Women Are Not Born To Be Controlled

Women Are Not Born To Be Controlled

By: Joni

    For homework, my teacher had the class read this poem called “Verses Written by a Young Lady, on Women Born to Be Controll’d.” That bored me to death because it was about men controlling women. I mean, how cruel is that? I don’t think I’ll ever be put in a situation where I’m being controlled by a man. Only because I have a unisex name: Joni. And it’s not spelled “Johnny.” That’s how a boy would spell it. I forgot to mention something. I’m six feet tall, which intimidates some of the boys I go to school with. But it doesn’t bother me at all. According to the poem I read, women were subjected to men in every state in 1743.  It made me laugh. I couldn’t imagine living in a society where women were inferior to men. The next day in class after reading the poem, all the boys thought they controlled the school. They ordered the girls around the hall.  In the poem it says, “Subject to man in every state, how can she then be free from woes?” (Anonymous, lines 3-4). But not me. I refuse to take any orders from a man! My personal thoughts on the poem is that women had more power than they thought. They just allowed the men to control them because they had no voice in society. Women were treated as property and in some cases, slaves. For example, in the poem it states, “To a slave’s fetters add a slavish mind, That I may cheerfully your will obey” ( Anonymous, lines 23-24).  I feel as though society was unfair to women when women contributed more to society than men. Women took care of the children and the house. Therefore, they had more power than men, since family is an important part of society. So why were women inferior to men? That’s a question that still baffles me.

Bibliography:

Anonymous. Verses Written by a young lady, on women born to be controll’'d!” Common Lit. n.d. Web. 14 March 2016.  

"The Courage to Tell a Hidden Story"

“The Courage to tell a Hidden Story”                                        

By: Infinite Darlene

After watching the TED Video, The Courage to Tell a Hidden Story, I thought about how  I began to accept my identity. I was the star quarterback of the football team in school. But behind closed doors, I was a lost boy. My birth name was Daryl until I changed it to Darlene. I had everything a girl could wish for. Except for one thing: I physically wasn’t a girl. Basically, I was a girl trapped in a man’s body. That was my hidden story. Being a transgender, I was looked upon as an insult to society. Similar to my life, In the video, Eman Mohammed states, “ Being the first female Photojournalist in my country was considered an insult to local traditions” (Mohammed, “The courage to tell a hidden story”).   No one knew that I was Darlene because I was too afraid to be myself. I was afraid of rejection from my friends, my peers at school, and most importantly, my parents. Eman’s video connects to my feelings of rejections from others because she says, “ My presence was unwelcomed by all possible means” (Mohammed, “The courage to tell a hidden story”). I felt that if I presented that I was a transgender, I would also feel unwelcomed by everyone in society. When I reached the age of sixteen, my parents started to wonder why I wasn’t dating any girls. Long story short, I got the courage to tell them who I really was and demanded them to call me Darlene.  They did not object and simply respected my request. I was honestly shocked they took my news so well. Everyone around me and in school accepted me. Fast forward six months later, I am the homecoming queen and star quarterback. My sexuality is know longer a hidden story because of my found courage.

Bibliography:

Mohammed, E . (2014 March). “ The Courage to Tell a Hidden Story.” Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/eman_mohammed_the_courage_to_tell_a_hidden_story?language=en

Being an Adolescent in 2016

Being an Adolescent in 2016  

   By: Paul

My name is Paul and today, in English class, we read the article titled Adolescence and the Teenage Crush, by Carl Pickhardt, Ph.D.  This topic made me ponder my first crush. My first crush wasn’t your average boy and girl romance. No way ! I’ve always known I was gay, but it wasn’t confirmed until I was in kindergarten. It was my teacher, Mrs. Benchly, who told me so. How did she know I was gay before I did? I have no clue. But the fact of the matter is, I was a homosexual. However, I have to admit, I might not have realized I was different if Mrs. Benchly hadn’t pointed it out. I mean I was five, so I just assumed boys were attracted to other boys. I went home and told my parents I was gay.

My parents didn’t say anything. They probably thought it was a phase I would overcome. But eventually, accepted me for who I was. In the article, the author writes, “parents need to respect an adolescent crush and not dismiss or put it down” (Pickhardt 1).  This is exactly what my parents did. Fast forward to high school, my first crush was Kyle. Oh lord, that boy was gorgeous! I had what you call a “ Romantic Crush.” According to the article, “Romantic crushes are formed by finding someone whom they find powerfully attractive, who they feel excited around, and with whom they want to spend a lot of time”  (Pickhardt 1). But I thought it was lame to crush on a straight boy. I didn’t know if he was straight or not, so I decided to ask him. It was third period and I saw him searching through his book bag. I went up to him, and blurted out, “ Are you gay? because I’m really into you”. He just walked away. From that day forward, the crush I had on Kyle quickly faded away. That’s when I learned that teenage crushes don’t last long. They are temporary.

Adolescence and the Teenage Crush Open-Ended Responses

1.   A crush is when the teenager feels smitten by a compelling person who captivates their attention for good or ill. The different types of crushes are romantic crushes, identity crushes, and celebrity crushes. "...identity crushes and romantic crushes. In both cases, the teenager feels smitten by compelling person who captivates their attention for good and ill. A third kind is the celebrity crush..." ( paragraph 1).


4. The author suggest that parents should respect children s' crushes and not criticize or dismiss them.  " This why parents need to respect an adolescent crush and not dismiss or put it down" ( paragraph 2).

                                                       Discussion Question:


1. I agree with Dr. Pickhardt's views on crushes because everyone goes through the crush stage as a teenager. Yes, I have experienced what Dr. Pickhardt has described.


2. The advantage of having a crush is you have the chance of admiring someone you may look up to. However, the disadvantage is your parents may not approve of your crush or the person you are crushing on , may not be who you think they are.


4. The experience of having a crush shape a person because having a crush gives a teenager an idea of what type of person they want to be in a relationship with , when they are old enough to date and what traits they may or may not like their significant other to have.

Poem Open-Ended Responses

1. I think the author is a woman. This is significant because the poem shows concern and the author perspective on being inferior to men in society. This influence how we understand the poem because we are able to relate and put ourselves in the author's shoes.

2. Yes, I believe these are apt metaphors when its comes to the power play between women and men because men in society are the ( Sovereigns) and the women are the slaves because the men hold more power, (especially during this time period) when it came to decision making, voting on laws, and family concerns.

5. The author most likely means that love...paints a Phoenix, which means a new life or future is ahead, which a woman can see through her eyes before it actually happens. The figurative significance of this line is the woman, like a phoenix, will die but her spirit will emerge from the ashes and the pain she has endured over time and start a new life; one better than before.