Essay about Rape Culture Are Women Asking for It

Merril Smith’s Encycolpedia of Rape defines the term â€Å"rape culture† as â€Å"one in which rape and other sexual violence against women . . . [is] both prevalent and considered the norm† (174). Rape is not a new subject in today’s society, its origins reaching far back into history. What causes rape, though? Is it the primal drive of men to exhibit dominance over all women, or do the women share the blame because of the way they dress, act, or do their makeup? Modern American culture would place the blame on the woman who â€Å"provoked† the attack; however, a woman should not have to park closer to the building she is entering, nor should she have to carry protection just in case a sexual predator decides that she is his next victim. Men are just as†¦show more content†¦Today’s society is one in which the idea of male superiority dominates, one that Edwards et al. says fosters the idea that â€Å"rape ideologies emanate from a patriarchal system† (qtd. in Franiuk). The influences on modern American culture, what it idolizes and produces, are often times truly sickening. Popular television programs and other media present depictions of women that promote a society of rape culture. The rapper Eminem, just one of the famous rap artists who has a bad reputation, refers to women in very derogatory ways. His song â€Å"Kim† was released in 2000, and is believed to have been written about his then-wife, Kim Mathers. In it, the rapper says, â€Å"Sit down bitch/If you move again Ill beat the shit out of you,† among other things, and even goes on to describe other types of violence that he wants to commit against her (Bass). When taking into consideration Eminem’s subject matter, his popularity is alarming. His music, and thousands of other songs like his, is filling the ears of impressionable youth and naà ¯ve adults, permeating their minds with horrible ideas. The United States has ov er twenty-five hundred strip clubs, and thousands of pornographic videos are being released each year (Katz 21). This is not a society that respects women and their bodies. Instead, it is one that teaches men of every age that it is acceptable to look at a woman as though she is a piece of meat because that is what happens on the television; it is admissible,Show MoreRelatedRape Culture Essay1180 Words   |  5 Pages For centuries, rape culture has not been clearly defined by ideas, beliefs, or attitudes. As a pretty controversial subject, there is no correct definition for the term â€Å"rape culture†. It is generally defined by the way a person perceives rape, and for that reason, there are many beliefs towards rape. Rape is generally unlawful and unwanted sexual intercourse between any person. In this shocking world today, most perpetrators of sexual assaults are caused by heterosexual men, and for the most partRead MoreSexual Objectification Of Rape Culture1612 Words   |  7 Pagesâ€Å"You were asking for it,† is one the most shared comments and viewpoints expressed towards women who have been sexually assaulted or raped. According to â€Å"The Criminal Justice System: Statistics | RAINN,† 994 perpetrators out of 1000 rape cases will walk free; and every 108 seconds a sexual assault is committed. You may have heard of rape culture on the news, social media, and/or online, but rape culture isn’t just some group of people or a society, but rather the concept of rape culture means weRead MoreGender Equality And Gender Discrimination1429 Words   |  6 PagesGender equality has been actively sought out for, chiefly by women, throughout history with a goal to establish equal rights and opportunities among all genders. While extensive progress has been achieved towards women’s rights throughout the twentieth century, women continue to experience gender discrimination on a daily basis. Even with the Equal Rights Amendment in the Constitution which refrains from inequality of rights concerning sex, gender inequality continues to persist Gender discriminationRead MoreEssay about The Effects of Rape Culture in Modern Society 1107 Words   |  5 Pagesfreedom of expression, statistics show rape and sexual assault numbers have risen due to the presence of rape culture in modern society. Rape culture promotes more assaults and violent acts, not only towards women but also towards men. Some evidence rape culture is present in today’s society are rising statistics showing that only three out of a hundred rapists see jail time and that over 17 million American women are victims of sexual assault every year. Rape culture is seen in every aspect of daily AmericanRead MoreRape Culture : It Is Believable Or Not1537 Words   |  7 PagesBrown Mrs.Gallos English 3 24 April 17 Rape Culture Whether it is believable or not, rape culture exists in our everyday life, our society, our schools, our colleges, in our country, and anywhere on Earth. It is a problem that has always been around, but it just was not given a name. Rape culture is defined as, â€Å"A society or environment whose prevailing social attitudes have the effect of normalizing or trivializing sexual assault and abuse.† (â€Å"Rape) An example of how this would play out in ourRead MoreSexual Violence And Sex Violence960 Words   |  4 Pagesa justice system and how our culture has influenced sexual violence. Central Research Questions/Problems In this research paper, I will be looking about how sexual violence is portrayed through the lenses of class and race. Knowing that these two factors place a role in many other social issues and knowing that there may be a notion about certain class or race when is come to sexual violence. Secondly, I will be looking at the rape culture and how the rape culture has perpetuated the notion ofRead MoreDress Codes For The Real World Essay1740 Words   |  7 Pages Disguised as guidelines for the real world, dress codes hold a significant part in the role of rape culture. Students of the public-school system are told that dress codes are here to prepare students for outside job responsibilities and most notably, to promote self-respect. However, dress codes target young girls by telling them if they are wearing a certain top or type of pants, they are not respecting themselves. This is a PG way of saying that â€Å"boys will be boys†, so if they get distractedRead MoreWhy We Shoul d Be A Feminist1279 Words   |  6 PagesSurvey); but do these students actually know what feminism is? Feminism is a global movement to empower women of every age, economic standing, sexuality, and culture through gender equality. Often confused with misandry, or the hate of males, feminism simply wants to make both genders equal. Misogyny, or prejudice against females, is the main bane of feminism, a force so deeply embedded in our culture that feminists have had to fight it for centuries, and continue to fight it to keep our current rightsRead MoreCrime Prevention At Osgood Hall Law School969 Words   |  4 PagesThrongs of activists, the bulk of them female, will parade down the streets of Downtown Los Angeles next week. Scantly clad women will conceal their faces with cardboard cut outs inscribed with words like â€Å"slut† or â€Å"whore†. The signs that they hold up in protest will read â€Å"still not asking for it.† It’s called SlutWalk. Almost five years ago, two events ignited this transnational movement. The first one occurred on January 24th in 2011 when Toronto police officer named Michael Sanguitti and hisRead MoreWhy Women Should Be Treated By The Workplace, And The Psychology Of It All1743 Words   |  7 PagesWomen all over the world have been mistreated for more than a century. It has been exploited throughout the world as how â€Å"women aren’t currently treated the same as men in certain situations† but it is far more beyond that. Only half of the world seems to at least know what is really happening behind the curtain. Ambiguous people have manipulated the very much realness with what is exactly taking place in our society. In this essay, I will be talking about the following things; Inequity in the workplace

The Road Not Taken By Robert Frost - 1591 Words

There comes a time in everyone’s life that we are forced to make lifelong decisions. What is chosen may more and or less be based off mood, values and priorities. Our behaviors and actions are what help us shape our future, therefore being very careful is a key quality in life when your deciding the next step, sometimes its known that bad decisions can lead to having regrets. â€Å"The Road Not Taken,† by Robert Frost relates to this because in the poem he describes being in the same situation of deciding which â€Å"road† will lead him to being and living a successful life or possibly living in regret. The use of metaphors, archetypes, and imagery were used throughout the poem to give a meaning of making your own decisions and really think about long term goals. Robert uses many metaphors to show how his decision impacted his life and future. â€Å"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both†(1-2) is a deep metaphor for our lifetime and tough decisions. These â€Å"roads† are the options that we have in life, and unfortunately we have no way of finding out whether or not which path is correct. Although, Frost isn’t directly applied for whose reading it, it almost puts life more in perspective for us because it get the reader to think about the decisions that they make in life a little bit more in depth. Imagery is also used to portray meaning, It demonstrates the importance in decision making that you make. Afterall, it can be hard deciding which road will lead usShow MoreRelatedThe Road Not Taken By Robert Frost983 Words   |  4 PagesThe poem â€Å"The Road Not Taken was written by Robert Frost, a four-time Pulitzer Prize winner in poetry, and also a special guest at President John F. Kennedy’s inauguration (Robert Frost Biography). Frost was born on March 26, 1874 in San Francisco, California and he died of complications from prostate surgery on January 29, 1963. Much of Robert’s popularity was gained throughout Europe (An Analysis of Robert Frost’s Poem: The Road Not Taken). Frost became a poetic force, and the unofficial poetRead MoreThe Road Not Taken by Robert Frost764 Words   |  3 PagesWritten by Robert Frost, â€Å"The Road Not Taken† deals with about making choices in life and how those choices affect your whole life. The meter of this po em is iambic tetrameter, for the most part. In most lines, the meter follows the rule with four iambs, which means that there is one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. But the meter is not normal since, in some lines, an anapest, which means there are two unstressed syllables followed by one stressed syllable, is substituted forRead MoreThe Road Not Taken By Robert Frost1173 Words   |  5 PagesRobert Frost, one of America’s well-known poets is highly regarded for his realistic illustrations of rural life and poetry which is still relevant in today’s society. After being honoured on numerous occasions, he became one of America’s most popular public figures. Frosts’ poems reflect his greatness and his life in a variety of ways after he was confronted with such despair and grief after the passing of his father due to tuberculosis at just eleven years of age and his mother who passed awayRead MoreThe Road Not Taken By Robert Frost995 Wo rds   |  4 Pagesthey can only move forward hoping for the best. â€Å"The Road Not Taken†, Robert Frost, 1916. In â€Å"The Road Not Taken† a traveler is strolling through the woods and comes across two different roads he could take, and unable to travel both the poet eventually chooses which path to take. The theme conveyed is about making choices. Frost does this through the use of diction, the use of figure of speech, and the use of imagery. To start with, Frost displays the main idea of decision making by the wordsRead MoreThe Road Not Taken By Robert Frost1055 Words   |  5 Pagesago. Either way, if you admit it now or in the wee hours of the night, like most people, you will come across this question at least once in your life. Robert Frost was able to grasp this raw, vulnerable life changing moment in the palm of his hand. Then he beautifully laid it out in the form of words in the narrative poem â€Å"The Road Not Taken†. Frost is able to take you back to a time when you have been faced with a life-changing decision. Then, causing you to ask yourself â€Å"Did I make the right choiceRead MoreThe Road Not Taken By Robert Frost940 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å"The Road Not Taken† was written by Robert Frost in 1916, and it was the first poem in the collection Mountain Interval (Shmoop). Even though it was written many years ago, people of all ages still study this enticing poem. Frost wrote about coming to a fork in the woods and examining which path he should take and whether he might ever come back; the speaker believes each path is fine to take, but he takes the less used path (line 6). He wrote about this decision in clear, standard English. â€Å"TheRead MoreThe Road Not Taken By Robert Frost863 Words   |  4 PagesThe Poem, â€Å"The Road Not Taken†, by Robert Frost is a detailed poem about a conflict in a person’s life, dealing with having to take the right path throughout life. The Narrator of this poem is faced with a predicament when he comes across two paths. The choices that he makes in his life, can alter the future for better or worse. This poem describes his attitude and emotion towards his choices as well as, shows examples of themes, mood, and different literary devices. The title of this poem canRead MoreThe Road Not Taken, By Robert Frost968 Words   |  4 PagesPersonal Response 3 Title: The Road Not Taken Text Type: Poem Author: Robert Frost The poem, ‘The Road Not Taken’ by Robert Frost is about the â€Å"roads† and different paths we take in our lives. Frost wrote about a traveler who had to chose between two roads. He had to decide if he wanted to go down the well used or less used path. In the end, he went down the less used path. The theme of decision making and choices is shown in this poem. I think that this is a way of describing the choices we makeRead MoreRoad Not Taken, Robert Frost942 Words   |  4 PagesEnglish 101 Burstrem October 7, 2009 The Road Not Taken Life is full of choices and decisions that could ultimately change the outcome of our lives. In the poem, â€Å"The Road Not Taken† by Robert Frost, a traveler is destined to make that decision. This traveler man has to decide which road to take, one that is frequently traveled, and the one that is not. After contemplating which road to follow, he comes to the decision to take the road less traveled because he doesn’t want to follow inRead MoreThe Road Not Taken By Robert Frost1100 Words   |  5 PagesRobert Frost reflects that poetry â€Å"begins in delight and ends in wisdom†¦.It runs a course of lucky events , and ends in a clarification of life—not necessarily a great clarification, such as sects and cults are found on, but in a momentary stay against confusion† (931). His poem â€Å"The Road Not Taken† is a clarification of life. This paper will analyze and evaluate the formal elements of â€Å"The Road Not Taken† and consid er how these elements work together to fit the author’s purpose and clarification

Night World Dark Angel Chapter 11 Free Essays

string(118) " that could keep her from typing or holding a pen\? How about a bad rash\?† â€Å"A rash\?† â€Å"Sure\." Angel’s voice was taut but calm. (Pick up a pen from the counter. The black one’s fine. We will write a custom essay sample on Night World : Dark Angel Chapter 11 or any similar topic only for you Order Now Now-let go. Just relax and let me move it.) Gillian let go. It was a process she couldn’t have described in words if she’d tried. But she watched, with a sort of fascinated horror, as her own hand began to draw on a small white invoice slip. It drew across the lines, in some kind of pattern. Unfortunately the pen seemed to be out of ink, so all Gillian could see was a faint scribble. (Show her the carbon copy.) Gillian peeled off the first sheet of paper. Underneath, in carbon, was her design. It looked like a flower-a dahlia. It was crudely colored in, as if it were meant to be dark. (What is it, Angel?) (A sort of password. Unless you know it, she’s not going to let you buy what you need.) Melusine’s face had changed. She was looking at Gillian with startled interest. â€Å"Unity,† she said. â€Å"I wondered about you when you came in. You’ve got the look-but I’ve never seen you before. Did you just move here?† (Say â€Å"Unity.† It’s their greeting. And tell her that you’re just passing through.) (Angel-is she a witch? Are there other witches around here? And how come I have to lie-) (She’s getting suspicious!) The girl was looking at Gillian rather oddly. Like someone trying to catch a conversation. It scared Gillian. â€Å"Unity. No, I’m just visiting,† she said hastily. â€Å"And,† she added as Angel whispered, â€Å"I need the Dragon’s Blood and, um, two wax figures. Female. And do you have any charged Selket powder?† Melusine settled back a little. â€Å"You belong to Circle Midnight.† She said it flatly. (Whaaaat? What’s Circle Midnight? And how come she doesn’t like me anymore?) (It’s a sort of witch organization. Like a club. It’s the one that does the kind of spells that you need to do right now.) (Aha. Bad spells, you mean.) (Powerful spells. In your case, necessary spells.) Melusine was scooting her chair behind the counter. For a moment Gillian wondered why she didn’t get up, and then, as Melusine reached the edge of the counter, she understood. The chair was a wheelchair and Melusine’s right leg was missing from the knee down. It didn’t seem to hinder her, though. In a moment, she was scooting back with a couple of packets and a box in her lap. She put the box on the counter and took out two dolls made of dull rose-colored wax. One of the packets held chunks of what looked like dark red chalk, the other a peacock-green powder. She didn’t look up as Gillian paid for the items. Gillian felt snubbed. â€Å"Unity,† she said formally, as she put her wallet away and gathered up her purchases. She figured if you said it for hello, you could say it for goodbye. Melusine’s dark eyes flashed up at her intently and almost quizzically. Then she said slowly, â€Å"Merry part . . . and merry meet again.† It almost sounded like an invitation. (Well, I’m lost.) (Just say â€Å"Merry part† and get out of here, kid.) Outside, Gillian looked at the town square with new eyes. (The Witches of Woodbridge. So, are they, like, all over here? Do they own the Creamery and the hardware store, too?) (You’re closer than you think. But we don’t have time to stand around. You’ve got some spells to cast.) Gillian took one more look around the quiet tree-lined square, feeling herself standing in the bright air with her packages of spell ingredients. Then she shook her head. She turned to the car. Sitting in the middle of her bed with the bedroom door locked, Gillian contemplated her materials. The plastic bags of rock and powder, the dolls, and the hair she’d gathered from the brush in Macon’s bathroom last night. Two or three strands of sun blond curls. Three or four long black glossy hairs. â€Å"And you don’t need to tell me what they’re for,† she said, looking at the air beside her. â€Å"It’s voodoo time, huh?† â€Å"Smart girl.† Angel shimmered into being. â€Å"The hair is to personalize the dolls, to link them magically to their human counterparts. You’ve got to wind a hair around each doll, and name it out loud. Call it Tanya or Kimberlee.† Gillian didn’t move. â€Å"Angel, look. When I got that hair, I had no idea why I was doing it. But when I saw those little wax figures-well, then I realized. And the way that girl Melusine looked at me. †¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"She has no idea what you’re up against. Forget her.† â€Å"I’m just trying to get things straight, all right?† Hands clasped tightly in her lap, she looked at him. â€Å"I’ve never wanted to hurt people-well, all right, yes, I have. I’ve had those-those images or whatever at night, like seeing a giant foot splat down on my geometry teacher. But I don’t really want to hurt people.† Angel looked patient. â€Å"Who said you were going to hurt them?† â€Å"Well, what’s all this for?† â€Å"It’s for whatever you want it to be for. Gillian, dragonfly, all these materials are just aids for a witch’s natural powers. They’re a way of focusing the power, directing it to a particular purpose. But what actually happens to Tanya and Kim depends on you. You don’t have to hurt them. You just have to stop them.† â€Å"I just have to stop them from doing what they’re planning to do.† Gillian’s mind was already sparking into action. â€Å"And Tanya’s planning to write letters. And Kim’s planning to spread the word†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"So what if Tanya can’t write letters? And if Kimberlee can’t talk? It would be sort of†¦ poetic justice.† Angel’s face was grave, but his eyes were glinting with mischief. Gillian bit her lip. â€Å"I think it would kill Kim not to talk!† â€Å"Oh, I bet she could live through it.† They were both laughing now. â€Å"So if she had, say, a bad sore throat†¦ and if Tanya’s arm were paralyzed†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Gillian sobered. â€Å"Not paralyzed.† â€Å"I meant temporarily. Not even temporarily? All right, what about something else that could keep her from typing or holding a pen? How about a bad rash?† â€Å"A rash?† â€Å"Sure. An infection. One she’d have to keep bandaged up so she couldn’t use her fingers. That would stop her for a while, until we can think of something else.† â€Å"A rash†¦ Yeah, that could work. That would be good.† Gillian took a quick breath and looked down at her materials. â€Å"Okay, tell me how to do it!† And Angel walked her through the strange process. She wound the dolls with hair and named them aloud. She rubbed them with crumbled Dragon’s Blood, the dark red chalky stuff. Then she dabbed the hand of one and the throat of the other with the iridescent green Selket powder. â€Å"Now†¦ may I be given the power of the words of Hecate. It is not I who utter them, it is not I who repeat them; it is Hecate who utters them, it is she who repeats them.† (And who the heck’s Hecate?) She sent the thought to Angel wordlessly, in case speaking aloud would ruin the spell. (Be quiet. Now concentrate. Pick up the Tanya doll and think Streptococcus pyogenes. That’s a bacteria that’ll give her a rash. Picture it in your mind. See the rash on the real Tanya.) There was a certain satisfaction in doing it. Gillian couldn’t deny that, even to herself. She pictured Tanya’s slim olive-skinned right hand, poised to sign a letter that would destroy David’s future. Then she pictured itchy red bumps appearing, another hand scratching. Redness spreading across the skin. More itching. More scratching†¦ (Hey, this is fun!) Then she took care of the Kim doll. When she was finished, she put both dolls in a shoe box and put the shoe box under her bed. Then she stood up, flushed and triumphant. â€Å"It’s over? I did it?† â€Å"You did it. You’re a full-fledged witch now. Hecate’s the Queen of the Witches, incidentally. Their ancient ruler. And she’s special to you- you’re descended in a direct line from her daughter Hellewise.† â€Å"I am?† Gillian stood a little straighter. She seemed to feel power tingling through her, a sparkling energy, a sense that she could reach out and mold the world. She felt as if she ought to have an aura. â€Å"Really?† â€Å"Your great-grandmother Elspeth was one of the Harmans, the Hearth-Women, the line that came from Hellewise. Elspeth’s older sister Edgith became a big witch leader.† How could Gillian have ever thought she was ordinary, less than ordinary? You couldn’t argue with facts like these. She was from a line of important witches. She was part of an ancient tradition. She was special. She felt very, very powerful. That night, her father called. He wanted to know if she was okay, and to let her know he loved her. All Gillian wanted to know was whether he’d be home for Christmas. â€Å"Of course I’ll be home. I love you.† â€Å"Love you.† But she wasn’t happy when she hung up. (Angel, we’ve got to figure things out. Is there a spell I should do on him?) (I’ll think about it.) The next morning she sailed into school cheerfully and looked around for someone who would talk. She spotted the cropped red head of J.Z. the Model and waved hello. â€Å"What’s up, J.Z.?† J.Z. turned hazy blue-green eyes on her and fell into step. â€Å"Did you hear about Tanya?† Gillian’s heart skipped a beat. â€Å"No,† she said, with perfect truth. â€Å"She’s got some awful rash or infection or something. Like poison ivy. They say it’s driving her crazy.† As always, J.Z. spoke slowly and with an almost vacant air. But Gillian thought there was a gleam of satisfaction under the blank look. She shot J.Z. a sharp glance. â€Å"Well, that’s too bad.† â€Å"Sure is,† J.Z. murmured, smiling absently. â€Å"I sure hope nobody else catches it.† She was hoping to hear something about Kim. But J.Z. just said, â€Å"Well, at least we know David won’t.† Then she wandered off. (Angel, that girl doesn’t like Tanya.) (A lot of people don’t like Tanya.) (It’s weird. I used to think being popular meant everybody likes you. Now I think it’s more like everybody’s afraid not to like you.) (Right. Let them hate you as long as they fear you. But, you see, you’ve done a public service, putting Tanya out of commission.) In biology class, Gillian found out that Kim was absent and had canceled gymnastics practice for the day. She had something’ like strep throat and couldn’t even talk. Nobody seemed heartbroken over this, either. (Being popular means everybody’s glad when something bad happens to you.) (It’s a dog-eat-dog world, kid.) Angel chuckled. Gillian smiled. She had protected David. It gave her a wonderful feeling to be able to protect him, to take care of him. Not that she exactly approved of what he’d done. Buying an English paper and turning it in as your own-that was pretty bad. Not just wrong, but petty somehow. (But I think he was sorry. I think that was maybe one of the things he was saying he wasn’t proud of. And maybe there’s some way he can make up for it. Like if he wrote another paper and turned it in, and explained to Ms. Renquist. Don’t you think, Angel?) (Hm? Oh, sure. Good idea.) (Because sometimes being sorry isn’t enough, you know? You’ve got to do something. Angel? Angel?) (I’m here. Just thinking about your next class. And your powers and things. Did you know there’s a spell to bring in money?) (There is? Now, that’s really interesting. I mean, I don’t care about money money, but I’d really love a car†¦) That night Gillian lay in bed, head propped on pillows, legs curled under a throw, and thought about how lucky she was. Angel seemed to be gone for the moment; she could neither see him nor hear his voice. But it was Angel she was thinking about. He had brought her so much-and he’d brought her himself, which she sometimes thought was the greatest gift of all. What other girl could have two gorgeous guys without being unfaithful to either of them, or making either of them jealous? What other girl could have two great loves at once, without doing wrong? Because that was how she’d come to think of Angel. As a great love. He wasn’t a pillar of light to her anymore, or a terrifyingly beautiful apparition with a voice like silver fire. He was almost like an ordinary guy, only impossibly handsome, devastatingly witty, and incidentally supernatural. Since learning she was supernatural herself, Gillian felt he was somehow more accessible. And he understood her. Nobody had ever known her, or could ever know her, the way he did. He knew all her deepest secrets and most carefully hidden fears-and he still loved her. The love was obvious every time he spoke to her, every time he appeared and looked at her with those startling eyes. I’m in love with him, too, Gillian thought. She felt quite calm about it. It was different from the way she loved David. In a way, it was more powerful, because nobody could ever be as close to her as Angel was-but there was no physical aspect to it. Angel was a part of her on a level nothing human could touch. Their relationship was separate from the human world. It was unique. â€Å"Tie me kangaroo down, mate!† A light was appearing beside the bed. â€Å"Where’ve you been, Australia?† â€Å"Checking on Tanya and Kim the Gym, actually. Tanya’s bandaged from shoulder to fingers and she’s not thinking about writing anything. Kim’s sucking a popsicle and moaning. Inaudibly.† â€Å"Good.† Gillian felt a triumphant glow. Which was wrong, of course; she shouldn’t enjoy other people’s pain. But she couldn’t hide it from Angel-and those girls deserved it. They would be sorry, sorry, sorry they had ever tangled with Gillian Lennox. â€Å"But we’ve got to work out a more permanent solution,† she said. â€Å"And figure things out about my parents.† â€Å"I’m working on all of it.† Angel was gazing at her with a kind of dreamy intentness. â€Å"What?† â€Å"Nothing. Just looking at you. You look particularly beautiful tonight, which is absurd considering you’re wearing flannel pajamas with bears on them.† Gillian felt a quick sweet throb. She looked down. â€Å"These are cats. But the bears are my favorite, actually.† She looked back up and grinned wickedly. â€Å"I’ll bet I could start a little bears fashion at school. You can do anything with enough guts.† â€Å"You can do anything, that’s for sure. Sweet dreams, beautiful.† â€Å"Silly. Stop it.† Gillian waved a hand at him. But she was still blushing when she lay down and shut her eyes. She felt absurdly happy and complimented. And beautiful. And powerful. And special. â€Å"Hear about Tanya?† Amanda the Cheerleader said at lunch break the next day. She and Gillian were in the girls’ bathroom. Gillian eyed herself in the mirror. A touch with the comb†¦ perfect. And maybe a little more lipstick. She was doing the glamour thing today. Dark, mesmerizing eyes and bold, laughing red mouth. Or maybe she should pout instead of laugh. She pursed her lips at herself and said absently, â€Å"Old news.† â€Å"No, I mean the new stuff. She’s got complications, apparently.† Gillian stopped applying lipstick. â€Å"What kind of complications?† â€Å"I don’t know. Fever, I think. And her whole arm’s turning purple.† (Angel? Purple?) (Well, I’d say more mauve myself. Relax, kid. Fever’s a natural side effect of a bad rash. Just like poison ivy.) (But-) (Look at Amanda. She’s not too upset.) (No, ’cause she probably knows Tanya was messing with her boyfriend. Or she has some other reason not to like her. But, I mean, I don’t want Tanya really hurt.) (Don’t you? Be honest.) (Well, I mean, not really, really hurt, you know? Medium hurt. That’s all.) (I don’t think she’s going to drop dead this minute.) Angel said it patiently. (Okay. Good.) Gillian felt a little embarrassed for making a big deal-and at the same time she had a fleeting impulse to go check on Tanya herself. But the impulse was easily quashed. Tanya was getting what she deserved. It was only a rash. How bad could that be? Besides, Angel was looking after things. And she trusted Angel. She added the last dab of lipstick and smiled at herself in the mirror. Definitely she was one hot witch. In sixth period, messengers brought candy canes that people had ordered last week from the Vocal Jazz Club. You could send the candy canes, which came with a ribbon and a note, to anyone you wanted. Gillian got a pile so large that everyone laughed, and Seth Pyles ran over and snapped a picture of it for the yearbook. After school David came and rummaged through the pile, looking at the messages and shaking his fist, pretending to be jealous. It was a very good day. â€Å"Happy?† Angel asked that afternoon. David’s mother had recruited him for heavy-duty Christmas housecleaning, so Gillian was alone in her bedroom-which meant it was just her and Angel. She was folding socks and humming her favorite carol, â€Å"O Come All Ye Faithful.† â€Å"Can’t you tell?† â€Å"Not with all that noise you’re making. Are you really happy?† She looked up. â€Å"Of course I am. I mean, except for the stuff with my parents, I’m totally happy.† â€Å"And being popular is all you expected it to be.† â€Å"Well†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Gillian paused in bewilderment. â€Å"It’s-it’s a little different from what I expected. It’s not the be-all and the end-all I’d have thought. But then I’m different from what I thought.† â€Å"You’re a witch. And you want more than just candy canes and parties.† She looked at him curiously. â€Å"What are you trying to say? That I should do some more spells?† â€Å"I’m saying that there’s more to being a witch than doing spells. I can show you, if you trust me.† How to cite Night World : Dark Angel Chapter 11, Essay examples