manuelazanni

[manuelazanni]

Stereotypes in cartoon strips

Cartoon strips can be very harmful, enhancing stereotypes and ethnocentrism? While they often rely on simplification and exaggeration for 0comedic effect, these very qualities can sometimes lead to the reinforcement of stereotypes. Looking in some newspapers and even respectable books like Garfield, Calvin and Harold and Mafalda, we can find some examples, and realize how harmful they can be. Most of them are stereotypes about women and nationalities. According to a Berkeley article, we stereotype because stereotyping is a common cognitive process, and it stems from the use of mental shortcuts known as "heuristics."But heuristics can lead us to make potentially damaging assumptions about other people, which is really bad. 

Throughout the latter half of the nineteenth century, ethnicity was the topic of many magazine cartoons. Most of these cartoons are not understood by today's readers as humorous. Even though we are in 2023 now, some cartoonists still make offensive jokes, including those old topics that are seen as wrong. A very current one is related to the paper of the woman, who is normally portrayed as vain and selfish: just thinking about clothes, shoes and herself. Of course, there are people like this, yet it is a minority and stereotype a lot saying all women are like this. Even being for a joke, it seems like all women are futile, clueless and those things. The list of peoples exploited by cartoonists includes more than this, going from that to ethnic and religious groups, intellectuals, professors, the elderly, scientists, poets and furthermore. 

But there is more: in addition to enhancing stereotypes, ethnocentrism also appears. Consequently, this concept is related to how certain comics or comic strips may promote or exhibit a biased or one-sided perspective that prioritizes one's own cultural group while denigrating or misunderstanding other cultures. On the other hand, there is a point in cartoon strips. Some of them bring stereotypes and ethnocentrism as a criticism to talk about people who really say that. Cartoonists often use stereotypes to critique, challenge, or satirize these preconceived notions in society. 

Cartoonists use stereotypes as part of a visual shorthand to communicate complicated ideas quickly and effectively. It's important to critically assess the content of these strips and consider the cultural and social context in which they were created.  Not only it's important to do this, but also some older cartoon strips have been rightfully criticized for perpetuating stereotypes, many contemporary creators are actively working to create more inclusive and diverse content that reflects the complexities of modern society. However, it’s important to always remember that the reason why those stereotypes also exist is to be funny, but from the moment it starts to not be a joke for someone it shouldn't be for no one

In conclusion, cartoon strips have the potential to both perpetuate stereotypes and challenge them, and it is up to creators and audiences to engage in a thoughtful and responsible examination of their content to ensure that they contribute positively to the discourse of our ever-evolving world and contributes constructively to a good dynamic and society, where everybody can stay in harmony, if this really exists…

[manuelazanni]

My first diary

Manuela Zanni and André Pimentel

DAY 7/08/1916

Hi diary, my name is Bluebells and I am a dog, but not a normal dog, as you can see I can write and read, but this is not the main point. I just arrive in a farm, and to be honest I don’t know what I’m doing here, I was supposed to be an actor, I was on my way to this…But it was not always like this, let me contextualize this story for you 

Many years ago I used to live in a simple house in the South of the United States. With me I had Jessie, who is also a dog and it’s with me since then. We had an owner: Mrs Beth. I would be unfair if I said that she didn't treat us well, of course she did. We had food anytime we wanted, a good place to sleep, pampering all the time, and anyone who saw this would envy my life. But there was one thing, and the most important one, missing. Me and my friend Jessie didn't have freedom. When we left it was always on a leash, which makes it very difficult to breathe, I got to say.

So, in conclusion, we decided to run away. It was difficult to keep in this life, it was not what I wanted, so we escaped. I don’t know how Mrs Beth is now, it has been 6 months since we ran away, but she is probably now with other dogs and cats to pamper and play with her, as we were used to. 

When we were running out of the house and the wind was hitting my face I felt what I wanted to feel a long time ago. I can’t explain, but it was freedom, and the world was opening for me. At the time I wasn’t sure if that was the best decision for me, but now I know the answer for that.

After some time walking without any direction or idea where to go, I thought that the best thing to do at that moment was to stop and go to sleep somewhere. It had been a long and tough day for both of us, emotionally and physically. We decided to sleep in a park near there, because sleeping in the grass is way better than in the middle of the street.

The next day, I woke up with something smelling and sniffing in my face, which really scared me. I opened my eyes confused and when I woke up I came across two big and ugly pigs. How on Earth would I imagine that two pigs would be walking around a big city, that I don’t even know the name of, and smelling other animals' faces? At the exact moment I thought what was going on, I yelled to Jessie, who woke up even more scared than me. After 2 minutes of just us staring at those two pigs we created courage to ask: “Who are you?” Then they said they were walking around and thought we were dead, so they went to check on us. After he said that I realized that they seemed like good pigs, and were harmless. I introduced myself and Jessie, and said we were aimless and that we were in search of a good life. ( Actually I didn’t know what this good life was, but I knew that if I found it I would recognise it ).

The pigs, whose names were Napoleon and Snowball, introduced themselves and said that they were in the same  situation as us, which made me feel better, I got to say. We weren’t alone in this adventure. One thing that really impacted me and made me remember until nowadays is that their dream was to be a big leader, Napoleon and Snowball. I don’t know if together, but this was what both wanted.

Well, let’s go a little ahead, or I will never finish writing, and my paws are already hurting but let’s go. - After some time of the 4 of us talking we decided to stay together, so we could support ourselves in this dangerous world. But one important topic, we were starving, and neither of us had what to eat. But Napoleon was a little naughty and had the idea to steal. Steal from an old lady who was eating a hamburger. Of course I stayed with a little pity, but first: Hamburgers are my favorite food ( Mrs Beth used to give the rest of yours to us ), and second, we were so hungry that we could eat anything we saw. To distract the lady, Snowball pretended he was hurt, and started to cry in front of her. She saw it and put her hamburger on a bench to help the “poor pig”. Then, Napoleon got the food, Snowball got up from his acting and we ran away. Since then, I saw that they were very smart, and a little rascal when they wanted to.

Passing up 3 days of just sleeping in parks and feeding with this kind of stealing, I was over. I kept overthinking if it was a good idea to escape from Mrs Beth house, but Jessie used to convince me all the time that it was not a mistake. We were on our own starting to be a group, us 4, and it was very fun to be wandering around the city with them, they were really very funny. But there was one day that would change my life forever. It was raining cats and dogs, and we needed to find a place to stay at night. A place was opening and there was no security around so we got in. The place looked very fancy, with a good illumination and great pillars. We were kind of afraid of what could possibly happen, but we started hearing music and conversations, and the way Napoleon was curious, he decided to go in, and we followed him. 

After entering, my eyes started shining a lot. I had never seen such a beautiful thing in my entire life. I asked Jessie, who had more knowledge than me about human life, and she said it was a theater, where there were actors, music and a lot of expression. I stayed amazed, and wanted to stay until the end of the performance. The scenes, the interpretations, all the music, everything. I think I finally had found that feeling that I was looking for: the feeling of happiness with contemplation and freedom. That gave me a huge freedom. I told myself that I would be in that stage one day, even if for once. My friends, seeing that the storm was over, wanted to get out, but I just couldn’t. It was even a little strange what I was feeling, but it gave me a comfort that I didn't have a long time ago. 

So, before we left, I went to the director's office and knocked on the door. He didn’t seem very interested in what I was saying, but I wanted to know if I could participate in one of his performances. He asked me if I was already an actor, and I said no. This made me give up, but seconds before he closed the door I asked if I trained a lot, I could do a test on him in one week, to see if I had potential. He agreed, but probably just because he knew I wouldn't give up that easily.

This whole week I went to see theater performances, but just me. And on by on I was staying better at interpreting characters, even imitating Jessie’s personality, which made her very angry. 

After this week I went to do the test, and I did a great job.The director said that he was shocked how a pig could act that way as I was doing, and I said: “ neether I know, sir”. Then he said something that made my heart jump: I could participate in one presentation in 3 days, it was simple and small, but a good chance to make me grow. That made me really happy, and after I knew about this I ran to tell Jessie, Napoleon and Snowball. But when I got to the park where we were staying, I was in shock: Napoleon got into a fight with a lot of dogs in the region, who were looking for him, and that we needed to get out of there immediately. I wasn’t getting exactly what was going to happen, but I said I couldn’t go because I had been accepted to perform and this could maybe in the future be something bigger, but they didn't care. They say that they were leaving, with or without me. 

I think this was the saddest day of my life. Finally I had found my “freedom”, but I couldn’t stay alone in that city, I needed my friends, so I decided to leave with them. We had no direction, and I was feeling more lonely and lost than ever, when efter 2 days walking we got to a farm. With other animals, we decided to go in. Here is where I am now: Animal Farm. But there is one thing that I forgot to mention: here we cannot escape. After coming in, a man called Mr Jones “arrested us”, and now we are part of this Animal Farm. The only thing that we were looking for we lost, and got back to the same point, but worse. 

Sorry… I needed to blurt out this with someone, and I know that you, diary, are not gonna tell anyone I suppose. Napoleon and Snowball became the leader of all the animals, and they seem to like it here. And Jessie is like me, but at least we had each other. I’ll keep writing here, I like it. Well, now I have to sleep, tomorrow is a long day again, bye bye.