Modern Family, The L word and telling our stories Summary

Modern Family, and other popular sitcoms incorporating LGBT characters into their show, are frustrating many in the LGBT community. The episode in which Mitchell and Cam, a white middle class homosexual couple, are attempting to enroll their Asian adopted daughter into the most prestigious preschool possible is found to be stereotypical and unoriginal. They attempt to "outdiverse" the other parents attempting to enroll their kids in the school, as it is a highly competitive institution. They ultimately get "outdiversed" when an interracial lesbian couple, one being handicapped, with a black daughter eventually get the bid. This plot line, or one being very similar, was done on the old TV show The L word back in 2008. The LGBT community is becoming annoyed with the same old plot lines for the LGBT characters on TV. The plot lines rarely involve real life issues and situations the LGBT community goes through on a daily basis. Rudolph suggests that the TV producers involved actual LGBT people to help with plot lines and portrayal of LGBT lives on the TV and movie screen. This may help the producers be more original and less offensive to the community it is hoping to depict. I have to agree with the article for the most part that LGBT plot lines are generally unoriginal and are not doing to LGBT community justice. TV producers might see benefits in incorporating LGBT people when producing characters or plot lines involving the LGBT lifestyle of daily lives. Depicting the LGBT community accurately and with clever story lines could even benefit the audience and encourage more to watch the program as well.

Media Screening

The first film I analyzed was the documentary After Tiller, produced in 2013 by Martha Shane. This movie was based on the lives of a group of abortion doctors and their troubled patients. The abortion doctors were apprentices of Dr. George Tiller and are the only doctors in the country who provide third-trimester abortions, or when the child has been living in the mother’s womb for 25 weeks. The second film I watched was the documentary The Invisible War, produced in 2012 by Kirby Dick. This film was based on the lives of sexual assault victims in the military and their struggle to find peace within themselves and to find justice for their attackers. Both films brought light to the issues involving gender expectations and lack of respect for women.

In After Tiller, the film follows the difficulties the mothers and doctors of the abortion clinic. At their practice, the doctors meet with potential patients in order to hear their story. During these encounters the viewers are able to hear the stories of these women, many of which tell the struggles of the mothers financially or emotionally. In many of the cases, these women choose to abort their child after finding out he/she will be born with disabilities or extreme physical disorders. The mothers in this film are ridiculed by those outside the clinic based on their expected gender roles. As a pregnant woman, the expectations for them are to carry out their pregnancy and take care for their child regardless of its health or well-being. There were several scenes in the film where they showed the protestors outside the clinic or in the towns, trashing the mothers with signs and harsh words often deeming them murderers. Those that are pro-life generally blame the woman for their own pregnancy and scold the mothers for their choice in the abortion. Very few instances do you see the father being the subject of abuse, regardless of the situation. The well-being and situations of the mothers are never of any concern to those that are pro-life, only the child inside them. In one case, a woman explains that she did not tell her parents of her decision to abort because “they would call her a murderer”. Those who speak against abortion never know the individual story of the women who seek the procedure; they judge every woman the same based on the expectations of motherhood and show complete lack of respect.

In The Invisible War, countless stories are heard from military women and even some men who were sexually assaulted during their service in the military. Most of these rapes and assaults were committed by commanders and those of higher rank, and the criminal cases were never pursued or charged on the victims instead. Based on their experiences, the lack of respect for women in the military is appalling. Several men in the military clearly see their female colleagues as their property and something to be claimed. These men are reassuring gender expectations and see these women as inferior and something to assert dominance over.  In one case, the attacker of a victim put his hand on her body during his assault and said “I own all of this”. In another case, a female marine explained how one of her senior officers said “Female marines here are nothing but objects for the male marines to fuck”. By women attempting to speak out against their attackers, they are met with harsh punishments and accusations of lying by all military personnel and legal teams.

The themes of gender expectations and lack of respect for women are clear in both After Tiller and The Invisible War. Pregnant women are judged based on motherhood expectations and are criticized when defying them. Women in the military are viewed as inferior and weak by male colleagues, and are assaulted in order for these men to prove masculinity. In both of these issues, women are disrespected greatly and are the common victims of crude judgement.

Women's History Month Essay

I was able to attend two WGS events on campus this semester, both in hopes to bring awareness and address gender equality issues. The first event I went to was Alumni  Panel: Designing Feminist Futures, College and Beyond, organized by WGS students. The panel was composed of three female alumni who studied WGS at TCNJ and are now pursuing professional careers, two of which are lawyers. The second event I attended was the guest speaker Michael Kimmel, who is a sociologist and professor at Stony Brook University. Both of these events were very informative and provided different opinions and experiences with sexism and promoting feminism.  Sitting through both of these presentations, I noticed a common theme repeating throughout both. The struggle for women in the workplace was referenced numerous times in both the panel discussion and the talk with Mr. Kimmel. Women’s struggle in the workplace has been an issue the country has faced for years. Regardless of the profession, women are constantly making less money than men for equal work. Along with pay difference, women are subjected to much abuse and lack of respect from coworkers.

In the panel discussion, the three women were asked how it was dealing with feminist issues in the real world, and outside of the TCNJ classroom. The first speaker was a woman who attended law school after undergrad and was now an established lawyer. She mentioned how it was harder to confront feminist issues outside of the TCNJ classroom because she is not dealing with the same types of open minded people. She described her experiences with sexual harassment in the workplace and how such situations were downplayed greatly. When she was sexually harassed by her boss, to which then she approached the human resource representative about the situation, she was told she was better off just “dropping it” and that pursuing such an issue would just cause a storm. Another panelist, answering the same question, explained how she was paid unfairly from the rest of her colleagues that were men. Less qualified male colleagues, doing the same exact scope of work, were making substantially more money than her. She described one interview she went on where the company told her that she was not allowed to wear anything but skirts in the office if she accepted the job offer. She explained how these types of issues were way harder to deal with and could not be openly discussed and debated like how it was in the classrooms at TCNJ. All of the panelists agree that they have dealt with guilty thoughts to whether they were doing enough to stand up for themselves, and if they were letting down the feminist community. This is a result from them having to step down in certain situations because they must pick and choose the battles they want to take on, and that every day is a fight.

Mr. Kimmel stressed in his presentation how women need men’s help in promoting feminism. He described how men, typically white men, have a strong sense of entitlement for what is not theirs. Kimmel described the situation where a white man is going for a job. The firm eventually hires a woman in the position the man was hoping to acquire. The common male conception is that “they gave my job to a woman”, as if it was his job to lose. The idea that he feels he is entitled to the job and that any women, or African American man or women, is taking something that he already possesses. Kimmel also described how challenging an “unencumbered worker” can help with gender equality. Those working 80 hours a week are mostly males, as females do not want to participate in a work week that long because they would not have enough time to devote to their families and motherly duties. These men have trouble under the pressures of their CEOs and higher up bosses, who are also men, to sacrifice work for family. These pressures from higher up successful male workers challenge other male workers to work ridiculous hours to be successful. Men combating this sacrifice all attitude will ultimately help women become more successful in the workplace also, and no forcing them to compete with 80 hour work weeks. Women are struggling competing with men who are willing to work 80 hours a week to be successful, and have no other obligations.

In conclusion, both the women’s history month events stressed the ideas and the realities of women in the workplace. The unfortunate reality of women being paid less than men when doing the same scope of work, or even being more qualified, needs to change. How could an employer ever justify paying a women less than a man for the same job? Sexual harassment and other forms of female oppression also need to be brought to attention. It is also difficult for women to compete with male workers taking on ridiculous work hours a week based on pressures from their bosses and higher ups. Women cannot create a more gender equal world on their own; men need to help their cause which will ultimately benefit their lives as well. 

Gender Nuetral Children

I would say I agree with Dr. Harold Koplewicz with this matter. When we watched the short documentary on Ryland in class, I was moved by the way his parents handled the situation of him wanting to identify with the opposite gender. The alarming rate of transgender depression and suicide attempts when they attempt to make the change later in life is terrifying for any parent. By allowing Ryland to identify the way he wants, his parents are hoping to save Ryland from a life of depression and provide him with a strong loving support system. I actually admire the way the parents handled the situation. However, in this matter, the parents are from the start identifying their baby boy as "infant". Although some people may find it disturbing and not fair, children need to be guided in the direction of their gender in order for them to develop properly. By raising your child gender neutral, before them even giving the hint they want to change genders, could be overwhelmingly confusing for a child. This type of child raising could be even worse for the psychological development of a child. Like Dr. Koplewicz said, "When children are born they are not a blank slate, we do have male and female brains. There's a reason why boys do more rough and tumble play, there's a reason why girls have better language development skills". Humans, like any other organism, are wired a certain way. Children are born with a sex, they are no born a neutral object. I looked for statistics on gender neutral parenting to see what kind of affects it has on children, and there really are none. Most of the information supporting or criticizing gender neutral parenting is based on opinion or no real factual evidence. I did read on livescience.com that even if you raise a gender neutral child, the child is so surrounded by gender, especially in the home with both parents identifying, they will eventually identify as one or the other. I think gender neutral raising should be something implemented after the child can make his/her choice, not before. I feel that if a family is to raise their child gender neutral, they must raise them completely neutral. Not dress them as a girl one day and as a boy the other, it shouldn't be leaning toward any gender.

Perpetuating Online Sexism Offline

The article investigates the study performed on sexism's presence online and how it influences sexism offline. The study was based on the social networking site, Twitter, and several study subjects. the purpose of the experiment was to determine if people who wrote sexist tweets would (a) demonstrate more sexist attitudes, (b) judge female candidates to be less competent, and (c) rate female candidates as less hirable than participants who retweeted sexist messages. Based on the results, it was seen that people who are anonymous are way more hostile when tweeting sexist tweets than people who are identified. People who wrote sexists tweets were also determined to be more hostile than people who retweeted them. It was also found that participants who wrote sexist tweets also judged female candidates as less competent. The study results proved that social media, especially anonymous social media, allow people to become more hostile toward sexism online and off. Sexist hashtags that spread on twitter are exposed to people all over, giving them the impression that sexist jokes are acceptable and will receive a lot of popularity on the site. I was expecting that people who tweeted from anonymous accounts were most hostile than those who identity was revealed. This is because of new social media apps such as Yik Yak, present on college campuses. This is essentially an anonymous twitter. People post ridiculous posts on Yik Yak, ones that they would never post if people knew their identity. Many of these posts are insulting and many are sexist as well. Social media is destructive in general and allow people to post, anonymous or not, offensive comments because of the lack of person to person facial expressions and face to face responses from other people. The security of being alone in one's room separated from other viewers makes people far bolder and more inclined to post offensively.

Social Networks

Social networking is extremely popular in my generation, as most people my age have Facebooks, Twitters, or Instagrams. People use these forms of social media to communicate, keep in touch, and keep up to date on today's issues. Facebook is a very common form of social media in which people create profiles about themselves to connect with other people. The intentions of these profiles is to portray who you are: including your interests, friends, appearance, etc. All profiles are meant to be real depictions of ones self, and yet they are far from it. I went through Facebook to take a look at profiles to get a real idea of how people are portraying themselves. It is clear that people are creating their profiles for what they want people to see, not who they actually are. These social media profiles are tapered toward how the users wants them to look, and the image of themselves they want to create for other people. They are far from what they are meant to be. These profiles are also highly gendered. Each girl's profile I go through look exactly the same. The pictures many girls put up on their social media pages are highly coordinated and uncandid, a lot of which one could be considered sexual objectification. Its funny how whenever girls take pictures together, they are always leaning on one leg or half squatting.  Guy profiles are a little more diverse, however some themes are commonly seen throughout: Sports being an example. "Friends" on Facebook are even worse. The term "friends" is devalued, as many people have other 1000 "friends" on their page. A majority of the time, people only barely know, if even at all, most of their "friends" on Facebook. It it disturbing how something like Facebook clearly shows a very unhealthy trend in how people communicate and meet one another in today's society.

Small Change Summary

Small Change was an article about how activism and revolution has changed in recent years. The article began describing the protests in Greensboro, NC in the 1960s. This type of activism was sparked and grown by word of mouth and local emotional turmoil. Those suffering in the area were joining the fight which then inspired more in other areas of the country. The increase in social media in our society is tremendous as the number of users continue to increase for all forms: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. With the growing amount of users, these social media sites can connect millions of people in seconds, sharing news and information with people across the globe. This being so, social movements and events spread like wildfire, with millions of people actively sharing, liking, and posting about certain issues. Many social movements and causes have grown in number due to social media and the ease of communication. After discussing the old way of protest, the article began describing how this social media has been credited to protests in other countries in recent years. One specific protest in Iran, called the Twitter Revolution, was referenced in the article about activism lead by social media. The article criticized this type of protest and activism and how it really contributes to nothing. The ties we have with people we follow or are friends with on social media are weak ties and have no meaning behind them. Most protests in foreign nations, especially in the Iran case, that are credited to social media should not be. This is due to the fact that the people involved are not a part of western culture and do not even have twitters or facebooks. One journalist wrote how she did not understand why people trying to organize protests in the Iran case were writing in any other language by Farsi. The article states how the protest in Greensboro in the 1960s was a real protest, with the people suffering being the ones at the forefront of organizing the fight. Overall, I agree with the article that social media is getting too much credit for modern protest. Protests that catch fire on social media are generally weak and un-meaningful protests, as the people speaking our most about the cause are generally not the ones suffering, or are far attached from the real issues taking place. The type of activism that took place in history is far more impactful than how modern activism is executed.

Reality Television

Reality television today is getting out of control. The term "reality TV" is become almost an irony, as it is starting to become more and more scripted and fake. TV shows such as the Kardashians, Housewives, etc. focus on the lives of the rich and depict characters going insane with fights and emotional struggles over the smallest of conflicts or problems. The people depicted on these shows are despicable people and yet millions of people tune in daily to watch then complain over what guy they're dating now or what friend backstabbed them this time. Because I really dont watch much reality television, I tuned in to an episode of Survivor because it is one of the only reality shows I can actually watch. I do not have a favorite character, as it was my first time watching an episode in the series this season, however gender is seen throughout the episode. Because I used to be an avid watcher of the show when I was younger, I have seen that gender roles in Survivor have been a trend throughout its existence. The whole premise of the show is a large group of random people are brought onto an exotic island for over a month, where they survive and participate in competitions in order to stay safe in the nightly votes to send a participant home. Men in the show are always falling into the roles anyone would expect them to: dominating in the physical competitions and being the ones mostly doing the manual labor for shelter and hunting. The women are usually the gathering, or starting fires, or just lounging around. The women also excel most of the time in the critical thinking competitions. There is also always a weird dynamic, as the most athletic men are usually voted off first due to the threat they have in competition to win individual immunity every week. There usually are always a group of guys or a group of girls that form alliances with one another, but most of the time its quite blended guys and girls. Especially in past seasons, when there is an attractive woman on the show, she usually is depicted as the sex icon. Commonly wearing the least amount of clothing as possible (sexual objectification). Survivor may not be the best example for gender in reality TV shows, but even that gender roles and sexual objectification are eminent.

I Am Cait Article Summary

I thought this article was a hopeful one. The article summarized the new show "I Am Cait" on the TV station E! and how it has taken a whole different approach on reality television shows. Usually, reality shows are filled with drama, "Keeping Up With The Kardashians" being one of the forefronts for those types of shows. Little conflicts on reality TV shows are always produced into these large scale drama situations, with tons of emotion, screaming, and sometimes fights. A large amount of the time, events are scripted in the TV show just to produce more conflict and backstabbing. "I Am Cait", however, is a different type of reality TV show. Although it is focused around a sensitive topic, a recently identified transgender woman, the show provides a more realistic and true portrayal of reality. Instead of being under fire, or flooded with conflict or emotion, Caitlin Jenner is seen going through her daily life. The relationships shown with her family and friends are not altered or depicted for the viewers entertainment, they are supportive and good-hearted toward Caitlin's "struggle". Situations in the TV show that could be blown out of proportion just to entertain are kept in their originality, such as the scene when Caitlin visits the funeral. Overall, I think it is awesome that E! is airing a reality show that is actually reality. I have never seen the show- or any of the other fake reality shows like kardashians, housewives, and whatever garbage is airing on TV on those stations. I do think it is a great step in the right direction for television to start making reality TV shows that are informative or offer a true perspective, not one scripted in Hollywood to satisfy drama suckers.

Boys Girls and Toys

The marketing of toys in today's society is highly gendered and enforces stereotypical gender roles. If you ever walk into Toys R Us, you will see the differences in types of toys and packaging for young boys and girls. When I was younger, the toys I always played with were Hot Wheels, Legos, Lincoln logs, footballs, etc. Those are generally the stereotypical toys for boys at a young age. Cars, engineering, sports, are all the common themes when it comes to young boy development. The toys young girls are commonly playing with are Barbies, baby dolls, easy bake ovens,  play houses, etc. The common themes for these toys are motherhood, cooking, housekeeping, and dressing up/ makeup. These common themes for both boys toys and girls toys are stressing the gender roles for them at early ages. Men should be engineers, athletes, mechanics/car-enthusiasts, astronauts while women should be mothers, trophy wives, and always looking lady-like. The packaging of these toys in the stores further continues with the gender enforcement. All girls toys are wrapped in pink and purple packaging, covered in rainbows and flowers and colorful print. Boys toys are usually wrapped in blue and black packaging with flames, superheroes, helicopters, etc. The commercials for these toys stress which gender should be playing with them. For Hot Wheels, Legos, and action figure commercials the viewers usually only see young boys playing with the products, and likewise for the girls toys. Many toy companies direct their advertising to one gender: if a boy were to see a girl playing with a Hot Wheel in the Hot wheels commercial he may find it less intriguing. The toy industry is one of the biggest culprits of gender roles enforcement.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mz7M222fgT8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lreImESlrG0

Fighting Fire with Fabulous Summary

The article Fighting Fire With Fabulous describes the plans of the Dambacher brothers to create a movement against intolerance. The show will take place in the nation's center for intolerance, Topeka, Kansas. Topeka, Kansas in the center for the Westboro Baptist Church started by Fred Phelps back in 1955. This church group is a group that protests against the LGBT community, people of color, fallen soldiers, and many more groups of people. The Dambacher brothers plan to film a TV show in the heart of this hateful community. This TV show will be about someone who fits the stereotype of the people of the WBC community, This person will be outed by the WBC and become involved with a "freaka" group of people, or people who the WBC community protest against. The goal of this TV show is to maybe bring light to the people of the WBC, but more importantly to help fight their movement. The Dambacher brothers want to "fight the fire" and help these people understand how absurd intolerance is, and that the views of intolerance are views of the past. Overall, I believe the motives of the Dambacher brothers are good. Intolerance is unacceptable in today's community and anyway to help the WBC community to understand that can be considered a good thing. I dont know if it is ethical though. The parody of the TV show and the almost "rubbing it in their face" attitude is somewhat stooping down to their level. The movement may even spark a flame in the WBC community and make their hatefulness increase tenfold. Hopefully, near into the future, the WBC community will be eliminated completely.

Sound and Fury Summary

The article Sound and Fury: Fred Phelps and Life Inside Westboro is an article/timeline telling the story of Fred Phelps and his family. He was a lawyer and the founder of the Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas. The Westboro Baptist Church was a "church" and organization which have spoken out strongly and viciously against government officials, gay and lesbians, AIDs sufferers, fallen soldiers, African Americans, and many others. They are a hateful community which have spend large amounts of money to protest against groups of people. Fred Phelps had a large family consisting of 13 children, all suffering from their fathers actions as well. Phelps was a dictator and an abusive father, leaving his children with violent injuries from beatings he gave them. Phelps would beat his kids for any reason: bad grades, unjustifiable assumptions, not meeting their quota in candy selling, having a girlfriend/boyfriend, trying to find other jobs, etc. Countless times, a child of Fred Phelps attempted to run away from home to find a different life. Some were successful, others were brought home by their siblings or came home realizing they could not support themselves. Either way, escape from the life inside Westboro was difficult for the children of Phelps. Anytime an outside source attempted to bring justice to the way Phelps's treated his children, his children would cover for their father as a result of the fear he instilled in them. Out of fear and loyalty to their father, the Phelps's children pursued law degrees and practiced law just like their father. In 1994-1998, the life inside Westboro baptist church and the Phelps's family hit national spotlight on CNN. Two Phelps's boys, Nate and Mark, provided newspapers with information on the abuses inside the Phelps's family. Overall, hearing the crimes of Fred Phelps and the lives of the Phelps's children were both disgusting and sad, respectively. The actions of this community seem to be in the wrong time period and unjustified.

Her Story

Her story was a very moving mini-series which depicts the daily lives of transgender people and their dating lives. The story mostly focuses on Allie a professional writer who is supposedly “really good” and her attempts to find out more about a transgender man named Violet and his daily life. Throughout their one-on-one interviews, they begin to develop feelings toward one another. The story continues to follow their story and the story of their friends around them. There were several scenes in the mini-series that stuck out in my mind. Many which revealed common misconceptions of transgendered people. In their first one-on-one, Allie asks if Violet is gay. Violet finds that slightly offensive and stereotypical of people to assume. He mentions how everyone who does not truly understand the transgender community believes that if you are transgender you are gay. This assumption could not be farther from the truth. Violet further explains how just because you are transgender, does not mean you like the same sex, it just means you are more comfortable in a different identity. I thought this was very important to inform viewers of common mistakes. Before I took this class, I thought that if you were transgender you were gay, as you are posing as the opposite sex. This assumption is a result of heteronormativity and the negative portrayal of homosexuality and transgender in the media.

Violet also reveals another common misconception in the first one-on-one with Allie. Allie explains how Violet is the only transgender person she has ever met. Violet corrects her and reveals that she knows for a fact Allie has met at least two, the other being her friend in the café. When hearing this, Allie is shocked. Violet explains how not all transgender people can easily be identified. I believe this conversation helped bring light to the common assumptions made by the uninformed.  Many people believe those that are transgender cannot be beautiful, or stick out like a sore thumb. In reality, transgender people can be beautiful. Violet supports this by saying she has two transgender friends, one an actress and one a model. Just because a man or a women corresponds to the opposite gender, does not mean they will look out of place. Some transgender people look more like and man or a woman than those that were born biologically as one.

I believe the biggest issue Her Story brings attention to is the overall negative connotations and stereotypes of transgender people. The idea that transgender people are all homosexual, that transgender people are ugly, or that dating a transgender person is wrong. In one of the scenes in the second episode, Allie is hanging out with her friends when one poses the question “would you ever date a transgender?”. One of Allie’s friends responds with an outstanding no, as another responds saying transgender people are destroying everything feminism work for. Later in the second episode, Paige explains how she reveals that she is transgender on the first date and that always scares people off. Violet’s boyfriend in an earlier scene also rips up Allie’s business card once Violet tells him she wanted to interview Violet for her transsexuality. Violet’s boyfriend clearly prefers Violet to not draw attention to it, as opposed to being proud of it. There are also countless other scenes such as these throughout the mini-series which stress this fundamental issue. It is a shame that the transgender community pinned to these negative ideas. Transgender people can be heterosexual, they can be beautiful, and dating a transgender is perfectly acceptable. Nothing about a transgender person’s appearance or personality or attributes one likes about them changes when they reveal they are transgender, the only thing that changes are the opinions of other person. And why does this one word have such a large impact on people’s opinions? 

Girl Rising

Girl Rising was an inspiring movie that told the tales of nine different girls from different countries and their experiences:

Sokha from Cambodia was the first girl we met in the story. Sokha was porn into extreme poverty and did not have the same opportunities as other children. She grew up in the slums of Cambodia and was forced to scavenge through trash for survival. Throughout her scenes, she is walking barefoot through mounds of garbage. She always wanted to go to school and that remained her dream until she found her way into school. Once in school, Sokha flourished.

Wadley from Haiti story started with her in school, eager to learn and enjoy her peers company. Once the devastating Haiti earthquake occurred, her home and school were destroyed which forced her family to move elsewhere. Her family then moved to a scraped together village made of mostly tented homes. Everyday, Wadley walked by the temporary school in her village, where children's families had to pay for them to enroll. One day, Wadley attempted to sneak into the classroom, jst because thats all she wanted and she could not fight her intense desire to learn. The teacher forced her to leave because her mother did not pay for her to be there. The next day, Wadley went back to sneak in again but this time refused to leave. The teacher, in good heart, let her stay because of Wadley's determination.

Suma from Nepal was born into a very poor family and was forced to take a path she did not want. Suma was a bonded laborer and worked for her master. Suma continued to live a depressed life, expressing her emotions through songs and music. What made matters worse was that Suma's brothers were allowed to go to school, which is all she wanted. At age 11, Suma served three masters and eventually convinced one to allow her to go to school. This event eventually led to her freedom, as Suma's teacher challenged her master to let her go as it was illegal. She eventually was brought back home to her family.

Yasmin from Egypt had a more gut-wrenching story then most. She was attacked and sexually assaulted by a man who originally offered her a ride. Instead of giving her a ride, he brought her to his house and committed these horrible acts. Yasmin was somehow able to escape, saying she used her "superhero" powers. Yasmin and her family never found justice for her attacker, as Egyptian police claimed they would not be able develop a case. Instead of grieving from her violent past, Yasmin uses her imagination to make the pain more tolerable.

Asmera from Ethiopia lost part of her family, her sister and father, at a very young age. Being so, her mother attempts to marry her off in order to give her opportunity and another life. Asmera refuses and tries everything she can to not fall into another life. Through love for her sister, Asmera's brother offered to sacrifice his education to give to his sister so she can become educated and avoid being married off to an older man.

Ruskana of India grows up in poverty living in a street community. Ruskana's family lives in tent huts in the middle of the street. Ruskana doodles in school to let her imagination run wild, in her head her drawings come to life. When her father finds out about her doodling in class, he buys Ruskana a drawing pad and colored pencils and makes her promise she will study hard and draw outside of class, as her father is sacrificing everything for her to go to school. The dangers of her family's community are eminent in a later scene where her father has to chase down older boys from bullying his daughter. Ruskana continues to find hope and happiness in her artwork.

Senna of Peru grew up in a mining town where her father worked. Senna's father insisted she go to school and avoid the life of prostitution. Senna had troubles in school. Her father began suffering of illness caused by the life of a miner. Senna found her passion and happiness in poetry, where she used it to express her emotions and empower herself.

Mariama of Sierre Leone was the first in her family to obtain an education. She began hosting a radio show an helped others through their problems in life and within themselves. Her step father attempted to stop her from hosting the show since she was not abiding by his requests at home. Through convincing her step father, Mariama was able to continue with her radio show and help girls and women around the world.

Amina of Afghanistan is an inspiring story about a girl who attempts to stray from the cultural norm. Amina is slaved to men at a very early age and eventually is given away by her family to marry an older man. Her family uses the money they received from marrying off Amina to buy a new car for her brother. Amina wants a different lifestyle and feels it is unfair that women in her culture are oppressed and not allowed to expose themselves or gain an education. Amina continues to do everything she can to find an education and break free of the customs of her culture.

For the US "girl rising" experience, I believe it is a lot different than what these girls from other countries faced. I believe girls in america have far more opportunity. The social norm in the US is for young girls to go to school, just like young boys, and obtain an education. Girls in the US are allowed to join the workforce and succeed just like men. I believe the Girl Rising experience in the steps women have taken to have better opportunities and lives. Women in the US hold powerful political positions and are large pop culture icons. Women continue to strive for better education and continue to pursue jobs and roles that were formerly always held by men. For example, Hilary Clinton might become the first women president in 2016. The privilege of US women is taken for granted. especially when one hears the struggles of women in other countries.

Gender and the Military

I have several family members and friends that have served in the military either presently, or in the past. My grandfather went to Kings Point and served for the merchant marines as did his father. Several friends I've had throughout high school and college also went to serve in the army and navy. Because of this, I am a huge supporter of the military and all who serve our country, no matter the gender. Gender has played its part in the military, as men are often used for more labor intensive tasks. Men are also more commonly used in high intensity combat units and combat situations. Many feel that women are discriminated against in these situations, and that the idea that men are stronger than women is demonstrated. Gender is also portrayed in military wives versus military husbands, and in the media. Military wives are often praised in society, the women in taking care of the children and supporting her husband as she fights for her country. Military husbands are often not praised in the same way. In some situations, military husbands are seen as weak, that their wife is abroad serving her country while he is home taking care of the household. Military husbands masculinity is often challenged. In the media, when the military is advertised or portrayed in movies, men are most commonly shown. These military men portrayed in the media often perform brave acts of courage in time of war. Most women in military movies play the role of nurses as well. Gender inequalities are definitely eminent in the military, however, it has improved in recent decades. I often see military commercials now with women soldiers incorporated. However, one question I pose is this: if women expect complete equality in the military, shouldn't they be subjected to being drafted into the military as well? What if a man is a better soldier than the women? Is it still considered gender inequality if the man is chosen over the women for an important combat mission?

Supersexualize Me! Summary

In Rosalind Gill's article, Supersexualize Me! she explains the technique of midriff advertising and shares her opinion on how it effects young women and society. Midriff advertising is the advertising of the midriff, or the "part of the body between the top of the pubis bone and the bottom of the rid cage". In the article, Gill describes how many feminist activists believe midriff advertising is sexualized objectification and frowned upon. She further explains how midriff advertising can be considered subjectification not objectification, and that it provides a sense of self empowerment to women. In recent decades, the "value" and "capital" of women has changed drastically. In history, women were considered to be evaluated by men based on their ability to cook, clean, take care of the children, and other domestic activities. With the cultural shift, women are now evaluated by men based on their bodies, and overall sexual appeal. Midriff advertising was argued to give women power over men and leave them to bend to their will. Advertisers also direct their midriff advertising to emphasizing that women should by their lingerie and clothing in order to please themselves, not men. The one quote that really tried to drive this idea home was, "while you don't necessarily have to dress for men, it doesn't hurt, on occasion, to see one drool like the pathetic dog he is". The one argument against this idea of midriff advertising was the fact that it is subjective to women of thin, fit, young body types. Women who do not possess a thin, ideal body are left out of this source of advertising. This concept develops the power of sexual attractiveness. Overall, the article was very fascinating on looking at multiple view points of midriff advertising and its effects on women.

Intelligence vs. Icon

I believe that Marilyn Monroe 'hid' her intellect in order to better her career. Monroe often played the roles of dumb bimbo blondes and those roles are what made her successful. People created this image for her and what they expected her to be like in real life, and this image is what everyone loved. For Monroe to reveal her intelligence, she could have jeopardized her ability to still get the roles she was used to and lost her credibility to play those parts. It is similar to situations of some actors and actresses today. Will Farrell plays solely comedy roles in movies; if he were to begin playing horror film roles or action/thriller roles, people would have a hard time taking him seriously. I believe there are celebrities today that share the same situation as Monroe. A modern day celebrity that actually hid part of their intellect was Nolan Gould. Nolan Gould plays Luke on the popular TV show Modern Family. Luke is the youngest child and only son of the Dunphy family and is known to be very dim-witted and immature. In the show, Luke's stupidity is often the punchline to successful jokes. In real life, Gould is a genius. He is a member of Mensa society of people with incredibly high IQ's. Nolan Gould's IQ is estimated to be approaching 150, and he also graduated high school at 13 years old. Overall, I believe Gould has to hide his incredible intellect in order to play the part of Luke Dunphy. If he had not hid his intellect, Gould may never have gotten the role in Modern Family that has made him such a successful actor.

Gendered Slang

I believe language in today's society is gendered. Simple slang in the English language, that usually go unnoticed, are derogatory towards women or praising toward men. This slang, or sayings, are used on an everyday basis. Some examples, "dont be a pussy", "dont be a girl", "tough guy", "wise guy", "Mr. KnowItAll", and other quick sayings like that are all gendered. The sayings referring to men are calling someone tough, or strong, or wise. The sayings referring to women are negative, as if being a girl is a bad thing, or the female genitalia is something associated to be negative. Another example of female genitalia being used for negative implication is the word "cunt". In today's culture, people use the word "cunt" or "pussy" when describing either a terrible person or a weak person. As seen by timeline ling of genitalia slang, one could see that there were far more slang words for a vagina than there were for a penis. The slang used for a penis also seemed to be more praising. Another common saying that is gendered in the English language is used when describing an object. When people are talking about a car's paint job, they'll say "she looks great", or "she...". This is significant because it is equating women to objects. One rarely hears "he..." when describing an object. Overall, language in today's society is highly gendered, as shown by the several examples provided. On an everyday basis, we communicate through slang that is commonly derogatory towards women or feminism. On the contrary, slang referring to men or masculinity is used in a positive light. To really note the impact, we all should take note for one day the gender references in our language. I am sure we will all be shocked at what we are really talking about in the slang we use.

Hetero Barbie Summary

The hetero barbie article proposed an idea that I was not expecting. I never thought of Barbie in any other way but a doll which promotes feminism and stereotypical gender roles. All Barbie's are very thin with long legs, long hair, and loads of makeup. There has always been controversy on whether Barbie's were good for young girls. Many studies attempt to link Barbie with low self esteem and eating disorders in young girls. Hetero Barbie proposed a different theory about the Barbie doll, one I have never heard before. In the article, Rogers mentions how Barbie is not married, she is not a mother, she does not bend to Ken's will, etc. Barbie shows a strong sense of independence, with different occupations and travel involved as well. The article also suggests Barbie could be a drag queen; as she dresses ultrafemine, similar to drag queens. Barbie is often criticized for her heterosexual normativity, but in reality her sexuality is up for interpretation. In the article, Rogers writes, "In the extreme Barbie might be a lipstick lesbian, a lesbian fem, or a lesbian closeted more tightly than most who choose not to "come out". She might be a bisexual woman who once cared about and pursued a relationship with Ken but now prefers her "best friend" Midge....Barbie might be asexual". The article also focuses on a young homosexual man, Osborne, and his extensive Barbie collection. Osborne is an example of how Barbie's sexuality and image can be up for interpretation for people of all sexual preferences. He has collected Barbie's since he was thirteen and for him they are more than just dolls. Overall, the article is very eye opening to the uncommon interpretations of the Barbie doll. Although Barbie is criticized much in the media for a variety of reasons, there is much good it does to society. Giving individuals like Osborne comfort in their sexuality, and the reality that it is okay to stray from the normal gender classifications.

All in the Family

By definition, a nuclear family is a family that is centered around a married couple, and includes their children. The shape of a nuclear family has been fairly consistent leading up to the 21st century. The man, or the father, or the household was considered the 'breadwinner' and was responsible to provide for the family. The family relied on the father's job and the income he provided. The mother's role was the caretaker. she was responsible for looking after the children and doing household chores. The mother usually spent her time at home cleaning, cooking, and tending to children's needs. In today's society, the roles of the father and mother have been changing rapidly. The presence of women in the workplace, along with the recent economic recession, have altered the past vision of nuclear family and their gender roles. The mother, in many families in the US, has entered the role of the 'breadwinner' in the family, as the family relies on the income she provides. The increase in stay-at-home dads due to lay-offs or unemployment has changed the identity of a nuclear family as well. The father has suddenly taking over the gender roles of the mother, based on the old idea of a nuclear family. I do believe it is a good thing that women are beginning to take charge and providing for their families, whether it is because of husband lay-off or personal desire. It is beneficial to the family if there is an equal opportunity for the mother, and the father, to support the family financially. I believe it also makes the family more secure. If something were to happen to one spouse in terms of their employment, the other can step up and take on the burden. Nuclear families today provide more of a team work atmosphere in a way, as both spouses can 'play" any position. The enforcement of gender roles from an early age is far less present, as children now are seeing their mothers working and their fathers being more family oriented. Seeing both spouses take financial responsibility in certain circumstances blurs the gender roles formed in the 20th century and before. Overall, this family change is a good thing for society.

Sex, Lies, and Advertising summary

The Sex, Lies, and Advertising chapter summarized the efforts of Ms. magazine to defy stereotypical gender ads that are usually placed in women's magazines. Magazines for women commonly have the same types of ads: shampoos, fragrances, cleaning products, food recipes, etc. Ms. magazine hoped to bring in ads that were usually directed only toward the male gender, or only placed in magazines for men. In order to obtain these ads, Gloria reached out to these companies and attempted to persuade them that women contribute to a large portion of their product sales. Ms. magazine ran into several issues along the way. Companies usually directing ads towards men were stubborn in using them in a women's magazine. The companies feared it would not sell as well and that it would be waste of advertising. For example, Lionel was contacted in hopes to acquire toy train ads in Ms. magazine to attract young girls. Lionel was afraid that if they were to put young girls in their ads for the magazine, young boys would suddenly become less interested in their products. Ms. magazine also attempted to attract beer companies to place ads in their magazine. It took 8 years for a beer company, Michelob Ultra, to provide ads for their magazine. Food companies were asked to provide ads without recipes, as recipes promote stereotypical gender roles that women should be cooking. In some instances, companies saw results and were on board with the change of advertising. United airlines was the first airline to cross over, and saw beneficial results. Several car companies also joined the bandwagon. Ultimately, the experiment performed by Ms. magazine had its successes and failures. I believe it was an inspiring idea, as many people do not realize the enforcement of stereotypical gender roles from advertising in magazines. It is a shame it was such a struggle for the magazine editors to influence masculinity promoting companies to provide advertisements. Advertisements should be uni-gender, as both men and women purchase technology products, automobiles, airline tickets, etc. It is not fair, and it is quite ignorant for companies to provide certain ads exclusively to one gender, as the company could be losing sales.

Modern Love

Love, to me, is an important emotion and contributes greatly to overall happiness in human beings. Love is the feeling of comfort, belonging, and overall happiness one experiences when in the presence of someone or something. The word love should not be commonly used, as it is a powerful word than can only describe your feelings toward something that is extremely important to your overall well-being. Although those are my opinions toward the word 'love', I believe it is far less meaningful in society today because of the overuse of the word. Media and Pop culture are largely to blame for the degradation of the word love and what it means to truly love someone/something. People use the statement 'I love...' quite frequently throughout their day, to refer to something or someone that really may not be that important to them. On social media, I constantly see girls commenting on other girls Instagram posts, or Facebook photos, and the usual response is  'I love you'. Media sources such as magazines often drop the word 'love' when referring to celebrities spotted in public together. Musical artists use 'love' all the time in their lyrics and song titles. Dating has also changed greatly in the past 5-10 years. The amount of dating websites and phone apps have increased dramatically, and so has their popularity. Society is getting lazy about going out and meeting people, person to person, and seem to prefer sitting at home swiping right right on their phones. Rarely do you see men approaching women asking then on a date face to face anymore. Relationships these days usually begin with a text, or a photo like, or any other form of communication through social media. Meeting your significant other using a dating website or app is not a bad thing, it is not any less meaningful. However, it is sad how often it is used, and the lack of effort from society today to go out of their comfort zone and interact in-person. Personally, I find meeting people in person far more exciting. To me, there is something about finding out about a person in face to face conversation that makes it far more impactful.

Constructing Masculinity Summary

The Constructing Masculinity article was very interesting and I feel the information it provided flies under the radar. The article provides insight on how men and their masculinity are often influenced through the media; most of the time in negative ways. The article covers thoroughly how American sitcoms today mock the male gender and the perception of masculinity. Examples shows such as Two and a Half Men, Everybody Loves Raymond, and Home Improvement are referenced in the article as shows that "escalate the masculine parody". I used to watch Two and a Half Men when Charlie Sheen still played the role of Charlie Harper and can attest to the mocking of masculinity and the large portrayal of a stupid, incompetent male gender. The men in the show are often the butt-end of the joke, and portrayed largely as stupid or inferior to women. The quote, "The contemporary American sitcom tends toward a perceived analysis of male-incompetency and failures both in the home and more classical male domains", describes accurately how television continues to destroy hegemonic masculinity, but not necessarily in the best way. The article mentions how women are the main audience of American sitcoms. That being so, women tend to be the ones who define masculinity in that context, and "men can only lay claims to the old parts of their masculinity through irony, by falling right in with the joke".
Later in the article, Robertson discusses another example of how masculinity is influenced by the media. He touches on the propaganda used by the New Zealand military during the Great War. The New Zealand military challenged the masculinity of New Zealand men in hopes to encourage more soldiers to enlist. New Zealand adolescent males were largely exposed to histories of war heroes, which established physical and behavioral guidelines for them. Exposing young men to these stories encouraged them to 'prove their manhood' by serving their country in war.
Overall, I thought the article referenced many quality perspectives. I find it interesting that female misrepresentation on TV is widely talked about, but male misrepresentation is barely known.

Youtube, I Tube, We All Tube

The first clip is the Axe billions commercial. In this commercial, a man is spraying himself with Axe body spray. As he is spraying himself, millions of attractive women all over the world are dressed in bikinis and are running toward his location. The smell is “irresistible” to them and makes them act like hunting animals. They run, or swim, through a variety of intense climates and terrain until they reach the man on the beach. The women in this commercial are all model women, dressed in revealing bathing suits. They are also portrayed almost like man-thirsty beasts that clearly have an intense sexual desire. The camera angles in the clip seem to draw attention to the women’s figures and mainly their breasts. The depiction of women in the commercial is overall demeaning. Men are shown as the dominant sex and they control female sexual desires. The audience for this commercial is clearly young men. Axe wants to send the message that if you wear Axe body spray, all women will find you uncontrollably desirable. If you use Axe body spray, you will increase you sex appeal and gorgeous women will want you. I believe this commercial was quite effective in reaching its target audience. In middle school and high school, you could never go into a guy’s locker room without being exposed to the overwhelming smell of Axe. Clearly an effective way to gain hormonal teenage boys attention to a product is through the use of sex appeal and model women. The other clip I found was a student-made Axe commercial that reversed these gender roles. A woman is seen running through a park. Later in the clip a group of men begin chasing her and eventually tackling her, finding her irresistible. Once she is caught an Axe for women bottle is shown. This commercial was very comical as it completely reversed the gender roles. It was also quite disturbing to see grown men tackling a woman to the ground as she is screaming. In this commercial, women are the dominant sex as they control male sexual desires. Men are depicted as mindless sexual robots. 

Axe Billions commercial

Axe Billions (Reversed)

Feminism without Feminists Summary

This article provided a lot of insight and research to examine the influence that gender, race, and social class has on the opinions of people on particular shows, movies, and other sources of media. The specific show the research focuses on is the popular TV series Sex And The City. From the gathering of data and citing of past research, it was concluded that gender, race, and social class all had major impacts on personal opinions. Throughout the article, Kim references interviews with various fans of the TV show and their personal opinions. The fans interviewed varied in social class, gender, and race with the vast majority finding the show offensive or unjust. Several fans believe that the show's main characters are all upper middle-class, heterosexual women and that their everyday lives and interactions with one another are a privilege of their class and wealth. It is also believed that the show discriminates, because biological women are higher in the hierarchy than transgender women, and the SATC women are not attracted to men who have become homosexuals or that lack wealth. It is also stated that bisexual, lesbian, and gay characters are clearly dominated by heterosexual people. Pregnancy and maternal instincts are also depicted throughout the show in a variety of ways. The show was praised that motherhood is shown as a learning experience rather than a maternal instinct. More opinions are referenced throughout the article, which provide valid arguments to why the show could be realistic, or offensive and belittling. Many believe the show portrays feminism as a lifestyle rather than a political ideology. The article also provides a quick history of Feminist theory and how the first civil rights movement mainly benefited middle-class white women. Black women and women of color benefited from their own movements as white feminists did not address the issue of race or class. This idea was grouped with SATC as it is sometime considered “too white” and middle-class women are the dominant group. Overall, the article was quite interesting. It was very fascinating to see how people of different classes, races, and genders brought up different arguments as to why SATC was either positive or negative. I will not be able to watch a television show the same again, as I will be thinking of ways the depiction of characters or settings could be offending certain groups of people.  To be fair, TV producers look to air shows that will receive the most viewers, not necessarily the shows that are the most politically correct. Even today, I see changes in the shows that are aired on TV. Instead of the older shows in which the main characters are all men or all white people, there are shows such as Blackish or two broke girls in which all the main characters are of color or are women.