The Mind 's Eye By Leslie Bell

Since birth, a little girl by the name of Melody was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. That is a disorder that affects movement, muscle tone, and motor skills. It causes reflex movements that the person can’t control and it causes muscle tightness that can affect a part of the body if not the whole body. Ever since she was born, she was loved and cared for but she wasn’t able to say a single word. The book’s title is “Out of My Mind,” by Sharon M. Draper. It focuses on a disabled girl and her thoughts. Most fiction books have author’s purposes and this book’s author’s purpose is to entertain and inform.

For centuries now, women have been bombarded with an infinite amount of conflicting and overwhelming messages about what it means to be a woman and which behaviors are considered appropriate, especially regarding sexual behavior. Traditionally, women have always been defined in relation to men. Men are seen as strong, while woman are seen as weak. Men are superior and women are their subordinates. This is exemplified by the fact that “masculine” traits such as strong, non-emotional, and competitive are considered socially desirable traits, while “feminine” traits such as docile, emotional, and passive are not. We evidently live in a society that is not only sexist, but also undoubtedly racist. The white woman typically appears as virtuous and pure, while the woman of color typically appears as unclean and tainted. If the woman of color also happens to be poor, she appears as being even more worthless. Therefore, in the United States, femininity as a concept is inextricably linked with concepts of race and class. In the present paper, I discuss the effect that this is having on women and their sexuality, the events that have paved the traveled path towards gender equality, and current issues plaguing women today, such as the attack on our reproductive rights and our value as women.

Throughout the chapters of this book Reiss has done an exceptional job of depicting the nature of pluralism and expressing how the acceptance of this sex positive perspective can alleviate our current sexual crisis. The pluralistic model is rooted in the idea of personal choice and teaching individuals to not impose their views of sexuality onto others, but to accept difference even when there is disagreement. As well as this it becomes evident that pluralism offers the notion that there is no single right way of expressing sexuality, but that there are endless amounts which depend on personal interests. In discussing the characteristics of pluralism the most important perspective of this concept, in my opinion, is the acceptance of the value

The novel “An Unquiet Mind” starts off describing the life of a young girl, Kay. Early off in Kay’s life she is experiencing traumatizing life events. One of those events is a very close encounter with a plane that flew over the elementary playground very low and “It flew into the trees, exploding directly in front of us” (12). Early on it seems much easier to see how she developed the mental illness, manic-depressive (bipolar) illness. Also, her father showed signs of a bipolar illness and maybe it could be heredity. Another traumatizing event was when Kay and her family moved to California and the complete shock from the change in background. This switch also leads to Kay drinking before she attends classes for high school. Just at the age of 16, Kay is beginning to see just how much her mood swings are affecting her friends and how the bipolar illness is changing her life.

Tran, Thanh. "Extended Essay: Gender Roles, Sexual Desires." Winter Term Assignment. Portland State University, 15 Jan. 2010. Web. 2 Dec. 2015.

Humans now have a very different life compared to the past since freedom, opportunities, and information together are playing a vital role in this modern society. Especially young people, they become more independent and are capable of living their lives. However, while society provides people a lot of benefits, it makes their lives even more complex at the same time by leaving them pressured and confused about who they really are. In her essay, “Selections from Hard to Get:Twenty-Something Women and the Paradox of Sexual Freedom,” Leslie Bell mentions that in this new-in between developmental period American twenty-something women have more freedom and opportunities to their sexual lives than previous generations. But they are struggling with the paradoxes of their relationships and desires at the same time. Bell suggests that social expectations and cultural guidelines, which are conventions of female sexuality and stereotypes of being a good girl, prevent these young women from pursuing their sexual desires and limiting their relationships with men. However, even these women have chosen the way they live, and what kind of sexual life they want to be bad girls to break those old rules, they ended with losing their identities. As a result, establishing a women’s identity rather than clinging to contradictory directives and social expectations impacts female sexuality more. When these twenty-something women try to split

Phrases like “Oh you’re late” made the seminarians felt pressure by the time, which let them believe it is okay to not help the old slumped man. The behavior of the individual was determined by an individual’s surrounding context, not his or her belief. If it is, then seminarians would help the slumped man regardless to what the experimenters said to the seminarians. In the 21st century, women are given complete freedom to pursue what they want to do, however, they are unable to because of their current social context. The women of 21st century are restricted with many social expectations. In Leslie Bell’s book, to the social restriction that women of 21st century experience, she wrote “Be assertive, but not aggressive. Be feminine, but not too passive. Be sexually adventurous, but don’t alienate men with too much personal information. They are taught to seek out a companionate relationship of equals. But at the same time, they are instructed by increasingly popular arguments from the burgeoning field of evolution psychology about irreconcilable differences between men and women.” (Bell 27) In here, Bell illustrates the pressure women of 21st century is facing. The women of 21st century were pressured by two sets of beliefs, the old generation and the new. Many women of the 21st century do not what to do with their sexual experiences in

It is common in the united states that women, especially younger women, are in a bind where neither sexual activity nor sexual inactivity is all right. (p.11) Women are viewed as being affiliated to men, and society judges women’s characters and personality just through sexuality. If a woman chooses to have sex, she will be labeled as a “slut” or “unprincipled”. On the other hand, if a woman refuses to have sex, she will be called “man-hater”

In today’s society women are often faced with the challenge of finding their true identity. During this process, they often live through experiences they might end up regretting and wishing they could change. However, without living through these moments and making mistakes, they would not be able to become the person they want to be. Throughout life, one has to make mistakes in order to truly realize what it is they do and do not want in life. In the essay, “Selections from Hard to Get: Twenty-Something Women and the Paradox of Sexual Freedom” by Leslie Bell, she speaks about how difficult it is for women to find the perfect balance in their life to become who they are really meant to be. Leslie Bell speaks frequently about the idea that women are supposed to “live up” their twenties, and not get caught up in serious relationships. Leslie Bell often speaks about how when women are in their twenties it is a time period for them to discover new things, find out who they really are, all without the distraction of a genuine male partner. The twenties is a time period for women to experiment both sexually and in relationships. However, at the same time, there is a fine line between being considered promiscuous, while trying to experiment with casual sex. This creates a double standard for men and women. If a man has sex with a mass amount of woman, he is considered to be cool and might be praised for this. His peers may view his sexual activity as an accomplishment.

Human sexuality is defined as the capability of individuals to experience their sexuality and be able to express themselves as sexual beings (Hyde & DeLameck, 2006). Our interest in this topic is because with time, there has been a change in rules that control human sexual behaviour. The status quo in our contemporary society is much different as compared to an earlier state of conditions, and the change has, as a result, brought the evolvement in human sexuality. People 's view on virginity has changed greatly with a decrease of importance in regards to its preservation. Sexuality is essential to the economic, cultural, social and political organization of society or country. Our sexuality plays a fundamental role in all our lives regardless of age, sex or race. It forms a basic part of our personality and the decisions we make in what we do. One’s sexuality also consumes much of their time through behaviour or thoughts; at times every aspect of our lives seems to revolve around our sexuality. Studying sexuality is very important since human sexuality majorly contributes to social as well as personal problems. A lingering question concerning this topic is to what extent is virginity determined by the status quo and the rules that control human behaviour?

Steve Maraboli wrote, “Incredible change happens in your life when you decide to take control of what you do have power over, instead of craving control over what you don’t.” While perceptions towards female sexuality have become more and more liberal over time, they still tend towards an expediently bigoted dynamic in which women are only encouraged to be sexual to an extent. The idea of women being self-confident, even single-minded, in cultivating rousing sex lives is still often looked upon as immoral and impure. In Toni Morrisson’s novel Sula, not only is female sexuality lopsidedly categorized, it is seen as worthy for castigation. Missing from the main conceptualization is the blunt acknowledgement that female promiscuity can be empowering.

Throughout history, definitions of sexuality within a culture are created and then changed time after time. During these changes, we have seen the impact and power one individual or group can have over others. In the Late Nineteenth Century into the Early Twentieth Century, we see multiple groups of people and or authorities taking control over the idea of sex and how they believe society is being impacted by sex. At this point in time, society had groups of people who believed they had the power to control how society as whole viewed and acted upon sex. Those particular groups and ideas changed many lives and the overall definition of sexuality within that culture.

Psychotherapist Leslie Bell’s Hard to Get: Twenty-Something Women and the Paradox of Sexual Freedom argues that young women in their twenties engage in “splitting”, a defensive process in which people dissociate their ideas into separate parts that are unequally valued (28-29). This predicament leads them to choose between two different “strategies of desire:” the “Sexual Woman” and the “Relational Woman” (29). While the Sexual Woman enjoys being promiscuous and unrestricted, the Relational Woman expresses desire for deeper emotional commitment and intimacy (30). However, young women are hindered by certain social factors that exist in today’s society. Religious and ethnic traditions, sexual

Women in those positions may feel threatened and helpless, but if we rebut this type of behaviour there is strength in numbers. This idea has made clear to me how important it is to advocate for those who may not feel comfortable enough to advocate for themselves. I no longer plan on being a bystander or witness to sexual coercion, but rather will actively make a point to defend women who are clearly uninterested and appear pressured by a man’s advances. In today’s society, it is especially important for women to empower other women as well as themselves. Moreover, a further change in attitude was induced by addressing the notion of the hierarchy of stories. Previously, I would find myself silently judging a variety of couples that I knew based on their apparent incompatibility. Learning that each relationship is subject to a love-script, and that there is substantial variation between the scripts of individual relationships, allowed me to recognize that though some couples may seem weird to me, they may be enjoying a pleasurable and fulfilling relationship. I came to realize that just because a love story doesn’t match mine, it does not mean that the love is any less fulfilling than mine: some people abide by the idea that love is a battlefield, others by the thought that love is a rose garden. Each

Currently 10% of women between ages 25 and 30 have had 10 or more sexual partners, and of their mothers generation, at only 4% have had more than 10 sexual partners in their lifetime Bowie, C and Ford, N (1989). Showing that young women of today are not exactly exhibiting traits of their male counterpart, but more that values of the male and female are converging, possibly into a common good.