Girls are more than just pretty looks

You know how you see the signs that say, “Save the manatees?” I feel I need to hold up a sign that says, “Save our little girls.”

The other day I was chatting with a friend about her nephew and niece. She was telling me that her nephew is actually “prettier” than her niece. However, people have never really focused on talking about his looks, just on hers.

We began to talk about how society and the media treat females, how society tends to focus on females’ physical appearance much more than they do males’. We thought it was interesting that we, as a society, start at such a young age focusing on the physical appearance of our little girls and the talents of our little boys. Why can’t we encourage them both to be top athletes or students? Is the focus on how a little girl looks more important than the focus on how smart she is? If not, then why do we make it that way?

I did a little research on the media’s effects on gender identity after speaking with my friend. In a study of television shows and commercials, it showed that there are more role models for little girls dealing with “how they look” rather than “what they do.” In one of the studies of Saturday morning cartoons, 50 percent of the commercials were aimed at girls’ physical appearance, and none were aimed at boys’ appearance.

It seems that our little girls are inundated with talk about how they look. So, the next time you are talking with a little girl, focus on how smart she is becoming and not what great hair she has. It is not an easy habit to do away with, but an important step to “save our little girls.”

Desiree Bellissimo is a senior majoring in mass communications.

Two separate topics, two separate opinions

I’m writing this letter in response to two completely unrelated issues being debated in The Oracle. The first is the debate over media bias, the second is over evolution.

As far as media bias is concerned, there have been countless studies on the people in the media and their political persuasion. They are consistently shown to overwhelmingly support Democratic candidates over Republicans, and most are self-described “liberal” or “lean liberal.” But, don’t take my word for it; many of the studies are listed at this Web site: http://secure.mediaresearch.org/news/MediaBiasBasics.html.

Second, I am not going to weigh in on the evolution/creation debate. However, in response to Eric Scott’s letter posted in the Nov. 13 issue of The Oracle, which stated that the bacteria from which all of Earth’s life has sprung came from space, we know where it came from. My friend, that was not the question. How did the bacteria form? To say it came from space is only dodging the question.

Benjamin Schott is a freshman majoring in criminology.

Partisan politics hurt unity of United States

Reading letters to The Oracle has become disturbing. Republicans and Democrats are blinded from the facts because of their political blinders. I plead with everyone to take off their blinders and look at the world around them.

We are all in the United States together. People must not be considered anti-American just because they have different ideas and beliefs. We also need to see that a possible war with Iraq is not the only feasible solution, and neither is ignoring the problem.

Republicans cannot seem to get past war. War is not always necessary. Forgive me for not wanting a war, but all I can imagine is widespread eradication that we Americans probably will not live with. War kills people, brothers, friends, husbands and sons. I ask Republicans to look at the repercussions of your war chant.

Ask yourself, how does declaring war on Iraq cure this weapons problem? We attack them, so they retaliate with their weapons of mass destruction. Hey, at least Iraq will not have any more weapons once they are through, assuming that our motive for attacking them is accurate.

Democrats also need to remove blinders. If Iraq is a real problem, a humane solution must be made. The United States cannot let itself be attacked again. If we ignore the warnings, a repeat of Pearl Harbor or Sept. 11, 2001, might occur. This possibility is not worth a gamble.

We will never find a solution concerning Iraq because of political blinders.

Once these blinders are removed Americans could compromise and contemplate an excellent solution, but I sadly doubt this will ever happen.

Please do not contribute to this cycle. Remove your blinders, investigate other options, open your mind and take a look at the world around you. I promise it is not hard.

Stephanie A. Stiber is majoring in mechanical engineering.