing he did to acquire an award was to eat a piece of cheese.  Bonello, like Henry, claims that retreats are better than advances, because “on a retreat we drink barbera” (191).  The soldiers seem to think that losing the war is fine, as long as they have good liquor.  The actual concept of the war is unimportant to most of the soldiers, including Henry, because they believe that the battle does not directly pertain to them in any way.

            By digging deeper into the text, we can infer by the connotations we received from A Farewell to Arms that Henry is mentally disjointed from many of the events that occur in his life, including the concept of war in general, his love affairs with Catherine, and his buddies from his mess.  Hemingway flawlessly suggests to the reader that Henry is socially, mentally, and emotionally disjointed from virtually everything that takes place in his life as a soldier.