Thirty, and flirty and...typical? [final]

It's fairly safe to say that just about everyone of the female gender has heard of Sex and the City. Sex and The City has become so synonymous with pop culture, specifically female pop culture, that in 2009 The Guardian named Bradshaw as an icon of the decade, stating that "Carrie Bradshaw did as much to shift the culture around certain women's issues as real-life female groundbreakers."

And this is certainly true. The show addressed sexual boundaries, women's roles in the professional world, and whether or not four, single, flesh and blood women in their thirties could truly "have it all." Yet despite the show's ability to break new ground in the world of the modern woman in terms of content, none of the four main characters themselves are particularly groundbreaking when it came to typical gender roles. Carrie Bradshaw may have asked the question "If it is instantly clear that a person, a place, or even a profession is not for you, is it better to ignore your better judgment and read between the lines, or should you judge a book by its cover?", yet she never really seemed to learn from the answers she got. The four main characters, Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda and Samantha, generally conform to one female stereotype or another.

The most obviously "typical" woman is Charlotte.

Charlotte York is a slightly more risque form of every cliched romantic 80s movie. The one member of the group who truly believes that 'love conquers all'. Which is fine, except that Charlotte seemed willing to sacrifice everything that made her a strong, independent woman if it meant that she could have a boyfriend. I quote:  


"Everyone needs a man. That's why I rent. If you own and he still rents, then the power structure is all off. It's emasculating. Men don't want a woman who's too self-sufficient."


If this was coming from a housewife-to-be in the 1950s in the suburbs, this wouldn't exactly be too out of the blue of a statement. But considering the show is set in the 90s, in New York City, I find it a little surprising (and personally insulting) that Charlotte, who is the most stereotypical gender role fulfilling character, is the only one of the foursome to end up happily married without a single hiccup by the end of the second movie. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with getting married and having kids, the fact that the show is marketing the idea that that is the only way to get through middle age without a hitch is more than a little bothersome. For a show that was so focused on the idea of women "having it all", none of the four women were made happy at the end of the series by each other or their jobs. They all ended up, as all Hollywood women do, settling down. Carrie was rescued from Paris by Mr. Big, Samantha gave up a life of sex for a life of monogamy, Miranda chose 'married with kids' over her job, and Charlotte got married and moved to the Upper East Side.

For a show that was so innovative in so many other ways, it's a shame that at the end of the day, typical gender roles still peeked through. Has the idea that the only way a woman should be is married penetrated so far into our society that even a show entitled Sex and The City still ends up being Married with Kids?

Works cited:

Sex And The City. HBO. Television.

http://cdn.pastemagazine.com/www/articles/sex-and-the-city-move-promos2.jpg?1313421832

http://www.pollsb.com/photos/o/754-charlotte_york.jpg

Barbie Dolls: Support for feminism, or not? [Final]

Barbie dolls are so popular all around the world. According to the statistics made by Mattel Inc., the producer of Barbie dolls, a total of 1,000,000,000 have been sold in over 150 countries including 350,000 in the first year, and the number is still increasing by 3 every second; American girls each has 8 Barbie dolls in average, while a French girl has 5 and in Hong Kong, Asia, the number is 3. She is not a simple doll, but also a symbol of popular culture.

Though the main owners of Barbie are girls, the fancy doll originated from a German doll named Bild Lilli which was even referred to as a sex toy for her “inappropriate” clothing and sexy body.

Barbie did inherit many characteristics from Lilli. When she first appeared, she was marketed "Teen-age Fashion Model" with her well-designed clothes, fashionable make-ups and popular hair styles. The most enviable thing may be her so-called "killer-body", which is the dream of girls, and, boys.

However, it’s where the main criticism from. A real girl has to be 5 feet 9 inches, with vital statistics at 36 inches, 18 inches and 33inches to achieve her body shape. According to the scientific research (by the University Central Hospital in Helsinki, Finland), it is impossible for a girl to keep healthy under such situation. This misleading information may result in girls’ anorexia while they try to pursue the killer-body, as well as many diseases caused by lack of enough nutrition and energy during the progress of dieting. She seems to make girls focus more on their body shape and appearance, which, has long focused to attract males’ eyes.

Thus, “Barbie” became a derogatory slang which describes girls with appealing appearance and empty mind. “Will we ever have enough clothes?” “I love shopping!” “Wanna have a pizza party?” These sentences from the Teen Talk Barbie released in 1992, especially the one “Math class is tough!” proves this kind of view in some way. It is not a good model for girls. Though only a very low percent of all the Teen Talk Barbie can speak this sentence, it was severely criticized by the American Association of University Women, and these Barbie dolls were recalled with Mattel’s promise to change.

However, as mentioned in Zeisler’s Feminism and Pop Culture: “In examining how feminism has informed pop culture and vice versa, it’s instructive to look at the way the evolution of the women’s movement has been mirrored in pockets of popular culture”, the more important thing is to detect the development of Barbie Dolls and how it reflects the development of feminism.

The change of Barbie’s eyes in 1971 is regarded as a main change in Barbie’s development. The influence is obvious: looking straight forward makes her more welcoming and confident; the scornful expression in her eyes while looking down to one side disappeared. I do not know if there is someone who is also impressed by the doctor Barbie: she looks reliable, kind, and will never frighten children in the hospital. She is different from male doctors who always made me nervous when I was a little girl, but at the same time she creates a strong sense of a good doctor. Though considered childish, I set her as my model of a good pediatrician.

More changes kept happening to her. Her body shape, once so disputed, was changed, too, in the year 1997. She looks more like a real girl than ever before. Splitting from her boyfriend Ken and their getting together 10 years after gives her own mind about affection.

In the 60s, when women were encouraged to work, Barbie began wearing suits and carrying a briefcase with business cards, credit cards, newspaper and a calculator; when human beings first landed on the moon, she soon became an astronaut; when the information are came, she learned how to use e-mail quickly. These changes reflect the advancement of our society, and shows that she tried her best to catch up with the world.

From my personal point of view, I did not realize the change of her body. Her “killer-body” is of less importance these days and she is more of a role model. She is alive in most girls’ mind, as a friend who grows with them and encourages them. Just as the cultural critic M.G.Lord said in Forever Barbie: the unauthorized biography of a real doll, Barbie belongs to herself and teaches us to be independent women. In the past 40 years, however she changed, she never hesitates and keeps happy and optimistic; this is why she succeeded, and this is how we can succeed.

She is a symbol of feminism, at least, in my mind.

Citations:

websites:

Joseph, Lee. "Barbie-wikipedia, the free encyclopedia"

wikipedia.org. Wikipedia, 4. Sept. 2011. Web, 20. Sept, 2011.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbie>

Mattel, Inc., and its subsidiaries, including, without limitation, Fisher-Price, Inc. and American Girl Brands, LLC. "Barbie Collector"

barbiecollector.com. Barbiecollector, 20. Sept. 2011. Web, 20.Sept, 2011.

<http://www.barbiecollector.com/>


Books:

Andi, Zeistler. Feminism and Pop Culture. Berkeley, CA: Seal Press, 2008.

M, G, Lord. Forever Barbie: the unauthorized biography of a real doll. New York: Morrow and Co. 1994.

The Truth Behind the L0lz

The Truth Behind the L0lz

A few days ago I was browsing a collective dumping ground for all things lol-worthy on the internet called 9gag. Maybe the funnies weren't as good that day, or maybe it was tad too early in the morning, but somewhere along my usual cycle of mindlessly scrolling through pages of funnies I started to pick up on a pattern. It seemed like more and more people were starting to post sexist quotes and pictures, and more often than not they were never intended to be funny. These kinds of things happened sometimes. It's usually just one guy with a folder full of pictures and an axe to grind, but something that day caught my attention. One picture in particular stood out to me. I've attached it below (The Girl Paradox).

I will admit I laughed for a good minute when I saw this, but after I was done laughing I began to wonder what exactly I had been laughing at. Here was a perfect cross section of pop-cultures assessment of women. In principle no different from the Neo-Nazi cartoons that portrayed me as a long nosed, hunch backed swindler out to steal pennies from charities and beggars. Countless examples of women in pop culture could have their perceived characters plotted on this graph. For example Penny from the Big Bang Theory would fit nicely in the overlap of nice and attractive (The Big Bang Theory). The graph, and the character, then imply that because she is nice and attractive she dumber than the average brick. Or take the character of Velma from the old Scooby Doo cartoons (Scooby-Doo). She would fit in the smart/nice category and is therefore unattractive. Why is that? Who has the right to define social roles in such a way? And more importantly, what is it that causes these stereotypes to be so prevalent?

The best way to begin looking for an answer to my first question is with another question. What exactly does this "cross-section" of women's character represent? What makes it so funny? As with any good stereotype, this image takes a complicated subject and boils it down to simple generalization meant to help us understand things that we care enough to examine, but don't care enough to know. According to the picture, there are only three important characteristics to women. They are looks, kindness, and (give the author some credit here all of you who have been spitting at the screen) intelligence. You can almost taste the bitterness of the poster. The image blatantly says that anyone interesting has flaws that make them bad people, and those without flaws don't know what good for them since they clearly ignore every good guy (aka the author).

The analysis makes me ask two question. First, why is it that someone who appears to have no major flaws would not know what's good for them? Just because someone shows no interest in the author does not mean that everyone they do show interest in is a bad person. The pop culture representation of "nice guys always lose" is a good way to attract viewers by helping rejected guys feel that pretending to be the victim is ok, and everyone else just doesn't understand them, but it by no means represents reality. The central overlap of the graph is simply playing upon this cynicism and is appealing and even relatable because of it. However, the appeal of the statement does little to counteract its illogical argument.

The second question that my prior observation raises is perhaps as important, if not more so than the first. Why is it that if someone is intelligent and kind that they then have to be ugly? What exactly does it mean to be kind or ugly? Such qualities are personally defined and socially influenced, not the other way around. This point alone is enough to invalidate the argument the image is attempting to make. More importantly, this point allows one to not take offense at such ideas and viewpoints.

Since we live in a free country and we all see the world differently than it is not my place, or your place, or anyone place, to tell another that they haven't the right to speak their mind. To demand tolerance and equality while avoiding hypocrisy, one must be tolerant of others intolerance and inequality. When faced with a contradictory view, one may argue but one cannot repress. One may keep their silence, but one should not ignore. One should learn, and hope to be learned from. An open mind and willingness to learn are the only things that can bring mutual understanding.

Works Cited

"The Girl Paradox." http://9gag.com/gag/21682. Rollin' Egg. V3.2. July 2007. Web. 9 July 2011.

"The Big Bang Theory." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_big_bang_theory#Regular. Wikipedia, n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2011.

"Scooby-Doo." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scooby_doo. Wikipedia, n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2011.

Thirty, and flirty and...typical?

It's fairly safe to say that just about everyone of the female gender has heard of Sex and the City. Whether just the movies, or a die-hard fan of the series, Sex and The City has become so synonymous with pop culture, specifically female pop culture, that in 2009 The Guardian named Bradshaw as an icon of the decade, stating that "Carrie Bradshaw did as much to shift the culture around certain women's issues as real-life female groundbreakers."

And this is certainly true. The show addressed sexual boundaries, women's roles in the professional world, and whether or not four, single, flesh and blood women in their thirties could truly "have it all." Plus, there were always the shoes.

Yet despite the show's ability to break new ground in the world of the modern woman in terms of content, none of the four main characters themselves are particularly groundbreaking. Carrie Bradshaw may have asked the question "If it is instantly clear that a person, a place, or even a profession is not for you, is it better to ignore your better judgment and read between the lines, or should you judge a book by its cover?", yet she never really seemed to learn from the answers she got. The four main characters, Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda and Samantha, generally conform to one female stereotype or another.

The most obviously "typical" woman is Charlotte.

Charlotte York is a slightly more risque form of every cliched romantic 80s movie. The one member of the group who truly believes that 'love conquers all'. Which is fine, except that Charlotte seemed willing to sacrifice everything that made her a strong, independent woman if it meant that she could have a boyfriend. I quote:  


"Everyone needs a man. That's why I rent. If you own and he still rents, then the power structure is all off. It's emasculating. Men don't want a woman who's too self-sufficient."


If this was coming from a housewife-to-be in the 1950s in the suburbs, this wouldn't exactly be too out of the blue of a statement. But considering the show is set in the 90s, in New York City, I find it a little surprising (and personally insulting) that Charlotte, who is the most stereotypical gender role fulfilling character, is the only one of the foursome to end up happily married without a single hiccup by the end of the second movie. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with getting married and having kids, the fact that the show is marketing the idea that that is the only way to get through middle age without a hitch is more than a little bothersome. For a show that was so focused on the idea of women "having it all", none of the four women were made happy at the end of the series by each other or their jobs. They all ended up, as all Hollywood women do, settling down. Carrie was rescued from Paris by Mr. Big, Samantha gave up a life of sex for a life of monogamy, Miranda chose 'married with kids' over her job, and Charlotte got married and moved to the Upper East Side.


Not that there is anything wrong with any of these choices. I'm all for doing whatever makes you happy as a woman. But again, this show, while about love, was not just about love. I wholeheartedly believe that doing a job you really love can make you just as happy as being married. And for a while, the show seemed to have that idea too. Samantha had sex, not relationships. Miranda had a job, not relationships. 


For a show that was so innovative in so many other ways, it's a shame that at the end of the day, typical gender roles still peeked through. Has the idea that the only way a woman should be is married penetrated so far into our society that even a show entitled Sex and The City still ends up being Married with Kids?

Barbie Dolls: Support for feminism, or not? （draft 3）

Barbie dolls are so popular all around the world. According to the statistics made by Mattel Inc., the producer of Barbie dolls, a total of 1,000,000,000 Barbie dolls have been sold in over 150 countries including 350,000 in the first year, and the number is still increasing by 3 every second; American girls each has 8 Barbie girls in average, while a French girl has 5 and in Hong Kong, Asia, the number is 3.

When she first appeared, she was marketed "Teen-age Fashion Model" with her well-designed clothes, fashionable make-ups and popular hair styles. Her handsome boyfriend and their romance are the same as the story of prince and princess in the fairy tales we heard as bedtime stories. And, the most enviable thing may be her so-called "killer-body", which is the dream of girls, and, boys.

However, this is where the main criticism from. If someone wants to have this body shape, she will have to be 5 feet 9 inches, with vital statistics at 36 inches, 18 inches and 33inches. According to the scientific research (by the University Central Hospital in Helsinki, Finland), it is impossible for a woman to keep healthy under this situation. The misleading information provided may result in girls’ anorexia while they are pursuing the killer-body, as well as many diseases caused by lack of enough nutrition and energy during the progress of dieting.

Apart from this, “Barbie” became a derogatory slang which describes girls with appealing appearance and empty mind. She has so many beautiful clothes and jewelries, and lives a life like a princess, seems to do nothing other than shopping and attending parties. “Will we ever have enough clothes?” “I love shopping!” “Wanna have a pizza party?” These sentences that came from the Teen Talk Barbie released in 1992, especially the sentence “Math class is tough!” proves this kind of view in some way. Though only a very low percent of all the Teen Talk Barbie can speak this sentence, it was severely criticized by the American Association of University Women, and these Barbie dolls were recalled with Mattel’s promise to change.

However, as mentioned in Zeisler’s Feminism and Pop Culture: “In examining how feminism has informed pop culture and vice versa, it’s instructive to look at the way the evolution of the women’s movement has been mirrored in pockets of popular culture”, the more important thing is to detect the development of Barbie Dolls and how it reflects the development of feminism.

The change of Barbie’s eyes in 1971 is regarded as a main change in Barbie’s development. The influence is obvious: looking straight forward makes she looks more welcoming and remove the scornful expression in her eyes while looking down to one side. She seems to have a steadfast goal and is confident about it. The last picture of doctor Barbie really shows this point. She looks reliable and kind and will never frighten children going to the hospital. She is different from male doctors, but she gives us a strong sense of a good doctor.

Her body shape, once caused much disagreement, was changed, too, including the waist and hips in the year 1997. She looks more like a real girl than ever before.

Another shocking news in the year 2004 is: Barbie had split from her boyfriend, Ken. With Ken’s sincerity and love and unremitting pursuing, they got together again. This period of story broke the image of fairy tale princess Barbie and gives Barbie her own mind about affection.

In the 60s, when women were encouraged to work, Barbie began wearing suits and carrying a briefcase with business cards, credit cards, newspaper and a calculus; when human beings first landed on the moon, she soon became an astronaut; when the information are came, she learned how to use e-mail quickly. These changes reflects the advancement of our society, and shows that she tried her best to catch up with the world.

From my personal point of view, I did not realize the change of her body. Her “killer-body” is of less importance these days and she is more of a role model. She is alive in most girl’s mind, as a friend who grows with them and encourages them. Just as the cultural critic M.G.Lord said in Forever Barbie: the unauthorized biography of a real doll, Barbie belongs to herself and teaches us to be independent women. In the past 40 years, however she changed, she does not hesitate and keeps happy and optimistic, this is why she succeeded, and this is how we can succeed.

She is a symbol of feminism, at least, in my mind.

Barbie-wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbie

Joseph Lee

Date last modified: Sept.4^th, 2011

Date accessed: Sept.20^th, 2011

Barbie Collector

http://www.barbiecollector.com/

Mattel, Inc., and its subsidiaries, including, without limitation, Fisher-Price, Inc. and American Girl Brands, LLC

Date updated: Sept.20^th, 2011

Date accessed: Sept.20^th, 2011

Feminism and Pop Culture

Andi Zeistler

Released: Seal Press, Berkeley, CA, 2008

Forever Barbie: the unauthorized biography of a real doll

M.G.Lord

Released: Morrow and Co. New York, 1994