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The book “In Search of April Raintree” is a passionate adventure of two Metis sisters trying to find their true identity. April had difficulties throughout her life with her ethnicity, gender and her personal life. Wondering one day if she’ll ever find happiness being a Metis woman. April was a fair-skinned Metis. She never felt that she fit in to either culture. “How was I going to pass for a white person when I had a Metis sister?” (p. 49). She believed that her Metis heritage led to nothing but bad choices and it would only damage her future. She believed that the white society was classy, rich and they were treated with more respect. The family she was born into was one of alcohol abuse, parties and neglect. She hated everything about her Metis background. Her sister Cheryl on the other hand, was happy to be who she was and proud to express herself as a Metis person. Cheryl would defend the Metis traditions under any circumstance. She tried convincing April of the importance of their culture, ancestry and history. Cheryl sent April many letters, assignments and essays written by Metis people in hopes of changing April’s thoughts …show more content…
Realistically, men could never last a day in a woman’s shoes. Men feel they have power and control over women. Women are only seen as objects and all they are meant to do is housework and raise children. Being a woman is hard work. It requires much courage and motivation. “I had to fight to control my trembling and shaky voice. I had to pretend it wasn’t as all that. I was asked to describe the man who raped me. I did so” (p. 178). As strong as a woman is, she is still vulnerable. The horrifying reality of being raped never broke April. It gave her just enough courage to walk away and forgive those that did her wrong. Sometimes a traumatizing experience can dramatically change a person’s life for the better. It gives them wisdom, strength and the faith that things will get
“Children are not blind to race. Instead, like all of us, they notice differences” and the character of Ellen Foster is no exception to the rule (Olson). Ellen Foster is the story of a strong willed and highly opinionated and pragmatic child named Ellen, growing up in the midst of poverty and abuse in the rural south. Her life is filled with tragedy from the death and possible suicide of her mother to the abuse she endures at the hands of her alcoholic father and his friends. Despite her hardships as such an early age, she never gives up hope for a better life. In addition to her struggles with poverty she is surrounded by a culture of racism in a society that is post Jim Crow
... of interconnectedness between Foua and Dr. Peggy by bonding through motherhood. When her son was diagnosed with leukemia, Dr. Peggy and Foua embraced, and all of the previous ethnocentric actions exhibited by the Americans before this point vanished as they grieved together. This event in the story paints the picture of cultural holism, which concludes that natural systems should be viewed as a whole, and not parts. By Dr. Peggy and Foua’s unity, the women exhibit the idea that the cultures can, in fact, overcome the previous differences and exist as one diverse population. In conclusion, the ethnocentrism that was prominent in the American society during the resettlement of the Hmong is detrimental to any culture. The framework for any aspect of life or culture is knowledge, so it is humanity’s responsibility to tolerate others instead of believing in superiority.
The novel begins with the protagonist, April Wheeler, portraying Gabrielle in an amateur-theatre production of the play, The Petrified Forest. The play ends up being a total disaster and leaves April devastated, leaving her disconnected from Frank, her husband, and her neighbors, Milly and Shep Campbell afterwards. The play, The Petrified Forest, is a disastrous love story of a man who decides to have himself die to keep the women he loves out of a life of misery. In the end of The Petrified Forest, Gabrielle is able to escape from her horrible lifestyle and fulfill her dreams; April was never able to do that.
I often have a difficult time describing my situation to others, but I wouldn’t want it any other way. Three divorces have taught me what successful and not so successful relationships look like. My younger sister with autism has taught me empathy, compassion, and patience. My step siblings have been there for me when did not have to be and for that I am grateful. No matter the family situation, every family has an undeniable sense of pride. For example, my family, most of whom were born in Ireland, throw the loudest St. Patrick’s day parties and keep our Irish flags up all through March. We are proud of our incredibly fair skin and abundance of freckles and redheads. My family’s pride is similar to that of Aunt Alexandra’s and her obsession with heredity and the certain “family streaks” in the novel’s Maycomb county. Scout mentions said streaks in chapter 13. “Everybody in Maycomb, it seemed, had a streak: a drinking streak, a gambling streak, a mean streak, a funny streak,” (Lee 129). I again feel Scout and I could relate to each other through our unique family situations, hers of course being her family’s cook Calpurnia and her neighbor Miss Maudie as her mother figures. Another unique family are the Pritchett’s on the show Modern Family. I was elated when this show came out because, while dramatized for comedic effect, it is a break from the straight, white, “we all get along fine” families usually depicted on TV.
In the past century, America has made great leaps in terms of equality. With the efforts made by the civil rights and suffrage movements, all people gained the right to vote. We are even moving forward with marriage equality, and currently fifteen states recognize same-sex marriage. But regardless of all of our progressive institutional movements forward, we continue to socially oppress women. Men’s violence against women has grown to be an internationally recognized epidemic, and will continue to grow unless measures be made to stop it. Domestic violence continues to be prevalent in the lives of many families, and is the primary cause of homelessness in half of cases for women in children. Many women have been forced to alter their behaviors out of fear of being sexually or physically assaulted. One out of every three women is sexually or physically abused in their lifetimes. The first thing that comes to mind is, there are a lot of people abusing women out there. Many people with opposing ideas may claim that men can be victims of violence perpetrated by women, but in instances not used for self-defense, it is rarely part of a systematic pattern of power and control through force or threat of force. In fact, 99% of rape is perpetrated by men, but when confronting men about the issue of violence against women, it is often combated with denial. Jackson Katz writes in his book, The Macho Paradox, “We take comfort in the idea of the aforementioned child-rapist murderer as a horrible aberration. A monster. We’re nothing like him.”(Katz 30). The sad truth is that most women who are raped are raped by men they know, or even men they love. Many men have a hard time believing that saying that most violence is perpetuated by men does not...
Women can become frightened of men and afraid of having a relationship with them and men can become worried about the women in their lives. This leads to the untrusting relationship. Those who have been raped and their families suffer from emotional trauma that may interfere with their lives for years. And those who rape think their actions are acceptable. It is very important that we are invulnerable to rape.
Susan Brownmiller’s excerpt Against Our Will: Men, Women, and Rape written in 1975 explores rape. It argues that from the beginning of time men had an advantage over women because their genitalia can serve as a weapon, which, in turn, generates constant fear. “Rape provides a sufficient threat to keep all women in a constant state of intimidation, forever conscious of the knowledge that the biological tool must be held in awe for it may turn to weapon with sudden swiftness borne of harmful intent”(Brownmiller, 312). Females are subjected to the harsh reality of rape at a young age through fairytales such as Little Red Riding Hood. Stories like these emphasize how weak women are and how heroic, brave and strong men are. Susan Brownmiller believes that the way to destroy the idea that “you can’t thread a moving needle,” and “no women can be raped against her will” by spreading awareness about rape and how it is a moral wrongdoing and punishable under the
According to the article “Statistics on Women Offenders,” Leonard A Sipes Jr. stated that “6 out of 10 women in prison have experienced physical or sexual abuse in the past. Approximately 69 percent of these assaults occurred before the age of 18” (corrections). Statistics from 2013 show that over 37% of female offenders are raped before going to prison. In the documentary, one female offender in the “Women’s Wellness Program,” asks the other women in the group what made it okay for her stepfather to sexual molest her at the age of 11. She also stated every time she replayed the incident in her mind she becomes
For example, in the local school, stereotypes such as the image of the ‘wild man’ are consolidated by claiming that there was cannibalism among the indigenous people of the northwest coast (Soper-Jones 2009, 20; Robinson 2010, 68f.). Moreover, native people are still considered to be second-class citizens, which is pointed out by Lisamarie’s aunt Trudy, when she has been harassed by some white guys in a car: “[Y]ou’re a mouthy Indian, and everyone thinks we’re born sluts. Those guys would have said you were asking for it and got off scot-free”
Native girl syndrome, as explained by Mrs.Semple, is a route that every native girl is bound for. “…It starts out with the fighting, the running away, the lies. Next comes the accusations that everyone in the world is against you. There are the sullen uncooperative silences, the feeling sorry for yourselves. And when you go on your own, you get pregnant right away or you cant find or keep jobs. So you’ll start with alcohol and drugs. From there, you get into shoplifting and prostitution and in and out of jails. You’ll live with men that abuse you . And on it goes…” Throughout the book we see April stays away from native pride and Cheryl embraces it. Three examples of why this occurs are how they view their parents, their involvement with the
Domestic violence is much more common than one may think. In fact, “a woman is beaten by her husband or partner every fifteen seconds in the United States” (Domestic Violence). This statistic doesn’t take into account how many women are verbally abused or women who are abused worldwide. It’s overwhelming to think how many women experience domestic violence each and everyday. More than likely, you have encountered a woman who is represented by this statistic. By the time physical abuse starts, a woman has already suffered from psychological abuse in a relationship. Women lose their self-esteem and dignity and often times feel alone. The immediate effects of abuse are heart-breaking when put into perspective. “‘I was very frightened of him, I had a great fear of him in my mind, it was like a beast had come, not a husband. I would shake if he came into the room. I would go to one side of the room and stay there and shake”’ (Fawcett, Featherstone, Hearn, and Toft 12). Many times, women are too afraid to report abuse to the police in fear of losing their husbands or making matters worse. Women sometimes are afraid of what...
Sexual assault is an offense that plagues many U.S. citizens. Although some studies show that rape is on the decline, other studies report that the phenomena actually occuring is that less rape victims are reporting the crime. In fact, approximately 68% of sexual assaults go unreported to the police according to the U.S. Department of Justice in a National Crime Victimization Survey from 2008-2012. It is common knowledge that rape victims are usually severely traumatized after the event, which leaves them susceptible to various emotions such as shame, anxiety, numbness, fear, denial, and guilt. Because of this, many rape victims decide to repress their experience and let it go unheard. However, not only does this prevent them from healing emotionally,
For the majority of victims it is hard to express they have been raped. The victims may feel guilty because they “asked for it” or they may feel “nasty”, as if they did something wrong. They might keep asking themselves what they could have done to avoid the attack or stopped it from happening (“Common reactions to rape”). If the victims feel this way about themselves, then what makes them think that other people won 't feel the same way. This is why many do not tell people or talk about the event. When Kathleen was raped she said she got called everything under the sun like "crazy", "nuts", "losing it", "pimp", "sl*t". She said she lost a handful of people to this event. People that didn 't understand that this was not her choice and how much it changed her (Kathleen Mary Fitzpatrick). Many people also do not feel comfortable having sex after the assault. Even being touched could be too much. It could bring them back to the event of being raped.For some people they could be suffering from PTSD, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Of course the victims will try everything not to remember the horrific event. “While I’m having sex I have to keep controlling my mind so I can hold it back from having a flashback. Throughout the whole process, I’m scared of these memories coming back, I’m trying to reign in the feeling of nausea.” Says rape victim Jo Heath. She sums up what many rape victims feel while they are
“Rape is a crime that combines sex and violence, that makes sex the weapon in an act of violence.”(Kimmel 257) Because of this, rape is often traumatic for the victim of a rape. Many victims undergo what is known as rape trauma syndrome, “…rape trauma syndrome, consisting of an acute stage, where the primary response is fear, followed by a reorganization stage, characterized by phobias, insomnia, sexual dysfunctions, and major changes in life-style.”(Chandler et al pp. 248) These are some of the psychological side effects that women must endure after the rape. There are also other factors, relating to the individual that effect rape trauma they include, “age, prior sexual experience, ethnicity, and response of significant others to the victim. Factors relating to the sexual assault, such as degree of violence and the relationship between the victim and the assailant also affect trauma.”(Chandler et al pp 249) Overall, is is safe to say that there are many psychological effects of rape that allows women to fear the attack of a rape.
The society we live in is rape-conducive, rape-friendly, if you will. Despite the anger I feel joining those two words together, I know the sad paradox holds within it a great deal of truth. We are a violent society that has shrouded rape in mystery and shame. To stop this nightmare’s venomous crusades, all people must wage a private war to eradicate their own acceptance of the savage crime. While it is only a minority of men that actually commit rape, it is everyone’s silence that tells them it’s ok.