This weekend I vanished into the forest of Nevada City, trekking up and down hills and singing camp songs with 5th graders also while performing goofy, improvised skits. I, along with the other 10-12 teen volunteers, had the duty of teaching these children science lessons not only about our beautiful lakefront environment, but also about science all around us! I had the fun (and slight stress in the beginning) of leading kids in water testing. Group to group, the kids varied when asked to participate. I was impressed that the majority of the kids had heard the terms we used in our lesson. When asked what they thought certain woulds meant, they were not afraid to make educated guesses based on the clues I gave them. My partner and I felt proud as the lesson came to an end because as we reviewed the four terms of our teachings (salinity, temperature, turbidity, and pH of water), every kid had their hand up to tell US what the words meant, what causes it, how we measured these in water, and what tools we used.
What I enjoyed most about my weekend was the grand escape from technology, media, and my day-to-day life. It was a blessing to have zero cell phone service. No one felt the obligation to check their phone every ten minutes to see what's happening in the world. Without the buzzing of phones, both the staff and the kid campers endured a period of genuinely living in the moment. We embraced the sunlight, the dirt, and the bugs. We laughed. We sang. We ate together. We entertained ourselves without the presence of screens! Children, the freest spirits, clasped their freedom without batteries powering their minds!
I was startled by one thing: the kids' phones. A few kids dared to carry their phones throughout the days. Most of them were excited to take pictures, but I was in awe that the devices were bigger than most of their heads! Before the buses departed, the kids exchanged instagram usernames with friends and staff they met along the trip. We're talking 10-11 year olds! WHAT?! Even though it is bizarre that kids these days have social media accounts as early as fifth grade, we should acknowledge that they are willing to keep connections through these accounts.
I appreciate your concern for my love life, but if you would so kindly shy away from advertising dating websites, I would dearly appreciate it. You are constantly interrupting my flow of music with your gnarly ads. I like that you offer ad-free listening, but I'd rather not waste my money. Particularly, I'm not a fan of your pop-up ads. "Interested in white guys ages 40-50?" No. "Single women around you, come check 'em out!" Yeah, no thanks. "View single black men, click here!" Honestly, thanks for your worries, but I pass up these options every time they come around! Maybe if the companies behind these social websites made the ads look less janky, then I wouldn't be as grossed out! Stop assuming that everyone is looking for romance.
Sincerely,
A Girl who doesn't need to date adults right now
Not my picture but a similar ad to what I have witnessed on Pandora
When I watched Peter Pan as a child, I didn't notice that Tink wore a teeny tiny green dress. I didn't notice that this dress hugged her hips and outlined her figure. I didn't notice that this dress was just inches below where her legs met her hips. Sometimes I noticed that she had tiny cotton ball looking things on the toes of her shoes. Sometimes I noticed that she was stubborn and did not like Wendy. Why would I have paid much attention to her dress when she is only three inches tall and lighting up rooms with her fairy magic? Why would I have cared about her body when the slightest sprinkle of her pixie dust could make ordinary people fly?
Faith, trust, and Pixie dust sex appeal is flashed before the eyes of young viewers.
The documentary Miss Representation examines this problem within our media called "sexualization." Rather our society is so accustomed to bringing out the "sexy" in characters, on billboards, or modeling our clothes that this problem has grown larger. It has become "over sexualization." Never had I thought before watching this film that female characters in G-Rated movies wear just as sexualized outfits as female characters in R-Rated movies. To prove this point, the film showed images from Disney classics: Tinker Bell, Jasmine, Ariel. The speakers compared the cartoon pictures of the young women flaunting their breasts and wearing revealing clothing to R-Rated women doing just the same thing.
Our society has okayed G-rated sex appeal because our media conveys that women are just here for the eyes of others. This is shown through everyday activities like watching the news. Female newscasters, hair primped and eyelashes batting, wear low-cut shirts and reveal their legs from beneath their tight skirts while their male counterparts look like ancient grandpas who have not bothered looking in the mirror before heading to work. Even when women run for congress or political campaigns, what is mentioned about their work first is not how well they presented this or how they did that, it is who wore it best, it is how her hair looked, it is how many wrinkles she has. Our media holds female beauty as an achievement. Women are not praised for their brains or accomplishments, they are praised by how well they look.
Even when a woman is feeling confident or is considered beautiful in the eyes of the media, she is still attacked by others, she is still the victim of our ruthless society. Miss Representation argued that women are natural enemies with the bodies our society puts on display. It was said that women spend more money on cosmetics than they spend on education. So-called "models" and cosmetics put men in the dominate position because women and young girls are so concerned with their image that they are willing to put beauty before anything else just to live up to society's ideals. Beauty in the media leads to self-objectification. Self-objectification leads to a lower GPA and lower cognitive functioning. Teens, whose brains are not fully developed until the early twenties, have the same stress, hormonal, and emotional levels as adults today. And to think that over sexualization is taught to us as early as the years of watching Tinker Bell fluter around in a tiny dress.
In Peter Pan it is said that "The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease for ever to be able to do it.” Our society teaches women that they cannot fly, and when women believe it, they never try. Why does Tinker Bell need to wear such a tiny dress? Oh of course, because she lives in Neverland with the lost boys, so doesn't that society, too, need to cater to horny teenage boys?
Rapper Trey Songz released the music video "Foreign" last June. The video can be praised for its cultural appreciation, for it shows many women of many skin colors. It is positive that he doesn't stick to the oh-so-typical shades of the media, yet he uses these women as props in his music video. The song is about how he "cop[s] that foreign" (women), so naturally he had to use a few women to express how he gets all the girls of all the national origins.
Of course this video has been viewed by teens! And of course it teaches teen viewers that if you are a male, you can get all the foreign women with the swipe of your credit card, no problem!
After we leave girl, you know where you going Straight to the 'tel, you ain't leaving 'till the morning Same old thing, yeah you know that shit's boring (that shit's boring) American you know I had to cop that foreign (cop that foreign) American you know I had to cop that foreign (She got on a bad bikini, when we in the Lamborghini) American you know I had to cop that foreign (She from another country, I brought her to the city with me) I know it's never boring American you know I had to cop that foreign Uh huh
These lyrics allow one to assume that when you leave a place with a girl, of course she's going to want to head back to your place without leaving "'till the morning."
The youth is not taught to appreciate foreigners for settling in our diverse country and making a new home, rather they are taught to "cop that foreign" and take advantage of those who are unfamiliar with their new settings.
This loop started with teens' sexual desires. The media played into teen temptations by showing them that you can "have" foreign women if American women are getting boring.
In fifteen years, I am optimistic that the media will have this diverse image of celebrating the different skin color beauty of women minus the objectifying part.
One reason I love Modcloth, aside from their colorful clothes and funky footwear, is their variety in models. This winter, the company stayed from photoshopping thin models to an unattainable thinner body shape. Instead, the clothing site used its own employees to add some shape and size to modeling.
These women didn't just display their confidence by wearing t-shirts or frilly skirts... These stars modeled swimsuits! This picture proves that any body type can rock a polka dot bikini!
It is important to pay tribute to all body types, especially those of women, because our media spends too much time telling us that we need to slim down to attain a "perfect body." If you google "perfect female body" your results will include:
AND
If you can't read the words in tiny print, they mention women and men's ideas of the "perfect female body"
How many people do you see in your day to day life who look this way?
When you look at these Victoria's Secret models (yes, they're gorgeous, and yes, it's somewhat empowering to feel sexy in your undergarments), you see a minute population! This is the group of long-legged, slim women who happen to be the models of "perfection" in our society. I am glad that our society praises this minority body type and respects the occasional interesting recessive gene traits, but the fact that it has been over-praised has grossly shaped our cultural views. Women feel dissatisfied with they bodies based on our ideas of how women should look. Such a handful of women look this way, yet such a great number of women feel oppressed by these taunting images.
It is important to see people of similar body types, skin tone, gender, and even background because it is truly inspirational to feel like you can connect to one based on their physical appearance. It is sad that we feel the need to judge the outward before the inward, but seeing people who remind us of us makes us bound to love or hate them. When we realize we love them, we feel uplifted and inspired by how much people like us have achieved.
We don't all look the same and we sure as heck won't all achieve the same things in life, but the more we take steps toward modeling like Modcloth, the more we can reshape our society into praising shape, size, skin, and gender.
I thank Pandora for exposing me to the one and only... LANA DEL REY! Years and years ago, the first song of hers that brought magic to my mind was Radio. Had it never popped up on my Pandora station, I would have never developed my love for this Coney Island Queen.
Born to Die. Paradise. Ultraviolence. These albums are just the basics! Thanks to YouTube I even know her unreleased songs as if I wrote them myself!
I am nearly peeing my pants over how excited I am to see her live in concert next week! I already know that I will wear my heart-shaped sunglasses, perhaps some blue jeans, and a white shirt or blue velvet! Although, a part of me is sad that when the concert is over, I will no longer feel like I am off to the races (I mean, I have other things to look forward to, but I will not be as ecstatic as I am now) and will be stuck with summertime sadness.
Tumblr has excited me this week, for I found footage of Miss Lizzy Grant (you're a real fan if you know her real name) singing a song that reminds me of the many times I watched Roger Rabbit growing up. This movie combines elements of cartoons and "real" people.
Now that I am older, I am realizing how Jessica Rabbit is used as a sex icon... Anyway, she sings the song "Do Right."
I heard this song many years later because my very Lana Del Bae performed it at one of her recent concerts, and I was lucky to hear her exquisite twist on the song through media gateways.
I love that I am able to somewhat keep up with her Endless Summer tour and give myself room to think of what songs she may sing when I see the young and beautiful star myself.
Ask yourself, when will be the next time I go on Netflix?
If you have answered this question, I assume you will be watching a movie or binging on a TV series within the next 24 hours. Good! This is the perfect time to watch Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt!
If you should know anything about this show before watching it, I must inform that Tina Fey (THE Tina Fey, let's not forget who wrote Mean Girls) is one of the writers. So naturally, you're in for a few snickers and maybe an ab workout depending on how hard you laugh.
I may be only two episodes into the series, but I already love the way the show breaks out the truth about the American society. What makes this show humorous is its honest portrayal of how Americans act in our media.
For example, check out this scene and tell me it doesn't remind you of our modern day newscasters.
Did you read the newsflash? Did you read all of it? Because you know, our society seems to have its vision constantly blurred by the spotlight of white people, naturally you could've missed the small script indicating that a "Hispanic woman [was] also found." (Very clever Tina!)
Even the theme song mocks the YouTube hit the Bed IntruderSong! Our society has giggled at the song but seems to forget that the man "singing" is belting out his anger toward the creep who attempted to rape his sister.
I don't know about you, but I think this is a slap in the face... (I still find it comical that the theme song makes fun of this video)
When asked why the one Hispanic woman, who was of the four cult victims, didn't learn a word of English the whole time she was locked up with three English-speaking women, a clever response rolled off her tongue in her native language:
I quite like her answer to this question, for it just goes to show how our society holds English speakers so high above our fellow neighbors and friends. I remember when Coke launched its Super Bowl commercial a year or so ago, and many people hated the fact that people spoke in tongues aside from English. Our society was not willing to watch a two minute commercial because they "couldn't understand it!" Oh boohoo, does anyone stop to acknowledge the progress people make when learning a second language? Does anyone realize that not everyone speaks English? Has anyone noticed that Americans aren't the only people living in this world?
If your eyes have widened and you've thought Oh burn at any point while reading this article, it is clear that you are destined to hop aboard the Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt boat. Enjoy your voyage!
FACT: My brother has watched more Netflix this year than I have spent socializing with friends. Okay, so which part is sadder?
As the first born child in my family, I often notice the luxuries my brother has acquired as the second born child. He got to go to Hawaii at an earlier age (because we HAD to bring him with us). He will be going to New York (Neeew Yoooork) at an earlier age when we go this summer. Well, I mostly envy his earlier exposure to new destinations.
I do not, however, envy his earlier exposure to television. My brother has watched Scooby Doo, the Office, Malcolm in the Middle, Parks and Rec, Everybody Loves Raymond, My Name is Earl, AND the Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidtall since November of 2014! Not only does it shock me that he has this much time on his hands, but also it saddens me that my brother has wasted a good chunk of his childhood.
When I was his age (oh gosh), I remember having been raised thinking that if you watch too much TV your brain will turn to an oatmeal-like substance called mush. I spent hours upon hours building fairy houses and mixing potions, picking pomegranates apart, and chasing my cat through tall grass in the backyard. I even picked up this rectangular thing that opens at odd angles... I think it was called a "book."
It is sad, however, that I have spent such little of my time socializing with friends this school year. Part of my dying social life is due to my love and obsession with sleep. I am a busy, young woman with busy, young woman things to do, so on weekends, one must understand that I am catching up on precious hours of sleep that my body so desperately craves. I have a small social circle as it is, and I can't stand being in situations where I am standing next to someone who can't hear me over the sound of their own smartphone scrolling. I have spent so many hours, I MEAN WASTED SO MANY HOURS, with people who think "hanging out" is sitting with me while they look at their phone. Maybe it is my own fault for not bringing much life to these situations, but if you have the audacity to take my time, please make it worth it.
So is it sadder that I would rather pass up hanging out with cellphones or that my brother would rather pass up his childhood?
Almost three years ago, Miley Cyrus chopped off her wavy locks and stunned all the old Hannah Montana fans. She was already getting some hate for ditching her Disney act and becoming a "bad girl."So by the time she released her "We Can't Stop" music video in 2013 (pre-twerking on the VMAs?), most people were already expecting something "wild."
There was definitely something wild about this video and it wasn't the french fry skeleton, twerking, OR the constant sticking out of tongues.
It was the product-ad placement.
When I first watched this video in 2013, I remember noticing the Beats by Dre speaker within the first ten seconds of the video and Miley's use of Eos lip balm. Soon I was too overwhelmed by prop choices and costumes to make note of these objects.
Almost two years later, having viewed The Persuaders it is suddenly so obvious to me that product-ad placement is used in Miley's music video to advertise the very objects that seemed so perfectly centered in the frame: Beats by Dre and Eos Lip Balm.
What better way to advertise products than put your gadgets in a popular poster's music video? These companies were strategic in targeting a bunch of (most likely) teenaged hooligans who are eager to keep up with the in.
It's safe to say that WE CAN'T STOP ADVERTISING to viewers like you in our persuasive society.
One Easter, my unenthusiastic cousins and I were being forced together to take a picture. (Omigosh, we just want to eat our Easter candy already!) Rather than "ONE TWO THREE SAY CHEESE!" my grandpa replaced the words with "SEX!" I was in seventh grade, my cousins and I couldn't help but chuckle. Now, let's imagine if my grandpa had replaced "SEX!" with "PORN!" I would have most likely connected porn to pigs because porn once sounded a lot like "boar" to me. Though it may have taken me a while to learn the meaning of this odd word, the budding generations are learning about this thing faster than they should be! An article by The Telegraph addresses how the word "sex" has lost its meaning for those exposed to porn at a young age. Porn is what Orwell describes as "the invasion of ready-made phrases." It gives a false illusion, perpetuating fantasy to its viewers until they are brainwashed with this idea that sex is when a girl obeys what"a boy [expects] her to do." Pornography, both the word and the explicit material, has caused people to have a pre-conceived idea of unrealistic expectations. This is the metaphor Orwell speaks of that has lost its meaning and value, for pornography leaves those addicted at young ages to batter emotional instabilities and fears of their own bodies. Watch what you want, but keep in mind that censoring those precious emotions of yours may help ya out when you're confused as of why you feel emotionless and lost.
Welcome to our cozy home, you may notice a few items that were in last month's Pottery Barn catalog. You betcha, we're one of those families! My mom recently added something to our PB style house: a glass coffee table. In fact, this guy came in the mail just yesterday! After cutting off the unnecessary package protection stuff (all those soft plastic thingies, vague, I know), we put the levelers on the feet of the table, and slid the glass into place!
UGH. Something about this table irks me.
(THIS IS IT! Why do we need this?)
Maybe I don't like this table because it is clear. I, a shoeless wanderer, acquire blackened feet after simple things like taking out the garbage or feeding my dog or maybe even bringing food inside fresh off the barbecue. When taking a nice pitstop on the couch, am I going to want to put my feet on the coffee table? Heck yeah! I just can't help but wonder if I will leave my dusty footprints behind.
The amount of space it takes up just before the couch annoys me because I will no longer be able to do random cartwheels or break into dances when I please. Our living room is spacious enough for me to juggle a soccer ball when I am home alone (what my mom doesn't know won't hurt her, even though juggling in the house puts our furniture at risk) and to literally run and jump onto the couch. Now, how am I supposed to tackle my brother when I have to worry that I might shatter a table?
There is one plus to this table. I discovered that if I put my cat on top of the bottom layer, beneath the top glass layer (duh), she looks ridiculously cute from all angles! If you look at her from under the bottom layer, she appears to be levitating! If you look at her from above, she looks like a cat stuck in a glass aquarium!
Overall, this coffee table deserves a solid one out of five stars.
