faking it

MTV has done many series over the years, all showing unrealistic lives that is hard to relate too but you get the series that they attend it to be realistic to teenagers. MTV new series faking it is a show about high school girl who pretends to be lesbian couple, so they could be popular at school. Has grown great numbers of fan and is now on season two. The show is meant to be just for entertainment but it shows a great problem in our society, how we love to hide the true. The de

pict how welcomed and excepted it is to be openly gay in high school, which is not the case. But the metophy they are saying about high school is that it is an accepting community.

People make this less serious than it really is so they don’t have to dill with the reality that things need to be fixed and they may have to be the one to fix it.  MTV have shown us fails reality of varies people but  Faking It, is by far the most unbelievable and upsetting to the LGBT right movement. Currently the LGBT is fighting for their legal rights, this show make is seem like the community is living the good life. Many people in this modern day believe in what they seen on tv, and confuse it as reality. If someone would judge the community form this show, they wont support the movement or not take it seriously think it’s already solved topic.

 undermined the seriousness of being openly gay or when people pin you to title in schools all over America. By watching Faking it, you may assume that live in high as a member of the LGBT community, would be great. It shows how excepted and loved you would be by everyone. Which isn’t the case thought out the our country. In our country, LGBT youth are four times more likely to comment suicide than there straight peers. This is not seen in the show. The LGBT biggest target for bully and many struggle to find acceptance at school.

 

The case of Tyler Clementi was tragic one.  He comment suicide on September 22,2010 at the age of eighteen, by jumping from the George Washington. He took his life because his roommate caught him on webcam kiss another man. He did want to face the stigma of being gay, that people claim isn’t really there. if it was there, than punishment would have given to the roommate but nothing was done. Tyler Clementi case is not an isolated one. Many LGBT youth attempt ssuicide everyday and too many successes. But this isn’t shown in a show about being gay in high school. This is a too important aspect of reality of the LGBT community but no one would want to watch facts but lies are excepted.

This show just show you how are world is wired. How lies are viewed as reality but the reality is that people are hurting all over but people choose to view thing in a better lighting. Faking it show a positive side of being gay in high school that most people doesn’t experience. This is invisible narrative of the show is to show a unrealistic high school life, which takes people away form the truth.

Gender roles in STEM Revieled

 My standing point on gender differences in STEM (STEM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math education) is that women have a lot of obstacles to go through as opposed to males and that is why they fall short. These obstacles are a combination of genetics and society based stigmas. After this it will be solely up to that women to make the right decisions to qualify for these fields.

 When it comes to genetics it has to do with how strong they are mentally. If they have right mentality to pursue their dreams, then nothing will get in the way of their advances. 

But if they can easily be sidetracked then those women will not make it. It is the women who will persistently chase their dreams no matter what that will be the ones who make it into these fields. These are the ones who come across as ---for lack of words a bitch and are the same woman who will be frowned upon by society. But due to their competence they will not be swayed in anyway off course. These are not the women who will ever be referred to as a girly-girl, and that leads me to my next point of society based stigmas and the role that plays as well.

 Society is a place to conform and to be apart of our society you have to give in to fit in. For women, these conformities have a lot to do with acting a certain way, and that alone takes away the competitive nature that comes with being a male or manly. 

Also it says that women are the backbone of a home and therefor their sole purpose is to make sure the household runs smoothly. In older times women had to depend on males and that carried over into present day, and the American way says that the man is the breadwinner of a household and if that is not the case then there is something wrong with that situation. 

A woman should never surpass a male and that is the number one rule of the American way. It has been implanted into everyone in the US for as long as anyone can remember, and the fear of women changing that may be why women don’t get high power positions in these fields.

Some of the obstacles that can defer successful carriers for females are family, ambition, and self-determination. If a woman has a family or a baby then she has to dedicate most of her time and energy into that and therefore she cannot accept any other high commitment activities. If there is no family to care for than it is up to the ambition of that woman to seek out those positions and the self-determination to make it happen.

 One last thing is stereotype threat, the shown fact that women will perform substantially worse then men in math when being watched. This happens because of the fear of being judged and proving the stereotype that women are weaker than males at math.

My argument is that women will be faced with more struggles then men and this alone can show why men will surpass women, they are not plagued they same difficulties as women and there fore there lower stress level and the lack of responsibility will leave their mind free and can focus solely on what ever it is they need to succeed. Stats have shown that men preform better than women when under pressure, so the more factors that contribute to the life of women will cause them to underperform.

Ariel's Lost Voice

The Silenced Voice

Disney is known for their classic films, but each one holds different morals and invisible narratives, but usually we are too young to even realize these invisible narratives unless it is pointed out to us. Thinking back to how much loved The Little Mermaid as a child, I never actually payed attention to the invisible narrative that was being told. I just saw it as a princess wishing to become a human so then she could meet her prince charming. Now that I look back to analyze what the background information was about I realized that it wasn't that simple, there was a deeper meaning behind the human transformation. The invisible narrative was actually Ariel sacrificing her voice which was her strongest trait, only to get the perfect husband as a partner. Why did Ariel have to give up her voice in order to get a man's attention?

The social norm that is put in place today is that females have to give up a piece of who they are in order to be acknowledged by a male figure. They have to step down from who they are and become vulnerable in order to be accepted by the man. the question is, who wears the pants in the relationship? Why must the male have the lead, why must the females follow their footsteps and act like maids? Why must these girls give up these traits that create who they are? These scarifies that are being made in order to fit in to be an ideal partner is unnecessary.  In The Little Mermaid Ariel gave up the trait she valued the most, her voice only in return to get human legs to meet her prince charming. She gave up not only her voice, but she also gave up her home under the sea and the feature that made her unique, her mermaid tail. There is also a section in the movie when she is forced to sign a contract that seals the agreement of the exchange for legs she looks reluctant to put down her signature. In fact, it looks like she is trying to convince herself to just sign it, but her heart it's not what she want, but it's the only method that she think will work. Why must she go that far just to be noticed by her ideal man?

Eventually, Ariel does get the Prince's attention and they get married and have a baby girl. Ariel dedicates her life to become a "good wife". What is considered a "good wife"? There are scenes where Ariel is the only one talking care of Melody the baby. Eric, the husband is not really present during these scenes. The common role that women portray are stay at home wives, where their own duty is to serve to care for the children and keeping the house tidy. Basically jobs that have not that much value or power. Ariel left her old life under the sea just to fulfill what her husband life is like on land as a human. She had to mold into something that was expected of her to become a wife of a prince.

The discourse that the movie brings up is how females have a certain role in life. Project MUSE stated "Since the inception of modern contract theory in the seventeenth century, the usual view of women's duty as citizens has comprised a conceptual paradox: the female activity of providing life-giving, life-enhancing care is at once natural and obligatory." Like the term the egg is carried, but the perm is traveling. The egg which represents the females, has a smaller role to just wait for the right sperm specimen to appear. Not only doe the women have to carry the child in their bodies they have to sacrifice part of their body to give birth to the baby. Additionally to that most females are seen to have the nurturing aspect that they should be the ones to look after the child and the male are just there as the financial background. Females have to shape themselves so then they are socially accepted in the community. Honestly, these females shouldn't mold themselves to be accepted, because this is not who they are or who they want to become. Unreasonable scarifies shouldn't be made.

'Princess' and the Frog

Many of us are familiar with the Disney film The Princess and the Frog. At first glance it seems like a typical Disney princess movie, but if examined a bit further we are able to read the story between the lines.  The Princess and the Frog takes place in the French Quarter of New Orleans, where a young African-American woman named Tiana is in pursuit of opening her own restaurant.  Although, Tiana has big dreams she currently works not one, but two jobs, because she is in the process of saving.  

That is to say, at a surface level this allows us to view Tiana as driven, responsible and determined; it’s clear to see that she has her priorities in order and is focused on her responsibilities.  By analyzing her character it seems as though she is not necessarily looking for love.  This itself is interesting because in traditional Disney films the women are always known to be passive, in comparison to the male.  But Tiana’s role is the complete opposite, she waits around for no one, and doesn't need a man.  

Furthermore, it forces me to question the sincerity behind Disney's intentions. Why now? Why is a black woman finally being chosen for this role?  And why is she the princess who has to work so hard for a living?  It makes me question if this is a positive shift in how blacks are viewed or a negative one. I immediately consider the hidden story behind this reality. The first reaction I had was that of course they choose a black women to be lower class and struggling to make ends meet.  Her character obviously has a huge amount of stress; and we are able to witness her breakdowns often times throughout the film. This role sure does portray an image of what the black woman's role actually is and I’m not sure if it’s one that I agree with.

Is this how Disney views the average black women? Stressed, always striving for more than what she has, and not very well off.  Is there a reason why Disney Animation Studios specifically chose a black women to represent this persona?  I think yes.  It could be because this is how black women are viewed, so why would they want to alter an individual’s or child's reality? Childhood is the primary age when African-American children begin to acknowledge and process racial stereotypes, so movies such as this one have a huge impact on their thought process. If the black community is viewed as financially 'less than', and at best working middle class, what example is being set for our youth? It’s almost as if being rich isn't a possibility for the black community; if they ever get to that point they must have had to work hard for it- very hard. 

Many people may have opposing views and say that Tiana possesses positive, relatable characteristics- even inspiring. And believe me I get that, but why couldn't a Caucasian character be chosen to play this role? Why couldn't Disney create a black princess who is already wealthy or an heiress?  Or at least have parents who support her financially?  Or nonetheless just have both parents in her life.  I think the issue is much larger than you and I; it lies in the foundation of how we think. All I'm saying is that maybe we should create a different ideology for the black community. Instead of having an African-American character who is riding the poverty line, maybe we can portray them in a successful light and represent thosewomen who break typical African American stereo types.

The Lucky Ones

Each and every one of us has our own way of thinking and unconsciously we transmit our beliefs through our actions. We react a certain way and when we write our opinion carries within. From billboards to a novel, authors usually write with a purpose.  They express their opinion and when they do, they don't particularly frame some one or something but instead they express their feeling unconsciously. This is what we call invisible narratives.  

Malcolm Gladwell, who in his novel Outliers talks about different success stories in the American culture, analyzes the importance of practice. Gladwell conducts research and later analyzes his results. Through out the novel Gladwell states that after 10,000 hours of practice one has mastered that particular skill. For example, mastering to play an instrument or programming a computer.

In my opinion, Gladwell’s purpose for writing The 10,000 Hour Rule chapter, is to prove that people can obtain success and with practice achieve greatness. Gladwell didn’t frame anyone, he wrote the novel for society, to encourage those who doubt themselves.

Now, when stepping out of the ideal circumstances that Gladwell explains in this novel, it becomes clear that his theory is limited. People are limited in a way that only those who are fortunate enough to practice will conquer success.  Those that can’t manage their time and can’t meet the 10,000 hours will never achieve their goals.

Gladwell also explains that successful people like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and The Beatles were not naturals, they were driven. Because they were driven they practiced for extensive hours a day and soon they fell in love with practice. Soon The Beatles were playing in Germany without pay the only thing they were gaining was time to practice, time to meet that ideal goal. The Beatles traveled all over Germany and had the opportunity to perform over 1,200 concerts and quickly they met the 10,000 rule.

Gladwell writes with such enthusiasm and tries to convince the reader that when one is passionate one can conquer greatness. But the question lays here, can an ordinary middle class child, with parents that work full time and have several siblings, have the determination and encouragement to complete the 10,000 rule?

Who is Gladwell really trying to convince? Gladwell’s theory, in my opinion, has some flaws. Ordinary people sometimes can’t seem to find time to take their children to the park or put them to bed because they are exhausted from work or have other duties. How does Gladwell expect for someone to meet the 10,000 of practice?

Gladwell’s invisible narrative is clear here. Unconsciously he is encouraging only certain people. In particular people and children with parents who are economic stability, parents that can afford expensive private lessons or even purchase the instrument or proper equipment for their child to being their practice. The rich folks, those with the time and money to spare, there I said it.

The 10,000 rule only fits a certain population. Gladwell talks about those who were born in certain eras. For example, Bill Gates, he was born at the right time and was old enough to live and prosper from the computer revolution. If Bill Gates was to be born two or three years before the “ideal” era than he would of missed his opportunity. Here we can see that not only money is vital to your success but being at the right place at the right time is important. What happens to those who are never exposed to certain opportunities like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs because they struggling with staying alive? According to Gladwell, those who miss their opportunity will not be successful, .

Gladwell unconsciously marginalized those who are not so lucky; those who lack resource and have limited network of individuals. Reading Gladwell’s Chapter, The 10,000 Hour Rule, between the lines is just scratching the surface of the problem. There is a very strong invisible narrative in the way of Gladwell writes; even though he is analysis results we can see several flaws in his conclusion. Most of us can’t say we are as fortunate as Bill Gates or The Beatles but we can succeed, the only thing is that we will have some detours and rocky roads along the way.