Convenience of Women...

There is no denying the fact that all through American history women have been treated less than men. What I am blogging about today has to do with the inequality that women face in the work force. Even though it is 2009 and women have broke the barriers and made great stride, they are still greatly suppressed in the work field. It is evident that they have to work harder in order to attain the same position that a man can just waltz into.

Women have been like an unnoticed backbone to American society. When men were needed to fight in WWII, that left the U.S. in a bind. As a result of most men being overseas, there were no workers for factories or other jobs. That is when women were called upon to do their civic duty while their husband was away. Women were supposed to support the war effort and help the U.S. by working in those factories and other jobs. These women with no experience, ever, outside of being a housewife and mother. Yet, these women rose up and fulfilled their duty.



When the war was over and the women weren't needed, they were just expected to go back to being the housewife and mother that they were before. Except now these women experienced independence. In the movie 'A League of Their Own' the question is even posed to the owner of the baseball field, "Careers and higher education are leading to the masculinization of women, with enormously dangerous consequences to the home, the children, and our country. When our boys come home from war, what kind of girls will they be coming home to? And now the most disgusting example of this sexual confusion: Mr. Walter Harvey of Harvey bars is presenting us with women's baseball. Right here in Chicago, young girls plucked from their families are gathered at Harvey Field, to see which one of them can be the most masculine. Mr. Harvey, like your candy bars, you're completely... nuts." So unless it was convenient for America, these women were useless.



It wasn't until 1963 that the Equal Pay Act was approved. This act, signed into effect by President Kennedy, made it illegal to pay women lower rates for the same job strictly on the basis of their sex. Unfortunately, even though this was signed into effect in 1963---and it is 2009, as of 2007 women still made 22.2% less than men in the work force (http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0193820.html). So even though we have voted in the first half African American president, as far as civil rights go, we still have a long road ahead of us.

Macho, Macho, Macho Men?

Hey guys it is Sean again! To help me figure out a topic for my blog I, once again, joined my fiancée while she was flipping through some of her favorite shows. It just so happens that she likes your typical teenage shows. So I decided to use two that she watched this past week, Happy Days and The Secret Life of the American Teenager, to use as my examples. (Didn’t wait till the last minute this time).

As I was watching these shows I chose to compare a main theme in these shows to something that our book touched on. Our book had used an example of Carlton from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and I will elaborate more to refresh your memory. Carlton excelled in school and he was more respectful to girls than his cousin. Will Smith acted like a typical jock with no brains and treated girls as objects, and as a result the girls flocked to him. The media portrayed Carlton’s traits as nerdy and undesirable. Teenagers, both girls and boys, watch this show and think it is natural. I chose Happy Days and The Secret Life of the American Teenager to help elaborate on my point because they seemed to make a significant impact on teenage culture.

First off, Happy Days was an American sitcom that aired in the 70s, but portrayed life in the 50s and 60s. The good teenage guy characters were Richie Cunningham, Potsie Weber, and Ralph Malph. These guys were good guys, who did well in school, but never got the ladies. The girls overlooked them unless they were with The Fonz. The Fonz just happened to be the epitome of cool. He had THE leather jacket, THE perfect hair, and powerful demeanor. [He was capable of parting a crowd of people so he could make his way through] All of this AND he had girls falling over for him. Does he show that cares about these girls? No. He dumps them by the next show. The only girl he ever held a semi-serious relationship with was Pinky Tuscadero, because she challenged him. All the other girls were just another notch in his belt.

My fiancee loves the show The Secret Life of the American Teenager, so of course I am forced to watch it. Even though teen pregnancy isn’t rare these days, this show caught a lot of flack for it being based around a pregnant 15 year old. In this show there are a few main characters, but we will focus on Amy, Ricky, and Ben. Amy is the pregnant 15 year old who was wooed at band camp by Ricky. Ricky is the macho guy, who of course, gets all the girls. Then there is Ben; Ben is the smart, do-good boyfriend of Amy who supports her in almost every decision she makes. In the show Ben initially had a difficult time finding a girlfriend, but Ricky seems to be able to find, sleep with, and have multiple girls at his disposal.

So here we are in 2009 and from 1970 nothing has changed. It is the same situations, just different faces. Good guys like Carlton, Richie, and Ben never get the girls until they have been hurt by the macho types and are rebounding. The media has engrained in the minds of teenage boys everywhere that if they expect to have their feelings for a girl reciprocated, that they have to treat them bad and act macho. Teenage girls watch these shows and walk away with the notion that the only way a guy will ever want them is if they are sleeping with them. When teenage boys watch these shows they see The Fonz, Ricky with their macho personalities and the way they use these girls. So we have generations of guys using girls. The worst part is that these teenagers think it’s acceptable because it is what is portrayed on through the media.

Lifetime Commercials

Hi there Sean here, this is my first blog... ever, so please bare with me. What I chose to talk about this week (an hour before it's due) is commercials on the Lifetime channel.  One thing that I always notice when watching Lifetime (with my fiancee) is that there is about two or three different types of commercials on the entire network.  

First commercial consists of telling the viewer that they are too fat and that you should go out and purchase Dexatrim MAX after showing the viewer a picture of video of a slim beautiful woman all happy and smiling. She lost her weight in no time at all! (results not typical. with a healthy balanced diet and exercise).

The second commercial is for the make up that removes age instantly. Remove blemishes and age spots and wrinkles instantly. So if you weren't worried about how your skin already looked this ad was sure to remind you.  It is ads like this that put pressure on women about age and how they look at their current age.

Third and strangest is the Sinupret commercial. The ad begins with a little girl laying with her mother in the grass telling her mother that she loves her and then the mother says she loves her more only with the snooty girl to respond with she loves her more and the mom says (again) she loves her daughter more because she bought her Sinupret. What is Sinupret? It's an allergy medication! Why'd they use the kid? I'll tell you. It's because who better to send messages of fear of allergens to than a mother watching Lifetime. The fear stricken mother then goes out to purchase the medication to protect their little one. 

The media puts these ads on the air for money obviously but  at the same time they target the audience, or at least who they think is watching their channel. According to this a fat, old and wrinkly, person who is allergic to the world watches Lifetime, or at least their children are allergic to everything and need protecting.  They hope that at least one of the self-conscious people watching the channel will go out and purchase their product.