"I often find myself worrying about celebrities. It's an entirely caring thing; it's not like the people who commission those photographs with cruel arrows to go on the covers of the celebrity magazines. The photographs show botched plastic surgery, raging eczema, weight gain and horrible clothes for maximum schadenfreude."
Peter York
"It's what on the inside that counts" is heard everyday in schools across the nation. "It's what's on the inside", we say as we dress ourselves in the latest trends and brands, striving to be the perfect American consumer. The desire to be different, special, is expressed in ways thousands of other people partake in, rendering the uniqueness of the endeavor useless.
Despite campaigns we still judge a book by its cover. The preoccupation with physical appearance has only become stronger with the widespread use of social media. These "ideal" beauty standards are mostly the same with minimal changes in details (hair color, eye color) and affect both genders. These usually involve height (for both, but girls are usually shorter), clear skin, thin (women), muscular (men), and stylish hair. Men and women with an appearance different from the "ideal" are perceived as less powerful than the normal.
Striving for impossible (made possible by photoshop) forces men and women into diets, eating disorders, and a negative self perception. In extreme cases men and women resort to plastic surgery. Plastic has a strong negative connotation- people who go under the knife for cosmetic reasons are seen afterwards as fake, as the common use of plastic indicates. As people become more Barbie and Ken than human as the obsession with physical appearance takes its toll.
The proliferation of social media feeds us a constant bombardment of what is perfect: appearance, jobs, money and family. The anonymity of the keyboard allows internet user to say whatever they want with little to no repercussions which adds personal commentary to everything online. Some comments are helpful while many are the opposite. At the same time the internet allows connections with others through gaming, chats, and video calls. The intimate connections that can form online outweigh the bad that can come. If you find the right online community, the members can be a structure to rely on. Many argue that it is unhealthy to have so many relationships through the computer, but I believe that having online friends who care is better than having real life friends who don't.
Sunday, March 29, 2015
Sunday, March 22, 2015
Language Learning
The American education system makes foreign language learning a requirement for all students. The lessons begin in elementary school and continue well into high school. The memorization of grammar rules and vocabulary lists is aided with the use of flashcards. Quizzes are given and tests are taken with no actual learning occurring. The teaching methods for languages are varied with, generally, little success.
Most kids who take a language class in high school have minimal to no interest in adding bilingual to their repertoire, they take the classes for graduation requirements or college applications. Student have no interest because of the low success rate that stems from poor teaching of the material. However the problem is not with the teachers themselves, it is with the way it is taught. Most bilingual people I have met, grew up being taught two or more languages. The immersion in multiple languages from a young age help connect words to their meanings rendering vocabulary lists useless. The intricacies of pronunciation and grammar are learned through constant communication with people who already have fluency.
Schools in America have the right idea, starting the teaching young, but they lack the immersion and interaction that is needed to learn a language. As the world becomes more interconnected, language knowledge will become increasingly important. Schools in Europe use immersive and interactive teaching techniques with great success, success that I hope will be mirrored by other countries, including ours, in the future.
Sunday, March 15, 2015
Movie and Book
"Regarding race or gender or sexuality, one of the great things about art and music is that they can provide people with very little else in common with a similar entry point for discussion, but the discussions still need to happen for life to get more interesting."
-Tunde Adebimpe
Sexuality, while gaining momentum, remains a taboo topic. The differences between gender, sex, and sexual identity are not taught in schools, or spoken about frankly in day to day life. The breaching of the topic is groundbreaking today, but must have been an astonishing topic when Virginia Woolf published Mrs. Dalloway. Post World War was a time where social change was occurring drastically. Fashions changed, drugs and alcohol became more popular, and people became more aware of their sexuality. We clearly saw these changes in America while reading The Great Gatsby. In Mrs. Dalloway we see the world mostly through the eyes of the old rich, people previously flourishing and content in the traditional workings of the world. Richard, Clarissa, Huges, Lady B., and their party guests are resistant to change. Elizabeth represents the youth and the choices that are now offered, yet she lacks the conviction and determination to follow through. The only person who thirsts for change is Elizabeth's tutor. Her anger at being wronged, makes her embrace change and try to force it on her student. Miss Kilman's obsession with her charge is a love that will never be returned. Clarissa's feelings for Sally would never be accepted by society, even though the time spent with Sally was the best in Clarissa's life.
The sexuality of the character's was more obviously depicted in the film version. Whenever a kissing scene between two women occurred the class gasped, and some people even covered their eyes. It may be embarrassing to see racy scenes in a movie with people that may only acquaintances, but I was disappointed by the gap in reactions between a man/woman kissing and two women kissing. Even though it has been ninety years since Mrs. Dalloway was published, the distance between understanding and accepting different sexual identities seems to have been barley bridged.
The movie does spread awareness about couples of the same gender, it still places those relationships lower than heterosexual ones. Both Kitty and Virginia's friend refuse to acknowledge what happened between them, a reflection of the opinions of the time. Clarissa is living in modern day New York, but her relationship with Sally is a last resort, a place behind her relationship with Richard.
-Tunde Adebimpe
Sexuality, while gaining momentum, remains a taboo topic. The differences between gender, sex, and sexual identity are not taught in schools, or spoken about frankly in day to day life. The breaching of the topic is groundbreaking today, but must have been an astonishing topic when Virginia Woolf published Mrs. Dalloway. Post World War was a time where social change was occurring drastically. Fashions changed, drugs and alcohol became more popular, and people became more aware of their sexuality. We clearly saw these changes in America while reading The Great Gatsby. In Mrs. Dalloway we see the world mostly through the eyes of the old rich, people previously flourishing and content in the traditional workings of the world. Richard, Clarissa, Huges, Lady B., and their party guests are resistant to change. Elizabeth represents the youth and the choices that are now offered, yet she lacks the conviction and determination to follow through. The only person who thirsts for change is Elizabeth's tutor. Her anger at being wronged, makes her embrace change and try to force it on her student. Miss Kilman's obsession with her charge is a love that will never be returned. Clarissa's feelings for Sally would never be accepted by society, even though the time spent with Sally was the best in Clarissa's life.
The sexuality of the character's was more obviously depicted in the film version. Whenever a kissing scene between two women occurred the class gasped, and some people even covered their eyes. It may be embarrassing to see racy scenes in a movie with people that may only acquaintances, but I was disappointed by the gap in reactions between a man/woman kissing and two women kissing. Even though it has been ninety years since Mrs. Dalloway was published, the distance between understanding and accepting different sexual identities seems to have been barley bridged.
The movie does spread awareness about couples of the same gender, it still places those relationships lower than heterosexual ones. Both Kitty and Virginia's friend refuse to acknowledge what happened between them, a reflection of the opinions of the time. Clarissa is living in modern day New York, but her relationship with Sally is a last resort, a place behind her relationship with Richard.
Sunday, March 8, 2015
Beautiful Passage's Meaning
"And so there began a soundless and exquisite passing to and fro through swing doors of aproned white-capped maids, handmaidens not of necessity, but adepts in a mystery or grand deception..." (Woolf 104).
In this passage Woolf uses diction to create a fantasy world that seems magical. With a wave of her hand Lady Burton summons an army of maids to serve lunch. It seems to be magical and "Not paid for" to the eyes of her guests (104). Even though Richard and Clarissa have a cook, she constantly worries about the menu. Here there seems to be no fuss, no frantic movements. Everything is carefully planned and practiced. Lady Burton has been a pillar of polite society since her birth and has had much experience in the area. The illusion of calm is simply that, an illusion.
The illusion is carried to Lady Burton herself. She seems to be in charge and look down on Hugh. Her personal maid, Miss Bush, resents Hugh and his familiarity with her Lady as he insists that she wears the carnations he brought her. Though she resists at first, she wears them enthusiastically when he completes a letter for her. Her one weakness, her lack of writing ability, forces her to bow to a man she sees as beneath her. Her composure breaks, as does the illusion of control over herself and her household.
In this passage Woolf uses diction to create a fantasy world that seems magical. With a wave of her hand Lady Burton summons an army of maids to serve lunch. It seems to be magical and "Not paid for" to the eyes of her guests (104). Even though Richard and Clarissa have a cook, she constantly worries about the menu. Here there seems to be no fuss, no frantic movements. Everything is carefully planned and practiced. Lady Burton has been a pillar of polite society since her birth and has had much experience in the area. The illusion of calm is simply that, an illusion.
The illusion is carried to Lady Burton herself. She seems to be in charge and look down on Hugh. Her personal maid, Miss Bush, resents Hugh and his familiarity with her Lady as he insists that she wears the carnations he brought her. Though she resists at first, she wears them enthusiastically when he completes a letter for her. Her one weakness, her lack of writing ability, forces her to bow to a man she sees as beneath her. Her composure breaks, as does the illusion of control over herself and her household.
"
Sunday, March 1, 2015
Beautiful Passage
"Sally it was who made her feel just how sheltered the life at Bourton was. She knew nothing about sex- nothing about social problems. But Aunt Helena never liked discussions about anything. ... There they sat, hour after hour talking in her bedroom at the top of the house, talking about life, how they were to reform the world." (Woolf 33).
In the passages that first mention Sally, there is a lot of detail. Clarissa remembers how she smoked and ran naked through the halls. She has that spark of personality that allows her to connect with people and open their minds to new ideas. "Cleopatra" by Brian M. Viveros captures what Sally was to Clarissa. The painting is done with oil on canvas and is made so skillfully that it looks like the woman is looking directly at you. Her stare coupled with the head piece of bullets makes her appear to be critical of war. Sally cracks Clarissa's world to see the reality of the world, life and death, happiness and problems. The new reality of the world seems, to Clarissa, like an adventure.
The red lips and rose are both symbols of femininity and sexual powers, things that Sally possesses that Clarissa has no experience with. Clarissa believes that Sally is worldly enough to teach her about philosophy and literature, the addition of her more intimate experience with Sally can be seen as another lesson of reality.
The woman in the painting is smoking, a habit of Sally's (32). The fighting that occurs in war and in everyday life, is often sever enough to cause people to seek drugs. Sally runs away after she and her parents "quarrel" and may have developed her smoking habit trying to escape from the constant problems at home (33). The habit is noticed by Clarissa and further impresses her.
In the passages that first mention Sally, there is a lot of detail. Clarissa remembers how she smoked and ran naked through the halls. She has that spark of personality that allows her to connect with people and open their minds to new ideas. "Cleopatra" by Brian M. Viveros captures what Sally was to Clarissa. The painting is done with oil on canvas and is made so skillfully that it looks like the woman is looking directly at you. Her stare coupled with the head piece of bullets makes her appear to be critical of war. Sally cracks Clarissa's world to see the reality of the world, life and death, happiness and problems. The new reality of the world seems, to Clarissa, like an adventure.
The red lips and rose are both symbols of femininity and sexual powers, things that Sally possesses that Clarissa has no experience with. Clarissa believes that Sally is worldly enough to teach her about philosophy and literature, the addition of her more intimate experience with Sally can be seen as another lesson of reality.
The woman in the painting is smoking, a habit of Sally's (32). The fighting that occurs in war and in everyday life, is often sever enough to cause people to seek drugs. Sally runs away after she and her parents "quarrel" and may have developed her smoking habit trying to escape from the constant problems at home (33). The habit is noticed by Clarissa and further impresses her.
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