Thursday, April 27, 2017

Women's Achievements

I was asked to research Hendy Lamarr for Mrs. Kinsbury's presentation. Hendy Lamarr was an Australian actress, who made a breakthrough discovery of wireless communications. It was originally supposed to "solve the problem of enemies blocking signals from radio-controlled missiles". However, her discovery was later used for the development of cell phones and it was very useful in the military. What I find most interesting about Hendy Lamarr is how she was a beauty icon, and most people would not have expected her to come up with this idea. However, that is like alot of things. Appearance and reputation can lead to stereotypes, and no one probably thought that a model and beauty icon could come up with this amazing discovery. Many girls downplay themselves and try to "act dumb", but I think Hendy Lamarr is making a statement about how women should empower themselves.
In class, I really enjoyed the conversation about social media, and expectations. So many girls and guys today look at edited and pixilated images and compare themselves to these unrealistic standards. This obsession can lead to many problems such as eating disorders, and bad body image. With women in this day and age, we need empowerment, and not negative thinking. Too many girls aspire to be skinnier, or prettier and do not embrace all the beauty they are blessed with. Being a teenager in this era, I understand how hard it is for girls to feel confident when we are constantly looking at our phones and obsess over digital perfection. I want to change this mindset, and going into that, I found the 50/50 video inspiring. 
Some facts in the video jumped out at me. For example, when Tiffany Shlain stated there are around 50 elected presidents and prime ministers who are women. I was just as shocked as Tiffany Shlain was, and in the video she asks people how many they think there are, and everyone says a number way below 50. It is shocking to me that so many women and men underestimate this number. This relates back to the Ms. O'Connells talk about women putting themselves down. Women need to be confident and while Mrs. Kingsbury pointed out the positives with women empowering themselves, she also directed attention to what needs to change. 

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