Jody Miller’s, Getting Played, illustrates to the common eye, what young people have to do to survive on a daily basis in poor urban communities. These poor urban communities often have a negative connotation which usually scares off common folk. The residents of these communities are usually African Americans. They face challenges daily that common people wouldn’t even dream of worrying about. Jody Miller describes what makes girls go through these victimizations. Miller’s revelation of a book shows young people’s obstacles, self-centrism, sexual harassment, school systems, distant emotions, lack of trust, and reforms. As Jody Miller countlessly proves to us, in chapter 2, that no one feels safe in these neighborhoods we are faced with the inevitable fact that these young people have the odds towering against them. In these neighborhoods, guys have the audacity to hit and abuse girls; being a girl in these areas is extremely dangerous and in some aspects, a curse. Girls are never safe; they can get shot or raped. Guys get much more respect on the street and have overall more …show more content…
The school staff does little or nothing to help intervene with these situations. Security guards would pay no attention to the sexual harassments, and teachers who heard and saw them would not do anything until the girl actually reported it. Even when a girl reports sexual harassment, there is no big punishment for the harasser; he usually gets a three day suspension from school and then returns to doing the exact same thing. These suspensions were actually blessings for the guys as they would rather stay home and watch television. On the other hand, if a girl was caught physically defending herself from a guy, the principal would punish her and let the guy off the hook. Overall, Miller reveals to us the true chaos in schools and how girls are victimized and preyed upon in
Poverty, sexism, and racism are all aspects of American life that dictate the lives of people, and each aspect affects the population in their own way. In the novel The Street, Ann Petry captures the setting and identity of Harlem in the 1940’s. The story explores the good and bad obstacles faced by Lutie Johnson, a young woman struggling to find a place to settle with her son. As a single mother Lutie battles to balance her home life and work life while facing monetary and social pressures. She must juggle all of these responsibilities while staying morally sound, a balance that is hard to maintain.
In response to Jay Z’s 4:44, Anthony Boynton links the prominent feeling of entitlement within black men to to the condition of the black communities mindset. He elaborates on how as a whole we tend to push hyper masculinity on to our young men, and this results in a lack of emotional availability and stability as well as a lack of self care and appreciation for others. Throughout his article he highlights the various ways that hyper masculine have fractured the black community as a whole. Boynton’s response serves as a call to action from the black community to better itself by destroying its patriarchal mindset. Despite the various detriments that hypermasculinity has cultivated within our community, it has also been a sacred value.
The documentary The Hunting Ground by Kirby Dick was created specifically to spread awareness of the vast problem of sexual assault on college campuses and to try to show that the problem needs to be solved. The creator wanted those struggling with their sexual assault and the unfair treatment they were exposed to, as well as anyone who may have to go through sexual assault in the future, to know that the problem of sexual assault that universities tried to hide in the dark is finally being given the spotlight they deserve. The spark of this idea of the documentary was the many stories of survivors across the nation from many different universities, specifically the story of Annie and Andrea who helped other survivors get the justice they deserve.
"Speak" To Me A teen named Melinda Sordino comes to high school feeling depressed and lonely. Her school friends hate her because she called the police during a summer party. However, no one knew that the reason she called was because she had been raped by Andy Evans. She refuses to speak to anyone about the events that took place.
The book, Random Family, written by author Adrian Nicole LeBlanc, provides a fascinating depiction of the lives of individuals in disadvantaged urban areas. The book allows individuals to experience a life of crime, deceitfulness, and incarceration through the lives of the characters in Random Family. The endeavors portrayed by the individuals in LeBlanc’s book demonstrate the determination of people who desire to escape ghetto captivity in search for better opportunities. A life in the ghetto inherently derives from an individual’s inability to conform to the expectations of conventional society. Permissible behaviors in underprivileged areas, fail to align with the traditional methods of proper etiquette in modern societies.
A book that I recently read that showed a reflection of my self-understanding was Missoula by Jon Krakauer because it extended my perspective on women’s safety on college campuses. The book Missoula shares stories of five women who were sexually assaulted at the University of Montana, Missoula and follows their cases all the way to trial. As a girl who has always been told that a college education is necessary to succeed in life, the idea that colleges arent safe for me felt like a secret that I wasnt allowed to know until I experienced it for myself. Reading the statistics and seeing how all of the rapists walked away unpunished strengthened my understanding of the fact that sexual assault is a normal occurance on college campuses.
Racial tension has been a hot topic in our country for a long time. No matter what laws and regulations are passed, there will still always be racial tensions and cruel people. In the short story “Brownies” by ZZ Packer, a young group of black girls are at a scout camp with other young, white girls. After being called the N word by a the group of white girls, the young black girls believe they are being discriminated against. Throughout the story, Packer depicts the very real problem of racial discrimination in young kids, just as in older adults.
The Haves and The Have Nots: Breaking The Mental Chains of Poverty “The Lesson”, written by Toni Cade Bambara, is a short story which shows that while education is a powerful and essential tool for changing one’s circumstances when it comes to social status, it is ultimately how we are affected internally by the things we learn that holds the most sway. Sylvia, the main character of the story, recounts a memory from her childhood which seems to hold significance to her as an adult. Her recollection specifically touches on one summer when a woman known as Miss Moore takes Sylvia and a few other neighborhood children from the slums to an expensive toy store on Fifth Avenue. While at the toy store, the children experience a variety of emotions
“And We Still Rise: The Trials of Tribulations of 12 inner City Students” Corwin records the lives of twelve incredible students during their high school years. Corwin takes us on an excursion in the lives of these young people who battles everyday life issues with some characters dealing with gang violence, to some dealing with domestic abuse. Corwin shows how they overcame their obstacles and went on to do great things as a student in their high school. The fact that these young people were able to rise above their terrible conditions, gives me inspiration and motivation to do my best in school and to fight for success and equality in life/society.
In “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara, the author illustrates the idea of social inequality and the lack of quality education for African-American children. The narrator of this story who is introduced to the reader as a young black girl growing up in Harlem named Sylvia, inevitably is revealed as the story’s dynamic character. The story introduces Miss Moore, the only educated person in the neighborhood, who decides to take some children on a trip to F.A.O. Schwartz in Manhattan. Sylvia, initially looks upon Miss Moore with bitterness and defiance and believes Miss Moore is preventing the children from having fun. In reality, the goal of the trip is to show the children another side of life, hoping they realize that education is important if
The most commonly identified theme when “The Lesson,” by Toni Cade Bambara, is read is undoubtedly one about social and racial inequality during the 1960’s and how Miss Moore, the children’s teacher, is pointing it out to the children. However, Miss Moore never displays that to the children directly, only ever urging the children to give their own opinions on what they thought about their experiences during the day. Instead, there is a much more important theme and one that drives along the plot and action within the short story; a theme that is often missed. That theme being how Miss Moore is trying to push the children to better themselves and get out of the cycle that the entire neighborhood and their families have been going through, generation after generation. The cycle of being poor, uneducated, and doing nothing with their
Bullying is repeated verbal, physical, social or psychological aggressive behaviour by a person or group directed towards a less powerful person or group that is intended to cause harm. According to NoBullying.com, nine out of ten LGBT students reported verbal harassment because of their sexual orientation. In the novel “Shine,” the author Lauren Myracle has crafted an emotional, intense, hard-to-put-down story that ties sexuality, violence and addiction to bullying through numerous literary elements. Through characterization, Myracle implements characters with different perspectives towards bullying and displays their progression in attitude towards being directly affected by it as the story develops. Through conflict, Myracle displays how
What are the varying explanations of men’s involvement in criminal activity? Savian Campbell University of Trinidad and Tobago CRIM2004 Gender and Crime Abstract This research paper is intended to analyse the various explanations for men’s involvement in criminal activity using a gendered approach. It looks at the masculinity of crime and seeks to answer the burning question that has been ignored for years (what is it about men that causes them to commit crime?) The notion of masculinity and the typical characteristics which are associated with it are discussed and a linkage between masculinity and crime is made.
2pac - Brenda’s Got A Baby The song “Brenda’s got a Baby” by famous rapper 2pac is not one of his more well known tunes, but doesn’t fail to captivate its listeners and make them think more about just how unique every individual on this planet is. Some for the good and some for the worse. Throughout the lyrics and music video for this song it gives the listener a harsh reality check on how hard some people have it in life and the tough decisions people are forced to make in tough times.
In engaging with subcultural street culture, do girls simply mimic the practices of their male counterparts or exhibit their own specificity? The trend of “hipsters” is the latest movement following a long line of worldwide popular subcultures, and gathers urban, young middle class people who are interested in independent music and films, who follow progressive political views and various alternative lifestyles, and above all declare themselves against the mainstream society – that is, that they despise following popular culture and prefer to follow ‘underground’ trends that are unknown to the great majority- which is ironic considering how popular the hipster movement became. And yet upon discussing this particular subculture as well as others