Ashley’s Comments (group member since Sep 25, 2013)

Ashley’s comments from the Reader with a Cause group.

I strongly believe that the medical professionals took advantage of Henrietta Lacks because of race, education level, and poverty. While I wish this had changed since Henrietta Lack's, I don't think it has. People have access to more information via the internet but don't always understand what it means. Plus information on the internet isn't always accurate. How many times have we just been handed a piece of paper at the doctor to sign without fully understanding what it means?

Lastly, in the US, fewer and fewer people are receiving medical training to become doctors and this can mean overworked medical professionals just bouncing from patient to patient, which may cause individuals to feel more pressured to sign off on procedures without understanding the short- and long-term effects. I also believe that where you live has a HUGE impact on the medical care you receive with fewer physicians and resources available in low-income communities. GOOD medical care is far from being accessible, affordable, beneficial, or equal.

Out of all of the essays in Bad Feminist this one really stuck with me. I vividly remember reading it.

Anger is an unusual things. Sometimes we are told it's okay to be angry. Other times we are told to get over it. And particularly as women, we are told that our display of anger is inappropriate, uncalled for, displays us as [insert bad word], controlling, etc. However, if a man is angry "it's okay."

Anger displayed by men is often dismissed. How often do we hear of two guys getting in a fight and we brush it off as "Boys will be boys." Or we see interviews with neighbors/friends/family when a man has used physical violence and they say "He was always such a nice guy" or "There are two sides to the story."

In past events, even if the anger is directed toward another person in the room, male anger has made me uncomfortable. I think this has prevented me in the past from stepping in to any situation because of the possibility of escalation. I feel like as a woman, society has taught me to appease the male. As a society, we also have to teach men that there are alternative ways to display in emotion without violence (physical, emotional, mental, etc.).

Have we taught men that anger is a tool of power? A tool they can wield to get others to cooperate or surrender. Have we taught men to substitute anger with sadness or tears?

Emily wrote: "Ashley wrote: "I was so excited for this movie to come out that I read the book in 3 nights. I really enjoyed the book and the characters. And I thought the movie was well made and the characters w..."

I haven't started the other books yet. I have them but I feel like I need a break in between or else I fly through them too fast (ex. Hunger Games).

I think if these factions included everyone then there would be no factionless. I thought it was extremely unfair that only 10 people were accepted into Dauntless. I started to wonder how initiation worked in the other factions and if they had a certain number of people they could accept.

I have taken this quiz a few times and gotten different results - Amity, Abnegation, Erudite. I think it depends on my mood when I take the quiz.

I loved the movie soundtrack but I think Metric's "Help I'm Alive" is a song that fits well with this book. I thought it was creative for Veronica Roth to include this in the book. I think this helps readers connect to the characters and the author in a different way.

In college I did a project for my Shakespeare class where I had to create a soundtrack for one of the plays. I chose Macbeth. It's interesting to see how songs not written for a book/play can work so well with a certain scene.

I was so excited for this movie to come out that I read the book in 3 nights. I really enjoyed the book and the characters. And I thought the movie was well made and the characters were cast well. But I was so surprised by some of the changes in the movie. This is probably because as a reader I get sucked into the story and can vividly see things happening that when they play out on screen if it's not how I imagined it then I become disappointed. I will tell you, it was strange going to see this on opening night and being 1 of maybe 6 adults in the theatre. I haven't been surrounded by that many pre-teens/teens since I was one!

I'm interested to see how the next book/movie play out.

For those that were excited about this duo... another book on the way!! http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0316...

I really enjoyed this book. Non-fiction books always keep my mind growing. The facts about incarceration rates, release, cost, etc. were eye opening. I knew incarceration in America was out of control but seeing the actual numbers and doing some research after I read just blew me away. America currently houses 25% of the world’s prison population. This is astounding considering America has only 5% of the world’s population. However, I am glad to see that some states are taking some action to reduce sentencing for non-violent offenders and seeking other options.

The cost piece really blew my mind - $30,000 a year to house an inmate (and this varies state to state with the highest being NY at $60k). However, this doesn't even take into account child welfare, social services, the cost to families traveling, the debt incurred prior to incarceration, while incarcerated, post incarceration, and more. We do not provide enough assistance to prisoners as they get ready to phase out of the system instead setting them up for failure by not providing real tools to help with finding a job, housing, child care, education, etc. We see a cycle where those released from prison are ending up incarcerated again (mentioned by Kerman in the book), thus costing the tax payers another $30,000 a year per person.

Hopefully as we continued to explore other options to prison and reforming the criminal justice system we will see fewer former-prisoners returning to jail.

I haven't seen the show but from what I've heard about it it seems to be very different. I've had friends tell me about certain scenes in the show and as I was reading I was looking for them but they never happened. I'm definitely interested in watching the show now and see if I enjoy it.

Hi Neil,
Each state and territory had a domestic violence coalition that works very hard in their state to make an impact on state laws. I would contact your state coalition to see what you can do to help. You can go here on NNEDVs website to find your state coalition. http://nnedv.org/resources/coalitions...
Thanks for your dedication to ending violence against women.

I think that "love" is inaccurately portrayed in a lot of books. If we look at the relationship between Bella and Edward in Twilight they have a very unhealhty relationship but one that young girls seem to idolize. If an author is going to be writing for the teenage audience they need to be careful about the portrayal of characters like/love for each other. The obsessive nature that is seen in many books is unhealthy and should not become the norm.

I agree with Kimp. Not all abusers come from an violent home, and not all violent homes create abusers.

I didn't like Nick or Amy. I felt like we only got a glimpse of Go through Nick's eyes. We got a slight glimpse of Amy's parents through Nick and Amy's eyes. At times I felt sorry for them and other times I couldn't stand them.

I've been very quiet on this book, trying to collect my thoughts to form an appropriate response. This book is very well written. I felt that I could fully picture everything described. That being said, I didn't like any of the characters. I couldn't relate to anyone in the book. Typically when I read I feel a hangover after a book ends because I miss the characters. I couldn't wait to get rid of these characters and move to the next book!

As much as I appreciate a well written book, I'm afraid this book is going to give people the idea that all women are manipulative and liars.

I think I will leave it here... still struggling with forming coherent thoughts on this strange, creepy book.

Thanks, Erica! I was just going to share that same article.

I've been so busy and exhausted this month that I'm still not finished... But I can tell you that the twists and turns do keep me interested when I have time to pick up the book. I'm really looking forward to discussing this book.

I just started this book and I'm interested to see where it goes. I've read other Gillian Flynn books and really enjoyed them.

I loved the duo also! I was concerned that the book would start to veer into the love triangle field but was very happy when it didn't. I hope there is a second book where we get to see the development of Robin into more of a detective. I think Strike will be a good mentor for Robin and Robin is good at helping Strike piece things together and get the information to put the case together.

I agree, Emily. It is hard to know. We don't have the opportunity to talk with Robin about her relationship and see how she really feels about the way Matthew was acting. Robin didn't seem scared of Matthew since she did (view spoiler)[ continue to work for Strike in the end. (hide spoiler)] I think Matthew may have been more concerned with her helping support them in their new marriage but his concerns may have been squashed in the end but we don't know since the book ends.

I was surprised by the ending because I wouldn't have thought the one person to hire Strike would be the murderer.

I'm also still having an issue with why John hired Strike. He could have continued to blackmail Rochelle. Was it his thinking that the money would've gone to his mother and since his Mother knew he was evil (because of his brother) she would've left her money and Lula's to possibly her brother (Tony)? Maybe John thought he had his tracks covered and the investigation would lead to Jonah's (Lula's brother) capture instead?