After reading this post I now have respect for country music. I've never really thought that there would be feminist issues in country music.
One of the most interesting songs she mentioned is "The Pill" by Loretta Lynn. The song is basically about a woman who is dealing with her husband's cheating and decides to end it and go out on her own and reclaim her sexuality. Country music, at least in my experience, is associated with the right wing republicans (especially where I lived) and it's the same people who disapprove of birth control and protest abortion.
The fact that young women can hear this song and understand that it is ok for them to seek out birth control without shame is a very good sign. Though the singer may not be blogging, she may be bringing up personal and intimate experiences to help gain more listeners.
Other country music singers sing about domestic violence and how it is not ok for a woman to put up with it. I've had friends and family members who have dealt with domestic violence and it's a hard thing to understand, though the woman knows that the man is hurting her she still stays. If perhaps a country singer can bring about the subject in her songs and help women overcome the fear of leaving an abusive partner then they have all of my respect.
Post Over Readings: Sex & Audience in the Blogosphere
This post will cover two concepts of the articles I read. Women using sex as a way to draw audiences and the second being over posting about intimate moments in a bloggers life.
Many women (but mostly men) who have been around the web for a while (for me it'll be about 10 years) know about Suicide Girls and a website which is similar called Gods Girls. These two websites have the same concept: alternative porn. Where in what you may want to call traditional porn women are very clean cut and for the most part tattoo free. These websites offer men and women the chance to see women with tattoos, piercings and other body modifications. The reason this came to mind is that a while back I found out my brother's ex girlfriend (they had been together for about 2 years) is a Gods Girl. She barely turned 18 and is now posts naked pictures on the internet.
It would be lesser known had she not posted a link on her myspace advertising her pictures. Which brings up both of the topics, using her body as a way to get more readers. The websites feature blogs which are available for members and non-members to read. As a way to get more readers she uses her pictures as a way to draw attention to the male and of course female population.
In the blogs the girls talk about private moments in their lives such as what went on in their day, trips, etc. The website also shows the location of the girls, which I would think would be a cause for concerned such as a creepy stalker or someone with dangerous motives.
In an age where data is easily available there can be severe consequences and dangers as well as a way to get your word out.
Many women (but mostly men) who have been around the web for a while (for me it'll be about 10 years) know about Suicide Girls and a website which is similar called Gods Girls. These two websites have the same concept: alternative porn. Where in what you may want to call traditional porn women are very clean cut and for the most part tattoo free. These websites offer men and women the chance to see women with tattoos, piercings and other body modifications. The reason this came to mind is that a while back I found out my brother's ex girlfriend (they had been together for about 2 years) is a Gods Girl. She barely turned 18 and is now posts naked pictures on the internet.
It would be lesser known had she not posted a link on her myspace advertising her pictures. Which brings up both of the topics, using her body as a way to get more readers. The websites feature blogs which are available for members and non-members to read. As a way to get more readers she uses her pictures as a way to draw attention to the male and of course female population.
In the blogs the girls talk about private moments in their lives such as what went on in their day, trips, etc. The website also shows the location of the girls, which I would think would be a cause for concerned such as a creepy stalker or someone with dangerous motives.
In an age where data is easily available there can be severe consequences and dangers as well as a way to get your word out.
Sexist Television Commercials
So I came across the 15 most sexist television commercials.
I've compiled a list of the ones that I found most disturbing or offensive.
This commercial is wrong in so many ways. As far as I can remember I didn't like boys until I was around 11-12 years old. This girl looks about 9 or 10 (I could be wrong of course). The second part that bothers me is the fact that she basically assumed that the little boy was going to buy her the ice cream. It's the same as when a girl girls to the bar and winks or flirts with guys to get free drinks. For a young girl that age it's trying to reinforce negative stereotype that girls or women are only out to get free stuff from boys or men.
We all know men can't cook! It's not like there aren't famous chefs who are mainly men! In this commercial the daughters and mothers are worried that their dad's attempt at cooking dinner is going to be a tragedy. This just reinforces the stereotype that women do all of the cooking in the house and the men really shouldn't contribute because cooking is either too hard or women's work.
Last but not least The Flinstones!
I loved the Flinstones growing up, by the time I saw the show they had taken the smoking promotions out of it. The thing that disturbs me (besides selling cigarettes to their viewers which are mostly or are made up of a large majority of children of various ages) is the fact that though they see and notice that their wives are busting their butts trying to clean they don't offer to help. They decide to go somewhere else so that they don't have to see their wives hard at work. It's understandable that a man would think "I work and make money, she's a housewife she doesn't work". I think that being a housewife, especially with children is more than a full time job, you have to keep the house clean and in order all while taking care of a child. It's just a skewed view of how men shouldn't help out their wives.
Though these are old commercials, I believe that commercials in this day in age are worse, much more sexist and way too sexual for day time and prime time TV.
I've compiled a list of the ones that I found most disturbing or offensive.
This commercial is wrong in so many ways. As far as I can remember I didn't like boys until I was around 11-12 years old. This girl looks about 9 or 10 (I could be wrong of course). The second part that bothers me is the fact that she basically assumed that the little boy was going to buy her the ice cream. It's the same as when a girl girls to the bar and winks or flirts with guys to get free drinks. For a young girl that age it's trying to reinforce negative stereotype that girls or women are only out to get free stuff from boys or men.
We all know men can't cook! It's not like there aren't famous chefs who are mainly men! In this commercial the daughters and mothers are worried that their dad's attempt at cooking dinner is going to be a tragedy. This just reinforces the stereotype that women do all of the cooking in the house and the men really shouldn't contribute because cooking is either too hard or women's work.
Last but not least The Flinstones!
I loved the Flinstones growing up, by the time I saw the show they had taken the smoking promotions out of it. The thing that disturbs me (besides selling cigarettes to their viewers which are mostly or are made up of a large majority of children of various ages) is the fact that though they see and notice that their wives are busting their butts trying to clean they don't offer to help. They decide to go somewhere else so that they don't have to see their wives hard at work. It's understandable that a man would think "I work and make money, she's a housewife she doesn't work". I think that being a housewife, especially with children is more than a full time job, you have to keep the house clean and in order all while taking care of a child. It's just a skewed view of how men shouldn't help out their wives.
Though these are old commercials, I believe that commercials in this day in age are worse, much more sexist and way too sexual for day time and prime time TV.
Blog Rationale
I would like for my blog to focus over the many topics of popular culture and how most is targeted towards men and how women are seen in a negative or a not so positive light. I am also interested in how gender roles are enforced in popular culture and how somethings that are seen in real life are hardly seen in television or other medias (such as interracial relationships or dating).
I would like to focus on different aspects of popular culture such as movies, magazines, television, video games, music, music videos, photography, commercials, sports, celebrities, billboards,fashion, magazine ads, etc. I would also like to focus on the impact (either intentional or unintentional) that pop culture has on little girls, teenage girls, young women and women in the later stages of their lives.
Plenty of research has been done over how media (mainly television) has not only affected American girls, but also girls from many different cultures. Within a few years of being introduced to television, teenage girls in a certain cultured had quickly developed eating disorders and distorted body images. So there seems to be a trend across cultures when it comes to how the media affects not only young women but younger developing girls.
I would like to bring little known things into light and make others aware of things they may not easily notice.
I would like to focus on different aspects of popular culture such as movies, magazines, television, video games, music, music videos, photography, commercials, sports, celebrities, billboards,fashion, magazine ads, etc. I would also like to focus on the impact (either intentional or unintentional) that pop culture has on little girls, teenage girls, young women and women in the later stages of their lives.
Plenty of research has been done over how media (mainly television) has not only affected American girls, but also girls from many different cultures. Within a few years of being introduced to television, teenage girls in a certain cultured had quickly developed eating disorders and distorted body images. So there seems to be a trend across cultures when it comes to how the media affects not only young women but younger developing girls.
I would like to bring little known things into light and make others aware of things they may not easily notice.
Post Over Readings
I was surprised to read that only 4% of the political blogs are written by women. Like the article said, the political spectrum when it comes to blogs is so narrow that abortion issues, women's issues and gay rights issues are not considered political.
I think that it's time to reevaluate what is considered political in the blogosphere because there are many great blogs written by women that would otherwise be considered political elsewhere but in the world of blogs.
If men where the first to lay down the foundation for what a political blog is, congratulations, but it's time that women get a say in what they consider political so that more people would listen to their opinions.
Another interesting aspect of blogs is the ability to use a blog against a person, especially in court. I believe that unless a person's life has been threatened (let's say a person were to say "tomorrow I will kill so-and-so"), or there is proof of child abuse, blogs should stay out of the court system. A blog is like a journal, something private and in the case of coming into someone's home and taking a diary or a journal they would need a warrant, why should a blog be an exception?
That pretty much sums up my opinions over the articles.
I think that it's time to reevaluate what is considered political in the blogosphere because there are many great blogs written by women that would otherwise be considered political elsewhere but in the world of blogs.
If men where the first to lay down the foundation for what a political blog is, congratulations, but it's time that women get a say in what they consider political so that more people would listen to their opinions.
Another interesting aspect of blogs is the ability to use a blog against a person, especially in court. I believe that unless a person's life has been threatened (let's say a person were to say "tomorrow I will kill so-and-so"), or there is proof of child abuse, blogs should stay out of the court system. A blog is like a journal, something private and in the case of coming into someone's home and taking a diary or a journal they would need a warrant, why should a blog be an exception?
That pretty much sums up my opinions over the articles.
Women and Gaming
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Women in gaming
Warning: This post is on the long side.
I'm a gamer, I'll admit it, anything from old-school Mario to the newer games like Call of Duty.
One thing that has always made me a little upset is that it's mostly, well very targeted to men and this blog entry pretty much sums it up. It's hard to find blogs about gaming from a feminist perspective but I found a few. The three blog posts I read were interesting but the one about the objectification of women in video games seemed to be the most interesting.
It seems that every video game makes women appear way too sexy, we know that there are sexy women out there, but do we need to put them in costumes that show practically everything?
Let's compare characters from the fighting game Soul Calibur IV:
Here we have two female fighters:
And two male fighters:
Well there is an obvious difference between the two, the men are in full heavy armor, while the women are covered by very small pieces of fabric. Not only that but they have huge breasts, unusually huge, which are very noticeable by not only their costumes but by their fighting moves, such as jumping. It would make sense that the women would be wearing armor too or well even more clothes since they are fighting with swords. In a real life situation I doubt that any woman would wear a costume like that when fighting to the death.
The game does let you customize the characters and for a woman to be able to have relatively normal sized breasts she had to be extremely thin (possibly anorexic) which didn't make her much of a fighter due to her weight and size. If you want a medium sized fighter like the women pictured above with armor, their breast size was still very much apparent under their armor.
There are very few (positive) female protagonists in gaming, and most are very weak or have their faults.
First up is Princess Peach from the Mario Bros. series.
She has her own video game called Super Princess Peach. In this game she is the one to save Mario (for once!) from danger. The game play is very disappointing. Instead of wearing what would be considered a fighting outfit (jeans and a shirt maybe?) she wears her long gown and heels. Her powers are very limited and they are controlled by her emotions: Joy, Gloom, Rage and Calm. So this makes her either seem bipolar or going through though PMDD because she is sad one minute, sad another minute and full of rage the next!
Next up is Lara Croft from the Tomb Raider series.
Lara Croft is a very confident young woman who is much like Indiana Jones (the game was originally designed to be very similar to the Indiana Jones movies). She collects ancient artifacts and fights bullies. The downside? She of course wears extremely small shorts and has huge breasts. You would figure that a successful, confident archeologist would have no need to run around in a tight shirt and small shorts to show off her figure, but it's more appealing if she does.
And last but not least Alyx Vance
One of the most positive women I have seen in video games is Alyx from the Half Life series. In the game she is a computer savy young woman who helps the main character (Gordon Freeman) throughout the game. She's very brave, independent and caring. Why can't there be more women like her in video games? Unfortunately she is merely a sidekick in the series and only helps out Gordon in very desperate situations, it would have been great for her to have been the main character but I guess men wouldn't be interested in playing the game if that were to be the case.
So to sum things up, women in gaming need to be portrayed in a better light. Women don't need to be objectified to be able to be a part of a game. They should be portrayed as strong, independent and fierce not worried about their figure and clothes. They should look like normal women, not playboy bunnies. If women in gaming were portrayed in the manner previously stated maybe then would the gaming industry get better reviews from feminist gamers.
I'm a gamer, I'll admit it, anything from old-school Mario to the newer games like Call of Duty.
One thing that has always made me a little upset is that it's mostly, well very targeted to men and this blog entry pretty much sums it up. It's hard to find blogs about gaming from a feminist perspective but I found a few. The three blog posts I read were interesting but the one about the objectification of women in video games seemed to be the most interesting.
It seems that every video game makes women appear way too sexy, we know that there are sexy women out there, but do we need to put them in costumes that show practically everything?
Let's compare characters from the fighting game Soul Calibur IV:
Here we have two female fighters:
And two male fighters:
Well there is an obvious difference between the two, the men are in full heavy armor, while the women are covered by very small pieces of fabric. Not only that but they have huge breasts, unusually huge, which are very noticeable by not only their costumes but by their fighting moves, such as jumping. It would make sense that the women would be wearing armor too or well even more clothes since they are fighting with swords. In a real life situation I doubt that any woman would wear a costume like that when fighting to the death.The game does let you customize the characters and for a woman to be able to have relatively normal sized breasts she had to be extremely thin (possibly anorexic) which didn't make her much of a fighter due to her weight and size. If you want a medium sized fighter like the women pictured above with armor, their breast size was still very much apparent under their armor.
There are very few (positive) female protagonists in gaming, and most are very weak or have their faults.
First up is Princess Peach from the Mario Bros. series.
Next up is Lara Croft from the Tomb Raider series.
And last but not least Alyx Vance
So to sum things up, women in gaming need to be portrayed in a better light. Women don't need to be objectified to be able to be a part of a game. They should be portrayed as strong, independent and fierce not worried about their figure and clothes. They should look like normal women, not playboy bunnies. If women in gaming were portrayed in the manner previously stated maybe then would the gaming industry get better reviews from feminist gamers.
First Post
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1
Hello! Welcome to my blog. This is my 5th blog, I've terminated/abondoned my other blogs due to lack of interest. I started blogging in 2003 when I was 16, I still have my old livejournal (my second blog) to read through all of my teenage angst, haha.
I think that blogs are important, some bloggers are anonymous which can make it easier for the blogger to express their thoughts, ideas and opinions as freely as possible. This can lead to a genuine expression that is neither sugar coated or censored.
As of this semester my passion for photography has reemerged. I've been having fun taking pictures and trying to tell a story with just one image. When I am off to grad school I hope to continue taking photographs and possibly using them to make a statement about both the power and the suffering of women.
After grad school I would like to work with women and children that come from abusive households and help them get back on track to a better, happier and healthier life.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy reading my thoughts and opinions!
Take Care.
I think that blogs are important, some bloggers are anonymous which can make it easier for the blogger to express their thoughts, ideas and opinions as freely as possible. This can lead to a genuine expression that is neither sugar coated or censored.
As of this semester my passion for photography has reemerged. I've been having fun taking pictures and trying to tell a story with just one image. When I am off to grad school I hope to continue taking photographs and possibly using them to make a statement about both the power and the suffering of women.
After grad school I would like to work with women and children that come from abusive households and help them get back on track to a better, happier and healthier life.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy reading my thoughts and opinions!
Take Care.
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