Big Ass, Little Clothes
You know, i love the mall. As every young teenage girl with a limited budget should, the idea of going to the mall makes me feel great. BUT there is One thing that i never seem to understand while going to the mall. Why is it that they make clothes nearly impossible to wear for almost anyone, it seems. I mean, damn, i went to the mall with my guy friends and my friend was trying on some sweaters in a store with a bird logo that shall remain nameless..ehhem..(you know who you are) and this dude had to go all the way down to an extra small just so it could fit nicely. Wtf?! Its not like he’s even overly skinny or that hes too slender and tall. No, he’s average and looks like most americans in this world and then all of those clothes looked like they were supposed to fit like Fat Albert or something. It doesnt make sense and then also if you looked over to the women’s section and everything is supposed to fit a four year old. Its way too skin tight and dont cover none of my ass or back. And although i may be pretty damn tall but my friends are also average and guess what? They say the SAME DAMN THING! So i don’t understand what is going on in these designers heads when they make clothes for people because we are not all fucking mannequins. We do gain and lose weight and we BREATHE! So is it too much of a fucking challenge to put some cloth on our damn bodies so that we can be com-for-table! Is it? cuz im pretty sure thats your damn job! We shouldnt have to adjust, you do bitches! This is america, the land of the free and the home of the bitch-i-love-yo expensive-gucci-bag so i think that since we’re already having little slaves in third world countries who make our things for less than a nickel a day, at least have em do it right so that we can invest in the right way. And well dat be all. BUHBYE
Third Paper Reflection
With this paper, i feel that it has been the most interesting of all papers we have written. I say this because its our choice of words that we can research and find out more of the history behind the things we hear and say. With my words, i knew they were pretty derogatory and that they were meant to insult but i had never really honestly thought about why it was that way. It just seemed like something that darker skinned african americans like me used to retaliate against the views that we were of less value than fair-skinned african americans. I definitely approached this paper differently than all the others i had written because it had come from a more personal view and approach. Looking back on all of my writing, i think i have really improved on trying to not use ‘to be’ verbs all thr time. Before this class, i hadnt even known that that was something that i shouldnt be doing in formal papers. It still is very difficult but im glad that im at least aware of it now. Also, i have improved on writing research papers the correct way and knowing how to cite sources without plagarizing at all. Besides that, i feel that my writing is still the same just stretched alot longer. My strengths for writing would probably be my introductions and structured points throughout my papers and ive been really good with staying on one topic instead of flip flopping all over the place. I will definitely continue to work on ‘to be’ verbs and not using words repetitively as well especially after this class because its only going to get more difficult and the papers are only going to get longer from here.
Peer Reviewing
Last week in class, we had all brought in rough drafts for our final paper to be edited by our peers (i.e. peer editing). On monday, I had had my paper edited by Daniel and I cant remember the other kid’s name but he was sitting by daniel. On Wednesday, I had mine edited by Jon and Cassandra. Their advice all seemed pretty helpful and all of the feedback came out pretty positive and the only thing they had to suggest about my paper was to better state in my thesis that both my words kinda go hand in hand and that they are both important and negative for the black community. I had reviewed daniel’s paper as well and i thought his paper was going really well but i had suggested he just add more history into the word he chose and to be more formal with his writing because it was very casual. Other kid who was sitting by daniel whose name i cant remember for the life of me, i edited his paper too and his was the opposite of daniels and was wayyyy too formal. So i told him to tone that down a bit. Basically what i had learned from this whole process was that words we use or hear on a daily basis do affect us in ways that we probably would have never expressed or looked into, had we not had this assignment and i thought that was pretty cool.
Blog for English!
I often dont get too offended by many words but some words that i hear people say that kinda piss me off would be “fag”, “queer”, and “the n-word” (most of the time). I hate these words mostly because well, I am black and that word is pretty offensive when you know the whole history of it and for people to say it jokingly all of the time, because i dont mind it sometimes, but when you constantly use it for everything and then say its not okay for other people to say it, then you look really ignorant in my opinion. Also, i hate hearing “fag/queer” because i have gay friends that i am really close to and i feel like it isnt right to say those things because even today there is plenty of hate crimes against gay people and many uproars in the media and politics about why they should have the right to married or to be more general, any rights at all. i honestly dont believe any person should have the right to give someone else permission to love who they want. Coming from a very christian household, I have read the bible and heard many different sermons on people’s views on it and what they believe God’s views are on it, most of them being negative, but i dont believe that God would allow gay people to exist if he didnt like them and i do believe you are born that way. But enough about that, when people use these hurtful words and now when people try to use them jokingly or to compare them to stupid things, i just think its ignorant and cowardly. They are going through the struggles that african-americans, hispanics, asians, etc have been through before so therefore i especially think that other minorities shouldnt use them because they know exactly what its like so its just a vicious cycle of ignorance and hate that really isnt necessary.
Paper Topic
So the word that i would like to choose to write about, or the phrase rather would have to be “good hair, yellow bone”. I chose this because the topic often comes up whenever talking about what ideal beauty for black girls is. The definition (on urban dictionary because something like oxford dictionary probably would have enough knowledge to publish it) would go as such
Good Hair-A popular term in the African-American community, used to describe an black person’s hair that closely resembles the hair of a typical white person (i.e. soft, managable, long, as opposed to “nappy” or “bad” hair). The closer your hair is to a white person’s, the “better” your hair is.
Yellow Bone-A Yellow Bone is the lightest type of light skinned black female. They can often be very rare to see in comparison to other blacks because there are not as many of them in the general black population. They are usually mixed with white, something similar, of multiple races including black, or may just have another race mixed into their family tree which causes them to be very very light. Their skin usually has a yellow-tan, yellowish-red, or yellowish(almost caucasion- white) look to it.They usaually have hair texture ranging from the typical black female hair texture to natural tight curls, loose curles, wavey, or even caucasion-white looking hair textures. They are can many times have lighter hair and eyes. Many mixed, multiracial, and bi-racial females are often called Yellow Boned in the black community due to them fitting this discription. Many times a light skinned black can be considered to be both Yellow Boned and Red Boned if she is light enough to be Yellow Boned but still can fall into a tan or redish complextion catagory.So alot of Yellow Bones can also be considered to be Red Bones but not many Red Bones can be considered Yellow Boned. ( yes this can sound complicated if your not familiar to it) They can often even look some what like spainish females but they ARE black.
Yes i know that last definitien seemed like alot to take in but i would like to write about this because it has always been a issue among the black community that affects everyone involved and most of the time, not in a good way. Seeing as i dont fit into either category, I have often had the short end of the stick when it comes to being compared to someone who does have these physical attributes. Quite frankly, i believe these stereotypes that people who are “yellow boned” or have “good hair” are automatically better and held to a higher standard is bullshit and it is unfair, especially to little girls who happen to be on the darker side when it comes to skin complexion who have to put up with being seen as less beautiful because they dont look very european. Alas, my opinion doesnt really matter so i will try to state facts in my paper. There is a very long history of these ideas that trace back to slavery days when the slaveowners would take slaves that were lighter than a paper bag or had more european features were allowed to be house slaves and those who were not had to work outside which (whether intentionally or not) has divided the black community upon their vision of what a beautiful woman is and what is not. I would like to write about that and maybe even bring up more of the negative outcomes that come of it such as darker women wanting to bleach their skin or wear weaves and colored contacts and even when black men tend to choose lighter pigmented women for music videos and even for spouses.
