Pressure on Girls

In fifth grade, no one cared what kind of jeans or sweat shirt you had. The only thing we cared about was getting done with lunch as fast as possible so we could get the four square ball first. But now that the media has so much power and so many people listen and conform to what's "in", we now have a million and ONE things to worry about during the day. I can even see it in myself how i've changed to fit the social standard or to somewhat be accepted by my "friends" (more like peers at this point). The pressure from even just walking into the mall you immediatley see posters and new brands or types of clothes that you "need" to buy to look the best or be "cool". Girls also see a lot of other girls following these trends and ultimatley feeling even more left out than before. i try and make sure that when i go to the mall, i buy what I like and what i'm going to wear. And when i see magazines with the newest brand, i know in the back of my mind that it will probably fade away within the next year and you'll then be "un-cool" for wearing it. Nothing in the fashion industry will last forever, so buy the things that you yourself will like and want to wear for a long time. Don't try and please everyone, you'll only end up hurting yourself in the end.

Caucasia Motif

At first this book was difficult to get involved in, but once i passed page 20, it just flew by. Even though i'm not able to say i've been labeled by my race, i'm able to understand how Cole, Birdie, and their parents feel. They're faced with racism in the grovery store, at Dot's party, and especially at school. It seems more difficult for Birdie and Cole because their parents were an interacial couple. You either had to be all black or all white. The family seems to be torn apart by all of this and can't function normaly. When Birdie and Deck went to the park, they were harrassed because people couldn't accept that there might be a black man with a white daughter. Birdie is realizing race because she's stuck inbetween it all. She gets made fun of from both races.

The Motif that stands out most in my mind, and whenever i'm reading, is hair. It's everywhere in that book! pretty much every chapter has some comment or story about it. Deck's afro, Cole's cornrows, Birdie's straight smooth hair, and Sandy's blonde hair that she always curls in her fingers through it. When Sandy gave Cole the locket for her birthday, all three girls of the family put a strand of hair in it. Cole's was wirey, Birdies was smooth, and Sandy's was long and blonde. It's the authors way of showing race in a different way besides names or the color of these people's skin. And even though there are so many differences in the appearance of different races, if they treat each other like equals, it's not impossible to get along as most people back then thought.