Representing America - American Literature AP - Blog

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.

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.

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.

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

"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.

 

"Actual Size"

I read the  blog "Actual Size" from Rookie. This was one woman's story of how she had been going through ups and downs in weight loss her entire life and how she only was recently able to overcome her issues and love her body for what it is. Despite her efforts, she was always fat and unhappy. What helped her to reach a point where she was comfortable in her own skin was actually a blogging site similar to Rookie.  

What struck me most about  this person's story is how her unhappiness with her weight was able to infiltrate every other part of her life and make it worse. I think that fact, most of all, illustrates to readers that it is not worth it to stress over how much they weigh but rather focus on being happy and healthy.Even so, this is not generally the case because of  pressures that people and society place on girls. I personally believe it should always be about how healthy and strong someone's body is rather than the weight in numbers. But it is not so easy for everyone to reach such a conclusion which is why that woman's story is helpful and inspiring to a lot of people out there. 

Intersectionality

I chose the website "The F-Bomb" and read an article called "F to the Third Power". This article was about how the media in our world has not dismissed of the problem with sexism as much as it claims to. People are decieved by the fact that women are able to do so many things that were forbidden from them in the past, such as divorce, home owning, voting and having their own bank account. Although these privledges boosted gender equality in America a tremendous amount, there are still many occurences of inequality today. Whether it is the difference in salary or still existing stereotypes between men and women, the differences can be very apparent.

The author of this article introduced a very intriguing point that I had never thought of before that is called "intersectionality". The best description of this word is to requote one of her examples which is a quote by Audre Lord. Lord stated, "Within the lesbian community I am Black, and within the Black community I am a lesbian. Any attack against Black people is a lesbian and gay issue, because I and thousands of other Black women are part of the lesbian community. Any attack against lesbians and gays is a Black issue, because thousands of lesbians and gay men are Black. There is no hierarchy of oppression". 

This point is so interesting to me because in a way it alleviates a lot of the discriminations of the world today. Everything is linked in the world and even if somebody's mindset were that to be gay is inferior but to me a white man is superior, how would they judge a homosexual white man? It just proves that there are so many more layers to people than can be discovered strictly through their surface appearance and that judging people by a first impression will hardly give an accurate idea of that person's character.

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.  

A New Type of Stereotype

When an eleventh grade English class is shown a film summarizing racial stereotypes in nineteenth century pop culture, a silence befalls the classroom that is  interrupted only by occasional "What?!"s of disgust. To a group of twenty-first century teenagers, funny racial stereotypes of the Civil War Period are appalling. But during a time of incredible inequality, racial stereotypes were emphasized and utilized as a way of maintaining a certain social hierarchy. Minstrel shows and Zip Coon posters encouraged audiences to laugh at black Americans. Minstrel Shows and Zip Coon posters prolonged the existence slavery. As demonstrated by the appalled eleventh grade class, we have come far from these days. Such demonstrations of racial stereotypes as minstrel shows are no longer a source of entertainment. In other forms though, certain stereotypes continue to be presented for entertainment. Even though racial stereotypes of the past have since been exposed as inaccurate and ostracized as disgustingly degrading, however, similar racial stereotypes are often played upon today by American pop culture as a source of laughs. 

 

Immediately following the Civil War, American social media honed in on negative stereotypes of the black American as a means by which to prolong the justification of slavery. By creating stereotypical black people, portions of the white population were able to advertise for the continued existence of slavery under the assumption that all black people were exactly as they were portrayed on TV. Minstrel Shows featuring the Sambo and Zip Coon kept white audience members laughing at black slaves and were forms of bullying that kept the white dudes on top of the social hierarchy. In this past time, stereotypes targeted specific races and were used to belittle them. For a long time, American popular culture revolved around these awful, false stereotypes that lots of people believed to be completely true! 

 We have come to a point of coexistence, though, in which a racially diverse audience can laugh at certain stereotypes together. Instead of laughing at the Sambo, the Zip Coon, the Bandit, or the Shylock, we have begun to laugh with each other at newly recognized stereotypical differences. When the eleventh grade English class was shown a skit from the Chapelle Show mocking the stereotypes of White, Hispanic, and African Americans, laughs erupted. Although certain aspects of the show were certainly politically incorrect, it poked fun at all races. No one race was targeted and the racially diverse classroom laughed together. Even in a less politically incorrect shows such as Glee, characters are created to fit certain stereotypes - stereotypes commonly noted at high schools across the country. Stereotypes exist across the board and have come to be known not as bad things, but instead as accepted differences. 

 

Differences will always exist, and generalizations will always be made. If as a society we can acknowledge or even laugh at theses differences without belittling any one race, gender, religion, or culture then, I believe that it is okay to laugh. We have come a long way from the degradation of the racial stereotyping of the nineteenth century. And although, certain stereotypes will never cease to exist, we are now at least aware of ramifications and exceptions. Stereotypes of all kind are, for now, just a part of reality. If handled properly, stereotypes in American pop culture are just a piece of reality. 

 

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. 

Love Is Her Drug

 Almost as cliche as the title of this post is, so is Mac and Johns relationship. They have the classic marriage and "love" I have witnessed so many times not only on tv but in real life too. Johns clear intents are Mac's "goodies" and he cheats on her and doesn't treat her the way she should. And the word love has learned Mac into thinking its definiton is her relationship with John, but she has yet to learn the true definiton of it, if there is infact one. This cliche of love has been spread all over our modern world. For example, a couple that holds this would be Rihanna and Chris Brown. Just a couple years ago, as every one knows, Rihanna took a very bad beating from Chris Brown, and it was all over the media. But only a couple of months after this event they have been back together, and currently are back together at this moment. Chris Brown is also currently in a realtionship with another girl, who is not Rihanna, and she is aware of this, but she still continues her romantic relationship with him because she claims she loves him. If love means getting hurt over and over by the person who means the most to you and you trust the most and constantly getting cheated on and lied to I, for one, want absolutely nothing to do with it. As said in the poem Infedelity "sometimes you learn words by living them and sometimes words learn you by defining who you are", Mac, John, Rihanna, and Chris all have yet to learn this word and all of their relationships are a sick joke. But not the kind of joke you laugh at, but the kind of joke where someone ends up hurt in the end.

Innocence

I think a big part of both chapters "Ask me if I care" and "Safari" both play on the idea of innocence. As we discussed in class today, the reoccuring idea of the school uniforms and the younger sisters is a way to express that all of the charecters believe they are growing up. The younger sisters of Alice always seem so care free and completely innocent, while their lives unknowingly clash with the post-crazy punk rock nights that always seem to end at Alice's house. Rhea is very intrigued by the uniforms and I think it's because she isn't as ready to grow up and start her "adult life" as she thought she was.

In "Safari" innocence is played forth through Lou's son Rolph. Rolph is very naive and optomistic for an eleven year old boy and I love it. His sister Charlie explained at one point about how Lou and Mindy would have sex in the neighboring tent, but Rolph was too niave to be able to identify what the sound was. Also throughout the chapter, Rolph leans on his parents and even Mindy for a lot of things. Rolph's moods completely reflect his fathers, when he is angry, Rolph is angry and etc. He loves the materal feelings he gets from Mindy and mentions multiple times throughout the chapter old memories with his mom prior to the divorce, or how he wished his mom was on the trip in Africa as well. It's sad that the flash forward Charlie presents to us shows how Rolph's innocence completely diminishes.

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.  

Desperate Housewives: A Feminist Critique

 

The ABC series, Desperate Housewives depicts the lives of five women struggling to maintain the stability of suburbia. Wisteria Lane, where each housewives lives may seem to be a prim and proper neighborhood yet is full of deep and dark secrets these women hide behind their conservative facade. Throughout the course of eight seasons, these women have proven that they are capable of anything ranging from being a nurturing mother, to murder. Though at first I did not notice, this show reinforces the stereotypes made through the media to an extreme degree.

If you haven't seen this show before, some of the main characters are Lynette, Gaby, Bree, and Renee. Lynette who is a mother of five children is a stay at home mother. Bree like Lynette is an accomplishes business owner who prides herself on her home and cleanliness. Both of these women represents the stereotype of the domestic wife and mother. Gaby, who is a former model prides herself on her personal appearance and her outward beauty. She represent the role of the sex object. Finally Renee, the newest character to the show is a New Yorker who has recently moved to the suburbs. She recklessly sleeps around with many men and is known to be a cougar. She represents the stereotype of a seductress. The show presents three stereotypes of women: the wife/mother, the seductress, and the sex object. Desperate Housewives reaffirms to its viewers the stereotypes that have been implanted in contemporary media and lacks to show the true agency women have over their lives.

Both Bree and Lynette are stay at home mothers, who face the challenge of balancing the task of maintaining their social status and the welfare of their children. They portray the roles of the wife/mother by sacraficing their individual dreams to support their families. Throughout the beginning seasons of the series, Lynette could be seen to challenge stereotypes through successfully attaining a high management position at her job by hard work. Yet, when her husband needs her to be more for their children she is faced with the desicion to give up all her hard work for her home. Instead of showing agency and  defending her years of hard work, she surrenders her achievements for a broom and an apron and leaves behind her job. 

Gaby and Renee reaffirm the stereotypes of the sex object and the seductress. Renee who constanly reciceves criticism for her promiscuious ways. As an older women she dresses provactive, and is not afraid to speak her mind. Unlike the other women in the community she is constantly bringing home different men from bar and various other places but never acheives to have a stable relationship with a man, until later in the show. Once Renee has tamed her ways, and the viewers might actually think that stereotype has been broken, it is once again promted when Bree takes on those qualities. 

Desperate Housewives is not a feminist show. Its characters strengthen societies views on gender roles and stereotypes. By captivating its viewers through a male gaze, women are further encouraged to sustain their gender roles. Even before a person views this show, the name Desperate House wives objectifies women. Unlike, feminist films the women in this show do now show the freedom of agency in their lives. 

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.

Gender roles and body image

after looking at some of the articles at Rookie, I noticed this article called "The Year of My Eating Disorder". The article talks about how this girl, who was a sixth grader at the time, was anorexic and how she overcame it. My initial reaction was that no sixth grader should ever be that self-conscious of their weight or how they look. However, this got me thinking about the discussion that we had about body image in class the other day. I never realized that the media was starting to affect kids at such a young age. I mean I've seen the Tyra episodes and the Dove commercials that talk about how little girls get depressed about how they look, but I never really believed them. Looking at the article made me think about how much this particular stereotype has shaped the way women think. There are so many advertisement that show women with thin bodies and sex appeal and other images where they are well toned and have defined muscles. I realized that there are so many of these ads that feature women, who are models, that fit that description. It's strange to think that a picture or a video can make someone think that you aren't pretty or that you aren't unique in your own way. i think that this article really opens your eyes as to how thinking about women as sex objects and pressuring body images can change the female psyche.

Rookie Feminist

These days, everyone is talking about equal rights for everyone. Whether is predjudice against race, sexual orientation, or gender, the world is always at war with what is considered to be the "right path" to take down these roads. The beauty of this age, however, is that there are online blog sites that can help troubled people through these times of inequality and injustice. Blog sites like Rookie. Rookie was created by Tavi Gevinson when she was only 13 years old, and even then, she had a different view on the world. She saw feminism as something fun. Something that was to be celebrated and shared with everyone who cared to stop and read. And if you didn't care to read, so what? The point of Rookie is to be whatever it is you want to be with yourself.

Rookie is based around the "be who you are and say what you feel" motto, encouraging Tavi's friends and fellow bloggers to partner with her and write the amazing stories of embarassment, hilarity, seriousness, and all around truthfulness. The blog gives women a place to read about other women who don't strive to be what society sets them up to be. It showcases the importance of being yourself, no matter what the rest of the world wants you to be. 

Rookie, and the online blogs like it, are a beacon to all women who call themselves feminist. You don't have to be the stereotypical feminist that are often poorly portrayed as being crazy. The idea is to break that stereotype and showcase a new kind of feminist. A feminist people will be proud to call themselves. A feminist that can say what they truely feel without being judged or harrassed by anyone else who has the idea that women are inferior to men.

Feminist blogging sites give feminism a whole new meaning by translating it into something that almost anybody can relate it to. The world of feminism is changing all around us with a little help from the Rookies.

Who Is the Real Jerk?

So I was reading a post on the F-Bomb that was talking about how men and women react to relationships. There's a movie out that's called "He's Just Not That Into You" which shows how men can act like complete jerks when they're not interested in particular women. However, this post on the F-Bomb explains how women are just as guilty as men which I agree with. There are women out here that act like jerks towards nice men but people never really pay attention to it. It's only seen when a man does it which is an unfair stereotype to men. According to this article, there was a line in the post which states "maybe we can just make a couple of movies about her not being into him, and cast Ryan Gosling as the weepy, confused reject instead of Jennifer Connolly." and I find that to be a great idea since it will show the audience how emotional men deal with women through their perspective of things. I can understand why the post is titled "Maybe SHE'S Just Not That Into You" because women can act the same way as men and do the same thing that men do when they're not really interested in someone. As a result, their actions is what labels them as being a jerk.

30 Rockefeller Parody

Most people today have seen at least one episode or part of an episode of the wonderful NBC show, 30 Rock. As both the creator and the lead of the show, Tina Fey uses her witty sarcasm and perfect comedic timing to make this show one of the best on network television. But if you're like me (which you probably aren't because I'm super imperceptive...) you may not have taken the time to realize that 30 Rock is actually a parody in itself. Every character, every incident, and every sketch is dripping in satirical gold. 

For example, characters like Jack Donaghy, Tracy Jordan, Liz Lemon and Jenna Maroney are all perfect parodies of the television business class. Jack Donaghy is portrayed as the quintessential business man, always wearing a suit, in a big office, getting everything he wants no matter how ridiculous. Tracy Jordan is the portrayed as the innapropriate, simple-minded, illogical black guy who tries to play the funny man, but usually just ends up being offensive. Liz Lemon is the typical hard-worker who gets absolutely nothing in return. Still single because she's too invested in her work, Liz is the perfect portrait of what we see to be the "nerdy" woman in the workplace. Finally, Jenna Maroney portrays the "dumb blonde" kind of character who is invested in herself and her work, giving some time, but not much, to her friends. Often getting into trouble with Tracy, she is seen as the naive, conceided type of person.

The entire show is a parody of what working at a TV studio is like. Everything from the ridiculous sketches (like the accidental Nazi fireworks...) to the crises that befall Liz and Jack, all add to the ridiculous parody and satire of the show. 

Sure, Its Not Another Teen Movie........

"Not Another Teen Movie" came out in 2001 and is a parody of a lot the teen movies made from the 80's-2000's. Some of the movies they criticize are, "The Breakfast Club", "Pretty In Pink", and "Bring It On".

This movie takes scenes from the original movies, and makes of parody of what happens. For example, The main guy has to make the unpopular girl in school the prom queen. Before an important party, he goes to her house with his sister so his sister can make the unpopular girl "sexy".

The two girls go upstairs and the sister takes a close look at the main girl. She then preceeds to take off the girl's glasses and takes down her hair. The unpopular suddenly gets beautiful hair and looks good.

Another example is from "Bring It On". The cheerleading squad needs one more person so they have a try out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAK9AZlptx8&feature=related

This is a praody of Bring It On and also of how they have the nice 50's girls who are innocent. They show use the parody to make fun of cheerleaders by making them seem like idiots. Also, by giving the innocent girl terrets that makes her say dirty words, they are making fun of that kind of character.

 

Racisim on the Chappelle Show?

Many people criticize Dave chappelle for his style of comedy and skits he performs because a lot of his skits and jokes are based on racial stereotypes. For example the clip from the show that we watched in class with white people dancing to electric guitar, black people dancing to drum beats, and Latino people dancing to a mixture of beats gutar and keyboard.

Why are sterotypes like these funny? Well first of all, stereotypes would not be funny if there was absolutely no truth to them. Also, the majority of people find dave chappele's style of sterotypical comedy funny because they are so exagerated. For example in the clip when the white people where eating dinner and then all of a sudden once they hear an electric guitar, they all get up and start moshpit style dancing. Ofcourse nobody believes this would ever happen, but that is also why it is funny because it is so ridiculous.

Many people believe that even though these racial stereotypes are put out their in a comedic way, these distorted images eventually become a reality and you start to percieve other races in deifferent ways. I believe this to some extent, but mainly when it comes to racist cartoon images that distort the faces and bodies of people of different race. Like in certain old cartoons where they would show black people with big lips. This distorted image gets into peoples heads, and subconciously alters their perception.

I don't believe that Dave Chappelle does this. I dont believe that he projects sterotypes. I believe that what he did was a good thing and that is that he put all the racial sterotypes out on the table and stripped them of their power through comedy. Becuase when you can truly laugh at something like that you dont take it seriously anymore, and I believe that we shouldn't take them seriously because as dave shows, they are just over exagerated generalizations.

Comedy Central Presents: Why Racism is Funny!

Mike Birbiglia, a comedian on Comedy Central, is, in my opinion, one of the funniest comedians on television today. One of my favorite sketches by him, entitled "Goals," is all about how people of different races treat each other. 

He starts off his sketch with a jab at the different nicknames people of different races give each other. He makes fun of the way white people are constantly called "cracker" by making it into something that doesn't even register as an insult, but just as a type of food. From this, he moves on to how white people make fun of themselves for being white. A white man himself, Birbiglia only perpetuates the stereotypes that he makes fun of while he makes fun of them.

One of the best parts of this sketch is Birbiglia's rendition of the "white guy doing a black guy doing a white guy" voice. With this voice, Birbiglia explains that everyone makes fun of everyone else no matter what. Different races always find something within another race that is easy to imitate. This voice fits the Zip Coon stereotype where a white person is imitating a black person imitating a white person, but managing to sound ridiculous and silly while doing it. 

The Naming Stereotype

"Obamaniqua, Koolaidria, Watermelondrea" are all names from a very popular Youtube video that was made to make fun of stereotypical black names. These names are not only names that are meant to sound like stereotypical names but also take common stereotypes and fit them right into the names as well. With over 22 million views, it is obvious that there is an amazing comical reaction to the video and seems to be just harmless fun. But with more analysis of the video, it is clear that this is not just one over all stereotype but many different stereotypes mixed within. This video sums up the trap that society puts on black stereotypes and almost forces society to conform in the idea of only looking at stereotypes comically. 

I do realize that the majority of the 22 million people that watched this video found it very funny and a slim amount of people actually found it offensive. I even laughed when I watched it the first time but that is precisely the problem that society has caused. Stereotypes, these days, are being accepted way too easily in the community we live in and are even being accepted by the very people that the stereotypes are focused on. 

Many of these names are two stereotypes stacked on top of each other as well. The most ridiculous names such as "Obamaniqua and Koolaidria" are stereotypes that are being pulled from the black community and then even further stereotyped to sound like stereotypical black names. It is actually quite disheartening to think that a stereotype has formed around the President of the United States and made comical in a "ghetto black name."

I believe that racism in America has decreased to almost non existence, but the stereotypes are just getting worse. It wont take long until the line is crossed from being comical to being very hurtful and no one can really predict how society will even react when that moment comes.

 

Pocahontas: The story of Romeo and Juliet or a Story of Racial Prejudice

Disney's Pocahontas was written as a love story between two star-crossed lovers.  While the intent of Disney was probably just to put a Romeo and Juliet story in a different historical context, on the way, the writers managed to depict two stereotypical visions of Whites and Native Americans.

 

The English settlers come across in the movie with the stereotype of greedy, selfish, and dim whites.  Governor Ratcliff sings multiple songs about how much he wants wealth and glory.  He also very easily tricks all of his crew that the trip is for them and that the Indians are out to get them.

On the other side of Jamestown's fence in the forest you have another stereotype.  The Native American tribe is portrayed as wise, connected to nature, and honest.  Pocahontas has a loving relationship with a willow tree and her father.  The tribe is also willing to be convinced to negotiate with the settlers.

Oddly enough, for both of these visions of the two different races there are times when they act the opposite.  There are definitely white people who love nature far more than they value money and fame.  There are also definitely Indians who have embraced capitalism in their casinos.

The Bride of Blackenstein

Due to many stereotypes that have developed in society, the image of many races, has been corrupted. These racial stereotypes that began towards African- Americans in the pre civil-war era, have continued to develop and mature into the minds of everyday Americans. Snl is commonly known for spoofing, and over exaggerating this stereotypes of many races, especially in the skit below featuring Nikki Minaj.

 

A few months ago when female rapper, Nikki Minaj was the musical guest on snl she poked around with many racist stereotypes of African-American women. I must admit the first time I saw this clip on snl I laughed because it is such an exaggeration of the African- American women. However, this clip further embeds stereotypes that black women are bossy, demanding, and obsessive with their physical attraction.

When the Blackenstein character asks his bride a simple question, she responds in a bossy and harsh attitude towards him. Also using the stereotype that black males cannot find a job. This part exaggerates that black women have no tolerance, and are are demanding. Further throughout the video, more of these stereotypes are portrayed. These examples of stereotyping are funny because they partially are true, but these stereotypes cannot be used to fully define any race. 

These stereotypes of not only the black race, but all races have been around so long that we no longer know the truth of an individuals character. Instead, of actually getting to know the character of a person we "judge a book by its cover" and categorize them with the different images society has formed for us.