First Certificate’s Digital Magazine – #1

 

 

 

It is probably true to say that it did not come as a surprise to anyone when Paula came first, for the fourth year in a row, in the Pan-American judo championship.

“Judo has taught me that, even if you are from Argentina, you are still as capable as anyone of any other nationality”, said Pareto during an interview after having won first place on her category, on the 2014 World Tournament. Oddly, after having managed to beat such a huge challenge, she seemed quite calm. Her pride and happiness somehow shone through her without even disturbing both her figure of speech and her actions as a whole.

Few people have accomplished as much as Paula. Not only does she have a total of 21 different medals (consisting of nine gold medals, six silver and six bronze). She also has a degree on medicine (which happens to be a great merit on its own), and, even then, she never acts smugly when it comes to mentioning said achievements, she radiates an aura of humility, instead.

??.. ? Sábado quirúrgico ??

A post shared by Paula Pareto (@paupareto) on

It is widely believed that judo is a violent sport. Something that can be compared to the likes of karate, that is simply not the case. Like any martial, judo does involve contact, but that does not make it inherently violent. Instead, judo is all about using your opponent’s strength against them, and while being aggressive is a viable tactic, the most effective way to actually win (according to what Paula said) is by being defensive and using your opponent’s attacks against them.

 

 

Simon Biles confessed that when she was younger and growing in her career, the doctor of the US team, Larry Nassar, abused her. Partners like McKayla Maroney, Alexandra Raismanand Gabrielle Douglas confirmed that, by confessing that both of them had been sexually abused by him, too.

Simone Biles confessed to be sexually abused by Larry Nassar while being in the US gymnastics team. She shared this confession in her social media, becoming one more of the three girls that had been abused by him.

«I too am one of the many survivors who was sexually abused by Larry Nassar», wrote Biles.

She posted this a few days before Nassar was sent to Michigan, after ten girls confessed that had been abused by him, while working as a doctor, in the USA Gymnastics National team. Now there is a total of 140 girls who accused Nassar of molesting them while they were under his care.

«Most of you know me as a happy, giggly and energetic girl. But lately…I’ve felt a bit broken and the more I try to shut off the voice in my head the louder it screams», wrote Biles at the beginning of her post.

She then shared that Nassar had also been sexually abusing her while she trained at the national facility in Texas. «Please believe me when I say it was a lot harder to first speak those words out loud than it is now to put them on paper», explained Biles. Besides, she adds: «There are many reasons that I have been reluctant to share my story, but I now know it is not my fault».

«I am so proud of you. You are incredible Simone. I stand with you. I am shaking reading your post. I know we will all get through this together«, Aly Raisman wrote in support of her friend.

In spite of what had happened, both Biles and Raisman continued training.

 

Nassar worked with USA Gymnastics until September 2015, because, suddenly, without reason he decided to leave the team. «After 29 years on the USA Gymnastics Women’s Artistic National Team staff, it has come time for me to retire», Nassar wrote in a Facebook post.

It would have been another year for him, but he went to prison because of all the things he had done.

 

 

 

Lea was born on the 29th of August, in 1986, in New York, United States. She is an American actress, author and music comedy singer. She lives in Brentwood, Los Angeles, California, USA. She is intelligent and responsible. She usually proposes difficult goals to reach, because she knows that challenges make her give her best self. She has a very sweet voice, her laugh is pretty loud and she is a funny person.

Lea Michele is a feminist, according to this interview she gave to Huffington Post’s, «Making it Work» series, she said: “I think it’s so important that women really focus on encouraging and empowering other women. That’s definitely something that people struggle with in [the entertainment] business and in this industry, and that the media especially likes to bring attention to in a negative way. It’s so important that we empower one another because it’s hard enough being a woman! We could use all the support that we can get from each other… I feel proud to be a woman because I wouldn’t want to be anything else! The level of strength that a woman has inside of her is just unbelievable».

In this interview she also talked about the importance of being oneself: “If I’ve learned anything over the past five or so years of moving to Los Angeles and getting «Glee» is that being yourself is the most important thing. I always thought that I needed to fit into a mold and be a certain type of person in order to become successful or to make it in this world, but it was really just being me that introduced me to the people that have opened so many doors for my life and for my career. I don’t want to have friends that I can’t be myself around and I wouldn’t want to be at a job that I couldn’t be myself».

When she was 13, her manager told her that when she turned 15 she had to do a nose job to be in Hollywood, but she refused. “I was one of the only girls in my high school that didn’t get one. And if anybody needed it, I probably did. But my mom always told me, growing up, ‘Barbra Streisand didn’t get a nose job. You’re not getting a nose job.’ And I didn’t». «That’s why I’m proud -she said- to be on a positive show (Glee) and to be a voice for girls and say: You don’t need to look like everybody else. Love who you are».

 

Michele got three Grammy Award nominations for the music she had recorded for Glee, also spawning multiple hits on the Billboard charts.

 

 

 

Abortion is always a controversial issue to talk about, no matter if it’s induced or spontaneous, since it is something that interferes in the political, economic and religious aspects and thoughts of a society. In Argentina, there is a campaign that seeks to become aware of the legalization of abortion along with sexual education and accessibility to contraceptive methods.

In the first place, laws againts abortion kill women because prohibiting abortion does not stop abortion – it just makes women to be unsafe and risk their lives. There are examples of countries in which abortion is legal and there are fewer cases of abortion. Therefore, in these statistics, we can see that it is totally false the fact that when legalized, all women will abort. Also, the government has to take care of public health and the welfare of the population, instead of debating on beliefs and personal opinions.

“If men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament”  – Florynce Kennedy.

On the other hand, people who are against abortion can be considered selfish and clearly get carried away by their thoughs and beliefs. In things like that, we should leave aside what we would do in that case and think about the other, what the other needs. Because at the end of the day, it’s not about privileges – it is all about rights. Because wealthy people can afford the huge price of a safe abortion, but the ones that are not that lucky have no other choice than risking their lives, and in most cases, die.

“If we lived in a culture that valued women’s autonomy and in which men and women practiced cooperative birth control, the abortion issue would be moot” – Christiane Northrup.

 

To conclude, every government has to make abortion legal, especially those who had overpopulation and a lot of poverty. Making it legal, an abortion could be done in a safe and not clandestine way. Any woman who wants could have access to an abortion in which her health or her life is not being put at risk. It should be noted that this topic has been discussed for decades, but it has recently been taken into account at the political level, since in Argentina it is now part of the public agenda and it has enabled to deal with the law of legalization in the Argentine National Congress.

 

 

So, how and why did I become a feminist?
Well, I am a huge beyonce fan, and really, before listening to her talking about feminism, I wasn’t interested in this fight at all. But damn, she bought me on her first song.

At first, I thought feminism was an exaggeration, that there was not a difference between being a boy or a girl. But when I heard “Flawless”, I was absolutely terrified because I realised that it wasn’t an exaggeration at all. “We raise girls to each other as competitors. Not for jobs or for accomplishments. Which I think can be a good thing. But for the attention of men”. And that’s exactly how it is supposed to be for society. We are taught, sometimes indirectly, that we have to comply to men’s expectations of beauty and slavery.

 

“Run the world” has some pretty amazing and inspiring lyrics, too. “How we’re smart enough to make these millions. Strong enough to bare the children”. I mean, Haven’t you ever been told that women live from men’s money? Because I have. On top of that, this system makes woman a slave of marriage. As if it wasn’t enough, boys also think themselves as unpunished, which in this society they kind of are. “Drink beer with the guys. And chase after girls. I’d kick it with who I wanted. And I’d never get confronted for it”.

 

If you ask me, we need feminism as we need oxygen. Everyday women all over the world are dying because of this system. Because most of the people see men as a more evolved human being so they become unpunished and socially superior. We all have grown in this patriarchy, we all have declared this injustice as normal. Some think that this is the way it is supposed to be. Some people don’t even realise that they are being oppressed or that they are the oppressor. But feminists do. So, if you are one of those who think that this should not change, you better watch out, the revolution is coming.

 

 

 

People do not usually talk about this stuff. Domestic violence is the topic of the day and it happens when a person tries to control and be the authority over their partner in the context of a relationship. Several abuses may happen, like physical, emotional, sexual or financial. It is widely believed that in many cases, not all of them, the victim is a woman and the abusive is a man.

There are many warning signs that could indicate your relationship is abusive. No one would dispute the fact that people argue and they often disagree, the couple might discuss and get angry but if this happens frequently, and you begin to be afraid of him/her, then we are facing a case of domestic violence.

This signs I was telling you about are several. It is probably true to say that this list may help you with your situation -you do not have to experiment all of them or a few to be certain that you are in a toxic relationship-. The signs might be that you are afraid of your partner, you don’t know how he will react and you have to be constantly careful because of his/her mood swings; you also always focus on your partner needs instead of focusing on your own; it is also true that if your companion does everything I mentioned before he/she probably will lose nerves easily and for matters of little importances, there is a quote in Eminem’s song that says “shut up bitch! I am tryin’ to talk!”. Another sign of domestic violence, and now we are reaching to a more serious point, is that he/she has or almost hit you and/or your children, if that happens you should definitely be aware of the danger of the situation.

 

In every long relationship you talk about ex’s; if your partner has been abusive in previous relations you should be conscious of what could happen to you. Another possible sign that may help you to define if the person you are dating is abusive is that if he/she criticizes your family and friends and make it difficult for you to see them in private or he/she insults you and threatens you and/or your chrildren you should know that’s not love, it’s abuse. An example of the threating you or your descendents in the song is when Stan says “if she soffocates she’ll suffer more, and then she’ll die too”. He is jealous and he/she accuses you of flirting and having romantic relationship with other people, that’s a sick person and you should ask for help as soon as possible. Another important quote in the song that describes domestic violence is “My girlfriend’s jealous because I talk about you 24/7”.

If he/she constantly questions and critizes your appeearance, your dress and your skills as a mother, among other topics; and if your own needs are ignored or underestimated and it is he/she who makes all the decisions in the relationship then he/she is an abuser. He/she may not let you have time for yourself, alone. If you get it, he/she demands to know where you were and with whom; he/she will always be the victim, or that’s what he/she will tell you. Remember that it’s not true.

You won’t have access to things like the car, family finances, food, telephone or even internet. He/She will control you.

If he/she has forced you to do something you did not want to do, like having sex with him, whith other people or to participate in sexual activities that you really did not want, then he/she is a manipulative rapist. I am aware that the word rapist is a harsh word, but if he made you do anything like that then he certainly is.

Judging by the comments made by a survivor, the project Women’s Aid is just great. The survivor said, “I didn’t know I was experiencing domestic abuse for a long time. I remember feeling so relieved the very first time I rang the helpline that someone understood exactly what I was going through.”

It is widely believed that any religion accepts domestic violence. So, ask for help, do not be silent. If you are scared of your partner, call Women’s Aid, because if you do not say anything no one will help you. I know it is difficult but I promise that you will not regret it. If a friend of yours or a family member is in this kind of situation, call someone. There can be no doubt that we should stop these abusive attitudes.

 

I get so furious when I hear about stuff like this, but what makes me mad is that no one speaks about violence. We should. I picked this project because I thought (and I still do) that abuse can be stopped. People educate children not to be abused, but they should educate them not to be abusers, do you get my point?

 

 

In 2000, a rapper called Eminem released a song called Stan. The song as a whole contained a rather deep message about fanaticism and its consequences.

 

The whole song revolves around a fan that grows way too obsessed with a celebrity, and while it is often claimed that fanaticism is often harmless (since the person that suffers the most is usually the fan himself) both the lyrics of the song and its video show that that is simply not the case (and while everything shown in the video is no more than fiction, all of the events are still plausible, and there can be no doubt that something resembling the events of the video has happened before), by portraying Stan (the crazy fan whose name, judging by the comments made by Eminem himself is meant to be a sort of play on the words stalker and fan) as a mentally unstable person who gets frustrated due to the lack of recognition he gets from the person he is obsessed with, this frustration manifests as domestic abuse directed towards his girlfriend.

On top of the previously stated facts, the song slightly hints that Stan had a troubled childhood (on one of his letters he states “… I’m just like you in a way, I never knew my father neither, he always used to cheat on my mom and beat her…”) and all the evidence present on the song suggests that he still has some sort of psychological problems (even if it the video made an effort to show that some of the meaning behind it gets lost due to people focusing more on the rhythm than the lyrics themselves) furthermore the lyrics and the video show that Stan uses Eminem as a way to cope with everyday life (as stated in one of Stan’s letters “ cause I don’t have s*** else so that s*** helps me when I’m depressed) which ended up generating a toxic obsession from Stan’s part.

To conclude, the song Stan leaves behind a message saying that, while certain coping mechanisms may help a troubled person, said mechanisms shouldn’t be used as a lifeline (they shouldn’t be relied on an extreme basis), since they may turn into obsessions which might become unhealthy obsessions, possibly damaging not only the person, but also those around them.

 

 

 

“Look how fat she looks! I guess the desserts were free on holiday”. I heard those skinny and attractive girls talking about me, laughing out loud; I assume they thought I was deaf, but clearly I was not. I counted up to ten trying to calm down but the crying was inevitable.

Somehow, I got to my house. My mom was not there so I was able to think on my own without anyone asking. I cried out. I was not angry because of what those girls thought about me, actually I was crying because they were right.

I was fat. I was ugly and I did looked like a whale.

Anyway, by the time I was on my last year of school I was very thin, everyone was able to see my bones, I was starving. My mom took me to a nutritionist, the doctor said that my stomach was getting used to the lack of food.

After that, I went to a psychologist. The doctor was a nice woman with a huge smile and long blonde hair. It was not like mine, which was brown and opaque. She tried to help me out, but I did not listen. I wish I had done it.

The psychologist stood up and left. I grabbed my phone, wishing to have a text from someone caring about me, and Julian was asking me how I was doing. I didn’t answer. I heard the psychologist talking with my mother.

“I can see that she has dreams to be an envy, so she’s starving. It’s possible that something harsh happened to her while you were absent. I really don’t know your relationship with your daughter”, the woman said.

“Please, doctor, help her. I cannot take the pain anymore.”

My mom was crying and I was furious. This was my issue, not hers. How did she become the victim? I stood up, angry, and opened the door. I saw my mom with her face full of tears.

“Mother, beauty is pain and there’s beauty in everything.” I said, furious.

“Not if you look like a doll made of wires. You are dying, why don’t you see it?”

“I’m not dying, I am just hungry.”

I walked away from her, wishing this nightmare to be over. I went inside the first coffee house I saw. I sat in a private table wishing to be alone. My wishes were not heard because a guy from school was looking directly to me. It wasn’t a random person, it was Julian. He smiled; I didn´t even have the strength to say hi. He stood up and got closer, what was he looking at?

“Hello, can I sit?” He asked.

Of course not, why was he speaking to me now? He had an entire year to do it, but apparently football was more important than me.

“Hello, stranger,” I said, with my voice full of disgust.

“Don’t blame me, you are not answering any of my messages.”

“Well, this is the first time you’ve spoken to me in years, Julian.”

“You remember me, nice. Shauna, I know we never talk now but how are you? You look sick.”

“I am fine.” I replied.

“You look ill.”

“I do not care.”

“I do care. A beautiful girl like you should not be sick and alone. I will be your company today.” He sat in front of me. Psycho.

“No, thanks.” I replied.

He called me beautiful. Of course, he said that because I was not a whale anymore. I tried to get his attention for years and now that I was skinny he was instantly cute?

“I wasn’t asking, Shauna. So, tell me, why are you suddenly so thin.”

“What is that question?”

“I’m sorry, I meant why do you care so much about your image?”

“I… I do not,” I mumbled.

“Right. You know, we have been friends since.. forever! I know you more than you do. This friendship was one of the most important things in my life. Why do I feel that I care more about this than you?”

“Excuse me? You werent only a friend for me, Julian. I was in love with you and you just… ignored me. I know I am not your type of girl or whatever, I don’t even like you anymore. I just wanted you to know how I’ve always felt.”

He was speechless until he found the words he wanted to say. I was ready to be ashamed.

“I… I used to like you too and, you know what? I wasn’t the only one. You were such a funny and cheerful girl. Now you’re always antiphatetic and obsessed with perfection. I came here to let you know that you are beautiful just the way you are, or were, I don’t know. And you do not have to change a thing about yourself; if someone doesn’t like you, that’s a pity but you don’t have to become someone else to please others.

“But, what if I’m the one that hates me?”

“At least you should know there are people that thinks you are perfect. If you let me be your mirror, you will love you.”

«You… you love me?»

“I have always liked you, dummy.” He answered.

HOW COULD HE?

“You don’t get it, right?” He asked, smiling.

“No, I mean, I used to be ugly and now… I still think I don’t deserve to be loved.”

Opening my heart was difficult but I felt safe with Julian. He was my home.

“You are so blind, Shauna. I always liked you; you weren’t just a friend for me; you were everything. I was just unable to see you destroying yourself. That’s the reason why I walked away.”

He looked directly into my eyes, he was so handsome… How could I believe him? Maybe he was just joking.

“What?” I asked, expecting him to laugh in my face.

He leaned towards me, his eyes were still looking at me. He said:

“Beauty goes deeper than the surface.”

 

 

 

Stephen William Hawking was born in 8 th January of 1942 in Oxford, England. He was a theorical physicist, cosmologist, scientific and one of the most brilliant minds of the world. One of his most recognized works was the theorical prediction of the black holes radiation based on gravitational theorems and quantum mechanics. He had got 18 awards in his whole life including the honor to be queen knight.

Hawking had ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) that made him lose his speech while it was slowly paralyzing him. After that he was able to communicate through a speech-generating device. Although doctors thought that he would not live more than 2 years, he died on 14 th March of 2018 with 76 years old.

He studied his first three years at Oxford University and then he received a first-class degree so he moved to Cambridge to graduate in Cosmology. He got his PhD degree (doctorate in physics) with his thesis about the mathematical Roger Penrose‘s theorem of a spacetime singularity in the centre of black holes.

Years later, Stephen began a new line of quantum theory research into the origin of the universe which refuted his last thesis. The idea became a book called a “A Brief History of time” that re explains the concept of Universe replacing the space-time singularity with a different meaning, proclaming it as non-boundary (without limits), endless, infinite. ‘

«If the universe has no boundaries but is self-contained… then God would not have had any freedom to choose how the universe began.» Stephen Hawking

 

 

 

When it comes to studying history you are usually told about great battles, economic affairs, or scientific advancements, However a part of history that nearly every source fails to mention is the fact that people weren’t as serious as we were taught they were, and while many people think that focusing on the weirder parts of history is practically worthless, it may have some more advantages than you would usually think.

First of all, an anecdote may help you make a more accurate profile of a person, which in turn may help to understand their actions, desires and motivations a lot better, for example if you were to hear about the time Caesar got kidnapped by pirates (in which he actually told the pirates to increase his ransom from 50 kilos of gold to a 100 due to feeling he was actually worth more than the pirates were asking for) it wouldn´t come as a surprise when he acted like the arrogant emperor he was.

On top of that, anecdotes may also make it easier to describe a historical setting, or to at least form a mental picture of said setting, As an example of this, we could use Grigori Rasputin, a Russian monk, who was regarded as a prophet of sorts, and somehow, owing to his influence and charisma, managed to win the whole Russian court over to the point in which he became an advisor to the tsar himself, due to this, his rivals orchestrated multiple assassination attempts (most of them failed miserably for no reason at all) and they even tried to overthrow the monarchy as a whole by supporting a rebel movement (which eventually managed to fulfil their objective).

Learning anecdotes has some disadvantages, For example there is the possibility that the anecdote may be either, fake, a retelling (which has drastically changed through the ages) or an exaggeration, this may lead to some inconsistencies on the points I previously made (as an example of this, many anecdotes say that “Vlad the impaler” was a vampire, and even though he was a bit psychopathic, he still was a “normal” person).

To conclude, while anecdotes may be useful learning tools, They may make the process of learning historical facts or settings a lot easier, They need to be previously checked in order to make it possible to extract facts from them.

 

LEI

 

 

COCO is an animated Pixar movie, which is about a Mexican boy that loves music and dreams to become a famous mariachi. Lee Unkrich, who had co-directed Toy Story 2, Monsters Inc. and Searching Nemo, directed this dramatic comedy film. The main character is a twelve-year-old child called Miguel Rivera; Anthony Gonzalez gives life to this hilarious Mexican boy. COCO stars Gael García Bernal as Héctor, Benjamín Bratt as Ernesto de la Cruz, Alanna Ubach as mama Imelda and Ana Ofelia Murguía as mama Coco. It released in 2017, winning best animated movie and best original song (“Remember me”) during the Oscars.

Miguel is a boy that dreams to be a musician but his family forbids him because Ernesto (his ancestor) used to be a musician that abandoned them; instead, they want Miguel to continue the legacy of being a shoemaker. In “Día de Muertos”, he plays his great-great-grandfather´s guitar and there is when he is transported to the dead´s world. If he wants to go back to the living world, he must have a blessing from a member of his family. The problem comes when Imelda, another ancestor, makes Miguel swear that he will not play music again.

One of the reasons why this film stands out from the rest, is how the celebrities who gave life to the characters took their role. the accent of Gael García Bernal acting as hector, the spirit that Anthony Gonzalez showed in the voice of Miguel, the attitude that Alanna Ubach took to give life to the character of imelda and the pride that Benjamin Bratt showed, interpreting the voice of  Ernesto de la Cruz was one of the things that gave more originality to this fantastic children’s movie.

 

As we all know, the majority of disney movies, especially pixar’s movies, usually have that musical feature to dramatize some scenes and then, give something more than a nice message, well, with this movie, nine out of ten people do not only stayed with the Mexican music, they also stayed with the culture of that colorful country. Many people says that this movie was incredibly acclimated and especially the Mexicans, felt that disney was finally opening up to new experiences and current traditions.

Some curiosities of this cheerful movie are that it has three original songs; one of them is interpreted by Carlos Rivera, who his surname is the same as Miguel´s family !! it is said that a group of film-makers went to Mexico to get familiar with the culture and the people; they learnt about their kindness and the meaning of the family (even the “chanclas” or flip flops from abuelita). In one part of the movie you can recognise Frida Kahlo, she is an eccentric and cheerful skeleton. Miguel gets shocked when he sees her! and then, he helps her with her imagination. Another funny story, Diego Rivera (Frida´s husband) has the same surname as the family too! Is that a coincidence?. The filmmakers compared “Tierra de los Muertos” with Monsters, Inc. «There are many unique things about Monstropolis, but it has become normalized in the last years and it was becoming monotonous.The Land of the Dead made the audience remember what it is like to recreate a world of we all had imagine. In Coco, the skeletons have not lost their humanity just because they are not entirely human «Unkrich explains:» We had the idea that whatever your work in life, that is still your job in the another life, for better or worse, there are people who still have to do the same kind of boring and bureaucratic jobs they did in life. «

 

The message of this film is that family comes first, they will never let you down and they will always support you no matter what. As the song Latido de mi Corazón says, “True love unites us forever”.  COCO is a great movie, for young and old people, but one of the weakness of it is that it has sad moments that the children may not understand. Anyway, this film is definitely worth seeing with your whole family. If we compare Toy Story 3 with COCO we can say that you cry in both of them; in the first example, Andy leaves his toys (family) to grow up and become an adult, and in the second one there´s Miguel discovering his real identity by finding out about his family’s ancestors.

 

We think that COCO is one of the best movies Pixar had ever done because it shows death as a happy place, not a scary one. We would recommend it to the families; it is a movie that both young and old people will enjoy. The interpreters captured the essence of the characters in a way no one could have ever done it. We actually can’t think of anything wrong with this film, although death is a risky theme to talk about with children.

 

 

DALIA