Sassy but Simple

I'm Lindsay Wilmes this is my blog for WGSS Pop Culture 2230

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True Blood, Truly Breaking Barriers in Media

This is the point argument in which the television series True Blood is breaking hegemonic barriers for media and society. You can find Alison Woods counterpoint here. 

  True Blood is one show that is finally breaking through hegemonic run media. This show stands as case and point to breaking through gender roles and sexuality, with the added bonus of fantasy. True Blood is a show that not only shows vampires, werewolves, and fairies, it shows them all having sex. The series is based off of a series of novels called The Sookie Stackhouse Novels. Sookie is the main character and is a female lead. Also, there are many different races, and sexualities shown in this crazy yet, wonderful show. We have Lafayette who is African American male, who is also openly gay in a southern state of the United States. That is breaking all the barriers right there alone. There is also a bisexual head queen of the vampire community who rules all the others, in real life she would pretty much be the President of the United States. This show has more than a few breaking barriers of the hegemonic ideals we see today and in the past of this country. It can be quite overwhelming, yet fascinating as to how many representations it can hold in one show alone.

            The fact of the matter is this show is based off a woman, Sookie Stackhouse; that alone breaks through many barriers for mainstream shows on television. Women are not often the lead in movies or shows, and if they are they do not have much power. Sookie grows into her powers and becomes more powerful than some of the other characters. Within Rosalind Gill’s article, “Empowerment/Sexism: Figuring Female Sexual Agency in Contemporary Advertising” she stated an article by Michelle Fine (1988) in which it highlighted this new issue that she called, “the ‘missing discourse of female desire’ in adolescents’ accounts of sexual activity. She drew attention to the multiple ways in which sociocultural forces operate to undermine, erase or de-legitimize girls’ experiences and articulations of sexual agency.” This article is showing that sex for women and girls is shown as bad and only pleasurable for men and women are not as sexual as men.

True Blood does an awesome job at showing women’s sexuality desires. Especially with one character in particular, Pam one of the vampires, she runs a bar with girl dancers and was once a prostitute when she was a human. Pam runs with the guys, makes it clear her sexual desires and how she feels about people. She is not only a woman running a business she is also very demanding within her own class of vampires. She is one to keep the men in check. She does not take crap from other men or women and makes it evident that she will do what she wants with you. One quote by Pam is when she gets pissed at Lafayette and says, “I don't know what it is about me that makes people think I want to hear their problems. Maybe I smile too much. Maybe I wear too much pink. But please remember I can rip your throat out if I need to. And also know that I am not a hooker. That was a long, long time ago.” She makes it clear that her outside image should not judge what she is capable of. She may have a man as a maker, but she pushes against the grain more than most women on television today. Women in the media are usually holding traditional gender roles, where Pam is not conforming, but yet standing out.

This reminds me of the article by Kathleen Rowe, “The Unruly Woman: Gender and the Genres of Laughter,” this article highlights what it means for a women to be funny, which is usually classified as overweight, unattractive and a lesbian and Pam breaks through this barrier. She is an attractive, ideal bodied individual woman who talks about grotesque subjects and proves to handle the men’s world and dish it out in an equal manner.  Women within this show seem to hold power and can hold their own against the men who may think dominance is a man’s world. Even though there may be men controlling some situations there is usually always a girl there in the situation that is not just a male gaze character, but actually has a voice and a loud one at that. Another queen bee literally is the queen or monarch as they call her, of the vampire authority. Sophie-Anne ruled the vampire authority under Louisiana State, and Bill Compton, Sookie’s lover in the show once visited her before killing her… spoiler alert! In Bill’s visit, Sophie-Anne was pool side with men and women surrounding her home and they were all her sex /feeding slaves for her own doing. This power and dominance over a state and by individual people by a woman is not common in hegemonic ideals of society and definitely breaking gender role stereotypes within power and ruling standards.

Another major step for representations of non traditional roles in True Blood is Lafayette who was a African American male, who also identified as homosexual in a southern community where mainly traditional hegemonic ideals where held. His character is showing a representation for the LGBTQ community and him and his partner in the show Jesus (Latin ethnicity) another barrier breaker; do not always fit into “acceptable” gender stereotypes for homosexual men. First off, they are not overtly high maintenance gays. Lafayette does show a more feminine side in some shots but he is still taken seriously within the show unlike some overtly feminine men in other television shows.

These LGBTQ representations help push through what is acceptable for society and show more of a truth behind this sexuality and there is not only one representation. In Kathleen Battles and Wendy Hilton-Morrow’s article “Gay Characters in Conventional Spaces: Will and Grace and the Situation Comedy Genre,” they sum up the fact that people only like Will on Will and Grace because he is a non-threatening, white, male that happens to like men. This is keeping the LGBTQ community very narrow when looking at the sexuality as a whole and limits the representations. Lafayette’s character and Jesus’ as well show this image that displays the furthest away from a “safe and controlled” representation of this sexuality. Another point about this representation of LGBTQ is that they are not upper class; they are working class just like most of the characters and are not conforming to most representations holding some materialistic, hyper-feminized view.

This hegemonic ideal of white, hetero, upper class male as the societal norm of dominance is being stripped away character by character within this series of True Blood. There may be many conforming ideals in there as well, but for this show it has broken more barriers than any other primetime show on television to date. The difference is within the context, the time period of some of the male characters are from when they became vampires or werewolves, does show a little hegemony from time to time, yet when you look at this series in a broad spectrum, you see that this is what media needed. This “stop at nothing,” and “hold nothing back” trend of a show with blood, sex, eroticism, power and dominance within this fantasy and realistic world shows the ways we could bend stereotypes and traditional viewpoints within our own society. It may not be a real world with vampires and werewolves, but it can be similar to the world we live in and show the many representations that we are leaving out while holding hegemonic ideals still in this day and age.

Pic sources:

True blood logo

Sookie

Pam

Lafayette

Jesus

Queen Sophie-Anne 

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Mini Media: Purity and Pregnancy

Pregnant Barbie Doll

In this video they show a Barbie made by Mattel in 2002 that is pregnant. People immediately took concern to this and made a huge fuss about it and stores like Wal-Mart took it off their shelves. The Barbie who looks young and is not actually Barbie but her friend, Midge has a magnetic baby bump which holds a baby, and it comes with more than one baby. Many people thought this was promoting teen pregnancy by having her look young, have no husband, yet they did make it clear to put a wedding ring on her finger. There are some problematic issues with this Barbie, one being that she is pregnant and that is considered a problem with society? Last time I checked if women did not get pregnant then there would be no future humans. Also, she has realistic features to her like feet shaped only to wear high heels.

What 9 month pregnant lady is wearing heels? Or could even get her swollen feet in heels?

Next problem is that she has a magnetic belly and it just comes off and boom, skinny size 0 Midge again… yeah not realistic, it takes just as long to take off the weight as it does to put it on.

Also, why does she have to be married to have a baby, yet there is no husband with her that helps her through a pregnancy, or that is there to help her in her heels… This also makes the point that her only goal in life is to be a mother; to have a family and get pregnant over and over again. Children’s toys shape how they believe life is and with misrepresentations it can be very unclear and confusing. We need to promote this pregnant aspect in a different way and not show it only in one way. 

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Unit Post: Purity and Pregnancy

When you think of purity, you think of wearing a white dress at your wedding. Well the truth is that there is a reason we all think of that. Purity was set up by hegemonic ideals held by hetero men as a way to control their daughters and all the women in the community. We are taught that sex is bad unless you are married and a women’s worth is all based off of her sexuality and her purity. The surprising truth is that these ideals are STILL here after all these years of women rights movements and feminist activists.

Now there is a new idea by Jessica Valenti called the Purity Myth which she wrote a book about and has a short film about the meaning behind this idea. It shows that purity is really a way to go against feminism and hold hegemonic ideals through society. It is also there to control women and their bodies. Within the video it highlights the school education programs that push abstinence only and how politics are using this in their arguments over problems in society and tax increases. Valenti states, “What they [politicians] really want is for women to be submissive and a societal return to traditional gender roles.” This is very problematic for women and future generations, this would turn around all the hard work women have fought for and the rights we demand. The government, school, and church do not want to educate young women and men about sex in the healthy way. That would mean it would be okay in society to have premarital sex and god forbid we mention that, even though we are supposed to have a separation between church and state. Valenti makes great points that the whole return of purity balls, purity rings, and purity commitments is just to cover up the real reason which is women are claiming their sexuality and taking back the rights to their own body and men are losing power.

Another big factor in this purity that women are supposed to hold as their greatest worth in life is that there is the protection of pregnancy. The ideas behind purity being held by your father with the purity balls is that you are helping claim that you will not have sex before you have a husband which in return he then is in control of your body. The main argument politicians have been using on the use of purity and abstinence only education programs is that there will be less teen pregnancies and therefore less tax money supporting these young mothers and kids through life. They do not care about these girl’s futures and their reputation they care about the money coming out of their pocket, bottom line. With all this rise of MTV shows on pregnancy like, 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom, people are worried more and more girls are falling off this program and becoming mom’s younger and younger. The reason they are becoming pregnant is because they were not educated on the right ways to protect themselves from pregnancy other than not having sex at all.

The real answer to this is quite simple, educate safe sex, and reinforce positive role models for girls and BOYS! It takes two to tango folks! With media being more and more hyper-sexualized of course these boys and girls are going to try it. We need to just tell them their real options and ways to protect themselves the realistic way. 

  picture source

Why does the father have a key to his daughter's vagina? Incest?

EWW! 

picture souce

[stitching-seams]

For those who missed it yesterday, I reviewed a children’s storybook on sexual purity. No, you didn’t read that wrong.

This article links you to a children’s book about purity for a young girl in the metaphor of a “kiss” which in turn is pretty much her virginity. The children’s book states that the kiss is for her future husband and her father is the one protecting it. This is much like the symbolism of the purity balls where the father hold the girl as a pure daughter that he will one day fit her with the right man and sell off this gem. There are many problems with purity and virginity within this world and the most evident in this book is that women do not have the rights to their own body or sexuality. A girl is owned by her father and then her husband, and she has no choice in which she can have sex or voice her sexual desires. Having children see this at a young age holds this guilt over their heads when they do decide to deviate from what they are told; see how I said when instead of if, well that is because when girls and boys hit puberty they both have the same desires. If you hear of boys losing their virginities at a young age, there must be a girl there that is a part of this as well; unless they are not heterosexual. Along with this story it reinforces hegemonic ideas, and shows women’s worth within their sexuality and not their aspirations, achievements, and accomplishments. I do not want my future daughter to think that her worth is based on if she holds the urges of her sexual desires, as long as she is being safe and is doing everything for the right reasons, let her have sex… everyone does it anyway! Even these little purity ball prodigies are out there today having lots and lots of sex… get with it world, media, society and the environment shape this sex driven world and they are going to do it anyway. We should educate them instead of shame them and devalue these girls. 

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Unit Post: Claiming Sexuality within Fifty Shades of Grey

           When thinking about sex we do not usually think about women talking about sex in a raunchy, desirable manner such as men do with their friends. Women used to never talk about sex with friends it was not an appropriate conversation for a “lady” to have. Sex and sexual fantasies, desires and pleasures were not for a woman that was for men in a man’s world. Women were here to pure and then married off to be mothers. That was it, no sexual desire to be voiced, or heard just here to reproduce… yea! Recently though, this has changed, especially with the novel, Fifty Shades of Grey where it is all about sex and what the Anastasia wants out of the relationship and more than that, sex. Imagine that, a women wanting to have sex, such a new concept. The real problem is that women have been told to hide this part and now that new movies, shows, and novels are coming out about healthy sexual desires from women, there is no longer a stigma like back in the day. Our society is changing for the better in this remarkable transformation of not shaming a woman for wanting sex. The only problem with the book Fifty Shades of Grey was that it did display a very hegemonic power and control dynamic, and also considered an abusive relationship with the issues regarding consent. The fact is that even though women have this ability to claim their sexuality now, and talk openly about their desires and wants, which does not mean anyone has the right to take advantage of them in any shape or form. There should always be a consent given, joint agreement. Otherwise, it is rape, or sexual assault. Just because a women states she likes sex and wants to explore her sexuality she still has the option of deciding what she is willing to do, and who she is willing and wanting to be with to do these acts. Consent must be given no matter gender. In Fifty Shades of Grey though there are a few instances where Anastasia does not want Grey to have sex with her and he does anyway because he believes to hold ownership of her body. The reality is you cannot claim someone else’s body as your possession. You each are two individuals with the decision to be in a healthy consenting relationship or to not be in one. Even within these terms you still have the option to say no at any point. The overall message is that you can be open and sexual no matter their gender but, each person decides what they want and do not want to do in their experiences. Fifty Shades of Grey is somewhat problematic, but overall it is a large step in opening up women of older age groups and younger age groups to voice their desires to their partners and be open with one another. This is stepping out of the repressive, submissive society women and girls grew/grow up into, and it is helping pave way on bending gender roles and stereotypes within society. 

    Photo Credit

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Mini Media: Claiming Sexuality- Horrible Bosses

         In the movie Horrible Bosses, Charlie Day and Jennifer Aniston play the roles of dentist and dental hygienist. Jennifer Aniston is the dentist and Charlie Day is the dental hygienist. The plot of the movie is four (hilarious) guys are fed up with the crap that their bosses are putting them through on a daily basis and want a way out of it without finding new jobs. Their plan… to kill them, therefore they all had different reasons why they all hate their bosses and what they make them do. The only difference is that Charlie Day’s character, Dale has a female boss displaying sexual harassment actions in the workplace. The other three men think it is hilarious and do not understand the problem, any guy would want to bang their hot woman boss. It is considered a fantasy to most men in the workplace, but to Dale it was against everything he believed since he was happily engaged and Jennifer Aniston’s character was way out of line, and if it was a guy in that position everyone would be calling it a sexual harassment lawsuit waiting to happen. Since, it was a girl though showing these acts and claiming her sexuality it was seen as okay and a sexual fantasy. It is reversed in society though, this is a film made by men, for men and viewing women in a male gaze perspective, where having a hot women boss want to have sex with you in her office is some sexual fantasy, but in reality is highly unlikely due to societal stereotypes and norms. What if though, women could talk about sex, participate in sexual acts just like men and not be seen as a slut, or whore? Women are taught to protect their virginity and stay pure and men are supposed to look forward to the excitement and experience. Women must feel guilty for having desires and pleasures, and carry all the worries and not the excitement.  This is a backward way of showing how society could be turned around if roles were different or the same along gender norms. 

Picture Credit

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Race and Cyberspace: Unit Post

The problem with race and the internet is that there is this “disembodied voice” which people think that the words they write and say on the internet do not have consequences to the person they are everyday in the real world. The internet is a place where everyone can explore different outlets of them and emerge into different communities without leaving the house. The only problem is, there is a bias to who can use the internet. It is segregated on who has access to internet, even in areas that have free wifi you still have to have money to buy a device to use on the internet. The problem is that not every person from different backgrounds and races has access to the internet. Also, certain countries have censorship on the internet and you can only view what they allow you to view. Therefore this leaves a large number of different races and backgrounds left out.

So, bottom line when there is a majority in the race that is talking about certain issues and there is not enough people from that actual group to defend or have a perspective then we are left with racism occurring. Mostly white people from America, Canada, England, and some developed parts of Europe are the majority on the internet. Racism happens everywhere on the internet, especially on social media sights. People believe that it is considered freedom of speech, yet there is a difference between saying your opinions, and saying racist, hurtful words about a certain group or person. There is a big difference. The problem is, that there is no real world consequences, nothing tied to you as an individual other than maybe blocking you from a site, or taking down a post. No one from the government or that sight is going to call your work and tell them how racist you are, or call your parents or school if you are younger and get you in trouble. People have this invincible title of privilege when on the internet.

A lot of people also use race as entertainment today as well, when we are not at that point in society where it is something to joke or be entertained by today. The social media sites and blogs that are named after races for example, #whitegirlproblems, this is joking about privilege and how small problems are all they are worried about. This is putting race in a classist hierarchy and segregating people to follow these blogs that are that race and relate to them.

The article Cybertyping and the Work of Race in the Age of Digital Reproduction by Nakamura mentions some problems within this new age of cyberspace and states that the only way for this to change is to reclaiming this space that people with privilege are taking over. The only problem is that within this reclaiming, they are seeing that the image on the internet is reflected into the real world (Nakamura p.12). It is hard for a group so out-numbered to gain this title to reclaim this identity that was stolen and converted into something asinine. What we can do is make it so that race is not a reason for a statement or a judgment, instead we can see people as people, and not judge difference as a bad thing. 

Photo Credit

  This would be classified as one of the "#whitegirlproblems" like talked about above. Can you see the privilege now???

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Mini Media: Video Games

Unexperienced Girl Gamers: Shit They Say

This video shows the stereotypes of what it means to be a girl who "tries" to play video games. This shows that girls are not supposed to play video games or be a part of this male world of games. Well the statistics do not lie, 50% of the gamer population are girls/women. So, does this representation really represent all the girls that enjoy playing video games? NO! Some girls are actually better than guys at some games. Not all girls are prissy bitches that just want to shop. I thought this video was funny and poking fun in a fun not harassment kind of style but it also do point out that this is how a majority of people feel towards girls who do play. I think we need to change the stereotypes and not classify everyone in a box. To suck at a game does not mean you are girl, and to be good and a girl does not mean you are butch and manly. Humans are humans and skills can be learned no matter your gender. Give it up guys; sometimes girls can do it better. I think Betty White said it best with her quote on gender, "Why do people say grow some balls, balls are weak and sensitive! If you really wanna get tough, grow a vagina. Those things take a pounding." -Betty White

Beside the point, I think there could be some more realistic representations of girl video game players in the media and pop culture. It could start with some acceptance into the community as an equal as well. 

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Unit Post: Video Games from a Girl's Point of View

       Video games can be compared to social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter in the way that it is a virtual world inside of this world where societal norms create the environment. Yet, people act completely different than they would in the real world. The repercussions of saying or doing something that may be considered harmful or hurtful to another person on the internet are very slime. If you were at work and told someone, “I’m going to rape and kill you, you stupid slut!” you would more than likely have a pile full of law suits with your name on them. But, when playing violent games like Call of Duty, this would be a normal statement made to a girl playing the game by another player. This may seem like not a big issue, but when this is a multi-billion dollar industry and 50% of the video playing population is woman this is a large issue. The difference is that within video games people think it is ok to make racial, sexist, and stereotypical statements because they are not physically in front of the people they are saying these things to. Given the ability to be anonymous and hide behind a gamer tag that is not your real name allows people to act out and this is not okay. Many blogs have shown what guys say to girls playing video games and most of them are even hard to read. There are many other aggressive statements that could be said within these violent games, but when these are made into racial, sexist and stereotypical statements is where the problem lies.

      These are not the only problems within video games though another problem is the sexist male gaze that is shown through the images of women avatars within video games. Mostly all female characters are hyper-sexualized and are shown in more feminine poses with less power and control in the settings of the game. The underlying problem within everything having to do with video games is the limit to demographics within video game developers. They are mostly all white, heterosexual men. When this huge industry only has options from one group of the same like people, we leave out so many group representations that could be included in the game in a positive way.

      We need to change the view of video games, and make it a safe place for people of all ethnicities, races and sexualities to interact and feel a part of the environment. Sexual harassment, racial slurs, and sexist statements are not okay in the real world and they should not be ok in the virtual world either because we are still all the same people within this virtual game with feelings and thoughts. Respectfulness can change everything within this environment. 

Annah Planescape: Torment This was from a website posting pics of the hottest female game characters.... do you see the problem? "Don't worry I don't need a weapon, I have boobs and thighs." lol

  She doesn't need clothes... lol

[geekgirlsconfessions]

I find Brave very refreshing because of the mother daughter relationship. Most mothers in Disney Movies are either dead or evil.

[lwilmes2-blog]

    Finally a Disney movie with a mother who is not dead, and a courageous girl that is not looking for a man to marry! This is a step up from most Disney movies I must say. The main positive points in this movie are that it is not just a movie based on a love story. It is a family movie, based around a relationship with the girl and her mother. There was a few things missing still though, she is still white like most princesses, also from higher class, but baby steps in the right direction for Disney is better than nothing. One surprising part of this movie was that Merida was not going along with the usual marriage deal that her mother wanted for her. Merida was the main character in her movie, and it was not the usual messages of pitiful life, something is missing messages. It was actually a good role model example for young children and adults. Showing that woman do have other wants in life than just a man to marry. Pixar and Disney did an awesome job featuring the point that has been missing for many years: Women can do anything a man can do, and sometimes better. This idea that this little girl can run wild and have her hair all a mess in the wind and not care an ounce, gives girls a different representation of what it means to be a woman or girl. It shows that not everything has to be about self image and beauty and a man. I loved this movie and would recommend this to anyone of any gender or age. 

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Childhood Socialization(Disney): Unit Post

When it comes to childhood socialization in media we all think of one thing that comes to mind first, Disney. Walt Disney World and corporations have made billions on little kid’s absorption of fantasy, fairytales, and adventures. Children’s imaginations, world view and focus in life are all brought up on what they are socialized with in society. Major corporations like Disney, and Universal Studios make shows, movies and commercials focused on the attention of children.

The problem today with a lot of advertisements and shows for children is they are all based around gender and racial specific stereotypes. Until the movie Brave came along in the realm of Disney movies, there was not a main character that was a girl. Sure, you can say that all the princess movies were named after them, but were that stories really based on them as a person and their achievements and accomplishments? No, it was based on the guy they were chasing, or the guy chasing them. The princesses have been one of the main problems for gender and racial problems in children movies. These movies are not bad; they are just only one representation of women’s role in life. This idea that all women want is a prince to come save her from someone evil or from her pitiful life and after they will live happily ever after is not how real life works. Children form their understandings about the world and society based on these movies, and if this is the only representation we show for women and girls as role models, we have a big problem.

            As a child my favorite movie of all time was Pocahontas. I had a dress up outfit of Pocahontas that I wore every day, once a day, for probably two years. I had Pocahontas sheets, bed spread, sleeping bag, blanket, and a Pocahontas Barbie doll, everything you could imagine. I wanted to be her; I watched the movie on repeat probably twice a day as well. You could say I was a little obsessed, but at the age of four, it was understandable. At first I thought this movie separated itself from the other princess movies and shows a good example of a strong woman, until I watched now in my twenties… It was just like all the other ones, girl on her own, no mother, needs to find her reason for being in this life, and surprise it’s a man she needed. THEN, it gets better a second Pocahontas movie was made recently and she has TWO men chasing for her heart. Dear God, why does it always have to be about a guy!

            Nothing is wrong with this princess world, but there could be some changes to how they represent women. Or even, one princess with a mother and father, or two fathers, or two mothers, maybe even have a girl who wants to go to college and pursue a career and not a man to be happily ever after. Socialization of children is very important for everyone’s future, children are the future, we need to give them better role models, examples of real life events and still put that lovely imagination in as well. There are ways to get away from gender and racial stereotypes, we need to try harder or just try in general.

    Reference for Photos

[swamidigital-deactivated2021050]

Mehndi - 3

Photograph by Dilip Goswami

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Relevant Reblog: Multiculturalism

I saw this photo and immediately thought of how the use of henna in the U.S. has become a tourist activity when this is a special part of Indian culture and their ceremonies. This displays the concept of what bell hooks calls, "eating the other." This is when one culture (American) is consuming and participating in an activity that is from another culture (Indian). When we participate in having a henna tattoo every time we go to the beach or fair ground in the summer we are participating in an Indian culture that we do not appreciate and we just consider it as being accepting and spreading the culture. In reality we are taking something from another culture without understanding it, and claiming it as something the American culture does when your on vacation every summer. The problem here is that we are consuming and re-delivering something from another culture without their consent or completely understanding how henna is used in their culture. Henna is used in coming of age ceremonies, weddings, and other culture social events that mean different things and by placing that in American culture as our own tourist activity we are denying the meanings and ownership of this practice to a culture who has every right to deny us the use of this. We need to instead see this as something that the Indian culture practices and not claim that we know what the meanings are and that it is okay for us to use this as our own. Instead of eating the other culture why don't be embrace the differences and respect that this is something that we shouldn't pretend we understand.

[notthatkindofchronic]

While I was in college, someone had the brilliant idea to rip out all the handicapped parking signs and wipe up all the blue painted wheelchair symbols off the ground in what I can only assume was an effort to be on the forefront of disability rights. My school was known for being ahead of it’s...

[lwilmes2-blog]

I read through this and after reading it all, my jaw was open just saying "WOW!" This is a perfect example of society trying to make a change for the better, but it only coming over as a failed attempt to pacify or put a Band-Aid on the real issue. The idea of removing the wheelchair symbol as a universal sign for disability is a great idea to show society that not everyone disabled is in a wheelchair. Yet, not having being who ARE disabled as an activist in this project seems like stupidity at its finest here. A university is the greatest place to start a change because it consists of growing minds of youth and people who are there to get an education and help better this world and society we live in. Like the person stated above, it would be so simple to make this change if they made a clear effort to educate and inform people before just changing a sign and thinking that will be all better. People would not think right off the bat that “Person’s First” sign meant for people who have a disability… I would think they are making a clear effort to show people who need to be up front are not privileged or any different but it just makes more sense to have them park closer if they cannot walk that far or need more space than your average Joe. This is a real issue to help not label disabled people or segregate them to one representation. There are many feasible ways to incorporate this change and this shows that people are not trying to change it for the better. They are trying to show that they care, but not really put the true effort into what needs to be done. The real issue is to wipe away the stereotypes, and educating and informing is the most practical and successful way of doing this for the future.

[archaeologicalnews]

In a jumbled layer of pebbles and shells called the “Dog’s Breakfast deposit” lies evidence of a massive tsunami, one of two that transformed New Zealand’s Maori people in the 15th century.

After the killer wave destroyed food resources and coastal settlements, sweeping societal changes...

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Unit Post- Disability: Still Limited Representations in Media

 Disability in popular culture is almost non-existent. The definition of having a disability is, “A physical or mental condition that limits a person's movements, senses, or activities.” Having a disability is a vague term used to umbrella a wide range of conditions. One issue with the view of disabilities in general is that they can be invisible or visible. Some people are labeled disabled for having mental disorders that sometimes you cannot see by just looking at them. Then there are the physical disabilities where a person may be confined to a wheelchair. There are many forms of disabilities and society constructs our view of disabled persons as if they have a problem and are not human beings just like everyone else just not the same. For example the deaf community, they do not see themselves as any way different other than the way they communicate, just like if you spoke a different language than English in the United States. Yet, society constructs anything different as a disability, or disadvantage. If we all spoke sign language, speaking would be a disability.

There are many different angles to look at this subject matter, but one show on television called Push Girls has tried to get a better understanding of these people’s lives and the challenges they face.

Push Girls is a Sundance series where they have a group of women who all but one has had an accident that has left them bound to a wheelchair. The women are representing people with disabilities, yet all have about the same disability where they cannot walk. Other then walking or being able to feel certain areas of their torso, or legs there is nothing mental disabling. This leaves out so many different disabilities. Also, all individuals in the show were women, and very attractive. Therefore, this representation shows that only beautiful women in wheelchairs are people that can be the view of disabled people, and better yet, the only people allowed on TV. There is nothing wrong with them being beautiful, or all women, but there is a problem with that being the only representation available in the media today. Also, majority all happen to be Caucasian this leaves out other minority groups as well. Media is over and over again white washing shows on TV, and to have something like disability on focus is a great way to break the barriers of what is the norm in society. Yet again, they are still leading this show with gender stereotypes and hegemonic ideals. This is a great opportunity to display that society is taking a stand in making sure all disabled people know that no matter what their disability may be, that we treat them as a human being and give them the same opportunity as any other person, disability or not. In Push Girls, the women struggle with money and finding a job based solely on the fact that companies do not want to take that responsibility on as a liability. Even though the only difference between them is the fact that they roll instead of walk makes them automatically a liability. I could easily trip down the stairs at work and break my leg, yet companies do not factor that into people without disabilities as much as the disabled.  Media needs to find more opportunities to show disabled in all shows and not to just even the playing field but to show it is normal, and should not be looked at differently. They also need to get away from the disability stereotypes, and show more than just people in wheelchairs as persons of the disabled society. 

[whatshouldosucallme-blog]

My spring break plans:

[lwilmes2-blog]

ahahaahaha this is awesome! :)

[anarcho-queer]

While the head honchos at the HRC are making 6 figure salaries from donations to support ‘marriage equality’, hundreds of thousands of LGBTQ youth are homeless and are purposely ignored by mainstream gay organizations. The ‘fight’ for same sex marriage has proven to be a profitable business for gay ‘non-profit’ businesses, so it’s no wonder why gay marriage overshadows all other LGBTQ issues. After all, helping the needy results in smaller pay.

Supporting gay marriage doesn’t mean you support the queer struggle. In fact, most ‘allies’ and even a large portion of more fortunate queers don’t know the facts about LGBTQ homelessness, violence against trans* people, high unemployment, discrimination, etc, nor do they bother to research it. They are just concerned about their favorite gay celebrities being able to tie the knot.

If you care about the queer struggle, take a minute of your day to familiarize yourself with some of the disturbing statistics:

20- 40% of homeless youth are LGBTQ. In comparison, the general youth population is only 3-10% LGBTQ.

LGBTQ youth are twice as likely to experience sexual abuse before the age of 12.

LGBTQ youth, once homeless, are at higher risk for victimization, mental health problems, and unsafe sexual practices. 58.7% of LGBTQ homeless youth have been sexually victimized compared to 33.4% of heterosexual homeless youth

LGBTQ youth are roughly 7.4 times more likely to experience acts of sexual violence than heterosexual homeless youth

LGBTQ homeless youth commit suicide at higher rates (62%) than heterosexual homeless youth (29%)

At least 20% of ALL transgender people will be homeless sometime in their life.

29% of transgender people reported being turned away from a homeless shelter due to their transgender status.

Please consider taking action to help combat LGBTQ homelessness. I suggest making a donation to the Ali Forney Center or volunteering at your local LGBTQ homeless shelter.

P.S. Fuck the HRC!

[lwilmes2-blog]

This article proves that where most LGBTQ people do want the right to be married, there is a lot more issues that have not been addresses that are more important to people's lives and well beings. I'm pretty sure if you look up the history of marriage, it was to make money in the first place. I am not gay, but I do consider myself an ally and I support same sex marriage, but I also believe there is more we could do than just legalize marriage. I understand that for health insurance and taxes reasons marriage is needed. Yet, on the other hand, marriage was created for men to OWN women, women were property. Your father found you a man to pretty much sell you off too, and you took his last name and not the other way around. Also, by having a wedding you were paying the church, or the city, and also the state gets money from your marriage license as well. I think it is dumb that they have not already legalized gay marriage because the state, and government would gain money from the marriages. But, the moral ideas that some people hold will not bend this, and that is why we have this constant battle. The battle should be for LGBTQ individuals to be equal all around, to not face discrimination, or unemployment, and definitely not being homeless. Let's drop the BS and help these individuals because they are human beings, not some exotic animal. People are people, no matter their sexuality, culture, race, religion. In the end of the day we will be strong together rather than divided.