Defining Self :: Personal Narrative Essays

Defining Self I am from blonde ponytails and twirling party dresses, From leather seats and from the scent of public transportation. From all religions From all races I am from the fruit stand on the corner, from the flies brushed away by an Asian man I am from East 30 th Ave, between 1 st and 2 nd . I am from the laces of pointed shoes and the burning stage lights, from the hum of a cheering crowd, from the perfect kicks of a chorus line. I am from stacks of proposals and rows of numbers, from multi-colored paperclips, from a rubber band ball that really bounces if you throw it, from a view of Hudson Bay, from Lady Liberty. I am from an address my parents did not share. I am from a white sailor hat, the sand, and salty sea. From Tollbooth and hurdles. From a companion just my height, from never being right. I am from trying hard, from being scared, from always being right behind, from loving every minute. I am from a tall, cold, moving truck, from the sting of cardboard box paper cuts, from hoping nothing material was left behind. I am from a nose pressed against a steamy window of the gray Honda. I am from good-bye. I am from the sidewalk where riding a bike alone is allowed, from skinned knees, and Band-Aid brand to cover up the scrapes. I am from two new additions that fight and hit, from the number changing to five. I am from new spiffy shoes, from warm sweater-worn arms pushing me through the door. I am from lumpy paste and construction paper. I am from the founding sisters, from playground gravel, and from snacks of juice and crackers, from Dixie cups with colored dots, from holding small thin hands, from Kleenex boxes, and from strawberry jam. I am from long sleepovers, from covers pulled over frightened faces, from a baby doll hidden in the closet. I am from blushing cheeks and secrets revealed, from long telephone conversations, from nosy questions. I am from an old Coke bottle spinning on the floor, from shaking hands and nervous laughs, from thudding hearts, from trying to act cool about it all. I am from raging fights, from words not meant, from scratched out yearbook pictures, from a long letter, and from one I never wrote. I am from the confusion of a double family, from cheeks hot with frustration, from a soft pillow.

Gender Expectations Essay

Society often expects certain type of behavior from everyone. But in the big picture, this behavior is only based on what type of sex you are and what your responsibility according to your sex. In today’s society, we have discrimination; high expectations and a set of norms that in a lot of cases only apply or are strictly apply in one gender only. So all of this leads us to the question: Are gender expectations still prevalent in this present day? In the short story, Who you callin’ a lady? The author Kathleen Deveny discusses how women are supposed to act according to society. In this short story, the reader can see how a soccer player serves as an example of what is considered to be an â€Å"antiwomen† behavior. Elizabeth Lambert, shows a rough and a very aggressive behavior on the field. But is this behavior really different or rare for a woman? Society has the idea that women are to be kind, warm hearted, loving and sweet, but in reality women are human beings with feelings and passions, just like the rest of us. Feelings, that need to be expressed and released whether it is by hitting and fighting; normally how anger is shown. But Lamber, as mentioned before is a soccer player, soccer is a contact sport that easily generates a continuous amount of human contact that in occasions can escalate and get a little bit aggressive, but it is because of the level at which the sport is being played and the passion beh ind it. To many spectators, they might think that soccer might just be a sport, in which the objective is to get a ball into a goal, but to the players it’s much more than just a game with an objective, to most it’s their life; it’s what they’ve learned and known to do since they were little, what they have sacrificed many things in life to accomplish, what they have trained night and day and extremely hard for. It’s a dream that they made a reality, with all these emotions in mind, one can better understand the  sport and some of the â€Å"rough play† that goes on. According to Deveny â€Å"the difference is that we expect bad behavior from men† (Deveny 258). This quote illustrates how that the idea of men fighting and being aggressive is normal according to society. But who decided that expressing emotions is a character that only men are allowed to have and display? Maybe this idea stems from the characteristics such as caring; loving and helping that are represented and reflected in our mothers. Like Deveny says, â€Å"we want women to be honest, compassionate, and nice-you know, like our moms† (Deveny 258). Society’s view agree with Deveny’s quotes, that because our mothers, aunts, grandmothers and every woman, shares these characteristics that society associates and expects the same behavior from women in general. So if we always think in this way, that women that tend to achieve power will be seen and categorized differently because they might not fall in this general idea of women in society. The M/F Boxes by E. J. Graff illustrate how people have to live in a body that is not accordance with what they feel or with what they want to be categorized as. The essay mentions how doctors sometimes make the decision of what sex the baby should carry for the rest of his/her life (Graff 250). When a doctor takes such a huge responsibility to be responsible for the sex of a person, people that suffer from this early judgment are forced to live a life that they don’t feel comfortable living in. The essay mentions examples of people that don’t feel and act in accordance to what their gender appears as. â€Å"Sexuality-all of it, from identity to presentation to sexual orientation- is no exception; it develops as a biological interaction between inborn capacities and outside influences† (Graff 251). This quote expresses how we do not only feel good or have a certain degree of conformity in the inside but we have to express this felling on the outside. If we have a certain sexual inclination and have the desire of showing this feeling we could easily dress and act as we want. But unfortunately in today’s society, â€Å"Girls present as female, if not feminine, and fall in love with boys; boys present as male or masculine and fall in love with girls† (Graff 251). This quote depicts how society has already predetermined that boy and girls are only allowed to interact with the opposite sex. So this leads us to the question, what would happen if we dress as how we feel in the inside? The essay shows the reactions of different people. â€Å"A 15 year-old girl is  incarcerated in a Chicago mental hospital in 1981 and kept there for three years because she won’t wear a dress. A Winn-Dixie truck driver is fired from a job he held for twenty years when his bobs learns that he wears women’s clothes at home† (Griff250). It is obvious that society does not see with good eyes the fact that some people just want to be comfortable with them by interpreting their feelings. â€Å"Stay- At- Home Dads† by Glenn Sacks, talks about the role of females and males in today’s society. It shows how things will change if the female figure is the one who goes out and find a job an become the house head of the family financially and the males stayed at home taking care of the house and kids. After all men’s are accused of â€Å"men interfere with the wives’ career aspirations by their refusal of become their children’s primary caregivers, forcing women to sidetrack their careers if they want children† (Sacks 265). It’s clear that in todays society this is accepted, not just because â€Å"is the male job top provide for the family† but also because society thinks that is the women job to stayed at home and take care of the kids, when is prove that either one is capable of performing this task. Being a primary financial income required more time out of the house this can interfere with family time and household relate activities such as cleaning, laundry and cooking. But what if the role of house keeping is perform by a male? Will it lose credibility and acceptance if is a male taking care of the kids? According to society this will result in â€Å"as being at the mercy of their stronger wives’ commands† (Sacks 266). Society see this as males will lose power in the house, and in a way be under the wife’s command because she is the one bringing the money to the table. But in reality this â€Å"change† is creating an opportunity for families to interact more with each other is giving the opportunity to exchange roles and benefits that before was only given to only one member. By these changes males are giving the opportunity to interact more with their children and enjoy little thing such as â€Å"making dinner with a three-year-old’s ‘help’, or putting the baby down for a midday nap in a hammock† (Sacks 266). This reflects how sometimes by working a lot some people don’t have the time to do or share experiences with their love ones. But not everything is about changing â€Å"roles† is good or beneficial, often society seems that a male can’t be the one who is taking care of the kids. A clear example is when Glenn Sacks wrote the followi ng: â€Å"met with his teachers, and did his  spelling words with him every day. Yet the woman who chaired the meeting introduced herself to my wife, began the meeting, and then, only as an afterthought, looked at me and said ‘and who might you be?’† (Sacks 267). No matter what we do at home or who the one taking care of the kids is, society will always expect and think that that is a female role or responsibility. Today’s society is convinced that females and males have to fit in this manual of behavior. Everyone has to meet the criteria and act like the sex they represent without even thinking if that person has some feelings or different expectations of themselves. What we can do to break these expectations is to be more tolerant and respect the different points of view and be less judgmental in a person behavior because there will always be a reason behind it that we don’t know or simple we didn’t care to know. Work Sited Deveny, Kathleen. â€Å"Who You Callin’ A Lady† The Blair Reader. Eds. Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandel. Longman, 2013. 258-259. Print. Graff, E. J. â€Å"The M/F Boxes† The Blair Reader. Eds. Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandel. Longman, 2013. 249-255. Print. Sacks, Glenn. â€Å"Stay-At-Home Dads† The Blair Reader. Eds. Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandel. Longman, 2013. 265-267. Print.

Compare and Contrast the Work of Martin Luther King Jr ...

Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X were very significant during the Civil Rights Movement. Both were excellent speakers and shared one goal but had two different ways of resolving it. Martin Luther King Jr. chose to resolve the issues by using non-violence to create equality amongst all races to accomplish the goal. Malcolm X also wanted to decrease discrimination and get of segregation but by using another tactic to successfully accomplish the similar goal. The backgrounds of both men were one of the main driven forces behind the ways they executed their plans to rise above the various mistreatments. Martin Luther King Jr. was a more pronounced orator, a more refined leader, and overall saw the larger picture than Malcolm X.†¦show more content†¦Malcolm Little was born in Omaha, Nebraska, May 19, 1925. He was not as fortunate as Martin Luther King Jr. was while growing up. Malcolm X was one of eight children with two loving parents, but later on died. He was more so a lecturer about segregation than an orator from the Islamic point of view. The humor that flowed throughout all his speeches had underline meanings that were equally as serious as Martin Luther King Jr. made his speeches seem. Martin Luther King Jr. was literally born to be a leader overall. He took a stance for what he believed and let know one change his vision. Martin Luther King Jr. practiced the beliefs of Christianity and the teachings of Mohandas Gandhi. The practices he used throughout his proactivity during the Civil Rights Movement allowed people around the world to realize how his leadership really affected this country as a whole. Malcolm X was also a very great leader during the Civil Rights era. His Islamic religion helped influence how he led those who followed his teachings. He was motivated by anger that was created from white men in the past. When he was younger, his mother was threatened to move out of town because his father’s sermons were start ing to cause an up roar in the community between blacks and whites. The leadership Malcolm X brought to the community was rejuvenated energy that gave young black men and women the hope to rise above theShow MoreRelatedComparing Martin Luther King And Malcolm X917 Words   |  4 PagesBrian Graichen - HST 325 - 06/17/2017 Q3: Compare and contrast Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. Martin Luther King and Malcolm X were both civil rights leaders during the 1960s, but had different ideologies on how civil rights should be won. Both men were also deeply religious, but followed different religions and paths. The Great Depression never ended for African Americans; while others enjoyed an economic recovery, Black unemployment rose. Martin Luther King says that economic inequality in AmericaRead MoreMartin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X1491 Words   |  6 Pagesinfluence of this period. 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