Cam's Letter To Her Mother

“Governor Adlai Stevenson Tells College Women about Their Place in Life, 1955” is an excerpt from a Commencement Address at Smith College in 1955. The speaker tells of how women aren’t just house wives anymore. With men becoming more educated the wife must advance as well. He says that women should keep themselves and those about you straight “not to mention keeping you man straight on the differences between Botticelli and Chianti” (page 334). Basically women at this time were supposed to go to college so they could have intellectual conversations with their intelligent husband. He says, “Once they wrote poetry, now it’s the laundry list” (page 334). Women of this time period didn’t have their

Having an intimate relationship with someone else is important for it provides one with an emotional outlet, and can result in some of the most enjoyable experiences in one’s lifetime. However, the process of maintaining one can be challenging. In her short story Write Me Sometime, Taien Ng-Chan explores the detrimental effect of deviating perspectives on the development of a relationship. Initially, Ng-Chan and her father have an intimate relationship with each other. As time progresses, however, the unaddressed deviations between Ng-Chan and her father’s perspectives ultimately cause the collapse of their relationship. Her changing perspectives stem from her changing family dynamics, personal transformation and lack of communication; these

“Long-distance relationships in college.” Does that sound frightening, or does it sound like a poorly stated joke? Many people believe that long distance relationships are the sole thing that you do not get yourself into when going off to college. You choose your university, you choose your sorority or fraternity, you choose your classes, and you chose your major, but whatever you do, you should never choose to be in a long-distance relationship when heading off to pursue higher education. For many newly dubbed “adults,” college life entails a world full of partying, studying, hooking up, and experimenting (whatever that may entail). College is the place where both guys and girls get a chance to possibly escape from their home towns, and

who always been deprived of father-figure, she feels the need to acquire attention from boys in

In the article Women Say “I Do” to Education, Then Marriage, Leslie Mann speaks about why present-day women pursue to finish their education before getting married. Mann was able to present her analysis by using a study on educated and uneducated women, statements from several professors of sociology, and an interview with an educated woman who married later in life. Because of the social norms, factors, and pressures of the past, female college students are not as privileged as present-day students. Through her knowledge and understanding of how society affects studies and outcomes, Mann was able to see the flaws in her own choices.

admires until I have my law degree.” “The university is no place for a women these days.” This

In order to understand Janie’s journey to discover love and herself, one must first define love from her perspective and analyze its origins. Janie’s adult concept of love is influenced by many things, including her grandmother and her childhood concept of love. Janie thinks there is a standard for love because her grandmother had standards for who she loved. Nanny’s concept of love, which shapes Janie’s, is heavily influenced by her slave background. Nanny was impregnated by her master, then witnessed her daughter, Janie’s mother, get raped by a school teacher (16-20). Because of the trauma both she and her daughter faced, Nanny ardently begs Janie to marry a man who will keep her safe from harm. Not only does Nanny want a protector for Janie, but she also wants a provider for her. If Janie is to have a husband who is well-off, she will not want the way her mother and grandmother did. Thus, Janie figured that she could marry a person for the security they

Relational – Cultural Theory (RCT) began as a feminist perspective that allowed psychologists a more appropriate measure of women’s experiences in terms of relationships that were not created by and for other male researchers. The inception of this theoretical perspective originates from the recognition that most research and consequent response considers the male as the norm and makes assumptions about the experience of women based on that norm that may not give a correct account of the female experience. This standpoint, however, has evolved and “may also include a better understanding of male growth and development” (Robbins, Chatterjee, & Canda, 2012, p. 125). It allows for a greater understanding and ability to serve those who experience any number of situations and circumstances during the life course. Robbins et al. explain, “it has expanded to better account for all human experience, both male and female” and connects the individual problem to the greater social world; that is, it looks at the individual relationships and consequent suffering within the context of the greater culture (2012, p. 125).

In the book, Hooking Up, the author, Kathleen Bogle, devotes most of her research to interviewing male and female undergraduates and alumni. Throughout her book, she uses various methods to expose the complexity of hookups and the actualities of the gender “rules” on college campuses. The techniques Bogle uses are: explaining the norms of the hooking up culture prior to the twentieth century, describing how the ambiguity of the term “hooking up” on college campuses creates misconstrued ideas about other college students, and comparing the difference between males and females in the hook up culture.

From the moment you’re put into your parents arms you have a special relationship with them and you will always have this special bond. This relationship is different from the relationship we form with friends, the connections we formed with friends are by choice. But that doesn't mean that the relationship formed with your parents is any less valuable because it started as an involuntary relationship. In the novel The Bean Trees, Barbara Kingsolver shows us that the relationships we form by choice are different from the relationships we form out of necessity. In doing this she also shows us that the relationships we form out of necessity are the most meaningful. Barbara Kingsolver shows us that the relationship she has with her mother, a necessary

In Kate Zernike's Article, Why Are There So Many Single Americans, it talks about how in America, there are many single men and women; a cause of that is, education. Kate Zernike uses the rhetorical elements of logos, audience, and allusions to make the reader understand her. Studies show that college-educated women are more likely to marry non-college-educated men. The number of people that are married or getting married has gone down in the last 45 years. The marriage rate has been decreasing equally for both men and women.

One potent portrayal of adolescent development is the reality that there is often a disconnect in how parents may relate their their children. According to DiClemente, while family relationships are crucial for healthy adolescent development, it is also suggested that conflicts between adolescents and their parents are necessary for adolescent growth as well as it is a sign of a youth developing their own identity apart from their parents (citation, 394). This was demonstrated with the combative dynamic that Akile and her mother sustained throughout the film. Another example of the disconnect between the mother and Akile was that the mother assumed that because Akile does not act in a feminine manner that Akile desires to be a man. This belief highlights a true disconnect because the mother refuses to accept the concept that a woman can act and dress in a manner that does not traditionally align with her definition of

Watch the classical film Grease and one can understand how relationships function in Western Society. The film tells a story of a boy (Danny) and a girl (Sandy) who falls in love. Through a series of misunderstandings they break up, but still somehow care for each other. Through ballads such as Summer Night’s that are still popular today, the film shows how differently males and females view relationships. Films like Grease are like a mirror, reflecting societal values and how it socializes its members. It makes it clear that in relationships, males are socialized to view relationships as mostly a physical, sexual endeavor, while females view it as a perpetual bond –a deeper connection between the two individuals within a relationship.

This is made obvious by the subjective reflections of the now grown daughters as they write about their relationships with a distorted and one-sided view. “When individuals describe and evaluate an important relationship, this “accounting” of the relationship imparts meanings to the events, actions, and emotions of their past history, their present interactions, and their anticipated future together.” (Bojczyk, Lehan and McWey) This is how they identify their formative years and how they identify themselves as daughters to their mothers. Sufficed to say, despite the differences in perspective and experience, it is nearly impossible for the mother-daughter relationship to be clinically reviewed, they are heavily subjected to the author’s opinions and reactions to their mother.

In Adrienne Rich's essay, "Claiming an Education", the author speaks about the female experience against the male-dominated academic scene. Despite the fact that this essay was written in 1979, a number of Rich's points seem timeless. Rich encourages young women to insist on a life of meaningful work. As a seventeen-year-old student, I have often heard from my female companions that they anticipate a higher education as an opportunity to hunt down a spouse. The frequency and zeal of this conclusion, seeing education only as means of marriage, strikes me as particularly pitiful and archaic. Adrienne Rich’s thesis in “Claiming an Education” aptly expresses the array of roles women hold in societies, the benefits, and weaknesses of our education system, as well as the struggles that women are exposed to. She successfully develops her thesis statement by the effective use of a variety of methods of development and various literary devices to improve her writing quality and to help readers interpret her message. I agree with Rich’s thesis statement because education entails being responsible for oneself, not just for women, but for all students.