The Story of
GETTING HERE
Bodenner, Chris. “Why Aren't Women's Sports as Big as Men's? Your Thoughts.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 9 June 2015, www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/06/women-and-sports-world-cup-s occer/395231/.
I have not yet written the female sports section of this story, but when I do I believe this article will be helpful. It highlights many issues that female athletes confront including unequal pay and unequal phandom. Even if women will be the best in history, they are still judged on their appearance for sponsorships (Serena Williams vs Maria Sharapova). This article goes into detail on many sports and includes a variety of opinions which will be a helpful foundation of knowledge for when I begin writing.
Bunting, Joe. “How to Write a Short Story from Start to Finish.” The Write Practice, Disqus, 6 Feb. 2018, thewritepractice.com/how-to-write-a-short-story/.
Although it is a silly “How to” article, this source has really helped me with the concrete steps of short story writing. It takes you through the entire process in a scientific way that has helped me be a lot more literal about making progress. This article made me think about my short story in a different way; I like how I wrote the story out as one sentence and then continued to develop the ideas into a full story. It helped me prioritize my main points. In addition to the actual article, the comment section was helpful too where people practiced their own story evolution.
Gay, Roxane. Bad Feminist. HarperCollins USA, 2017.
While this book is a collection of non-fiction essays, different from my fictional short stories, it is still interesting to read and observe the plot development over a small period of time. In my story I want to emulate the way Gay is able to convey deep messages in short passages. I left Bad Feminist feeling a lot more socially aware about different identities and social issues, and hope people feel that way after completing my story.
Gupta, Prachi. “Why the Hell Are Tampons Still Taxed?” Cosmopolitan, Hearst, 15 Oct. 2015, www.cosmopolitan.com/politics/news/a47780/abolish-tampon-tax-america/. This magazine article, although biased, was incredibly helpful. It provided lots of perspective on the tampon tax. I will use this information and refer to this article when creating the fact sheet that will follow the short story. This article made clear how ridiculous the tampon tax is by comparing other items (ie candy, creams, washes) that are not taxed and considered “necessary items.”
Kuchman, Emily. Politics. 2017. This capstone project was incredibly useful to look at. Not only were Kuchman’s ideas well thought out, it was interesting to see how other people organize their final products. While I have briefly begun designing my own Wix page, I know I will refer back to this one to seek inspiration and ideas. Particularly her use of repetition and leading questions at the beginning of the pages.
Larimer, Sarah. “The ‘Tampon Tax,’ Explained.” Washington Post, 8 Jan. 2016, www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/01/08/the-tampon-tax-explained/. While the first article on the tampon tax is very angry, this one takes another angle. I believe it is important to see all sides of an argument, which explains this Washington Post more conservative article. In addition to going into some financial details about the tax, this article addresses the progress that politicians are making in fighting it. There are also a lot of embedded links in this article that I may click on for further research when creating the fact sheet.
Moore, Lorrie. You're Ugly Too. 1990.
This short story was helpful to read and has provided guidance for me. In particular, I admire the way Moore was able to paint such a clear picture of the setting in the beginning. Not only did she physically describe things, she was able to convey the mood. She did a phenomenal job describing the upbringing and life of Zoe Hendricks and I try to do the same for my main character. Moore introduces supporting characters in a way that keeps the story focused on Zoe.
Olsen, Tillie. I Stand Here Ironing. 1961.
This short story was helpful for me when deciding what kind of narrator my writing would have. Olsen used the first person, which is ultimately what I decided against, however it was valuable to see a successful example of that type of writing. Olsen did an incredible job outlining the mother-daughter complex relationship which in a way will be a part of my story.
Ottaway, Amanda. “Why Don't People Watch Women's Sports?” The Nation, 21 July 2016, www.thenation.com/article/why-dont-people-watch-womens-sports/.
I intend for part of my story to be about a record breaking, female high school athlete be honored at a men’s sporting event, and this article explains why that is necessary. She would not get the recognition she deserves if it were to be at a female event because people simply do not show up. This article has given me many ideas on how I can emphasize the lack of attention people play to women's sports including media attention and enthusiastic fans.
Puhl, Tracy. “Dads and Periods: Your Stories.” GladRags Gab, GladRags, 17 June 2015, blog.gladrags.com/3805/dads-and-periods-your-stories/.
This source informally explains various daughters relationships with their dads while menstruating. It has been really interesting to read how different fathers handle this type of feminine thing. Because men do not experience periods, it seems they take it rather seriously and get a bit awkward around discussing it. It has been extremely valuable to read real life examples of these interactions, as it is something I do not know first hand.