Reading/Responses

Week 1 :

“Captain America”

This article is not only about confidence but also about racial stereotypes. We all have a preconceived idea that all 

superheroes or imaginary character are white. That may sound untrue but when you really think about it what superhero is 

white and what imaginary character is black? I know I was raised with the belief that Jesus, Santa, the tooth fairy, ext. are all 

white. Its time that we break racial barriers, why cant Santa be black or be Asian? "Vishavjit Singh took a stand to try and 

break the norm but as he saw everyone that day took a double take because no ones used to seeing a skinny, dark skinned, 

Captain America in a turban."

 “Faking it”

This article is all about how one portrays themselves on the internet. These days we base a lot of our opinions of people on the way that they look on the internet. You may not have even met them but you can come up with preconceived ideas just by ones facebook profile. I know before I met  two of my roommates I did some hard core facebook stalking and to say I was scared was an extreme understatement. Both girls had purple hair and facial piercings, and the conclusions me and my other roommate were coming too were cruel and unjust. 

“Journals”

The third article was about an African American man and how he felt he was being socially isolated. I can definitely relate, I am used to being thought of as spoiled and no one really see’s me for who I really am.  

 Quote:

“ And we were able to lay to rest any anxieties or inhibitions in those moments — about other people, about the unknown, about ourselves, about violating other people’s personal spaces or not understanding their beliefs.”

Week 2: 

"Why women smile", in this video the narrator/author is expressing why she thinks women are always taught to smile. We live in a culture where men are treated as hierarchy. Men are told to project out while women are told to hold in. Women are taught to watch what they eat while men are taught to "eat like a man". The double standard we have created is outrageous. Why should women hold back? We are just as much of a person as a man. In ideal world men and women would be treated equally but in reality that is just never going to happen. We are raised from a very young age that one sex is better than the other. Young boys play with trucks and they build things where girls sit around and play dress up and experiment with makeup on a plastic dolls head. Which to you seems more useful?

"This is water", is a video all about what we as the younger generation have to look forward to, or not. There some aspects of this video which I highly agree with and others which I disagree with. Life is what you make it, if you pick a job which bores you then yes, your life will most likely turn out like this video, but if you choose a job which you enjoy going too then you already have contradicted this video. I know getting a job isn't that easy and thats why a lot of people get stuck with a life like this video.

Week 3:

Goswami, S., Sachdeva, S., & Sachdeva, R. (2012). Body image satisfaction among female college students. Industrial Psychiatry Journal, 21(2), 168-172. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.4103/0972-6748.119653

 “Individuals who perceive their bodies negatively with regard to culturally valued features may have low self-esteem, low satisfaction in life and feeling of inferiority and pose themselves at higher risk for depression, anxiety or eating disorders. At the highest level of dissatisfaction, this may result in significant impairment of social, educational and/or occupational functioning. Currently, beautiful is considered good and thinness is synonymous with beauty, which makes it valued by society while its opposite, obesity, is strongly rejected. Although the ideals of female beauty vary as a function of esthetical standards adopted at each time, studies show that women have tried to change their bodies to follow these standards.”

“A study was undertaken to determine body image satisfaction and perception among newly entrant girl students (17-22 years) of a professional institution. In the present study nearly 83.33% rated their perceived body image from good to excellent while overall 13.54% were dissatisfied with their image.”

GillenEva, M. M. (2006). Gender role development and body image among male and female first year college students. Sex Roles, 55(1-2), 25-37. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11199-006-9057-4

“Sociocultural factors in the U.S. encourage individuals to

be preoccupied with their weight, shape, and appearance

(Thompson, Heinberg, Altabe, & Tantleff-Dunn, 1999).

Female college students in particular report a high prevalence

of body image problems, such as body dissatisfaction

and poor weight management practices”

“Being in these peer-dominated

environments may increase appearance comparisons to

same-sex peers, or heighten self-consciousness due to the

presence of potential dating partners. Moreover, involvement

in campus organizations that encourage the importance of

attractiveness (e.g., sororities; Schulken, Pinciaro, Sawyer,

Jensen, & Hoban, 1997) may promote changes in body

image. Due to group values about appearance, students in

these organizations may be more attentive to their looks, and

thus, may continually evaluate how they “measure up” to

cultural and perhaps group-specific beauty standards.”

“Historically, studies have included mostly

European Americans, and have found that women express

greater dissatisfaction than men do with their appearance and

weight, and they place greater importance on and invest

more in their appearance than men do (Mintz & Betz, 1986;

Muth & Cash, 1997). In contrast, other work illustrates that

men and women experience similar levels of discontent

with their bodies when controlling for the direction of

dissatisfaction (Cohn & Adler, 1992; Tantleff-Dunn &

Thompson, 1995). Specifically, Cohn and Adler found that

most women want to be thinner, whereas men are fairly

split in their desire to be thinner or heavier. “

 MAKING THIN NOT IN: PROGRAM PROMOTES HEALTHY BODY IMAGE AMONG FEMALE COLLEGE STUDENTS. (2011, Mar 07). US Fed News Service, Including US State News Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/855514334?accountid=10559

"Body dissatisfaction and dieting are two risk factors that may trigger the onset of eating disorders in susceptible individuals," said Dianna Schalles, registered dietitian at Lafene and adviser for the Sensible Nutrition And body image Choices program. "The Reflections program, through a series of oral, written and behavioral activities, asks participants to challenge the thin-ideal standard of female beauty."

Schalles said that a recent poll conducted by the National Eating Disorders Association found that 20 percent of a group of 1,000 students nationwide said they had struggled with an eating disorder. This statistic is comparable to an estimated 4 percent of the population at large.

"More and more college-age students are experimenting with unhealthy weight loss methods and body dissatisfaction," she said. "Eating disorders in general have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness, and the longer they go untreated, the lower the chance of recovery." 

Week 4:

Going to a strict private school we were taught to cite from a very young age and its never really been too much of an issue. We were taught to use a site called "noodletools" which made citing very simple. The only thing I've always found a little bit challenging is in text citations. I find them extremely frustrating and annoying. The only other thing I would like to improve is the way I weave quotes into my papers. I sometimes find it hard to not make my quote stick out like a sore thumb and instead have them be woven in to add to my material.