Topic Chosen: How well does it adress things that you, personally, care about and consider important in the world?

     
      While beginning God Don't Like Ugly by Mary Monroe, many events triggered what I personally care about and consider important in the world. One topic I strongly disagree on is rape, along with a majority of people I’m sure. No matter what the age is, it’s just plain wrong and disgusting. "Don't be such a crybaby. Folks do this all the time, and it aint supposed to feel good to no gal." (P. 39). Where does he come off saying this? Of course 7-year-old, Annette is going to cry when 53-year-old, Mr. Boatwright is raping her. He flat out says "Folks do it all the time," but that’s married people or at least people who actually love each other. At least once a week Mr. Boatwright continued raping Annette, she’s now 13 and it’s been a total of 6 years; that would be 52 times a year. At one point in the book she says "I had him convinced that my periods lasted ten days when they only lasted four. He was superstitious about touching a female on her period." (P. 43) Annette would do anything to stay away from Mr. Boatwright. It's pretty bad when all she would get is a ten day break, and every other day she would have to live in fear of him. But like most other rape victims, she never told a soul. Mr. Boatwright not only threatened to wipe her but also murder her with his gun.
      Another topic I consider extremely important is self confidence. Annette has no confidence what so ever, she’s been put down her whole life. "Mama and I looked a lot alike, but she was called pretty, I was not... People called her beauty mark a mole. They called mine a wart... Not only was Mama light-skinned, she was slim... I was too dark and too fat." (P. 4) Annette has struggled with weight her whole life and hasn’t had anyone help her through it. She lived with her mother who was considered gorgeous because of her thin figure and light skin tone. Annette was considered ugly because of her weight and extremely dark skin color. Back then, your beauty was based on your skin color; the lighter you were the prettier you were considered. She was also called many nicknames by Mr. Boatwright. While he would rape her, he would demote her, making her feel like extremely worthless. "You clumsy heifer!" he yelled at Annette, more than once. Those words clearly crushed her inside, but she just ate her feelings away because food was the only item she could turn to. Mr. Boatwright would also call her fat, useless, or a slob any chance he could get; this was all to harm her mentally along with his physical way too. "She had long fingers with neatly polished and manicured nails. Compared to hers, mine looked like the Monkey's Paw." (P. 62) Annette knew she was fat compared to other girls her age, it was clear. She weighed about 210 pounds by the age of 13 where as Rhoda Nelson, her new friend, probably only weighed up to 100 pounds. This is a big difference when you’re that age because you’re just starting to find yourself once you hit the teenage years. But all Annette could see was some fat, worthless, coward who was being tormented by a 53-year-old-man. In conclusion, my two main events that I care about and consider extremely important are sexual assault and self confidence.