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 * WEEK 13: "The lottery"**

I have always been told and heard that being born and growing up in Norway, which is one of the wealthiest countries in the world, is like winning the first prize in a lottery. And for a good reason: I grew up in a safe home with a family that loves me, I have had access to everything I need from enough and nutrient-rich foods to lots of toys, I were able to join all the sports and activities I wanted, I have been driven back and forth to friends by my parents, I could go to the cinemas whenever I wanted to, buy new clothes when I needed to and travel. I have so much to be grateful for, but sometimes it is easy to forget how lucky I am and have been, because when you are used to a certain life and lifestyle, you start taking it for granted. Unfortunately! But I do know how extremely important socio-economic status (SES) is for a person's health, mine included. So it is not a coincidence that I am lucky to not struggle with malaria, osteomalacia or AIDS. But I do get real eye-openers from time to time like this semester when I have had two subjects very much focusing on issues like health and SES. Issues so extreme and terrible you almost do not believe some people experience that on a regular basis happens all over the world every day. In Niger, only 20 % of young women aged 20-24 years have an education, in India 120 million women live in poverty, in Africa women experience that sex is a weapon and many women are raped, while children getting married and being forced to have a child before their body is even ready is another tremendous issue. Not to forget sex trafficking, prostitution, gender inequalities, lack of education skills etc. We could go on like this forever. For me, the Norwegian girl who can travel to Australia to study a year and even get support from the government to do it, this is so far from my world that it is more like something you hear on the news and watch on TV. I guess I won the lottery....

This might be one of the most personal questions someone ask me. It is not because the questions in itself is very personal, but it is because it leads to a very personal topic for me. Mental health is something I believe touch everyone in some way. Whether it is our own mental health, our mother’s, father’s or a friend’s state of mind we are worried about, we are all surrounded by different issues considering mental well-being. Maybe it is a constant feeling of being down, a frequently returning state of despair during the period or just a really bad break-up that makes us feel terrible for months- either way it is about our psychic condition and how we feel. And I think we all know how much that can affect us during the day. Back to the question about what makes me feel better. In class today I wrote the following on my list of things I do to feel at least slightly better when I am feeling blue: Saying something nice to myself or convincing myself that yes, I do look nice, or yes, I DO deserve better than the guy suddenly dumping me for no reason, before showing up with another lady three weeks later. Watch episodes of FRIENDS. A tv-show, which requires no thinking, makes me laugh and never disappoint me. Go for a run. First of all: I love running. Second of all: Exercising releases endorphins that we know makes our body feel happier. And not to forget the feeling post running when you are all sweaty, tired and exhausted, but very satisfied with your effort. It is the best, and it makes me feel so good about myself! So even though it may not seem very tempting to go for a run when you are drowned in tears, extremely upset and lying in bed, for me it is the best medicine.
 * WEEK 12: "What makes me feel better?"**

Unfortunately, there is always a reason or two for doing these things in the first place and these triggers are not that nice. This take us back to why it is so personal. Because for me, reasons that I have to tell myself that I am good enough as I am and for craving for a compliment to brighten up my day, Is very personal and related to how I think I look, body image, love, how my skin looks that day and other body concerns. These are concerns I know I share with heaps of girls out there. Living in a society where we are surrounded by mass media showing us what our body should look like and what the society defines as “the ideal body” is tough. That, besides thousands of other reasons, is why mental health is so important! To promote good mental health from an early stage in life can help numerous of people, because children who establish a good health early are more likely to have a good health later in life as well.

Today I fell in love with a small movie clip we sow in the tutorial. It was plenty of women talking about getting older and their thoughts about that. My first thought after seeing that was that "Hello, I have to do everything I want to do immediately, because it is now I am young, have the time, the opportunities, I am free, without boundaries, single, I have the money and everything is just so simple compared to what I am sure it will be later". I was actually kind of panic-stricken in that moment, but in a good way. It only made me feel so lucky to be young with a whole life in front of me and feel grateful for my healthy, young, active body I can do so many things with. Later, I have told so many of my friends about that clip and the message I received from it. Now I could not be more lucky to live in Australia for a whole year with lots of possibilities to travel, develop as a human, experience things I never will experience again and be surrounded by lots of beautiful people from all over the world. I will take this chance, this year, and challenge myself to do new things, be the person I want to be and suck in all the fun I do, so if I someday later in life, post menopause, are interviewed about my life, my current situation and how I feel about myself, I can be a contrast to the ladies from the movie clip we sow. That shall be my goal. Now, go out- be grateful, happy, be good to people around you and enjoy the life you live- if not- do something with it!
 * WEEK 10: "Happy, lucky, young!"**

As a foreigner and exchange student living in Australia for a year, I know little about the Australian history including the long-lasting tension that has been existing between the Australian people and the indigenous people, and still exists. But at least after today I know a little more, and I find it really terrifying that it is so big differences between these two groups. After reading through the statistics, there is no doubt that the Australian people seems to be more fortunate than the indigenous people. What a scary thought that the gap between those two groups are so tremendous, especially when the gap consists of life and health threatening factors like alcohol consumption, smoking, diseases, years of school, education, nutrition etc. This case remind me of a similar situation we had back in Norway early in the 1900 century, when the minority, called "samer", were extremely suppressed in our country. Teachers were not allowed to teach using their language, services could not be held in other than Norwegian and there were never any mayors or other important persons using "samisk". The whole idea behind this was that Norway were suppose to be Norwegianized, meaning that everyone living in the same nation should speak the same language and share the same culture. Luckily, things got better after second world war, and there are news in samisk on the national-tv, they have their own kind of parliament and Norway also got legislation that ensure the native populations' co-determination when it comes to the use of water and land in Finnmark where the majority of the native population is located.
 * WEEK 9: "The big gap"**



After last week's tutorial, I actually went home feeling a little scared. The reason for that was all we had talked about in class regarding domestic violence, women and the characteristics of the offenders and victims. And the part I found the most scary of it all was how difficult it can be to find out that a person actually is an offender- before it is too late. A guy (or woman) can seem like the sweetest thing, but as Leslie Morgan Steiner told and taught us based on her own experience: He or she can actually be the nicest, kindest, sweetest and most loving person in the beginning when you meet, and then after a while suddenly turn out to be something totally different. And that is so disturbing! How can we know who we should stay away from then? And when that is said: I do not want to go around thinking all kind guys are bad or possible offenders in the future, being scared of getting to know new guys! But both the lecture and the film cut with Leslie speaking about her terrible life with a husband that abused her, really got into me. I think it is so important that we get the acknowledge we did that day, just to be aware of some of the signs to look for and know that it is something that happens to people around us- it should not be a tabu, and we need to talk about it. If not for ourselves, then for others. Because I think Leslie's final request in her speech about crazy love was the wisest thing said in class this day: "Break the silence. Abuse happens only in silence. Talk about domestic violence with friends and family and contribute to shine a spotlight upon it."
 * WEEK 8: "Domestic violence"**

We live in a society where we associate women with cleaning, cooking, vacuum-cleaning, dusting, gardening, laundry and taking care of the children. And on the other side, we associate men with working late hours to earn enough money to support his whole family, handy work, heavy physical work, home repairs, taking care of the budget and fixing what needs to be fixed in general. And I realize that this is also the reality for many families. But for me it is strange to hear that someone actually grew up with so clear differences between the genders. Because in my home it was not like that at all. My dad has always been working in another city, about one and a half hour away from our hometown, so he is always pretty late home from work, which is why my mum most of the weekdays has been doing the cooking. But besides that, it has always been equal distributed when it comes to who is doing the housework. We do not have a dish washing machine, so they split the job taking the dishes, I see my dad take the laundry just as often as my mum, and my dad is actually amazing when it comes to his daughters hair and braids, knitting, cooking and cleaning in general. And the result of this equal status in our home, is that they never fight about something as stupid as cleaning. And I know that this also has had an effect on me, cause I know that I will look for the same qualities in my future man. I do no want a man who believes that the women belongs at the kitchen cleaning, while he is out working to be the primary breadwinner.
 * WEEK 7: "How is work divided along gender lines at home?"**




 * WEEK 6: "The childbirth created by the media"**

In lecture last week, we watched a short movie that showed how media usually represents a childbirth. The typical childbirth-scene created in such movies, includes a crazy, screaming, irrational woman, who, in the heat of the moment, might beat or torture with rude words a frustrated, helpless husband trying to help out the suffering wife in any way. Yes, it is often very funny to watch, and yes, the entertainment value is enormous. It is lots of options and possible wicked moments to chose from when it comes to making a movie-scene, especially in comedies, about delivering a baby. Still, the fact is that by making these types of films and cuts, you expose people for very unrealistic pictures of what a birth really is. When our lecturer asked about how many in class that actually had experienced, or seen a real birth, the answer was very few (a couple). That means no references regarding childbirths, and nothing to compare all the movie-scenes to, so the only picture that remains of a birth is the ones we get from what we see in the media. And that can create a very incorrect impression! You see, it is likely not the same in real life as on the screen. (But who am I to say, who is one of the people who never have seen a real birth?) So when small children either sees a clip from a tv-show or movie where the birth is over in one minute, there is no screaming, certainly no pain, and everything in general goes smoothly, or the quite opposite situation more like the one described earlier, they will might get an impression that a childbirth can be really easy and "no big deal", or a situation that turns pregnant women to crazy monsters. Either way it can be far from the reality. So maybe it is time that people get the chance to see more realistic materials, even though it is likely to terrify even the toughest woman, girl, man or boy?


 * WEEK 5: "Fuckin' perfect!"**

Today's lecture made me think about a song by an artist I like very much: The strong and independent P!nk. Many of her songs and lyrics really make me start thinking and make me feel strong, powerful and full of girl power. But the song "Fuckin' perfect" has such a beautiful message and focus on how she has stopped care about what all the other people think about her and her behaviour, and she says: "Pretty, pretty please, don't you ever, ever feel like you're less than, less than perfect. Pretty, pretty please, if you ever, ever feel like you're nothing, you are perfect to me." [|P!nk]



In another song, she wants people to "raise your glass if you are wrong in all the right ways", because "all my underdogs, we will never, never be anything but loud and nitty-gritty, dirty little freaks." And these words and songs make me feel so good, because it's such a counterpart from all the messages we get from today's magazines, tv-shows, advertisement e.g., where every girl looks just like the same: Skinny, white, tall, broad-bosomed, with perfect skin, big lips, perfect hair and you name it. And that's unfortunately how many girls and women think they're suppose to look like, because they think this body image of the "perfect girl/ woman" the mass media adores is realistic and possible to achieve for anybody. And if they later experience that this body is approximately impossible to actually achieve without extreme sacrifices, they'll end up miserable and not satisfied with their own body. I just can't understand how we can go from loving and regarding a lush body image as a symbol for fertility, to imagine that looking like a real-life Barbie is normal! When did this happen? I know that I want to blame the mass media for having a bad influence on all of us, showing these perfectly photo-shopped, unrealistic photos, but in the end: It's the people out there who actually takes part in making these body images and ideals to something normal. So maybe it's time we think about what messages we send out to our friends, family, surroundings and decide what kind of ideal we want to acclaim? Let me just finish off with a video I found so beautiful. Please watch it! [|You are beautiful!]


 * WEEK 4: "The power of the pill"**

I don't think girls and women actually realize how much power that comes with using prevention. It's obvious that for instance the pill gives us (girls) the ability to control fertility without sacrificing sexual relationships, but it also gives us a kind of power in general over men because of the life changing result that can turn out to be reality if a woman doesn't use fertility control, and the man doesn't bother taking any responsibility. And I believe an unplanned and unexpected pregnancy doesn't sound very seductive for the majority of guys out there (luckily not for most of the girls either)! Therefore, I regard it just as much as the guys responsibility to remember the fertility control as ours! Having a baby is a big decision to make, and that's something you should be prepared for. So, yes: Guys must also participate in the prevention-part, but first of all: Girls can't take advantage of their power with the pill and for instance not taking it without letting their partner know. That would have been such a breach of trust.



We also talked about voting, and if we consider women's health when we choose who we're voting for. If I had been back in Norway right now, I would have been in the middle of a stressful time deciding which party I would have wanted to vote for. The parliamentary election is coming up the 9 of September and is more thrilling than ever, because of equivocal numbers and statistics prior to the election. I feel really bad for not using my right to vote, since my answer would been; Yes, of course I consider women's health when voting. When I vote, I definitely base my view on what the different parties has to say about topics that concern and relate to me, the closest people around me and my society, Therefore would regarding women's health as one of the most important cases not just be an important investment in my own future, but also important for my future children and women in my country.



Norway is a small county with a lot of parties. Which party will win this years election?


 * WEEK 3: "Advertising. The foundation to sell things"**

I notice that I easily get provoked by a lot of things that comes up in class- like today when we talked about how women are used in advertising to sell products. Or more correct: How women's bodies are used in advertising to sell things. I wrote down a sentence Julie-Anne said that I found really striking when it comes to this topic: "The ladies in the advertisements are things, and only a part of that thing is focused on, like for instance their boobs or ass". And this is something we have accepted- it's out there and the majority doesn't even consider it as suppression of women because we're so used to see it. Just think about it: How often we see any kind of advertisement with lightly dressed women, showing a little much breasts or standing in a sexy pose. And the worst part is that the majority of the advertisements sells things that has nothing to do with the women's flat belly or enormous breasts- it's things like a watch or a smoothie they're trying to sell! This made me think about a couple of posters I've seen a lot of times in magazines I've read e.g.

There's also a film belonging to the Dior campaign with actress Charlize Theron worth taking a look at. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dsf7e3_UogU This is clearly something that affects many people out there, cause just by doing a quick search on the internet, I found several blogs, news websites and other relevant websites that were focusing on exact this issue and pointing out how offensive this kind of advertisement actually can be to women. [|Offensive advertisement], [|Womeninadsblog], [|Love your body] and [|Project genderads].


 * WEEK 2: "ONE IS NOT BORN A WOMAN, BUT ONE BECOMES ONE"**

This famous statement was written by one of the most path-breaking philosophers when it comes to philosophy on women from a feminist perspective, Simone de Beauvoir. And that's no wonder when you find out how much that one statement really express and contain - even today! Because the discussion about gender and sex is still extremely relevant, if not more relevant than ever: De Beauvoir claimed that women are not born feminine, but that ladies being feminine is a result of what their culture and society define as "the right behaviour" or what that is expected of them. And that discussion really attracted my attention, cause I believe that in the world we grow up in today, there is a lot of influential factors that totally effects how we think about what's normal and what's anticipated from us. When you think about it, it's kind of crazy that we dress up little new-born babies in either pink or blue, only because we know their sex. What if the little girl rather would wear anything but pink or later play with lego and fight with boys in the park? Is she then not a girl, not girlie enough or not feminine enough? It's lots of examples of research on to what extent media, culture and society influence our body image and how these signals media like magazines, tv-shows and posters create expectations linked directly to the specific sex. A research I find really interesting connected to this issue, is a study from 2006 where Dittmar and colleagues exposed girls aged between 5 and 8 years old to pictures of Barbie dolls, Emme dolls and no dolls. All of the girls exposed for pictures of Barbie dolls reported lower body esteem and a greater desire for a thinner body shape afterwards than the rest of the group. [|Does Barbie Make Girls Want to Be Thin?]

For many more examples and a lot of great and interesting reading, I strongly recommend reading "BODY IMAGE. A handbook of science, practise and prevention" by Thomas F. Cash and Linda Smolak. For me, the statement "sex is between your legs, while gender is between your ears", said by Mangalam in this weeks tutorial, together with Simone de Beauvoir's sentence mentioned before, stands out as the conclusion I want to stick with.