Category: Junior Literary

We all knew that girl in high school who always had to tear others down to build herself up, and if you didn’t, you caught a beyond lucky break. Whether it was the classic shaming of where you bought your clothes or having your face and body scrutinized in a private DM on Instagram, we’ve all met at least one person in our lives who could not gain confidence through their own personal merits. This trope is everywhere in teen movies, usually written in as an easy antagonist, but it’s always the pink-wearing preppy girl with a caramel latte in her hand.

What is less talked about is a trend that peaked in the early-2010s: young girls who also needed to bring down others to lift themselves up, but in a much less direct way. If you’ve been on the internet for long enough, you’ve probably seen one or two “I’m not like other girls” around the internet, most likely either as a comic or a text post. The girls who post this phrase pride themselves on their “individuality” the most, and while this isn’t an inherently bad thing, it comes with an extra layer of internalized misogyny by putting down the “other girls.” These “other girls” are usually portrayed as feminine, positive, concerned about their appearance, and sexually active. The poster is usually portrayed as a “tomboy” who places little value in their appearance, reads books, and dislikes stereotypically feminine things.

Now, this brings about the question of why this is a problem and how it became to be this way. The quick answer? Internalized misogyny. These feminine traits are viewed in a negative light by much of society including these types of girls. More masculine traits are seen as better, and the stereotype of women being stupid and vain shine through in obvious ways. This mindset stems from the dislike of being wrapped up in this stereotype and the pride felt by breaking the nonexistent “standard” of being a girl. “I’m not like other girls! I’m smart and I have an actual personality!” If you were a girl who grew up in the early 2000s, you know this type of message was in almost every bit of media you could consume. “You Belong With Me” by Talyor Swift and High School Musical are some of the first things that come to mind when I think of my elementary school days. Girls who were insecure about not fitting the “feminine look” were comforted by these and quickly began to develop a complex. I know I did.

In recent years, this trend has slowed down drastically. In fact, there has been a rise of parody comics based off of it. People have come to realize the problematic nature and the negative effect it has on the minds of young girls (and even some women.) One of my favorite of these, although it’s not exactly a parody, is a series by Julie Hang. In an interview with Bored Panda, she goes into detail about her past struggles with this mindset along with her art, which you can view and read here.

“I was a shy, anxious kid, and had a hard time making friends. Instead of recognizing my anxiety and trying to overcome it, I’d thought I’m just not like the other girls. Reading ‘me vs. other girls’ comics online validated those negative feelings and stereotypes I had towards other girls, and made me feel like judging others was the ‘cool’ thing to do.”

…

““When you’re young and still trying to figure out who you are, the one thing you really want to have is individuality. There are lots of healthy ways to discover yourself, like joining a club where you can meet people with similar interests. Then there is the ‘I’m not like other girls’ comic ideas online that communicates that you are indeed unique but does so by putting other girls down.”

preface: if my friend finds this, i will simply ✨pass away✨, because i have spent the last 6 months clowning him for being so passionate about this book. and i refuse to admit that i’m in love with it (the book, not the friend).

rationality from ai to zombies is a series of books (each composed of articles) that outline what it means to think rationally, how to do it, and why it matters. 

the first book (and, admittedly, the only one i’ve read thus far) is called map and territory, and this blog post will be all about that metaphor.

from the moment we enter schooling age, we’re shown pictures of the world – galaxies, our solar system, planets, stars, moons, the earth, different continents and countries and other known territories that have been neatly mapped out for us on a 2-dimensional plane. we can see… everything. or can we?

that is a world map, right? great.

can you find iceland? or madagascar? or sri lanka, norway, mongolia?

you can’t. they’re simply not there, nowhere on the map to be found, so they must not exist. at least, that’s what most people have been conditioned to think.

map and territory combats this idea, pointing out that just because something isn’t perceived doesn’t mean it’s not there. we have a warped mental image of what we have been told, and through rational thinking and processes, we have to come to a conclusion that combines both what we know for a fact and what we have been told.

the idea of map-to-territory correspondence is quite important when applied to the real world – we have to match what we believe to what is true.

short blog, i know, but eleizer yudkowsky goes way more in depth to rationality in his book, that i think everyone should at least skim in their free minutes. worth the read 🙂 

     Recently, I produced a second draft of a piece titled “Butterflies on the Delphinium.” It evolved from a 1,000 word flash fiction to a seven page short story, and in the new version, I didn’t even include the conversation the first draft is centered around. Before I moved to MSA, I rarely revised my work; After I finished the first draft of any piece, I typically reread it, decided I hate it, then sent it to the void that is Google Docs’ trash folder. However, since we started workshopping our assignments in class, I’ve had a change of heart. I get really excited whenever I have an opportunity to get feedback on my work, and I take the opinions of my peers and instructor into account instead of stubbornly brushing them off like I would have six months ago. I wanted to compare excerpts that include what I feel is the best descriptive language in the individual piece and let you see for yourself just how beneficial workshops and revision can be.

     Draft One: “She delicately tucked a piece of blonde hair behind her ear before flattening the backside of her dress and lowering herself into the seat opposite of the waitress. She ran her thumb along the underside of her purse strap and removed it from her shoulder. She hovered it over several different spots on the table and the floor, but chose to leave it resting in her lap. Her fingers involuntarily began to fiddle with the tassel attached to the purse’s zipper as she produced another strained smile.”

     Draft Two: “The glowing midday sun slowly sank, painting the once electric blue sky with strokes of crimson and patches of warm orange. The change in lighting made Gwen realize she had been walking in circles for the past three hours, pacing around an unfamiliar neighborhood; she did not notice the dull ache in her feet until she finally stopped moving. Her manicured nails were chipped as a result of her anxiously picking at them, and dark polish flakes now covered the frontside of her light blue sheath dress. A dreadful wave of embarrassment washed over her, and she began to hurriedly swipe her hand against the cotton material of her dress, trying to brush away the small, thin pieces. As they floated down to the earth, Gwen noticed a sharp sting coming from the underside of her right thumb; she turned it over to reveal the irritated beginnings of a painful blister. She grimaced as she turned her head slightly to examine the underside of the long, leather strap of her white shoulder purse. The inexpensive material had not been damaged, thankfully, and tried to make a mental note to encourage herself to cease the habit, but she knew she was unlikely to find the willpower to do so any time soon.”

For those of you who are interested, these are my notes from the Zoom with Get2College. They also have a lot of helpful resources on their website, if you want to look them up – https://get2college.org/

Speaker: Tory Holloway     –    (contact info)  tholloway@get2college.org

When looking for your College Fit, remember to consider these: 

• 2 yr  –  4 yr 
• Offered programs 
• Campus resources 
• Affordability
• Size: student-to-faculty ratio 
• Location and Housing
• Extracurricular Activities

Opportunities to help you decide:

1. Be friends with/get to Know the school recruiters (this one, in particular, can help you in so many ways later on. Like if the school you are interested in has certain scholarships or something, you can ask them about it.)
2. Virtual College Fairs (a great chance to learn more about a school)
3. Campus visit opportunities.  (whether in person, fly-overs, or virtual, it is helpful to visits schools in advance.)

Some Financial Aid plans:  

• Outside Aid – scholarships from local support, like a bank, or scholarships from national support, like a food chain company.  (you can check the scholarships on Get2College,)
• {Private scholarships}
• College Aid – scholarships from the college itself
• Federal Aid – MTAG (15 ACT / 2.5 GPA), MESG (29 ACT / 3.5 GPA), HELP (20 ACT / 2.5 GPA)
• Mississippi Aid – HELP (20 ACT / 2.5 GPA)

{You can only apply for scholarships if you are a Senior.}

 ACT Prep resources:

• Get2College.org  / Get2Collage Youtube Channel 
• ACT Academy
• Khan Academy
• TIR (Test Information Release)
• retired and old tests from a counselor.

Requirements for some public 4-yr Colleges in Mississippi:  

• 3.2 GPA  +  CPC
• 16 ACT   +   2.5 GPA  +  CPC
• 18 ACT   +  2.0 GPA   + CPC

Take the ACT multiple times – then collages can calculate a SuperScore. 

A SuperScore is when schools take your highest scores from each section and create a new score, forming the highest possible composite ACT score. (also applies to SAT)  IT IS SUPER HELPFUL. SO TAKE the ACT A BUNCH OF TIMES! 

I hope this was helpful. If I missed a piece of information, or you have something that people could benefit from, please post it down in the chat below!

     About two weeks ago, Oreo launched a campaign to celebrate LGBTQ+ families; in collaboration with PFLAG National, the first and largest organization for individuals and families who are a part of the community, the company produced pride-themed cookies and announced that they will only be gifting them to those who “perform acts of allyship for the LGBTQ+ community.” On National Coming Out Day, October 11th, Oreo’s brand twitter posted pictures of their cookies with different colored fillings that match the color of certain pride flags, transgender, pansexual, bisexual, and lesbian. Not everyone was pleased with this, initially branding the cookies as a “rainbow capitalism moment” (as stated by PinkNews), but the community’s perception of them shifted once the company specified its intent with the product and clarified that they would not be selling them.

     Unlike many companies, Oreo is honoring LGBTQ+  people, their family, and their histories; the company even released a short film called Proud Parent, that promoted the importance of allyship and creating a more accepting world. “Pride for Profit” is a term used to describe companies using promotional ads and pride-themed products to further the success of their brand during holidays that celebrate LGBTQ+ people. During pride month especially, companies will do the bare minimum to show support for the community by doing insignificant things like changing the logos in their profile pictures on social media to rainbow colors or releasing a line of pride merchandise. This would not be such an issue if these things actually benefited the community and raised awareness for the issues it faces; the majority of brands do not even donate a portion of their sales on pride products to LGBTQ+ charities.

     According to the various sources cited on a Yahoo! Finance article, only 64% of these brands are donating to relevant LGBTQ+ charities, meaning that every 2 in 5 of these companies are not. The website also states that 12% of companies with Pride campaigns in 2019 were rated under 80% by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) for their equality policies. HRC says, “The majority fail to provide equal domestic partner medical and soft benefits for LGBT+ people, and show a lack of equal health coverage for individuals without exclusion for medically necessary care.” Companies like H&M only have a Corporate Equality Index Score of 45% despite having produced a collection of pride products.

     Companies that do not even provide their employees who are a part of the community with a safe work environment are being praised for selling pride-related merchandise. It is not enough to support LGBTQ+ people one month of the year; these companies should be expected to constantly work towards making the world a more loving, accepting place. The struggles of people with these identities are not things to be used as fuel for corporate greed; the sacrifices people in the community have made deserve to be acknowledged and the members deserve to be validated and celebrated.

I was originally going to write this blog, with this title, about the foundations in which a friendship is built upon – about how you have to love and support one another, through the good times and bad. In since times, though, I’ve noticed another fragile foundation: America’s.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg was by no means an angel: she voted against rights of prisoners, called Colin Kaepernick “really dumb” for peacefully protesting on the football field, and struck down judgements that swayed in favor of indigenous people in America. 

Despite her neoliberal ideology and… less than consistent viewpoints, she had one dying wish, and that was to not be replaced until a new presidential term. While that wish may sound a bit unconventional, it’s not a new concept.

In February 2016, republican justice Antonin Scalia died of natural causes. senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, took up authority, stating that any supreme court justice appointed (by democratic president Barack Obama) in Scalia’s place would have to wait until after the coming election. That seemed fair – it was the end of Obama’s 8-year term, and there seemingly wasn’t enough time to make a well thought out decision. 

However, when justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died just a month and a half before the coming election, Mitch McConnell was more than happy to impose a heinously hypocritical view: that it is absolutely okay for president Trump to appoint a new (presumably republican) justice. Again, just a month and a half before the president could very well be voted out.

Because supreme court justices do not have term limits, their placements could mean much more harm for the country than a presidential candidacy. and in this case, it does.

Amy Coney Barrett is a threat to Roe v Wade, LGBTQ+ rights, and civil liberties in the united states. Mitch McConnell’s blatant hypocrisy will move America backwards. There is no use having more women in power if those very same women will take away the rights of their own.

For more information on how these cases are connected and why all of it matters, click here.