Kayla's Corner

A tribe known as the "Nacirema" take part in truly unbelievable rituals that have recently been studied by myself and my colleagues. However, I will only be sharing one of these wonders today. It was early this past year when we first witnessed the remarkable practice taking place. This ritual mainly taken part in by the women of the tribe and ever so rarely by the men is truly a sight to see. It begins when the women of the tribe enter their teens years (for the men, I am not aware of the age). It was made known to me that the ritual is not quit a daily occurence, but changes depending on the person. It starts with the women entering the shrine which is made of solid stone and filled with holy water that rids the tribal women of their impurities. The women first take out the sharp blade and magical potion that will be used during the process. These sacred materials can be found at any of the many Tramlaws or Regorks, as it is necessary for all women to take part in this ritu...

This past week in class we read an essay describing the duties expected of a wife. It listed all the ridiculous things society expects "wives" to possess. But what if it was switched. What if it was "I want a husband"? I want a Husband. A tall, muscular, wealthy man who carries me across the threshold of our new home that he bought for us on our wedding day. He will have to be athletic so he can be the little league coach for our children's soccer, baseball, and any other sport  I desire teams. He will have to have a good job that makes at least six figures so we can go on regular vacations and live a comfortable life. He will be a handy man. He will be able to fix anything broken, the car, toilet, furnace, you name it. He will always ask about my day with out getting asked first. He will be a big family man, always taking time to play with our kids. He will do all the yard work, mowing, weeding the garden, raking leaves, and shoveling the drive way so I  don...

When we think of ourselves in the future, and i'm not talking 10 or 20 years from now I mean like 40 or 50 years, we can hope we had a successful job, loving family, and now are living out our retirement somewhere warm with our spouse and 2 golden retrievers. With only our plans for the day and our many grandchildren on our mind. In reality, although some of this may be true we tend to forget a very important aspect, at that ripe old age, we won't have the agility and sharpness we had some decades ago. Instead, unless you age like fine wine, you will probably be reading the sunday morning paper behind thick glasses that make your eyes appear 3 times larger, the volume of the tv will be kept at the maximum setting, and it might take a few tries to get up off the couch where you will then use a cane, walker, or wheelchair to get around. The truth is although we hope we will maintain the spunkiness of teenagers into old age, it doesn't work like that. Author Nancy Mairs provid...

People are molded by the world around them–The people who raise them, their friends, the town they live in. All of these factors influence who they become, how they act, and how they see the world. For example a child raised in poverty is going to see the world differently then one raised in wealth. And someone raised with a loving family will not be the same as someone raised in a broken home. These are just a few of the many factors that can cause a change from one person to the next. In the book, The Nickel Boys, Elwood, the main character, was said to “talk like a white college boy” unlike the rest of the African Americans at the academy. Elwood was raised to strive for a good education, he went to school, and enjoyed learning. Whereas the other boys weren’t. This was shown when Elwood first entered school at Nickel, and all the other boys slept and goofed off during class instead of learning. This led to the difference in the way they talked and acted. Most of the boys at Nickel A...

Jesus Beneatha, life isn’t all pink elephants and once upon a times. I’m not going to use a bunch of pointless rhetoric to try and convince you otherwise, but I’m just going to tell you how things are—the truth.  Things will happen that you can’t let stop you from accomplishing your dreams: your brother, his actions, your  mother, and her actions. Nothing should define your goals.  Life is not a fairytale, and you need to stop living it as if it is. Although I hope you get your happily ever after, it won’t be a straight path. I know you want things to be easy, but that’s not how it works for everyone—especially for people like us. Bad things will arise as they did today.  So if  there’s a set back on your plans, you need to not give up  and continue on. It’s the way of Life. 

A stereotype is defined as a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing. Stereotypes are constantly used in society today, but they  shouldn't be. Although they are partially true and were created for a reason, there are many exceptions to stereotypes, and they definitely shouldn't be used to classify groups of people.  There are women who can drive well, African Americans who aren't loud, Asians who aren't  geniuses at math, gays who have deep voices, and many more. Beneatha in the book, A Raisin in the Sun, was going to college, "listen,  I'm going to be a doctor"(Hansberry). Not  only was  Beneatha getting an education as  a woman, but she was also going to be a  doctor which at the  time was a male dominated  profession. Beneatha is one of the many examples where stereotypes  don't apply. She is an African  American getting a col...

It is sad to think that after so many years segregation is not over when it comes to where one can live. If someone asked, I would have never guessed that "the Detroit metro area remains, by some measure, the most segregated in the nation"(Wilkinson). Now as I think about it, I realize it is somewhat true. Living in Troy my whole life has been like living in a bubble. I never really think about how other communities just past the edge of Troy are so separated. Living in such a diverse city has created an unrealistic view on how the rest of the metro area and even the country is. I guess I've always known that certain cities have a large population of one nationality. Such as Detroit and Pontiac having a mainly African American demographic, but I always thought it was because they preferred to live with people of the same background. I'm starting to understand that there are other factors that play a role, and they can do nothing about it. In the article we read in c...