Catherine Gaviola

Ms Deborah Conway-DePrieto

Oral Communications

Persuasive Speech

17 February 2007

Women ARE Stronger!

For as long as I can remember, men have always been considered the stronger sex. I'll admit, that when I need help carrying a large piece of furniture, I would honestly think of my brothers or those buffed men typically found at the gym. Or… when I have trouble with my car, I will immediately call my boyfriend.

Generally, men and women complement each other… But the question is: are men really stronger than women? Or is it just that we have grown up in a society where men have more power and therefore are seen as being stronger, even if they aren't?

First of all, let us define the word strong. In any dictionary, it is stated that the meaning of strong is          “having, showing, or able to exert great bodily or muscular power; that state of being physically robust, mentally powerful or vigorous, especially able, competent, or powerful in a specific field or respect, of great moral power, firmness, having courage, being aggressive, willful.”

With that alone said, I believe that women ARE the stronger sex, and I will tell you why.

1. Imagine a mother’s role, carrying a child for nine months in her womb and imagine that big day of having labor pains before conception. Imagine a woman ready to give birth, screaming inside the emergency room- how many women survived this painful ordeal when epidurals did not exist yet? Millions! Studies show that women have a stronger threshold of pain… to prove this point I would like to read an excerpt from an article by Annette Kornblum from the Discovery Channel:

“Women and Pain: What a Pain!

http://health.discovery.com/centers/womens/pain/pain.html

Childbirth, menstrual cramps, yeast infections.

Women experience pain in ways that no man can. They routinely report more chronic and severe sensory and emotional discomfort in more body parts than men do and experience more pain following injuries.

Even conditions that are not gender specific, such as irritable bowel syndrome, headaches, TMJ (temporomandibular joint) pain, urinary tract infections, arthritis, and fibromyalgia hit women harder, more often, and are less easily relieved than in men.”

2. As society developed, women with kids can manage to work professionally, where even if the working day has ended, they go home and serve their family. True, we complain, but we do the job regardless. Am I right Debra? You know I am.
3. Women face a lot of issues in this world: harassment, sexual prejudice, and inequality to name a few. Now, think… what critical issues do men have that would cause as much controversy in the media as those I mentioned? I admire these women who take a stand to fight for their rights, to fight for justice. It takes a lot of courage for a rape victim to expose herself to the media to help catch her predator.
4. Jennifer Dunn, a guest columnist of the Seattle Times wrote about the Iraqi war and said that women especially share in Iraq’s newfound freedom. In many Middle Eastern countries, women are not yet accepted as equals and still considered as 2nd class citizens. Again, imagine what these women go through everyday- and how they manage to survive such brutality. THEY SURVIVE, THEY FIGHT- women ARE strong.
5. In BBC News, and I will read just an excerpt: “It might be a man’s world, but in the 21st century, sisters are doing it for themselves in every area of work from the boardroom to the box office.”

There are a lot of notable women around the world. Forbes Magazine had a special report about the 100 Most Powerful Women. I will mention to you some names on the list that we should all recognize. Some will also be surprising.

o       Queen Elizabeth II of London – she just turned 80 years old, making her reign the 3rd longest in British and Commonwealth history. She plans to keep working until she is physically unable to do so.

o       Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, President of the Philippines – being that the Philippines was named as the 2nd most corrupt country in Asia, Arroyo continues to fight for her governing platform.

o       Portia Simpson Miller, Prime Minister of Jamaica

o       Han Myung-suk, Prime Minister of South Korea

o       Michelle Bachelet, President of Chile

o       Helen Clark, Prime Minister of New Zealand

o       Mary McAleese, President of Ireland

o       Sima Samar, Chairman of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Division – she has one of the toughest jobs in the world- monitoring rights abuses in an often-unfriendly land. She has long pursued these aims, sometimes undercover during the grip of the Taliban’s rule.

o       Judy McGrath, Chairman and Chief Executive of MTV Networks

o       Dawn Hudson, President of Pepsi-Cola North America

o       Christie Hefner, Chairman and Chief Executive of Playboy Enterprises

o       Colleen Barrett, President of Southwest Airlines

o       Janet Robinson, Chief Executive of The New York Times

o       Oprah Winfrey, Chairman of Harpo – with a networth of more than $1 billion, an Academy Award nomination, a hit television show, a successful magazine (O, The Oprah Magazine) and a cable channel (Oxygen Media), there seems to be a little else that can do to add to her status as an international media phenomenon.

o       Hillary Rodham Clinton, Senator of New York – despite her unflattering issues with husband Bill Clinton, she has a distinctive place in politics at present.

o       Margaret Whitman, Chief Executive & President of eBay – eBay is the world’s biggest auction site. She is one of the richest people in the planet.

o       Safra Catz, President & Chief Financial Officer of Oracle - the world's largest enterprise software company.

o       Condoleeza Rice – she is considered the most powerful woman in the world being the first African-American woman to become the U.S. Secretary of State. She advises the leader of the world’s largest superpower and has an unparalleled level of trust with, and access to the president. Not only that, she has served two other U.S. presidents.

Now as a conclusion, let me read to you some VERY interesting facts from an article entitled “X Factor May Make Women the Stronger Sex” by KYW's medical editor Dr. Brian McDonough.

Genetically, women are stronger.  Listen carefully, especially the men here in class. According to a researcher from Johns Hopkins, when it comes to the battle of the sexes, women are given extra ammunition right from the start.

A female has two copies of what some call the powerful X chromosome, while males are born with only one X plus the relatively weak Y chromosome. Genetic researchers say the X chromosome has added value.

Women have a decided survival edge over men. According to 2003 federal data, American females live 80.1 years, on average, compared to 74.8 years for males.

The X chromosome has 1,100 genes and is a very active chromosome. Girls receive an X from each parent, while boys receive one X plus the weak Y, whose small amount of active DNA is mainly concerned with the development of male characteristics.

And, boys, listen.  There is another advantage of having two X chromosomes:  if there is a mutation on the X chromosome, the male has no good copy of the gene -- he's stuck with just the defect while females have two.

Sure enough, men can do a lot, but, as I end my speech, I would like to leave you with a relevant question… hadn’t women redeemed themselves everywhere and proved that they too can be equal? Now if that is not strong, then what is? Never EVER underestimate a woman’s strength!

And I thought my clubbing days were over… I’ve been going out too much that my perfect GPA is now a 3.76… I guess that’s still good but I ought to do better this fall quarter to pull that up because I feel so guilty. I’ll be clubbing again this weekend and I think I’ll have to stop going out for a while (unless there’s a special occasion) so I could get my school groove back.

Ahhh… I just LOVED the summer of 2005- we traveled a lot to rekindle old friendships. This is the best summer I’ve had. ;)

So we were at Long Beach, CA for the weekend. Met up with the Clemente brothers, the Aquino sisters, Ghad, Duday & Keith, Faye and met some new friends. It’s another reunion for the Baguio people. It’s great to have a big social circle, and to feel really good that nothing’s changed. We’re all like a big close-knit happy family, and it’s better because all our minds think alike because we’re all in the same age group! We all came from the same city back in Philippines, and we’re all connected in some way. It’s just amazing how everyone ended up in California. There were about 25 people who went to V2O (www.v2olongbeach.com) It’s an upscale Asian club, food was good, music was great. Everyone had a grand time. I love it when you plan something and it turns out better than expected. J If you actually read my journal, you know it would be weird without this part (CLICK HERE FOR PICTURES). Awww, I feel so sentimental- I just love my friends so much!

I was also putting together a trip to Lake Tahoe for New Year’s Eve (for this same group of friends). Duday and I got stressed the past two weeks looking for a cabin good for 12! Most of the house owners require a 5-7 night stay but we only needed 3 nights. And the prices for NYE are sky high! I couldn’t give up though. I am obsessive that way. I needed to make this work. Because our Hawaii plans are cancelled, I can’t let these people down! But anyway, we finally found a vacation home. I’m so glad that’s out of the way! It’s all set! And we’re all excited… :D

From hastyteenflick and rfm and rhyme_reason’s tag…

Seven things that scare me:
(1) being broke
(2) leaving those you love behind
(3) falling out of love
(4) fuckin cockroaches
(5) not living to others' and my own expectations
(6) gunshots
(7) major calamities

Seven things I like the most:
(1) shopping
(2) being organized
(3) soft relaxing music at night
(4) discovering new things/places/people
(5) hugs and kisses
(6) graphic design
(7) being online and able to keep in touch with almost anyone

Seven random facts about me:
(1) i did not want to wear dresses when i was abour 3-4. i was pretty boyish, now i'm soooper girly.
(2) i had my first big pimple at age 25, such a late bloomer!
(3) i only eat carrots when they are fresh, or fish when they are fried (oh! except sushi!).
(4) i can't stand people who "kalabit" me (how do you say that in english?)
(5) i like to balance everything like a real libran.
(6) someday, i want to have a daughter and i'm naming her chloe catherine. i have no idea what to name it if it was a boy.
(7) i always sleep sideways with a pillow between my legs, and even if it was warm i can never sleep without a blanket/cover. (i hate it when my feet are cold.

Seven important things in my bedroom:
(1) My feather pillow(s) and blanket
(2) The TV to keep me updated with my soaps
(3) The laptop that keeps me company when I can't sleep
(4) Clock to tell me I'm almost late again.
(5) My clothes or else I will never go out of my room.
(6) Music to soothe me
(7) The window because it gives us sunshine & less PG&E bills.

Seven things I plan to do before I die:
(1) Get a penthouse. I'm not the "Desperate Housewives" type. I want a "Sex & The City" place to live.
(2) Travel the world or at least to Hawaii, Europe, the Carribean, Asia, SYDNEY
(3) Have a little Cathy and a little Arne & raise them with pride
(4) Have my own Design firm
(5) Retire early
(6) Buy an island in the Philippines for retirement
(7) Be luxurious

Seven things I can do:
(1) organize a social event
(2) edit your pictures
(3) take photographs
(4) listen
(5) speak my mind
(6) sing karaoke, play chopsticks on the piano, we will rock you on drums. lol
(7) be online for more than 12 hours (such a net addict)

Seven things I can’t do:
(1) love sports
(2) be alone in a strange place
(3) cook a real meal
(4) skip a meal
(5) be patient when someone is late
(6) drink too much soda
(7) pass on an opportunity to cuddle a friend’s or relative’s baby

Seven things that attract me to the opposite sex:
(1) pretty boy looks (lol)
(2) sense of humor
(3) intelligence
(4) maturity and level-headedness
(5) humility
(6) family background
(7) neatness

Seven things I say the most:
(1) Ooooooh
(2) Awwww
(3) Yesssss
(4) Really???
(5) Uh huh uh huh
(6) Ngek
(7) Oh shit.

Seven crushes (whether local or foreign or nonexistent):
*Decline to state. :P

Seven people who will hate you for tagging them but will do this anyway because they haven't got anything else to do or they're addicted to LJ & surveys:
* I'm tagging everyone who will hate me for tagging them but will do this anyway because they havent got anything else to do or they're addicted to LJ and surveys.

friends are the best gifts i have this year.
on friday the 23rd, my coworkers did a lunch for me:


saturday was the best clubbing night i've had so far. one crazy night. studio 8 was F U N (with 30 other friends? it should be!):

Click on the pic for the whole album.

sunday was a good stroll around san francisco (pics with sat night clubbing)

tuesday (last night) was a sweet reunion with haidee, a friend i haven't seen in 10 years. we dined at santana row and proceeds go to the katrina fund.
then...

& now...


wednesday, thought it was over, but the QA department treated me for lunch again at a thai restau:


i feel really loved. <3 heeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

thanks to everyone who remembered my birthday!

came to work so sloppy today (for all i care)... the weekend was a mix of good and bad. good because we spent time with old pals (and also my brother and sister-in-law), reminisced a lot, bonded a lot... but the scion event sucked! i wish we just went around somewhere else. i feel bad because we just wasted our time there. and it was in vallejo!

i felt so restless yesterday and so sad too, for many reasons. i cried for 2 days because i didn't know when ill be seeing my friend again. we haven't seen each other for years but we're really very close. and i was so sad because everything started to sink in, situations, stress, homesickness... what else? i could barely explain myself. i was totally emotional and arne even said it's not even appropriate anymore (yeah, THANKS!)

then last night, guess what? I GOT MY PERIOD.

damn pms.

awww... every weekend is a reunion for me and my friends. i had fun for the past weeks but as always, i'll let the pictures talk for me.

8/20-21/05 duday's sf visit
* i've known duday since high school. we've also seen each other around campus during college days at SLU. again, its the same hometown that get us to connect. we have a lot of common friends. it was great to see her again after almost 10 years. we went bar hopping at downtown sf, ended up at north beach at the sake lab together with her boyfriend keith, kai & eric (the coolest gay couple i have ever met), wheng & ador and vanny. we also stayed at hotel serrano- a very nice boutique hotel. oh, and ate at taylor street for breakfast. i'm still thinking of their hash browns. and the main highlight: we've talked about a possible trip to hawaii.we still need mark to propose to donna. hint hint! size 3! hawaii! peer pressure! haha!!

8/28/05 indy grand prix
* we got free tickets from marlboro for this event. arne, me, dad & mom all went to sonoma/infineon raceway to catch it. it was a new experience to see a race live since i've only seen such on TV. of course, major photo opp!

9/3/05 napa was here
* had lunch with napa, ranie, karla & mel at banana leaf last saturday. it was nice seeing everyone together again. just like the old times... old clubbing days (now most of the clubs we go to in downtown sj are either closed or under different management)... just like the old days. can't believe i've knows this people for almost 7 yrs now and a lot has changed, like everyone is either married or has kids. love you guys! and the hightlight, as karla put it, was a blast from the past hehe!

9/3-5/05 labor day
* this year it's san diego for labor day. met up with nhelony (one of my bridesmaids), ghad (SLU) and met ev & ed (nhel's friends). thank you so much to ed, we didn't have to find a hotel at the last minute. so the night we got there at the airport, arne realized that he forgot his socks, our first stop was at walmart. LOL. then we met up with nhel & them, went clubbing at the gaslamp area (e street alley). it was a really FUN night. the club scene there is poppin'! originally we were going to stay at kuya owen's but he got called for work. but anyway he still saw us at the concert the next night. yeah!! the concert waaaaaaaaaa! i got my 5 seconds of fame because he sang part of the chorus looking at me, and i wasn't dreaming, he really kneeled and looked! i'm still not over it. finally saw bamboo live again! anyway, before the concert, we strolled at la jolla. it's really beautiful, i took a lot of nature pics and impressed myself with my amateur photography. and then after the concert, continued partying at ed's house. chaine and joemil dropped by! it was nice seeing them too!

then again it's back to reality for me but our weekends are still full.

activities to look forward to:
this weekend: go kart racing at burlingame with the junkyard group, possible dinner with bunny
next weekend: scion night at vallejo, with rai & japs
next next weekend: my birthday sf?, dinner?, family?, SHOPPING? i think i like the last part. hehehe.

Dear Diary,

I haven’t written anything here for a while because I think I have a writer’s block. I start on something, and then end up deleting everything because it just didn’t make any sense. Let’s just see what happens as I start on this. Hopefully I’ll have a worthy entry.

Remember the Black Eyed Peas/Jem/Dave Matthews concert tickets? Well we made it just on time to see Dave Matthews, and I don’t even know ANY of their songs. There was a game at Candlestick that caused the heavy traffic. If we left earlier maybe we could’ve made it but since we came from school and had only 3 hours sleep that night (cramming), we opted to take a short nap before leaving for the concert. The saddest part is that Bamboo was playing that night too. If you remember, I mentioned somewhere in this journal how I loved this Philippine Alternative/Pop Band. So we missed that and missed BEP. I was literally TORN. When I got to the office last Monday, I couldn’t help but buy another set of tickets for BEP. They will be in San Jose on October WITH GWEN STEFANI. I didn’t care if the seats I got were behind the stage. I was just really depressed.

I’m not done yet…

So last night, Ann tells me how good the Bamboo concert was. (Take note: she saw them in her recent trip to Baguio, then saw them here.) and just a few hours ago, we finished planning our trip to San Diego for Bamboo’s next stop. (^jUmPiNg FoR jOy^). Since we are still catching up from our Florida Trip, money is tight so we came up with this idea to camp out at the beach. But luckily, we have good friends that are letting us stay at their place. But I was really looking forward to camping out though. As Ghad said, we should try everything at least once! So Bamboo, I’ll see you on Labor Day! YEYYYYY!


To Danisha, Rhea & Frances, I’m sure you guys are having so much fun. I can’t wait to be in Sydney next year! Thank you for always updating me via YM! Don't forget to send the rest of the pictures soon!


OK… back to me, because this is all about me (LOL) I’m looking forward to meeting up with Bunny again! So much things have happened since we last saw each other but we’ve been chatting and talking on the phone whenever we get the chance. I’m so glad that everything’s ‘back to normal’ and thank you for trusting me, Bunz. I’ll see you soon, with Rai & Japs too!


Speaking of Japs, this dude is driving me crazy with his never ending change of plans. That combined with PMS is just not good. Uh-uh! (Shakes head) Don’t mess with me when I’m PMSing! VERY BAD IDEA . :P


School’s great so far. Just a little delayed because of our FL trip. It’s really hard to get back on track when you’ve enjoyed so much. But last Saturday was interesting, well not really. Because this dude we drew for figure drawing class had the biggest balls. YUCK!!!!!!! Pink & shiny as a tomato too. Everyone could not concentrate. Some of our goofy classmates drew that part ONLY. HAHAHAHAHAHHA! But anyway, what to do? We still tried to be a “serious” drawing class but that was really bad- and needs to be part of the books. After class (we all managed to leave 20 mins early), everyone burst out laughing and making jokes (like did he floss? or we think he has elephantitis. LOL).

K well HEY! I guess this one’s worth posting! Til next time!

Love,
C

im back from a relaxing trip to florida. i can't say much at the moment- my mind is still on a holiday, just look at the pictures. feel free to leave comments :)

http://florida2005.shutterfly.com

florida here i come! i can't wait til sunday! finally, a REAL vacation. the last time i had a 'long' break was probably our wedding in Vegas... tagal na noh?!
i can already smell the sea, i can see myself snorkeling, getting wet on the banana boat, looking at hot bodies.... ooh and taking pictures in my bikining itim (...wag sanang sungkitin). ok... even if i didn't really burn any fat for this trip, i can survive with half body shots right? or maybe take pictures of the fat people first or take it WITH them. and maybe take deep 10 second breaths when anyone's camera is pointing at me. yes, you can see how excited i am. i'll be leaving sunday morning and will be back on saturday.

hayyy... and i got my glorious Very Nice Choos (stands for VNC- a shoe shop [choo chop] at robinsons galleria, and i'd like to call it that, beh!)... thanks to reny & to sandy (and to sandy's dad). choor thing!

yeah... i found a new friend sandy, whom i'd like to call imelda because of her growing shoe collection... as usual, it was the baguio air and connection that made us click (and maybe our shoes). i found out sandy was born in baguio and has relatives there- of course, some people i know again! small world strikes again! i met sandy thru reny (online)...

oh my, i haven't updated LJ in a long time and i don't know where to start.

...i know we went to a baptism earlier this month.
...and me and donna a went on a special trip to the heavenly forever21 in the city.
...and went to kylan's birthday at cayote park.
...and saw war of the worlds & fantastic 4 with mel and karla

july 15. arne's 26th birthday. after last year's traumatic 5-liquid-cocaines-mixed-with-2-stoplights birthday bash at d&b, we decided to make it small this year. heck! he's getting old! no more parties nor cake and balloons. lol... so what we did on the weekend was eat, eat and eat. we went to try out canto do brasil in the city per rai and bunz's previous recommendation. YUM. you should check out the food in our pictures! schlurrrrrrrpy! went to rey's birthday in fremont afterwards, then the next day, we had korean bbq with his family.

we were also gonna go to the kapamilya caravan tour but changed our minds because it was super hot that day so we went to go dinner at friday's with karla & mel, ranie, mark & jordan. it was nice seeing everyone again. but i AM so jealous of mae ann seeing & dancing my artista crush. arrgggh! danice! bilis gawin mo na akong bold star!

...with all the stress and the seriousness, let's all keep it light for a change :)

enjoy your weekend everyone!