Susan Bordo: Beauty (Re)discovers the Male Body (Option 2)

In an article entitled Feminine Face is Key To A Women's Heart research had been taken place to prove that women would prefer a man with more feminine features rather than the common masculine features that are often displayed. This research concluded that women prefer these kind of men because they have more potential of becoming better mates and father's. This article can strongly support the point made in Bordo's article about the attractive femininity in the Calvin Klein model. This article could have been used as researched evidence and/or proof that not just Bordo but other women tend to find that guy's with feminine features are a lot more attractive. Both Bordo and the women involved in the research expressed how the masculinity and the aggressiveness in men is less attractive and can result in a man not being considered for marriage or as a mate. The principle psychologist in the research stated that according to women "Strongly masculine features are considered threatening and less attractive" and what attracted Susan Bordo to the model's appearance wasn't only that he was half naked but it was also how he didn't come off as challenging and rough. He was soft and subtle which is how most women are commonly portrayed.

Rogers, Lois. “Feminine Face Is Key To A Woman’s Heart”. thesundaytimes.co.uk. The Sunday Times.
        Times Newspapers Ltd. 8 December 2002. Web. 28 October 2011

Blog 4: The Banking Concept of Education

What sparked the most of my interest from this essay is the deceitfulness of today's education that was mentioned. The line where Freire stated "Those who use the banking approach...fail to perceive that the deposits themselves contain contradictions about reality". There's no secret that American education is of less importance on the huge list of America's issues. The U.S education system is primarily based on the banking concept and I believe it's because our nation is to fond of secrecy and less open toward change. It's almost as if students are only limited to a restricted amount of knowledge. It appears as if  Education's primary goal is to teach only the things that students should know rather than what they want to learn. But, the excuse is that Education is supposed to prepare a student for the world that these instructor's allegedly know so much about. No one even realizes that the world is much bigger than the United States . Students brains are being used as storage bins. However, I'd rather think of the brain in similarity to a sponge. Information is processed better when it is absorbed rather than stored. When you're absorbing something you're taking it in but with caution. So, this means questions are being asked and inquiries are being made. But, to store information only means that its in your memory and you have no understanding of the information that's stored. The school system seem to be making more choices for students than the students are making for themselves. But, it's not like students are incapable of making certain decisions, our school systems are depriving them of the opportunity. How can knowledge teach itself? The mind must explore in order for it to function.

Research Prospectus

So, I've decided to focus my research on an issue dealing with fashion design. Commonly, anything involving fashion is hardly ever discussed simply because it is considered an area of minor importance. My topic of choice is How did the male dominance of fashion designers cause fashion to inherit the behavior of sexual preference rather than true art? This is a very controversial issue in the world of fashion. A lot of women designers are becoming more and more offended by the new preference for male designers. Fashion has evolved drastically and in this new era of fashion it seems as if the male designers will be the first to get a job causing the women to question whether or their work is good enough or their gender is just no longer acceptable. 
Thesis: For years people viewed Fashion as one of the many things women retained. But, as time progressed an abundance of Male designers have emerged causing fashion to be more about sexuality.
In order to support my thesis I will discuss:

•  How fashion design began in order to give the readers an understanding of how it's history connects with the present. 
• The new lines and labels with male faces and ownership on them.
• What's causing women designers to feel like their being left out.
• Whether or  not homosexuality is playing a major role behind this change.

As far as research goes I will be using factual data, examples, and stats in order to support my thesis.


Sources:

• Book: A History of Men's Fashion by Farid Chenoune- This source would be beneficial in explaining how men became included into fashion.
• Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/08/fashion/thursdaystyles/08FASHION.html?pagewanted=1 this source contains the explanation of the issue and it is that helped me develop a topic for the argument
• Article: http://www.forbes.com/sites/raquellaneri/2011/02/21/is-the-fashion-industry-sexist/ this article will contribute to the argument with evidence sexism in the fashion industry.

This is a issue that has a lot to do with homosexuality and for some reason homosexuality is an issue that our society tries to avoid by throwing it under the bus. This is also a topic that doesn't generate much focus because we always undermine the things that aren't discussed by the politicians and the government. Those specific topics that's been discussed and proven right or wrong repeatedly is starting to get old. Big or small, there's more issues that deserves attention and argumentation other than the ones we've heard and seen for years. 

Blog 3: "The Achievement of Desire"

Growing up as a Miami native I witnessed first hand the new immigrant student in class or at school. But, unlike the place where Rodriguez grew up Miami is like a melting pot so those immigrants were always welcomed with open arms. But, just like Rodriquez I too grew up in a single parent environment. For most people who have never experienced what that feels like it turns you into that "Scholarship Boy" Rodriguez mentioned. It makes you eager to want to attend school and exceed further more than other's expectations. Sometimes this can cause you to have a growing wedge between your families especially if you're being raised in a low income household. Rodriguez explains how his education caused him to become disconnected with his parents. Sometimes parents of low income communities and minority classifications do not picture their children being successful but that doesn't mean that they do not want them to be. It's hard for them to imagine such success when they've never even experienced it. In the Hispanic households especially, I''ll witness some of my Hispanic friends reading to their parents or helping them with certain things. I can only imagine how powerless those parents feel. Gaining at job from the family's business through inheritance isn't as legitimate as it once was things have changed. Before, college was a place where the "rich" would only go because it was affordable to them but now there's tons of doors and opportunities that has opened up for the "scholarship boy" all over the country.

"The Pain Scale"

Reading The Pain Scale definitely aroused some confusion for me. Eula Biss questions almost every theory, belief, and/ or "fact" she presents through out the text. But, ultimately what I interpreted Biss to be saying is that pain is something that can not be measured or categorize. Pain is pain, depending on how you take it. In the text Biss mentions "Determining the intensity of my pain is a blind calculation."(26) By this I believe the author is saying that the amount of pain she's in is one that is unable to be referenced or scaled.  Measuring the amount of pain you're in is almost like making and questionable guess. Then, the author compares the subject of pain to 0. Something in the text that caused both interest and confusion was when she stated "Zero is a number the way Christ was a man." (25) I interpreted what Biss was trying to explain is that just like Christ, zero is real but with unreal characteristics. Both Christ and zero can not be manipulated, increased, reduced, or even categorize. The author wants us to use this analogy in order to relate to how the number zero will always be zero so therefore pain will always be pain and by placing it on a scale causes pain to be manipulated. In fact, another interesting point that was brought to my intention in both the text and in class was that what may be pain to you may not be pain to someone else. I also believe that Biss is confused about pain in general in a way due to how she was raised because states that "My father raised me to believe that most pain is minor."(26) and then she goes on to state how he undermined her little cuts and bruises. But, at the time those cuts and bruises could have been considered pain to her. Even when your're asked how much pain you are in it is very hard for the person who is asking you to relate because they can not feel what you are feeling. Biss statement "There was nothing to illustrate my pain except a number, which I was told to choose from between zero and ten." (28) was definitely thought provoking. Although some pain isn't clearly coming from a bruise or a wound it can still be felt but you can only use a number to try to explain to a doctor that it's there.

Window Seat

My grandmother introduced me to poetry when I was a little girl. She had a journal full of poems she had written. She was my role model and I always wanted to be like her so from time to time I'd write a poem. I'm not a professional poet or anything but I try. Lol:

I'm trapped inside a window.

Life on the outside is moving so freely.

I see smiles on full faces but with empty meanings.

I'm starting to question who I really am.

I've never been so uncertain, it was always easier to hide behind the curtains.

But, this time there's no draping, no curtains, just bare. So out of this window I stare.

Wishing I was on the other side, or maybe I won't sit here next time.

By: Me :)

My Summary of Michael Pollan's "Why Bother"

In the article written by Michael Pollan entitled "Why Bother?" he argues what seems to be a very vague question at the very beginning of the text. But, this question grows to have a very significant meaning with a pondering effect. According to Pollan we take very little initiative when it comes to our environment. We leave all of our troubles to become someone else's concerns and responsibilities. We're always trying to find minor solutions to enormous problems. No one really wants to be the first to take a huge step in order to improve the condition of our environment. The answers that the infamous question "Why Bother?" arouses is mostly the reason why we lack the initiative to change. According to Pollan "Let's say I do bother...but what would be the point when I know full well that halfway around the world there lives my evil twin" (89) this is the most common reason not to submit to change.
Most people feel as if their change will be just a very tiny contribution to this very huge situation. But, Pollan explains "If you do bother, you will set an example for other peole. If enough other people bother, each one influencing yet another in a chain reaction of behavioral change, markets for all manner of green products and alternative technologies will prosper and expand." (92). We are all easily influenced by one another so it is unethical to adopt what Pollan calls the "cheap energy mind" if all it takes is just a little commitment on our part and avoiding admittance of our entire lives to the specialist which whom we hold accountable for everything.  Our progress or minimal outcome of our change seems to me undermined but like Pollen said "Sometimes you have to act as if acting make a difference, even when you can't prove that it will." So, being "virtous" (89) isn't the act of trying to find all of the possible answers to "Why Bother?" or coming up with excuses why not to bother, it's starting that chain reaction that Pollen emphasized.

Works Cited

       Pollan, Michael. "Why Bother?" New York Times Magazine 20 Apr. 2008:

               19+. Rpt. in The Allyn and Bacon Guide to Writting. John D .

               Ramage, John C. Bean, and June Johnson. 6th ed. New York:

               Pearson, 2010. 88-94 Print.