I'm going to make my last post nice and gushy.
Mothers day is coming up soon! So this last post is on my mother.
My mother is amazing. She has been through so many struggles all on her own and persevered and succeeded in life. She came to this country as a teenager and had to support herself on her own, no parental support. Still, she recognized the importance that being educated has on your life so she began to work and go to night school to the same time. Thinking of this inspires me to continue my college career seeing as she worked so hard for her own and she worked so hard to ultimately help me with college so I wouldn't have to do what she did when she was starting college. When I was the age of 7 she became a single mom and despite the hardships she faced both emotionally and professionally she was able to make her way up to a stable job now as an IT Assistant at LaGuardia Community College and I was able to watch her as she did so, promotion after promotion. When she first started the job she is currently at, she was the only female in her office and despite the men not taking her seriously at first she proved them wrong time and time again with her awesome determination and problem solving skills. Even now she continues to work and now they also pay for her to go to school for her second masters in Digital Forensics and Cybersecurity. She has supported me my entire life and I aspire to be as successful as she's become all on her own. I love my mom for being so powerful and hope to make her proud in the future! I literally could not have asked for a better mom! Love you mom!
Monday, May 8, 2017
Facebook Engineers Gender Bias
https://www.theverge.com/2017/5/2/15517302/facebook-female-engineers-gender-bias-studies-report
Facebook is facing a gender bias scare after one of its former female engineer employees reported that less code by female engineers get passed in the peer review process that the Facebook company has set up. Scared about this being true Facebook attempted to find what the real problem was and what was reported back was that it was not gender but rather rank that got more code passed. this later caused some to theorize that maybe women weren't rising the ranks as engineers because of their gender or because women were falling behind as engineer or that women were just quitting before they could be promoted to a higher rank. This is upsetting seeing as I myself am a female engineer. A civil engineer that is, but an engineer nonetheless. I hope that i get lucky enough in my life not to have to deal with issues like this personally, but as a women in a field dominated by men such as engineering I am prepared to fight for my equality.
Harvard Business School Case Study: Gender Equity
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/08/education/harvard-case-study-gender-equity.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all&
In 2010 , Harvard Business School's first female president appointed a new dean. His goal: to tackle the issue of Gender inequality. Females in the school were struggling especially with participating in class which was a huge part of their grade. A factor that contributed to the gender inequality was the extreme economic gap in the school, the wealthy higher class was called Section X among the students. this contributed to the gender inequality because women were more prone to try to make their way into Section X by dating. Therefore causing women to put more attention into dating rather than their studies. I think that it was a good idea for the deans to put more attention into trying to fix their gender inequality problem but I think they did it in the wrong way. They involved themselves too much into the personal lives of students and then rather then fixing their inequality problem they fed it even more because the new rules they put in place were directed more for the benefit of women and it started to make the inequality negatively effect the men now.
In 2010 , Harvard Business School's first female president appointed a new dean. His goal: to tackle the issue of Gender inequality. Females in the school were struggling especially with participating in class which was a huge part of their grade. A factor that contributed to the gender inequality was the extreme economic gap in the school, the wealthy higher class was called Section X among the students. this contributed to the gender inequality because women were more prone to try to make their way into Section X by dating. Therefore causing women to put more attention into dating rather than their studies. I think that it was a good idea for the deans to put more attention into trying to fix their gender inequality problem but I think they did it in the wrong way. They involved themselves too much into the personal lives of students and then rather then fixing their inequality problem they fed it even more because the new rules they put in place were directed more for the benefit of women and it started to make the inequality negatively effect the men now.
What Real Heroes Will Most Likely Actually Look Like Under Their Costume
It is OK to fantasize but don't forget about the reality and don't expect the fantasy from real life heroes like Women who serve for our country. Both women in this picture are beautiful though.
Know the Difference
Sadly not many don't know that there's a difference between the two and this is one of the reasons why feminists get stereotyped in a bad way.
Post pushed trauma
So.... while we were reading pushed in class I remembered how people reacted to so many things in the book. Some jumped, cringed, shrieked, chuckled, or looked disgusted. I also reacted sometimes as we discussed the book, but I felt I wasn't as affected by what was said in the book as everyone else. As if I was just a bit calmer about the event in the book than everyone else. Thought.
Then one day I get a phone call from my mom. We just start catching up, how's school, how's work, my friend did this, my coworker did that, I miss chocolate(my dog), Chocolate misses you too, and then she drops the bomb on me. "Michelle gave birth yesterday!" I was so excited and happy and I start talking about being excited to see the baby and see my cousin to congratulate her. and then my mom tells me that the day that she gave birth my uncle called her asking if Michelle should take the epidural and once she mentioned epidural, I panicked. I felt as though it was the day before and my cousin was giving birth during the phone call with my mom. I began to think about all the horrible things that we read hospitals and doctors do to speed up the birthing process. I began to regret not having thought of recommending the book to my cousin so that she could be informed that the doctors are going to indirectly pressure her into doing so many things just because it would benefit them and that way on the day that she gives birth she'd be able to recognize these moments and give birth the way she wants to. I was worried and reacting to the book all over again all at the same time while I was talking to my mom. But my mom told me that the advice that she gave her was that if she couldn't handle the pain to take the epidural which is completely valid I just hoped that they didn't give her Pitocin or anything else which might've caused her to ask for an epidural. Luckily the baby came out nice and healthy and my cousin gave birth with out the epidural and she was also doing well. But boy was I scared for a second there.
Then one day I get a phone call from my mom. We just start catching up, how's school, how's work, my friend did this, my coworker did that, I miss chocolate(my dog), Chocolate misses you too, and then she drops the bomb on me. "Michelle gave birth yesterday!" I was so excited and happy and I start talking about being excited to see the baby and see my cousin to congratulate her. and then my mom tells me that the day that she gave birth my uncle called her asking if Michelle should take the epidural and once she mentioned epidural, I panicked. I felt as though it was the day before and my cousin was giving birth during the phone call with my mom. I began to think about all the horrible things that we read hospitals and doctors do to speed up the birthing process. I began to regret not having thought of recommending the book to my cousin so that she could be informed that the doctors are going to indirectly pressure her into doing so many things just because it would benefit them and that way on the day that she gives birth she'd be able to recognize these moments and give birth the way she wants to. I was worried and reacting to the book all over again all at the same time while I was talking to my mom. But my mom told me that the advice that she gave her was that if she couldn't handle the pain to take the epidural which is completely valid I just hoped that they didn't give her Pitocin or anything else which might've caused her to ask for an epidural. Luckily the baby came out nice and healthy and my cousin gave birth with out the epidural and she was also doing well. But boy was I scared for a second there.
Don't Talk Crap About Her Vagina: Part II
Previously:
It was outrageous....
It was outrageous....
The moment I heard about the way a guy talked about my friend's Vagina I lost all respect for the guy.
A while back my friend made the decision to engage in sexual intercourse with this particular guy, a first timer. After a while they finally became a couple. I was but a side character but I knew he had dark humor and had a tendency of spouting offensive statements. I learned from one of his former roommates who was a witness to the offense about something completely unacceptable that the current boyfriend said. The boyfriend had a pile in the corner of his room in which he threw just about anything in. One day he walked in to his room, everyone that lived in the dorm was present, walks to pile, smells it and blurts out loud, "Ew! This pile smells almost as bad as (Current girlfriends name) Vagina!" and just walks away. When the boyfriend's former roommate told me this happened, my jaw dropped.
Part II:
Not only was the boyfriends actions despicable, but a reaction I witnessed after hearing the story had me baffled.
When my friends male best friend heard about this, his first reaction is not outrage from the boyfriend saying something that was clearly meant to be offensive toward her vagina, but rather he said, "I could see that, she's been around." and I was even more disgusted. OK, true, a women's vagina might begin to change smells the more she has sexual intercourse because of the change in PH levels down there, but I knew that what her best friend meant by that was that because she had had sex with so many people, he thought that that made her dirty. And not the sexy talk dirty, but dirty as in nasty and disgusting and he was obviously judging her about that. he said this thinking it was a given that that is what having so much sex means and he thinks about things in old fashion ways because of the way he was raised and because he was never really exposed much to feminist views. But for a women, having sex is just as natural as men having sex, and yet when men have sex, they are praised for it for the most part and women get the negative judgement. And just like men don't like being judged for having a lot of sex by being called "fuck boys" or anything similar, women don't like it either especially not from their best friend. Having a lot of sex is not a bad thing. Women have the same right for this desire as men do and it can only negatively effect them if people find out and begin to judge them or if the sex is not allowing them to progress in life. I ultimately explained myself to her best friend and he saw the error of his ways and hes a better person now because of it. But this is something that everyone should be informed about so many issues can be avoided if people knew about this.
Part II:
Not only was the boyfriends actions despicable, but a reaction I witnessed after hearing the story had me baffled.
When my friends male best friend heard about this, his first reaction is not outrage from the boyfriend saying something that was clearly meant to be offensive toward her vagina, but rather he said, "I could see that, she's been around." and I was even more disgusted. OK, true, a women's vagina might begin to change smells the more she has sexual intercourse because of the change in PH levels down there, but I knew that what her best friend meant by that was that because she had had sex with so many people, he thought that that made her dirty. And not the sexy talk dirty, but dirty as in nasty and disgusting and he was obviously judging her about that. he said this thinking it was a given that that is what having so much sex means and he thinks about things in old fashion ways because of the way he was raised and because he was never really exposed much to feminist views. But for a women, having sex is just as natural as men having sex, and yet when men have sex, they are praised for it for the most part and women get the negative judgement. And just like men don't like being judged for having a lot of sex by being called "fuck boys" or anything similar, women don't like it either especially not from their best friend. Having a lot of sex is not a bad thing. Women have the same right for this desire as men do and it can only negatively effect them if people find out and begin to judge them or if the sex is not allowing them to progress in life. I ultimately explained myself to her best friend and he saw the error of his ways and hes a better person now because of it. But this is something that everyone should be informed about so many issues can be avoided if people knew about this.
Don't Talk Crap About Her Vagina: Part I
It was outrageous....
The moment I heard about the way a guy talked about my friend's Vagina I lost all respect for the guy.
A while back my friend made the decision to engage in sexual intercourse with this particular guy, a first timer. As time passed they continued to be friends and got closer and closer as friends until they finally became a couple. I was but a side character in the entire matter, mostly only friends with the girl in the relationship and I had very few interactions with the boyfriend. But from the few interactions I had with him, he had dark humor and had a tendency of spouting offensive statements. But then I learned from one of his former roommates who was a witness to the offense about something completely unacceptable that happened sometime after their first time having sex and before their becoming a couple. The boyfriend is not such a sanitary guy, so at a certain point he had a pile in the corner of his room in which he threw just about anything in, from trash to clothes to random objects. What happened was that one day he walked in to his room, everyone that lived in the dorm was present, he walks to the pile, smells it and blurts out loud for his entire suite to hear (not in a joking manner), "Ew! This pile smells almost as bad as (Current girlfriends name) Vagina!" and just walks away. When the boyfriend's former roommate told me this happened, my jaw dropped. I was outraged by what my friend's boyfriend once said about her.
Even if they were not dating just yet, and he is naturally offensive its ridiculous that he even thought it was OK to say something like that about her vagina and especially in front of other people. That's her vagina, that is a natural part of her that she does not have to change unless she desires to, and vaginas are not meant to look or smell pretty or meant to change to be pretty just because of a man. Yes it is OK for people other than the owner of a vagina to talk about their vagina with the consent of the owner and it is OK for everyone to talk about vaginas in general, but it is only OK if the vagina is spoken about with maturity and respect. And another thing. This was his first time having sex, so this statement he blurted out to his roommates, who would most likely take this for granted as they have no other source, might not even of been true at all. This was the first time he took part in any form of sexual activity, so for all he could know, her vagina could smell like all other "normal" smelling vaginas. And even if her vagina smelled like the most disgusting thing in the world, he had no right to announce this to the rest of his roommates. Just like men don't like it when women talk crap about a man's penis, like its size, women don't like it when men talk crap about their vagina. Most women are already insecure about their body with clothes on, there shouldn't also be a reason for women to be insecure about a body part, which has more than just a sexual purpose for a women. For men it is only serves a sexual purpose for them, therefore if they're not educated about a women's body parts, not given consent to talk about it, or just not willing to be mature and respectful about it then they should not be talking about another women's vagina.
Even if they were not dating just yet, and he is naturally offensive its ridiculous that he even thought it was OK to say something like that about her vagina and especially in front of other people. That's her vagina, that is a natural part of her that she does not have to change unless she desires to, and vaginas are not meant to look or smell pretty or meant to change to be pretty just because of a man. Yes it is OK for people other than the owner of a vagina to talk about their vagina with the consent of the owner and it is OK for everyone to talk about vaginas in general, but it is only OK if the vagina is spoken about with maturity and respect. And another thing. This was his first time having sex, so this statement he blurted out to his roommates, who would most likely take this for granted as they have no other source, might not even of been true at all. This was the first time he took part in any form of sexual activity, so for all he could know, her vagina could smell like all other "normal" smelling vaginas. And even if her vagina smelled like the most disgusting thing in the world, he had no right to announce this to the rest of his roommates. Just like men don't like it when women talk crap about a man's penis, like its size, women don't like it when men talk crap about their vagina. Most women are already insecure about their body with clothes on, there shouldn't also be a reason for women to be insecure about a body part, which has more than just a sexual purpose for a women. For men it is only serves a sexual purpose for them, therefore if they're not educated about a women's body parts, not given consent to talk about it, or just not willing to be mature and respectful about it then they should not be talking about another women's vagina.
I Will Shave My Head In 3 Years
Dear Family and Friends,
In 3 years or less, depending on how fast my hair grows and how long I want it, I will shave my head. Do Not Panic. I am not doing this to rebel. My hair is not a symbol of femininity that I am loping off to signify that I have changed what gender I identify as or my sexual orientation. I am still me. Same old Chantal, except bald. I know that this might be even more difficult for my Hispanic family to understand. The last time I went to Ecuador, no matter how hard you look, its nearly impossible to find women with short hair. That was this past summer in 2016, and I had cut my hair so short that they had to shave the hairs on the back of my neck too, and when I came to Ecuador with hair at that length everyone was amazed. First of all, of the elders looked at me like I was crazy at first, but when I told them that i cut my hair in order to donate to cancer they lightened up because now they were assured that I didn't do this because I was coming out as gay. why would they think that? Because in many Hispanic households and other cultures as well long hair is meant to be for women and short hair for men, and if you switch the two its as if to others, the roles switch as well, even though its the same person. if i came out as gay, that would've been their worst nightmare seeing as they are all extremely religious traditional people. But even with explaining my reasons they still seemed hesitant about accepting my decision as they would say subtle discouragements like only old people cut there hair that short because its easier to maintain or stuff about missing my old long beautiful luscious hair. Second of all, all of my cousins thought I was the bravest person in the world for cutting all of it off. when i spoke to them about it they told me they would, never cut all their hair off like I did. My female cousins were a mix of middle schoolers, high schoolers, and college students, and yet I know that the reason that they could not imagine cutting off their hair is because they consider it as another way to represent their femininity and use it mainly to attract guys. They spend hours getting their hair ready along with their makeup and clothes, not to satisfy themselves, but rather to catch themselves a man. If their hair is gone how are they supposed to compete with other girls to impress guys. Another thing was that my male cousins thought that now that I had cut my hair I was "cool" or a "rebel" therefore they desired to interact with me more as if I was now "one of the guys", and don't get me wrong, its not like i don't like interacting with my male cousins, its just the fact that they treated me differently because apparently cutting my hair had created a whole knew me for them. Now imagine the situation when I go bald. Once again, this time around, I'm going to shave my head in order to donate hair to cancer. That is my reasoning, but why am I really writing this letter to you all. I love you all, but please, I'd like it if you could learn not to assume things based on my physical appearance, based on my hair, and based on gender stereotypes.
Love,
Same Old Chantal 💗
In 3 years or less, depending on how fast my hair grows and how long I want it, I will shave my head. Do Not Panic. I am not doing this to rebel. My hair is not a symbol of femininity that I am loping off to signify that I have changed what gender I identify as or my sexual orientation. I am still me. Same old Chantal, except bald. I know that this might be even more difficult for my Hispanic family to understand. The last time I went to Ecuador, no matter how hard you look, its nearly impossible to find women with short hair. That was this past summer in 2016, and I had cut my hair so short that they had to shave the hairs on the back of my neck too, and when I came to Ecuador with hair at that length everyone was amazed. First of all, of the elders looked at me like I was crazy at first, but when I told them that i cut my hair in order to donate to cancer they lightened up because now they were assured that I didn't do this because I was coming out as gay. why would they think that? Because in many Hispanic households and other cultures as well long hair is meant to be for women and short hair for men, and if you switch the two its as if to others, the roles switch as well, even though its the same person. if i came out as gay, that would've been their worst nightmare seeing as they are all extremely religious traditional people. But even with explaining my reasons they still seemed hesitant about accepting my decision as they would say subtle discouragements like only old people cut there hair that short because its easier to maintain or stuff about missing my old long beautiful luscious hair. Second of all, all of my cousins thought I was the bravest person in the world for cutting all of it off. when i spoke to them about it they told me they would, never cut all their hair off like I did. My female cousins were a mix of middle schoolers, high schoolers, and college students, and yet I know that the reason that they could not imagine cutting off their hair is because they consider it as another way to represent their femininity and use it mainly to attract guys. They spend hours getting their hair ready along with their makeup and clothes, not to satisfy themselves, but rather to catch themselves a man. If their hair is gone how are they supposed to compete with other girls to impress guys. Another thing was that my male cousins thought that now that I had cut my hair I was "cool" or a "rebel" therefore they desired to interact with me more as if I was now "one of the guys", and don't get me wrong, its not like i don't like interacting with my male cousins, its just the fact that they treated me differently because apparently cutting my hair had created a whole knew me for them. Now imagine the situation when I go bald. Once again, this time around, I'm going to shave my head in order to donate hair to cancer. That is my reasoning, but why am I really writing this letter to you all. I love you all, but please, I'd like it if you could learn not to assume things based on my physical appearance, based on my hair, and based on gender stereotypes.
Love,
Same Old Chantal 💗
Wednesday, May 3, 2017
Get with the Program Ross
Spoiler (if you are currently watching "Friends" or ever plan to see it or care): In season 3 episode 4 of "Friends", The one with the Metaphorical Tunnel, Ross has some issues with his son Ben Playing with a Barbie doll because, A, Barbie dolls are stereotypically meant to be for girls, and B, because Ben is being raised mainly by two Lesbian women, Ross is worried that Ben's having a Barbie might make Ben grow up to be gay as well. Not cool Ross, don't try to shove a G.I.Joe action figure at your son because "that's what boy's are supposed to play with." This episode of "Friends" luckily ridicules Ross for being against the toy his son picked out himself and at the end it was revealed that Ross himself used to, when he was a little boy, dress up as a girl, called himself Beau, Played with a tea set, and had a whole song to go with it too, and just because he did so didn't make him grow up to be gay or anything along those lines.
Tuesday, March 7, 2017
Get a Job Cinderella
That is, if you subtract the fact that Cinderella took place in 17th Century France, in which the only way a women could hope to possibly move up in life was to marry into a higher class family or relying on the husband to move them a bit higher in social class, and even then high class women were expected to organize and supervise servants and were mostly educated in music and embroidery. What time it was to be a women... Sadly, some men and women still hold these expectations for women.
How much further are we expected to go!
Thought this was hilarious. Although expectations for the bodies of Women is a serious matter. This really makes you understand how ridiculous and unrealistic many of those expectations are and pokes fun at the idea of even having body expectations. And it's even more perfect because Mannequins are designed to look like the ideal body for a male or female, so the caption and picture work so well with each other. I cracked up so hard.😆
Monday, February 13, 2017
2 Dope Queens
Bonus Episode! Boo-boo Ass Milk
In this Episode of 2 Dope Queens, they talk a special guest, Nicole Byer from the MTV show Loosely Exactly Nicole. Nicole is a happily not married woman living in LA, and Pheobe and Jessica were making small talk with Nicole about how her life is going in LA. And then they ask her how she likes the men in LA, and she says, "LA dudes suck!"something that caught me by surprise. I'd never heard someone have such hatred for men of a specific state or city. But, her reasoning made so much sense. At first when I heard her say that LA dudes suck, I thought she meant she thought they were all unattractive, which was hard to imagine for me because I find almost everyone attractive. But her reasoning was because the Men in LA only ever go for what they know there is an abundance of in LA, Perfect blondes. With, the incentive that most women in LA have to look like the same perfect surfer chick that California is known for because of movies, TV shows, commercials, magazines, etc, Most women end up doing what ever they can to become that. And its not hard to accomplish in LA, what with plastic surgeries, tanning salons, and so on. Because this type of woman is what is expected from women in LA, the men only go for these types of women. The go on and compare the Women in LA to the women you would find that'd be on the bachelor or the bachelorette. Basically, the same normal white women with generic jobs and if there is ever an ethnic woman who may be the most interesting character there, there are seen as too wild or crazy and aren't given any of the bachelors attention. And then they compare the LA men to the men in NY, in which the men in New York are ready these type of ethnic women. And this is mostly because of all the ethnic diversity their is in New York and this diversity is celebrated often, despite there still not being enough representation of different races and body sizes in models on posters and magazines, there is no arguing that compared to LA the spectrum of dateable women in NY is much wider than that of of those in LA. Another topic they talked about was Nicole Byer being her own boss for her show. She confessed that she realized that she really isn't her own boss because MTV has control over the show, but some advice that she gave was to never back down. If she wanted something she was going to make it known that that is what she wanted, and she pointed out that men don't listen. And she said that if they don't you have to be more assertive, and if your boss tells you that you came off as a bitch, then you go ahead and tell them that in no way is that considered being a bitch, that is called being a woman who knows what she wants. She goes on saying that, its unfair that male comedians get to say and do what they want yet woman have to hold back, and that it shouldn't be that way. Of course all of this was said in a much sassier way but none the less, it was empowering advice.
In this Episode of 2 Dope Queens, they talk a special guest, Nicole Byer from the MTV show Loosely Exactly Nicole. Nicole is a happily not married woman living in LA, and Pheobe and Jessica were making small talk with Nicole about how her life is going in LA. And then they ask her how she likes the men in LA, and she says, "LA dudes suck!"something that caught me by surprise. I'd never heard someone have such hatred for men of a specific state or city. But, her reasoning made so much sense. At first when I heard her say that LA dudes suck, I thought she meant she thought they were all unattractive, which was hard to imagine for me because I find almost everyone attractive. But her reasoning was because the Men in LA only ever go for what they know there is an abundance of in LA, Perfect blondes. With, the incentive that most women in LA have to look like the same perfect surfer chick that California is known for because of movies, TV shows, commercials, magazines, etc, Most women end up doing what ever they can to become that. And its not hard to accomplish in LA, what with plastic surgeries, tanning salons, and so on. Because this type of woman is what is expected from women in LA, the men only go for these types of women. The go on and compare the Women in LA to the women you would find that'd be on the bachelor or the bachelorette. Basically, the same normal white women with generic jobs and if there is ever an ethnic woman who may be the most interesting character there, there are seen as too wild or crazy and aren't given any of the bachelors attention. And then they compare the LA men to the men in NY, in which the men in New York are ready these type of ethnic women. And this is mostly because of all the ethnic diversity their is in New York and this diversity is celebrated often, despite there still not being enough representation of different races and body sizes in models on posters and magazines, there is no arguing that compared to LA the spectrum of dateable women in NY is much wider than that of of those in LA. Another topic they talked about was Nicole Byer being her own boss for her show. She confessed that she realized that she really isn't her own boss because MTV has control over the show, but some advice that she gave was to never back down. If she wanted something she was going to make it known that that is what she wanted, and she pointed out that men don't listen. And she said that if they don't you have to be more assertive, and if your boss tells you that you came off as a bitch, then you go ahead and tell them that in no way is that considered being a bitch, that is called being a woman who knows what she wants. She goes on saying that, its unfair that male comedians get to say and do what they want yet woman have to hold back, and that it shouldn't be that way. Of course all of this was said in a much sassier way but none the less, it was empowering advice.
Monday, January 30, 2017
Disney, The Media, and Body Images
This is something that I am very conflicted about. In Class we were talking about how being a feminist makes people more confident about their body image. I agree with this because with the understanding of what feminism is, people are more likely to understand that images let out by the media of what men and women are "supposed" to look like should not actually be taken seriously. But then, after that I started to think about body images in the eyes of children. When the class me for the first time, we discussed the purpose of psychology of women and in one of the slides of the power point titled "Why do we need the psychology of women?" one of the reasons was "Because little girls learn these body ideals at a certain age." I agree that this is unfortunate because this is how kids grow up to have eating disorders and insecurities, but I don't know if I agree with the way some people bash on Disney because of their disproportionate princesses and princes. Are we being a little harsh on Disney? Of course it can be justified by parents worried for their children, but then what does that mean for Disney's animation style?
Another style of drawing people that is similar to what Disney does with its princes and princesses is found in anime or manga; basically a Japanese style of animation, stereo typically know to have female characters with giant eyes, tiny lips and noses, and an extremely curvy body, including the small waist. Does this mean that Anime and manga have to stop being made in this manner too. But another thing that contributes to the way that Disney is criticized for its characters is because of the age group it markets itself to. Does that mean that Characters like Ariel and sleeping beauty should now only be marketed to adults, because more mature audiences are able to understand that these are but mere cartoons. But then again, there are some adults out there who even take shows like Family Guy and South Park and The Simpsons seriously even though they are obviously satires. So does that now mean that we have to bar every piece of animation and media that might end up being taken seriously?
I think that the way that the characters are animated is being taken way too seriously, and it is unfortunate that Disney gets all the bad wrap for teaching children these bad things about body images because of these animations. I say this because, ok, Disney is partly to blame for getting these images into children's minds, but not once does a Disney Princess ever say, "This is what pretty looks like!" or "Everyone, should look like me!" No, only the images enter these kids brains. Images, that without care, left unexplained, can form into ideas of what beauty should look like. That is why I feel bad for Disney taking all the blame for teaching children these wrong body ideals, because Parents are also partly to blame for not having explained to their children at an early age, or at a time they see fit, that it is OK to be skinny but that everyone comes in various different shapes and sizes. This is a conversation that parents usually only bring up when kids go into their pre-teens but by then the images of these princesses and now pop stars and models have already been ingrained in their mind as an ideal body type.
Times have changed. I feel like now that more people that learned about what feminism truly is are probably parents by now and hopefully are enforcing these feminist views on their children at an early age. This is why I really liked the reading assigned to us the first week by Obama. The future of every child depends on what their parents, elders, and authorities teach them. So, in the future, if our children are taught feminist views, then I don't think a skinny princess or supermodel with a tiny waist would scare parents anymore in the way it scares parents now because of the fear that their children will become anorexic, for example, as a result. I honestly think that if there's still any problem with Disney characters and other forms of media, I'd hope by now that its not because the model or princess is skinny and of the claim that they are unrealistic representations of the human body, because I hope that in the near future we will already have taught our children that not everyone naturally looks like that; but if anything it would be about the lack of representation of other body types in the media. Because as a feminist, I also don't think it is OK to hate on those who have worked hard to be "skinny" or in other words fit or even if they are that way naturally. Therefore having skinny people represented in the media isn't the real problem. The real problem with the media and Disney is not representing all body types. Representing all body types is something Disney used to do with shows like "That's so Raven" and "Lilo and stitch" and something, that with recent backlash, has started to do again with Characters like Kristoff from Frozen and their new Princess Moana.
Another style of drawing people that is similar to what Disney does with its princes and princesses is found in anime or manga; basically a Japanese style of animation, stereo typically know to have female characters with giant eyes, tiny lips and noses, and an extremely curvy body, including the small waist. Does this mean that Anime and manga have to stop being made in this manner too. But another thing that contributes to the way that Disney is criticized for its characters is because of the age group it markets itself to. Does that mean that Characters like Ariel and sleeping beauty should now only be marketed to adults, because more mature audiences are able to understand that these are but mere cartoons. But then again, there are some adults out there who even take shows like Family Guy and South Park and The Simpsons seriously even though they are obviously satires. So does that now mean that we have to bar every piece of animation and media that might end up being taken seriously?
I think that the way that the characters are animated is being taken way too seriously, and it is unfortunate that Disney gets all the bad wrap for teaching children these bad things about body images because of these animations. I say this because, ok, Disney is partly to blame for getting these images into children's minds, but not once does a Disney Princess ever say, "This is what pretty looks like!" or "Everyone, should look like me!" No, only the images enter these kids brains. Images, that without care, left unexplained, can form into ideas of what beauty should look like. That is why I feel bad for Disney taking all the blame for teaching children these wrong body ideals, because Parents are also partly to blame for not having explained to their children at an early age, or at a time they see fit, that it is OK to be skinny but that everyone comes in various different shapes and sizes. This is a conversation that parents usually only bring up when kids go into their pre-teens but by then the images of these princesses and now pop stars and models have already been ingrained in their mind as an ideal body type.
Times have changed. I feel like now that more people that learned about what feminism truly is are probably parents by now and hopefully are enforcing these feminist views on their children at an early age. This is why I really liked the reading assigned to us the first week by Obama. The future of every child depends on what their parents, elders, and authorities teach them. So, in the future, if our children are taught feminist views, then I don't think a skinny princess or supermodel with a tiny waist would scare parents anymore in the way it scares parents now because of the fear that their children will become anorexic, for example, as a result. I honestly think that if there's still any problem with Disney characters and other forms of media, I'd hope by now that its not because the model or princess is skinny and of the claim that they are unrealistic representations of the human body, because I hope that in the near future we will already have taught our children that not everyone naturally looks like that; but if anything it would be about the lack of representation of other body types in the media. Because as a feminist, I also don't think it is OK to hate on those who have worked hard to be "skinny" or in other words fit or even if they are that way naturally. Therefore having skinny people represented in the media isn't the real problem. The real problem with the media and Disney is not representing all body types. Representing all body types is something Disney used to do with shows like "That's so Raven" and "Lilo and stitch" and something, that with recent backlash, has started to do again with Characters like Kristoff from Frozen and their new Princess Moana.
Monday, January 23, 2017
First Week Psych Blog
Friday, January 20th, our psych of woman class had its first class discussion about readings that we were assigned. both of which i found interesting. we were assigned a book called we should all be feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and a passage by Barack Obama, "This is what a feminist looks like".
In the book, Adichie presents a Modified version of a speech she delivered at a TEDxEuston in 2012. She hits important Points about what feminism is and misconceptions about it. She also talks about the various violations based on gender there are, being as there are many that most don't notice because we've become so accustomed to them. For example she talks about when she was in primary school there was a test in order to be class monitor and she got the highest score but didn't get the position because the teacher forgot to specify that it had to be a male, despite the rule being that the one with the highest score would get the job. And the she ties this in to the grown up world in which despite the woman who might be better at something than men, if what happened to her in Primary school, in which it was assumed that it was obvious a make had to be the class monitor, continues through all of their life, it'll soon just be assumed that men should take top positions and not women. This is only one of the topics she touches on, but every thing she mentions, every experience can be related to, from female and male perspectives. While going around in the class I was able to see exactly what Adichie was trying to get at in her book. She says, "Yes, there's a problem with gender as it is today and we must fix it, we must do better." and this is her definition of a feminist, man or woman. Both the males and the females in are class were able to recognize these gender problems and so I agree with Adichie, in saying that we should all be feminists.
In "This is what a feminist looks like." by Barak Obama, what I like about this passage is that one of the reasons why he is saying all of this is in order to open the eyes of those who believe that only woman are feminists. He later goes on to explain why he is a feminist, which is because of all of strong influences by woman in his life and also for the sake of his daughter. But i cannot agree more with him saying that we should tech our Kids, boys and girls the same set of rules and morals, rather then setting different rules for them because of their gender. an example of this wrong way of raising kids that he gives us is raising girls to be demure and boys assertive. I love this idea because then these kids will grow up to be more so equal than their parents generation and have a brighter future to look forward to.
In the book, Adichie presents a Modified version of a speech she delivered at a TEDxEuston in 2012. She hits important Points about what feminism is and misconceptions about it. She also talks about the various violations based on gender there are, being as there are many that most don't notice because we've become so accustomed to them. For example she talks about when she was in primary school there was a test in order to be class monitor and she got the highest score but didn't get the position because the teacher forgot to specify that it had to be a male, despite the rule being that the one with the highest score would get the job. And the she ties this in to the grown up world in which despite the woman who might be better at something than men, if what happened to her in Primary school, in which it was assumed that it was obvious a make had to be the class monitor, continues through all of their life, it'll soon just be assumed that men should take top positions and not women. This is only one of the topics she touches on, but every thing she mentions, every experience can be related to, from female and male perspectives. While going around in the class I was able to see exactly what Adichie was trying to get at in her book. She says, "Yes, there's a problem with gender as it is today and we must fix it, we must do better." and this is her definition of a feminist, man or woman. Both the males and the females in are class were able to recognize these gender problems and so I agree with Adichie, in saying that we should all be feminists.
In "This is what a feminist looks like." by Barak Obama, what I like about this passage is that one of the reasons why he is saying all of this is in order to open the eyes of those who believe that only woman are feminists. He later goes on to explain why he is a feminist, which is because of all of strong influences by woman in his life and also for the sake of his daughter. But i cannot agree more with him saying that we should tech our Kids, boys and girls the same set of rules and morals, rather then setting different rules for them because of their gender. an example of this wrong way of raising kids that he gives us is raising girls to be demure and boys assertive. I love this idea because then these kids will grow up to be more so equal than their parents generation and have a brighter future to look forward to.
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