Video Vixen

The video in class today about Korrine Steffans really intrigued me.  I went home and youtubed more of her video's and in all of them she is a respectful, well spoken, nice person.  Which really isn't what you'd expect from someone who seems to be "whoring themselves out" for money.  Even though being a prostitute wasn't her title it seems to me it's pretty much the same idea.  Now whether it's right or wrong is an individual decision but it really just struck me as suprising how intelligent and calm she was during all the interviews.  It just seemed like for a woman who has been through, ok no...put herself through all she has she really has her head on straight.  I also think it's kind of refreshing that she somewhat fearlessly called out all the big shots that she did because it was bound to happen sometime and now she's just making her living off of it! Part of me disagrees with everything she represents and the other part of me is thinking you go girl! :)

diversity

in class today there was a heated discussion about diversity on our campus.  It is just my personal opinion that our campus is diverse and open to people of every race, religion, and background.  Organizations on campus, I admit, may be questionable.  For instance, someone in class brought up a good point about fraternities and sororities not accepting people of other races, in my opinion this for the most part is a true statement.  I was in a sorority (I am not anymore)  and there was only one African American girl in our entire sorority.  And as far as outside of my sorority I only know of maybe 2 African American girls in other sororities that are predominantly white.  But, this could be for more than one reason.  One reason might be because these predominantly white organizations aren't accepting of people from other races, or it could be because there are fraternities and sororities that are predominantly African American, there's some that are Indian and Asian as well.  So maybe for the majority of cases the students who are wanting to be involved with these organizations show more interest in ones whose members are predominantly their same race.  I'm sure it's not that way for all cases, as brought up in class, but I know come Indian students in the Indian fraternity on campus that happily chose to be apart of that organization.  I also know many asian girls in sororities that would be seen as predominantly white.  So I'm not so sure that for the most part it is a racial discrimination issue.  But on the other side of the argument I could be just being naive.  I have always been, however, a very dark skinned white person and when I was younger I was teased about it a lot because I was darker than some of the African American students in my class.  And all my life I have gotten questions about my race and the "what are you" question.  I know this isn't the same level that some people experience things on but it's something and I sometimes feel that African Americans are so used to people discriminating ( and rightfully so) that even when it's not the intention they take it as something negative.  For instance, in advertisements ( like the one brought up in class) if there are African American's in the ad it must be stereotyped but if there wasn't African American's in the ad and the ad was full of white people I'm sure many people people would have problems with that too.  Sometimes is just a lose lose situation.  

women's sports video

I'm going to admit I have always kind of thought of female athletes as masculine and after this week in class I'm not sure why.  It was very cool to see how in today's world females are more widely accepted and respected as athletes.  Sports are becoming not so male dominated and it's a step in the right direction.  It's actually very unfair how male athletes are put up on this pedestal while female athletes are often not respected for the hard work they put in and if they are they are viewed as masculine.  It's like you can't be feminine and great at a sport, if your great at a sport that somehow makes women less feminine.  I have also come to realize that it depends on the sport.  For example, female tennis players are going to be viewed as more feminine than female basketball players. Whether it's the outfits, the sport itself, or some other reason for this difference in views I'm not sure, but it is obvious that different sports are viewed differently.  

spring!

So spring break has come and gone...I can't believe the semester is flying by...Our midterm is due this week and I just about finished it and found some really good you tube clips to go with it. I chose to write about body image and how it is defined and affects people differently. Hopefully it turns out well. Well it was nice to have a week off to relax and unwind and now its time to start up again:)

Hair

I absolutely loved the guest speaker we had this week. She is a hair stylist in town and was very entertaining to listen to. I have gotten my hair done since the beginning of high school. I don't look at it as cosmetic surgery because to me its not as permanent or serious. There's a difference to me between getting a face lift and getting my hair highlighted. But anyways, I really enjoyed hearing her stories and how passionate she was about hair. I think hair is such a fun way to express ones self.

Fat in a thin world

This week in class we had a woman come and speak about her experience being overweight in a society that puts such emphasis on how we look and how skinny we are. I first think it was very brave of her to speak in public about her experience and struggles. I truly believe that it is very difficult for many overweight people to lose weight. Many aren't educated about nutrition and helpful workouts that will show them results. And many aren't patient enough to stick with something when they don't see results right away. I think, after hearing her speak, that if a person has tried every other way to get healthy and still can't seem to achieve their goals then weightloss surgery may be something they could consider.

Advertising...

We see hundreds, possibly even thousands, of advertisements each day and yet most people still think they are not effected by such things.  This week I got the pleasure to watch Still Killing Us Softly 3.  While watching this movie it was scary how the media have advertising down to an art.  It's a science...exactly who and when and what they want their product directed toward.  It's creepy when you actually think about it.  I find myself being one of those people who doesn't think much about advertisements, and usually I don't find myself paying much attention to them (or at least I don't think so...).  But the truth is advertisements probably effect us all a lot more than we think.  There was one clip of an ad that I found to be very disturbing.  It was an older Calvin Klein ad for jeans and it was supposed to resemble child pornography.  The commercial was a young girl standing in front of a camera in what looked like garage or something.  The strange man behind the camera then told the girl she should take off her pants.  It was such a horrible thing to take such a disgusting subject and horrible thing that happens to young children and make it into an advertisement for jeans.  I just couldn't believe that.