Journal Entry - Lesson 8

Entry One-
The ad for Old Spice Cologne in the essay ""Two Ways a Woman Can Get Hurt"; Advertising and Violence" on pp. 421 of Rereading America, shows a young man leaning over a young woman. The young woman has her hand pushing against the young man’s chest. They both appear to be laughing. Above the picture is the word “NO” in very large letters. Then down on the bottom is a lot of small print with two words “sweat” and “proof” printed in bold letter. This ad clearly is sending two messages. Supposedly the young woman is saying no to the young man, and yet it shows them both smiling and laughing. This gives viewers the impression that when a woman says no, she really does not mean it. This clearly dehumanizes women and leads to the abuse of woman. It is no different than pornography! Women are shown as objects and not as a person with feelings. It is very demoralizing!

Entry Two-
My research paper is on a bill that will increases the Alaska State Legislature from sixty seats to seventy-two seats. If it is approved by the Legislature, Alaska State Voters will be voting on it in November. The Legislature states that one of their reasons for wanted to add more legislators is to help reduce the boundaries on some of the bush districts, specifically Senator Kookesh’s district. The senators district spans over 1000 square miles. Looking at the House District map provided by the Division of Elections (http://www.elections.alaska.gov/maps.php), it is hard to imagine how adding more legislature will improve this condition. According to the Legislative notes, the population in the rural areas is decreasing while the population in the larger cities like Anchorage and Fairbanks continues to increase. This means that the larger rural districts will continue to remain large in order to maintain an average population in each of the districts.

Entry Three
My thesis statement for my research paper is: Increasing the Alaska State Legislature from sixty members to seventy-two members will not benefit Alaska State residents because it will increase the costs of government without giving better representations to the people. It also will not change the fact that population in the larger cities continues to increase while population in the bush areas continues to drop. I believe it is a strong statement. It has a central idea and supportive evidence.