Response #2: The Help

     I recently started reading The Help by Kathryn Stockett. It's set in Jackson, Mississippi in the early 1960s. I was going to see the movie, but I wanted to read the book first. Every two chapters, the narrator changes. I have only read from the voices of three characters so far- Aibileen, Minny, and Miss Skeeter. They are all different, but they're similar in the way that they all feel trapped somehow. Aibileen and Minny are black women working as maids for very little pay. They're friends but their personalities are quite different. Aibileen usually keeps to herself and doesn't show her feelings. She gets very attached to the children she takes care of, especially Miss Leefolt's two-year-old daughter, Mae Mobley. Aibileen secretly resents the fact that Miss Leefolt claims to love her child, yet she never spends time with her.
     Minny is outspoken and sassy. She's smart even though she was forced to drop out of school before high school to be a maid. She has a good heart, but she's not very good at keeping a job for a long time because of her sharp tongue. At the beginning of the book, Minny is unemployed. She is having trouble finding a job because many people in town know about her habit of talking back to her employers. Both Aibileen and Minny feel that it's time to change they way people treat African Americans, but neither one of them really knows where to start.
     Even though she's from a rich, white family, Skeeter feels like she's always being pressured by her mother. At the beginning of the story, 23-year-old Skeeter returns home from college and to her mothers dissatisfaction, she has not found a husband. Her mother thinks that Skeeter is wasting her time by getting a college education and that she needs to find a man to marry. But getting married isn't what Skeeter wants. She wants to reunite with Constantine, the maid who raised her and was the only person who kept her secrets and really understood her. She also wants to persue her dream of being a writer.
     I haven't gotten very far in the book, but I already like it a lot. I waiting anxiously to see how their paths cross and what happens in the end.

Social Awareness: Song Response

"Mean" by Taylor Swift

You, with your words like knives and swords and weapons that you use against me
You have knocked me off my feet again got me feeling like I'm nothing
You, with your voice like nails on a chalkboard, calling me out when I'm wounded
You, pickin' on the weaker man

Well, you can take me down with just one single blow
But you don't know what you don't know

Someday I'll be living in a big old city
And all you're ever gonna be is mean
Someday I'll be big enough so you can't hit me
And all you're ever gonna be is mean

Why you gotta be so mean?

You, with your switching sides and your walk-by lies and your humiliation
You, have pointed out my flaws again as if I don't already see them
I'll walk with my head down trying to block you out 'cause I'll never impress you
I just wanna feel okay again

I'll bet you got pushed around, somebody made you cold
But the cycle ends right now 'cause you can't lead me down that road
And you don't know what you don't know

Someday I'll be living in a big old city
And all you're ever gonna be is mean
Someday I'll be big enough so you can't hit me
And all you're ever gonna be is mean

Why you gotta be so mean?

And I can see you years from now in a bar, talking over a football game
With that same big loud opinion but nobody's listening
Washed up and ranting about the same old bitter things
Drunk and grumbling on about how I can't sing

But all you are is mean
All you are is mean and a liar and pathetic and alone in life
And mean, and mean, and mean, and mean

But someday I'll be living in a big old city
And all you're ever gonna be is mean, yeah
Someday, I'll be big enough so you can't hit me
And all you're ever gonna be is mean

Why you gotta be so mean?

Someday, I'll be, living in a big old city
(Why you gotta be so mean?)
And all you're ever gonna be is mean
(Why you gotta be so mean?)
Someday, I'll be big enough so you can't hit me
(Why you gotta be so mean?)
And all you're ever gonna be is mean

Why you gotta be so mean?

     Stupid. Ugly. Midget. Nerd. Loser. Yes, I've been called all of these things. And I must admit, I've called some people these things and worse. But just because people do it doesn't mean it's okay. I'll bet that if I walked to school one morning and asked everyone on the street if they'd ever been bullied or gossiped about, at least 9 out of 10 would say yes. And I'll bet if I asked them if they'd ever bullied someone else, chances are that most of them would say yes. Bullying is a problem in every school and even outside of school. Words can hurt. Sometimes an insult can feel as bad as getting punched in the stomach or even worse. I should know, both have happened to me. Kids and teens often don't have very good "filters" for what they say. They don't think about how their choice of words can affect someone else. It can be hard to control the words that come out of your mouth. Bullying is inevitable. Chances are if you're reading this, you've been bullied before or you will be bullied in the future. No matter how "perfect" you may seem, a bully can always find flaws("You, have pointed out my flaws again as if I don't already see them") Some kids are easier targets because bullies are jealous of their good qualities and want to make them seem bad. It's hard to know what to say in certain situations and it can be difficult to tell the difference between defending yourself verbally and insulting someone.

     In this song, Taylor talks about how bullying is passed along. Someone who is bullied can become so angry and bitter that they take their anger out on someone else because they're afraid of being that kid again. The kid who feels powerless and small. ("I'll bet you got pushed around, somebody made you cold. But the cycle ends right now 'cause you can't lead me down that road") Bullies usually don't think about how their victim is going to feel later on. They don't know the affect that their insults have. There have been many stories in magazines and newspapers about teens who've become clinically depressed because of bullies and have even taken their own lives because bullies have hurt them so much. People need to think about what's going to happen to that kid they're bullying when he or she goes home, not just what's happening in the moment. Is it really worth it to hurt someone's feelings just to impress your friends? Friends like that probably won't even be your friends five years from now. Bullying hurts a lot("You have knocked me off my feet again got me feeling like I'm nothing You, with your voice like nails on a chalkboard, calling me out when I'm wounded You, pickin' on the weaker man.") It's funny how a bunch of words put into a sentence or two can have such a strong effect on someone.

     Okay, so the last two paragraphs have been pretty depressing and I've basically been just talking about how bullying is wrong. But the victims aren't powerless. They have the choice to do the right thing by walking away with the satisfaction that they don't have to waste their time with bullies. People need to stop letting bullies get to them. A bully wants to see you fail, but there's almost nothing more satisfying than knowing that you're not going to let some bully get you down. I've been criticized. I love to act, but I've been told I'm not talented or pretty enough to be an actress. I love to write but I've been told I'm too dumb to be a writer or that I wasn't a "real" artist. But I know that a true artist doesn't stop when someone puts them down. I know that now, it may seem like the bullies have all the power, but it's the quirky, unique kids who get called nerds and freaks who come out on top later in life. Like  Taylor says in the song: "Someday I'll be living in a big old city and all you're ever gonna be is mean. Someday I'll be big enough so you can't hit me, and all you're ever gonna be is mean." :)