Putting the ACE in Facebook…

First thing’s first.  Watch this.  It’s entertaining, and educational.  …Sort of.

 Ok, work with me a bit here.  We’re heading down UHall and the hallway is pretty packed.  We walk by a girl talking about embarassing pictures that someone tagged of her on Facebook, from the wild night before.  We see people lined up on the computers, all on Facebook, editing their profiles, adding a new favorite band, looking at pictures, and writing inside jokes on their friends’ wall.  We see Facebook on the cover of the Meliorist.  That means it MUST be popular (*nudge).  Well, my rambling does have a point, and it is that this little picture I’ve painted you is familiar, is it not? If it isn’t, you are probably oblivious to everything going on around you. Facebook.  It’s big.  And it’s bad.  I’m dramatic, I know, but I’m on Facebook right now.  And you probably are too.  

The issue that arises with social networking websites such as Facebook, along with its brothers, Nexopia, MySpace, and HiFive, is if they are detrimental to our interpersonal relationships, and ‘real,’ face-to-face social interaction OR do they aid us in our social worlds?  The reason I’ve decided to blog on this particular subject is because my views have recently changed on it.  I’ve always kind of labelled people who spend too much time on their computers as ‘geeky’ or ‘antisocial.’  However,the other day, my computer went down…and it was the end of my life as I knew it.  This has never really happened to me before.  I came to the realization that my life pretty much depends on my computer and I also was shocked to realize how much time I ACTUALLY spend on it.  So that was kind of my wake-up call and the point at which my views on Facebook also changed.  See, I linked computers with antisocialism. But when my computer died, I wasn’t really worried about homework or the whether or the news…I needed to SOCIALIZE…I need facebook.  So I realized that facebook is a REAL form of socializing, and I find it assists in face-to-face interaction as well.  Before this little incident (which at the time seemed like the end of the world) I viewed facebook as detracting from ‘real’ life and ‘real’ relationships (although I was still hooked).  Of course it is different in the sense that the server could ’cut us off’ at any time and our profiles and relationships could disappear in a second.  I think that’s part of what made me think Facebook friendships are not ’real.’  Now, however, upon heavy reflection of my Facebook experience, I understand that these relationships can be very real indeed, and also extremely useful.  Facebook is a remarkably valuable tool… if used correctly.  (That last part was pertaining to the homework procrastination and avoidance that has diseased many innocent, unexpecting Facebookers).  But social networking and connections is what can make or break a lot of things for us, today.  If we know the right people, we can get ahead, in many aspects…from getting into the new nightclub, to getting a job.  A lot of us depend on online communication and networking.  And a lot of us would be thankful for avoiding long lines at the nightclub.

Ok, that’s it from me.  There will be no next time, so…all i can really say is……

Great class PK. Thanks.

Consume this!

 

Ahhh, the oh so hilarious IKEA commercial.  I think of a few things when I watch this ad…

a) my former field hockey coach who tyrannically directed the bus driver to go an hour out of the way on a 7 hour road trip so that we could stop at IKEA

b) the 15 other girls ON the bus who did NOT object to this, and who all stocked up on neat little bamboo plants for their room or cool bowls they got for half-price and

c) the Ikea scene from fight club

and

d) my mom.  But let’s focus on c) fight club.  In case we’re a little foggy on that epic scene, let’s have a little refresher…

 

 

There we go. Better? Well where my mind is taking me with this one is anti-consumerism.  I’ve always admired those who stand up for it, if it’s something they truly believe in.  But I mock the ones who try so hard to be anti-establishment and anti-consumerism, but actually contribute to capitalist society anyways.  We call them “rebel consumers” I believe.  Hey, at least I admit I consume and sometimes enjoy it a little too much.  I accept the fact that we are a capitalist society and consuming pretty much makes the world go round.  But then I hang out with conspiracy theory maniacs and maybe read  some No Logo, Adbuster type literature and I get all uncomfortable that I consume the way I do.  Then I remember that I can’t handle the fact that people (myself included most of the time, unfortunately…but I get brownie points for being honest) consume in an effort to distinguish themselves from others… “to show that they are cooler (Nike shoes), better connected (the latest nightclub), better informed (single-malt Scotch), morally superior (Guatemalan handcrafts), or just plain richer (BMWs)”. –Heath & Potter.  I can’t handle that we buy things for so cheap, that have cost others so much.  We, consumers take convenience and low prices over human dignity and environmental sustainability and producers don’t really care what’s going on as long as a profit is being made.  You don’t have to be a big conspiracy theory type person to understand this is corrupt. 

It’s kind of like seeing starving children from
Africa on TV.  We see these kids and we feel bad and say “oh, that’s terrible.”  But then we finish our three course meal and shut off the news and go about our business as if we never even saw it.  We KNOW that people and our Earth are being exploited for a profit, yet we never cease to consume and maybe the most we do about it is create a ‘Buy Nothing Day’. 

 

And that’s epitome of what I am. I consume and consume and then remember how I ACUTALLY feel about it- that it’s corrupt and evil etcetera etcetera. And then maybe I’ll participate in something like Buy Nothing Day. And maybe I’ll even have a heated discussion at the dinner table with my dad about the evils of consumerism.  That DOES sound like a promising Saturday night.  But really, we have to keep on consuming.  That’s how our 21^st century world works.  It’s a problem is all I can say.  But at the end of the day I just shut off the television, shaking my head at how horrible those starving children have it over there in Africa, and I go to sleep, rubbing my belly, full after devouring a three course meal.   A solution?!!….

  

Enough Youtube videos you say? Heheh. I appologize. And I am also sorry about my pessimistic take on our society.  There IS hope for us.  I just don’t know what it is.  Maybe the anti-consumerism patch?

Until next time,

Your Gloomy Gus cynic of a friend,

iliketogroceryshop J

Ok, let’s get something straight

 

 Ok, let’s get something straight (no pun intended)….gay people like people of the same-sex, and straight people like people of the opposite sex.  That is PRETTY much the only difference between gay people and straight people. We thinks we’re so smart, and can identify a gay man by the clothes he wears, or the way he talks, or his body language.  We think we can pick out a lesbian from a crowd because maybe she shaved her head or dresses “butch.”  But I’m pretty sure there are no set characteristics that define a person’s sexual orientation.  Okay, sure some gay guys talk in a higher pitched voice, and do the bent wrist thing and like to shop, but guess what…so do some straight guys.  That’s right.  I thought I was so smart, and had good “gaydar” as a buddy of mine calls it.  But here’s my litte sentimental anecdote….my friend has a “feminine” wave- so when he sees me, he puts his little hand up and it kind of ‘flutters’ and ‘flaps’ and he does this cute little eyelash bash.  He runs kind of ”girly” and dresses very stylish and enjoys a day at the mall.  A typical gay man, obviously right? So one day I said something that illuded to his being gay, but he stopped me abrubtly and told me he wasn’t and that he had a girlfriend.  I felt VERY stupid and ashamed for playing on stereotypical ”gay” assumptions.  It wasn’t enough that I made a fool out of myself, I also embarassed HIM.  

 It is ridiculous to categorize all gay and lesbian people into one “culture” with a truck load of false stereotypes.  But i think that there IS a ‘gay culture’ because it’s been created and perpetuated by the media.  TV shows portray the lisping, ’feminine’, wrist-bending gay men and the ‘butch’, leather-wearing, short-haired lesbian. On one hand I feel it’s important to have a representation of gay & lesbian people in the media, but in the way they are being represented, gay people are typecasted as a certain kind of person that acts and dresses a certain kind of way, and this is being all wrapped up in a nice little package with a neat little bow and being called gay “culture”.  No. Really it’s more like gay-stereotypes-that-made-Caitlin-look-like-a-judgmental-fool-and-embarassed-her-friend.  There’s still something wrong here though, because gay and lesbian people SHOULD be proud and should be able to take pride in their ‘culture’…but this culture is superficial and crammed with false identities.  Again, on one hand…it’s great that the media is increasing its representation of gay and lesbian people, but it’s HOW they are being portrayed that really matters.  Quality over quantity my friends, quality over quantity. 

Brian’s cousin, Jasper on Family Guy.   

Jack from Will & Grace

When Meg (Ron) becomes a lesbian on Family Guy

Big Gay Al from South Park

I’ll stop now…but we get the point don’t we?

Until next time,

iliketogroceryshop 

“A Racey Twist”

I may be a little behind the times-probably because I’m just too busy blogging all the time hehe- but did this Survivor Cook Islands, racial segregation thing ACTUALLY go down?!  Are we for serious here? If separating 20 people into “racial” groups of ‘whites’, ‘blacks’, ‘asians’, and ‘hispanics’ to compete against each other is a “valuable social experiment”, it is being led by one HELL of a mad scientist.  That is so WRONG on so many levels, my brain hurts just trying to wrap my mind around it.  First of all…there IS no such thing as race, as most of us sociologists are probably already aware of.  It’s pretty much COMPLETELY socially constructed.  Sure, there are biological differences between people, but what, for instance, makes someone “black”?  Does one parent have to also be “black”?  Do you have to have ”black” skin?…What IS ”black” skin?  There are people with VERY dark skin, and those with lighter dark skin…how can we tell?  And probably the bigger question is WHY do we WANT to tell?  Why do we have this inclination to separate ourselves from others and put superficial labels on people?   

As if racial stereotypes aren’t already all over entertainment television, now they are being perpetuated on REALITY TV.   Because the groups are separated according to ‘race’, it is THAT much easier and more likely that generalizations will be made about a certain group because all the members in that group are of the same ‘race.’  For example, we (and by ‘we’ I in no way mean ME…)may have the pre-existing idea that ‘white’ people are smarter, and so if the “white” tribe wins a knowledge-testing challenge, our pre-existing idea might be re-emphasized and those stereotypes become legitimized.  I think that each tribe should be culturally diverse and should not be focusing on ‘race’, which doesn’t even EXIST.  That just encourages society to make distinctions between people who look or talk differently than the NORM (white, and English), and categorize them into different groups, each with their very own unique set of stereotypes.

Yes, Jeff Probst, not only do you get to stir up some controversy and raise your ratings, you ALSO get the bonus of setting the human race back a couple hundred years.  Fantastic.

                                                              

Man abuse

 

We’ve been discussing how women are portrayed in the media and how that portrayal has a huge impact on how women see themselves. I saw a movie today though, that got me thinking about how MEN are portrayed in the media and how they are affected and socialized through the media-implemented stereotype of what a “real man” is.  Masculinity is socially constructed to mean toughness, strength, being in control, independent, dominant and powerful.  In movies Clint Eastwood, Sylvester Stallone, and Arnold Schwarzenegger perpetuate this stereotype, as does Professional wrestling which shows how a man is supposed to look.  REAL men are supposed to be sculpted, muscular, and big.  If a man is not tough and not intimidating and not strong, he is taken as a “pussy”, “fag”, “wimp”, “bitch”, “mamma’s boy” and more that I just won’t get into.  Just to clear things up…this is from a movie that I have very recently seen. These names were answers that came up in an interview of a diverse group of boys/men when asked ”What are you if you’re not a ‘real man’?”  

So guys, like women in today’s society, have an ideal standard, largely set by the media that they are held against and to which they are judged accordingly.  Although, I don’t think the media-created alpha male standard is as blantant and obvious as the sexualized and objectified stereotype of a woman, I DO think it is almost as, or just as prevalent.  Obviously, most of us realize how unrealistic these portrayals are and that they are to a great extent, unattainable. However, that does not change the fact that a hell of a lot of us try to be as close to our gender-specific ideals as possible, and can’t help but to compare ourselves to the ideal male or ideal female portrayed in the media today.

I’m sorry, she’s terminal. It’s booborexia.

All that booborexia talk last wednesday got me thinking pretty good and long about this body-image shattering epidemic.  The blame game often comes up with this subject and the question asked is…is society and advertising to blame by putting unrealistic images out there and creating a false ideal of what a women should look like?  Orrrr are the women who are buying into these false ideals and getting breast augmentation to blame for perpetuating the fakeness and becoming a part of the unrealistic standard against which all other women are held….??? 

 Well I don’t really think it’s possible to single out any one ‘culprit’.  I think it’s a cycle.  Advertisers put ads out that objectify women and portray them unrealistically by making them look a certain way- with a toned, bronzed body, and ‘big perfect breasts’.  Women see these ads and many of us think that that is what we are supposed to look like.  So women go and ask the plastic surgeon to look like Pam Anderson or Carmen Electra.  The fake images and ideals are perpetuated and these women become part of the standard that other women try to live up to.  It’s a very dirty cycle as one can see, and one that probably won’t stop until SOME sort of action is taken.  And I’m not going to lie here, I have NO idea what kind of action that would be.  I’m completely lost.  It’s daunting to even think about.  These fake body-images of women have been stamped so hard and deep into our society and into the minds of women everywhere that it seems nearly impossible to remove them.  I think some women try  to fight against the ’modelesque woman stereotype’, myself included, but I still find myself comparing my body to “theirs” and obviously always ending up disappointed.  I hate that I do this, but I do and so does virtually every other woman out there.  So what if we can find out who to blame booborexia on…what can we actually DO about it???….

PS…split infinitive is grammatical construction in which a word or phrase, usually an adverb or adverbial phrase, occurs between the marker to and the bare infinitive (uninflected) form of a verb.  FYI…

Keep flax from fire, youth from gaming.

I’ve decided that I AM going to let my children play videogames.  For those that do not know…I was currently debating with myself whether or not I will actually allow my kids to play videogames.  And for the record I don’t have kids, but my room mate and I have a special little affection for kids (hence becoming teachers) and we always talk about our unborn children.  Anyways, if that didn’t creep you out enough, I’ll just keep going with my thought if you don’t mind.

  See I was really on the fence with videogames.  I don’t want my kids sitting in front of the television with blank stares on their faces exercising their thumbs all day.  I would want them to be outside playing and going to soccer practice.  That’s right. I’m gonna be a soccer mom, complete with the coffee and minivan and everything.  I also don’t want them to be negatively influenced by all the violence that is incorporated in videogames these days.  Just the other day I saw an ad for the 50 Cent game called Bulletproof…appropriately titled.  Now I must admit, 50 cent has some downright awesome music.  Yes it’s true, I’m a G-unit fan/wannabe soccer mom.  But I like the beats of his music ok.  Anyways, I don’t want to be offending 50, but that videogame looks AWFUL!  He just goes around the streets shooting people and throwing knives or something?  And how about all the rest of the games that include people being blown up, beaten up or shot at? There’s tons of them.  Grand Theft Auto?! Are you kidding?  Never ever will my children everrrrr be allowed to play those games. Nobody can HONESTLY tell me that these games are harmless to kids.  And if someone DID tell me that I would let out a big hardy laugh because that’s just ridiculous.  I figure that if I do some screening and just chose which games my children play I think a little gaming can’t hurt.  Maybe some old school original nintendo or even the Wii–they could bowl or play tennis.  My room mate says she’s not even going to let her children watch TV so I think it’s safe to assume videogames are out of the question for her kids.  There’s no doubt that violence in videogames CAN affect children negatively, (not saying it absolutely will) so I just don’t see how I could ever sit back and watch my own kids be corrupted by something as trivial as a video game.  As long as it’s not the ONLY thing they’re doing and I have the say on WHAT they play, I think I’ll let my children game it sometimes and who knows, maybe they’ll even turn out half-normal.  We’ll see. 

 If anyone needs a little refresher of what games like True Crime or Grand Theft Auto  entail….take a little looksie at this clip:

Sneaky and sly, but you gotta give em credit

      

 Have you ever been just walking along the street or waiting for a bus and you see an add for Chinese food and it seems like a really good idea and you develop a sudden craving for it?  Or maybe you are watching TV and you see a commercial for the Wendy’s frosty malt and you gotta have it.  It happens to me every now and then.  Just the other night I was watching some Family Guy with my room mate and this Caramilk commercial came on and we both whipped around and looked at eachother and knew exactly what the other was thinking.  Oh yeah.  We needed a caramilk.  So we ran down to the vending machines at the commercial break and got two caramilk bars which were sooooo good and totally hit the spot.  You know they even make movies about this type of advertising.  Harold and Kumar Go to Whitecastle?  Ring a bell?  Two guys get high and are watching television when they get the munchies.  They want the perfect food that is gonna hit the spot….something special that is the only thing that could quench their hunger.  Then a whitecastle commercial comes on and they want it. They need it.  So the whole movie is about their adventure getting to a fast food restaurant and it’s pretty hilarious so if you haven’t seen it you should check it out.  Anyways, I just kind of had this lightbulb go off in my head telling me how effective and sneaky these commercials really are.  If you’re just walking downtown and see a bus go by with a giant burger on the side, that could be the decision finalizer for your lunch.  It’s crazy to think of what a measly little ad can do.  I’ve decided to walk away during commercials so I don’t have any more sudden food cravings that I can’t control.

 It goes a little something like this… 

I’m bringin sexy back

Women in advertisements usually means one thing-sex.  And don’t get me wrong.  Sex sells.  It seems as though every single advertisement thats selling sex to promote their product all have the same idea of sexy.  To be a beautiful woman means to be tall, slender, big breasted and the oh so detailed list goes on.  So women are bombarded every day with the same message, that this is what it means to be beautiful and sexy.  It crushes women’s confidence and body image in (like the Friedrich article says) 30 seconds.  But why do women allow these marketing ploys to play a role in their self image?  Why does it affect us the way it does? 

Take a look at this little ditty:

 Ah yes, that looks about right. And that’s only the face.  I like what Abby says about how “advertisements today create a standard of physical beauty that is unattainable” and “Sadly, young women reaching adolescence are hit the hardest with these subliminal messages. Until people realize that the physical appearances seen in magazines and on television are completely out of anyone’s reach, we will all continue to strive with a false sense of hope.”  And strive we do.  Women go to consierable lengths to look as close to what ‘beautiful’ is as possible.  Dieting, rigorous excercise regiments, buying cool clothes, skin care, hair, makeup, botox, liposuction and plastic sugery!  All to be ’sexy’. Because these advertisements don’t just affect women.  Men see them too and they internalize the medias definition of beauty.  If women want to be seen by men as beautiful they have to look like those women in the commercials, or as damn near close to that as possible. 

I’ll just leave off with a little story for you all.  My room mate and I were coming back from the gym (interesting…) and there was a dance lesson going on in the gymnasium for little girls.  We overheard one girl as she was leaving with her mother.  (And this girl must have been around 8 years old, and wearing little tights)…she asked her mom if she was fat.  Her mother looked a little shocked and replied diligently “No honey, no you are absolutely not fat.”  The little girl said back “well i want to look like the girls in the magazines.”  Yes.  Word for word I heard this as I and my room mate made a pact right then and there never to put our children in dance.  The mother replied (if you’re curious) “that isn’t real.  Those girls are fake.” 

Good answer.

Help a critic out.

   ….He DOES have Parent Advisory on all his CD’s…

I have recently been contemplating somewhat of an old issue, (and I say old because it has been addressed so many times before).  The controversy is this:  since Britney and Christina are always in the eye of the public and because they are seen by many as role-models (*roll eyes*) do they or do they not have a moral obligation to society to act, dress, talk appropriately?  It’s something I sit on the fence with and would like some input on. 

It’s highly amusing to watch interviews of celebrities from their beginning days when they are asked questions such as “Do you think of yourself as a sex symbol?”  The then-Lindsay Lohan and then-Beyonce and then-Christina all said the same thing.  “No, I don’t think I’m a sex symbol.  I don’t think you have to show skin to be sexy.”  And “I think we’re setting examples for our fans and I don’t want to set the wrong one.” (Or along those lines). Then maybe about a month after thier interviews they’re strippin’ down to the nitty gritty and writhing on some pole.  Then they’re interviewed again and they say things like “If you don’t like it, don’t look at it.”  Or “Well I’ve grown out of being a girl and I’m expressing myself as a woman in a healthy sexual way.”  It’s completely and totally contradictory and you just know that any new young celeb who seems wholesome and clean just won’t stay that way for very long.  But what do we think about this folks?  Are we putting the responsibility on the celebs shoulders or on the parents shoulders? 

BEFORE:  aaand AFTER: (won’t even mention the crotch shot)

With Eminem, do you think he’s responsible if a kid starts singing some of his filthy, inappropriate (yet catchy) lyrics? Or begins swearing?  I mean, anyone can put crude, nasty stuff out there so is it the parents’ jobs to educate their own children on these things and let the kids make their own educated decisions?  Do we blame these celebrities for exposing this filth in first place? What do you guys think about the movie ”The Basketball Diaries”, where a dude in a black trench coat shoots his schoolmates.  Do you think that had anything to do with the Columbine High School shootings?  Do we hold movies responsible for putting these ideas into kids heads?  I mean the sad fact is that some people DO hold celebrities and movie stars as role models, so WHERE does the responsibility lie?

It’s driving me crazy thinking about it. So please somebody give me SOMETHING.

Thanks and until next time,

iliketogroceryshop