Litter in New Trier

One of the things that always bothers me while walking around the school is the amount of trash I see lying around. While in general, generation by generation the amount of littering has gone down, I still do see lots of litter lying around the school. When finding garbage to take pictures of, it took me barely any time to come across it.

Milk carton left  on a vent

Seen on the second floor rotunda

Seeing all this garbage lying around the school makes me think of this line in the Great Gatsby:

"They were careless people, Tom and Daisy--they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made..." (179).

Although I don't want it to, I think this quote pertains to us, the student body of New Trier High School.
The carelessness and laziness of not throwing trash away just leads to other people having to clean up after us--Almost always the custodial staff. I think that some students don't realize that these simple, mindless actions of not cleaning up cause a lot of unnecessary hassle for the custodians, not to mention it is disrespectful.

(Not-So) Breaking News: Crime in Chicago

This year it seems like there has been one violent event after another, with the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School and the Boston marathon bombing. As horrible and sad as these events are, I would like to draw some attention to events that have happened this year very close to where I live. I took these photos in the second floor rotunda at my school, where there is a tribute to the teenagers who have been murdered in Chicago this year.

How can it be that such an alarming number of people have been murdered right here in Chicago, and yet until this tribute at school, I have almost never heard anyone talk about it? While doing some research for this post, I came across this blog; http://crimeinchicago.blogspot.com/ , which records every shooting that has happened in Chicago this year. On the sidebar, you can see how many crimes each neighborhood has. The neighborhood with the most crimes this year is Englewood, with 277 crimes from January to May. Englewood happens to be one of the most impoverished neighborhoods in Chicago, with a poverty rate of 44%, and 97% of the population is African-American. On the other hand, the town Newton, Connecticut, where the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was, is an upper-middle class neighborhood where 95% of the population is white. I honestly find the difference in the amount of media coverage between the two situations disturbing. I also think that this contrast in news regarding the events stems from this notion that we have talked about in class, the idea that some lives mean more than others. After having seen the sheer number of teens that have been murdered this year, Ifind it very eye opening--due to what the media chose what and what not to cover, I was oblivious to the violence occuring so close to my own home.

The Exclusivity of Gated Communities

from www.tamparealestatelink.com

While researching the Westmoreland Country Club for my final exam essay, I read on the Wikipedia page on country clubs that they began in the 1800s and played a huge role in suburbanization and the development of gated communities. This led me to read more on gated communities. Like country clubs, gated communities are extremely expensive to live in and are very exclusive as to who can live in them. They also are exclusive to any strangers who are simply passing through. Some communities even have identification cards that show if someone is a resident or not.    As I mentioned in my essay, people that are more affluent have the tendency to be more closed off and isolated than less affluent people. This seems obvious for a gated community, since the residents literally have a physical barrier separating them from the "outside world", or people of different classes. What I found to be less obvious while reading about these communities, was that cul-de-sacs are, to a lesser degree, gated communities.

photo from http://www.houstontomorrow.org/livability/story/the-cul-de-sac/

Because of the way they are set up with only one way in or out, a person entering a cul-de-sac probably has a set purpose for being there. This set up makes the homes in the cul-de-sac more of a small community, and makes it obvious when someone is there who is not a resident. According to Wikipedia's section on criticism of gated communities, residents of cul-de-sacs believe the exclusion of people passing through reduces the danger of crime. While it is safer for kids to play outside in a cul-de-sac (because less cars come through) I disagree with the above statement. I think to stop non-residents from simply walking through an area to "reduce crime danger" just suggests that if someone cannot afford to live in one of these gated communities, then they are viewed as criminals.

The War of Eden's Plaza

In Wilmette, Illinois, the Eden's Plaza Shopping Center has been around since the 1950's. However, it was much smaller than it is today up until the late 80's. My mom mentioned to me that there was some tension at this time with regards to the stripmall expanding. She told me that my grandparents were very against the expansion because they were afraid certain establishments (for example, fast food restaurants) would be put in place there. They feared this might somehow lower the value of the neighborhood.

In American Studies class we discussed how few fast food restaurants and large chain companies (like Target and Wallmart) exist in the North Shore. As convenient as these stores are, people don't want them ruining the village "look" of the area, or drawing in the "wrong" crowd of people who do not "belong" in the North Shore.  I think that by labeling certain people of lower incomes as the ones who do not belong in the neighborhood just makes the North Shore more isolated from reality, since there is generally very little diversity in terms of social classes.

Just last year, a Wallgreens was opened in Eden's Plaza where a Borders book store used to be. I couldn't find any information on whether this was controversial or not, but I personally find it to be very convenient since it is so close to my house, and there are not many drugstores like Wallgreens in Wilmette.

Edens Plaza before Walgreens was put in place

For more info: 

http://wilmette.suntimes.com/11803800-417/walgreens-coming-to-edens-plaza.html

Youth Movement Against Body Hate?

I think that for the 3rd and 4th quarters, body image has been a topic I have been thinking a lot about. Here are the two blogs I wrote about body image:
http://americanstudieswithbecky.blogspot.com/2013/05/abercrombie-and-fitch-body.html
http://americanstudieswithbecky.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-impact-of-moms-on-body-image.html

As I have mentioned before, the media plays a huge role in shaping people's views on how they should look. Because the media pretty much only shows airbrushed pictures of tall, thin, fit people, many teenagers have suffered from eating disorders and low self esteem.
However, I noticed that whenever I go on tumblr.com, I almost always see at least one post about self confidence and body-love. Here is what I find to be the most common example:

www.tumblr.com/

While almost every girl I know has some sort of dislike towards her body, I do think that recently there has been a lot of criticism of the media from adolescents. I am very interested to see where this will be headed, and I hope that eventually there will be a larger-scale movement to try and end body hate and the unrealistic portrayal of women in the media.

Attitudes Towards Different Languages

Recently in my Spanish class, we watched a short film called "El Rincon de Venezuela," which means "the Venezuelan Corner." It was about a family from Venezuela owning a restaurant in New York City, and their struggles facing classism and financial issues. At one point, the mother is trying to advertise by handing out flyers. As she yelled out the name of the restaurant, "El Rincon de Venezuela," a man walked by and said "English, English, I don't know.." This part can be seen at 7:45 in the video below.




This short clip made me think about how immigrants are treated in America, especially those who do not speak English. As we discussed in American Studies, people tend to have expectations that all people who live in this country must always speak English. I think this shows that many Americans are closed minded when it comes to different cultures. As you can see in the clip, no one stopped to talk to Rosario and her mom when they handed out flyers. Although this is a work of fiction, I wonder if their restaurant would get more business if it was owned by a white American family. I also wonder, if America is often referred to as the "melting pot" of all different cultures, why are people so closed off towards the different languages of immigrants?

Abercrombie and Fitch's "Ideal Body"

In every stereotypical school, there are the supposed "cool" kids and the supposed "uncool" kids. As silly as it seems, one thing I remember from my time in middle school and junior high was that the "cooler" kids stereotypically wore clothes from the store Abercrombie and Fitch. In fact, this is exactly the vision Mike Jeffries, the CEO of Abercrombie and Fitch, hoped for. In a recent interview with salon.com (linked HERE), Jeffries exclaimed:

We go after the attractive all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends. A lot of people don’t belong [in our clothes], and they can’t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely.

What's more, Jeffries has actually gone so far as to define what he considers to be uncool, pegging anybody who is overweight by today's standards as the ones who "don't belong." What the company does is make their clothing run so small that even the largest sizes will not fit some people. I personally don't own any clothes from this store, but I have definitely heard other girls say how they're clothes from A&F were about two sizes bigger than what they normally wear.

Sadly, this is just one example of how the media plays a huge role in shaping the way we think. By being completely discriminatory against people who aren't thin, this company is in a way trying to teach people that the only way to move up the social ladder of youth is to be skinny. Abercrombie is showing that there is a set mold for being "cool", and things that make people different like different body types makes them uncool, instead of a unique individual.

Mike Jeffries, CEO of Abercrombie and Fitch (Ironically sporting A&F clothing even though he is not  a "..kid with a great attitude.."

The "New" American Dream

While researching for my junior theme, I was looking for contact information from experts on environmental science (my junior theme question is: "Why is only 5% of land under protection by the government?") I came across a professor from the University of Vermont who teaches an elective called "Unlearning Consumerism." I thought this sounded very appropriate for my essay because one aspect I had been researching involves American values--what we value over nature. When I looked at the class syllabus posted online, there was a link to a website called "newdream.org". Here is their mission statement (as read from the "about us" page)

"The Center for a New American Dream helps Americans to reduce and shift their consumption to improve quality of life, protect the environment, and promote social justice.
We want to cultivate a new American dream—one that emphasizes community, ecological sustainability, and a celebration of non-material values, while upholding the spirit of the traditional American dream of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

Earlier in the year, I had a blog post titled, "The Meaning of Success." I stated that the typical American dream, or success, is mainly based on income and how much money a person makes. I find it interesting that there is a connection between the typical "American Dream" and environmental issues. The fact that a successful life involves a very materialistic, consumer lifestyle (which takes its toll on the environment with pollution and the over-use of natural resources) shows that the typical American values these possessions over the preservation of the land.

I am curious to see if the New Dream organization will gain a lot of followers and will be successful. I wonder if the general population of the US would be willing to change traditional viewpoints in order to cut down on damage to the environment and a generally wasteful lifestyle. If so, what would the US government would do about it? Would it agree to change its values to better a less materialistic lifestyle, or (more likely) would it try to promote consumerism in order to raise the economy?

The impact of moms on body image

While we were still reading The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, there was this one quote that stuck out to me. Lola, the sister of the main character, had been staying at her grandmother's house in the Dominican Republic for over a year, and she talks about her experience being constantly criticized by her mother.

"And then the big moment, the one every daughter dreads. My mother looking me over. I'd never felt more beautiful and desirable in my life, and what does the bitch say? 

Coño, pero tú si eres fea.

Those fourteen months--gone. Like they'd never happened." 

At this point in the novel, Lola had been making improvements to her life--she joined her school's track team, met her boyfriend Max, and had a good relationship with her grandma. However, when she was reunited with her mom, it only took one sentence (her mom calling her ugly) for all of Lola's progress to disappear and her confidence to spiral down again.

Interestingly enough, around the time we were reading this novel was when we had "etc day" at New Trier. Etc day was when students could teach their own classes about anything that interests them. One of the classes I took was called "Social Media and Body Image." Even though the focus of the class was about social media (as the name implies), the teacher brought up the fact that statistically (after having conducted interviews with students) teenage girls tend to get more depressed or lose self confidence after hearing appearance-related comments from their mothers, whether they be positive or negative.

Although I would assume most moms in the New Trier district wouldn't blatantly call their daughters ugly like Lola's mom did, their words still do have an impact on the confidence of their daughters. This makes sense because I think many girls see their mom as a role model and seek approval. What I find interesting is that just one comment can instantly lower confidence, a parallel to how Lola's mom's comment completely deleted her 14 months of progress. Why are girls' self confidence so fragile? I think much of this issue has to do not only with the images set out by the media, but also just the ideals of American society. In our society, physical appearance is considered very important. In fact, it is so important that people become consumed in the idea that there is an ideal body image (one that is basically unattainable) and just assume they will never be able to match up. That's a big confidence breaker.

"Humans of New York" Photographer Travels to Iran

Recently I have been following a photographer who keeps a blog/organization called "Humans of New York." Brandon, the photographer, walks the streets of the city, taking portraits of people he finds interesting. Recently, Brandon visited Iran for the first time. Following his work on Facebook, I saw that after returning to the US, he made a post starting "ON TRAVEL TO IRAN:"
This post mentioned that "The US government advises against all travel to Iran." I found this interestimg because in America, there tends to be a negative connotation with Middle Eastern countries because of the War on Terror. Many people are probably afraid to travel to Iran and the government just reinforces this fear with the travel warnings.

On the other hand, Brandon from Humans of New York tells his audience to take the government's advice with a grain of salt. He said, "You can greatly enjoy a country, while at the same time disagreeing with it’s government." Brandon's work reflects his ideas. All of the pictures on his blog are of people in Iran. Based on his posts, he learned a lot about Iranian culture while experiencing it firsthand on his trip. I like that he is encouraging Americans to keep an open mind.  If some Americans faced fears and traveled to countries they are more hesitant about,  they too would experience more culture and traditions of people all over the globe. Knowledge is the first step to understanding. This leads to respecting different cultures, and would elminate much of  the animosity towards them.

Here are the links to the Humans of New York website and Facebook Page.
http://www.humansofnewyork.com/tagged/iran
http://www.facebook.com/humansofnewyork?fref=ts

Here are some of Brandon's photos from his trip:

Marginilization at Oberlin College

Last week, my sister, Rachel, told me that classes at her school, Oberlin College in Ohio were cancelled due to the fact that someone was standing outside the African American Heritage building wearing a Ku Klux Klan uniform. Besides that being the most severe event, other racist acts on campus had been reported. This blog is a Tumblr titled "Oberlin Microagressions" and its purpose is to record anything racist, anti-semitic, homophobic, sexist (etc) that has been said or written around the school. Here are some examples from the blog:

A note left at the Multiracial Resource Center

"No Niggers"  "Whites Only" 

When Rachel told me that this was happening at Oberlin, I could barely believe it. One of the things Oberlin is known for (and that Rachel takes pride in) is its acceptance and open-ness to all different types of people and walks of life. I was surprised that such blatantly racist, homophobic and anti-Semitic things were being done at a place like Oberlin.

I think these incidents are just more examples of how racism still exists today even though the Civil Rights Movement is "over" (I actually blogged about this topic a few weeks ago). Even in accepting places like Oberlin, where you would least expect it, people are still writing things like "whites only" above bathrooms.

I recommend that you take a look at the Oberlin Microagressions blog for more information and examples of marginalization at the college: http://obiemicroagressions.tumblr.com

The Oscars and Body Image

While I was watching the Oscars on Sunday night with my family and family friends, there was one specific thing that stuck out to me. Many times, when a celebrity walked up to the stage, someone in the room would comment about the way they look (almost always their weight). For example, when Catherine Zeta Jones was performing a song from the musical "Chicago”, someone commented, "she's put on some weight." I have never really been interested in celebrities' lives, so I was surprised at how one could keep track of the slight changes in the actresses' weights. Besides, even people are really into celebrities, what is it they are paying attention to? It made me wonder what really makes people love the celebrities they do. Many of my friends have said that they like certain actors or actresses because they are pretty or cute. I think this intense focus on appearances of famous people influences the way we believe people "should" look. When all the attention is put on how much people weigh or how young they look (among other things), it takes away from the original point of the Oscars, which is to award actors and actresses for their great performances. This is not to say that celebrities should not want to look nice for the event, but I think the viewers need to remember that actors and actresses are human --they gain weight and get wrinkles too.

Catherine Zeta Jones performing "All That Jazz" from Chicago

Anne Hathaway

Is the civil rights movement still happening today?

Yesterday I was flipping through TV channels and I saw that the History Channel was playing a program called "Stories From the Road to Freedom" which was a documentary about the civil rights movement. Although I only watched about ten minutes, I found it interesting because it related directly to what we have been learning about in class. The program reiterated what we have been discussing-- that 80% of southern African Americans migrated to the North, many to escape the violence caused by racism in the Deep South. The narrator mentioned that people who migrated out of the south did not really have a choice of where they moved to. Most people just got on a train, and if that train was headed to Chicago or Detroit, then Chicago or Detroit it was.
Additionally, all was not well just because people moved up north. African Americans unfortunately still faced racism even out of the south. One man quoted, "a black man is a black man no matter where he is." I think that there tends to be stereotypes that we grow accustomed to, like learning that the south is the racist part of the country and the north is not. While most of the violent acts against African Americans occurred in the south, the north was not completely innocent (even today). For example, Chicago is still one of the most segregated city in the country. I have more facts about Chicago's diversity in an older blog post (linked here). I am bringing up these contemporary facts because when we learn about the Civil rights movement in school, it seems like the story ends when the unit does. Many people believe that even though the C60s are over, our country is no longer segregated.

Literacy tests and Standardized tests

For a project for American studies on the Reconstruction period, my group learned that African Americans were forced to take literacy tests to be eligible for voting. African Americans were given the right to vote with the fifteenth amendment. However many people still couldn't vote, even with this new right. The literacy tests were extremely difficult, and were actually used as a mechanism to stop black people from voting. In class we were given a literacy test from the 1960s, and only one student out of 50 was able to pass. I found this interesting because it was advertised as a literacy test, and I would say everyone at Nw Trier is literate, but we could not answer these questions.

These literacy tests reminded me of the standardized tests that students take to get into college, like the ACT and SAT. Some people are not as good of test takers so they get lower scores, but that does not make them unintelligent. I took a prep class to practice for the ACT, and I was able to get a score that I wanted. However, many people do not have the means to take these classes or the general education that would prepare them for these tests. As a result, they may not be able to go to schools that are higher ranking. I do not think this is fair because a standardized test does not tell anything about the type of learner someone is or whether they would be successful at a certain school. On the other hand, someone who gets a very high score might not have the highest IQ. What do you think should be done about standardized tests? Should they be removed or should there be some type of replacement?

Differing Interpretations--Final Exam

My Artifact:

“Aibileen,” Hilly continued, “how do you like your new bathroom out there? It’s nice to have a place of your own, isn’t it?”

Aibileen stared at the crack in the dining table. “Yes ma’am.”
“You know, Mister Holbrook arranged for that bathroom, Aibileen. Sent the boys over and the equipment, too.”
“Yes ma’am.” Aibileen opened a drawer and reached inside, but Hilly kept looking at her. It was so obvious what she wanted.
Another second passed with no one moving. Hilly cleared her throat and finally Aibileen lowered her head. “Thank you, ma’am,” she whispered. She walked back into the kitchen.

--The Help by Kathryn Stockett, page 129


This is a passage from Kathryn Stockett’s novel The Help. The employers of Aibileen, a black maid, had a separate bathroom built outside the house for her, because it was considered “unsanitary” to share a bathroom with a colored maid. In the passage, Hilly, another white woman, is trying to get Aibileen to thank her for convincing her employers to build the bathroom. The situation is humiliating for Aibileen, who seems to be avoiding saying “thank you ma’am” and instead keeping responding with “yes ma’am.” Hilly eventually forces Aibileen to surrender her pride, as seen when she lowers her head and whispers “thank you ma’am.” Although Hilly saw this conversation as a way to show her control over Aibileen and the other maids, Aibileen saw it as utterly humiliating. This passage is an important contemporary artifact because it illustrates how events surrounding African American civil rights have been interpreted differently by various people.

During the era of American slavery, the character Sambo, or “Sammy Boy” was created to convince the public that slavery was not so bad. Sambo was the happy, ignorant slave who was grateful to have his master. In reality, this was just a way to defend the institution of slavery. Real slaves’ attitudes were nothing like Sambo’s. Just like slave owners wanted to believe their slaves were happily obedient to them, Hilly wanted the satisfaction of Aibileen thanking her. That way, she could justify her treatment to her maids by saying how grateful they were. On the other hand, Aibileen’s hesitation to thank Hilly showed that she was not truly grateful for the colored bathroom.



We talked in class about who was responsible for the emancipation of the slaves. Looking at the picture from Mr. O’Connor’s blog post (shown below), the monument depicts Lincoln showing the slave the way to freedom. I think that the maker of this monument interprets the Emancipation Proclamation as Lincoln bestowing freedom on the slaves, as shown by how he seems to be pointing to the “freedom” in the distance. Similarly, in this passage from The Help¸ it is prevalent that Hilly thinks she is bestowing Aibileen with the seemingly great bathroom. However, it is obvious that Aibileen wants nothing to do with this situation.


Another important detail is that The Help was written in 2009, not the 1960s during the civil rights era. Stockett seems to give the story a redemptive arc that seems to be prevalent in American Stories. The classic storyline, as said by Kurt Vonnegut, is: “Somebody gets into trouble, gets out of it again. It’s not accidental that the line ends up higher than where it began” (Here is a Lesson in Creative Writing). This passage in The Help occurs as a part of the conflict (see diagram below). Aibileen’s humiliation is what causes her to want to assist Skeeter in writing her novel about black maids in Mississippi, which gives Aibileen a voice. In the end, the novel becomes a bestseller; Aibileen leaves her job as a maid, and considers becoming a writer. While this is an empowering story, Kathryn Stockett’s interpretation does not seem realistic. This arc additionally tends to occur in the American story of the Civil rights movement. In the beginning, African Americans were completely segregated. Martin Luther King Jr. comes along, giving his “I Have a Dream” speech, and people march in protest to end segregation. While my telling of this story is extremely simplified, it is similar to how we first learned it in elementary school. Similar to the story of The Help, this Civil Rights story is inspiring. However, is this how the Civil Rights Movement actually occurred? Looking at the facts, Chicago is known as the most segregated city in America. Just because we tend to give our stories this narrative arc does not necessarily mean they are realistic. Although not as bad as it once was, racism still occurs in America, regardless of the fact that people interpret the Civil Rights Movement to have the redemptive arc.

Sambo:

Picture From "Proclaiming Emancipation" by Mr. O'Connor

Redemptive Arc from Vonnegut's "Here is a Lesson in Creative Writing"

Token Minority Characters

Yesterday in my American Studies class, we briefly discussed the movie Lincoln and the role of  the African Americans. I have not seen the movie yet, but according to my classmates the only dialogue that was spoken by African American actors was in the first few minutes of the movie. I thought it was interesting how the film is about the act which freed the slaves, but the people who are being freed barely have any dialogue.

Although I don't know if the directors of the Lincoln movie were purposefully discriminating, this discussion reminded me of tokenism. Tokenism is the act of hiring one minority worker in order to have the image of being racially diverse. This is very prevalent in the media today. The first example that I thought of is the TV show Glee. The minorities in the cast consist of one black girl, one Latina girl, one disabled boy, and one Asian couple. The rest of the cast is all white. Another example lies in my classmate Lauren's blog post. She talks about diversity in Disney princess movies. I think it is no coincidence that the movies starring minority characters are the more recent ones.

This poses the question: why do directors and film makers cast the people they do for their
characters? Also, why are certain characters created? Was Mercedes' role on Glee or the rumored Latina princess (as read from Lauren's blog) created to add stories to the plot, or just simply to attempt to show people that the program is inclusive for all groups?