School Work

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Influence. Course Capstone Final Draft

Daniel Guthmiller

Tyler Chadwick

Course Capstone

12/15/12

  Influence

              Everyday we are faced with decisions. Decisions about what we do, the way we act, the way we handle situations or dilemmas, and many other decisions about everyday life. Decisions can be handled in many different ways, from group settings to individuals deciding for themselves. Often times we have to make decisions in our everyday life that could or could not be the right choice. Many times we do not even realize the decisions we are making, or more importantly the reason why we make the decision we do. Every person has their own opinion, their own reasoning, and their own logic for making the decision they do, but the factor many people don’t realize is that the decisions they make are most often influenced by society in one way or another. From billboards, television ads, street signs, and even the people, we surround ourselves with, they all play some part in the role for influencing our decisions, and personally I think, it is for the worst. Society surroundings can have a negative influence on an individual’s decision.

            Negative influences are more than just a part of our culture; they are a part of life. This is not a new issue; there have always been influences that affect our decisions. Take the story of Adam and Eve for example; the snake was the malevolent influence on Eve. It tempted her into eating the forbidden fruit. That decision did not only affect her, but every other person ever created as well. Influences are created by our own minds, our own personal wants or needs. More often than not, we know when we are making a bad choice yet we listen to the temptation and follow through with the peer pressure created by society. For example, in George Orwell’s story of “Killing an Elephant,” we read about a man who was a police officer of a small town where an owner’s elephant had gotten loose and rampaged throughout the town. As Orwell describes the situation, he was searching for the elephant, and as he was doing so a crowd of the townspeople began to ambush together and follow him. Orwell was not a well-valued man in this town, so he was looking as this job of capturing the elephant as an opportunity to gain the liking and respect of the townspeople. When the time came to capture the elephant, the crowd was chanting with rage for Orwell to kill the elephant, however Orwell himself knew that killing the elephant was not the right choice. Yet the peer pressure was the negative influence from the crowd that caused Orwell to kill the elephant even though he knew it was wrong (Orwell, 2012). He was negatively influenced by society, just like most of us so often are.

            I think the bigger question that needs to be answered here is why we choose to listen to that negative influence. Often times, individuals respond to fulfill these negative decisions because we look for fulfillment from our peers, we want people to like us so we listen to them even when it is wrong, and also in some cases we don’t even know it’s wrong because it is so prevalent in our society with certain situations. Take social media and entertainment for example. Media has been taken to a whole new technological level, and with that came a whole new level of negative societal influences. “This highlighting of the media is a negative effect on society. They satiate the people’s hunger for trivial information and rumors. They create buzz by hyping the issues with flowery words and provoking descriptions. Controversies are created left and right to get the attention of people” (Negative Influences, 2012). Media is a part of society, is it created by the suppliers and demanded by the consumers whether it’s right or wrong. There are shows on television that send out bad messages such as teen mom, which I believe presents individuals with the idea that they can have a baby just because they want to and not think about the real consequences or difficulties associated with raising a child. Or other show’s about rich people living a fantasy life that many of us will never live. I don’t believe that causes people to strive for more and be a better person. I believe that promotes negative behavior and jealousy. Jealousy might be one of the biggest contenders in playing the role of negative influences. Jealousy is an emotion, emotions are the reason we listen to negative influences, if we didn’t have emotions we would purely use our logical sense and never make mistakes. “We focus on the emotion, and the stimuli that triggered it. It becomes amplified in our minds, and so, at that time, our reaction to it almost seems rational, because it is the only information we deem important enough to process. This subsequently motivates our behavior in a variety of ways” (Wright, 2012). This statement accurately describes the reason as to why we listen to the negative influences that surround us.

People, friends, family, our peers, they are the people who play the biggest role as influences. We listen to them because we want them to like us, or we want to please them so we are willing to make decisions, even ones we know are not right, simply to make them happy. Being selfless and not selfish is one thing, but making a malevolent decision to do it is another. Peer pressure is another term for negative influences; peer pressure can be good or bad, however, and in most cases it is used for the worse. Peer pressure is most often used as a negative influence because many people don’t usually need to be peer pressured into something they want to or something that is right. When I think of peer pressure, I think of someone being tempted to do drugs or commit a crime by a group of people. Groups most often take advantage of peer pressure on an individual because they have strength in numbers. If ten people tell one man that he should do something even though he knows it is wrong, he will most likely do it anyways. Not because he wants to, but because he was influenced by his peers and in order to please and/or gain acceptance he must do what they want.           

The strength of a negative influence varies from person to person. By that I mean some people are more subjected to falling into the peer pressure rather than others. People are less likely to be influenced by negative influences if they have a high self esteem, good positive outlook on the future, good social skills, a strong positive family connection, and the ability to interact with people from many different backgrounds (Human Diseases, 2012). People who are more likely to fall into peer pressure are people with a low self esteem, have family problems, strongly identify with only one ethnic group, and are afraid of fitting in with other people (Human Diseases, 2012). Yet no matter what the case, many people simply cannot avoid it. Regardless of who you are, what you are doing, or whom you are with, there will always be negative influences.

Negative influences also vary from gender and age. “Peer pressure is felt most in about eighth or ninth grade. Level of self-confidence, individual personality, and degree of maturity, will all play a role in determining whether or not we give in to peer pressure” (Teenage, 2012). Age definitely plays a major role in how we let negative influences affect us, mainly because of maturity levels. Negative influences are most successful at affecting us in the teenage years because that is when we first learn to begin to understand the need or social want to fit in (Teenage, 2012). The teenage years are when we begin to develop our self-confidence and form groups or friends that influence our lives forever. That is not saying that adults cannot be influenced by negative choices. Adult’s choices can be much more harmful because more often than not adults have much more serious decisions to make than teenagers. Decisions don’t just affect the person making the decision, they affect everyone around them. Negative influences and decisions affect everyone.

Decisions are personal, they are decided by each and every individual by himself or herself, but along with every decision comes influence. Negative influences and peer pressure are prevalent in so many aspects of our lives. Many times we don’t even realize what the decisions we make and how we were influenced into making it. We are only human; the need to fit in with society and be accepted is hard wired into our brains, as stated in an online article about how our emotions affect our behaviors (Wright, 2012). Unfortunately, so many times the only way, or what seems to be the only to fit in is to do what other people want us to do, whether it is a bad or good decision. Negative influences are not ever going to go away, they always have been and will continue to be a part of our society. People will be manipulative, lying, hurtful, and deceitful. The bottom line is that people know the power they have by using peer pressure and negativity to influence individuals and they will continue to have control over other’s decisions using negative influences.

                                                        Bibliography

  "Human Diseases and Conditions." Peer Pressure. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Dec. 2012.

  "Negative Influences of Media on the Society." Influence Guide. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Dec. 2012.

  Orwell, George. "Shooting An Elephant." Trans. Array Reading Culture. Diana George and John Trimbur. 8th Edition. New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc, 2012. 503-08. Print.

  "Teenage Peer Pressure And Being Influenced | Project Pride USA." Project Pride USA RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Dec. 2012.

  Wright, Mackenzie. "How Do Your Emotions Affect Your Behaviors?" EHow. Demand Media, 14 Nov. 2008. Web. 08 Dec. 2012.

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Influence. Course Capstone

Daniel Guthmiller

Tyler Chadwick

Course Capstone

12/8/12

Influence

            Every day we are faced with decisions. Decisions about what we do, the way we act, the way we handle situations or dilemmas, and many other decisions about every day life. Decisions can be handled in many different ways, from group settings to individuals deciding for themselves. Often times we have to make decisions in our every day life that could or could not be the right choice, many times we do not even realize the decisions we are making, or more importantly the reason why we make the decision we do. Every person has their own opinion, their own reasoning, and their own logic for making the decision they do, but the factor many people don’t realize is that the decisions they make are most often influenced by society in one way or another. From billboards, television ads, street signs, and even the people, which we surround ourselves with, they all play some part in the role for influencing our decisions, and personally I think, it is for worst. Society surroundings have a negative influence on an individual’s decision.

            Negative influences are more than just a part of our culture; they are a part of life. This is not a new issue; there have always been influences that affect our decisions since the beginning of time. Take the story of Adam and Eve for example; the snake was the malevolent influence on Eve, which tempted her into eating the forbidden fruit. That decision did not only affect her, but every other person ever created as well. Influences are created by our own minds; our own personal wants or needs. More often than not, we know when we are making a bad choice yet we listen to the temptation and follow through with the peer pressure created by society. For example, in George Orwell’s story of “Killing an Elephant,” we read about a man who was a police officer of a small town where an owner’s elephant had gotten loose and rampaged throughout the town. As Orwell describes the situation, he was searching for the elephant, and as he was doing so a crowd of the townspeople began to ambush together and follow him. Orwell was not a well-valued man in this town, so he was looking as this job of capturing the elephant as an opportunity to gain the liking and respect of the townspeople. When the time came to capture the elephant, the crowd was chanting with rage for Orwell to kill the elephant, however Orwell himself knew that killing the elephant was not the right choice. Yet the peer pressure was the negative influence from the crowd that caused Orwell to kill the elephant even though he knew it was wrong (Orwell, 2012). He was negatively influenced by society, just like we all so often are.

            I think the bigger question that needs to be answered here is why we choose to listen to that negative influence. If you just take a second to think about it the answer is obvious. We respond to fulfill these negative decisions because we look for fulfillment from our peers, we want people to like us so we listen to them even when it is wrong, and also in some cases we don’t even know its wrong because it is so prevalent in our society with certain situations. Take social media and entertainment for example. Media has been taken to a whole new technological level, and with that came a whole new level of negative societal influences. “This highlighting of the media is a negative effect on society. They satiate the people’s hunger for trivial information and rumors. They create buzz by hyping the issues with flowery words and provoking descriptions. Controversies are created left and right to get the attention of people” (Negative Influences, 2012). Media is a part of society, is it created by the suppliers and demanded by the consumers whether it’s right or wrong. There are shows on television that send out bad messages such as teen mom, or other show’s about rich people living a fantasy life that many of us will never live. I don’t believe that causes people to strive for more and be a better person. I believe that promotes negative behavior and jealousy. Jealousy might be one of the biggest contenders in playing the role of negative influences. Jealousy is an emotion, emotions are the reason we listen to negative influences, if we didn’t have emotions we would purely use our logical sense and never make mistakes. “We focus on the emotion, and the stimuli that triggered it. It becomes amplified in our minds, and so, at that time, our reaction to it almost seems rational, because it is the only information we deem important enough to process. This subsequently motivates our behavior in a variety of ways” (Wright, 2012). This statement accurately describes the reason as to why we listen to the negative influences that surround us.

People, friends, family, our peers, they are the people one’s who play the biggest role as influences. We listen to them because we want them to like us, or we want to please them so we are willing to make decisions, even ones we know are not right, simply to make them happy. Being selfless and not selfish is one thing, but making a malevolent decision to do it is another. Peer pressure is another term for negative influences; peer pressure can be good or bad, however, and in most cases it is used for the worse. Peer pressure is most often used as a negative influence because many people don’t usually need to be peer pressured into something they want to or something that is right. Groups most often take advantage of peer pressure on an individual because they have strength in numbers. If ten people tell one man that he should do something even though he knows it is wrong, he will most likely do it anyways. Not because he wants to, but because he was influenced by his peers and in order to please and/or gain acceptance he must do what they want.           

The strength of a negative influence varies from person to person, by that I mean some people are more subjected to falling into the peer pressure rather than others. People are less likely to be influenced by negative influences if they have a high self esteem, good positive outlook on the future, good social skills, a strong positive family connection, and the ability to interact with people from many different backgrounds (Human Diseases, 2012). People who are more likely to fall into peer pressure are people with a low self esteem, have family problems, strongly identify with only one ethnic group, and are afraid of fitting in with other people. Yet no matter what the case, we simply cannot avoid it. Regardless of who you are, what you are doing, or whom you are with, there will always be negative influences.

Negative influences also vary from gender and age. “Peer pressure is felt most in about eighth or ninth grade. Level of self-confidence, individual personality, and degree of maturity, will all play a role in determining whether or not we give in to peer pressure” (Teenage, 2012). Age definitely plays a major role in how we let negative influences affect us, mainly because of maturity levels. Negative influences are most successful at affecting us in the teenage years because that is when we first learn to begin to understand the need or social want to fit in (Teenage, 2012). The teenage years are when we begin to develop our self-confidence and form groups or friends that influence our lives forever. That is not saying that adults cannot be influenced by negative choices. Adults choices can be much more harmful because more often than not adults have much more serious decisions to make than teenagers. Decisions don’t just affect the person making the decision, it affects everyone around them. Negative influences and decisions affect everyone.

Decisions are personal, they are decided by each and every individual by himself or herself, but along with every decision comes influence. Negative influences and peer pressure are prevalent in so many aspects of our lives. Many times we don’t even realize what the decisions we make and how we were influenced into making it. We are only human; the need to fit in with society and be accepted is hard wired into our brains. Unfortunately, so many times the only way, or what seems to be the only to fit in is to do what other people want us to do, whether it is a bad or good decision. Negative influences are not ever going to go away, they always have been and will continue to be a part of our society. People will be manipulative, lying, hurtful, and deceitful. The bottom line is that people know the power they have by using peer pressure and negativity to influence individuals and they will continue to have control over other’s decisions using negative influences.

                                        Bibliography

  "Human Diseases and Conditions." Peer Pressure. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Dec. 2012.

  "Negative Influences of Media on the Society." Influence Guide. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Dec. 2012.

  Orwell, George. "Shooting An Elephant." Trans. Array Reading Culture. Diana George and John Trimbur. 8th Edition. New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc, 2012. 503-08. Print.

  "Teenage Peer Pressure And Being Influenced | Project Pride USA." Project Pride USA RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Dec. 2012.

  Wright, Mackenzie. "How Do Your Emotions Affect Your Behaviors?" EHow. Demand Media, 14 Nov. 2008. Web. 08 Dec. 2012.

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Slum Tourism. Kennedy Odede

            Slum tourism has always been around according to this story, ever since the 1800’s, hell probably even farther back than that. Here in this essay, Odede takes great offense to the act of slum tourism. He lives in a world of poverty and despair while rich stuck people walk through taking pictures and making videos of their less fortunate lives. That right there is an interesting statement, because who is it that is really less fortunate. Sure they don’t have as much money, but what they do have they don’t take for granted and they respect it. People who tour the slums have money, but do they appreciate it? Who really is more fortunate when it comes to respecting life itself? Just something to think about. I couldn’t agree more with Obede, I would pissed off if someone came into my town and started treating me like some kind of animal at the zoo, whose sole purpose is to stand there and be used for some sort of empathetic entertainment. It is disrespectful and disgraceful I believe. He is right; just because we walk through their town, maybe stop a shop here and there, and doesn’t mean we are changing anything. All we do by walking through there is feel a moment of grief before we return to our money hungry lives.

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Amitava Kumar Response

Kumar starts off this story by giving off an imaginary script of a scene he plays out in his head of him talking to a border patrol officer who stops to talk to him as he was taking a picture of a street sign. This story uses the street signs to compare two different cultures, however the signs are just a metaphor for something more. On one hand here there is a street sign with the word “Caution” in English, as it has two parents and a child in a running motion across the sign. Then directly underneath that sign is another sign that says “Prohibido” without the picture. The controversy here is that the signs are dictated by culture differences. For example, the English sign is meant for a car to see, therefore there is a cultural stereotype because they are assuming that only Americans drive cars, not Hispanics. I think it is interesting to think about because like Kumar says in the end of his story; what if the roles were switched? What if we snuck from America to Mexico and took on jobs as lawn workers or other common immigrant jobs? That statement might have been a little racist, I am not sure though, sorry if it was! 

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George Orwell's "Shooting an Elephant"

George Orwell shot an elephant, a big, scared, innocent elephant. But it’s ok because in the end I found a good story to write my final on out of this so the temporary sadness faded. George Orwell used to be a part of the police force in a small 3rd world country. He didn’t really fit in with the town and gaining respect was an issue for him. Typically he had been performing his day-to-day duties until he received unexpected word of an elephant gone mad. The elephant hadn’t actually gone mad, it had just gotten loose from its owner and had gone crazy running all around town. I believe it just did that because it was scared but that’s just me. Anyways, George was forced to shoot the elephant because the town wanted the elephant dead and instead of keeping the elephant humanely under control, he shot it. He shot the elephant basically because he fell into the peer pressure of the crowd of the town behind him. I think that is very relevant to our culture in today’s society because so often we base our decisions off of others reactions. Regardless of the outcome, many people react in situations based on their surroundings, rather than using a logical thought processing and/or doing what is right. 

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Jamaica Kincaid Response

            When talking about living in a transnational world, we know by that statement, transnational, that we as a nation are derived from other nations. We are not one in ourselves but instead a collage of nations, all shuffled into one. Of course I am speaking of America as a country when I say this, but here in Kincaid’s story we see that it is based out of England. England played a major roll as the colonizer as bands or people broke off of England to find their own land and be a colonizer of their own. From a far out perspective, we look like the colonizers of our own country and our own culture, however I believe that we fit more appropriately in the category of the colonized. This information relates to Kincaid’s story because as she describes a certain brief time in her life, we see the debate she has on who is the colonizer or the colonized. She compares the students intellect, her time she enjoys with her friends at recess, as well as her family life. We can see by looking at her story, well at least I believe this, that she feels she is the colonized. She lives in a world with traditions and expectations and no matter her feelings she will fit in with the norm to do what is believed to be right by society. Read George Orwell’s, “Shooting an Elephant,” and I guarantee you will see a vast similarity in the two stories. 

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Course Capstone Proposal

I’ve chosen to do my course capstone on George Orwell’s story of “Shooting the Elephant.” This particular story is in Chapter 10, which is “Living in a Transnational World.” First of all I chose chapter 10 because I wanted to use it during the semester as one of our reading chapters but it didn’t make it into the top choice list. The world we live in here in America is entirely transnational; it is the most diverse country in the world. You can find a man or woman from any race within a 10 mile radius nearly any place in the world. As I searched through the various stories in this section the title of “SHOOTING AN ELEPHANT,” which yes was in all capital letters, really stood out to me and caught my attention. I read through a few different stories as well, but this one in particular was my favorite. I felt that the situation relates to so many situations in our every day lives. Many times we lose sight of our own vision or standards and change our goals and desires to fit in with other people. This story is about that point exactly and I feel it will make an interesting paper to write about.

            I have chosen option B for my course capstone so I will be writing my response using the exploratory writing criteria at the end of George Orwell’s story. In my paper, I want to make the main focus on the point how society and culture as well as people’s beliefs, feelings, or emotions can alter someone’s decisions. Here we see in Orwell’s story that a man shot an elephant due to the raging and screaming of the crowd behind him in a new place so he was willing to do whatever it took to fit in and gain approval of the locals. The point that the story involves an elephant is completely irrelevant to the main issue, but it helps to get the point across. We in society are like the officer and the elephant. In analytical perspective, we are the officers, the elephant is the situation we are put in, and the roaring crowd is our influences. We are so often tested of our strength and willingness in life yet society and culture can influence us in ways we could never imagine. Often times we probably don’t even realize it until we are aware of it after the fact.

            Reading List:

11/26- Jamaica Kincaid pg. 498

11/28- George Orwell pg. 503

11/30- Jeff Chang pg. 509

12/3- Amitava Kumar pg. 514

12/5-Kennedy Odede pg. 518

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Unit 5 Synthesis: STYLE

Style influences the way we act and react in our culture with every aspect of life. Style can be seen in many different ways, and one person’s idea of style can possibly be completely different than the next person’s. Style can relate to many other topics we’ve studied, such as images and storytelling. The style of an image can bring out emotion or feelings that make them tell the story the image in a certain way. The aspect of style displays itself everywhere; style cannot be strictly classified because it can be so versatile. Style relates to clothing items, styles of stories, and to the every day products we consume. As seen in Hebdige’s essay about the “punk” culture, we get an idea of one type of style. A style that influenced the way people acted, the types of music they listened to, and the jobs and activities they participated in. Style can influence a person’s life if it appeals to them; whether they realize it or not. In Haddow’s essay he says that a style or the classification of a certain style can be seen as offensive. For example, the classical “Hipster” doesn’t view him or herself as a hipster and many get offended if you refer to them as one, even though clearly they display every style and mannerism of a hipster. I think that’s what so interesting; at times we display a sense of style and we may not even realize it. That just show’s how influential our culture can be. Style is becoming more open and unique as time goes on. Style’s of today’s age can be much more provocative and risqué because our toleration levels in today’s society are much higher and certain style that were once viewed as inappropriate are now being viewed as the social norm. I would have to say that style plays it’s most dominant role in the physical aspect of our lives; meaning clothing and other products we purchase because whether we admit it or not, all people care at one point or another what they look like or what they buy. The culture of style is so diverse and powerful that it can literally take control of our lives and determine the way we feel, act, and think.

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Response to Flynn's Levy Essay

            Well seeing Flynn’s happy side for a moment was definitely different than the usual and for a moment I thought something was wrong with him, but then there he was; the real sass filled Flynn that wrote the usual insulting yet intriguing essay’s I love to read so much. I agree with Flynn about his point on woman wearing slutty clothes to gain respect and how counter productive it actually is. Woman don’t gain respect from dressing like a whore, they just get looked at like a slut. I hate to say it I’m just calling it how I see it; slutty clothes equals a slutty girl. 

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Response to Roy's Levy Essay

            I like Roy’s essay because it reminded me of a story that happened a few years ago in my house that relates to this topic of the change in culture with woman. So a few years back when my older sister was about 15, she came downstairs one morning wearing one of her friend’s shirts and labeled across the front was the oh so famous word, “HOOTERS.” As you can figure my mom immediately made my sister go change her shirt. My sister had no idea what the shirt even meant. I felt that story was relevant because it shows how today’s culture can dress and wear whatever they want, whether they understand how they are really presenting themselves or not.

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H20. Visual Essay

            Bottled water is one of the simplest ideas yet somehow one of the most profitable. I think bottled water is the biggest waste of money ever, but yes I am a hypocrite. I have fallen prey to marketer’s designs and bought into the trap of bottled water. Bottled water companies use different styles and designs when labeling water that gives them each their unique style and attraction to certain types of customers. Bottled water is all the same, its all purified tap water put into a bottle and it all tastes the same to un- biased minds. Different designs on water bottles influence the mind of the consumer and tricks them into thinking the water in one bottle is different or better than the water in another simply because the logo on one bottle attracts their interest better than the next. “Bling” water that is sold in a frosted bottle with a cork as a lid sounds like the style of bottle that wine would be sold in. That style of water appeals to the rich and wealthy who could care less if they spend 50$ on a bottle of water that cost 50 cents to make. The “Ethos” water bottle has a very simple design that doesn’t cover much surface area of the water bottle. The simple design relates and is directed toward the environmentally conscious who still have a fair amount of money. Yet once again people are paying 10$ for a bottle of water that cost 50 cents to make. The “Pellegrino” water looks like it was bottled many years ago and stored in a cellar. The logo has an old school design and it looks very official, like something that people on the higher end of the social ranking would drink. Last but not least there is the average every day water bottle, which is still over priced but definitely not as ridiculously priced as some of the higher end bottled water. Bottom line is that bottled water is a huge rip off, yet for some reason we are still idiotic enough to purchase it.

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Response to Jerrilynn's Kitwana Essay

            I like the point Jerrilynn brought up in her response. I didn’t even stop to think as to why the audiences were different for the different races of the hip hop artists. That is very interesting, it doesn’t really make sense but oh well I’ll look into that another time. I completely agree with Jerri in that music with meaning is much more pleasing and enjoyable to listen to. Sure a song about sex, money, and drugs might pertain to some people, but it doesn’t pertain to me. I’d much rather listen to a song I can relate to or actually means something to me instead of listening to the same repetitive style of hip hop that so many artist preach about.

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Response to Flynn's Kitwana Essay

            I agree with Flynn in that people separate and spread the hate and racism when they try secluding a style of music to be completely dependent on a person’s race. I like so many different styles of music, I can appreciate the different sounds and styles that bands create, and I don’t feel like I have to like a certain style of music because I am white; that’s ridiculous. Music is the one thing in the world that can unite different races and cultures. Every culture in the world has some style of music, music has been around since the beginning of time and I think it’s stupid that music has to be singled out towards a certain race or culture. 

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Slutty woman have Power. Levy Essay

The image that woman display in today’s culture is completely different than it was 20 years ago. Woman are everywhere, wearing everything or wearing nothing it makes no difference, they have used their bodies and the image of their body to take over industries. On one hand here we have a lady is grew up with a mom who attended weekly women conscious raising groups and didn’t own makeup, and a dad that is a part of planned parenthood groups which together raised a very conservative daughter. Those types of attitude don’t tolerate the image of exposed women to get what they want or make a statement in society.

            On the other hand you have the type of women who for whatever reason may not be as ashamed of showing off their bodies, or maybe they are just proud of how they look and they don’t care for others to see. Pornography and the image of the nude women have become a major part in today’s society. As proven time and time again, sex sells. Sex sells because it interests us, it is provocative yet pleasing or interesting to look and as humans we are attracted to the other sex. Women realized this and they took advantage of it big time. Women go to strip clubs and bars to be like the men. They want to be in control and not let men be in control of them. They wear slutty clothes because they know they can get things they want simply by looking sexier and more attractive than the average woman. Woman know the power they have and respect they can gain from guys by looking slutty, well maybe not respect, more like a free drink or dinner. Either way the bottom line is that whether you are for it or against it, woman using their bodies for whatever reason to gain someone’s attention works and now that it’s such a big part of our culture it will never go away. 

[isudan]

Wrap up on Rap. Kitwana Essay

There have been other articles that we’ve read throughout this class that could possibly come off as racist and were justified and reasonable as not racist, but this article here is definitely based on racism, the article even says itself that this issue is based on racism. As I read through this I found a few flaws with the author’s theory. First of all the author says that rap or hip/hop music cannot and simply will not be popular unless the black population buys the music and supports it. That statement right there is based on racism because the author is saying that just because rap and hip hop was created by African American men that they are the only ones who can make it popular. That is a bunch of bull shit right there because there are so many rappers and artists who are all forms of different races. Atmosphere is has an old school style and he’s white as can be, Logic is a new white rapper, there are Asian rappers, hell Matisayu is a Jewish rapper for crying out loud! Tell me that’s not diversity right there! I don’t agree that rap or hip hop music can only be popular if the black population supports it because that style of music is enjoyed by a variety of races. Macklemore, who is a single artist who is Caucasian and hasn’t signed with a record label is making millions! And his success is due to his fan base which has nothing to do with the ethnicity of his listeners. Mozart wasn’t meant for only the white population to listen to, rock and roll was meant for anyone who wanted to listen to rock and roll! Rap and hip hop was created by the black population, however I don’t agree with the statement that the style of music is limited and only made popular the race/ethnicity of the fan base.

[isudan]

Response to Flynns' Hipster Essay

Once again Flynn I got a good laugh out of reading your response. I don’t even bother looking at other kids responses in the classes because I always know I will choose to do one of my responses to yours essay because there is always excitement and insulting drama in your essay so of course I want to read it! No offense to the other kids in the class by the way. I agree with you in that basically the whole idea and total image of a hipster is really just a douche bag covering up their unnecessary style and attitude by calling them selves a hipster.  

[isudan]

Response to Wes' Hipster Essay

I like how Wes talked about everyone trying to fit in with different groups or generalizations of people instead of just being them selves. I couldn’t agree with that statement more! I see so many different people every day, especially here in college where the campus is filled with people from all walks of life. I am all for having a style or trying to dress likes a certain person or group of people, but some people seriously try way to hard. If you’re dressing like someone else when it’s not how you really want to be, then just stop. Stop trying so hard and be yourself; make a style of your own.