I'm Still A Guy

So I was inspired to write a blog analyzing this song, I'm Still A Guy by Brad Paisley, after seeing it on a colleague of mine, Natalie. I saw it on her blog, where she connected it to "White Noise" a book that we read in class. Natalie analyzed the song by drawing a parallel to the stereotypical aggression shown in both the song and a passage in "White Noise".

However I wanted to look at the lines "With all of these men lining up to get neutered. It's hip now to be feminized. I don't highlight my hair I've sitll got a pair yeah honey, I'm still a guy." I think that it is so interesting that Paisley chose to use the word "feminized" to describe men that are getting highlights. The phrase "men lining up to get neutered" is suggesting that today men are loosing their masculinity and not to get highlights and turn to more feminine things. This song over all is suggesting that the gender stereotypes are still alive and should be more enforced.

I think that this relates to the "Newsweek" piece that we saw in class the other day. The objectification of the women in the picture and the sexiness of her pose illustrate that the idea perception of  women is primarily based on sexiness and submissiveness. The  "Newsweek"  piece also shows that gender stereotypes, although subtle, are very much a prominent part of our society and  continue fuel many of the "sexist" trends in America.

Why do you think that these gender stereotypes continue to survive despite the changing times and trends? What do you think will stop these gender stereotypes? 

Don't we all want to be "Oggsford" men?

As I was walking to school one day I saw this "for sale" sign and I noticed something really funny about it. On top of the sign it had "Sears School" tacked on the the top, and I found this particularly interesting because of how education effects property values. It was clearly the largest, most noticeable words and realtors are trying to advertise this house by providing information on the school district that the house belongs to. This shows how education is an identifier of class.

In "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gatsby is constantly identified as "an Oxford man" (49) and that shows how people judge people based on the caliber of education they received. Being "an Oxford man" connotes a prestigious, rich, cultured character that coincides with the characters of the elites in the higher classes. Many believe that Gatsby belongs to the elite class simply on the knowledge that he is "an Oxford man"

Similar to the societal norms in "The Great Gatsby", our community works very similarly. We judge and classify people based on what type of education they get and where they received that education.  According to "The New York Times" class is made up of four elements: occupation, education, income, and wealth. This may explain why the school's name was tacked up above the real-estate sign. This respect for education can even be seen in our community where people are judged by the middle schools they attended. This sign represents people adding schooling in as a large deciding factor on real-estate decisions. Although the two really do not relate, the trend of people buying houses because of schools is really taking off because education is now more of an indicator of class and parents want to know their child is getting the best possible education, which will hopefully land them in the higher classes of the American class system.

Do you really think that schools are playing a bigger role in real-estate decisions?

Office Flowers

In Japan, a viable and popular career for women is an "office flower" or "office lady". "Women serve a mere ornamental role in the labor force as "office flowers" (Harvard Women's Law Journal) and have no significant job in the office and are there to brighten the atmosphere, in a sense. These women take these jobs as "office flowers" and work until they marry and then they would settle down and raise thier family. 

I found this really interesting because not only does it set gender roles but it is also implies a male superiority that we as Americans are thought to have been destroyed in America. It also draws jarring parallels to the way the American office dynamic works. In one of the arguably greatest American novels "The Great Gatsby" there is repeated images connecting women with flowers and brightness or gold, like in the following quote: 

"Her face was sad and lovely with bright things in it, bright eyes and a bright passionate mouth" (9)

In this quote the narrator, Nick Carraway,  says that her (Daisy Buchanan) is filled with "bright things", he doesn't attribute any deeper qualities to her character other than being "bright". According to the College Times "Four in ten businesses worldwide have no women in senior management" and in America, "Women earn less than men in 99% of all occupations". We believe that in America women have equal treatment and rights however statistically that is not true. We look at the Japanese "office flowers" and we are appalled but isn't that similar to the career paths most women in America have? 

How do you this the American office dynamic is different? Do you think the majority of women in America follow the same career path as the "office flowers"?

"White Noise" and Undocumented Workers

In class we recently wrapped up a book titled "White Noise" written by Don DeLillo. I've also been working on my junior theme which is about why American agriculture is so reliant on undocumented workers. After drowning in research and writing I began to see similarities between Babette, the main character's wife, and the current situation in America.

In "White Noise", Babette struggles with regimenting her own life style and she would constantly buy healthy foods and then through them out because she didn't want to eat them. Babette brings healthy foods into her home because she feels that she needs them. But then when there becomes an excess of these healthy foods she feels she no longer needs them and tries to get rid of them all but then realizes she still wants the healthy foods and repeats the cycle again.

This cycle of Babette is similar to America's attitude toward undocumented workers. In the 1940's America created the Bracero Program which encouraged Mexican workers to work for American employers. However the program ended in 1964 because of the "excess" of illegal immigrants. (PBS) America has welcomed and shut out immigrants in cycles and today we are shutting out immigrants. However Americans are discovering that we are dependent on illegal immigrants and shutting them out would cripple our agriculture industry, much like how Babette completely shutting out the healthy foods would cripple her self confidence.

Both America and Babette are not coming to terms with the realities of what they can achieve at the moment. Babette is not accepting that she does not incorporate healthy foodss. America is not accepting that it's domestic food production is reliant on undocumented workers.