Double Eyelids

I know I spoke of double eyelid surgery in class but this topic is something that I feel very strongly for. I remember when I was little, my mom and sister would get into discussions about our double eyelids. Since that conversation, I envied my sister's double eyelids, as silly as that sounds. My dad even mentioned that my mom used to put scotch tape on her eyelids in an attempt to form a little bit of a crease. The fact that my mom deals with the same problem as me back when she was my age now really resonates with me.

Moreover, my friends have been showing me K-Pop music videos. Korean girl pop stars all have HUGE eyes, given because of their East Asian Blepharoplasty (double eyelid surgery). Its amazing that Asian cultures are so used to girls' desires for double eyelids, the surgery is passively accepted in their society. However, undergoing the surgery is a dangerous procedure and requires six months until full recovery.

Although this website is from a clinic in LA, I thought it demonstrated the casual-ness of the double eyelid surgery...http://www.asiancosmeticsurgery.com/losangeles-doubleeyelidsurgery.php

Let's Talk About Twilight.

So I know this isn't exactly relevant to this week's topic, but I still find it interesting, and hopefully you will, too: a friend and I started talking about Twilight.

She asked me, somewhat rhetorically, why the vampire has to be eternally seventeen. Seventeen is such an "awkward" age: he's not a legal adult, can't live alone without raising suspicions, can't smoke, can't drink, can't engage in any kind of sexual behavior without being considered a social deviant. Why is the seventeen-year-old bad boy presented as the "ideal" of male attractiveness? Why can't he be eternally nineteen, to at least enjoy the independence of college life forever?

The explanation we eventually came up with centers around the idea of suppressed sexuality in adolescent girls. If the vampire were nineteen, and he and his fawning mortal were both, say, freshmen in college, the story would immediately lose a lot of its risqué, dangerous appeal. There is nothing unusual or rebellious about two consenting adults engaging in a sexual relationship at the age of nineteen; although some people might consider that "too young," it is generally not considered altogether worrisome.

Contrast this with contemporary America's conception of sexuality in high school: absolutely forbidden. It is a social taboo for an adolescent girl to engage in any kind of sexual activity, while the same is not true of adolescent boys. In fact, society as a whole seems to assume that adolescent girls have no sex drive at all; we're quite familiar with the stereotype of the adolescent girl as "pure" and "innocent," clean in thought and deed. Adolescent girls do experience the same, normal sexual drives that adolescent boys do, of course, but they know that society would disapprove and label them all sorts of demeaning epithets (á la Rush Limbaugh) if they were to knowledge those feelings openly.

We hypothesize, my friend and I, that Twilight addresses this issue directly by giving high school girls the perfect, sexy fantasy, daringly acknowledging a previously taboo subject, but within the safety of imagination. In other words, Twilight allows girls to express a feeling they could not express before, helping them feel rebellious and assertive at the same time. But the feeling is directed at a man so perfect he must forever remain fantasy; the sexual messages in Twilight can't be translated into the real world, and thus society is able to swallow this particular pill--if only begrudgingly.

What d'you think?

The Wall Street Journal Asks: Has the Sexual Revolution Been Good For Women?

Hey all,

Here are the links to the Wall Street Journal articles I mentioned in class yesterday.

The WSJ asked if the "sexual revolution" has been good for women.

Ann Patchett says yes; Mary Eberstadt says no.

Hope you find it interesting!
Sean

The Bigger Picture

I understand the different oppressions and pressures that women and men face. As much as I realize the importance of understanding how gender plays a role in generating these different perspectives, I also believe it is important to step back and take a look at the bigger picture.

The eating disorder rate in American adolescent girls is extremely high, but it's because we missed the warning signs that led to a society where they thrive. I see guys taking extreme caution with how they look - forcing themselves to go to the gym for hours a day, no matter how tired. I have seen guys that are worse calorie counters than most girls. One could say that they're just being healthy, but this could also be just how the female dynamic started.

While we try to improve the female dynamic when it comes to self-image, it's important not to led males fall in a similar pattern.

In my health promotion class, we learned that health information is most efficiently transmitted through television. Television, especially in America, has become such an important outlet of information. To make a huge change in the way the majority of women are perceiving themselves, tv has to change. This is not to say that personal factors don't hold a strong influence, because they do - it's just saying that major societal trends should be able to be influenced by major outlets.

There have been many campaigns to help girls improve self-image, such as the "You are beautiful" campaign. http://you-are-beautiful.com/ESSAYS.htm However, nothing is going to improve, unless we step back - look at the bigger picture and figure out how to make a substantial change.

How is this perfection?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TL_fiJ00CPA

I don't understand how plastic surgery means perfection. It is sad to see people strive for something that isn't real. Perfection does not exist and who is to say what the perfect man or woman should look like. Different people like different body types and appearances. Most images of plastic surgery patients are not pretty. They look fake and to me, natural is the most beautiful thing in the world. The clip from NipTuck made me look at myself and wonder what I would fix if presented with the opportunity, and all these flaws began appearing. I took a step back and realized that I was being ridiculous. It should be okay for people to want to improve themselves, but not to such great extents. It is sad and not pretty.

the male contraceptive

Discussion today got me thinking about the differences between male and female expectations and especially those involving birth control. We all know about the various birth control pills out there for women but I have not heard of much for men other than the condom. I started to research what was actually out there and being tested and there is a new male contraceptive called RISUG. Reversible Inhibition of Sperm under Guidance or RISUG is an injectable compound that partially blocks the vasa deferentia and provides contraception for up to 10 years per dose. As far as testing has shown it is effective immediately, has few side effects and has proven to be reversible. Primate studies show that this is also readily reversible but it has not been tested in humans yet.

I think this is really fascinating and it is a way to control getting pregnant with out having the sole responsibility be on the female. However I do wonder how many men will be willing to get this compound. It will be interesting to see what happens in the future as the research becomes more developed

L'oreal or Adobe? or L'oREAL or fake?

I'll be the link guy again.

I think this video, while pretty funny, is a very true statement about Photoshop being used and misused in the media in order to perpetuate false images of the body. The video below presents itself as a fake beauty product ad, but instead of selling moisturizing cream or age-reducing gel or lemon-lime-orange-grapefruit-pomelo-infused-fingernail-butter, it's selling Photoshop and pointing out how drastically one can change one's appearance, giving oneself an unrealistic figure. This unrealistic figure, then, serves as the model on which girls base how they want to look, thereby leading to various eating disorders, low self-esteem, and poor body image.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_vVUIYOmJM

The culture of the ideal body type that a female should have changed so much over the years. It was said that in the Roman times, the women that are considered to be attractive are those that we consider to be fat today. At the time the culture of having a heavier weight would give the women of the time an image of growing up from a wealthier family. Over time the image of women's weight has drastically changed. The idea of how most women want to be perceived is a big factor of how they treat their own bodies. Now a days the images of having a model like body is something that most women envy. Over time, the image of how women is preferred to look seems to be thinner and thinner. When I saw the recent pictures of Angelina Jolie during the 2012 Oscars, I feel like she looked very similar to how an anorexic person would look. Pictures of having a very thin celebrity should not be posted to make young fans feel like they should be as thin as her.

http://fashionista.com/2012/03/angeline-jolie-doesnt-understand-why-you-made-such-a-big-deal-out-of-her-right-leg/

http://www.diet-blog.com/07/female_body_shape_in_the_20th_century.php

Hunger

As I presented in the lecture when I read and ready for the book of 'Unbearable Weight' by Susan Bordo, It seems really shocked to me about the facts.
There are several parts to read about this book. However, I realized woman care about so much as the example of a television commercial in the first part on hunger as ideology. This examples of cultural ideals about woman and food. The commercial is two little girls are shown dressing up in the feathery finery of their mother's clothes. This is show as restraint in food is seem as feminine. And it feeding other is seen as a lofty feminine pursuit, that indulgence in food is framed in sexual metaphor, and that men can eat and be loved while women are seen as turning to food as a substitute for love. Food as transgression only for western culture? As we discuss in class, it world wide concern on all women. In my opinion, most of western people of the hunger is not important to them. However, their weight and health and beauty are pretty import for them especially women. Interestedly, Susan make point the feminine and care about food not only western women but also black, asian, and hispanic women were involved.

Beauty in relative perspective

I took Chinese Literature and Culture class last year, and the professor introduced some poems that described Yang Kuei Fei, the most beautiful lady in China history, whom the emperor fell in love and took away from his own son. However the description that one of the poem had depicted that she was not skinny at all but obese. The description explained that she even needed two soldiers to help her to climb on a horse.
The beauty that Yang Kuei Fei possessed does not specifically match with the beauty that we know now. The definition of the beauty is defined by the people, and maybe it is defined as the position where people envies to become. In early centuries, it was impossible to become obese for common people which might have made them feel inferior compared to obese person. Now, in US where food is abundant, people feel inferior to the ones who are in very good shape.

The Perpetuation of Negative Body Image

Increasing expectations also increases the possibility for failure. We're expected to adapt, to keep up with a multitude of social, academic, and personal demands. And part of the reason why eating disorders have increased greatly over the years is because although expectations are increasing, people struggle with how to deal with all these issues. It doesn't help that we're bombarded with ideas of body image and beauty in the media, amongst our peers, and therefore constant self-criticism. To feel like we have some sort of control over all this, we try to control the basics. One way is through our intake of food. In one form or another, we all deal with these issues and insecurities, but we deal with them differently. This can go both ways, either not eating at all (anorexia, bulimia, etc) or eating excessively to offer some sort of temporary comfort from all this stress. It makes me wonder what the future will be like; it seems like these high expectations we have for ourselves will continue from generation to generation, only increasing over time. What will the future be like if we continue this upward trend (with the media continuing to perpetuate images of unrealistically thin, pretty models) but don't address the issues of eating disorders or healthy habits? I think one of the greatest influences on this issue is the media, and if we could somehow change the way people think about beauty and body image by what is perpetuated by TV shows, movies, celebrities, etc. then maybe we just might be able to properly address and fix this issue.

The Meda

These days, people are developing more bad eating habits because of the media.  The media, especially MTV, is telling the world that everyone should look this or that way.  Women who view this show look at these gorgeous, sexy women on television and they want to become that way.  Many girls strive to be like that sexy model in TV by changing their eating habits.  Unfortunately, they change their eating habits in the wrong way by starving themselves or just drinking water and lemon or other bad eating habits.  People need to be educated about how harmful it is to the body to starve yourself or to be bulimic.  If they want to have a sexy body, they should workout and eat healthy meals rather than other unhealthy methods. I read someone's post regarding celebrities in Korea and how they strive to achieve a 21" waist line.  I believe that real women has curves and someone who has a 21" waistline is not sexy.  It's just very weird on how Korean people think that being stick skinny is the way to go when women are supposed to have curves.  I'm sure that someone with that thin of a waist will have a very difficult time in labor.

Helping Instead of Blaming

We can hear that in our everyday life there are females complaining about their weight while some other people are complaining about those females having “bad habit” of overacting to weight. The “widespread cultural disorder” that Susan Bordo describes reveals the fact that some females overestimate their body size, but from my personal experience I also learn that some overly light weight females, whose weights are caused by congenital health problem, digesting problem, and other health problems, are blamed by the society that they are following the cultural trend to lose weight. The important point is that no matter they lose weight and lead to sickness or are sick and lead to loss of weight, we should never blame them for being in any kind of body shape and health condition. The society needs our help to cure this cultural disorder as well as the preconceptions related to it.

I should eat like them!

If there's one thing that is influencing the eating habits of teenagers, it would be the glorification of celebrities' diets, particularly in the Korean entertainment circle. I came across several articles on celebrity "show-down" on who has the smallest waist. It seems that having a 21-inch waist is highly sought after among the female celebrities. They also love to reveal their secret 'diet-plans' which indirectly instill the idea that people should eat like them to have figures like theirs.

http://chienna.wordpress.com/2012/03/01/extreme-korean-celebrity-diets/

While there might be some diets which are healthy and seem sufficient to keep one alive, but there are many that seems out of hand. Seriously, 1 cucumber for dinner?

struggle for perfect body

For many decades, the social value towards female requires them to keep fit, who unconsciously agree with it .In order to satisfy this weird appetite, women live in constant struggle for perfect body shape, at the price of becoming unhealthy.For instance, I have two girl friends who have suffered from eating disorder. Both of them are eager for skinny bodies. They do have achieved their goals, but they also realize their bodies cannot work normally anymore. So they have to pay great effort on recovering, which makes them realize a truth: nothing is more precious than a healthy body. I'm glad for the change of them and they now have healthy food habit.

The Perfect Body

In today's society there seems to be an obsession over women and their bodies. There is an unreal expectation for women to have a perfect body, they cannot be too skinny or too heavy. Female celebrities are put under a scrutinizing microscope, if they gain weight they are called fat, and if they lose weight they must have an eating disorder. These standards are then given to all women, not just celebrities. Women are then forced to take extremes in achieving this "perfect body". These extremes include things such as anorexia, bulimia, or the consumption of dangerous diet supplements. It is sad thing that women go to such extremes in order to meet these standards that have been created.

body image

It seems that every women is subject to having a distorted relationship or view of food. The extremes of this distortion are illustrated by eating disorders. Even if a person's eating behaviors do not meet diagnostic criteria for an eating disorder, they may have continuous struggle with food. When talking about different body types and eating disorders two body types are brought up the overweight and  underweight. Someone who is overweight or underweight may have perfectly healthy relationship with food. It is the people who look "normal" that may be struggling with food the most. The boy you sit next to in class who is always put together or the slender girl in yoga pants that you may think is the epitome of health. Everyone struggles with body image, food, ect. It is important to note that body appearance may not be the best indicator and it may be better to only look at body image as a contributing piece. I think that we should look more in depth at self perceptions and the cognitive processes and whether or not they are healthy and positive.

It’s not Fat or Thin. It’s Judging.

As we have learned throughout the semester, females are very often considered as sexual object—born to be looked at, appreciated, and criticized. Even though the idea of femininity has been popularized overtime, female’s bodies are still being looked at in a different way compared to male in the society nowadays. In my point of view, females, just like any human being or even animal, have more value and life goal than simply attaining an ideal body shape according to the social standard. The link below is a piece of homegrown music called “Flat Lady” by Michelle Glavan, who has her song inspired by being criticized of having small breast.

Flat Lady - Michelle Glavan
http://youtu.be/40ZSIXDgNC0

Obviously, Michelle is a talented lady because of her guitar playing skill, singing skill, and song writing skill. She is also very open-minded as she bravely admits that fact that she is being “flat.” Then, what is wrong with her? I found the social standard for female bodies really interesting: if she has a larger body size, she is pure fat, unacceptable, and should go on diet immediately; if she has a skinnier body size, she should “go to sell the guitar and use the money to do plastic surgery” as mentioned at the end of the video when Michelle shows the others’ comment in the video. The society should stop judging females in such way as females, being intelligent human beings, also have their own life to care about other than busying about the nonsense judgment.

Pinterest Thinspiration

My friend just recently told me about a website called Pinterest in which users can compile collections or lookbooks of pictures that they are interested in, and can then share them with their friends.  For example, a person could have a clothing page where they post pictures of clothes that they like.  However, there is evidently a problem that an overwhelming amount of pictures on the site encourage eating disorder-like behavior, or "thinspiration."  It is interesting to me that a site like this has gained so much popularity in such a short amount of time, especially considering the messages it sends.

I found an article about this on ABC News: http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/03/pinterest-boards-encourage-eating-disorders/

Corset

Corset 

The first time I saw a real corset was in the movie Camille. In one scene, the servant was helping Marguerite wearing a corset, it made me suffocate and I was so glad that I didn’t born in that period.

Culture shaped women’s bodies not only by the clothes but also by the force to deform the bodies. In my point of view, women were willing to wear corsets because they were eagerly to show off. It doesn’t mean to show off the bodies to other women, instead, they were showing off their social status. Women who wore corsets could not work, they usually stay at home or travel by wagons. The corsets showed that they were in a higher class rather than the class one have to survive by contribute labor. This self-satisfaction also works as the value of exchange. Women try to deform their body to satisfy men’s appetite and social confirmation. By showing off their sexy and emphasize on the shape, they become men’s precious treasure. Finally, women themselves become the tool of men to show off. 

Eating

Eating habits in the United States has become worse and worse over the years. People are consuming more junk food than ever before. With this recession, people are more conscious of how much money they are spending rather than the quality of the food that they are eating. The rise of these fast food chains give few healthy options and offer low prices on some of their most junkiest foods. Take USC for example if we look around the area for food options what do we see; panda express, mcdonalds, carls jr, jack n the box, taco bell, dominos pizza, papa johns etc. There is a need for healthier options around USC and a need to reassign our eating habits.

Bordo and Female Body Image

Quoting  Mary Wallstonecraft, Bordo calls to attention how women's self image is shaped by outside forces that are not easily dispelled by women as they construct their self image "...Nor can it be expected that a woman will resolutely endeavor to strengthen her constitution and abstain from enervating indulgences, if artificial notions of beauty, and false descriptions of sensibility, have been early entangled with her motives of action..." While it is reasonable that outside forces influence how individuals see themselves, Bordo also writes how many women are complicit, "Many women, if not most, women also are willing (often, enthusiastic) participants in cultural practices that objectify and sexualize us." I think this raises a relevant point particularly in a society where artificial means to enhance ones idea of physical beauty and dressing provocatively seem to be the norm. To understand why women would knowingly or unknowingly participate in a system where they are objectified would help to educate both men and women on the social and political dynamics that influence the way in which we understand beauty and the politics of the body.

Time Travel

It seems like it would be nice to go back in time and enjoy the nonexistent societal pressures to be a twig. Women who had natural bodies, with no extra work put into them, were the beauty of society. What was natural was what was considered beauty. At the same time, it would be nice to go back and reconstruct the evolved cultural pressures inflicted on young women today. It would be nice to change the expectations into something more realistic and more self-fulfilling. There are always going to be norms and expectations placed on people by others, so why not  make them somewhat satisfying? But now that the pressures are already place, what can we do? I don't know. It seems impossible to do anything at all. This class has made me feel guilty about feeling guilty about having dessert or not exercising. I do not want to conform to the skewed norms of America, but I want to fit in and I want to feel good about myself. If others see me as looking good, won't I feel better? It never seems to work out that. Women usually still feel badly about themselves. It is a circle of doom and I cannot find a way out of it even though I know the negative effects of conforming to something that is so not natural.

Body Image in the Media

So I was thinking about the question proposed in class about how culture and media influence our body image and it made me think about this one clip from a new Disney show where they kind of, I wouldn't say prop up, but acknowledge eating disorders. The girl in the clip who says the line is apparently this really successful, skinny, and beautiful in the show whom two other girls look up to. In my mind, I feel like by her saying the line, it only endorses eating disorders and encourages others to act the same way so they can be just like her. I could be reading way too much into the clip, but I just remember there being this huge backlash from Demi Lovato on Twitter. She had recently recovered from her own eating disorder issues and couldn't believe that Disney would use that kind of joke in their programming. Maybe Disney didn't mean the line to come across in that way, and the girl didn't necessarily imply that she had an eating disorder so younger viewers aren't likely to pick up on the subtext but it is a possibility.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLGr3xVcSr8&feature=related

cross cultural exploration of body image

Today's class got me thinking about the idea of body image in respect to different cultures and countries through out the world. Last year I read an interesting article that I thought fit perfectly with what we were discussing in class today. Eating behaviors and attitudes following prolonged exposure to television among ethnic Fijian adolescent girls is an article published in the British Journal of Psychiatry by Becker, Burwell, Gilman, Herzog and Hamburg pertaining directly to the relationship between television and body dissatisfaction. The main hypothesis of this study focused on how despite local Fijian beliefs that full-bodied figures and appetites are normal, the influence of Western television in 1998 set a trend towards disordered eating patterns and negative body images in adolescent women when compared to data collected in 1995 when television did not exist.  Further, the researchers believed that a negative body image could be represented by both a high EAT-26 score (eating attitudes test, higher than a score of 20) and induced vomiting. The research indicated findings on two fields, first, 12.7% of the subjects in 1995 had high EAT scores, compared to 29.2% in 1998, thus the percentage dramatically increased when television was introduced. Also no participants reported self-induced vomiting in 1995 but 11.3% did in 1998. The authors also found subjects were three times more likely to have a high EAT-26 score when living in a home that had access to television. Eighty-three percent of the girls felt that television influenced their peers and themselves to change their body shape and weight. All participants mentioned ways that exposure to television manipulated their customary behavior or beliefs (Becker, Burwell, Gilman, Herzog & Hamburg, 2002). Despite that this research did not take place in the United States, it showed the dangerous effects of Western social media exposure. 

Juggling Priorities

I was thinking about the idea of eating disorders being a way to control one's life after class today...

I then remembered about one of my high school friend's stories about her past in dealing eating disorders. A lot about her situation was kept on the down low so I never knew the true reason why she had to leave school and attend rehab. But after our discussion in lecture and discussion, I can see why her psyche may have lead her to not have an interest in eating. At the time, my friend's high school life was quite crazy: she landed a major role in the upcoming all school play, she was my captain in Pep Squad, a member of  the top choir singers group on campus, enrolled in 4 AP classes, a member of National Charity League, attempting to obtain her Gold Award, and, to top it all off, trying to juggle her social life consisting of friends and her boyfriend. After listing all her activities, it is pretty apparent why her life may have spiraled out of control.

However, the one aspect in her life that she could control was her food intake. This situation is very similar towards the situation in which prisoners try to control their lives in a strict prison life (seen in the Stanford Prison Experiment as well). The thought of an individual believing that they must resort towards anorexia in order to obtain a little aspect of their life is quite scary. Why should one risk their health in this way? Culture has shifted too much pressure on individuals to be perfect in multi-tasking their lives. Moreover, culture has now pressured younger and younger generations to be exposed to this sort of multi-tasking. We must reexamine what is deemed important, socially, in order to prevent other happenings like this from occurring to bigger populations.

Does that picture make me look fat?

After today's discussion, I kept thinking about different reasons why body image is exceedingly important today or why eating disorders are so high. Then, I did what I do best - procrastinate. In other words, I went on facebook. As I scrolled through my news feed, I was bombarded with images of people's exciting spring breaks. Without realizing it, I was thinking, "wow, she has such a flat stomach!" I stopped mid thought and realized social networking sites like facebook, twitter, and instagram can be outlets that provide even more pressure for reaching an ideal body image.

Thanks to photoshop, professional cameras, or other photo editing technology, anyone can look like anything. Still, seeing "friends" post pictures makes the ideal body image seem more real. Let's be honest, most people aren't going to post pictures where they look bad. It's so easy to get caught up scrolling through a friend's album - and before you know it, you're on a diet.

I know this isn't true for everyone. It's just another form of pressure I realized existed and we hadn't discussed yet.

Skins

So I was watching an episode of Skins UK last night and there was an element of masculinity in the episode. There's that stereotype that women look for bad boys or just tough guys in general. I felt it also related to earlier readings as well. Wollstonecraft had stated that women allow themselves to be subjugated in order to gain the attraction of men and the woman is taught to yield whereas the man pursues.

The show is about a group of college students in Bristol, England and their escapades. Recently one of them, Grace, had been killed in a car accident during a car chase while they were all on holiday in Morocco. Franky, one of the girls, was in the car being chased with a wealthy, drug-dealing, manipulative boy not apart of their group named Luke, while Grace had been in the car, driven by Matty (Franky's "boyfriend") chasing after them. Luke then framed Matty with drug possession and now Matty was stuck in Morocco, so Luke wasn't viewed so highly by anyone. Franky is going through a lot of grief and won't talk to anyone about it. Most of her friends blame her for the accident, so who does she turn to? Luke. Luke is bad news: he doesn't go to school, he and his friends get into savage fights with other gangs of boys, and he's aggressive and controlling of Franky. He influenced her behavior and she started becoming the same way: ditching school, threatening her parents and teachers, and just getting out of control. He even teaches Franky how to fight so that when another fight breaks loose, she joins him and his friends. During one of the fights, one of Franky's friends and Matty's brother, Nick, had followed Franky and Luke into the bar and he saves her from being severely injured, much to her reluctance. She gets a rush from the fighting and the almost domineering manner Luke has over her; this becomes her way of coping with the grief. But she realizes Luke is bad for her when Luke finds Nick and Franky after the fight and he starts to beat Nick up, almost to the point of killing him. He knows the power he has over Franky and she somewhat reluctantly leaves with Luke while Nick remains hurt on the ground. By the end of the episode, she leaves Luke, much to his dislike, and apologizes to Nick.

In the physical sense, Luke wasn't masculine. However, he carried many of the characteristics that masculinity assumes: aggressive, his use of power to subordinate Franky, his cathexis for women (not that all masculine guys have women as their sexually desired object), and the hegemonic masculinity he displayed in a previous episode when he belittled the boys of the group for not being as wealthy as he was. But it just interests me how he was able to attract Franky and keep her under control and influence her so greatly.  Was it Franky's need for an outlet for her grief or just someone who understood her and would take care of her, even though he may have been a bad influence? How is it that women can become that dependable on men that they change completely? Do they feel the need to be protected and will take whatever risks possible to be with that masculine figure?

Change in Hegemonic Masculinity in Media

There has always been the existence of hegemonic masculinity in the media, and with change over time one can look back on television series and films as a sort of sample of how hegemony played a role in that time period. It is largely known that the film industry has always been a “man’s world”, an industry dominated by male screenwriters, directors, producers, and actors because, at the rise of media, it was seen as a man’s profession. Today, a similar story exists. Almost every movie has a dominant male lead, regardless of whether or not there are any dynamic female characters. However, just last year there were films that starred a majority female cast: Bridesmaids and The Help. And if it’s any indication of how films portraying women are beginning to be recognized and accepted by the general public, it’s these two films. Bridesmaids was written, produced, and starred many comedically brilliant females, while The Help highlighted the superb acting of many talented actresses. Both were nominated and have won numerous awards and accolades. I believe that these are examples of how hegemonic masculinity in the entertainment industry is slowly changing to a more equal playing field for men and women, and now it’s up to the rest of society to support these breakthrough films.

A new black man

Mark Anthony Neal's New Black man is suggests and described how music, television, sports, and the entertainment industry have portrayed Black men as a caricature of destructive controversy in the media, particularly placing much of the blame on hip-hop music. 
And he described the Hip-Hop Thug versus the New Talented Tenth. 
Mark Anthony Neal also briefly explained their life in 80's. 
He has written about hip-hop and black culture music of definition and history of it. 
Last section of this chapter, he emphasized that black masculinity is called as 'Strong Black man'. Moreover, described today's black man in America.

Untitled

It is very interesting to see how the things we learn in this class applies to so many aspect in our life. More specifically when I say this, I mean am surprised how people used hegemony to market different products. I have never thought gender psychology was applied and used in such a complex way that is tailored to appeal to the two genders in society. The other day me, I thought about the the complexity of masculinity hegemony. More specifically I thought about Orlando Bloom as an actor. He started to gain popularity for his role in Lord of the Rings, and from there he gained more popularity when he Will Turner in Pirates of the Caribbean. In those roles, he played a the perfect masculine type of guy that will have the pretty girl in the end of the movie. However, for his role that he played in Troy, he played Paris the small passive cowardly prince. If we think about it, mostly likely he would not be cast as Achilles, over Brad Pitt who indefinitely would have more hegemony over Orlando Bloom, because of his physical state. Although Orlando Bloom is an A list celebrity that many people find to be attractive, there is clearly a dominant of masculinity that other more muscular actors would have over him. In this case, Brad Pitt and Eric Bana would be pick over Orlando Bloom to be the heroic character in the film 

Burn Notice

I was watching an episode on the weekend of the TV show - Burn Notice. In one of the episodes, one of the main characters was being audited by the IRS. He finds out the name of the IRS agent is Stacey. So he gets all dressed up and sets up a meet with "Stacey" at a nice bar and was going to try to charm her with his charismatic personality. What he finds out is that Stacey is actually a male. This throws him off and shows how we segregate names in different genders. By saying a name we are able to determine which gender the person is.

As time goes by, women are becoming more powerful and independent.  We see many women becoming powerful, such as Hilary clinton and soo we will see soon see a female president.  As noted by a classmate earlier, masculinity is changing and women is starting to gain power and take control.  This might be the reason why we see commercials where women are overpowering men.  We see in TV shows or comedies where men are "whipped" by women. back then, TV shows weren't common where they show women overpowering men, but it's becoming increasingly more popular.  It's funny and quite entertaining to see men be tossed around by women, but this just shows how are society is changing.  These days, men and women both bring income to the household.  Men still have a higher income, but the difference diminishes every year.

Is there really exist a line between masculinity and femininity?

These days, we often concentrate on the topic of the hegemonic masculinity and the subordination of femininity. I feel like maybe the difference between male and female, regardless of the biological structure, is not that vital. The blur of sex is especially obvious in fashion industry. I recently notice a male  model whose name is Andrej Pejic. If I was not told the model is a male, then I certainly will regard him as a girl. Andrej even becomes the spokesman of female underwear! This is what I have never heard before. But if women can dress themselves as men, asking for equal rights, why men can never wear a bra? Isn't it an unequal treatment? Now,  as we can see, some male models follow Andrej, also acting in a feminine way but keep their masculinity at the same time. Therefore, we may expect the equality arises from fashion industry and gradually influences other places.

blog

I feel like there is too much focus on the differences between men and women. Men and women both have to conform to society's expectations of gender.  If you fail to conform, society paints the picture that there are heavy prices to pay. These consequences can take the from of bullying, neglect, and difficulty in making friends. What is the harm in being different? We should be able to choose our own paths based on what we want not what society expects from us. This fear of being being different like homophobia for me fall into the category of ignorance. Hopefully through knowledge and understanding there will be some sort of enlightenment where we will not look sideways at the different. A person falls victim to scrutiny when they are not sufficiently masculine or feminine enough. This reminded me a clip from curb your enthusiasm, where larry david questions a little boys sexual orientation. It is a comical interpretation society's the obsession over gender.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBmw_dvhnpk&feature=related

Guyland

Kimmel talks about the male transitioning period from adolescence to manhood. Men need more attention because this is an extremely difficult time for them. They strive to prove their masculinity, while being freed from their parents' guidance and whirled into a new world with new people and partying and new habits. They party and fight and bully to make themselves feel more manly because they are unsure of themselves. They live at home or with many men because they feel no pressure to start a family or live independently. I never realized how old males can remain in Guyland. I think males do need more attention because the "boys will be boys" saying is getting old and isn't fixing the spreading lethargy and insecurities of men of this era.

Labeling Masculinity and Femininity

The society could have done better if people are not labeled masculinity and femininity. When it comes to careers, people always associate occupation with gender. Men would not want to work in a female dominated job, and vice versa. One could argue that there are skills that men and women are better with. But in many case, I would argue the truth is that anybody who wants to do anything can do it. Why couldn't men be a child care worker? It is not that men couldn't do the job, but rather people want to hire women for that occupation. Men could also be detail oriented. After all, people should not be restricted based on what they are labeled but rather have the freedom to chase their dreams.

New Black Man Summary (Pages 1-15)

Pages 1-3

Neal highlights how, not only is there a crisis in black masculinity for the often scapegoated hip-hop generation, but it exists also in those black men who are well educated, heterosexual, and middle-class (Neal 3). There is a crisis as these seemingly well adjusted and highly educated black men continue to invest themselves in an American patriarchy that gives rise to things like sexism and homophobia (Neal 3). With investing in such a system, Neal sees this investment as being detrimental to “…black families, communities, and relationships” (Neal 3).

Pages 4-6

Neal writes of a man (Nushawn Williams) who infected over thirteen young women and girls in the city of Jamestown in New York with the HIV virus which he was a carrier (Neal 4). “At least half of the women were infected by Williams after he was notified …by health officials…” (Neal 4). While Neal admits that the actions of Williams were inexcusable, he wanted to focus on how the media covered the story, and how that coverage “…was informed by and reproduced historical myths about black men, particularly black male sexuality” (Neal 4). Neal points to examples in the media where the media describe Williams as a relentless seducer of women, and containing menacing glamour that appealed to a generation mesmerized by gangsta rap (Neal 5). Neal also points to writers who pointed out the extent to which the media emphasized race and stereotypes and how Williams may have been treated differently by the media had been white (Neal 6).  Commenting on a story written Neal writes “Left unspoken in Goodman’s analysis of course is the fact that William’s race made all the difference in the world: it was the reason why everyone was fixated on capturing that one bad man, that one bad nigger” (Neal 6).

Pages 7-9

With individuals like Williams and the acts they commit, combined with a media that is ready to demonize black men as a whole, this combination threaten even those middle class and educated blacks with the prospect of being placed under the same umbrella as individuals like Williams (Neal 7). Harvard Law student Bryonn Bain writes, “Wherever niggers are causing trouble, arresting any nigger…is just as good as arresting the one actually guilty…” (Neal 7).  Defending there (middle class blacks) position can cause them to be hostile toward the hip hop thug image just as much as there white counterparts (Neal 8). Neal goes on to write how some site the influence of a hip hop career being more influential on young black men then the prospect of going to college is; draining an already dwindling pool of young talented black men from the college ranks (Neal 8). While Neal admits hip hop culture does have its influence on the lack of black men in college he also says that it may include, “…some discomfort with the lily whiteness of some campuses…” (Neal 9). Giving credit to W.E.B. Du Bois term the talented tenth which signifies the small number of talented blacks charged with the uplifting of the black race, Neal also writes of how Dr. M Rick Turner ignores the fact that the talented tenth he describes is patriarchal and excludes women (Neal 9).

Pages 10-12

Neal writes that the very same misogyny, sexism, and homophobia prevalent within the hip hop community, are found within the patriarchy form of the talented tenth (Neal 10). The patriarchy is also evident within the black church as black women are sometimes preyed upon by the ministers in some churches; ministers who have in the past demonized hip hop culture for the same practices of patriarchy existing in there own churches (Neal 10). Neal sites ordained minister Marcia L. Dyson as she explains that men, from there pulpits do have power over the women in their congregation and how this can translate into a sense of bravado and machismo that is seen in secular ranks of men (Neal 12) “You know, all she needs is a good [fuck]’ echoes not just on the streets…or army barracks-it’s heard even in the pastor’s study” (Neal 12). So, any protest by church and other civic leaders against hip hop for their misogyny doesn’t ring genuine when they fail to acknowledge the same practices in their churches (Neal 12).

Pages 13-15

When the movie Babershop made negative comments against Dr. martin Luther King, Reverend Jesse Jackson, and Rosa Parks, Jackson cam to the defense of these individuals, but Neal points out that there are a number of issues of much more pressing concern that Jackson could have addressed with vigor according to Jelani Cobb: unchecked US military aggression, the White Houses overt commitment to imperialism, a million incarcerated African Americans, and a conscience bereft of moral consideration (Neal 13). However, Jackson instead was left to film criticism as a form of protest (Neal 13) Neal begs the question if Jacksons defense of his black heroes was really an attempt at protecting black patriarchal privilege (Neal 13).

The Changing Dynamic of Masculinity

Here is an interesting advertisement about the Italian automobile manufacturer’s new model Fiat 500 Abarth I watched from the television a few months ago.

http://youtu.be/siWVgAzhFC8

I am so surprise to see that masculinity in nowadays has changed a little bit—seeing the geeky guy in the clip being seduced, slapped, and pulled on the tie, where he is totally controlled by the young lady. In this scenario, the man’s mind is controlled by the women; in other word, men’s way of thinking is leaded by women’s direction with her huge power. Thus, leading to the next scene which is not shown in the advertisement, the manufacturer successfully guide men to desire to ravage and regain their control on women—to buy the car—drive it and control it.

Is this advertisement about men’s power over women or women’s power over men? I consider it as both. I think masculinity has developed to the stage of two-sided, where while men dominate all the time, women can sometimes, or increasingly more often as we head towards the next century, rebound the power and have a step higher in the hierarchy than men do. I would describe this advertisement as a revolutionary statement of masculinity.

Do Girls like Bad Guys

I recently came across this article on Jezebel: http://jezebel.com/5889669/only-assholes-say-you-wont-sleep-with-them-unless-theyre-assholes/

I thought a really interesting part was: If they then themselves mistreat women, they are not doing it out of any defect in their natures, but out of a rational strategy for improving their mating odds. It is women themselves who have made these rules, these guys claim with varying degrees of sincerity; we fellas just have to adapt as best we can. Bad male behavior gets cunningly reframed as an evolutionary adaptation to female desire — and the blame for everything falls once again on the shoulders (and hearts, and libidos) of women who don't know (or won't admit) the truth.


There is such a big stereotype that girls don't like nice guys.  How, though can men use this as a valid excuse to be a jerk?  Does this also come from certain men being subordinated (ex: the geeks)? 

Don't Hate the Player, Hate the Game.

I had an interesting discussion with my friend earlier this week about how girls can be called "sluts", but you never hear such harsh language on males (heterosexuals). We said that thing in class about how a key that can open many locks is a master key, but a lock that can be opened by many keys is a bad lock. I guess that makes sense with the way society works, that guys have to have a certain "game" to ask girls out.
But still, how come girls can take "slutty" pictures, but guys can run around without their shirts on and it is considered "hot"? This all comes back to who has to repress their sexuality more. It's evident in just our everyday language or thoughts.

I highly doubt no girl has ever seen a guy without his shirt on and said, "that slut." It just doesn't happen in our world.

Then again, do we blame the guys or do we blame the system? Can we even blame anyone as we all feed into it?
How can we hate the player, when he is just good at the game?