Tuesday, July 19, 2011

women and their struggle for equality


Distorted and unattainable sexist mass images are the inevitable

Consequences of a social system in which those who are thin and big

Breasted benefit most.  We as a society have created an environment so

Image obsessed that those with power give approval for being thin and

Disapproval for being fat, creating a generation of women so self-conscious

About their body image, that it is affecting their health.  In this essay I

Plan to discuss the inexcusable methods in which the mass media encourages


Young women to disfigure and mutilate their bodies.

 

        When an obsessive media targets and forces young women to hate

Their bodies, it makes them more vulnerable to emulating media stereotypes

And prone to compulsive dieting.  "Perfection looks like magic to those who

Stand aside and do not know any better.  The main problem with perfection

In a society so obsessed with perception is that it looks too easy.

  Media purveyors promote the

Message that unrealistic thinness equals sexiness and popularity, which

Equals beauty, success and all the "good" things in life.  Yet, recent

Interviews have revealed that even glamorous and successful supermodels are

Afraid of getting fat and what it might do to their careers.  In many cases

The media has constructed faulty images that suggest that the influence of

Gender in terms of "human nature" compel people in the eyes of the media to

Behave and act in certain stereotypical ways, in turn causing young

Impressionable women to be wrongfully misled.

 

        "Babies aren't born hating their bodies but instead grow up to

Learn that fat is bad; and thinness will bring you happiness." states Sarah

Stephen in the 1998 article "Fat is Still a Feminist Issue" These images

Are being taken to extremes throughout the fashion industry, often

Displayed by the waif look of hollow cheeks and skeletal bodies.  It has

Been proven that media images do have a powerful effect on young women

Today due to the extensive reinforcement on our everyday lives.  Everywhere

We look we see unattainable images swarming around us, it seems as though

It is a fad we cannot get away from.

 

        Women are all too often described in terms of what they look like,

Rather than what they think or what they do.  Women’s accomplishments are

Often based upon her physical appearance as opposed to her personality or
 
Possible mental capability.  It is clearly apparent that stereotypes are

Not limited to the prejudiced or the bigoted, to racial categories or to

The unschooled.  It is to be said that those who are considered more

"Attractive" beginning at a young age are led to believe that women are

Successful in part by their appearance and monetary value, which leads

Impressionable young women to believe that prestige go hand in hand.

 

        In my opinion I believe that many solicitors of the mass media try

To lay on bandages of political correctness but only magnify the on going

Battle against women and their bodies.  Yet, we as a society seem to

Passively disregard the fact that distorted, unattainable sexist mass

Images are the product of the constant exploitation of women and their

Bodies as well as our losing battle against anorexia and bulimia amongst

Young women today.  Today's pretty woman represents a new breed, mannequins

With sex appeal, as glamorous as movie legends and as famous as the

Designer clothes they parade.  However, the wide emphasis on beauty and

Perfection illustrated and promoted everywhere from sitcoms and commercials

To magazines and billboards across the nation is only a small reflection of

Society’s constant obsession with image and outer beauty.  According to the

Narrow-minded society we live in, there just doesn't seem to be a limit on

How beautiful one can become.


Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Racism is in the corner

Comparison of Racism Today to Racism of the Early 1900s

Racism today is both the same and different from racism of the early 1900’s. Some areas of racism that are the same include that of the dark colored skinned population being segregated from whites and groups ganging up against people of a colored skin. Areas of racism that have changed dramatically include that amount of criticism the groups receive and the forms that they receive criticism.
Some people have always looked down the dark skinned population upon for generations and generations. When the United States was formed black colored people from Africa where used as slaves, they where property and not a human being. Since this time many people have believed that whites are the supreme power and beings.
Today, many people do not segregate based upon race o rskin color. This was not the case in the early 1900’s. At that time slavery was an issue that was just being put to and end and many people still saw the blacks as property. Other people saw the blacks as a hard worked for a low amount of pay. At this time, it was looked upon as British forming the new colonies. Most of these founders where of the white skin and found other skin colors as intruders or people in there way. These founders then just used them and saw them as cheap labor. Today though, many blacks make more or equal money and live a better or equal life then most of the white population. Look at a basketball or football team, it is mainly consisted of very talented dark skinned people. No longer do whites and blanks have different bathrooms and drinking fountains. We are on our way to becoming all one, being united. Unfortunately not all people feel this way and today there are still people that believed blacks should not exists and that they are just in the way. Blacks are still segregated in some ways today, but not near as much as they had been in the early 1900’s.
Racism is obviously not something God planned, it is a sin, we are all equal with no one being better then anyone else. Racism has changed a lot during the past hundred years, working toward the goal of everyone being equal as we are in Gods eyes.