Sports, science, and society are filled with rules, theories, and laws like the Ninth Commandment, PV=nRT, Occam's Razor, and The Law of Diminishing Returns. Three strikes and you're out. "I" before "E" except after "C." Warm air rises. Pick one and explain its significance to you.
"Can I have, four 8-piece chicken mcnuggets, three cokes and one sprite, and sides of barbeque sauce for all of those" said my Dad, yelling at the voice box
"That'll be 32.57!", yelled the voice box back.
My father and I were stopping at McDonalds to pick up some food for myself and my cousins back home. I was still young enough to like chicken nuggets, but more importantly, I was still young enough to expect my toy at fast-food restaurants. When the lady handed over our bag of food, I fished for my toy, pulling it out of the paper bag violently to play with it. I was surprised to find it so different from my other toys. It had long blonde hair, a slender figure, and purple a dress. It was a doll. But I didn't know that. To me, it was a disguised ninja destined to fight off the evil, invisible air-people. My dad saw it differently. All he could see in the mirror of his car, was his 4-year-old son, ignorantly happy about playing with a Barbie doll. Only five minutes passed before my father pulled over the car, confiscated my new doll, and replaced it with one of the power rangers already in the car. His justification for this vile and unusual punishment was this: "Boys aren't supposed to play with dolls. They're supposed to play with action figures."
I didn't understand this rule back then, and I still don't understand it to this day. How does society define what is considered "feminine" and what is considered "masculine"? I'm almost 18 years old, and I still don't see the cataclysmic difference between dolls and action figures besides the names "dolls" and "action figures". And where did all these all rules come from? That moment made me think about all the other social occurrences and differences between males and females. For example, why is it socially acceptable for little girls to cry when the fall on the ground, but not so much for little boys? If a boy were to trip and fall, possibly scrape his knee, parents would care for the child but not as tenderly had he been a girl. Why is it that boys are expected to ask girls out instead of vice versa? No biological evidence can prove why a girl can't ask out a boy on a date. And yet, society expects girls to wait for guys to make the first move. Child development is weird. Society outlines a list of expectations for both genders, but not once, does it explain the reasons for these rules. They're just accepted and passed on through the generations.
Wow. I really like the concept you're going with; I think Tufts will love the unique perspective.
I think in the last paragraph you need to elaborate on your ideas about the social norm. "Child development is weird" is not enough. Talk about how you would like to learn more on social theory or maybe how you would raise your children differently or how you have learned to question and challenge the rules of society. "explain its significance to you."
Also, if you run into word limit issues, the opening dialogue is not really necessary. It's a more compelling opening to have you ripping open your toy.
good luck! this really set the bar for my essay, ha ha.
Terribly great idea . I like how you described your views but i agree with first poster - you need to describe more clearly and explain the significance. Also, try to make the ending a little more eye catching. i felt like the essay is only half written, that something more is still to come .Overall, really awesome one.
Good luck with your application.
Hey, this is a great idea, but I feel like you need to develop your idea a lot more.
For now it seems like a bunch of thoughts from you about how you feel towards this social injustice. However, it goes on and on, and to me at least, doesn't seem to have any sort of a strong conclusion.
BUT. I'll say that it's definitely a different (good) essay topic and that if your major is towards that type of thing it'll help you lots. Good Luck!
