Leg Warmers and Side Pony-tails

Hello everyone!

My name is Kailannie Feliciano and I'm currently a senior graduating in the spring. It feels great to have almost completed this significant chapter in my life and that I'm inching towards an exciting future. I'm an Interdiscipinary Studies major with a focus in Mass Communication and Humanities.

I hope to someday work for a music-based magazine. I have an immense love and passion for music. I love anything and everything from smooth jazz to hip hop. I would consider myself to be a very multifaceted individual; there are so many aspects and dimensions to my personality that I tend to throw people off.

I'm a city girl who can fall asleep to the sounds of Manhattan traffic and subways, yet I still enjoy the peacefulness of a log cabin in the winter. I love incredibly fast cars but I'm too scared to get behind the wheel of anything that looks like it should be in The Fast and the Furious. I love long drives but I hate the fact that the air conditioner in my car recently broke (no road trips for me any time soon). I practically live at the beach but I don't particularly enjoy the sand. The unpleasant feeling of sand between my toes is one I could do without. I am completely obsessed with 80's fashion. Sometimes I wish that I grew up in the 80's rather than the 90's, just so I can wear leg warmers and side pony-tails.

I wanted to take this class because I love learning about people, cultures, and subcultures. I took a Women's Studies course last fall and enjoyed it very much. I learned a lot about the women in my class and I learned an even greater deal about myself. I hope to do the same as this course progresses.

In "Your Life as a Girl," Sittenfeld discusses various issues that girls commonly face as children, tweens, and later as young women. She captures the essence of girlhood in a way that we can all relate to. Reading this story was like watching my own experiences as a girl unfold right before me. Like Anna, I was the athlete in elementary school. I played hard and never thought twice about playing sports with the boys. Once middle school hit and puberty came around, I felt awkward and vulnerable. I felt as though I didn't fit in and as a result, I distanced myself from everyone. My insecurities continued to grow until right before I began high school. After several conversations with influential women in my family, I felt empowered to take control and not feel ashamed of who I was.

The stories in Red are reminiscent of my experiences in high school. These girls acknowledged what they were going through and made a conscious effort to confront them fearlessly. They took a more proactive approach to dealing with these situations in contrast to the way Anna went about her problems. In the end, Anna was still left trying to find herself. In my opinion, the stories in Red are trying to demonstrate how girls usually share the same experiences; however, our reactions and coping mechanisms differ.

Comments

Ani Reina said…
I think Annas helplessness is part of the story. We are supposed to realize that this sort of oppression is suffacting and very difficult to escape.

(The air in my car is broken too, I feel your pain.)

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