Pop Culture Gone Wild

I read "Pop Culture Gone Wild" and I really like the style of writing. The author was very convincing.. it was a serious article, yet she wrote it almost as if she was having a conversation and it was laid back. The contradictions were all interesting, some of which we've talked about it class and some that we haven't and I can definitely relate them to previous experiences I've had.

A few of the Contradictions I've seen: "Be a Virgin... but be Sexy," "Be a lesbian.. Who likes men," "Be available... but Unattainable."Those are the most obvious I've seen in today's society.

"Be a Virgin... but be Sexy.” So you’re supposed to know how to be sexy, and how to tease, and how to have sex, but you better not! Guys are allowed to constantly beg and plead and try to manipulate you to have sex with them by lying and then if you do your “used and old news.” I saw that happen to so many girls in middle school. And then they were lost, because what did they do from there…?... have sex more to feel that empty lot of attention that they were getting before, when they were special because they were still a virgin.

"Be a lesbian… Who likes Men.” I’ve seen this present in porn and party situations. Well I haven’t honestly watched girl on girl porn but I know that there is a lot of porn that adds extra girls into situations. And they’re supposed to “mess around” but yet be with the guy too. So they’re supposed to represent lesbians but not actually be true lesbians. Or at parties guys will say they’ll make out with their guys friends if they girls will make out with their girl friends… which is totally just persuasion because the guys never follow through with it.

"Be available... but Unattainable." This one is different in that is isn’t only for girls. The game of “play hard to get” is pretty common among all age groups but is confusing. You never know exactly what’s going on when you’re playing it and if you’re even playing yourself? I think this is a combination of not wanting to be too vulnerable and the society representations of being “to easy of a catch.” But it’s confusing!! Are we supposed to be available or not?

Those are just some thoughts I have on them…

My Essay

My Essay was on the reading "Man" by Alex Kuczynski . The article was very interesting. It was about the change in female gender since feminism. Females tend to be more forward with romantic and sexual things than they used to be. A while ago, women weren't even supposed to call people on the phone. Present day; there's pretty much nothing holding us back from anything socially. Because women have gotten more equality in circumstances such as education and athletics they feel more empowered to have equality in other parts of their life. This is being applied to younger generations as well and causing more forwardness and promiscuity. That's Kuczynski's belief but I don't see a direct connection. I definately see a connection in feminism encouraging women to be more dominant sexually but I don't think that is directly why. Generations ago, women wouldn't do that because it was part of their "gender role" but feminism caused their gender role to change which in turn caused behavior change. He also mentions the media, which I think definately is directly causing the forwardness in women.

Gendered Objects

We all brought in our gendered objects on Thursday and I thought that was fun and interesting. The assignment was to bring something in that reminded us of either the female or male gender. Alot of us brought in things that we thought were more gender oriented than they actually are. Instead of being just for one gender, for example a bra, they could be used by both genders, and could be differentiated by color or smell. For example, some of us brought in chapstick or nailpolish for the female gender. Some males do use chapstick and nailpolish but in more neutral/natural colors, flavors and smells. Another thing I found interesteing was a conversation I had between me and a couple people in my area. Andy said that he had forgot to bring something in on Thursday because he had brought it originally on Tuesday. I looked at him and saw that he had a purse, and said, " yes you do, you have a purse." So whereas I saw that as a female gendered item he saw it as a unisex item. Everyone has their own perspective on what's female and male things. And also men used to wear purses so maybe it'll come back in! Gender roles in society are obviously constantly changing.