After the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, American citizens were granted rights to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Since then, the American commitment to the protection of these “natural rights” has served to define the United States as a country of opportunity and equality. In search of economic opportunities, striving to abandon economic hardships in their homeland, millions of immigrants entered the United States in the early 1900’s. Common to the current immigrants entering the United States, these immigrants entering during the early twentieth century came for similar reasons. Many of those emigrating to the U.S. are in search of the “American Dream.”
The “American Dream” is the promise of economic prosperity that immigrants are entitled to after immigrating to the United States. Tied with this economic prosperity, also comes “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Central to the idea of the “American Dream” is the simplistic idea that to obtain this ideal life one merely has to work hard. Not only does this theme suggest entitlement, but it also assumes that opportunities in America are fair. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for immigrants entering the United States to have an idealistic vision of life in America. Immigrants searching for this ideal lifestyle tend to be disappointed, realizing that this dream is merely a vision that, in reality only few obtain.
“New” immigrants coming from the Middle East and Latin America have experienced this feeling of disappointment. In the poem, “My Father After,” by Suheir Hammad, a man tells the story of his father. His father, believing that “hard work ladders up to a deserved success,” assumed that through his diligence and persistence, he would, like the “American Dream” implies, achieve a high level of long-lasting success. Instead of this success, Hammad’s father became a store manager, as compared to a celebrity, a businessman, or a professional soccer player. Bewildered and disappointed, Hammad’s father is forced to forget his dreams as he casts them away in the form of “anchors and failure” in “a deep river.” Also, in the film Sugar, the main character from the Dominican Republic aspired to be a professional baseball player in the United States. Sugar left the baseball team realizing that this ideal job is a glorified version of the life that most Americans lead. Noticing that most Americans are not extremely profitable and that there is more to life than just striving to be a professional American athlete, Sugar realized that it was a waste of time to try to achieve this dream.
While some may overlook the idea of the “American Dream” and determine that immigrants are naive for believing, for dreaming, for aspiring, we must ask the question, who can blame them? Through the use of ads and television, immigrants are “taught” that the “American Dream” is the norm. Latino immigrants in advertisements are most commonly portrayed as successful athletes. In addition to the suggestion that most Latino immigrants become famous athletes, celebrities are often shown in advertisements serving to show that these are the American people, successful and rich.
To correct these assumptions as to what the American life is like, we need to present as more diversified image of Americans. While celebrities on the red carpet and professional sports players are commonly shown in the media, these people only represent a small fraction, a minority group of Americans. Instead, to present a more accurate version of American life, people from all social classes should be featured in television and sports. By showing farmers, the lower, and middle classes immigrants can see a more representative view of American life.
Starting at an early age our society imposes gender codes on us. After analyzing advertisements for products specifically geared towards female and advertisements targeting females for specific objects, one can more clearly see the visible gender codes. For example, while advertisements of young girls commonly show them playing with dolls or easy bake ovens. In contrast to the gender specific female products, advertisements for products that have been defined masculine include objects such as violent toy action figures, guns, and cars. Consistent with advertisements for male items and contrasting female items, parents commonly follow these gender codes, imposing these restrictions on their children.
When I was younger, I remember having many dolls. Initially, I did not question this. However, later I began to realize that I genuinely did not enjoy playing with dolls and toys that were defined as feminine. Originally, I though that this was not a normal feeling, for on television it was not uncommon for commercials to display groups of girls playing together with their Barbie dolls. These girls seemed to be having so much fun, whereas I did not feel this way. Confused as to why I was not enjoying this feminine activity, I felt like there was something wrong with me. However, as I got older and more accepting of myself this feeling quickly passed and I replaced my “playing” with Barbie’s with decapitating them.
Another area where I felt the prominence of gender codes in our society was in the area of sports. Instead of pursuing what our culture considers feminine sports, for example dancing or gymnastics, I decided to play soccer. While soccer is not a sport that is strictly defined as male or female, the specific position of goalie is most commonly associated with males. To be successful as a goalie, a player must be strong, daring, confident, and independent. Since these qualities are more commonly defined as masculine, it is unexpected that a female could be a talented goalie. As a result of this stereotype, females are not commonly asked to play as the goalie. However, I was the goalie for an entire soccer tournament. Initially, the boys on my soccer team did not trust that I would perform well, as I was a girl playing in a predominately “male” position. To their surprise, I surpassed both their female and male expectations as I dove for the ball, occasionally sliding on the grass in an effort to prevent the other team from scoring a goal. Originally stunned as to how a girl was able to master the position in goal, the boys on the soccer team quickly adapted to accept my skills. While at the beginning they were reluctant to allow me to perform the "goalie kick," (a kick that either the defender or the goalie kicks) after proving myself they trusted that I was truly capable of performing the kick. Performing sports like soccer on a co-ed team can result in the unleashing of stereotypes, for my male teammates were uncertain and initially dumbfounded as to how a female could play well.
It is best if we learn not to define people on the basis of gender, and rather define people based on their personality. We cannot force females to perform only feminine activities, and likewise we cannot force males to do strictly male activities for this causes our society to lose diversity, ingenuity, as well as talent. If I did not have the opportunity to try the position of goalie due to the fact that I am female, then I would have never discovered my talent and passion for the position. In addition to wasting talent, we also lose the diversity that makes our country so unique and strong. Open-minded thinking and ingenuity can best be produced when people do not feel restrained to perform in a particular way. Therefore, if we remove these gender specific restrictions and embrace diversity we can create a unique and strong nation.
There are many binaries present in our culture; for example, black and white, nice and mean, love and hate. One set of contrasting ideas is commonly seen in gender, male compared with female. According to The Theory Toolbox, individuals make meanings of culture and society by understanding and interpreting social norms, specific to a culture. Social norms commonly define masculinity with particular characteristics that our culture has deemed “masculine.” Consistent with the binary thinking, feminine traits are often the reverse of the male qualities. While men are considered fearless and independent, women are considered fearful and dependent. While men are considered physically strong, women are portrayed as weak. While men are commonly shown lacking emotion, women are displayed as very emotional and expressive. Societies clearly demonstrate these ideas regarding the guises that men should have and the persona that women should have, through the use of music videos and advertisements.
It is not uncommon for film artists to represent the ideas of masculinity and femininity using symbols. After decoding these symbols, one can interpret a deeper meaning hidden behind the larger image. For example, in the music video If I Could Fly by Oceanlab, the reader easily notices the larger image; there is a women lying peacefully in the grass. However, this is not a typical picture of a woman, as this particular woman has wings, similar to a butterfly. After noticing this detail, the interpreter may begin to question her position, and analyze it in a new way. Relating to the butterfly comparison, the position of this woman and the position of a butterfly developing in the larva stage are strikingly alike. Both the forming butterfly and the woman are cradling themselves with their eyes closed. It is interesting, but perhaps not surprising to note that during this stage in the life cycle of a butterfly it is most vulnerable and unprotected. Holding and comforting herself, the woman appears vulnerable, fearful, dependent, and weak. In addition to reinforcing social norms regarding women through the position of this woman, these commonalities are strengthened further as she is portrayed as a harmless, defenseless, insect. By analyzing, and making meanings of the butterfly symbol, the interpreter can unlock the natural fact, or naturally assumed female traits in a culture.
While women are compared to harmless, defenseless animals, men are portrayed as predatory animals. Through the use of facial expressions as well as replacing a man with an animal, men are dehumanized into vicious animals. The image below shows an image of a male character known as the Wolverine for the film X-men. The wolf/man appears aggressive, with strong muscles and sharp "claws" ready to attack any threatening creature. In an ecosystem the wolf takes the niche of a secondary predator, who is strong, independent, as they hunt for other animals to eat. A secondary predator commonly has an intense gaze with the eyes pointed directly at its prey. In addition to this gaze, the claws also serve to warn other creatures of the power and violent behavior common to wolves. By associating this symbol with men, transforming men into "beasts" (wolves), we further support the social norm that men are strong, independent, and fearless.
Representing men as predatory animals and women as prey serves to justify aggression and violence towards women. While the Oceanlab image and the X-men Wolverine image do not directly promote violence towards women, subconsciously these depictions do have an effect on the viewer. By consistently portraying men as violent and predatory, we not only promote but allow men to exhibit such behavior, for our culture suggests that is what men are "supposed" to act like. Similarly, by suggesting that women are weak, we promote women to behave in this manner. However, we need to realize that this sort of behavior is not always acceptable. Men should not be violent and harm others; women should not always be defenseless. To correct these ideas we must go to the source of the problem, advertisements and television and change these "deep" images to represent a more positive interpretation of masculinity and femininity.
American Obsession With Appearance Latisse The biological differences between men and women exist but there are few. We both have a heart, lungs, liver, and stomach. Advertisements serve to emphasize our country’s focus on the differing biological differences, as companies focus on showing us strictly male images contrasting with strictly female images. For example, biologically men are physically stronger than women due to the fact that men have more muscle cells as compared to women.
Part of the problem with continuously showing these images of women and men in our culture is that our society focuses on superficial qualities that define men and women. Unfortunately, this superficiality causes people to think that their worth lies in their physical appearance, or their defining male female qualities. A radio host, Howard Stern represents an extreme form of this case in his emphasis on this obsession of physical appearance. On his radio show, Stern "rates" women, identifying and classifying women as beautiful or ugly based solely on their physical characteristics. His actions could only be possible if there are women willing to offer their body to the commentary of an extreme and superficial person. Naturally, one might simply ask, if these shows only serve to dehumanize and strengthen the superficiality of our culture, then why do women volunteer for this? Men define a woman's value based on their physical appearances (weight, chest size...). Consequently, this causes women to define their value based on their configuration. As a result of this cyclic pattern, women feel that they need other people to label them as beautiful or ugly. These women volunteer to more fully understand their "value," significance, importance to themselves, and importance to men as well.
This obsession with appearance is manifested by the fact that people buy products made to change their appearance. For example the product called Latisse is a prescription drug promising “longer, fuller, darker eye lashes.” Unlike most drugs prescribed to patients by doctors, Latisse is unique in that its sole purpose is to enhance appearance. In addition to the fact that this drug is unnecessary for survival, there are significant side effects for those who use Latisse. Some of these side effects include, eye itching, eye redness, eyelid darkening and/or redness, dryness of the eye, and even decrease in visual activity. The fact that women buy a product that can affect their vision, for the goal of making themselves more attractive clearly emphasizes the American obsession with looks.
It is not good for a country to focus strongly on exterior beauty for this serves to devalue more significant characteristics of people such as personality and behavior. It is more important for people to place emphasis on and develop their personality rather than focus on their appearance; appearances can be easily changed and are not permanent while interior beauty is long lasting, and in the end much more valuable and significant.
The American Dream
Latrell Sprewell: The American Dream - Click here for another funny movie.
After the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, American citizens were granted rights to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Since then, the American commitment to the protection of these “natural rights” has served to define the United States as a country of opportunity and equality. In search of economic opportunities, striving to abandon economic hardships in their homeland, millions of immigrants entered the United States in the early 1900’s. Common to the current immigrants entering the United States, these immigrants entering during the early twentieth century came for similar reasons. Many of those emigrating to the U.S. are in search of the “American Dream.”
The “American Dream” is the promise of economic prosperity that immigrants are entitled to after immigrating to the United States. Tied with this economic prosperity, also comes “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Central to the idea of the “American Dream” is the simplistic idea that to obtain this ideal life one merely has to work hard. Not only does this theme suggest entitlement, but it also assumes that opportunities in America are fair. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for immigrants entering the United States to have an idealistic vision of life in America. Immigrants searching for this ideal lifestyle tend to be disappointed, realizing that this dream is merely a vision that, in reality only few obtain.
“New” immigrants coming from the Middle East and Latin America have experienced this feeling of disappointment. In the poem, “My Father After,” by Suheir Hammad, a man tells the story of his father. His father, believing that “hard work ladders up to a deserved success,” assumed that through his diligence and persistence, he would, like the “American Dream” implies, achieve a high level of long-lasting success. Instead of this success, Hammad’s father became a store manager, as compared to a celebrity, a businessman, or a professional soccer player. Bewildered and disappointed, Hammad’s father is forced to forget his dreams as he casts them away in the form of “anchors and failure” in “a deep river.” Also, in the film Sugar, the main character from the Dominican Republic aspired to be a professional baseball player in the United States. Sugar left the baseball team realizing that this ideal job is a glorified version of the life that most Americans lead. Noticing that most Americans are not extremely profitable and that there is more to life than just striving to be a professional American athlete, Sugar realized that it was a waste of time to try to achieve this dream.
While some may overlook the idea of the “American Dream” and determine that immigrants are naive for believing, for dreaming, for aspiring, we must ask the question, who can blame them? Through the use of ads and television, immigrants are “taught” that the “American Dream” is the norm. Latino immigrants in advertisements are most commonly portrayed as successful athletes. In addition to the suggestion that most Latino immigrants become famous athletes, celebrities are often shown in advertisements serving to show that these are the American people, successful and rich.
To correct these assumptions as to what the American life is like, we need to present as more diversified image of Americans. While celebrities on the red carpet and professional sports players are commonly shown in the media, these people only represent a small fraction, a minority group of Americans. Instead, to present a more accurate version of American life, people from all social classes should be featured in television and sports. By showing farmers, the lower, and middle classes immigrants can see a more representative view of American life.
For more information on this topic please see The American Dream
Growing Up Female in America
Starting at an early age our society imposes gender codes on us. After analyzing advertisements for products specifically geared towards female and advertisements targeting females for specific objects, one can more clearly see the visible gender codes. For example, while advertisements of young girls commonly show them playing with dolls or easy bake ovens. In contrast to the gender specific female products, advertisements for products that have been defined masculine include objects such as violent toy action figures, guns, and cars. Consistent with advertisements for male items and contrasting female items, parents commonly follow these gender codes, imposing these restrictions on their children.
When I was younger, I remember having many dolls. Initially, I did not question this. However, later I began to realize that I genuinely did not enjoy playing with dolls and toys that were defined as feminine. Originally, I though that this was not a normal feeling, for on television it was not uncommon for commercials to display groups of girls playing together with their Barbie dolls. These girls seemed to be having so much fun, whereas I did not feel this way. Confused as to why I was not enjoying this feminine activity, I felt like there was something wrong with me. However, as I got older and more accepting of myself this feeling quickly passed and I replaced my “playing” with Barbie’s with decapitating them.
Another area where I felt the prominence of gender codes in our society was in the area of sports. Instead of pursuing what our culture considers feminine sports, for example dancing or gymnastics, I decided to play soccer. While soccer is not a sport that is strictly defined as male or female, the specific position of goalie is most commonly associated with males. To be successful as a goalie, a player must be strong, daring, confident, and independent. Since these qualities are more commonly defined as masculine, it is unexpected that a female could be a talented goalie. As a result of this stereotype, females are not commonly asked to play as the goalie. However, I was the goalie for an entire soccer tournament. Initially, the boys on my soccer team did not trust that I would perform well, as I was a girl playing in a predominately “male” position. To their surprise, I surpassed both their female and male expectations as I dove for the ball, occasionally sliding on the grass in an effort to prevent the other team from scoring a goal. Originally stunned as to how a girl was able to master the position in goal, the boys on the soccer team quickly adapted to accept my skills. While at the beginning they were reluctant to allow me to perform the "goalie kick," (a kick that either the defender or the goalie kicks) after proving myself they trusted that I was truly capable of performing the kick. Performing sports like soccer on a co-ed team can result in the unleashing of stereotypes, for my male teammates were uncertain and initially dumbfounded as to how a female could play well.
It is best if we learn not to define people on the basis of gender, and rather define people based on their personality. We cannot force females to perform only feminine activities, and likewise we cannot force males to do strictly male activities for this causes our society to lose diversity, ingenuity, as well as talent. If I did not have the opportunity to try the position of goalie due to the fact that I am female, then I would have never discovered my talent and passion for the position. In addition to wasting talent, we also lose the diversity that makes our country so unique and strong. Open-minded thinking and ingenuity can best be produced when people do not feel restrained to perform in a particular way. Therefore, if we remove these gender specific restrictions and embrace diversity we can create a unique and strong nation.
For more information on this topic please see Less Than Their Share?
REPRESENTATION OF DIFFERENCE
Oceanlab: If I Could Fly Music Video Image
Oceanlab Clear Blue Water - Watch a funny movie here
There are many binaries present in our culture; for example, black and white, nice and mean, love and hate. One set of contrasting ideas is commonly seen in gender, male compared with female. According to The Theory Toolbox, individuals make meanings of culture and society by understanding and interpreting social norms, specific to a culture. Social norms commonly define masculinity with particular characteristics that our culture has deemed “masculine.” Consistent with the binary thinking, feminine traits are often the reverse of the male qualities. While men are considered fearless and independent, women are considered fearful and dependent. While men are considered physically strong, women are portrayed as weak. While men are commonly shown lacking emotion, women are displayed as very emotional and expressive. Societies clearly demonstrate these ideas regarding the guises that men should have and the persona that women should have, through the use of music videos and advertisements.
It is not uncommon for film artists to represent the ideas of masculinity and femininity using symbols. After decoding these symbols, one can interpret a deeper meaning hidden behind the larger image. For example, in the music video If I Could Fly by Oceanlab, the reader easily notices the larger image; there is a women lying peacefully in the grass. However, this is not a typical picture of a woman, as this particular woman has wings, similar to a butterfly. After noticing this detail, the interpreter may begin to question her position, and analyze it in a new way. Relating to the butterfly comparison, the position of this woman and the position of a butterfly developing in the larva stage are strikingly alike. Both the forming butterfly and the woman are cradling themselves with their eyes closed. It is interesting, but perhaps not surprising to note that during this stage in the life cycle of a butterfly it is most vulnerable and unprotected. Holding and comforting herself, the woman appears vulnerable, fearful, dependent, and weak. In addition to reinforcing social norms regarding women through the position of this woman, these commonalities are strengthened further as she is portrayed as a harmless, defenseless, insect. By analyzing, and making meanings of the butterfly symbol, the interpreter can unlock the natural fact, or naturally assumed female traits in a culture.
While women are compared to harmless, defenseless animals, men are portrayed as predatory animals. Through the use of facial expressions as well as replacing a man with an animal, men are dehumanized into vicious animals. The image below shows an image of a male character known as the Wolverine for the film X-men. The wolf/man appears aggressive, with strong muscles and sharp "claws" ready to attack any threatening creature. In an ecosystem the wolf takes the niche of a secondary predator, who is strong, independent, as they hunt for other animals to eat. A secondary predator commonly has an intense gaze with the eyes pointed directly at its prey. In addition to this gaze, the claws also serve to warn other creatures of the power and violent behavior common to wolves. By associating this symbol with men, transforming men into "beasts" (wolves), we further support the social norm that men are strong, independent, and fearless.
Representing men as predatory animals and women as prey serves to justify aggression and violence towards women. While the Oceanlab image and the X-men Wolverine image do not directly promote violence towards women, subconsciously these depictions do have an effect on the viewer. By consistently portraying men as violent and predatory, we not only promote but allow men to exhibit such behavior, for our culture suggests that is what men are "supposed" to act like. Similarly, by suggesting that women are weak, we promote women to behave in this manner. However, we need to realize that this sort of behavior is not always acceptable. Men should not be violent and harm others; women should not always be defenseless. To correct these ideas we must go to the source of the problem, advertisements and television and change these "deep" images to represent a more positive interpretation of masculinity and femininity.
For more information on this topic please see: Binaries in the American Culture
American Obsession With Appearance
Latisse
The biological differences between men and women exist but there are few. We both have a heart, lungs, liver, and stomach. Advertisements serve to emphasize our country’s focus on the differing biological differences, as companies focus on showing us strictly male images contrasting with strictly female images. For example, biologically men are physically stronger than women due to the fact that men have more muscle cells as compared to women.
Part of the problem with continuously showing these images of women and men in our culture is that our society focuses on superficial qualities that define men and women. Unfortunately, this superficiality causes people to think that their worth lies in their physical appearance, or their defining male female qualities. A radio host, Howard Stern represents an extreme form of this case in his emphasis on this obsession of physical appearance. On his radio show, Stern "rates" women, identifying and classifying women as beautiful or ugly based solely on their physical characteristics. His actions could only be possible if there are women willing to offer their body to the commentary of an extreme and superficial person. Naturally, one might simply ask, if these shows only serve to dehumanize and strengthen the superficiality of our culture, then why do women volunteer for this? Men define a woman's value based on their physical appearances (weight, chest size...). Consequently, this causes women to define their value based on their configuration. As a result of this cyclic pattern, women feel that they need other people to label them as beautiful or ugly. These women volunteer to more fully understand their "value," significance, importance to themselves, and importance to men as well.
This obsession with appearance is manifested by the fact that people buy products made to change their appearance. For example the product called Latisse is a prescription drug promising “longer, fuller, darker eye lashes.” Unlike most drugs prescribed to patients by doctors, Latisse is unique in that its sole purpose is to enhance appearance. In addition to the fact that this drug is unnecessary for survival, there are significant side effects for those who use Latisse. Some of these side effects include, eye itching, eye redness, eyelid darkening and/or redness, dryness of the eye, and even decrease in visual activity. The fact that women buy a product that can affect their vision, for the goal of making themselves more attractive clearly emphasizes the American obsession with looks.
It is not good for a country to focus strongly on exterior beauty for this serves to devalue more significant characteristics of people such as personality and behavior. It is more important for people to place emphasis on and develop their personality rather than focus on their appearance; appearances can be easily changed and are not permanent while interior beauty is long lasting, and in the end much more valuable and significant.
For more information please refer to the following: America Obsessed with Beautiful Bodies