Friday, May 18, 2012

Blogging About Blogging On My Blog

     I am not a blogger; I prefer to write with a pen on paper or at least print out a page to turn in a hard copy.  Yes, I'm a 19-year-old teenager of the 21st century, yet I don't even enjoy texting, I don't have a twitter, and I am on facebook for maybe a few minutes at a time.  Proper face time is important to me, and this idea reflects to my writing.  Physically turning in a real piece of paper gives me peace of mind that the computer won't lose it, erase it, or I won't accidentally post something incorrectly (like I did with the Wiki) and potentially ruin my grade.  If I do the assignment and follow the guidlines, if I have solid content, I don't want to lose points because of a technological error.  This blogging process was not difficult to post nor was it difficult to write any of our posts - the content was simple and straightforward - but I did feel like the posts were mostly busy work.  Posting more reflective pieces - and receiving feedback from my classmates/teacher - might have helped me to progress with my writing on future blog posts and/or progressing through the analytical research project.  Reflective writing could have also helped me to justify my actions during research, or realize for myself what I was maybe missing in a paper.
     Commenting on others blogs (depending on the content) could have helped us in the same way; from our classmates' commentary, we would have received feedback and fed off of each others ideas.  
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RioPinturas-003.jpg
     Blogging in general however, is not my style.  I don't enjoy the technological aspect of it, especially if not fully utilized.  There are some fantastic bloggers out there, and that's great.  This blogging process may have been exactly what these people needed to succeed in this class.  It may have made more sense to write on the computer, or may have been more convenient for them.   As a personal note though, I know I won't be writing on this blog after this class is over.  I probably won't be writing on any blog.  I just did not enjoy the technological aspects.  
     Nobody has commented on the posts we have written either (on my blog), so I did not benefit from peer review for my papers because of that.  Possibly posting online on Carmen under the Discussion section could have been much more convenient, as well as the posts would pop up more quickly and we could receive proper commentary.  Having an entire other website had me turned around sometimes.
     I did enjoy that this blog was never a stressful aspect of class though.  This class had enough work on it's own, on top of my other classwork and time I needed to dedicate toward studying, that if this blog had become a massive project, I would have felt overwhelmed.  Having only a few blog posts allowed me to keep track of the blog easily, and allowed me not to get behind in the class, causing my grade to slip.  This was especially helpful because during most of our blog post assignments, we were working on writing and developing the ARP through the PSA, SSI, and Final ARP, that totaling to 50% of our grade! No offense to you Blog, but I would have chosen ARP over you if it came down to it.

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Commonplace Topic - Brave Masks


Growing up, I was the biggest tomboy in my family.  Not only did I wear the over-sized T-shirts, refuse anything pink or glittery, and throw a fit when my mom forced me into a skirt (I couldn't run or climb trees in skirts), but I hated make-up as well.  It took too much time to apply all that gloppy goop on my face and then I felt like I was wearing a costume.  My face felt like a mask.
In reality, I was never forced to put on that much make up.  As much as I felt like a clown, my mom barely brushed some pink on my cheeks, and only gave me a smidge of mascara.  Plus, this was not a common occurrence.  She only added makeup and skirts when going somewhere fancy.  Possibly the chap stick I was using was bought purposefully with color in it too. 
Today I love make-up.  Even though I roll my eyes when my sister refuses to go to the store with me because she claims, “Ew, no.  I’m not going anywhere.  I’m not wearing make-up – I look gross,” and even though I still don't wear much, applying eyeliner and covering up my blemishes are part of the daily routine.  I apply it in an edgy fashion when I am going to a club, or I ironically give myself an artificially "natural" look when I want to dress down.  When I am going to a party I want to look colorful, when I am going to an event I want to look classy, when I am going out for Halloween, I over-do it because I want to look like something I'm not.
Flipping through channels one night after washing my face - I come across the television show Toddlers In Tiaras.  What is this??  This is a beauty contest?  These children - no, not even - these toddlers are glossed over with excess amounts of make-up.  They're much too young for this.  Not only are these girls wearing mascara, but entirely fake, extremely thick, quite dark eyelashes, with eyeliner drawn in, reshaping their eyes, and bold eyeshadow colored up to their eyebrows - also drawn in to be reshaped - and I thought, why do these kids look like this?  Are they actually being judged on "beauty"?  After all, this is supposed to be a beauty contest, right?  I thought, what do these girls really look like?  I wonder who they are under that false face... that mask.  Right now, they look like something they're not.
In the media today we see hundreds of examples of female "beauty."  Hillary Clinton is being praised, and criticized, for going out in public with no make-up raising the question of whether or not that is "appropriate" of her to do.  Tyra Banks stepped out a few nights ago with smoky black eyeshadow people claim to have been "overdone," giving her a raccoon-like appearance.  Chick flicks and cheesy TV shows where the nerdy girl wants to score some hot jock are always given a make-over; the glasses are replaced by contacts, the hair comes out of the frizzy braids, and the guy suddenly realizes she exists, and they date, and they fall in love, and they live happily ever after, (just like real life right?).  Magazines give make-up tips teaching tweens how to apply just the right amount of lip gloss that will catch the eye of that cutie they've been crushing on during their lunch period. 
And all the while, there is a call to be who you want to be - to be yourself.  Children are told (hopefully before they are slathered with make-up) that they can be whatever they want when they grow up.  "Mommy, I want to be a ninja!" is responded with "That sounds like fun Johnny!"  At the age of 10, when you tell your father: "Daddy, I want to be an astronaut." hopefully you're encouraged to study hard and learn about the stars.  The same ideals are taught up through college: choose a major that you're interested in, so that you can have a career that you love.  It's not all about money.
Does this include glossy lips and smoky eyes?  Rather than a teacher or an actor or a doctor, is being pretty what children aspire to be when they grow up?  Are we truly told to be whoever and whatever we want, while simultaneously being told that we aren't pretty enough?  If we go out without excessive make-up, are we going to be rumored to not even identify with the female gender like Lady GaGa was, or will we be praised for showing off our natural beauty like Beyonce?  When is it appropriate to not cover up our skin?  Who is deemed beautiful by society today?
Yes, make-up is fun.  No, it's not an evil thing.  No, you're not a terrible person for putting on a little bit of lipstick or framing your eyes with some mascara, and no, not everybody is going to tell you to always wear makeup.  I agree, makeup is fun!  It makes us feel pretty, and there are times when makeup is definitely more appropriate than others.  In abundant amounts though, you become unrecognizable when the artificial colors are wiped off your face.  There is an underlying fear flowing through girls nowadays.   
It's scary to expose ourselves to the rest of the world.  We will be judged; whether that is in a positive or negative manner, it's going to happen.  The main question is not are we pretty enough, but do we have enough courage to take off our masks every once in a while?  Are we brave enough not to hide?

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Secondary Sources

My primary source is of the short story "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.  
For my secondary sources, I am still looking for a book to use, but I have three articles I am thinking of using: Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper, with links for the primary symbols and images by Viola Garcia, The Changing Role of Womanhood: From True Woman to New Woman in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Deborah Thomas, and “The Yellow Wallpaper”: An Autobiography of Emotions by Charlotte Perkins Gilman by Kelly Gilbert, all from the website http://itech.fgcu.edu/faculty/wohlpart/alra/gilman.htm#Contents which is of the American Literature Research and Analysis Web Site.  I would like to look further for articles/books about hysteria, and/or the book The Madwoman in the Attic.  I am going to use these articles to analyze more in depth the symbols of the book; I want to use the book(s) to detail the issues surrounding the "rest cure."

Friday, April 13, 2012

The Yellow Wallpaper

     The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is a short story published in 1892 about a woman with depression who journals without her husband's knowledge.  We as readers are never told specifically what she is afflicted by, but we can assume that it is some form of depression - possibly post-partum depression - as she mentions her new baby a few times.  The context is of this woman's husband wanting to heal his wife, but through arrogant means.  He treats her as a child and looks down on her as a woman, and she is naiive to this type of treatment, rationalizing by saying it's how her husband loves her and treats her kindly.
     Meanwhile, she is not allowed to recieve any sort of stimulation, believing it would overwhelm her and cause her to fall more into her illness.  She occupies her mind by desperately trying to figure out the pattern within the yellow wallpaper that decorates the room she needs to stay in.  She also writes without her husband's knowledge.  She eventually becomes obsessive to a point where she becomes unstable.
     If we look closer, there is much symbolism between the wallpaper and the patterns she finds within it, and her own self within her mind and marriage.  The varying symbolism fascinates me, as does just the story itself.  The sociological issues that arise within the context of publication, and the psychological issues within herself creates a fascinating dynamic.