"The Evolution of the Swim Suit" Response

In Jessica Rey's speech, "The Evolution of the Swim Suit," she describes how the evolution of the swim suit has caused women to move away from modesty and become scandalous. I do feel the popularity of the bikini in today's society has caused women to dress in a more scandalous way but I disagree in how Rey says this makes women in general more scandalous. The word scandalous is a strong word and I feel a more appropriate word for the evolution of the bathing suit would be more revealing. Although women have a choice on whether to dress in a modest or scandalous way. In Rey's speech she feels the evolution of the bikini is a bad thing and she is right to some extent. The evolution of the bathing suit was seen as a bad thing at the time but I feel people should have expected the bathing suit to be remade eventually. The way the swim suit has evolved over time is causing women who desire modesty to dress in a scandalous way.

In Rey's speech she says how the invention of the bikini was seen as a culture shock and socially unacceptable. I feel this would be true because people during this time were shown something new and unheard of so it will be rejected at first. Rey is right in showing how more women today wear the bikini instead of a more modest bathing suit. The way she explains how women strive for power by wearing the bikini seems exaggerated. Not all women are striving for this power she is describing but only seeking fashion. Many women want to look good but dress with a sense of modesty and during today's society it is hard to do so. I feel it is the way people look at women in bikini's is the problem. Yes it is a women's responsibility to discern whether what she is wearing is appropriate but it is also an outside observers responsibility to not judge women wearing bikini's. In today's society, as Rey mentions, it is harder for women to find modest looking bathing suits because of the popularity of the bikini. So, Rey's new bathing suit line has allowed for modest looking bathing suits to become available for those seeking a modest look.

"The Evolution of the Swim suit" Summary

 In "The Evolution of the Swim suit," Jessica Rey, argues the evolution of the swimsuit is a bad thing and has caused women to turn from modesty and become scandalous. Rey describes the history and evolution of the swim suit to show how the designs have changed and become less modest. She describes how the earliest swim suits were one pieces or ones showing little mid-drift and no belly button. She then mentions how the invention of the bikini in 1960, by Louis Rayard, was seen as scandalous and a shock to the public. Rey says the bikini was debuted by a hooker because no model would be seen wearing something so immodest. She mentions this because during this time in history, wearing this type of clothing was seen as socially unacceptable. She then explains how the sexual revolution and the women's movement started to take place in the mid-1960s and how bikinis were becoming popular to women during this time. Rey mentions these moments in history to show how wearing the bikini gave women a sense of power not fashion. She says in today's society women view modesty as an "old" view. Rey explains how modesty is misunderstood as not being fashionable, so she came out with her own swim suit line inspired by Audrey Hepburn to show women how they can be modest and fashionable without it being itsy bitsy. She ends her speech with saying women's modesty is being taken away by today's society when it should be embraced.

"The First Amendment Junkie" Response

In Jacoby's essay she argues that the censoring of pornography is wrong and that it is the peoples responsibility to teach younger generations not to associate violence with pornography. I agree with Jacoby in the sense that it is the people's responsibility for associating violence with pornography and that there are worse things in the world than this issue. The example she gave with the Holocaust I did agree with because her reasoning in the fact that that is worse than anything having to do with pornography; whether it is a porn shop or a magazine. I also agree with her statement in that if feminists censor certain types of pornography it will lead to the censorship of all types of pornography. This would not be the worst thing in the world but it would cause a lot of controversy dealing with the matter. I do not agree with the easy access and availability of pornography and feel it should be censored in a way but I do agree with giving the people certain freedoms.

In response to Jacoby's essay,  I do feel that the censoring of some pornography would be useful in a way. If graphic magazines were limited to where they were available that would allow for a decrease in the temptation of young people reading them. Pornography is a widely discussed issue that is argued over constantly. I feel that the easy access of pornography is scary and should not be easily accessed. Even though it should be censored in some ways this is also the taking away of The First Amendment rights.

"A First Amendment Junkie" Summary

In the published New York Times essay "A First Amendment Junkie," Susan Jacoby, a feminist, gives hard incite to the ideas of monitoring and censoring types of pornography. The main point of her essay was to argue the fact that censoring pornography is not right and how there are far worse things than pornography or censoring it. She explains that many feminists will take the side of women not involved in feminism; they will also agree to censor things like abortion without hearing the main issue and automatically assuming the topic is wrong to begin with. She uses the example of the Holocaust and the Nazis to show how pornography is not as bad as this event or these evil people. Jacoby also uses the example or "kiddie porn" to make the reader realize that this is not pornography but has to do with the abuse of children; this is not a first amendment issue. Her last argument is that feminists should not rely on the government to solve all of their issues but for people to accept the fact that it is the peoples' fault for associating violence with pornography, therefore, making the censorship of pornography absurd.

About Me

My name is Meredith Wyatt and I am from Dallas, Georgia. I am a Meteorology major at the University of South Alabama and I also hope to minor in Studio Art. After I earn my Bachelor's Degree, I hope to attend Graduate School to earn my Master's. I was adopted the day after I was born. My family and I are missionaries and have traveled to the country of Guatemala several times. I hope to someday travel to other countries to do missionary work as well.

"Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack" Response

In Peggy McIntosh's "Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack" she recalls many of the privileges given to white people as related to those of African Americans. I agree with many if not all of the privileges given to whites although nowadays more of the privileges have shifted toward African Americans as well. Many African Americans have proven themselves worthy and have overcome barriers to reach privileges such as getting better jobs and not being judged for have higher paying jobs. One of the points mentioned by McIntosh was traveling alone without a spouse and not being harassed and that has also changed for African Americans. They have become independent and are not looked down upon for being single or married.

Although, many African Americans still do not have many of the privileges, like McIntosh said. When African Americans try to voice their opinions to public they have been shut down and sometimes in violent ways. In McIntosh's article she explains that whites as a race will not put down for voicing their opinions but that all African Americans might be even if it is just one person acting out. It is also true that some of the newer generations of African Americans are acting out and putting themselves out there to be treated differently. Many of the points that McIntosh listed are still true today; one being that they can swear or dress down they are not see as having bad morals. In today's society if African Americans dress down and talk in a foul language they are noticed and judged immediately just because of their appearance and race.

"Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack" Summary

In the article "Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack," by Peggy McIntosh, an associate director of the Wellesley Collage Center for Research on Women, many of the privileges of white people are listed to show how their lives were compared to those of African Americans at the time. She lists 50 of the most common privileges in the article and explains the effects of them. Before she lists these privileges she explains that many of her African American friends and people she works with cannot count on all these points, therefore, making them privileges instead of rights. For example she does not feel pressured to express her thoughts and opinion to a group of people even if they are not of the same race, as stated in point number eight. She continues to describe points dealing with jobs and how she will not considered for a certain job based on her race. Also in points such as number forty-nine, she mentions not only her privileges but privileges given to her children as well such as she knows that her children's teachers will tolerate them and how they are able to learn.