TOW #23 - Why You Should Shop at Aerie and not Victoria's Secret

Author Aviana Peterson  of Oddessy shared, "Not only does Aerie have a more self-loving goal, but the prices of Aerie are much more realistic. At Aerie you can get seven panties for $27.50. Victoria’s Secret on the other hand gives you five for $27.50, so two more pairs of underwear from Aerie for exactly the same price. A nude push up bra from Victoria’s Secret is $46.50, while from Aerie a nude push up bra is $29.95. Just from the price difference you can love yourself more. With that extra $15 you didn’t spend on one bra you can go pick out a new shade of lipstick." You shouldn't have to pay obscene amounts of money to feel beautiful.

"Going onto the Victoria’s Secret website, you can see their models. None of them look very much like me. That’s probably because Victoria’s Secret Angels must meet strict limitations, which are being 5-foot-9 with the desired measurements of 34” -24” -34”. Which does not look very much like me or most women I know." While I was shopping at the mall this weekend with my friends, we noticed the artificial body image that Victoria's Secret stores plaster on their walls. How many people in actually have a waist line like that. The underwear and lingerie in stores like Victoria's Secret is supposed to make women feel sexy and empowered, but in my opinion it makes women feel self conscious and unattractive.

Victoria's Secret is notorious for photoshoping and airbrushing their models, whereas underwear stores like Aerie, by American Eagle stopped airbrushing their models in 2014 as a way to promote body positivity to all girls. Their are girls that are under weight that deserve to lover their bodies, just like their are girls that are over weight that deserve to love their bodies. How can ladies on a wall that only weigh 115 pounds and stand at 5 foot 9 promote body positivity when girls on the street rarely look like any of the Victoria's Secret "Angels?"

TOW #22 - I'm Concerned for My Safety

In a passage that our class read earlier in the year, we found that humorists like comedians are used to reveal the harsh truth through a comedic environment and tone. I especially think that political cartoonists are especially helpful for those that are young at heart. People in my generation mostly get their news from twitter and other online web sources. Even though people in the generation before mine are becoming more progressive with social media, some still like old school, hard copied newspaper.

In the cartoon above, a black man and white man are seen having a conversation about their fears. While the white man is afraid of the terror group ISIS, you can see that the black man clearly is not focused on that. He is focused on his safety in America. The illustrator shows on a nearby news stand, reading, "More Police Shootings...... Minneapolis.....Chicago." The illustrator employs an ironic tone because the white man is completely oblivious to what was happening to American citizens of color. Recently, the news hasn't shown much about white on black crime. What upsets me is that the other day, my sister, Kassidie, showed me a video of a white man getting pulled over by a police officer. The officer asked him, "license and registration," and the white man gets out of his car, opens the trunk, reaches inside, and pulls out bowling pins and starts to juggle them. Now imagine if a black man was the man in the car. We all know that a black man can barely even grab his license without getting shot, let alone get out and reach into the trunk of his car. In the end, I am glad that political cartoonists and other humorists like this are using their platforms to show others that there are bigger problems in America than ISIS and that black people are under represented.

TOW #21 - College is too Difficult

Today I had one of the most stressful conversations that I have ever had to be a part of with my parents. We talked about college and frankly I do not think that I know exactly what I want to do or what I want my occupation to be. I am worried but not for what my eventual job will be, yet I am nervous for the workload. If I can barely handle two AP classes, I have no clue how I will balance more than 5 college classes. So I searched the web to hear the stories of college students.

Alexandra Petri, New York Times author, says, "College is too Difficult." Yikes. According to many student, they spend up to 15 hours working. This is concerning due to the fact that I get distracted easily and that I feel that I over study. I study so frequently that I mix things up and second guess myself on quizzes or tests. I asked my mom, "Do you think that I am ready?" And of course, being the mom she is, she told me that I can, "Do anything that I set my mind to." Alexandra Petri also states, "Homework is for high school students. Once you’ve survived four years of lugging A. P. textbooks around, learning how to fill in arrays of bubbles correctly and write essays with erroneous but well-ordered facts, and pursuing at least 300 extracurriculars, you are entitled to sit back and relax."

College for me is a scary thought for me. Yes, I am ready and excited to make the life long friends and memories, but I am just worried. I feel that If I stay to close to my parents and go to somewhere like Temple, then my parents will try to hold my hand throughout college and not let me experience and step into the "real world." But I don't want to go to far, because in the article, Petri mentions that it is vital to have a  strong support system in college. I feel that this time next year, a heavy weight will be lifted off of my shoulders.