Violence is bad, obviously. It can be seen on a broad spectrum ranging from extreme, unacceptable violence such as war, to violence that isn’t seen as such a big deal, such as a petty argument between siblings over the last cookie. But what about if there is an in-between violence? A type of violence that isn’t seen as that big of a deal in society, but is still a big deal, it just isn’t dealt with as such big of a deal. Such violence is street harassment, but what is street harassment?

Street harassment has been seen and interpreted from 2 different perspectives: the one who does the harassing, and the one receiving the harassment.  It has become a common, undignified and anti-feminist belief that street harassment can and should be taken as a compliment by women across the world. It has gotten to the point where women across the world have lost sense of the true degrading nature of street harassment.

Some women actually like being cat-called on the street, or stopped in a store to listen to some guy try and talk game to them. They see it as a compliment; a way to let other people and themselves know just how attractive they are. It’s a confidence booster in some cases with women with low self esteem, and it makes them feel good.  In an interview conducted by a CNN news reporter, one man even said "I have heard that when a guy walks by a girl and doesn't look, that she's hurt by that," he said. "I imagine it might feel pretty bad, but you know I can imagine it might boost their ego." Knowing they can capture the attention of anyone walking down the street. It is something some women look forward to leaving the house every morning. To other women though, the thought of getting catcalled on the street is horrifying. In more cases than not, simple comments meant to be compliments on the street have turned into uncomfortable or even violent situations. A writer from The Guardian was brave enough to share her insight on how it feels to be a woman at night, trying to get home: “My heartbeat quickened, the hair rose on my arms, and I felt the usual emotions flood through me. Fear. Anxiety. Impotence. Anger. Frustration. Misplaced embarrassment and shame.” Many women feel this way just walking around the corner. That nightmare has turned into reality for women around the world everyday. They do not see it as a compliment. The same reporter from The Guardian article wrote:  “A compliment doesn't make you rethink your route the next time you walk down the street.”. I believe this is a strong quote because it’s brutally honest, and people should understand how twisted the meaning of a compliment has become.

It is ultimately up to a person how they chose to perceive street harassment. It’s upsetting that to the majority of people, it really won’t seem like a big deal. They might say that women are overreacting, and should be more chill about it. The point of this essay is not to portray women as cowards who shake with fear as soon as someone tries to talk to them on the street. What must be understood is that there is a difference between giving someone a compliment, and harassing them. A compliment would be along the lines of: “Excuse me, I just wanted you to know, you look really nice today.” and leaving it at that. Harassment would look more like: “Damn ma, your ass is lookin’ mighty fine in those jeans today! Your mama know you out here looking like that?” There’s an apparent difference between the two interactions, and sadly, the latter is the one women are most likely to hear walking down the street.

There have been many attempts to raise awareness on street harassment. Such attempts such as social justice blog, Hollaback! Video, recording what it’s like to be a woman walking down the streets of NYC for 10 hours. Though there are many efforts, the truth is, street harassment won’t stop as long as sexism exists, and as long as people keep being ignorant to what’s right in front of them.

Sources:

1. CNN. Cable News Network, n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2017.

2. Bates, Laura. "Women should not accept street harassment as 'just a compliment'" The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 28 Feb. 2014. Web. 16 Mar. 2017.

3. "10 Hours of Walking in NYC as a Woman." YouTube. YouTube, 28 Oct. 2014. Web. 16 Mar. 2017.

Throughout the entire existence of humanity, the question of personal identity has been in the back of our minds, whether we realize it or not. Personally, I believe that question is basically a matter of opinion based on the type of person you are and what you believe ink. Where you choose to believe your personal identity lies- in your body, or in your mind, memories, beliefs and values. If we are the only us we can be, then what exactly makes us unique? Is a person’s body & physical appearance their identity, or are your memories, beliefs, values, and personality your identity? Rutger’s Professor Elizabeth Camp realized this, but also challenged it with a question of what we are:“...that I am my body, or that I am a thread of overlapping psychological states.”  We have challenged ourselves for decades over what truly makes us human, where the core of who we are, lies inside our body or our minds. In the end really, it’s basically an opinion based on the type of person you are and what you believe.

Is your body your identity? If someone were to actually replicate your thoughts, your memories, and put them in a new body, would it still be YOU? Psychologists have come up with what is called the Body Theory, which states “personal identity persists over time, because you remain in the same body from birth until death.” If this is the case, does that mean without our body, we don’t have an identity? If we are the only us we can be, then what exactly makes us unique? Is a person’s story their identity, because if so that’s messed up because stories get mistold all the time. Everybody has a story, it’s forever getting told everyday we live. Your body tells a story, it is who you are in physical form. People make changes to their bodies all the time, trying to express themselves to the world. That new hair color, the tattoo that you may have gotten during a night of bad decisions, losing those last 5 pounds, all those are changes people want to make to themselves. We all make changes to our bodies, and with every change comes a reason behind that change, and a story. These stories, the stories of our bodies, are they our identity? Stories can either be good, or be bad, and we all have both.

The mind is a powerful thing, It holds the entirety of our lives within it. Our body acts out our actions, but our mind is what controls us, records what we learn, and helps us make decisions that help us act out whatever we feel. Psychologists have also come up with a mind theory which states that: “Personal identity persists over time because you retain memories of yourself at different points, and each of those memories is connected to one before it.”. Our minds hold the things that can’t be touched such as our memories, our beliefs. our experiences that we hold close to heart, our secrets. Nobody knows what’s in your head but you. The other part of the mind theory is that, if your memory is your memory, then you must be the same person who experienced that memory. So if you have a memory from your first time you met your best friend, is part of you the same person you were when you met said best friend? Some people fully believe that yes you do remain the same in a way, but what happens if you lose your memories? Just how accurate are our memories really?  Elderly people with dementia or Alzheimer’s disease are unable to remember events in their life clearly, but instead relive a similar, but not completely accurate version of that memory. If the mind theory is something you are willing to commit to believe then you also have to accept that people stop being the same person if they lose their memories.

The question of where our personal identity lies will probably be around for as long as humanity is. It depends on the person what they choose to believe, and where they feel the most of their self is. Do you exist in your mind, or do you exist in your body? When you make the choice you must also think about whether you are, and have always been the same person from birth to death. Psychologist David DeSteno asks, "Can the present you trust the future you?", and when we think about where we exist, this is something we have to take into account. We all probably have the same common thought that we’ll be the same person from birth until death, and it’s this thought that we must go deeper into to get to the truth of where our personal identity truly lies.

Bibliography:

1. WirelessPhilosophy. "PHILOSOPHY - Mind: Personal Identity (The Narrative Self) [HD]." YouTube. YouTube, 05 Feb. 2016. Web. 18 Jan. 2017.

2. Crashcourse. "Personal Identity: Crash Course Philosophy #19." YouTube. YouTube, 27 June 2016. Web. 18 Jan. 2017.

Unapologetically A Book Nerd: A View Of Literacy From Real Life Experiences

By Zahirah Poree

One day in my English 3 class, my teacher asked my class, “What does literacy mean?”. Now, there was a sense of confusion that went around the room as we all thought, “What the hell is he talking about?” We all then proceeded to muster up some kind of definition for this word that we knew the components of, but not exactly what it was. Sure, literacy --obviously something to do with books-- we all read, that’s it right? Wrong. I left the class that day with multiple definitions for literacy, but it wasn’t until I got the assignment to write an essay such as this that I got the huge realization that I was in fact, stuck. I had the worst case of writer’s block for days until-

It hit me like a sack of bricks. It wasn’t the fact that I didn’t know what literacy was, or how to define it; it was that I already did. Literacy is around us everyday. Where there is a word, there is literacy. But literacy is something that’s been substantial in shaping me into the person I am today. Most people don’t know this about me, but I am a closeted book addict. I love to read, I love books, I love everything about them. It started when I was younger - probably around 1st grade - that I got into my first book series: Junie B. Jones by Barbara Parks. My mom loved books as a child, and after seeing her read so much, I decided to try and love them too. It was decidedly one of the best choices of my life. The moment I finished the first page of Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus, I actually felt like I was going along with Junie B. to her first day of kindergarten, on the stupid stinky smelly bus. That was all I needed. The feeling I got from reading was like escaping to another world to experience life from another person’s perspective. Reading from then on was like my addiction. I went on to now own every single original Junie B. Jones book, and it just grew from there. My passion for reading grew like a wildfire in the woods, and each new book that I got whether it was a gift or one that I saved up for, just added to the flame.

It got so bad that I made it a rule that I had to bring a book every where I went at all times, especially at school. My school supported reading, and hosted annual book fairs. Books fairs are these events where an organization called  Scholastic brings multiple mobile shelves filled with all these amazing, beautiful books, for all ages. I lived for these. I can’t say much that I liked about my middle school, but one thing I will never forget are the book fairs.

As the years went on, my love for reading lead me into reading everything, including dictionaries. I would sometimes get stuck on a “big word” and  have to look up the definition. This caused my vocabulary to grow extensively, and also led to me developing a love for words- specifically spelling. When I was in the sixth grade, I competed in my school-wide spelling bee. My entire class was nervous and jittery because we were the bottom of the middle school food chain. Who expected us to even try to say a letter in this competition? We were up against the 7th and 8th  graders, so we were fairly intimidated. As the bee went on, I spelled every word I was challenged with, at first shakily and meek, but then going on to being clear and confident. In the end, it was me and this one 7th grade girl. We had beat our fellow classmates and upperclassmen. It was complete bogus though. They gave me a “big word”, or one for me at the time. “Choreographer. C-h-o-r-o-e-g-r-a-p-h-e-r.”  DINg! Shit. My heart froze. Then,  “Lintel. l-i-n-t-e-l.” “Congratulations!” Complete bull right? So I won second place in my school spelling bee, which is was still a big deal, at least to the adults in my school and family at home.

The reaction I received from my peers and upperclassmen, however, was fairly negative. They were jealous that I beat out so many kids, and as a result I got bullied and teased a lot. I was labeled as a “nerd”, and a “book freak”. This made me feel like something was wrong with me , and I began to feel ashamed I tried to hide my feelings. I became so self-conscious about my fascination for literacy, which resulted in me pushing reading and spelling to the side, instead focusing more on getting the unwanted attention away from myself, and onto the next big thing. Reading was to be confined to only sometimes, and even later, almost never. Now I am a junior in high school with this assignment to write about literacy. During my class I could relate to the text Superman & Me, when the main character describes to the reader, “My father loved books, and since I loved my father with an aching devotion, I decided to love books as well.”. After reading that, the memories just came flooding back on how reading started for me, with my mom.. This is how literacy started for me, and ever since it has been a path of growth, and I can’t wait to see where it takes me from here.

~  "Laugh Yourself Silly with Junie B. Jones." Random House. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Nov. 2016.

~   "Scholastic Book Fairs - Schools." Scholastic Book Fairs. N.p., 2016. Web. 03 Nov. 2016.

~   "Www.dormanhigh.org." N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Nov. 2016.