A few weeks ago I enjoyed the movie No Good Deed. I was delighted to add this film to my short list of those that don’t typecast black bodies. This movie was a suspense, not a “black suspense” but a gut checking suspense. After admiring Taraji Henson and Idris Elba awesome performance I approved No Good Deed distribution to homes of Americans and those overseas. I wondered about that individual that has never encountered a person of color and thought, here is a movie that you can watch. Continue reading
Apprearance Matters
Most people think of appearance as a way of caring how much control has over your mind, your body and your life. Even though that many believed in the quote that says “it matters how you perform, not how you look”, in real life, that is not necessary true. Others do perceive you, and even how they think about you. Technically, I think that sometimes people really should not dress how they feel, but how they want to feel. Clothing is sometime that in creating the positive impressions, it can increase your perceived status among other people. The way you choose to dress sending messages to those other folks around you, but also to yourself. Caring how you dress will make you a more responsible, involved, approachable and confident. You really don’t want to dress up silly to embarrass yourself, nor troublesome others.
Attention Walmart Shoppers
“People of Walmart – Funny Pictures of People Shopping at Walmart.” Their slogan might be more accurate if they changed it to “Body Policing at its Finest.” Now, I understand rolling your eyes at something silly someone does at the store, or a weird way someone wears their hair. More specifically, I can totally understand “cringe-worthy” outfits that don’t support someone’s body type as I’m an avid What Not To Wear fan. But People of Walmart really sets the standard for public shaming, no matter what the reason. You can be fat, skinny, black, white, short, tall, male, female – it doesn’t matter. If there’s something off about you, even in the smallest sense, you could be subject to getting posted on this site. Continue reading
Ownership and the Death of Pets
The other day we discussed death, and the appropriate ways in which we dispose of the dead… the human dead that is. Which got me thinking to how differently and similarly we treat our pets who die. Right before I came back to school for this semester, I’m talking the Friday before I moved in on a Monday, the stray my neighbors and I took care of passed away. He was sick; he had a really bad thyroid condition, but that’s not how he died. Continue reading
I’ll Cry if I Want To!
Yesterday my professor was giving us a talk on how to act professional in our industry. He said, and I quote, “Ladies, you owe it to your gender to not cry. Once you lose that trust it’s very hard to get back.” Are you kidding me?! In all of the years I have worked in my industry I have never cried on the job, but I have seen girls AND boys cry for an array of reasons.
I agree that we are going into a stressful career that can be cut throat. And yes, if you cry on the job you are looked down upon. That being said he phrased it in the worst way possible and did NOT have to single the girls out.
If one girl cries on the job it does not mean that every single girl is going to cry. We are representatives of ourselves and not the entire gender. If a boy cried others wouldn’t think all boys were going to cry, so don’t think that about the girls. Also, if a guy cried he would be looked at as ‘sensitive’, but the second a girl cries she is ‘too emotional.’
I think this was a very sexist and misogynistic comment that was returned with a very dirty look from me. I do not think that a professor should make statements or be allowed to make statements like this in the classroom.
Just Breathe
Earlier in the semester, I stated that I suffer from anxiety disorder, which is considered to be a mental health mood disorder. I have had to deal with this since I was 14 years old; just a freshman in high school. That’s about an eight year battle.My first episode occurred when I was in my final class of the day. I remember feeling as though I was acquiring a sense of tunnel vision, as I became dissociated from my body. The mind/body connection is implored here as I experienced an out of body experience. I could see myself being closed by an invisible force and could not scream, as if my voice had disappeared. I truly felt as though I might die, yet there was nothing anyone could do to help.
To Be a Meme.
My new biggest fear in life is having something dramatically embarrassing happen to me and it somehow falls into the hands of the internet. I mean, I know there are way worse things that can happen to a person, but these days? In 2014? Don’t let somebody screenshot you with a funny caption before your picture/video becomes viral within a day. Oh, the joys of social media.
My Baby Obsession
It has been an hour and a half since our class discussion on the film about the pregnant man. I have a hundred different emotions swirling about inside me and I have spent the last ninety minutes trying and failing to be productive while these emotions cloud my brain. I’m not sure what I’m feeling, exactly. It’s a mixture of anxiety and fear, doubt and disappointment, and maybe a little bit of hope. Is that even the right word? I don’t know.
To be or not to be….
I’m a Theatre Studies major. I want to focus on Acting. Continue reading
Breathe In, Breathe Out
When I was growing up, my relationship to my asthma entirely shaped my relationship to my body. My body was something that had to be constantly monitored for any sign of symptoms. It had to be regulated and controlled. My body wasn’t a part of me, it was a setting–it was a dangerous situation that I had been placed in for unknown reasons; a house in the path of a hurricane. Continue reading
Unruly Bodies 