Rima Reveals...

Growing up as a kid, I adored my Barbies. I bought them clothes and houses and little mini-pools. I lived in Barbie’s world. But as I progressed through my youth, I became envious of her long blonde hair and blue eyes. I began to understand the implications Barbie has on the real world – how she misrepresents women and serves as the unrealistic beauty ideal.   As Emily Prager puts it, “there are millions of women who are subliminally sure that a thirty-nine-inch bust and a twenty-three-inch waist are the epitome of lovability.” So much emphasis placed on this little piece of plastic. But people don’t see her as simply a piece of plastic – she is viewed as so much more. Mattel constantly updates and refurbishes Barbie’s appearance, releasing new dolls that each represent something. Pictured below is the evolution of Barbie’s looks as she is changed to fit the “in,” popular style of the time period.   After the great debate and heavy criticism regarding Barbie’s bleach

  As Chet Raymo asserts, mankind as a whole must engage in a sort of “integrity and balance within nature that demands of earth’s dominant species a judicious self-restraint.” This type of equilibrium is crucial, Raymo continues, as the “unexamined quest for knowledge is hemmed with peril.” Now, the first thing I thought of with all this heavy emphasis on restraint in regards to knowledge was aliens. Yes, aliens. With everything we see in the media nowadays, or the lack thereof, I’m reluctant to believe that aliens actually exist. However, with all the covert operations and research occurring in areas such as the notorious Area 51, or even in the conference rooms of the FBI, there’s definitely more pieces to the puzzle than we know. In our quest to discover the truth about aliens, I feel as though mankind is sort of screwing with the world’s mojo. I mean just as Raymo made a whole point of saying, some things are truly better left untouched. There can be real, gr

According to Chris Hedges, artifice is “the most essential skill” for political leaders. I strongly agree with hedges assertion, as artifice is a crucial asset one must employ in order to craft a trustworthy persona and thus guarantee political victories. In the most recent presidential election, Donald Trump effectively utilized artifice to win over the hearts of the A merican people. Claiming that he is an ordinary American, completely disregarding his billionaire status, Trump developed a believable “story, a personal narrative.” People viewed him as someone they could relate to – a candidate with almost no political ties or experience. This form of pathos heavily appealed to peoples’ emotions, igniting powerful feelings of patriotism. Using this to his advantage, Trump was able to meticulously craft stories and statistics that were “completely at odds with the facts,” which he still does to this very day. He upholds his “typical American man” persona, addressing the crow