Politics. Music. Pop Culture.

As we all know, Donald Trump is the most controversial Presidential Candidate of our time. I'm not really sure what to think of his statements and his retractions. He is a business man at heart and it shows through his debates. He has called out candidates for Trumps contributions towards their campaigns. Regardless of his ridiculousness, he's still popular. A part of me thinks he pays people to stand in the crowd to root for him. I wouldn't be all that surprised if that were the actual case.

A question was posed in our class about rap music being a "good representation" of black/or minority cultures in America. The responses we got varied and the majority seemed to have this understanding of rap music and what they say aren't what we would consider to be "reality", in the sense of it's not to be taken seriously. I'm sure there is a small group of people on earth that derive their life lessons from music, however, when given thought, rap is music, and music doesn't always have the best of messages.

Pop Culture in America has grown since its beginnings and continues to grow as a popular topic of conversation. Topics like Gay Marriage/Marriage Equality, Media, Video Games, Sexism are always hot topics of discussion. In the Pop Culture realm, comedians that speak on the topics such as abortion, domestic violence, and even rap receive an interesting mix of hatred and sympathy towards their cynical attitude. If not able to speak of these topics, how do we get over them?

YALE & MIZZOU

Early November, both the Universities of YALE and The University Of Missouri have taken on a lot of media coverage over the protests that are still continuing. Initially, the protests were over racism and since, have sparked a nation wide outrage. As a response, a professor at Harvard University said, “They may want superficial diversity, because for them diversity is a code word for “more of us”. 

Trigger Warnings are being issued before any given talk which warn students that what they are about to hear or read may invoke a negative emotional response. A lesser known subject that may have an effect on these protests are Speech Codes. According to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) 54% of public universities and 59% of private universities impose politically correct speech codes.

A question that I had was if these Speech Codes had any sort of reproductions and if so, are these protests in violation of such codes?

"Like A Girl".

In class we were shown a commercial from the company Always. Each participant were put in front of the camera with a grey backdrop. The people who volunteered were mostly women and each person was asked to portray a set of personifications. One being, "run like a girl", another being "throw like a girl".

At first, each person portrayed this very whiney and wimpy way of being. It was apparent that they were all over acting, however it was interesting to see everyone's reaction to be the same. After seeing the repetition of the same character. The commercial made me question, what it means to "act like a girl". Is it really this helpless way of being. Someone to just wait around for a hero? No, I don't think so. Granted, the company Always target audience is women. You could say "it's a women's company".

The second part to this commercial turned the view a 180°. Women were acting courageous and portraying women to be proud of who they were and I can see the appeal for women to not act "like as sissy", whatever that phrase really means.

#CoverTheAthlete

A YouTube compilation post was made to enlighten us of the ridiculousness behind certain broad based questions posed to the player. Most of the questions were about the athletes looks and sexual orientation/preference. The players that were asked these questions directly did brush off these absurd questions with scoffs and chuckles as if the journalists weren't being serious. however and unfortunately, they were serous.

One question posed to Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps went something like this, "Removing your body hair gives you an edge in the pool, what about your sex life"? Michael Phelps chuckled, looked over at his manager, and removed himself from the question. Another question by a journalist to a Seattle Seahawk player; "How has your weight gain effected your mobility"? The player responded by saying, "I don't know what you're talking about. I don't know what you're talking about".

Questions like these are absurd and have absolutely nothing to do with the actual game. These seem to be "gossip questions". After viewing this video I stumbled upon another video with the same content, only difference was that someone had put together these same string of questions posed to female athletes. Knowing that these questions are for one: Not original, and secondly: Unprofessional. This makes me question the motive behind these sort of questions. Who wants to know this information and what does it have to do with the athletes profession?

Strange & Vague.

Advertisements make us wish and want the items in the images. To be like those whom take the glamor shots for all to see. Each commercial, billboard, magazine add, and radio plug have an effect on us whether we like it or not. When you watch movies, how many plugs do you see? Are all the cars one brand? Are all the laptops a Mac? Or, are all the cell phones manufactured by Samsung?

How much of your purchases really your own? Chances are that the media influence your decisions way more than you think they do. Take Old Spice for example. Although the commercials are hilarious and some what ridiculous. You purchase the items from a laugh. If you see a heart wrenching advertisement that compels you to buy a puppy. You're being influenced by everything in the ad. The music, the up close shots of fluffy puppies, and everything else. There is a science behind marketing and advertising. Don't be fooled into thinking you can escape so easily.

Hyper-Masculinity!

I am a man and I eat meat! I love violence and I hate the weak! I am superior and I make more money than women! Feel my wrath! If you don't like American Football then you can get out of my face! I don't run, I do CrossFit and I love shooting guns at things!

Listen guys, it's okay, you can cry if you need to. You're more than welcome to bake for your loved ones and you're most certainly aloud to have your man bun. Who said men don't cry? Have you seen the movie UP? I cried like a baby and I had ice cream with me. Don't hate me because you ain't me!

All i'm saying is that our ideal American man in media is so far from the norm and you shouldn't sole base your personal image off of the next Rambo. Do you even lift, bro? Of course I do! I lifted this cupcake directly into my mouth and I don't regret a single bite! Deal with it! I've seen The Notebook and I support gender equality. It's 2015 and both women and men are being objectified! Why? Are you really in support of this? I surely hope you're smarter than that. C'mon ladies and gents! Deal with the real!

To Be, as Advertised.

Over the past few day's i've been paying extra attention to advertisings in various magazines, posters, billboards, and social media. Does anyone else get the feeling that products are marketed towards a certain body type? The next time you look yourself in the mirror. Ask yourself if you fit this cannon of beauty. I know I surely don't. I'm 5 10' and weigh 17lbs  and my Levi's still don't fit me correctly. I guess I wasn't born with the expected body type?

As if shopping weren't an already daunting task, what about other products? It seems like every product has a gender and an assigned roll. Are cars always girls? Do colors have an assigned gender as well? Of course, bras are designed for women and condoms were designed for men. But what about the more universally used items? Certain types of cookware are marketed towards women. Certain Sports are geared towards men. Are women not allowed to drive a Charger? Are men crossed off the list for owning a yellow Volkswagen Beetle? Maybe our "rolls" don't really mean much more than advertised.