I believe in the experience of reading a book

The Wareham Program, a women's leadership development program that runs each semester, has a final project where participants are asked to write their own This I Believe, using the format setup by the NPR Radio Project.This is one student's belief.
 

            There is a secret that lies between two pieces of pressed cardboard.  This secret is hidden in artfully stylized contours and represented by way of a complex medium, composed of pigments, resins, particulate matter, and fluorescers all blended together to be displayed on dry, cellulose pulp.  I am talking about a book and its secret is the experience of reading.  Not the electronic, intangible, download-from-amazon.com-to-your-kindle, excuse for a reading experience, an actual, physically turn the page, dog-eared corners, and coffee stains on the cover, book. 

            You see, the experience of reading is more than just seeing the words form sentences on the page, or screen even. It is a physically, mentally, and emotionally engaging adventure into unknown worlds, a source for life lessons, and an unconscious absorption of knowledge that inspires the imagination in the reader!

            My love of reading began at a very young age.  I have continued to read more and more as I continue to grow up, finding solace in a comfy armchair, a bright lamp over my shoulder, and a worn novel in my hands.  I became a sled dog on grand adventures in The Call of the Wild, a loving and dedicated sister in Little Women, and victim of injustices and struggles as an orphaned child in Oliver Twist. Books are the greatest source of knowledge and serve as fodder for creativity.  In a book you can hold the whole picture, unlike a screen in which you are only privy to isolated events and limited perspectives due to a single-page view. 

            Can you let your tears fall onto an LCD screen? Yes, but the tear bubbles up and sits there, a rejected droplet forced to remain isolated in the outside world. Can you let your tears fall onto a paper page? Yes, and the tear becomes a part of the story! The tear melts into the ink and the page as it is absorbed!  A part of the experience! A book is organic! It is made of the elements of life that we experience, unlike the screen, a dead, electronic, impersonal reflector of life.

            I believe the experience of reading a book is inherently human.  A book is a place to commiserate with the struggles of past generations, an empathetic expression of the human condition, an integration of the world relationship. The secret to this though, lies in the book and not on the screen.

 Kindly,

                                                        Jess Bolander

Junior, English & Secondary Education

Fall 2011 Wareham graduate

Reality Shows

I watch my fair share of television and I unashamedly love my DVR.  I watch a wide variety of shows, everything from HBO dramas to reality TV.  I tell you this to say that I watch my fair share of television programs and when brainstorming ideas for today’s blog, I wanted to write about women on television and the “mean girl” behavior that is showcased and applauded. 

 

Reality shows tend to showcase is the worst side of women.  Women are portrayed as dramatic, catty, backstabbing, and generally just plain mean to one another.  Rarely do we get to see women supporting each other or encouraging one another in life pursuits.  Instead we see Kris Jenner telling her daughter Khloe to stop eating so many cookies because she’s looking fat.  Or we see Teresa on Real Housewives of New Jersey telling her daughter how controlling and evil her Aunt Melissa is.  I know these segments are getting more viewers than a segment where women are supportive of one another, but it’s making it seem like women fight with each other 99% of the time.

The same is true of the Bachelor franchise.  A show that pits 25 women against one another for the affection of one man inevitably leads to tears, jealousy, and mean comments among the women.  America tunes in to see which woman is the “winner” each season and watches week after week for which women will cry, tattle, and backstab one another.

Sure, there are shows where this isn’t the case.  The Amazing Race is a great example, any drama on that show tends to be from the stress of talking to a cab driver in a language unfamiliar to the contestants.  But even shows like Survivor and Big Brother still hone in on women fighting with each other.  It makes for good television, but it also makes women look petty and ridiculous.  And I refuse to watch many of the biggest offenders (think Bridezillas.)

The movie “mean girls” was an instant cult classic for showing how mean and manipulative high school girls can be to one another.  That “mean girls” concept has since prevailed on dozens of television shows and makes women seem childish and petty.  How can women ever be taken seriously when we see such gross characterizations on the screen? 

Another piece of this “mean girls” culture is the fact that women are often pitted against one another.  It’s rare to see women team up and work toward the same goal because for some reason the idea of women getting along and being nice to one another isn’t good tv.  Just watch any “Real Housewives” reunion and you’ll see what I mean.  The idea of women being advocates for one another seems like a foreign concept.  I love shows that are the exception to this rule.  Desperate Housewives, however ridiculous at times, still has female friendship at the center for the show.  Or the police drama “Rizzoli and Isles,” two friends who work together and who have an actual friendship.

A quick plug for an upcoming event (on a similar topic)….At the end of this month the Lieben Center will be showing a documentary “Miss Representation” which I was able to see a few weeks ago.  It does a great job of showing how the media portrays women and how these portrayals are harmful to women achieving leadership positions and breaking the glass ceiling.  I couldn’t agree more.  For example, in one segment we see a Fox News interview with Sarah Palin and the first question she is asked is “do you have breast implants?”  Nothing about her politics, her beliefs, her plans for America….. just her cup size.  Say what you will about Sarah Palin’s politics, she’s still someone on the political scene and deserves respect from the media.  I haven’t seen an interview asking Rick Perry about his grooming habits or where he buys his ties.  When the media treats women in politics in such a degrading way, why would any woman want to subject herself to that scrutiny?  What are we teaching young girls about achieving positions of leadership in the government?

Come out and join us on November 30, you won’t be disappointed!

Kindly,

 

Allison Taylor

Assistant Dean of Students

Feminism?

I’m still thinking about brown-bag panel that I organized last Spring called “What Makes a Feminist?.”  In it, several of my colleagues in the History department discussed some of the powerful women (and their male allies) they had come across in their research.  One of the sticking points we found, though, is that the word “feminism” carries with it certain connotations that don’t fit all of our historical actors.  A friend from the Social Work department suggested we need a better word for men and women working for gender justice and equality.  What would that word be?  “Feminism” as a term is just a little over a century old, but has it already served its usefulness?  My own suspicion is that it has been completely hijacked, so that now many people think it’s a dirty word.  This saddens me.  When I think of all the important work done in the name of feminism, as well as the goals we have yet to achieve, I feel unwilling to give up this word quite yet.

On a completely different note, my upper-division Women’s History students brought something to my attention last week that I am still marveling over:  they claimed that seventy percent of this year’s incoming undergraduate class was female.  Really?  Does it feel as if women are in the majority here at Creighton?  How should Creighton modify its policies to reflect these changes?

Kindly,

 

Dr. Britta McEwen 

Assistant History Professor