When I made a Facebook group for girls to post their prom dresses, I didn't realize how fierce girls would be about their dresses. I made the group less than a week ago, and already it has over 200 members and over 50 dresses posted to the wall - an outrageous number considering prom is still over 2 months away.
Most girls are buying their dresses online, eliminating the beauty that the local shop provides: a recorded list tracking what dresses are bought for what schools' proms. Last year, this shop was popular among all the local high schools; this year, it seems that most girls have ordered their prom dresses online, myself included. Though the Facebook group allows for us to see who has already bought what dress, there's still nothing preventing girls from buying the same or similar dresses. Already there has been two Junior girls posting the exact same dress, and many girls posting similar dresses in different colors.
As with most schools, our Seniors have an emotional investment in Prom - it's our last high school dance - while Juniors still have next year. When a Junior girl posted a dress with a clear attitude in her comment, senior girls quickly attacked her for thinking she was so important. She then said that she meant her comment sarcastically, but, sarcastic or not, her comment is still out of place. Seniors don't care if Juniors have the same dress, but would definitely care if a Junior (or even another Senior) has the same dress as them.
Two of the most popular dresses (a rhinestone bodice with a chiffon skirt, and a chiffon dress with rhinestone single-shoulder strap) have been posted 6 times each, all in different colors. Girls seem less likely to attack each other for having the same dress in different colors than for having the same exact dress, though the difference seems minuscule. In person and in pictures, the striking similarities will be blatant, and easily noticed by everyone else.
I think the problem with prom is that we're brought up with princesses and the regal elegance that comes with these, and prom is our night to become one of the princesses we dreamed about. When two girls wear the same dress they are trying to be the same princess - a problem that we all must protect ourselves from. Perhaps because I wasn't raised on Disney and princesses I don't see the logic in attacking each other over dresses. Perhaps the real reason I created the Facebook group was so girls could be prepared and not shocked when two girls are wearing the same dress.
Monday, February 18, 2013
Prama - Prom Drama
Saturday, January 19, 2013
the (not so) secret world of tumblr
Once upon a time, there was a place where anyone could go and talk about literally anything: themselves, their life, celebrities, television. A place they could say whatever they wanted because they knew nothing would happen. That place was tumblr.
Tumblr is a secret community website where you can post text, photo, quote, link, chat, audio, or video; and once upon a time, when it was one of the least-known social media sites, you could do any of these about anyone. Tumblr became a haven for people who were outcasts from reality - whether by choice or by chance. A place where television romances became the prologue of fan fiction; where aspiring artists and musicians could be heard; where victims of self-harm or abuse could confess their secrets and not worry about the people in their lives judging them.
And then MTV talked about tumblr and it exploded. Now it's a breeding ground for hipsters and hypocrites. Tumblr doesn't have any privacy anymore. I'm no longer the only person in my school who queues during the day and updates at night. People find blogs run by their friends and follow them, thinking that tumblr is just like Facebook or Twitter; hardly anyone understands that it began and thrived as a place of openness and privacy. The original users - pre-MTV exposure - have had to completely change their blogs and pay attention to what they post, so as to avoid something posted being brought up by someone during the day. Tumblr is no longer a private community where everyone cares about and understands each other; its become a world of hate messages and fake people gaining popularity by starting them.
Tumblr is like so many cultures - when they're invaded by someone else, they lose their original beauty and are forced to conform for survival.
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Concussion Woes
I don't think I've been through a more bipolar time in my life. Having a concussion, I had to relax all the time and couldn't really do anything, which was a nice change; however, at the same time I knew I was falling behind and became increasingly stressed. It's been 2 months since I've been in school for a full day, taken a test, or written an essay. Taking 4 AP's definitely didn't help, considering the workload is already stressful without a concussion.
Teachers have been reacting differently to my situation: some understand, some don't as much. I've been warned about failing the class, not graduating, etc. This increased the stress I already had about falling behind - I hadn't even thought that teachers would consider something that was out of my control a cause for failure. I understand that I'm falling behind, but it isn't my choice to go home early, to not do homework, to sleep for 12-16 hours each day.
Now that I can go back and start catching up, I'm both anxious and excited for teachers' responses. I know some will be glad that I can start doing work again and get caught up, but I know others will give me all my work to be due at once, not even considering that I've also been missing 5 other classes.
I don't even know what chapter we're on in Statistics, or what labs we're doing in Physics; I've missed due dates for this blog and the discussions; Calculus I had no chance in before my concussion; Nutrition Concepts is a textbook (that I haven't opened in 2 months) to remember for 1 test; I have 6 or 7 (or 8) essays due for Lit; I haven't done any work for Gov, my only class based primarily on memorization.
Our culture's handling of concussions has changed significantly over the past 10-15 years, even the past 5 years. The baseline tests that every athlete must take is a prime example of our need for control over concussions. Though it's great that we've come to know so much about concussions over the past few years, this knowledge shouldn't only be kept among athletes and doctors, but should be shared with everyone. My boss, an ex-gymnast, didn't even understand why I haven't been able to spot. The severity of concussions and necessity of slow care and recovery should be common knowledge, not Snooki's baby's name or Mitt Romney's worth.
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Tragedy brings us together
The recent massacre in Connecticut on Friday has been everywhere - from Newspapers to social media to nearly every television channel. It started with "I can't believe this," then "be thankful for your family and the time you have together." Now, it's become a debate over gun control. But are guns really the problem? This is one of the many recent domestic attacks that have taken place in the past decade, the general consensus that school shootings began with the Columbine massacre in 1999, the Red Lake massacre in 2005, the Virginia Tech massacre in 2007, and even the Colorado movie theater massacre early this year should be counted (though it didn't take place in a school, it was still a domestic act of violence resulting in a major loss of lives). Everyone is either blaming guns or re-quoting "guns don't kill people; people kill people."
I firmly believe in the power of education, and that with knowledge comes acceptance. We may not know why these people committed these terrible acts, but perhaps it was synonymous with the reason our suicide rates are so high right now. People are going through issues that they haven't been taught how to handle, whether it's discrimination based on sexuality, victimized by bullying, depression or psychotic disorders, or anything else; no matter whether it is any of these reasons, or something else, these aren't things we are taught about in school. They teach us to be nice to everyone and to help our friends who are sad, but they don't teach us what to do when we're the victims. Most of these issues are taboo to talk about, even to our closest friends.
Maybe the problem in our culture is guns, maybe it's a lack of education; maybe it's even both. But no matter what has caused these tragedies, thousands of people are personally affected. They bring our nation together to mourn for the victims and reach out to their families, to appreciate our own families and recall that our time on earth is short. We shouldn't need something like this for us all to agree.
Sunday, December 9, 2012
Why does it matter?
You ask someone if they know a certain person. They say, "yes, the name. Describe them." How do you respond?
Age. Gender. Height. Weight. Skin color. Hair color. Eye color. Everyone is labeled in each of these categories, and it's how most people describe each other. But why is this stuff the most important? Using this to describe someone doesn't really narrow down who it could be - millions of people could have the same combinations of this description. What really separates us from each other is our personalities and actions. Unless someone doesn't know who a person is by your physical description, you would describe their personality or an action they're known for (and most often negatively). Maybe you say someone is a teenage female, 5' 6", thin, white, with brown hair and blue eyes. That description would fit many high school girls, so it's not until you describe someone as obnoxious or quiet, or athletic or humanitarian, that it starts to make major differentiations.
So why do we start with something that isn't effective? Why do physical attributes matter in descriptions, when personality and actions are what really differentiate people?
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Subtle Addiction; Burning Stereotype
I know I talk about stereotypes a lot, but they're definitely a huge part of my life and American culture.
Saturday, November 24, 2012
Time Is Everything
I have to wake up by a certain time to get to work. I have to clock-in to work by a certain time. I have to set up the gym for my first class by a certain time. I have to start my first class at a certain time. I have to warmup and rotate my class at a certain time. I have to finish my class at a certain time. I have to bring in the next class at a certain time. I have to leave work at a certain time. I have to work on my homework for only a certain amount of time (due to my concussion). I have to be asleep by a certain time in order to wake up by a certain time.
I have a type-A personality, I have to schedule my life so I don't forget to do anything. I don't have a problem with everything being scheduled and timed; I'm completely lost without it.