Undergraduate / Essay on Historical Fiction and Implications of Historical Knowledge [2]

Hello! This is my first thread, so I hope I'm doing this right. Below is my Personal Essay for the Common App, and I would really appreciate any feedback. I'ts pretty hard to write under 500 words!

I've always had a great fascination with history. Understanding my family's background has been a longstanding tradition, and I love to discuss old family lore with my mother on how her folks came from the old country. This habit naturally led to an interest in other social studies, and one of the reasons I love history is that it can lead to a more nuanced view of the present day and how it relates to current problems. I've always loved to hypothesize how my family would manage in a certain time period, and how I would live my life - I know of course that most of my daydreams end up with a very underprivileged life for me as a woman, but I still love to look at social histories and learn how the general populace lived, not just the facts and figures that matter to most people.

Knowing this, I can never bring myself to be nostalgic or yearning for a different era or the good old days - when in fact if I were to live earlier than the middle of the twentieth century I most likely would be considered a second class citizen and lack a voice, unless I were born in the upper class elite. I can appreciate such eras for aesthetic purposes - the dresses are truly gorgeous - but I cannot get behind actually, voluntarily living in, say, the eighteenth century. I can go with time travel tourism, but I refuse to give up my dearly beloved rights and privileges that have taken so many years to fight for. I want my right to suffrage, to work, to choose whether or not I want a family - and these rights are simply nonexistent for women in many parts of human history (with exceptions) that I would not want to give up these rights that symbolize my humanness so that I could waltz around in a wide pannier dress and have my hair piled sky-high.

Perhaps if I were male, I could understand the sentiment. But, as stated before, as a woman, I am utterly nonplussed at why anyone whose race or gender has a history of discrimination would want to travel backwards to a time where he or she would be considered subhuman. I think that perhaps a reason for this is because people are so woefully uneducated about history - reading about how sanitized history books are in America alone, I can only imagine how completely ignorant people can be in regards to the foundation of its founding, let alone different countries and time periods. Such illiteracy has great implications for the next generation of citizens who feed into a nonexistent mythical past - implanting falsehoods into impressionable people can lead to global repercussions, with miscommunications leading to war and crises that simply cannot occur in the modern age. History, as a link between the past and present, must be honest; If it isn't, what else will be?

Undergraduate / Yale Supplemental Essay - On Media and Social Impressions [2]

I love pop culture; I masticate, swallow, and digest every little thing that there is to consume, from the latest breakup to a new instagram photo of a D-list actress' tattoo. Why? What's the point of going through all the trouble of learning about some vapid celebrity who has no impact on one's life? To me, it isn't that I truly, honestly, care about the person, per se; what I do care about is the impact that she will have in the long run in popular history - what will future generations think of when they hear about a certain decade or time period, and what works will truly stand the test of time? Paying attention now can certainly be a way to forecast such predictions, whether or not the choices of movie or musician will actually be iconic is up to time, and what it says about the generation from which it comes. Even though one may not necessarily recognize the impact society's entertainment choices will have on history, one can look upon history and learn from historical evidence what will influence popular social history from evidence gathered from past generations and their ideals, and how they lead to present day attitudes.

It is also important to study pop culture not only to study how future generations will view historical methods of entertainment, but also in order for one to easily understand underlying patterns, attitudes, and beliefs that build societies. Recognizing such patterns set forth by the media leads to understanding one's ingrained beliefs and attitudes in her culture, by seeing what is considered acceptable or taboo to portray. Acknowledging what drives certain stereotypes and acceptable targets of ridicule to be continually used in media can show what it means to be a member of said society, and see what is wrong with its portrayals of certain groups of people. It is important to know this in relation to popular culture and media because such stereotypes can further continue the harassment of minorities, and knowing the roots of such causes can be used to subvert these actions and create a better society wherein such disparities in media representation become weaker as awareness spreads throughout the general population. However, these oppressions should not be viewed in a vacuum; instead, they ought to be intersectional, with overlapping degrees of the causes and continuing forms of disenfranchisement of racial, sexual, and gender minorities. Using intersectionality to discuss and dissect such motives can ease the way for better representations of minorities and allow for a reconstruction of social commentary which includes the frank discussion of privilege and the rights of human beings, and leading to a greater presence of social justice in communities and a better understanding of the connection between privilege and representation.

So instead of rolling eyes at the latest gossip rag, consider it as a social testament; pick it up and read it for the public good. Understanding today's culture will lead to a better tomorrow.