Barbie: Good or Bad?

Barbie. Everybody seems to despise her, with her unproportional body and seemingly flawless life. Growing up in the 2000s, Barbie was my life. I would play with her every day and act out scenes with my friends. Looking at her now, I can understand why she would be picked on as a “weapon” (Prager 354) against females. However, when I was younger, I never felt inferior to Barbie with her "giant breasts and high-heeled feet" (354). I would admire her, yes, but only because she was so successful and could do whatever she wanted to. Barbie has had over 150 jobs in the last 50 years. She ran for president in the 90s and even became an astronaut 4 years before Neil Armstrong landed on the moon. If anything, Barbie should be considered a role model for young girls! She has shown girls that they can be anything they want to be, and that gender doesn’t matter. I feel like Barbie can have a positive influence on young children, who are too young to feel insecure about their bodies anyway. Everybody has heard Barbie’s “I Can Be Anything I Want to Be” slogan, so is it so wrong that she is promoting the idea that little girls can do anything they set their mind to? Barbie has created many opportunities for children to explore what they would love to do in the future, and I think that that is admirable of her. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnYwAxgAmUQ

WWJD- What Was Jefferson Doing?

In our seminar this week, there was a lot of dispute about Jefferson’s document, Stanton’s argument, and Douglass’s speech. I don’t believe that there is any one document that is the most correct and should be the most respected. But since the Declaration of Independence got the most hate, I will do my best to defend it. First of all, Jefferson’s main purpose in creating the Declaration of Independence is to help the United States get out of the tyrannical rule of the kind in Great Britain, not to make all American citizens have all equal rights in regards to skin color or gender. He does say "that all men are created equal, and that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness", but this means that no one person should have unlimited power over a body of people, such as the king. In a way, he did help everybody become equal by getting rid of the tyrant. I guess Stanton and Douglass thought that this would resolve all inequality everywhere. They have to understand, though, that this document is because the United States should be “Free and Independent States…Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown”. That is the purpose of this document. Stanton says that “He has compelled her to submit to laws, in the formation of which she has no voice”, but that can change. If the Declaration of Independence had not been created, women would have fewer rights in this tyranny, and a more difficult chance to change the government, as the government was ruled overseas. Furthermore, Douglass should not be degrading the Fourth of July. He said so himself that “The signers of the Declaration of Independence were brave men”, and that event was a very huge turning point in American history. Yes, this does seem unfair for slaves, as they are still not quite free, but they are one step closer to getting their rights with a more fair democratic government. So don’t hate on Jefferson, because he made everybody’s lives much easier by helping us separate from Great Britain.

The End?

I don't know if it's just me, but I feel like the ending to The Scarlet Letter is unfair. It doesn't seem right that Dimmesdale just dies because he finally told everybody the truth. Meanwhile, Hester and Pearl have been living with public ignominy for over seven years. Pearl has to grow up without a father figure in her life now. Plus, she and her mother have to endure the disgust and disappointment brought on by the townspeople who think that it is their faults that they have "corrupted" Dimmesdale and caused him to die. This makes Hester and Pearl seem much stronger than Dimmesdale. They are tough, like the thorns of a rosebush, whereas Dimmesdale is the delicate petal. For the majority of the story, Dimmesdale is always associated with his “bodily weakness” and “faintness of heart” (Hawthorne 250), as he is basically “destroyed” (155) by this whole “A” situation. Hester, on the other hand, has “strength” and “power” (158). It’s a bit ironic because it’s usually the male who is portrayed as being the tough guy who can handle everything. This kind of reminds me of Katniss and Peeta from The Hunger Games, because Katniss is the strong, quick archer, and Peeta is known as a baker’s son who can lift bags of flour. Just like in The Scarlet Letter, the male, Peeta, is wounded along their journey and the female, Katniss restores his spirit and passion to fight through everything.

 

Women, Men, and WoMEN

Deborah Tannen’s essay “There Is No Unmarked Woman” shows that women are often treated differently than men. Women are constantly marked by their appearances, choices, and actions whereas men are all uniform. People can label women as being “sensible”, “stylish”, “sexy”, etc. However, all men are just categorized as “male” (Tannen 389). Tannen proves that women are deemed lesser than men because they are labeled based upon the male’s status. They usually take their husband’s name and are “more identified by [their] husband’s identity” (391). Then, Tannen shows that, in nature, it is the female population that dominates the males.  Professor Ralph Fasold notes that it is the male who is marked nature, as males often rely on a queen bee to carry out their duties. He mentions that there are even species that only produce females, like the whiptail lizard, and none that produce only males. I don’t think that people should look too deeply into these sciences. In the end, everybody must rely on each other, regardless of gender. At a recent United Nations conference, Emma Watson launches her HeForShe Campaign. It revolves around gender equality. Being a feminist, Watson claims that feminism isn’t supposed to bring men down so that women can rise in power, but “the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities”.  There isn’t any one gender that is dominant over the other; everybody needs to work together equally so that our world can flourish.