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I'm Gentry Cope and I'm in WGSST 2230. Welcome :)

[gencityy]

Women of Color Assignment WGSS 4540

http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2013/07/28/women-of-color-and-feminism-a-history-lesson-and-way-forward/

http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/2013/09/12/221469077/feminism-and-race-just-who-counts-as-a-woman-of-color http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/report/2013/10/24/77546/the-state-of-women-of-color-in-the-united-states-2/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82vl34mi4Iw http://feminspire.com/brown-black-asian-one-word-cant-define-a-woman-of-color/

[gencityy]

She's the Man - In a Man's World

                While She’s The Man is a great movie to show that women should be treated equally in the world of sports, and doing so in a humorous way, there are many ways in which it enforces hegemonic structures. Yes, Viola (the main character) breaks up with her boyfriend and tells him off, we also see in a subplot that Sebastian only likes his girlfriend and wants to keep her around because she is hot. He actually does say that and just tries to ignore her because he really doesn’t like her personality. This is enforcing the idea that really the only thing guys care about are women’s looks. That they can just cover up or deal with the personality aspect. WHICH IS A HUGE ASPECT.

                Another subplot of love/romance is the fact that Malcolm (the weird, nerdy guy at the school) is obsessed with Olivia (the beautiful, popular girl). And really every guy seems to be obsessed with Olivia. Why? Once again because she’s hot. And once again the intelligence, personality, and other aspects of women are overlooked and we see that this is what we should achieve to be liked by men. Lull states that “hegemony is the power or dominance that one social group holds over others.” In She’s the Man, it is clear that men hold this dominance when women aren’t allowed to play soccer and women are seen as only for looks and a guy’s pleasure.

                Speaking of a man’s pleasure do you recall the kissing booth scene? Ya, the scene where Olivia and Viola are both at the kissing booth and guys are lined up. I mean if people really thought we were equal how come we don’t see men up on the kissing booth? Well no, that doesn’t happen in this movie. As a matter of fact two of the main characters are fighting over kissing Olivia, like she is an object of desire. She doesn’t have any say in who she kisses. She is just there for pleasure. And reinforcing our norms of men.

                Oh and we can’t forget Viola’s mom. She is hilarious and also thinks it’s soooo incredibly important that Viola be a debutant. Enforcing the fact that women need to be prim, proper and put together. And you have to wear a nice dress, have your hair, make-up and nails done perfectly, and this will show that you are a woman. Oh and you have to eat like “you’re telling a secret”. As if you’re not even supposed to be eating? Or maybe eating a little bit? I don’t know  but it’s seen that men can just eat pizza and whatever else the heck they want, because they play a sport and get dirty. Ya know, “rub some dirt in it”. And when Duke freaks out because there’s a tampon in his room. PLEASEEE, like you’ve never seen a tampon before? Right.

                While She’s The Man can have a lot of way it disrupts hegemony, there are still some problems with it. Go to http://mthomas021.tumblr.com/ to see how it disrupt's hegemony. But people normally don’t watch a movie to see if it enforces hegemony or not, these are just things that are in our society that aren’t questioned, but should be questioned if we want change.

[gencityy]

Teenage Pregnancy and Purity Unit Post

There is so much emphasis put on the fact of women not having sex, or having sex and not getting pregnant, or getting pregnant and not having an abortion. There are all of these rights and wrongs, and dos and don’ts, but do we really have these same rules for guys? Do we really see it as horrible if they have sex? Or if they have a baby, I mean since they aren’t the one carrying it. All of it comes down to women.  And in reality women don’t win. If a young girl gets pregnant and have an abortion, they are seen as a horrible human to some because they are seen as “killing”. Or if they do have the child, they are seen as horrible for having sex. Either way in our society, if you get pregnant when you’re not married you’re seen as screwing up your life, just pretty much a big screw up. So like we see in the tv show 16 and Pregnant, you have to keep you’re child if you are one of these women, but you’re then seen as a horrible mom because you’re a single mom. There is just no win in having sex.

When it comes to purity and marriage, it is seen that when women lose their virginity then they are losing something? What really is that thing that we’re losing? That we’re giving into our humanly needs? Or that each time you add to that number of guys that you have slept with, then you are losing something with each guy. But in reality you are really gaining something. You are gaining experience and knowledge of what you want. I think our society needs to see sex in a totally different way when it is concerning women. It needs to be seen as something we are meant to do. Humans are meant to have sex. That is how we reproduce. It shouldn’t be seen as a sin, or bad if you do it. There are a lot of people that will disagree because of religious views and what not. But at least there should be the same standards for both genders. Not the standard of “oh you’re a slut if you sleep around” (for women), and “oh you’re cool because you get a lot of girls”. Once again women are shut down and not treated with respect on their decisions. And the show, 16 and pregnant does not help with going against hegemonic structures.

[gencityy]

Supernatural Sexuality Unit Post

We may think of supernatural or fantasy books and movies as a positive thing, because they openly have sex in them. But the way it is portrayed is, errrr not so great. Even though in Twilight Bella is scene to want sex alll the time. Which can be seen as good. It is counteracted because Edward won’t allow them to. It is shown throughout the book that HE knows what’s best for her. And she must obey him. Just as when he breaks up with her (because it is what is best for her). And then of course she can barely live without him. This whole concept is portrayed to us and really isn’t a surprise. A lot of people don’t really question things that happen in Twilight because it is seen as normal. It’s seen that women do need men, and without them then our lives are miserable. It is also seen that is shouldn’t be weird if a man is stalking you and watching you in your room at night. NO, THAT IS FREAKING WEIRD! I don’t care if he has uncontrollable love for you. No guy should be watching you sleep alllll night. Weird. Back to what I was saying about the break up, it is seen that Bella should just deal with it. That is something that is so apparent in our society today. It is okay if a guy breaks up with a girl, they should just take it, not ask any questions, and go on with their life. Oh and they should be suuuuper devasted. But when a girl breaks up with a guy, OH hellll no. That’s not okay, and if the guy doesn’t like that it is fine if they keep persisting to be together. But for girls we should just deal with it. Twilight enforces this fact, clearly, since we see that Edward is in control of the relationship.

Along with the whole relationship part of the Twilight saga, we also see a lot of class and race stereotypes involved. We have the Cullens, who are white, beautiful and rich. Then we have the werewolves who are Native Americans and poor. With these aspects of Twilight, these things really aren’t noticeable to people that read these books for pleasure. And this is not a good thing, our society sees men and women treated like this in life and now in the movies and books we watch and read. This is teaching our future generations what it should be like in a relationship. If we keep doing this and buying into these books that enforce these stereotypes then our society won’t change. 

[anyordinarymoment]

[gencityy]

Ahhh i love elllen!!!

[mangoesandavocadi]

[gencityy]

Wait why is so hilarious? Couldn't have said it better...

[gencityy]

Operation beautiful! If you haven't heard of it, get with it and share the love:) You are beautiful

[gencityy]

I Fight Rape Culture Because...

Taking advantage of someone's body is wrong in all aspects; we are people with feelings and emotions, not objects.

[gencityy]

Dove Real Beauty Sketches. What we think we look like is much different than how people see us. It is crazy to see how much of a difference we critique ourselves and what we really look like. We need to appreciate ourselves more and not look at the flaws, but the great qualities and uniqueness we all have. 

[catmitzvah-deactivated20130329]

[dynastylnoire]

tw: rape

[gencityy]

No one is ever asking for rape. Just because we see something we want, doesn't mean we can have it without permission. ESPECIALLY people. 

[gencityy]

Unit Post: Claiming Sexuality

A lot of people would love to talk about sex. I mean it’s a very interesting subject, in my eyes. Buuuuuutttt, in our society it is something that is not really talked about. It’s kind of a hush hush topic. We may make jokes about certain things, or watch movies with sex in them. But it’s something that is not really talked about unless maybe with very close friends. And really it depends on the person, how much he/she tells their friends. WAIT WAIT, my friend that I’m with just asked if I’ve had an orgasm before. HAHAHA I’m dying…

Okay anyway, for women it is expected that we don’t “want” sex. Or think about it. But wait, why is it that “that’s all guys think about”? Ummm, I’m pretty sure women have the same sexual desires that men have. We have the same needs, we are all human! So with 50 Shades of Grey, it allows women of all ages to explore what they want, and by reading these books to experience it. When they read these books (since they have so much sex in them), they experience the sex that they fantasize about explicitly. It is right there in front of them. AND many other women are reading the exact same thing. Which is an additional plus because then they aren’t just reading it, they can then talk about it!

Women need to have a positive attitude about sex. But the media does not have this portrayal to women. They want women to be careful and cautious with sex (because we are the ones that carry babies), so it is portrayed that we should have minimal sex (unless married). But yet the double standard is that men can have as much sex as they want no matter what, as long as they are protected. When a woman has had multiple partners she is seen as a slut, but when a guy has had multiple partners, he is just scene as well “a guy” or a player. Which is a good thing to them, because they are coooool then! But this makes a girl uncool? 50 Shades of Grey allows women to have a positive attitude toward sex, which is what we should have in the first place.

Girls are taught at very young ages that they should be abstinent, with the rise of purity balls and purity rings. And um do guys have these purity balls? HAHA nooo. It’s funny to even imagine that. And it’s sad that we put so much emphasis on a girl or woman’s worth by the fact of her sexuality. If she has had sex or not, and if she has if it was with someone she has been married to, and how many people. We have to be sexy but not have sex. This standard really needs to change and hopefully will once people stop confusing sexuality with worthiness.

[gencityy]

Unit Post - Fandom!

FANS!

So yes we’ve allll seen people dress up and go to midnight premieres. People get crazy, obsessed with books/movies! And I have to admit I was one of those people. I was and STILL am obsessed with Harry Potter. I don’t know what it is, I think just the whole fantasy about it, when you read or watch the movies you become so invested and forget about the real world.

  That was me back in my senior year dressed up as Luna Lovegood for a character day.  Although I never participated in group activities with Harry Potter. Though I do see why people do. One of my first questions (on a first date, or meeting someone new) is: do you like Harry Potter? If yes, then I totally freak out because I know they enjoy something that I enjoy. We connect in a way that is indescribable. People love that they can relate to others and have something in common that they both like. This then makes them become obsessed to the point of fandom because they want their life to be what they read/watch.

People love to go to the fandom sites and express how they feel about certain issues. Such as the love between Harry and Jenny, and how people just want them to be together. This could bring in deeper issues from real life, where they want romance to work. Or if Ron and Harry are in an argument. And the fact that everyone wants Harry to kill Voltemort. All of these are discussed and people can agree on certain things that bring them together in this “fantasy community” that they make reality.

In Harry Potter Narnia (on fanfiction.net), Narnia is in trouble and Harry, Ron, and Hermione have to save her. People love the idea of taking the characters they love and doing what they can with them.. and making their own plots and twists. And then posting it to hopefully get a reaction. They can connect with people on issues of sex and gender if that’s a conflict in their plot. Really, it can bring people together in a good way to discuss important issues. So there is actually a good side to fan fiction. J

[gencityy]

Listen to your body and give it what it needs 💕 Work with it not against it! If you’re hungry, eat! 🍤 If your tired, sleep. 💤 Love it and know that the number on the scale does NOT define you. ☝ Stop comparing yourself to others! What counts is how you feel and who you truly are as a person. It took me a while to work with my body not against it. Exercising and eating healthy because I love my body is what is important. ✌💪

[gencityy]

Soo sad 😢 seriously what has the world come to? We need peace ✌ #praying for everyone in #boston and involved 🙏

[gencityy]

Unit Post - Race and Cyberspace

Basically the internet is something that is not necessarily tangible. It is all just out there. And we have now come to a place where we have multiple social medias where we can make an identity (even different identities) on multiple sites. I’m sure what you post/say on Facebook isn’t the same things you post on Twitter or Instagram or Tumblr. All have different purposes and you can make yourself seem very different in each of these networks. For instance my mom, 14 year old sister, grandma, and other family members are on Facebook. I’m always aware of what I put on there, as well as all my other social media because I know that these things are public and someone can use things against you at any time. I take my mom’s advice on many topics, and she told me “you can really tell a lot by a person’s Facebook” which can be very true depending on how much is revealed.

People on Twitter just like to say what they are thinking (and sometimes without even thinking), whereas on Facebook, it doesn’t really work that way. With #whitegirlproblems and all of the other race/class defining groups, these are causing us to be identified based on race, class, gender, age, sexuality, etc. People use these as humor to not make fun of others, but themselves. Like it is funny to agree with stereotypes? This then just reinforces that it’s okay to have these stereotypes and to use them. This theory reminds me a lot of when girls with call each other derogatory names (slut, hoe, bitch, etc.) and think it is okay (such as in a friendly way) but then get at mad at guys for saying it. This is how I see these groups on twitter. If you keep reinforcing something that has to do with an identity of you, then other people will think it is okay to go along with too. This is one of the major problems with social media and the internet.

I feel that it is hard to overcome this. We can’t just get rid of social media or these hash tags or groups. That wouldn’t get rid of the problem.  Just like a lot of other things we have learned in this class, a big solution to these issues is to educate people. Once you have a critically thinking mind, you literally think “why?” in so many things you do/see/interact with. And I believe the less and less we will have with race separation and things along that line. Our country needs to start this education of critical thinking in public schools, not just in college, because not everyone can go to college. And I believe knowledge will triumph our troubles.

[gencityy]

Mini Media! - Race and Cyberspace

Tweet Tweet

https://twitter.com/_AsianProblems_

Twitter is used by many people every day, to give thoughts and a lot of people probably don’t realize how much they influence the media world with their posts, good or bad. Discussing #whitegirlproblems made me think about other races, and how those are stereotyped. Asian Problems or @_asianproblems_ or even #asianproblems. These critique Asians on a level of different things. As being overly smart, especially smarter than Americans, having small eyes, eating rice/noodles/sushi, being short, being “yellow”. So many critiques. What I find wrong with these feeds or tweets is that these people posting these things are making fun of themselves. It’s funny to me that they are feeding into the stereotypes. People are people and are very dynamic. It’s funny how we see the humor when making fun of ourselves, but we don’t like other people to do so. Kind of like when you make fun of your sister, but you would never let anyone else do it! Twitter is out there to be funny, enjoyable, get a laugh out, and a “getaway” like most social media. But what we don’t realize is that this social media plays a major role in our society. Things like this, #whitegirlproblems, blackpeopleproblems, etc. These are grouping us into a specific group, but really we all are very dynamic humans, all with different characteristics and we shouldn’t put ourselves in a “group”. Although, we like to do this to identify and connect with others. We think it’s funny to make fun of ourselves, but if we sit back and really realize that this is putting an emphasis on race (and usually in a negative way), we can realize maybe it’s not the best way to use humor because it enforces cybertyping.