11.10 Homework

The article "Reducing HIV and AIDS through Prevention (RHAP): A Theoretically Based Approach for Teaching HIV Prevention to Adolescents through an Exploration of Popular Music" investigates the lack of engagement adolescents feel when being educated about HIV prevention, specifically how this lack of engagement takes from the potential of these adolescents to learn and keep themselves safe from STDs, such as HIV. The solution that is being implemented is the RHAP program. The RHAP program looks to raise adolescent awareness of HIV and AIDs through the use of hip-hop/rap music. The program is run through schools, and asks students to identify lyrics that promote behaviors that lead to an increased risk of contracting HIV. Three terms used in this article stuck out to me as unfamiliar. One such term was "sexual script". I now know that a sexual script is an expectation of how males and females are supposed to behave in sexual situations based on their gender. The second term I did not understand was "pedagogue". I have heard this used before, but did not know what it meant. Pedagogue means teacher. Although I likely could have inferred what "self-efficacy" meant before reading this article, its meaning is more clear to me now. This term is used to describe self-confidence, or belief in oneself, especially regarding the ability to reach a goal.

11.7 Homework

Several ideas come to mind when I brainstorm problems I would like to address in my proposal assignment prompt.

1) College athletes and the financial difficulties they are faced with.
- although college athletes do receive scholarships and monetary benefits not received by other students, their sport and studies do not allow time for a part time job, as many other students can have, and this places them at a disadvantage regarding spending money, which is important to have a well-rounded college experience.
2) College students and difficulties picking a major.
- It is scary for teenagers to make decisions that will affect the rest of their lives, and perhaps universities should offer programs that will help them make well-informed decisions.
3) Media portrayal of the "ideal" female figure
- everywhere women look, they are faced with photoshopped photographs of rail-thin women, and is leads women to believe (unrealistically) that this is how they should look in order to be seen as beautiful.
4) Negative public opinion regarding genetically modified crops
-GMOs have not been proven to be detrimental to health, and could be the key to providing a balance between solving world hunger problems and keeping the environment healthy. The negative public opinion regarding this solution to so many problems limits the potential of the world.
5) The United States of America's role as "international peacekeeper"
- Any country in the world that has the ability to intervene in crimes of humanity or terrorism to help the common good should do so. However, the US seems to do so out of selfish and underhanded motives.
6) animal shelters that euthanize
- if an animal shelter is going to round up animals only to euthanize them in a matter of weeks, it should not exist. Although this is beneficial to human health to keep stray dogs and cats off the street, this is only from the very selfish mindset that human life is more important than the life of other organisms.
7) feedlot cattle farming
- cattle that are kept on a feedlot and plumped up on foods that are not natural or healthy (either for cattle or for humans) in order to be slaughtered should not be allowed into the food industry. It is not healthy or humane.
8) police brutality
- increasingly, the media is portraying the police force for their brutality, and it causes fear and distrust in society regarding the very people that are meant to keep us safe. Better care should be taken in who is allowed to be a police officers, and this should be done by taking a closer look at their mental health.
9) Disregard of mental illnesses
-American society as a whole has a habit of not taking mental health seriously, to the point where mental illnesses are ridiculed and made fun of. This has to stop.
10) High school drop outs
-more creative solutions to preventing high school students from discontinuing their education must be found.

11.3 Homework

The two sources I found that I think would be helpful in my essay are "Enduring Dilemmas of Female Celebrity," by Karen Sternheimer, and "Social media, gender, and privacy," which is sourced to "Marking to Women: Addressing Women and Women's Sensibilities." The source written by Karen Sternheimer is an online PDF, and it addresses the fine line female celebrities walk as they are both judged and celebrated for every decision they make. This will help me with my paper, because the photo leak of female celebrities that I am evaluating addresses how women that are in the spotlight are constantly judged, as the rest of society often forgets that they are allowed to make mistakes and are also human beings with emotions and faults. Hopefully I will be able to both generate and pull ideas from this source. The second source, "Marketing to Women: Addressing Women and Women's Sensibilities"is a brief article that offers statistics and percentages of women and men and their habits over social media. I feel as though this is appropriate in my essay because it will give me the facts regarding the average woman's comfort level online. My essay covers the photo leak, and it will be helpful to know how comfortable most people are sharing intimate photos and information over social media.

Blog Post #3

B. Find an image of a famous person who you have always, for whatever, reason identified with. This person may be a writer, movie star, musician, athlete, etc. Beneath the image, briefly describe who this person is. Then freewrite about what significance you ascribe to this person and/or why you have always felt drawn to, admired, etc. this person.

Above is Caroline Wozniacki, a professional tennis player and former number one in the world. She is currently ranked top 10 in the world, and she fights for every match as hard as she can. Throughout her career, she has been faced with several obstacles. At certain points of her career, nobody believed in her, and it was often vocalized that she didn't deserve to be world ranked number one, or that she didn't have the potential to win a grand slam title. I've always admired Caroline Wozniacki for her resilience. Despite what everyone had to say about her, her tennis, and her personal life, she has remained positive, put her head down and just kept working. She fell dramatically in the rankings after being world number one, and she climbed back up into the top ten when everyone believed her career was done. I feel as though I can relate to her passion for the game and her work ethic. Although I obviously don't know her personally, the way she handles herself off the court is extremely admirable. She has always been classy, whether she comes out of matches as a winner or in defeat. I aspire to handle myself and my emotions during and after tennis matches as well as she does. She never speaks ill of anyone, whether it is an ex, a rival, or somebody that speaks poorly of her. I find this her most admirable and classy characteristic. 

Challenge Check-In #1

I plan on completing Challenge #2: Hip-Hop Spaces. I plan on writing about the basketball team's training facility, specifically the weight room. The women's tennis team, which includes myself, have strength conditioning there three times a week, and I feel that this location can easily be viewed as having elements of hip-hop. I chose this challenge because it would be easy to write about, as I am at this location frequently, and the hip-hop elements there are easy for me to see. Hip-hop music is constantly blaring, and I feel a sense of pride and strength when I am there. Hip-hop is more than just music, it is overcoming difficulties and taking pride in yourself. Strength training is the hardest thing thing for me out of all the difficulties college leaves me faced with, and overcoming it provides me with a strength and sense of pride that I feel is similar to the feelings hip-hop music is meant to express and inspire.

Homework 10.27

It may be argued that losing control of the privacy of your personal life comes with the territory of being a public figure, or that Jennifer Lawrence should never have had these nude photos to start with. It could be said that spreading of her photos across the Internet was not a physical assault, and therefore not a sex crime. However, the claim that Jennifer Lawrence’s status as a celebrity invalidates her right to feel violated and wronged by people looking at her naked body is in itself wrong. Viewing her as only a celebrity and not a human being is inherently wrong, as it dehumanizes her. Celebrities are people too. Simply because Jennifer Lawrence and other female celebrities allow people to look at them clothed through their movies and public appearances, does not mean that they have allowed anybody to look at their naked body. As to the argument that Jennifer Lawrence should never have had those photos, it is her business alone as to what she does with her body, who she shows it to, and by what means she shows them. These photos were private and intimate, and they were stolen from her and wrongfully displayed to the world. By definition, a sex crime is a crime involving sexual assault or having a sexual motive. The robbery of private photos with the motive of using Jennifer Lawrence's sexuality against her will to make a profit  without a doubt meet the criteria of this definition. Jennifer Lawrence, and many other female celebrities, are frequently dehumanized and turned into a sexual object, with little to no objection from society. This is not in the fault of these celebrities, it is in the fault of society.

10.15 Homework

• In your own words, explain what evaluative writing is. 
• Why is establishing criteria important for an evaluative essay?
• At the end of the short essay (#2), there is a list of 5 questions. Choose one of the five questions and answer it on your blog. 

Evaluative writing is writing that analyzes and offers an opinion on a particular subject based on a set of criteria. When evaluating something through writing, it is important to define the particular set of criteria the subject is being evaluated on, because without doing this, the audience of the essay would have no way of knowing why the subject is good, bad, or whatever else is said about it in the essay. The essay would have no real substance or credibility. 

3) What is to be gained from seeing this issue from the point of view of a music executive? 

By seeing this issue from the point of view of a music executive, readers are granted the ability to see what efforts the industry already makes to ensure that music is appropriate for the people listening to it, and the reasoning behind these efforts. The author's point of view enabled me to see that music can be beneficial, and form a bridge between generations, so it shouldn't be blamed for violence. It also enabled me to see that despite the music industry's standpoint on music, music may still be deemed inappropriate for specific audiences.