What is this world coming to when it comes to women appearances! The media is infecting the younger generation of girls minds with impossible to reach standards. Much of the media expects women to have the “perfect” figure. But what is the perfect body? The media expects women to have to body measurements 36- 24- 36 which to me is usually unrealistic. These measurements are often said in songs or there are pictures of air brushed models in magazines that just look so unrealistic. Many women are becoming brain washed by the media that the “Perfect Women” is possible and attainable. I’m sure many have heard of the Barbie Doll example; this is one of the ways the media has brain washed many younger girls into believing this figure is realistic. If you took the measurements of Barbie she would be over 7 feet tall and would weigh 125 pounds and would have the shape of 32-20-42, now how is that possible? She wouldn’t be able to live because there would be no room for her insides.
Many women suffer from low self-esteem because of the pressure to have the “perfect” body which is why many women are going under the knife and getting plastic surgery since it is impossible to achieve the perfect body on your own. Many people become obsessed with plastic surgery, now that they know they can change one thing, they want to start changing all of the other imperfect parts on their bodies. For example the star from the reality TV show “The Hills” Heidi Montag had 10 plastic surgery procedures done on her in one day and this isn’t the first time she has ever had plastic surgery either. Here are the pictures of her before any surgery, after a few, and then what she looks like now after 10 surgeries.
http://images.fox.com.au/2010/01/20/332588/heidi-montag-plastic-surgery-10-photos.jpg
They are changing their identity or even losing it, they are no longer a natural human being. She has been bitten and now infected with the media’s view of the perfect body and lost her true identity. Even in the “Vampire Lectures” a part where Tony read in class Rickels says “bathed in blood in order to appear more beautiful” even in the book the look of the vampires matter?
This whole concept is very sociologically fascinating because it is crazy to think of what our world is coming to. I don’t understand why it is just the women that are targeted in the media. I mean of course I could see how if a guy isn’t buff enough or have a six pack of abs he might feel pressure. But I’m sure if a magazine could chose between a woman celebrity gaining a few pounds (and maybe actually look healthy) to a male celebrity losing his six pack of abs; I’m sure the woman would get the most press. I’m sure if you ask a group of males if they would want to trade to the opposite sex they would say “no,” honestly sometime the pressure of looking skinny makes me wonder if the life being a guy has this much pressure? Which someday I would like to know if the majority of the male sex has as much media pressure of looking good as much as the girls do.
In the lecture the other day I was looking threw the notes that Kacie took and I noticed where she said “In this day and age, in early 2010, what are our phantoms? What haunts us? Is it still the vampire?” I can’t remember if the author or a classmate asked this, but I think it is interesting. In my opinion, I would actually answer that this day and age that the media haunts us. Many people focus so much of their time to fitting in with the people around them appearance wise and socially. And a lot of the times we hide behind technology to communicate with our fellow human beings. Or in some ways we hide behind plastic surgery, on the outside it isn’t really us, it is the surgeons work or you might say their “art.” The only true part of us is in the inside unless we become infected by the parasite called the media. But as the time goes on people are starting to realize that appearance isn’t everything and finally figuring out that “The Perfect Woman” is unrealistic. The dove commercial is a pushing to turn this world back around and showing “The Real Woman.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYhCn0jf46U
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Love, Love, Love.
What does love mean? There is no specific definition for love; every person has a different idea of what it means. Since last Sunday was Valentines, the most romantic day of the year, it made me start to think about what love really means. There are two different types of love; you either love the person or you are in love with the person. For example, I love my friends and my family, but I am not IN LOVE with them. Saying those three little words “I Love You” means to so much in a relationship, but why or how did that even start? Obviously we know why it means so much because in my opinion that is pretty much saying that they will do anything for you, put your happiness before them in life, and that they can’t live without you. When someone says that little phrase is a big step in a relationship because it is hard thing to say and to be sure about it. You also worry about how your partner is going to react or how they feel about you.
The other day we were talking about love and the difference between the meaning of receiving a hand written letter or a letter written in email. This was an interesting topic because there were legit points from both sides of the argument. On the side where some of the classmates think it is cuter or more meaningful to receive a hand written letter had a good point on the amount of time it would take that person to hand write it, think about what to write, put it in an envelope, find a stamp, and mail it. Comparing that to someone writing an email because all they really would have to do is think about what to say, type it, and push send. I feel like writing an email to someone is like taking the easy way out because it is less effort; for example you have spell check on email, but you actually have to think about your grammar when you’re writing the letter. Just think on Valentine’s Day you log into your email and open up an inbox from your lover who sent you a Valentine’s Day card they found on the internet, how you respond to that? Or let’s say on Valentine’s Day you open your mailbox in your driveway and you receive a hand written Valentine’s Day card from your boyfriend/girlfriend, how would you respond to that? If I had to chose from that situation which one I would want, I would definitely chose the handwritten Valentine’s Day card instead of the email card because I would feel like they thought more about it and maybe thought about which one I would like better.
On the other hand though the classmates who were on the side where it doesn’t matter if its hand written or emailed had valid points as well. I really like the point where one of the classmates said that it shouldn’t matter how or what you receive something it should only matter who it is from. Why should you care if someone you loved or cared about gave you flowers instead of jewelry, if it’s from someone you care about it shouldn’t matter what they give you because whatever they give you is special. Back to the email and hand written letter conflict; either way you receive the letter/email it is still their words, their feelings, and their thoughts put into it, so it shouldn’t matter how you receive it.
Love is an interesting word and can be taken as so many different ways. I think love stands for a lot of different things and there are a lot of words that people use that are right below the meaning of love. Some of the words could be: lust, infatuation, affection, etc. I feel like these words are the first glance, the gut reaction for when you see this person or thing, you might have sudden lust for someone or be infatuated by someone but it takes time to for love to develop. I don’t believe in this love at first sight sort of thing, you might be suddenly attracted to this person and feel a sudden spark, but I don’t believe you can love someone right when you meet them. Love works in mysterious ways and you never know when it’s going to come and bite you. Someday we will all become infected with love and it will change our lives!
The other day we were talking about love and the difference between the meaning of receiving a hand written letter or a letter written in email. This was an interesting topic because there were legit points from both sides of the argument. On the side where some of the classmates think it is cuter or more meaningful to receive a hand written letter had a good point on the amount of time it would take that person to hand write it, think about what to write, put it in an envelope, find a stamp, and mail it. Comparing that to someone writing an email because all they really would have to do is think about what to say, type it, and push send. I feel like writing an email to someone is like taking the easy way out because it is less effort; for example you have spell check on email, but you actually have to think about your grammar when you’re writing the letter. Just think on Valentine’s Day you log into your email and open up an inbox from your lover who sent you a Valentine’s Day card they found on the internet, how you respond to that? Or let’s say on Valentine’s Day you open your mailbox in your driveway and you receive a hand written Valentine’s Day card from your boyfriend/girlfriend, how would you respond to that? If I had to chose from that situation which one I would want, I would definitely chose the handwritten Valentine’s Day card instead of the email card because I would feel like they thought more about it and maybe thought about which one I would like better.
On the other hand though the classmates who were on the side where it doesn’t matter if its hand written or emailed had valid points as well. I really like the point where one of the classmates said that it shouldn’t matter how or what you receive something it should only matter who it is from. Why should you care if someone you loved or cared about gave you flowers instead of jewelry, if it’s from someone you care about it shouldn’t matter what they give you because whatever they give you is special. Back to the email and hand written letter conflict; either way you receive the letter/email it is still their words, their feelings, and their thoughts put into it, so it shouldn’t matter how you receive it.
Love is an interesting word and can be taken as so many different ways. I think love stands for a lot of different things and there are a lot of words that people use that are right below the meaning of love. Some of the words could be: lust, infatuation, affection, etc. I feel like these words are the first glance, the gut reaction for when you see this person or thing, you might have sudden lust for someone or be infatuated by someone but it takes time to for love to develop. I don’t believe in this love at first sight sort of thing, you might be suddenly attracted to this person and feel a sudden spark, but I don’t believe you can love someone right when you meet them. Love works in mysterious ways and you never know when it’s going to come and bite you. Someday we will all become infected with love and it will change our lives!
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Infectious Vampires
The thought of vampires have always made me quiver. Even though I know vampires don’t exist, it is just creepy that you might think someone is a normal human being, but then out of the blue they bite your neck. You all know what a vampire is, but I am going to define it anyways it is a corpse that rises at night to drink blood of the living. Usually in movies the vampires are thought of to be the evil villain. If the living person is bitten by the vampire they either die or become infected with the “venom” and become a vampire. The reason I abbreviated venom is because I don’t actually know if that is what makes people turn into vampires or not. The only source if received information about how normal human beings turn into vampires is from the Twilight series.
The other day when we were watching Dracula in class and Dracula the vampire reminded me of a parasite. He would infect a normal human by biting their necks creating another “parasite,” a vampire, which then they would bite another human and create another parasite and so on. Just like in the book “The Parasite” written by Michel Serres, he talks about the continuation of the creation of parasites, they are everywhere. Serres says “Parasitism is the name most often given to these numerous and diverse activities.” In the movie the doctor is continually trying to prevent this reproduction from happening. He would be the interruption in this movie because he continues to interrupt Dracula from his work. There are many interruptions that can happen throughout your life, in movies, when writing, etc.
On the other hand, there are some good vampires out in the fantasy world for example Edward from the Twilight series. I’m sure everyone has heard about Twilight even if you don’t like them, it is everywhere and the main characters Edward (Robert Pattinson), Bella (Kristen Stewart), and Jacob (Taylor Lautner). I will give you a little idea of what the books are all about if you haven’t heard of them yet; Edward is a vampire, Bella is a normal human being, and Jacob is a werewolf. Edward and Bella are deeply in love they believe they are each other’s soul mates, but Jacob is in love with Bella which makes things difficult when Bella figures out she loves Jacob too. Bella wants to become infected with Edwards’s venom and become a vampire just like him. But Jacob becomes the interruption with Bella when she is trying to convert. When Edward finally bites into Bella she officially turns into a vampire and is able to infect more normal human beings if wanted to. As Serres puts it “the parasited one parasites the parasites, (13)” Edward “the parasite” infects or parasites Bella.
I think Bella could relate to the one-way relationship Serres explains. She doesn’t really think of others when wanting to be converted to a vampire because that is the only way she can see her life is as a vampire and no other way. She doesn’t really think of others and how they are going to feel for example her dad, mom, or Jacob. With her experience when becoming a vampire she didn’t really have to deal with others not having to deal with the intersubjective relationship.
Even in real life the reader becomes infected with these books, I personally am. It seems that once you start the book you can’t put it down and then you want to read the next book, then the next and then the final book. I didn’t start reading the book until after the first movie came out “Twilight,” my two best friends were obsessed or you can say “infected” the infatuation of true love. I didn’t understand what the whole fuss was about with all of the teenage girls in the world, so I began to read them to find out why so many people were crazy about these books. Now I understand why everyone is crazy and I too am now infected with the romance and two people who are in love, but shouldn’t be together.
YouTube - Twilight - Official Trailer [HD]
I would also relate this movie as a whole to a parasite because it has infected so many people’s lives and show writers can sense that. This is why you see so many new shows and some movies about vampires these days because Twilight became so popular. But I must give credit to Dracula for starting out this vampire craze in people throughout the world.
The other day when we were watching Dracula in class and Dracula the vampire reminded me of a parasite. He would infect a normal human by biting their necks creating another “parasite,” a vampire, which then they would bite another human and create another parasite and so on. Just like in the book “The Parasite” written by Michel Serres, he talks about the continuation of the creation of parasites, they are everywhere. Serres says “Parasitism is the name most often given to these numerous and diverse activities.” In the movie the doctor is continually trying to prevent this reproduction from happening. He would be the interruption in this movie because he continues to interrupt Dracula from his work. There are many interruptions that can happen throughout your life, in movies, when writing, etc.
On the other hand, there are some good vampires out in the fantasy world for example Edward from the Twilight series. I’m sure everyone has heard about Twilight even if you don’t like them, it is everywhere and the main characters Edward (Robert Pattinson), Bella (Kristen Stewart), and Jacob (Taylor Lautner). I will give you a little idea of what the books are all about if you haven’t heard of them yet; Edward is a vampire, Bella is a normal human being, and Jacob is a werewolf. Edward and Bella are deeply in love they believe they are each other’s soul mates, but Jacob is in love with Bella which makes things difficult when Bella figures out she loves Jacob too. Bella wants to become infected with Edwards’s venom and become a vampire just like him. But Jacob becomes the interruption with Bella when she is trying to convert. When Edward finally bites into Bella she officially turns into a vampire and is able to infect more normal human beings if wanted to. As Serres puts it “the parasited one parasites the parasites, (13)” Edward “the parasite” infects or parasites Bella.
I think Bella could relate to the one-way relationship Serres explains. She doesn’t really think of others when wanting to be converted to a vampire because that is the only way she can see her life is as a vampire and no other way. She doesn’t really think of others and how they are going to feel for example her dad, mom, or Jacob. With her experience when becoming a vampire she didn’t really have to deal with others not having to deal with the intersubjective relationship.
Even in real life the reader becomes infected with these books, I personally am. It seems that once you start the book you can’t put it down and then you want to read the next book, then the next and then the final book. I didn’t start reading the book until after the first movie came out “Twilight,” my two best friends were obsessed or you can say “infected” the infatuation of true love. I didn’t understand what the whole fuss was about with all of the teenage girls in the world, so I began to read them to find out why so many people were crazy about these books. Now I understand why everyone is crazy and I too am now infected with the romance and two people who are in love, but shouldn’t be together.
YouTube - Twilight - Official Trailer [HD]
I would also relate this movie as a whole to a parasite because it has infected so many people’s lives and show writers can sense that. This is why you see so many new shows and some movies about vampires these days because Twilight became so popular. But I must give credit to Dracula for starting out this vampire craze in people throughout the world.
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