Blog 12

Respond to the film Killing Us Softly.  What impact does advertising have on how people view themselves?  Can you describe or include in your blog an ad that perpetuates some of the messages Killborn describes?

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Advertisements such as these often make women feel as though they are sex objects.    Here you have a topless woman lying on one man while making out with another while another man lies on the floor looking like he is about to remove his pants.   There are many ads that make women look like strippers.   They are here for the mans pleasure, nothing more nothing less.   I personally have had many issues with self image mainly due to the projected image of advertisements.   It makes me question my self worth as a human being and whether it is more important to be smart or beautiful.    This somewhat links to the piece we read at the beginning of the semester on Victoria's secret.   Do we need a man to be worth anything?   I know the answer is no but I also realize that often times my actions do not agree with this statement in the least.   In my current relationship we went through a time where I was ignored, disregarded, and pretty much disrespected.   I can not say that I am unhappy that I put up with so much but I will say that it is not something that I feel like I should have done, especially considering the reasoning behind it.    I just didn't want to be alone because a woman isn't worth a god damn thing by herself.  I know that I care about my appearance to much.  I am not saying that I put on make-up everyday or iron my clothing but I care an extreme amount about how my body looks.   I know that I have anorexic tendencies but only when I feel like I am gaining a ton of weight.   This seems to be happening more and more with the less exercise that i do.

Blog 11

How is impatience a problem in America?  How do you imagine this problem can be fixed?

Instant gratification has become the way for people in American society.   We want everything now.   We for the most part do not want to cook dinner because why should we spend the time cooking when we can go to McDonald's or even Panera and order dinner and have it in front of you ready to eat in five minutes or less.    This is one of the causes of obesity.   If people worked to prepare their own food they are burning calories in the preparation, and generally the food that is prepared at home contains fewer calories and especially fewer calories from fat making the meals at home far more healthy.   This is not the only instance where impatience is a factor.  Many young people no longer want to attend a four year college before going to get a job.   In fact there are many young adults who do not want to go for any college before getting a job to support themselves.   Unfortunately in today's society the only way to make a living worth having is by going to school for an extended period of time.   This is all not to mention the fact that courtesy has pretty much gone out the window.   Everyone is in a hurry all the time to get to their next location that road rage is a common occurrence on the public roads.   No one wants to give a little.   Its all about me.   What do I want? What do I need?   Where am I going?  How fast can I get there?   This is the story of our lives.   I say our because there are very few people who are truly more about the good of the community than the good of themselves.   
As far as fixing the problem, I am not sure that that is a possibility.   We would have to reverse a lot of things, such as fast food chains, television shows, technology in general, and our values as a society.   If we valued human life above all else then perhaps we wouldn't be so impatient to be the first, the best, and the wealthy.  I honestly do not think this is going to happen.   Everyone would have to live a more simple life, which for the most part people do not want to do.

TV vs. Body Image

I was listening to the radio the other day and I heard a radio show about the correlation between tv and females body image.   I found it interesting that there seems to be such a big correlation between the two.   There is a much lower rate of body issues among women in countries that do not have tv.   Not just that but in one country when tv made its debut in 1993 the rate of anorexia among women went from 0% in 1993 to 11% in 2009.   This is shocking and scary.   What can I do to protect my daughter from going through what I went through?   The radio program suggests that you limit the amount of television that you and your kids watch so as to deter the effects.   Whose to say that they wont get it else where, like walking down the halls at school, watching a movie, reading a book or magazine.   These images are everywhere.   How do we escape?

Neighbors?

Todays society has me quite worried as far as what is considered to be good or appropriate behavior.   My mother brought up something the other day that really made me think.   She was talking about the art of hospitality which is, in her opinion, completely lacking from todays society.  After she explained what exactly she meant by this I must say that I have to agree.   How many people know the names of their neighbors?   How many of those people are friendly with their neighbors?   When I was younger we had no issue running next door or across the street to barrow a cup of sugar or a stick of butter to finish the brownies or cookies that were almost completed save that single item.   It has been years, like a decade, since I felt comfortable enough to go to a neighbor to borrow anything.    Hell its been a decade since I knew more than the first and maybe the last names of the people who lived in my surrounding area.   People don't really have impromptu neighborhood get togethers anymore, everyone is to busy.   It also seems that people are all to judgemental.   Everyone is trying to out do everyone else on the block.   Even my mother, who made the comment that our neighbors house was beautiful no matter what the season was and our house was never any more than ok.   She seemed to hold some hostility towards our neighbor because she was a stay at home mom and had the time to do the things that she used to.    No one seems to be truly happy anymore.   There seems to always be a hidden meaning or an ulterior motive.   What path has our society started down?  Is it a path of no return?

Teaching Children?

I was working at a school with a child, we will call him Grant, with disabilities and in working with this child I have come to realize that frankly children are cruel.    Most of the mainstream children do not like being with Grant.   In fact if he sits down at a table the children already sitting there will get up and move.  For the most part many kids dont want anything to do with him.    No one has taught these children that sometimes kids are different and you shouldnt treat them any differently because of that.   The children do not understand that all people have feelings and all people need to be considered.    Grant is in the after school program to get more social experience with children but do to the children's reaction to Grant he spends an awful lot of time a lone.   I find this very disturbing.   It hurts me to realize that the values children seem to be picking up on are values of being the same.   Children are taught to shun people who are different, not to look at every body's strengths to figure out what these children could do to enrich their lives.   Every one can teach a message but you have to pay attention to the little things that might not be expected.

Blog 10

How does reality television relate to and affect people who watch it?  What makes reality television shows so popular?  What is the largest archetype that you see being used in reality television shows?

It seems to me that reality tv is great for people who really dont want to have to think about anything.   People who need an hour or two to just sit and veg.   It is watching situations that dont require a whole lot of foresight or reflection to understand.   I personally think that some of the more popular reality television shows tend to create single minded beings who are relatively content doing what they are told.   I do not watch a lot of reality tv (if any) and therefore I am probably not the best person to judge this.   I believe the biggest archetype used in reality tv is the young girl who is either coming from really bad circumstances and has made it to this show to fulfill her dream or the young girl who has not had to endure anything of any consequence.   Like I said I am not an avid viewer of this specific type of television so I do not know for certain.

Blog 9

Select a popular culture artifact (company, celebrity, brand, sports team, etc.) that you can discuss in terms of "religification."  How has this artifact been "religified"?  How do people discuss this in reglious terms?  What people follow this particular "religion"?  Who are the people who directly oppose this popular culture "religion"?

The one that currently comes to mind is the "religion" of Harry Potter.   Even before they started making the movies, people would stand in line for hours to get the new book.   When people had the holy scroll they would sit and everything else would cease.    Anyone who grew up in the late nineties to early two thousands knows of and understands who Harry Potter is and where he comes from.    The last book has been compared to the bible.    Some people claim that the stories of the bible are being told through the Harry Potter series.    Good usually prevails over evil which is one of the bible's main messages.   Dumbledore has been compared to God and Harry being the Son of Christ, but it has also been said that Dumbledore is the self sacrificing Jesus and Harry is where the rest of civilisation should be, a disciple if you will.   Like Christianity, Harry Potter is not accepted by everyone.  The "true Christians" view Harry Potter as evil.   Due to the subject matter of witchcraft and wizardry the Harry Potter series is evil and shows signs of devil worshiping.
         People have many different outlooks and opinions of life and things in life, this is one reason that there are so many different religions.   No one can agree.   Harry Potter is similar in the way people look at it.   One person can look at a situation in the book and see that good trumps evil and therefore it is a good thing for people to read.   Someone else may see that in the end evil is not completely destroyed so there is a chance that it will come back and take over and therefore it is bad.   There are to many people with to many thoughts to say that this way is right and that way is wrong.   Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and may do with it as they wish.   If someone sees Harry Potter as something to believe in and model their life after the good morals that are presented throughout the books and movies than who are we to say that that is wrong?    Who cares what someone believes in as long as it is keeping them happy and benefitting the common good or at the very least not harming it?    There are too many things in this world to worry about as it is, why care about whether someone chooses to follow a fiction book as a role model when there are so many other role models that could be leading children to drugs and violence?

Austin's PCKCC Blog: Masculinity Video

Austin's PCKCC Blog: Masculinity Video:
Eventually if you see enough violence doesnt that become your first instinct whether male or female?
True the goal of being the best and being masculine doesnt have to be presented in a violent way but how often is it as opposed to another way? The other day I was at school looking out a window and saw what I later learned to be a gang fight on campus outside the library. The men involved were simply trying to over power one another. Shirts were ripped bags strewn across the walk way and security couldnt even break it up. The police had to be called and two of the six or so men were taken away in hand cuffs.   For children who spend their time watching tv and playing video games instead of reading or spending time with their families, the message that violence is a dominant and key thing is very over powering.   A lot of children who are exposed to this type of lifestyle are in the circle of poverty.    Unfortunately the circle of poverty is a key factor in how a child grows up.   Children within the circle are often times not exposed to values of self worth and/or the importance of respect.  

Blog 8

Make a connection between popular music today and one of the other themes we've talked about this semester, such as women & sexiness or men/masculinity & violence.  Can you find examples of popular music either support the standard message of those themes or working against them?  How important do you think popular music has been in spreading these ideas?

The face of popular music is changing in a sense.   We now have country artists such as Taylor Swift pretty high on the pop charts.   There are many female artist on their way up the pop charts who's songs tend to have a different message than the age old hip-hop where women are objects, life is about money, and lets kill anyone who crosses us.  There are however still quite a few artist that tend to deliver just those messages.   Kesha's single "Take it Off" is one great or horrible example of objectification.   Lets go to a place where women are used as entertainment and the more you pay the more they take off.   Or Rhianna's "Rude Boy" but this is more objectifying men and taking anything special out of the act of having sex.   With songs like this populating the airwaves its no wonder that polls are showing kids are losing their virginity a lot sooner than even a few years ago.  Chuck Klosterman talks in "Toby Vs. Moby" about the way teenage girls are sex crazed when it used to be more heavily boys.   We hear all the time that girls should have equal opportunities which has become most prevalent in fast and reckless driving and sexual interest.   Due to the fact that we have been getting the messages the longest they are the ones that are most embedded in our brains.

Blog 7

Look at readings for hip-hop AND country.  Where do you see similarities and/or connections between these two music genres?  What do they have in common?  Where are they fundamentally different?


Country and hip-hop are both around to make people happy and to get them up moving and grooving to the music.   Both genres seem to have topics that occasionally entice some sort of negative feed back from fans and/or other artists.   Hip-hop often times in present day has a very negative subject matter.   Real world gang wars have ensued as a direct result of lyrics a hip-hop artist has used.   Country focusses more on patriotism and war protests which "The Dixie Chicks" found out was not the best thing to focus on.   Their song "Im Not Ready to Make Nice" was a response to the fan response they got for speaking out against George Bush and the war in Iraq.   Country does not often demise women where hip-hop does on a regular basis.   Hip-hop often has a catchy tune that makes people want to get up and dance by grinding on each other.   Country, not so much.   The values of the genres are entirely different as well.   If my daughter came and told me that she was going to listen to country instead of hip-hop, which is highly unlikely due to the fact that my daughter cant yet speak and she doesn't understand the difference between hard rock and country let alone hip-hop and country.   Country doesnt seem to have the lets go kill anybody who ever did me wrong attitude, or the you are just a bitch i can pull around and tell where and what to do when.    Country often times has family values.   You often hear songs with lyrics like "if I'd loved her like that she wouldnt be gone" and about how family is the most important thing.   If all genres had lyrics with that kind of message would society be in the place that its in?

Blog 6

Today we discussed how popular culture media might be making us smarter, stupider, nicer, meaner, healthier, unhealthier, gentler, and more aggressive.  In your blog post, address which of these changes to human behavior you believe to be the strongest in modern society as a result of popular culture media.  Make sure you explain your answer and include examples.


Throughout our society I have seen a lot of changes but some I am not sure I would contribute to popular culture.   I believe that one of the big changes in society and the way people behave would be how healthy we are.    Due to many images in pop culture there are many more cases of eating disorders.   Many girls are trying to be like the models and stars they see on billboards and in movies, but what someone forgot to tell them is that many of those people are sick.   Other people are not suffering with anorexia and/or bulimia but obsessive over eating.   This is because society tells us that the more accessible something is the better so the drive thru was one of the greatest inventions ever.    More is never enough.   Look at RJ in "Over the Hedge."  He had to take not just enough food from the bear to survive, but everything including the "Spudies."   This is the average American.   There is never enough.   We work to buy stuff because the one with the most stuff wins.  This goes for food as well so now we have an absurd amount of obese people.   So due to pop culture and its effect on people, has two groups of people, the obese and the morbidly skinny.  We are now an unhealthy society.

Blog 5

Reflect on what we've discussed in class and what you've heard in the video and in the reading about violence in our media, particularly as it relates to masculinity.  Is the relationship between violence & masculinity something to be concerned about?




Violence is all around us.   We see it in the television shows that we watch.  We see it in the movies that we watch.   We see it in the sports that we play.   Its everywhere.   Men are told from a young age that in order to be cool you have to be a real man, and the best way to be a real man is to kick the shit out of someone who crosses you.   The rate of domestic violence and rape is going up.   The video we watched in class contributes it to horror movies where the female lead is about to have something awful happen to her and she is almost always in a provocative outfit and a provocative position, thus linking sexual excitement to horror adrenaline.   Due to all of this yes it is something we should worry about.   If men cant express how they feel without it being considered "gay" then all of the emotions that these men have are being bottled up and suppressed until they cant suppress it any more and they explode in a very violent way.   In no way is this good or healthy for anyone.

Shallow?

I was walking out of school the other day and a saw a couple holding hands walking to a vehicle.   The young man was well kept (nice clothes, cleanly shaven, hair styled, and that sort of thing) and fit, the girl on the other hand had her hair unbrushed, her clothes were old and slightly worn (they did not fit her all that well) and they didnt match, and she was well over weight. I found myself thinking come on man, you could do so much better than that.   Now Im not the type a person who believes that you have to wear a size 5 or lower to be pretty by ANY means, but I do think that you, by you I mean everybody, have to put at least a little effort into your outward appearance.  
I am aware that we live in a fairly shallow society and I try not to fall into the trap of being shallow.  This kind of stuff makes me wonder though, am I really like most other people?

Fourth Entry

Look at the results from Tuesday's survey on the traits of masculinity, which I also showed in class.  How important are the top two responses, muscles and athletics/sports, for establishing masculinity?  Should we be working to take into account other characteristics?


The results were very interesting.   I would have thought that many more people would have chosen bravery or protector.   Both muscles and athletics are things that many people associate with guys, I mean you rarely ever see a girl who is ripped and has big muscles with an interest in sports without also hearing the word dyke associated with her.   It bothers me that we as an American society look at aggression as being manly.  This could mean a few things.   It could mean that people expect boys to be rowdy and that is what we are now calling aggression, or it could be that there is more abuse going on, or at least known of, and people are viewing that as aggression.   If the latter is the case then we have some serious problems as a society.   

Random Thought

Ok so I'm sitting here thinking about life and all that deep shit that usually gives you a headache, and I realized that I all to often fit into the stereotype.   I honestly don't try to find a guy but when I do I find a need to keep him... not so much because I LIKE him but more so because according to society it gives my life meaning.   This however is completely independent of my self-esteem.   I have no problem what so ever going up to a complete stranger and asking them to sit with us at lunch, but when it comes to someone I'm dating I usually let them walk all over me, which is so far from my personality its ridiculous.   How is it that someone can be so confident until they "hook" someone and only then allow themselves to loose all sense of self?  

Third Entry

Now that we have read six articles for Popular Culture, look back on those six articles (from Aug. 31-Sep. 14) and explain which of these six articles provides the most provocative and interesting information for the reader.  Why is this information interesting?  Is this information also something that is important for the reader to know or think about?  Why or why not?


The pieces that I found most provocative would probably be 10 Seconds to Love, Porn, and Victoria Secret.   Each one of these pieces has different aspects that make them provocative in one way or another, for example, when the author declares that Pamela Anderson is not a real person in 10 Seconds to love it has the potential to create deep feelings in people.    Even though a lot of the piece is opinion based it brings together some very interesting points.   One such example is that our society has changed the way we view sexy and that can be seen in the change of our sexual icons.   Porn, if because of nothing other than the subject matter, is extremely provocative.   It is extremely interesting to see the view of society and the class and realize that they do indeed coincide.    It is very important to think about the information that all of these pieces are giving and to see if indeed that is how we want our society to be.

Blog 2

What is the proper roll of pornography in American society?  Who benefits from pornography?  Who is harmed?  Explain your answers.


Pornography is in every society.   If you look back to ancient civilizations even they had pornographic paintings on the walls.   The roll that it takes, or should take,  in American society is a understated back seat.   No one wants their young children to be exposed to or even understand what pornography is.  It should be something that singles and couples enjoy in the privacy of their own home or a secluded setting.   Many people benefit from pornography such as, the people making and selling it and the people viewing it for the occasional enjoyment.   Young people and those who are or become addicted to it are harmed.   If someone is addicted they generally spend large amounts of time and money.

1st Entry

How do you respond to the arguments that have been made in this week's reading (10 Seconds to Love, 2% of women think of themselves as beautiful, Why don't we like the Human Body?)?    Is our popular culture healthy in regards to beauty?    Do we focus on physical appearance too much?



The arguments made in this weeks readings are slightly disturbing.    Disturbing, but true.    In no way are the views of society healthy.   The fact that when asked what is beautiful, most people respond with boobs, body, butt, and the occasional confidence shows that we are living in a superficial society, but honestly how many people dont already know that?   Im not sure that I can think of one of my friends who wouldnt consider themselves atleast slightly superficial.   If this is something that we really wanted to change we would.  As American people we have a tendency to fight for what we believe in.   So far I dont see anyone fighting for a different sort of group think.   Physical appearance seems to be the biggest factor in our society.