Strangers to Our Own Society

Throughout the course of reading the Stranger, it has become apparent that our society has strong "cultural norms". These can be from the one that one looks, to the way that one handles situations. Mersault handled situations different than everyone else, and people never really knew how to handle him. At his mothers funeral, he didn't cry. He didn't seem like he was distraught and that was absurd to others. He wasn't inside the normal "box" so he seemed weird to everyone. Just like in our society today, people with special needs stand out like a sore thumb. They're different than the rest of us, mostly because of the way that the rest of us treat them. Students with disabilities can be just as functioning as everyone else, and they may not have any social problems so they do actually fit in, until we discriminate them. Throughout the course of this year, I got to intern in several different classrooms with many different types of children. I got to see how different children learn, and how beautifully unique each child is. I understand that we have to treat some humans different to fit their needs, however I think we need to cut back on our "social norms" and begin to broaden the spectrum.

"Sometimes your Worst Enemy is yourself"

Throughout the women in literature unit, there was a re-occurring theme of knowing oneself. All of the women in this literature unit had to make choices and decisions that required a lot of contemplating and thinking. All of these characters, such as Edna and Nora had to make decisions that effect the rest of their lives. Often, they hesitated because they thought too much about it. They let their inner thoughts and fears get to the best of them. However, in the end the women chose to do what they thought would be the best for them, regardless of what society believes is right. We all go through this day by day and we fight the power of society and we fight the demons that lie within us. Often, we can give advice to others, but when the same situation occurs to us, we have a hard time taking our own advice. I think that we all need to find a little bit of Nora and Edna within ourselves and stand up to what society is trying to get unto conform to. Seeing girls like Jennifer Aniston and Demi Lavato fight back to society on what women/girls should look, compared to what "society" thinks they should look like. I think more women need topay attention to what is going on in society and teach the hong girls that they are good enough. 

Who Run the World? Girls!

Recently, I was watching tv and a commercial came on...in the background of this commercial, Beyoncè's "Girls Run The World" song was playing. As nerdy as it sounds, I immediately starting thinking about English class and how far our society has come in accepting women. And not even just women, people of all colors, races and sexualities.
Reading A Thousand Splendid Suns was one of those rare occurrences when a book really speaks to you. It put life in perspective for me about how thankful I should be. Girls my age over there can't walk around and leave the house without a man, they get set up for marriage, and the constantly have to wear something to cover their face. Over in America, we're freaking out about who is gonna take who to prom, let alone marry them. We're lucky when we get to leave our houses to go out with our friends and not worry, and we are so lucky to have the freedom of expression. America clearly still has a lot to work on, however we also have to be thankful for how far we have come. I think that Mariam above everyone else, showed us the power of being a girl. She was a strong women who did what she needed to do, and though the outcome was not a positive one, it proved a point. I tried to put myself in Laila and Mariam's shoes, and I like to fool myself into believing that I would be able to be as strong as they are. Those women were the models and heroes that little girls look up to, the ones I wished I looked up to when I was younger and the ones I want my daughter to look up to. Girls like Beyoncé are great, and they sing about powerful women, but there is a huge difference between being a powerful women and singing about them. A Thousand Splendid Suns helped me realize this; and for that I couldn't be more thankful.

Maybe this is what all Taylor's songs are about...

When we were reading "A Doll's House" I couldn't help but think to myself "am I the type of girl that is going to rely on a guy the rest of her life?".  No. If there was anything that "A Doll's House" taught me was that a women can take a stand on her on as long as she believes in herself. When Nora was faced with the decision to stay with a man she truly did not love, or go out into the world and find herself, she went out to find herself. I think that Nora made a decision that was advanced for her time period, but she started a movement for girls all over the world. How can you be happy in a relationship if you haven't  yet found yourself? Wouldn't it be hard to be something with someone else when you alone don't know who you are? Maybe "A Doll's House" was before it's time, or maybe it really started the foundation for everything we as girls today now know. Growing up we're listening to these songs by artist like Taylor Swift (my favorite, hence the name of the blog) about how boys can break your heart and tear you down but it's up to you how you handle it. At the end of the day, you are the only person who can control your happiness. Recently, Disney released a new movie called "Frozen". In this movie, the princess gets betrayed by her so called prince. Unlike Nora, Princess Anna's lover didn't love her. But for Princess Anna, this seemed to work out for her. She found herself before she found the man she really loved. I think that this is an amazing thing for little girls to look up to. Because lately in my own life, I've began to realize that you are the only person that can control your happiness. And until you begin to become happy with yourself, you won't be happy with anyone else. Maybe it sounds cliche, but I believe it's true. We as women have the ability to stand on our own feet and control our own destiny without the help of any man. Because maybe, just maybe, fairy tales and happy endings aren't always about finding a prince, maybe they're about finding yourself. As Taylor once said, "you have to look in the mirror and realize that you're living your life for yourself, not for other people".