Today, Meren Sanchez, a 16 year old girl was stabbed by her boyfriend in school because she did not want to go to prom.
wait a minute! Are you kidding?
No. Unfortunately, my fine feathered friends, this is real life. I found out (thanks to the rapid trending on Facebook) that this malicious act occurred. My initial reaction probably matched various others, "Are you serious? That is such a ridiculous reason to kill someone".
The most disturbing part about all of this is the fact that the reason why she was killed (not saying that killing is not disturbing) was because she declined her boyfriends proposal to go to prom. PROM, are you serious? Prom is a dance, NOT marriage or eternal happiness. Why would anyone want to kill someone because they don't want to go to prom? Prom is not even that great. Its just a group of sweaty over dressed teenagers paying too much for crappy food. I am just outraged by this to be completely honest because I don't think there can be any excuse permissible for this situation. Regardless of how good/bad a person is, I personally believe that no one deserves do die. The girl didn't deserve to die, nor does the boyfriend deserve to die (but he does deserve punishment for his actions). I think that what is scaring me about this all is that we live in a society where murder has become a trend. Getting what we want has become a demand, not a privilege. There are certain things in life that are not fair and not having a date to junior prom is not on that list. We live in a culture where there are video taped "promposals" and they are purposely planned to almost force the other party to say yes. Is that really what we want? Do we really need to get what we want all of the time?
I am not just talking about prom now. This is a universal thing. With media waving fancy things in our faces we are always desiring the newest thing and having it now. With social media and the news: we have to know the latest gossip now. We have become such monsters and it's sickening. We have taught future generations that no does not mean no, but means persuade them until they say yes or else.
It seems like a lot of today's problems have to be solved by violence, even the pettiest of the lot.
Enjoy your prom season, and if you don't, at least enjoy it for someone who can't.
My thoughts and prayers are with her family as well as her friends. She will be sorely missed.
What do you think? Comment with your opinion!
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<3 Jennie
Friday, April 25, 2014
Sunday, April 20, 2014
My Jewish Identity, Grey Area, And Cats in a Mug.
Hey guys, sorry I haven't been blogging (pesach and stuff ya know).
So yeah, Jewish identity, like sexuality it is something that labels you as a person and labels your belief systems and it can be messy at times. The thing is, is that any form of religious identity seems like it has to be black and white "I'm________ so I act like ________". But the most frustrating thing about this is that not everything is black and white. Grey area happens, and I don't know how many shades of grey there are but it is natural. It seems like not being definitive or being in the middle about a subject or religious sect is abnormal and I feel like the Jewish community forces us to be an a specific sect. In my own not really expert opinion: Labels are stupid. but there is so much more to that.
For me, this is my life. I am caught in between Conservative and Orthodox Judaism. I have been told to go one direction or the other but to be completely honest with you, I cant. as a person who really likes black and white answers, I really am such a grey area person. I think for anyone going through their last year of high school, going into college or just going into life in general, you need to pick a sect you need to go somewhere. what really made me upset was when one of my friends told me that "there is no such thing as a conservadox Hillel". Well, this friend in question obviously feels restricted and needs to fit in somewhere. I am not trying to sound rude by that last comment but I just feel like there is more to Judaism than being in a specific sect. I know I am Jewish, I know I believe in G-d, but finding your levels of observance (in any religion for this matter) is a personal thing and you just cannot try and fit yourself into anywhere you can.
I can say now that I am a hypocrite. I 100% understand that I didn't take my own advice. I try to fit myself into the "orthodox feminist niche" when in truth, I see myself as one now, but I felt like I have been forcing myself to jump into that cold pool. Now I personally see myself as halachic egalitarian (for those who really care) or in plain "conservadox". I know there is no conservadox Hillel or a conservadox shul but I like my middle ground and I am going to stay in my middle ground. But always make some room to wiggle and to approach other sects and religions with an open mind. Approaching religion, you should always wait for the pool to warm up for you and not jump in when you are not ready. Moral of the story: Grey area is healthy. Not being definitive of where you want to go is normal. Labels can be helpful but they can also lead you in the dark.
Happy Easter, Pesach, April 20th, Sunday, whatever you celebrate
So yeah, Jewish identity, like sexuality it is something that labels you as a person and labels your belief systems and it can be messy at times. The thing is, is that any form of religious identity seems like it has to be black and white "I'm________ so I act like ________". But the most frustrating thing about this is that not everything is black and white. Grey area happens, and I don't know how many shades of grey there are but it is natural. It seems like not being definitive or being in the middle about a subject or religious sect is abnormal and I feel like the Jewish community forces us to be an a specific sect. In my own not really expert opinion: Labels are stupid. but there is so much more to that.
For me, this is my life. I am caught in between Conservative and Orthodox Judaism. I have been told to go one direction or the other but to be completely honest with you, I cant. as a person who really likes black and white answers, I really am such a grey area person. I think for anyone going through their last year of high school, going into college or just going into life in general, you need to pick a sect you need to go somewhere. what really made me upset was when one of my friends told me that "there is no such thing as a conservadox Hillel". Well, this friend in question obviously feels restricted and needs to fit in somewhere. I am not trying to sound rude by that last comment but I just feel like there is more to Judaism than being in a specific sect. I know I am Jewish, I know I believe in G-d, but finding your levels of observance (in any religion for this matter) is a personal thing and you just cannot try and fit yourself into anywhere you can.
I can say now that I am a hypocrite. I 100% understand that I didn't take my own advice. I try to fit myself into the "orthodox feminist niche" when in truth, I see myself as one now, but I felt like I have been forcing myself to jump into that cold pool. Now I personally see myself as halachic egalitarian (for those who really care) or in plain "conservadox". I know there is no conservadox Hillel or a conservadox shul but I like my middle ground and I am going to stay in my middle ground. But always make some room to wiggle and to approach other sects and religions with an open mind. Approaching religion, you should always wait for the pool to warm up for you and not jump in when you are not ready. Moral of the story: Grey area is healthy. Not being definitive of where you want to go is normal. Labels can be helpful but they can also lead you in the dark.
Happy Easter, Pesach, April 20th, Sunday, whatever you celebrate
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