This inforgraphic is about oil spills in the Niger Delta. Since the 1950s, the oil-rich Niger Delta has been a hub for oil drilling. But, the region's lack of infrastructure has made it difficult to regulate oil companies like Shell. There are many oil spills in the Niger Delta, and they are rarely cleaned up. The oil companies blame the oil pirates, and the people living in the region blame Shell for not guarding it's product as well as it should be.

Click here to read Twisted Sisters by RubyJane Anderson

Gender roles in The Taming of the Shrew and The Proposal

The Taming of the Shrew is a play written by William Shakespere. In Shrew, Petruchio, a wealthy man, plans to marry Katherine, a woman notorious for her unpleasant disposition. Katherine does not consent to the marriage, but Petruchio convinces her father that Katherine has agreed to the match and the two are married. When Katherine goes to live with Petruchio, he vows that he will “tame” her. The Proposal, a film released in 2009, is ver similar to The Taming of the Shrew. The Proposal is about a man named Andrew and his boss Margaret. Margaret is disliked by all of her employees, especially Andrew. Margaret, a Canadian citizen, risks deportation if she doesn’t get married. She blackmails Andrew into marrying her. 

The Taming of the Shrew is often criticized for it’s sexist themes. Due to Petruchio’s calculated abuse (he denies her food and sleep in order to extract compliance) Katherine surrenders to his will, declaring to her friends and family “Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper, Thy head, thy sovereign; (5.1.146)” Literary critic George Bernard Shaw described the play as “altogether disgusting to modern sensibility". However, the gender roles delineated in The Taming of the Shrew are not outdated products of Shakesperian chauvinism. In The Proposal, Margaret and Andrew’s interactions appear to be a role-reversal of the Taming of the Shrew, but the film ends up reiterating a message of male dominance.

“She is intolerable curst,

And shrewd, and froward, so beyond all measure

That, were my state far worser than it is,

I would not wed her for a mine of gold”(1.2.89-93)

In this scene, Hortensio is trying to convince Petruchio to marry Katherine. He tells Petruchio about Katherine’s reputation: she is known to be unpleasant, petulant, and irritable. 

In The Proposal, Margaret is seen in a similar light. 

In part of the movie, Margaret fires an employee who failed to secure a contract with an important client for the publishing company of which Margaret is a high-level manager. Once she informs him of his termination, he flies into a rage, calling Margaret a “poisonous bitch” and a “monster”. Additionally, throughout the entire film Margaret is referred to as “satan’s spawn” by several other characters. Margaret is very similar to Katherine: both women are written off as horrible bitches by the male characters. The way their different situations unfold is when the two characters begin to differ.

“I tell you, ‘tis incredible to believe

how much she loves me. O, the kindest Kate!

She hung about my neck , and kiss on kiss

She vied so fast, protesting oath on oath

That in a twink she won me to her love” (2.1.325-329)

In this scene, Petruchio declares to Baptista (Katherine’s father) that he has successfully woo’d her. Upon hearing the above quote, Baptista agrees to the match and arranges for Katherine to be wed to Petruchio. Katherine remains silent during this part, although she previously made it clear to Petruchio that she had no interest in marrying him.

In The Proposal, Margaret does the same thing to Andrew. 

Margaret is a Canadian citizen living in the United States on a work visa. When she fails to take the steps necesscry to renew he visa, she faces deportation. When she finds out about her impending deportation, she quickly tells ICE that she and her assistant, Andrew are to be married. Andrew goes along with this in the meeting, but afterwards he expresses some concerns about marrying her. Margaret then says that if she is fired, her successor will fire Andrew, ruining his dreams of publishing his book. Andrew also negotiates a promotion for himself. Andrew agrees to marry Margaret. 

In The Taming of the Shrew, it is Petruchio who pursues Katherine. In The Proposal, it is Margaret who pursues Andrew. Both Margaret and Petruchio want to be married not for romantic love, but for their own purposes. Margaret wants to keep her job and Petruchio wants to collect Katherine’s sizable dowry. However, Andrew will receive a promotion while Katherine receives nothing for marrying Petruchio.

This role-reversal reflects the changed reactions to women in power since Shakesperian times. In the 1500’s, a woman had no rights and was considered property. The very idea of a woman being in any sort of power (with the notable exception of Queen Elizabeth, who was often ruthlessly mocked in the English media during her reign), was absolutely ridiculous. Therefore, the Renaissance equivalent to Margaret’s “bitchy boss” character would be a woman who refused to conform to traditional gender roles. Katherine fills this role. She refuses to allow her father to make a whore of her and marry her off to a stranger, and was often belligerent in asserting this. Through Petruchio, Hortensio, and other male characters’ eyes, an independent woman must be deficient in some way because men are dominant, and in not accepting her socially-expected role as a woman threatened their power. Thus, she was a “shrew”

Margaret is shrew for not conforming to gender roles. She is a woman in power in corporate America, which is no easy feat. When her subordinates speak to each other about her, they often use gendered insults to refer to her (like “bitch” and “witch”), even though the film never shows her doing anything particularly horrible to her employees. Modern women in power are often put under a microscope. Take Hillary Clinton. She is constantly berated by the press for her appearance in ways that her male counterparts never have been and never will be. 

“Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper,

Thy head, thy sovereign; (5.1.146-147)”

This quote is from the last scene in The Taming of the Shrew. At a dinner party with Katherine’s friends and family, she makes a shocking speech declaring that women must be obedient to their husbands, because women must be protected by men. 

In The Proposal, Margaret and Andrew interact in ways that send the same message.

In this scene, Margaret and Andrew go on a boat ride. When Margaret tries to operate the boat, she falls out of the boat and into a lake. Unable to swim, Andrew must pull Margaret out of the water, saving her from drowning. In the film there are also other scenes like this where Margaret seems unable to do anything for herself and Andrew must sweep in and save the day. For example, Margaret cannot walk down a ladder without Andrews assistance. Nor can she turn on a computer in an internet cafe without him showing her how, which seems strange since it would make sense that a highly-esteemed book publisher would know how to operate a computer. In the films final scene, Andrew confronts Margaret in the office, declaring his affection to her in front of the entire staff of the company. When Margaret tries to interrupt him, he yells at her “I told you to shut up!”. The two kiss, and the scene ends with a co-worker yelling “Yeah! Show her who’s boss Andrew!”

As the film progresses Margaret becomes more reliant on Andrew. By the end of The Taming of the Shrew, Katherine is totally and utterly reliant on Petruchio. Both works send the same message: women must rely on men, otherwise they are shrews. When Andrew “takes control” in the final scene, he has successfully “tamed” Margaret. When Katherine relinquishes her entire identity for Petruchio, he has successfully “tamed” her. On the surface, The Proposal may seem like a role-reversal of The Taming of the Shrew, but the film falls into ancient tropes the still dictate the way men and women relate to each other in television, film, and other forms of media. 

Works Cited

Shakespere, William. The Taming of the Shrew. New York, NY: Washington Square, 1992. Print.

The Proposal. Dir. Anne Fletcher. Perf. Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, 2009. DVD.

"The 'ideal' spectator is always assumed to be male and the image of the woman is designed to flatter him."
I completely agree with this. If you look at advertisements, like American Apparel ads (which are notorious for being sexually provocative), the woman is rarely portrayed as a whole person but instead fragments of a body. A leg, an ass, a stomach, a breast. In ads, women are depicted as objects to be desired and not as people. This is extremely prevalent in our culture. 
Woman are objectified in nearly all aspects of the media, including music. Rarely do we hear a man sing about a woman's quick wit or expertise in matematics, her body is whats used to quantify her worth. This is evident in the "song" "Birthday Song" by 2 Chainz. In this song, 2 Chainz (A.K.A. "Titty Boi") says "All I want for my birthday is a big booty hoe". When he says that he wants a woman as a gift for his birthday, he is objectifying her. When he does not give the woman an identity other than her large butt, he is reducing her to her body. When he acts as though a woman is something to be obtained, he is dehumanizing her. 

Professional male sports are a big deal because of masculinity and what in means to be a man in our society. Maleness is often portrayed as being strong and tough, and to be successful in sports, you need to be strong and tough.
Women's sports get little to no recognition. The WNBA is often mocked by male NBA fans, and the WNBA has been on the brink of bankruptcy for years now due to a lack of spectators. Women isports are often mocked for a perceived lack of femininity. This is because the woman are not playing sports for the male view, so they are seen as useless. The only professional women's sports league that has spectators is the lingerie football league. What does this say about us as a society?
Feminists often claim that feminism is about liberation for everyone, and that anyone can be a feminist. This is not something I agree with. Feminism should be about the woman as a whole, completely removed from the male. Feminism is for women, and women only. Men can be allies, but men cannot be feminists. It's time for men to move over, they've dominated the world long enough. 

​For my podcast, I interviewed my grandmother about racism and sexism in the 40's, 50's 60's, and 70's

Rosario Anderson, Elena Morrow, y Octavio White

Here is our video 

In this unit, we learned a lot about language and power. This unit really helped me reflect on language, and it helped me realize that I judge people based on their language when the truth is that you cannot tell a persons character from the way they look or speak. 

My mother is white. My father is black. I have never really considered myself black. I am black, but I don’t feel black. Yes, black DNA runs through my veins, giving me nappy hair and a wide nose, but I don’t feel black. I was raised in University City, the bourgeois part of West Philly. There were some black people in my neighborhood, and my best friend growing up was black, but she struggled with language in the same ways I did. We were both physically black, but not culturally black. 

I went to a very diverse elementary school. About 70% of the students were black, and about 50% of the students were classified as “economically disadvantaged”. None of this really made a difference to me (or anyone else). We all got along (for the most part) and I had lots of friends, both black and white. It wasn’t until middle school that I really noticed the cultural divide between other black students and myself.

My middle school was not as diverse as my elementary school. Although it was a public school, most students were white and middle class. There were some black students, but they only hung out with each other. I didn’t really notice this until my best friend Ivy said to me “Ruby, why don’t you act black?”. At first, I was very offended. 

“How can someone act black? Is it because I’m smart? Because I speak proper english? You’re a racist”

This isn’t what she meant. I know that now. She was referring to my language. I don’t speak in Ebonics, Black Vernacular, African American English, or anything of the sort. But, probably due to some internalized racism, I associated speaking in Ebonics with being dumb, and (indirectly) I associated being black with being dumb. 

I didn’t realize that I was harboring some serious internalized racism until about 8 months ago. I stumbled across a few social justice bloggers, and one wrote a really long post about code-switching and African American Vernacular English (AAVE). He basically said that AAVE is a first language for most black people, and many have to change the way they speak in professional setting because AAVE is seen as “unprofessional”. This is still a common belief, and it’s really racist. Saying that AAVE is unprofessional or wrong is like saying black people are unprofessional or wrong. AAVE is a dialect of english, just like people from California and New York speak in distinctive tones and have different words. The only difference is that AAVE and the black community is the only dialect that is singled out to the extent that it is. This reflects a greater issue: racism in America. 

Africans were brought to the US by slave traders. They were forced to learn english, and (like most english language learners) developed a distinct accent. Because the Black community was (and still is) so isolated from white america, this accent stayed. AAVE does NOT include slang words, and has rules and pronunciation.

After learning about AAVE, I realized that I judged black people for using it and immediately wrote them off as dumb and not worth my time. Since many black people use AAVE, I made judgements about the entire race and didn’t associate myself with them. I was a racist. Not the kind that you see on TV, burning flags and wearing t-shirts with bright red swastikas, I was the kind of racist you most often find in the US. The kind who scoffed at black teenagers on the bus, and the kind who said things like “Just because I’m not dumb doesn’t mean I’m not black”. I thought that I was a champion for my race, but I was just whitewashed, and because of this I saw myself as superior. This was wrong, and I understand now that AAVE doesn’t make a person dumb, it’s just another way of speaking.

I don’t feel black. I have never experienced black culture. All my life I’ve listened to white music, eaten white food, and spoken in white english. But, I don’t feel white either. My tanned skin and curly hair have always served as a reminder of my otherness. I still don’t know where I stand with my race. When I refer to the black community as a whole, I never know whether to say “them” or “we”. I feel silly saying “they”, but “we” feels strange. I’m not black, but I’m not white. I don’t really know what I am. 

In my World History class we’ve been learning a lot about the Keystone XL Pipeline, a proposed oil pipeline that would transport tar sands oil from Canada to Texas (for for information about the Keystone XL Pipeline see appendix below). The assignment was to write three (and preform one) monologues as three different characters talking about the pipeline. The hardest part of this project was finding a balance between showing and telling. 

Starlight (performance artist)

(enters carrying bongos and has flowers in hair) (hairy armpits) (the actress cannot shave for this to work) (if you have ever seen Rent, “Over the Moon” would be good reference)

Hello citizens of the world. I am Starlight, lover of the earth. 

There is a storm coming 

(ominous music) (bongo beat)

A storm...of blood!!!!!!!! 

(bongo beat) 

This blood will cover the land, cover its native people, cover our hearts 

(bongo beat) (cool dance move)

But, these rich rain clouds think they have us fooled. They tell us that yes, perhaps the soil will be stained with tan grainy blood, perhaps our mothers fingers will be reduced to nubs, perhaps the clear milk from her supple breast will be drained, but it is worth it.

Why?

So we can power our stainless steel appliances. So our cars can run faster, better, longer. Who cares if tar sands oil produces 3x more C02...thats what natural resources are here for right? For us to use as fast as we possibly can...they’re renewable, right?Oh 

(bongo beat)

Whats that? They’re nonrenewable? So why do we continue to deplete them?

So we can continue to wear away the hole in our mothers skin. 

Learn the facts, do not become sheeple, baa-ing at corporations as they shear you bare.

(bongo beat)

This next monologue is the one I chose to preform and film. You can view the video here.

Charles McMoneybags

(He is sitting behind an executive desk in a high backed leather chair with great lumbar support. He speaks on a solid gold telephone)

Ma’am, I can assure you that every tree we cut down will be replaced with three more...how long will it t-listen ma’am, I am a very busy man. I only want to help the American Economy...no I will not release my tax returns! How dare you!

(slams phone)

Fuckin hippies!

begins to furiously write. 

phone rings

Hello? What does he want? No. Send him away. I don’t care--I’m a very busy man.

hangs up

phone rings again

Hello? Oh for christs sake Kristen can you please send him away? Tell him I’m at an Obama fashion show, I don’t care. Kristen, I don’t pay you $25,000 dollars a year to let these liberal morons wrestle their way into my office! I am the CEO of the richest oil company in the US! I don’t have time for this shit!

(slams phone really hard, like he wants to kill someone)

writes furiously

phone rings

JESUS CHRIST KRISTEN YOU ARE FIRED! GET OUT! I KNEW I SHOULDN’T HAVE HIRED A WOMAN-oh my god I am so sorry Mrs. Rosenberg. No, I’m not at home right now, maybe Dora can let you in. I think she knows where the spare key is. You have a good day now. 

phone rings

Hello? 

gets exited-its none other than BARACK OBAMA!!!!!!!! 

(motions outside his office for Kristen to come in)

whispers

Kristen, clear my schedule.

Hello Mr. Obama, it is an honor to speak with you. Yes. I understand you are concerned about the environment, but you need to make a choice. If you want the support you had from the right in 2008, you’re going to have to sign off on this or else you are looking at a one term pregnancy. Listen, Barack, can I call you that? This is going to be like liquid gold. If you want to revitalize the US Economy, this is it! You’ve got the property taxes from the land we uses, you’ve go the boost of the local economies. Plus, pipelines are the safest way to transport oil! We’ve got guys out there 24/7 checking for leaks. Alright...I understand your concern...now I didn’t want to bring this up but you leave me no choice...I have some photos from your college years that I don’t think you would want the public to see, Mr. Barack O-Bong-a... You must not be a very good poker player because I am not bluffing. I’ll have my assistant fax them over right now. I would watch my tone if I were you...you have a good day now. 

(Hangs up, and smiles)

Character: Jenkins

Jenkins is a grumpy old man. He lives in a cabin in the woods and has been displaced by construction. He has lots of warts. 

the scene opens with Jenkins waking up from the sounds of bulldozers 

What is that....is it those damn commies? I knew this day would come.

Jenkins reaches into a box under his bed and pulls out a army uniform from the Vietnam war. He puts it on (it is way to big). He puts on the helmet which covers his eyes, so he must constantly adjust it. He pulls a shotgun out from the closet. He walks outside, shotgun pointed at the sky.

Alright you commie pigs...today is the day you die!

Aims gun at sky and shoots wildly

Sayanora! 

stops shooting

Who are you? Whats going on? What? Oh thats what all the commies say mr “Construction Worker” A pipeline? I dont even know what that is! Get out of my yard! What do you mean “eminent domain?” Sounds like a bunch of baloney to me. 

Hey!!! I said get out!! I know that our president, Mr. Richard Nixon, would not support this! I’ll call him right now!! If I could only find my rotary phone...Oh screw it. Get out of my yard!!! 

Didn’t you hear me?? Get out of my yard!!! What do you mean? How is this good for me? Where am I going to live? 

pause

How dare you!!! I have more time than that! I’ll have you know that my father lived to be 83! 

Get...out....of....my...yard!!!

shoots wildly. bullet ricashays off of bulldozer and shoots jenkins in leg. he dies. 

Appendix

-The proposed pipeline would run from Canada to Texas, making it one of the longest oil transportation pipelines in the world.

-The oil transported would be tar sands oil. This oil is very dirty and must go through extensive processing to be useable.

-Tar sands oil produces 3x more CO2 than crude oil. 

-The project (funded by private corporations) would cost roughly 7 billion USD.

-The pipeline would transport 800,000 barrels of oil per day.

-The pipeline would run over the largest freshwater reserve in the US. If there were to be an oil spill it could potentially contaminate our drinking water. 

Bibliography

TransCanada. "Keystone XL Pipeline Project." Keystone XL Pipeline Project. TransCanada, n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2012. <http://www.transcanada.com/keystone.html>.

Mckibben, Bill. "Global Warming's Terrifying New Math." Rollingstone.com. Rolling Stone, 19 June 2012. Web. 15 Oct. 2012. <http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/global-warmings-terrifying-new-math-20120719>.

Beutler, Brian. "The Keystone Fight Is Uniting Tea Partiers With Environmentalists."TPM. N.p., 27 Feb. 2012. Web. 15 Oct. 2012. <http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/02/keystone-opposition-creates-strange-bedfellows-in-rural-america.php>.

In my first and second blog posts, I have summarized the education crisis in the US. The issue is such an important and complex one that I could write several books about. Because this issue goes so far over my head and most other peoples heads, the best way to incite change is through awareness. So, to bring more awareness to this issue, I will be inviting a few friends over to my house for a screening of the film Waiting For Superman. Because I can't have everyone at my house, I encourage you to watch the film on your own time (you can watch it here)

This film does a very good job of explaining the issue and gives some interesting statistics (through really great graphics!). One thing to keep in mind is that this film portrays charter schools as the "miracle" that will fix US Schools, when in reality most charter schools perform the same or worse then neighborhood schools (check out this chart)

For my piece of original content, I have produced a fact sheet.

Sources

On Monday, we had a Mexican feast in Spanish class. It was very exiting! I enjoyed getting to try all sorts of new foods. Also, lo siento  for the lack of original pictures. They were taken on a friends phone, and this friend accidentally deleted them.

ps- Thanks to Senorita Manuel for applying for the grant that gave us the huge discount on the luncheon!

The United States continues to drop globally in education, this was established in my last blog post. But why?

Some would argue that its spending, that the US doesn't spend enough on education. This is simply not true. The US ranks among the highest in spending, yet among the lowest in achievement. This chart illustrates that countries that spent moderate amounts of money on education score the highest. This shows that the problem is not something easy, like not enough spending, but something bigger.

That something bigger is the entire system itself. The model used in most classrooms today is based on Horace Mann's philosophy on education. Mann believed in a primary education for all. His education philosophy was that students of different ages should be separated by age. Each grade had certain requirements, and those who didn't meet those requirements were not promoted to the next grade. Students were also to have summers off, mostly due to how hot it would be in the school year. Mann believed that education should be decided federally, rather then locally. Most classes were taught using lecture.

One problem with this is that Manns education system is mainly fact based. Mann emphasized the memorization of facts. Now that we have the internet, memorizing Abraham Lincolns birthday or the location of the Czech Republic is not very important. What schools should be teaching instead is how to apply these facts to the real world. Memorizing facts and spitting them back out does not require any form or original thought. What should be emphasized more in schools is critical thinking.

Another problem with this is that curricula are set by the state rather then locally. If teachers had more freedom to write their curricula, then they could tailor them to the needs of individual students and incorporate all learning styles.

Our education system is incredibly outdated. It was designed during the industrial revolution to give as many students the most uniform education as possible. But education is not "one size fits all". It needs to be tailored to the individual student to fit his or her needs, and our system does basically the opposite of that. To improve how public education in the US works, we need to scrap the old system and design a new one.



Here is an interesting TED Talk by Ken Robinson, an education activist. 


Sources

muchos gracias a Jenny Cruz!

Hay una familia en el biblioteca de agrentina. Hay un papá, un mamá, un hijo, y una hija. La familia tiene muy pequeña. La familia tiene una cuy. El una cuy pequeña. El cuy us muy importante. El cuy tiene un secreto. El cuy está triste.El cuy llora. El cuy le dice el papá "Un tornado está viniendo!"Hay un problema. Es un problema grande.

El cuy le dice papa "Debemos irnos!" La familia camina hacia el sótano.

Mi nombre es Ruby. Tengo 15 anos. Soy basante inteligente. Es por eso que me encanta leer. Me gusta musica, es por eso que escuchar musica. Me gusta er saludable, es por eso que me gusta correr. No me gusta trabajar, es por eso que a veces trabajar. Me odeo la aqua, es por eso que despues de las clases nadar. Me odeo deportes, es por eso que practicar deportes. 

​

SLA es mucho diversion y interesante. Hay laboratorios de ciencias y una biblioteca. Hay 500 estudiantes y 30 professores. SLA es en Filadelfia. Me encanta SLA porque es muy diversion y educativo.

Clase: Ingles
Profesora: La Srta. Dunn
Actividades en la clase: leemos, escribamos, y apremdemos. 
Responsibilidades: participar activimente, trabajar duro, y prestar atencion.
Materiales: el libro, el lapiz, y la computadora.
Opinion: Me gusta mucha porque es mucho intersante y la Srta Dunn es muy intellijente.

Clase: Bioquimica
Profesora: EL Sr. Sharif
Actividades en la clase: hacemos experimentos y investigacion.  
Responsibilidades: prestar attencian, completar la tarea, y trabajar duro. 
Materiales: la computadora, el cargador, y la alumna. 
Opinion: Me fascina porque es importante. 

Querido, 
Saludos desde Philadelphie, un ciudad entre la cuidad de Nueva York y la capital. 
Como estas? Me llama Ruby. Tengo 15 años. Me cumpleanos ed 5 de Octubre. Quando es tu compleanos? Que tiempo hace en Maracaibo? En Philadelphie, hace mucho frio. 
Que te gusta? Me gusta dormir, cantar, y eschchar musica. No me gusta nada estudiar, correr, y nadar. ¿Y a ti? ¿Que interesa?Soy alta, es por eso que baloncesto. So guapa, comica y sociable. ¿Y tú? ¿Cómo eres?
Bueno, me voy porque tengo que ir al esquela. ¡Adios!

Con cariño.
Ruby

Ever since I could remember, I have wanted to be an actress. The first musical I was ever in was "Alice in Wonderland" at my theatre camp. I was the deuce of clubs. When I was assigned this role, I was upset and wanted to quit. But, my mother told me that if I stuck with it, I would eventually get a lead role. So, I stuck it out for the summer. 
The following summer, I returned. I auditioned for the role of Lily st. Regis in Annie, and I got it! My mother was right. Since than, I have been in countless productions. Currently, I am in a production of Rent at the Rotunda in West Philly. 

Imagine you're in Spain and you're going out to dinner with some friends that you've made on your trip. In Spain, manners are very important. You don't want to be rude! Use these flashcards to help memorize some basic spainish courtesy phrases. ​

https://www.scienceleadership.org/users/jzhang <--- Here are Jian's posts.

https://www.scienceleadership.org/users/wabuali <----Here are Warda's posts.