Movement

The most effective way to do it, is to do it. - Amelia Earhart

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The media plays an important and powerful part in today’s society. Millions of people around the world glue themselves to their television sets for the news. They form opinions on certain issues based on what they’ve seen, heard, and read in the media. The media’s role in international...

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Spread in Idoll Magazine ; w/ Agency Galatea. MUA: Kate Johnson Artistry. Hair: SJT CREATIONS. /// © Brit Woollard Photography, all rights reserved (do not remove the credit).

- Nikki S

[intoalkaseltzer]

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- Nikki S. (extra post)

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Response to Lika Natour

"Mostly everywhere in the world, beauty is everything, but beauty can be defined in very different ways depending on where in the world you are."

I really liked the way you started your post about how beauty can make or break you because it is true, although the definition of said beauty changes between cultures. This reminds me of my earlier post about Phat Girlz because there was an inversion of the definitions of beauty as Mo'Nique travelled from the American culture to the African culture. In the American culture, she was looked upon as someone who was not so attractive because she was a big girl. However, once she was exposed to the African culture, all the guys wanted her because her size was considered beautiful and a hot commodity. Mo'Nique's cousin in the movie went from being a beautiful model-looking woman to a sick woman who looked like she needed a doctor. The ideas of beauty differ as one jumps from place to place and culture to culture. Likewise, all of the pictures that I posted are considered beautiful in their own way, it all depends on the one judging this beauty because you're right about what you said about Miss Universe. There is probably someone in the world that thinks she is not pretty and maybe even hideous. However, like you said, what matters most is what's on the inside because nobody wants a person with a terrible personality or terrible attitudes towards life.

Chinwe Nwankwo, Week 14: Islamic Femenism, Post #2, Response to Lika Natour

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Response to Chappals and Gym Shorts: An Indian Muslim Woman in the Land of Oz

"Veiling seemed to reinforce the fact that inequality was a natural, inexplicable phenomenon that is impossible to overcome, and that women should cover themselves, accommodating an unequal hierarchy, for the purposes of modernity and self-protection."

This quote made me think about my Intro the Hispanic Literature class. Today, we were discussing a story called La Autenticidad de la Mujer en el Arte por Rosario Ferre. Basically, Rosario Ferre criticizes the social problem of women in the field of writing. Ferre notes that in recent years, the economic situation and mental writer has improved but argues about the number of opportunities available to women. In the past and today, man have become barriers that prevent women from writing. The woman, in the past, could not actively participate in society or have an important role because men did not allow this participation. Also, the author of this essay justifies this lack of participation and acceptance of women in the field of writing to say that women have been challenged to choose between a life of personal success and the success of vocation. He says that many women fear this selection - if they choose a life of vocation and career success, they would not have the opportunity to find a man to marry and have a happy life in which they are satisfied. The author states that, in part, education contributes to this oppression of society. Oppression attributes this to the idea that women are educated to teach others, whereas men are educated to improve. He says many women are educated to be able to educate their children as a mother and teacher.  The author says that women should question the power of man in writing and must continue to write for the public in order for their thoughts and experiences to be shared. This relates to the quote because she states that the veil enforces the inequality between the sexes and that it sort of oppresses women as well. This should not be the case because women have gone far too long without a voice. I understand that it is a part of the culture and the religion, but when forced upon someone, it is a form of oppression. A woman should have the right to choose whether they want to wear the veil or not. Many women find the veil as a form of respect and wear it because they endorse everything that it stands for. However, this does not make any woman that does not wear it unholy or satanic. They may stand for some of the practices of their culture and religion, but may disagree with others. It should be up to them to practice their religion as they choose and it should not be forced upon them. 

Chinwe Nwankwo, Week 14: Islamic Femenism, Post #1, Response to Chappals and Gym Shorts: An Indian Muslim Woman in the Land of Oz

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While discussing the World’s Fair of 1904 in my Development of the Labor Movement class yesterday, a few details shocked me. At this World’s Fair, held inSt. Louis, the Americans revealed their triumph of civilization and progress. To do this, to show their supposed superior civilization, they would have to show savages, inferiors. And so, the World Fair had several amusement-like exhibitions, called the Pike. Cliff Dwellers, Old Plantation, Esquiman Village, and Wild West Indian Congress were just a few “attractions” that could be found at the Pike. At the Cliff Dwellers Exhibition, individuals purchased tickets to see the “stone age” caves filled with Indians (who performed the “Snake Dance”, etc.) as seen inColorado,Arizona, andNew Mexico. The Old Plantation showed the antebellum South and the “olden life of the American Negro”. At the Wild West Indian Congress, fair-goers could get the signatures of Famous Indian Chiefs as well as participate in daily Indian lacrosse games and other demonstrations. People of the world, Americans and foreigners, were encouraged to get the full experience of the Pike. Pictures were taken and demonstrations filled.America,Americaas a vast and civilized nation, could only appear if it was harshly and vividly compared to the savage, barbaric, and uncivilized beings that once inhabited it or were used to create prosperity. This works much like a hierarchical oppositional binary in that the civilizedAmericadoesn’t exist without the inferiors on display.

Nicole Schlobach (Week 13 Extra Post)

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As I was sitting in one of my classes this week, listening to a discussion on the topic of racial differences and things of the sort, the professor quickly mentioned something about Pears’ Soap. So I took it upon myself to look into its significance. After typing the brand name into Google, many powerful images and excerpts appeared. According to Wikipedia, Pears’ Soap is a brand of soap first produced and sold in 1789 by Andrew Pears at a factory just off Oxford Street in London, England. It was the world’s first transparent (translucent) soap.  The product was being sold in a wealthy residential area where many wealthy socialites took great pride in their appearance. To get a broader clientele for his product, he began to promote the product in a quite disturbing way. He used vivid and harsh images which became ads that traveled throughout the world. The product became an emblem of cleanliness and civilization. “Pears’ Soap was the best” and became an item associated to civilization. These few images clearly represent the significance of media and its effect on products.

Nicole Schlobach (Week 13 Extra Post)

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Response to Lika

It’s true what they say you can’t judge a book by its cover

Response post

Lika Natour Dec 5 [x]

I am in complete agreement with you. However, as much as you and I and many others would like for simplicity and acceptance to occur, and not judge a book by its cover, it is a complex situation. Due in fact to the extent of human behavior to criticize or alter a matter they do not comprehend. Therefore, individuals diverge on ideas, thoughts, behaviors and attack a collective or a belief they are not parallel with. Regardless of anything that anyone ever does, someone almost always will judge and will convey negativity towards another's stance. This also serves as the catalyst to many human behaviors in which one overlooks another's perception of the world among, around, and within. People, including myself, frequently forget to consider that not every person is the same; that we do not all come from similar environments, cultures, religions--simply every individual is unique in that they are comprised of many different elements that establish their entire being. The difficulty with accepting our differences, in my opinion, will carry on for a very long time, or evermore because the reality of our individuality puts us against each other. 

- Nikki S. (Response Post) Islamic Feminist

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The media can manipulate the way we think. It is up to us to stop and think, not everyone is like that one person or group of people that did that dumb/ bad thing that ONE time!!

- Lika Natour

Extra Post

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This is why there are eating disorders, because celebrities cannot admit when they are not perfect and the viewers (us) think its real and want to look like them.

-Lika Natour

Extra Post

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Response to " It's not an Oxymoron"

My father, mother, brother and I all share household chores. Both my parents cook—mostly the job is taken by the one who comes home first.

      Hey amazing post! One sentence from your post reminded me of an article I read back in High school about stereotyped gender roles. The article explained that people have a good idea of what men "should" do or women "should" do in the household. The article was biased against homosexual couples though. One of the article's main arguments against gay marriage was that because there is not a pair of male and female..how does the allocation of household chores work? My opinion on this is that it shouldn't matter if you re a man or a woman to do certain chores. The article continued on though saying that it was unnatural for a man to clean or for a woman to do yard work..and in my opinion it was just BS. But i feel like given the example of homosexual couples ...there really is no uneven allocation of chores between the genders..each gender is as capable of doing something as the other.

- Akash reply post Week of Dec 3rd

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It's Not An Oxymoron

"I didn't view housework as my oppression. There was a certain sense of pride placed on a clean, welcoming home, an both my parents had always placed value on it. That was why my father spent his weekends trimming the lawn and sweeping the walkways and why my mother mopped the kitchen floor and wiped the windows until they sparkled." - Daraaj (It's Not An Oxymoron)

Growing up in the Philippines, the view of women being the sole caretaker of the house, was nonexistent. Due to the fact that my father stayed home while my mother worked. I was raised seeing my father cook, clean and care for my brother and me and so did my mother. Both took care of the household--not one was restricted to a specific chore. However, the ideology of women seen as a lesser being than men occurred to me when I began attending middle school here in the US. The Western notion of women cleaning, cooking and staying at home firstly came as a joke when a few of my friends were talking. Yet, as I progress into my early teenage years to now, I have been exposed to these ideas of women earning less than men, women doing the household work, while men worked--women oppressed solely because they are women. This idea, though I am quite aware of it, is still nonexistent in my household. My father, mother, brother and I all share household chores. Both my parents cook--mostly the job is taken by the one who comes home first. Cleaning the dishes runs on a system (Monday for me, Tuesday for my brother and so on). We do not look at doing household chores as a job done only by specific types of people, but we do them to keep a clean house, a welcoming home and to function together as a family. The ideology of household chores being an oppression and must solely be done by women (oppressed subjects) does not occur in my life and in my opinion (from my observance of my friends, relatives, and others) does not happen in many houses as well. 

- Nikki S. Blog Post (Islamic Feminist) 

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I realized how a women’s physical structure can basically make or break who they are. Mostly everywhere in the world, beauty is everything, but beauty can be defined in very different ways depending on where in the world you are. I remember reading that in China some time ago, beauty

 was defined by the size of your feet. Women in China went to the extremes to bind their feet (it was a long and painful process that usually led to women not being able to walk properly). Or the women in Africa who put “plates” on their lips because it symbolized beauty and tradition. So is beauty defined by culture, tradition, time, or place? In Mexico, beauty is defined by how pretty your face is and how “curvy” you are. In the town that I’m from, it’s also about curves and not so much about your face. It also varies from person to person not everyone is the same or likes the same things. I wonder if in other parts of the world people look at miss universe and think she is ugly, maybe because her feet are big? I think it is a big possibility that even miss universe can be ugly to some people.

I remember speaking to an Indian friend of mine about color. She told me that where she is from the lighter skin color you are the better “class” you are associated with. She told me that if you were fair skin you were thought to be upper class and if you were dark skinned you were thought to work as a

 janitor or something associated with “dirty work”. I think it is intriguing how skin colo

r can determine your socioeconomic class. I know there has to be dark skinned Indians who are of high class.  

I think that looks can be deceiving because someone can be the “best looking” (whatever that means) person but have a horrible personality or have no sense of humbleness. It’s true what they say you can’t judge a book by its cover. This class has definitely taught me to see the world with a pair of colorful glasses. Beauty comes in different shapes, colors, and sizes!!!

Response post

- Lika Natour Dec 5

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The story "Chappals and Gym Shorts" reminded me a little of how life was for me growing up. Actually, since I am Jordanian and Mexican it was a little different. My father never asked me to wear a "hijab" but when I was growing up, I always wanted to but my mother always told me "don't tell your father that because if you do he will make you wear it and then you can never take it off because you will then disappoint him". So I never wore it. I think I too, as Almas, would have to refused to wear it if I was asked to this day just because my view on wearing a hijab has changed. I think about how different I would look and how I would be singled out by my Mexican side of the family and I don't think I can handle so much pressure.I wish I could say that I don't care about what society thinks of me but deep down I would be lying. I think everyone (at least to some degree) needs the feeling of approval by their loved ones and the people who surround them.

Like in the story, my father too had a arranged marriage for me but since he left when I was 6 it was never put into action. He said that when I turned about 14 or 15 my cousin would be asking my hand in marriage. When he told me I was VERY uncomfortable and I was only like 6 so you can imagine. I do not think my mother would have let that happen. I know there are people all over the world who had arranged marriages and it worked out wonderfully for them, but in my opinion that is not how I would like to get married. It was a very unique experience growing up with a Catholic mother and a Muslim father. 

Blog Post Week 14

-Lika Natour

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"Kill the Gays Bill"

idk if you guys heard but the Government of Uganda is planning to pass a bill to criminalize homosexuality. There are many provisions of this ball and one of them is that an " offender" may be punishable to death. Here's more information on it.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/todd-fernandez/nyc-action-at-ugandan-mission-against-kill-the-gays-bill_b_2213274.html 

- Akash extra post

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& this is exactly how stereotypes are made.

- Lika Natour

Extra Post