Take Control of Your Culture - American Studies - Blog

Dolls Shaping America

 

The origins of Barbie go back to the early '50's. She is most commonly portrayed as a 6 foot tall, perky, long blond haired white female. She can be seen swimming in her mansions pool, or helping animals when they are sick. She symbolizes the woman of America.

The origins of Bratz goes back to the early '90's. They are urban, can be seen at parties, and come in a variety of races, but they are not as popular as a common Barbie doll. Their lips and heads are too big for their bodies, and they flirt with boys, making them not so innocent.

They are both dolls we used to play with as kids, but the images they put out are just some of the ways media shapes our views and ideas on race. The barbie doll unintentionally shapes the way girls and women see themselves. The barbie doll is perfect, perfect voice, hair, makeup, body and skin. She is what a white woman supposed to be: polite, kind, always happy, perky and suburban.

 

Bratz however get rid of the stereotype by having the main dolls of different races: white, black, latin, and asian. They represent a more realistic common girl in America.

 

 

superstitious

In the novel The Seventh Son, the devil is described to a young man named Alvin.  The describer states that the devil looks like "the horns of a bull, claws of a bear, hooves of a goat, and has the roar of a ravening lion."  The young man replies to this saying "An you call us superstitious."  From this conversation between two characters, i wonder if ones self can believe in a religion and at the same time, not believe it is indeed superstitious... 

Within the novel itself, a family called the Millers, see themselves as a superstitious family, The local Reverend "thrower", also see's it this way.  As a reader, in some sense i see the Reverend himself as a superstitous person.  He tries his best to force a religion onto a young man, who is uncapable of understanding the figure "god".  Is this how he should spread such a godly religion? i think not.  Along with that note, he wishes to kill the young man because the thinks he is the devil.  Being a man of god, could he take gods power into his "own" hands to kill one of "gods creations"?

In some sense i belive that the image of god we ourselfs have created is somewhat superstitious, no human on earth has ever seen this "God" but we still believe he is there.  Other cultures have many gods..doesnt it seem unnessesary to have multiple gods that withhold the same powers? could it not be possible that one "god" created us all, and not the the power of multiple "gods"?  For that matter, wouldnt having "A" god be superstitious enough? i believe that this "god" might just be a figure of the human imagination, and at the same time just a figure of history, not actually a person.

Movie vs. Play

The play 'The Crucible' is a lot different than the movie version of it. In the play, a lot of the intense dramadic scenes (ex: the last scene when John Proctor is sentenced to death) take place inside while in the movie, they're outside. Being outside makes it less intense in my mind, just because it's visual, and there a lot of other things going on outside that might distract the viewer. Also it's more open and seems less suspenseful. When you're inside for a scene that, it feels more trapped like you can't get out of the situation, and it makes the viewer more intrigued.

A Day At The Art Institute

 

Our american studies class went on the 1st field trip to the Art Insitute of Chicago to explore artwork and talk about American Society. This picture above is the stairs thats in the middle of the building. I found it interesting because the words were different colors and speaked alot about things in out society.
The second picture is like a classic photo. Everyone has probably seen it or heard about it. I like this painting because of the texture thats used like you can see and feel how its made. The painting creates a warm bright feeling and it explains how one day everyone has umbrellas and sitting on the grass by a lake. The painting creates a realistic feeling.

The field trip made me learn about what art is and how it can tell a story and how you can be so creative with little or no materials. I liked the experience.

Chicago Art

For the people who had the chance to be a part of the trip to the Chicago Art Institute were honored, I thought. The art that was presented in the " Modern Art" section was really cool and in my opinion was better then the rest of the museum. The reason I say this is because as a teenage student, modern anything is always cooler. How may times do you get to see George Washington in comic book form? Or a piece of art that was made up off light bulbs. It was a sight to see and it is a shame that people had to miss out on something so beautiful. My personal favorite was the painting that spelled "City" in what looked to be water ripples. It was so nice looking I made it the background to my phone. Another cool piece of art was this painting with two solid colors on the canvas, black and yellow. Just two solid colors with no designs, and i was confused because I asked myself how is this art? Then I found my answer when i tilted m head side ways like the lady standing next to me.