Semester Reflections

Throughout the semester, this course has covered many topics and issues concerning women’s health. Many of the things that we learned influenced me in several ways whether it was concerning my health or the health of my friends and family. There were two particular issues that were significant to me, which was the issue of genital mutilation and the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Genital mutilation was something that I knew about but I never realized the severity of this practice, especially how common it was in several countries. HIV/AIDS is an epidemic that plagues many countries of the world, especially Africa. I knew someone who died from AIDS that was real close to our family and that disease will tear your body to shreds before it kills. We watched this man live in pain for a long time before he died. I wish this disease had a cure so that it will stop killing people. It is unfortunate to see that many women die from this disease but the truth is…women are the more vulnerable gender and tend to be more affected by everything as compared to men. I just hope that people will learn to protect themselves so that this issue can start getting better and not continue to get worse. The domestic abuse/violence issue was also something that interested me because of the fact that it is actually very common. That is something that came as a shock to me and it was also really scary to think that many women undergo domestic abuse at some point in their life. I tied this issue to personal experiences as well as things I have seen my friends go through with boyfriends who would hit them when they got into arguments. It seems like men have always felt like they have the upper-hand in everything because society allowed that to happen. I feel that when you are in relationship, the last thing you should even do is to hit your partner. It is really sad that this has arisen as a women’s health issue. I hope that women learn to realize that they do not have to take abuse from any type of person and that there is always someone out there to help them.

This class was an enjoyable learning experience. I took a women’s studies class last year and I feel like I got a WHOLE lot more learning out of this course than I did in my women’s studies class. This covered a lot of interesting topics and health issues. It has also inspired me to concentrate on my health now that I am young so that I can have a healthy adulthood. I liked the assignments that the professor provided because it seems like they were well thought out and it helped provide a background for the subjects we were covering. I hope that everyone got something out of this course, cause I sure did!!

Assault

Assualt is very common among women than it is in men. Women tend to be more vulnerable to any type of assualt whether it be physical or verbal. I think that the safest way for assault to be reduced among women is for women to take precautions like not going out too late at night. Also, they need to know the area or environment they are going to be in because if they are going to a party where there is only drugs or alcohol...anything can happen. This would not be a safe environment. In addition, women need to go places with a friend or family member and not travel alone because they are less likely to be assaulted if they are with another individual than if they are alone.

Is it a sign of personal weakness or strength for a woman to admit that she has a problem with alcohol or drugs?

One thing about mankind is that every one has a sense of pride that is naturally a part of their mentality. If a woman is able to admit that she has a problem in any aspect, it is a great sign of personal strength. Admitting that you are wrong or possibly have a problem is something that is hard for anyone to do and is an admirable thing. I personally like the fact that people are able to seek rehabilitation programs when they know that they have a drug or alcohol problem. If people begin to admit their problems and seek help for them when necessary, this would be a better world.

What can be done to reduce the stigma and shame that still surround mental illness?

The only answer that struck my mind is better inform society. Mental illness is one of those illnesses that is constantly ignored when it comes to education. It seems that no one ever focuses on mental illness because of their biases that mental illness means someone is crazy or out of place. This way of thinking tends to incorporate its way into education and people fail to force themselves to learn more about mental illness like they do regular illnesses like cardio health or reproductive health. If people will learn to stop thinking that people cause themselves to suffer from mental illness and are outcasts of society, they will also learn that many mental illnesses do begin because the individual could not control it or from some traumatic event that occurred during the person's life. People need to learn that just because they are lucky to have a state of mind that is intact, not everyone was that lucky. They need to learn to accept that mentally ill people are humans too and deserve to be treated the same way. People who are mentally ill see the poor treatments they get from people and it adds to their already diminished self-esteem, which is unfair to them because they deserve every right to be treated like others. The only way people can stop judging the mentally ill is if they take the time to learn more about mental illnesses and how it starts.

Aging Healthfully

My family has history of high blood pressure and diabetes. In order to age healthfully, I make sure that I stay away from foods with high sodium and anything with more sugar than necessary. These precautions will help keep my weight balanced so that I don’t ever become overweight. I also try to exercise a few times a week for at least thirty minutes to an hour so that I can maintain a healthy weight and achieve good cardiovascular health. One thing that I need to start doing is making sure I get ample sleep. College life tends to take away from that because of late-night studying or trying to meet deadlines for reports and papers. It is healthy to get at least six to eight hours and recently, I have noticed that sometimes I barely get four or five hours. Sleep deprivation makes aging earlier more likely, which is something I definitely do not want to do. I guess the best way to go about this is to sleep and wake up early and do homework instead of staying up all night. It will also probably increase my attentiveness in classes.

Academic Institutions Should Encourage Disease Prevention

One thing that I have come to realize about being a student and from observing fellow students is that no one will do something unless it is required. Institutions can actively participate in disease prevention by allowing the gyms to stay open for people to workout and by not charging people to use workout equipment as long as they are students at the institutions. In addition, they should require that you need a certain number of hours of health and fitness classes. This will help many people adapt physically active lifestyles or just stay fit. Many academic institutions do not provide out-of-class or in-class instructions on how to maintain a healthy heart. If institutions began to provide these types of instruction, it could positively influence the lives of many of their female students.

Diet and Exercise

Dieting and exercise have been a big problem for me since I started college two and a half years ago. My first year in college, I went through a phase that I just wanted to be skinny. I would purposely eat only animal crackers and go days or a full week without eating an actual meal. I am not anorexic, but people have always told me that if you really want to lose weight then you should starve yourself. The diet worked with me not eating and I ended up losing fifteen pounds. That summer I committed to exercising and I noticed that with a decent diet and about an hour of exercise, anyone can easily shed some pounds. Diet and exercise is a hard thing for me. I am constantly busy with school and work so I tend to just grab some fast food and go. Lately, me and my boyfriend have started cooking late at night so that we have food for the next day. This helps so that we don’t consume a lot of fast food. Exercising on the other hand is something that I have not done in awhile. I plan to start exercising so that I can slim down for my trip to Miami over the summer. Over the next five years, I want to just maintain my weight at about where it is now. I do not want to gain weight. I am going to watch my food intake and participate in more activities and daily exercise so that I can maintain my weight.