This essay was quite literally short and sweet. I thought it accurately cultivated a lovely feeling of innocence that probably sat nicely with other girls who are freshly out of high school like myself. However, because of my current place in life- a college freshman- I am not yet ready to feel nostalgic or sentimental about those high-school experiences, romantic or otherwise. All of those memories of adolescence I feel are too recent to reminisce positively upon, but perhaps in the future I would like this essay more, when more time had passed. I enjoyed the parts where she grounded the essay with points of negativity. Not that I want people to be writing negative essays reflecting on the upsets of youth, but I felt like the bits where she incorporated honest unfortunate reality made this a more believable work than if she had not included them. Along with the romantic and sexual innocence that this story obviously portrayed, I thought it folded in a great deal of social innocence or ignorance as well. These girls were living in a heteronormative, patriarchal society that was not written about as toxic or bad, but probably was for homosexuals and feminists. There were certain expectations of when women should be participating in romantic activities and I wish this story was more a reflection about that instead of a watery love story.
Brent Staples' essay was deeply tragic in only a few pages. When he recalled crossing the street and hearing all the car doors lock, it inspired such heavy sadness for me which is exactly what I imagine he was trying to do. It was such a powerful recollection because even though I am a white woman, I could imagine how much that broke his spirit as a human. In particular with this essay, I think it is vitally important to consider the perspective one brings to this essay. I am a white woman, and people are not afraid of me. My race and gender does not lend itself well to fear in modern American culture because of how people have been historically categorized and treated. This is not the case with Staples and I know he did an excellent job of showing the upset and outrage of being criminalized and stereotyped because even with my opposite race and gender, I cannot help but get angry with him as he tells his story. The purpose of this essay was to inspire sadness in order to motivate ...
Comments
Post a Comment