I was born three weeks early. Due to this and my temperament, I soon acquired the name “Bamm- Bamm” from my uncle. My family said I was strong and moved like a drill bit in their arms when they held me as a baby. When I was older and learned what my nickname actually meant, I was thrilled. I did not care that “Bamm-Bamm” was a boy Flintstone character, I wasn’t offended by this. This nickname implied strength and even though they might not know this, the strength my family gave me in my childhood nickname has carried me throughout tough times. I loved my childhood. I loved the neighborhood I grew up in and the friendships I made even though they didn’t last forever like I expected. I loved running around barefoot with my sister, wrestling …show more content…
It wasn’t until third grades that I began to notice gender stereotypes. Why should I have? I loved playing soccer, and I played as well as, if not better than, the boys. I was equally as fast and equally as talented. At this time, I didn’t know that society expected girls to be poised and proper instead of hard headed and stubborn. My mother soon gave up on her dreams of dressing me cute to church. She wanted me to wear one thing and naturally I wanted to wear the other. I soon acquired another nickname. This time I was called “Contrary Mary.” During recess in third grade, the gym class was taken outside on a hot humid Illinois summer day. We were to run a mile, this meant six laps around our school’s exterior perimeter. I loved to run and to me everything was a competition. I finished first. I was sweaty, and my heart was thrumming from the run. Soon after me, the boys finished their mile. I was accused of cheating, and I learned that day that it is not acceptable for a girl to finish before a boy in our society. I beat the boys again, this time in pull ups doing twenty-five, and again I was accused of cheating. Of course, I was accused of cheating. These boys never thought that maybe my background in gymnastics and determination were enough to help me complete this task. Later in life, I played as the only girl on an otherwise all boys travel soccer team. I was intimidated; however, …show more content…
In third grade, I began speech class because I had trouble pronouncing my R’s and S’s. My best friend was also in this class, and this made it bearable. In my third grade teacher’s eyes, I was never good enough. She knew my mother well because they both were teachers in this small rural town of mine. My mother is naturally smart, and she shared her bright mind with the eighth grade math class she taught. In my third grade class, I was receiving an A-. My teacher made sure everyone in the room knew what my grade was too. She once called me out in class and said, “Your mother is a math teacher. You shouldn’t be getting an A-. You aren’t as smart as her.” I don’t know if I was more embarrassed by what she said in front of the entire class or hurt that being myself wasn’t good enough: I had to be smart like my parents. My mother was furious with my teacher’s comments. My mother never expected me to anyone but myself, unlike my teacher. “Aunt Six had written on each of ten pieces of paper, folded into two and placed in the tea, the name of a profession, an occupation, a dream that she had for me: journalist, cabinetmaker, diplomat, lawyer, fashion designer, flight attendant, writer, humanitarian worker, director, politician. It was thanks to that gift that I learned there were other professions than medicine, that I was allowed to dream my own dreams.” - Kim Thúy,
Born in Manhattan in 1926, James Bama seemed to always have had a strong affinity for art. At a young age Bama grew up replicating work from Alex Raymond’s Flash Gordo. Flash Gordon is a science-fiction common strip series of high acclaim during the 1930’s. Like other young artist at the time, Bama loved to draw and emulate the cartoons he loves has a child. After graduating from the High School of Music & Art, a magnet school in New York whose purpose was to draw in talent, Bama enlisted in to the United States Army Air Corps working as a mural painter, mechanic and instructor. After being discharged from the Air corps, he decided to hone and refine his skill in art by studying drawing and human anatomy at the Art Students League in New York,
Many people have written articles about their experience with athletics, especially with high school and college-level athletics. Because athletics are so often intertwined with these formative moments in one’s life, as well as with normative ideals of masculinity, they are ideal contexts in which to write about gender identity. Thomas Rogers’ essay “The College Hazing that Changed My Life,” originally published on Salon.com in 2011, and Joe Mackall’s essay “Words of my Youth” both deal with athletics as a way into discussing gender identity. Although the essays are very different, they both deal with a very similar theme: how difficult it is to develop a masculine identity, particularly within a sporting context, in a world that is increasingly accepting of different gender identities.
Somaly Mam was born in Bou Sra around 1970, lived there until she was nine, then went with a man who claimed he was her grandfather to Thlok Chrov. There she realized he was nowhere near a grandfather as she had to clean, cook, wash and fetch water for him and anyone else in the town who would pay him. If she was late or did something wrong, grandfather would beat her. During her time there, she took a liking to the river, Mekong River, where she met a boy who introduced her to Mam Khon and Pen Navy. Mam and Pen welcomed Somaly into their home where she got a meal and a family. Grandfather was a man of many debts. To pay off one of them, he gave her body to a Chinese merchant who took her virginity when he raped her. Grandfathers then married her to Than, a soldier who beat her and only used her for sex and food during their marriage.
Kalamazoo College offers an elite, well-rounded undergraduate program for science students of all natures. The popularity of Kalamazoo College alone shows that the undergraduate program can be trusted to help me achieve my goals if I attend. Furthermore, Kalamazoo College is known as an honors college, which shows that only the best and brightest students will gain acceptance and be given the honor to attend. I believe I am part of the group of current high school graduates who can be labeled as the brightest, and wish to surround myself with other like-minded persons so as to further my own capabilities and studies. The purpose of secondary education is to further increase understanding and knowledge of the surrounding world, in order to contribute
All my life I have been labeled. I have been told I was too small and that I could not participate in sports because I was not as strong as boys. I used to sit on the sidelines during gym because I was too afraid I would get labeled for not being good enough. I have missed out on opportunities because I am a girl. Overcoming the stereotype that girls are
From the time I was young, the other children who surrounded me were all boys. I had two brothers and four cousins who were males. Due to the fact that our family was very close, we spent a lot of time together. More weekends than I can remember were spent at my grandmother’s house as a family. As a result of my surroundings, I was not into the typical “girl” things. Some things that would be seen as appropriate for girls my age were dolls, makeup, and tea parties, however, I was more into sports. Football was one sport in particular, that I engaged in because of the boys in my family. Many might agree that football is all for the boys, but I was about to challenge that gender stereotype.
One of Amazima’s primary goals that they hope to achieve is to provide an education to all underprivileged children. “The Amazima School is a classical Christ-centered secondary school that exists to equip Ugandan students with the tools of learning to enable them to live fully for the glory of God.” The Amazima School “emphasizes academic excellence, servant leadership, and nurturing relationships.” Not only does the Amazima organization provide children with an excellent education, they provide each child with “a loving home, invested house parents, excellent teachers, nutritious food, great extra-curricular opportunities, strong academics, and vocational studies all within a biblical worldview.” The Amazima ministry believes each child
“Today I will do what others won’t, so tomorrow I can do what others can’t.”- Jerry Rice. I love this quote by Jerry Rice because it says the hard work you put in will pay off. That while others are slacking off, you are bettering yourself and are one step closer to your goals. Throughout this essay, I will explain what exercise is, how fast your heart should beat, how many calories should be burned, and that muscle fibers should be broken down.
Growing up, I didn’t always conform to the normal little girl ways set by my society. I had Barbie dolls but I also had Pokémon, Dinosaurs, and Ninja turtle toys. The social gender norm for girls would be tea parties and Barbie dolls, while boys would have dinosaurs and car toys. Though, I had a little bit of everything, as an only child I had a choice of what I thought I liked better. My parents didn’t choose what was right for me, and I didn’t so much care about what other kids had. I also started a sport very young, I joined a swim team because my dad taught me how to swim at the age of five and I adored it. Ever since then I started playing outdoors and I grew up playing basketball and football with the neighbor boys. Therefore, I always had the mindset that girls could do anything that boys could do, and gender didn’t matter in most cases. Unlike the common belief that boys or men in general are better, or more superior. My parents raised me on a more neutral level and it changed my views from the social “norm”.
Imagine you are a 13-year-old boy. You are playing tackle football with some of your best buddies. You are running with the football just inches away from getting a touchdown when suddenly, a girl rams right on your side, causing you unbearable pain as tears rapidly flow from your eyes. One of your friends bursts into laughter, “You’re crying like a girl!” You and the girl do not say a word to defend yourselves because you have been taught gender stereotypes by society. I believe that boys and girls should be raised to accept who they are and must abolish these stereotypes because they are not true.
I was taught to be polite, to work hard, and above all, to be a good person. I was told “boys don’t cry,” more times than I can count, and I was taught the basic differences between girl traits and boy traits. While this may sound politically incorrect, at such young an age, I appreciated the simplicity of having only two categories in my life, and I enjoyed being taught to “be a boy.” However, despite instilling the ideas of boy characteristics in my head, my parents never let me sacrifice my individuality. When I became a target of bullying in my public school, my parents allowed me to switch to a private all-boys school. It just so happened that the time I switched schools was the same time that I was going through puberty. Looking back, going to an all-boys school during those years made my life much easier simply because I was taught to be a respecting individual who just happened to be male. I was allowed to be as different or as similar as I chose because everyone around me had the same ability. Gender was almost completely overlooked, and that was a great way to go through the supposedly “most awkward” years of my life. As a result, I think that I benefit now because I am more accepting of unfamiliar ideas, and I am also not afraid of being more “feminine” at
When my mother's water broke, my father was anxious to see his newborn son. As he laid eyes on me, his first born child, he claimed, " A girl? Why a girl? Put her back where she came from!" When my mother recalled this story, I cried. I finally understood why my father looks down upon me. He believes that I am less than the boy he expected to have. To compensate for his disappointment, I became a tomboy. By 4th grade, I was officially one of the “guys”. I was always the first one to be chosen for a sports team. I wore loose pants, tied my hair up in a ponytail and I was never afraid to get bruises and scratches on my porcelain skin. By 5th grade I wanted to show my dad how “manly” I could be and decided to work with him at his office. At
Annually, there is a Boys vs. Girls rally on my campus where the two genders go head-to-head. I sat, watching gender be portrayed as binary, rather than a spectrum comprised of varied identities. I watched the festivities exclude anyone who did not fit neatly into preconceived notions about what it meant to be male or female. Students were divided into opposing sides of the gym as men were portrayed as brainless athletes and women as lascivious objects. I wanted to despise my peers for their narrow perceptions, but I also knew that they never had the opportunity to know better. Our minds were filled with what it meant to be male, female, gay, straight, weird or normal upon entering high school. We entered with social perceptions irrevocably altered by how
“Never let someone stop you from doing something you love” - anonymous. Has anyone ever stereotyped you or labeled you in a way that made you want to quit an activity or something you had a great passion for? Our society has many stereotypes, a multitude about participants in sports. Gender stereotypes in sports affect females negatively; more must be done to encourage females to live up to their potential in any athletic/sport.
Knowing that I didn’t have any older siblings that were girls nor did I have girl cousins, it was slightly hard for me to just have a girly girl mindset. As I got older playing “boyish” sports became a custom to me. By that time, it was going to be hard for anyone to break me from that. The I went into elementary looking to play the sports I was used to playing. Unfortunately,