Social Awareness Project: Body Image

Ella Celebi-

1)    HI. Have you ever been called “fat” or “skinny”? Who and what gender?

Ella- I’ve been called “skinny” more specifically “anorexic” because of my weight. I personally think I’m at a good weight I weigh 103 pounds. And there was once a boy who weighed 30 pounds heavier than me but he is not fat or anything he just has muscle. He weighs 133 pounds. He has called me “anorexic” because I weigh 30 pounds less than him.

2)    Have you ever looked at a magazine and wished you were the model, or wished you had their body?

Ella- not really honestly, because I know that stuff is so photo shopped. It never really bothered me, I mean sometimes I think, “Oh I wish I had her arms!” because that is an insecurity I have.  But um, I know its photo shopped so it doesn’t really bother me that much.

3)    Okay, are you insecure about any part of your body? What and why?

      Ella- Well I just said my arms because um, I don’t know my arms are on the heavy side. And lots of the girls at my school have skinnier arms than me.

4)    What do you consider a “perfect body” for a girl and a boy?

Ella- For a girl probably like nice curves, a big butt and big boobs or whatever, Nice legs, pretty face, and pretty hair. And for a guy, a guy who is taller than you, has abs, strong, handsome.

5) Okay. So would you rather choose a guy with a really nice body and a horrible personality, or a guy with a bad body and a really awesome personality?

Ella- Definitely a guy with a bad body with a really awesome personality. 

Lorenzo-

1)    Okay. Have you ever been called “fat” or “skinny” ? Who and which gender?

Lorenzo- Uhh twice. Yeah in 6^th grade I was small and over the summer I called a boy a fat shrimp, and he said, “at least I’m not a toothpick.

2)    Have you ever looked at a magazine and wish you were the guy model or soccer player?

Lorenzo- No.

3)    Okay. So would you rather choose a girl with a really nice body and a horrible personality, or a girl with a bad body and a really awesome personality?                     

Lorenzo- Uhh… how bad are we talking? ( ugly, and no curves and fat) Uhh.. I can’t decide.

4)    Are you insecure about any part of your body? And why?

Well I can’t say nothing, but my friends think I have a big head. I embrace that but I don’t like my head.

5)    What do you consider a “perfect body” for a girl and boy?

Alright, the guy has to be ripped and have abs and he has to have like biceps ya know? And then the girl like… an hourglass.

Mark –

1) Okay. Have you ever been called “fat” or “skinny” ? Who and which gender?

            Mark- Yes I have been called fat. It is mostly by girls but occasionally boys.

2)        Have you ever looked at a magazine and wish you were the guy model or soccer player?

Mark - Yes I would say that. Well whoever is skinny and looks good. And ya know have that image every guy wants to have, ya know like for a girl being skinny, and for a guy like skinny and has abs.

3) Are you insecure about any part of your body? And why?

Mark- Yeah. Um probably my ears because a lot of people say they get really red sometimes. My teeth because a lot of people say I have shark teeth. And my weight because I’m not as skinny as other people even though I wish I could be.

4)    Okay. So would you rather choose a girl with a really nice body and a horrible personality, or a girl with a bad body and a really awesome personality?

Mark- Not to sound nice or for the video but someone who doesn’t have the “everyday type of body”  but a good personality. But of course I think I would prefer          a nice body and a good personality. It depends on who the person is.

Cassi-

1)    Have you ever been called “fat” or “skinny”? Who and what gender?

Cassi- I have been called skinny by both genders. I have never really been called fat since the 5^th grade.

2) Okay. So would you rather choose a guy with a really nice body and a horrible personality, or a guy with a bad body and a really awesome personality?

          

Cassi-  Neither. I don’t need a guy in my life! They need to have the whole package.

3) Are you insecure about any part of your body? And why?

Cassi- Probably my legs. I don’t know I feel like they are bigger than other girl’s legs. I don’t know I guess its just because I’m taller. 

4)    What do you consider a “perfect body” for a girl and boy?

Cassi- For a guy probably tall has to have abs, muscles, and leg muscles. For a girl big boobs, a butt, and skinny.

       

                        “Why Cant I Be Like the Others?” A scene.

“Ugh my waist is so small. I need to be bigger to impress Chris someday,” My best friend Maggie says.

“Oh please, my butt is as small as a 2 year olds butt,” My other friend Sarah replies.

Ever since I entered High School my friends stopped eating and others spent most of their time near a toilet throwing up. I was confused on how most of the girls at my High School kept alive, I mean, I try to starve myself but after 10 minutes I find myself at the fridge.

            “ Have you guys checked out the new Victoria’s secret Magazine? I have to loose 15 pounds so I could be a model. I wish I could just be like them, tall, skinny, big boobs,” Maggie whines.  What I do in most of these conversations is just nod and think about the things I could get my mind off of this “body” talk everyone has been talking about these days.

            “Hey, Charlotte I see a little flab. Maybe you should go take a run after school or something? I do cardio and yoga everyday afterschool so I could loose 15 pounds,” Sarah says. I feel my face burn and feel the tears about to burst.

            “I am going to be late to class,” I quickly say as I run to my locker. As I do so, I think of my body. Maybe I DO need to loose a couple pounds. Yesterday Jonathan Grooco said I had no butt.

            “Hey, Charlotte,” Big Butt Annabelle walks up to me with gum in her mouth and lipstick on her teeth. She checks me out and rolls her big green eyes. 

            “Is everything alright?” I ask her. Annabelle pulls aside Maggie who walks by us.

            “This is your best friend right?” Annabelle asks Maggie as she clicks her gum. Maggie looks at me and lifts her eyebrows. “Your friend has no butt or boobs!” Annabelle cracks up. Burning tears roll down my cold face, and I couldn’t even look up at anyone. It was dead silence in the hallway except for her obnoxious laugh. I pray to someone or something that Maggie comes up with a comeback, I feel too vulnerable to reveal myself.

            “ Yeah um… she has nothing!” Maggie laughs a little with Annabelle. Instead of my face red from embarrassment, it turns red with rage.

            “Maybe I don’t have the perfect body, but at least I have some feelings, and at least I am not fake like some people. “ I shove both of them with my skinny arms and sprint to 4^th period.

            THE END

When I wrote this piece, I wanted the readers to realize how the media puts out a message saying how girls should have a “perfect body”. I also wanted to show how there are body image stereotypes in this new generation.

In the scene, girls and boys surround Charlotte. They are telling her what she should look like on the outside. But Charlotte takes a stand and shows the rude girls that looks and bodies don’t matter, it is personality that should matter. Annabelle and Maggie who tell her how she should be, take it from the media and compare themselves to others. This relates to the real world because some girls are insecure about their body. They compare themselves to other girls, which makes them feel horrible about their bodies, it could lead to illnesses such as anorexia, bulimia, cutting, etc. We need to take a stand and realize how body image is a big social issue in the world of teenagers.

My Opinion on Body Image in Society

          In a teenage girl mind, there is always a place that notices all your flaws. For instance, I know as a girl, features about me that I may not like, or want to change. I notice that some girls compare themselves to other girls. In fact, 80% of woman in the US are dissatisfied with their bodies.

         In classrooms, girls say how small their butt is, or compare bra cup sizes. When I see this all I could think is, “Why does it all matter so much? We all have different kinds of bodies.”  I feel that the media shoves this one look that all girls want to have, which is: curves, small waist, big butt, and big boobs.

        I once heard a conversation between 2 boys in my class. One boy says, “Boobs or butt?” And the other one replies, “Both. I wish every girl at the school looked like Nicki Manaj.” I immediately look at them and said, “What about personality?” But am I right? This shows the reason why girls are so insecure about their body. Some boys expect girl’s bodies should all be the same, a specific shape and size.

       A solution to this social issue is letting girls know how beautiful they are no matter what kind of body they have. There are many songs like, “All About that Bass” by Meghan Traitor, “Pretty Hurts”, by Beyoncé, and many more that put out a message that no matter who you are and what kind of body you have, you are beautiful.

“Because every inch of you is perfect from the bottom to the top!” –All About that Bass

“Kicking the Habit” by Robert Elder is about how cigarettes impact greatly on our health. This article teaches readers that Americans should be more aware of what they’re doing to their bodies before they use a certain product. The author shows examples of how cigarettes became so popular, and how that affected America's health in a negative way.

For example the author states, “Advertising played a huge role in getting Americans hooked on nicotine, the addictive chemical in cigarettes. Magazine ads, which featured beautiful men and woman lighting up, helped make smoking seem glamorous.” The author is claiming that the main reason why cigarettes became so popular in American society is because stars, magazines, TV shows, even cartoons gave out the messages that cigarettes are “cool” and “normal".  But later on, doctors realized that cigarettes put a great risk on people’s health. The author states, “ When half of American men and woman were smokers- congress began requiring warning labels on cigarettes starting with the caution: "Cigarettes Smoking May be Hazardous to Your Health.” This quote is showing us that Americans shouldn’t just do something because millions of other people are doing it. They should think and ask to be informed about all the scientific facts, before they make a decision. This is especially important, if it means that it is risking your health. The author is showing that smoking affected America in a negative way, because it caused lung cancer, diabetes, heart disease, etc., to many.

During this article, the author is showing the history of how Americans got hooked to smoking cigarettes. And then after it was discovered how cigarettes could cause a lot of health problems, that’s when Americans attitude about smoking changed dramatically. There is a chemical called nicotine that makes people addicted to cigarette smoking, and he mentions how as far back as 1492, people were addicted to tobacco. He also talks about how by the 17^th century, people were growing it in America and selling it.  The author states that during a World War One, the army gave the soldiers cigarettes, as a “treat”, so when they came back, the soldiers were addicted. This was before people knew cigarettes were bad for you, and caused harm. Before they knew that cigarettes were bad for your health, advertising took a huge role in America. “Advertising played a huge role in getting Americans hooked on nicotine, the addictive chemical in cigarettes…” The sentence that the author uses, “a huge role in getting Americans hooked.” infers that the advertiser had the power to manipulate people, and get them to buy cigarettes and keep buying them. By using the word “hooked” the author makes the readers feel the danger of how cigarettes could make you live an unhealthy, trapped lifestyle. The advertisers were manipulating Americans into smoking cigarette, by showing posters of how it’s “good” to smoke. The author’s purpose is to inform us of the history of the science and the business of making people hooked onto cigarettes so that we will not get hooked onto E cigarettes.

“Kicking the Habit” makes me think that advertisers don’t care about my health or life style, and that they’re just interested in money. I also realize that that the author’s purpose is I should be getting to know the science behind a product before I use it. This article makes me appreciate the doctors in America who fight for our health, as well as the congress. This article reminds me of how my Great Uncle Tommy smoked his whole life, knowing that it was dangerous. And even after kicking the habit, he still passed away from lung cancer.

The Perks Of Being a Wallflower

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Steven Chbosky

Character relationships by :Maya MacDougall

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is about a damaged boy named “Charlie” who goes to high school and finds out who he is, through the struggles he experiences in his relationships. He meets new people with struggles as well. He relates to them and starts finding out what love is. Charlie’s inability to express his feelings, affects his relationships with his friends and family. The reason why this happens, is because his past relationship with his Aunt Helen psychologically and emotionally damaged him, and now he has trouble expressing his emotions, as well as trouble in bonding with others.

For example, Sam and Charlie’s relationship is complex, because Sam easily talks to him about how she feels, but Charlie doesn’t.  Because of this, their relationship is confusing to Sam. Is it love? Or is it just a friendship? This question mostly hits Sam, because Charlie can’t tell her how he really feels about her. On page 201 Sam says, “It’s just that I don’t want to be somebody’s crush. If somebody likes me, I want them to like the real me, not what they think I am. And I don’t want them to carry it around inside. “ This shows how Sam is telling Charlie that she wants this relationship to be real and not a “crush” or a “mushy” relationship. She’s showing Charlie that he should realize that their relationship should be hones,t and they should be able to open up to one another. Also Sam says, “You can’t just sit there and put everybody’s life ahead of yours and think that counts as love.” This is an example of how Sam wants Charlie to realize that love isn’t just about putting others ahead of yourself, and that love isn’t about completely losing who you are. It’s about knowing yourself and what you want and being able to express this to the other person.

Candace and Charlie are another example of a complicated relationship. Charlie’s relationship with his sister is also complex because Candace is confused about what their relationship is about. Is it just a typical and stupid sibling relationship? Or is it real and about honesty, care and loyalty? In the book, Charlie and Candace argue about a lot of things. But at the end, Charlie realizes how much he cares about her. For example, “She hugged me so tight and wouldn’t let go. So I hugged her back. It was weird, too, because I’ve never hugged my sister. Not when I wasn’t forced to, anyway…” This shows that they both realized that they are able to tell each other anything, the most personal things you can ever tell a person. When Candace thought that she was pregnant, she immediately turned to Charlie. On page 116, “My sister hasn’t told anybody else about it because she doesn’t want it to get around. The only people who know are him, her, and I. I’m not allowed to tell anybody. And I won’t ever.” This expresses that at the end of the book, both Candace and Charlie noticed that when they were gloomy, they could lean on each other.

The last relationship in the book that Charlie is unable to express his feelings in is with Patrick. Their relationship is also complex. Patrick has a tough life and puts it all down on Charlie. They are both confused about how to be honest with each other. Charlie struggles with being honest and direct with his friends.  On page 201, Sam is telling Charlie how he is supposed to be a friend toward Patrick. “Like when you guys went to that park? Or when he was kissing you? Did you want him to kiss you?’ I shook my head no. ‘So, why did you let him?’ ‘I was trying to be a friend’ I said. ‘But you weren’t, Charlie. At those times, you weren’t being his friend at all. Because you weren’t honest with him.” This passage shows that the reason why Patrick and Charlie’s relationship didn’t work out,  was because they weren’t being truthful to each other in how they felt.

An example of the problem with their friendship is seen on page 160, when Charlie says to Sam, “Patrick and I have been spending a lot of time together. We drink a lot. Actually, it’s more like Patrick drinks, and I sip. It’s just hard to see a friend hurt this much. Especially when you can’t do anything except “be there”. I want to make him stop hurting, but I can’t.” This is an example of how Charlie is afraid of being direct to his friends, even when he sees that they are putting themselves in harms way. His fear of telling them what he thinks and feels, holds him back from helping them. And in this way, he isn’t a truly good friend. Charlie doesn’t realize he should be telling Patrick that he needs help, and he needs to stop dumping all his anger and stress onto Charlie.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower relates to the world because it shows people how to be a great friend. It shows people how important it is to be an honest, kind, and confident friend. In the real world, teenagers don’t always know how to be a good friend. They aren’t always confident, they are not often kind, and they can sometimes, not be especially, honest within their relationships with either friends or family. The reader who is reading this should realize that no matter what, a good friend is someone who expresses himself honestly in whatever conflict or good experience he has with that friend. Being honest means being honest with yourself, knowing when you are holding back your feelings, knowing that holding back can sometimes confuse the other person.  Not expressing yourself honestly to the other person is, in a way, not respecting yourself or your friend. You specifically should respect everybody, even people you dislike. There is no reason why somebody shouldn’t be kind to another person, especially, if that person is being a true and honest friend to you. You can’t be a good friend if you’re not true to yourself. Sometimes you have friends that can help you become true to yourself. You just have to listen and not hold back what is inside.  

            

Archetypes for "Crank" By Ellen Hopkins

           "Crank" By Ellen Hopkins is about a girl named "Kristina" also known as Bree. In the first part of the book she was a talented, smart, and gifted high school student. But as soon as she gets involved with drugs, alcohol, and boyfriends she changes.  

          There are many archetypes in this book. A character archetype is a person, place, or symbol. For example, I think the "shadow" archetype for this character would be "Bree" because she is the dark side of Kristina. Bree changed Kristina mentally, because she made Kristina make alot of bad decisions that led Kristina into dangerous scenarios. This turned Kristina into a whole different person. A good example of this is shown on page 243, when Kristina/Bree says, "And there was Bree, smiling seductively and I swear that poster boy smiled back. Bree was not an invention, not a stranger. Bree was the essence of me..." This shows that at first, Kristina thought Bree was fake and broken. For example, "Whatever she had done to me, for me, and basically in spite of me, she’d given me a whole new sense of self. I never knew I could play vamp, do it so well, flirt.”  This shows that Bree was the opposite of Kristina. Kristina thought of Bree as another person staring right back at her reflection. Bree not only changed her, she took over. 

       The archetype of the "shape shifter" in this book, would be Adam. The reason is because Kristina thought she loved him, thinking that she would spend the rest of her life with Adam. For example, on page 178, Kristina thinks, "I asked Adam to hold me, kiss me longer, harder. Oh god I love you. Begged him to help me remember the taste of love. How will I live without you?'' This shows that she thought he was her everything. But she realized she got betrayed after he saw Lince, and Adam really loved Lince instead of Kristina. For example, on page 227, " Lince is coming home. Let's see other people.' My face flushed tears poked my eyes, scar tissue twisted my heart, wrapped itself around arteries, closed tight around my jugular. I coughed pain." This shows that Kristina realized she was hurt because she felt that Adam had betrayed her. Kristina thought that he loved her. But apparently he wasn't the person she thought he was.

A “mother figure” in this book would be Kristina’s mother, because she has always taken care of her and comforted her. The mother cares for Kristina more than she cares for Kristina’s dad. For example, “I know I’m only your mom and I’m not always easy to talk to, but I’m here for you!” This shows that she is faithful to Kristina and wants to help her when she needs it. Kristina isn’t use to someone caring about what she does in her life, anymore. Also, on page 215, she thinks, “Lucky me! Mom’s kitchen was a whole lot better stocked than Dad’s. I’d almost forgotten how great a cook Mom was.” This shows that her mom does the best she can to make her daughter happy and healthy.