The biggest challenge I faced this semester was with my descriptive writing skills. Any time I have been faced with a paper that isn’t strictly academic, meaning it requires my voice and perspective to be portrayed vividly. I believe I’ve found difficulty in this due to overthinking and trying to create a unique and using artistically descriptive language. I am a huge fan of fantasy fiction novels, such as Lord of the Rings, which I have read back to back at least five times. I admire and love the descriptive language here and It exceeds the talent of many many writers. I have this desire to be able to describe people places and things in my writing but I am always displeased with my attempts and so I refrain from including descriptive language. This course has forced me to push myself and put forth a greater effort to understand my position in an environment and describe what I see in great detail and then offer my opinion on what I’m seeing. While this challenged me and forced me to step outside of my comfort zone, I have been able to practice and realize that sometimes Its just as simple as stating the obvious. It isn’t wrong to write “There was a sand pit filled with toys of various colors”, like I did in my nanny subculture paper. I do not need to overthink my descriptions and it will help me hone my skills in order to express differently and more artistically in the future. I certainly found a difference while comparing my peer profile with my most recent nanny subculture paper. During the peer profile I did not think I included any descriptive language at all, but in my creative writing and in my subculture paper, I did.

Alyssa DiTota

Professor Gneergaard

Speech 11000

8^th December 2019

School Dress Code

Raise your hand if you’ve ever received repercussions for violating a school dress code? How many of you felt that it was unfair? In schools across the nation, young girls are subjected to dress code standards so as not to pose a distraction from any male students’ education. If girls violate the dress code, their consequence I s a disruption in their own education via in-school suspension or being sent home. These dress code rules set up sexist mindsets and teach girls to hold themselves responsible for boy’s lack of self-control. According to an article on hercampus.com entitled “Dress Code Sexism” the author writes “Policies are almost always directed strictly towards girls; some even specify for girls only. These dress codes are not only sexist toward women, but they limit their expression and comfort in so many ways” (Miller). That is why I am here to advocate for the elimination of the school dress code so we can put an end to disruptions in girls’ educations by sexist institutions that cease to hold boys responsible for their own behavior. During this speech I will be explaining what the dress code typically entails, sharing some stories of controversial dress code scenarios and explaining why these rules contribute to sexism amongst children that carries into adulthood.

            According to StudentNewsdaily.com an article entitled NYC Dress Code Crackdown lists a variation of school dress code violations that include: Low cut tank tops/blouses, no visible midriff or undergarments and all shorts and skirts must reach past the fingertips when hands are relaxed and at the sides and no leggings or skinny jeans. Some schools even the ban visible color bones. These rules are aimed primarily at female- identifying students. Some argue that the rules are set in place to promote professionalism, but t-shirts and baggy sweatpants are oftentimes not banned and are far from professional.

            These rules send poor messages to students, and there are some pretty disturbing stories about controversial dress code situations. For example, on People.com there is an article following the story of a 17-year-old student named Lucy. Her mother received a call from her crying daughter at work because she had been pulled out of class during one of her exams and sent to the principal’s office due to a dress code violation. The male principle claimed that Lucy’s dress was too short and when her mother arrived to inform him that the measurements of the dress were in fact within code, he claimed to disagree and had Lucy removed from the campus for the day. Lucy’s mother retold the conversation she had with the principle; “He was pretty graphic in saying that boys could be taking pictures of her as she’s climbing up the stairs or making lewd comments. It was all very sexual in nature,” Rosey says. “Like, ‘I’m helping you by protecting her from these sexually driven boys,’ to which I’m like, ‘Why don’t you teach the boys not to be like that? Why is it the girls who have to comply, but the boys are okay?’ But he just dismissed that.” I found another example on Insider.com where two girls protested at their high school because they were both removed from class and placed in in-school suspension because their bra straps were showing. One of the girls, with the name Johnston, said “I spoke out because it was very degrading to keep getting pulled out of my education for something so silly. I knew going forward with this would get backlash, but it was a risk I was willing to take because I believe that something should be changed,” she said. “I believe in equality and women’s rights. I should be able to speak my opinion without being disciplined.”

            Putting these restrictions on female-identifying students makes them aware of their sexuality in a context where they probably aren’t thinking about it. It’s such a shame that in a place such as school, which is meant to protect and better students, young girls are subjected to reminders of a hypersexual society where they are viewed as sexual objects rather than people. When we teach girls that they are responsible for adjusting their dress to protect themselves and their male counterparts from distraction, you are blaming them for something they have nothing to do with. How is it fair to remove a student from their education because somebody else is having inappropriate thoughts about them? This type of structure heavily promotes rape culture to an age group where its crucial to circumvent this type of behavior to ensure that when they are adults, they will not have these harmful mindsets. In an article written for the odysseyonline the author writes: “School dress codes encourage the idea that women’s body parts need to be concealed, that it is our fault for attracting attention for what we are wearing or encouraging sexual behavior in men. This is the same argument often used to justify rape. It shouldn’t matter if young girls decide to wear tank tops or tight pants to school. If boys are distracted by the obvious sexual nature of a girls’ shoulders, then his behaviors should be monitored, not hers. Similarly, if a woman is scantily clad at a party, the culprit of sexual assault should be shamed, not the woman just trying to express her personal style in an outfit she feels comfortable in”.

In conclusion, women’s bodies are not bad, and they are not distractions. They are simply bodies and we need to rethink the way we view women in this society and the best way to do this is through educating young people about these sexist institutions so they can grow to critically examine the rules set in place and change them when it is their time. School dress codes are such an outward and obvious injustice to women and if you agree with this, I suggest you go to school board meetings and advocate for changes in school codes.

Lakritz, Talia. “18 Times Students And Parents Said School Dress Codes Went Too Far”. Insider, 2019, https://www.insider.com/school-dress-code-rules-controversy-2018-8#mallory-johnston-and-grace-wood-protested-their-schools-policy-of-banning-bra-straps-from-showing-3.

Travis, Hannah. “Dress Codes Promote Rape Culture”. The Odyssey Online, 2019, https://www.theodysseyonline.com/dress-codes-promote-rape-culture.

Mazziotta, Julie. “Https://People.Com”. PEOPLE.Com, 2019, https://people.com/bodies/dress-code-controversy-high-school-girl/.

Grant Proposal for Nanny Subculture Study

Alyssa DiTota

Prof. Dalton

WFSS

12^th November 2019

Section One

I am no stranger to the world of childcare. I spent almost two years completely submerged in the world of nannying in New York City. When I say submerged, I mean it quite literally. With long hours and not much time for any personal endeavors, I found my whole world begin to revolve around the family I was employed by. While it may seem bizarre to those who aren’t aware of the norms that come with nannying, the typical workday is commonly upwards of 10 hours. Personally, I was expected to arrive in the Upper East Side of Manhattan at the ripe hour of 8 am and I didn’t leave for the day until 6:45. This schedule left me with just enough time to go home, eat, and prepare for the next day of cleaning and cooking for a family that treated me more like a belonging than a human being. Now, this is not to say all families treat their employees this way, but, in my experience, and the experiences of the nannies I have met, they have been treated similarly at least once in their careers.

Due to my past experience, I hold a biased view of work conditions in the nanny community.  I stand by the notion that nannying is a tremendously underappreciated and under protected career. Nannies are not met with the proper amount of respect they deserve for selflessly raising children who do not belong to them, and in some cases even being underpaid for their time and effort. This is why I would like to subtly get an opinion from nannies at my field site to see if they feel the same way I do. I do not want to lead the conversation into a negative tone, but rather, I will appear unbiased and wait to see if these opinions come up naturally and how they compare to my own.

The fact that I have been a nanny in the past will prove to be a privilege when talking with possible interviewees. If I can relate to them, having been a part of the field, they might feel more comfortable divulging information to me. Age might prove an issue and I predict I will have to convince those I speak to of my experience nannying. They might notice my race and my age and assume that I did not do any cleaning or that I didn’t work long hours. Unfortunately, in my time as a nanny, I was the only person with my background, age and race (that I knew of) that worked long hours and was responsible for all of the housekeeping and cooking that I was. If I can convince those I speak to that I truly do understand the struggles of the job, then I can achieve an open and safe space for sharing, without pushing my opinions in a way that will control the conversation.

Section Two

Children’s parks are all over New York City, within every neighborhood and every borough there are countless caged in universes containing wild little people screaming and running around like it’s the last day on Earth. Most people, who do not associate themselves with these little creatures, will just walk by, barely hearing the laughter and screams coming from within. These people are not aware that if they just unlatched that gate and took a few steps inside, they’d enter an alternate dimension that can only exist within. Once inside, there is mass chaos in every corner. Groups of children submerged in games and imaginary stories that bring them to complete hysteria. With so much intense emotion and wild energy, these children are hardly safe unsupervised. You never know when a game of Superman and the jokers will turn into a four-year-old being jumped by a group of barely walking toddlers who let the game get to their heads. Adult mediators are necessary at all times. Amongst the chaos it may be hard to spot them, but each one of these children has a keeper. They stand in the shadows, arms folded, lips pursed, keeping an ever-careful eye on their miniature counterpart. They’re stanced, ready for a scraped knee, a tantrum, a spilled ice-cream cone, any earth-shattering issue that will inevitably occur. These masters of the wee ones are commonly known as the “nanny.”

Responsibilities of these workers vary but often include cleaning and cooking for the entire family, doing homework afterschool, shipping kids to and from playdates, doctors appointments, wake up time, bed time, bath time, play time, tantrum time, go to the library because mommy wants you to get out of the house time, dragging said child out of the door because they don’t want to go to the library time, etc. A nanny is in charge of their own life and the lives of whatever family they work for. Without the nanny, in many working middle to upper class families in NYC, there would be no possibility for structure. The nanny’s job is a complete service and requires extreme dedication of heart. Unfortunately, many nannies are not treated accordingly, financially, and in typical day to day treatment. According to an article written by Erica Pearson for nydailynews.com, “Nearly a quarter of domestic workers make less than their state minimum wage, and 25% of the live-in nannies and housekeepers said work leaves them with less than five hours of sleep a night” (Pearson). I spoke to a nanny, whose name I will exempt privacy purposes, is a live-in nanny. She got the job through an ad while she was living in Russia. The family offered to provide her a home to sleep in, 500 dollars a week and would fly her to New York City to work for them. While this seems like a dream, the reality is not quite so. She came to NYC and found herself sleeping in a bunk bed with her 7-year old charge while working from 8 am to 8 pm six days a week. This translates to her making about 7 dollars an hour, which is much lower than minimum wage in NYC which lies at 15 dollars an hour. When I mentioned this to her, she said “I know it is not much, but they give me a place to stay and say that makes up for it. But I wasn’t aware that I would be sharing a room and working so much.”

 There should be laws in place that protect nannies and hold parents up to certain standards that would ensure they treat their employees like employees. I want to focus on the treatment of nannies by their charges and the parents. I want to know where the job is rewarding and where it is not. Are they treated with respect? Do they feel appreciated?

The behavior I have observed from many parents shows that they could use more pressure to treat their house employees fairly. If they expect their nanny to treat their children like family, they should treat their nanny like family as well. I have heard parents complain about their nannies using cell phones at the park instead of dedicating every ounce of their attention on the child. In fact, at the restaurant I work in, I overheard a conversation in which a woman said “Well, we were thinking about a nanny, but I can’t stand seeing all of these clueless women using their phones while pushing a stroller.” In the same breath I could imagine that parent pushing little Jimmy on the swing while gossiping with a friend on the phone. But if a nanny calls their cousin who is in a different country and time zone, then they are neglectful. Nannies should not be responsible for behaving in any way a parent would not behave. 

Child rearing is very difficult when it is your own children, imagine how much love you have to give to work tirelessly for a family that is not really yours. In my time as a nanny I befriended a woman named Lydia, who would always say “I love the kids, no matter how hard it is, you have to love them.” I would like to carry out this research on the nanny subculture because it is filled with rich relationships between caregivers and children, but it is also highly flawed, and I would love the opportunity to learn about and shed light on these issues.

Works Cited

Pearson, Erica. “NY Daily News – We Are Currently Unavailable In Your Region”. Nydailynews.Com,        2019, https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nannies-underpaid-overworked-survey-article-         1.1209180. Accessed 11 Nov 2019.

Lydia, In-person conversation, November 2018.

In the summer of 2019 I was selected to take a trip to Senegal in West Africa. The premise of the trip was to conduct interviews with various peoples from the country to learn and understand their culture and way of life. This trip was very important to me because it helped me to realize my passion for sociology and the exploration of people from all over the world.

Before this experience I had never been to a developing country before. Through my experience my entire sense of reality shifted and I am forever grateful for the lessons I learned.

As you can see, my name is Alyssa and I am a sociology student at The City College of New York. I am interested in women’s studies and equality and hope to make a career out of research and advocating for the advancement of women’s rights.

I am endlessly fascinated by the intricate webs that hold societies together and care greatly about critically thinking about the “whys.”