The first TED Talk I watched was How To Live Passionately—No Matter Your Age. The speaker was a 71 year old spanish woman, which made me a little skeptical at first, but the moment she had the floor she made a joke about her old age, and the impact it has had on her body (wrinkles, sagging, etc.). She made a lot of hand gestures and had fluency eye contact. However, her voice was a little softer, which made me feel like she wasn't living quite as passionately as she says she is. 

     The next TED Talk I watched was from a female, Australian singer with a stutter, entitled Why I Live In Mortal Dread Of Public Speaking. She talked about how her stutter made her hate speaking, and some of the treatment she has undergone as a child to aid her stutter. However, she read her speech mostly off her iPhone, which forced a lake of eye contact. Also her body language screamed ‘guarded’ and ‘closed’ because her arms were tucked in at her sides, her shoulders shrugged, and she swayed nearly the entire speech. 

     The last TED Talk I watched was How Movies Teach Manhood, which was presented by a middle-aged man with two children: a daughter and son. He was more or less the best of the three speakers because he spoke loudly and clearly, his hand gestures were very natural and fluid, and he had good posture. His point was clearly understood because I wasn't so focused on criticizing what his body and voice were doing, so I could really focus on what he was saying.

Scandal or Sex Crime?

The central point the author, Scott Mendelson, is making is women are blamed for falling victim to sexual crime, while the men who commit these crimes are being less than punished because ‘boys will be boys’. Mendelson makes his point quite clear when he states “[women] have not been scandalized, but rather victimized” and “[society] emphasize how women can prevent being assaulted instead of telling the men…not to assault women in the first place,” that the listed female celebrities are a clear example of how backwards societies views of sex crimes are.  
Personally I agree wholeheartedly with Mendelson’s article. Depicting women as ‘vindictive’ or a ‘classic bitch’ has become the norm in today’s society. For example, women how speak their minds about equality or women’s rights are written off as liberal feminists with a negative connotation. These celebrities have been victimized at the core of the word, and shouldn't be blamed for having personal content of their person devices. Hacking into someone’s personal accounts and devices is theft, which it totally illegal. 

However, I loved the writing style of this piece. Mendleson does a fantastic job of being direct and firm without sounding preachy or pushy. The writing embodies the perfect mix of a condescending tone while still evoking a sense of passion and desire for change in the reader. Overall I enjoyed this article immensely. The topic is current, relatable, and the ideal example for demonstrating the need for change in our mind set and outlook on the way men and women interact.

Hi! 

My name is Taylor Hamilton! I'm a freshman at UK and currently live in Blanding Tower. I live in Lexington, but attended a boarding school in Chattanooga, TN called Baylor (Don't worry, I wasn't a bad kid that was sent away! Think Zoey 101). I decided on UK because I had kind of already done the whole 'going away to school' thing, and wanted to be closer to home and my family. I recently rushed and am now a member of Alpha Phi, which I am very excited about. (: 

The album that would best describe my 2014 so far is Luke Bryan's Crash My Party album. This concert was the first concert I was permitted to attend without adult supervision, and was on my 18th birthday; so for me it is reminiscent of my first moments as a young adult.