The HCOS WeeklySeventh Edition

I.M.O. With Grace: FEMENISMBy Grace Kelly

Hey guys, this week I’m tackling the he!y subject of feminism. As I’ve said before, these are my com-pletely biased opinions that I’m sharing, and biased opinions may be offensive (just as fair warning).

Let me start this out by saying that I am not a feminist. While past feminists have done great things for women (getting us the right to vote, equal pay, post-secondary education, maternity leave, etc.) I don’t like their current attitude. I’ll expound on that in a moment.

While reading more on the subject to sharpen my ranting perspective and widen my point of view, I got bored very o!en because people like to use really long terms such as ‘psychoanalysis’, ‘literary criti-cism’, ‘anthropology’, ‘sociology’, ‘objectification’, ‘patriarchy’, and the like while describing the femi-nist movement. But what it boils down to is basically the theory that women and men are equal and they both deserve to have the same rights, be it for personal mat-ters, employment or education. It’s a sound theory and a fair one. Through this argument women have come a long way from where we were three hundred years ago when the first suffragette groups formed.

There are about three sections to the modern feminist movement. For starters, there are the extrem-ists, the radicals, the ones that hate men for irrational reasons and do everything they can to make life miserable for them sim-ply because they were born male. Then there are the more liberal feminists, the ones that are push-ing for more rights for the modern woman, and more exceptions to be made for us in the workplace and in our world. They believe that there is still room for improvement and so they toil ceaselessly to make that come about. And then there is the placid feminist, the woman that acknowledges that women’s rights do exist but contin-ues the age- old duties assigned to women centuries ago simply be-cause it is comfortable and familiar or the way that they were raised.

Now, here is my rant about femi-nism in four main points. (Wee, do-ing it essay style.)

1) Objectification and Respect.

One of feminisms main areas of grievance is that women are objec-tified by men and treated with greater disrespect than we treat them with. I somewhat agree with this statement. Women shouldn’t have to be objectified by men; we obviously shouldn’t be treated as dispensable toys. (By the way, spe-cific shoutout to all the guys that

treat the girls in their lives with re-spect, I know there are a lot of you.) But the problem I have with the objectification issue is that there is no responsibility put on the woman’s shoulders. We are re-sponsible for the way that we act around men; we are responsible for the way that we dress and the way that we communicate and view ourselves. Now there are times where no matter how mod-est your demeanor is, you may still feel ‘objectified’ (Sorry, I just hate that word now. It’s so overused it’s not even funny). But the simple truth of the matter is: if you re-spect yourself, you will be respect-ed. The distinct feeling that I get from modern media is that girls are never perfect enough. We are constantly striving to get better, not accepting who we are. How do we expect others to love and treat us with the respect that we starve ourselves from? The Golden Rule is: Treat others the way you want to be treated. Now, treat yourself the way you want to be treated. You can’t expect anyone to change their actions towards you if you don’t change your actions towards them.

Just a note: One man said this about feminism, “I need feminism to let me know that if I find a woman physically attractive, I’m objectify-ing her, and if I don’t find her physi-cally attractive, I’m shallow.” Inter-esting.

2 The HCOS Weekly

2) Women and men are equal.

I’m not going to disagree with this statement, because it’s true. We are equal, we were created equal and that is how we should remain. I can’t tell you how many Chris-tians that I’ve run into over the years, though, that teach men are superior to women and have a spe-cific connection to God that fe-males do not and cannot have. That theory is one particular popu-lar Christian belief that, for the lack of a better term, grinds my gears. Not to get ultra theological, but Jesus had many close women friends and he treated them no dif-ferently than his male friends. Paul wrote to ‘chief women’ in the church that he was close friends with (I’m saving the ‘women in church leadership’ rant for a later time) and exhorted them the same as he did the men. God doesn’t dis-criminate, and so I don’t think we should either. But all of this is be-sides the point. While men and women are equal, this term is too o!en seen as ‘men and women are the same’. We are different. It’s the most obvious statement in the world; everyone knows that men and women are different. But the extreme feminists are still pushing for absolutely no boundaries be-tween men and women’s living/working environments and this is where I run into the biggest prob-lem with feminism. We’re different from men. For instance, we can get pregnant; we are as a general rule, more emotional. We communicate completely differently and our brain functions are simply not the same. Not to say that we’re weaker, but we are by far more del-icate than men. We’re generally smaller and while physical bulk doesn’t make a person, even the Bible says that we are ‘the weaker vessel.’ What I’m saying is, yes, give

us equal job opportunities, give us equal pay and a vote and a right to govern our own bodies, but wom-an and men simply aren’t the same and we never will be.

3) We can be who we want to be.

Feminism says to stop pushing ‘pa-triarchal’ duties such as house-cleaning and cooking on women. They say to let us make our own choices and not to tell us we must be domestic housewives our whole lives, carting children to soccer practice in minivans. This is a con-cept that I am more than favorable towards. Girls in the 21st century should be allowed to be whatever they want to be and take up what-ever profession they choose, since we now have the freedom to do so. But what I don’t like about this is the way that women are thus dis-couraged from being stay-at-home moms. While I personally don’t want children and would prefer to have a career and perhaps a single life, most of my close friends want a simple life where they marry the man they love, have children with him, and take care of their family. And there is nothing wrong with that. I hate the feeling that I get from feminists when they see a big family or an obviously worn-down mother. They judge them for ‘wast-ing’ their lives on having children and a home when they could be out having a successful career. But

what if that mother wants to be doing what she’s doing? What if she wakes up every morning and is happy because she gets to spend another day taking care of the chil-dren she loves? All I’m saying is let women be informed, but then don’t judge the choices we make.

4) To the guys.

And lastly, to the guys (if any of you have actually suffered through this very feminine rant that has little to do with you). I want to say thank you to those of you that treat women with respect and support our rights to be who we want to be. I’ve met some really neat guy friends via HCOS that are honestly some of the nicest and most godly young men that I have had the pleasure of knowing. Guys like you put a stopper on the stereotypes of men that feminists try to box your gender in. Thank you for being awesome. I promise to have a more relatable rant out next week (if I’m still up and running a!er this ;))

I welcome all criticism, construc-tive and destructive. Open to sug-gestions for future rants if anyone has some they’d like to share. My skype is grace.olga1 and you can obviously find me on the ning or moodle if you’re so inclined.

3The HCOS Weekly

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4 The HCOS Weekly

Jesus: The Outcast

Advertising:

Does It Pay?

By Jaleesa Taylor

In our society there has been a long-standing debate about whether advertising is harmful or beneficial. People have argued, saying that advertising is a neces-sary means to business. Others feel that it is extremely annoying and even corrupting to the general public. So is advertising really ben-eficial or is it harmful?

Advertising can be used to pro-mote businesses. It can be used to sell a product or offer a service. This is an effective way to publicize companies. Without advertising, there would be minimal knowl-edge about small-town corpora-tions. Well-known companies re-ceive more business, even if closer corporations can do the job just as effectively. Advertising can encour-age the amount of customers to in-crease.

Furthermore, advertising saves time and money. Grocery flyers, for example, save time by announcing merchandise that’s on sale. O!en, s t o r e s co m p e t e w i t h o t h e r retailers, by price-matching goods. This is profitable to the buyer, since they can then buy all of their products at one store, instead of wasting their time going from one shop to another. Advertising saves time, money and energy.

However, advertising can misguide teenagers. One of the reasons that teens start bad habits is because ads place bad ideas in their minds. Teenagers idolize the people shown on television, and then strive to imitate them. In these cas-es, ads are in a sense “brainwash-ing” them, causing them to blend with the world and not think for themselves. The ads are bright and colorful, making that lifestyle seem more appealing. Advertising can mislead teenagers.

Is advertising actually harmful? This is a question entirely based on opinion. Some don’t mind adver-tising, and skip over the ads in a newspaper, while others find ad-vertising an annoying nuisance. Whether people find advertising profitable or irritating, ads contin-ue to be printed. So, is advertising harmful or beneficial? You decide.

By Jennica Wlodarczyk

Contrary to popular belief, Jesus was not a well-liked guy back in His day. People hated Him, cursed Him, and even threatened and eventually killed Him for standing out from the crowd. They despised Him for standing out from the crowd and believing in something different. The popular religious people back in the day were a group of Jews called the Pharisees. They had it all together. They were rich, important, and famous. Peo-ple supported them without a sec-ond thought because they be-lieved that since the Pharisees had it all going for them on the outside, they must have been God’s chosen ones. But the Pharisees were miss-ing something. Even though they were rich and worked at the house of the Lord, God wasn’t real to them. They were more concerned about their social status than about loving others and serving God. In this way, they majorly dif-fered from Jesus. Jesus obeyed God when the Pharisees and the rest of society said it wasn’t cool or proper. He didn’t care what the other Jews thought about Him, or what anybody thought about Him for that matter. He simply obeyed God and trusted that He was doing

what God told him to.

So, does this make you think about your life at all? You’ve been called to walk in Jesus’ footsteps. Are you willing to become an outcast for God? God gave us all a free choice. It’s up to us to choose what we’re going to do, who we’re going to hang out with, and how we’re go-ing to live our lives. Think about it. Your life is a beacon to others, and you can decide what type of signal you want to send off.

The choice is yours.

5The HCOS Weekly

Catching Fire

A Movie ReviewBy Jesse Ongkili

The Hunger Games Catching Fire (the second movie from the three book series) just came out the oth-er night, and I was one of the few privileged ones to get a chance to see it so closely to its release. Due to this fact, I decided to do a re-view on it for all of you out there who are contemplating whether they should watch it or not. Please understand that the following words are based on my opinion, and that the opinion of others may vary.

WARNING: INTENSE SPOILERS BE-LOW IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE BOOKS

Plot:Catching Fire is a PG-13 film about a society that is based on complete obedience from their citizens. Ev-ery year, a male and a female teenager are sent from each dis-trict of the country to take part in a fearsome bloodbath called the “Hunger Games”, as punishment for the country’s rebellion 74 years prior. Out of 24 teens, only one sur-vives each game, leaving the other 23 participants dead in the fray. The president of the 12 districts within the country wanted some-thing special for their 75th annual Hunger Games, and decided to spice things up by dra!ing in all the previous winners from times of old. This was decided upon in or-der to eradicate the only “celebri-ties” of their era, ending the hope of victory and triumph that the winners brought to each of their

districts. By calling this dra! of winners, the president forced the two main characters, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark, to re-join the fight in the arena as ene-mies once more. Devastated, the people were forced to comply with the president’s wishes.

It is important to note that fans said the movie followed the book very closely.

INTENSE SPOILERS END HERE.

One thing that needs to be noted right away is the sensitive material within the movie. Many people are wondering why it didn’t get an “R” rating, due to the amount of vio-lence shown on camera. Numerous scenes displayed images of blood and dead bodies. Several times I found myself crawling in my seat at the horrors the characters were forced to face within the arena it-self. Although I personally think it wasn’t bad enough to receive a flat out “R” rating, there is certainly lots of sensitive material; I would suggest avoiding the movie alto-gether if you find violence or gore disturbing in any way.

Another thing that irked me about the film was the amount of ro-mance involved. Those over-worked scenes of Katniss looking into the eyes of one of her two boyfriends o!en went on a lot longer than my liking, making the movie – at many times – too slow. If you dislike romantic flicks, I would also strongly advise against Catching Fire.

The Language was not overly ob-trusive, however there were the odd four letter words that may or may not have been bleeped out.

Overall, I would give the new

6 The HCOS Weekly

Verse of the Week

By Jennica Wlodarczyk

James 5:13 in the New Living Translation Bible says, “Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises.” In this passage, James is telling us some-thing very simple yet very impor-tant. Both bad times and good times come upon all of us, and we should thank God and praise Him when either of them comes. Don’t just pray to God when everything is

going fine and dandy, and remem-ber to pay as much attention to Him in the bad times as you would in the good times. He’s the Saviour of your life, and not only does He know that prayer will build you up and help you see the good in ev-erything, but He loves spending time with you! So just remember that no matter what happens this w e e k , w h e t h e r i t ’s f a m i l y problems, schoolwork deadlines, or otherwise, God is always there for you to talk to, and He will al-ways have advice and love for you.

Interview with

Grace Kelly

By Jennica Wlodarczyk

1. Tell us some important points about yourself. I'm a ginger. Call me one and I will murder you. I'm obsessed with Stephen King and brown hair. I really don't like Brad Pitt.

2. What courses are you taking for your grad year, and which are your favourites? I'm not entirely sure what I'm taking for grad year yet, but I know I'll be taking Psy-chology, Russian, Music and of course English and Social Studies. My favorite course by far is English.

3. Who is the most important hu-man being in your life? I don't have a single most important per-son in my life, I have about 10, they include my close family members, special friends and my youth lead-ers.

4. What was one life experience you'll never forget? I swallowed a fly before.

5. What are some of your hobbies? Practicing irritating voic-es, jogging, folding boxes and sleeping

6. What is your favourite thing about your family? They still haven't sent me to the mental hos-pital.

7. Why do you enjoy being in the Forum Moderation Team, or FMT? I love the fact that I'm part of an elite internet group that provides volunteer experience, and that my only responsibility is to stalk peo-ple and act like the Gestapo (Jok-ing). Also, bothering Nathanial is fun.

8. Who is your greatest role model and why? Probably my mom. She's been through so many things but she's still such a strong individual. She's raised six kids and yet she still retains her sanity, maintains a job, teaches school, cooks meals every day, prays with us and sup-ports our numerous familial under-takings.

9. Can you describe yourself in three words? No, I can’t.

10. And last but not least, what would you do if you found out that unicorns were real? Unicorns are real. Everybody knows that, Nica.

Hunger Games movie a rating of 5/10, due to some of the facts stat-ed above, along with personal preference. I do think however that they did a much better job in the second one that the first, as distur-bances like the camera shaking were kept to a minimal. There is lots of ideologically sensitive mate-rial (including sexually suggestive themes) that should be taken into consideration before watching. I guess what I should be saying here is “CAUTION: PARENT CONSENT IS ADVISED.” But then again, if you are a fan of teens viciously slaugh-tering each other (including a rather helpless grandmother who joined in this newest one), along with bits of romance tied in here and there, then this movie is for you.

7The HCOS Weekly

Captain "Jack" - By Jesse OngkiliPantheon - By Jesse Ongkili

Notable Photo: Samara Paine

2ND PLACE: Samara Paine

Notable Runner Up: Jubilee Chiu

3RD PLACE: Lael Louw

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League of Legends

Note From The

Editor

By Jubilee Chiu

Hey Readers!

We’d like to introduce and wel-come our newest Contributing Writer, Jaleesa Taylor. She’s been contributing some pretty awesome rants and poems like The Rose. If you're liking what you've seen, keep reading for more from Jaleesa!

The Literature Corner will be re-turning next edition, featuring ex-citing stories by Samara and Kennedy. If you have requests for TV show or movie reviews, Davin, Noah and Jesse would love some suggestions! Grace is taking re-quests for rants as well, and she’s reachable on skype (grace.olga1), Ning, Moodle, and email. Got ques-tions, or need advice? Feel free to shoot Dr. Wise (AKA Kristina) an email. We are always ecstatic to hear from you!! :D Reach us at hcosweekly@outlook.com.

8 The HCOS Weekly

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