Schools Shooting: 100% Boys.

The truth is that one of the reasons school shooters are boys is because of what they are taught to be "tough" like by the media. In reality, men have emotions too. I am certain that from a young age, I will teach my sons not to be what the media tells them to be. I will be very concerned if my kids' main interest would be in guns and violence. In fact, I will discourage them from liking these things. At the end of the day, anyone could be manipulated into committing violent crimes. Yes, chances are higher if a boy is mentally unstable but just from bullying one can be lead into something as bad as killing. I am certain that if many of the boys that attended the high schools where the shootings took place were taught that they don't have to be "tough" or manly or resemble any of the traditional features that create a man, hundreds of lives could have been saved.

Put the Blame Where it Belongs: On Men

I am not a feminist. Neither am I a defender of a certain gender. But what I do believe in is equality. Equality between genders, races and ethnic groups has always been something I stroke for. Jackson Katz's article really made me think about today's society. Realistically speaking if someone commits a crime and 1000 members of a certain race are hurt, we put the role of racism in our society first. However, if women are hurt, we don't pay that much attention. I think that to improve that we should start classes on Domestic and Sexual Violence. For instance, if all the boys in our school had a few seminars on the consequences of violence and from a young age were told that being "tough" isn't good, I am sure that we could prevent many crimes. If once, Mr. Jacover brings in a speaker who will talk about violence to all the males in the High School instead of talking to girls about short-length. Our society seems to confuse its priorities. We are more worried about guys being aroused from girls displaying skin than about guys sexually harassing girls because they think it makes them cool. Again, I am not a feminist but I think that it is a lot more important if high schools will teach boys about how to behave than girls about how to dress. At the end of the day, modesty is important but not as important as prevention of violent acts. 

Glee and the portrayal of race, class, gender, or sexual orientation

For me Glee was an eye-opener to the truth of the American society. At least that was what I thought until I read the "Masculinities on The O.C." which made me think deeper. The truth is that although Glee does address people of different races, sex, class and orientation the way it portrays them is completely stereotypical.

Santana

To many people the first words that come to mind, when they think of Latinas are fairly negative. They believe that girls of that origin have a lot of attitude and are promiscuous. In the TV series this is exactly what we see. Santana is the type of girl who had slept with the entire football team, had Mono several times but she is proud of it. Does this demonstrate a typical latin american girl? Probably not, the fair majority of Latinas are most probably not any of the things listed above. Although, Santana forcibly comes-out of the closet she portrays a very stereotypical idea of a lesbian. She is acting rude, full of herself and when in relationship, it is certain that she is the one wearing the pants. Finally, she comes from a poor family, she lives in a neighborhood called Laima Heights. Which makes her very, very "ghetto."


All the South American girls I know are very sweet and trustworthy. Even if they lived in a troubled neighborhood they don't act like they will fight anyone and everyone who gives them a rude glance. Where, my lesbian friends are perhaps friendly and girly, they are not controlling or rude.


P.S. Some of the richest people in America are Hispanic and they don't have the "Laima Heights" attitude.

Kurt

Kurt is a gay teenager, who is bullied due to his sexuality. The reality is that Glee does not have any gay characters that are very manly. The only other gay guy in the school (before Kurt's boyfriend switches to his school) is a football player who is preferring to stay in the closet. Yet, the fact that this happens makes gay people seem very feminine and stereotypical. Not all gay people dream of wearing dresses or becoming Prom Queen. In fact, some homosexuals are extremely manly. So, if Glee really wanted to address the issue of discrimination by sexual orientation it should have had at least one more character who is the masculine type of homosexual. If we look at the show right now, Kurt's homosexuality sometimes is brought to the extent where it seems as if the show producers are mocking homosexuals rather than portraying equal rights. 

Sugar


Sugar is the stereotypical rich girl. She judges people by their clothing, she is snobby but above all she lacks talent. According to Glee it's the money that get her through life. But are all rich girls like that? I've studied in a private school my entire life and all I can say is that a small minority of the girls are like that. This character gives an idea about what the upper-class is like. In reality, it is quiet different.

Puck

Puck is the typical "bad boy" that "slept with every single girl in the high school twice." He is extremely manly, he exemplifies brutality and makes us forgive him for anything he does. According to surveys, he is the most desirable male-character on the show. But with attitude, come bad grades, indecisiveness in life and just trouble, trouble, trouble. Characters like him are the one's that make girls want to date bad boys who will treat them badly. It is Puck's attitude and looks that make him more desirable than the Finn, who is probably equally good-looking. The fact that Puck is shown that way is making normal guys want to be "badasses" because that's what according to Glee will get them girls. 

Rachel

Rachel is the epitome of a female who needs a man in order to be happy. In season one, we seen Rachel not being extremely confident and perhaps even slightly depressed because Finn, her longterm crush, doesn't pay any attention to her. She is insecure and dresses oddly. However, the moment Finn notices Rachel, her eyes start to glow. It seems as if she is being re-born into something new, a confident female. What idea do we get from this relationship? That the moment you will get a boyfriend is when you will be happy. It is not the independence that will get you anywhere in life but rather the dependence on 

another person, a human who you didn't mean much to for the majority of your life. 

Brittany
Brittany S. Pears is the "dumb blonde." Again, another stereotype. The girl actually, says some of the stupidest things ever but her lack of intelligence is justified because she is cute. What does that teach us? If you are good-looking, even if you are dumb you will be just fine. Why don't any of the shows have a girl who is a stupid brunette? It is always, always, always the blonde cutie, who has an IQ of 55 and can barely spell her own name.




Conclusion

It seems to me as if the people who wrote the script for Glee tried to address different groups of people and portray a different view of stereotypes. Yet, I feel like they failed to do so. The "Latina" stays ghetto and carries her promiscuous image throughout the show. The homosexual guy, is always looking for a place to escape even when he does overcome challenges he brings every single mistake or misfortune in his life to the fact that he is a minority. Lastly, a normal girl like Rachel only becomes happy when she gets a boyfriend. No matter, how independent she seems, the moment Finn isn't there she is lost, upset and insecure. Therefore, the people who wrote the script are probably a group of males and females that tried to address the issues of discrimination and lack of quality.

What about Who?

The show is about stereotypical teenagers, who try to overcome challenges. Yet, at the end we get certain ideas about what society should be like and the show is not that fun, once you realize that.

Why is it that Way?

It's this way because it is easier for our brain to comprehend stereotypes. If Glee were to have a stupid brunette, guy who is desperate for a girlfriend and a very manly homosexual, it will be harder for us to comprehend it. However, since our brain already knows about a bunch of stereotypes, it doesn't take as much work to get us "hooked" to the show. At the end of the day, what producers care the most about is not the message, the acting or the scenario it is the profit that matters.

POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold: 1 movie, 2 opinions

Both, Peter Traves and Michal Phillips, loved POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold as an entertaining film, but they disagreed on whether or not Morgan Spurlock really had a clear purpose for his documentary.  Peter Traves sees the film from a positive point of view for many reasons. On the contrary, critics like the author of “Spurlock Settles For Gag, A little Food For Thought” criticize it. Although both authors agree on the fact that the film is hilarious they disagree when it comes down to the reason for the creation of the movie and whether it proved its point. Peter Traves, thinks, eye-opening look at the omnipresence of product placement and advertising in movies and pop culture.” In other words, the movie was successfully created to show the influence of media on our world. He also adds that with usage of excellent interviews and sponsorship Morgan Spurlock really demonstrated how big the role of sponsors is in todays movie industry (Spurlock). On the other hand, Michael Phillips claims that the movie is just a self-promotion of the famous director of Supersize Me (Phillips). He believes that when you leave you do think about the advertising world but you might still believe that it lacks substance and was created for fame (Phillips). Phillips added, “It's too bad Spurlock settles for so little here, beyond the surface gag.” 

OMG! What are you selling me?

This advertisement is very sexist. The person who made the add chose a pretty girl with a baby face to promote innocence and beauty. Next to it they wrote, "You know you are not the first," this in a way plays a role with the position of women in society. In other words, it seems as if the advertiser is saying, "You know you are not the first who will sleep with this girl, but do you really care?" I believe that the way it relates to the BMW logo is by the idea that if you drive a BMW you will get girls who are young and beautiful, they might not be virgins but does it matter? According to BMW, you can get any girl with their new car, so does it matter how you treat women? Not in this case.   This advertisement is basically telling you that your teeth are not white enough. It tries to make you feel insecure about your smile, so you buy their gum thinking that it will actually improve your smile rather than ruin your teeth. Out of my years of experience with dentists, I have never heard any of them tell me that I should chew more gum to whiten my teeth.

Although I absolutely love Apple, especially IPods', I have to admit that they know how to sell their product well. They try to show you that without an IPod, your life is boring and you don't have a lot of exciting things going on. However, once you get an IPod you start dancing around and having fun because Apple can solve all your problems. If you have ever ridden any public transportation, you have probably noticed how depressed all the people wearing headphones look. They usually just stare down and ignore everything around them, rather than dance around and have fun. Yet, if you ask Apple without their product your life will be boring and generic. If you want to improve it, buy an IPod. 

This pepsi advertisement is basically showing you that you are not sporty enough. Yet, if you start drinking Pepsi, you will start to play like a real football star. You will be cool, sporty and happy and people will love you. Although, in reality unless your stomach really hurts you probably shouldn't be drinking Pepsi just for fun. It is a known fact, that Pepsi results all kind of health issues. 

Durex is a condom company that will do anything to promote birth control so people buy their products. At the specific ad here, we see a child's sit which means that if you have a child you will have to spend a lot of money. In a way it tells you that having kids is expensive so it's not worth it. Bellow it shows a Durex label with the tag $2,50. It tells you that it's much cheaper to buy a condom than latter spend money on baby expenses. 

I Am Me

When I was younger, I always compared myself with my friends. My best friend throughout childhood was a beautiful blonde girl with blue eyes, I always wished I looked like her. I even dyed my hair lighter a few times in my life because I thought it would make me more attractive. When I got older, a close friend of mine dressed in a very unique way. Her style was a combination of punk and preppy. It's hard to imagine but there was a phase in 7th grade when I wanted to get purple highlights and be more like her and Avril Lavigne. In 8th grade because of another friend, I tried to love rap, luckily I stopped doing that. Later, I desired to be like my friend who was a photographer. However, unlike the previous times, I found myself really into it. Falling in love with that type of art and continuing to do it even when she quit, made me who I am. This was the moment I realized that I am, who I am. It seemed as if I finally understood the old nursery rhyme, "I am special. I am me." In 9th grade, I no longer tried to be like my friends, in fact I decided to dedicate myself to my own style and ideas. I think that  I tried to be more like my friends for too long because of the media. In other words, I loved playing with barbies until the age of 9 or so (this is why I might have wanted to be blonde and blue eyed), Avril Lavigne was popular when I wanted to be a punk, rap music was everywhere when I tried liking it and I started liking photography because I followed different blogs on the net. However, now that I understand that being unique is more important than being like one of your friends or someone in the media, I can finally and confidentially utter after my favorite Sesame Street line, "Yea I know, it may sound sappy but it makes me very happy, yes I am really, really glad I am me"

I Am Glad I am Me

No one looks

The way I do.

I have noticed

That it's true.

No one walks the way I walk.

No one talks the way I talk.

No one plays the way I play.

No one says the things I say.

I am special.

I am me.

There's no one else

I'd rather be!

Sesame street refererence: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=E9NSeBocfDY

Far Away From Perfect

I hope I will also, always see myself as young and as beautiful
as the woman above

Starring at myself for 15 minutes, was not as easy as it seemed before. At first glance, I didn't notice a lot of imperfections. Yet soon enough, I focused on my eyebrows and kept thinking about them for at least a few minutes. Usually, I would just get them done every once in a while but I noticed how they are not in perfect symmetry and that upset me. For some reason, I now completely hate them. I wish that they were more like Angelina Jolie's. The reason I want her eyebrows is because in my opinion she is a perfect example of a combination of female beauty and uniqueness. Besides my eyebrows, I was also bothered by small pimples that I normally don't pay too much attention too. I feel like, I can blame Clearasil commercials for that. In their advertisements everyone has incredibly clear skin. In total, I actually felt pretty happy about my face, I did not feel like I need to change many features and the things that I did not like about myself are not hard to change. However, besides my face, I also looked at my body as a whole. I wish I looked much more feminine than I do now. For that matter, I even thought about getting breast implants some day. Looking at myself for 15 minutes, just made me desire to get that surgery faster. Another flaw, that I payed more attention to are my thighs. I really wish that my inner thighs looked built rather than fat. After watching the Olympics this summer, I understood that if I work hard enough, I might get volleyball thighs and then I would feel a lot better about myself. Sadly, at the end of the 15 minutes I happened to think about the future and understand that 50 years from now, these flaws won't matter much because I will look old and probably pretty ugly. Therefore, I should value what I have now. To conclude, although I don't consider myself incredibly confident in the way I look, I learned to accept most of my imperfections while I was growing-up and understand that the inside is what really matters. Even though, I still don't feel "perfect," I think it is a good thing because I will always look after myself and try moving more towards perfection.

Being overly confident could prevent you from taking care of yourself and result health in health issues. 

Underestimating your looks and hating yourself, could result in Bulimia or Anorexia, which are serious eating disorders.