Representing America - American Literature AP - Blog

Visual Essays

 

Tom Girl

    I can say that I construct gender everyday but I try my hardest not to let it limit me. I construct the stereotypical gender roles as a female everyday by the clothes I wear, putting on makeup, fixing my hair nice, and being worried about my image. This reflects the stereotypes of how women are appearance based and care too much of how they look and others perceive them. But I do not let this define who I am, it is merely an aspect of my image. I personally define myself as an athletic, strong, smart, and independent girl. I play basketball and run track and have never been afraid to challenge a boy to an one on one game or a push up contest. I also love the feeling when a boy who has never picked up a basketball challenges me to a game, and thinks he can win just because I am a girl, and they finally learn that I am able to beat them. I also define myself as smart and strong, and I am never submissive to a boy. I think that if I am right, which I usually am, I have the right to speak up and share my ideas, and even though they boys usually don't listen, at least I can get my ideas out there. I've watched and learned from all the shows where all the women are objectified, treated as less, and glorified because of their bodies. And I tried to live my life and break all these stereotypes. I never let a guy call me out of my name, and if they happen to, I let them know its not okay and I earn their respect as a woman. I would not necessarily call myself a Tom boy or masculine, but I think I define my femininity in a appropriate way that earns respect and equality from a guy. I wouldn't object if anyone ever called me a feminist, but I am not that hard core about it. I just believe that girls are equal to boys and should have all the oppurtunites they are given. So I will also continue to challenge the weak minds of the macho boys and defy their simple gender ideas, all while I wear my high heels, dresses and skirts.

Body Image

I was really intruiged by all the websites, especailly "F-Bomb" There were two very similiar articles I found Here and Here... 

They are both about women looking in the mirror and having some disturbing, and empowering thoughts. At first, they admit to having confidence, but when taking a closer look at thier bodies, found many things to complain about. They were confused about thier own opposing thoughts and came to the conclusion that neither of them is too sure how exactly they feel about thier physical appearances. 

This is sad. Women need to be just as confident in themselves as men. Women with low self esteem are easily put at risk by men who will abuse or take advantage of them. I personally think the media is partially responsible for the abuse rate because of how they make women feel about themselves. Appearance has become something so important to a women, that it can affect the rest of her daily life.I just feel that there are many other things that women could be doing with thier time than stressing out over their appearances.

First Pick

"Just pick her" 

"No, I'm not gonna pick her."

"Just pick her! She's good."

"No, I'm not wasting second pick on a girl."

Fourth grade recess. Football. I wanted to play. Twenty boys bunched in a mass in front of two captains. I shimmied in through a crack and became a part of the posse. First picks were made. Then second picks. Third. Fourth. Those two captains looked right over my striped hat, because they didn't know that some girls rock at football. Some of the Lindberg-Park-crew knew. The boys who I would play with on the weekends, they knew. The captains didn't yet, though. The fifth graders didn't know. Eventually I got picked. Not last or anything. But nowhere near first either. I got picked just because I was there, not because someone thought I would help their team win. I ran. I tripped. I dove. I dodged. I was in it. Second half came around, and our QB needed a sub. 

"Someone else play QB for a down."

I ended up with the ball. 

"Hike"

The perfect spiral made it all the way from my finger tips, to the open hands of that captain who wouldn't pick me second. 

I like having something that shuts all the boys up. 

I like having something that destroys the stereotype. 

 

I'm glad that my mom taught me how to throw a spiral. 

Hockey, Dance, and The Media

Analyzing one's personal view of gender is an incredibly complex task. I believe that American society, and the media in particular, have drastically distorted our views of gender. I think that when one considers the way that he or she (or neither, or both) examines one's relationship towards gender and sexuality, it is imperative to take into consideration one's geographical location, one's socioeconomic class, and the environment in which one was raised.

I hardly remember being a young child. For me, trying to remember my early childhood is like looking through fog, and I can occasionally discern vague shapes and figures, but I always seem to struggle to make out specific details. I often can't remember whether my recollection of an event is an actual memory, or a result of viewing photographs taken during that time. I was a shy, quiet kid, and although I played sports, I also dressed in a stereotypically girly way, and I often played with polly pockets and American Girl dolls. My best friend and I would often argue about who was girlier, and because she more more stereotypically masculine colors and was thinner, she always seemed to "win". Honestly, trying to get anywhere near my childhood mindset seems impossible. I can't fathom how I liked the things I liked, and looking back at how I acted often feels like a painful experience. My friends and I have jokingly labeled sixth grade as my "mean year", the year I was rude to my close friends and attempted to "be popular". I even bought a hoodie from Victoria's Secret's Pink line, and started dressing girlier. However, I also played basketball and, as a result of growing up watching my brother play hockey, I was passionate about hockey and could talk "with the guys" and my athletic tendencies also place me in the "average" category, whatever that even is. When I took up dance after a long break of many years, I took several different types of dance, including ballet. Ballet is considered incredibly helpful for building a foundation of discipline, strength, and technique that can significantly benefit one's ability to do additional types of dance. Yet, I felt like my friends would severely judge me, especially my best friend. I didn't want to be considered even girlier, so for many years I didn't tell her about ballet. Eventually, I couldn't avoid her finding out, and I was so humiliated.

Between seventh and eighth grade, for whatever reason, it was as if i woke up with a completely different perspective on life. I honestly don't know why my mentality altered so drastically. I just simply didn't care what people thought anymore. I was becoming a stronger, more skilled dancer and basketball player, I had a great friend group, I became a vegetarian,  the Blackhawks were doing extremely well (haha), and for whatever other reasons, I just gave up all interest in caring what people thought of me. I mean, I still wanted people to think I was a kind, intelligent, respectful person, because I wanted to be all of those things. But, aesthetically speaking, I didn't give a crap about anyone's opinions, and that mentality has only grown stronger ever since.

I also don't know why I've started to question my gender lately. Similarly to my drastic change of mindset during the summer before eighth grade, in the past few months, I have had the strong urge to be a guy. I've always preferred the athletic body type aesthetically, and because I've become so serious about dance, I've realized that it would be much more convenient if I cut my hair extremely short. I'm also striving towards minimalism, including owning a small wardrobe of a small amount of quality clothing, and so maybe I'm favoring sneakers and pants to skirts and more stereotypically feminine shoes because of convenience and necessity. Maybe I've realized in this past unit on Feminism that women still suffer from a lot of discrimination and societal judgement and expectations, and maybe I just want to feel the power that society often attributes to men more often than women. Maybe I'm just bored. As I've said, where I live, in a very progressive, accepting, privileged community, I have very few problems and I often feel like I have no right to complain about anything, and that there are SO many more important things to do and worry about than my gender.

A while ago, since I realized that mainstream media basically sucks, I would limit my relationship towards the media to reading a few sites and watching a few tv shows and movies that are high quality, respectable works, and that portray life in a reasonably honest way. I've considered cutting out media completely. But right now, I feel like the media can exist as a tool for creating positive change and improving one's emotional mentality. I watch shows such as Project Runway, that oddly enough represents an extremely diverse group of people who are so talented and passionate that their outer appearances don't have any relationship to their abilities. I look up to actresses such as Rooney Mara and Ellen Page. I listen to podcasts with awespome female comedians. I read RookieMag religiously.

Dance has also actually helped me forget about sexism and gender. I am completely in lvoe with contemporary dance, which is basically whatever style of dance you want it to be, and emphasizes the emotional movement, in relationship to song lyrics. When I dance, I forget about how I look. I am free.

Identification

Your enviroment shapes how you identify your gender. As I was growing up, I've tried a numerous amount of activities such as ballet, gymnastics, baseball, and soccer. I've always wanted a Bratz doll, Barbie, or the new Baby Alive. Then, my cousins were mostly boys so I was always playing the video games on the PS2 with them. These experiences all shaped me into the person I am today. I wouldn't describe myself as a "girly-girl". My parents always pushed me to join new activities so I could find my passion, even if that meant joining a team of mostly boys.

 By participating in ballet and gymnastics, I learned I love to dance and express myself. Dance may be seen as something that most girls do but I believe it's gender neutral. The baseball team that I joined, my friend and I were the only girls. I felt like the pressure was on! We had to prove that they weren't better than us. I wasn't too good at it but I wasn't the worst either. I remember the last game when I got a homerun, I was so excited because it proved that I had some skills. I wanted to get rid of the steretypes that were most likely running through the boys' mind. Although, comments were never made about our gender, I felt as though they were taught that boys were stronger than girls. I was proud at the fact that I was a girl and I got a homerun while one of the best players on the team were pitching.That may also have something to do with my competitive drive. The point is that these activities made me to the person I am today. I explored and experimented so that I didn't fall into what society has described as a female or male's role.

Growing into the Role

The first time I ever really considered my gender identity was around when I was in elementary school. When I was younger, my older brother would often make fun of me and call me a girl. He was just playing around, but it still managed to get on my nerves. He would mostly criticize me for being physically weak (I was even skinnier back then) or if I complained or cried about something. It irritated me because I wanted to be considered masculine, but genetically I just wasn't a big kid. I probably got a little more emotional than most boys did, but it wasn't as if I cried every time something bad happened. My brother doesn't live with us anymore, but if he did I'm sure he would cut down on how much he called me a girl, although he probably still would every once in a while for old time's sake. My voice is lower, I grew a little, and I don't really complain about anything. I have what most people consider masculine characteristics. I guess given enough time, people who don't necessarily fit a gender stereotype can grow into it.

Pretty Princess with a Twist

So for an English assignment last year, we had to get in groups and perform a scene from Shakespeare's As You Like It.  In our group we had three girls and one guy even though there were two female roles and two male roles.  I lost Rock, Paper, Scissors and was to play the Jester (male).  In rehearsing our teacher told me to be more assertive and have a wide, broad, confident stance.  I thought I had gotten pretty good at my portraying my witty character, until we showed our teacher a rough performance.  The first thing the teacher told me to fix was my loose hips that were swaying way too much if I was to portray a guy.  Then he told me not to put my hands on my hips either, and to look down upon the other character more literally (which was kind of tough since I was shorter).  Afterwards, I totally had to reassess what my demeanor was.  I guess this is when I saw all my little mannerisms that defined me as "feminine" or "girly". 

How I define gender would be based on a whole slew of things, like personality, mannerisms, and how one dresses or act.  I think it is personal, what one sees them self as.  After the above experience I became very aware of how I carried myself, how I dressed, how I interacted with others.  Something as common as shifting my weight all to one side or standing with my shoulders back or how I wave all show my femininity.  The way I dress too, or how I wear my hair, or if I put on makeup also defines me as female.  I think gender construction can also be greatly influenced by friends and family.  I know my family is very traditional and conservative in our lifestyle.  My dad is what would be called the typical male-breadwinner, since my mom took a teaching hiatus to be a stay-at-home-mom until I went into high school.  Then I have two younger sisters, so overall the feminine distinction is very strong in my family.  There is an emphasis on appearing girly, being good readers, being artistic, there was the whole Disney Princesses phase and being taught proper "princess manners".  However, my parents are also incredibly encouraging when it comes to what wouldn't be traditionally defined as being feminine, and in this way I have learned to break from the stereotypical characteristics of what it means to be a girl.  For example, my mom would always take us to the Museum of Science and Industry or the Planetarium on a rainy weekend.  My dad loves to bring us downtown to see where he works as a stock broker, and he even comes to every one of our practices to become a better softball, golf, swimming, track, or tennis coach for each daughter.  So even though they encourage us to be "little ladies", my parents are also big on being more well rounded then the daughters of the earlier twentieth century. 

Gender Neutral

I have always considered myself a boy.  Even though in my life I have had a great deal of feminine influence that has never changed the fact that I am a boy.  I have four older sisters and a twin sister.  My extended family is also very girl heavy, out of the 42 cousins in my family only 13 of us our male.  I think that growing up with so many different female influences on us has shaped me and my male cousins into a very interesting blend of the male gender with feminine influence.  

I have many female tendencies, the main one that I notice almost always is that I usually hold grudges for a very long time.  I don't want to offend anyone but in my personal opinion girls are much more likely to hold grudges.  They also tend to be better at it too.  I think that because of the fact that I grew up laying almost exclusively with girls I learned this behavior from them.  

I think that due to my unique upbringing as one of the only male children in a very, very large extended family has affected the way I see things.  Despite the fact that I identify myself as a male, I am a bit more gender neutral than I would like to admit.  I have the mindset of a male that has been shaped into a mold that can only be classified in it's own catagory by females.

Gender Roles in My Life

Since I was a little girl, I think I had always known what my gender was. I know that my parents played a huge role in determining what my gender was going to be. I also think that society itself had a huge impact on me. Because of that, I think that is natural to assume that if your sex is female, then you're gender is a female as well. However, I know that in some cases it is different and that is one of the most courageous things I think anyone can ever establish. While choosing for yourself, your own gender is important, I think that there is a time in life where kids aren't old enough to make their own decisions about who they want to be. When you are 2 or 3 years old, I doubt that anyone has any idea about what gender is. That is why parents play a crucial role in how they influence the gender decisions of their child.

There have been many times in my life where my gender has been established. The first time I remember is when I was probably 5 or 6 years old. My favorite artist was Britney Spears and I wanted to be just like her. Since society has determined that the feminine gender is being pretty and sexy, I think Britney Spears covers that role perfectly. I remember watching her on TV and my mom would always wrap my shirt up to look just like her and I would dance to the song "Hit Me Baby One More Time". At the time I probably didn't know it, but my mom was helping me establish my gender by trying to make me look pretty like Britney Spears. Since I have two brothers, I think that she wanted me to be a girly girl. I don't think she could deal with all that masculinity in the house. Every girl needs some time to act feminine and release their inner woman. Not only did her influence help me determine who I was going to be, but society had an influence over her decisions as well. 

Now my mom knew that she had to let me have a say in how I wanted to define myself. She knew that only letting her decisions influence what my gender was going to be was not fair. Every time she would sign me up for activities she would always ask me if I wanted to do it, whether it was t-ball or ballet. She did not fail at letting me make my own decisions at a young age. When I was little I did dance and t-ball. One day I remember I had a play-off t-ball game and right after my game I had to go straight to a dance recital. I think that the activities that I participated in helped me determine my gender as well. 

I define my gender as a female. Even though I choose to participate in activities that might seem more masculine (according to society) such as softball, basketball, or any other sport, I love dressing up and looking cute for a fun night out with the girls. I guess you could call me a feminine tomboy.    

Gender Roles Reflection

Ever since I was a little kid I never really saw people by there sex but just by who they are. When we had recess I played with both girls and boys. I played the same way every time and the girls seemed like they did not mind. I think they just liked that i was having fun and they were having fun. Also I am pretty sure that the girls did not want to be placed in a different category because they are girls. In elementary girls were pretty tough and if they did not want to role with the punches then they would not join in. Even when we would play basketball, when girls would join in I would play the same every time. I do not think that the other girls minded but I know the other boys minded because they had a different mentality then me. The other boys would say, "Bro you bogus. Why are playing so hard against them?" I would reply and say, "I am going to play the same way every time because I do not see them as girls I see them as players." I did not think that the girls wanted to be grouped in a different category because they are girls. I had the same mentality throughout middle school too.

When I got to high school my perception on girls started to change. I did see girls as different and when girls did ask to play I starting going easy on them. When I got to high school I got much bigger and stronger and I knew that girls would get hurt if they tried to play with us. Now that sounds mean but it is not because they are girls. It is because they are not as big and strong as we are. There are some games that girls can play with us but some of the games they cannot play with us. Then the guy looks like the bad person when the girl gets hurt. So I think there are certain restrictions that men and women should abide by. Men and women were made differently and should in some ways be held by different standards.    

Women Action and the media

Women and how their bodies were portrayed  in the media. This one blogger is upset and outraged about how women's bodies are portrayed in the media. So this blogger is outraged by this particular magazine called Sports Illustrated. In Sports Illustrated they the famous edition called the Swimsuit Edition. This part of the magazine shows women in little swimsuits showing there bodies from head to toe. Now this year the magazine really outraged females because in its famous Swimsuit Edition the model was posing nude in the middle of the winter. The model was white, had blond hair, had blue eyes, and a perfect female figure that everyone wants. 

Since this is a sports illustrated magazine then the target audience is obviously males because men watch a lot of sports and buy these types of magazines. So the editor decided to put in this swimsuit edition so that guys could look and enjoy women's bodies. Which depicts women as beautiful sex objects. On the flip side men are not the only target audience. When women see or view these magazines then the magazine sends out a message that women should look like the models in the magazine. Of course that is the image that women take from the magazine. The women who are the models in the magazine are terrorised by the media because they are putting a bad image in women's minds that they have to look like this models and when they can not look like these models then they are view in society as ugly. So society puts them at fault for these types of image.

I agree with this blogger because it was right on the money. She really explained her argument well and she was right about everything. The editor of this magazine put this swimsuit edition for men to view and idealize women and then on the other hand it puts the ideal in women's mind that they have to look like the models and if they do not then they are doomed by society.

Mario Kart Champion

I grew up with only two older brothers, all of us are three years apart. Throughout my childhood I constantly strived for the acceptance with the boys beacuse I was surrounded by their little clique constantly. My street was one of those blocks that played ghost in the graveyard nightly, but my experiences were always limited. Seeing as I was the youngest and the only girl majority of the time, it took years before I was permitted to hide without the constant guidance of one of my brothers.

These patterns continued on for the rest of my childhood. Although I did enjoy polly pockets and playmobile dolls to a certain extent, I was always more drawn to the games of Mario Party, Super Smash Bros and Halo that my brothers were always so focused on mastering. No matter how talented I got concerning these video games, playing catch or keeping the secret of the fireworks that we would light off in the street when none of our parents were watching, I was never completely immersed in all of our street's activities. 

Growing up in a house where teenage brattiness or any type of complaining would be met with immediate corporeal punishment by my brothers chastened me in limiting how much of my girly teenager side I would ever let filter through. I still fell into the abercrombie skinny jeans, uggs and a north face fad that all middle school girls obsess over, and many more trends to follow. But always I was extremely hesitant in asking my parents about buying any of these things for me because the "oooh wittle teenage Meghan is fitting in with all the cool kids!!" taunts never seemed worth trying to fulfill each and every detail to these teenage trends.

I appreciate these taunts and lessons now, as annoying as they can still be they have removed any last drop of materialistic or bratty blood from my body. But the constant limitations I was faced with and never feeling overly girly or ever like a tom boy, has given me a fairly neutral perspective on gender discriminations in our world. I'm glad that I am able to relate to twice as many people over random things, even if people wouldn't expect me to be a Mario Kart champion.

This Week's Blogging: How Do You Construct Gender?

For this week's blogging assignment, we're going to get a bit personal.   Write about how you construct gender in your own life.

This post can take many forms: a reflection of the choices you have made and the person you are or hope to be; a narrative of a moment in which the limits of your gender became clear or when you identified yourself or someone else identified you exclusively by your gender; another form -- video, presentation, etc -- which suits you.

When considering how you construct gender, consider in what ways you define yourself or others (individuals or institutions) define you as male or female, feminine or masculine, or as something in between or outside those categories.  You might also talk about the ways you attempt to defy or subvert those categories.  You might discuss your appearance, your behavior, the TV shows you watch .... Just try to be as specific as possible and avoid making universalizing statements that claim to speak for everyone.

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As noted in class, here is a great example of what we are calling a "feminist critique" -- in this case it's in video form and focuses on the portrayals of women in video games.  Quick vocabulary explanation: "tropes" is another name for a stereotype or a common/cliched representation.

 

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Extra credit (if you did not do it in the last 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.

Violence Against Women Act

In 1994, The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) was created. It is the first U.S. federal legislation acknowledging domestic violence and sexual assault as crimes. Since 1994, much progress has been achieved toward women's rights. Obama recently signed to expand the act, targeting expansions to address the needs of vulnerable populations, and help prevent problems in upcoming generations.

I agree with his actions on this newly expanded act, considering the statistic that 1 in 5 women are raped in their lifetime compared to 1 in 71 men who are raped in their lifetime. This shows women are more vulnerable to abuse, rape, stalking etc. and can use these acts to help them and keep safe.

I do believe that these acts are a great idea to help women be aware of their rights and not be afraid. They can speak out about domestic abuse and feel safe, but it is ridiculous and petty that we have to enforce these acts to protect the women of our society. I believe the reason men (and rarely women) rape is due to how they've grown up being abused, and they simply repeat the abuse they've been through. The acts help to stop  this vicous rape/abuse cycle. Also i believe the way women are depicted in advertisements/ music videos/ movies helps give women a vulnerable image to men with harsh intentions.

Obama is giving women a greater oppurtunity to use these acts as a lifeline and protection like he says in this speech. Obama also uses the technique we talked about in class, starting off his speech through humor for a serious situation, pretty cool

Obama's speech VAWA

Selling Out

In the post titled Sexism On Late Night TV: Even Jimmy Fallon Isn’t Immune on the F-Bomb, the writer discussed how a guest on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon told a story that portrayed sexism in men. In the man's anecdote, he described a time in which he and another man bonded by staring at a super model's ass. The article seemed upset that Jimmy Fallon did not interrupt the man at all during the story or point out that he was being sexist. The author enjoyed Jimmy Fallon most of the time, but she seemed disappointed that he allowed such a story to be told on his show.

Most TV show hosts have the moral decency to only allow appropriate content to be aired on their shows. However, when the hosts get lazy or become apathetic, they are more likely to let inappropriate comments or jokes slide in order to maintain their ratings. To them, they would rather remain popular than lose the respect of some of their viewers. If something is seen as only a little bit controversial, they may be hesitant to mention it out of fear of making a big deal out of nothing. In this instance, the objectification of women did not appear as enough of an issue to call out the storyteller.

"Use Your Words" and Your Ears

In the Rookie website, I investigated one of the articles in the new March edition of the online magazine. It was titled, "Use Your Words", and off the bat, I completely agree with the statement made in this article. The article basically stated that one cannot expect sympathy or response from ones behavior just by acting a certain way, you need to "use your words". 

Many times in the past I have had friends and even my parents act this way and many times I have been frustrated about why people get annoyed when I a simply striking up conversation. I had a theory about why this happened and the article puts the theory perfectly, "If psychic powers are the cost of admission to knowing you, you’re going to end up awfully lonely". The article also stated that people act this way when they are too kind or embarrassed to ask for sympathy. 

My main problem with this article is that it is directed toward women. Although I am aware that this is a magazine directed specifically at women, there is absolutely no mention of the other gender experiencing this same social effect. Unfortunately, no mention of this effect happening in men is understandable because most men, or at least me, have rarely experienced this. However, it would have made the argument of the article stronger if it had included the other perspective.

As far as the truth of the article, I do feel that the best way to get ones intentions clear is articulate ones thoughts no matter how embarrassing. Many times, I see people getting more and more frustrated as our conversation progresses, for no apparent reason. It was only the article that confirmed my theory that sometimes people want conversations to go a certain way in order to garner sympathy and feel better. In fact, this is one of the main reasons people strike up conversation, to get something, either a feeling or information, out of it. That is not to say, however, that I believe articulating ones thoughts is a good idea; there are many instances when it is wiser to keep quiet and listen.

 

Becoming a Feminist Critic

As noted in class, here is a great example of what we are calling a "feminist critique" -- in this case it's in video form and focuses on the portrayals of women in video games.  Quick vocabulary explanation: "tropes" is another name for a stereotype or a common/cliched representation.

 

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For the previous blog post, you should have visited at least one of the following sites:

The F-Bomb ("TheFBomb.org is a blog/community created for teenage girls who care about their rights as women and want to be heard. All young feminists who are just a little bit pissed off and very outspoken are more than welcome here." -- learn more about them).            

Rookie ("Rookie is a place to make the best of the beautiful pain and cringe-worthy awkwardness of being an adolescent girl. When it becomes harder to appreciate these things, we also have good plain fun and visual pleasure. When you’re sick of having to be happy all the time, we have lots of eye-rolling rants, too." -- learn more about them)

Feministing ("Young women are rarely given the opportunity to speak on their own behalf on issues that affect their lives and futures. Feministing provides a platform for us to comment, analyze, influence and connect." -- learn more about them).

About-Face ("About-Face means a reversal of direction, attitude, or point of view. We equip women & girls with tools to understand & resist harmful media messages that affect their self-esteem & body image." -- learn more about them)

Women, Action and the Media ("WAM! connects and supports media makers, activists, academics and funders working to advance women’s media participation, ownership and representation. Our work is part of an advocacy movement for gender justice in media." -- learn more about them)

On our own blog, write a post that either agrees or disagrees with an argument made in one of the posts you've read (make sure you *link* back to that post -- and feel free to quote from it as well). Don't forget to give your post a category.

As far as commenting is concerned, you'll get credit if you comment on the websites above or on one of your classmates' own posts.

Extra credit (if you did not do it in the last 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.

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.

What If She Was Your Boss?

skip about 25-30 sec of the beginning of the video

 

The Movie Horrible Bosses is easily one of the best comedies of the year. The premise includes 3 middle-aged men working for bosses that they absolutely detest. One of the guys in particular, Dale (Charlie Day) works at a dental office with a hot,sex crazed boss(Jennifer Aniston). She tries to seduce him daily; knowing full well that he has a wife. But that's the fun in it all.

The film introduces the seductress social construct; the movie displays how women have the ability to use their attractiveness to bring men to their knees and the ability to harness physical, sexual and psychological power over them. What is interesting is that the boss is the head of the dental firm at which Dale works, so she can manipulate Dale into doing almost whatever she wants. Although he undergoes heavy manipulation throughout the movie Dale remains to be unswayed by her beauty and her psychological teasing.

In the interview Anniston, felt as if she just could disappear playing this role because she could be a different person. In society it seems like when women are viewed in a seductress P.O.V they can either gain power or class advancement. By toppling over the male sex , and having us beg for more; women ultimately create their own identity.

Pan Am: Feminim Critique

The TV show "Pan Am" aired this year on ABC. The show is about the Pan Am stewardesses and and pilots. The women all say they became stewardesses because they wanted to get out and see the world. The women had to be pretty, a unmarried, and wear the proper attire to be able to be on their plane. The women are breaking stereotypes by coming out the house and getting a job, but while doing that they have to become a stereotype to keep themselves where they are.

In the first episode, Laura, a main character, runs away from her engagement to join her sister as a Pan Am stewardess because she doesn't want to get ties down. She wants to see the world. Her sister Kate also left the house because she didn't want to be what her mother wanted her to be. By leaving their lives at home and becoming stewardesses they break the stereotype that all women are submissive housewives. However, to be a stewardess you must look, dress, and act a certain way. If you don't, you get fired. The women are leaving the housewife stereotype at an attempt to be free, but at the same time waling into the seductress/sex object stereotype because of the rules they have to follow.

Also, Kate becomes an agent for the government to spy on Communists and get inside organizations. Kate does this because she feels that she is doing something unusual for a women and that it will let her be able to do something important. Again, while she is breaking a stereotype, she is again fulfilling another one. During Kate's jobs she becomes a sex object to be able to find out her information. The government was using her and other women because they were easy to put into those stereotypes.

Overall, the show is promoting feminist views because the women are standing on their own with jobs and are able to show the world that women don't have to stay at home; but the women are also showing the world that even though you don't have to stay at home, you still have to fit into other stereotypes to keep from being a housewife.

She's Not the Stereotypical Girl

    She's the Man is a modernized version of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night.  When adapting Twelfth NIght the writers modernized the characters and the situation but also added a feminist viewpoint.  Instead of the using Viola's motive in Twelfth Night of wanting to be with the guy she likes, in She's the Man her purpose of dressing as a man is to achieve her own goals and prove that woman are just as good as guys at sports.  Society tries to force Viola into becoming a stereotypical woman but Viola objects to the role and breaks away from  the stereotype.  Viola's mother forces Viola into a Debutant ball to become a "lady" and the school she is at in the beginning forces her to not play soccer by canceling the girl's team.  However, Viola does not let herself be cast into those roles by not acting like a "perfect lady" at the debutant meetings and by dressing as a boy and moving to a different school.  

    Viola does not conform into the Debutant world that her mother wishes her to participate in.  When Viola is forced to go to a carnival and do the kissing both her ex-boyfriend and Duke, a guy who participates in the kissing both, get into a fight.  Instead of staying out of the conflict like a "proper lady" she tackles them and tries to break them apart.  This action gets her into trouble with both her mother and the leader of the debutantes.  At a debutant luncheon, Viola is in the bathroom with Olivia, who is talking about how she likes Sebastian. Monique overhears Olivia and since she still believes she is Sebastian's girlfriend starts to fight Olivia,  Again Viola joins in the fight and the leader debutant is very upset with her.  Viola does not act with the proper manners or that the leaders of the debutantes and her mother expect leading to anger from both of them for not fitting into the stereotype.  

    Viola is not the stereotypical girl that society wishes her to be.  These actions lead to many frustrations from society and her mother because she is not fitting into the box they have built for every girl to fit in.  But Viola still tries to be on her soccer team and not let what society thinks conform her.  In the end Viola dressing up as her brother to play soccer gets rid of the stereotypes people would think if she was herself.  When the school does find out she is really a girl that already know she is good at soccer and can play with boys.  The way that Viola does not conform to her mother or society's expectations allows her  talent to be accepted and the stereotype of girls not being good at soccer to not apply to her.  

Feminist critique on Commercials

There is a common thought in everday society that women and men are different. While this is true biologically it is not necessarily true physically and emotionally. I was watching tv one day saw this ad for dr. Pepper. The next day I saw an ad for Lipton energy. The two commercials couldn't be anymore different. While both commercials show different stereotypes for women and men the message is still conveyed that one sex is the weaker tuan the other.

 

The dr. Pepper commercial has the slogan that it's not for women. They say this because the drink is ten calorie and usually women drink and eat things low in calories. This implies that women are constantly aware if how the world sees them and that they strive to fit this image. Another aspect to the commercial is that it supposedly feature things that only men are supposed to like. Consequently, this puts stereotypes on men as well as women. Stereotypes such as women can't like car or dirtbikes. Women aren't supposed to like adventure ans action movies and men are supposed to like all of these things. Men are even supposed to have their own catchphrase. but reality is that many women enjoy these things as well as men. An underlying point to the commercial is that you can still be manly while you drink somehting that is only 10 calories. My initial reaction to this that feminist all over the wield are going to sue dr. Pepper and mr. Heidkamp's friend is not going to like this at all.

 
Seeing the Lipton energy commercial was like seeing te feminist version (okay extreme feminist version) of th dr. Pepper commercial. All of a sudden this women drink an energy drink and she magically can chase after two guys driving away on a moped? And of course she gets the purse back and the male police officer can't find the two thieves anymore. Sometimes I really can't believe these commercials. The message in the commercial is that women are strong. This is shown through the exaggerated moped chase where the woman chases the two men on the moped for like sixty miles. The fact that there were two men doin the robbing shows that the men are too weak to attack women by themselves. Another example of their weakness is that they were on a moped which is considerably faster than a human being running on foot. This is meant to show that women can do anything by themselves while men just struggle to do achieve anything with help.

These messages are meant to show that in their own way each gender is strong. of course, each commercial shows us how we percieve the other gender to be different.

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.

A Feminist Critique of Million Dollar Baby

Million Dollar Baby is a film that received widespread critical acclaim and won the 2004 academy award for best picture. In the film Hilary Swank plays a boxer who seeks out a trainer so that she can become a successful boxer, she works as a waitress to supplement her income. She initially seeks out the help of a marginally successful boxing trainer played by Clint Eastwood, he initially rejects the offer to train her saying he doesn’t train girls. Over time she is able to convince him to train her and they grow to have a bond (not romantic just a bond).

She uses the funds of her boxing in order to buy her mother a house, her mother is by no means grateful and complains that having a house with threaten her reception of welfare payments. Her mother also says that everyone in her old town is laughing at her for trying to become a professional boxer. In her first big fight she is knocked down and her neck lands on a stool, after this she becomes paralyzed from the neck down. She asks Clint Eastwood to end her pain and he reluctantly agrees. This film is definitely a feminist film as the main character exhibits agency, and does not fit into any typical stereotypes.

 In choosing to go into professional boxing, which is typically considered to be a masculine sport, the protagonist is defying typical stereotypes of women. The film shows the difficulty in her participating in the sport and defying stereotypes as Clint Eastwood’s initial reaction is one of hostility to the idea of her boxing and according to her mother, everyone in her hometown mocks her. There is no lingering attachment to the separate spheres ideology as the main character does not have a domestic role, is not submissive, is not particularly pious and does not strive for purity.

Clint Eastwood’s character is initially that of a stereotypical “tough guy” he is unsympathetic to the main character’s cause, and as usually the case when Clint Eastwood is in a film, he is rough around the edges. As the film goes on though Clint’s Character eventually develops a heart and toward the end he is emotionally attached to his trainee, and in doing so he breaks out of his stereotype.

Throughout the film the main character shows agency in her actions and is thoroughly determined to become a successful boxer. She combats obstacles in her way to becoming a successful boxer and is not swayed, by the opinion of others, from her goal.

The film is a feminist film because it’s characters are not confined to typical gender roles. Hilary Swank’s character is not stereotypical in her desire to become a boxer and Clint Eastwood’s character is not stereotypical in that he eventually breaks out of the “tough guy” role. 

Legally Blonde: A Feminist Critique

The film Legally Blonde, starring Reese Witherspoon as Elle Woods, is on of the best examples of the idea of feminism in the modern world. Starting as a soroity sister whith hopes of becoming engaged, Elle Woods is the "perfect" girl. She has everything she needs to be happy in life, but when her boyfriend dumps her on the night she thinks he's going to propose, Elle vows to do whatever it takes to get him back. His excuse for breaking up with her is that he can't be taken seriously in the law school world with her by his side, so, sticking to her vow, Elle applies for law school, and, to everyone's surprise, gets into Harvard. As time goes on, Elle matures and buckles down on her work, eventually forgetting about her ex, and focuses on becoming something she can really be proud of: a lawyer.

The beginning of the film gives into the idea that women need men to complete them and that men have women completely under their spell and can manipulate them any way they want. When she is dumped, Elle wants nothing more than to get back the man who broke her heart because she feels incomplete without him. Her determination to get him back leads her to Harvard Law where she spends her time trying to juggle her classes and impressing her ex. The film shows women as completely dependent on men and men completely independent from women, giving the idea that men can discard one woman for another and be just fine, while the woman who was discarded will wollow in depression for weeks.

As the film goes on, Elle begins to focus more on her school and less on her ex, though he is almost always in the back of her mind, since he's started dating her "worst enemy". Even more determined to win him back from her, she studies harder and becomes more serious about her work so she can become a successful lawyer and he will want her back. With this, the film gives the idea that women use their manipulating skills to make men want them or make men notice them. It also makes women seem completely desperate when they are threatened by other women.

Towards the end of the film, Elle becomes completely independent from her idea that she needs to get her ex back after meeting Emmett, another law student who she begins to fall for. By this time, Elle has become a new person from the sorority queen she started out as and turned herself into a successful lawyer who even won a case for her university firm. The end of the film sends the message that women can be successful without a man and can be free to achieve whatever they want, even in the least likely circumstances.

The Help: A Feminist Critique

It seems like in the past year everyone's been talking about The Help. It was nominated for four Academy Awards, and Octavia Spencer won for best supporting actress. The most obvious themes in the movie are centered around race and class, and the film, while garnering mostly positive review, has received criticism for using racial Hollywood stereotypes like "Mammy". While it's not really gotten a lot of attention for its focus on women, the film also has a lot to say about gender roles and stereotypes.

If you haven't seen it, The Help centers around the lives of two women (Aibileen and Skeeter) and their friends. The movie is set in Jackson, Mississippi in the early 1960s. Aibileen is black and Skeeter is white, but they face similar struggles as women. The film presents three stereotypes of women: the wife/mother, the seductress, and the old maid. The Help dares its viewers to criticize these stereotypes by creating likeable characters that do the same.

Celia Foot, Skeeter's friend, challenges both the wife/mother and seductress stereotypes. Celia is new in town and, according to the other women, comes from "white trash". She dresses provacatively, bleaches her hair, and wears lots of makeup. Most of the women in the town shun her and feel threatened by her sex appeal. Celia is also child-less; she has suffered many miscarriages and is consequently depressed. When asked if she will have children, she says "Oh, we're gonna have some kids... I mean kids is the only thing worth living for". The women in the town are valued solely on their child-producing capabilities, so not being a mother brings Celia a lot of embarrassment and distress.

By the end of the movie Celia has successfully overcome these stereotypes and expectations. She has made new friends (namely Skeeter), she's embraced her appearance, and her husband told her that he loved her for her, not her baby making abilities. Throughout the movie, viewers are touched by Celia's charm and kindness. We are rooting for her to come out ahead, and she does. 

The Help presents another female character who dares to break the mold: Skeeter. Skeeter overcomes the old maid stereotype. Unlike most women her age, she is single, has a college degree, and wants to start a book. Her mother is constantly encouraging her to find a husband, even going as far as to suggest that she must be lesbian since she hasn't settled down yet. Skeeter is an old maid at 28. She does not give in to the pressure, though. Skeeter successfully writes a book and leads a happy and fulfilled life without a man. She is strong, capable, and independent, something not many women were in the 1960s. 

The Help is a feminist movie. Its characters defy traditional gender roles and stereotypes, and it presents these characters in a way that is inspiring and fun. The Help criticizes traditional patriarchal structure and employs a female gaze. Unlike many films, the women are not objectified and have agency. While The Help has recieved a lot of attention for its racial themes, it should also be viewed as feminist film.

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.

Maybe SHE'S Just Not That Into You Response

While reading the "Maybe SHE'S Just Not That Into You" post on FBomb, I caught myself shaking my head and agreeing with Fiona L. and her input that men and women can both be jerks when it comes to relationships. There are plenty of men and women out there who misconstrue the feelings of a significant other. People always assume that the man is always the one being a jerk in the relationship, which is not always true. This stereotype is unjust and should be put to rest. Women may come off as the victim in certain situations, but in some instances they are the attacker. Different people have different feelings. It is wrong to say that all men are only after one thing in a relationship. Men have feelings too and can be hurt just as easily as women are. Recently, I saw the movie "The Vow" which is about a woman who looses her memory in a car accident and can not remember that she's married. Her husband tries to make her fall in love with him again, but he is continuously shut down. Her feelings changed uncontrollably and this makes the wife seem like the jerk in the situation because the husband tries to do everything in his power to reconnect their love, but she does not feel the same love. Some people don't mean to hurt their significant other, but end up hurting them anyways.  You don't really see a movie like this often, because the stereotype is all about the men being jerks. The way people handle their situations is what shows their true colors.

Women and Weightloss

The two W's women and weight are always a touchy subject. When I recently viewed the Article,What Happens After You Lose Weight on the fbomb.org page, I was interested with the comments the author made about her peers not acknowledging her presence and ignoring her physical unattractiveness until she lost 15 pounds over the summer. Society is truly fixated on social image and its displayed when her classmates constantly asked, “what did she do to lose weight?” Truthfully, she killed herself exercising almost everyday and she was very conscientious about what she ate during the summer. But she did not tell the truth to her peers, she said, “I told some that I hardly even noticed my weight loss and that I had no idea how it happened. I told others I swam a lot and biked everywhere”. Why? Why did she have to lie about her hard work she had done to impress others?

One claim the author stated was absolutely brilliant and it stuck to me she said, “I think it’s because as girls we’re always supposed to be effortlessly beautiful. We can’t admit to trying to become more beautiful because that shatters the mystery around something that’s supposed to be unobtainable.” I believe that society made her think that women need to feel effortlessly beautiful in order to gain the acknowledgment of her peers.