The voices project was certainly a learning experience for me. For my project, I had read a “Handmaid’s Tale” and did research on the voices of oppressed women in dystopian societies. I wanted to see how they affected gender roles, and what other people have to say about today’s society. I think the most interesting and concerning overarching theme was these feminist dystopian novels serve as a cautionary tale to a plausible future. There has been much progress for the rights of women, and for it to all go away would be terrible. Another interesting theme was also this idea of power. It seemed like most novels had explored this idea of what power women have over men and what power men have over women. The only way for women to have power over men was to objectify themselves and use their bodies. Men, however, had power just because of the gender roles in society. Women in these societies have to dehumanize themselves to make their situation acceptable which is completely absurd. It tells us how much work there needs to be done if this is still relevant in today’s society. That there won’t be a perfect utopia to tell everyone is treated equally, or otherwise, you’ll get these dystopian futures that only encourage oppression and hatred. I hope people will want to be more educated on these cautionary tales and want to learn how to avoid them. 

This project has opened my eyes to this issue, but there were also many things this year that have affected my life. I think my time at NNHS has helped me be able to emphasize with others and be more considerate. I think NNHS does a good job of being accepting of others and their ability to help you. I have made a lot of new friends in high school and met a lot of amazing people. I mean the educational part of high school had impacted me by educating me, but I think I was affected the most by the people and it’s the atmosphere. I have learned a lot about how I want to lead my college life. I want to be able to meet new people and make a lot more new friends. I think it’s most important that in your senior year that you try everything that you want. Take your time and focus on college, but also find the time to do new things. It’s important to try new things, as you’ll always learn something from it and it might even change you for the better. 

Link to Voices Project.