Representing America - American Literature AP - Blog

Slow and Steady

    Black doctors, lawyers, and company managers are a common and on the rise in America today. Although America has broken some barriers and made progress in the past 200 years, American popular culture has lagged behind and still illustrates the damaging stereotype of the inferior, poor, gangster African American.

    First of all, American popular culture shows whites superiority over blacks by confining them in a box of inferior identical roles. Since the founding of America, whites have thought blacks to be inferior and have always treated them as so. Even though we have come a long way of being slaves and discriminated against, blacks only get recognition by living in the past. For example, one of the best black actors in America is Denzel Washington. He is a dynamic actor, but most of his roles seem to be the same. As in his movie Meet the Titans where he was the head black coach of a foot ball team and had to overcome racial barriers in order to lead his team to success. Similarly, another Academy Award movie featuring a majority of black people is The Help. This movie is about black maids and they’re difficulty dealing with white masters. Like all the other dynamic movies featuring African Americans, it only gets recognition because of its dealings with race and slavery. As long as African Americans are stuck in these never ending racial roles, they will always be seen as inferior, and America will continue to lag behind.

    Moreover, blacks are continually portrayed as poor or the classic rags to riches in American popular culture. In American history, when slaves were first freed they all had no property or jobs and could not acquire money or wealth. Therefore they were all known to be poor and on the bottom of the totem pole. Black Americans have long surpassed this stereotype and there are many successful and wealthy blacks. But American popular culture enforces the damaging stereotype that all blacks are poor, less wealthy, and if they are rich, they started off poor. For instance, there is a show entitled Everybody Hates Chris. This show is about a black family trying to live in a white world, and they’re struggles with fitting in. The dad in the show has two jobs, and is portrayed as cheap because he counts every penny his family spends. This show imposes the stereotype that blacks cannot keep up with whites and are always poor. Likewise a popular song that is catching on in American popular culture is Started from the Bottom by Drake. This song is very popular in the black community because Drake is speaking of how he started poor and with nothing in life, but now he has finally made it to the top and reached success. This is the story with many other artists in American popular culture such as Nicki Minaj, and they only help to show that blacks can never just be wealthy, but they had to struggle to get to where they are.

    Finally, America continues to illustrate blacks in popular culture as the conventional criminal gangster type. It has known for years that if something went missing, or a crime occurred, the black person is usually always blamed first. And in the past cops have always been suspicious of black people, and that is where the term, “driving while being black” comes from. American pop culture does nothing but implement this image. Rappers such as Lil Wayne, Chief Keef, and T.I who only raps about all the gangs they are in, drugs they use, and guns they own add to this damaging image. These are the people young black boys look up to, and grow up to live this gangster stereotype. Chief Keef states in his song Love Sosa, “Fucking with them O-boys you gon’ get fucked over.” This means that if you mess with the people in his gang it will result in violence towards you, which usually involves guns and death. Also, in a movie I have yet to see, but is apparently every normal black persons favorite movie is entitled Friday. From what I heard this movie has a cast of a majority of blacks who all live in a bad neighborhood and are all “hustlers”. This movie being the choice of most black people causes them to live in the stereotype of black gangsters forever.

    In conclusion, while America has shown progress since the times of slavery, we are still lagging and are stuck in an American popular culture which implements damaging stereotypes into our lives on a daily basis. Black young kids look for people who look like them in popular culture and if the only role models they see are the stereotypes popular culture presents, then they will grow up to live and believe in these lies. Not only is this damaging to the future of black Americans, it is damaging to the character and identity of the black race. As long as these stereotypes are upheld in American popular culture, America will always continue to lag behind and live in a world of damaging stereotypes.

Racism In America Today

 In Toady's society we live in a world that has been taken over by the media. The media plays a big role in out lives today because we allow it to influence us to believe in anything it says. Television shows also has a big influence on our kids lives because they watch it everyday for multiple hours. The shows that most parents do not want their kids to watch is Family guy or South park. Those shows have found to be very racist but in a humorous way. I believe that Henrietta Berdanine's thesis is in a way correct because of the view that society has on race.

    Hennrietta Berdanine believes that popular culture is lagging behind and the this harsh and damaging stereotypes are still occurring in today's society. She is true even if society does not think what they are doing is wrong it still is. Society does not know what people of other race been through and to just throw them under this category because they do not like other people is wrong.

    People in today's society uses comedy to cover up the damaging stereotypes. They use them in Family guy to attract viewers because of their funny racial slurs. Mostly they are white comedians and some black people do not care and laugh with the comedians. Other blacks' feel bad and stricken by the fact that they are on television talking about the stereotypes and people are laughing at it. 

      Thus proves Hennrietta Berdanine's thesis that society has taken steps backward and until we can eliminate al of those stereotypes and learn that those stereotypes hurt people and affect people deeply. People thought they have strayed away from basis ideas but they are still occuring in our media today.  

The Voice of a Generation?

“I think that I may be the voice of my generation... Or at least a voice…of a generation." -Lena Dunham, Girls.

 

Girls, a relatively new show that airs on Sunday nights on HBO, has received a skyrocket of popularity in the last few months, It's creator, writer, producer, and star Lena Dunham received two awards at this past Grammy's. However, the show has also drawn an uproar of criticism, at both extreme ends of the spectrum. Some websites deem the show "today's funniest show on tv", and view it as a vital addition to today's television programming, such as Rolling Stone Magazine. However, others have severely criticized the show's morals, sexually explicit content, particularly Dunham's almost guaranteed-per-episode nudity, and especially it's completely whitewashed cast. Dunham and fellow producer Judd Appatow have responded to these race criticisms, yet many are still unsatisfied. Dunham has explained that she's writing from personal experience, and what she knows. She has also cited the religious and personality differences of the characters, as if that helps the situation. However, critics make many vital points, such as it is incredibly unrealistic that in Brooklyn one would never run in to a person of color. Others also argue that maybe a lack of diversity wouldn't be such an issue if the show didn't have the extremely broad and inclusive name "Girls"

Another related issue with much of today's still unfortunately white dominated media is adding "token" colored characters, such as the "sassy black friend" or the intelligent, successful Asian coworker. As someone who is personally interested in writing and art, I have often wondered about the debate of whether there is a suggested "line" as to which characters to write about - for instance, because I am a girl, would I not have enough "first hand experience" to write from the perspective of a male character? Or a character of a different race? However, wouldn't writing from the perspective of a diverse array of characters create interesting art, that could potentially also reveal internal stereotypes about those who are different from the author?

In a recent episode of Girls' second season, Dunham added an African American love interest. However, not only was he African American, but he was Republican, which was an obvious, immediate contradiction to Dunham's character's and the show itself's values, and it thus wasn't at all surprising that he was written off after only one epsidode. Personally, this attempt at adding diversity on the show felt half-hearted and really quite pathetic.

I didn't initially plan to center my examination of race in today's media and culture around Girls, but I feel that it is a fascinating segway in to society's thoughts on this issue. Girls is blogged about and discussed online, in print, and in television far more than any other currently running television show, even though it is on HBO, a network that isn't even available on standard cable. Although the quality of the show is arguably higher than most sitcoms, sitcoms which are often obviously offensive and that thrive off of popular stereotypes, Girls appears to receive harsher criticism.

Although racism and outdated, offensive stereotypes continue to thrive in much of today's media, I do feel that media is beginning to improve, although far too gradually. Because so much of the world is able to voice its opinions to a large audience, such as through blogs, social media, and podcasts, this has inspired a trend of youth voices gaining substantial power in today's media. (The fact that most teen bloggers are girls is a whole other issue). OPRF student Tavi Gevinson's online magazine RookieMag thrives on a diverse writing staff and fascinating, sophisticated articles that more accutaly represent today's teenagers than the majority of adult-produced works. Girls creator Lena Dunham is only 26. I think that this trend of young voices permeating media and culture offers excellent opportunity to put an end to the outdated stereotypes and racist tendencies that still dominate in today's culture. Will they take advantage of this opportunity and produce high quality, possibly controversial art that more accuratly and fairly represents current American society? That is the real question, but from what we're beginning to see, I think it's safe to say they (we) will.  

America Isn't Called the Melting Pot for Nothing

    Henrietta Berdanine, a professor of critical Race Theory at the Northern Jackson College, hypothesized that although American society and politics has become racially aware over the past century, our popular culture has not.  She argues that representation of other minority races are stuck with “damaging racial stereotypes”.  While there are occasional skits, songs, books, plays, ect that may play up racial stereotypes, over all I think our country has come a very long way from the minstrel era of the early twentieth century. 

            American popular culture has been known for hanging onto stereotypes like holding onto a grudge.  In this sense, Berdanine sees America’s popular culture as lagging behind the social and political progression of the country in regards to racial acceptance.  A perfect example would be the 2013 Oscars presentation with Seth McFarlane.  Throughout the award ceremony, various skits and monologues presented racially offensive jokes about Jewish people, African Americans, native Spanish speakers, as well as women.  Here in 2013, people still laugh at these horribly crude and antagonizing jabs at other racial groups.  This particular example had so much coverage from the media, with hundreds speaking out about the controversy over MacFarlane’s performance, no one even thought to pay attention to the second deadline for “the fiscal cliff” approaching in just a few days.  While looking just at this, Berdanine’s thesis appears true.  However, a double-edged blade challenges this idea that America is deeply rooted in past stereotypes from the minstrel era, for now new stereotypes may cause Berdanine to revise her thesis.  Popular comedy shows, such as the Chappelle Show, poke fun at racial groups not usually associated with racism in the media, and such jokes would not have been around fifty years ago.  Therefore, in the grand scheme of where our nation was over a century ago, our popular culture has improved greatly from the times of the incredibly damaging minstrel shows, as the nation has shifted to a more racially accepting society. 

    American popular culture often times moves at warp speed, mirroring, mocking, and responding to current social and political changes.  The media, with technology, is continually spewing out various opinions, interpretations, and messages to the public.  Since the time of minstrel shows, I believe American culture has improved greatly.  Just think about the hundreds of incredibly successful musicians, artists, and comedians who just a century ago would not be able to express themselves outside of a racially oppressive display.  Our music is now more than ever incredibly diversified, with different races and ethnicities cutting across previous racial barriers of genre and style.  Opportunities in movies and television shows no longer bind certain people to fulfilling degrading roles.  Flipping through newspapers and magazines, our media better represents the range of ethnicities our nation is filled with.  The time of minstrel show stereotypes have indeed changed with the acceptance of race in modern American politics and society.

    Overall, Berdanine’s thesis is very negative about the current standings of American popular culture. 
While recognizing how our political and social spheres have grown increasing aware and understanding about race, she believes the stereotypes of types of the minstrel era America still degrade certain people today.  However, I have more faith in our modernized culture.  American media and music, art and literature, has indeed grown with the other racially accepting constructions of our nation.  Looking at the stereotypes of the past, compared to the still present stereotypes today (because there are still barriers to overcome) America is no longer as widely and intensely degrading as it was one hundred years ago.  Otherwise, the term “Melting Pot” for the U.S. would not be so widely recognized today. 

Race in American Culture

The blogging assignment for American Studies -- due by Friday, 3/1 -- is to write an original argument in response to the following AP-style prompt:

For all the progress in regards to racial understanding, awareness and acceptance within American society and politics over the past 200 or so years, American popular culture -- with only a few notable exceptions -- has seriously lagged behind, continuing to appear mired in the era of minstrel shows with their simplistic yet powerful and damaging racial stereotypes.

Henrietta Berdanine, professor of Critical Race Theory at Northern Jackson College (1973-)

In a well-organized essay, defend, challenge or qualify Professor Berdanine's view of race in present-day American popular culture. Whether you agree or disagree with her assessment, show your awareness of historical racial stereotypes and support your conclusions with an analysis of specific evidence from American popular culture, such as films, TV shows, music, fashion, books, commercials, etc.

All the requirements for a strong original argument apply -- in terms of a complex thesis, coherent organization, logical use of evidence, awareness of the opposing side and clear, eloquent and original language and voice.  But since you will be writing this on the blog, for an audience larger than just our class, feel free to be looser with paragraph structure and a bit more informal or personal with your language.

Extra credit (due during this or our next blogging cycle):  Discuss a work of contemporary American satire -- a film, TV show, song, etc, from the last few years that uses the techniques of satire to make a larger point about society.  Even though we are in a unit on constructing race, your example does not need to involve race as its primary subject matter.

Your post should include the following:

1. A summary of the work of culture -- maybe including a link to a video or lyrics.
2. An analysis of how the work uses techniques of satire -- irony, hyperbole, understatement, and/or parody.
3. An analysis of how the work is not simply making fun of certain people or institutions but how the work is trying to criticize and ultimately change society. 

Note that we're asking you to do more than just #1 -- giving us an example.  You need to analyze that example.

"Love" Connections

"'It happens once in your life, if you're the luckiest man on earth,' Bennie said, 'an event like that.'

'You've had your share,' Alex said. 

'I haven't,' Bennie said. 'No, Alex, no - that's what I'm saying! Not even close!'" (337). 

There are a multitude of similarities between F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby and Jennifer Egan's A Visit From The Goon Squad, representing a phenomenon that applies to all great literature, in which characters and themes transcend their settings and contexts and could theoretically exist in any era. For this post, I would like to focus on the men and the romantic relationships in these two novels.

 A Visit From The Goon Squad's bitter, failing music producer Bennie Salazar does not purposely reveal his infidelity to his wife Stephanie, at least not before she finds out. Stephanie realizes that Bennie has been cheating on her when she finds a bobby pin in their bedroom that belongs to one of the women at their country club, and eventually they get divorced. The Great Gatsby's Tom Buchanan, on the other hand, is purposely open with his wife about his infidelity, almost to a point of cruelty, maybe because he knows that in the 1920's divorce was much less common and was shunned in mainstream society, as women weren't expected to be able to support themselves. However, both men experience unhealthy marriages. Further, A Visit From The Goon Squad focuses predominately on the universally relatable idea that in life one often feels robbed of time, as evidenced in the above conversation between Bennie and a younger coworker, Alex. Bennie doesn't feel as though he's experienced a main life altering event, and thus he is presented, at least in his adulthood, as a bitter and dissatisfied man. Tom Buchanan is a living example of the opposite circumstance - he was a legendary football player in college, and Fitzgerald describes him presently as a man who is dissatisfied with his life because of no longer having that experience. The protagonist, Nick, felt that "Tom would drift on forever seeking, a little wistfully, for the dramatic turbulence of some irrevocable football game" (6). Thus, his current life appears as an awkward battle to retain as much of that experience as possible, both is his towering, threatening physicality and violent, aggressive behavior. At the end of A Visit From The Goon Squad, Bennie and Alex attempt to track down Sasha, who was once Bennie's assistant and who he appears to have loved, possible even more than his wife, but never attempted to have an actual romantic relationship with. When they relaize that Sasha no longer lives in her old appartment, the men, and Bennie in particular, are faced with the brutal reality that time has changed and that Bennie is too late. The characters Bennie and Tom force us to ask whether it is better to view life as centered around the possibility of one life altering circumstance, or as a random string of memories and moments in time. The disfunctional romantic relationships of these men also force us to examine how romance and marriage have changed throughout time. Although marrige in The Great Gatsby appears to be much more forced and expected than in A Visit From The Goon Squad, the gossip and rumors, the infidelity and the unhappiness appear throughout both novels, which leads to an unfortunate, possible reality that maybe marriage hasn't changed all that much from marriage in The Great Gatsby, apart from the means by which couples meet, and their ability to end it. 

Libya, Hummus, and Pimples, Oh My!

I have a confession to make. Although I have always tried to avoid celebrity obsession, I used to watch a significant amount of late night talk shows, Conan and Chelsea Lately in particular, on a regular basis. (I sometimes even recorded them and watched them later...) Now, a main reason I watched both of these shows is because I liked that Chelsea Lately features a lot of standup comedians, and Conan sometimes features cool bands, and Chelsea Lately in particular is directed at mocking celebrity culture - however, I knew that I could have been doing other, more worthwhile things with my time. Having watched many celebrity interviews on these shows, I became aware of a basic, disgusting formula, one that I was reminded of when I read the superb story "Kitty Jackson Opens Up About Love, Fame and Nixon!" In Jennifer Egan's novel A Visit From The Goon Squad: talk show hosts (the hour-long late night ones are all men, by the way) sit down with actors, most often young, white females, and they spend a creepily long amount of time complimenting these women on how amazing they look, before they ask them generic questions about their lives. First these actresses will express how grateful and honored and surprised they are by their fame and success, and how unreal it feels, and how lucky they are, and blah blah blah. The celebrities will attempt to sound unique and individual as they tell personal anecdotes that make them seem relatable and human, such as how they're also going to college (always prestegious ones), or how they're terrible drivers, etc. Then they'll promote their most recent film or tv show, and show a clip of a scene. All the while, the hosts pretend to sound surprised and interested, and I wonder how many more interviews these hosts can sit through before they pull their hair out, strand by strand.  I guess it depends on the size of their paychecks. (hopefully Conan doesn't do this, his hair is beautiful.)

However, David Letterman's been doing late night shows for decades, and he's still as creepy and faux-surprised at celebrity anecdotes as ever, and he's still got a fair amount of hair on his head. But how is this possible? It's because of the same reasons that I used to watch a lot of late night talk shows, sometimes on DVR, and sometimes on YouTube, as a pathetic and unhealthy means of procrastination from homework and studying for finals (talk about a shame memory).

Only occasionally will I get genuinely excited about the actors being interviewed, such as Ellen Page, one of my few celebrity girl crushes, whose film work, while interesting and high quality, is far less important to me than her environmental activism. I don't care much for her late night show interviews, in which David Letterman apparently forgets that he's already spent several other interviews asking her about her childhood in Nova Scotia and her house that used to be a brothel, and so he repeats the same dialogue all over again, to an audience that hopefully hasn't watched as many late night interviews as I have. What draws me to her is her passion for environmental activism. I could listen to her talk for hours on Bill Maher about her efforts in bee preservation, and observe her apparently orange-tinted hands, which I found out about in the YouTube comments under basically all of her interviews, which she got from eating so many orange vegetables. 

However, we don't get to hear about these things in late night talk show interviews or on standard celebrity news websites. Instead, we get tricked into thinking that we care bout the boring annecdotes and gratefulnes of these actresses and actors, young, beautiful, white ones in particular, such as Anne Hathaway, who, yes, is talented, beautiful, and seemingly very kind and polite. Some of them, such as Anne, admit to the ridiculousness of it all. George Lopez pointed out to her a few years ago in an episode of his now-cancelled talk show that hundreds of news stories were written about Anne's "geek-chic" style  after one public outing in which she donned a pair of black rimmed hipster glasses. After she claimed that the glasses were worn purely out of necessity after her contacts broke, Anne criticized all the media attention, sarcastically saying "Libya-shmibya, I'm wearing spectacles!" This moment, while small, held for me a bit of hope - hey, here's one celebrity who understands. Maybe I can count on her for intelligent interviews? But I can't. In a later interview, on Chelsea Lately, she mentioned her vegetarianism, and I thought, oh, hey, maybe she'll talk about animal rights? But then she just complained about how all she'd been eating lately was "kale and dust" to fit into her "terrorizing" catsuit for The Dark Night Rises, and then did an interview with Allure magazine, in which she complained some more about how her extreme diet of hummus and radishes led to, wait for it, A PIMPLE! 

I don't know if our culture's obsession with celebrity life will change. They mean different things for all of us. For many of us, it's not really about the celebrities themselves at all. For some, they're a temporary escape, a fantasy, a glimpse in to lives often much more glamorous than our own, a chance to pretend that we're not at home in our sweatshirts and fat pants, balancing chemical equations, making dinner for ungrateful husbands, or cleaning up baby spit-up, but on red carpets, receiving prestigious awards in tight, expensive dresses. For others, when we hear of bad celebrity behavior, it assures us, whether all that accurately or not, that we don't regret our decisions and our life choices, and that although we may have made mistakes, we're not as fucked up as those guys. I am proud that I have and continue to eliminate unhealthy and unimportant media sources, such as many websites and tv shows, from my life. Someday, hopefully, maybe, I can help or inspire someone else to do the same. But I will allow myself to watch an occasional episode of a late night talk show. And when I do, I'm reminded of Anne Hathaway, and I imagine her saying "Gaddafi-shmaddafi, I had that cat suit". 

A New Form of Patriotism

Barbara Kingsolver, in her essay "And the Flag was Still There", talks about post 9/11, and how exercising your right to free speech had somehow become unpatriotic. How patriotism had somehow turned into the act of oppressing someone who was different from the majority of Americans in any way. I can't help but wonder if maybe they thought they were helping the war effort somehow by doing this. Maybe they thought the war would end sooner if they blindly followed their leader instead of questioning the actions that didn't make sense to them.

It reminds me of WWII. In the 40's Americans sacrificed a lot to help the war effort. People would collect scrap metal and buy war bonds. They would grow some of their own food in victory gardens. It was even considered unpatriotic to drink beer because the wheat could help feed the troups. Admitedly there were Japanese internment camps, but people mostly expressed their patriotism in positive ways. The women's sufferage movement campaigned for equal rights throughout the war.

In today's society it seems that we would rather give up the rights that we have fought war after war to preserve than any of the commercial goods we are so used to enjoying.

More David Foster Wallace: "This is Water"

If you got into the David Foster Wallace essay, you might find his 2005 commencement speech at Kenyon College rather fascinating.

Anti-Feminist Designers?

The recent Chanel window displays show female manikins in elegant gowns wearing large, feature-hiding, white-feather-covered, Venetian masks. One of these women is also sitting in a large, human-sized, golden birdcage.

Chanel’s design, while intended to capture a woman’s attention and draw her into the store, is extremely derogatory toward women. The masks objectify women, turning the manikins into body parts for passersby to look at anonymously. The manikin positioned happily in the birdcage suggests she is submissive and passive.

Chanel, a high quality brand that sells to wealthy, influential women, has determined that showcasing stereotypical attributes of women will sell their products. Their marketing strategy shows how much America is influenced by traditional views of women as obedient, passive, simple beings.

The "Clueless" Life of Women

The movie Clueless follows the life of a teenage girl who does not have the much poise or elegance when she enters her new high school but Cher, the most popular girl in school, feels that it is her duty to transform Ty, the new girl, into a stereotypical popular figure. As displayed in the trailer, Ty has no sense of style and not even a sense of speech when she first enters her new school but as Cher takes on her mission, Ty slowly morphs from a tomboy to a preppy, pretty, well-liked girl. Through Ty’s transformation and the duration of the movie, including moments of Cher and some other females, the roles of women are very obviously portrayed as inaccurate, specifically in physical and mental aspects of their character. The roles of men are also falsely displayed in the movie, giving a strong emphasis on only two types of guys: the cool guy and the outcast, no middle ground. The artifact of our generation shows a general interpretation of what men and women are expected to be like in society.

Clueless begins with Cher in the classroom and while she presents her project, the writer of the film made it very clear that she was supposed to portray a very ditsy and superficial girl who cares more about her appearance over anything else. This stereotype gives a false impression that women are not as intelligent as men and only care about the feminine things in life. In addition to the false claim that, mentally, women are inferior, the physical appearance of the women in the movie comes to be one of the most significant topics. From the close they wear, to the make up the put on, to the perfume they put on, everything in the film is carefully dissected. The movie even goes as far as to incorporate a vast majority of the girls at Ty’s new school have plastic surgery. The skimpy outfits the girls are put in reflect the opposite of the potential lingering attachment to “separate spheres” by making the ideal of “pure” to be unheard of. The scandalous outfits in the film give women a stereotype of being seductresses and sex objects.

Men have a great deal of stereotypes in this film as well. The two main men are the ex-boyfriend of Cher and the potential boyfriend of Ty, only if she was to choose him. Cher’s old boyfriend displays the definition of a jock and a player who gets all the ladies and is a strong, attractive figure. Ty’s crush is the outcast in the movie, but he does have a lot of friends. This boy is a skateboarder and a pot head who seems to be the polar opposite of Cher’s ex. These stereotypes reinforce the societal view on the typical man, or the typical outcast.

The movie mostly takes on the gaze of a man, shown by the filming of the women and the emphasis on their physical appearance. The movie does give women agency by giving Ty the ability to choose if she wanted to become popular or not, and by women being able to push men around in subtle ways throughout the movie. I would not consider this piece of modern culture feminist because of the derogatory view it has on women and the stereotypes that it reinforces for both genders show its overall intent to exaggerate “typical” high schoolers.

More Than Meets the (Doll) Eye

Not only is this picture incredibly creepy, it also says a lot more than what one might first notice. When one initially looks at this advertisement, they see an advertisement for eye makeup. This is fairly obvious from the caption in the bottom left corner and even the remarkably unnerving photograph. These women literally look like dolls. Based on this idea of women looking like dolls, this ad constructs gender by enforcing stereotypes and shaping the ideal body image for women.

Because this advertisement depicts women as dolls, it enforces the stereotype of women as an object. Dolls, being the epitome of an object, have absolutely no say in what they do, they just go along with whatever is playing with them at the time. This is a horrible idea, especially when translated to be applied to women. Women just sitting there limp, waiting on their man and having no say whatsoever, is a sad, sad ideal that this advertisement is trying to get the viewer to buy into.

Furthermore, this ad, playing off of the idea of women as lifeless dolls, shapes the way women feel about how they look. Dolls, often considered to be flawless in beauty, have a sense of perfection that go along with them. Also, this idea of physical perfection goes back several decades to the invention of the Barbie doll. This revolutionary and iconic doll shaped millions of girls' self esteem around an impossible, stereotypical image. However, no woman could ever have perfect looks, even with the dieting, the makeup, and the clothes. When this dream falls short of becoming a reality, the results of the emotional states of these women could be catastrophic. As a matter of fact, almost all eating disorders are developed from a poor self body image.

Based on the fact that it portrays women as a stereotypes of sex objects and creates an unhealthy body image, this ad praises the regressive ideas that women have fought so hard to get rid of. As about as anti-feminist as something can get, this image truly constructs gender in a negative way.

The Vision of a Real "Black Swan"

Side Note: There are a lot of spoilers in this critique of Black Swan. Sorry for those who haven't seen this awesome film yet.

In the "Black Swan", Natalie Portman (the main actress) plays Nina who's a ballerina at a very well-known Balle Company. Thomas (the company's artistic director) gives Nina a very important role by casting her as the black and white swan in "Swan Lake", but he gives her the role after he sexually assaults her. In the film, the relationship between the male ballet leaders and their female dancers is pretty strange (seriously, It's strange!) For example, Thomas always have a creepy look when he's challenging Nina, including when he attempts to give up Nina's pursuit to happiness and perfection. Thomas (I forgot to mention, his name is pronounced "Tomah") that uses his own body against Nina's to force her to find her strength is part of what Aronofsky’s film wants to critique, but also partly what makes watching it uncomfortable and kind of explicit. The fact that Nina wants this role so badly, Thomas would do anything to have it his way, which sexually assaulting her over and over. As her relationship with Thomas gets more strange, she begins to suffer from Stockholm Syndrome.

Beth (another main character) is known to be one of the best dancers in the company and she is also a fan favorite. However, she is forced to retire so that Nina can take over her spot. Due to Beth's success with the company, I would assume that Nina was really jealous. As a result, she steals Beth’s lipstick, a pack of cigarettes, and a letter opener, totemic objects that Nina carries as talismans for her own benefits (Jealousy a huge factor in this situation.) Beth doesn't want to retire, but her fame and fortune went completely down hill from there on. Due to her large slump, Beth decided to cause a scene at a benefit party and then throw herself into New York City traffic, landing in a hospital where she is left with scars. She remains in the hospital, in a wheel chair, with her head down as it shows how her career also decided her fate. Nina visits Beth from time to time, but relaizes that the frequent trips to the hospital are completely and she begins to break down.

Darren Aronofsky(The author of Black Swan) signals his vision of his own leading lady with heavy-handed shots of Portman(main actress) fragmented and multiplied by the various mirrors in which her life is continually reflected.In the claustrophobic apartment she shares with her equally insane mother, Erica, a mirror by the front door is cut into pie-shaped wedges that breaks Nina’s image into pieces, and the three-sided mirror in which she practices and obsessively laces and re-laces her toe shoes ensures that even at home, she’s always onstage.

Erica was a corps member herself before she stopped dancing to raise Nina. There is no father (This is where things got awkward to me)  just the two women who represent different generations of the same dream. Erica both wants Nina to succeed and desperately needs her to fail, so that her daughter will cling to her, imprisoned in the child-like state Erica insists on preserving. Nina’s bedroom is lined with rows of white and pink stuffed animals that stare down at her bed, and every night, she goes to sleep with the tinny music box sounds of “Swan Lake” that her mother sets in motion to soothe her. Erica intrudes on Nina’s privacy, checking the rash that appears across her daughter’s back, stopping her for mutilating herself and at the same time, helping Nina hide her wounds. When Nina is cast in the lead role in Swan Lake, Erica doesn’t set out to sabotage her success, but willingly abets Nina’s fast downward spiral when it begins.

The real agent of Nina’s downfall is the woman who might otherwise be her savior. Lily (played by the lovely Mila Kunis) arrives in the company from LA full of self-confident sexuality.  Nina catches a glimpse of her first on a subway, distracted from her own image in its Plexiglas windows by Lily’s hair and the headphones she wears. Lily makes her first appearance at the studio by banging open and closed the door while Nina is dancing, causing her to stumble in her audition for Swan Lake. But Lily’s dtermination proves a refreshing counter-balance to a ballet world in which young women are wound tight, can’t eat, throw up what they do get down, and like Nina, are so disciplined to be perfect that they have no lives outside their dancing.

(I've decided to fast forward a little in order to get to the important parts of the film.)

Ever since the beginning of Black Swan, moments that seem true are suddenly proven false. In the bathroom of the ballet benefit party, Nina’s ragged cuticles begin to bleed and she can’t get them to stop, eventually peeling a three-inch strip of flesh from her finger. But when she’s interrupted by, as it happens, Lily knocking on the door, Nina looks down to see her finger suddenly healed. This girl bleeds terribly and her toenails break from dancing on them, her back bleeds from scratching, and blood continually reddens the water in which she bathes and washes. But we’re never sure if her wounds are real, and neither does Nina seems to be healed either.

 In the climax of the film, Nina allf of sudden kills Lily due to serious anger. She also smashes everything in the room (including the mirror) and hides Lily body. She then goes on to finish the Second Act to Black Swan where her performance as the Black Swan including both rage and anger. (How Ironic!)

 

What can we make out of the Black Swan is that Nina is slowly becoming a monster, unable to distinguish what is real from what is not. Her anxiety drives her to scratch herself until she bleeds, and from her wounds, feathers emerge.  As she dances, she spreads her wings, but the wings are black.  She is a good girl gone bad.

 Her flirtation with darkness is accompanied by crippling paranoia.  Nina witnesses self-mutilation, passionate sex, and even murder-- but her eyes cannot be trusted.  From a first-person perspective, the audience is left to feel as helpless and confused as their hero.

Initially, the producer calls her frigid.  But he is magnetically drawn to her after witnessing her transformation.  Unfortunately, this triumph is short-lived.  Nina experiences the duality she always yearned for in her final moments, but it's too late. To end this analysis, all I can say is that Darren did create a film that mostly focused on excessive violence and artistic cruelty. Even as Aronofsky dismantles the foundation of Nina's world and her sanity/insanity, it keeps the viewer equally unable to distinguish fantasy from reality. To conclude this, Portman (Main actress) holds the audience in such a way to remain on Nina’s side, hoping that she’ll be victorious against all the forces that lined up against her.

The Game's Heroine

WARNING: If you haven't read the Hunger Games there might be some spoiler alerts in this blog, they are marked in parenthesis before the sentence containing them.

The Hunger Games is a popular book series in our modern day culture. When one takes a first glance at this all they see is a story about 24 kids fighting to the death, an entertaining plot. But if one would look closer they would notice that there is an underlining feminist argument.

Suzanne Collins, the author of The Hunger Games trilogy, uses the primary character, Katniss, to present her feminist argument. Katniss is the heroine of the story. She is put into an arena to fight to the death, and is motivated purely on returning to her family.

When we first meet Katniss, although she is not a mother, she has many characteristics described in The Cult of Domesticity. Katniss strives to take care of her little sister, due to her mother's absence, and take care of the house. This shows Katniss's domesticity aspect, she is the caretaker of her home. While Katniss takes up the role of the stereotypical "mother" in our society, her real mother fails to do so. Thus, Collins is making Katniss a stronger character than a women is expected to be, beginning her female empowerment plot. 

Although Katniss does posses the domesticity values, she is nothing similar to the rest of the ideologies in the cult. Katniss is the farthest thing from submissive, with her relationships between men Katniss is not afraid to speak her mind and challenge them. In the novel Collins uses the area of the Capitol to show the norm of women. Women usually are extremely submissive to men, especially President Snow. The Capitol is also an extremely patriarchal structure of a society. No women are in any position of major power, and if they are in some position they are under the rule of a man. 

But in the Capitol women are not the only submissive ones. Due to the extreme stratification, the lower your district (class) the more submissive you are to the Capitol and the men in charge of it. For example, (spoiler alert) in the end of the first novel Katniss stands up to the Capitol's rules of the Hunger Games when she and Peeta almost kill themselves at the same time.

Another example, (another spoiler alert) is when Rue dies Katniss decorates her body with flowers and sings her to her death to show respect to her life. Katniss ends her song with kissing three fingers and raising them to the camera, an old symbol from district 12 to say goodbye to someone you love. This symbol is unwelcome by the Capitol and especially the games because it defies the brutal image that the Capitol wishes to get from the games. This displays the overall agency that Katniss has in this patriarchal society. Although this action came with major consequences, Katniss stood strong like a true heroine. 

Katniss is also empowered when she defies the expectations of purity and piety in the Cult of Domesticity. Some might say that the Hunger Games world could not expect the women to be pure when they put them in an arena to fight to the death, but if one focuses on the pre-game interviews of the tributes they can see how purity is still expected. When other women go up to the stage they have an image. Glimmer is the "seductress" and captures the audience by being blatantly against purity and piety.

Although this captures the viewers attention, the viewers do not gain respect for this tribute. Unlike Glimmer, the youngest tribute Rue plays the innocent pure little girl for her image. This makes her extremely loved by the audience but she also looks weak to the other tributes. Thus, (spoiler alert) when Peeta declares his love for Katniss, she is angered because he made her look weak. 

Katniss's lack of desire to be the perfect woman is the base of Collin's feminist empowerment. In the beginning of the book Katniss seems powerless, just another pawn in the Capitol's games, but by the end of the novel she is holding all the cards. Collins makes sure to make the main aspect of the book to be Katniss and her heroine aspect rather than the men. The strength of Katniss's character makes this feminist argument strong. Every little detail that Collins puts into the female characters, especially Katniss, is to defy the norm of the Cult of True Womanhood. The stereotypical hero is finally, and successfully, portrayed as a woman.

Becoming an Object to Males

The article I just found on http://thefbomb.org/2012/02/jean-kilbournes-killing-us-softly/ has turned my skeptical view on being labeled as a feminist toward the direction of definite support for the issue! The topic the author was covering was a particular sect of feminism, which was the roles women play in society physically, in the most broad sense. She was particularly emphasising the fact that women have so easily become an "object" because the media forces an unconscious feeling that we must fulfill a certain criteria displayed in ads. The fact that most shocked me throughout the reading, and made me realize that feminism is not JUST aimed at men, is the fact that many women who decide to get breast implants have proven to feel LESS stimulation after the surgery; quite literally making themselves an object for men. This little bit of knowledge should be spread to women of the masses because it truly shows how the media has taken something that is so precious to each individual, which is physical appearance, and has shaped it to seem that all women should, in some respect, look the same... as in possessing things that appeal to the eye. It is extremely unfortunate that women have stooped to such low levels that they would give up a natural sense in their body to feel wanted by men. If all women were to understand that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, this problem would not present a problem. And I believe that it is to women and through women that we will be capable of surpassing the external pressures that males have brainwashed us to have about ourselves.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo: Film vs Book

I didn't see the Swedish mini series of "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" so I can't speak about that but I did find Fincher's movie closer to the book and I would think that it maybe includes more details. I also found the actress playing Salande plays it well as it includes the right mix of sharp edged nonsense and insecurity that a girl who'd been abused in so many ways from such an early age would be. I had read the books first and didn't think the American version could possibly be any good but I was really surprised. Even the guy who played Blomkvist, even though he brought that 007 aura with him, played the part better. I didn't find anything even really interesting about the book-version Blomkvist. Craig (although he's too hard body, Blomkvist was supposed to be way out of shape) played a guy who was confident in his skills but kind of goofy and definitely not used having his life threatened, which is how I pictured Blomkvist when I read the books. I could see how women might find that intriguing, how a confused young woman might find him a "safe" enough male to get involved with. And now I can't wait until the next installment of the series is released in theaters. I think the movie did a good job in portraying the book. If you guys haven't seen it yet, you should check it out!

Writing an Original Argument

For the next blog post, please write an original argument on one of the following topics below.  Whichever topic you choose, support your argument with appropriate evidence from your reading, observation or experience.  Your argument does not need to be multiple paragraphs, but you should have a clear structure, where you make claims, back them up with data, and provide a warrant for how the data supports a particular claim and your overall argument.  Feel free to establish exigence and make your thesis as complex as possible.

Topic #1: Richard Corliss writes in Time magazine:

Ask any reader who has seen the movie version of a favorite novel, and the answer will usually be, 'The book was better.' That's because readers of a novel have already made their own perfect movie version. They have visualized it, fleshed out the locations and set the pace as they either zipped through the book or scrupulously savored every word. Often they have even cast it.

Many lovers of books argue that films are a lesser art form.  Even if the film is a masterpiece, it will never provide the viewer with the same rich, thoughtful experience as a reader gets when reading a book.  Write an argument which defends, challenges or qualifies this assertion.

or

Topic #2

If you have not been following the Republican presidential campaign closely, watch the following statement from Republican candidate Newt Gingrich about food stamps and the African American community.  Also, for background you might read the following news article about Republican candidates using racially-tinged rhetoric in their campaigns.

Leonard Pitts, an African American newspaper columnist, writes:

I got my first job when I was 12. The deacons at my church paid me $2 a week to keep it swept and mopped.

So I do not need Newt Gingrich to lecture me about a good work ethic. In this, I suspect I speak for the vast majority of 39 million African-Americans.

There has been a lot of talk about whether Gingrich's recent language, including his performance at last week's South Carolina debate and his earlier declaration that Barack Obama has been America's best "food stamp president," amounts to a coded appeal to racist sensitivities. The answer is simple: Yes.

Gingrich joins a line of Republicans stretching back at least to Richard Nixon. From that president's trumpeting of "law and order" (i.e., "I will get these black demonstrators off the streets") to Ronald Reagan's denunciation of "welfare queens" (i.e., "I will stop these lazy black women from living high on your tax dollars") to George H.W. Bush's use of Willie Horton (i.e., "Elect me or this scary black man will get you") the GOP long ago mastered the craft of using nonracial language to say racial things.

So Gingrich is working from a well-thumbed playbook when he hectors blacks about their work ethic and says they should demand paychecks and not be "satisfied" with food stamps. As if most blacks had ever done anything else. As if a jobless rate that for some mysterious reason runs twice the national average does not make paychecks hard to come by. As if blacks were the only, or even the majority of, food stamp recipients.

Then write an argument in which you defend, challenge or qualify Pitts' assertion that Republican candidates are using racism -- stereotyping and insulting black people, in particular -- to win votes.

The Importance of Being Earnest: Satire at its Finest

The movie (and play) The Importance of Being Earnest, is one of the most perfect examples of satire in our culture.  Although it is set in England, it makes fun of the upper class.  The play uses dramatic irony to show how Oscar Wilde sees the upper class as too formal and snobbish.  It is dramatic irony because the characters in the play obviously think that they are high class with their multiple houses and butlers even though the author thinks that the upper class is too snobbish.  

The show also uses hyperbole to make its point.  Every character in it is exaggerated.  The characters Jack and Algernon are both willing to change their names to Earnest just because the women they love say that they will only love a man named Earnest.  This is an example of how much emphasis Wilde believes that society places on love and how important it its to us.

Weird Al Yankovic - "Fat"

 

This is a video by "Weird Al" Yankovic called "Fat". It creates humor with parody and situational irony at the beginning of the video. The song and the video are a parody of Michael Jackson's "Bad". This video is a parody because it replaces all the words to Jackson's song but still keeps the beat and the rhythm. The reason why it is because the video focuses on the issue of obesity in America. It uses hyperbole and dramatic irony to highlight this. The hyperbole would be the fat suit suddenly inflating when there is a showdown between the two groups of fat people. The video also uses dramatic irony when the two fat guys ambush Al and ask him why he isn't eating with him and making fun of him for being on a diet.

The video is supposed to show frequent and prominent obesity is in America. It makes you think about your eating habits. For me, personally, it sends that message "if we continue to eat fast food, this is what gang showdowns are going to look like in a couple of years except without the dancing". The video force you to look at your lifestyle and think about how your eating habits are affecting your body. It criticizes the fact that, at the time, a large number of  Americans were and still are becoming more obese. This video sends the message that we should eat healthier to live longer

Wii Fit Parody

This parody of the new spin off of working out called the Wii Fit, is quite hilarious. The director, or at least the narrator, uses irony throughout the entire video to conduct a complete opposite meaning of what the product is attempting to have people do.

The Wii Fit sends a message to the viewers of its commercials and the consumers that buy the product that working out can be as easy as pulling out your Wii, standing on a white piece of plastic, and moving the equivalent amount of walking about a half of a block. Also, through the original commercial, the Wii is advertising the product to be something that can bring the whole family together to have fun, but lets be honest, when one wants to get in shape the first thing they think of is not usually how they can get their family involved.

The real message behind this, I believe, is the unconscious image that the media embeds into the heads of many Americans that a perfect body is necessary for a happy human and the Wii is telling America that it is as easy as moving your leg back and forth to get that ideal body. 

The parody includes situational irony through elaborating on how what the people are doing in the commercial is the close to the exact opposite of what you have to do to get in shape, is very comedic and does successful take on the ironic form of satire.

The Frederick Douglass Story

I find this video to be very informative. Even though we've just got through reading about Frederick Douglass, they're probably still a few questions you have in mind that you want to be answered. This 20 minute documentary tells the story of Frederick Douglass and how he fought for his freedom.

 

Racial Profiling in the Depths of Social Media

Racial stereotyping and profiling have become an unintentional, and normal occurrence since slavery took a turn off the road of normality and seemed to have created racism. Currently, race is something that is not only immediately judged by many just based on their outward appearance but is taken into consideration on other factors too that seem, sometimes irrelevant to a topic of concern.

For instance, on college surveys and standardized tests they always ask for your race, and although that my be taking a count on a recent study or statistic, the college one goes to or the grade one receives should not be determined by the color of a persons skin.

Modern day media has completely blow up the idea of race by emphasising racial stero types in TV shows and movies of all different generes. Believe it or not, just a few minutes ago I got home from viewing a play called Doubt. The purpose of the production was not at all to point out racial stereotypes, but in looking deeper into the play, there are many clear distinctions of the hints at racism.

In the play, the african american, eighth grade, boy is attending an all white private, Catholic school in the mid- 1960s. Although it could have been interpreted as his family attempting for him to come off as a "coon", his character, who is never directly seen in the play, remains pretty steady to his roots. His mother is called in to speak with the principal for a wrong doing and they are trying to put emphasis on treating him "like the others", just completely pointing out his differences form the other kids.

The mothers character was very strong in the play and she represented a strong black woman, but with the Principal being a white nun with extremely formal way of presenting herself, the mother does not restrain from the "soul" that she seems to behold just from what she must have been raised in. 

This play pointed out the small things in racial stereotyping that many people would not notice by deeply observing the meaning of race within the play. The difference in the way the black people and white people act in the play is most defiantly noticeably different, which gave away the continued struggles with racism in the 60's. The problem has yet to be resolved, or even reduced, but due to the different colors of skin and the reputations each race has built up, it looks like we might have to get used to people judging others based on race.

Chris Rock's Kill the Messenger: The message on race

So…culturally, in America we try to avoid talking about race in some instances because well it can leave a really bad impression of people. Dr. Laura who was a radio personality said it on her show and got a lot of flack for it. Senator Doug Lamborn was highly criticized for calling President Obama a “tar baby”. I think that racism and the concept of racism is still an issue in this country because there are people's grandparents who have worked fields in the south and had to survive segregation. There are people’s parents who grew up in the Civil Rights Movement and saw the country change before their own eyes. After the civil Rights movement, Black people had a huge surge for whatever term they wanted to be associated with. Blacks were vehemently against any word that was used to refer to them when they were in slavery or segregation. The ironic part is the most offensive name that blacks were given is still in use today. Because of the civil rights movement and the constant awareness of race; there is a conception that white people should not use this word. Chris Rock addresses this issue in Chris Rock’s “Kill the Messenger”.

WARNING! : THE FOLLOWING VIDEO CONTAINS A LOT OF CURSING INCLUDING THE N WORD AND THE F BOMB. IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH CURSING OR THESE TWO WORDS, I STRONGLY ADVISE YOU TO FIND ANOTHER VIDEO TO READ AND/OR COMMENT ON.

 

With the civil rights movement came these walls or topics that Americans, specifically white Americans, couldn't discuss without setting up a mine field of emotion: Black stereotypes, race, what certain people can and cannot do. The biggest thing of all was what to call Black people. For a while people said, we want to be called Afro-American, then it was African-American, and then it was just Black. However, Black people regarded the following terms and phrases to be derogatory: The "N" Word, coon, tar baby, mammy, jungle bunny, jiggaboo, schwarze, boy, pickaninny, darky, buckwheat, Aunt Jemima, Spook, Porchmonkey, Kaffir, Colored, Spade, and Zulu. These are only a few terms.

I would have to say that Chris Rock addresses a stereotype about white people which is that people really don't know how to act around black people because they are afraid that they will offend us. This is shown with the stereotypical white people not being able to know when he/she can use the "N" word. This also points to the stereotype that black people are constantly think that all white people are racist and that they all want to bring us down. (hinted in the extra words to the song in the video). While these stereotypes aren't true, racism has become such an easy excuse for people to be angry at one another. For instance, I know that sometimes someone(we're just going to name them  would say, "Mrs. Q gave me an F on my paper and she gave Trevor an A. Trevor's paper was terrible! Mine was way better than his. I'm telling you that lady is racist." This is an example of how quick we as Americans are to jump to conclusions of race and how extremely confortable we are with pinning someone down as being a racist.

Now to answer Chris Rock's question, the answer is No. There are too many people who are sensitive to the word and that sensitivity indicates sensitivity to race on a certain level. There remains this sense of cautiousness when we address any one. I think that the video addresses this issue of race that White People are constantly trying to not offend black people for fear that we will react in an unreasonable manner. I think that this particular situation is very prevalent in some cases because a lot of music that teens listen to by black artists do contains this word. So I understand the frustration that someone can feel when faced with a situation like this.

I know that doing this blog entry on the "N" word was a little extreme but there remains the fact that even black people use it because hey we're black. My opinion is that we, Black people, shouldn't use the "N" word because we are putting ourselves down when your won race when in fact your own race is still trying to get people to stop using it because it is degrading.

The Message of "Crash"

The central theme of the film "Crash" is simple: Everyone is prejudiced; black, white, Asian, Iranian and, we assume, anyone from any other racial or ethnic group. We all carry around racial/ethnic baggage that’s packed with unfair stereotypes, long-stewing grievances, raw anger, and crazy fears. Even when we think we have made progress, we find ourselves caught in frustrating complex racial webs from which we can’t seem to get untangled.

While viewing “Crash” may make some people, especially white people, uncomfortable during and immediately after viewing, the film seems designed, at a deeper level, to make white people feel better. As the film asks us to confront personal prejudices, it allows us white folk to evade our collective responsibility for white supremacy. In “Crash,” emotion trumps analysis, and psychology is more important than politics. The result: White people are off the hook.The core problem is not intolerance but white supremacy and the way in which, day in and day out, white people accept white supremacy and the unearned privileges it brings.

“Crash” paints a multi-colored picture of race, and in a multi-racial society recognizing that diversity is important. Let’s just not forget that in the film "Crash", the color of racism is not only white, but all colors.

Here's a video showing some of the racist clips in the movie. (Don't mind the comments in the video. I think this person just hates the movie. But pay close attention to the clips that are shown from the movie.)

 

Wait, I Thought Lenny Kravitz Was Black

Everyday we either check boxes in which we categorize our self’s to what race we belong or where we live. Does it really matter? It seems that identity no longer weighs into how we view ourselves. We either get stereotyped or discriminated against based on what color we are or where we come from. Culture, Religion, Technology, Gender and Class are categories into which we put ourselves and others into daily. These criterion are synthetic ideas that we come up with to create identity. I think by removing these titles that we link to our persona we can establish a true identity. If we merely speak of what material things make us, we'll become people who are ignorant to what truly makes us unique, our ideas.

I saw an old chappelle episode the other day where there was a skit that involved different races drafting biracial celebrities to 100% fully become a part of their own race. This totally embodied how we judge people especially celebrities based on appearance. I thought that its interesting that Chappelle used the concept that a race would what to own a person completely even though the people genetically belong to another race.

 

Sorry If the text is backwards, I think the user had problems uploading it. (it was the best one i could find)

 

Personifying the American Rugged Induvidualism

Throughout America's relatively brief history there have been a great number of traits we as a country developed. One of these traitsis our rugged individualism. Rugged individualism is our ability to be a nonconformist, a complex person made up of many ideals and moral standards which coincides with multiple cultures and or religions. One character who personifies America's rugged individualism is Nathaniall in "The Last of the Mohicans".

Nathanial is of a very different background than most colonial Americans. He was born to a white family but was raised by his adopted Native American. Later in life this gave him the ability to be a colonist and a frontiersman but also kept him connected with Native American methods of living and fighting.

Another way which makes Nathanial a rugged individual is the way in which he lives. He says he does not consider himself a British subject.He also lives on the frontire and he utilizes many different methods of survival from the British and the Native Americans. One way he shows this is the fact that he is well trained in hand to hand combat using blunt weapons while he is also a very good marksman. Nathanial personifies the American rugged individual.

 

Steve Bartman vs Chicago

Steve Bartman is an individual who is famous for stealing a foul ball from Chicago Cubs outfielder Moises Alou. Steve Bartman was doing what most people would do when given the opportunity which was trying to catch a foul ball. However, the Cubs was winning 3-0 but shortly after the incident, the Florida Marlins scored 8 runs in the inning. The Cubs ended up losing Game 6 of the NLCS and losing Game 7 of the NLCS the next day. All the eyes were on Steve Bartman. Many fans associated the Bartman incident with the Curse of the Billy Goat, allegedly laid on the Cubs during the  1945 World Series after Billy Sianis and his pet goat were ejected from Wrigley Field. The Cubs lost that series to the Detroit Tigers in seven games and have yet to return to the championship round. Bartman was also compared to the black cat that ran across Shea Stadium during a September 9, 1969 regular season game between the Cubs and the New York Mets. The Cubs were in first place at the time, but after the cat appeared, the Cubs lost the game and eventually fell eight games behind the Mets in the standings, missing that season's playoffs entirely. On Fox, Brennaman said of the incident, as well as the Marlins' subsequent rally: "It's safe to say that every Cubs fan has to be wondering right now, is the Curse of the Billy Goat alive and well?" If so, Chicago is considering Steve Bartman as the billy goat which is an example of Individual vs Community.

Individuality Is Greater Than "Fitting In"

Being an individual is easy to want, but hard to attain. Teens nowadays only want to fit in, not to stand out. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines individuality as total character peculiar to and distinguishing an individual from others. Being an individual is described as being yourself. Not many people want to have that feeling. They want to feel normal, just like everybody else. Individuality is a wonderful thing, though, that can only be accomplished by loving yourself. 

There's room for everybody on the planet to be creative and conscious if you are your own person. If you're trying to be like somebody else, then there isn't.' That quote was said by Tori Amos and it is so true. There's no room on this earth for imitators. When everybody wears the same clothes, has the same hairstyle, talks about the same things, and has the same beliefs, all the kids in the school hallway just blend together into one blob of boredom and dullness. That is why individuality is so important. No one wants to live a totally predictable life. 

No one who hates themselves will be a true individual. If you dislike yourself, why on earth would you want others to dislike you for being different? Someone who loves themselves and embraces their flaws will achieve being an individual. If you are confident about yourself, you can feel comfortable standing out. You can glow from within, as if saying to the world: Here I am! This is me, and I'm going to shine. You may not dress in popular clothes, you may not have the new iPhone, and you might be a huge geek that joined math club, but it's okay. You can be yourself without worrying about others. Who cares what they think? Most likely, they're jealous because they are not strong enough to be an individual. 

Flaws should be seen as a blessing, not a curse. They remind us that we are all human, and not being good at something gives others who are good at it a chance to shine. There will always be some people who don't care to be different; who just conform every time a trend changes. But you don't have to be one of those people. You can stand out, feel proud, and be a true individual. Be peculiar and distinguish yourself from others. And always remember this: "Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius, and it is better to be absolutely ridiculous than to be absolutely boring." (Marilyn Monroe)

Me being the only child, I'm used to having that feeling of isolation and individuality. "Fitting In" with a crowd doesn't really make you look better as a person, but it shows how you can't accept who you are. Things that we do are meant to express, not to impress. If us humans go by that saying, society would be a place where individuality can be seen anywhere. 

Gay Marriage

Gay marriage has similar characteristics of Romanticism in so many different aspects. It consists of strong emotion obviously between homosexuals. Although individuals cant get in trouble with the law for loving someone of the same sex, they can if attempting to document it. This battle for gay marriage has been going on for so long and homosexuals have been misjudged and misunderstood.

Being misunderstood is not a bad thing. Its just that homosexuals have a completely different ideology system. Galileo and Newton were misunderstood and so was Ralph Emerson. Be an individual. Romanticism is present because gay marriage is a step away from the traditional heterosexual relationships which were the only marriages documented until recent years.

The tradition of heterosexual marriage has been going on since the Bible days. Its understandable why change isnt on the bland citizens mind. Romanticism requires individuals to break the chains of tradition.

Another example of romanticism in gay marriage is not caring about being excepted socially. Romanticism also requires individuality and being strong enough to endure the pain others may cause to keep tradition flowing. Don't discriminate against different ideologies. Create some because imitation is suicide.

The Affect of Transcendentalism Today

Transcendentalism, a movement of the 1830s-40s, was the counterculture of its day. Rather than a coherent philosophy, it was known by what was protested such as: the pervading Christian emphasis on original sin, society's demand for conformity, the position of women, rigid educational systems and the institution of slavery. The transcendentalists believed in the importance of individual conscience.

The basic counter-cultural impulses can be seen in the early years of the 21st century. People are beginning to explore old and new ideas about self-sufficiency, sustainable living, ecological concerns, a desire for harmony with the natural environment and exploration of new age philosophies and religions. The concerns of the time may have changed, but the push back against societal conformity remains the same.

Popular transcendentalists included Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Walt Whitman, Margaret Fuller and many ministers, Unitarians, and social reformers. A movement of mostly New Englanders around Boston, the transcendentalists strove to change their society.