Junior Theme #4: Intro

This is my current Introduction.

“In many ways, today is the best time in history to be a girl,” concludes Dr. Stephen Hinshaw in his 2009 book, The Triple Bind. From a historical perspective, it is hard to imagine a time of greater freedom and opportunity for American girls than at the close of the twentieth century. By 2005, 57% of the bachelor’s degrees were earned by women. (TTB 14) High school girls could qualify for athletic scholarships and aspire to play professional sports. (14) Record numbers of women worked in professional jobs in science, medicine, law, business, journalism, communications, entertainment, academia and politics. (15) Young girls saw women featured in the media as writers, editors, news anchors and political commentators not just as actresses and models. In two income households, 25% of wives now earned more than their husbands. (TTB pgs. 14-15) At a time in history when teenage girls should be excited about their many new opportunities, too many 21st century adolescents find themselves in a crisis of confidence and overwhelmed by the emotional fall-out from the new economic and social changes of the last century: widespread consumerism, loss of community and the growing influence of the media. Dr. Hinshaw makes a convincing argument that our girls’ mental and physical health is in real jeopardy. (TTB) He reports that now “at least one-fourth of all U. S. teenage girls are suffering from self-mutilation, eating disorders, significant depression, or serious consideration of suicide-or are perpetrating acts of physical violence”, and that many of the rest are struggling undiagnosed with “hatred of their bodies, obsessive dieting, sexual confusion, and the persistent sense that they are not good enough”.(TTB pg. 5) The pressures coming from our popular culture make living in a girl’s body today much more complicated and stressful than it was a century ago even though her body has not changed. Ms. Robyn Wiegman, a professor of Women’s Studies at Duke University believes that we must “historicize” and study “capitalism and consumerism” in order to understand why modern girls are so obsessed with being unnaturally thin. Our consumer culture is fueled by harmful advertising messages that exploit our girl’s social anxieties, need for approval and independence. This leads girls to treat their bodies as objects, their relationships as trivial and consumer products as their only real source of happiness. It is no wonder that today’s teens are at a greater risk for a negative self-image, unfulfilling relationships and low self-esteem which make it harder to grow into a happy, healthy and successful adult.

Please let me know what I did well and what I should work on!

Junior Theme #3

We are currently in the library for the double period today working on our Junior Themes. I have read all of my sources and cited them in noodle-bib; however I am still a little unclear on what my thesis will be. I have sent out emails and will email my interview questions to my interviewees later today. I am hoping that the questions I send to my interviewees will help me formulate a thesis. Currently I am planning on talking about how culture and society affect how a girl views her body image depending on the time period she grows up in. My focus will be on the 21st century where the body image is unobtainable thin. Does anyone have any ideas for a possible thesis statement?

Junior Theme #2

After researching my topic very thoroughly this week I think that I have gathered all of my information for my Junior Theme. I have read multiple articles as well as two books and I think that I finally understand my topic critically. The two books that I have read are The Body Project, by Joan Jacobs Brumberg and Am I Thin Enough Yet? by Sharlene Hesse-Biber. I have also sent both authors emails asking about an interview, however I have not heard back yet. With an introduction due on Monday, this weekend I will be outlining all of my quotes/facts/statistics and drafting my intro with my current why question being: why is the current physical ideal for women dangerously thin? I am planning on talking about the history of women’s body image by examining all of the social, cultural and popular aspects during a specific time period. Let me know if you have any other ideas!

Junior Theme #1

This past week in American Studies we were assigned the dreaded Junior Theme. The age-old myth of Junior Theme is crazy and Mr. O’Connor and Mr. Bolos are trying a different approach to break the myth. At first when the paper was assigned I immediately wanted to do something with science and genetic engineering in order to create a ‘perfect society’. After talking to Mr. Bolos I changed my topic totally to how the media influences women to be perfect. Then I talked to Mr. O’Connor and I fine-tuned my topic even more. He helped me to create this why question: Why is the current physical ideal of women dangerously thin? I really like this topic and after I rejected so many of my previous topics it is nice to finally have a topic to research that I am interested in. I think that I am going to talk about how the ‘ideal’ model and celebrity are too thin. This is causing many American women to want to look exactly like this when in reality almost no one is born with the physical traits to look like the models. This is foundation for plastic surgery and eating disorders. If anyone has any other ideas, let me know!