Blog 6

This week I felt like bringing a feminist lens to the TV show “The Price is Right”.
I must bring up the point that in America we all have either seen or heard of the reality game show “The Price is Right”. Back in the day it was hosted by a man named Bob Barker, and he did a fine job to say the least and now a days, the show is the same but with a different host, yet the host is still male like the previous, and all the prizes are presented by females just like they were when the show first aired November 26, 1956 on NBC. Recently, I flipped through the channels on the TV and I came across a childhood favorite TV show of mine, “The Price is Right”. However, this time as I watched the overly cheerily contestants push in their estimated price to see if they would be the next winner, I noticed how awkward the females who showcased the prizes were dressed and I found that the way they were smiling was quite odd it was like someone plastered a smile on their face, I mean after the show those girls probably couldn’t smile for a week. As I watched I began wondering if other people noticed how awkward these women looked or if people found this attractive. I wondered if women in a non-westernized culture would be pleased by these American women's behavior or if they would be dismayed by it. By having the most “beautiful models “show casing material goods what are we as Americans saying about our women? Why aren’t there any male models, showcasing the prizes wearing scantily clad outfits with a plastered smile on their face? Why has the show followed the same protocol since the 5os’ of having a male host and female models show case the prizes? All of these questions are pointed at one direction, we as a nation need to question the motives behind the things we watch, read, and listen too. From a feminist lens the TV show The Price is Right is skewed quite a bit. As a critique towards the producers of the show, I would say that they need to re-evaluate their reasons for running the show the way they do… they need to update it with a less demeaning message towards women and perhaps they could have male’s show case the prizes, just a thought.

Blog 5

In the day to day adventures that each of us has, it can be difficult to remember the strength each person has to change the world for the better. Last night I was reminded of the power we have to change actions for the betterment of society, by watching the independent movie called Food INC. This movie was about the hidden truths of the food we eat and how we can change the destiny of what we support by the food we choose to consume. Pretty much in a nut shell this movie cut to the core facts about how the food we eat is being produced by 12 companies in America, and these companies are doing highly unethical things with the products they produce, which are ultimately making us sick. But since they are hiding the way they make our food we don’t know and are virtually helpless towards them since many of us are uneducated about where are food comes from. However, you may be asking how this applies to feminism; well I will further explain the linkage. In the movie there is a scene were Wal-Mart representatives go to a small wholesome farm that is run by a woman. This woman greets them and then tells them on camera that she has never been into a Wal-Mart in her life and proceeds to say that she has been boycotting Wal-Mart ever since the first day, due to her beliefs. The faces on the representatives were priceless. Now this small act from this woman was extremely powerful because she posed the question to the representatives, “why would she not want to shop at Wal-Mart?” which is the type of action that creates change. Ultimate, as a feminist, a Christian, Buddhist, or whatever you are you hold the power of change, which is what can make the world better or worse. Will you choose to take action in positive change or negative change? That is the question I pose this week.

Blog 4

Last week a South African runner named Caster Semenya was the headline story for newspapers around the world. The controversy that called her into the for front of every newsstand was that she had both male and female sexual characteristics and since that was the case her recent championship win was in question. She recently competed in the IAAF World Track and Field Championships and completed the race with a stunning time that put all the women on the field out of contention for first place. This win brought up the question was it possible that she was actually a male. In other words they ended up giving her a gender test and the results determined that she does have internal testes and no uterus or ovaries.(Fox News, 2009)This brings up the ideas of what type of measures are we using to differentiate between sex and gender? Clearly there is a fine line between categorizing a person as either male or female since biological factors come into play. For example, lets say that I was raised a woman from birth, yet I had a hormonal imbalance which caused me to have much more testosterone that the average woman, what may society call me a woman since I was raised as one or a male because I look like one? These matters of gender and sex are delicate and should be handed in a respectful way. Overall, in this particular case I believe that it should have been handled behind curtains and not so disrespectfully towards the runner. So, next time there is a matter like this that comes up in the news just think to yourself how you would like to be treated if that you were you ?







Idea taken from fox news cited in the 9-11-09 fox news report
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,549021,00.html?loomia_ow=t0:s0:a16:g4:r2:c0.000000:b-2:z0

Blog 3

Knowledge is one of the key elements in acquiring a constructive balanced life. In our present society knowledge is power and it is crucial in understanding how different ideals work. Now, I would credit feminists under a light that states that most feminist are exemplary females who are humanists, power houses,and innovators. But, today I watched a video on You-Tube called “This is what a Feminist Looks Like.” I found this to be a wonderful eye opener because this video show that a feminist can be either male or female and is not an angry person who is a man hater. It defines and outlines what a feminist stands for. The video “This is What a Feminist Looks Like” declared how many feminist women feel about a feminism and it showed what type of belief system feminists were a part of. In general the women and men in the movie stated that a feminist is, “ social equality for women…a humanist, a smart, beautiful, fearless, strong, kind, intelligent, invincible, active, empowering, individual, cool, and funny, but most of all a feminist is a person who fights for equality for all people.”(http://www.youtube.com/) With these definitions in mind, I realize how important a fundamental understanding over the topic of feminism is in obtaining knowledge and a general comprehension of what is happening around you in the twenty-first century. Overall, feminism is a huge part of the dynamics of today’s society. Feminists today have more knowledge at their finger tips than ever and are using their knowledge towards producing media (through means of You-tube and other sites) for the masses in hopes to inspire others about what feminism is and what a feminist truly looks like.

Works Cited
Lynda Burnstyn and Cathee Weiss,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YA13GNT8Mc&feature=related

Blog 2

This past week I found myself waiting in line at a local grocery store. You know the typical, doing a double take on the food items in your cart making sure you have everything and once your done doing that you take a look around at other people then you peruse briefly at the magazines. Usually, when I choose a magazine to look at I choose a cooking magazine but this time, on this particular night, I could not help but see a magazine cover with the words Celebrity Cellulite. The cover had pictures of celebrity “women” in swimsuits highlighting their cellulite. My first thought was, humm how interesting only women on the cover, not one man, and secondly I was completely repulsed by the whole matter. I was repulsed for a couple reasons, number one it was degrading towards the female race, even if the magazines intent was to show real non –celebrity women that we are all the same because they have cellulite and we do too it is still degrading towards women. Secondly, that type of news flash is not-productive, I mean common its not like we didn’t know that women are genetically designed differently than man, cellulite just comes with the package and whose to say that its bad! Lastly, this type of magazine just reinforces the ideology that women need to look perfect and by perfect our culture wants flawless women with no cellulite and the Barbie figure, well that’s just not possible or the way things were suppose to be. More people in our culture should take the pro- healthy and pro-not perfect stance on women and men. We should embrace our cellulite and focus on cultivating a beautiful inside instead of a beautiful non- realistic butt with no cellulite.