Final Blog-Wrapping up The Quarter

I have really enjoyed this class! I have learned how to analyze all forms of media. I find myself kind of torn on how I feel about having taken this class and thought about the topic of heteronormativity in the media. I feel like it is awesome to become aware of all of the things we have talked about and to be able to look at a movie or magazine and analyze it critically but I also feel that I am becoming too critical of things. I cannot just enjoy a funny commercial without thinking something is wrong with the way gender or sexuality is portrayed in it. I cannot pick up a Cosmo and read through it without feeling like I shouldn't be told the things I have read. This is good and bad!

I feel that I have been able to grow as a writer this quarter. I liked how the writing assignments sort of started low and built up each time to something bigger. I felt each paper I wrote I gained more and more confidence. One thing that really helped me with my papers was the workshops. I feel that they were beneficial to the people who were getting their papers workshopped as well as the people who were workshopping them. It is nice to hear other people's opinions and writing styles and it is also nice to get their input on yours. I have really enjoyed this class!

Research Proposal

For my research paper I have chosen to expand upon the television show Mad Men. I am writing my paper now on one episode of it and I think that I could really expand it by watching more episodes and doing more of a paper on the show as a whole instead of just one episode.
Also, I am taking Megan's advice and using the book "The Feminine Mystique" by Betty Friedan. I have purchased the book and looked through it and I have chosen a few chapters to focus on. One chapter is called "The Happy Housewife Heroin" and it talks about the dissatisfaction a lot of women go through and have gone through in the past by being the stay at home mother, being referred to as less than men, and being confined to a specific role in society. I have also started to read the chapter called "The Mistaken Choice" which begins talking about our the 50's and 60's. It talks about America after the depression and the war and how things were going to be changing and sets up the baby boom as well as describes different family roles in that time. I plan to compare the information Betty Friedan provides with the television show Mad Men.
I also plan to do some research on the 1960's time period. Specifically when it comes to sexuality and gender. I think not only is it important for me to know the period itself but also the media in that period and how they would portray gender and sexuality.
I also plan to take a couple of pages and re-write the first episode of Mad Men set in 2010. Then I will compare the two time periods when it comes to portraying gender and sexuality.

**I want to add that I posted my fourth blog early so it is before my last paper proposal. (just wanted to let everyone know that because I didn't get any comments and I wanted to make sure you knew it was there)

proposal for paper

Today my friend came home from a weekend at Ohio State and told me about a new T.V. show she started watching with her friends there. She was so appalled by the sexism in the episode she watched that she wanted to have me watch it to see for myself. It is called “Mad Men” and is set in the 1960’s. Most of the scenes deal with sexism in the workforce: The women as the subdued and simple-minded secretary, and the male figure with all the power. This particular episode had a scene about a woman going to the gynecologist to ask for birth control and his reaction as a man of the 1960’s. He does not tiptoe around her feelings and almost makes her feel bad about being a non-married or single woman and using contraceptives. From his insensitive and powerful manner to her acts of insecurity and weakness in this scene, I decided this would be perfect for my paper. I am interested in this episode and show for many reasons. One is that although I can contrast today’s portrayal of woman to that of the 1960’s, I can also find many things that both time periods have in common when it comes to the media’s idea of gender and sexuality. Specifically in the workforce, woman are still trying to take their stand and find their place and this show really highlights how far they have come and how they used to be treated. The gynecologist scene is what really sold me. I for one would feel completely uncomfortable if my “lady doctor” treated me the way he did her in this scene and find it so funny the way he reacted to her use of contraceptives compared to how one would react to that today. Times have changed with sexuality and gender roles in so many ways but it also remains the same in many ways as well. It will be interesting to compare and contrast the two.

Workout Make-over? ...Too far.

So, you know how every talk show and morning show does those make-overs where they take a "poor, lost woman" and make her into a beautiful icon?... This morning, The Today Show stooped to that level. Although I do think it is nice to boost someone's self confidence and help them out with their looks, I also think that there is a whole social-emotional side that people just skip over when doing "make-overs".
The make-overs that they did on The Today Show, was making over people in the gym. They would go up to girls who were working out and tell them that they were not dressed right for the gym. Then they would make them over and show them in these workout outfits worth hundreds of dollars.
I have a lot of issues with this. First of all, when you go to the gym to workout, you know you are going to be sweating so why in the hell would you try and put together a cute outfit? Second, I am jumping for joy if I can get my lazy ass to the gym wearing yesterday's clothes! Let alone look cute while doing it. Honestly I think people are going overboard trying to find imperfections and fix women. I used to look at these makeovers and think "wow they are really helping this woman" or "wow she looks great". But, the fact is, if a woman needs a self confidence boost, it needs to be more than just an outer appearance change. This segment on The Today Show just had me floored. What will be next? Looking good in our sleep? Completely crazy. I am left without words.
As I was writing this post, another segment came on that floored me. It was the New York firemen who made a shirtless calendar called "City of The Brave". At first I was like "Hell yeah, damn those men are hot! Especially in those firemen uniforms!" But then I stepped back and was like... hm this is exactly what I criticize men for doing to half dressed women. Am I creating a double standard? But wow they really do look good. Honestly I think sex and anything that makes us think about sex is becoming such a part of our everyday thoughts and lives and we have become so emerged in this kind of thinking. I could even see Kathy Lee and Hoda sweating up there next to those hot men and loosing words to say. The Today Show is supposed to be a classy news show, not a talk show. I guess I am leaving this blog confused about my own thoughts and beliefs and I know the media is what is making me feel this way.

The Pregnancy Pact

I know, I know, Lifetime movies are a little cheesy and extra chick-flicky but ya gotta love them! :) I was watching the latest "Lifetimer" as we call them at my house called The Pregnancy Pact. It is based on a true story about a bunch of 15 and 16 year old girls at a small conservative high school getting pregnant on purpose. a group of 5 or 6 girls all get together and think it would be a lot of "fun" to all have babies. At first no one caught on but by the time the small high school had 18 pregnant teens, people begin to think something is not right. It ended up being a huge news story and everyone found out that the girls did this on purpose.
The reason I wanted to write about this for our class is because the main reason these girls did it is because society was telling them that the best they could hope for is a husband and a child. The one girl was asked why she did it and why she didn't plan to go to college and she said that all she needed to be happy was her boyfriend and children. She acted as though to say "college? me? a girl? whats that?" These girls really thought that having babies was what they were supposed to do. This makes me sick. Instead of giving seminars on safe sex or options after high school, their school opened an in-school daycare center. Why is society and media sending these wrong messages? 18 girls in one school...that's sick.

http://www.ltcconline.net/lukas/gender/normal/pics/normal144.jpg

This week I wanted to talk about plastic surgery. The link above is an advertisement that I found on genderads.com I'm not sure what this ad is selling and I can't really read the words in the top left corner but it really sparked my eye. This woman is clearly getting a boob job but what stands out is that she is wearing an evening gown, heels, and is texting on her phone which shows the image of a popular socialite a woman should strive to be. What really gets me is that her face is covered up. No one cares who she really is as a person, just that she is keeping up with what society tells her to be.
Going along with the idea of plastic surgery in today's society, I would also like to talk about an episode of Real Housewives of Orange County. In this episode, one of the housewives was taking her 16 year old daughter to have mother daughter plastic surgery. The mother was getting a facelift and the 16 year old girl was getting a nose job. As if their fake tans and died hair along with designer bags and clothes weren't already enough, they still wanted more. What was interesting to me was the father/husband said something to the extent of "I don't put a price limit on my girls' happiness". He was acting as if he was doing something so great for his girls and so self-less. I was disturbed by the mother-daughter duo's pathetic obsession to keep up with the almost perfect women of California but even more disturbed by the husband/father's comment.
This past winter break, I myself had an experience with a plastic surgeon. I had a cancerous tumor in my cheek and had to get it removed. It's funny how I never cared what people thought of me until then. I became more obsessed with my scar than the fact that I actually had cancer. It was a horrible experience in many ways but I too, was sucked into the shallow need to have a perfect face. My boyfriend would have to tell me every single day that it was okay and I was still beautiful to him even with my scar. I became obsessed. I had to hear it all the time. We ended up really fighting about it because I had become this shallow person that I never was before. It took me a while, but I am now okay with the fact that I have a scar and even think that it adds some extra character and badass-ness to myself. :) I do however, think it is crazy that people go through that type of surgery and recovery just to make themselves look better. It's not fun. I feel really bad for the people who feel that they have to get plastic surgery to feel better about themselves. I can only hope that our society will turn itself around...but that hope is diminishing quickly every day as I see more and more things that only add to people's needs to meet the "norm".

About Me

Hello, my name is Lauren. I am a senior here at Ohio University. I am from West Chester which is in Cincinnati and went to Lakota West high school. I was a competitive dancer for 16 years and a dance teacher for 5 years. I was also involved in a musical theater group and was the dance captain for our high school theater.
When I am here I work at Outer Glow tanning salon and when I am home on breaks I teach at The Children's House which is a Montessori based pre-school and daycare.
My major is Early Childhood Education. I chose this major because I absolutely love children and can't see myself doing a job that doesn't involve them! I will graduate this June. I am still trying to decide whether I really want to teach in a classroom setting or do something else with children. In order to obtain my teaching license, I would have to get my masters within the first five years of graduating so I will of course go to grad school but for what and where is still to be decided. I would really love to be a Child Life Specialist at a children's hospital because I would get to be more personal with the children as well as their families and it would be more of a social and emotional job than teaching would be. I also have thought about working with teen moms or parents who may need a little extra help and advice. Who knows where the future will bring me but I know I want to help children and their families.
I think Emily and I are the only seniors in this class but with all of our crazy schedules with teaching and being in the public schools it has been hard for us to fit in our non-major classes. I took this class because we have to take a junior English but, specifically because the topic really interests me. I have already enjoyed our class discussions. I am not very confident in my writing and admittedly had a hard time reading that Yep article but I think I will really enjoy this class.

Also, I bought the MLA updated book "A Pocket Style Manual" if anyone would like to reference it let me know and I can bring it to class. :)

Something that has really jumped out to me in our class discussions and through the first few readings of Yep is the fact that heteronomativity can be violent towards both genders. It creates a mold that each gender is supposed to fit into and alienates those who do not. I hadn't had very much experience with homosexual people until last year. One of my close childhood friends came out to me that she is a lesbian. I have been spending time with her and trying to understand her better. One of the things that really upsets her is the fact that even being a lesbian or a homosexual woman means that you have to fit in a certain mold. She says that people expect lesbians to be butch and act manly and dress a certain way and that is not her at all. She loves fashion and loves to wear make-up and be girly and it really bothers her that people sometimes don't believe her when she tells them that she is gay. This was very interesting to me because although Yep talks about the violence in heteronormativity, I think there is a such thing as homonormatinity and there is violence in that as well.