There are many videos on youtube criticizing the methods of advertisement industries and their portrayals of woman. They all try to show the sexuality that is prevalent through the media, and the effect it has on the audience. One video in particular chose a set of provocative, but demeaning advertisements, and coupled them with statistics about sexual assault. After several of these, a quote by Oscar Wilde appears on screen, stating “Life imitates art far more than art imitates life.” This quote totally changes the viewers perspective on everything they just saw. At first you saw the add portraying two pale, gaunt young women with heavy black eye makeup, dressed in fancy stylish dresses, snorting lines of white powder that has been arranged in the form of a cute tank-top, and you think “it is disgusting that advertisements take advantage of that culture to sell clothes.” But after reading Oscars quote, you start to wonder how much of that culture exists because of advertisements that glorify it. how do we separate the two? Is it possible to tell weather culture is influenced more by the adds we see, or if the adds we see are influenced more by culture? There are two adds depicted which both portray women with bodies that are simply physically impossible (one depicted above). One shows nothing more than a topples anorexic photographed from the back, with her fingers wrapping around her stomach and appearing on the left side of her spine, caressing the bones which shoot through her back. The only thing visible in the background is a toilet bowl, and she appears to be sitting on the ground. The word, obsession is printed at the top, and “for women” at the bottom. While I imagine this must be sexy to someone, to me it appears disgusting. Are these ads imitating what society has deemed appealing, or are they telling society what should be appealing. Do most people who view it think the same thing I did. “Well that’s kinda gross, but she must be sexy because it’s on an advertisement.” do we actually develop attraction for our selves, or does society just make the decision for us?

Men and Women Cant be friends... Or Can They?

In the video why men and women cant be friends, two young film makers set out to answer the question can men and women really be just friends. The do this by interviewing people at the Utah state university library. The video starts off with the interviewer asking several attractive young women if men and women can be just friends. They all confidently answer yes, and the film soon switches to a series of men struggling with they question. Some of them giggle or scoff, some of them attempt to rationalize there feelings, but the answer they give is ultimately no. The general consensus amongst them men was that they can not control who they are attracted to, and while their behavior may remain friendly, they’re desires do not. Out of the fellows interviewed, one seemed to really convey the point well, in both language and tone. He explains,” I mean were all men, so of cores were going to have those feelings... And we can be content with just friendship… and we can be silent, regarding those feelings, but were gonna have them.” The long pauses between phases, His uncomfortable mannerisms, and the matter-of-factness in his voice all perfectly represent the essence of how it feels to hide intimate feelings for a good friend. The discrepancy in answers between men and woman first appears to point to the conclusion that women like to believe their male friends have the best intentions, and the girls underestimate their true feelings. The interviewer then begins to ask the girls if they have ay close guy friends right now, and if they think he is interested in them romantically, or at least would take advantage of an opportunity to sleep with them. Most of the girls barely miss a beat before saying, “well… yeah”, or “of cores.” They are not at all disillusioned to the fact that their male “friends” desire them sexually, they just have learned to put up with it. ‘learned to put up with it’ is not really accurate. For they do not view it as a burden or as strange, that is simply built into their understanding of friendship with a man. The true difference is that men and women seem to view the concept of “friendship” with someone from the opposite sex as differently. For men, intimate feelings change the nature of the relationship: a world of repressed love and suffering in silence does not equate to friendship. But for women, the two are not mutually exclusive. Maybe it is because for the average women, most of her male friends want the relationship to be intimate, and if she were to reject every one of their friendships, she would have no male friends, and this causes the two concepts to blend together in her psyche. Women and men simply understand the meaning of friendship differently. What do you think, can men and women be friends?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_lh5fR4DMA

Progress for Transgenders in Modern-day Contexts

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Po7MRrRsIYY

Although many people think of races as minorities in populations today, they fail to realize that gender too is another area in which minorities fight to become recognized as groups that deserve equal rights. In Nepal, according to this video, the momentous decision of including a third option under gender categories that people can select for the national census has been made. This step forward for gender minorities indicates that, due to the recent movements involving LGBTQ's, the presence of these gender minorities has become known to the extent where countries are officially recognizing them as a unique group of people. The widespread acknowledgement of transgenders or those who are intersexes educates citizens further about the existence of these populations. At the same time, the government's recognition and acceptance of the populations will eventually lead to the same acceptance among the people of the nation.

Gender Roles and Kids

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWc1e3Nbc2g

I recently found this video on Youtube questioning kids and what they think about boys and girls, their own identity in regards to gender, etc. It's kind of disturbing to realize that, at such a young age, people's ideas about gender are already being established. At the same time, it also reveals how vulnerable we are to accepting gender roles the way they are, because as children, I think most would only question how things work and not the reasons behind the reinforcement of such social standards. Having such beliefs set in at an early age would only make it more difficult later on to change them. As of now, changing the way we raise the members of our future generation would be difficult, but allowing them to realize that they have the ability to change such traditional ways of thinking would permit more room for them to develop their own ideas about gender roles in the near future.

The Life of a Model

When you watch something such as the Victoria's Secret fashion show, it's quite apparent that these are a group of the most beautiful women in the world. The other question, however, is can anyone be that naturally "perfect," or not. Well, apparently not.

Starting 3 months before the Victoria's Secret fashion show, the models must go on a fruits and vegetables "only" diet. Starting 3 days before the show, they go on a liquids "only" diet, and for a full 24 hours before the actual show, they are not allowed to consume any food or liquids at all.

So, clearly this does not seem healthy. However, does it make it socially acceptable for these women to go on such scary diet's when they're getting paid to do so? They are getting paid to look beautiful, and go through the necessary steps to accomplish that goal. However, something still just seems very twisted about the whole situation to me.

Vagina Dentata

Understanding Vagina Dentata.flv