eternity

Joy of ENGLCOM  {media logs found here every week}

[eternityines-blog]

Musings at the End of Term 1

                  ENGLCOM is the only subject this term that I go to every day. I had high expectations for it because, since grade school, I have excelled continuously in English subjects. ENGLCOM focuses on academic writing, tackling some of the subjects I have learned in high school in a more extensive way. Academic writing is definitely a new terrain for me because I don’t usually do it or need to do it. It has a lot of technicalities and considerations, especially in citing sources. One misconception I have definitely debunked is that academic writing is only for boring scientific articles or journals. Yes, academic writing is mainly for that purpose but the techniques in academic writing can be applied in most forms of writing. I loved the lessons on objectivity and avoiding biases because I also write for the school paper so I needed the tips in those lessons to make my writings better. The topics we write about are also very eye opening and exploratory; in the sense that I am allowed to bring a new perspective into it. Unlike before, where parameters for writing are controlled and ideas are constricted by biases.

             The classroom environment is very helpful as well. Learning with peers who are adept at writing can be very humbling and challenging. Their line of thinking and vocabulary enlighten me. It also helps me realize that there is so much more to learn and to improve upon. Ideas in every class are most welcome, which helps me widen my thinking horizons and allow myself to see topics or subjects from new angles. Definitely, with all is rules and regulations, academic writing presents many challenges. In the writing process of my extended definition essay, descriptive writings are very hard to control especially because it is difficult to state what this term means to my life without using somehow flowery words. Contractions and oxford commas were also challenges that I encountered. In the argumentative essay, being objective yet firm in your arguments is the difficult part because it is hard not to write in a way that highly favors your bias. The argumentative essay’s writing process is also lengthy because you really have to put in time to research about possible points to support your claim and possible rebuttals to make your arguments stronger. Surely, the argumentative essay was the hardest one because it really challenged my critical thinking and ability to support the thesis with all techniques learned throughout the term. The main challenge for me in the argumentative essay would be the total abandon of the “half-worked” sentences because you don’t just have to sound persuasive, you have to sound smart as well.

             ENGLCOM made me a better writer for sure. Not the best, yet, but definitely better. I learned a lot, not just from my professors but also from myself and my classmates. Writing opened my mind about many new topics and the perspective I can apply in viewing them. The things I learned in ENGLCOM will really be useful in my other writing and researching classes in the terms to come. Next time, I would be more aware of my technicalities, not just my ideas. I am very grateful that ENGLCOM made my first term a really busy one so that in in the following years, I would be able to apply all the basic techniques I learned here.

[eternityines-blog]

Twerking and Shouting: Performing at its Best

Art is the backbone of society; the entertainment and escape that people crave after a long, hard day. Ever since the Elizabethan era, entertainers have been greatly pursued to give a show not only to the nobles, but the peasants as well. The performing arts scene in the Philippines does not lack talent. Skills vary, whether in comedy, drama, dance or song. The Filipino’s prowess extends to many heights. They join international competitions in the fields of HipHop, Cheerleading, Choral singing, and Pop singing. However, most of the performances are lackluster, lacking the true essence of a performance. Some are done for publicity of ratings only, without really appealing and touching the aesthetic nature of the modern Filipino.

             Filipinos are very able, performance wise. There exist a wide number of talents that have made it internationally, carrying the country’s name. However, with these performers making their name overseas, not much is left for the local stage. Non-singers who pass by with looks and auto tune are more popularized today, spreading the message that you experience music with eyes and not ears. Same with dancers, it has been such a shame to glorify “performers” whose only dance moves consists of twerking and showing off their sexy bodies. Performers are trained to perform, to make what is difficult look effortlessly easy on stage. Singers and dancers go through rigorous training before achieving the proper form and technique in reaching notes or carrying out complex choreographies. This cultural appropriation comes as a big disappointment because art nowadays are taken at face value, its ability to make money. In fact, the usual stereotypes for artists are the broke and poor ones. It is not that all artists are like this but because they perform for the sake of the performance itself, because performing gives them a high, because it is their passion. It is their raw talent that makes them a great performer, a mover of hearts. And not just money making machines.  What is really ironic is the fact that these non-performers are actually recognized by the actual performers and are being criticized for it. These performers who have gone through years of training, utilizing the proper technique and rehearsal ethic, are sadly, being overshadowed by auto tuned and over-Photoshopped “mediocrity”. Artists do not become as famous as these people because they care more about making the actual music before the money. That being said, people must come to learn to appreciate all types of performers, even if dance and music is subjective.

             Art has always been about passion. Moving people’s emotions is the best thing that art can do and the best thing that artists can achieve. It is not about looks, but more on the style of performing. Performing is a lifestyle. Habits are formed and molded after rehearsal dates and performances. Singers and dancers work hard to be able to further develop their skills in performing. They give out their hearts every time with their best performance. Only by understanding and acknowledging the sweat beneath the choreography and the breath before the high note do we really learn to nurture the love and appreciation for the real art that they have willingly given and perform for people to enjoy.

[eternityines-blog]

Take, Take, Take and, Take: A Look at Rape Culture

    Sex is a great gift. Being able to give and receive pleasure within the shell and protection of giving and receiving love is an inviolable act of intimacy. In this age, objectification and lust preempt passion and love. Bodies, considered by many as temples of sanctity, are being treated and discarded as trash or objects, something invaluable that can be desecrated at any time. This disrespect of the body is a cultural icon in society. Rape culture exists subtly on the underskirts of catcalls, spiked drinks, and sex playlists. Society has an entire culture dedicated to suppressing or miseducating its constituents about rape and sexual violence so that the acceptance and normalization of rape can go on without interruption. Rape, the unlawful act of sexual activities carried out under the threat of violence has a whole culture dedicated to tolerating it (Prochuk, 2015). Rape culture should not be standardized, accepted and normalized because of the simple fact that it is a violation of an individual’s right to consent to sexual activities. Rape culture promotes male aggression and dominance, a counter to the rising fight for gender equality. Although tolerated in social norms now, rape and the negligence of people to confront the issue may lead to the ultimate breakdown of the barrier between consensual sexual activities and sexual violence and the barrier between what is ethical and animalistic in nature.

             Rape culture and its acceptance, reduces rape to malicious compliments, slurs jokes and unbiased opinions. Catcalling is a daily occurrence for people, women most especially. It does not matter whether or not the victim fits into any or no standard of beauty, whatever she looks like, she will inevitably be catcalled. Catcalling for most men is just admiring because indeed, the woman does look beautiful. However, the way they say their admirations make women feel harassed. The nature of catcalls is that it is disguised as a compliment, meant to make the receiver feel noticed but for all the wrong reasons. They are noticed because men want to dominate them. They are noticed because their bodies are “blessed by God” but invaded by man. They are noticed because they are hoes, showing skin and asking to be complimented while walking on the streets. This logic, that sly admiration should be accepted by all women as compliments, does not follow. Catcalls are aptly named because the ways catcallers address their victims are the way animals are addressed. Catcalling is a way of removing a woman’s voice because she knows that if she fights back, the aggressor might get provoked and harm her. Catcalling and rape culture goes hand in hand. It tells the recipient of the catcalls that the catcaller has more rights than her. The recipient must bear it and if she does not, it is her that’s wrong because she can’t take appreciation.

        The norm for this culture is giving girls a set of rules on how not to get raped. It has been constantly argued that rape victims are “asking for it” by wearing provocative clothes. However, if men are taught not to rape, not to see women’s bodies as sexual objects that they have dominion over, there would be no such thing as provocative clothes or behavior at all. In rape culture, it is not a known fact that women own their own bodies. Women can dress their own bodies in any way that they want to without needing recognition and approval, appropriate or not, from anyone, Men must be taught to rein in their sexual urges, even the ones expressed in catcalls and hoochie whistles. People have grown up learning that the best way to avoid rape is to wear clothes that cover every inch of skin instead of avoiding rape by teaching people from a young age that rape will never be okay and will always be wrong. Women everywhere have been taught to be mindful of their surroundings and to defend themselves from rapists who do not know any better. Society have come to accept the normalization of rape because we tolerate the thinking that it is inevitable for boys to not be boys, for boys to continue disrespecting women’s bodies, for people to be taught that rape and the learned helplessness that comes with it is right.

             Victim shaming is a big thing in the norms of the rape culture. Which does not come as a big surprise because society highly prides masculinity as the bar for excellence, strength and competence. In fact according to Herman (1989), most reported rapes include some sort of ridicule and humiliation on the part of the victim. Masculinity is overvalued and expresses itself in a total paradox when people blame the victim for rape. (Herman, 1989) When victims step up and report sexual violence against them, condemned rapists say that they have “fallen into the guise of the inciting female”. The masculinity of the rapist comes out in his supposed innocence and rejection of the seduction served to him. This proves that masculinity is nothing more than thwarting female prowess and proving dominance over women. Rape, as is considered by many misled people, is a high form of compliment for the victim but a shame as well. Rape victims are considered as sluts when they come out as victims. They are interrogated as to what they are wearing or what they have been drinking when the crime occurred. However, sexual urges of the rapist are almost always never questioned simply because it has become the victim’s fault for seducing the rapist and not the rapist’s fault for not controlling themselves. It is difficult for people to put themselves in the victim’s shoes while she/he was being raped. They are blamed for not fighting back and even putting themselves in that situation, simply because people who judge these victims have never experienced the isolation and fear of a sexual assault. The myth of innocence of the rapist is efficient because it shuts the victim away and lets the pervasion of rape continue. This is a convenient myth used to cover up the scary truth. Rape is one of the most heinous crimes one can commit. Rape is never the victim’s fault and victim shaming is a true struggle for any sexual assault victim.

             Culture produces rapists when it encourages the socialization of men and women as an avenue for one sex to assume dominance over the other, exerting values of control, aggression, and callousness. In the end, it’s not just the raped people who become victims but the rapists as well. People now believe that rape and sexual violence is now the norm, not the deviation. It’s no surprise that this is the standard why of thinking now because most people would rather believe that the terrible realities we hear about aren’t real or, worse yet, that we’re helpless to do anything about it. The truth and its consequences are terribly ugly, but by denying the obvious, by blaming the victims, by teaching girls not to “ask for it”, by tolerating mini-rapes such as catcalling, we allow rapists to go unpunished. We leave survivors silenced, scarred and helpless. We open our doors and let rape culture in. Even if we should not.

REFLECTION

Rape culture is very much abundant and as a girl who has two girl siblings and lots of female friends, I feel oppressed by this culture, which led to me choosing this topic for my argumentative essay. Of course, the biggest challenge in an argumentative essay is the presentation of biases in a scholarly and objective manner. I tend to lean toward the first person type of writing, which is why this essay was especially difficult for me. I realized that arguing is actually pretty hard. You have to use your opponent’s argument as a stepping-stone to make your argument seem better in comparison. This essay tested my analysis and critical thinking skills and I’m glad I had a chance to tap that skill of mine so that I can use it in my future subjects like ENGLRES and SPEECOM.

[eternityines-blog]

Dubbin’ Lovin’

    In an increasingly "app"-dominated world, trends come and go. Angry Birds, Temple Run, Flappy Bird one day and then Instagram, Tumblr and Yik Yak the next. With all these apps that cater to every interest, be it travel, games, photography, writing, and connecting with celebrities, persons who have a smartphone and a laptop/computer will never get bored. However, it is exactly this quick availability and accessibility that lead people to easily get bored with the apps they have been using for quite some time. This, then, turns into a marketing opportunity for app developers to come up with new and innovative ways for its consumers to spend (or most often, waste) time with the apps on your smartphone/laptop/computer.

        One such application rippling social media waves is Dubsmash. Born out of consumers' easily satiated boredom, Dubsmash is a lip sync messaging app that allows users to pick a sound clip from any song or movie or a sound clip entirely their own, and film a video of themselves lip syncing to it. This use of Dubsmash most likely sprang up from the desire for laughter and to spread the laughter. It is only in this time that people feel comfortable in doing things that have once been considered embarrassing to feel good about their selves and make others feel good as well. It is this generation's search for all things happy, all things humorous that leads to their active participation in different social media forms thrown to them every day by these app developers.

          Dubbed (no pun intended) as the “annoying video application” by those whose Facebook feeds are flooded with it, and as “the most innovative of all video applications” by those who are still smitten with it, Dubsmash was actually pitched three times before a beta of the application was made. German application designers, Daniel Taschik, Roland Grenke, and Jonas Druppel created the application through their company Mobile Motion. “Early in our prototyping phase in October, we already got very positive feedback that made us feel that we found something valuable to many people,” Dubsmash co-founder Roland Grenke tells TechCrunch. Prior to Dubsmash, the creators already developed a similar application, Starlize, wherein users would create their own music videos to songs that have been programmed into the application. “The process is too complicated for users,” explains Grenke and from the failure of Starlize, they started to create another similar app, Using their audience’s point of view, the creators wanted to introduce an app that was easy to use and easy to share within the least number of clicks, also to be able to send videos back and forth as if in a conversation. In developing Dubsmash, two application mistakes earlier, Druppel, Grenke and Taschik have created a global phenomenon. Within its first week of release, it soared to the number one position in chart in its home country, Germany and eventually spread over the United States, Europe, Asia and most relevant of all, the Philippines.

              However, the concept of Dubsmash is only and simply lip syncing. Why does it captivate so many people, including celebrities and some politicians, captivate them enough to use it as a legitimate way of communicating? Dubsmash has captured the interest of all kinds of people, celebrities, politicians and even the common man. The concept and actual videos of it flood our Facebook timelines and dominate the Filipino's noontime show. It is an avenue to bring a new interpretation to classic quotes and songs and to showcase the user's creativity in recreating these scenes utilizing only a sound clip. With the creativity used to conceptualize and actually create Dubsmash, creativity is poured out of the users' ingenuity in using and sharing their "dubbed" masterpieces as well. Noontime shows are now also largely influenced by Dubsmash, the perfect example of which is the most popular, AlDub Kalyeserye popularized by GMA’s Eat Bulaga. This, a simple love story, has captured the Filipino souls nationwide because of its humor and the segment’s ability to parallel the episodes with the lives of the Filipino’s watching it. And also because of the use of the concept of Dubsmash wherein the main character, Yaya Dub interacts with her environment using only “dubbed” quotes and songs. Ingenious are the concepts of Dubsmash itself and the spin-offs that Filipinos can put on it.

            The simple concept of Dubsmash is allowing the users to lip sync. But what is the big deal? Lip syncing has been around even before Dubsmash has. In fact, a lot of shows in the US have been organizing lip sync battles even before people came to use Dubsmash as a synonym of lip syncing. What makes it so popular and widely successful is its simplicity. With lip-syncing on dubsmash, you can put your own twist on the original words. AlDub is a testimony of that. They have created dialogues to push this Kalyeserye onward using only Maine Mendoza’s (Yaya Dub) acting and dubbing skills. The flexibility of Dubsmash relies on the flexibility and creativity of the user. It is also widely successful because of the fact that people can share your lip syncing videos to almost anyone you know. Users can post it on Facebook or Instagram or even send it privately to someone. Aspiring singers who, sadly, lack the voice for it, can now lip sync to their favorite songs and if the are good and creative enough at lip syncing, may just be recognized as a Dubsmash celebrity, as others have been. Inventive takes on old songs or quotes also lead to Dubsmash and media  popularity. The possibilities of the sound clips are endless as well. Selena Gomez Dubsmash-ed herself, Rhianna teased fans about her new single using Dubsmash and Marvel’s Wolverine star, Hugh Jackman has been tickling fans’ funny bones with his parodies in Dubsmash. Along with all other social media applications spewed out every single day by the Apple Store or Play Store, Dubsmash, a lip syncing app, is also, at the end of the day, a medium to connect, socialize and entertain.

                Certainly, in this time where almost every thing has been discovered, everything has been done, everything has been put into words, and everyone already has a voice, it’s challenging to find a person’s own system, their own boat in the waves of life. Social media defines people, makes them “social” beings without actually having to meet people face to face, but it also confines them. We must learn to not just reduce our life to a Dubsmash video in which we have nothing of our own to say, nothing of our own to wear, nothing of our own to think of. Innovate and create your own thoughts and perspectives. Importantly, find your own voice and make sure you’re heard.

REFLECTION: 

Writing the extended definition essay was at first, confusing. This is because of the fact that there is not much credible sources regarding newly coined terms. Dubsmash is actually a name of an application but has become a cultural icon in going with the times. There are a lot of opinionated articles regarding Dubsmash which I read through to help me come up with my own. I have never used Dubsmash so relating it to my life, and that of others as well was difficult. However, the concluding paragraph was very easy for me to get through because I have already nurtured ideas about social media forms controlling actual social interactions so it was not that difficult for me to put into words my thoughts. At the end of this writing experience, I learned more about searching for credible sources and writing my judgments in a more objective manner.

[eternityines-blog]

Entry Essay

        With the abundance of talent shows airing in the Philippine media, singing has no doubt been the forte of most people who enter said contests. Filipinos are commonly known to be rambunctious at celebrations. There are lots of food, guests, alcohol, gossip, and fun parlor/gambling games. Undeniably, a Filipino celebration would not be a Filipino celebration without the presence of a karaoke. Drunk adults and energetic children peruse the song list and sing out their feelings (for the drunk ones) or their shyness (for the little ones). Most singers today have been discovered and heard first through the ever famous karaoke. But Filipinos are also adept at many other forms of music like choral and classical singing and the more appreciated, pop singing. Orchestras and bands also feature a multitude of Filipinos.

           Philippine media has no lack of musical talents. Everyday, singers are intensively trained to hit the highest notes and look good while doing it. Shows like, The Voice, Pilipinas Got Talent, and Showtime pride themselves on discovering new blood to offer up to the singing industry. But are these people we call singers live up to that name, or are they just people who shout and look good doing it?

           19 year old singer, Rhap Salazar shook the music and entertainment scene of the country by tweeting about “non-singers” who lip sync on shows and even get signed to do albums. According to most netizens, these “non-singers” shout even the lowest notes, sing without proper technique and are just basically people who look like they’re singing when most of their notes are auto-tuned. Most people sided with Rhap’s opinion stating that he actually had to work and train very hard before he was even called a singer. I, being trained in choral singing, side with him as well but also think that the masses are practicing what I would like to call “wrong culture appreciation”.

           I don’t think that lip-syncing is wrong but I also don’t think glorifying someone because of stardom and sheer looks is right. Filipinos love sopranos, thinking that high notes are a basis of skill. They love sexy TV dancers, thinking that sex appeal is a basis of technique. Filipinos appreciate the pretty and not the art. It is our job to appreciate the culture and recognize all the hard work out into it to make it heart felt, not just profitable. We, in the end must take pride on our culture and not just reduce it to something pretty.

[29knutstoasickle-blog]

Break a prop? Just put it back and walk away… ha ha!!

[oocharleneoo]

Emma’s reaction though 

[stephanie-judith-tanner-blog]

Sometimes it freaks me out how much like their characters they are. Emma’s very concerned, Dan saves the day, Rupert laughs.

[mysticfeather]

I’m never not reblogging this. They’re just so damn cute…

[eternityines-blog]

November 14, 2015

Media Log #3 : Media and Self-Perception

A Whiter Shade: Beauty and the Darkness It Holds

      Lupita Nyong'o, a breakthrough artist for her role in the acclaimed movie, 12 Years A Slave, is an ambassador for inner beauty and image acceptance. From Kenyan and Mexican decent, Nyong'o has been an oppressed victim of American Society's White Supremacy. This supremacy has been spreading all throughout the globe, wherein people are preferring paler and whiter skin in comparison to tan skin. This is a prominent icon in the Philippines because the skin of a Filipino is naturally brown. Unknown to most people, skin color is actually a feature of surviving the climate in different tropical zones. The closer the continent is to the equator, the darker the skin color gets, in order for the skin not be fried off the body. Because of this, skin color is actually a survival feature and not a basis for beauty.

         Lupita has taken the opportunity in accepting her Black Women in Hollywood award to address the unrest amongst the black girls all over the United States who feel unbeautiful with their dark skin. In her speech, Lupita says, that she too experienced contempt for her skin color. She would often pray to God, the miracle worker, to give her pale white skin. She'd look at herself in the mirror first everday and then be extremely disappointed when what met her eyes was the same pallor of darkness spread all over her body. Then came the time when she came with the image of Alek Wek, a black model, dark as night, dominating all the runways and magazines of fashion at that time. This representation, a black woman being the standard for beauty helped Lupita rise up to her color, allow herself to be seen in black and the beauty she has been suppressing herself from seeing.

         The most important message in Lupita's speech came from her mother's words. "You can't eat beauty" meaning that beauty will fade away. The standards of beauty have been changing constantly time and time again. Why we can't achieve the perfect beauty is because of the fact that we cannot keep on changing our body to conform to the dictations of norms on how we should look like. Our body grows and changes, that much is true. It develops everyday for people to attain their personal look, not society's predetermined one. Perfection is a social construct, misleading people to get trapped in thoughts of how one should look like, act like, feel like, think like until people trapped by these ideas can no longer escape the thought of attaining perfection because they have been ensnared for too long. Our perception on who we are, who we should be, does not need validation from unattainable societal standards. Our perception of ourselves must spring up from our own confidence and action to live up and achieve our own goals. Beauty is not a thing to be acquired, beauty is just something you have to be.

         In this world, "beauty is to be chased" is the message that media forms have been telling all of us. The prevalence of advertisements encouraging people to try out new whitening creams or slimming pills is proof that consumerism plays on our insecurities.  Movies also look down on characters who are "fat" or not as thin as expected in media, tan characters are usually never main ones and people with no "white" attributes are subject to hilarious (and sometimes mean) stereotypes. White washing is prominent in Philippine media as well, with most of our famous stars representing and standing for "fairer and whiter skin".

         When did color become the basis for excellence? When did figure become a requirement for acceptance? When did we stop loving who we are and even chose to cut off some parts to be loved by others? Skin, body weight, hair or height should not conceal us, embarrass us or exclude us. These things make up our physical self, they represent us and empower us. There's a secret to a positive self-perception and that is, accepting who you are fully and working to be better constantly. A world quick to judge does not sway a person who is rooted in confidence. Fake it 'till you make it, as they say. Act like you love yourself and eventually, you will.

         Perfection is merely a social construct. There is no constant determinant of how people should look like, there is only a determination to achieve the shape you want for yourself. It might seem selfish at first, yes, taking care of and loving yourself but, who will love you if not for you? There is a darkness to this perfection that society has controlled us with, they put us and our ideas, ideas of self-perception, confidence and beauty, in boxes so we don't get too out of hand. But, times are changing and being flawsome is the new trend.

[hello-new-york-blog]

this made me laugh so fucking hard omg

[smitethestate]

Always reblog radio fuckbag getting his spine broken by Rousey.

[piercingsbyaj]

Fun fact, she broke his rib.

[distatitut]

funny illustrations by Shanghai Tango

[runwayandbeauty]

Modoll Project 2015. Lindsey Wixson becomes a 3D Doll: 1) Prada, 2) Chanel, 3) Gucci, 4) Marc Jacobs, 5) Miu Miu, 6) Ralph Lauren, 7) Fendi, 8) Saint Laurent.

[eternityines-blog]

MEDIA LOG ENTRY #2: Media and Mental Illness

October 17, 2015

Hardships Turned Adjectives

Our society feeds on the excellent, the ideal, in short, the perfection of its constituents. Which is most often than not, unattainable as well. There is so much stigma surrounding mental illness because people view it as an imperfection, a defect. And as a people who can’t stomach shortcomings, mental illnesses are pushed under a rug to be forgotten. Society labels it as a lack of development, lack of happiness, lack of body fat, lack of desire for clutter. And it is precisely this lack of understanding from society about mental illnesses that leads to its demise, erasure and misuse from the multimedia forms around the globe.

The misrepresentation and erasure of mental illnesses in media leads us to the situation of people being so uneducated about these illnesses that they use the medical terms to describe a fleeting mood or experience. When TV shows introduce a character who is showing signs of mental illness and gets a miracle cure by another character saying “It’s all okay”, this is the epitome of the erasure, the rejection, the judgement that people who are mentally ill go thorough everyday. Theirs is a tough problem, made tougher by people saying “it’s all in your mind”, “you just need to eat”, “you need to get off your period”. How insensitive of us, using their legitimate struggles to label our dissatisfaction with life. We reduce these battles to jokes, to inconsequential words, to something quirky and fun to swerve from confronting it.

I feel so depressed, I just broke up with the love of my life.

Clinical depression means more than feeling sad or fed up for a few days. Clinical depression means having and nursing feelings of hopelessness and despair. People who are depressed lose interest in almost everything. Many people with depression suffer from anxiety, which is not just nervousness but a hug mental illness as well. Physical symptoms of depression include being constantly tired, sleeping badly, having no appetite, unusual body pain. At the very least, clinical depression isolates you from everyone, again, this is just the least. At the worst part, depression leaves you with so much disconnect from the world, convincing you that life is no longer worth living. In conclusion, you are not really depressed when you break up with the love of your life, you are just extremely sad and your heart hurts. You are not depressed, you are sad. Instead of using depression as a fleeting adjective, use what you really feel like to express yourself. It is a derogatory to advertise to depressed people that you are depressed without feeling any of the symptoms they do. Depression is a black cloud that they want to eradicate and let me tell you the truth, they don’t appreciate you recognizing their condition since you used it wrongly. 

 Are you anorexic? You are so thin now, than the last time I saw you. 

 No, she’s not anorexic, she’s just simply thin. People with anorexia nervosa experience being so critical of their being that they cannot consider eating for fear of adding more of those imperfections (read: fats) and they even rid themselves of these by vomiting it out, sweating it out and drugging them out. Anorexia is a very real eating and mental disorder and it will never be a body type, a fitness goal. Anorexia is not always about food and its consumption, it usually means that people who have it equate low body mass with high self-worth. But it is never satisfied because an anorexic person will never be paper thin, meaning that the person’s self-worth will never be a hundred percent. Anorexic people love checking the mirror and pointing out their flaws, even if there are none. Anorexia may lead to permanent low body mass, unhealthy physical and mental development and worst of all, death. It will never be right calling thin people anorexic, or even thin people who watch their weight in a healthy manner anorexic. Anorexia is a consistent battle with flaws and purging them. 

 I wish I had OCD, I could do well with organizing.

 And so? Alphabetizing is okay. Wanting to be neat is okay. Wanting to be organized is okay. A common misconception about OCD is that it wants everything to color-coded, arranged in a neat manner. But no. Sure, this desire for organization is a manifestation of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, but it is only just that, a mere variation. OCD Is characterized by obsessive and repetitive behavior. Wanting to redo everything because of the person’s feelings of inconsistency. Saying that people are OCD even if they didn’t want to clean up stuff is doubted because they are not what people expect. OCD people have obsessive thoughts, constantly repeating things because of their thoughts that they left something out and that left out something will lead to dire consequences. 

 My mom got so mad last night, she’s so bipolar! 

 Having a wide variety of emotions is called being moody, not bipolar. Being bipolar is likened to a switch inside of you but is outside your control.These are not just simple mood swings. Moods can swing from one extreme into another. Episodes of these extreme mood swings can last for several weeks or longer and are not just base forms of emotions. These are the raw emotions, the feral feeling of being in a mania (energetic) or lethargy (sadness). Both mania and lethargy may lead to psychosis where the extreme happiness or sadness a person may feel leads to hearing/seeing things that are not really there. The extremes of these emotions often affect daily life greatly. Changing moods in a high level affect the perception of a person’s world and other people’s perception of the bipolar person. 

 These are only some of the mental illness turned adjectives people use. Most of the time, they don’t even realize the weight of the words that they are saying. Again, this is due to the lack of education and representation of mental illnesses. Words have extreme power and if using these conditions as adjectives makes a sophisticated sounding sentence, it makes the stigma surrounding mental illness even bigger. How ironic that we can incorporate these words into our vernacular and even give misunderstood meaning to it but when a person diagnosed with any of these “adjectives” come into the picture, we try as hard as we can to not recognize, acknowledge and incorporate their very real living conditions into our lives.

 Representation is important, correct representation is even more important. When these people connect with media personalities that are correctly recognized and appreciated despite their hardships with battling mental illness, they feel a bit stronger, a bit more confident because they have someone to look up to. Let us not detach their lives from the words that limit them. Don’t add to the mental illness eating them up by recognizing only the mental illness and not the life behind it. As the famous sociologist, W.E.B. DuBois says, knowledge is the key to battling prejudice.

 Let’s help them remember that they are not fighting alone. They are loved, recognized, appreciated and not just reduced to slurs and jokes.

[eternityines-blog]

MEDIA LOG ENTRY #1 - Media and Love October 2, 2015

I’ll take it nice and slow Feeling good on my own without you, yeah Got me speaking in tongues The beautiful, it comes without you, yeah I’m gonna put my body first And love me so hard ‘til it hurts

YES. YES. YES. YES.

Here we go again, yet another song about self-empowerment. Who cares really? I’d rather listen to this song about a break-up or maybe even this one about falling in love… again… for the nth time.

It’s still a yes for me. Self-empowerment and self-love should be the first love and last love that anyone should have. The kind of feeling that when you lay on your bed before drifting off to sleep, you think, “Today was a great day, I took care of myself and I love it”. Because why should anyone not love taking care of themselves?

This whole hype that pop culture has with a significant other has been around ever since the daw of time, emphasizing the fact that someone has to complete someone else, hence, “You complete me.” Sometimes, it goes beyond that, it encourages these sad people to be so hateful of life, thereby encouraging others to be the same. Depression is attempted to be made beautiful by overlaying it with a black and white background. After all this, I ask myself, why can’t people just love themselves? And why shouldn’t they? These days, the media sells the most exciting parts of love and romance. The meet cute, the passionate make-outs, the holding hands while walking, the sharing a glass with two straws. With all these, where does loving yourself come in? Is it only when your other half leaves you? Only then? We keep waiting for love from other people that we become wholly dependent on them. We keep waiting for love that we confuse the nearest emotions for it—infatuation, obsession, pity and maybe even pain. (Because that’s what they say, right? That love hurts?) We keep waiting for love that we hurt ourselves just to keep the people who give us the illusion of love. We keep waiting for love that we become so cynical of it. We wonder if it’s even real. We become distrustful of others and maybe even ourselves. We keep waiting for love that we become impatient and tired and end up having waited for nothing. Nothing.

Like so many self-empowering songs released to the industry, Hailee Steinfeld’s “Love Myself” is sometimes reduced to only a party track. The message of the song is immediately catalogued as a break-up song. There is nothing wrong with this but still, self-love should not be used to replace the love of a special someone. Self-love must be constant and ever-present. On top of all other loves, your love for yourself must always be evident. The way you take care of your body, how you nourish it and flaunt it reflects how much you love yourself. “The beautiful” as Steinfeld says, must come with you first, not from anyone else. After listening and scruitinizing the real meaning of this song,I tell you to love yourself.

Fall in love with yourself. Be madly in love with yourself. Love every mole, every freckle, every imperfection you have. Love what you do, and really, everything about yourself. And dwell in that. Love yourself so deeply that you would be capable of loving others as well. Love yourself so that one person can be enough. Love yourself so you can learn to trust others again. Love yourself so much that you would never waste another moment being controlled by someone else. Love yourself so you would not wait to be loved. Love yourself to fall in love when you’re actually ready. Love yourself so you would never drag a blade across your skin. Love yourself so you would never force your dinner to come out. Love yourself so you would never hit the pavement. Love yourself for your neck to never be constricted. Love yourself so you can move on. Love yourself to realize that love and the people who ceaselessly give it never run out. Love yourself to have a better experience of life, because after all, we only get one shot at this. Love yourself to understand that love should never hurt and that love never involves bitterness, resentment or pain. Love is just love with all its beautiful, golden moments.

Love yourself because of all the love there is in the world, you deserve your own the most.