Letter to 10th Grade Techer
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3901 Parkview Lane Irvine, CA 92612
November 6, 2006
Dear Mr. Francisco Guzmans 10th grade English class,
My name is xxxxxx xxxxxx, a former Bravo Knight student of Mr. Guzmans 10th grade English class and now an Anteater at the [university] My name might not sound familiar at all because by the time you guys walked in through the doors of Bravo I was already attending UC Irvine. Thats OK, and as a former student I hope you guys are having a great time in this wonderful school. Try making the best out of it. These four years could be the best four years of your life, or they could be the worst, believe me, Ive been there. Ive lived through the drama that propagates through the halls, Ive taken the courses you guys are taking, but dont panic everything is going to be just fine. Now, Im not writing to let you guys know the tricks to how to pass your AP Chemistry course, or how to integrate a function, Ill pass that chore to Mr. Morgan or Mrs. Rodriguez. I know you guys are tenth graders and excited to learn about calculus, biology, chemistry and English, but have you guys ever wonder why you guys are not exposed to issues outside the classroom? The reason is because the curriculum doesnt allow it, all of your teachers are required to teach you certain things by certain date, which doesnt allow the flexibility to talk about topics regarding race, gender, or any other topic that might interest you. For that reason, Im here to talk to you about a topic that is neither covered in chemistry, nor in your English classes, that is, gender issues.
What are gender issues, you might ask? Gender issues ranges from unequal pay between men and women, domestic violence, prostitution and many others, however, I will focus on the objectification of women. At this point, you might be asking yourselves, “Why do I care?” “How does that relate to me?” Let me explain to you, at this age, you might think you know everything about the male and the female population, I mean, you guys have girlfriends and you girls have boyfriends, and you might think that your guy or girl personifies the entire male or female population. Thats not true, its good to know that all the couples here love each other very much, but what you know does not suffice to survive in the real world that waits for you. For that reason, I want to enlighten you, and give you some insight about the objectification of women so that you can become knowledgeable and have greater appreciation of who you are, what makes you, and what makes the opposite sex what they are, that is, their problems, stereotypes and dangers in society. Enough cajoling, as I mentioned, I will for now and for the rest of this letter focus on the objectification of women. What does that mean? That means that women are seen as sexual objects, not recognizing the fact that they are human beings capable of thinking or showing emotions. Under this objectification, women are seen only through their physical attributes, and not their intellectual capabilities. One text that talks about the objectification of women is the poem “Rape and Modern Sex War” written by poet and novelist Margaret Atwood. In it, Atwood states how woman are objectified, how women are used and re-sued for the benefit of the male dominated society. She states that women are objectified even in the most subtle ways. In another text, “Rape and Modern Sex War” written by University of the Arts in Philadelphia professor Camille Paglia, she contends that men will always see woman as sexual objects, and that no matter what is done, women should take care of themselves because mens views will not change. These two texts bring light about gender issues that affect women in specific, while Atwood lists and mentions how women are objectified, Paglias accepts that women are objectified, but that it shouldnt be an excuse for women not to protect themselves.
What happens when women do not protect themselves? Or, what happens when men take advantage of womens vulnerability? Rape. As we all know and hear from the news, we always hear about a woman been raped everywhere. Do you guys know what rape is? Well, rape is when a male subject has sex with a woman against her will, either by force, inducing alcohol, drugs, submission, etc, all is considered rape. On a side note there had been cases of the opposite, a woman committing rape on a guy, but thats not what Im addressing here. In Paglias essay “Rape and Modern sex war”, she states that feminism is to blame for women becoming victims of rape. Also, she states that feminist are wrong to say that the sexes are the same, that females are the same as males and that saying a woman can do anything they want puts them in disadvantage and at risk or rape. Or put in Paglias words “Feminism keeps saying the sexes are the same. It keeps telling women they can do anything, go anywhere, say anything, wear anything. No, they cant. Women will always be in sexual danger”(Paglia 35). We see that feminism puts women in danger of rape because if they want to be like men, they women would have to think like men. Think about it, and Im talking to my male audience, how would you feel about a girl that acts like one of you, messes around like one of you, talks smack and all that stuff. At one point, you might think “ooh thats fun, or thats cool” , but at one point, when messing around, things could get out of control and that girl could end up raped by one of you – lets say at a friends house after watching a movie – or someone who acts and thinks like you. This will happen because although shes acting like a man, ultimately shes a woman, and nothing can change that. Also, look around the room and see how you fellow ladies are dressed. As you guys can see some ladies dress more provocatively than others, some are more all out and some are more conservative with their clothes. What the feminist are talking about is that women should dress any way they want, but theyre gearing towards the provocative side. They are telling women to dress sexy, provocative, nearly no clothes whatsoever. Why? Because they think women ought to have freedom to pick and choose, and not be restrained by males. Finally, when she states that women will always be in sexual danger that means that no matter how women act, dress, behave, where they go or anything, there will always be someone after them, trying to take advantage of them. So ladies here present, use your judgment, think whats appropriate and what isnt, set your limits and dont go over the extreme when