For the next blog post -- due Friday, 3/1 -- you should visit 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).
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.
In a society where inner-city African Americans do not have do not have the same opportunities of most Americans, it is suprising to see in the NBA that African Americans are excelling in the organization. THere is a long running stereotype that African Americans are naturally better at basketball than other races, but in truth that is not accurate. Being better at a sport is the result of more time practicing and the drive to do better. So why is it that 75 percent of the players in the NBA are African American? Well, I belive it is a indirect result of how society is built. In the inner-city communities many young African Americans see that they do not have the same opportunities than most others, they also see that one opportunity they have is sports like basketball because of what they see when watching the NBA. So many of them start to play the sport and with practice, drive, and enjoyment they become better thus having more opportunities to pursue that goal of the NBA.
The movie the The Jerk Is a perfect example of irony.. He is the adopted white son of African American sharecroppers, who grows to adulthood naïvely unaware of his obvious adoption. He stands out in his family not just because of his skin color, but also because of his utter lack of rhythm when his adopted family plays spirited blues music. He is teased by his brothers for liking stereotypical white food and he admits to not really liking the blues music his family dance to. One night, he hears the staid and starchy Roger Wolfe Kahn Orchestra song called "Crazy Rhythm" on the radio and his feet spontaneously begin to move with the urge to dance.It is funny that through the begining of the moive that his family doesn't give away hits that he is white.thoughout the story he is nieve of his surrounding that he has not experienced every thing in the world yet. The part were a man was trying to kill a random person was shoting at him he thought that the cans were disfectiveand it you can some whta predict what was going to happen
That's So Raven, is a Television Show that used to air on the Disney Channel Network back in like 2000. This show was about a girl coming of age and having to deal with the everyday life of being a teenager and also being a physcic. Raven Baxter, the girl, also was of the African American decent. So, the show was about an African American family that had a teen physcic basically. There were also people of other races that were featured on the show, including one of Raven's best friends named Chelsea who was white. Disney Channel is not a racist network but it was no secret that not many African Americans were featured in their shows, let alone had their own show. Again, not saying that they did these things on purpose but hat's just how things were back then. I feel that this show helps break the racial sterotypes because in the show both of Raven's parents were successful in their work. Raven was in High School, doing normal teenager things dipsite the fact that she could see into the future. Raven wasn't a bad kid, she wasn't into anything that could harm others or herself. This show was just out there to be funny and be an entertaining program for kids and/or preteens. It was such a family show and the fact that it was based on an African American family was the only difference it had compared to shows like LIzzie McGuire and Even Stevens, which were shows that were predominantly white. I feel that by making the show, the DIsney Channel network kind of open the eyes to many kids about the different kinds of people that are in this world and it really showed them that not everyone looks the same. Some kids out there may have not seen anyone other than their race or ethnicity and as sad as it may sound, that's just the way that it is. And I feel that Disney Channel has really helped turn the stereotype around that African Americans can't be successful or they can't coexist with other races, such as whites. Disney Channel became a very culturally diverse Television Network and I think that's why viewers and famillies may have loved it so much.
Satire is the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in context of a play or novel. There are many things that might use examples of satire, but The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain uses a lot. The story is set back in slavery days, and tells about the misguided adventures of Huckleberry Finn, a confused and abused little boy, and his runaway slave, Jim. In the story, Huckleberry’s legal guardian, Miss Watson is described as being a good Christian righteous woman. She is in fact the best person Huckleberry has in terms of a positive influence. Here’s where the satire comes in: even though she is a Christian woman, she is a strong believer in the act of slavery, and even owns a slave, Jim. Another example of satire is between two old family feuds. The Shepardsons and Grangerfords are families that Huckleberry meets along the way to his and Jim’s freedom, and are a pair of feuding families, they both think they are better than one another in some way, and both like Huckleberry, but here’s the catch: the families have been fighting for so long that they don’t even remember what they are feuding about. Their rage has grown so much that each family end up killing a member of their own family. There are many examples of satire in Huckleberry Finn, but he used them to his advantage to express his views about the issues of the time: slavery, and many other controversial things.
In the show "In Livng Color"this particular episode, Tommy Davidson portrays himself to be Michael Jackson and to re-make his song "Black or White". Therefore this makes this episode a Parody. In the skit, the Michael Jackson look-alike dances around, sings, and even make the noises Michael make when he dances. The Michael look-alike tries to so the scream like the real one but he fails. He tries to have his hair and shirt flow in the wind, but the show addes dramatic effects due to too much wind which blew him away. Also, in the skit, The look-alike sings and asks "am i black or white, i dont know?". Making fun of Michael's apperance. Thus, proving more of a parody. Also, in this skit they try to mimic Michael from his video "The Way You Make Me Feel" by the scene and dancing on top of cars. The screaming and smashing the windows and dancing adds more to the parody. But at the end when the cop came to arrest the look-alike, he says "I guess i really an Black.". This is making fun of the blacks saying that they always get arrested and accused in our society. Saying that blacks are always doing some harm or causing some type of trouble. That's the "In Living Color" parody.
In this article a young woman talks about her experiences and gives her opinion on being a teen mom. in my opinion i agree with her arguement. She talks about how people are so quick to judge on teen moms but not so quick to judge the teen fathers. teen moms are always put down. People always give the lecture of graduating and their life will be even more hard because they have to care for another peron. Also people may argue that going to college is out of the equation because you won't have tome for it because you must stay home and care for the baby. But people never wantr to argue the father siad. They always just forget about it, as if they're just saying, "What ever." the young woman also argued that since teen moms have the baby young then the baby will be most likely to drop out of high school. they never think about maybe the mother wants the best for her child, so then she'll push her child to do their best in school adn encourage them not to make the "mistakes" she made and to actually graduate from college. Society never want to see the mens side. They only say "OHH, you should have been more careful" and "congradulations". So i agree with the young woman because she argues that instead of trying the concept of shaming teen moms, then maybe schools and society should encourage the school and city to sexual education classes and support teens. Then that's when you'll see teen pregnancies decrease.
I think that we are all familiar with the famous show Sex and the City. But, for those of you that aren't so familar with it, I will give a brief summary. Sex and the City, is based on a young woman, Carrie Bradshaw, living in the city of New York and she is a well-known published writer in her local newspaper. She has a column that everyone reads and it's sort if like a biography, considering she writes about her own life and experiences. But, the show is not only based on her writing, we actually get to see the experiences, including the three friends that she shares them with. Carrie's three friends are: Samantha, Charlotte, and Miranda. They are all pretty successful women and they have also accomplished a lot, just like Carrie. I feel that this show, shows satire through irony. I feel this way because its ironic to me how in society, women are often encouraged to find a husband and start a family, but when the show starts off, they are all women in their late twenties, early thirties, and they are all single. Now even though Carrie and Charlotte were both looking for that "perfect man" to be with, Miranda and Samantha were both really into their work and they weren't focused on meeting anyone. In fact, Samantha, was the player of the group. She often slept with many different men and enjoyed it. She didnt care how people saw her or how they may have viewed or lifestyle, she was comfortable with the way that she was. Then, we have Miranda, who was an attorney and she was a workaholic, she was way more focused on her job and getting ahead in her career that she often didn't date and when she tried, it often didn't work because men often were intimadated by her. Now although there was Charlotte, who's life revolved around finding a husband and starting a family, she also was proud that she was independent woman. So as you can see Sex and the City is criticizing and trying to change society through the show by showing that a woman can have a career, kind of act like a guy through sexual attitude, and get along on her own without a man and still be happy.
Women have always been second behind men in sports. Everytime someone thinks of a sport off the top of there head, they think of football, baseball, soccer, etc. People never think of field hockey, gymnastics and softball. Girls are always put down and told that there sports aren't a "real sport". I don't believe that. Most if not all of girls sports take just as much skill and coordination as boys sports. I have read article and seen on the news that girls have won the same tournament or been sponsered by the same company ,but got less money cause of there sex. This needs to stop. We have come along way with TitleIX and we can go even further by having equal pay in sports. People believe that men and women get payed the same in sports ,but when it comes down to statistics they don't.
In the article on the F-Bomb By Natasha V, she makes a lot of good points. She talks about how teen moms are shamed and shunned when in reality that is not the whole problem. Natasha states that there are also men to be blamed and how it takes two to make a child. I agree with this considering most of the time the women are the ones that get most of the flak when men should get an equal amount too. She also talks about how birth control comes into play when you are taking about teen moms. Natasha says that there isnt enough focus on how birth control should be more regulated and sex ed should be required for schools. This would lower the amount of teen pregnancies because there would be more awareness of birth control and the issue of teen pregnancy. Overall Natasha makes a goof point and i agree with her.
March 08, 2013
The color purple is a heart warming film, starring Whoopi Goldberg as Ceelie, Oprah Winfrey as Sofia, and the infamous "Shug Avery" played by Margaret Avery. My choice to analyze the race portrayals in this film, stem from the various, and unique portrayals of race produced within this work of culture. The film depicts the life of Ms. Ceelie during the early 1900's. She endures a grueling early life, begining with the sexual abuse of her father, which produces her first child, leading up to a couple of years later, when she is traded by her father, for a cow, and marries a man who barely values her existance, who is known as "mister."Ceelie is forced into domesticity, and trade's mister's fist, with the degrading behavior of submissiveness. Ceelie reinforces the Old Maid stereotype in the film, and Shug Avery reinforces the stereotypical role of a seductress, and sex object. Shug is the love of Mister's life because she is lighter than both Ceelie and Mister, extremely skinny, very well experienced, and according to Mister, she is "beautiful". Once Shug arrives, Mister's life revolves around the satisfaction of Shug, as well as Ceelie, since she is Mister's modern day slave. The issue of race in this film appears between darker african americans, and the lighter african americans. It's is apparant that Shug's life is tremendously better than Ceelie's, because of the difference of shading. Mister's life is fulfiling for the time period that the movie takes place, but this is only because he is a man, which reinforces a completely different stereotype altogether.
In a recent Sports Illustarted article, Kate Upton shows off her body in a bikini bottom and a winter coat.
But, as said on the website Women, Action and the Media.org, the artic photoshoot was actually shot in Antartica. She began to experience hypothermia as a result of her clothing and the temperature conditions, but she still went through with the shoot.
Sounds crazy right?
This is just another example of how women are portrayed as just perfect props, and not real people. The message that this magazine sends to women and girls is: this is how your body should look, and you should act. Kate Upton shows off her breats, has a flawless face, and is portrayed as a bombshell, which is what most women think they should be.
Kates health became at risk, whch would be probable cause to stop the shoot, but it wasn't enough.
I think women are still not as important in the media industry as men, they are there simply as "dolls" to make the product that is being sold look better, which sends a very negative mind set and body image to young girls and women.
I agree about the easy bake oven article in WAM. I belive the easy bake oven was for the purpoes of encouraging girls to cook and stay in the kitchen. It kind of thrusts the idea into the kids mind without them realizing it. They become excited about cooking and baking an in the future they feel like it is their duty to cook and feed their families. The easy bake oven was made for girls since most of them came in pink and had feminie designs on them. It is a fun toy since I use my sisters all the time, but I still feel like it is forcing a stereotype on girls befor they even realize what stereotypes are. They use their love of sweeets to encourage them to stay in the kitchen.
The blog post Defeating the Enemy: Me is by Jasmine W. In the blog post Jasmine talks about the insecurities that she has at school, like what people might think about her. Then she asks the question: why? Why is she trying so hard? Whose approval does she need? Where are those fears even coming from? After this she then goes on to the subject of how girls need boys approval because girls are still feeling themselves out. I strongly agree with Jasmine through out the whole blog post. She is spot on when she says "Comparing yourself to other is a sin against yourself." Because at the end of the day the girls who talk about other girls have insecurities themselves.
I never really thought about domestic abuse before which is a serious problem. the first thing that hit my eye when i was looking at feministing was domestic abuse. while scrolling down the page their was one about chris brown and rhianna and their situation being shown on Law & Order. In the show he attacks his girlfriend over something minor and i believe this shows that he see's her as less than him.but in the show she doesn't press charges and returns to him. That could be an example of wanting to be a wife/mother and being submissive to her counterpart. As well as the man has other women on the side which shows him to be the "player" stereotype.
I believe that the media objectifies women they put women in magazines and videos exposing as much skin as possible. women are seen more as a prize or something to obtain in life than what they are respectable women stated by Women,Action & the Media. In the dead of winter for a magazine shoot the had Kate upton a model pose in nothing put a bikini and a coat. In doing so she temporarily loss her eyesight and hearing because her body was fighting ti stay cold. this just proves that she was seen as an object becuase you don't risk a valuable human life for a picture.
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