These days with the tabloid craze, there are always women in the media. Whether they are politicians, celebrities or unknowns, women are always being judged while in the spotlight. When women are in the media they are always portrayed in a not-so-flattering light. It has become acceptable in my generation to call women “sluts” and “whores” because of their lifestyle choices. We have become so quick to judge these women when we really know nothing about them. Most people call the mistresses of celebrities, alleged rape victims and certain female stars “sluts and “hoes”. Claiming, these women put themselves in these situations and deserve to be called these names. Honestly, we know nothing about these women and do not even try to hear their sides of the allegations. In my opinion, these women have been exploited by people that they trust and it should not be acceptable for the media to degrade them.
People claim all the time that Kim Kardashian, Paris Hilton and Pamela Anderson are “whores” because their private sex tapes have been leaked to the public. Vanessa Hudgens was also publicly humiliated after someone close to her exposed nude pictures to the media. The media claims that they are exploiting their sexuality and degrading the image of women. But, it is not our place to chastise these people when someone else leaked private images of them onto the internet. These women made these tapes with the intention of keeping them private and people that they placed their trust in, exposed the tapes to people all over the world. These women were embarrassed and publicly humiliated because of people that they loved. Their bodies were broadcast over the internet taking away the respect that they deserve. Many argue that Kim Kardashian and Pamela Anderson then posed for Playboy Magazine proving that they do not have respect for their own bodies so why should anyone else? It is not our place to judge them when we do not know the intentions of their actions. Pamela Anderson has children and because appearing in magazines and on television shows is her only form of income she may have had to do it to support her family. Although, Kim Kardashian does not have any children this too is her only form of income and may have needed the money. Not likely, but we are in no place to judge her decisions. Vanessa Hudgens was reprimanded by the media because at the time of the pictures she was a young, sixteen-year-old actress that appeared on the Disney Channel. When these people were young I am sure that they made mistakes too, but because they are not famous they were never publicly humiliated in the way these girls were. We need to remember that everyone is young once and everyone has the right to make mistakes. No one is in the position to judge these young celebrities for their actions. We know nothing about any of these young women and do not know what their real intentions were. Most of the time, we do not even give them the chance to publicly explain themselves. We do not care to hear their explanation or even allow them to apologize.
Another example of women being treated disrespectfully in the media are the incidents of Tiger Woods and his many affairs and Jesse James’ affair. Both men publically admitted to cheating on their wives and while both have suffered consequences for their actions the women have received a lot more suffering. Many women came forward and admitted that they too had been secretly sleeping with Tiger Woods. Many argue that these women knew that Tiger Woods was married and that they slept with him for their fifteen minutes of fame. I disagree with this argument because everyone agrees that yes, it was wrong of these women to sleep with a married man, but we also did not take the time to hear their side of the story. People that are not famous have been having affairs for decades and we are always so quick to judge the woman for why she slept with a married man. When we never stop to think that maybe she is a victim too. Maybe the man lied to her and made her believe that he was not married. It is in fact, different for Tiger Woods, because he is famous and most people know that he has been married for many years. But, we also do not know what kind of things he made his multiple mistresses believe. I am not claiming that these women should not be questioned about their intentions for sleeping with Tiger Woods but we should not question if they are “whores.” These women have accumulated so much negative attention for being “home-wreckers” and “sluts” when no one has ever asked them what really happened. I agree that it is not appropriate to carry on a long-term affair when you know someone is married, but it is also not appropriate for the media to label these girls with such horrible titles. The media is making it acceptable to call women these names, when it is not. These women were labeled by their occupations: porn star, pancake house waitress, and stripper were three of the favorite names. These women’s identities were based on their hair color, occupation and bust size. When really, why does it matter? Why was everyone so eager to talk about these characteristics? The media made these women sound like “whores” when we should have been asking the women and Tiger Woods what really happened.
It has also happened in the past that women have come forward to claim that they have been sexually assaulted or harassed and the media disregards their claims. That “they put themselves in that situation” or “they were asking for it” are two of the media’s favorite ways to excuse the men. The media should not forget that these women are making legitimate claims. When a woman came forward to claim that Kobe Bryant, a famous basketball player, had raped her everyone claimed that she just wanted to be famous and this was her ticket to the spotlight. When we should have valued this woman as a human being that had been wronged, we quickly brushed her allegations to the side. I agree that there are women out there who only think about fame and fortune but we cannot begin to assume that every woman is like that. We have to take the time to actually consider if these women were legitimately wronged. Many claimed that this waitress was probably a “slut” who consented to having sex with Kobe Bryant and then quickly realized that she could get a huge chunk of cash out of the deal. When we have no idea what happened that night between the woman and Kobe Bryant. We have to stop judging women based on their gender and try to realize that we need to take them seriously.
It has become a hobby for the media to say that women are disrespecting themselves publicly. By appearing in bikinis on magazine covers, nude in magazines and airing their dirty secrets from within the bedroom they have degraded themselves. That they are making it ok for everyone else to not take them seriously. Just because a woman is attractive, it does not mean that their only value is their body or their face. We have to learn to value women for what they bring to the table. Some of these celebrities have finished high school and have also earned college degrees. It is not fair of the media to take that away from them based on how attractive they are. Just because a woman is pretty does not mean she is not smart. We have started to give a woman worth based on how attractive she is and how good she looks in a bathing suit.
It is not only men either. This is not a feminist rant on how men are disempowering women. Women do it too, on talk shows and entertainment news shows. They talk about how good a woman looks after a baby or how good she looked at an award show. It is everyone. And we need to learn to stop. Women do not only get far in life because of their looks. Some women are intelligent and hard-working and earn everything that is given to them. In my opinion, the media is responsible for this. They degrade women for mistakes that they have made and for their actions. It has become acceptable for this to be a woman’s worth. It is not going to be an easy habit to break but it is the little steps that will help. If we stop using the word “slut” to characterize a woman, we can slowly make changes. It is not necessary to judge a woman based on how many sexual partners she has encountered in her life. Men are not judged on these types of characteristics so women should hold themselves to the same standards. People may say that it is acceptable to call these women names, but it is only causing more problems for women and their ability to gain respect. Next time you are reading a magazine, stop to think if that woman really deserves the negative things that are being said about her.
Rose Butler was executed on July 9, 1819 and became the last person to ever be hanged and buried on Potter’s Field in New York, New York. The poem that Jill McDonough wrote about Rose Butler tells the story about the last of Rose Butler’s life before she was executed for burning down her mistress’ home. Rose Butler had been heard saying that she would rather be hung than go to state prison. In those days, state prison for women was being placed in the attic of a male state prison. It is very obvious that living in an attic would not be an enjoyable lifestyle, when men were living in the main jailhouse. A short while after Rose Butler’s execution women’s jailhouses were built. When given an option, it seems interesting that the state prisons conditions for women were so bad that Rose Butler would rather be hung.
This collection of poems is written without meter or rhyme scheme. At least, neither of these techniques is very visible throughout the entire collection of poems. Especially in the poem about Rose Butler, there is no visible meter and although there is rhyme, there is not a blatant rhyme scheme. Because there is not obvious organization in these poems it appears as though the author did this on purpose to display the limited organization in the justice system. The author may also enjoy the disorganization of the poems to go along with her own style of poetry. Because these poems are about criminals it may be better for the author to keep a disorganized style to keep that theme. Criminals are erratic and do not think in a normal way, so having a disorganized style keeps a similar theme.
The form that Jill McDonough used to write the poem about Rose Butler was a strange structure. The first stanza is indented in farther than the second and third stanzas. It looks like steps of a staircase, almost to represent the stairs to the attic of the prison. There is a good bit of rhyming in this poem throughout the first and second stanzas. Having rhyming in this poem does nothing but maybe give it the appearance of organization. And since not all of the rhymes are exact rhymes, but partial rhymes, it again shows disorganization. Partial rhymes are words that have a slight rhyme but do not completely rhyme. To use partial rhyme in this poem it shows that the author wanted a sense of organization throughout the poem, but did not want it to be completely organized. This also explains why she structured the poem’s layout the way that she did. The poems stanzas are not all placed in a vertical line but indented in different places. The first two stanzas also both include the same number of lines compared to the third stanza that includes only two lines. This again shows a sort of organized chaos that the author used to get her message across to the readers.
The way in which Jill McDonough chose to write this poem is very simple. She uses simple diction and tells the story concisely. Her sentence structure is simple and she uses straightforward language. This is how she wrote a lot of the poems that are featured in this book. The only thing that is not simple about her poems is the strange and eerie feeling that readers get from them. When you are reading about Rose Butler it is written in such a simple way that it should not be difficult to understand but there still appears to be more to the story. Because the words are so simple the reader feels as though they should understand exactly what is going on but in certain lines it is difficult to fully understand the meaning. For instance, in the poem it says, “She’d dreaded a cart” (McDonough 13) this sentence is written in very easy-to-understand language but the reader still does not understand what is being talked about. Why would Rose Butler dread a cart? Jill McDonough keeps the mysterious theme alive throughout this poem to keep the reader aware that this poem is about a criminal.
The way that Jill McDonough writes this poem adds to the significance of the way that Rose Butler felt about the state jailhouse. Her writing is blunt and to the point and gives off the very feeling that Rose Butler must have felt. Just like Rose Butler said, “No. I’d rather be hung” (McDonough 13) when being asked about her decision to go to jail McDonough captures this same bluntness when telling Butler’s story. The indifferent tone that McDonough uses throughout this poem adds to the overall way that Butler felt towards her execution. She was indifferent to the fact that she was going to die. Butler just knew that she did not want to go to jail and live in an attic.
Jill McDonough was successful in the way that she wrote this poem to commemorate Rose Butler’s execution. She realizes that Rose Butler was only executed because she would rather have died than live in the attic of a male prison. It was unfair that Rose Butler had to die for burning down her mistress’ house when she did not even harm anyone. Jill McDonough recognizes that there was no justice in Butler’s death and writes this poem in a way that recognizes that. Her blunt and concise writing show that Rose Butler was very blunt in her decision. Jill McDonough managed to keep Rose Butler’s attitude alive throughout this poem.
Works Cited
McDonough, Jill. Habeas Corpus. Cambridge, U.K.: Salt, 2008. Print.
Many of the friends that I currently call my closest friends are college athletes. Many may claim that athletics themselves are not considered a “culture”. I suppose it depends on what your definition of culture really is. To me, culture is defined by a group’s way of life. Stepping outside of your own normality and seeing how other people live, defines “becoming cultured”. Getting cultured does not mean listening to classical music and going to the opera. It can be but it does not have to be. It does not mean you have to leave your hometown and see every other country in the world. To me it is about experiencing someone else’s life. Stepping into their shoes and listening to what they have to say.
I recently attended the Clemson versus Duke Basketball game. By attending this event, I realized that basketball in and of itself is its own culture. There are fans, players and coaches that all maintain this culture. Since I have become close friends with a few Clemson basketball players I have also quickly realized that they live a totally opposite life from the one that I live. Their lives consist of pressure from the coaches, family, friends and people they do not even know. They then have to juggle school on top of that. There is no room for error in their lives or they lose opportunities. The only pressure that I have is pressure from myself to keep up my grades.
There is a culture in our society that gives up their lives working hard to succeed at what they love. They love sports so much that they give up their weekends in high school to train, their summers to improve their skills and the chance to be a regular kid so that they can get to the next level. Their passion and drive has always amazed me and at the same time has made me envy them. But, since I began hanging out with some of the athletes I have quickly realized that there may not be that much to envy. My free time is dedicated to me while their free time is dedicated to so many other people.
Many people also claim that athletes get a free ride through college and do not even value the free education that they are being given. This is completely untrue. The majority of them do realize the opportunity that they are being given. They do not take anything for granted, unlike many of the other college students that I know. Athletes are also rewarded no special privileges. They must attend all of their classes when they are not traveling and must maintain a certain GPA.
The point I am trying to make is that we all place athletes on a pedestal but if they mess up or do something we do not agree with we turn on them. When they are the ones working hard to succeed and every loss is a let down to not only themselves but the many other people counting on them. We all have to remember that we are paying for college with checks and credit card charges while they are paying for their experience with their blood, sweat and tears.
