Geradine's POV

The day before Sophie left:

Why can't Sophie just understand? All the time she's either screaming at me, stuffing her face with junk food or listening to that god-awful screaming sounds she calls 'music.' Why? God knows why! I never had these problems with Lauren. Lauren was a good girl just like Sophie was until she's gotten into this... phase. And Lauren never struggled with her weight either. Lauren was always petite, a perfect little dancer. I don't know what went wrong with Sophie. I've always brought her up with healthy food and encouraged her with exercise. Now, I mentioned to her once the other day about maybe going out for a run or doing some exercise and she starts screaming at me that I'm shallow! When I walked back into the kitchen an hour later, there was a McDonald's AND KFC bag thrown in the trash. Empty. God knows how this girl eats so much! Not that there is anything quite wrong with her, but she just needs to find herself again. My little Sophie was always more trouble than Lauren. Frankly, from the second she was born I knew that she was going to be trouble, with the dancing situation and everything. She was such a fat baby that I can't do my ballroom dancing anymore. Was it really worth it? Sacrificing my beautiful ballroom for the daughter-from-hell that doesn't appreciate one little thing I do for her? I sent her to a nice school, helped her stay in connection with her friends by allowing her to bring them over all the time and of course all the connections I've made for her. The connections! Oh, God, the connections! I've already lined up many people that were willing to help Sophie become a doctor. And what does she tell me now? Oh, she doesn't want to be a doctor! She doesn't want to be a dentist either! She was rambling on with some crap about dentists and suicide, as if that really matters! All I want is for Sophie to become bearable again.....

Three weeks later

It's been three weeks since Sophie has left to Fran's and I think I'm experiencing Empty Next Syndrome. I've been looking through her baby albums and the pretty dresses she used to fit in. I hope that once she's done with Fran, she'll be a whole new Sophie! One that looks thin again, who likes having a nice chat every now and again. Of course Fran will be bathing in the fact that I couldn't control my daughter that I had to ship her off to my sister. Why, she loves it! I'm sure of it. 'Oh, Gerry can't control her rebel teenager. Big surprise! She Sophie to me because I have the compassion and the ability to get along with people! If she can't handle her daughter, imagine her when she was a nurse!' Oh, God, I can just see her now. With her little art studio and the books she's illustrated. Framed, presumably. It's just like Fran to keep holding onto things like this, so she can mention it in the next Family Gathering. Well, it's worth it if Sophie can stop being such a hassle and come back to reality. I worry about her. What is she going to do if she isn't going to become a doctor? Become an artist like her perfect Aunt Fran? Ha! Hardly.

Chapter 1 and 2 Review Questions

1.  "Sophie".   Sophie describes her feelings towards her mother and her aunt. What does she tell the reader and how does she feel about each of them?

Sophie has so much resentment for her mother bottled up within her that it's ridiculous. She feels hatred towards her mother because she thinks that her mother isn't treating her equally to the other members of the family. I can see why Sophie has so much irritation because her mother is incredibly rude and would drive anyone to the point of insanity.

Fran, however, she is unsure about. She thinks, from the few times that they've met, she's a pretty cool Aunt who is casual and nice. I guess she just wanted anyone to escape from her mother. She likes to make her mother jealous by talking about Fran in a conversation. She loves to brag about Fran just to make her mother annoyed.

2. "Fran". What two feelings is Fran trapped between?

Fran is quite bi-polar in chapter 2. At first, she hates the idea of her troubled niece, Sophie, coming to stay with her for a while. After the recent passing of her husband, she had decided to move into the house that her parents left for her and to just have some nice, quiet time painting and relaxing. Beginning again. So, when she received the phone call, she could have said no. She was thinking nasty, terrible thoughts about how her sister was dumping her daughter onto her and she resented that but she still agreed to it. Through the chapter, she decided that maybe if she improved Sophie, she could rub in Geraldine's face because she brought her daughter up better than her actual mother. This sister-rivalhood was very apparent in the chapter.

The Good Wife's Guide

Identify the representation of women:

• Inferior
• Shallow/Fake

Identify how this is constructed:

Inferior - The Good Wife's Guide represents women as inferior because they undermine their capability and instead they tell the women about how they should help their 'superior' (aka their husband.) The last point in the guide says "A good wife always knows her place." This is demonstrating to us that a woman should always be in line and understand where she stands in the relationship. "Remember his topics of conversation are more important than yours," is another example of the way that women are represented as inferior.

Shallow/Fake - The fact that there is a guide on how to be a wife epitomises the fact that women are portrayed as shallow and fake in the text. "Touch up your make-up, put a ribbon in your hair and be fresh-looking." This makes the women seem shallow and that they need to change for their husband. "Greet him with a warm smile and show sincerity in your desire to please him."

The Representations of Buffy

1.   What do/ does she look like? Pay particular attention to the question of whether she is considered beautiful/ physically attractive? Is she young?

Buffy is quite young yet she looks empowered. Even though she’s skinny and blonde, she isn’t represented as the traditional ‘dumb blond.’ Also, Buffy doesn’t wear luxury clothes and doesn’t wear too much make up. This shows girls that you can be empowered without having to look good all the time.

2.   What qualities are valued in women in the text?

The women in this text are presented as ‘normal girls’ who are also strong and independent. This helps influence the audience because it’s not completely irrelevant to the teenage audience. The girls in the show like to shop yet they are still very skilled and strong. The women in the text are recognised and valued for their courageous skills, not just beauty.

3.   What aspects of the text challenge the traditional representation you identified in your fairy tale?

In Rapunzel, Rapunzel is represented as dependent because she waits for a Prince to come and rescue her. In a turn of events, Buffy is the one is trying to save a guy. She protects Angel by making him go out of town so that he isn’t in as much danger.

4.   How is the message presented to us? Consider the positioning techniques discussed at the beginning of the term.(Character(Buffy in particular), costume, camera angles, dialogue etc)

Frequently, the camera shot of Buffy will be from below, so that the audience is looking up at Buffy. This helps project the fact that Buffy is empowered, young yet still courageous. Buffy also is practical due to her wardrobe. She doesn’t wear dresses and heels, she wears clothes that she can slay vampires in.

5.   How are men presented in this text? (Consider power, hero, villain etc)

Men are presented almost as inferior to women. Angel obeys Buffy’s orders and leaves the town. Buffy is the main character who can slay the vampires whilst the men used to be Vampires and are now saved because they have a soul, thanks to Buffy.

6.   Who has power in this text? Why do they have power?

Buffy and Willow have the most power in this text. The vampires try to defeat them multiple times, but they can not because they are too powerful and independent for the vampires to defeat them.

7.   Consequences: Who is rewarded? How? Who is punished? How?

In the end, everyone is punished yet rewarded. The main characters are punished because they watch their friends die, yet they save the world and their courage is rewarded. Also, Spike is rewarded because he finally gains the honesty, trust and respect from Buffy yet he is ultimately punished because he dies saving the world.

8.   How are women represented in this episode?

Women are represented as strong, independent and courageous in the show Buffy. Not only Buffy, but also lots of ‘average’ girls are given a choice that they can become slayers if they wish. This gives us the idea that women can do anything if they choose to and put their mind to it. The women control the men because Buffy convinces Angel to leave the town. If anything, the guys are the back up to the girls. This gives us the strong ideas about how the women risk their lives to be independent, courageous and strong.

Rapunzel vs The World (Around Us)

Rapunzel and How To Get Any Guy To Like You both represent women as stupid in their texts. They both exemplify women as stupid who don't know how to complete simple tasks. Rapunzel doesn't know how to do something as simple as find someone walking past and tell them that she's stuck in a tower (Because if a Prince is walking past, there must be other people who have been walking past too) and the Author in How To Get Any Guy To Like You demonstrates that women need direction in their personal lives because no girl has ever heard to just 'be yourself.' Both characters in the stories do not do the obvious things that should occur to people, but apparently doesn't apply to women. Both stories teach young girls that they should always wait for guidance and never do anything that wasn't instructed.

How To Get ANY Guy To Like You

This magazine article represents women as:

- Conceited

- Dependant

- Stupid

Firstly, this Magazine represents women as conceited. This magazine epitomises the opinion that women only care about looks and men. Since this whole article is based on 'getting a man,' it demonstrates to everyone (Including young, impressionable girls) that women prioritise dating. The magazine gives tips on how to 'seem' interested in what the men are doing, e.g. talking about NFL.

Secondly, this Magazine article represents women as dependant. The article is about how to get a boy to like you. If women weren't seen as dependant, then why would we need an article like this? There is a whole paragraph in the article about how you shouldn't 'smother' your man. "There's a fine line between being enthusiastic and being a stalker. Inviting yourself to all of his soccer games for the season will just be plain annoying." This magazine is trying to say that women can't/shouldn't be without a guy and that they shouldn't be around them too much because it might term them off. Why are women subjected to reading an article about how to get a man, and then told that they shouldn't spend too much time with him? 

Lastly, this magazine article represents women as stupid. The fact that they made a whole article about the simple steps of going to a party with confidence offends me. If every woman needs an article on how to get a guy to like them, then there is no hope for the world. Stupidity is subjected to women because of the generalisation about girls constantly needing a guy. The magazine also generalises men. Some men love to spend a lot of their time with women, whilst other men don't even like women at all. The magazine doesn't take this into consideration though.

This magazine article represents women as conceited, dependant and stupid because it epitomises the generalisation that women only need a man in their life.

Little Red Cecelia

Peta and I's version of 'Little Red Riding Hood'

Once upon a time there lived in a certain city a little girl, the smartest person who was ever seen. Her mother was excessively hateful to her, for she wished her to be pretty and despised the fact that the girl was smarter than her. The girl had a red coat from target which she adored and wore so often that everybody called her Little Red Riding Hood.

One day her mother, having made some cake pops, said to her, “Go, Little Red Riding Hood, and see how your grandmother is doing, for I hear she has schizophrenia. Take her a few cake pops, and this little pot of botox.”

Little Red Riding Hood objected immediately to go to her grandmother, who lived on the other side of the city, as it was late at night.

“No. I have homework to do and I have to write my debating speech. Also, don’t call me ‘Little,’ that’s demeaning. And my name is Cecelia.”

“Don’t be mean to me, I’m your mother! Please go take this food to her.”

“Can’t you take the food to her tomorrow, it’s not like you work or anything!”

Her mother was so mad that she abandoned her. But, because she was so smart, she signed herself up to public school, got a job, and is now a successful television producer.