Blog 10

As the Thanksgiving holiday is fast approaching, I need to take some time out and reflect on what all I should be thankful for.  This last year has been hard for me as it has a lot of other folks but it’s also taught me some valuable lessons that I will never forget for as long as I live.

 

Things I’m thankful for:

1. My Health-  this is one thing that is near and dear to my heart.  My mother suffers from Multiple Schlerosis and serves as a constant reminder to never take my health for granted.
2. My family-  I have found that no one has your back except for you, and if you’re lucky your family.  My family is an amazing family and there’s nothing better than seeing my family rally around eachother.
3. My freedom-  Americans are spoiled and a lot of us don’t realize that Americans haven’t always had the freedom that we love to exercise.  I’m trying to make the most of my freedom as a female.  I’m getting a further education, wearing the clothes I want, and taking a stand on issues that are important to me.
4. My pets-  I have a few horses and a dog that I love to spend time with.  Being able to ride my horse around the countryside with my dog in tow, is one of my greatest joys.  It gives me a sense of freedom and carelessness that is hard to find anywhere else.
5. My friends- I’ve had the same friends since high school and we are still a close group.  As everyone comes home from all corners of the country, my anticipation rises.  Good friends are hard to find and when you find one you need to hang on to them as hard as you can.
6. Having a full stomach at night-  I don’t ever recall going to bed hungry and when I see children with bloated stomachs because of starvation it makes me want to cry.  I have never wanted for anything and am so grateful for the life I was given.
7. Clothes on my back- During the years leading up to the recession I would buy clothes in wild abandon and not give it a second thought.  If I wanted something I would just go and buy it.  Now that things have changed I realize how materialistic I have been.  I now know that it was ridiculous to do that and that I was filling a void.  Today as I stand, I know that if everything was taken away from me, I would do my best with what I had and not complain.
8. A job- having a job at the moment that pays my bill is a wonderful blessing.  While I’m a criminal justice major and would love to have a job along those lines, I took a job as a healthcare provider.  This job came at a time when I was in need, kind of like an answered prayer.
9. My God/salvation- being able to praise the type of God that I choose to worship is a great blessing.  Many people in other countries do not have this freedom and face persecution or have to worship in secret.  In the United States we can believe whatever we want and I find great beauty in that.
10. My home- I have a wonderful home to return to each time I leave.  Our farm house is filled with love and I know that I’m always welcome to my nice warm big bed.
11. The way I was raised- I didn’t have the toughest child hood but it wasn’t the easiest either.  I wouldn’t change anything for the world because each part has created who I have become.

I could go on and on with the many things that I am thankful for but I do believe I’ll call it a night.

Good night and God Bless

Blog 9 – Climbing the Ladder

This week’s chapter really got me thinking about myself. Originally I thought that I wanted to go into nursing. Good money, rewarding job, and job availability were the main reasons why I wanted to go down this career path. Before I started college I got a job at a nursing home. It didn’t take me long to figure out that working with women was a whole different ball game than what I was used to. Don’t get me wrong, there were some good things but I just couldn’t role with it. I loved the patients more than anything but the constant cattiness, gossip, and talking smack took their toll. I had worked in different retail positions previously but my main experience was on the farm. I’m not one for juicy gossip, back stabbing, or talking smack and it didn’t take me long to chose another career that would more easily compliment who I am as a person. Criminal Justice here I come. This seemed to fit my more independent and adventurous side, plus I had always had a fascination with law and how it worked. The criminal justice field is dominated by men…no big problem because I’ve worked with men my whole life and they’re not a bad specimen to look at or get along with. To describe me as a person I would say I’m loyal, honest, competitive, aggressive, team player, and a good timer. These are all things that would classify me as a masculine personality. After reading a couple of the articles it makes me wonder if I will end up like Nevins for example. Will I start out going down my criminal justice path and think everything is honky dory while I’m gradually changing into what my male counterparts think I should be? Mm scary thought. I don’t see myself as doing anything in order to get to the top because my ultimate goal is not necessarily to be the alpha dog. This makes me wonder-Do those women lack morals or lose them somewhere along the way? I’ve seen when people are consumed by a goal or dream what can happen to them and think that these women fall into this category. One thing that I will have to do in order to keep my person intact is to constantly evaluate where I am in my life. It is so important to step back all the time and ask the questions- Where am I headed. Is that a good direction? And if it’s not a good direction- Which way do I want to be headed? Keeping focused is so important for me. I’ve come to realize that the minute I lose focus, it becomes a slippery slope. If I do make to the top of my chain, I want to be looked at with admiration not because of where I am but how I got there instead. I don’t want to have to think back over my career and have to think about how many men I slept with, the people I ruined, and the distress I caused on my way to the top. Wishful thinking? I hope not. When I get home from my future job, whatever it may be, I want to feel good in my skin. No, I’m not going to be a pushover but I am merely going to have a heart. As corny as it may sound I am going to try to keep on applying that wonderful golden rule- Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Yeah I may get ran over at times and want to kill ‘em, but I’m going to kill ‘em with love instead.

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Halloween happens to be this weekend and this class happend to inspire the costume that i chose.  The idea of being a “flapper” appealed to me for this years get up.  These women were among the trail blazers of the past.  The most memorable change that they help bring about was the change of dress.  The length of the dress went up to just below the knee.  In comparison to my halloween costume-my costume isn’t accurate, it’s above the knee.  Underthings that women wore during these times also changed.  The flappers bound their breasts so that they were flat as a board.  The hair was cropped into a fashionable bob cut.  Make up was applied and the infamous cigarette holder was used.  Staying out all night and dancing to jazz was common.  Just because these women did these things did not make them “loose” women.  That is another common misconception when the truth is that many were not sexually active.  Hollywood movies have strayed a bit from what the actual flapper was like and this has helped to misguide the actual legacy of the flapper.

An instrumental designer that promoted the flapper style was Coco Chanel.  Her designs set the trend for the flapper and made other designs seem old fashioned.  She not only designed clothes for the flapper but she also lived a lifestyle that could be put into the flapper category.  She designed practical clothes for the modern woman of the time.  The flappers embraced the change and jumpstarted a fashion revelotion that has continued to evolve.  These women we should forever be thankful for.

Blog 4 – Campaign for Real Beauty

Dove has a new ad campaign that they call the Campaign for Real Beauty.  In their ads they have women who could be described as normal looking women like me or any other woman in the world who does not look like a super model.  Some are short, tall, freckled, big, or small.  One ad even has a quirky song that is quite catching.  the thing that i love most about what dove is doing, is that they are empowering women.  I myself do not have any children, just a three year old niece, and the thought of her growing up with dove helping show her what real beauty is gets me excited.  When i was growing up i did not have this.  Every woman on tv looked like a greek goddess.  having these images constatantly on tv did play a part in the lack of self confidence in my body.  As i got older i became comfortable with the body god gave me and am not embarrassed of it.  i live a healthy lifestyle and am at a healthy target weight.  so what if i’m not a size 0?  I’ve got my health and a piece of mind and that’s all i need.  if i can be a positive role model for my niece, then that would be awesome.  Hopefully other companies will jump on the “real” beauty bandwagon.  I can only hope that the next generation of little girls will be more comfortable in their own skin because of the work of Dove.

Blog 6, Loretta Lynn-one of my favorites

Loretta Lynn happens to be one of my favorite singers.  She was born into a family that had many children.  They were “dirt floor” poor, but always seemed to manage.   Part of her career took place during the women’s rights movement and much of her music reflects this.  One particular song that was banned from many radio stations was “The Pill”.  Loretta, like many women of that time, had quite a few kids and wanted a way to prevent future pregnancies.  When contraception was developed in the form of a pill, Lynn put pen to paper and as a result the controversial tune “The Pill” was wrote.  One of my favorite lines from this song is “I’m tearin’ down your brooder house
‘Cause now I’ve got the pill.”  This wasn’t the only controversial topic that Loretta took on.  She also sang a song about a man that goes out drinking and comes home with loving on his mind, aptly titled “Don’t come home a drinkin with lovin on your mind”.  “Hey Loretta” is the song that remains my absolute favorite.  Loretta sings about a woman who is tired of the house work, watching kids, and all the mundane tasks that a woman undertakes that a man doesn’t appreciate.  She has a way a great way of adding humor to her songs, but at the same time each woman can totaly relate with her.  She blazed a path when other performers were content walking the line.  Loretta is an inspiration to me and sometimes when i listen to current music, i long for someone to come along that has half as much candor, passion, and talent.  She has a great ability to relate with women and their experiences in everyday life.

Palin or Clinton

I try not to pay too much attention to the world of politics.  Yes, i try to stay updated on issues but do I have to check on the latest issue every day? no.  One thing that i have noticed lately is how president Obama has been losing popularity over the last few months.  Granted, this guy was catapalted into a hot bed of national issues so is it no wonder that he is not popular?  Americans in general do not like change and so when a president comes a long and proposes all of these drastic changes, this was bound to happen.

This brings me to my next question.  If Palin or Clinton had wound up in office as Vice President and or President, how would the public be treating them.  I have a slight suspcion that they would be massacred in the media, no doubt because they are women.  Yep, there is that double standard thing again.  The times that we are in are not ordinary times and i think that no matter who the leader is, they would have become unpopular unless they were able to perform a miracle.  Even during prosperous times it is hard to say whether Clinton or Palin would have remained popular throughout the term but who knows?  One issue that i did find humorous was how the issue of how much Palin spent on her wardrobe.  Yes she was well dressed but if she had dressed way down, then that would have been commented on too.  These two women would have been “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” if they had made it to the white house.

Women in WWII

Last semester I took Hist106 with Benton Gates and learned quite a bit about women in WWII.  The things I learned in this class i will remember for a long time and am quite proud of.  It seems that during WWII women were the absolute back bone of the country.  As men shipped off to Europe and Asia, women took over and kept the wheels turning.  Women did everything that men did before, from heavy labor to the more techinically skilled jobs.  They even made up a baseball league.  A league of their own happens to be a favorite movie of mine and recommend it to anyone.  Women during this time kept a house, raised children, and worked in factories while their husbands were away.  In TX men that ran factories were interviewed on what it was like to work with all women instead of men.  Their general consensus was that women did a more detailed, thoughtful, thorough, job than men.  They were easier to teach and retained what they learned.  They weren’t as argumentative and had a generally good spirit.  Once WWII was over women and men went back to their “normal” pace of life things resumed as they were before.  The gains that women had made during the war were not favorable once the men came home so things went back to how they were before.  This is justo one of many setbacks that women have had to overcome.  I can’t think of a better example of how women have proved themselves any better than that and when it all came down to it, it didn’t mean crap.  Yes, we have come farther since then but not nearly as far as we should be.

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As Courtney Cox’s new show “Cougar Town” is premiering this fall, a new debate has risen among Hollywood’s female actor population.  To be or not to be….a cougar that is.  Some women think that being called a cougar is demeaning and do not understand why they suddenly gained a label for something that men have been doing for perhaps thousands of years.  On the flip side of the coin, many women do not mind at all.  To be a cougar seems to be an “in” thing at the moment among Hollywood women.  Is this just a phase, or is it something that women have been doing for years and the tabloids have just given it a flashy name?

I think that the current publicity that these women are getting is because of older generations.  Let’s face it, a lot has changed in twenty years and women are now dating younger men.  I called some of my friends to ask them if older women dating younger men would evoke any eye brow raising from them.  All of their responses were-no-.  When I asked my mother a different answer was given.  She also believes a lot has changed in twenty years and that it has become more main stream, but she also said that it still seemed a little off to her.

Should the word cougar be taken with offense?  I believe for me to fully answer this question I would have to experience it.  I can say that while I am a mere 21 years old and still naive in many ways, I think that I would particularly enjoy being called a cougar at 45.   Only time will tell…..

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So I guess that this is my new blog site.  Never would have thought in a million years that I would have one, but nevertheless here I am.  Well here goes the begining of my new blogging adventure for the semester …..

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