...there are too many things that go wrong. A woman could be raped and need to get one because she doesn’t want to carry the child full term. Many have pondered upon the meaning of an abortion. This topic has been a controversial topic for many years. Abortion is the choice of women whether or not she wants to receive one. The right to choose to have an abortion is again so personal and essential to women’s lives that without these rights, women cannot exercise other fundamental rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution. This paper will argues the reasons why the act is sought after and outline the positive and negative outcomes associated with committing the act. When one engages in controversial topics ethically and culturally like abortion, many people tend to latch on the specific idea. One example would be those in favor of abortion being legal are unwilling to go beyond the fact that a woman has a right to her own body. Second example would be those that think abortion should be illegal would be unwilling to go beyond the thought that abortion is murder. I find that many people have so much confusion on this issue because of one being human one’s tendency to accept or reject some basic moral principles without...
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...Welcome Table by Alice Walker / what it's like to be a black girl by Patricia Smith represent African American women who have faced challenges of sexism, racism and stereotypes in American life. Racism and Sexism are questions that I will discuss and examine. I will compare tand contrast similarities of both poems. I will explain and give examples to show how these two poems exhibit different scenarios but similar views about how race and ethnicity can affect women of color based on prejudice and stereotypes. The main character is a nearly blind, old black woman with a lean build and a grayish tone to her skin. She wears a mildewed black dress with missing buttons and a grease-stained head rag covering her pigtails. She has blue-brown eyes, is ashen in appearance and much wrinkled. She is perspiring from her walk and is shivering from the cold. She enters the white Church and sits, singing in her head. She is physically thrown out of the church. After the woman is turned away she begins to feel a sense of loneliness, and an outcast. “She sees Jesus walking down the highway and is giddy with joy. Jesus tells her to follow him and she does, walking alongside him. He looks just like she thought he would, and he listens to her sing and talk to him. She feels great beside him and can walk as long as he wants. (Smith,).The women in my opinion feel that God will reward her in the end. Not because she is black but because she knows who she...
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...In my paper I will be comparing and contrasting " What It’s Like to Be a Black Girl" and "Child of the Americas". In these two poems they are both are about race and ethnic. They were always talking about the color of there skin or who they are. The reason I thought about looking at these particular works is because I have been really big about race and ethnic. Race in today social is a big issue when you are dealing with jobs and etc. In the poem " What It’s Like to Be a Black Girl" the author used strong and forceful language to show the readers that she is really into her poem. The meaning of the poem was how a black girl was before and after she grow up in life, were blacks were not welcome. When the author stated " it’s being 9 years old and feeling like you’re not finished" she was meaning that everything had started to change for her at the age of 9 that was helping her change into that young black girl that she was to become. Also in the poem, she stated that " its dropping food coloring in your eyes to make the, blue and suffering their burn in silence. It’s popping a bleached white mophead over the kinks of your hair and primping in front of mirrors that deny your reflection" That section to me meant that she wanted to blend in The literary works I will compare are “Child of the Americas” by Aurora Levin Morales and “What’s It like to be a Black Girl” by Patricia Smith. The works focus on the psyche of two women of African descent, plagued by the historical American...
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...literature have focused on racism, ethnicity, and struggles of life for the African American people and the chase of freedom along with the search of equality in the society. Nadine Gordimer and Patricia Smith are famous contributors in the field of African American literature. This pare compares and contrasts the short story of Nadine Gordimer, “Country Lovers” and “What it’s Like to Be a Black Girl,” by Patricia Smith. Both the literature works put light on the racial background and ethnicities. The main character in both the pieces of literature is a black woman. The women in both the poem and the story face severe discrimination because of their color and their race. Racism and ethnicity is an issue which has ruined the societies and only the African American black skinned people, particularly females have been facing the effects of racism since long. The black skinned females have been tortured by discrimination and racism. (Clugston, 2010). Racism is something that most of us do not speak about but it is has penetrated deep in our society. The short story “country lovers” depicts a love story of a black girl named Thebedi and a white boy named Paulus. Both the main characters of the story were brought together since their childhood. They used to play together in their childhood and used to spend a lot of time with each other. Upon growing up, they both came closer to each other and fell in love (Clugston, 2010). Paulus Eysendyck was the son of Mr. Eysendyck who owned a...
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...problem just like it was in the past. It is not publicized as before but it is still alive and well in society. With America being a melting pot of race and ethnicity one would think this issue should not exist. I chose the two poems What it’s like to be a black girl by Patricia Smith and Child of the Americas by Aurora Levins Morales. These two poems are written from a women’s perspective about how racial discrimination is perceived in America. Racism is no longer just a black and white my paper will show how these two pieces showed how cultures are subjected to discrimination. The title of these two poems catch my attention one being I am a black girl and two I am a child of America. I too have faced some challenges that are discussed in these poems. In a country that was founded and built on immigrants society makes a big deal about a person’s race and culture. Why does race matter? Does it make you a better person? Does it make you prettier? Sadly our society has placed into the heads of young women that pretty means lighter skin. That being pretty gives you an easier life. The authors of these two poems are African American and Puerto Rican and they have both faced forms of racial discrimination. In America girls were raised that Caucasian was the accepted race. “It’s dropping food coloring in your eyes to make them blue and suffering their burn in silence (Smith)”. A line for What it’s like to be a black girl is a clear example of how bad this little black girl wanted to...
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...have chosen from this course to discuss are “Country Lovers” and the other is “What it’s like to be a Black Girl”. The themes these two share are race and ethnicity. Between these two, Country Lovers is the short story and the poem is What It’s like to be a Black Girl, and tells us the background of race and also describes the dilemma of ethnicity. In the short story and in the poem race or ethnicity was distinguished and represented by the black female. The main characters in both of the literary works mentioned are the black females. Both black females in the short story and poem are seen differently in society because of their racial backgrounds and their skin color, but their character play an important role in each. The main character both the short story and the poem was about the black female. There are still racial and ethical problems witnessed and experienced in today’s society in places such as the general public, the work place, and even schools. This was not a subject that was discussed enough because it was very sensitive and the outcomes of the discussions were normally filled with anger or depression. Country Lovers and What It’s Like TO be A Black Girl use the same theme like ethnicity or race. Nadine Goriner wrote the short story, Country Lovers, in 1975. It took place in South Africa. Country Lovers is about the love between a young white boy named Paulus and a young black girl named Thebedi. From the start of this short story you could tell the theme was...
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...Racialism And Ethnicities in “Country Lovers” and “What it’s like to be a Black Girl” Racial background and ethnicities are represented in the short story “Country Lovers” and the poem “What It’s like to be a Black Girl”. Both this short story and this poem have a main character or protagonist black female. Both of these women deal with to some degree of discrimination because of their race. Racism is something that we see, hear, and experience in our everyday lives. It may be something that we do not speak about, just like in the short story “Country Lovers “. The short story entitled “Country Lovers” was written by Nadine Gordimer in 1975” (Clugston, 2010). This short story is about a forbidden love between a young black girl named Thebedi and a young white boy named Paulus Eysendyck; which took place on a South African farm. The main characters Paul us and Thebedi were raised together since they were kids. Paulus was a white boy and Thebedi, a black girl. The two of them played together and spent much of their childhood days with one another. As time passed they begin to grow up and the distances between the two also grow apart. Paulus Eysendyck was the son of the farm owner and Thebedi’s father worked on Mr. Eysendyck’s farm. They both knew they could not be together publicly. Throughout this short story there are many dramatic effects. The first takes place when the narrator talks about Paulus going away to school “This usefully coincides with the age...
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...Walker and “What it’s like to be a black girl”, written by Patricia Smith by exploring the difficulties that black women face, no matter of age or where they may live. When it comes to these two stories and poem both written by black women, the one thing both writers have in common is their main character is a black women or girl. Both have dealt with some form of discrimination because of the color of their skin is black. In Alice Walker, “The Welcome Table”, she writes in third-person omniscient trying to explain to the audience how this old black lady just wanted to worship inside of a church, any church. This older black woman has finally found a church, once she was inside she did not even realize that this church was for the white folks – all she wanted was to worship the lord. The older woman in this story was not afraid of the fact that all the members were white, this is the first sign of discrimination against her based off her race no one wanted her to stay there but she was determined to worship the lord inside of this church. Everyone in the church wanted her to leave the church, telling her this is not your church and she did not belong there. For some unknown reason the old black women just muttered within herself, “Go ‘way”. So, now here is this old black woman that was determined to worship inside that church. Eventually she was thrown out of the church. Everyone in the church made a big deal out of the fact the not only was she a black woman but...
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...people fear the government there is tyranny, when the government fears the people there is liberty.”(– John Basil Barnhill) What the quote is trying to say is if you fear the government, they will feel more powerful. Then if the government fears us, we will all be more powerful then them. And this is what is going to be discussed today. The government has ruled and brought fear to blacks, Mexicans, and girls. But not to worry; Dr. king, Chavez and Yousfzai will fight back and there going to make the government fear us. What Dr. king is fighting about is; blacks should have equal rights just like whites do. For example you can’t say you hate a piece of cake because you don’t the color. It’s about how it’s good inside not what it looks like outside. In Chavez speech, he is fighting for Mexicans to stop being forced into farm labor. Lastly in...
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...exists; however, that is not the case. In this brief essay I will discuss the similarities and differences between the poem “What It’s like to be a Black Girl” and the short story “Country Lovers”. Each story depicts women who experienced racism or prejudices in some shape or form, whether it was because of the color of their skin, being a women or social economic background; in either case the results end up the same. The problem of racism is a complex one; it is difficult to characterize it or place it into one category due to its far reaching effects and implications. The moral issues generate social concerns. ("Racism in america," 2002) Some may have experienced various forms of discrimination such as gender, economic status or weight, but how many have actually experienced racism based on their race? Patricia Smith wrote the poem “What It’s like to be a Black Girl “, this was written in 1991. (Clugston, 2010) There are several different tones Patricia uses during her poem, the first is sad a young girl describing how she feels. As the poem progresses you hear the rage or the bitterness in her voice as she gets older. In this poem she uses similes to describe her pain going through puberty and not bring able to control the way she looks or her body. “It’s being 9 years old and feeling like you’re not finished, like your edges are wild, like there’s something, everything wrong”. (Clugston, 2010) In this poem she does not use...
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...Compare and Contrast The theme I chose to centralize my paper on is race and/or ethnicity. I will compare and contrast two poems: “Child of The Americas” by Aurora Levins Morales and “What It’s Like to Be a Black Girl (For Those of You Who Aren’t) by Patricia Smith. Morales is a woman if mixed race; Puerto Rican and Jewish, while Smith is African-American. We all want to think that someone’s race or color of their skin wouldn’t determine how they are treated or how they are perceived, but this is not the case. When talking amongst friends about someone they do not know we often describe them by using their skin color. And when meeting someone new one of the first questions we ask is “what race are you?” or the harsher “what are you?” Both of these poems give the reader a look into the mind of two young women of different races, one being mixed and the other being an African American, and how each girl views herself. The poem, “Child of The Americas” by Aurora Levins Morales, the reader looks into the consciousness of a young multi-racial woman. Morales herself is a multiracial woman “Puerto Rican-born and Jewish American Aurora Levins Morales is a poet, essayist, historian, and activist” (Fiandt, 2006). Morales’ poem talks about finding ones identity. Morales starts her poem off by stating that she is an American “she does not claim any single identity beyond “American” and this “American” includes the multiple races and nationalities that have entered the Western hemisphere”...
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...personify a culture that has disregarded the uniqueness of being “ black and beautiful”. The cultural aesthetics of being “black and beautiful” has been distorted in literature, movies and television shows to appease an acceptable standard of beauty that in reality is unrealistic....
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...In Jamaica Kincaid’s story “Girl” we can see it is about a mother, or possibly grandmother, telling a girl how she should behave and carry herself in the Caribbean society she lives in. The speaker lists what the girl should and should not do in different areas of her day to day life. We get the impression the speaker believes that the girl will inevitably become a slut. She hints at many things that will lead to the listener becoming a slut and tells her what to do to avoid being a slut or being viewed as one. The very first thing mentioned in the speakers’ long list is clothes. This word is particularly interesting to me because it is the fourth word mentioned, the first thing the speaker brings up in telling the listener how to do things,...
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...Tall, dark, and handsome are just some characteristics that a female would want in her man. Throw in a crooked smile and a warm body to cuddle up with, and a girl would be set and stone with this guy. But, wait she’s dreaming she could never get a guy like that unless he’s looking for the same thing, right? What does a guy look for in a girl anyway? Do they want skinny, blonde, dumb, and will absolutely do anything for him (like make a sandwich)? That is what most girls would believe about a guy, that all they care about is looks and sex. Well that isn’t the case so I have found out recently. I have created a survey with 15 simple questions that I know a guy would understand; I had 25 men take this survey and be completely honest throughout the questions. Guys ranged through the high school from 15-17 years of age, all who have different outcomes of what they look for in a girl. First will be body type, second will be about the women sense of style, and thirdly the women’s maturity and sex drive. Let’s see what you boys’ have said. Bodies type what could this mean to a guy? The #1 question asked, “Do you prefer a female with a small built, medium built, or a large built body?” Out of those 25 men 85% wanted a medium built woman, 10% wanted a skinny woman, and nobody wanted a bigger woman. Leading to our next question was what they’re perfect female height, weight, and age would be. The men averaged out to about 5 foot 6 inches for their perfect height on a woman, not to tall, but...
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...speaker hopes to win her love. . In the first stanza, the speaker professes his love for his mistress by saying he would love you ten before the flood (7-10). The speaker's "love should grow vaster than empires"(11-12) and he would adore her for thousands of years (13-18). “What it’s like to be a Black Girl (for those of you who aren’t)” by Patricia Smith, The speaker uses sharp sentence structure and strong forceful language that showed the reader the seriousness of her topic. . Smith’s poem gives the readers a view into a young black girl’s transition into black woman-hood at a time where both being a black girl and a black woman was not as welcomed. In the beginning “It’s being 9 years old and feeling like you’re not finished,” writes Smith, “like your edges are wild, like there’s something, everything, wrong.” (4-5). She refers in her poem is feeling the awkwardness of her changing body and the hope of something different. “It’s dropping food coloring in your eyes to make them blue and suffering their burn in silence. It’s popping a bleached white mop head over the kinks of your hair and primping in front of the mirrors that deny your reflection.” (9-10) she is experiencing what is it too become a black women in her...
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