ADELE 21

It's not often I get excited about CD releases anymore, usually I am terribly disappointed. But this time I am not! Loved Adele's first album and I think I love this new one even more! Refreshing to hear real talent, someone who is a true performer even writing her own music. And she is a "real" woman that most of us can identify with.. just wanted to give her a well deserved shout-out

No Connection...

So going back to masculinity and how it is viewed in our society leads me back to why is violence always connected? Nowhere in the definition of violence does it say that it is a trait held by any masculine man..yet in many movies, books and even advertising a aggressive man is a "real man". After watching the movie Tough Guise I found it interesting to see how the portrayals of these men have changed throughout the years. GI Joe who was around when my stepdad was a kid (then looking like a normal soldier) has now morphed into a superhuman muscle man. Even the guns have continued to grow in size just like his muscles, in fact the action figure is so masculine he needs TWO guns. That goes to show that Americans truly believe bigger is better. Maybe we should quit buying toy guns and violent video games for our boys and introduce them to new types of role models, people who are strong in other ways than just physically, intelligent, determined and making a positive difference..not just playing shoot em' up or butting heads out on a field.

Warriors................

SPORTS, they are a pretty big deal here in the states and have a huge fan base which is very passionate about the teams that they support. But what do sports say about how we view masculinity? I found that a recent study conducted by the Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles reports that 98 per cent of American boys between the ages of 8 and 17 consume sports media, that goes to show that even our young boys are being majorly influenced by what they see in sports and from the athletes themselves. Most sports are dominated by men from the coaches to the players so this is where boys will be influenced in there ideas of what is "masculine" and often times it is encouraged and praised to continue playing even after they are injured and according to recent studies this can reinforce ideas of "violent masculinity". The children will grow up believing that men are supposed to be "warriors" and that rivalry and aggression are what makes men, men. This will also reinforce that it is normal and natural to be violent and aggressive instead of being taught that masculinity goes far beyond the field or the court.
Besides the violent and aggressive side of sports there is also the fact that many athletes that people look to as role models have often been involved in scandals outside of the game itself, from adultery to rape and many athletes have had scandals with children and nonpayment of child support. For example basketball player Shawn Kemp has 7 illegitimate children by 6 different women, baseball player Danny Neagle who was married at the time was busted with a prostitute in his car and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was accused of sexual assault twice in 8 months.
It's sad to me that these men are our future's role models, nothing about rape or adultery or assault spells "real man" in my book. Sports will continue to be just as popular as ever for children and adults but as the adults of our society it is our responsibility to teach and show our boys how to grow up into kind, considerate "real men" and help erase the warrior attitude.

Perfectly Happily Ever After?

Well since yesterday was Valentine's Day I thought it fitting to discuss the topic of love and romance and how movies and other media make us strive to find something that might not exist. Happily Ever After..who didn't grow up hearing that in so many childhood stories, the poor helpless princess saved by the dashing prince or the 20 dollar hooker made into the millionaires wife. We are repeatedly told that love IS a fairytale and that it is perfect and that there is your perfect someone out there. But I thought NOBODY was perfect? If we all live to find that perfect partner and perfect love than most of us would end up alone and truely disappointed what we need to remember is that this isn't the movies and when you do fall in love with someone they won't always be your perfect prince or your princess in need of rescue, we are all full of bad habits and we are all human and nobody is perfect...time to accept that even love is full of imperfections and doesn't always live happily ever after.

False Advertising

OK so this advertisement is from 1969 but it still makes a point about advertising and its affect on how how society sees women in general. We must be ugly before we get the chance to curl, color, paint and primp...so this article promises to make it possible to SPEND LESS TIME UGLY. It's awful, most messages out there are awful in my opinion. They show too skinny models with bodies that look like little boys and women strive to look like this even though it is next to impossible for the average woman to ever achieve this look. And I guess I'd have to say WHY would you want to look emaciated and starving for a cheeseburger?? That model's legs above do not look natural, they look frail and unhealthy. But this is what society sees on a daily basis and has for years and this is why there is so many women and girls with incredibly low self-esteem and distorted body images and not to mention eating disorders. With all these delusional ads out there it makes it hard for society to remember that beauty comes in all sizes, colors and shapes. We should encourage our girls not to focus so much on the outside and remember that true beauty comes from inside and to me there is nothing prettier than someone happy with themselves, self-confidence beats skinny any day...

Porn, It's Everywhere!!!!

SEX. It's everywhere in advertising, the internet and on every cable channel available. What does that say about us the people in the U.S.??? Porn is a very popular and still sensitive subject but you can find any kind of pic or video online no matter how normal or weird your fetish may be. It's out there and it's in high demand. I personally am not a big fan of porn, I think that is a business that is more geared towards the male population but I certainly don't judge those who do indulge. But I don't like to think that porn or sex in general defines us as a nation to me that seems rather sad. What happened to celebrating our authors and artists, scientists and educators and not the "married slutty housewife" next door. I'm all for healthy sexual relationships and appreciating the human body for its natural form, I don't think we should be ashamed by any of it. But it does seem that alot of the porn out there nowadays does give it a "bad name" by making it dirty and shameful and unreal, something that needs to be kept secret. Maybe its the many years that sex was treated like a sin or dirty word and censored from everything we read or watched that made porn so popular now.....