At war with my body :: Essays Papers

At war with my body The mind of a woman athlete is constantly fluttering with thoughts about what it is to be a woman athlete, how a women athlete should act, what she should wear and how she should look. Maybe not everyone’s mind is consumed by these thoughts, but at some point every woman struggles with the negative stereotypes about women. There I was again—out on the track, softball field, basketball court, ski hill, volleyball court—trying to prove myself. Prove that I was not just another girl who played sports. I was good, strong, unique—a pretty blonde girl who didn’t â€Å"throw like a girl† or â€Å"ski like a pussy.† I transgressed gender stereotypes, rejecting girls who fit into those negative stereotypes. Don’t ask me what I am eating again, should I eat now, does my butt look too big—thighs too beefy†¦how can I be a ski racer and maintain my smaller frame? No time to work out during ski season, am I getting fat? M aybe I shouldn’t eat as much. I need to go work out, let off some steam—get stronger, faster, harder, and more agile. I can lose 20 lbs.; I will still be healthy, right? But I don’t want to be too skinny, because if you’re too skinny, guys won’t like you, right?! Do my legs look too big in my G.S. suit? In the weight room—I am the only girl (as she is)—I like being â€Å"one of the guys,† but struggle when they talk to me like I am a guy. While benching 300 lbs, I hear them grunt—veins popping, sweat dripping, muscles ripped, listening to ACDC. I am running. Keep going—they’re watching. I go faster, harder. I run for 1 hour to prove myself. I max out on 210 lbs., squatting†¦I am strong. I want to impress them. For years and years, I try my hardest to throw like a man, run like a man, ski like a man, hit like a man, lift like a man. But, I am not a man. Leslie Heywood’s â€Å"Pretty Good for a Girl† highlights the war we, as women athletes, have with our own bodies. It stresses the fact that, â€Å"While the superstructure of women’s sports has improved in countless ways—better media coverage, more corporate endorsement of top athletes, and the breakdown of old stereotypes—the infrastructure of women’s sports remains precarious† (Heywood, xviii).

Civil War Essay

The revived Ku Klux Klan was merely the most obvious and sinister symptom of general and widespread discrimination. The new Ku Klux Klan opposed many more groups than the blacks opposed by the first Ku Klux Klan. The first Ku Klux Klan group only discriminated against blacks and they weren’t known as the most discriminating group unlike the revived Ku Klux Klan. The revived group of the Ku Klux Klan not only discriminated African Americans, but Immigrants, Catholics, and Jews as well. Even though the revival of the KKK was short-lived, they caused a lot of damage. The Klan put their beliefs into the practice of terrorizing those people they disliked. The KKK group operated throughout the South during the Reconstruction era. The Ku Klux Klan’s long history of violence grew out of the resentment and hatred many white southerners felt in the aftermath of the Civil War. Blacks, having won the struggle for freedom from slavery, were now faced with a new struggle against widespread racism and the terrorism of the Klan. The Ku Klux Klan terrorized African Americans by putting fear into their lives. The Ku Klux Klan enjoyed terrorizing their homes, beatings, whippings, as well as lynching male members of the family and making the surviving members get them down. Many poor farmers and laborers thought that their wages would increase if they drove the Black people out of their state. Black people were a lot cheaper to employ as they were forced to work for lower wages than white people due to their skin color. They used to parade through the streets where black people lived carrying blazing torches and crosses. The massive immigration of Catholics and Jews from eastern and southern Europe led to fears among protestants about the new people, and especially about job and social competition. Since the immigrants were competition to the members of the Ku Klux Klan they also terrorized them to scare them away. The message was very clear, the new Klan was going to mean business and that meant expanding its list of enemies. Tatiana Ortega Period:4 President Lyndon Johnson Lyndon B Johnson, our 36th president is well known as the â€Å"Great Man to Society†. Johnson was very considerate when it came to the fellow American people as well as the African Americans. President Lyndon Johnson was a great inspiration to the African Americans. During the 1960s when he took office, President Johnson was the most significant figure in securing civil rights for African Americans. President Johnson made a he impression in office his first couple of years. He obtained passage of one of the most extensive programs in the nation’s history â€Å"The Great Society† program became Johnson’s agenda for Congress. His mission was to aid education, attack on diseases, Medicare, and removal of obstacles to the right to vote. While Johnson was in office the country made spectacular explorations of space in a program. Lyndon signed the Civil Rights Act of 1960 as well as the Voters Act. When he left office peace talks were underway, he did not live to see them become successful, but unfortunately died. President Johnson was â€Å" The president who helped end hatred among his fellow men and who promoted love among all the of people of all races. † President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which was the most comprehensive civil rights legislation since Reconstruction. President Johnson’s Great Society reforms lead to lasting changes in the society. Even though the Vietnam War sunk Johnson’s presidency, it didn’t effect him in the outrun. Till this day he is known as the greatest president of all time.

Candide By Voltaire And The Song `` Pursuit Of Happiness...

Throughout history people have been looking for something that made life special, spectacular, or one of a kind. Today, this search is known to the world as the â€Å"pursuit of happiness†. The phrase use was heightened during the enlightenment period and lingered for long after. This impact of its use did not only impact the way life was looked at but also impacted the arts during that time and for the future. Two pieces that show this evidence is the novel Candide by Voltaire and the song â€Å"Pursuit of Happiness† by Kid Cudi. Both of these works, even though they were published more than two centuries apart, carry the theme of the pursuit of happiness. These pieces are evidence of the unchanging pursuit that mankind goes through. The beginning of the pursuit is where both of the stories start off. Where the characters get a taste of what they believe to be â€Å"pure happiness†. In Kid Cudi’s song, the narrator finds what they believe to be happiness in drugs and alcohol. â€Å"Crush a bit, little bit, roll it up take a hit†¦ I don’t care hand on the wheel, drivin’ drunk I’m doin’ my thing.† (AZ Lyrics) However, in Voltaire’s Candide, the character Cunegonde starts an infection of the search in the other character through the observation of Pangloss, her teacher, giving her mother’s chambermaid a â€Å"lesson in natural experimental philosophy† (3 Voltaire) in the park. She was â€Å"filled with the desire to be learned; dreaming that she might well be a sufficient reason for young Candide, and he