Dreamworlds 3 -Film Review

In the film "Dreamworlds 3", the narrator proceeds to point out the images of women portrayed by music videos. The narrator discusses the ways women can be inserted into the story line, usually by backup band member, crazed fans, random audience members, or just hanging around the singers or band members in general. Also told in the film, is the nature of femininity, that of a gender driven solely by sex. Women, as argued by the narrator, are depicted as always desiring sex, aggressive when it comes to sex, and not caring who is there and available for sex (meaning if there is a man around, the women will be all over him no matter the circumstances). Also, brought to light are the issues of the ratio of men to women in music videos. There seem to always be at least two or three girls (or more) for every man on screen. Furthermore, women are depicted as needing men to survive. When men are absent they replace him with various other objects (like food and car decals). When men are gone completely they fall apart and become fragments of what they were until the man returns and "saves" her. This image of true femininity is also depicted through scantily clad women in the limited roles of authority figures (like police), school girls, cheer leaders, and dominatrix, as well as bisexual. All of which fulfilling various male fantasies from mens' minds throughout their lives. Men on the other hand are always depicted as being the one in control of the situation, from controlling the girl's life to controlling the girl's emotions or even her circumstances such as keeping them in cages and throwing meat at them. Men are commonly depicted exercising their power over women and objectifying them.This is especially true of African American's in music videos, but it is not limited to them. All of these stereotypes with femininity and masculinity are then argued as the main images of pornography. Also, the narrator point out the quick and easy transition from porn to music videos, with many porn stars appearing in the music videos and many music videos being directed and produced by former porn directors and producers. The film then goes on to describe the three main ways of looking at women in music videos: from above or bending over to emphasize their cleavage, from underneath as if looking up their skirts, and looking up and down repeatedly over small portions of their bodies. Also, women are depicted as desiring to be gazed at in this way, constantly posing toward the audience. In doing so, the women further become sex objects. But, not only that, not even their whole bodies become sex objects, just parts of them do. This action in music videos is so prominent that women's music videos are conforming to this safe standard of porn. They know it will be successful, but they also objectify themselves in the process. Women and men are trapped in this vicious cycle of women depiction in music videos.

In this film there are two prominent points that are relevant to the class: one the treatment of the women by the men, and two the objectification of the women or their body parts. Both of these issues are being seen spreading faster and more in the regular world. An example of this comes in the film itself at the Puerto Rican Pride Parade, where many women were attacked and assaulted by the men there simply because the men felt they had the right, no doubt learned from the images or men controlling women and using their bodies for sexual pleasure presented in music videos. Another example of this influence comes in the essay "Becoming la Mujer," by Marisa Navarro as she recounts several cases of objectification and control she felt growing up as a Mexican American. The stories she tells comes from all ages, her teachers, her classmates, and even her boyfriend who slaps her and calls her names during sex like he's seen in music videos and porn. Furthermore, Naomi Wolf in her book "The Beauty Myth" talks many times of the increased violence and harassment women have faced simply for being a woman. She even directly states that "film, TV, and magazines are under pressure to compete with pornography, which is now the biggest media category" (79). This is a hard battle; a battle that, this film argues, women are losing horribly in.

Overall the film was moderate. The narrator is somewhat monotone and there is a huge inundation of music video clips. Some of the clips are pretty explicit. Also, there are times when the narrator is speaking of things that do not seem to fit in the section they are put in. Almost as if they should have been put in another section or a new section all together.

The perspective of the film was very good. It seemed to be gender neutral in that despite being narrated by a male figure, it expressed many points that a woman would think and feel very strongly about. The one thing with the perspective was that it assumed that all music videos and music stars would eventually succumb to this over sexified image,with the examples of Jewel, Madonna, and Christina Aguilera. Also, with the oversexified African Americans especially, this is shown with background to the silent film "The Birth of a Nation" and continuing to the film by Snoop Dogg. which is not necessarily true, look at Taylor Swift, Kelly Clarkson, and MIKA. These two women and one man neither portray themselves or other women in a sexual way or depict men as being overbearingly in control.

I give this film a C+, due to it's offensive clips yet informative nature. As mentioned in previous blogs, I am a very conservative person, and many of these images were from not only music videos that I choose not to watch but also from music genres I choose not to listen to due to their use of curse words and sometimes explicit content. I would probably not recommend this film to any of my friends unless they were doing a study of the images of women in media. Even then, though, I would recommend that they watch the abridged version which takes about some of the more offensive clips while leaving in all the important points.

Mona Lisa Smile -a film review

In the film "Mona Lisa Smile", Julie Roberts plays the new-minded (for the early 1950s) art professor Ms. Watson. Watson is a strong feminist who thinks that the greatest thing she could do for her students is instill in them the idea that they can do as they please and pursue careers. This strikes up opposition from almost everyone at the school from the faculty to the other professors to the students. The faculty and other professors find her opinions too new for the time and dangerous to the students she is teaching. They also find her teaching methods too progressive, as Watson initially resorts to modern art (due to her students knowing everything there is to know about the older art pieces) and then settles in on this type of art to help express her progressive opinion of women’s roles (using the modern art as an analogy). Of her class, there are four specific girls who the film follows. The first is the character played by Julia Stiles, Joan. Joan has a brilliant mind and as she grows closer to Ms. Watson, she confesses a desire to pursue a law degree. This brings both excitement and frustration to Watson for as she tries to encourage Joan to pursue that dream and her marriage (despite society telling Joan she must choose either a career or a marriage), Joan chooses the lifestyle of a housewife. Ms. Watson is at a loss as to what to do and Joan has to step in and force her own opinion about choosing marriage and not both, showing Ms. Watson that Joan is not just blindly following society and brings her a peace about it. The second girl, played by Maggie Gyllenhal, is Giselle. Giselle plays an interesting role in the university as one of few Jewish students and one of the most sexually loose girls on campus, having an overt relationship with a professor even. Many of the girls look down on her for her lifestyle choices, yet some do respect her for her confidence and can-do-anything attitude. Giselle is the first girl to warm up to Ms. Watson, probably because the two are the most similar in their feminist values, as Ms. Watson also had an openly sexual relationship with two different men in the film with no desire to marry either one. Giselle, also like Ms. Watson, becomes the make-shift hero of another girl, Connie, played by Ginnifer Goodwin. Connie suffers from insecurity about her slightly larger weight, confounded greatly by several of the other girls in the story (especially the character of Betty). Giselle is constantly coming to the defense of Connie. Through Connie’s admiration of the confidence of Giselle and Ms. Watson, Connie eventually breaks through her inaccurate body image and finds her self-worth (and a boyfriend in the process). The final, and most transformed girl, is the character of Betty. Betty is a strongly opinionated girl and staunchly opposes Ms. Watson’s values and teaching styles, Giselle’s lifestyle, and Connie’s search for self-worth. She is a strongly pompous, rude, snob who ridicules and downgrades many of her classmates. She even personally attacks Ms. Watson in her editorial in the school paper. Betty wants nothing else than to conform to society and get married and be a housewife. That is exactly what she does, but sadly her husband is unfaithful to her. Betty is the most transformed because, after her husband cheats on her, she finally begins to understand Ms. Watson’s message of not conforming to society. She eventually divorces her husband, despite it creating strong conflict with her mother. In the end, Ms. Watson is threatened with being terminated from her job, but chooses to leave instead, to the dismay of her students. In the final scene of the film, the true influence Ms. Watson had on her students is seen by all of them following her car as she drives away from the school for the last time.

Two prominent points come out from this film that relate very well to the course. The first is the issues that Connie goes through with her body image. She is convinced that until she gets smaller and prettier that no guy with ever look her way. She fails to realize that her worth does not come from others or the outside. Her worth is from within and she is worth very much. This is very similar to many of the essays in Body Outlaws like “Conquering the Fat” by Regina Williams and “Sizing Myself Up” by Kate Dillon. Both of the essays share the personal stories and feelings of two girls coming to terms with their weight and realizing they should be a body outlaw and take what they have an flaunt it. Both essays also point out that each girl found her worth when they stopped trying to be beautiful by the world’s standards, and worked on their own beauty as they are. The second point is seen in the character of Betty as she learns that she does not have to conform blindly to society, especially if society is wrong. The book “The Beauty Myth” talks a great deal about this topic too. In fact, one could argue that Naomi Wolf’s whole point in the book is that women should have the right to live how they choose, do not have to conform to society, and should encourage other girls to act on their choices more adamantly. Both of these issues are very relevant for girls in the 50s and today.

Overall the film was great. The director expressed things very tastefully and not too liberally, so that even conservative viewers like myself were comfortable viewing it in its entirety. The only part that could have been better expressed could have been the lesbian professor friend of Ms. Watson. It was not very clear that she was in fact lesbian at first. It was as if at first the film was going to just hint at it, but the hinting was too subtle and I did not understand that until they came right out and said basically that she was lesbian. It almost would have been easier for the viewer to have had that expressed plainly from the beginning, but one could also argue that the film makers were trying to express it how it may have been done in the 50s- subtle at first then the realization of the truth as a big shock.

The film seems to come from the perspective of the third wave feminist movement. This movement strongly supported a woman’s right to choose certain things about her life, her lifestyle, and her life choices. In the actual time of the third wave (post 1970s), women focus on what they choose to be focused on and to make whatever choices they themselves deem right. For example, the third wave feminist movement brought about the female right of abortion. This third wave is seen in the film as the women in the films, especially the characters of Giselle and Betty, make their choices independent of the rest of the world. They do what they deem right and worthwhile, as Betty divorces her unfaithful husband and Giselle continues in her “loose” lifestyle.

As for a rating, I would give this film an A-minus. Despite having a more conservative viewpoint and disagreeing with several of the more liberal lifestyles and opinions of several of the characters, I found the movie very thought provoking and moving. It also opened up my eyes to several of the issues women faced in the early 50s that I knew existed but I had never fully realized until they were depicted in front of me. After viewing, I even found myself recommending it to several of my other highly conservative friends.

Blog #10

http://www.playlist.com/playlist/18505498379

Given above is the link to a playlist I have created for a good body image. Included in the list are the following songs. First is the song Crazy by Simple Plan. This song consists of the singer wondering what is going on in the world with women. The singer wonders with women dieting trying to look like the women on tv, have they all gone crazy and with everyone going crazy, is there going to be anyone to save him if he starts to go crazy? This is a good point. The point being that this idea of looking like society's women is crazy and that if we are all so focused on trying to conform to "something that's wrong" we won't be able to help anyone else.
Second is the song Big, Blonde, and Beautiful from the musical Hairspray. In this song, Queen Latifah is singing about how being big and eating what she likes does not make her unbeautiful. In fact it does the opposite. Queen Latifah argues in this song that people want "the whole tree" instead of just a "twig" implying that a full-figured woman is worth more than a skinny woman. She makes this point in several other analogies also.
Third is the song Video by India Arie. This song is all about how no matter what a girl does on the outside from shaving or not shaving her legs to looking like a supermodel, it doesn't make her any thing but who she is. India Arie says that who a person is is far more important than what they look like on the the outside. Furthermore, because she has learned that her worth does not come from outward adornment, she has learned to love herself for who she really is.
Fourth is the song Anthem by Superchick. This song is a power anthem about different types of girls, from skateboarding girls to guitar indie girls to opinionated girls. This song is meant to invoke certain images and styles of girls and empower the girls in those styles and enlighten others that these girls are powerful and worthwhile.
Fifth is the song One Girl Revolution by Superchick. This song is also a power anthem but this time from the girls in the different styles. In this song, the girls themselves are declaring that "the super doesn't stand for model, but that doesn't mean I'm plain. If all you see is how I look, you miss the superchick within." The song is meant to show people that, again, what is inside a girl is more important that what the world says about what's on the outside.
Sixth is the song So Beautiful also by Superchick. This song shares the same meaning as One Girl Revolution and Anthem encouraging and empowering, yet also warning the world that they are coming and they will be themselves and look themselves no matter what. Both messages important ones to present and hear.
Seventh is the song Big and Chunky from the Madagascar 2 soundtrack. This song is a song sung by a male who likes bigger women. This song is very similar to Big, Blonde, and Beautiful except sung from the perspective of the outside gaze of a man. This song is good because it can tell women that not all men are attracted to skinny women as shown in most films.
Eighth is the song Beautiful by Christina Aguilera. She sings about how everyone is beautiful no matter what others say and that each person shouldn't let other drag them down. This can be related to looks, body size, body type, clothing style, personality, everything. Christina tells every one who hears this song that they don't have to take what others tell them and to remember that they are beautiful just as they are.
Ninth is the song Big Girl by Mika. Mika sings here simply that they (big girls) are beautiful. No ifs, ands, or buts about it, big girls have more fun and are more beautiful because of their curves.
The last song on the list is a Korean song by the singer/actress Kim Ah Joong called Beautiful Girl. This song is a girl singing with confidence about her looks and how she can use her confident looks as a weapon. Having confidence in your own looks and lead you to be confident in life. This song also has a very funny music video that goes with it with a chubby girl sucking it all in and walking around using her beauty weapon only to loose it at the end and be herself despite someone seeing her. A good visual representation of what the singer should have been doing the whole time with what she was singing about.

All of these song choices I chose because they either emphasize being yourself, having confidence or providing real person singers who argue for the opposite of mainstream media (Big and Chunky, Crazy, Big, Blonde and Beautiful). Also interesting to note is that depicted in the playlist are many different ethnicities and both genders. This seems to say that body image is an issue for all of the world and that there are people all over willing to try and do something about it.

This is very similar to the two essays read at the beginning of the week, "I See the Same Ho" and "Tip Drills" which talk about the prevalence of oversexified women and single body types of women. "Tip Drills" specifically talks about the objectification of women in the music video Tip Drills and the author's attempt to effect change through her connections in the music industry. Both essays were very interesting to read as they showed that not everyone in their own respective ethnicities agrees with how they are represented in media. Now if only more people would act upon their disagreement, then maybe society's narrow perspective could be widened and more women shown that it is alright to be who they are.

Positive Ads

In light of the oppression of negative ads towards women in the pop culture, there has been the start of more positive ads. These types of ads portray more body types, less stereotypes, and more identity in women than ever before. Ads like this one above clearly have the potential to promote a healthier lifestyle and more acceptance of the body as a whole.

This ad is an ad from the magazine Self, and is an ad for the website The Body Shop, which sells cosmetic type items such as perfume, make-up, and bath oils. Reading the words in the ad they clearly read “There are 3 billion women who don’t look like supermodels and only 8 who do.” The Body Shop website truly believes this. They sell cosmetic items, yes, but this ad emphasizes that women do not, or have to, fit into the mainstream image that the media gives us. This ad gives hope and reality to every girl that sees it.

Look at the image. It is a spoof of a Barbie doll. Barbie, as all know, is a very tall, usually blonde, anorexically skinny doll for young girls. Barbie instill this ideal image of what women should be at an early age, as most girls get their first Barbie at the young age of about 3. Even on most kids’ television stations, like Nickelodeon or Cartoon Network, young girls are being repeatedly shown images of Barbie, as she is marketed as the perfect woman and perfect girl’s toy. This ad takes that idealized image and gives in a better and realistic light. They show a fat Barbie with poofy, instead of poker straight, hair. From an initial visual perspective, as most viewers will see the Barbie before the words, they begin to break down the stereotype of the ideal woman built up by pop culture in the minds of women everywhere. They then further the tearing down of that stereotype with the words at the top. Most women do not realize that most other women around them do not look like models until someone tells them. This ad does just that.

In her essay, “Sizing Myself Up: Tales of a Plus-size Model,” Kate Dillon shares her personal experience in the modeling industry. How it tried to force her to be a specific body size as “at five-eleven and 125 pound, I was ordered to lose ten or twenty pounds…I’d try to sleep all day so I wouldn’t eat…after one show season…I’d been living on coffee and cigarettes.” She explains how she finally snapped and left the industry and got healthy again, only to magnificently return as a plus-sized model, and had a very successful career at that. Dillon, much like this ad, gives women hope, courage, and reality that they are beautiful just as they are. That they don’t have to conform to the model ideal to be considered beautiful.

Susan Gilman offers the same opinion in her essay, “Klaus Barbie and Other Dolls I’d Like to See.” In this essay she describes Barbie as being, “torpedo-titted, open-mouthed, tippy-toed… if you didn’t look like Barbie, you didn’t fit in.” This is becoming more and more forced upon the younger generation of women with the rise in reality shows like America’s Next Top Model and Project Runway, where the models are literally the size of the tiny store mannequins and are chided often if they grow even 5 pounds bigger than that. What is a young girl to do with values and images like this being pounded in to her head, but to being dieting and eating less trying to conform to the world’s standard of “beauty?” This ad tries to do the opposite and should be praised for it.

This ad not only presents a more realistic body type for Barbie, it also points out the outrageous difference in real body type rates as opposed to what the media would tell women. In doing these two things, it offers more than a realistic look at life and a woman’s body, it gives women hope that one day, no matter what size they are, they will realize they are beautiful and that others will regard them as such. All it would take would be more ads like this that encourage women to be who they are in their body size, and for women to pick up on that message.

Negative Ads

Many of today’s ad campaigns oppress the viewer with overbearing levels of sexual content, violence, stereotypes, all portraying negative aspects of our culture. Jean commercials emphasize the sexiness of women. Diet pill and weight loss programs are at least a quarter of all commercials. These are just a few examples of what people see everyday in the commercials and ads presented in front of them. In glancing through a magazine, no doubt one could find an ad like the one above.

This is a simple ad for an alcoholic beverage. In general, alcohol commercials and ads do not have a good reputation for their representation of women (with beer commercials showing men’s paradise and scantily clad women rush toward them and share their drinks with them, for example). But this ad itself crosses many other lines. Lines like objectification and sex that should never be crossed. This ad also involves several body image issues that can greatly affect the wellbeing of the viewer.

In the first line, the line of objectification, the woman here has become no longer a woman. She has been reduced to the “important” part of her body: her sex area. This image here has cut off her personality, her nature, and her identity. She has been completely subjected to the male gaze. She is no longer a person in this ad, but a sex toy. She has become an object for male views and male action; she has been put on display. Objectification leads to the lack of acknowledgement that the object is a person with real feelings and real senses. When the acknowledgement fails, dehumanization and violence toward whatever is objectified (in this case women in general) are sure to follow. Furthermore, this ad could be categorized as soft porn. See that pale looking bikini she’s wearing? That’s not a bikini- there is nothing there. That paleness is her tan line from getting herself that dark. The woman, even more of a sex object now, is naked.

Looking more into the position of this naked object in the ad, consider the crossing of the object’s legs. Is this not a subtle indicator that though she is naked and laying down (i.e. ready to be used as a sex toy), the leg crossing means she is unattainable? This is one of the many necessary items for a “perfect girl” according to the media as described by Jessica Valenti. Valenti describes this availability but unattainability as “she’s totally unattainable but simultaneously available for consumption. No guy who reads the magazine will ever meet her or talk to her- but he gets to look at her half-naked and jerk-off to her if he wants.” Now, look at where the alcohol bottle is placed. It is not in the object’s hand or near the objects mouth, where a normal beverage would be found. It can be found between the unclothed legs of the objectified woman, no more than six inches from her most private area, almost as if to give the men viewing the ad an invitation to try things with her. But, as her legs are still crossed, she is still unattainable.

The saddest part about this ad is the effects it can have on any woman who views it. First, with the woman allowing herself to be depicted in this way, she probably was not thinking about herself becoming an object for men’s desire. She was probably doing it in an attempt to show her own strength, much like Brittany Spears did in her music video for Womanizer. In doing this, she has herself become a Female Chauvinist Pig, a woman who has “made sex objects of other women and herself… with empowering mini skirts and feminist strippers.” Furthermore, if other women, especially young women were to view this ad, they would be told many lies about beauty.

Women who saw this ad could come to think that being exceptionally dark and thin was the way to be considered beautiful. But this darkness in skin color is not natural. Artificially causing one to be dark is dangerous and increases the likelihood of developing skin cancer. Eating very little in order to be very thin, can lead to eating disorders, malnourishment, and even death. Not to mention the confusion that can be caused by the overemphasis to be thin, yet the flooding of ads and commercials revolving around food.

All of these issues affect the view, the doer, and the innocent bystander. The viewer sees the ad and makes assumptions about what the perfect girl should be and about the purpose of women (objects of sexual pleasure). The doer, or person depicted, can be degraded in their own self-image if they ever discover what truly occurs in a man’s mind upon viewing them in the ad. And the innocent bystander would be a person who stumbled upon the ad, especially young women still trying to understand that their beauty truly comes from within themselves. All of these people suffer from ads like these. No one can succeed if everyone suffers.

Blog #9

In my life, I’ve been inundated with pop culture. However, my dealing with is came at a much later age than most. In my house growing up, we did not have cable, we did not have any gaming systems other than the original Nintendo (complete with its sub-par graphics), and we did not get any magazines other than a conservative news magazine. My brother and I also were either home schooled or attended private Christian schools. Because of my parents’ attempts to shelter me and my brother, we became less affected by the pressures of pop culture. We were freer to explore whatever we deemed worthy and did not have to answer to others telling us we should pursue other things. Words cannot express my gratitude to my parents for this early growing environment. My brother and I, despite our sheltering, never had the issues and dealings of the world hidden from us. In fact we were encouraged the other way, to learn about the world from all angles and decide what was right. My parents, in sheltering us, didn’t shelter us from the world, just the pressures to conform to it. But I would be lying if I said that pop culture has no effect on how I see gender roles.

Everywhere in pop culture you see few categories for every gender. For women, they are given three options. One, they can be overly sexified like the porn industry. Two, they can be quiet and submissive, never voicing their opinions to others. Or three, they can be over-opinionated, rude, backbiters. None of these options are worthwhile goals for women, nor are they characteristic of women as a whole. Sure as the sun rises and falls, there are women who or moments when women fall into one of these categories, but in general, most women are a unique combination of all three and more. For men, they are also given three choices. One, they can be nerdy home-bodies who read and play video games a lot. Two, they can be overly muscular and buff, and often narcissistic in the process. Or three, they are compassionate, understanding, and gay. Heaven forbid a man be a combination of these or that he be understanding and not given the (in this case) negative connotation of being “gay.” And who’s to say that a gay man could not be nerdy, or muscular? Seeing these limited choices, I myself often wonder what category I fit into and often find myself judging others based on these pop culture categories. Judging like this, without even looking past the surface or a particular moment in time, can only lead to isolation with yourself and hurting of others, neither on a good choice. People, at least 95 times out of 100, are not like the way we first judge them, nor do they fall strictly into a pop culture category.

Seeing culture’s representation of race and class has had a similar effect, as I see pop culture portray certain parts of the country and parts of the world with specified stereotypes (examples: people from the south being cowboys or rednecks, African American people as animalistic in ads, Middle Eastern people are convenience store owners). Again, I’m guilty of failing the battle sometimes to resist the representation of different classes and races. But it’s a fight that I try harder to fight than the gender issue, honestly. For example, my lack of race issues became very evident to me this past election. With an African American now in the highest possible leadership position in this country for the first time, one would think I would have reacted in huge excitement and shock. And while I am proud of the steps that brought this about, I made far less of a big deal about it than almost everyone I know. I saw him for who he was: a man with a family running for a political office.

When I see things in media that seem sexist to me, I usually won’t say anything about it unless it’s shockingly that way, meaning it has to take something extreme for me to say something about it. Most of that is simply due to the fact that I don’t notice. I tend to not read magazines or watch many commercials (or if I do to tune them out), and I don’t notice until someone brings it up to me. At that point, I’ll usually pay more attention and then have something (usually very strong) to say about it. Also, when I hear the word “feminist” most of the things that come to my mind are negative stereotypes like harshly-opinionated, butch, hosses, male-haters. Most of the stereotypes revolving around feminists I know are NOT true, but I also know that a lot of my experiences in life involving women who would claim the name “feminist” have been more negative and have greatly affect my opinion. As a woman who wants to stay home and raise kids as my career, I’ve faced a lot of negativity from women who would call themselves “feminists,” which I’m sure has tainted my general view of feminists. But to be sure, I would classify myself as one. But only to the extent that I feel that women should have equal rights, pay, and leadership positions; that they have the right to choose or not choose any of that and not be looked down on because of their choice.

Lovely and Amazing -a film review

The film Lovely and Amazing portrays the life of four female members of one particular average American family and their struggles within themselves to find happiness in their lives and their body image (this is the main thesis and plot line of the film). The mother is dealing with the extra fat she has gained as she has aged and has decided to have plastic surgery to become “beautiful” again for her young adopted daughter. Through this process, she thinks the surgeon develops feelings for her even to the point that after she wakes up from the coma (due to complications from the surgery) and finds that he was home with his wife, she yells at him. The oldest daughter, Michelle, is a middle-aged housewife who is going through a little bit of a midlife crisis and she begins to not be satisfied in her marriage (thinking her husband is no longer satisfied with her body) and with staying home. She then proceeds to get a job working for a much younger (17) boy that she develops feeling for and eventually has an affair with. After being caught in the affair by the boy’s mother, Michelle goes to jail and reevaluates her position in life after a phone argument with her husband where he threatens to take away their daughter. The middle daughter, Elizabeth, is an aspiring actress who feels that her career is going nowhere. She suffers from insecurity about her body type and seeks fulfillment from others and the animals she rescues. This caring for animals eventually leads to the completion of her insecurity as she gets attacked by a dog, leaving a scar on her face. This even prevents her from finding fulfillment in others because it prevents her from dating a man who is legitimately interested in her. The youngest daughter, Annie, is the only African American one of them all, as she was adopted by the mother of the other girls. She is struggling throughout the film to find her place in a Caucasian family with her dark skin, chubby body, and crimpy hair. She takes many steps to become more like her sisters, but resorts back to her true self each time. All of these individual stories occur simultaneously as the mother prepares for and undergoes her cosmetic surgery, ending when the daughters get the phone call to come pick her up from the hospital.

The film specifically relates to the class in many ways, so many that it is hard to pick just two ways they correlate. It seems that the film deals a lot with weight (found in the story of the mother and the youngest daughter, Annie). The two women deal with their weight issues in very different ways. The mother decides to undergo dramatic surgery to fix hers; Annie just makes jokes about it and/or refuses to eat. This weight issue touches on the dangers of plastic surgery much like the essay Cosmetic Surgery: Paying for Your Beauty by Debra Gimlin. Many women, much like the mother, go into plastic surgery thinking that it is an easy surgery with little to no negative consequences. But, as shown in the film and in the essay, there are many risks involved ranging anywhere from the surgery not working to bad scarring to death. It also hints as eating disorders at the end when Annie refuses to eat all the food she bought on a potential binge eating episode. This binge eating is also hinted at in the beginning of the film when she eats a large handful of cookies after her mother told her not to. This goes along with the essays in the book Body Outlaws, specifically Shrink Wrap by Jennifer Panning and Sizing Myself Up by Kate Dillon. Both of these essays deal with how easy it is to become prey to eating disorders and how many of them may be overlooked or unrealized by most people, as in the case of Annie in the film

Overall the film was good. It made some very important points about what women feel and go through in their lives. Each of the women represents different body images and women at different stages in life. They each have their own problems and they each deal with their problems in very different ways. It also presented these topics in an interesting, non-monotone-documentary way; instead it had a logical and clear timeline and plot. The film only had one drawback for me, the brief moment of nudity seemed unnecessary. I think the film could have still had that moment without actually showing Michelle’s body to the viewers. The director could have had her standing with her back to the camera and only see from the lower back up and still gotten the same effect. Also, in the first car scene between Michelle and her new 17 year old boss it was hard to tell if they were doing anything but making out. I do not think they should have shown more than they did, but there were other ways to make it more clear, for example in the film Titanic, the car’s windows are all fogged up making it more implied.

The film seemed to come from the perspective that women, no matter who they are, where they are in life, and what body type they have will never be satisfied with themselves. Each of these women is beautiful in their own right and in their own unique ways, and all four of them have good lives. The film seems to say that all of that does not matter and that women will always be looking for something better to come along. This is clearly seen in how all of the women seek to alter themselves for others. The mother does so in getting plastic surgery; Michelle by getting a job and having an affair with her very young boss; Elizabeth by feeling bad for being called un-sexy by one person despite everyone else in her life telling her otherwise and making her lover in the middle of the film evaluate her naked body; and Annie trying to be more skinny and look like her Caucasian family (straight hair, pale skin, and all). The film also seems to say that there is no set definition of beauty, especially seen in the way Elizabeth is insecure with her body from one comment and Michelle by the way her young boss is infatuated with her.

Overall, I would rate this movie a B. If you are looking for a film that takes all of what the media tells women and depicts how different women will react differently from it, this would be the movie for you. Otherwise, you may think that the four women are just bored middle-class women and toss the film away. Your choice, but I would hope that you would choose the first option.

Blog #8

The end of The Beauty Myth puts the pressure on the reader to change society. To make it better. To make the world a truly equal place no matter the gender. It was a nice transition from the rest of the book, as much of it to me felt like Wolf, ranting endlessly and divulging onto tangents. Much of her ranting comes together with the point that women are wrongfully stereotyped and held back. She pushes her rant-like text into a relentless call to all genders, in all locations, and in all times to pursue their dreams and strive for equality despite the circumstances. In this regard, the end of the book is very compelling and presents a worthwhile push to action. Much of the rest of the book was hard to get through, because it does at times seem like Wolf is droning on about the same “oppression” and there were a few times that it felt like Wolf was herself stereotyping women to be all the type that desire to hold powerful positions and have equality in everything. There are women, though, that hold their roles in the home as more valuable and desirable than at work or who desire to do nothing that stay home and be a housewife, and at times it seemed like Wolf forgot about this group of women. But the end of the book seemed to try to steer away from that. The reading by Valenti makes a lot of the same points of not conforming to society and being who you are, but Valenti makes these points in a very different way. For one thing, Valenti uses a lot of shock techniques with her use of generally considered curse words. She does seem like she is ranting a lot more than Wolf. But while Valenti is ranting about the state of what should be beautiful for women based on her experiences, Wolf gives a much more broad picture of the world that women must live in. Wolf also argues in a more objective rant style, portraying many different sides of the issue and many different people’s experiences. Also, the biggest difference between the two is that while Wolf calls upon all genders to change society and make it equal (and blames men mostly for the state of the poor beauty image state), Valenti calls upon women specifically to change society and to begin by loving themselves and other women (as she had blamed women for the poor image of beauty). The women do agree, though, that the current state of the beauty myth is horrible and needs to be fixed as soon as possible. Both direct women to pursue whatever is important to them and that no matter what it was (be it work, school, home, whatever) they should pursue it with the greatest intent and break through all the stereotypes associated with them. There is a song by the band Superchick called Anthem and it’s lyrics read like this:

We are fire inside, we are lipstick and cleats
We are not going home, we are playing for keeps
We are girls with skinned knees, we are concrete and grace
We are not what you think, you can't keep us in our place

Here's to the girls on their boards with bruises and scars
Here's to the girls whose fingers bleed from playin guitar
Here's to anyone who never quit when things got hard
You'll never let them say you'll never get that far

We are fire inside, we are an army asleep
We are a people awaking to follow their dreams
We don't have time for your games
We have our own goals to score
There are trophies to win instead of being one of yours.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrDA5-uD01g

These lyrics ring true no matter what women are facing. They encourage them to push beyond and never give up reaching for what they want. And it also seems to fit well with the message of both authors about fighting for what you want. I also found a website dedicated to listing songs and lyrics about gender stereotypes and issues that would make both proud that someone is trying to make people aware of the gender problems in society.(http://www.edchange.org/multicultural/arts/gender_songs.html)

Music is one of the most ascribed to sources for entertainment. I think it carries the potential to become a prime source to reach the masses and affect change in society. Many of the songs listed dealt with the issues of different genders body image. There were some songs about the color of women’s faces and the shape of their bodies and growing past that simple image. These songs are very reflective of the three essays “Becoming La Mujer,” “My Brown Face,” and “The Butt: Its Politics, Its Profanity, Its Power.” All of these essays are true life experiences that women went through in their search for body image peace and gender equality. All three were great, enough that there is no way to pick a favorite out of the three. If only all women, and men, could read these essays, Naomi Wolf’s call to action, and the messages in music presented to them everyday, then there could in fact be a rapid change in different genders view of each other and view of themselves.

Blog # 7

Eating disorders affect and drastically change more women in the world than most can even imagine. They have the potential to influence all races, genders, and ages. Some reports even say that one or two out of every one hundred kids will suffer from an eating disorder in their lifetime. To be precise, an eating disorder is any view of one’s body that makes them eat in a way contrary to how they should. There are several types of eating disorders from the well know anorexia and bulimia, to purging and binge eating. Experiencing any symptom of any eating disorder for longer than I would say a few weeks would constitute someone having the beginnings of an eating disorder. From the psychological point of view (as I am a graduating psychology major this year), an eating disorder is a misconception about the body that causes one to think and behave in an unhealthy manner. Also, commonly associated with eating disorders is the psychological disorder body dysmorphic disorder, which is where a person becomes over obsessed with a certain part of their body and focuses on changing it to fit whatever model they have for the ideal. What, then, causes women to feel poorly about their bodies and can lead them to suffer from these disorders?

Sadly, the root causes of eating disorders can come from everywhere; from home, peers, media, anywhere. One of the biggest causes though behind them is from the fashion/film/media industries. With more and more models and actresses getting thinner and thinner, girls see the romantic and idolized responses from their peers and begin to think that they have to fit that model in order to be considered beautiful.







































Models are pressured from their agents and from fashion designers to be the size of store mannequins and that pressure on the models bleeds over into mainstream society. People then view the models (wearing the size zero clothes forced upon them) and either try to look like them or think that everyone around them should look like those models. This can result in a poor self-body image or a ridiculing of people around them, pressure those people to have poor self-body image. What none of them realize is that models demonstrate only about ten percent of the world’s population in body size. What about the other ninety percent? I will tell you plainly, they are not size zero, or even size two or four. Most are ranging size from 8-10 to 16-18, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that! Even in the past, one of the world’s most idolized actresses, Marilyn Monroe was a size 12. But as models became smaller and the ideal weight became smaller, eating disorder rates became larger.
If only more people were made aware of the true ratio of body sizes in the world. Why is it that what is considered ideal in wealthy countries considered starvation in poor countries? If only more people were educated on how to eat healthy and to properly view their bodies. If only people were educated on what eating disorders do to a body and how more often than not they are incurable and can lead to a slow death. If only people better understood the risks and who was susceptible to these disorders (based on family history or genetics). If only people were told that there are successful treatments to these disorders, they just need to seek them out. If only pop culture was not filled with a diet obsession. If only our own wealth and capitalist ideals did not keep us unsatisfied with whom we are and what we already possess (within and outside of ourselves). You could fill up a world with “if only” statements but none of them matter if the world sits idly by and says or does nothing about them.

It begins with each and every one of us. We can be the change that we desire to see in society today. We can throw away the obsession with food and dieting. We can throw away the pressure to conform to ten percent of the real world. We can throw away the idea that beauty only comes in one form. We can decide to educate ourselves about eating disorders and treatments for them. We can embrace each other and our body types and become one unified and broad definition of beauty. And who’s to think any less of us? No one thinks less of Queen Latifah, Kelly Clarkson, Kate Dillon, Nikki Blonsky, Jennifer Hudson, or Aretha Franklin for being who they are, so why should we think less of ourselves?

Blog #6

According to the essay “Cosmetic Surgery: Paying for You Beauty” by Debra Gimlin, the original purpose of cosmetic surgery was to repair injuries. Gimlin says in her essay that most patients were male war victims who had returned injured or disfigured and in need of repair so as not to look repulsive in regular society or injuries from industrial accidents. But gradually through time, since the major wars, cosmetic surgery has spread to be a predominately female phenomenon. Gimlin attributed it simply to “women who are dissatisfied with their looks.” She goes on to elaborate that many women undergo the plastic surgeries because of four reasons. One, they desire to make their outer appearance match how they truly feel (like an 60 year old woman who feels like she's only 40 on in the inside). Two, they seek out surgery to please someone else (for example a woman who desires larger breasts to make her boyfriend happier). Three, children brought in by their parents who think their child has something wrong with them (usually the child thinks they look fine). And four, they want to look different for crazy reasons (for example they want to look like a famous actress). How did this transition from necessity to desire-to-look-different happen? Why are there more plastic surgeries now than ever before? To answer these simply, there are more plastic surgeries now because there are more plastic surgeons than before and woman have more rights and liberties than they did before, therefore they feel free to act on their own reasons and whims. There is also a growing problem with discrimination with women in the workforce, based entirely on how they look. This also contributes to the higher numbers of plastic surgeries as women try to conform to the world’s standards of beauty and normalcy.

Personally, I am strongly against cosmetic surgery. No matter how hard you try and how many different methods you use, eventually you will age. Why not try to age well instead of not age at all? You can age well simply by taking care of yourself all through your life, by not tanning, wearing sunblock, exercising, and eating balanced. Why not be a body outlaw and take whatever you have and flaunt it? I think many people today take plastic surgery too lightly. They have become even further victims to the consumerism society than ever before when they undergo plastic surgery, almost as if to say that if they don’t like something they can just change it. What’s to stop them from using that same principle in other areas of their lives? Obviously, though, there are some kinds of cosmetic surgery that are more acceptable than others. For example, if a person has a bad scar from something or has a strange growth somewhere on their body, then it is perfectly acceptable to have minor surgery to repair it. But I think people take it too far when they want to change the shape of their noses or cheeks or breasts or anything. In doing this they not only put themselves in great and unnecessary physical danger just to satisfy their own vanity (or the vanity of someone close to them), but they loose a great part of what makes them unique. According to one of our guest speakers this week, Iran is the nose job capital of the world. In one of the clips she showed us of some girls in Iran that were going to have nose reshaping surgeries, all stated famous Western (American) actresses that they wanted to have the noses of. But looking at all the girls, their noses looked perfectly normal and even beautiful. Beautiful because it make them look real. Beautiful because it made them look unique. Why change what makes you you?

How then can we change the trend? First, change the media representation of women, putting more variety and reality in the women that are portrayed. Change the work pressures to look certain ways and eliminate the discrimination toward women. And ultimately change the way women think of themselves into a view that they are aesthetically pleasing no matter what anyone tells them.

Works Cited for Paper #1

Conflict Research Consortium. “Inaccurate and Overly Hostile Stereotypes.” University of Colorado, 1998. Web. 1 October 2009. .

Godsey, Chris. “Cro-Magnon Karma: One Dude and His Body Image Issues.” Body Outlaws. Ed. Ophira Edut. California: Seal Press, 2003. (287-298). Print

Jervis, Lisa. “My Jewish Nose.” Body Outlaws. Ed. Ophira Edut. California: Seal Press, 2003. (62-67). Print

Wolf, Naomi. The Beauty Myth. New York: Harper Perennial, 2002. (37-41).

Paper #1 (part 2)

Stereotypes and How to Deal With Them
Looking at the basics of stereotypes reveals an ugly but sad truth that people are unjustly categorized and conformed. Even sadder is when they fail to realize how they fall prey to the stereotypes. These stereotypes change by what seems like the second, it is amazing how people keep up with them. Without even knowing it, they help define, categorize, promote, and become victims of stereotypes, all at the same time.
First, to specifically define stereotype, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary a stereotype is “a standardized mental picture that is held in common by members of a group and that represents an oversimplified opinion, prejudiced attitude, or uncritical judgment.” To simplify that definition into my own definition, a stereotype is any opinion you have about a person or people group based entirely on a biased perception of them. Often times these stereotypes turn into hostile and prejudiced opinion of who people are and how they should act, and many times those that are stereotyped do not actually fit in the stereotype. This can lead people to automatically assume things about people and “if you assume you know what a person is like, and don't look at each person as an individual, you are likely to make errors in your estimates of a person's character” (Conflict Research Consortium). When one stereotypes, one judges. When one judges, one more often than not proves themselves to be wrong and prejudice.
Some of the more common stereotypes in the world today include stereotypes of ethnicity, gender, and class. For many races, there are numerous negative prejudiced stereotypes. For example, in the essay My Jewish Nose, the author explains that Jewish women are stereotypically “loud, pushy- qualities that girls really aren’t supposed to have” (Edut, 64). This contributes to two stereotypes, one about ethnic characteristics and about gender. There are stereotypes for every ethnicity. For Caucasians, they are yuppie. For African Americans, they are criminals or dishonest. For Latino or Hispanic Americans, they are like “cockroaches.” None of these are true. For men, they are supposed to be career driven, independent, strong, tough, and providing, very much like the conclusion that Chris Godsey came to in his essay Cro-Magnon Karma. In this essay, Godsey came to the conclusion that “without believing that unless I have 3 percent body fat, a hairless torso and washboard abs, I’m an inferior man.” (Edut 287). So, that is exactly what men strive for. Women are to be submissive, gentle, sweet, nurturing, and beautiful all the time, very much like the Barbies and Dawns mentioned in Klaus Barbie and other Dolls I’d Like to See by Susan Gilman. In regards to class, there are the stereotypes of over motivated wealthy snob, trailer trash, dirty poor, and so many others. Just because someone is wealthy that does not mean they are snob. Just because one lives in a trailer park that does not make them trashy or un-ambitious (which is commonly associated with this stereotype). And most poor people do not choose to be poor. Anyone would know the truth about these people in each of these categories if they took the time to get to know the person for who they really are. That is how people promote these stereotypes: by not taking the time to form one’s own opinion about a person or people group. They also promote the stereotype by not correcting others when they talk about the stereotype and when they conform to it themselves.
Looking back in to my own life, I myself have become victim to almost every one of these categories of stereotypes. For example, as a young, blonde, petite girl I often feel the pressure to conform to the stereotypes associated with all of those. I’m supposed to be spirited and energetic, stupid (because of my lack of experience and blonde hair), sweet, and submissive- never offending anyone. Thankfully I have overcome those stereotypes the best that I can. To be more specific, I remember two times when I was working for a grocery store in high school. The first time was actually on my first day of work. As I was trying to leave I had another high school male coworker corner me into a wall and try to get me to admit things about who I was attracted to and other embarrassing information I knew at the time that the expected reaction was to giggle and laugh and submissively reveal my secrets. Much to the boy’s surprise I darted under his arm when he was not looking and ran to one of my supervisors who defended me. This showed him that not only was I not going to be pressured into something, but I knew how to handle myself and use my head to get out of and avoid situations. The second example came when another coworker, a middle-aged male, tried to convince me that my Christian faith was wrong. He got aggressive and hostile with his words quickly. Again, to his (and my own surprise) I found that I was able to stand my ground and defend my faith better than he could fight his own argument. These both contradicted the stereotypes that I was young and stupid and would avoid conflict like a “normal” girl. But just because I contradicted stereotypes these two times, does not even begin to add up to the times that I have fallen victim to them and kept quiet, agreed to something I did not really want to do because as I girl I felt like it was something I was supposed to do, or to even dress in more feminine clothes just because “I’m a girl. I should look like one,” (now realistically speaking, I always look like and behave pretty girly, but I am referring to wearing dresses and skirts just to show how girly I can be).
Every time I feel pressure to conform is hard. It is hard because I know that I am an opinionated person with a dominant personality. And I know that I do not want to be seen as the typical girl who just goes along with others. Looking back on those two specific examples, I do feel proud of myself that I stood my ground, used my head, and also did not let my emotions dictate my actions (another stereotype associated with girls). It was good to learn that if I had to, I could defend myself. But the other times I did conform were not necessarily all bad either. As time goes on and I learn to keep quiet about some things, I see that I am learning so much more about the people in my life. I learn more about what they believe in and value. I learn how to communicate better with them. I learn how to respect them more. I have also found that when I am with others I have discovered my own personal limits in regards to choices I want to make in my life and I still stand up for what I believe is right.
I feel a very mixed reaction to my own conformity. One the one side, when I choose to be quiet and submissive, while I may further the potentially negative stereotype, I learn so much about my surroundings. On the other side, I never conform to things I find morally or ethically wrong and I find that it is then that I stand against the grain and resist the stereotypes associated with my gender. Both are important tasks to undertake in life. It all comes back to choosing what battles I want to fight in my life.

Paper #1 (part1)

Gender in the Workplace
In the last twenty years, women have seen and undergone some substantial changes. What was commonplace and popular jobs for women began to change directions. Women began to learn how best to use their voices to affect change. The old standard path of graduate high school, get married, have kids, be a housewife gradually changed to graduate college, start career, get married, have kids, maintain career through all of this and continue career until retirement. With this change in a women’s life-path, the view of women in the workplace changed. The roles they undertook, the perception and treatment of women in the workplace, the manner of dress, the reception of claims of harassment, and the perception of what to do when kids are grown have all changed. In an interview with Catherine Sabin, a woman of 49 who has never held a career but has had several jobs, she elaborated one each of these areas to help explain how women in the workforce have seen change around them in the last twenty years.
First, Mrs. Sabin made the sharp point that women now are no longer held back in their career path. The roles a woman chooses to take are strictly based her own mindset. If she desires to work for a large company, a department store, or be a stay at home mom, it is a woman’s right and choice to choose. Women can hold any position from the highest to the lowest. With that, however, in the last twenty years there has been an influx of women holding high positions in companies. This could be due to many reasons, one being that with the freedom to pursue a career, women have stuck around long enough to move up the career ladder. Also, with the sudden widespread use of daycare and the rising cost of income, it is almost impossible for a family to survive on one income. Mrs. Sabin felt many women are feeling the pressure to help support the family from within herself and from her husband. She also mentioned a vicious cycle that almost makes some women want to stay home because it’s cheaper than paying for the daycare and other expenses regard working. But due to the rising cost of living, society makes it impossible for her not to work. Also, she commented that society looks down on women that do want to stay home almost as if they do not have enough confidence, skills, or ambition to have a career; that society disregards a woman’s values and reasons for choosing to stay home.
Mrs. Sabin then went on to talk about the views of women in the workplace from every perspective of the workforce. First, women tend to view other women in a very critical light. Some more than others, but overall very negatively across the board. This comes into great power in the workforce as women also tend to gossip about each other, thus making women’s opinions of each other very poor. Mrs. Sabin then when on to comment about women working under other women. She explained that it seems to her that now having a female boss means two things for the males and females under her: one- that she will treat her female employees more gently because they think more similarly, and two- that she will be more harsh on the males because she has to prove herself worthy to be their boss and because she might view them as competition for her position. In regards to how males view their female coworkers or subordinates, Mrs. Sabin felt that men could be more resentful of the woman thinking they may have only gotten the job due to their gender or that the men would be so distracted by a pretty face they would not be able to look past that. This “pretty face” problem led to the problem of how a woman should dress in the workforce.
Honestly speaking, Mrs. Sabin felt that, in general, women’s work dress had not changed much in the past twenty years other than the fact that most places of business have adopted a more business casual attire. She felt that women have always been more fashion conscious and this is reflected in their work clothes. Also, she pointed out that to succeed in business it is not in anyway necessary to de-feminize oneself. This, then leads to the problems brought up by Naomi Wolf in her book The Beauty Myth. Within this text Wolf, goes through many cases involving how women dress to show that women have always gotten in trouble for what they wear, whether it be feminine or masculine in nature (37-41). Specifically, Wolf states that “law developed to protect the interests of power by setting up a legal maze in which . . . no woman can ‘look right’ and win” (38). In this statement, the through her subsequent court cases examples, she proves that women really can not win in regards to what they should wear to work. Thus, this makes Mrs. Sabin’s opinion right on, that women typically like to look prettier and that they do this regardless of any other’s opinion and should dress according to what they want.
With this then comes the problem of sexual harassment. If a male cannot get past the “pretty face” of a woman, he definitely would not be able to get past her clothes. Often this inability to see past that can lead males to harass the women they work with. But with today’s definition of harassment being “anything that makes you uncomfortable,” the question become who should be believed? Mrs. Sabin definitively stated that twenty years ago and continuing on today that woman are and should be believed. She did, however, say that this harassment policy has become very sensitive and that it almost takes too little for someone to file a complaint. She also asked with more women in the workforce, could not the rise in sexual harassment numbers be simply because of the increased number of women?
Mrs. Sabin ended with what she believes to be the ultimate and most important problem affecting women in the workforce now. That problem is simply the glass ceiling. Women doing the same amount of work for the same amount to time and in the same position as men should be being paid the same as men. There is no reason for them not to. Everything else has been gradually changing and getting better for women. As mentioned above, women are sticking with careers long enough to move up the ladder, they are choosing for themselves what to wear and how to respond to harassment, and choosing what to do with their careers, but this one aspect needs to change and change as soon as possible.

Blog #5

In the pop culture of toys, what people give their children to play with is almost entirely gender stereotyped. For the girls they are usually given stuffed animals, baby dolls, and cooking toys like easy-bake ovens. Whereas, for boys they are given sports equipment, action figures from popular action films, and violent video games. Such a difference can drastically affect the viewpoints children have about who they are supposed to be and how they are supposed to act even from an early age.

First, let’s consider girls’ toys. According to Dipika Mirpuri for About.com, the top ten girls’ toys last year were all either dolls, animal games or toys, decorating kits, or spa toys.. These toys even in their description on the website are described as “the very things most girls enjoy” and “girls jump at the chance to try their hand at conjuring up perfumes from far away lands and body scrubs.” Even looking more trivially, most of these toys are stereotyped “girl colors” of pink and purple and other pastel colors. The others are soft and fuzzy. Also, in most commercials for girls’ toys there is usually some kind of light and happy music playing in the background of the commercial. What do these clues tell girls about themselves? First, with the claims from the advertisements that most girls enjoy these, what if a girl doesn’t like perfume or glitter or stuffed animals? These claims from the ads tell a girl that if she doesn’t like these items then she may not fit in with other girls and could potentially be outcast from them. Then with the colors, not all girls like these stereotyped colors and to make most toys that color is not fair to them and also pressures them to conform the same way that they claims in the ads do. With the soft and fuzzy toys, and also with the pastel colors of the toys, this is a more subtle clue to girls that they are supposed to be delicate and gentle and like gentle things. The same message is heard from the music in the commercials, that as a girl you should like light and happy things and be happy. But these clues can place undue pressure on girls to be contrary to who they are. What then happens to the girls who are more tomboyish and like sports or, dare I say it, more boyish colors like blue or green? They are told that what they like doesn’t matter and that they should conform to the world’s standards and not be themselves. These types of toys also influence girls that their play style is to be nurturing and submissive (as fuzzy puppies and dolls and pastel colors are all characteristic of submission and are less prominent as solid lines, sharp edges, and bold colors). This play style then translates in to the girls’ adult life and pushes them to be less independent and prominent for whom they are.

Now let’s look at boys’ toys. According to the same source as the top girls’ toys, the most popular boys toys of 2008 were all active games (like Nerf guns and laser tag guns) or action figure toys (like Star Wars masks and Transformers figures).. These toys are bright and boldly colored and hard (made from solid plastic). These toys, in contrast to girl’s toys, tell boys that they should be more active and should be more violent. The colors themselves, as being more bold, also tells boys that they should be bolder in their actions. Usually, too, in boys’ toys commercials the music played is more energetic and intense, almost signaling the boys that they need to be energetic and boisterous. This active and aggressive play style in childhood can also come into power in adulthood for boys when they enter the workforce and strive for the top position often in very aggressive manners. This aggressive view of themselves can also lead males to think they are more important and daring than women. Also, a lot of these toys for boys come from more popular films. These films have fairly high ratings (PG to PG-13), significantly higher than the G-ratings of the girls’ toys. This almost goes so far as to say that boys should not be shielded from violence and gore in films, but girls should. That girls should maintain their innocence for as long as possible. Shouldn’t that work both ways? Children are only children once and not for a very long time. Shouldn’t both genders be shielded from violence and taught that violence really isn’t the answer to life? The same problems from stereotyped girls’ toys happen with boys’ too. The toys pressure boys to behave and think certain ways about their gender and if they don’t then they run the risk of being outcast or ridiculed by their peers, pushing them to conform.
That’s not to say that I myself haven’t conformed to these stereotypes in my own life. I personally like stuffed animals (as long as they’re cute) and glitter and my favorite color is pink. But I’m more than that. I like action games too. I enjoy laser tag (I would like it more if it weren’t so expensive) and I enjoy Star Wars and Lord of the Rings toys like any “good” boy does or did when they first came out, just as much as I enjoy action and epic films as much as romantic love comedies and stories. But just because I was able to grow beyond the stereotype doesn’t mean that all kids these days are. Hopefully though, they are getting the message from somewhere that they can be interested in other things and are free to do what they like.

Blog #4

The tough guise, described as the male depiction of only strong, powerful, independent, and promoting of violence in men, carries with is many heavy consequences. More consequences than benefits. In fact, the only benefits from it that I can see are maybe if a man encounters a situation that he does not know how to react to he can span his knowledge of how other men have dealt with it and adapt their response to be his own, almost like a guide for male reactions. But at that same time, this can be a very self-destructive and dangerous response to situations. In doing this, men can start to feel like they are only worth something if they fit that model of men. Or they can begin to react only in violence as many of the sources for the tough guise promote violence as an acceptable response to a situation (i.e. films like Fight Club or even in the scenes of romantic comedies when the women the male loves is insulted). Its almost as if the tough guise view takes the verse and saying from the Bible “eye for an eye and tooth for tooth” literally, to the point that there is no other response choice but to fight back, leaving the whole world to quickly become eye-less and tooth-less. It can also become a problem for the strong muscular image given to men because, much like with women, men can develop eating disorders or consider themselves as less than what they really are based only on their body alone. It is for this reason that men and women have issues with gender.
Many people today consider “gender issues” to apply only to the plight of women. Instead of looking at what different sexes have to deal with in their respective genders and daily lives, gender issues become what trouble do women face being a woman everyday. People assume that because men can go so far in this society and because the images for women are so strikingly different, that man must just not face many if any gender issues. What they fail to realize in that statement is that men face just as many stereotypes and problems as women; its just that men’s issues and stereotypes are different. Men still have the pressure to look certain ways, behave certain ways, and have those ways reflected in their lives by a certain age. Men are also pressured to fulfill certain roles that are often different that the pressured roles placed on women. But because each gender is so blinded by their own pressures and their ideas about the other sex, they rarely come to a point where they can communicate and understand where the other person is coming from, thereby leading both genders in a never-ending cycle of gender misconception and miscommunication.
Within the male portion of gender issues is where one can find the pressures men face to conform their bodies to the stereotype (that of strength and muscle). While in some cases, this pressure can lead men to eat right and exercise, most fall prey to the negative extremes. Some men can succumb to the pressure and work out so much they never do anything else. They seek only to build muscle at any cost, sometimes leading to the taking of steroids. Most men will not just start out with a jump to steroid usage. They begin gradually as they begin to feel less and less worth in themselves and how they look. Then they begin to eat differently and work out differently. Then when they begin to feel that these methods aren’t working, they begin the dangerous path of steroid use, which can ultimately lead to their breakdown of their bodies and health. The second extreme comes when men feel they have no hope to be like the media image. This can lead men to serious emotions and psychological depressions. And it can lead men to the opposite of being healthy, resulting in obese couch potatoes that gave us trying entirely. If only men were being told to be body outlaws like women. To take what they have and work it like there is no other option, can you even imagine how much different the media output and influence would be? Or can you imagine how much stronger in themselves men could be, if only the media would tell them to strive at being their best whatever that may be?
The way media depicts males seems to influence the society they are shown in. It is not that media reflects what society feels at that moment, media does the opposite dictating where society goes in the future. This is seen in how males have consistently been portrayed as strong, muscular, cold in feeling, and independent. Media controlling society can even easily be seen in the way people of both genders dress, with this year the return of 80s style clothing for women and fraternity style clothing (complete with the pastel colors and leather loafers) for men. People become susceptible to these media pressures for three reasons. Reason one, is that in today’s society there is a lack of guidance from the older generations (mentors, leaders, parents, etc) to resist being put in a box. Even in the messages from celebrities to be oneself, they say that but then turn around and conform to the stereotypes themselves. Second, there are so much of the stereotypes around us everyday, we just can’t ignore them. They are in every part of our lives, from music to magazines to TV/movies to textbook pictures. We can’t escape them. Third and most importantly, we can’t ignore the pressures and become susceptible to them because we as a society have a deep psychological desire to conform. We don’t want to appear different or stick out in any way. Of course there are exceptions to these reasons as some people are anti-conformist or have really strong mentors in their lives, but it comes down to these three reasons that the world today is so susceptible to the media.

Blog #3

Within the text of The Beauty Myth, which we are reading in our class, Naomi Wolf traces the plight of the working woman here in America and abroad. First she describes the struggle to manage the working world and the house-care world. She even points out that Western women only do housework six hours less than Middle Eastern women. Wolf also explains the massive amounts of money it would take to pay housewives if they were in fact paid, and yet in the regular workforce, hit the glass ceiling everyday with what they are paid. Wolf then goes on to explain the issues regarding how women should dress and behave by describing the professional beauty qualification and its function in the sex discrimination policies. Wolf explains that this qualification is not only vague, but is very open to interpretation, hence all the lawsuits behind the way women are hired and dress (either more feminine or more masculine). These policies aid in the sex discrimination so far that women almost do not know how to dress for work, because every option available to women in clothes has been the subject of a lawsuit that has failed the woman in question. All of this to say that women face much more obstacles than just being genetically different, they face the glass ceiling and the inability to wear anything and yet to have to wear something. How are women supposed to finagle their way around the working world?
This issue of how to dress come into sharp conflict with the social construction that we have placed on women. According to most people, women should be feminine, medium height (or at least not taller than guys), have long flowing hair, and wear they perfect amount of make-up to where they look "naturally" beautiful. Also, women should then reflect their outward appearance and behave more gently and submissive, despite whatever else is going in their lives. This social construct of women tells them they can only look one way and behave one way as a woman to be accepted. This is the opposite of the truth. A woman can be beautiful at any size with any height or weight, and any hair type and color. A woman can also behave anyway she wants (but with the same stipulation that I would put on men, they they behave morally and kind) and they are beautiful in my book.
This chapter in the book on the workforce most shocked me in the lawsuits regarding their clothing. I never knew that women had such trouble regarding the way they dressed. Also, other than jobs like working at the playboy mansion or in a restaurant like Hooters, I never knew that women were being judged by their youth "beauty" alone regardless of who they are as a person and the quality of work they do. I had heard of discrimination against women and I had even heard of some women being assaulted in their jobs, but never the discrimination to their age or their clothes. I asked it above already but I will ask it again, how are women supposed to manage with these extra pressures placed on them?
These ideas of how women should behave and look can not only affect their perception of themselves and their own worth, but it can go so far as to prevent them from trying. They may just give up on that promotion or that new job, because they think that a more "capable" man or a more "beautiful" woman will come along to fill that position. It also helps contribute to the glass ceiling and even reinforces it. It can also affect the way employers view the women that work for them, expecting them to behave submissive and dress certain ways.
Women are constantly being forced into a very small box and are expected to pop out and look like the perfect woman and employee. The only problem here, and its a big problem, is that no woman is like another. Each one is unique and beautiful in her own way. The sooner everyone, men and women alike, figure that out the sooner the glass will break and success in work and in women's opinion of themselves will grow and break through all other boundaries.

Blog 2

The name of this class is entitled "Body Image Versus Reality and the Pop Culture Beauty Myth." What does that even mean? First of all, it is necessary to define what body image is. The simplest definition of body image is the way one looks, feels, and thinks about their body as a whole. The more complete definition would be the way one looks, feels, thinks, is influenced about, and most importantly perceives their own body as they examine and observe themselves in their day to day life. This topic becomes ever increasingly important as most and more women are diagnosed with eating disorders and depression and other mental and physical problems due to the message told them through newspapers, magazines, films, and modeling agencies about their bodies. It is also important to study this topic so that women can feel better about themselves not only as women but as successful and driven people that have journeyed a long way from where they started. The journey of women can be traced through the three waves of the feminist movement. The first wave began and ended with women obtaining equal suffrage (or the right to vote. The second wave began and is still going on with women fighting for equal work and pay opportunities. It is still a proven fact that women seldom make it as high in the work force and if they do they get payed far less than a man in the same position. The third wave focuses on the individual woman and her personal rights to have the life she desires and to accomplish whatever she wants throughout her life without the influence of the world around her. Furthermore, these waves give away to a larger more noticeable change: the way women has perceived body beauty throughout time. In days, long ago (before the 1900s) beautiful women were those that were pale and fat because it meant they did not have to work outside and they had enough food. It was a sign of wealth also. In the early 1940s and 50s, women wanted to be pale and super skinny like Audrey Hepburn and the model Twiggy. The current fade with beauty seems mostly to be just being fit. Not too skinny nor too fat. At least that is what the media would like us to think. However, there are more cases of eating disorders and obesity reported now than ever before. Almost as if to say, that the image given by the media has left many women at a loss as how to accomplish the ideal so they give up and gravitate to one extreme or the other. This is one of the greatest travesties of all time. However, there is a ray of light slowly beginning to shine through and women, who the author Ophira Edut describes as body outlaws who know that beauty is not found in outside sources, but when you take what you have a flaunt it no matter what it is. Body outlaws find their true beauty in self-acceptance of who they are right now, not severl pound, surgery, or beauty treatments in the future.






If you follow the link above, it will give you a picture of Kate Winslet, one of the women I find the strongest in the world of Body Outlaws. She fits this label so well because she repeatedly refuses to change her weight for any role she acts in. There was even a case several months ago where she appeared in a magazine and her picture displayed her much skinnier than she had ever been. As it turned out the company that took the picture had altered the picture without her approval and Winslet fought against the company for altering her pictures. Winslet also strongly dislikes and discourages magazine editors to airbrush her pictures. She consistently tries to give as true depiction of herself as possible and is praised for it. If only we as a society could grab onto the view that Winslet and others like her hold and make it our own.

Blog 1

My name is Handy Sandie and this will be my new blog for the fall semester of the class Body Image Versus Reality. I got the name “Handy Sandie” when I was in high school because I used to spend all of my time between classes holding open the door at the top of the stairs in the school I went to. Ironically enough, my name has the meaning of helper and defender of mankind, so this nickname that I received seemed to fit perfectly for me. I recently entered the world of full adulthood, having turned 21 years old. I chose to take this course for several reasons. First of all, I remember what it was like to be a young teenage girl and wonder is I was “pretty” enough only to realize that there is no set definition of “pretty.” Second, I have a deep disgust at the way women are portrayed in films and commercials based on how they look alone. And finally, with how women are shown, I am very aware of how those images affect and influence women of all ages, especially young girls, whom I have a strong desire to help guide away from the popular culture and into true understanding of who they are and why they are all beautiful. Some of the most pressing issues influencing these girls usually revolves around what their body shape is (skinny or not), what their faces look like, and how big their breasts are. Many of the images presented seem to declare that unless one is small hour-glass shaped, big eyes, full lipped, and big breasted then one is not pretty. What happens here is that women are told that no matter who they are, they can never be perfect and never be beautiful, a gross error caused by the mass media. In fact, no there is no such thing as a perfect body, but that does not make one un-beautiful. What every woman and girl need to realize is that just by being who they are and being the best that they can be on the inside and the outside is what makes them beautiful peoples. So, all in all, in this course I have the expectations of further understanding the major and minor cues about women in the way their bodies are depicted, and how to combat the negative references in such a way that proves true beauty to myself and makes me capable to prove it to others. In closing, as I look forward to this semester in this class I have come up with the following five questions I would like to answer for myself in this quest to discover the true nature of beauty: 1- Does the outside even matter if what I show from the inside covers over everything else? 2- If all mass media women fit the characteristic above, where do I fit in? 3- It seems like most women my age, in media and not, have long flowing hair, is it necessary to have long hair to be beautiful? 4 – Does wearing glasses make me a nerd or just intellectual looking? And 5- How can I reshape the discussions of beauty when talking to young teens in a way that points them away from the media’s image of women’s bodies? Here’s looking forward to a great semester!