The Power of Choice

I am going to continue the trend as started in this post. For today's presentations I was informed of the following:
THIN: A documentary film on the harsh realities of the eating disorders and the obsession with thinness in today's world. If you do go to the link, be prepared for some possibly disturbing imagery.
Degrassi Junior High: I have never watched this show but apparently it does cover many aspects of female sexuality and some controversial topics. This particular episode [where the link will lead you] is that of when a particular character finds out she is pregnant.
Banksy: Awesome graffiti artist. The individual who presented this topic was focused on graffiti and it's opposing views of either graffiti being art or a form of destruction.
Iraq-The Women's Story: a documentary on the women in Iraq during the war and how they are not getting this supposed freedom and rights that were promised to them.
Sarah Haskins: an American comedian who, in this link, discusses the media's message of beauty. Although there are many videos here, check out the new section on "Beauty Contraptions."
My Sister's Keeper: a film that recently came out that I now regret not seeing in the theaters. This film, amongst other things, depicts the female control over her own body.
Mulan: Disney movie that many of you are familiar with. The girl who chose this as her topic feels that this film has a strong impact because of its target on children [including herself when she was growing up] and also it seems to be one of the only Disney films that challenges traditional gender roles. The link will take you to a specifically interesting video clip.
Crash: one of my top films in terms of impact. If you haven't seen this yet, I strongly suggest you do. It's fucking intense to say the least. The link leads you to one scene the basically portrays the general idea of the whole film: racism.
Pretty Woman: a film many of you know of. The interesting things about this film include it's fairy tale theme, that many other actresses were wanted for Julia Robert's role [making Julia one of their last choices] but were denied by all actresses because of it's prostitution themes, and this film is the first to put prostitution in the mainstream. Because of that, more shelters and other such hotlines and the likes in regards to prostitution came into the works since around the time this movie was released, all of which did not exist before.
Bordertown: not to be confused with a 2009 film called Border Town, but a 2007 film about the disappearances, rapes, and murders of the women of Juarez starring Jennifer Lopez.
South Park: I didn't quite hear what the girl was saying and there was some technical difficulties as well as the rush because class was just about over. But she played part of a specific episode that involved the Jonas Brothers. I just don't know what it was she was focusing on. I need to watch it again. Ah...purity rings. Ha!

As for the sexual abuse and incest section of my Courtship & Marriage lecture today, I am going to have to strongly reiterate the fact that violence is a CHOICE. If you're wondering and a bit skeptical on that, well I'll explain. First of all, being abused or exposed to such things in your childhood INCREASES the POTENTIALITY of you doing the same later in life, but does not automatically mean that you will. And here is a great scenario to enforce the idea of choice. Let's say there is an abusive man and his spouse out in public. For whatever reason he is extremely upset with his spouse, more intensely than he has been during the other times that he has hit her. But does he hit her right there, in public? No. He does not. He does not want to take the risk of being seen and getting caught and whatever else. He waits until they get home. This here, is an example of control, of choice. He made the choice not to do it there. Why not make the choice to never do it at all? Remember that.

Also, we must not let things such as an abusive family/childhood excuse the behaviors of the abusers. There is NO excuse for putting that kind of violence on another being whom you claim to love.