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Out with the old, in with the new. Entering a new environment required adjustment from what I was used to—college approached faster than I expected, and I had to pace myself with the newness of what I was going to face. What I knew about being in an ENGLCOM class was that I would learn much about writing, and when I encountered it firsthand, I was right: everything was about writing. Four classes a week of ENGLCOM was a big help to step up my writing game and understand what writing really meant. Being in high school, I thought that how I wrote was already good enough or even excellent, for that matter. However, being in the new environment of an ENGLCOM class taught me so much more and made me leave room for improvement. I did not know that I needed it, but I was thankful I did.

Pre-ENGLCOM, my writing style was very free and spontaneous. I did not really focus on the structure of my paper, but I thought more about my paper’s content and understandability. I also wrote my paper with less research than needed, and less credit that necessary, thinking that my opinions and ideas were better to be shared since it was my paper, with an exception to stating facts and studies. I wrote with very casual words, unconscious about my essays sounding academic, and I was a big fan of using contractions. When it came to argumentative writing, I made sure that my arguments stood out by disregarding counter-arguments or refuting them more than explaining them thoroughly. I focused more on my biases and was not keen on looking at the biases of others. ENGLCOM taught me that most of these beliefs on writing was wrong, and that there is so much more to writing than arranging words into sentences with context. Now, I know that proof-reading and editing my essays over and over again is essential to detect parts that need to be improved. I am now very much into researching about my topics and citing the ideas of others properly, as well as following the guidelines of writing academically. Most of the misconceptions I believed in about writing was eradicated from my style.

Though I learned much in my class about how to write different kinds of essays with the correct form and steps, it was still quite difficult to construct papers because of writer’s block, and the strictness of the structure. My extended definition essay was a week blank. I did not know how to define the word “throwback” more than its one-liner definition, and expand it for my audience to understand it. I also did not know how to stop sounding too redundant, since the same ideas went over my head when I was defining it. Going further, I researched broadly about my topic, looking at how other people looked at the word and what it meant to them. Fortunately, I was able to relate the word to myself and tried to define it by that. With my argumentative essay, it was not as easy as I thought it would be, since all along, my thoughts about arguing was just about my bias and defending it to my readers. But writing that kind of essay meant understanding the bias of the other side and applying it to my essay. It was difficult because seeing counter-arguments made me doubt my own bias, giving me the option to change it. Also, given the types of outlines of an argumentative essay, it was difficult to arrange my essay into the required formats. I was close to giving up, because I could not even refute my counter-arguments or give my side enough justice to be considered the valid argument. Yet I continued researching about my topic, both for and against, and I found more validity for my side and loopholes for the counter-arguments. Overall, while writing the two big essays for this class, I realized how much value there is to researching. It is not all about stock knowledge and the dictionary definition of things—writing is as important as researching, because the content of an essay would mean much more if improved with proper researched information.

The first day of ENGLCOM class was a shocker, because I was not expecting to write an essay on the first day itself. I chose the topic of the stigma on mental illness, about how mental illness is prejudiced and people suffering from it are negatively looked at by other people. However, the time allotment for writing the essay was pressuring, because we had to research and write for an hour. I wrote as much information as I could, but only having researched facts from a few sources. I was leaning on finishing the essay on time rather than the content of my essay. As a result, my essay was shallow and general. With my exit essay, I chose the same topic and this time, I made sure to improve my essay because I have learned so much about writing in my class, so I had to apply them on it. I valued the time given to me to write it by really studying and reading about mental illness and its stigma. I was able to cite sources to make my essay look academic, I reduced general information, I removed non-academic-sounding words, and I followed my outline. With this, I was able to write a better essay compared to my entrance essay, given all the knowledge that I gained from ENGLCOM class.

           In a world where you are only considered beautiful when you qualify to what society deems as perfect, it is difficult to live with flaws. People with mental illnesses struggle with living every day, because having to cope up with normalcy is not an easy task for them. What mental illness does to people is uncontrollable and it is not something they chose for themselves—this is what society does not understand. The stigma with mental illness still sticks, and it hardens the struggle of those who suffer from it because they are misunderstood and looked down upon by others.

           Mental illness, according to Mayo Clinic, “refers to a wide range of mental health conditions—disorders that affect your mood, thinking, and behavior.” Most of the time, persons with mental illnesses are unable to cope with life’s daily routines and demands. Many factors can contribute to the cause of mental illnesses whether it be psychological, genetic, biological, or environmental, and most of these are difficult to prevent. Depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, anxiety disorder, anorexia, and obsessive-compulsive disorder are some of the many kinds of mental illnesses that exist—most of them even more common than cancer.

           How the world sees mental illness is so much different from how it is factually defined; they see the people who suffer from them with a stereotype that they are to be set apart. Mental illness patients are then attached to the stigma, treated like lepers and insane people. Peter Byrne wrote an article for BJPsych Advances, compiling a lot of research results about the stigma of mental illness. In the article, he writes how people seeing mental disorders negatively got this idea from how they were raised, and how the media portrays this. Evidently, the media shows that schizophrenic and bipolar people are violent, that depressed and anxious teenagers are just going through a phase, or that mentally ill people are unpredictable, foolish, and are never going to get better (Tartakovsky, 2009). Some people even think that mentally ill people are just asking for attention and are not feeling anything at all. That is where society gets it all wrong. Society needs to instill in them that attaching a stigma to mental illness and the insidious misconceptions about them causes more harm and no good.

           The stigma on mental illness results in so much hardships for patients, more than the battle they have with their disabilities. It causes them the good life. They are unable to get good jobs because people think they are too disabled for work. They are unable to build relationships with other people because they are seen as different, weird, and scary. They are unable to vent out their feelings because what they feel like what they think of are the thoughts of a crazy person. They are most of the time blamed for what they are feeling even if they are unsure of what caused their illness in the first place, they are hindered from good medical services because they are not extensively checked up on, and they are separated from society. This causes mental illness sufferers to have self-stigma, when they would believe what negative things said about them and their illness, thus, having the idea that they are unable to recover and live a good life. They are not only discriminated by society, but also themselves.

           Mental illness should be understood completely by everyone. A good education or crash course about mental illness is a good way to know what mentally ill people go through in order to deplete the judgement they face on a normal basis. Preconceptions and partialities must not be spread by easily-accessed mediums like newspapers, television, movies, music, and the like. Media has a big role in diffusing information and knowledge to people, so they must not offer false information like the stigma on mental illness to others, especially that the facts about this are not properly instilled in people. People should view mental illness the same way physical illnesses are viewed because mental illness is no better than physical illness; it is not an exaggeration, but it a legitimate feeling. People who have these need other people, and this cannot be achieved with seeing them with indifference and disgust.

           Acceptance of everyone is one of the things taught to people as children, and it is something that has to be done by all persons as they grow and encounter different kinds of people. Mentally ill patients are not an exception to the accepted kinds of people just because their brains are sick. They are in need of acceptance, love, and a lot of understanding. No one likes the feeling of their way of thinking and functioning impaired by something they did not ever choose to have. Mental illness is not a choice, so people should detach the stigma on this and leave for them room in the society where they would feel like they are still a part of this world.

   Bibliography

 Corrigan, P. W., Druss, B. G., & Perlick, D. A.  (2014, August 1). The Impact of Mental Illness Stigma on Seeking and  Participating in Mental Health Care. Retrieved from Association for  Psychological Science:  http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/publications/mental-illness-stigma.html

Facett, K. (2015, April 16). How Mental Illness is  Misrepresented in the Media. Retrieved from US News Health:  http://health.usnews.com/health-news/health-wellness/articles/2015/04/16/how-mental-illness-is-misrepresented-in-the-media

An overly-sexualized world opens the society to do and see things that were considered as indifferent, as not ideal. Women today are now seen as animals who submit to commands as per their objectified bodies and degraded personas.  Men, on the other hand, projects domination who always have women under them. The issue of which gender rules the world and which is the slave has been roaming the world for decades—but a big question popped up: should there be dominance, or should there be equality instead? This is where feminism comes in. Shining light on darkness that is gender inequality, exposing its evil and trivializing effects for all the world to see, as it creates the impression that men are greater than women in all aspects. This forces them to know their place and stay there. This should never be the case, and it should never be the mindset of a smarter and more evolved society, because societal roles do not and should not have a gender.

The world needs feminism because feminism demands equality. It emphasizes that although there is a division that is man and woman, it does not change the fact that both are human beings living in the same habitat and the same positions—no one above nor below. Others may think that feminism just focuses on the benefit of women alone because of its name and the majority of its supporter. However, by definition, feminism advocates the rights of women to be equal to men’s and is pushed mostly by the deep discrimination of women’s abilities because of their gender.

The feminist movement sees how the existence of gender roles continues to limit people in the sense that they are unable to function in the way they please but in a way which society tells them to. With gender roles, only boys can appreciate cars and superheroes while girls can only appreciate dolls and the color pink. Elliot Aronson, an American psychologist, explained how stereotyping is a result of seeing identical qualities that members of a group have without considering who the people in the group are. The article by Malgorzata Wolska about gender stereotypes in mass media, reports that “patriarchy was a dominant family model”, with men as the providers and independent ones, and women as the low-position workers obliged only to take care of the family and do housework. This modern world should see that women can also be independent and career-driven and men can most definitely be family-oriented and sensitive. Women can be CEO’s and men can help with house chores. Stereotyping people by dictating to them their place in the society struggles freedom to rule because a specific set of genitals does not define who and what a person should be and what a person should do—it should be their drive and their desire who does that.

Feminism does not overlook how many of the words spoken by everyone are focused on one gender, like businessman, ladylike, workmanship, and career woman. The practice of using gender-sensitive language must prevail in all mediums because people must be mindful that “man” is not a valid counterpart for “people”.  If masculine words appear on papers and such, then it is most likely should be for a person to think that the described person is a man—this is a difficulty for words that should pertain to groups of both sexes.

Another thing feminism wants to deplete is the discrimination of women, whether it be in the workplace, in their houses, or even in the streets. Wages are not given at an equal rate for men and women: in the Philippines, if a man earns 100%, a woman only earns 76% of what men earn (Remo, 2012).  Patriarchy enables the power to tell women to be silent about their opinions and thoughts, even if these are beneficial and sensible. If a woman was found to be a virgin, she would be considered a prude; while if she was found to be without her virginity, she would be considered a slut or a whore. The same idea applies for how women dress: if it’s too-tight clothing, she’s a whore who wants to show off to men, while if it’s turtlenecks and long skirts, she’s uptight. Women who do not talk slow and soft and do not lower themselves down to men are labelled as aggressive “bitches” who are on their time of the month. Walking down the street can be difficult for a woman as for catcalling and its fearful effects to a woman’s mentality and emotion, since this is a marker that they are being looked at as meat that arouse the person who catcalled them.  Women are not objects. Women are not low. Women are not labels—women are people, and that is one of the things feminism is telling every one.

The violence against women is a pressing issue in today’s society because some people deem this as normal. In a study conducted by Mazza, Dennerstein, and Ryan, for the Medical Journal of Australia, out of 72% of their respondents, a quarter of women in relationships experienced physical and emotional abuse by their partners, including beating, rape or attempted rape, and sexual assault. So much of the cases of domestic violence and assault of any kind are unreported, revealing how “we are not dealing very well with this problem” (Gracia, 2004). Rape culture prevails in many countries because rape does not seem like an immoral act to most people. 30-35% of men would rape a woman if they knew they would get away with it, with 600 people raped every day in the USA, one every two minutes. Rape is viewed in this society as something that people can do without heavy consequences because of sex being a “human need” and an “uncontrollable drive”. Contexts of rape in jokes, literature, media, and the like, are projected all around just to flatten with the world’s official norms. However, by dictionary definition, rape is sexual intercourse carried out forcibly or under threat of injury against the person’s will. Sexual intercourse is meant to be an intimate and consented act between the people involved and it should never be forced upon anyone who does not want to do it. Being raped and being violated by all means is every woman’s fear because of how Feminism aims to eradicate the fear of women when it comes to rape, violence, discrimination, and the like, by eradicating those problems themselves. It wants to teach people that a world without these is a world better lived in.

A large number of people, however, still believe that feminism is not needed in this modern-day society. It is often thought, with the sensationalizing of media, that feminism is just for women who hate men, women who love their own gender too much that they want a matriarchal world instead of the opposite. Due to this, men feel that their rights are not taken into consideration when feminism is brought up; men need rights too, and what women demand in feminism is exactly what men need as well. It is also argued that gender roles play an important part in the society because this is what is normal; without them, the world may mean chaos. Some people, including women, believe that feminists are just whiners who want to escape responsibility and sugarcoating it as equality, they believe that women are already on an equal stance with men because women are able to vote and work.

The ignorance of what feminism is creates in people the ideas stated. Feminism wants an egalitarian society—one that sees women and men in an equal power. Men are not ignored in feminism, in fact, how men are pushed into being strong, aggressive, superior, “masculine”, is not something most men want. An article in Telegraph Men explains how men struggle with the need to adapt to modern masculinity, which is what is expected of men to act on a daily basis. Exactly like women, men feel this as well. Feminists don’t hate men, but they instead dislike the gender-biased expectations towards men and women. When it comes to gender roles, it is common sense that a mother breastfeeds her own child—it is a biological fact. Those are the only kinds of gender roles this world should have: biological ones and factual ones, instead of roles dictated by people who are part of the same society. Lastly, feminism is not a call for attention—it is a stand against oppression and a demand for justice. Yes, women do have rights and laws are implemented for them but most of the time, discrimination and cruelty to all people are not fought for enough. Feminism calls for the depletion of discrimination, exploitation, and oppression—not men (Kim, 2012).

The world needs feminism. In a world where humans roam, humans should act and be treated as humans, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, class, ability, or race. Feminism wants an egalitarian world where no one is belittled by what genitals they possess. Feminism wants and egalitarian world where women can work in construction and men can cry if they want to. Feminism wants an egalitarian world where the excuse “boys will be boys” does not exist. Feminism wants an egalitarian world. No person wishes to be oppressed, to be violated, to be slaves, just because they are being themselves. People should live their lives in a society without the pressure of social norms and fear of rejection, and feminism wants to move the world towards that—because that world is more than ideal: it is happy.

   References and Bibliography

 Are  gender roles important to the society? (n.d.). Retrieved from Debate:  http://www.debate.org/opinions/are-gender-roles-important-to-society

Cavanagh, C. (2014,  September 9). Why We Still Need Feminism. Retrieved from Huff Post  Women:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/casey-cavanagh/why-we-still-need-feminism_b_5837366.html

D Mazza, L. D.  (1996). Physical, sexual and emotional violence against women: a general  practice-based prevalence study. Retrieved from Europe PubMed Central:  http://europepmc.org/abstract/med/8559088

Gender Roles and  Gender Differences. (n.d.). Retrieved from Hertherington Park, Child  Psychology: A Contemporary Viewpoint: http://highered.mheducation.com/sites/0072820144/student_view0/chapter15/index.html

Gray, E. (2012, March  17). Discrimination In The Workplace Against Women May Depend On Men's  Marital Structure (STUDY). Retrieved from Huff Post Women: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/17/discrimination-in-the-workplace-women-gender-revolution-marital-structure-men_n_1525863.html

Is Feminism Still  Relevant? (n.d.). Retrieved from Debate:  http://www.debate.org/opinions/is-feminism-still-relevant

Kim, S. (2012, July  5). Everyday Feminism. Retrieved from Why Everyday Feminism Is For  Everyone: http://everydayfeminism.com/2012/07/feminism-is-for-everyone/

Martin, H. (2014,  October 4). "Women Against Feminism" Misses the Point: Why No  Woman (or Man) Should be Against Feminism. Retrieved from Huff Post  Women:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/heather-martin/women-against-feminism-misses-the-point_b_5635909.html

Rape Culture &  Statistics. (n.d.). Retrieved from The Order of the White Feather:  https://wearawhitefeather.wordpress.com/survivors/rape-culture-statistics/

Remo, M. (2012, June  21). Income inequality between Filipino women and men remains—WB study.  Retrieved from Inquirer:  http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/216695/income-inequality-between-filipino-women-and-men-remains%E2%80%94wb-study

Ross, A. (2014,  August 19). No, Catcalling Is Not a Form of Empowerment. Retrieved  from TIME: http://time.com/3144715/street-harassment-catcalling/

southernbelle13.  (2012, September 6). Women Being Oppressed In The Workplace. Retrieved  from INTRO TO WOMEN'S STUDIES 2010:  http://wmst2010.com/2012/09/06/women-being-oppressed-in-the-workplace/

SPARKsummit. (2012,  November 14). Feminism: What it is and why it’s still important.  Retrieved from SPARK Movement: http://www.sparksummit.com/2012/11/14/feminism-what-it-is-and-why-it%E2%80%99s-still-important/

Telegraph Men. (2014,  November 19). 'A crisis of masculinity': men are struggling to cope with  life. Retrieved from The Telegraph:  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/11238596/A-crisis-of-masculinity-men-are-struggling-to-cope-with-life.html

Wolska, M. (2011,  January 9). GENDER STEREOTYPES IN MASS MEDIA. CASE STUDY: ANALYSIS OF THE  GENDER STEREOTYPING PHENOMENON IN TV COMMERCIALS. Retrieved from Krytyka:  http://krytyka.org/gender-stereotypes-in-mass-media-case-study-analysis-of-the-gender-stereotyping-phenomenon-in-tv-commercials/

           As humans, it is inevitable to dig into our memories and drown in the nostalgia that they bring, especially with triggers that lurk around us every day. Living in the modern-day world makes it easier for us to drown in that nostalgia, as the modernization of technology brings the modernization of human thought.  It is likely whoever said that what is in the past remains in the past most likely did not count the existence of memories and its ability to cross the mind every second. With that, this generation has coined the word “throwback” to be the word that refers to bringing the past into the now.

           A throwback could be defined with its two combined words “throw” and “back”, as throwbacks mean throwing the present back into the past to see what has happened in an earlier time. Similarly, the dictionary defines it as a recurrence: activities, outlooks, or manners reversing—somehow like a comeback. Urban Dictionary, a website that provides crowdsourced definitions of words and phrases considered “urban” or slang, was the first to define the word for this era, noting that a ‘throwback’ is a sudden reminder of the past due to a trigger. With this, blogger Saxton Moore used the word on one of his text posts to refer to his old photo of Super Chicken, and from then on, this tech-savvy generation rode on the trend by using the word when a memory passes by their heads, as it is again, unstoppable.  Memories are formed when the brain sends the sensations felt to the hippocampus, which generates the brain to organize its brain cells into groups that processes the information taken in uniquely, changing the brain’s physical structure. From there, the perceived information will be filtered into long-term and short-term memory. Recalling memories, then, is called ‘throwback’ for its modern meaning in communicating their thoughts that look back on past events. You would consistently see texts, photos, or videos posted all around, captioned as “Throwback!”, seeing as they are from five or maybe even twenty years ago.

           How people use words today is widely different from ten years ago or so, especially with the evolving norm and trends that occur every day. A concrete example is how ‘throwback’ is this generation’s new ‘remembered’, ‘reminisced’, or ‘recalled’. Before, people would converse with people saying things like “I remember last year’s cheerleading competition, it was wilder than all the others!” but now, a typical statement would go like, “Throwback to last year’s cheerleading competition!”, and everyone would clearly understand what the speaker meant. Both sentences meant the same thing, saying that they thought of last year’s cheerleading competition, but both are different in the sense that “remember” sounds more formal in this time than “throwback”, since ‘throwback’ has a modern and unwritten meaning. It is then difficult for later generations to keep up with fresh slang and comprehend what they mean, leaving a generation gap between the old and the new. In comparison to today’s people, they can easily understand each other’s jargon easier than typical dictionary words. But then, it also gives a negative impact to the youth in terms of communicating formally or academically for they are not used to utilizing words that were not built by their societal groups. “Throwback” also created a lot of big social impacts in this generation, like how every Thursday of the week, people are enlivened to post their throwback memories around social media and commemorating them due to the trend of “Throwback Thursdays”. Scrolling through Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, would feel like being hit by a blast from the past for it is filled with pensive memories like baby photos, activities played from ages ago, trends, or words, hashtagged with #ThrowbackThursday or #TBT. A set of unspoken rules have been set for posting media on Throwback Thursday, which includes posting only items from years ago and not months or days, and posting only commemorative throwbacks than senseless ones that nobody can relate to. Throwback Thursday is a big hit for the social media generation, for it ties the participants together with one goal which is to reminisce significant past events on a single day. Likewise, the effect of throwback for people now is that they get more interested in digging up their memories and sharing it to other people, rather than simply remembering thoughts and leaving it to themselves.

           Memories are a big part of the building blocks that makes humans who they are—it gives them a sense of self, and a good knowledge on knowing what their lives are all about. Throwbacks are important, for they help people strengthen their hold for memories. They would look back on the events that would make them grow as better people, giving them wistful feelings, or leaving them lessons to grow into better people. The throwback is a special way of doing the latter, and it gives this era a significance in a way that it is one that gives importance to the past—which is how it is supposed to be.

   References

ecstancy, a. (2005, December 18). Throwback.  Retrieved from Urban Dictionary:  http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=throwback

Miller, G. (2010, May). How Our Brains Make Memories.  Retrieved from Smithsonian:  http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/how-our-brains-make-memories-14466850/?all&no-ist

Mohs, R. (n.d.). How Human Memory Works. Retrieved  from How Stuff Works Science: http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/inside-the-mind/human-brain/human-memory.htm

Moore, S. (2011, March 30). Throwback Thursdays 4-11.  Retrieved from Throwback Thursdays, Blogspot:  http://sacks10.blogspot.com/2011/03/throwback-thursdays-4-11.html

myreinder. (2012, January 26). Throwback Thursday.  Retrieved from Urban Dictionary:  http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Throwback+Thursday

Media Log Entry #3: Media and Self-perception

November 15, 2015

“She knew it was better to be in The Plastics, hating life than to not be in at all.Because being with The Plastics was like being famous. People looked at you all the time, and everybody just knew stuff about you.”

Cady Heron was a sixteen-year old homeschooled girl who lived mostly a rural, quiet life in Africa with her zoologist parents, but had to return to Evanston, Illinois due to the end of her parents’ 12-year research project. She attends high school for the first time and found it difficult to adjust to the new environment until she met Janis and Damian, who became her best friends and “guides” in North Shore High School. She was forewarned about the most exclusive and most popular clique in their school, The Plastics, who had with them Gretchen Wieners, Karen Smith, and their queen bee, Regina George. At lunch, Cady encounters The Plastics and was asked to have lunch with them everyday for the rest of the week, at which when Janis found out wanted to use this opportunity for them to sabotage Regina and her minions. Cady, although quite hesitant, agreed to infiltrate.

Early into the plan, Cady was introduced to a book called “The Burn Book” in which The Plastics write mean descriptions about the girls at their school, as well as rumors, secrets, and gossip. She was also invited to a Halloween party by Aaron Samuels who she apparently was developing a crush on, and was also Regina’s ex-boyfriend. She attends the party wearing a zombie-bride costume, not knowing that Girl World costumes were all about wearing less and looking extra good. Regina made a prior commitment to Cady that she was going to talk to Aaron about Cady to make her look good for him, and Cady saw from afar that she was doing exactly that. What she did not know, was that Regina was giving Aaron false and embarrassing gossip about Cady and then she saw the two kiss. Appalled and betrayed, Cady rushed to Janis and Damian, and demanded to take the revenge plan against Regina to the next level, targeting the following to go against her: Aaron Samuels, her Hot Body, and her Army of Skanks.

Cady finds out from a vulnerable Gretchen that Regina has been cheating on Aaron with another guy from the baseball team, so she tells Aaron about this, causing the couple’s break-up. Janis insisted on giving Regina “Kalteen Bars” which Cady’s mom used to give African children to gain weight, but they instead told Regina that it rapidly burns up the body’s carbs since Regina wanted to lose three pounds. After a few days of Cady backstabbing Regina to Gretchen and Karen, the two other plastics turn their back against her because they realized how true Cady’s allegations were about Regina being an extremely mean friend. With their plan successful, Cady unconciously turns into the new “queen bee”, with a whole new look, personality, and attitude that represents Regina, only meaner. She realizes this after organizing a party at her house to attract Aaron, when Janis and Damien showed up and reminded her how she ditched the art show they invited her to a few days ago, and instilling in her how she has become plastic, how she has become a mean girl, how she now thinks that the world revolves around her. Simultaneously, Regina finds out that Kalteen Bars were for gaining weight instead of losing, triggering her anger and putting herself in the Burn Book.

The next day, Regina surrenders the Burn Book to their school principal and claims to have found it in the girl’s bathroom. She also made copies of the book and spread it around school, causing a giant girl fight in the whole school. Principal Duvall pulled the fire alarm and commanded all the girls to the auditorium, where Ms. Norbury gave exercises for them to patch up and learn from the mistake. Unfortunately, during the open forum portion, Janis exposes all of their agenda to the whole school, including the Plastics, and caused Cady to have an even more ruined reputation to her friends and family. Regina rushed out of the school chased by an apologetic Cady, and was hit by a bus, fracturing her spine.

Cady, fed up with guilt, decided to suck out all the poison in her life and make up for all the wrong she has done within the year, including taking full blame for the Burn Book, and joining the Mathletes’ state championships competition. In the competition, one of her competitors was an unatractive girl named Caroline Krafft, who she judged from head to toe in her mind. However, she realized that judging her appearance would not make her any better that Caroline, and it would not make her win either. She then focused on what was important, which was the final question, which she got correct, giving the championship to their school.

At the Spring Fling, which was the same night as the competition, Cady was shocked to find out that she won Spring Fling Queen. When she got up the stage, she gave a speech explaining how it was so weird that people were crying and moping over the queen crown, which was just plastic. She broke the crown into pieces and distributed it to her fellow nominees and the audience, showing that everyone was much of a Spring Fling Queen as she is. After, she has reconciled with her parents, with Janis and Damien, and Aaron.

A few days have passed and the fates of everyone were seen, including Regina drawing her rage into sports, Karen doing the weather, Gretchen serving a new Queen Bee, and Cady with her normal self again. Cady expresses how Girl World was finally at peace, and did not leave any room for anyone to disturb it.

How the film presented teenage lingo attracts its target audience, teenagers, in a way that they are drawn to the film as they understand every word and move the characters make. The issues of the teenage society including insecurity and peer pressure were expressed thoroughly, giving the audience a chance to relate themselves to the film’s story or to the film’s characters.

The 2004 hit film Mean Girls is a direct-to-the-point guide to everyone about “Girl World”, which contains lots of excitement, fun, and perks, but mostly pain, pressure, and a lot of drama. Being a teenage girl is never easy, most especially with the people around you looking at you all the time and judging every move you make. It is never easy.

In today’s society, seeing oneself always comes with the opinions of other people, and the process of applying it to ourselves. This makes it so difficult for us to create a positive impression of ourselves because you can see how much wrong there is within you more than the right, and it makes you want to change who you are.

In the film, Cady responded to society’s call for her to fit in by changing her whole persona–physical, mental, emotional, all just to be acclaimed as a true Plastic. Of course, being the sheltered, introverted girl from Africa, she wanted to be accepted in the typical American high school culture, and she was given the chance to do just that by being with the popular clique. However, her change has gone to far because of how she was turning herself against her loved ones, as well as her heart and her soul. 

If we were to interview a thousand girls about how they perceive themselves, most likely they are going to say that they do not accept themselves and would want to change most of who they are: hair, eyes, nose, lips, chest, stomach, arms, legs, confidence, fame, fortune–everything. More over, they would probably say that this is because of external factors like the normalcy in this generation, media, or even their more attractive and successful friends. Mean Girls summarizes this idea, as it shows how much pressure there is to be accepted and to have self-actualization by being who society wants us to be; it shows that positive self-perception nowadays is rare.

Who you are is who you are–that is how we are supposed to function. But why is it that we always have to follow society’s norms in order to feel pretty or smart or at least, loved? Our lives were not programmed to be dictated by any other person but ourselves so the negative opinion of other people on the unchangeable aspects of yourself should not really matter. We have our own brains, we have our own hearts, we have our own souls, and these things are given to us to be able to decide on becoming who we are without the need of other people to tell us otherwise.

My love for the film is not just because of the plot, not just because of the presented characters, not just because of the legendary quotes, but mostly because of its relatability to how I feel, as a teenage girl.

Ever since I was a little girl, I was already thoughtful about who I wanted to be when I grow up. Exposing myself to a large amount of music, movies, and television, I knew exactly that I wanted to be like the close-to-perfect people they present. Growing up, that never changed, especially with seeing how my friends were acquiring a lot of those traits and I was not–I was eager to do so much to transform myself into someone beautiful to the eyes of others to be beautiful to my own eyes.

However, I realized that life is so much more than negative self-perception and moping about how I look to other people. I slowly grew up to think that what society thinks I am is never who I am, because who I am is who I know myself to be, who has a lot of positive things to bring to the table. Insecurities may still bite my brain once in a while, but I make sure to build myself back up, stronger from the thoughts that could have destroyed my self-perception. Because I may not be the skinny Victoria’s Secret Angel, I may not be the rich and famous Kardashian, and I may not be the one and only Regina George, but I am who I am and I am still beautiful, and I hope that more and more people would feel the same way.

Media Log #2: Religion

October 17, 2015

“Leave me to myself, lead me to myself”

Our lives were built for us. It was made for us to live it and to love it in the ways we please, because we are our own persona. However, we are told that a Higher Power exists, namely, a god, and this all-powerful and ever-living power, despite our freedom to do what we please, is the reason why we exist and is what we owe our life to. This is where it gets confusing–it is my life, but it is not mine at the same time?

The 2013 song “Everlasting Arms” performed by Vampire Weekend speaks figuratively about that confusion. The lead singer and composer, Ezra Koenig, uses this song to express his agonist views about doubting the higher power but believing in it/him/her at the same time. It does not seem like a religious song at first, but digging deeper into the song’s lyrics, the singer sounds like he is speaking to himself and the god to let go of him but save him–the dilemma an agonist experiences.

It is very relatable, that when you open up yourself to the world and see things that are proven to be true, you tend to overthink the existence of the supernatural or of those with “faith” as the only basis. I, even as a devoted Catholic, personally feel like I drown in a labyrinth every time I go over the abstract thought of creation and existence. I would deeply think about common questions like:

Did God create the world? If yes, who created Him?

Does heaven even exist or any other afterlife at all?

Is it not fair that a hell exists even with God saying that He loves us no matter what?

These questions mess me up a lot. They are unanswered, and most likely unanswerable unless God (or a god) personally comes down from “Heaven” and answer them for us.

It is also repeatedly stated that he was born to live a life without being dependent on a god because again, this is our life. It is sung that he is trying to believe that serving a master is not a part of one’s life, especially because of the fear of being rejected by that higher power and his “hand” condemning those who do wrong, even if it was unintentional. However, he still thinks that without the faith in a god, his life would be incomplete, since he has no source of motivation to pursue through with life. Without a god, life would just be full of fanciness of material things and a purpose of waiting to die--it is mostly meaningless. 

This song, I can relate to entirely. My relationship with God is stronger than people may think, because even though I may doubt many bible verses or priest homilies, I treat God as my friend, as my brother, as my father. He is still my source of strength and assurance that all is well and will be well. This is how the song speaks of the Higher Power as well, that even though there may be moments of disbelief, it/he/she is still what makes him whole--seen or unseen.  

A number of religious people would most likely give a negative reaction about this song’s message or how I perceive it, since as Christians/Catholics, we are taught that God must be the center of our universe no matter what facts we may face; we must let our faith take control of our beliefs and actions. I, on the other hand, believe in God, but have different beliefs on the world’s many functions because of my intellectual beliefs that contradict to my faith. Both are on a balanced scale, and I think that is okay, because I still believe in His the power of His love that is felt to be real.

Media Log Entry #1: Media and Love

October 3, 2015

Soulmate.

The idea of having one seems pretty questionable, is it not? How is it possible that a particular person living in this world in the exact time as I do is destined to be for me and I for he/her? Is it God? Is it the universe? Is it coincidence? How would we meet? Have we even met? Will he/she even stand me and vice versa? What? Where? When? How?

Why?

So many questions boggle my head when the thought even just crosses for a second. It’s so bizarre that I actually did not even want to believe it.

The Glenn Ficarra and John Requa film, “Crazy, Stupid, Love.” is not the typical happy-sad-happy story that most people appreciate these days. This is a quiet masterpiece that depicts how love really is–complicated, sophiscticated, and extremely unexpected in more ways than one.

The film focuses on the people in the life of Cal Weaver, a man who used to have a perfect life until his wife, Emily Weaver, confesses that she cheated on him with a workmate, David Lindhagen.

Jacob Palmer is a young, attractive, and successful man who also is a self-proclaimed womanizer. He tried to pick up a girl named Hannah one night at a bar with his charisma and charm, but was stunned because he was rejected. Cal loudly spills his emotions at the same bar in different but multiple nights, causing Jacob to help him recover by teaching him how to “bring back his manhood”, also known as womanizing. With Jacob’s help, he learns how to lure women into sleeeping with him, including Kate Tafferty. On another note, Hannah, who recently passed the bar exams, was excited to hear an announcement from her boyfriend, Richard, which she was expecting to be a proposal. However, she was unexpectedly only offered a job at Richard’s law firm and was truly disappointed. She then rushes to the bar, spots Jacob, kisses him passionately, and offered herself to come home with him. They do, but instead of sleeping with one other, they talk about the personal lives and establish a deep connection, resulting in a relationship.

Cal’s son, Robbie Weaver, is in love with Jessica Riley, his sister, Molly, and his’ long-term babysitter, and creates big love gestures to prove it to her and to make her feel the same way. Jessica rejects him multiple times and finally tells him that she is in love with another person who is older. During Robbie’s parent-teacher conference, Cal and Emily had to attend together, and after admitting that they miss each other, Cal finds out that Robbie’s English teacher is Kate. He tries to lie his way out of the situation, but Kate still makes Emily find out. Emily is left in disgust when she found out about Cal’s misadventures, including the number of women he has slept with after their separation. Emily then continues to actively date David, but remained unhappy because her love for Cal still remained, and Cal as well. Cal then asks the help of his children to rekindle their love agian by planning a surprise for Emily at their home. During Cal’s speech for Emily, Hannah shows up with her boyfriend, Jacob, who was shocked when he found out that Hannah was Cal’s first daughter who he had with Emily when they were 17. More issues arise when Bernie, Jessica’s father, finds out about printed naked photos that Jessica was to send to Cal. He rushes to the Weaver’s residence and causes chaos through a fist fight which started with Cal and Jacob. Unexpectedly, David shows up and the four men continue to fight. After the police showed up for complaints on public disturbance, more relationships are ruined within the family: Cal with Jacob and Hannah, Cal with Emily, Cal with Robbie, Robbie with Jessica, and Jessica with Cal.

The graduation ceremony of Robbie arrived and his salutatory speech started with gunshots at love and how it “sucks”. Cal interrupted and finished his speech for him, saying that his “real” son believed in love and soulmates because he taught him to never give up on your soulmates, referring to Emily. After the ceremony, Cal finally gave his blessing to Jacob to date Hannah, who he admittedly loves. Jessica left Robbie a set of photos that would “get him through high school”, and seals a goodbye with a kiss on the cheek. Finally, Cal and Emily talk about how much dispute they’ve been through in the past year and talk subtly about how they still love each other.

The film, with such a beautiful storyline, is full of punchlines and twists that would leave you not wanting to peel your eyes off of the screen. That big giant plot twist about how everyone was related to one another, I literally screamed. I cry every time I watch it, I laugh every time I watch it, it was fresh and it was exciting.

This film does not define love with a kiss, with a hug, with flowers, with dates, with sex. It defines love in the simplest way it can: through soulmates.

Love most of the time is inevitable, you cannot really choose who you love. When there is that particular person, who despite his or her flaws and differences you would still approach and return to every time, that’s probably love. When there is that particular person who you cannot stop thinking about for most of your time in every day, that’s probably love. When there is that particular person who has revealed to you all the darkness inside of him or her but you would still risk your entire being for, that’s proabably love. But why is everything a probability?

Robbie Weaver believes in the existence of soulmates. He thinks Jessica’s his soulmate, he thinks his dad and his mom are soulmates, and he believes that you do not give up on your soulmate.

That’s love.

The strong belief on the existence of a strong connection with a person that will never break, and applying that strong belief to other people, that is what love is supposed to be. It is not just hearts and flowers, candies and chocolates, songs and films, it is that wonderful feeling of being drawn to a person and never seeing yourself without him or her.

However, I, as I have mentioned, was not a big fan on the whole “soulmate” thing. It just seemed so intense for existence.

Crazy, Stupid, Love. made me realize that there is nothing to doubt. He/she is there, probably waiting for me as I am waiting for him/her. There is even a good chance that I already know this person, but I don’t know yet that we are going to establish a beautiful, unbreakable connection.

Other people might think I’m crazy for believing the latter, for seeking the great happy ending that I would eventually have. This movie sends its message in its simplest yet most complicated form–you can see it, you can even feel it, and it would affect you in however way it would. Others might see a bunch of stupid people fighting for something even more stupid than themselves and would just want all of them to leave each other already, while others might be like me–a now believer in the existence of one’s soulmate.

Love is not as simple as blinking but is not as difficult as travelling close to the sun either, but because of it’s inevitability, people should learn to understand it blindly and with commitment. No matter the wrong things that happen in love, it conquers all–and that’s just the way it works. This film gives people that learning, that love is something that people have to understand because of how it sparks so much beauty as time passes despite all the rough patches; it gives people hope about love. Love grows complicated over time and it seriously messes with our heads, but we just have to know that love is a self-working phenomenon that always leads us to where we are destined and that is always something beautiful. It may be crazy and stupid, but yes, it is love.