Rlowery4's Blog

500 Word Essay

rlowery4 — Fri, 08 May 2009 14:28:48 +0000

Through out my gender web portfolio, I realized that I tended to write about a lot about stereotypes between females and males. First off, if it wouldn’t have been for this assignment, I never would have truly understood how much gender is really all around us. Every day we run into so many situations and concepts whether reality or not, that portray a lot about gender.

Since my artifact paper was about the media, I looked a lot at the media and personal experiences and how they correlated. There are so many examples such as females in the work force, females having empowerment, males not being able to get a job that is predominantly female, crazy female temps who get the job to find a man, and many other examples that the media depicts. I thought that it was most interesting to constantly be seeing commercials and then after really studying them, finding the deeper meaning. For example, the Little Thick Burger commercial that was showing the difference between what men see and what women think. The commercial really was about men being more aggressive and bigger and just manlier in general being able to take on this “huge burger” where a woman can’t.

I thought it was interesting to see commercials that portrayed language socialization in many different ways. One of the commercials was about star war lego’s which showed little boys playing with these space ships “ready to conquer and blow up the world and their enemies.” Where as on the other side of the spectrum I saw little girls playing in their “Kitchen Little’s set” washing the dishes and baking cakes for their friends. In these thirty second short clips, the media is showing the viewers what boys and girls are supposed to play with and how they are supposed to act while doing it. It is through the media and language socialization that helps develop these boys and girls into their gender identities.

Other than commercials, it was interesting to see how the media has changed progressively with the reality television and entertainment shows. The Cougar for example, I personally think, shows older women in a negative light. This woman, who is forty years old, should not be on a reality dating television show seen making out and bringing the men into her “cougar den” at night. This woman has a career, and children, and personally I think that it makes women look more as a sex symbol than anything else.

There were also other shows and movies that I observed such as Mean Girls, and Obsessed, that played into the typical female stereotypes. The movie Obsessed showed that the typical “female secretary” working in an office who dressed a little innappropriately to get attention. Overall throughout this assignement I realized that the media can portray anything it wants and send whatever message out to any audience.

“I’ll Think of a Reason Later”

rlowery4 — Fri, 08 May 2009 14:23:11 +0000

“I’ll Think of a Reason Later“, is a country song by Lee Ann Womack. The song starts off with the lyrics “I heard he was gonna marry some girl from Denver
Then my sister came over, had the Sunday paper with her
There was the girl on the social page
Lookin’ in love and all engaged
We decided she don’t take a very good picture”

It’s about this girl whose ex boyfriend found another girl and he’s now engaged to that woman. In the chorus of the song she talks about how perfect the new fiance is and its not right to hate someone but she still just doesn’t like her and nothing will change that. The main line in the song is “But I really hate her, I’ll think of a reason later.”

This ties into Chapter 7 Gender Communication and Romance. The relationship in the song is past stage 10 (Terminating) by Knapp. According to research a “woman’s self esteem is entwined with the success of her relationships, and when a relationship ends, the woman’s self esteem suffers” (p.173). In the song the woman’s self esteem definately was not high because she was basically praising the new fiance, even though she hates her.

Gamble, T. K., & Gamble, M. W. (2003). The Gender Communication Connection. Boston: Houghto Mifflin
Company.

The Cougar

rlowery4 — Fri, 08 May 2009 04:38:37 +0000

The television show The Cougar is the latest dating reality show. It is based on an older woman (40) who has children, money, and looking for a younger man. The show started with 2o young men and she finds that one to pick at the end. I think the show for women, is pretty degrading. Just the concept of an older woman being titled, “The Cougar”, like she’s a sex object. Men like older good looking women, and the fact that she is extremely good looking and rich just makes it that much more tempting. I just don’t think the idea gives off the right message to viewers across the country.

It ties into the media chapter and how women are portrayed. The cougar is merely a sex object giving off the wrong name to older goodlooking women everywhere.

Gamble, T. K., & Gamble, M. W. (2003). The Gender Communication Connection. Boston: Houghto Mifflin
Company.

Sports Media Coverage

rlowery4 — Fri, 08 May 2009 04:37:58 +0000

The capitals are doing really well right now, MLB season is always being watched, the super bowl is pretty much a holiday, and March Madness is what everyone was talking about for that whole month. But when is a female sport ever the main topic of discussion between everyone?

Mens sports have always been known to be more popular on television. If it is a womens sport it is often times used by spotlighting such as “womens basketball, or womens tennis.” I think it’s interesting that not for all cases, but some, females are portrayed as superb athletes is through their feminism, and physical attractiveness rather than their athletic accomplishments. A prime example is Anna Kournikova. She was never a really good tennis player, but everyone knew her name. This was because of her good looks, body, and personality.

I think the reason that men get more coverage on sports is simply because they are physically stronger, making the entertainment more intense for viewers to watch. Of course there is going to be a lot more action in a mens basketball game compared to a female basketball game. But I think that women should still get more hype on the news, and espn channels about their athletic accomplishments.

Gamble, T. K., & Gamble, M. W. (2003). The Gender Communication Connection. Boston: Houghto Mifflin
Company.

Greys Anatomy- Romantic Relationships

rlowery4 — Fri, 08 May 2009 04:37:19 +0000

I was analyzing Derek and Merediths relationship on Greys Anatomy and found that I could connect it to a lot of the material we have learned in gender this semester. Everyone knows how disfunctional their relationship has been through out the seasons, which is why I can relate it to the 10 stage model, as well as the three ingredients by Robert Sternberg. First, they initiated in the beginning where they met at the bar and had the drunken hook up where she saw him the next day at work. They have experimented a lot by going out to dinner and hanging out outside of work. The intensifying stage is always going on when they talk about their future together or just little things like having each others back and being open about their feelings towards each other to other doctors. The integrating stage blends in a lot with intensifying, and moving in with each other is a good example. They took the further steps to see if they could handle living together. The bonding stage has never “officially” happened because they have never gotten married. Stage 6, the differenciating stage, has occured a lot because both have them have been very unsure about who they are, their relationship, and their job. There was a specific scene in an episode where they hadn’t been talking for awhile and Meredith came up to Derek trying to be romantic and was happy to see him, then he told her that he was at a bar last night and a woman flirted with him wanting to hang out, and that had been the high lite of his week, and that’s sad when he is in a relationship. This is a good example of of differenciating because they are still together, but they are not always in each others lives knowing exactly what is going on. For awhile now they have experienced Circumscribing, stagnating, and terminating many times because they are a very hot and cold couple.

I also have seen many examples of Robert Sternbergs three ingredients that are necessary to nurture a romantic relationship. They are committed most of the time, an example that pops into my mind is when Derek has the lawsuit against him in this season airing right now, and he likes to stay drunk in his trailor. He throws Merediths ring into the woods in front of her and she still stands by him saying that he is drunk and going through a hard time. They also are very passionate towards each other with a lot of intimacy.

Grey’s episode

Gamble, T. K., & Gamble, M. W. (2003). The Gender Communication Connection. Boston: Houghto Mifflin
Company.

Facebook

rlowery4 — Fri, 08 May 2009 04:36:44 +0000

I was on facebook looking at my conversations with girls versus boys. I observed how many girls comment on my pictures/wall, compared to how many boys comment. I also looked at how many girls uploaded photo albums compared to boys photo albums. All the answers were the same. Girls are much more involved in facebook than boys are. Boys are much more laid back about online blogs where it’s easy to communicate with any group of friends. Girls however, enjoy writing on their friends walls, keeping up with old friends, being involved in all of the latest relationship break ups, who has just begun a relationship, and seeing pictures of everyone. Women enjoy being more disclosive with others.

For instance, if someone asks a question to both a male and a female on their facebook like, “where were you when this picture was taken?” women and men both perceive that differently. Language socialization helps develop feminine and gender identities and conceive questions entirely different (p. 63). Women use questions as keeping the conversation go on longer so they would respond to that question as they want to keep the conversation going on and know more about you. Boys however, see it has requests for information. Men are usually minimally responsive when it comes to speaking and women are more cooperative wanting to maintain connections.

Gamble, T. K., & Gamble, M. W. (2003). The Gender Communication Connection. Boston: Houghto Mifflin
Company.

Bridal Wars

rlowery4 — Fri, 08 May 2009 04:35:44 +0000

I watched the movie Bridal Wars the other night. The movie is about two best friends who have dreamed about their wedding day since they were little kids growing up together. They both get engaged at the same time and plan their wedding together and both want it at the Plaza. They go get it booked and there was a miscommunication and their weddings are both booked on June 6th and the Plaza. Both of the women refuse to change their dates and instead they fight with each other trying to make each other miserable so they will change their dates. As I was watching the movie, I noticed that the men really had no say in the wedding plans at all. In one scene when they are scheduling the weddings the lady asks if they need to ask their fiances before they actually book the date and they both immediately screamed no. Granted, the movie is a little far fetched with a lot of the scenes but in a sense, the woman really does control a lot in weddings.

This ties into gender roles, and roles for females. Not to belittle women in anyway, but if the man typically is bringing in more of the income, it is not only what women enjoy doing, but it has become to be more of a role for women to want to prepare for their weddings. Men also help with ideas and whether or not they like whats planned or not, but you rarely ever see a man completly taking over to plan his wedding. I just thought it was interesting to see that in the movie all of the chaos that was going on in the movie over these weddings, the men rarely ever had any input or anything to say about it, and it is just much his wedding as it is hers.

Bridal Wars [Motion picture]. (2009). United States: 20th Century Fox Distribution.

Gamble, T. K., & Gamble, M. W. (2003). The Gender Communication Connection. Boston: Houghto Mifflin
Company.

Girls versus Boys in work place

rlowery4 — Fri, 08 May 2009 04:32:25 +0000

I work at a resturaunt where we have all girl waitresses except one boy waiter. When I applied for the job, I literally walked in handed my application to the boss and he just said you are hired. I pretty much got to pick the days I wanted to work and got trained the next day and have been working there ever since. My guy friend wants to stay down here also this summer and tried to get a job at my resturaunt, and they offered him a position as a cook. He was really offended by this because pretty much everyone gets hired when they apply there because they are always needing people.

I thought it was kind of ironic because it just goes to show that sexism in the workplace is not always against females. I know we watched Madmen in class and that shows stereotypes against women, we discussed feminism and how we basically fought for our equal rights. Title IX was made for women and their equal rights, women are always known as secretaries and not the ones pulling in all of the income. But there are still cases in which men are stereotyped against, or can’t get a job because “he isn’t a girl.”

Gamble, T. K., & Gamble, M. W. (2003). The Gender Communication Connection. Boston: Houghto Mifflin
Company.

Symbolic Interaction Theory

rlowery4 — Fri, 08 May 2009 04:31:03 +0000

As I was growing up, I always remember helping my mom “cook”. Although I really wasn’t cooking I just thought that I was. I also would have to set up the table before dinner time. When I was growing up I also remember all my christmas and birthday presents being the Kitchen Little’s set, Easy Bake Oven, dolls and play houses that I would take care of them in. Strollers for my babydolls that I would walk them around in in the neighborhood.

All of these activities tie into the Symbolic Interaction Theory. George Mead says that significant others play a big role on how you perceive and develop a sense of self (p. 40). By my mom teaching me how to set the table, and the toys that I grew up playing with, I had a sense of my future roles in life. Watching her every day cook breakfast and dinner for the family as well as cleaning I learned that that was mainly a woman’s role if the man was away working all the time.

Gamble, T. K., & Gamble, M. W. (2003). The Gender Communication Connection. Boston: Houghto Mifflin
Company.

spotlighting-male nail artists

rlowery4 — Fri, 08 May 2009 04:30:33 +0000

I was getting my nails done the other day, and for the first time ever, I had a man do them. I have seen very few male nail artists in my life, and I was alittle worried when I was getting them done. He acted so different from all of the other times I had gotten my nails done. He was a lot more laid back and relaxed, not really acting as “professional” as the other women I had been used too. Unlike the women, he had introduced himself and we actually talked majority of the time. After I had gotten my nails done, I was really impressed with the nail guy. He was really nice, personable, and did a rather good job on my nails. I asked him how he had gotten into doing nails and he said it was a family business but he loved doing it. Often times he is used as spotlighting because he is a “male nail person” instead of your typical “nail lady.”

It reminded me a lot of the workplace chapter and how in class we discussed about male teachers. We all pretty much agreed in class that the male teachers were a lot more chill and relaxed in class while teaching than the female teachers. I think that’s very interesting carrying into cosmotology. I wonder if males feel that they need to take on that “more relaxed, cooler role” when working in a predominantly female field? My nail guy did just as good a job as any female would do, but he also made me feel more relaxed because he was very comftorable around me and we had talked a lot.

Gamble, T. K., & Gamble, M. W. (2003). The Gender Communication Connection. Boston: Houghto Mifflin
Company.