Title: Why Young Girls Don’t Think They Are Smart Enough
Topic: Girls think they aren’t brilliant and smart enough for some activities.
Summary:
Researchers have found out that girls as young as 6 start to believe that specific activities are ‘not for them’, simply because they think they’re not smart enough. Girls are less likely than boys to view their own gender as brilliant.
American children are picking up on cultural stereotypes about brilliance at an early age.
The research:
They studied 400 children between 5-7 from a community near the University of Illinois. 96 children were told two stories about a person. One was really really smart and the other was really really nice. Next the children were shown four pictures and were asked to guess which one might be the person in the story.
At age 5, boys and girls were equally likely to associate intelligence with their own gender. Girls (6 years), were less likely to link brilliance with their own gender. On the other side did girls think that girls do better in school than boys. 64 children of the age 6/7 were shown 2 unfamiliar board games. Girls showed less interest in the game for smart people. But for the other game were the same.
Providing girls with successful female role models might protect them, boosting their motivation and shielding them from the idea that they are not intellectually competitive.
Let’s all convince little girls that they are, in fact, smart enough.
Date: 11-11-2018
Title article: ‘What’s in a name?’
Source: Alquin Intermediate nr. 1
Topic:
The change of Chelsea Ladies FC’s name is very important to the feminism in the world.
Summary:
Chelsea ladies FC has changed their name to Chelsea FC Women, to use it for clarity. This is a decision which bots accepts the ever-growing status of women’s football, and at the same time recognises the equality between female players and their male counterparts. At first sight ‘ladies’ might seem polite and respectful, but in reality it sounds too formal. By using the word ‘lady’, we are giving ‘hidden’ instructions about how women should behave. It isn’t seen as feminine to be strong or to get physical. The switch to women is stressing the parallels rather than the difference between the men’s and the women’s game. Woman affirms our humanity and dignity. Sport should be liberating. The United Nations has suggested that sport will play a leading role in the journey to equal rights for women and girls. It is about the relationship between sport and gender inequality. This is about how women are viewed in our world and a demand for society’s ways of thinking to change.
Date: 25-11-2018
Title article: ‘Why is it called prom anyway?’
Source: Alquin Intermediate nr. 2
Topic:
The tradition and the origin of the word/event ‘prom’.
Summary:
Prom is a classic rite of passage for American teenagers. The origin of the word prom is older than the tradition itself. Prom is a shorter version of ‘promenade’, the French word for a walk or stroll. Later it also meant a place for walking or strolling and this meaning is still in use.
By the 19th century, the term promenade was also associated with events. The word became associated with dance in the U.S. Later it also referred to the parading of guests into a ballroom before formal events.
The tradition itself began at the university. It was the debut for upper-class girl into their community. By the early 20th century, it had expanded to high school. It became more popular and it had even effects on the presidency, such as John F. Kennedy (1963) and Gerald Ford (1975).
In many ways prom evolves just as the youth.
Date: 25-11-2018
Title article: ‘Female bodyguards’
Source: Alquin Intermediate nr. 2
Topic:
Jacquie Davis, the first woman bodyguard in the UK, now is the subject of an upcoming Netflix film, ‘Close’.
Summary:
Jacquie Davis became the first woman bodyguard in the UK.
She first worked for the police, but she wanted to do surveillance and investigations so she moved into private security.
The job is about preventing danger to the client by planning ahead to make sure nothing bad happens.
A 23-year-old British woman who’d been tricked into going to Pakistan with her husband texted her mother. Her mother contacted Jacquie about this. The woman was handcuffed to a bedstead. Some hours before planned they liberate the woman, because her cover was blown.
At dawn, they were being chased by the Pakistan army. They got caught in crossfire, but they were able to bring the woman home.
The sector grows, but you must remember that you’re not the client’s friend and the basis is brains and not strength.
Jacquie is now the subject of a new film.
Date: 26-11-2018
Title article: ‘ In Hawaii being nice is the law ALOHA!’
Source: Alquin Intermediate nr. 2
Topic:
Aloha is the law in Hawaii. Everybody is equal according to the Aloha Spirit and togetherness has an important role in that.
Summary:
A couple were moved recently to Hawaii. As the days passed, the friendly happenings increased. There may be many words to explain these kinds of encounters, but one of them is ‘Aloha’. ‘Aloha’ is actually the law there. The word is used in place of hello and goodbye, but it’s also a shorthand for the spirit of the islands.
‘Alo’ means face to face and ‘Ha’ means ‘breath and life’. The Aloha Spirit is about how to treat each other.
Hawaii is the most isolated population centre in the world. The main source of labour for the Hawaiians was human.
The law is mostly symbolic, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t work.
The Aloha Spirit embraces togetherness or equality. It’s an idealised version of something that does exist, but is far too complicated to fit in a one-page definition. All we need is ‘Aloha’.
Date: 26-11-2018
Title article: ‘Down in Sin City’s tunnels’
Source: Alquin Intermediate nr. 2
Topic:
Underneath famous casinos is a secret world: a maze of tunnels to run for miles under the Las Vegas Valley. The tunnels have become home to hundreds of Las Vegas’homeless.
Summary:
Under Sin City’s most famous casinos are tunnels, built to protect from flash floods, where homeless people live. O’Brien only has a blanket and some pillows. For Iron and other city homeless, the tunnels provide refuge from the heat.
There are some real dangers, like rain. The dwellers warn each other, so they can leave. The tunnels have been a hiding place for convicted criminals. A tunnel beneath Caesar’s Palace is a major landmark.
Steve moved underground two years after a drug problem. He shares a spot in the tunnel with his fiancé Katherine, who moved in with him after he agreed to stop using drugs.
Their goal is to get out of there. They don’t like living there, but they’re comfortable. They earn money to search for credits people leave in the casinos.
It’s all about survival. It’s hard to look to the future.
Date: 16-01-2019
Title article: ‘Who let the snakes out?’
Source: Alquin Intermediate nr.2
Topic:
Summary:
Dave Fawbert came across a boa constructor, who’s mouth was full of the head of a pigeon. He wasn’t scared because the snake was motionless. He was worried that people would try to kill him.
In hot summers snakes are seeing more often. The reason can be that they escaped months ago and haven’t been as active during cold weather. Another reason can be that the owners like to take their snakes outside, but when the snakes warm up they’re becoming quite fast. Sometimes snakes will also have been abandoned, bit it’s more likely that a lot of them escaped. The most popular species to keep as pets are: corn snakes and royal pythons. To keep venomous snakes you need a licence. Snakes can move fast in short bursts, so they can disappear quite quickly. They keep wandering until they find something comfortable and secure. If there’s not any food, they will move. They can travel quite a long distance, there’s no limit. The most escaped snakes where found in their neighbourhood.
Date: 16-01-2019
Title article: ‘The weird reason Roman Emperors were killed’
Source: Alquin Intermediate nr. 2
Topic:
Rain could be one of the many reasons why many Roman Emperors were killed.
Summary:
Ancient Rome was a dangerous place to be an emperor. About 20% of Rome’s 82 emperors were killed while they were in power. The reason was rain. When the rainfall was low troops of the Rome’s military would have starved, what made them rebel. And this makes assassination to the emperor more likely. Researchers analysed thousands of fossilised tree rings from France and Germany and calculated how much it had rained there. Then Christian collected data on military mutiniers and emperor assassination in Ancient Rome and put all these numbers into a formula. This is one of many variables possible reasons. The study is part of a growing field of study that examines how climate affected ancient societies. However, while the new study lays a ‘good groundwork’ for the rainfall-assassination theory, the researchers have a long way to support this idea. For starters, it’s relatively simple to find a connection between two things using statistics. But finding a correlation doesn’t mean there is any cause and effect, but it’s worth the effort to dig in this theory. Other reasons can be inflation, disease and external wars.
Date: 06-02-2019
Title article: ‘The bridesmaids are multiplying’
Source: Alquin Intermediate nr. 3
Topic
The number of bridesmaids is not always just a number, but can have a reason to the bride.
Summary
The average wedding in the U.S. now has five bridesmaids. This seems to be rising year by year. It depends on the state how many bridesmaids are usual. In some other countries they have sometimes none at all. Couples typically choose the same number of bridesmaids and groomsmen, because they want beautiful photos and a tidy walk down the aisle. But the number of groomsmen doesn’t increase as much as bridesmaids’. It occurs more and more often that there is a mix of women and man. Ancient Rome law said that you should have 10 witnesses. They would dress just like the bride and groom, to confuse evil ‘spirits’ that wanted to sabotage the couple. Bridesmaids nowadays are more symbolic. It’s kind of an instant wayof showing the depth of friendship. This also counts for men. But this can also cause stress for the bride. A reason of the increasing number can be that people are getting married on a later age, so they’ve spent more time with friends and got to meet more people. The American bridesmaid tradition is a ‘celebration of friendship’.
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