Thursday, April 28, 2011

Dear Dr. Olivia

This post symbolizes the conclusion of writing my paper about women in science. This by far is the longest paper  I have written, and if it was up to me my paper would be longer. There is a lot more information about women in science that I just couldn't put in my paper, because I would end up with a book. I was upset with the fact that there were good points that had no room in my paper. Overall I am happy with the way my paper turned out. This class taught me a lot. For the first time I actually don't mind writing, I have Dr. Olivia to thank for that. As the last component of my paper I am required to write a letter to Dr. Olivia, so here is the beginning of my letter.

Dear Dr. Olivia

This semester taught me a lot. Not in the sense of things that I didn’t know but how to do things in a way that improves my writing. I used to write my paper a few nights before it was due and then turn it in. I would get good grades because of my ideas, but throughout my paper there would mistakes, in sentence structure, and grammar. Your requirement of a drafting process reminded me, that in order to write a good paper you need to edit, edit and reedit and the only way to edit effectively you need to write drafts.
My favorite project this semester was the paper about Food Inc. although I dreaded that assignment when it was first given to us. The reason I dreaded the assignment was because you assigned us a broad topic to write about and you let us figure out what we wanted to write about. I struggled to find a topic that was acceptable to write seven to nine pages about. Even when I found a topic to write about, I still struggled with how to structure my paper and what argument I was going to use. I put a lot of work in the paper, in form of research, writing, and visiting the writing center to get feedback on what I need to fix. But in the end it was worth it because I came out with the best paper that I have written by far. 


Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Paper Status

When I started writing to this paper, I was worried that I won't find enough information to fill up 12 pages. However that wasn't the case I found enough information to write my own book. All of the information is valuable but sadly I don't have space for it in my paper. History of women in science and all of their achievements filled up a vast majority of my paper, around 10 pages. Which leaves me with about five pages to a support my argument with current events. I was able to accomplish my goal of analyzing with five pages, however I didn't account for my conclusion which I am currently writing. This project is slowly coming to an end, and I am glad, because it taught me a lot about how to research and making sure that I have credible sources. All I have left, is to write my cover letter and my annotated bibliography, which should be easy compared to the work I put towards this paper.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Sheryl WuDunn: Our century's greatest injustice | Video on TED.com

Sheryl WuDunn: Our century's greatest injustice | Video on TED.com

This video brought a lot of things to my attention that I have never realized before. On being how far women still need to go to remove the stereotype that women aren't as good as men. This interview also showed me that women are part of the solution, which is exactly what Sheryl WuDunn said. That phrase struck me and it had an impact that I didn't expect. It could be because I never thought that women are part of the solution but indeed they are part of the solution. Usually having balance solves most issues. and in the case of gender inequality I truly believe that having balance between the genders in the world could just be the answer to many problems. In reality women and men are counterpoints to each other they both bring good qualities and if there is too much of one gender then somethings can go unnoticed. It has been scientifically proven that brain functions differ between men and women but that difference isn't something to create a prejudice over.

Monday, April 11, 2011

Belong

"...Convection began to grow on me that as a women Franklin was something of a permanent freak in their midst, and it was this unalterable fact of her being that fed so disastrously into an alienation that might have been ameliorated had she been a man. As a women, she was, historically, a stranger in the King's College laboratory: they had never really had them, never wanted them, never known what to do with them; women in the; lab just didn't seem right." (Women in Science: Then and Now, pg 3)
This quote stood out for me because I felt that in a few sentences the author was able to describe an emotion, or a feeling that has been going on for a while and no one really wanted to address what they where feeling. Vivian Gornick had the courage to say what men felt and wasn't afraid to tell it to the world, and for that I admire her for it. However I feel that this statement is incorrect today, women do have their place in labs but they might not be as important as men's positions. But nonetheless women have progressed and have fought a hard battle to achieve the position that they are in and every achievement counts no matter how small.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Pictures


The idea of scientists is mainly male dominant, and it has been for a long time. When you go to Google images and Google Scientists, the majority of the pictures show up with males preforming experiments. However there are a handful of pictures that do show women scientist. This shows that the gender inequalities in the science field are starting to even out. However on particular picture that caught my eye was a picture promoting a Halloween costume for women that showed them as a sexy scientist. This picture can be considered offending. I realize that it is just a costume and it isn't a big deal. However for all the women who worked really hard to be recognized in the scientific fields, I feel like this picture would be offending. It would be offending each famous female scientist in a different way. For me it is offending because it shows that women can only dress up as scientists for a day and get away with it, but in real life they can’t do something like that, no one would take them seriously.