The ethics of airbrushing

There has been a lot of controversy in the media lately regarding the airbrushing of models and celebrities in magazines and advertisements. Recently, the feminist website Jezebel chastised the well-loved writer and actress, Lena Dunham of “Girls”, for appearing in Vogue magazine with her features mildly photo shopped. Normally, there seems to be a good amount of backing from the internet community for this sort of call-out, but in this case, Dunham had a rally of supporters who insisted that it was progress enough that Vogue was showing someone with a “normal” body type on its cover, and that it really wasn’t a big deal in that her pictures were only mildly edited.

Personally, I feel that the growing public distaste towards airbrushing is misplaced. Don’t get me wrong, I’m no fan of advertisements that make a size 0 model look like a 00, but I feel like, for the most part, I think that naysayers are underestimating the public. I feel like the majority of consumers know, and even expect to a certain extent that these sorts of images are doctored; it’s just a part of the game. I would have been outraged if they tried to make Dunham look two sizes smaller, but if they trim out some cellulite, get rid of some wrinkles, or pull in someone’s waistline subtly, I don’t really feel like that is any cause for alarm.

I appreciated the effort made when lingerie brand Aerie had a full catalog in which their models were un-airbrushed, but it certainly wasn’t revolutionary in terms of promoting a wide range of healthy body types. All of the models, in their un-edited glory, were still very slim and conventionally pretty, and miraculously free of blemishes or cellulite. I think it is more important to reinforce the idea that beauty comes in many shapes and sizes than it is to insist on an end to photo shop.

Transgender in America

This weeks to topic dealing with gender made me think back to an experience I had on a family reunion. At the time my daughter was five years old. We were at a McDonald’s when she said she had to use the restroom. I remember asking her why didn't she say anything before we left our hotel and how much I hate using public restrooms. So, I proceeded to  take her to the restroom. Upon walking into the women’s restroom, I paused and took a step back to reread the sign.   When I entered a second time, what my eyes perceived to be male stated “I a girl”. So I continued to take my child to the restroom. I can not lie my initial thoughts were not pleasant at the time. As I thought more about my experience, I thought about why someone who wants to be considered a man would not use the men's restroom instead of the women’s. Then I thought about how unaccepting we are in our society.  After viewing the YouTube clip in class it reminded me that  people in our society hate and harm people who they do not understand and I would never want harm to come to some transgendered for using the restroom where society says the doesn't fit.

In Philadelphia a new law has been passed in an effort to address the gender neutrality of restrooms in the United States.

http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/LGBT-Gender-Neutral-Restrooms-206932591.html

Conflict of interest

So, I had a conversation this week with a friend of mine who I consider to be one of the best people to turn to when it comes to feminist topics, especially when I want a man's perspective. He and I were talking about post-graduation plans and we found it very interesting that when he is planning for the future he doesn't necessarily factor in 'settling down' and having a family. This is something I often find myself doing almost subconsciously,  I factor in at what point I may need to put my career and travel plans on pause for if I ever decide to start a family. I find this to be a conflict because of how much I fight the expectations placed on women and find myself trapped  in those expectations. When I was talking to my friend, he said that he thinks it's bullshit that men never  have take that into account and women  are expected to. Anyway,  there was no resolution to the  conversation, of course, but  I find it interesting that despite how much advocacy I do for women's right to choose their own path, I have a conflict of  motivations when thinking about the future. I feel trapped in choosing either career aspirations or family.

Young Women in Business

I was out of town this weekend for business training and I noticed the skewed gender ratio. One thing to note, the women that have the same job as me will not in any way receive less money than me based on gender from my company. We all run franchises and the 3 girls will work with the same royalties, insurance charges, etc. as the 15 males or so. However when swapping stories about doing door to door marketing, the girls seemed to have a higher likelihood of people answering the door with an open attitude, but it sounded like the men may have had a higher chance to actually sell the job. On the official level, my company gives all genders and races equal opportunity, however at a more subconscious level the customers may not.

Girls are different than boys AND I LIKE IT THAT WAY

I just wanted to speak my mind about one of the ideas that I’m struggling with coming to terms with. It goes back to one of the first days of class when we started talking about gender bias to children. We talked about how we give little girls pink toys and dolls and stuff and boys trucks and stuff. We said that this from the very beginning is basically telling a girl she has to grow up and be a mom, and I just have to disagree with that. As a little girl, I loved to get outfits for my dolls and dress them up and play games, like play out real life situations. I can recall pretending with my sister that we were teenagers and playing with them. That bring me to my point that there is a FINE line in my head between equality and not equality. I feel like some of the feminist ideas want us to be more like men and I think that’s wrong. I think that women should celebrate the fact that we are unique. I think that its important for us to dress a certain way to make ourselves happy whether its sneakers or heals. I for one enjoy dressing up and putting makeup on because I think it makes me look good. I just am having a hard time, because I feel like in a way feminists instead of working for equal respect between the two gender kind of want each gender to be the same. I hope this is making sense. I guess what I’m saying is it’s a blessing that we are all different, and If I want to grow up and raise my kids and dress up pretty that my own choice. If I want to have a career that my own choice. But I feel like instead of making it so that women and men are alike we should work to maintain the differences, but STRIVE for equality in treatment, pay, and rights. That’s what’s important. 

Mary Sue and Gary Stu

The internet is a fascinating place, where you can literally find anything, including poorly written fanfiction.  In fact, reading the most infamous pieces of literature (term uses loosely) on the internet (dubbed "badfic" in the jargon of the online community) is somewhat of a hobby of mine.  Besides providing a chuckle at the poor skills exhibited in some (which may or may not be intentional, depending on whether the author is an internet troll or not), many works display the gender perceptions and insecurities of wider societies.  The Mary Sue is a common staple of online literature, especially in series that are/were perceived as male-dominated (Star Trek, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, etc...).  These characters are glorified, always being the most beautiful, most talented (in typically feminine tasks often, such as singing and dance), most skilled in combat when action applies to the series, and most popular.  They have little or no flaws, bend the universe to their wills, and their ultimate goal is always to get the guy of their dreams.  Not only are they usually the perfect picture of femininity, but they dominate their male counterparts as well.  It is obvious in many cases that these characters are stand-ins for the female authors, as many will voice opinions held by the author.  This considered, I think it says a lot about how girls (as the poor writing quality indicates, I believe the authors are rather young, most likely preteens or younger teenagers) perceive themselves and their roles in society.  Because the characters are beautiful and popular to an extreme, it is likely that the authors are not as "accomplished" in real life, thus using their fanfiction as a chance to "improve" themselves.  The more that we flood images of unnaturally photoshopped women, the worse standard girls are bound to feel about themselves.  Ironically, the fan community reacts worse to these fabricated characters than they most likely would to the authors themselves, resulting in harsh commentary that doubtlessly affects the author as well, creating a vicious cycle of poor confidence.  I believe they also create these characters because they feel helpless in reality, hence their tendency to bend the cannon story's universe and win over their attractive male counterparts, which they may feel they have no chance of on a daily basis.  There we have the girly side of things.
The male version of the Mary Sue is often called the Gary Stu, and he only has one purpose in the story: to be the biggest badass of them all. He always shows up to beat the "bad guys" (who may or may not be villainous, as long as they're strong opponents), save the day and win all the glory; whether or not they get the girl is negotiable or a side effect of their super-macho presence.  Gary Stus are less likely to be noticed as early on as Mary Sues; it is a sad fact of life and even literature that male characters are typically more aggressive, so they are harder to spot than the usually ultra-aggressive Mary Sue who is partially defying her established gender role.  This tells me that society is exerting immense pressure on young men to be the biggest and the baddest, which not every boy can do.  Although their ideals are manifested differently than the Mary Sue, they are essentially the same dilemma: youth pressured by society to fill an ideal which is unattainable (and honestly quite undesirable) for the average human being.

Gender Swap? How about race swap?

The discussion we had in class really got me thinking. The talk about switching your gender, how could your life be different. Well, I was thinking, what if not only was my gender swapped, but what about my race as well?
If I were to be a white male, my life would be so much different. My whole high school life would be changed. I went to a catholic school where I was the only black female for a while. This was a crazy experience because I underwent a lot of racism. Everyday people would make jokes, acting like they were my friends, but the jokes were very hurtful. If my life was swapped, I would have probably been invited to hang out with "my friends." I dont think there was a time that I was invited to "hang out" with the group.

I would be able to talk to my neighbors. I live in a community where there are only two black families including me. I remember once I was riding my bike and I touched my neighbors driveway, and he came out yelling and cursing at me. It was insane.

How would your life be if your race was swapped? As well as your gender? It would be completely different in every way.