yj2828-blog

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Seeing privilege where it isn’t

When reading Michael Kimmel‘s Seeing Privilege Where It Isn’t: Marginalized Masculinities and the Intersectionality of Privilege, I automatically thought of a video I had seen of men getting photo shopped to look like models or celebrities who have the “ideal male body”. This piece was very interesting to read because there is obviously tons of coverage on women body issues due to the media but I also don't think there is much thought on mens’ body issues because men are looked at as “manly” or “brave” and are expected to not worry about the same things women worry about. Although men everywhere do have body image issues they are expected by society to keep it private and not share their feelings and emotions because they are then looked down on for not being manly enough to handle their emotions. In this reading I thought is was interesting how the author discussed that men feel they always have to be proving themselves to society even though they might have the same negative thoughts about themselves as women do.

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Gender is Burning

When reading gender is burning by Judith Butler, it really caught my attention when she spoke of how transgender people where still being seen as a specific gender such as this clothing or makeup makes this person female and the more “manly” looks directed the gender to be specifically male rather than looking besides the point of what the person is trying to achieve...which is comfort to express themselves as just human. I also found it interesting how she related the thoughts from Paris is Burning author to the thought that it all leads back to how women are supposedly being ridiculed and that heterosexuality tries to almost justify how lesbians must be lesbians due to some bad past experience with men. I think Judith does a great job pointing out the flaws not only in the representation in the movie, but also the flaws in perceiving the transgender community in a whole and how there was too much focus on trying to figure out gender preference rather than the actual point to have the awareness they all deserve.

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Paris is burning (Movie)

When I watched Paris is burning it brought to my attention how sad it really is to see the pressure they had to face just because some people do not identify as the gender they are born as or just because they don’t follow the “status quo” as other do. To me I don’t understand why so much hatred is brought upon those who are happy being or dressing the way they like to. I feel if it makes them happy and causes others no harm it should not be such a big deal enough to make them feel scared or embarrassed to do what they want to do and be who they want to be. what I did enjoy in this movie is that there are places in which drags or others can have a place where they are comfortable enough to be themselves and not feel insecure or sad or scared and that they know they have the support of others. This movie reminded me of the RuPauls drag race which I think is a great start to bringing attention and awareness to a different culture and showing the happiness within the drags themselves.

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Unbearable Weight

When reading Susan Bardo’s “Unbearableweight”, the first thing that came to my mind was how girls at such a young age begin to notice how different they look in comparison to the models, actresses, and athletes that surround media all over. Women have come to the point where they have taken their body issues to an extreme level with starvation, lipo, etc. Although men also go through having to deal with body image but i really do think women have to deal with it on a whole different level from having to mentally be so unhappy to take their bodies and cause harm or even just not being able to love their body. This reading did not surprise me in anyway but it is always sad that media and just images can set such unreasonable and un-achievable body expectations that lower the self esteem of women us to be able to sell a product.

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Boys Will Be Boys

When reading Messner speak about the violence in sports within men and race it really stuck out to me how terribly emphasized and praised men get when they sacrifice their bodies and health for a  game. Not only are they praised but they are expected to give their all and more regardless of the harm that will come along with not only hurting themselves but the other team players as well. The phrase boys will be boys has always been a way to justify the violence within a boy even in a young age where it them becomes seen as they grow up and become men as well.  Messner also speaks about how football players who give their whole body and mental state into the game are seen as heroes. It does not surprise me then the violence within men when they are at such a young age already having thoughts of the expectations they have to withhold whether it be with strength or violence to prove themselves.

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Black Feminism

When reading the article on black feminism it was sad to me to see how black women had the feeling of not only racism being a huge part of their lives but also sexism as well and having it not be acknowledged or fought against. It was shocking to see the difference on the way they were being treated as women but yet not being treated the same as other white women with being taken care of or being referred to as sensitive or fragile but rather they were expected to be working and not have to take care of their kids as well as expectations of being physically stronger like a man.

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Gender Bias

When reading the online article “ I Analyzed a Year of My Reporting for Gender Bias (Again)”, I found it interesting how women representation is a well known topic and many people know its a problem, including this author, yet there is still such an effort needed  that has to be put in to include women in the media, news, whatever it may be. I was a bit thrown off when the author was saying all the effort and changes that she personally has to make to make sure her own writing is equal. I think gender bias is become almost so natural and some people don't even do it on purpose but many successful women have been overlooked because it is easier to write a story on a successful or famous/powerful man. It almost seems like there has to be such an extra effort taken to include more women in media and its not just men who are part of the problem, it is everyone. It is also amazing to me when a woman who does try to step up in the media there is such extreme judgement and talk about one sex being weaker than the other not just in a physical sense but also mentally. I think of when people look back at advertisements where women are in the house cooking and cleaning and we become so shocked that it was normal for media to represent women in that manner but yet years and years from then here we are completely in shock a woman wants to become a president and it makes me question how much have we as a society actually grown from that mentality.

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When reading Course in General Linguistics Ferdinand de Saussure, it was very interesting to me how he spoke of language almost seeming accidental to some people and how important and different it is in the way that us humans communicate. It really made me think of how when animals communicate it it just sounds and s as humans have developed to creating words that mean things to each other but also how that varies so differently depending on who you are and where your from. There was a piece in the reading that said “Speech has both an individual and a social side, and we can- not conceive of one without the other.“ I really connected with this piece of his writing because so much of language has to do with seeing movements or pictures and really using more than just your voice to get your words across. My first language was Spanish and when learning English, although it was extremely difficult, it helped so much to see pictures or even just the movements people made because the point was becoming clearer to me. I remembered seeing this episode of Big Bang Theory where Sheldon was getting tips on opening up his body with posture and not sounding like a robot to get better viewer results on his show. When reading Course in Linguistics this episode came to mind because language is so much more than just words and it does have a more social aspect to it.

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Post #1

“The celebratory nature of food is universal. Every season, every harvest, and every holiday has its own food, and this is true in America as well. It helps define us.”

When reading The Analysis of Culture by Raymond Williams I liked how he spoke about culture in three different levels, lived, recorded, and selected tradition. I related his ideas to a food article and how food relates to American culture and other countries. When I think of food in culture I think of traditions and where one lives is what impacts the quality of food. I compared this article to Williams writing because I think the three levels of culture can be seen through the food people eat. Here in America we eat “Chinese” or “Indian” or “Mexican” food because its what we crave and what is our interpretation of a whole cultures eating style while other countries eat it because that is what their land can provide for them, they live in an area that there is not many choices and that is their lifestyle. When it comes to culture as being recorded I think of the recipes that have been passed down through generations and are what signify what is really authentic and what is not. In traditions you think Thanksgiving is turkey and stuffing and every culture has their traditional dishes that are influenced by who they are and what is around them.