Talking Points #8 (Argument)

Kimmel argues that all school shooting have the same thing in common: masculinity. Therefore in order to understand the shootings we must take into consideration gender specifically the constellation of adolescent masculinity, homophobia and violence.

I am going to agree with Kimmel on this one, gender is a huge factor in these shootings, but why is the real question. Boys are thought to be tough, strong to the point of even violent at times, vulgar especially to girls, physically fit, and most importantly not a girl. I can only imagine a boy in school who does not fit into these criteria, the shame and humiliation he must get from his peers. the torture he must go through on a day to day basis in a place where he is supposed to be safe. I am sure many of these boys went up to teachers and principals and told but no one listened.

Why not girls? I think the answer to this might be that girls can pass easily as either a lesbian or straight, also girls can go back and forth without any consequences and its okay for her to do so. A boy on the other hand cannot.

This might also answer the question as to why only boys open fire and not girls, since they are also getting tortured and picked on. One side of it might be that girls are not as severely damaged as boys are, and to boys might be more of a pride thing and proving something, to themselves and also to everyone else.

I also noticed that every time there is shooting; the news and the media want to then make this teenager a bad person: gangster, bully, came from an unstable family, or was abused as a child, teen violence, etc., but then of course overlook gender. The reason all these excuses come up is because all or most school shootings occur in white neighborhoods by white kids, so media wants to make sure they give a reason that the public would be okay with and not ask too many questions. I found this Wikipedia of school shootings in the United States alone, and I can’t even express in this blog my initial reaction to it.

Here are some of the faces of some of the suspects of a few of the recent shootings:

 

Smile :)
kt

Media Final Project

Topic:

Stereotypical Representations of Black Youth in American media

Group Members:

Julie Kessler

Daury Rodriguez

Andrea Sterling

Myself

Smile :)
kt

Talking Points #7 (Connection)

I want to connect this text Cinderella Ate My Daughter to the movie we watched in class Brave.

I think the main connection I saw was in the text when Orenstein talks about her daughter having the first ever fight with her best friend in school, and that fight was precisely about who can be the princess. The main idea of this fight was that there can only be one princess therefore one of them couldn’t be. Is this taken very seriously and if Orenstein wouldn’t have told her daughter to apologize that could’ve ended their friendship forever.

In Brave we see this same kind of competition, when the clans arrive with their first born sons to compete for Merida’s hand in marriage and become the prince, again because there can only be one, and competition between them must be involved in order to win the throne. 

This need for competition and need to be the only person able to shine is embedded in us from a young age. We grow up wanting to be the fastest, biggest, better, the center of attention, etc… There is I think no "safe" competition, because there always has to be a winner and on the other side of that coin there must be a loser, this can bring about anger, fear, low self-esteem, and many other feelings in any person. This article about competition tries to soften the blow.

This can torn apart families and friendships because in order to want this so bad for yourself, one I think must have greed and a sense of feeling that you are better than everyone else.

My question is why can’t we just work together to be one great unity of many different styles and ideas.

In Cinderella for example: why can’t all the girls in the house have a nice dress, be beautiful and pleasant? Why do we always have the need for competition and the need to belittle others in order to make us feel better about ourselves?

This also ties into all the discourses we’ve been talking about in class that are feed to us via the media, we watch these movies, shows, videos, etc. … judge whoever is on the other side and say to ourselves “at least I’m not like them”. I think this is a horrible way of doing better or trying to do better for you, by belittling others.

Smile :)
kt

Talking Posts #6: Final Project Ideas

Wow!
Thinking about final already. This actually gets me very excited because it means that I will soon graduate :).
Ok so I did not put up my post by Sunday night because I had no idea on what to do it on, but after reading my classmates ideas, I got one of my own, not sure if it'll work.
So, my idea is to do something with the Spanish teen community and tie it together with the idea of discourse and the themes we have learned about thus far and the ones to come.
What I would use for an artifact, not sure at this moment to tell you the truth but what I'm sure of is that I'll think of something soon enough.

Smile :)
kt

Midterm Assessment Talking Points

sooooooo.......
all i can say at this point is that ....

1. i do have all my information written down on a piece of paper (yay me!)
2. i am trying to do an xtranormal video BUT i guess i can only use 2 actors .... soooo i am extremely frustrated and confused on how to use the damn thing.
3. aaaaaahhhhhh!!!! i'm going to end up pulling the little bit of hair that i have out .... i will be bald by class time.
4. i don't really have a 4 lol

ummmmm ......
i was very excited at first about this project and had it all mapped out in my little old head....
and now it seems like its a disaster .....
nothing came out like i thought it would :(
i'm so sad and disappointed ..... sucks!!!
a very frustrating process ...

well y'all can be the judge of it tomorrow .....

ok well i'm over it lol

smile :)
kt

Talking Points #5 (Hyperlinks)

i really liked this article and also the video it was very funny.
both article and video were i think mainly talking about how media controls the things we learn and do while trying to learn. we are focused on other things while at the same time trying to learn, which in turn we really aren't learning because we are so focused on the other things we are doing: facebook, twitter, youtube, instagram, etc...

this a cool video that talks about information, how we will eventually use it and how the revolution of information works to our advantage, it also gives you some interesting facts:

like in the article Wesch talks about how information is at our fingertips and how anyone from anywhere in the world can become an expert on something they never knew about about just by going on the web.
for example:
blogging anyone can blog, there is no "set" structure to blogging and if there is you can also learn about it, but mostly blogging becomes people's outlet, a way to get their voices heard, even if its not.
so while reading this article i thought: uh? "diigo" what is it? well google answered me: diigo is a place where you can bookmark, highlight and use sticky notes, look up or do research, have your own personal learning space, use it for pictures, screenshots, audio, etc... and to top it all off you can use it on any tablet, computer, laptop and even any cell phone (well android or iphone).
the new trend now (or maybe not so new, not sure) is #tag, everyone is doing it, on facebook, twitter, instagram, you name it. its the new thing.

once again i keep reading the article and Wesch mentions netvibes portal again did not know what it was until i looked online and found the website and its basically your entire life in this one dashboard, that once again you can access from anywhere there is internet (maybe this will change too) on any device. this stuff can hold hundreds and thousands of informationand it can also be used in any language.

the story that Wesch said at the end of his TED video was the story of the little bird.
then i thought to myself:
"i want to be the little bird that saved the world".

smile :)
kt

Talking Points #4: Hine (Quotes)

“Maybe I’m something special, and maybe I’m not. Maybe I’m here for a reason and I might be going somewhere after this, but then again I might not. I wonder where I fit in?”

this is unfortunately many of teen’s fears that in their world might just be true. this happens because they do not seem to fit into a teenager stereotype nor the societal stereotype, they don’t fit their parents ideals nor do they have many friends and are most of the times shy, lonely and socially awkward. adults sometimes feel this way as well, and so they become even more of loners and depressed, they do not have much of a social life and close themselves to relationships.

“ ….. teenagers principal preoccupation is to adapt, to find a place in life”.

this is why i think teenagers should be allowed to experiment with as much as they want and do things as far as their imagination takes them, because this way they will: 1. get it out of their system and 2. once they are old, they don’t have those “when I was a teen I wish I would’ve moments” or the best ones “if I had the chance as a teen to try and that, maybe I would have been a lawyer, a dentist, a doctor, etc…”
 i believe everyone should have the chance to experiment with whatever they want at whatever time in their lives, without any judgment from others. a lot of people would be happier and maybe would not be living through their teenagers experiences.

“ ….we remember ourselves as ourselves. Being a teenager isn’t an identity but a predicament most people live through.”

In my opinion there are a lot of so called “adults” currently living in this predicament.

2 of my favorite quotes:

-          “We want them (teenagers) to embody virtues we only rarely practice. We want them to eschew habits we’ve never managed to break.”

-          "But if our conception of teenaged lives is dysfunctional, parents suffer along with their children.”

these quotes speak loudly to most teenage experience, many “adults” demand teenagers things that they themselves as “adults” still do. so in reality what does that say about “adults.”

also we hear many parents say: “i did the best i could.” maybe they did but maybe in order for “the problem” to be solve we might need to look both the teenager and the parent to try and fix it.

the teenager:
“not quite a competent person” for some things in my opinion.
“a person from twelve to thirty-five”
“the one who will realize the American dream”
“a source of anger, irritation, or anxiety”
“not to be trusted”

this is where why i truly believe that adults envy teenagers.

“Adults fear that teenagers will go totally out of control. The teenage years have been defined as, at once, the best and freest of life and a time of near madness and despair.”

most adults feel trapped in their “responsible, professional, adult life” and so they do miss their teenage years and in some ways envy the freedom and lack of responsibility in some sense that teen age has. This may also be a good reason for them to try and make them as miserable as they are.

about the article and the stories, one thing I was taken aback by was the lack of positive views of teenagers. there are plenty young successful, independent, positive attitudes teens out there, but yet none are highlighted. only horror stories to damage more the stereotypes of teenagers.   

well here are some positive pics to inspire some:

smile :)
kt

I want y'all to meet my boy

today is my boy's 2 month birthday.
and so I thought it was perfect timing to introduce him to the class.

he is a Rottweiler 

his name you ask:
Hercules :)

my husband named him and at first i wasn't a fan of the name so i started calling him: Herc
Now i'm over the name so i call him both Hercules and Herc ..... poor thing is probably extra confused now that i think about it LOL

in this picture he was only 6 weeks old.
it was the first picture taken as soon as he arrived at his new lovable home.

this is him with his momma aka me :)

i really hope he grows up to be a mommas boy LOL

he listens to commands already and is almost potty trained, but he is still a baby so it might take a little more time to fully train him.

he is into his biting stage at the moment so he loves biting, anything and everything. we are really good in telling him a firm NO and giving him his toys which are the only things he is allowed to bite.

this picture was his third night in the house and this was at 3:30 in the morning.

Hercules refused to sleep, was crying like someone was killing him and all he wanted to do was play, while I was dying because of lack of sleep.

fun times! :)

this was the day of the storm ....
well before the storm got bad.

which was also Hercules first time in the snow ..... he was playing all around and eating it lol

this is the way Hercules likes to eat ....

talk about lazy

this is both my babies:

CindyBaby and Hercules <3

Cindy doesn't really like him because she has been an only child for 8 years now and all he wants to do is play and she is old and just wants to lay down LOL

she has put him in his place plenty of times and when she wants to be left alone she lets him know and he sure does listen, guess he has no choice.

i am glad that she has made him respect her because soon enough he will be bigger but still listen to her.

smile :)
kt

LOVE MY BABIES !!!! <3 <3 <3

Talking Points #3: Raby

when reading this my mind went back to the our first class discussion about Croteau, and the whole idea of consent. we (well most) whether we know it or not do not give our consent for these discourses to brain wash us. i say brain wash, because after all from these discourse is where we form our own “ideas”, “truths”, “reality” and such. i put these words in quotation marks because they don’t really exist in us, they were put there. maybe there is a reason, or maybe there is not.

some people might not want to discover these discourses and their roots, some want to stay in the dark and live happily ever after. maybe because once you discover the ins and outs of these discourses, it’s just too much work from there on, and you start to see everything in a different light. and you realize that everything you were ever tough is a lie.

“Steinberg concludes that ‘parents probably project their own discomfort about adolescence onto their children… as a way of avoiding facing the unrest they themselves feel about growing old”.

i totally agree with this quote and also think that parents fear that their children will do either the same things they did as adolescence or even worse. or it could also be that some parents wish they were still adolescence themselves and were doing the things that their children are out doing, and think to themselves: “if I was my child at this age, I would …. “ and therefore this might disturb them a bit and so they worry.

all these ideas about what or how an  adolescence should or would be acting like or experiencing, is another one of those constructed ideologies that media, society and or ourselves have constructed somehow from somewhere in our heads. many adolescence don’t even experience what its said to be the “adolescence experience”, they don’t realize it until after they have passed that stage in their lives. could this be because that is when they reach the point where everyone else telling them what they should be experiencing? and media and or society, etc, has fully taken over their brain at this point, and they “see” what everyone else was talking about?

(not sure if that makes any sense)

i find it funny, how many adults think of adolescence as the age to “rebel” and not “following rules”, when many adults themselves one might say are still in this stage. those adults are the more critical of what a “teenager or adolescence” character. the same can also be said for adolescence, they can act more mature and level headed than a lot of adults.

a question for the class might be:

do you think we ever cross the “adolescence” stage?

meaning what most people think of when they think of adolescence today.

or is “adult” just another word made up, so that we somehow feel superior to those little kids growing up? 

i chose this video because it gives a little information on puberty and the changes one as adolescence are suppose to go through.

but also because I believe most "adults" are still to move on from this stage.  

smile :)
kt