I'm A Barbie Girl

What if all women had the same body as a Barbie? Studies show that the body type that Barbie has is physically impossible to achieve and function with. At the same time, women feel pressure to look this way because that is what the media convinces them is the norm. Since men and women are more likely to look at these over sexualized kinds of ads—men because they are attracted to this, women because they strive for the skinny look—they are used without exception by companies such as Barbie.

We kept thinking back to the days when we used to play with Barbies. Were the Barbies as over sexualized as they are now? No, they were not. While we were in “Toys ‘R’ Us,” we stumbled upon a section with collector Barbies, showing us Barbies from many years ago. Gradually, the Barbies became more sophisticated and over sexualized. These toys that are targeted for little kids are portraying more mature and older women in their twenties. As a result, young girls are exposed to ideas of what they should look like before they should be worrying about superficial pressures in society.

As we continued past “Toys ‘R’ Us” to explore more of Times Square, we noticed that almost all fashion ads for women were promiscuous. Advertising companies are under the impression that this is the only way to grab the attention of men and women. At the same time, men are over sexualized as well. Most ads include men without their shirts on or staring seductively at a woman, who bears lots of skin and wears the same expression as her male counterpart.

To make a long story short, advertising towards adults and even children has gradually become more sexual than it has ever been. These advertisements are sexist towards men and women, inspiring the wrong ideas in the minds of children of the next generation.

-Deema, Mary R., Lucy, Hunter

Barbies Vs. Legos: Caelyn, Lauren, and Sophia N.

Yesterday we walked into Toys R Us in Times Square. We were hit with the memories of when we were 4 and getting to go to Toys R Us and pick out whatever we wanted. Everyone went to Toys R Us as a kid, it was the toy store to go to. This time it was different, we went in with different goggles on. We went in, however, not to pick out a toy, but to observe the gender stereotypes unconsciously built into toys.

When you are young your imagination is at its peak, children's toys are made with intension of kids putting themselves into the character. The pattern that stood out the most was girls characters were given unrealistic jobs, girls have dolls and Barbies that depict a lifestyle of, a princess, a girlfriend/wife, a mother, or prom queen. With the exception of mother, young girls are striving to be something that will not get them anywhere. Also all of them rely on someone else to provide for them. However boys toys have jobs such as: pilot, firefighter, doctor, or farmer. All of these jobs are practical and lucrative. Playing with these toys, boys will follow their dream and have a realistic profession, while girls dream of becoming a pretty princess. The likelihood of a boy achieving his dream is much higher then a girls.

To what extent do the gender specific toys affect the way children grow up?

Friends - Deema

Every weekend, I tell myself one more episode, and then I will start my homework. Yet, one more episode turns into five more episodes, and Sunday afternoon turns into Sunday night. This is the addictive nature of the hit comedy called Friends. Yes, I have already seen every episode of Friends, and yes, every weekend, I continue to watch and rewatch the episodes. Maybe it’s the comical relief brought by Chandler’s witty jokes, Phoebe’s quirkiness, or Joey’s shocking immaturity, or maybe, it is Monica’s obsessive qualities, Ross’s geekiness, or Rachel’s self-absorbed behavior. However, together the six of them fall into hilarious situations in all aspects of their life – relationships, work, and other miscellaneous situations. Through the seasons, I began to watch them grow up as people, to the point where I feel as if I know them. I have heard people say, myself included, things like, “Oh, that’s such a Rachel thing to do”, or “I can’t believe Joey got that turkey stuck on his head.” Those who watch the show regularly speak about these six characters as if they had cultivated personal relationships with them. However, it’s not only that, I sympathize with Chandler when Janice randomly pops back into his life; I laugh at Ross when all of the characters make fun of his multiple failed marriages, and I get excited with Rachel when she finds out that she is going to have a baby. Not only that, during the 90’s, Friends was so popular that people were constantly asking for the “Rachel” haircut.
Friends is an attractive show to all because of the blatant but still funny humor. For me, there are some shows that people find funny, but since I can’t seem to understand the jokes, I just nod along and pretend to enjoy it. There are other shows, like slapstick comedies, that are obnoxiously funny that after a while they stop being funny and become boring. Yet Friends mixes up the jokes in a way that every episode is funny. I always find myself looking for a funny episode but then remembering, it doesn’t matter because every episode is funny. However, what is it that makes a friends episode funny? I looked up the top ten funny episodes online, and almost every list had “The One Where Everybody Finds Out.” If you look at the description of that episode, it combines all the kinds of funny. The basis of this episode is Chandler and Monica’s secret relationship, combined with Ross needing to find a new apartment. Therefore, you have one random situation and one relationship. When Phoebe finds out about Monica and Chandler’s secret relationship, each of the characters handles the situation in a way that fully embodies their personalities. Monica’s competitive edge shines through, as do Phoebe’s weird quirks. Meanwhile, Ross is desperately trying to get this apartment and resorts to all ends to do it. Finally, work issues get worked into the episode as well because Ross has been fired for his job for his intense rage and is trying to show his boss that he is back on his feet when he sees Monica and Chandler through the window and freaks out in a typical Ross manner. This episode meshes together all of the qualities that makes Friends a funny show. Everyone can relate to work problems, relationship problems and those random problems that just rattle your day. Friends attracts so many people because it is about everyday issues that people face everyday.

Hey Bro - Stefan

There comes a time, when a man asks himself if they truly understand what it means to be a bro, and more specifically what it means to be in a broship. You hear about bros all the time, weather it be as I pass you in the hall and ask “what’s up bro?”, when somebody’s stray Frisbee lands at your feet and you hear “hey bro can you help us out”, or even as it was originally used, an abbreviation for brother. Bros, or the idea of a bro, are everywhere and shape our society in ways we can’t even begin to understand. I’m not kidding when I say, that the idea of a bro can lead a little boy cough* ten year old me coug* to their understanding of masculinity or their relationship with their friends. It definitely affects people’s idea of college, it’s value, and fraternities, but I’ll get into that later. We all see the word ‘bro’ in a different way, and it affects us all differently, because like any word, or concept, (words are concepts after all right?) it’s meaning is derived solely by yours and societies perception of said word/concept. So before my thoughts run away with me, I’ll try to project my understanding of what it means to be a bro onto you in the hopes that the whole world embraces it.
Of course we’ve all heard and some even seen what the comedic media presents as bros. Websites like College humorr will show you pictures or articles of trust fund frat guys drinking beers playin’ some LaX, icing each other and nailin’ some chicks. But the comedic media also portrays like, female high schoolers as, like, dumb valley girls, as if, portrays conservatively minded voters as George W esque, grammatically incorrect sentence forming buffoons, inhabitants of rural areas as gun tottin’, bible thumpin’, drawling fools, and eco conscious individuals, as bleeding heart liberal greenies who would sooner die of thirst than buy a plastic water bottle. The media does all this for one reason, and one reason only, it’s easier to make fun of an exaggerated or even falsified stereotype than the real thing. And I for one, simply refuse, to ever, ever accept that the beer drinkin, football watchin’, lax playin’, loud, annoying, bigoted college frat dude, is a bro.
Maybe I’m being idealistic, clinging to my what’ I’ve always held to be a bro, but as my bro put it, “a bro is someone you can tell things you can’t tell a friend, who you have a special relationship with where you start words with bro like: brolationship, broski, brossef. A bro is someone you can trust, because they’ll always be there for you.”
I concur bro,
I concur.
I know that said bro is my bro, through and through. The past five weeks of my life have shown me that there are bros out there. There are guys that you can stay up with for a few hours after the days work has been done, or more often than not put off till tomorrow and just talk with, make incredibly disgusting or offensive jokes with, and just kinda chill with. Because If you can just chill with someone, talk about nothing, the meaning of life, about your problems, or not say anything at all, than they are your bro. I can say without a doubt that I have found bros to last a lifetime, and if this doesn’t bring a tear to your eye, it should. For all my witty little quips, this is a truly beautiful idea and I’m opening my heart to it and to you; via blog…
The next time I pass somebody µin the hall and casually call them a bro, they should know, I don’t mean it. In the same way kids my age desperately try to convince each other that they simply “love this person” and don’t meant it. Maybe we’re trying to get people to like us by begin affectionate, maybe we’re desperately searching for love/a broship… I digress…
Nay, a bro is more than an insincere passing comment in the hallway. There’s a reason you put bro’s before ho’s. You can ditch your friends for her, but unless u loves that girl, bros come first, because a bro is a dude who’s there for you, no matter what.
And with that I can say to all the guys reading this,
I love you bro.

Where the Wild Things Are

I have a fear of letting go of my youth. I am enticed by everything about being young, and innocent. I love reading, and rereading books from my youth, and trying to recreate the feelings that I had when I was reading the books for the first time. I especially love when books are transformed into movies. My favorite movies would have to be Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Cloudy With a chance of Meatballs, and my all time favorite, Where the Wild Things Are.

Where the Wild Things Are is a children’s picture book that was published in 1963. It was written and illustrated by Maurice Sendak. The book was so popular that it became an animated short, and opera, and in 2009 it was made into one of the best selling movies in the country. The movie is about a boy named Max is sent to bed for misbehaving, where he imagines a place where the wild things are. The Wild Things crown him their king after the promises that he makes to them, though he soon longs to be with his family again.

I have found that more and more people are becoming attracted to the minds of children and infants, and this movie shows a perfect window into the imagination of them. I am one of these people. I am obsessed with the brain, and the things that change throughout the lives of people. I realized that as we grow older, we lose our ability to imagine, and we become more boring. We are conformed by the rules and standards set by our society. This is why I have a fear of the future; I have a fear of losing my imagination.

Max is a ten-year-old boy who is living with a snotty sister, and a single mother. He has no idea what is happening around him in the world, and he couldn’t care less. He is naïve, and in his naivety, he is blissful. I want to hold onto my innocence and blissfulness as long as possible. I want to be ignorant to the world, and live without fear of anything except a fear of the dark. If more people had the imagination of children, there would not be nearly as much violence in the world as there is now.

Children don’t think in terms of hate, they love everything, as adults should. Children don’t judge someone based on their race or their religion, they judge them on whether the person is nice or not; and even if the person isn’t nice, they don’t categorize everyone that looks like them into the “mean” category; they categorize them based on that specific persons’ personality, and persona.

If the rest of the world had the mentality of Max in Where the Wild Things are, we as a people would be much better off. There would be no prejudice, and no hate. I am learning that it is okay to grow up; I just can’t loose my childhood mentality, and be sucked into the dull world that hates people based on what they look like, or whom the look up to.

Wyatt

What's So Funny?

Some claim the show is unoriginal. Some claim the show is offensive. Yet after nine seasons, most claim Family Guy to be one of the funniest and greatest shows on television. Yet why? The question here isn’t simply why people like it; the question is why it has caused the splash it has. Recently it has had ratings and viewers comparable to Dexter and Sunday Night Football. Sunday Night Football has on average, 18.1 million viewers. To be compared to that in a positive manner is ridiculous! Considering the fact that football is almost a religion in most parts of the country, having anywhere near that is amazing. So Family Guy with its 10.6 million viewers can be pretty much stated as a successful show. I personally love the show but I still can’t understand what brings me back every Sunday night. It’s not a drama, so there’s no background story to play out in the next episode. It’s not teaching me anything like any show on discovery, it’s just funny. However that can be said about comedy in general. Family Guy has many distinctions from the rest of the comedic genre. It isn’t placed in an interesting city, and it’s not live action. That narrows it down to pretty much just the animated comedy routine, but still Family Guy stands out. I know that the Simpsons is the longest running show in the U.S. and probably more nightly viewers but the question isn’t whether or not Family Guy is better, but why specifically does it work? The writers for Family Guy have produced their own breed of humor, topics and jokes that if a passerby heard not knowing about the show they would find horrific to say the least. But why does this entice us? Sure it has the usual array of bodily function jokes and hilarious physical violence but Family Guy takes it a step further. For instances here, where a simple bodily function joke goes in a direction no one has thought of, on any other circumstance this would be considered across the line having an entire family down Epicac to induce vomiting over a simple thing like the last slice of pie. Now to some this may be across the line but that’s what Family Guy does, it dances on the line and sometimes it pays off, such as in the hilarious scene, yet sometimes it doesn’t. Family Guy has been has already had three lawsuits and is still going strong. Not only have they danced with the legal lines but controversy has plagued Family Guy. Family Guy has been cancelled numerous times, not only because of competing time slots but because of just general offense that has been felt by its comedy. Venezuela banned the show from all stations because of an episode promoting marijuana. Perhaps that is where part of its charm comes from its ability to survive the worst of scandals. Another aspect that appeals to the public is its quirky uniqueness; I can honestly say that there is nothing like it on TV. Family Guy has the ability to pull off jokes that would bomb in any other context. They tend to stretch jokes to the point where they are hardly bearable and then cut to some other crack on some sensitive subject that make it either funny or offensive. For some reason this routine is found hilarious time after time by people such as myself. When they are using the same joke in a new context, they are probably prodding some sleeping bear of a sensitive subject, like religion. Some people are the first to get into a heated debate about religion while others are avoiding the discussion like the plague. But Family Guy crates a third category by diving right in, headfirst all while staying jocular. They make light of a heavy subject by putting religion into weird situations. Such as taking Jesus to dinner, on any other show this would be grounds for immediate cancellation. Yet Family Guy pulls it off and makes people laugh in the process. One of Family Guy’s trademark gags are cutaways, these constant random mini-scenes are iconic to the show. And though they can happen several times per episode and they seem to have no relevance, the audience takes it. When considering the audience of Family Guy however it makes sense. Teenagers are infamous for having low attention spans and a random scene with a small joke in it is just what one is looking for when sitting through a half an hour program. These scenes range from thirty seconds to two minute but no matter what they always seem to be a hit. Even with jokes that wouldn’t usually appeal to teenagers, such as musicals they seem to be able to form it in such a way that they bring the viewer to love it. I think that is why people find everything in Family Guy so funny, its universality. Family Guy makes fun of every group of people and walks away. I think that is why people love this show, it is such a break from the mold and it has the audacity to kick the rules aside and think nothing of it.
-Joe

Foniasophobia

I have an obsession with serial killers. I read about them online, watch "Dexter" and other crime TV shows, and constantly tell others about serial killers. I promise I am normal, but I know my obsession is really weird. However, I am obviously not alone in my obsession, proven by the prevalence of the serial killer in American pop culture.
Albert Fish. Hannibal Lector. Ted Bundy. Dexter. In slasher films, crime shows such as “Law and Order SVU”, or even television shows such as “Dexter”, the idea of a serial killer fits right in with the portrayal of violent figures in Pop Culture including gangsters, spies, vigilantes and the like. Not only are fictional serial killers prevalent in American pop culture, but the media also obsesses over real life serial killers such as Albert Fish or Charles Manson, with multiple documentaries and books about these real life horror movie characters. However, some opponents of violence in the media suggest that such prevalence has desensitized the public to violence, and could possibly even cause admiration for such acts. But is this really possible? In horror movies, with what character does the audience empathize with, the killer? No, they empathize with the victims. So, the real question is: why is it that we as a society are obsessed with such characters? If we love horror movies, yet empathize with the victims, does our obsession just stem from a desire to feel fear? It may very well be the simple fact that like sex, violence sells. Perhaps it is as simple as that for most, but for me it is not. I cannot watch horror movies, but I obsess over their characters. I read about serial killers online, but only those with female victims. I have a paranoid fear of serial killers, yet I am obsessed with them. Why is it that I am obsessed with serial killers? Perhaps my motive is the same as the rest of the world; I want to feel fear. But if that is true, why don’t I watch horror movies? The extent of my horror movie experience is watching the trailers whenever they come on television. Well, it is actually watching the first two seconds of horror movie trailers before I run out of the room with my eyes covered. Why do I have this obsession with violence and serial killers but can’t watch movies featuring them? Perhaps my obsession comes not from my desire to feel fear but my paranoia. Perhaps I obsess over serial killers as a subconscious form of self protection: if I am an expert about my fear, than I can recognize it and avoid it in real life. I really am not sure, and throughout the duration of this assignment, I still have not been able to pinpoint why exactly I have this obsession or the reason it is so specific. However, I did come to one conclusion while on this project; I really want this book.


Victoria G.