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This Blog is an individual site, which is published and maintained by its author, as a component of an academic course. This Blog is controlled by its student-author, who assumes responsibility for material published at this address. Material on this page is not controlled or maintained by the course's professor or by The College of New Jersey and should not be considered official content of TCNJ. Authors of these pages are responsible for obeying all relevant laws and college policies, including those delineated in TCNJ's Computing Access Agreement and Web Page Policy.

Friday, August 6, 2010

Blog 4-Cosmetic for Teenage Girls: Conforming to Societal expectations of ideal beauty.

Keep young, Look beautiful.




Just as much as women feel societal pressure to look beautiful, so do teenage girls. Compared to adult women, the pressure to look good and conform to society’s ideal look have been greatly heightened in teenage girls. Teenage girls feel under increasing demand from the society to live up to material and sexual ideals, leaving them vulnerable and unhappy. Just the other day I was shopping online for my sixteen year old girl, Naraj. After hours of looking for the perfect sweet sixteen gifts, it all came down to cosmetic and fashion. I was happy that I had various options to choose from but I could not help but notice the underlying message of cosmetics for teenage girls. The craving to feel attractive and look good is blatantly seen in early teen years which All of a sudden then the world of makeup and fashion starts looking extremely interesting.

 According to Kilbourne, “girls are told by advertisers that what is most important about them is their perfume, their clothing, their bodies and their beauty” (260). At such a tender age, they begin to lose their strong, confident personality and begin to adhere to society’s expectation. They are told to keep young and look beautiful and that is their noble service. Society and the media are far away from reflecting reality of oppression against these young girls. As girls grow into woman, they’ll have the perception that in order to be accepted by men, they have to conform to the norm. Achieving this almost impossible ideal look, they turn to cosmetic as a remedy.

As a sixteen year old girl, Naraj has to fit into this social construction so as to avoid being looked at as different. In today’s society, great emphases have been placed on a female look. If she does not use makeup, she is not seen as being attractive to men. Young teenage girls such as Naraj are surrounded by images of female beauty that are unrealistic and unattainable. Then again, it all comes down to making profit off these susceptible young girls. Hesse Biber stated that, “Convincing certain vulnerable groups that they need to purchase goods and services to feel good about their bodies is very profitable” (189). Through the media Girls are being bombarded with images of sexuality, often dominated by stereotypical portrayals of women and girls as powerless, passive victims.





Work Cited Page

Cosmetics. “Makeup Kit.” Amazon.com Wed 4 Aug.2010.JPEG

Gifts. "Teen Cosmetics." Beta, 06/08/2010. Web. 6 Aug 2010. JPEG file.

Hesse-Biber, Sharlene Nagy. The Cult of Thinness. 2nd Ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007.

Kilbourne, Jean. “The More You Subtract, the More You Add: Cutting Girls Down to Size.” Gender, Race, and Class in Media: A Text- Reader. Eds. Gail Dines and Jean M. Humez. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publication Inc., 2003. 249-257. Print.

Kate "Make up set." Amazon.com Thursday 5 Aug.2010.JPEG file.

"Teen Cosmetics." Gifts. Web. 6 Aug 2010. JPEG file.











Friday, July 30, 2010

Blog Post #3: "Sex Room" the (Real)mix Revised





This student-created production is covered under the Fair Use codes US copyright law. Specifically, Section 107 of the current Copyright Act and Section 504(c)(2) cover the educational-basis of this video production. The production is intended to be a transformative remake, aiding in both student and public media literacy. The use of copyrighted material is in the service of constructing a differing understanding than the original work, which according to Section 110 (1) (2), is to be treated as a new cultural production. This student-production is in no way limited to the protections provided by the Fair Use codes stated above due to the many other sections of the current US Copyright Act, which also include the principles of Fair Use.

Please refer to Fair Use principles when re-posting, quoting, and/or excerpting the video-production posted here.

Sunday, July 25, 2010

"Sex Room" The "Real" Mix

This student-created production is covered under the Fair Use codes US copyright law. Specifically, Section 107 of the current Copyright Act and Section 504(c)(2) cover the educational-basis of this video production. The production is intended to be a transformative remake, aiding in both student and public media literacy. The use of copyrighted material is in the service of constructing a differing understanding than the original work, which according to Section 110 (1) (2), is to be treated as a new cultural production. This student-production is in no way limited to the protections provided by the Fair Use codes stated above due to the many other sections of the current US Copyright Act, which also include the principles of Fair Use.




Please refer to Fair Use principles when re-posting, quoting, and/or excerpting the video-production posted here.

Friday, July 16, 2010

Blog Assignment 2: Masculinity And Feminity In the Character of the First Female President

In today’s society, TV shows have become a major part of popular culture. Television is known for its great source of entertainment. Over the years, the pop culture genre of television has shaped our views and opinions of “appropriate” societal expectations. Over the years, dominant ideologies have been constantly reinforced and represented as a frame of what the world is supposed to look and act like. Through TV shows, the media perpetuates stereotypes and places men and women in what seems “normal” in our present day society. The Commander in Chief is a popular TV series that once aired on ABC. In this particular show, Geena Davis depicts masculinity and femininity in the characterization of President Mackenzie Allen. The Episode focused on in this essay is the first episode of the first season where Mackenzie, a female vice president, decides to take the oath as the first female president after the death of the former president. Throughout the episode, President Mackenzie Allen’s ability to act as a dominant force over men shows masculinity and how it is constantly challenged by her femininity.

Being the president of the United States, Mackenzie is forced to take on a powerful, strong, confident, and aggressive attitude. In today’s society, this type of behavior is not usually associated with women. She displays a strong independence, which according to Rogers, “deviates from the codes of mainstream femininity” (94). This confirms the fact that society has constructed a specific gender role that she is “presumed” to occupy. By accepting one of the most important jobs in the world, she proves masculinity from a female’s character.

Being a woman, Mackenzie is initially associated with passiveness, vulnerability and weakness. She fails to conform to societies expectations of her. Therefore, she is perceived as stepping out of her lane. However, she counteracts her masculinity because she has a family. She creates time to perform the dutiful roles of a mother and wife. Thus, portraying a feminine character of being loving and caring.



Further affirming her femininity, Mackenzie feels overpowered after being told by President Teddy Bridges (Will Lyman) that she must resign from her vice president position. She tells her assistant Kelly to write her a resignation letter. Mackenzie felt the pressure to “behave in ways that are considered gender appropriate” (Newman 2 pg54). Throughout the episode, gender roles are switched around and hegemony is expressed in various ways. According to Lull, “Hegemony is the power or dominance that one social group holds over others” (61). According to the 25th commencement, Mackenzie being the vice president automatically resumes the presidential post after the death of a current president. For this reason, she is asked to leave office to save the country from the possibilities of having a female president. The former president’s cabinet and staff also wanted Mackenzie to step down so as to to pave way for Templeton to rule the country. The dominant group in this incident is the upper-class men while Mackenzie belongs to the subordinate group. Surprisingly, she does not confine to her domestic sphere but takes on a strong masculine character as a prerequisite for an effective political leadership.


When one thinks of some typical characteristics of a president, they are inclined to picture an honest, intelligent, sincere and educated man. They see a man who is willing to confront difficult issues and convey tolerance during critical periods of time. Newman stated that, “any positive connotations derived from such terms are available only to those within the particular group in question” (77). Therefore, the fact that Mackenzie does not belong to the social group of a man, she is subjected to be seen as the outsider of the social group. Mackenzie does not pose a threat to masculinity, but she is an outcast in a world ruled solely by men. Through her firm, aggressive and confident charisma, she defines what it means to be a man by depicting masculinity.


During an interview with speaker of the house, Nathan Templeton (Donald Sutherland), Mackenzie is challenged by Templeton to step down. He says, “The world is in turmoil, this is not the time to make social advances.” Viewers can clearly infer by this statement that Templeton is saying that a female president does not fit into the norm and it simply appears as a stunt for social advancement. “To live in a patriarchal culture is to learn what's expected of us as men and women, the rules that regulate punishment and reward based on how we behave and appear” (Johnson 95). Templeton blatantly admitted that we live in a patriarchal world. He tells President Mackenzie that, “A woman as the leader of the free world? How many Islamic state you think would follow the edicts of a woman. I fear very few.” Templeton’s perspective of religion and gender emphasizes the point that men are dominant over women at any given time.


Although Mackenzie tries to be “manly” as much as possibly, she is constantly condemned and assumed to be incompetent at her job. Johnson argues that to “live in patriarchy is to breathe in misogynist images of women as objectified sexual property valued primarily for their usefulness to men” (96). This phenomenon is clearly shown when Templeton says “we will lose the country for a lady who couldn’t keep her legs together.” After finding every way possible to attack McKenzie, he eventually places her as a sexual object rather than a strong and capable presidential candidate. She is identified as a commodity rather than a distinct proficient individual.


Dominant ideologies of masculinity and femininity have been constantly subverted. At the same time, these ideologies are reinforced by the characterization of Geena Davies as President Mackenzie Allen. We clearly see how TV shows represent social construct of gender. We also see that when people do not conform to these norms they are perceived as being deviant. McKenzie’s struggle for acceptance from the dominant social group depicts separation between what is considered “appropriate” to be a man or a woman. Throughout the episode, viewer’s attentions are called to the social construct of masculinity and femininity by showing those traits in a female’s character.

Bibliography.


“Episode 2: Pilots.” Commander in Chief: ABC September 27, 2005. Prod Rod Lurie. http://www.hulu.com/watch/91506/commander-in-chief-pilot

Johnson, Allan G. “Patriarchy The System An It, Not a He, a Them, or an Us.” Reconstructing Gender: A Multicultural Anthology. Ed. Estelle Disch. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill, 2008. 91-99. Print.

Lull, James. "Hegemony." Dines, Gail and Jean M. Humez. Gender, Race, and Class in Media. London: Sage Publications, 2003. 61-66.

Newman, David M. Identities and Inequalities: Exploring the Intersections of Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2007. 30-105.

Rogers, Mary F. "Hetero Barbie?" Gender, Race, and Class in Media: A Text-Reader. Comp. Dines, Gail, and Jean M. Humez. 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 2003. 94-97.

"Television and Health." The source book for teaching science. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Jul 2010. http://www.csun.edu/science/health/docs/tv&health.html.


To watch episode 1 of Commander in Chief click!

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Ola's feedback on Cara

I really enjoyed the links you put up. I thought all of them for the most part relates to pop culture. You did a good job finding blogs that matched the main themes for the class. The witness test in the video was definitely an eye opener. I really never thought about how much the movie world can be male centered. Even my favorite movies of all times did not pass the witness test.

Friday, July 9, 2010

Link-Hunt: Assignment 1

"Crash" is a white supremacist movie!
September 11,2001.
http://academic.udayton.edu/race/01race/whiteness19.htm
Robert Jensen and Robert Wosnitzer
udayton.edu

Lara Croft: Feminist Icon or Cyberbimbo?
December 2, 2002.
http://www.gamestudies.org/0202/kennedy/
Helen W. Kennedy
gamestudies.org

Hiring Inequality Through The Daily Show
Jul. 7, 2010
http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/sexist/2010/07/07/hiring-inequality-through-the-daily-show/
Amanda Hess
washingtoncitypaper.com

Exploring anarcha-feminism: women and class struggle
June, 13. 2010.
http://propertyistheft.wordpress.com/2010/06/13/women-and-class-struggle/
Phil Dickens
wordpress.com


The Hook-Up is in Flower: An Unbiased Study of Feminism
June 30, 2010.
http://mensnewsdaily.com/2010/06/30/the-hook-up-is-in-flower-an-unbiased-study-of-feminism/
Fred Reed
mensnewsdaily.com