Make Love, Not War

     This week during dance we were given an assignment to bring in a picture that inspired us. The goal was to look at all the pictures as a class and ultimately chose one to create a dance about. Below is one of the pictures that a girl brought in.

     To be honest, at first, I didn't really like this picture. All I saw was a couple making out on the ground and a man nearly blocking the view of them. However, as we discussed the picture further and I learned about the context the picture was taken in, I slowly started to love the photo more and more.

     This is a picture taken during the riots that broke out after the Vancouver Canucks hockey team was defeated by the Boston Bruins in a championship game. The women in the photo got trampled by the crowds and broke her ankle. Her boyfriend decided to kiss her and comfort her. 

     The first reason that I like this picture is because it is a candid shot. It was obviously not posed and the actions depicted in it were spur-of-the-moment and full of truthful passion. I also like all the contrast in the photo. There are contrasts in the colors-the police officers wearing black, and the couple in lighter colors. There are contrasts in levels-the police are all standing vertical, while the couple is lying down horizontally. All of these visuals contrast highlight and reinforce the overall idea of love versus war. The couple is unknowingly making a very strong statement about how we should always try to find some love and kindness amidst all of the violence and hatred in the world today. In a way they are demonstrating that love is more powerful than hate because it prevailed throughout the chaos of this event.

What do you think about this picture? What ideas does it inspire in you? What else do you notice in the picture?

The First Loser

     My dad jokingly said at dinner one night that I always had to remember that, "Second place is the first loser." At the time, I just thought it was really funny because technically it was true. Everyone that finishes after the winner has lost the race, whatever the race may be.

      However  last week in one of my classes, American Studies, we started talking about America and its need to be the best at everything and the idea popped into my head again. Second place is the first loser. I started thinking about how often the idea of "winning" or being "the best" at something came up in our lives. At nearly everything people try to be better than their competitors. Whether its at work, at school, or even when your with friends, everyone wants to be the best. We constantly try to one-up each other or even go as far as to downplay someone else's achievements to make ourselves feel better. No one wants to be mediocre.

      Although this constant competition in our lives can get ugly, as jealousy and bad-sportsmanship often come with it, I'm not sure if it is necessarily a bad thing. Where would our society be if everyone just strived to be mediocre? If people didn't have a competitive drive, we wouldn't have nearly as many advancements and creations that we do today. Of course one could say that without competition people could learn to self motivate-do the best they can because they want to. I don't think this would work very well because many people simply can't self motivate. Overall, I think the need to be number one is a good trait in people.

Is competition among peers a good or bad thing? Where would our society be without the constant fight to be the best?

Eye Contact: The Unwritten Eye Contract

     Today my mom wanted to go buy a coke from Walgreens, but she made me walk with her so we could also take the dog on a short walk. I'd wait outside the store with our dog, while she went shopping for her caffeine fix of the day. As I sat outside, an old man who was selling magazines outside the store starting talking to me about my dog. I answered all of his questions he had about my dog and also listened to his stories of the various dogs he had growing up.

     Sitting there for awhile, I noticed that each time someone came out of the store he'd tell them something like "Have a nice day" or "Good afternoon", and each time he was ignored by everyone that passed by. No one even bothered to look him in the eye or nod, they just stared at the ground or straight ahead as they passed. This started to bother me immensely because obviously this nice old man did not deserve to be completely ignored by others. He was simply wishing them a good day and they couldn't even acknowledge him or say thanks. As I left the store with my mom, I continued to think about the way everyone treated this man and I realized it is actually very common in our society.
     People always try to avoid eye contact with people they view as lesser than them. When you go to the grocery store, no one really looks at the woman who is behind the check out counter or the man putting your groceries in a bag. You keep your attention focused on the monitor with the prices on it or your food as it passes through the scanner. Some may argue that they don't wish to make eye contact because it would be uncomfortable since you don't know the person well enough. Though this is a valid point, I don't believe that to be the true reasons for avoiding eye contact.

     When you make eye contact with someone for a long amount of time, you are saying with your eyes that you are equals with that person. Since they deserve your undivided eye attention for a few minutes, they deserve your respect. If you avoid making eye contact with someone, it can say two things. Either you are giving them the power in the relationship, signaling that you are too afraid of them to hold their gaze. Or you are saying that you are too important to make the time to look the person in the eye. Eye contact can tell us a lot about the relationships between people and who holds more of the power.

Do you agree that people avoid making eye contact with those they think are lesser than them? Why do we avoid eye contact with people? What does eye contact say about the relationships in your life?

Fat People Don't Deserve Love?

     This friday in dance class our teacher decided to skip dancing for the day and do an activity she had been wanting to do for while. She handed us each a sheet of paper and a pen and asked us to write about how it felt to have a body. She wanted us to describe about how we felt as women about our bodies and how we felt the world made us feel about our bodies. After writing down our thoughts she showed a book she had found this summer (I wish I remember the name of the book, but I can't so I'll find out later). The book had a picture of a woman on each page and then a short paragraph or two about how that woman felt about her body. Some of them describe how various illnesses had affected them, how they felt like their body was in constant inner turmoil.

     One story stuck out to me the most. It was the story of a woman that was very large. She talked about how when she would walk down the street people would give her disapproving looks or make rude comments. They would look at her and think that she had no self control or willpower and that was the reason that she was so fat. It was simply her own fault for not being able to control herself. The most striking thing she said was that a lot of people think that "fat people don't deserve love." 

     To be honest I find a lot of truth in her words. Often times when I see people that are obese I tend to think that it is a lifestyle choice in a way. They chose to eat too much food,  they chose to not excercise, and therefore it is entirely their fault that they look the way they do. However, now I see that there is a lot of fault in that line of thinking. Everyone has very different genetic types and some make it easier to maintain a small figure than others. People can do little to change things like their metabolism rate, which has a great affect on body weight. Twenty people can run a mile and it will have a completely different affect on each and every persons body. We need to learn to be more accepting of different body types and not prematurely judge people based on how they look.

Do you think women face more difficulties with their bodies? Why do you think we judge people based on their body types?