Fitting In

The connection between clothing and identity is a prominent theme throughout this unit.  “Wings” by Macklemore really brings into question the importance that we place on clothing and material possessions in our society.  His video criticizes the consumerism that literally consumes people, especially young people.  His friend’s brother was murdered because of his shoes, and by the end of the song, Macklemore reflects on how his opinion of clothing changed.  He says that now he just sees his Nikes as another pair of shoes, but as a child he saw them as a part of who he was.  In “About Wings” Macklemore says that this was his intent when recording this song.  I think that this idea is really instilled in young kids in America.  The Spike Lee commercial, this idea is reiterated.  Despite Michael Jordan saying that his success does not stem from his shoes, they are the focus of the commercial.  At the very end, there is a disclaimer that says that Nike does not necessarily support the opinions of Michael Jordan.  This is a ploy to get people to buy their shoes.  They are equating success with shoes instead of with talent and hard work.  They want people, especially teenagers, to believe that buying a pair of Jordan’s can change their lives.  Merchants of Cool also examines how style and fashion are seen by kids.  The documentary’s main point is that younger generations are constantly looking for the “cool” trends.  These “cool hunters” look at how “cool” kids influence those around them.  Though the concept seemed odd to me, I think the idea that kids can be deemed “cool” based on their appearance is very prominent in our culture.  There is a common perception in middle and high schools that what you wear and how you look determines how cool you are or what group you fit into.  In the Abercrombie and Fitch video and article, the founder of the company states that he does not want homeless people or larger women wearing his clothes because the company’s main consumer base is the “cool kids.”  Again, the idea that “coolness” is directly correlated with clothing is the main focus of this text.  Personally, I loved that that guy found all of the A&F clothing and gave it to homeless people; I think that his message is great.  Clothing should not define who we are as a person or as a society. There should be no rules about who should be able to wear what because clothing really is just clothing.  I feel like somewhat of a hypocrite saying that because I do enjoy clothes to an extent, but I have never been obsessive or let what I wear determine how I feel about myself as a person. “The Jacket” tells the story of a young boy who allows one guacamole-colored jacked to dictate his attitude and outlook on life.  He blames the jacket for all of his failures and missed opportunities, when in reality, he just has a bad attitude.  However, the message in this story is clear: the connection between clothing and identity is a powerful one.  Even the simple, light-hearted “What’s Your Street Style?” quiz sends a similar message.  It says, “You are what you wear!” in the description, reinforcing this idea that our clothing is intertwined with our identity as a person.  Though what you wear should never dictate who somebody is or will become, it is a common belief in kids and young adults.  I think that clothing can be used as a way of self-expression or a way to present an image of ones’ self, but it should not have the power to control if somebody is “cool” or “uncool.”  I know that I have been guilty of judging people by what they wear, and I think that many people do.  For example, if somebody shows up to an interview in slacks, a blouse, and a blazer I will probably assume that they are more professional than somebody who shows up in sweat pants and a sweatshirt.  However, I think that the type of judging that needs to be eliminated is the kind that many of us remember from our middle and high school years; the kind that causes kids to be self-conscious just because their jeans are from Walmart instead of Nordstrom.  I don’t want kids to believe that what they wear defines who they are or who they can become.

The Prince and The Pauper

While I have always believed and bought into the notion that “money doesn’t buy happiness,” the texts in this unit seemed to be saying otherwise… and I get it.  When I initially looked at the chart “Money & Happiness”, I was surprised because, like I said, I had never bought into that correlation.  However, after examining the rest of the readings, I can see why the chart may hold more truth than I first believed.  “Guest: Show respect for fast-food workers with sufficient pay” really plays to the idea of this correlation.  Fernando Cruz seems to be a good, honest man who does not have a whole lot of options when it comes to his job.  I am sure that he would rather work somewhere else where he has a higher salary, doesn’t have to work 10-12 hour days, and gets respect from others.  So, maybe he would be happier if he had more money because he would be less worried about supporting his family.  However, he may not have the means to get a better job due to lack of education and experience.  Additionally, as we discussed in previous units, race carries more weight in the real world than we would like to believe, and Fernando Cruz appears to be either Latino or Hispanic.  I thought the critic in “Pay fast-food workers with sufficient wages” was much too harsh.  To me, it seemed that this article was saying that somebody must be financially stable to deserve a family and a decent job.  However, what this person was not taking into account was the cultural capital and other factors that influence a person’s economic mobility and success in achieving one’s goals.  As I said before, some people may be working in fast food because it is their only option.  Just as “Why U.S. Taxpayers Pay $7 Billion a Year” article points out, 52% of fast food workers are signed up for some sort of public assistance program.  Additionally, the majority of the workers are adults who are the primary breadwinners in their household.  At the very least, these employees deserve respect for doing the jobs that most people consider to be low-class.  I do not believe that society should condemn or look down upon those people merely because they have fewer opportunities than, say, somebody who was born into a wealthy family and never had to work very hard to get or keep an education or well-paying job. 

            “Million-Pound Bank Note” by Mark Twain and Trading Places trailer play on the idea that the life of the poor is a game for the rich.  These two texts also have very similar plots.  In both, two wealthy men make bets about how a poor man will bode when given the opportunity to live large.  Though I have never seen Trading Places, it seems that Eddie Murphy’s character was simply picked off of the street to fill the place of Dan Aykroyd’s wealthy character.  The two men who picked up Murphy appeared to do so only because he was poor (and maybe black?).  Similarly, in Twain’s play, Gordon and Abel select Henry for their bet only because he is poor and honest-looking.  Henry and Murphy’s character are mere puppets in a high-stakes bet by wealthy men who hold all of the power and control.  I do not know what happens at the end of Trading Places, but in “Million-Pound Bank Note” Henry finds out that he was basically used, but he does not seem to care at all—not what I was expecting.  This short story also seems to be a commentary on the idea that wealth alone makes you well respected, but that having wealth also makes you exempt from spending your money as well.  Even today, it seems that our rich and famous (celebrities) are the ones that get so much for free, or they get paid for merely bringing attention to businesses, places, etc.  I think that Inequality For All does a good job of tying everything together by emphasizing that in the United States, there is the greatest income inequality.  Just as the other texts reveal, the divide between poor and rich is vast.  Robert Reich stresses that as a nation, we have to protect American workers because they are the foundation of this country.  So, after reading these texts, I again wonder, does money buy happiness? Does it buy respect? Power?

Man v. Man

I thought that there were a few things that connected these articles besides masculinity.  Most of the texts from this week explored the violence of mankind, and some also touched on race.

I found “The Most Dangerous Game” to be a very interesting short story about the faults of humanity.  General  Zaroff hunts humans because he grew bored of hunting animals.  He also says that he hunts “the scum of the earth” which includes blacks, Chinese Indians, and whites.  He is also excited by his next target, a strong, black, resourceful-looking man.  Race is briefly touched on in this story, but the larger idea is that of human violence towards other human beings.  While this short story is unrealistic to most readers, it can also be seen as a commentary about man’s lust for violence and death.  The author suggests that violence is a way to escape boredom.  The General saw the hunting of humans as a sport which brought him happiness and entertainment at the expense of other people’s injuries and deaths.

Football was mentioned in a few of the readings this week.  While the purpose of football is not to kill the opponent, there are also elements of violence and entertainment in this sport.  “Dying to Play” and “How CTE Affects the Brain” explore the ways in which football affects the men who play the game.  The articles cover the severe consequences that have been shown to result from injuries that occur because of football.  Football is a fun and exciting sport to watch, but NFL players may find themselves regretting their career choice if they suffer any of the possible injuries or diseases mentioned in the articles.  Even though the players are not immediately dying on the field during games, they are essentially setting themselves up for a painful or short post-career future. 

“Bob Costas on gun control” discusses football and the gun culture and violence in his interview.  He talks about how guns are too readily available, leading to increased gun violence.  He also touches on race and class when he mentions the gun violence in inner cities and the arming of black youths.  I agree with Costas that there needs to be stricter regulations in order to prevent such violence.  However, I also agree that people will find other ways to commit crimes.  “When Will It End?” is an example of the continued violence that exists due to racial discrimination.  The victims were often chased or pursued and then violently murdered merely based on their skin color. 

The two texts I could not really fit into the violence theme were “9 Rules for the Black Birdwatcher” and “Chris Rock Tiger Woods.”  Both of these texts focus on race, and the Chris Rock video also highlights the sport of golf, but not in a violent way like the other sport-centered texts.  This article and video explore how racial stereotypes are still alive and well, even in modern times.  The video about Tiger Woods illustrates the ways that black athletes are categorized and the ways that black people perceive certain sports.  The birdwatcher article was satirical and played on the same idea that black people are only supposed to enjoy and participate in certain sports. 

Finding Mr./Mrs. Right

I thought that all of the texts from this week at least touched on the issue of power and control based on gender.  Stereotypes about men and women (especially men and women in relationships) were also prominent in this week’s readings. 

“It’s Not About the Nail” was a comical, satirical video about women’s needs in a relationship.  Although I did not relate to the woman in the video, I think that there is some truth to the video’s message.  I have definitely met women who really love to talk about their problems, but who aren’t really looking for a solution because they would rather complain about it.  These women drive me crazy.  While I did find the video funny, I also believe that this is an unfair stereotype about women.  For the most part, I do not think that females enjoy complaining and being miserable more than being happy and without any complaints.  I also noticed that the woman in this video seemed to have the majority of the power in the relationship.  She basically manipulated her boyfriend into sympathizing, or pretending to sympathize with her unsympathetic whining.  “Women and Marriage at Princeton” also talked about the power dynamic between men and women.  The letter from the Princeton alumna suggested that women who attend an elite college should not lower their standards and marry a man with less than the same level of education that they have.  Susan Patton basically told Princeton women that they are better than most of the men, and that they have the power and the right to find a husband at their college.  I thought that Patton’s letter was both offensive because she basically degraded anybody, man or woman, who did not attend Princeton or another Ivy League college.  However, the facts at the end of the article about the trade-offs that men and women make imply that both genders have ‘power’ to be selective when choosing a partner.  Similarly, the video about the horrible dating profile attests to the facts in the previous article.  The men were willing to ignore the woman’s horrible traits and education because she was attractive.  Again, the idea of women as powerful comes into play here.  However, in this example, the power that the woman has is due to her physical appearance.  Her body was what had the power to draw in the men. 

Trifles takes place in an older, different time, but the story deals with stereotypes about women and men.  In the story, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale sympathize with Mrs. Wright, the convicted murderer because they feel that she was stuck in a bad marriage.  The men in the play dismiss the women and their “trifles” because they find them petty.  The men do not seem to care about the circumstances of the Wrights’ marriage; their primary concern is proving that Minnie is guilty.  Again, this play shows the stereotypes that men make about the things that women consider important.  “Hanging Fire” describes the sadness of a fourteen-year-old African American girl who has to deal with an absent mother.  Based on what the girl says about her mother being “in the bedroom with the door closed,” I assumed that the mother was probably either sleeping with men for money or spending more time with a boyfriend than she spent paying attention to her daughter.  This may be a criticism (or it may be a stretch to say this) about how men have the ability to make certain women feel important.  I thought that this poem criticized lower-income, African American women specifically.  It played into the stereotype that they have to sleep with men for either attention or money, neglecting their children.  Lastly, the NCJRS page about criminal women informs the reader that many female felons come from very rough pasts.  Many women are abused and actually victims themselves.  Although there is not really an excuse for serious crimes, this website shows how men, parents, and other people can be a major cause of women’s criminal activity.  Trifles, “Hanging Fire,” and the NCJRS site all can be interpreted as revealing the kind of power that men have over women, whereas “It’s Not About the Nail,” “Women and Marriage at Princeton,” and “Woman Creates Monstrous Dating Profile” seem to be more about the control that women have over men. 

Superheroes

When most people think of a superhero, they picture a strong, masculine, straight, American, white male such as Batman or Superman.  However, it seems that considering how much our culture has changed since the original comics were created, there should be more diversity when it comes to superheroes and heroines.  The question that I took away from the texts for this unit was what makes somebody or something heroic in our eyes?

I did find the different approaches to the portrayal of King Arthur interesting.  In the story, the focus is on Arthur’s background and his family history.  The story ends just as Arthur pulls the sword from the stone and is declared the rightful king.  The reader learns about the strange and complicated incidents surrounding Arthur’s birth and childhood, so does his this knowledge further our notion of him as a hero?  Or is our idea of Arthur as a heroic character merely based on his ability to remove the sword and prove that he is the king? In the Camelot trailer, the attention seems to be focused on Arthur’s love life and his reign as a middle-aged king.  The narrator says that it is “the most poignant legend of love in our language; the immortal tale of King Arthur.”  Lancelot is also recognized in this trailer as “the perfect knight,” leading the viewer to believe that there may be more than one heroic character in this film.  The clip from Monty Python and the Holy Grail depicts Arthur as a boastful and proud king, disconnected from the common people.  In the short story and the Camelot trailer, the reader/viewer was given the impression that Arthur was well liked, adored, and somewhat idolized by the people.  In this satirical movie, the primary reason that Arthur became king—pulling the sword from the stone—is mocked instead of praised.  With these three different representations of Arthur—as a young, noble, innocent child; as an older and romanticized king; and as a pretentious and self-righteous ruler—the reader is left wondering what exactly about the legend of King Arthur makes him such a heroic character?

            The remaining texts more closely examined how gender, race, sexuality, and identity affect how society classifies superheroes or icons as heroic.  In the NPR review, “Superheroines, Fighters, And Why Isn’t There A Wonder Woman Movie,” Linda Holmes discusses the somewhat subtle presence of female superheroes throughout time, but also wonders why there has been no film about Wonder Woman.  It seems that in most comics or superhero movies/shows, women are usually portrayed as either victims or love interests.  In the superman comic (I had a difficult time connecting this one) Superman rescues a woman from taking her own life.  Though the woman eventually makes her own decision, she is portrayed as an emotional, mentally and emotionally weak victim.  Most of the rescuing is left to the men.  Holmes also alludes to the fact that Wonder Woman was formed as a response to WWII and the political and social issues of the time.  There has not been a new film or show about Wonder Woman since the Lynda Carter show.  Was Wonder Woman considered a hero because she was created during a time of war?  Why do female heroines not seem to prevail through the decades in the same ways that male heroes do?  Similarly, the lack of racial diversity in superheroes is discussed in “Who Gets to be a Superhero? Race and Identity in Comics” by Gene Demby, “Meet the new Muslim-American Green Lantern” by The Week Staff, and “What if the X-Men were Black” by Orion Martin.  All three of these articles point out the domination of white males in the world of superheroes.  Orion and Demby argue that X-Men is furthering discrimination and promoting assimilation because of the lack of characters of color.  However, the idea of creating brown X-Men brought about criticism from white fans.  They felt that changing the race of superheroes would “confuse a lot of people.”  For some people, it seems that the fact that superheroes are strong, white, heterosexual males is what makes them heroic.  But, in reality, it seems that the idea of superheroes is based on so much more than these characteristics.  Although one Green Lantern was recognized as being gay, my impression was that he was recognized as being gay only after the comics about his specific Green Lantern character were done being made.  I think that The Week does make a valid point that political overtones are fine in a comic, but they need to be sharper and more suiting to the plot of the comic.  Creating superheroes and heroines that vary in race, gender, sexuality, and identity is something that can and should be done, but I believe that these traits are still not what make a hero heroic. 

Back to the Future

As we can see from the readings for this unit, the obsession with the future is not a new fad.  While most people like to think of their own future as happy and tranquil, many of the futuristic texts that we obsess over depict a less than desirable world.

Why is this such an obsession?

The YouTube clip titled “Why Do We Love Zombies?” poses an interesting theory to this obsession with monsters and zombies.   He suggests that monsters can symbolize the scary part of good things; more specifically, he believes zombies represent technology.  I had never made the connection between zombies and technology, but the blogger does make some interesting and valid points.  He does not believe that technology or zombies are evil, they are merely taking over and threatening the livelihood of humanity.  There seems to be an unspoken fear that threatens our future, but it is never directly addressed.  This underlying fear seemed to be a common theme in all of the texts: fear of technology/zombies in the YouTube clip; fear of unfair advantages in “Harrison Bergeron”; fear of zombies and monsters in Night of the Living Dead; fear of unknown objects, events, and people in Welcome to Night Vale; and fear of many threats in the “Dystopian Timeline to The Hunger Games.”

            In many of the texts, the fear also seems to be controlled or suppressed by the government.  IN the story about Harrison Bergeron, the government uses sounds, masks, weights, and other distractions to prevent the people from having unfair advantages over others.  This idea that an oppressive government will control everybody in the future is one that has been around for a while.  As the “Guide to Dystopian Literature” reveals, novels about oppressive governments and a lack of freedom have been very popular and present since the 1930s.  Today, The Huger Games series is extremely popular.  It also depicts a world in which the government, or “The Capitol”, controls the lives of the residents.  In the pilot episode of Welcome to Night Vale, there are mentions of government agencies and helicopters, city councils, and business associations.  There seem to be very strange and unknown events, sightings, and occurrences in Night Vale, but the public is not given much information about any of these things.  It seems that the podcast is only supposed to provide limited amounts of information to its ‘public’ because the government does not want the residents to be privy to certain information.  Even at the end of Night of the Living Dead, the police and either a detective or government worker investigate the house and end up shooting the man.  A sense that the government is looking over your shoulder is present throughout the texts in this unit.  I think that the creator of the YouTube clip was definitely onto something by believing that zombies, monsters, or dystopian futures can be symbolic of present fears.  So, do we obsess over these dystopian and scary futures because we believe they will never happen to us?  Or do we obsess over them because we are trying to indirectly release our fears and let them be known?

Grade 12: Gender

This unit includes a variety of texts that focus on and challenge gender and gender roles.  These gender roles are not blatantly stated in every text, but the reader understands them because of social and historical contexts and stereotypes.  Even in this modern day, there are still underlying assumptions about what is masculine and what is feminine.  The two parents raising a genderless child are attempting to break down these stereotypes.  By not identifying their child as a boy or girl, they believe that they are giving their child total freedom to determine who they want to be.  “The Genderbread Person” also shows how our preconceived ideas about gender may not be as clear as we thought.  The diagram shows that sexuality, attraction, and gender can all affect how we perceive others and how they perceive themselves. 

Similarly, the Chevy commercial and The New York Times article show traditional stereotypes about gender and sexuality.  In the commercial, the other men in the car scoot away from their friend because he is singing “Man, I Feel Like a Woman.”  Even though the man is only singing a song, his friends look at each other questioningly and move away from him, implying that they are uncomfortable around him because he is not acting “masculine.”  The viewer may interpret the reactions of the other men as homophobic based on ideas that society has put in our head. The New York Times article addresses the issue of feminism in our modern world.  Sheryl Sandberg has very strong and somewhat controversial ideas about a feminist revolution.  She points out many of the reasons women are viewed differently.  She also advocates for a new wave of self-awareness for women.  Like the Chevy commercial, Sandberg also wants to break down the stereotypes that society has enforced over the years.

“The Wife of Bath” was a very interesting poem, especially for the time period.  The representation of women in this poem is different from what I would have assumed it would have been in 1387.  Women seemed to be the dominant characters in control in this poem.  However, the women still speak to the men as if they are inferior to them.  They speak to them respectfully, but the reader can tell that the queen and the old woman are really controlling the situations and ‘calling the shots.’  This text was written much earlier than any of the others, so it surprised me that the men were not completely in control. 

Unlike most of the other texts, the scene from Footloose and the song “Holding Out for a Hero” reinforce typical, clichéd gender roles.  The song and scene work very well together to show a stereotyped representation of masculine men.  Kevin Bacon and the other boy on the tractor seem to be competing in order to assert their masculinity and bravery.  One can almost imagine the two boys on the tractors as knights on horses charging towards one another.  There is a girl in the middle of the two tractors, cheering for them, watching to see which will prove themselves the nobler.  The song also seems to suggest that women are waiting around for a strong and fit hero.  Though neither the video nor the song suggest that women are weak, they do seem to imply that men must prove themselves to women through bravery, strength, and competition with other men.

            Although gender seems to be an overarching theme for these texts, they all seem to take different, more specific directions.  The different modes and formats also help to show different ideas about gender roles.  All of the texts except for the Footloose scene and the song seem to challenge the stereotypes that surround masculinity and femininity.