Let Me Elaborate

So the other day in class one of the discussion questions asked if you'd ever wanted to be a gender other than the one assigned to you at birth. In response to this question I brought up the strict dating-guidelines known as The Rules. I would like to elaborate more on why these "rules" make me NOT want to be female. I mentioned that they encourage manipulation and trickery while the guy just goes along with it in a somewhat dumb way. I want to change this statement...it's not that they are made out to be stupid and Neanderthal-like, but rather given all the power. The whole book is devoted to rules such as Don't Talk too Much that all require the female in the relationship/courtship to be holding absolutely NO power. Not that I think women should have the power while men have none, but why can't it just be equal? And how on earth do you meet "the one" while pretending to be someone else, which is basically what I got from these rules. They encourage women to dress feminine-ly, have long hair (men HATE short hair on women, it's too manly) and wear skirts, oh and most importantly don't talk too much! Heaven forbid this guy finds out you have a brain. Although I appreciate these rules for encouraging women to be confident, I just don't feel like they are going about it in a healthy, feministic way. 

"Transgender Today"

Throughout the semester, we have been talking about and analyzing gender and what gender means. While popular culture is pretty dead set on there being only males and females, transgendered people have been becoming more well known. Take, for example, Chaz Bono, Cher's child who has had tons of support from Americans. While the subject of transgender is still sort of taboo, I think we are beginning to hear more and more about it, which will soothe the shock it may give some people.
I subscribe to a psychology magazine called, "Monitor on Psychology" which basically just gives the latest news on what is happening in this field. This month's issue arrived at the beginning of the week and one of the featured stories is "Transgender today."
While I know psychology to be a rather liberal field, I was pleasantly surprised to see that one of their main articles was on a topic we have been discussing in class. And a rather controversial topic at that.
The article basically goes on to say how we have moved beyond diagnosing transgender or gender confusion as needing treatment or being abnormal. According to lore m. dickey, PhD, "Now, being transgender is being acknowledged as part of the human condition."(38) I was thrilled when I read this line because it means that, as a society, we are maybe finally moving beyond looking at transgender as a problem and just accepting it. I think this is a common theme throughout history of topics that start off controversial (think: women voting, black and white people having equal rights, etc.) After that initial shock starts to wear off, and this usually takes years and years and years, we finally accept it.
Later on in the article, stigmas are discussed. So although transgender is moving in the direction of acceptance, individuals still have many obstacles to face. One of those obstacles is the stigma that accompanies the label of "transgender."
In a side box the topic of pronouns and the definition of what is meant when the word transgender is used is discussed. In the context of psychology, "'Transgender' is an umbrella term that covers a spectrum of people with nonconforming gender identities and expression."(39). This article proved to be very fascinating and seemed to be reiterating themes and topics that have been talked about in class. I was very excited to see this in a science magazine.

Artifact Analysis II: Dr. Ellie Sattler

“Dinosaurs Eat Man…Woman Inherits the Earth”

            This Friday, Jurassic Park is being re-released in theaters, but in 3D. The plot is fairly well known, but in case a refresher is needed it is about an island of dinosaurs. Three scientists are invited to analyze the island, so that they can pass it and the public can come enjoy it. There are some difficulties and the island soon becomes a dangerous place where dinosaurs may attack at any moment. Jurassic Park has been one of my all-time favorite movies since the first time I saw it when I was six years old. Dr. Ellie Sattler, the leading female character, was one of my role models and led to an aspiration to be a paleontologist. The movie does not pass the Bechdel test, but Dr. Sattler’s personality and intelligence make up for it. This post will address the key scenes in which Dr. Sattler makes some great remarks regarding women and why her character can be defined as a feminist.

            One of the best lines in this movie is spoken during the initial tour around the park. Dr. Ian Malcolm, the chaos-mathematician, Dr. Alan Grant, the paleontologist, and Dr. Ellie Sattler, the paleobotanist, are in a car together discussing the park.

Dr. Malcolm is commenting on the remarkability of what Dr. Hammond has produced and says, “God creates dinosaurs. God destroys dinosaurs. God creates man. Man destroys God. Man creates dinosaurs…” Dr. Sattler adds, “Dinosaurs eat man…woman inherits the earth.” She jumps out of the moving car, leaving Dr. Grant and Dr. Malcolm dumbfounded with their jaws hanging open, to help a sick triceratops. This line is not only clever, but it is not just meant for laughs, it contains truth. In Brit Lit II, a class I took of Dr. Hager’s last semester, I wrote in a blog post about how maybe men are afraid of the power and potential that women hold and this explains why they are so keen on keeping us down. This line is acknowledging the thirst for power that men hold, and how they may even believe themselves able to play God, like John Hammond did in the situation of Jurassic Park. But, like Dr. Malcolm said, that power will lead to their destruction. Now, he probably meant “man” in the sense of humankind, but Dr. Sattler put a spin on it that provided a different perspective to what he said.

            The next scene where Dr. Sattler addresses the issue of sexism is when the power goes out and must be turned back on. This involves crossing the compound where dinosaurs are running loose. She and another man volunteer to do it, but Hammond shows some reluctance, “But you know, I should really be the one going.” Dr. Sattler responds, “Why?” Hammond replies timidly, “Well, because you’re a – I’m a –.” The man accompanying her says they must hurry up and go, so Dr. Sattler says, “We’ll discuss sexism in survival situations when I get back.” This exchange explicitly states the view of most of the men in this movie. The annoyance that Dr. Sattler expresses makes it clear that she gets this reaction a lot. She is not the type to take any bullshit from a man or anybody, and she has worked her way to being the top in her field.

Dr. Ellie Sattler is a woman who is the top paleobotanist in the country, if not the world. She is beautiful, of course- this is a movie, but even in the book she is described as being very attractive. This is not uncommon as most of the female characters in a male-centered book are very attractive. While not only physically so, Dr. Sattler also has the brains and intelligence to go with it. During this movie she never expresses timidity, innocence, or even flirtiness. This is one of the attributes of her character that warrants respect. Dr. Malcolm hits on her during their first encounter together and she simply gives a reluctant smile and looks away. Her behavior and reaction hints that this is a regular occurrence. She has a Ph.D., which means that she has worked long and hard for her position. Being a woman, she has probably had to deal with a lot of situations like the one with Dr. Malcolm.

This movie does fail the Bechdel test: there are no scenes of woman-to-woman dialogue. This is not surprising, as there are only two females in the movie: Lex, Hammond’s granddaughter, and Dr. Sattler. They do exchange a couple words when Dr. Sattler and Dr. Grant come to rescue them from the velociraptors, but it is not for more than thirty seconds. This is unfortunate, but not exactly disappointing because it gives Dr. Sattler more time to develop and show the audience what kind of a person she is. At multiple times in the film, she acts in an assertive manner that could be deemed “manly” by anti-feminists. The scene where she jumps out of a moving car to help the triceratops, leads to her being elbow deep in dinosaur doo-doo looking for the cause of illness. Dr. Malcolm expresses disgust and she does not even acknowledge his comment. She takes risks and will not tolerate being dictated to by the male characters, even Dr. Grant whom she is in a relationship with. Although this movie fails the Bechdel test, it makes up for it with the content of Dr. Sattler’s character.           

Dr. Sattler represents a woman that young girls should look up to and use as a role model. Although she is a fictional character, her values and behavior represent how women should conduct themselves in reality: with intelligence, assertiveness, and a tendency to accept a challenge. This movie was originally released in 1992, but Dr. Sattler’s character will continue to live on in the hearts of those like me. 

For further reading about Jurassic Park, check out this website:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107290/plotsummary

Photo Credit:

http://v002o.popscreen.com/eGtteHBpMTI=_o_teoria-sullevoluzione---jurassic-park.jpg

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l9u8q0U7UW1qzjg2ho1_500.jpg

Artifact Analysis I: Being Normal is American

          In today’s world, we are surrounded by depictions of gender, either male or female. Magazines, movies, and television shows are just a few of the outlets the media get to us through. A topic that we have discussed in class is the queer community. We learned what LGBTQIA stood for, and I started becoming more aware of how they are portrayed in the media. It seems like our society, at least pop culture, is beginning to be more accepting of gays and lesbians, but I have not seen or heard much of anything about transgenders. As I previously wrote in one of my blog posts, 30 Rock is my all-time favorite show. In this show one of the main characters is dating a man who dresses as a woman. 30 Rock addresses the issues transgenders bring up in the episode “Respawn,” where some people are less than pleased with Jenna and Paul’s relationship.

            Jenna is one of the main characters on 30 Rock and is known for her eccentricities. She plays an actress on the show and in one episode falls in love with someone named Paul. Paul leads his everyday life as a man, but works at a restaurant where he impersonates Jenna. As their relationship develops, he presents himself only as a Jenna look-alike: wig, makeup, heels, and all. Everyone on the show does not give this a second thought and their storyline is an interesting one. The specific episode that addresses how other people perceive and react to their relationship is the episode “Respawn”. In this episode Jenna is asked to be the spokesperson for Wool by a council of business-suit-and-tie men, and of course she is thrilled at the opportunity. Being a celebrity, there is quite a bit of media coverage on her and her relationship with Paul.  Unfortunately, the tight-laced men of Wool have no desire for their spokesperson to be presenting herself this way. They demand that Jenna begin leading a “normal, wholesome” lifestyle.

            Jenna and Paul’s lifestyle is anything but “normal” and that is the way they like it. This opportunity though is to good to pass up, so Jenna decides to convince the head councilman, Eugene that she is normal. To prove this, Jenna invites him and his wife over for dinner with her and Paul. She convinces Paul to dress like an ordinary man and conduct himself in that appropriate way. In the middle of dinner Paul exclaims, “We’re normal! And being normal is American!” This line sums up how we, as a society, are encouraged to behave. This show regularly makes fun of how Americans act and react to situations not deemed “normal”. This episode is a perfect example for how we are encouraged to be normal in every situation. In order to book this deal, Jenna must portray herself as someone she is not and this happens all the time.

            Americans have such a narrow, specific view about what is normal and any deviance from that is highly frowned upon. Mainstream magazines and media never feature transgenders in any of their articles or pictures, aside from the very rare mention about Cher’s son. How would people react to a transgender person being featured on the cover of Us Weekly? They would be shocked and probably infuriated, especially because our English language does not even have any gender-neutral pronouns aside from “they”. Hir is becoming more popularly used, but not quite enough that it is used in mainstream culture.

            Mainstream culture is not very accepting of cross-dressers or transgenders. That is why 30 Rock is such a great show because they have no problem addressing and featuring people not deemed “normal” by pop culture’s standards. In this episode, while Jenna is in the meeting, Eugene brings forth a somewhat controversial image of her and Paul. He asks her in a disgusted voice if he is a cross-dresser. Jenna chuckles and says, “Goodness! No. Paul is a gender-dysmorphic bigenitalian pansexualle.” This shocks Eugene, just as it would shock most of the American population. By pretending to be “normal,” whatever that is, she is not staying true to a part of herself and to Paul.

            At the end of the episode, after Jenna and Paul have impressed Eugene with their “normalness”, she goes to the photo shoot to take pictures for Wool. After the shoot, Paul stands on the stage with his back to the audience dressed in his “normal” attire of his Jenna costume. Eugene saunters over congratulating Jenna and starts stroking her back and complimenting her in a seductive voice. When Jenna turns around and Eugene sees that it is Paul, he is speechless. Then Jenna, who was dressed as a man pretending to be one of the set constructers, turns around and Eugene is outraged. Jenna follows with a speech addressing how she does not care if they give her up as spokesperson, she has no desire to be normal and never will. She decided to stay true to herself and Paul, and not give in to whatever normality Eugene wanted.

 Paul and Jenna are perfectly comfortable with their lifestyle and have no desire to change it or even pretend to change it. Even though our society pushes that one acts normal and straight, they do what is normal for them. Everywhere we look there are advertisements and billboards and pictures featuring straight men and women. I cannot recall the last time I saw an advertisement featuring a gay or lesbian or transgender. Unfortunately, this is probably to be expected considering how far we still have yet to go as far as gender equality. It may be another fifty or one hundred and fifty years before being part of the queer community is no longer taboo in pop culture. 

 For more reviews on Jenna and Paul's relationship click here

Confidence and Courage for the Consumer

So after class today I went to my grandparents house and decided to leaf through an issue of Marie Claire. I had intended to distract myself by reading some articles or seeing what trends to watch out for. But no way, not after the discussion we just had in class. Like Dr. Hager said, now all I see are ads. Everywhere. They easily make up the majority of the magazine. Now, I've always noticed this but never did I pay attention to them! I have found multiple adds for selling confidence and courage, because of course these things aren't something that comes from inside, they're something that must be packaged, produced, and sold. Confidence and courage now come in the form of Scope mouthwash whose ad features the catchy slogan "courage encouraged." Another form of confidence you can buy is makeup (who knew). Fortunately Bobbi Brown sells this: NEW Long-Wear Even Finish Compact Foundation, whose ad features a similarly catchy phrase, "Confidence is Everything. But a Little Makeup Can't Hurt." So basically they're implying that yeah you may think you have confidence, but can you truly be confident without foundation? Apparently not. Below are pictures of these ads.

30 Rock Rocks

Being obsessed with 30 Rock and pretty much anything Tina Fey touches, I was thrilled to see a brief segment of her show shown during Missrepresentation. The video covered a lot of ground and taught me a lot, especially with the statistics (like # out of # of some-important-corporate-job are women) that were just astounding. I did not realize how much farther we, as women and human beings in favor of equal treatment and fairness, have to go.
30 Rock is a fantastic, ingenious, clever, witty, hilarious show that everyone should watch. While it is a comedy, it also hits on many stereotypes and stigmas we have about certain things, especially in pop culture. Following suit of Saturday Night Live, the show will play on issues such as politics, corporate craziness, race, and very often gender roles. The part of the video where some thickheaded ignoramus news reporter (male) made a remark about how if a woman were president can you imagine what would happen when she's PMSing? Well, apart from being a highly idiotic and obviously unintelligent remark, it is a typical response you'd expect from an ignorant man. There's a scene in 30 Rock where they play on this idea of a woman being so inhibited by her period that she can tell immediately when it happens, exclaim "Oh my Period!" and collapse on the floor. I've attached this clip of the show to support what I'm saying.

30 Rock clip: Oh my Period!