Adina

Adina Cosden 4/4/11 Section 4 English __Apple Fallen Towards The Roots__ In a society such as ours, things influence us, just as we influence others, both knowingly, and unsuspectingly. Specifically relative to gender issues, we are set in the tradition of such predispositions, by not just the media and peers, but right at home as well. Common sayings such as “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree” are great representations of this type of situation. And for a phrase to become so well recognized, something must cause it to come up so often. I come from a Jewish heritage. Like most people, my grandparents and I don’t always share the same ideals. My uncle played pop Warner football from around 2nd or 3rd grade, all the way up until 8th. And though in more recent times, football players in America have become a very accepted group, he was raised to believe that “nice Jewish boys” didn’t play high school football. Still, the stories are told with my grandparents there in the background, cheering and cheering for their son. They even became proud of him once he got passed the point of not wanting his helmet to get dirty, and started getting tackled and scratched up. My mother used to accompany them to all his games up until his 8th grade year, when she was in Israel. While living in Israel, she was introduced to the sport called rugby. Which is what she tends to describe as football, but rougher. In Israel, they didn’t have female rugby players, just a boy’s team. But my mom would attend almost all of their games. When she came back to go to college in America, she found a women’s rugby team. She eagerly tried out and made the team. And like with her brother, her parents were very unhappy. On her first game, my mother wound up getting a concussion, and my grandparents jumped on the opportunity to try and get her to quit. Of course she didn’t, for she loved the sport. But unlike with her brother and football, they did not show encouragement of any nature. On parents’ weekend, they begrudgingly went to her game. Instead of cheering her on, they sat down and read newspapers, so not to see her get hurt. So why the difference in attitudes? Well when it comes down to it, that’s just the way they were raised. Because in their Jewish heritage, they were both wrong for playing such a violent and dirty sport. But in the more general culture, same origin as the one we are living in now, it was more adequate for a boy to play than a girl. Now, following this logic, shouldn’t I want to play a dirty sport like my mother? Well honestly… no. No I don’t. I’d prefer to avoid getting hurt, and covered in dirt and mud. I’m not necessarily into shopping and all that. But if given the choice between shopping, doing make over’s etc. and getting tackled to the ground simply to protect some ugly football, I’d choose the first option. Still, it’s the perception of the sport that reflects the whole apple and tree idea. I don’t want to play rugby. That’s just me as an individual. However I respect any person’s decision in whether or not they want to play it. Their gender, their religious beliefs, they don’t mean a thing when it comes to this. I may not by an exact replica, but I //am// the apple fallen from my mother’s tree.

Alice-I //really// like your story and the context-maybe less about the culture and more about the gender in the middle

Sophie - i like this a lot. but add some more things about gender in it. and btw footballs are not ugly! Manny (my football) is very colorful! :P

Juliet- great story, add more to it. (bunny)

Ray-I like your story and title but you could add a little more context.