Article Analysis on Berry Fasting

Article Analysis on Berry Fasting

Introduction

Kim Anderson is a famous consultant and writer with a particular focus on Aboriginal youth. She relates stories and personal experiences gained from leading berry fasters Sylvia Maracle and Gertie Beaucage, and from other women. The main focus of the article utilizes symbolism to identify Berry Fasting as a ceremony to improve learning of the young, female generation regarding menstruation and other life lessons faced in society today. Kim illustrates the various benefits from going through a berry fast and the impact it has on the youth regarding sexuality, drugs, suicide, teen pregnancy, sexual transmitted diseases, and other peer pressures experienced in modern times. The article analysis identifies the strengths of awareness and discipline on Berry Fasting while outlining the health risks associated with fasting.

Discussion

Strength: Awareness

The first strength illustrated throughout the article is of awareness. As Kim analyzed from interviews of women, she found that all the women experiencing the Berry Fast gained life lessons regarding issues in modern life. As some of the interviewees stated, the fast helped the young girls understand the change they were undergoing (menstruation) and the impulsive thoughts that were associated with that period. By having elders explain the experiences, the women gained knowledge regarding their bodies.

Another aspect that women gained understood the activities involved in sexual relationships and procreation. There were some women who through the experience of Berry Fasting were able to understand the sexual abuse happening on them in their own family. Sexual abuse, incest, and rape were common in the Aborigine communities, and the young female generation was not aware of the problems. The women gained encouragement from the stories and experiences discussed by the elders and gained them the sustenance to admit to the abuse they were facing.

Strength: Discipline

Another benefit gained by young women was self discipline. In modern times, girls are continually facing the issues of peer pressures from social groups to endorse particular activities. Drugs, smoking, alcohol, and sex are popular ideas in these groups and the pressure to be in the group causes girls to join in. In addition, suicides, STDs (Sexually Transmitted Diseases), and teen pregnancy are rising. To address these problems, the Berry Fast provided lessons on how girls should learn to say no. Through the fasting, the girls were able to concentrate on the issues and try to resolve them through their willpower.

At stated ...