Social Issue Reading Response

           The social issue I care about is girls insecurities or self esteem. I feel like shows and magazines make girls feel like they have to look a certain way. 

There is a show called "Toddlers and Tiaras" and I think that show is so sad. It's about children who are put in beauty pageants and are transformed to look a certain way so they can win and get the biggest prize. Pageants started in 1921 with the first Ms America beauty pageant, but now beauty pageants start with kids at the age of 4. Parents allow stylist to pound make-up on their children at this age. They spray tan their whole body's and put on fake eyelashes. They get their hair done with extensions and even put in fake teeth. They do all this to compete with other four year olds to see who is the prettiest. The judges cant even see the real child underneath all that FAKE people put on. The sad part is that kids actually enjoy this, they think its fun to change their complete look and to say things that they normally wouldn't say. This is an example of how girls are encouraged to change their appearance thus leading to hate how they look and want to change.

        I once had a talk with my friends and my assistant principal. We all sat down in a circle and he asked us "When do girls realize that they are on top or that they are the leaders?" We all looked at each other unsure what to answer. We all came up with different  ideas of why we are in charge and lead. We mentioned how we are all leaders and how we do make most decisions but that the male minds make us feel like we shouldn't be leaders, we care too much of what men think so we don't take as much control as we should. We try to adjust ourselves to make us how they want to see us because we want to have that attention they give to girls that look like and act like the ones they see on t.v. or in magazines. I said that i partly blamed the Disney Princesses. I know it's just a children's movie but thats the problem. Children grow up watching these movies and look at the princesses as mentors. They want to be as elegant and pretty as they are. They want their prince to show up to their house and treat them as they do to princesses. What people don't notice, is that the princesses are just as bad as the contestants in beauty pageants. They are skinny beyond possible and want to have a perfect ending. But thats not how life works. You don't get a happy ending all the time. Every things not perfect for a reason, and girls hate the way they look and try to change because they think the princesses lives are that example, when they aren't. I think this is why girls are so insecure about their body's and their personalities.

Links:

1. http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-article-display?id=S44-4241-0-3678&artno=0000318350&type=ART&shfilter=U&key=body%20image&title=Little%20Girls%20or%20Little%20Women%3F%20The%20Disney%20Princess%20Effect&res=Y&ren=N&gov=N&lnk=N&ic=N

2. http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/tv/toddlers-tiaras

Two Person Dialogue

All: I don't like my body.
Person 1: I eat too much.
Person 2: I hardly eat at all.
All: That has a big impact.
Person 1: My stomach is bigger than I have ever imagined.
Person 2: If I touch my torso, I can feel my ribs.
All: People look at me weirdly.
Person 1: I can be seen from a mile away.
Person 2: I think if I turn sideways, you cant see me at all.
All: I want to change.
Person 1: But food helps me cover up the pain.
Person 2: But then I wont be perfect in the eyes of others anymore.
All: Is there any hope for me?
Person 1: Not if I don't want help.
Person 2: Not anymore, at least thats what I think.
All: What am I going to do?
Person 1: I'm obese and I'm working on it to better myself.
Person 2: I'm anorexic and I'm working on myself to make me feel better.

Social Awareness #3

Identify and analyze social problems and issues in your independent reading books. What is the problem? Who is affected and how? What are the causes and effects? Possible solutions? Give specific examples.


       The problem in my book is depression. My main character Holden Claufield is depressed. He says it all the time in my book The Catcher In The Rye. The depression just came to him one night when his roommate was out. I think the loneliness caused this depression. I mean knowing that your roommate is out on a date again and your just in your room alone with nothing to do is sad. I also think the person his roommate was out on a date with caused this depression. He knew Stradlater's (his roommate) date, Jane, since he was a child and now Stradlater's going on a date with her? i would feel bad about it too.
      There's many different solutions to cure depression. The one I think would be best for Holden is to surround himself with the people he loves. For example I think his little sister Pheobe would be a perfect person for him to be with because she would look at him with the loving eyes a little sister has for her brother and I bet it would make his insides warm and he wouldn't feel alone anymore and he would be happy. Another solution I would suggest for Holden is to talk to Jane. Call her up on the phone and make a date to see her. He tried going on a date with another girl, but yet he was still thinking about Jane.

Social Awareness #2

Read and respond to songs and/or poems on social problems. Be sure to include the original text you are responding to; finally, write a 2-3 paragraph analysis of the song. What problem/issue is it about? What is the message? What does the song make you think, feel, and/or know about the issue?
Got the news today
Doctor said I had to stay
A little bit longer
And I'll be fine
When I thought it'd all been done
When I thought it'd all been said 
A little bit longer
And I'll be fine.
But you don't know what you've got
'Till it's gone
And you don't know what its like
To feel so low
Every time you smile or laugh you glow
You don't even know
No, no
You don't even know.
All this time goes by
Still no reason why
A little bit longer 
And I'll be fine
Waitin' on a cure
But none of them are sure
A little bit longer
And I'll be fine.
But you don't know what you've got
'Till it's gone
And you don't know what it's like
To feel so low
And every time you smile or laugh you glow
You don't even know
No, no
You don't even know
No, no
You don't even know
No, no.
But you don't know what you've got 
'Till its gone
And you don't know what its like
To feel so low
And every time you smile or laugh you glow
You don't even know 
No
Yeah Woah!oooohhhh
So I'll wait 'till kingdom come
All the highs and lows are gone
A little bit longer
And I'll be fine
I'll be 
Fine.
I chose to respond to the song "A Little Bit Longer" by Nick Jonas. This song describes how no one can understand how Nick Jonas feels and how slowly but surely he'll be okay again. Nick Jonas' issue/problem is his struggle with diabetes. Anyone of any age can be diagnosed with diabetes and Nick Jonas was diagnosed when he was 13. I think the message in this song is to never lose faith. He wrote this song when he was 16. He is now 19 and still diagnosed with diabetes yet he hasnt lost faith and still has hope that he will get better soon.
This song A Little Bit Longer is a sad song yet it when I listen to it, it makes me feel better. Its sad to know that he's struggling with diabetes and feels that when people tell him they understand, they don't. He knows they cant relate to him because they don't have diabetes so they don't know how hard it is to deal with. But even so he knows that he has to look past that and believe deep down that he will get better. It's just a little bit longer til he's fine. That is what lifts me up, his never ending faith. Nick Jonas inspires me to look past the bad and think of how I will be in the future if I stop feeling horrid and start being hopeful.

Stop and Stare.

My character Holden Claufield in my book "The Catcher In The Rye" has been to many places so far in the book. He has went to many different schools and then goes to New York. Now the sights he sees while he's in New York are quite amazing. He takes cabs everywhere and has been to central park, the theater, rockefeller center, and has even seen the rockets! He's stayed in sketchy places such as an empty motel where he purchased a prostitute.
I dont think Holden really stopped to enjoy the view at these places. He goes there for the hell of it and yet he doesnt pay attention to anything. Instead he worries about what he's going to do next, and who hes going to call or see next. He tries to be so busy and doesnt stop for one second to relax. I think that is one of the reasons hes depressed. I dont think he stops to enjoy himself. Instead he rushes and tries to clutter his mind which only makes things worse.
Holden really needs to stop and look up. Look up at the sky over him. Look around at the beautiful sights to see.

Social Awareness #1

Write a poem or song responding to a specific social problem/issue. Be detailed and specific. Also, write 1-2 paragraphs describing your process in writing the poem and what problem/issue it is about.
What is this feeling?
I want to do
Nothing.
Everything she
says,
Everything she
does,
It makes me
sink,
lower and lower into the ground.
This feeling....
It wont go
away.

This poem is about the social issue that is depression. A lot of people are depressed in the United States. When you are depressed you can do a lot to harm yourself. Some people cut, take drugs, and try to kill themselves. Depression doesnt go away in the blink of an eye, it takes time. It takes a lot of time and a lot of focus. If someone wants to cure their depression they have to believe they want it to go away, they have to accept themselves and honestly try to cure themselves on the inside and out.
I got the idea to write about depression because for starters it hurts many people, not only the person who is depressed but their family and friends too. Another way i got the idea was by my book The Catcher In The Rye. My character Holden is depressed and his depression also inspired me to write this poem.

Doing Nothing.

My main character Holden Claufield like many children in the United States struggles with depression. His depression became noticeable once he found out that his roommate Stradlater went on a date with this girl he knew named Jane. After that, Holden couldn't stop thinking about her. He felt alone and sad in his room while Stradlater was on a date with Jane. He left Pency (his current school) that night after getting into a fight with his roommate. Holden went to New York and went to a bar and yet he said he never felt so alone while in a room full of people. Depression is really messing with his mind. He doesn't want to do anything, yet he wants company. He even hired a prostitute and asked if they could just talk, Holden really needs friends if he's going to stoop to this kind of level of loneliness. I really do feel bad for him and hope that his depression goes away went he goes to see a play with this girl he called.