LaShyra Courtney

Why continuing an education is so important to her:

Continuing an education is important to me because I believe that an education is a powerful tool to have. Many of the leaders, doctors, and lawyers that I look up to today would not be in their position without continuing their education. For me, I believe that it is essential for me to continue my education because I would pursue the career of a gynecologic oncologist. A gynecologic oncologist is a physician that diagnose and treat cancers in the woman’s reproductive organs. Without an education, I would not be able to achieve that goal and help the many women with gynecologic cancer.

La'Shyra proudly supports:

• Yin Yang Dance Company
• Fire Safety Awareness Education Program and the Breast Cancer Awareness Program for Paul L. Dunbar Elementary School.
• The Atlanta Community Food Bank feeding over 8,000 people in metro Atlanta.
• Junior Achievement: a program designed to prepare students to succeed in the economy by focusing on areas of financial literacy, career readiness and entrepreneurship.

La'Shyra, what does the term “Golden Women” mean to you?

A “Golden Woman” is one who is the best of her kind. She is a woman who will most likely be successful and rewarding. She is a woman that exemplifies all of the traits of a good role model and leader. She is special.

La'Shyra, describe something that is plaguing young women today and explain what can be done to turn it around? What can you do to help?

Something that is plaguing young women today is the overly sexual objectification of women and the idea of minorities being viewed as merely entertainment in the media. Women have always been viewed as overly sexualized objects. For example, the music industry display women as props in music videos. In 2000, Nelly released a music video for his song “Tip Drill”. In this music video, there were many African American women that were in bikinis, being touched inappropriately, thrown money on, and fully nude. They were disgustingly treated like something that is inhuman. Today, this is still prevalent in the music industry. Tyga recently released a music video for his new song featuring rapper, Offset, “Taste” two weeks ago. In this video, there were many women barely clothed, dressed in bikinis, with a lot of “junk in the trunk”. Throughout, there were a lot of inappropriate touching of the women and provocative dancing. This goes to show that the idea of having naked, curvy women in music videos is equivalent to having nice, flashy things. It is what makes the music video appealing and good to the public. The idea of minorities being viewed as merely entertainment in the media is also a factor that is plaguing young women today. Reality TV shows such as Love & Hip-Hop and The Real Housewives of Atlanta display a certain image of African Americans. Most of the shows’ content is drama and animal-like behavior between the casts. There is a great deal of profanity and violence. It gives the idea that Black people cannot be civil in a public sphere. This is not true. Young women viewing these shows may believe that this is the appropriate way to act and respond to people. The media can stop this negative, one-sided view of women and minorities. One way that the media can do this is by having more representation of women and minorities that are doing positive, impactful things within their community. By doing this, young women are given a role model—someone who is making a difference within their community and looks like them. One way that I can prevent this negative, one-sided view of women and minorities is by being that role model for the youth. I want to show young girls that the image that they see on reality shows is not how we should act. I want to show young girls that we do not have to constantly let men hyper sexualize our bodies just for the money and fame. We are humans, not objects. We are humans, not animals. We should be able to make a difference in the world.