25th Jan 2010
Blog 4- EDEC 262
Blog 4- Class Action
Class cannot be neatly categorized as purely a function of capital- that is, money may be the core determinant of class but it is not the only signifier. Rather, class is demonstrated, according to Leistyna and Alper (2009), in three interrelated ways: economic class, political class, and cultural class. We show what class we are by our clothing, our language, our access to education, and our neighborhood. Consequently, class is difficult to quantify as the simply sum of its parts. There are indicators, but these indicators are fluid and not necessarily descriptive of one particular social class.
This week, you’ll be asked to pick up a newspaper (as long as it has a Classified section) and examine the wedding announcements. Wedding announcements are especially interesting because they are both a notice to the community about the event itself and a form of “advertisement” for the people; all the details included have been very carefully chosen. Focus your attention on one announcement of your choice and give a description of some of the indicators of class that appear (residency (where they live), education, employment, family history, even the picture itself). How is class demonstrated to the reading public in this announcement? Why do you think certain indicators have been included? What kind of newspaper is the announcement in and what does that say about the social class of the couple?
As a side note, please do not use the names of the individuals, nor link the actual announcement to the blog. A simple description will suffice.
The wedding announcement that I read was from the New York Times; a rather upscale and intellectual kind of newspaper. The couple in the announcement both lived and worked in Brooklyn. The bride was a school teacher and the groom an accountant for a recruiting firm. I would assume that based on them living outside of Manhattan and their careers that they would be middle class. Perhaps one of the reasons why their announcement was in such an upper class paper is because of the groom’s father. The short article went into quite a bit of detail about the groom’s father’s career at a senior director at a real estate company in downtown Manhattan; judging by the way they spoke of him I would argue that the groom comes from an upper class family.
From the brief notice I could also tell that the couple was Jewish. After recalling the cute story of how the couple met and took a glass with them from the restaurant, they went on to mention how the groom stepped on that same glass at the ceremony. This fact might go on to further explain why the couple resides, and even chose to get married, in Brooklyn. After looking up the demographics of New York, it says that the highest concentration of Jews live in Brooklyn.
Another interesting point from the wedding announcement was the emphasis on the fact that couple had their first date at a restaurant on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. After looking up the demographics of New York again, it says that the Upper East Side is one of the highest concentrations of wealth in the USA. I thought that this was an interesting thing to include in the announcement since both of them live and work in Brooklyn; perhaps it was in there to try and impress people with the fact that the were eating in an expensive area of Manhattan!
This wedding announcement came from the Chatham Daily news, meaning that the parents of the couple are from a smaller city, which is mostly rural and agricultural. The married couple are situated in St. Louis, Missouri, which is a fairly large city (makes top 20 largest in the U.S).
The announcement states that the parents are both doctors, which I would say means they are wealthy and well known in the city, probably lower upper class. I believed they included the fact that they were both doctors to show their importance and so that the readers would make the connection to whom they are.
The couple honeymooned in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico which indicates that someone in the family can afford a luxurious trip.
It is also assumed that education is an important value to the family, as both parents are doctors and it states that the bride is completing her masters of business at Washington University and the groom is attending a chiropractic college.
My last point is that the parents are obviously proud of their children, as they both state it explicitly and hint at it implicitly. The announcement has several names of family members at the end, indicating they are a close family.
THE WORKING CLASS – A CLOSER LOOK AT “THE HONEYMOONERS”
The brief, yet very well constructed portrayal of Jackie Gleason’s character caught my attention in the readings (Chapter 5) and in the video we saw today on the working class on television. Growing up, I watched many shows with my dad from the 50′s and 60′s (he owns pretty much the entire collection of “The Honeymooners”). Growing up, I also heard things like “Bang, Zoom, to the moon” (Ralph threatening his wife), or “hardy harr harr”(Alice laughing sarcastically at Ralph). I remember being around the age of 10 and thinking ‘my God, who is this Ralph to think he is the King of his Castle, when clearly, Alice runs the household.
What struck me the most about this show was the approach on gender and economic status. Ralph would often scream (he did not have a phone except in one particular episode) to his neighbour and “dumb” friend Ed to bring him simple things like an orange because they couldn’t afford extra goods. As a parallel, I also watched The Flinstones which are an almost exact replica of the Honeymooners.
My question to whoever would like to address this topic would be the following: How has gender and economic status evolved on television since the 1950′s? Are men still trying to be the ‘Kings of their Castles’?
I will always remember reading my grandparents wedding announcement. I think I was about 10 when I read it, and I always think of it whenever this kind of thing is brought up.
My grandpa was from a big, well-known (and well-liked) family in a small town. The little community was host to many cottagers during the summer months, but I was told that they always ‘stuck together’ and had a strong community bond. The announcement mentioned that he was a part of this family, and this community, repetitively. My grandma was one of those cottagers that came to stay for the summer – I’d been told the story of how they met a thousand times. But I remember reading the announcement where it says they met there, though they had “worlds between them”. My grandparents were not at all different in their levels of class, education, or the like, but whoever wrote the announcement was clear in saying that they were from very different worlds.
My grandpa ended up sounding highly distinguished and his education, employment, and place of residence all mentioned. My grandma went to McGill, but that was never mentioned. In the end, you could tell that the omission of my grandma’s story was intentional. No surprises then that the announcement was published in the town’s paper from where my grandpa was from. I don’t know if this is something that was regular in their old time towns… but I’ll always remember how distinguished my grandpa sounded and how unimportant my grandma was portrayed, in their own wedding announcement! The omission of my grandma’s information made her seem lower class and insignificant, compared to the rave that there was about my grandpa.
The wedding announcement I have chosen to write about is from the New York Times newspaper. The first thing that caught my eye when reading this article is the photos attached with it. One of the photos shows the couple at their wedding with the bride dressed in a beaded, satin gown, with a HUGE diamond ring on her wedding finger. The second photo shows a picture of the couple’s hands. The bride is shown with a perfectly groomed French manicure on her nails, with her big rock shown again on her wedding finger. The bride is also wearing a diamond tennis bracelet, which is a clear indication that she is wealthy. I do not understand why this photo is necessary, but it was most likely added to show off the couple’s wealth. In the first paragraph of the article the bride’s occupation is announced. The 36-year-old entrepreneur is the owner of an online data storage business. Moreover, after describing their 11 years of dating together (at fancy French restaurants in the wealthy upper east side and in their lavish Hampton beach house), the article discusses the groom’ s education. The groom is a University of Pennsylvania graduate with an M.B.A. from New York University. This information indicates that he is a very smart, well-educated man. The article also states that the groom became an author before they started dating, which indicated that he has money. The end of the article says that after 11 years of dating the couple got married at the exclusive and private Polo Club of Boca Raton in Florida.
**DIFFERENT TOPIC**
Ever since being in this class I tend to notice a lot more about what the media is portraying and different “plugs” that are presented to me. Grey’s Anatomy is a show that I have been watching since its inception and before taking this course, I never noticed a lot of things about the show that I now find irritating! I used to think that the show was very realistic, in terms of the medical aspect and seeing a hospital through the eyes of interns. However now when I watch the show, several seasons later, I notice how politically correct the writers are trying to be and I find it quite silly. It would have sufficed, in terms of being realistic, for the writers to simply include the affairs going on in the hospitals, the deaths, pregnancies, etc. However, since this class has given me the ability to critically examine what I am taking in through the media, it is brutally obvious to me that the show is trying to widen their audience by including what seems to be every minority they could think of. It was fine when we had all of the interns who come from different backgrounds, American, Irish, Asia, African, etc. But no, that wasn’t enough. It has since been specified that Christina, an Asian American, has a Jewish step-father and was engaged to an African American man. Callie, the orthopedic surgeon is not only Latin American but is also a lesbian sleeping with one of her fellow colleagues! One girl has cancer, another gets pregnant, another divorced, other have affairs and people die. Really? All that? Unfortunately for me, this class has allowed me to interpret this show as a bit of overkill. But don’t get me wrong, I still love it!
The wedding announcement that I examined comes from the New York Times Newspaper. The first thing that catches my eye is their picture. They look like two very happy individuals but that’s all you can tell since it is only a close-up of their faces. We don’t see any jewelry whatsoever, so we don’t know at this point which class they belong in. As I started reading, I then realized how this couple is definitely in the upper class. They each have one parent who are doctors and have really great jobs; working in an investment firm, and being in the retail division of Saks Fifth Avenue (which is pretty much a high-end store). The other thing which I noticed is how they both live in Manhattan. Living in Manhattan is not cheap, it is quite expensive and people who live there spend a lot of money on rent. That is again another signifier that they belong in the upper class. They also attended renowned universities; Vanderbilt University and Cornell. The story of how they met also shows how they are in the upper class since they attended yoga classes and cocktail events.
The wedding announcement I found was in the Montreal Gazette. There is no picture but there is a description of when the wedding is taking place, the location (Birks Heritage Chapel, McGill University). It also mentions that a reverend will be officiating the wedding, demonstrating that their wedding will be religious. It is mentioned in the ad, that the groom’s father will not be present sadly since he passed away. The last sentence of the announcement states that the bride and groom will continue their doctoral studies at McGill.
From the description, the people getting married definitely seem to be most likely middle-class. There is nothing extravagant about the ad, and it seems to put more emphasis on the recent passing of the grooms father than the details of the wedding itself. The ad is very modest and not lengthy. Often when we think of upper class, we presume the ad would have shown a picture, detailed more about the bride and groom’s life, where they live and their employment. Considering both bride and groom are still students, this modest ad reflects that.
Interestingly enough, when reading the other student’s announcements, theirs were more of the wedding itself. The ones I found from the Montreal Gazette were all for announcing the wedding date itself, and often included no pictures at all. Perhaps it is more an American thing to have wedding and engagement announcements? I do not believe that most of us think of posting such a thing in the newspaper these days. Often, when we think of wedding or engagement announcements, we often think of upper class people wanting to flaunt their class and money at us.
Perhaps that is just my opinion, but would any of you really want to post your wedding announcement in the Montreal Gazette or the Globe and Mail?
Gender in the Media
Dove’s new campaign targeting men.
On the news this week, I heard that the company Dove is going to be launching a campaign for their new line of products for men. The news report said that the company will have an ad that will air during the super bowl that is expected to focus on men accepting the imperfections of their bodies and moving the focus away from the typical portrayal of men that we see in the media today. This is following Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty that has been running for the past few years which focuses on helping women accept their bodies for the way they are and promoting good self-esteem. I loved this campaign and found that it was sending a positive message to women. It was showing that the images of women that are portrayed in the media (TV, film, etc.) today are not “real” and that women should be comfortable in their own skin and not focus on changing themselves to strive for an ideal that does not exist. This is an especially important message to send to young girls, since they can be more vulnerable to the messages that the media send out, which in turn can lead to some serious consequences.
I find this new campaign is very interesting because in the past, there has been much emphasis on how images of women in the media are having an affect on girls and women, but there has not been much talk about how images of men in the media are having an affect on boys and men. The fact that Dove is addressing this issue I find is an important step in analyzing media more closely and addressing the difference between what we see in the media and what we see in real life.
I would like to get a male perspective on this issue since men are the people that this campaign is targeting. Do you think that this is a good idea or not? I am just curious to see what other people have to say on this subject.
Tania Grenier and Michael Tremblay (names have been changed) live in the state of Florida. Taken from the New York Times paper; a newspaper which is appealing to a cultured, intellectual audience, the bride to be is 48 and the bridegroom to be is 52. Their wedding is taking place Sunday, January 31st, at the Seagate Beach Club in Delray Beach, Florida. Knowing that she is a sales manager of a women’s clothing store (but no education of hers is stated!), and that he is a marital and family lawyer, I wanted to see where this Beach Club stands. The Seagate Beach Club is reserved for members. They have two different menus; an upstairs menu for lunch with decent prices, and a downstairs menu for dinners, which has higher prices. There is even a picture gallery and everyone is in suits or dresses. So this is not a little church they are getting married at. It’s quite a big deal.
Tremblay graduated from the State University of New York at Albany, ranked 67th out of 100, and received a law degree form the University of Miami, which is ranked 71st. We don’t know anything about family history other than the parents’ names. By stating that they will be getting married at the Beach Club in Delray demonstrated that they are not two people with low incomes. The fact that she is a manager and he is a lawyer also stated they stand above most average citizens. I think the fact that they say where it’ll be is to show how they are wealthier than others. As well as stating there occupations, the end line states that both their previous marriage’s has ended in divorce. A wedding is expensive and so to be able to have a second one, with a different partner, that can only mean, like mentioned above, that they are in fact above middleclass (unless they are way beyond debt!)
Finally, there is nothing extraordinary about the picture. Both seem to be happy and in love, which is why I suppose they are getting married.
REPLY TO: THE WORKING CLASS – A CLOSER LOOK AT “THE HONEYMOONERS”
In reading Cindy’s blog, I was struck by how often females on TV do tend to run their households. Although I’ve never seen The Honeymooners, after watching about 10 minutes of clips on YouTube, it because clear that although the husband has it in his head that he is the boss of the household, his wife makes it abundantly clear to the audience that she is in charge, both through her mocking of him, and by overriding his decisions, or by proving him wrong.
If I think of my favourite TV shows that are currently on air, there are several family situations that come to mind, with many different types of family dynamics. I chose to look specifically at Desperate Housewives. There are four women in the show, each with their own family and separate living situations. One is the pregnant breadwinner for her family of six, while her husband is back in college, pursuing a new career. Although he tries to assert himself at home, most of the time his wife makes the decisions and makes it clear that everything is her choice. Another woman on the show is a homemaker, and is staying home to care for her crippled husband, making his every move and decision for him, as he cannot do anything about it. The third character is a stay at home mother of two, whose husband is President of a large company. Although he earns the money for the family, she spends large amounts of it on clothes and shoes, and when he mentions her shopping habits, she comes back at him, saying that she has to stay home all day and cook and clean and care for their children, and therefore she deserves “pretty things.” The last housewife has perhaps the most normal family. She and her husband both work full time, a teacher and a plumber. They both earn money for their family, and make the household decisions together.
I chose to examine Desperate Housewives, because the family dynamic and power changes with every episode. So although many of these women control their households, with their husbands trying to be the “king of the castle,” this power could change at any moment, and that’s exactly what is so exciting about television today.
For this blog, I decided to look at various newspapers. I looked at the Montreal Gazette and the New York Times. The Montreal Gazette had small brief little announcements, simply saying the names of the couple, when they got engaged and when the wedding will take place. There were no pictures and very little reference to race or class. These articles of announcements were simple and to the point, celebrating the wedding of the couple.
For the New York Times there was a significance difference for the wedding announcements. The one that I decided to look at was about a couple who were a reverend and a lawyer. They give a detailed history of the woman’s family life, giving the financial and professional standing of her father such as his being a hospital chairman. For the groom, they give a brief notice of the mother and father, stating their professional status, for example; being a senior vice president for human resources. The article continues with a discussion of how they met and how much they fell in love with each other. It tells us how romantically the groom proposed and where he did (central park and a romantic cafe), showing the place and the family surprise.
This article shows a big difference than the one in the Montreal Gazette. This one show class in a professional and financial matter as it discusses the background of the groom and bride’s family. It discusses how prestigious the jobs of the parents were (doctor, trustee, and vice president of human resources), where the couple grew up (Upper New York), where they went to school and what sort of jobs the couple has themselves (reverend, lawyer). It discusses entertainment preferences of the groom (Sports – New York Jets) and the romantic and prestigious area (Central Park, Upper scale cafe) that they had become engaged.
NEW TOPIC—CLASS IN OBITUARIES
When I was looking at this blog however, I kept getting stuck on the obituaries. Many of these obituaries gave long descriptions of the deceased. One that caught my eye in the New York Times was the death of a former U.S. Senator. Upon reading this rather lengthy obituary I began to wonder if we could ask the same question of class for obituaries or other newspaper announcements.
It was amazing to see the diversity in the wedding announcements. Some were just little blogs stating the couple to be married and when, others went even further to include where they came from and appreciation to close relatives. The wedding announcement that I decided to analyze really caught my attention because it included everything about the couple including where they were from, what university they attended, and the degrees they will receive. It also included the chapel where the wedding will take place, the name of the reverend and thanks to close relatives.
After looking over the 95 word wedding announcement, I was able to see multiple indicators of class. Firstly, it states that they both reside in Montreal. Where they live in Montreal, was not stated. However, it said that they both attend McGill University and are pursuing doctoral degrees. By indicating their education and the employment they wish to pursue, we are able to see that they are most definitely a part of the upper class. I believe this to be true because the type of labour they are involved in is of high status, and the school they are attending is known worldwide, and might I add, expensive as well. By mentioning the name of the reverend, we are shown their faith in Catholicism which demonstrates their cultural capital typical to the society. These indicators plus the fact that the announcement was in the Gazette most definitely shows that they belong to the upper class. It costs about 1600$ to put an advertisement in the Gazette which says a lot about their economic capital. This announcement shows us many things about the social class of the couple and how proud they are to belong to that class.
L’article de mariage que j’ai choisie est une article qui a été publier dans le journal The New York Times qui est le mariage de Carrie Gueller et Jeremie Schein. Ce qui a d’abord attiré mon attention vers cette article est la photo des deux nouveaux mariés puisqu’ils avaient l’air beau et heureux.
J’ai ensuite regarder la description que le journal donnait sur les mariés et j’ai remarquer que les détails nous indique facilement leur classe sociale soit probablement une classe sociale supérieur. En effet, il est inscrit la profession des deux personnes et elle semble bien rémunéré. Par la suite, on remarque aussi qu’on précise certain membre de la famille des mariés et ces personnes doivent être connus puisqu’elles ne sont pas nécessaire à être nommée dans l’annonce en étant pas directement lié à ceux-ci. Le mariage tenant place à New York est aussi nécéssairement un mariage qui requiert beaucoup d’argent puisque le coût de la vie à cette endroit est plutôt élevé. J’ai donc trouvé bien intéressant cette activité de regarder des annonces de mariage puisqu’il est vrai en effet que seulement avec ces information on peut déduire la classe sociale des personnes qui se marient. Il est étonnant de constater comme on peut juger rapidement une personne avec aussi peu d’information.
My topic: Violence in Hockey (highlighting the incident with Patrice Cormier and Mikael Tam)
I chose to talk about violence in hockey since it was discussed in one of my other classes this week. I specifically find interesting how people do not realize at what level media has influenced them.
Firstly, my teacher had brought up the incident that happened with Patrice Cormier and Mikael Tam. For the people that do not know what happened, Patrice Cormier (player of the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies) hit Mikael Tam (Quebec Rampart’s defenseman) in the head causing a couple of broken teeth as well as brain trauma after going through convulsions on the ice. Cormier has been suspended from the Quebec Junior League for an undecided period of time and not everyone seems to agree with this punishment. The coach of the team finds it unfair for Cormier to get a suspension that lasts for a long period of time and at first, Patrice Cormier accepted his punishment although he soon changed his mind and now believes the same thing as his coach.
When having discussed this particular situation in class and mentioning fights in hockey, there were many individuals that had mentioned how what happened with Mikael Tam is unfortunate although fighting in hockey should not be band and is not considered violence in hockey, instead it is part of the game! I find this statement absolutely outrageous since the point of ice hockey is to get the puck in the goal base with the help of a stick. Webster’s dictionary defines ice hockey as: “a game played on an ice rink by two teams of six players on skates whose object is to drive a puck into the opponents’ goal with a hockey stick” (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, 2010). No where do I find in this definition that fighting with teammates from the opposing team is “part of the game”. I believe that Medias’ increasing influence on ice hockey is changing everybody’s perception of what hockey is actually about. Sport stations and other television networks needed higher ratings and for the sport to become more interesting therefore they started forcing players to “play dirty” on the ice and it has become accustomed in our values of the sport.
I would also like to add that it is only when dangerous incidents like this one happen that people think about the violence that is happening on the ice and it is also quickly forgotten. Take the coach and the general manager Andre Tourigny for example; he mentioned since the beginning of the incident that the suspension for the following season as well as the playoffs was “excessive”. By not being a big fan of hockey, I found out that this is not the first time that Patrice Cormier hits a player on the opposing team. I find it hilarious how the television shows and newspapers still protected Cormier by making the league seem like the bad guys for suspending him. I think that it is important for Patrice Cormier to pay his debts to hockey and hopefully the players will begin to play more carefully by extracting the violence out of the sport.
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJgPgtsP1iY
I chose an engagement announcement rather than a wedding announcement for this week’s blog. The announcement that I chose (appearing in the Montreal Gazette) caught my eye first because it showed a very attractive young Caucasian couple. He’s wearing a black tuxedo with slicked-back dark hair and she’s in a white evening gown with a perfectly coiffed hairdo. They both look like they stepped right out of a Hollywood movie; the couple looks glamorous in a classy (non-Lindsay Lohan hollywood) kind of way. The image combined with the text of the announcement indicates that both members of the couple are from the upper class – and not nouveau riche either, we’re talking “old money”! Her parents are from Westmount (one of the “richest” neighbourhoods in Montreal) while his parents are from Rosedale (one of the richest neighbourhoods in Toronto). By stating the neighbourhoods where each of the families is from, the announcement is clearly meant to inspire awe and respect. Finally, to top it all of, the dashing young couple were engaged at the Chateau Des Hauts de Loire in France’s Loire valley. I’m guessing that that location is a notch above Mont-Tremblant here in la belle province!
NEW TOPIC********
TELEVISION TODAY
After watching the video in class, I started thinking about television today and how much more open television programs are. There is a new show that I love that is called Modern Family it is a hilarious comedy based around three connected families. The first family is your “average” American family made up of a working father, stay at home mother, and three children. The second family is made up of the older father of that stay at home mother and his new young Columbian wife and her son. The third family is made up of that stay at home mother’s brother/the older father’s son as well as his life partner and their newly adopted Asian baby. These three families are all of the upper middle class and deal with different average family problems each episode. I have found it very interesting how open some of these issues are and how they are dealt with in a very comedic way. Similar to how the Cosby Show displayed an upper class African American family without showing some issues they would be dealing with in the real world, this show displays how homosexuality and integrated families have barely any difficulty, which is not necessarily the truth for the real world. Even though the show may be turning a blind eye to certain issues it is still hilarious and very enjoyable.
After looking through the wedding announcements in The New York times, I notice a very similar pattern, the newlyweds featured are not only all members of the upper-class but so are their parents. One announcement really caught my eye though; I believe it’s the same as Adina. Unlike other couple’s wedding announcements that feature a simple picture of the couple, usually set outdoors, this particular couple submitted a large photo taken at their wedding(including guests), as well as a picture of the bride showing off her wedding band to her sisters. Prior to even reading the couples description it is obvious that this couple is very wealthy. The bride’s wedding dress is beaded and appears to be very high end, not to mention it fits her like a glove, indicating that pricy alterations had to have been made. The groom, as well as all the other male guests featured in the photo, are all wearing very nice tuxedos. The photo showing off the wife’s ring also shows off a stunning diamond tennis bracelet and all the women have perfectly French manicured nails. Like Adina, I too feel as though this picture is not necessary but included to show off the couple’s high status and wealth.
The article features a lot of information concerning the couples many occupations. The bride is the owner of an online business and also contributes to a business blog for the very reputable New York Times. The groom, previously a very popular New York bachelor, wrote a self-published book on bachelorhood. In addition to this, he also worked on Wall Street until he lost his job and then began heading the sales department of another one of the brides companies. Both the bride and groom went to what seem to be good Universities, she attended the University of Arizona and he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and got an M.B.A. from New York University. These impressive careers as well as the couple’s high level of education demonstrate not only their intelligence but their high class status.
As the article continues, describing the couple’s dating past it mentions that they had their third date at the French restaurant on the Upper East Ride, a well known rich area of New York City. A description of a trip to the Hamptons taken with friends is also described and as I’ve seen on TV, it is usually wealthy New Yorkers who spend their summers vacationing in the Hamptons. The couple got married in front of 175 guests, which is a large number of people, in the exclusive Polo Club of Boca Raton. The article also states the both the groom and bride are Jewish, which is a religion typically associated with wealth and power. Perhaps my favourite part of this wedding announcement though is the fact that the writer somehow found a way to mention the bride’s convertible.
The smaller newspapers I originally read had very plain announcements that barely provided the names of those getting married. However, when I landed on a wedding announcement for a N.J. couple in the New York Times, I thought that I had stepped right into the scene of a movie.
Reading the beginning of this one page article/announcement, I felt like I was reading someone’s C.V. and background check. Clinical social worker presently working at such and such a place following the completion of a masters at [insert prestigious university name here], daughter of a retired lithograph, Kalinda* married her lawyer husband Donald* last Saturday evening. The same type of information is provided for her husband. From the beginning, the reader gets a sense that these people are ‘somebody:’ Both parties are highly educated, have established careers, and the bride’s father has such an importantly obscure job that it must be mentioned in his daughter’s wedding announcement. The mention of their level of education, and career choices indicate their wealth, and possible political clout. Wealthy, well educated, these people have class.
What also makes this announcement interesting is the way that it functions, not only as a display of class, but also as entertainment. Introductions out of the way, the writer proceeds to discuss how the couple met. The writer sets the scene of a romantic comedy. The two met while on the same volleyball team. Donald notices Kalinda and the day of their first game he knocks her off her feet; literally. Donald hit the ball and it “carom[ed] off” of Kalinda’s face and knocks her down. Since, they have become friends, dated, and have married… The style of writing and the vocabulary (i.e. “carom”) he uses targets an educated audience; perhaps female.
In case you’re wondering, to this day, Kalinda and Donald still play volleyball together, and, before each game, Donald promises not to hit her in the face…
*Kalinda and Donald are made-up names.
NEW TOPIC
As I was doing homework today, my mom happened to be watching Oprah and I started tuning in because the show’s topic was based on the documentary “Food Inc.” I’ve seen the film and thought it was incredibly interesting, so I ended up watching the whole Oprah episode and thought I should write my blog about what I gained from it.
The debate over where food comes from and how companies present their products (ie. fat free, low carb etc) is something that is extremely relevant right now. I often find myself looking at ingredients to see how many additives are inside, or what kind of chemicals were used in my Kraft Dinner. In watching Food Inc and this Oprah episode I began to get frustrated. It seems so ridiculous that these huge companies, for the sake of their own profit, can basically do whatever they like and many people are too naive (or simply lazy) to realize what they are putting in their mouths. The average person does not even consider that they might be supporting ecological destruction or ingesting the animal antibiotics inside that hamburger just by satisfying their hunger. This issue is much more prevalent in the US, but either way media definitely plays a part in how we consider or do not consider our food. Many companies will produce unsustainable, chemical-laden and processed foods because that is what sells – this is what people buy. Of course, these foods are not advertised (ie. many fast foods, TV dinners) as being harmful to your health but they absolutely are. Don’t get me wrong, I’m no vegan and I completely believe in being a responsible consumer. I also don’t want to generalize but I just found it so interesting that these huge food companies are being supported by the ones that will be harmed most by what they are producing. One guest on Oprah even said “how else can you vote 3 times in a day?” (referring to 3 meals a day). I think it’s time for people to REALLY think about what they are eating and what they are in turn supporting. I would highly recommend watching Food Inc and forming your own opinion about it. I think we owe it to ourselves to be informed.
ER – A DIFFERENT TOPIC
When we were watching the film in class on Monday I was surprised to see ER mentioned twice. When I used to watch the show I did not think critically about what I saw but now reflecting on the show I see things a little differently. For me the show provided not only a glimpse into a hospital but into the personal lives of the people who worked there. Characters came from all walks of life. On the show you had numerous African American doctors like Benson, Pratt and Gallant, an Indian Dr. Rasqotra and an Asian Dr. Chen to mention a few. Dr. Weaver came out of the closet as a lesbian, PA Boulet contracted AIDS, Reese was deaf, Dr. Lockhart’s mother was bi-polar and various doctors struggled with alcohol and drug abuse. Not only were the doctors a diverse group but the patients that came through the doors were all different. When I was watching the show I never actually thought about the characters backgrounds but now looking more critically I wonder if some members of the cast were chosen to make the show more multicultural and accepting. Many of the medical issues the show dealt with were ones I had never heard of and often I do some research to find out about the more fascinating ones. The show informed people about the hardships and struggles people with certain diseases face.
On the topic of medical dramas, when Alysha mentioned Grey’s Anatomy and how she often wondered if the show realistic I would answer no! Perhaps in hospitals doctors are having affairs with other doctors but I highly doubt that a good portion of the staff use the on-call room to do so. Wouldn’t it be unprofessional for a doctor to be sleeping with their med student? Would there not be rules against this? The show has taken events that may occur in hospitals and dramatized them, sometimes over the top to get viewers to watch. Despite this critique I whole-heartedly agree with Alysha when she says I still love it! It is one of those shows you can relax and watch to escape or one that you can view critically either way I tune in.
*** OFF TOPIC***
It is not that the assigned topic doesn’t interest me, there is something happening, slowly but surely, that will in the end come affect us. Directly or indirectly, through someone you know, or even more through media (newspaper, television, etc.). Like many others, I’m devastated by the phenomenon and would sacrifice a whole lot to avoid seeing it happen. It nearly religious, and the failure to come could lead to many grumpy, faithless, and even heavily intoxicated fans. That last word probably gave it away, and in case you had not guessed, I’m talking about the poor performance of OUR Montreal Canadiens which may lead to our elimination of the post season Stanley Cup Playoffs.
A few of you may believe that I’m exaggerating. When you’ve followed a team for x years like we true fans have, nothing is to take lightly. A loss like tonight’s against a team as mediocre as the Tampa Bay Lightning is embarrassing. The 2 points in the standings, at this stage of the season, against teams from our own conference are gold! We can’t afford to give up, let loose, put our heads down, like we have been doing. The inconsistency will get us nowhere.
Part of the reason why missing the 8th spot can’t be tolerated has a lot to do with all the changes that general manager Bob Gainey brought upon the team this last summer. The position he found himself in, with nearly 80-90M$ to spend in salary cap, is one that not many GMs will see in their careers. He basically had the power to revamp the entire club (which he did), handpicking players in attempt to put together a Stanley Cup winning team. Nearly 3/4 into the season now, we see a bunch of high paid players unable to create the chemistry and bonds a team must inevitably build if they expect to go anywhere at all.
Believe it or not, the team’s poor results has caused a dilemma that ends up becoming a distraction: who is the Habs’ starting goaltender. Every game night, our new Head Coach Jacques Martin can practically flip coin to see if Price will save the day, or is it Halak…
The importance of the sport of hockey in Montreal is immeasurable. Les Glorieux, La Sainte Flanelle, Nos Canadiens, Le Bleu-Blanc-Rouge, the Habs… they mean so much to the believers; who by the way get every single bit of information regarding the team from the media in Montreal. The attention they receive from reporters is impressive, to almost say insane.
That being said, the last thing we want to see when we flip to the Sports section or catch an update on RDS/TSN is to hear that our local team has been eliminated from the playoffs. Please don’t let this happen… Don’t let us down boys! Go Habs Go!
Thanks for reading.
If you wanted to see how were doing, you can visit the following link:
http://www.nhl.com/ice/standings.htm?season=20092010&type=CON
IN REPLY TO: ER (A DIFFERENT TOPIC)
After reading Megan Martin’s discussion topic on the subject of ER, in which she looked at the television series as a show that featured many diverse, multicultural characters that told a story through their hardships and intertwined experiences inside and outside of County General Hospital, I was interested in adding my opinion as well. As a fan of this show, I was happy to see in the film we watched this week in class mentioned ER as a show that featured a diverse cast. As Megan Martin mentioned, the characters came from all walks of life. What was unique about this show was how all these diverse characters worked together and dealt with a variety of patients ranging from the poor, drug abused street walkers to the rich, elegant characters that could afford the best quality of care. What ER did was break barriers in regards to the patients and the storylines that were attached to their characters. During the show’s 15 season run, many stories that were featured in the show depicted the range of patients (the poor all the way up to the rich) in a very un-stereotypical manner. What I am trying to explain is that when an African American walked in with their child, the back-story was never stereotypical in representing the character as a poor person, like many other shows and films have done in the past. I always admired ER for how they represented their characters in a way that was very un-stereotypical.
When we looked at the film in this week’s class that corresponded with the readings it talked about how Roseanne went against authority figures and portrayed a strong character. When I look at television and film, most female characters are presented in a weak and inferior manner to that of their male counterparts. When I think of strong female characters in television, I am immediately reminded of Dr. Weaver from ER. The way in which she handled herself and dealt with problems was a representation of a female character that was similar to Roseanne, a type of character that is rarely seen in the various media types.
The wedding announcement that I chose was one from the Montreal Gazette (online announcements). The announcement was one of three in the wedding section, engagements seem to be more popular. The announcement was posted on September 12th, 2009. Which happen to be the day of the wedding. The announcement included the location of the church (Birks Heritage Chapel, McGill University) and who was officiating the wedding. Making me think, shouldn’t the people that you invited to the wedding know where they are getting married, did they really have to include the location of the church. I don’t know if these announcements work the same way that the ones in the newspaper work, you pay for the work count, where these words necessary?, Was in not in the invitation where the church was?
The couple were from Montreal, the announcement made mention of the happy parents and the parent that could not be with them because of their passing. We are also told “both the bride and the groom are currently pursuing doctoral studies at McGill University”. Letting us know that they are both students.
In this announcement class is being indicated by the mention of the “doctoral studies at McGill” which lets us know that they are from an educated class (Middle… +). By placing the announcement in the Montreal Gazette I’m assuming it is going to get to allot of people because this paper does get distributed all over Canada and with it also appearing online it is there for everyone to see. The announcement of what church they were getting married at also has me thinking that this is also an indication of their class, they are not tied to a small local church in a home town, they have chosen to get married at the University church, in the big city. We were not offered a picture of the couple so there can be no judgment of class this way.
It was interesting to read the other announcements. I came across one that made mention that the couple eloped. Which would have made me think that they would have been from a lower class,, until I recently heard that a family friend that comes from a well off family (where I would assume a big wedding is expected) is planning to elope. It is hard to judge a couple class by how they get married especially when we do not know who they are.
** MEDIA SCARE TACTICS IN ADVERTISING CHEMICALS **
Hey all, im going to choose a little different topic, and it’s kinda related to Shanon’s topics.
I graduated here with a degree in chemistry so I know a thing or two about science, and it’s pretty ironic how the media is trying to make us think that chemicals are bad. They seem to resonate on 4 different themes
1) They are ignorant of the popular saying in toxicology “the dose that makes the poison”. They will think the slightest amount will poison you…not true
2) They have this belief that the data from animals fed in huge amounts, they can extrapolate to human data. We all know this is false. For example chocolate is dangerous to dogs, but not to humans, so animals will react quite differently than humans.
3) They feek that risk of harm cannot be ruled out…Sure there’s risk in everything we do, eat, drink, live but the risks are much too small
4) synthetic vs natural chemicals. They always think natural is better, but its neither the case.
So, the point is just because there’s a presence of chemicals doesnt mean there is a risk involved. Although science cannot prove that there is no risk in associating with a chemical, risk cannot be eliminated, we must analyze it and act upon it.
There’s a lot of things in the world to worry about, then worry about oh, harmful chemicals like antimony leaching out of plastic water bottles. You would have to drink 80,000 Litres to get an observable affect.
Thank god for chemistry!!
Different topic: What happened to the cell phone and does your cell phone rule over you?
It used to be a wireless phone that allowed you to make contact with people from one area to another. It was simple and it served its one purpose: to call another person when away from home. Today, we can say it has replaced the many functions of a music player, the computer with internet, the video camera, a compass and the list goes on and on. Now it is getting less of the norm to call, but to text. I often see people talking to friends while also texting, texting in class during a lecture, texting during the movies and even talking on the phone while at the bathroom. It is excessive. Because it is now being advertised everywhere, cell phone companies are doing all that they can to get people’s attention. The three that seem to catch most of my attention are Fido and its dogs, Telus with its computerized and cute critters and Koodo with its catchy sound and purposefully ugly aesthetics advertisements. These companies really know how to lure their customers visually. The multifunctional cell phones that you can get these days are taking up a big part of people’s lives.Why is that? In chapter 55 of our Media Literacy book, Michael Schudson called this “capitalist realism,” in other words, the advertising that we see everywhere are cultural expressions of capitalism. The posters, billboards and television commercials promote the extensive acceptance of technology as one of the cultural conditions of modernity (p. 657). As a result, if you do not have a high-tech cell phone like that of the iphone that lets you do about anything on it, then you are not considered modern. It’s crazy to see how many people are so dependent on their cell phones that they cannot help themselves to talk on the cell phone while driving, even if it’s against the law.
The wedding announcement that really caught my eye was in the New York Times. The wedding took place on Saturday at the Roman Catholic Church in Washington. What I find particularly interesting in this article is that there are a few key words written in a bold font. The editor of this article clearly was emphasizing on the couple’s upper class status by using that particular strategy. Anne (fiction name) is an associate at a law firm in New York while Chad (fiction name) is a sports editor at the Wall Street magazine. They both attended very prestigious Universities, which is clearly stating that they are rich. Their family backgrounds are quite impressive in terms of wealth; both parents are all in the field of medicine.
The article stated that they have split of many times prior to the relationship because of the strain of having a long-distance relationship. The article does not state whether or not they have agreed on a place to live so maybe in the future more problems will arise? I hope not because they seem madly in love and I wish them the best of luck.
**OFF TOPIC**
I would have to agree With Patrice Normandin when he explains that the attention the Habs receive here in Montreal from the media is insane. The Montreal media is constantly on our local team for two main reasons, the first being that they are so engrained in our culture, being that they are one hundred years old. Second, this team is heavily scrutinized because of the fact that they are the only professional sports team of the four main North American sports in this city. No one can deny the fact that the pressure was not as intense when the Montreal Expos were still around town. The media in Montreal is mostly at fault for the reason this team is in the situation that they have been stuck in for the past 20+ years, which is having two media bases (the English media and the French media) covering one team. This is the explanation for why we seem to know how many cigarettes Carey Price had in his mouth while vacationing in Cuba, or when and where some players will be heading out for a night on the town. Because of this reason Montreal has had enormous difficulty bringing in big talent, and until this problem is resolved, don’t expect any miracles from les Glorieux.
In response to Rebekah Leitner’s question, “Would any of you really want to post your wedding announcement in the Montreal Gazette or the Globe and Mail?” I would honestly have to answer most defiantly.
Marriages and even deaths are always brought to the attention of the public. We can always depend on our local newspapers, such as Montreal Gazette, Globe and Mail, The Mirror and Panorama to inform us of who is “walking down the alter”. I don’t know why I do it, but every month when Panorama is at my door, I skim through the marriages to see if I recognize anyone. Due to the fact, that Panorama is an Italian newspaper, it always catches my attention to see an Italian marrying a non-Italian. It truly does stand out from all the other marriages.
People are also attracted to celebrity’s marriages, deaths and even divorces. Every time you pick, an US weekly magazine you are guaranteed to find one of three. People make such a big deal when celebrities marry or divorce; I want my wedding to be just important as theirs. So do I want my wedding announcement in the Montreal Gazette? Never mind, the Gazette, I want it to be announced in US Weekly.
IN REPLY TO: Different topic: What happened to the cell phone and does your cell phone rule over you?
When I read Joannie’s blog I immediately thought oh my god, this is me! It is sad to say but I am obsessed with my cell phone. If I leave my house and do not have it with me, I will definitely turn back and go get it. Once, as a little personal experiment, I left my cell phone home and wanted to see how much I really needed it. Throughout that day, I must have looked in my bag for my cell 100 times. I was obsessed with knowing if I had a text or a missed call or even just knowing the time, despite the fact that I usually wear my watch! I am a little disappointed in myself to learn how dependent I am on my cell phone.
When thinking about all the new types of cell phones I am amazed at how many versions there are. It seems as though every couple of weeks there is a new and improved phone that somehow tops the latest version! One thing is for sure in today’s materialistic society, no matter how many different types of cell phone there are, each will be popular and the public will continue to support the major phone companies!
RESPONSE TO GENDER IN THE MEDIA; DOVE’S NEW CAMPAIGN TARGETING MEN
I chose to respond to Amy’s blog on the new campaign that Dove is working on. Firstly, I really liked the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty. This campaign targeted women and it truly showed real women and real beauty. In the media these days, all you see is skinny women and frankly, there are a lot more bigger women than there are skinny ones out there! I thought that this campaign, as Amy mentioned, sent out a positive message to women everywhere. The most important aspect is not to be skinny, but to be happy and comfortable in our own body.
Why not give away the same message to men? I was not aware that Dove was working on a campaign focusing on men this time. However, I think that it would be a great idea! Although men tend to have stronger self-esteem and confidence than women do, there are a lot of men out there that suffer from these issues, just like women. Men have a lot of pressure to look good and perform; therefore, I believe a campaign like this one will give men the same feeling that the Campaign for Real Beauty gave women. Men should all feel good about themselves no matter if they have a few extra pounds… just like women should too! Finally, I think that this campaign will be appreciated by both men and women together.
After reading the different posts, I have decided to respond to Joannie Caron. She is right we are controlled by our new technologies now days! It’s not only the cell phones; it is the iPod and computers. I looked at the definition she found in chapter 55 I would consider myself has partially modern. I do have a cell phone, I send message text at anytime and I am addicted to facebook and msn. However, I have the cheapest cell phone that I could get and I don’t have an IPod. I think that technologies control our life too much, but we have to learn how to use these new technologies to stay on track.
I read some articles online that were talking about teenagers and cell phones. It is interesting to see how families are getting into fights because of their child’s cell phone bill. They suggest that parents should not pay for the entire bill. They also explain than the main reason for parents to give a cell phone to their children is that they can always join them. It is not always true; my little sister has a cell phone and she is 14 years old. She often doesn’t answer when we call her. Sometimes the only way for my parents to join her is by calling me and asking me to send her a text. Teenagers are smart; they are able to convince their parents for the wrong reasons. My sister only wanted a cell phone to be like her friend. Parents should be careful and make sure they check how their teenagers use their cell.
http://ezinearticles.com/?Teens-And-Cell-Phones&id=24519
Response to: Television Today
I also watch the new show “Modern Family” when I have a chance. It is a good show and makes me laugh every time I watch it. However, since I started taking this class, I have begun to notice some of the stereotypes that are found in TV shows that portray middle class families. For instance, the father of the “average” family is portrayed as ignorant and stupid, much like a less exaggerated version of Homer Simpson. Furthermore, the wife always seems frustrated with his behaviour and always seems shocked by how immature he can be. As for the gay family, the couple reminds me a lot of “Will and Grace” as one partner is extremely feminine while the other has more of a masculine role in the couple. While they do face some issues based on their sexuality and the fact that they are raising a child together, the issues are always made into funny scenes and situations. By the end of the show, the issues are always resolved and they continue to live happily ever after. Finally, the family with the older father and the Columbian wife and son often face issues based on their difference. For instance, in many of the shows, the father is trying to make his son more “American” by having him watch certain shows or follow certain traditions. This makes his wife and son very angry as they want to carry some of their Columbian traditions over to their new life. Once again they always seem to easily find a happy medium and they go on living happily. All of their struggles are portrayed in a humorous way which takes away the seriousness of some of these issues. Before taking this class, I was not aware of all of these aspects. I still watch the show and enjoy it, however, I am definitely learning to read media through these types of shows.
The wedding announcement I chose is taken from the Montreal Gazette. It struck me as being different from all the other announcements. The note is about a Montreal couple getting married at Birks Heritage Chapel at McGill University. Although it remains very short and concise, it ends with « Both the bride and groom are currently pursuing doctoral studies at McGill University. » In my opinion, the three main indicators of class in this announcement are 1) the choice of location for the ceremony 2) the educational level of the bride and groom and 3) the general quality of the announcement. All three indicators lead us to believe that the couple is from the upper social class. The choice of Birks Heritage Chapel to get married is a sign that the couple is probably part of the McGill university community, which is considered an upper-class community. The fact that the announcement specifies that both individuals are pursuing doctoral studies is probably the most revealing indicator of class in this announcement. High academic achievement is usually a key marker of upper social class. Finally, in comparison with the other announcements I came across, this announcement was nicely written with a more elaborate vocabulary. This element also lead us to believe that the couple is from the upper social class.
I found this announcement in the New York’s Time. In this article there is just enough information to know who the parents of the newlywed are, where they met and how they became lovers. The bride went to university, her father works in the banking domain. The groom works for an investment firm. His father is a psychiatrist. This information suggests that the couple’s family is quite wealthy.
At the beginning, it says the ceremony was led by a rabbi, which suggests the newlyweds were Jewish.
The couple’s first friendship episodes started in yoga class. This is an activity in which mostly people with more money and free time would participate. The groom really liked her from the beginning, but it is when he saw her in a dress that his ‘’heart dropped’’ (classic!).
The picture is small. It only shows the couple’s faces. It doesn’t look like they wanted to show-off their wedding pictures too much (which is understandable in my opinion).
Finally, the fact that the wedding was advertised in the New York Times which is a very well known journal suggest that the couple or the family is quite wealthy.
The wedding announcement that I read was published on January 22nd in the New York Times. It shocked me because the small article was mostly about the bride and groom’s parents. It focused on what the parents do and how successful they are. Another article that I glanced at in the New York Times was all about a couple and how they met. This to me seems more appropriate than just talking about the parents! So what does this signify? The announcement published on January 22nd mentioned that the groom was a descendant of a Revolutionary War spy and that he was the great-great-grandson of an author. We also find out that his mother is a business administrator and that his father retired at a New York law firm. This shows right away that the groom came from a pretty high-class family; they obviously had money.
The bride also seems to be high-class. Her father owns a men’s store in Florida and her mother is a placement specialist in a Miami public school system.
Three-quarters are about the bride and groom’s parents. We only know that the couple was married in a Catholic church in Miami. The bride is a market editor for a Florida website and the groom is a copy production editor at a newspaper in New Jersey. He has a master in journalism.
The picture of the couple was nothing out of the ordinary. It was just a close up of them smiling, somewhere outside. Reading the announcement, I felt that it was trying to get the viewers to know that both the bride and groom come from wealthy families. I mean so what if the groom was a descendant of a REVOLUTIONARY WAR SPY, or that he was the GREAT-GREAT-grandson of an author? I don’t understand why they rather talk about their family’s achievements instead of their own love, happiness and success. I assume they are very proud of their background and are ready to follow in their family’s footsteps.
I also chose to reply to Amy Batley’s blog on Dove’s new campaign for men. I was not aware of Dove’s new idea until it was brought up here, but I do think it is a really interesting campaign to launch due to the positive responses and feedback Dove’s campaign for Real Beauty had on women.
Real Beauty promotes the natural beauty of women. The goal of this campaign was to make women of all ages, shapes, and sizes feel beautiful. This campaign was made to create awareness and societal change on what the definition of beauty is really all about (feeling beautiful in your own body). Was the campaign successful in the message that was being sent to all women? I think so…Obviously stereotypes on body images is something that is very hard to change, however, I do think that these ads did a lot of good. I think it has helped many women feel more comfortable with their bodies and their own images. I would have to agree with Amy and Nathalie by saying this campaign did send a positive message to women all over and that this topic should also be addressed for men.
I can agree that there is a lot of pressure towards women and beauty. However, we should most definitely not forget about men through all this. As Nathalie mentioned, although men tend to have less self-esteem issues, there are no exception from groups that suffer stereotyping. In fact, there are more and more studies that show that men are also affected by stereotypes and feel the pressure of looking a certain way in order to be desirable.
I think many of us can agree that more often than not, “the media and advertising set an unrealistic standard of beauty”. Stereotypes in the media are damaging to both men and women, which is why I think it is a very good idea that Dove has come up with this new campaign.
I look forward to seeing what Dove has to bring to the issue.
**Sorry, I should have added at the beginning of my blog: Reply to Gender in the Media DOVE’S NEW CAMPAIGN TARGETING MEN
The wedding announcement that I read was published in the Montreal Gazette on September 12th. The reason as to why I chose this one was because it was close to home. Not only was it in Montreal, but in a common space we all share, McGill. Both bride and groom were Montrealers and the wedding was going to take place in McGill’s Birks Heritage Chapel. The bulk of the announcement focused on thanking their parents for everything, which I found to be refreshing. Instead of speaking of themselves, they spoke of their families, which demonstrated that family was important to this couple. Rather than creating an image of their wealth and focusing on it, they moved themselves out of the spotlight and allocated room to appreciate others. This was quite dignified. Finally, the last sentence is the only one that signifies wealth, which was foreshadowed at the beginning of the announcement.
“Both the bride and groom are currently pursuing doctoral studies at McGill University” (http://legacy.celebrating.com/can-montreal/Celebrations.asp?Page=Announcement&PersonID=132697300).
In my opinion this wedding announcement was fresh and new. Compared to those of the New York Times, which seem to be all clichéd, this one seemed to be credible and down to earth. After all if it were not for their parents their wealth would be nonexistent.
As I have unfortunately been away for the past few weeks I to decided to look at several announcements and compare them with the hopes better understanding the task, before I chose one for my blog. As many others, I also found a major gap between the ads found in the Montreal Gazette and those from the New York Times. The announcements in the Gazette were brief and mostly noted the date of the wedding, as well as the names of the “very proud” family members. They rarely gave any details about the couple’s lives, and almost never showed picture. The announcements from the New York Times, such as the one I selected, were much more descriptive and seemed to be like mini articles, with a picture and all.
The announcement I have selected caught my eye because of the gorgeous picture. I assumed instantaneously that this couple was one of upper middle class. The bride and groom were in the center of what seemed to be a large hall with dimmed lighting and chandeliers. Surrounded by men all dressed in tuxedoes.
As I began to read the article I understood that my suspicions were right. The article tells that both the bride and groom both have a university degree and are living in new your city and found each other on the internet twice! It gives you the impression that they are both modern and established adults. The announcement also leave obvious hints that these two are from the upper class when it mentions things like that they when to a French restaurant on the upper east side for their third date, and the fact that the bride carved “CEO 2 BE” on the license plate of her convertible.
I remember thinking to myself several times while reading these announcements “why would they write that? Lol who cares to know this stuff?” I am a sucker for a sweet story but I found some of the details useless! That’s when I realized that these details were markers to show that the couple is part of the upper middle class.
Different Topic-H1N1 Capmpaign
I wanted to start by first stating that I did not get my shot. Actually, near the beginning of the campaign I was all for it. When I heard/read that healthy adults were to only receive the shot commencing at the beginning of December, I was outraged, and wanted to find a way to get it sooner. One of the reasons I was so concerned was the fact that I was going to be doing my field placement at an elementary school, and usually it is younger children whom are more susceptible to getting sick. Anyways, a few of my friends and some of my family went to get the shot, but I didn’t. I mean part of the reason why I didn’t go was because I by the time my turn came around, it seemed as though the push and the need to receive the vaccination had really died down. I had heard both sides of the debate-those that believed everyone should get it, and the others who believed one didn’t need it, or that there was not enough concrete information out on the market in order for them to trust such a newely marketable drug. I started to think to myself, well if I no longer feel the need to run out to one of the vaccination clinics, because I am not being bomarded with information about the virus, then I am correlating the need to go with propaganda.
I really haven’t thought about the virus since Winter Break, but then while watching This Hour has 22 Minutes the other night, they performed a spoof one the over-campaigning of the drug, and the possible overreaction of the government. Basically, they touched upon the time in the campaign where the government was claiming not to have enough to go around, and making it seem as though there was a possibility that the whole population (those who wanted to receive it) would not have the opportunity to do so. The skit, basically implied that now not only does the government have enough for the entire population of Canada and Mexico to get vaccinated, they have enough for people to receive two shots….which of course is a joke, but I think brings up the important point of the government’s overreaction and its scare tactics. I mean I guess to a certain point, it is quite normal to fear something that we don’t know much about, but I think that the camapaigns went overboard. I mean millions of people get affected by the regular flu virus every year, and the end result can be devastating as well, however the government campaigns for the regular flu shot, do not reach anywhere close to the extent of the H1N1 campaign. Also, I was reading an article the other day, about there are supposed links to members of the WHO and drug companies who produced the vaccine. I mean, even though I can’t say that I am floored by this revelation, it is nonetheless wrong, since members of the WHO are sipposed to excercise neutrality. So, again this is troublesome information.
I am not sure if this TV ad has been running for a long time, but last night was the first time I had seen it. It is an Ad promoting the vaccine, and it basically consists of quotes being streamed across the screen. The quotes are supposed to be from regular citizens talking about the flu. So, for example some of the quotes that float by would be, “I don’t get the flu,” or “My kids are too old to get the flu….” Then the collection of the quotes forms the shape of a house, that come crumbling down due to H1N1. The conclusion of the ad states something like, “Don’t like H1N1 ruin your house….” I mean first of all, they are equating this virus with the regular flu virus, and this is faulty information, since one must receive the regular flu shot as well in order to be covered-the viruses do not come from the same strain. Also, I find this ad problematic, because it is as though they are trying to imply that a virus is the same thing as a natural disaster. I am not trying to be unsympathetic because of course if something would happen to a family member-it would be devastating, yet I feel as though they are promoting this analogy as a simple scare tactic to get the storm out and get the shot before it is too late.
STEREOTYPE OR NOT, MAKE UP YOUR MIND!
In their article, Critical Media Literacy for the Twenty-First Century: Taking Our Entertainment Seriously, Pepi Leistyna and Loretta Alper focus on class distinction in the media and the different way in which they are portrayed. They talk about many different aspects of class like the middle class, the “moving on up” storyline (ohh so familiar it seems) and the stereotypes that are tied to certain socio-economic statuses and the way they are well or not well portrayed in terms of reality. They state, for the majority of the article that TV is not true to what is actually going on in present (or past for the older sitcoms) America. The single mother is never as comfortable as Lorelai from Gilmore girls because single mothers often live in poverty. Or the Black man living in an upper-middle class home thanks to social mobility is unlikely in the 70’s and 80’s. What I don’t get is that so many people spend their time criticizing the media because it projects stereotypes and makes hasty generalizations but when sitcoms try to reshape the mold then they go under fire as well!! Stereotype or not, I fell as though critics are always looking to pick at something when it comes to the media, can’t they just sit back, relax, and enjoy the show!
The wedding announcement I chose to discuss is taken from the Montreal Gazette. The announcement states the couple’s surprising elopement. The only details included in the announcement were the couple’s names and that they were married on a beach. The assumption is that perhaps this is not the couple’s first marriage, and that their decision to be married was their own, meaning it was not influenced by family or friends. The couple may be older, and they may be of lower to middle class. In this day and age, to be married in a destination resort is not extremely costly, therefore it is affordable to most people. I assume that these people are of lower to middle class because their announcement is very informal. In contrast, an upper class couple may have a more detailed announcement and have guests at their ceremony, the guests would have been able to afford the trip. Whereas in this particular case, the elopement suggests that there were no guests present, perhaps due to cost. Perhaps their circle of friends could not financially afford the trip. Suggesting the lower to middle class association with this announcement.
The wedding announcement I chose to discuss is taken from the Montreal Gazette. The announcement states the couple’s surprising elopement. The only details included in the announcement were the couple’s names and that they were married on a beach. The assumption is that perhaps this is not the couple’s first marriage, and that their decision to be married was their own, meaning it was not influenced by family or friends. The couple may be older, and they may be of lower to middle class. In this day and age, to be married in a destination resort is not extremely costly, therefore it is affordable to most people. I assume that these people are of lower to middle class because their announcement is very informal. In contrast, an upper class couple may have a more detailed announcement and have guests at their ceremony, the guests would have been able to afford the trip. Whereas in this particular case, the elopement suggests that there were no guests present, perhaps due to cost. Perhaps their circle of friends could not financially afford the trip. Suggesting the lower to middle class association with this announcement.
Do I consider myself strongly attached to my cell phone like most of us today do? I would have to agree with Cristina and diagnose myself in having CDS. What is this you may ask? This is called Cell phone Dependency Syndrome and many of us suffer from this syndrome. After having read both Joannie’s and Cristina’s blogs I began to think about my own cell phone usage and I realized that I am part the statistics of people who are dependent on cell phones.
I have come to realize that my phone carries many memories. From sentimental text messages to pictures with friends my cell phone has become a very important possession of mine. I know that this may seem a bit crazy however, sadly it is true. I remember this past September, I had dropped my phone outside my house and did not realize I had done so. After a half hour I realized that it was missing from my purse so I ransacked my house looking for it unsuccessfully. I then thought to look outside and it was no longer there. I quickly began to panic and became quite upset, because I called it and the person picked up the phone but did not speak. I felt like I had been violated because a complete stranger now had access to my memories and new some of my cherished secrets. Sadly to say I did cry because I loved my phone. This story is all to say that the very next day I went out to purchase a brand new phone because I felt so lost without one.
I have to agree with Cristina when it comes to the multitude of new phones available to us. I upgraded my phone to a full keyboard one and I would not be able to see myself go back to typing text messages on a regular flip phone with 3 letters for one key.
Cell phone dependency has become a prominent issue in our society and I unfortunately have fallen into this predominant issue.
I will admit I find the wedding announcements in the paper presumptuous. In my opinion it is strictly a class thing. To think that weddings are suppose to be a symbol of one’s love for another, rather it has become all about the party itself. I see so many people getting married who should not be and spend thousands of dollars on the wedding, just to find out a few years later it was all a big mistake. The actually wedding reception is a time when the bride to be can have her dream wedding, it’s a time for a bride to live out her childhood fantasy. It’s a way to show off and communicate to the rest of the world that they have money and are going to have an outlandish wedding that will cost more then they can afford, but expect to get it back from the guest themselves. Yes I may sound cynical but I know from a tremendous amount of experience over the top weddings have become an expensive party to attend. Guests are expected to cough up at least hundred to two hundred dollars. In Italian and Greek weddings it is common that gifts that are given are usually large and expensive gifts such as a trip or a down payment for a house. In fact, among the Italian traditions it is not uncommon for family members to attend and have two envelopes, where one is filled with more money than the other. If the wedding is a success and the food was great then the couple receive the envelope with more money. If the food was minimal and not that great then they receive an envelop with a smaller amount in it. In essence, the more food you have left over to waste the better the wedding.
I’m not saying that Italian weddings are the only ones that go way over board but I do know personally that Italian, Greek and Indian weddings are just a few cultures that strongly believe the more you spend the better you look. In other words the more expensive the wedding is, the more successful you are. I’m not saying that those who have large and expensive weddings are not in love what I’m saying is that certain cultures and classes have certain traditions and customs behind the actual wedding. There are some who get married for all the wrong reasons and others who truly love each other.
If you look at smaller weddings that have a guest list of sixty and have a simple but yet quaint wedding. You will notice that the two people who are getting married, have either been together for a long time or have little money but truly love each other and want to have their love recognized and acknowledged as real. I will admit these are the weddings I enjoy the most. The guests are usually close family and friends and where the bride is content with her modest wedding. I find these weddings are more realistic. The importance is placed on the vows and the church ceremony, rather than the actual wedding reception itself. Once again this does not apply to all small weddings but class does play a huge role in smaller weddings.
In response to Mara, Joannie & Cristina’s posts.
Having read the posts by my three peers, it became apparent that they all took a similar position towards the idea of “CDS”. I place the “CDS” in quotations because I cannot seriously conceive this as a syndrome. Each has brought up personal experiences and social examples of how the cell phone has crept its way into our lives and has now become an obsession. The cell phone is a powerful tool for many different reasons, in the same way an automobile or microwave is. Like all technological advancements, a period of adaptation follows the widespread inclusion of these items. Undoubtedly there is a courtesy required to using a mobile phone. One must be aware enough to recognize these situations where a cell phone is considered impolite and acclimatize accordingly. A cell phone gives an advantage and convenience to those who have the privilege of using one. The “dependence” that ensues is one of expedience for the user. Businesses have widely adopted cell phones as a method of communicating in the timeliest fashion to increase productivity. I believe not that “CDS” is a prominent issue in our society, perhaps certain individuals feel contrariwise on a personal level, but must not generalize for all cell phone users.
I suggest that everyone’s “dependency” to cell phones, be it through regular use or constant glances, has been paramount in at least one instance where time was of the essence.
N REPLY TO: Different topic: What happened to the cell phone and does your cell phone rule over you?
Wow! Is what I have to say! When reading Joannie’s blog I was able to relate to almost 100% of her examples. To be quite honest, I am beginning to think that this cellphone trend is becoming too much! I cannot leave my house without my cellphone because I feel as I am leaving part of my life behind, however, I do not have the internet, facebook, or msn on my phone because I would no longer have a social life. I must say that all the top notch cellphones with the internet, a camera, gps, and all the other gadgets are practical, but are they ESSENTIAL? The more you have on your cellphone, the more you want, and the more expensive it costs per month….
Although I can’t imagine a day without my cellphone, I believe that this practical gadget is now making people less sociable with the text messaging and facebook happening 24/7. Wherever you go there will always be people spending the day or the evening with you that will be constantly looking at their cellphones to make sure that they didn’t miss a text message, phone call, or to update their facebook. I can’t say that I do not do any of this, but I am wondering where all this technology is bringing us for the future? Not to forget, that all the advertisements from major cellphone companies; Bell, Telus, Rogers, Fido, and Koodo..are so catchy that it makes us WANT the newest cellphone with the most options! Not to mention that these new options will increase the price of the monthly bill!
Sorry.. this is the same post as #49.. I noticed that I forgot to write my last name..
IN REPLY TO: Different topic: What happened to the cell phone and does your cell phone rule over you?
Wow! Is what I have to say! When reading Joannie’s blog I was able to relate to almost 100% of her examples. To be quite honest, I am beginning to think that this cellphone trend is becoming too much! I cannot leave my house without my cellphone because I feel as I am leaving part of my life behind, however, I do not have the internet, facebook, or msn on my phone because I would no longer have a social life. I must say that all the top notch cellphones with the internet, a camera, gps, and all the other gadgets are practical, but are they ESSENTIAL? The more you have on your cellphone, the more you want, and the more expensive it costs per month….
Although I can’t imagine a day without my cellphone, I believe that this practical gadget is now making people less sociable with the text messaging and facebook happening 24/7. Wherever you go there will always be people spending the day or the evening with you that will be constantly looking at their cellphones to make sure that they didn’t miss a text message, phone call, or to update their facebook. I can’t say that I do not do any of this, but I am wondering where all this technology is bringing us for the future? Not to forget, that all the advertisements from major cellphone companies; Bell, Telus, Rogers, Fido, and Koodo..are so catchy that it makes us WANT the newest cellphone with the most options! Not to mention that these new options will increase the price of the monthly bill!
MY OWN MEDIA TOPIC
So I was reading an article from this month’s National Geographic entitled Polygamy in America. The article was an exposé on the practice of polygamy by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS) in Hildale, Utah.
During the article author Scott Anderson mentioned that many of its members were not pleased with how their sect of Christianity was represented in the media. One member claimed it made them look like they were brainwashed and kept there against their will. It is important to note that this community has a strictly no television policy. They do not however reject technology completely as many have cell phones and access to computers and the internet.
According to the preface in Media Literacy: A Reader , this reaction to the presence of media puts this individual and along with the community into the category of denying its existence and encouraging its censorship.
I started to wonder just how this fundamentalist sect was represented in the media or indeed in this article alone. As is tradition with a National Geographic article, the pictures make up a very large portion of the article and add a significant emotional impact by adding short blurbs to accompany them. These blurbs often carried a judgement and when you looked at the picture a second time the feeling had completely changed.
One example of this was on page 54. There was a group of young men standing around singing and behind them were a series of pictures of other men framed behind them on the wall. After reading the caption you realise that the young men were all brothers and that the pictures on the walls were of past FLDS leaders including one who is facing legal charges. It instantly removes the innocence of the singing group and darkens the mood as the reader considers the implications of leaving the pictures of these men on the walls out of veneration their fallen sect’s leaders.
The author makes his point gently but relentlessly. He exposes the moral qualms of polygamy and attempts to expose the potential for oppression of the women within its community. However, looking at the article and taking the author’s depiction of the community on face value serves no purpose either. It is important to remember that the author too has a perspective that his trying to get across. It is better to try and identify the underlying message than simply accept or reject it.
Finally, the article suggests to me perhaps another reason why we should allow media to remain in our society. It had bothered me for a while that we recognised media had a bias and an effect on us but there is nothing we can do about it. Censoring or removing media is simply not the answer as that is just ignoring the problem. The FLDS community did not allow its members to have television. Thus they knew little of the outside world. It seems that understanding media and deconstructing the message is a lot more powerful tool to us than just rejecting or removing it completely. The key is looking at the content critically.
Anderson, Scott. (2010, February). The Polygamists: an exclusive look inside flds. National Geographic, 34-61.
After having read through a few of my classmates responses, I have to say I found Catherine’s very striking. I too find it sad that weddings, an occasion for a couple to share their love with their close ones, have turned into events for the couple to showcase their wealth and status.
As I have a few friends and coworkers who are currently engaged, I’ve noticed a lot of talk about the cost of weddings. One of my coworkers was complaining to me about the amount of money her parents-in-law were putting towards the wedding and how it would seriously downsize the party she had been hoping for. It made me wonder how the whole ritual has morphed into a competition of wealth. Isn’t the whole point to make a promise to your partner in front of your loved ones? Why does someone need such an extravagant party?
The worst part is that behaviour like this is not unusual or even anything new in our society. TV shows like HGTV’s “Say Yes to The Dress”, Katherine Heigl’s “27 Dresses” and Anne Hathaway’s “Bride Wars” only permit, if not enforce, this extravagant behaviour.
Let’s just take a minute to remember what happened to Carrie in the Sex and The City movie. At the beginning, she becomes consumed by the wedding, the party, the dress, the guest list and so on. Her fiancé, Big, maintains they don’t need that, and in the end, cannot follow through with the sham. People get caught up in the glamour of big weddings, and I don’t see how anything good can come of it. If it is true love, then you don’t need to show off to everyone you know. The promise of love forever is enough. [Carrie is a prime example of this: it’s only once she realises what a wedding, a marriage, is really about that she and Big finally wed at City Hall.]
COMMERCIALS IN MOVIES
I wanted to comment on something that one of my classmates said in class, there are too many commercials before a movie is shown in theatres. I must agree with that person. It irritates me to have to sit through 10 minutes of commercials before the movie previews even start. To make matters worse, they always show the same commercials at every movie. I think that I can recite them all since I’ve seen them so often. I know that many people hate the previews but I actually enjoy them. I like to know what is going to be playing soon. However, I have absolutely no interest in sitting through commercials. It’s bad enough that I have to watch them at home when I watch live TV (Thank Goodness for my PVR). I just don’t see the need in advertising products that are already being advertised on TV, posters, etc… I know that this advertising probably won’t change but they could at least change up the commercials every once in a while to give us a break from the same commercials every time we enter a theatre.
Different topic
A form of media that I feel often is forgotten about is video games. Very often the content in these video games will be much more readily accepted by people even though they often are offensive and/or violent. People probably do not feel that these games are offensive because the violence is not directed on real people. I know from my experience on stage in schools that young children are allowed playing violent games like Call of Duty. This is a game that is definitely for an older audience and I enjoy it a great deal. Children are affected by video games much like a movie and will mimic what they hear and see for example I heard one student insult another by calling him a “Jap“ clearly he had no idea of the racial significance of the word but it just goes to show what children can learn from video games if their parents are not monitoring what types of games their child is playing. This game is Rated M (mature) so in theory there is no reason why a child in grade four should be playing this game.
In chapter 41 of the Media literacy textbook it is mentioning that video games should be considered as a significant media source. I agree entirely because this is a form of media which appeals to a great number of people. Video games unlike movies offer players the choice to construct a story and/or character. There are certain games that can be useful for students to learn certain skills for examples problem solving, creativity, and team work. I think that in the future it would be a good idea to consider using video games as a teaching material for certain topics. I think that this type of activity could be interesting for children but it is important that the activities chosen will be relevant with the material being taught. unfortunately this type of aproach would be meet with a great deal of critism by most but maybe in the future there will be games with an educational purpose that will apeal to children that can be used in a classroom environment.
I enjoyed reading your critical reflection of your grandparent’s wedding announcement, Alison Court. Besides class, surely another reason for the absence of your grandmother’s educational credentials on the announcement was to ensure that she did not eclipse her fiancée in social capital! I thank feminism everyday.
A few people have commented on a recent announcement in The Gazette involving the marriage of two graduate students, and I would like to add another point to Anne-Marie Desmeules’ excellent summary of the announcement’s upper/middle class markers. Also mentioned is the fact that both graduate students have Anglo names and both come from Montreal-based families. Prior to the 1960’s Quiet Revolution in Quebec, English was the language of the upper class in Montreal. I’m speculating here that this couple comes from one of those historically wealthy and connected Anglo families living in Westmount or the West of Montreal.
The wedding announcement I choose was found in the Victoria Times classifieds. The photo is unusual and was the initial draw. The happy couple are causally dressed, the guy is wearing an attractive red sweatband on his head and is holding an old video camera. They seem to be out in nature somewhere, the background is open sky. The announcement begins, unconventionally, with “so and so ELOPED Surprizing everyone…”. My immediate response is that this couple dares to be different, including their friends, in spite of the fact that one of them referred to himself as “The Incredibly Ordinary (friend’s name)” in the announcement. Yet another point of uniqueness – a friend wrote it, using capitals for emphasis and referring causally to the couple’s family members like “mum” and “step-dad”. As demonstrated by the many blogs featuring New York Times wedding announcements, formality reigns in the upper classes so informality would be more characteristic of middle/lower classes. I like the laid-back, ironic humour of the friend and assume that this is a worldly, through travel and/or education, group of people.
Confessions of a Facebook Semi-Addict
Alright, so I am semi-addicted to Facebook. I say semi, because quite frankly I could live without it, but I’ve got a feeling that quitting cold turkey would be hard. Facebook, a social networking site that everyone and their mother have been using lately has taken over a part of my life, and I have realized this fairly recently. Although I was well aware that I have used Facebook previously to procrastinate, stay in touch with friends and family, or simply look up people out of curiosity (don’t you dare to tell me that you haven’t ever done that!), I discovered one thing I did not notice up until I read about it in an article (or rant) in The McGill Daily about 2 weeks ago. It’s a rather odd thing, but I have seen it more than once; people seem to pose in pictures with the intention of posting those said pictures on Facebook as soon as humanly possible, in an attempt to document their lives, maybe as a proof that they had a good time in endless photo albums of drunken debauchery. My friends do it all the time. Sometimes they have very valid excuses; trying to look amazing in their display pictures to show their ex-boyfriends what they are missing, new haircuts or simply awesome photos, but I have a hard time understanding this obsession with posting pictures of everything you have lived on Facebook. Fortunately for me, I am rather unphotogenic and my signature ability to ruin pictures with closed eyes or involuntary creepy faces has led me to avoid posting many pictures of me. I still keep wondering though, how and when did Facebook gain so much power in our lives and has started to validate things in real life? Relationships nowadays aren’t official until they’re “Facebook official”, and cutting out people from our lives has never been this easy. Just click “Remove from Friends” and you have officially broken up a FB “friendship”. Fantastic. Life is suddenly so easy with Facebook, but this site seems to have erased the boundaries between our real lives and our Facebook lives. As the New Year begun, I have made countless resolutions for 2010; get in shape, overcome my fear of apples (don’t laugh, it’s a lot more complex than it sounds), and take more pictures with my new camera. But I know one thing for sure; I will try my best to spend less time on Facebook, and more time living life.
I went back to my ol’ hometown newspaper for inspiration after five other people talked about the Birks/PHd students wedding.
I’m from Green Bay, Wisconsin, a city of about 100,000 that does two things well: football and family. It is city that has a thoroughly middle class attitude; elevated manners, airs, fashion and education will not get you too far here, but neither will a low income set you back too much in the way of society. The pervasive attitude is one of an immigrant ethic left over from German, Dutch and Polish settlers–hard work is the most respectable aspect of a person, not intellect or ambition. In Green Bay, you are only below middle class if you are on welfare, living on public assistance. The wealthy and the poor send their children to the same public schools, go to the same religious institutions, and have the same interests (namely, sports, drinking, fishing, hunting and discussing children for men; book clubs, arts and crafts, cooking, and discussing children for women).
Green Bay has an awful but old paper called the Green Bay Press Gazette. I checked the wedding announcements. I read through all of them, but for some reason, the editors distinguished one announcement with a blue background and a graphic of two champagne flutes next to the text.
The couple with the special graphic were two very young looking people, in their mid-twenties at the very latest. The announcement mentioned that they both graduated the same high school but did not mention employment or post-secondary education like most of the other announcements. They also honeymooned in Florida.
I compared this to the other announcements: almost every other couple is older and has post-secondary education and/or is gainfully employed, and went overseas or to the Caribbean on a honeymoon.
I wonder what the editors saw in this couple, who as far as I can tell are young, high school sweethearts without much money for an exotic honeymoon.
If I had to guess, they are a rarity which was the norm two or three generations ago. Now, marriage doesn’t make financial sense before a bachelor’s degree is completed, maybe even after a Master’s in some cases. Many people see themselves as not mature enough for marriage just out of high school.
I graduated high school three years ago. Interestingly, I know of only one of my former classmates ever getting married, but I’ve heard of several–at least four–who have had children.
Perhaps the distinction for the couple was the perceived commitment to the institution of marriage despite the obstacles of youth and financial disadvantage?
The wedding announcement I chose was taken from the Montreal Gazette. It’s a small advertisement with two pictures of the couple and a write-up that states the couple’s names and where they will be having their wedding. The couple getting married looked older, perhaps in their late thirties or early forties which may indicate that this is a second marriage. They are planning on having their wedding on a beach and mention that another family will be joining them. As previously stated by one of my classmates, marriage ceremonies on the beach aren’t too expensive. They also mention that their wedding will not be a large ceremony which is much less expensive than a large ceremony. The pictures of the couple in the advertisement give the impression that they are lower or middle-class, due to their informal clothing. There is no mention of educational background, employment, or family history, making it difficult to assume their position in society . The couple’s wedding advertisement was all together informal and simple, which makes them appear to be either middle class or lower class people.
The wedding announcement that I found comes from the New York Times newspaper. The couple in the announcement are both Jewish and got married on Saturday at the Shelter Rock Jewish Center in Roslyn, New York. The bride is 36 years old, while the groom is only 28. She is the director of state advocacy for an organization and works in Manhattan. She attended two universities and graduated with honours from both.
The bride’s father is a retired senior vice president and financial chief officer, whereas her mother is a dietition with her own private practice.
The groom graduated from Brown and has a masters in medical sciences. He is now in his fourth year of medical school.
The groom’s father is a cardiologist, and his mother’s occupation is not mentioned.
I think it is quite evident that these two come from upper class families. They have attended prestigious universities and graduated with honours. Their parents have occupations that are typically considered to be of higher income in our society. I did some research on the city of Roslyn and found out that over 83% of their citizens are white, and that there are a large amount of Jews who live in this area. The estimated median household income in 2008 for Roslyn is 95 000$. That is more than the average income for New York City households. This further proves that this couple is definitely of upper class standing. Barack Obama even said that only 6% of Americans make more than 97 000$, and the average Roslyn household is only 2000$ short of that income bracket.
The more I looked through these announcements; I realized that most couples are of upper or middle class. I did not come across any who would fit into the lower class. I mean, these couples have money to spare and these announcements are more of a means to show their status and wealth to the world. It costs money to put announcements in the newspaper so that is why we typically don’t see lower class couples putting any up.
* RESPONSE TO REBEKAH LEITNER’S QUESTION *
Would I choose to post my wedding announcement in The Gazette or The Globe and Mail?
I have to admit it is a little difficult to answer this question honestly and independent of the idea that Wedding Announcements (especially those, it seems, in newspapers such as The New York Times) are reflections of the couple’s social status, wealth and power, after having read many reflections and blogs in the light of this issue.
It is evident that many announcements posted as such ARE by couples/families of the couple who are “a big deal” in a certain community due to social class, education, family name, wealth, power and other such factors. Interestingly enough, the scene that comes to mind with respect to this topic is when Carrie sees Natasha and Big’s wedding announcement in the New York Times (!!!) in Sex and the City So, again, we have the big, prestigious newspaper, The New York times, and we have “Big”, a wealthy, successful socialite living in Manhattan, and Natasha, his new 26 year old fiancee who is in the Times in her own right as well, being in the NYC fashion industry and carrying a respected family name. Of course, the announcement took up more than just a column and was side by side a big, bold picture of the couple.
So, I have to say that I do associate most wedding announcements with factors such as money, power, respectable social standing and status. Do I believe ALL wedding announcements are posted for that reason solely? Of course not. Whether or not we choose to post our own announcements is at our discretion. Most of us, at this point in our lives, are unable to answer this question with 100% certainty. We cannot forget that a newspaper’s purpose, first and foremost is COMMUNCATION. What about the couple who have lost touch with many family and friends, or perhaps are now living in a different community than most family or friends? The announcement may be just that–An ANNOUNCEMENT to let people know (those who may know the couple, or even just those hopeless romantics skimming the section in hopes of finding something romantic to read) either that they are newly engaged or joined in holy matrimony. For most of us, this is good news to hear, especially if it involves someone we may know or have known, and there really is nothing to lose, is there?
While there may be few things at stake in this issue, it WOULD be nice to GAIN in the sense of having more “realistic” or modest accounts of wedding stories in order for the whole population of the community to be represented–whether lower, middle or high class! Everyone deserves to be recognized if they wish to, especially when it comes to their “big” day!
How About Wedding Announcements on Facebook..?
I noticed that many classmates strayed from this week’s topics, while most at this point still answered it. I would like to combine this week’s topic with another topic from which I was inspired by Victoria’s Facebook confessions: People who announce their weddings on Facebook.
It takes an instant for your whole friend list to know that you’re newly engaged or married, the moment you update your status, even though ¾ of those people will probably not even be invited to the wedding. Don’t get me wrong, I have a Facebook account and will probably be one of these people who will update my relationship status too, but I still feel that engagements and weddings are about intimacy – and Facebook just seems like anything but.
However, this I can deal with more than people who literally detail every step of their wedding process on their profiles, and every “bridezilla” with a Facebook account is probably guilty as sin in this domain. I’ve seen updates about setting the date, announcing the actual date, save the dates…and it all just seems like a little much sometimes. The people who really need to know, will know when your wedding is. I don’t feel the same way though about the newspaper print ads, and I don’t know why…? Perhaps it is beause it is normally dealt in a classier fashion? Perhaps because it’s an old tradition, whereas Facebook is….Facebook!?!
As for Victoria’s Confessions, I hear what you’re saying about relationship statuses. Two friends of mine have been dating for 4 years and they broke up at the beginning of January, but they didn’t change their status for a week. It was so interesting to see the activity on both of their profiles after they officially “broke up” on Facebook…she was adding more guys, he was adding more girls, and I know both of them where monitoring each other’s profiles trying to figure out what the other person is up to.
I also just wanted to comment about the Dove campaign that many people wrote about this week also. I too really like the Dove campaigns and I think they send the message to the viewers of how women are “made up” in ads and how fake it all is.
The wedding announcement that I read comes from the Boston Globe. The first thing I noticed about this wedding announcement is the picture, the groom is wearing a polo and a pair of ripped, 3/4 cargo pants, while the bride is wearing an evening dress with running shoes. Thus, when we relate how clothing is related to social class it makes the audience believe this is some sort of very low class wedding. By viewing the picture, we would think that this couple must not earn high salaries and have mediocre jobs.
Then, I started reading the announcement and I was very shocked. The wedding article begins explaining how successful the groom is in accordance to his educational background. The audience soon finds out that the groom has a Master’s degree. There is definitely a correlation which includes having a master’s degree with a much higher income. Then, why would the groom not be wearing a suit for his wedding if he has such a big bank account? The wedding announcement ends, when the newlyweds state that they will be moving into an apartment in Cambridge, Massachusetts. This article surely played a couple quick tricks on me, I guess we can come to the conclusion that we can be very judgemental about people over some variables, when indeed we may be fooled. We must take into account and not forget people’s beliefs when classing them in their proper class.
*NEW TOPIC: How can we make schools more inclusive?*
I believe the first, foremost, step to making a school culture more inclusive, is to educate and inform students about multiculturalism. What is multiculturalism? How does it affect you? How does it affect the people around you? In order for theses questions to arise, school administrators need to place emphasis and focus on having multicultural education as one of their goals. The principal, vice-principal, and teachers, should all be accepting of their students’ diverse range of cultures. Through this acceptance, students will be able to dress freely, listen to the music of their choice, follow their family traditions, feel comfortable speaking their mother-tongue language, eat the type of food that their culture allows, and the list goes on.
Although all these student attitudes may seem simple and easy to attain, they will not be achieved unless structural changes in schools are made. School administrators will need to take into account their students’ cultures and make sure that all the students have equal rights and responsibilities no matter where they come from or what colour skin they have. Consequently, schools should not be limited to Christian holidays such as Christmas and Easter, but also be accepting of other cultures’ holidays such as Chinese New Year, and the Mid-Autumn Festival. The cafeteria can also cater to different cultures by providing a variety of food from different cultures such as Italian, French, Chinese, and Spanish. Libraries could carry books written in different languages, and a broader variety of language classes could be offered. There are countless changes in schools that could be made to foster a more inclusive culture. In conclusion, if multicultural education were the main goal for schools, students from different backgrounds will feel much more included in the personal, academic, and social life at school.
Reading the Wedding announcements is something I have never done before. The Wedding Announcement I chose was one in the New York Times magazine. The picture followed by article showed the bride and the groom exchanging vows in a luxurious church. The bride is a bank examiner who met her husband while filming a 4 minutes movie. The groom is a film’s director and writer. I noted that they are from upper class background by reading their childhood backgrounds. They got married Jan 9th, at the Church of Our Saviour on Park Avenue. I googled the church’s name and observed that this was an upscale church. They did not want to spend too much, therefore, the number of guest were limited, the reception was in the basement of the church and the bride found her dress on Craig list which is a internet website. By this, one might say that the couple is from middle class because the not-so large expense on the wedding or this couple did not want an upscale wedding. Personally, I believe they are from upper class because of their profession. I love how the article states the couple qualities and how they’ve met.
On a different topic, I watch a lot of T.V. shows about wedding, buying the perfect dress etc. I have noticed how wedding are increasingly more about how much money are you going to spend rather than love.
The wedding announcement I have chosen to look at belongs to the New York Times newspaper. The photo is of a woman and a man who appear to be in their fifties, which is older than the typical twenty or thirty year old couple that we often see in this section of the newspaper. They married Saturday at the Princeton University Chapel, which after doing some research I discovered is the second-largest collegiate chapel in the United States. It is stated that the ceremony was performed by a Roman Catholic priest, therefore stating that the couple is catholic. The man received a master’s degree in English from the University of Chicago. The woman graduated from Princeton and received an M.B.A. from Columbia. The article finishes with the closing sentence: the bride was a widow and the bridegroom a widower. Before I even read specific details, it was very evident to me that the couple was from the upper-class part of New Jersey. The first sentence stated where the marriage took place. I believe this was done intentionally to demonstrate to readers right away that the couple was wealthy. The closing sentence of the newspaper announcement was also intentionally placed at the end of the text to answer any questions one might have regarding their age and the reason why they are only marrying during a later part of their lives. I also believe that sentence was included for the reader to feel a certain sense of empathy for each person who has equally lost a loved one in the past. Another aspect of the announcement that was particularly shocking to me was the fact that their education and present employment was greatly emphasized. Evidently this was an indicator of their wealth and social status. While looking at this wedding announcement, along with many others on the same page, I was surprised to see how weddings these days are focused wholly on wealth rather than on what marriage is all about: love and devotion.
*NEW DISCUSSION*
While I was reading chapter 18 from our textbook (media literacy) I began to make connections to things that I have already seen, and I thought it would be a good idea to elaborate on the blog!
On page 201 the authors paraphrase Stuart Hall (1997)’s notion of encoding and decoding; how the audience interprets media texts and how they give it meaning. They then go on to say that every community interprets it a different way, due to the way the texts are constructed. I would like to start off using the authors’ example of Pocahontas and how even though a Native American may interpret it as offensive, white children only see it as a love story. A love story with many embedded messages; for instance the fact that the English refer to the natives as “savages”. Moreover, I would like to bring your attention to how African-Americans are portrayed in Disney Films.
Children, the main target audience for Disney, may not actually see “coloured” people in the films, however certain characteristics are attributed to certain Disney Characters that may remind them of hence, an African American. In Tarzan, the monkey’s voice is played by an African-American actor. Children may not fully understand the fact that Disney is trying to relate African Americans to monkeys, however this does have an effect on children. In the documentary “Mickey Mouse Monopoly”, a mother speaks of her toddler son, when she explains that at the supermarket, he heard African American men speaking behind them, and he said, “Mommy, it’s the Hyenas from the Lion King!” Just to explain what went on there, “The Lion King” has a good lion “Simba” who has to take over his father’s throne. His uncle however is evil and makes his Hyenas (the “bad” ones, who are voiced-over by African Americans) try to kill Simba. Therefore, that little boy attributed African-Americans to the evil Hyenas, which I believe was part of Disney’s agenda. What do you think? Could you think of any other Disney movies that used race as a representation?
I looked at various wedding announcements from the National Post and The Gazette, however I didn’t find any that were very interesting or revealed any pertinent information regarding class. So I decided to look through The New York Times and landed on one announcement which really struck me as both revealing and interesting.
The public announcement for this wedding first illustrates a picture of a beautiful wedding taking place in a large and elaborately decorated church. Beneath this photograph the story begins on how the couple met: the bride, a bank examiner met her groom at a film screening in TriBeCa. By having placed her name in a draw to be cast in a role for a short film, she won and met the film’s director and writer, her groom. The story briefly describes how the couple began to take an interest in one another and started dating. The bride, born and raised in Taiwan and Ridgewood, New Jersey, explains her upbringing as a classical pianist since childhood. Her family history highlights her father’s retirement as a senior vice-president of the Central Bank of Taiwan. Following this is an account of the groom’s history beginning with his graduation from Notre Dame and current employment as cinematographer. His upbringing began in California, Illinois and Indiana, whose father was the chairman of the Notre Dame Architecture School. This is where his interest in film began.
Throughout the story it is explained that the bride’s father and mother disapproved of her choice of partners (before they even met him) primarily due to his profession, deeming it to be too unstable and risky financially. The Groom had felt very hurt upon the hearing of his bride’s parent’s disapproval of him. However, apparently having his bride stick with him and stand alongside him gave him the strength to prove his worthiness and meet her parents. Upon their meeting, her parents changed their views and liked her choice of partner after all. Their wedding took place at the Church of Our Savior, by a Roman Catholic priest on January 9. Without spending too much money, they had their pot-luck reception in the church basement where the place was set-up and decorated by friends and family.
As can be examined throughout this brief description of the wedding announcement, education, employment, and family history were not only mentioned but became a part of this couple’s making. While it seemed as though class was an issue for this couple at the beginning of their relationship (due to the bride’s parent’s concerns), the case fell through in the end. The bride’s parents eventually approved of her choice of husband upon having met him and their concern about the groom’s unstable financials went away. I noticed that the social class of both couple’s families seemed to be in the middle or higher and the major concern for the bride’s family is that their daughter’s class upon marrying would be brought down to middle or less. This story seemed to tell me that for many people, social class, education and money is a major issue and can contribute greatly in one’s decision to be with another on the basis of this type of ‘class’ requirement.
The Newspaper I chose was the New York Times. I found an article about a couple in Brooklyn getting married. The article focused on the brides beautiful expensive dress, there neighborhood and the husbands successful business. In fact, the article was all about class. Rather than talking about the love the couple has for each other, it focused only on material things that made them look like a perfect couple on paper. The article weirdly almost seemed as more of an advertisement for the husbands business. It did not mention however family business or her job. If not an advertisement for his business it was almost an advertisement for the couple itself. The article was almost promoting why they were the perfect couple based on material things such as her dress, his job and where they live. When I looked through the other wedding announcements they were very similar as well. They were all about materialistic components of the couples.
I was looking at wedding announcement in the Montreal Gazette. There were a total of four wedding announcements on the page. The first three announcements stated the names of both families and the names of the children getting married in a tiny square half the size of my palm. They also included the time and place of the weddings: summer wedding in Vancouver (a picture of the couple was included), spring wedding in Halifax, and a fall wedding (the location was not mentioned). The fourth wedding announcement was the size of four of my palms put together and then some. There were two pairs of couples in this announcement. Each couple was hugging the significant other and their faces had a big heart around them, both couples were Caucasian in their mid 50’s I would guess. The announcement stated the couple was getting married on a “beautiful beach in Bermuda”. It also mentioned how another family was going to be joining this engaged couple for this “wonderful occasion at the Mid-Ocean Club”. I would have to guess that this couple really wanted their announcement to be seen. Due to the location of the wedding and the size of their announcement, I would have to say that this couple seems to be part of the upper class, where as the other three it is uncertain because there was not much information. I found it interesting how there were three small announcements and one huge one! The bigger announcement was created differently than the other three as well. There were two pictures, the writing was different, and it took up at least 10 times more space than the others. Perhaps the other articles were more modest and the couples wanted to keep the information to themselves.
READING, THINKING, AND CRITICAL MEDIA LITERACY
In these discussions, people seem to be most focused on television and social networking. Those are aspects of media that are very relevant to us: they are new, they are exciting, and as such, they should be analyzed. There is another form of media literacy that is overlooked, possibly because it is an older, outdated form of literacy: reading.
Just as is it important to be critical of the television shows you watch, the advertisements you see, and government fear mongering campaigns you hear (eg. War on Terror, H1N1, etc.), it is equally as important to be critical of everything you read. For example, many of the posts here refer to, after reading a few chapters on media literacy, now being able to think of the shows they like “critically”. But really, you also have to be critical of what you have read in the textbook. Not to say anything in the textbook is wrong, just to say you shouldn’t take it all at face value.
The chapter we read for last week’s class, Critical Media Literacy for the Twenty-First Century—about class in America, was chock full of statistics. Taken at face value, the statistics seemed to impressively support the author’s case. Taken critically, those statistics were presented in such a manner to seem impressive, but may not have been as meaningful as they seemed. For example: “While about 10% of white children live in poverty in the United States, over 30% of African American and Latino/a kids experience economic hardship”(p.61). This is not comparing the same thing at all, if you read it carefully. Poverty is not the same thing as economic hardship: they are different defining factors. It is like comparing apples to elephants. Perhaps the authors meant poverty in both cases, perhaps they adjusted the qualifier intentionally. This is to say that when you are being bombarded with statistics, it is for a purpose. Authors present statistics as incontestable fact to outline and “prove” their point. Since most people have not done research into the topic that is being relayed statistically, the numbers are simply accepted. Critically, one has to question the source of the statistics, the relevance, and the quality of the survey that led to these statistics… I am not ignorant and trying to say that there aren’t racial-economic problems in the world, I have merely used this last chapter to address the issue of statistics. Anytime you see statistics, you must be critical of them.
Additionally, it is very important to think critically about everything you read, for every class—not everything in a textbook is true. Many articles attempt to indoctrinate the reader with the beliefs of the author, presented as fact. It is easy to find statistics to support anything, really, ANYTHING. Did you know that there is a direct correlation between the decreasing incidence of pirates and the rising global temperatures? Did you know that, statistically, the more ice cream purchased in Florida, the more shark attacks there are? Statistics are a tool, used by authors to make unknowing readers accept their ideas. If you think about what you are reading and agree with the author, fine. But think about it you must, otherwise you have not taken much out of this CRITICAL media literacy course.
I have more to say on this topic next week!
This is in response to Amy Batley’s : Gender in The Media
I think that Dove’s new campaign targeting men is a great idea and is just what we needed to shed some light of that fact that men deal with the same pressures that are imposed on us women in society. Amy Batley asked what males think about this campaign, so I took it upon myself to ask around. A few male friends refused to admit that these images of men with perfect toned and muscular bodies had any effect on them. They do not feel that just because these images are in the magazines that they need to look this way. Other friends have mentioned that these magazine portrayals of women don’t put pressure directly on them, but do however taint the woman’s image of her perfect man. One single friend mentioned that is excessively harder to date these days since women expectations are way too high when it comes to men’s appearance. He said that the moment a girl sees his slightly receding hairline, lack of physical fitness; they are more reluctant to give him the time of day. Another friend does admit to feeling pressure of the media to look a certain way, and at times feels insecure about his image as compared to this image of “machoness” that we are constantly being exposed to. Overall many of them agreed that this campaign will serve great purposes to men. Some agreeing that it sends off a positive message to men and allowing them to feel more comfortable in their own skin, others are just glad to see products marketed towards men since there seems to be a lack there of. Either way, I concur and am looking forward to seeing this campaign and appreciate the positive effects it had one many women.
This is in response to Amy Batley’s : Gender in The Media
I think that Dove’s new campaign targeting men is a great idea and is just what we needed to shed some light of that fact that men deal with the same pressures that are imposed on us women in society. Amy Batley asked what males think about this campaign, so I took it upon myself to ask around. A few male friends refused to admit that these images of men with perfect toned and muscular bodies had any effect on them. They do not feel that just because these images are in the magazines that they need to look this way. Other friends have mentioned that these magazine portrayals of women don’t put pressure directly on them, but do however taint the woman’s image of her perfect man. One single friend mentioned that is excessively harder to date these days since women expectations are way too high when it comes to men’s appearance. He said that the moment a girl sees his slightly receding hairline, lack of physical fitness; they are more reluctant to give him the time of day. Another friend does admit to feeling pressure of the media to look a certain way, and at times feels insecure about his image as compared to this image of “machoness” that we are constantly being exposed to. Overall many of them agreed that this campaign will serve great purposes to men. Some agreeing that it sends off a positive message to men and allowing them to feel more comfortable in their own skin, others are just glad to see products marketed towards men since there seems to be a lack there of. Either way, I concur and am looking forward to seeing this campaign and appreciate the positive effects it had on many women.
The wedding announcement that I chose portrayed an upper class couple that had started dating 11 years before they finally got engaged. The story tells about a love that was predestined, all their friends, as well as matchmaking organizations, agreed that they were perfect for each other. The reason why it took so long for them to finally accept that everyone was right is that the woman had a list of criteria, one of them to which the man didn’t answer. The story is told as a true love story.
The announcement includes a picture where we can see the couple, surrounded by their friends, dancing. Everyone is nicely dressed and it is apparent that these people have lots of money. Throughout the story, it is also made clear that the couple belong in the upper class: they have education, they have money, they each own businesses, and therefore they have power.
On the surface, the story is made to seduce, to make people dream about finding the right one for them. It also stresses that sometimes you have to accept differences to find your true love. However, when you look further into it, you find out that these people didn’t really have a choice. Both of them were at the same “level” in society and it seems to be the main reason why they were meant to be together. I feel like the whole thing reinforces that upper class people belong together, and no one middle class or working class can break through. In other words, if you are upper class, you have to stay around with upper class people if you want to keep your high status in society.
Response to Different Topic-H1N1 Capmpaign by Jennifer Hillman
I was definitely worried about the H1N1 virus when reports began surfacing last year about the severity of the illness. I typically get sick quite easily, despite the fact that I take all the necessary precautions to avoid illness, therefore I was very eager to get the shot when it would become available. Like Jennifer, I was a little nervous because I was going to be spending a significant amount of time at an elementary school, due to field experience, which are typically hot beds for the spread of viruses, and according to the media, the swine flu was no different.
In the beginning weeks of the outbreak, despite the fact that the virus was still unique to Mexico, Canadian and American news stations, news papers and internet sites were all running with the H1N1 story. They dubbed it a pandemic and legitimately had me fearing for my own health. Unfortunately the shot would not be available for several months. While I was slightly worried, I understood the reasoning behind and merely bided my time and took care of myself to avoid getting sick. As time passed, the coverage of the “outbreak” seemed to slow down, a few people I know got sick but recovered fairly quickly, and it became increasingly more clear, to me at least that the media was sensationalizing the entire thing for the sake of viewership, or website hits. Not to discredit or take away from those people that lost their lives, but the H1N1 outbreak did not really cause as much damage as other pandemics that the media were comparing it to. Either way, I became less and less worried over time and the date when I became eligible to receive the vaccine came and went and I did not receive it.
Over the past few months, many reports have began to surface that the government definitely overreacted to the severity of the disease and like Jennifer stated, we now have an abundant amount of the vaccine which will likely go to waste. Many reports of undesirable affects from the H1N1 vaccine, and little to no cases of severe symptoms stemming from the virus itself, it is becoming more and more clear to researchers and doctors alike that the virus is little more than a cold. According to this article, http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/139343, which is one of many to make such claims, the pharmaceutical industry is set to make billions of dollars from the vaccine. When all is said and done, millions of people will have been vaccinated for a nonexistent pandemic created by the media and the pharmaceutical industry to make profit.
I am responding to Amy Batley’s post.
Amy Batley – Gender in the Media
I personally have always loved the dove commercials. I felt that it celebrates real women in today’s society and encourages our gender to be proud of our own healthy bodies and our natural selves.
Unfortunately, even though I am a fan of these dove commercials, I am still such a target for the mainstream commercial and magazine adds. I want to look like the girls on the cover magazine Shape. I want to be able to get a bikini body with “ only 3 simple rules”. How do I stop the media from affecting me? I think that by learning about the media, how it affects us, why it targets certain people and for what reasons will help me realize how phony these adds really are. But I need to fully understand it so these ads will stop affecting me.
In response to how males feel. I would also like to know what they think about the media in the way they portray a man’s body.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hibyAJOSW8U this link on You Tube scares me. Is this really what is being done to every add we are projected to?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dJujKM635s&NR=1 This link is also so shocking to me. I just found it and am taken aback from the intensity of the Photoshop.
Writing this blog has completely confused me. I don’t know what beauty is any more. This third link is the exact definition of how we, women, are manipulated and affected today. Please take a look at this last link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YP31r70_QNM&feature=related
This summarizes how skewed our definition of perfection and beauty really is. What can we do as the future generation of the workforce to help change the portrayal of true beauty?
REPLY TO: Confessions of a Semi-Facebook Addict & How About Wedding Announcements on Facebook?
I would like to reply to Victoria and Alexandra’s blogs about the growing influence of social networking sites such as Facebook in its users’ lives. Like Victoria, I also wonder why people feel the need to document every single aspect of their lives on Facebook, whether it be through uploading pictures of their “nights out” after every weekend, gushing about private details of their lives on their statuses and their friends’ walls, and writing their whole life story in their info section. I must admit that I am just as guilty as the next person for spending unnecessary amounts of time on Facebook, but somehow I have always known the line I shouldn’t cross when it comes to allowing people to see pictures, statuses or wall posts that they really don’t need to know about. Do I really feel the need to tell the world that I went to a specific bar this weekend, wore this outfit, went with these people, and had this particular drink, and then document the exact same thing the following weekend?
To answer the question through the average Facebook user’s perspective, I like how Victoria mentioned how many people feel it is a way of validating things in real life, just like how relationships are never really “official” in real life until they are on Facebook. WHY do some of us feel that aspects of our real life are not validated if they are not shared on Facebook with the rest of our said amount of “friends”? This very question demonstrates how much control this social networking site has over its users, and how it has completely changed the way people have interacted in the past four years of Facebook’s existence. Don’t get me wrong though; I don’t believe that Facebook has absolutely no positive aspects, otherwise I would not be using it in the first place. I do think it gives us an excellent opportunity to reconnect with old friends and keep in touch with people who matter to us. I am just not fond of how many of us offer too much personal information about ourselves to the point where we compromise our safety, privacy and dignity. I like how Alexandra made the point that there are just some parts of our lives that are meant to be intimate, something that is just the opposite of what Facebook stands for, such as weddings. She said that the people that need to know about the bride and groom setting the date, changing it, etc, are the ones that will actually be invited to the wedding, and not the other 3/4 of their “friends” that have probably never even met the person’s significant other. A family member of mine recently got engaged, and it was so refreshing for me to notice how she resisted the urge to constantly update her status about some changes made to her engagement party, and to post tons of pictures of the actual intimate event for the rest of her 500 “friends” to see. I think we truly need to re-evaluate some of our activities on Facebook, and stop to think once in a while before we decide to share a certain aspect of our lives that perhaps would be better off to be kept private.
In response to Lisa Morello.
I would have to take the exact opposite response as Lisa to Rebekah Leitner’s question, “Would any of you really want to post your wedding announcement in the Montreal Gazette or the Globe and Mail?”
Most defiantly NOT! I do not see the point in announcing your marriage to a bunch of strangers in a public form such as a news paper. Why would you care if some old man who picks up the Sunday gazette can read all about how you and John Smith met, where you had your first date, or whether chicken or beef was served to your wedding guests?
I don’t really understand why people feel the need to post these types of personal announcements about a snippet of their lives, and I can only assume one of the main reasons is the thrill of seeing a part of your life in print for all to see. I guess for some it would feel as though you are almost famous, but a joyous occasion such as a wedding just does not seem as though it is necessary to publicly announce to people to do not even know.
If you do not know these people, then why do you care if they know you got married? Or, on the other hand, why should you even assume that other people would care you gave your hand away in marriage? I feel that everyone who I want to know about my marriage will not have to read about it in the news paper, because they would have attended the actual ceremony!
As I was typing this, my roommate walked by and I asked her the same question. We both agreed that a news paper announcement for weddings were completely unnecessary and just a way to publicly display your love. She said that if that was the case, then people could just update their facebook status. Isn’t it the same thing? Not everyone who either reads The Gazette or your facebook will be invited to the wedding. Alexandra Maislin’s post touched upon the same things my roommate and I were talking about and how a wedding is supposed to be about intimacy, which just seems to be lost once you have displayed it out for all to see.
***In response to Daryl Elie’s new topic: TELEVISION TODAY***
I too am a fan of Modern Family. It intrigues me to find that the show makes an attempt to cover every social ‘misconduct’ available in this day in age. The show not only includes the homosexual relationship of two men, but also throws in:
1.The adoption of a child by gay parents and thus;
2.The adoption of an Asian baby (a race that is not that of the adoptive parents);
3.The marriage of an older man to a younger (gold-digging? – possibly) woman making;
4.An inter-racial marriage;
5.A male parent who is on the dumb side and clearly fits into the category of having the man think he runs the home when in reality the wife does;
6.This same “dumb” parent who would rather be a peer to his children (he calls it “peerenting”);
7.And typical adolescent rebellion and sibling rivalry
…To name a few…
The reason that this show works is exactly because it is funny. Despite all the “controversies” the family gets along and manages to entertain us despite their downfalls (whatever casts them from the dominant class group). Like Will and Grace, this show manages to include all the real-life components of homosexuality (amoung others in this caase) without necessarily dealing with the hardships that come with it – Mitchell’s coming out was not something that was shown to us as viewers. As a comedy, the audience is shown the outcomes to living an out-of-the-ordinary life without all the messiness involved – simply the hilarious ironic bits. Would we watch it otherwise? Would we be as enthralled if we were to have followed every bit of the stories through a personal emotional eye?
The wedding announcement I chose comes from the New York Times and I chose it because the couple in the picture was an older couple, probably of about 50+ and I found it interesting because they don’t quite fit the stereotype of “newlyweds.” The article informs us that the bride is 57 and the groom is 59. It is evident that the couple are from an upper middle class (or higher) background. Both are university professors and the bride recently retired from her position as the managing director at JPMorgan Chase Bank. However, the interesting point in the announcement lies in the final sentence, which explains that the bride is a widow and the groom is a widower. My question is why would they choose to include this piece of information in the article? I feel it serves as a justification as to why they would get married at such an unconventional age. I find it takes away from the beauty of their union. It’s no longer “older couple and bride and groom to be, prove that love has no age” but instead is “older widowed couple unite in their sorrow for a lost loved one.”
I would also like to comment on how descriptive the wedding announcements in the New York Times are compared to articles in the Montreal gazette. As many of my classmates have pointed out, the Gazette’s articles are short and sweet, provide little information about the bride and groom’s background and often do not even have a picture of the couple. The New York Times announcement go on and on about all sorts of personal details about the bride and the groom. Some articles even mention how the couple met and what happened on their first date. Is this a reflection of the different cultural values of the people from New York City and Montreal? Perhaps we Montrealers feel less compelled to share the intimacy of our relationships with the outside world because we don’t need that kind of attention or self-valorization. New York City is so big and impersonal that perhaps, New Yorkers feel the need to expose intimate details about themselves, in order to stand out from the crowd and feel important.
In response to Victoria’s post, I would like to say that Facebook has to potential to be a resourceful tool, but people just can’t seem to grasp how to use it in a positive and productive manner. The other day, I had some one come up to me and say “oh I saw your ex at school” and my response was “oh I didn’t know you met him” and the person replied “oh I haven’t, but I must have stalked him on Facebook or something because I recognized him.” This kind of situation happens all the time for Facebook users, myself included. I know people even thought I haven’t met them and I also know details about people that I shouldn’t know based on our level of friendship. I recently discovered that I have 250 Facebook “friends” (not many compared to lots of people!) and out of those 250, I will say that maybe 30 of them I know on a very personal level (family, close friends). That leaves 220 people who I actually don’t spend time with on a regular basis. However, because of Facebook I get all their personal information (trips, breakups, new jobs, exciting life events) without having to spend any time with them. I always think about how wrong it is to know so much about people I never talk to. While it’s true that Facebook does have benefits, I feel the only way to take advantage of them is to reconstruct the entire Facebook system and limit the amount of personal information people can post because no matter what we Facebook users say, we won’t stop “stalking” people because the information is too easily accessible.
First, I must say that I had a hard time finding a wedding announcement to begin with. I don’t think that this is really francophone a thing to do since I couldn’t find any in La Presse or Le Journal de Montreal. So I picked one from the Gazette. I didn’t want to pick an article from the internet since I wanted to have something that I know of and I don’t know much about any neighborhood anywhere else in Canada or the states. I picked a very short announcement only mentioning the names of the two persons and where it would be held. The announcement has two pictures of the future wed in heart shaped frame. This is very tacky and shows a lack of cultural class. In one of the pictures the lovers are wearing baseball caps which is a sport usually reserved for the working class. The fact that the couple are in their 40s might as well be the cause of this lack of taste. On the other hand, the couple mentions that their wedding will happen on the beach in Bermuda. This kind of expense could be afforded by the middle or upper economic class. I would think these people are from the middle economic class since they are not getting married in a very luxurious church. The whole families will be joining them in Bermuda, which might prove to be expensive. The way the lovers are dressed in their pictures is very casual which shows a middle-class economic status. The ad is in the newspaper probably so the family can cut it and stick on the refrigerator which would be a typical working class action. The language spoken by the couple is English if we look at the names of the future wed. The English language, in Quebec, is a powerful political tool and often shows that the families are either from the middle or upper political and economic class.
DIFFERENT TOPIC
I wanted to talk about how idols are portrayed in Korea. I don’t know why but it is different from America. I remember in the first two days or so of class the teacher asked the meaning of an idol. Like as the teacher said, an idol is someone you would look up to. I don’t know if it is me who is not understanding the meaning, but I noticed that in Korea the word idol is used for only singers, especially young and new singers would be called idols. As new singers come along, and the original new singers are becoming old singers, there are no longer called idols, but “old idols”. Also, I never seen actors or actresses being called as idols. I thought idols mean anyone you believe is the perfect person you want to become as. Is it me or is the Korean media misunderstanding the idea and the meaning of an idol? If the Korean media is misunderstanding the meaning of an idol … I wish they could change it.
I chose an online engagement announcement from the Montreal Gazette online, published December 2009. The announcement was one like I’ve never seen before…it honestly looked like a wedding description from Vogue magazine. The photo it self showed a young couple: the young man, roughly 25 had blonde hair with a baseball cap, quite good looking and had that boyish, yet jock-ish look. The young woman was dressed very nicely, with dark brown hair and perfectly straight white smile. Just by the way they look and dress, we can see that they come from the upper class. In the announcement, they declared that the proposal was “one for the ages”, which I find isn’t very real and down to earth. It was very “for show”. It was worded in the same way that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie would announce their wedding. There wasn’t a set date or any information on what they do for a living, but there were many MANY names mentioned. It seemed that family values were important, another sign that they are from the upper class. I assume that the young (and hip) couple that are getting married are clearly popular, seeing as the announcement was overly ecstatic. There was even a youtube link to the proposal! It seemed like this was an announcement for the King and Queen…I hope that wedding doesn’t disappoint!
I noticed a civil union announcement in the New York Times under the wedding announcements and thought this would be an interesting article to read, mainly because gay marriages are fairly new in Canada and still not accepted in the States. There is a professional picture of the couple and we are told about both their educations, professions and parents. We know that one comes from a wealthy family from his father’s title and that the other works for a society that focuses on a safe school environment for gays, lesbians and straights. Their announcement is short and sweet and even mentions the judge who made their union official in an administrative building in Jersey City.
I didn’t expect to find this announcement when I was looking for a wedding announcement but now that I think about it, I don’t see any reason why gays and lesbians wouldn’t announce their unions. I wonder if the reason why we don’t see many of these types of announcements is because some gay and lesbian couples might not feel that their announcements belong or are wanted with the wedding announcements? I was happy I found this article, it’s nice to see how times are changing for the better.
In response to Joannie’s Blog:
Have people forgotten that phones can actually make calls??
How has our society managed to become even more impersonal? At first, there was “talk” about how calls had replaced face-to-face communication. People thought this was bad… but now text has replaced calls. Rarely do I ever talk on the phone anymore. Text has taken over my life. Has anyone ever seen Tyra’s episode on “flirttexting”. Debra Goldsein and Olivia Baniuszewicz are authors of the book “Flirttexting”, and they went on the show to explain all the rules of texting or as they call it “flirtextiquette”. These authors say that text has taken over phone calls and personal interaction and that texting has become the first step in dating. In our age of technology, text has become so predominant and has even changed the way people interact with each other. Everyone knows that there are things you text that you would never tell a person over the phone in person. (You all know what I mean!!) Don’t get me wrong, I love to text, I can’t go a day without sending or receiving texts.. however I do find that it has taken away from more personal ways of communicating.
The wedding announcement I will discuss is one I found in the New York Times. The bride to be is an associate in a Los Angeles law Firm, and she works in the Manhattan office where she met her future husband. Her fiancé had also been an associate at that same law firm. Both have law degrees from the University of New York. Just taking a look at the educational backgrounds, it can be noted that they are going to be a rather well off couple, upper class. Also looking at the place where their firm is located, Manhattan, it can be assumed that they live there as well. Living in Manhattan takes a decent income which then puts them in upper class for living arrangements as well as income.
The bride graduated with honours from Yale and is the daughter of two doctors. The mother an endocrinologist and her late father a psychiatrist and psychopharmacologist who had his own private practice. Taking a look at her parents’ positions and the school which she attended it is safe to say that the bride grew up in an upper class environment.
The bridegroom graduated with honours from the University of Pennsylvania. His mother teaches Judaic studies to girls in the Hebrew academy and his father is the principle of a private elementary school. Looking at the fact that the mother is a teacher and father a principle they would most likely be classified as upper middle class; this being because the mom teaches at an academy and the dad works in a private school. They are better off then teachers and principals in the regular system.
The announcement being in the New York Times is prestigious; it can symbolize wealth or just social standing in the community. When it comes down to it, the little information given can be suggested that the couple is of a very good economic standing- upper class.
In response to Amy Batley’s topic, “Gender in the Media”.
First off, I really like the Dove Real Beauty campaign that they have for their products. The commercials and advertisements they have show realistic women and show that there are many different body types, and they are all beautiful.
I think having a similar campaign for their products for men is also a great idea. Not only are women portrayed poorly in the media, men are too. Commercials and advertisements that show realistic images of men and how different their bodies can be, is a good thing.
Amy said she would like to get a man’s perspective, I’m obviously not a guy, but as I said, I think Dove’s new campaign is a good idea.
These campaigns open up people’s minds and show how everybody’s different and how it’s a good thing. They battle how women, and now hopefully how men, are wrongfully portrayed in the media and I think it’s a positive and good thing.
First of all, I would like to say that I wasn’t very ecxited about the topic this week (Thank god some of you decided to talk about something else!) I would like to respond to Cindy’s blog and talk a bit about representation of gender in the media.
I would like to discuss about how I am represented, being a white male, in today’s publicities. In our modern North American society, women have taken their place as men’s equals and there is no arguing how it was beneficial for all of us. However, have you ever notice how men, espesially white men, are always represented as stupid morons in advertisment nowadays?I don’t know if this is happening only in Quebec, even though I’ve seen that some of these adds were made in the U.S., but it seems that whenever we see I white man in a publicity, he is most likely going to be a complete idiot. For exemple, let’s take look at Honda, where Martin Matte is always making fun of that stupid “pompiste” (I don’t know what’s the word in English “gas attendant” I guess?) or that Cage au Sports add, where we see a fat man with his big trompet and a alouettes jersey trying to party with his poor wife. Now, I don’t want to play the victim here, I know that it is most unlikely that I’m being targeted by some sort of conspiracy trying to descridit men jsut for the sake of it, but I’m tired of the way we see white men in publicities. Am I being paranoid here?
This week, I chose to talk about the launch of Apple’s new iPad which has received many reviews. “The iPad is a sleek tablet that looks like a cross between an iPhone and the LCD case of the MacBook Air.” It has been criticized for simply being a larger version of the iPod touch, for not having a camera, for not being Flash compatible, and finally for its name. Although I’m sure Apple will take all of these criticisms into consideration for future iPad generations, I’m interested in one of the new apps that Apple developed for the iPad called iBook. You can download this app for free from the App Store and then from it you can purchase and download any book onto your iPad and start reading it immediately. “Just tap it to start reading”. I think this type of technology will have huge implications on society as in it will revolutionize accessibility to books and the way people read and the way people approach reading. I think that it will promote literacy and push the eBook market even further. Having your whole library available on one “sleek tablet” is a huge advantage to students, not to mention a huge advantage to the environment.
The article I chose was also from the New York Times and the first thing I noticed was picture of the church they were getting married in, which relates to the religious aspect of how class can be identified.
This marriage is between two very wealthy people, one is a classical pianist and a bank examiner, and the other a Notre Dame graduate who makes a living as a cinematographer.
The photos are beautiful and elicit the significance of how wealthy these two people are. They have great careers, are well-educated, are possibly from the upper-class, and display a sense of a strong religious background judging from the cultural theme of the wedding, Chinese Tradition.
The images also portray a multicultural background. The bride is from Taiwan and grew up in Ridgewood, N.J., and the groom is a white-Caucasian who grew up in California, Illinois and South Bend, Ind., where his father was the chairman of the Notre Dame Architecture School. While looking at these images, we see a diverse group of people, from both sides of their families. Together, they share commonalities between social class. Both families seem to be from very well-educated and traditionalist backgrounds. The church they got married in was a beautiful Christian church.
I think these certain indicators have been included because much of our society looks at these things as their “dream wedding” for themselves. It’s very materialistic. Every girl wants to feel like a princess and have the perfect wedding. It’s all about having it all! The dress, the food, the guests, the decoration, it’s everything! The way we want to represent ourselves is always crucial. We feel, as a society, that we need to maintain those levels of social class because it’s what we wish to attain. Doesn’t everyone want to be in a fairytale wedding of their own?
REPLY TO: Confessions of a Semi-Facebook Addict & How About Wedding Announcements on Facebook?
In accordance with Victoria, Alexandra, Katherine and Mallory’s blogs, it is beyond me why anyone would want to announce any kind of personal/private information in a newspaper or social network site. Judging by the many newspaper announcement discussed on the board, it is clear to see these couples and/or their family members who post these wedding announcements are looking to announce more than just a wedding. Some may call it tradition; others may say it is proper etiquette, I think it is unnecessary. Were the wedding invitations not enough? Perhaps you feel the need to tell us a story? Is your wedding so important you need to share it with the world? Or maybe it’s not really about the wedding? Perhaps I am being a little too harsh, but I just don’t get it. The same goes for social networking sites (facebook, myspace, and twitter to name a few) have some people gone mad? Is something missing in their lives where they feel the need to post every little detail of there life? Did Victoria hit the nail on the head when she questioned if posting our lives for everyone to see the new way for validating real life? Are our real life accomplishments not giving us the satisfaction we are craving? Do we need to explore these different forms of media to get the personal gratification we are seeking?
The announcement starts off with the mention of where the wedding took place: Princeton University Chapel. The location demonstrates their high end cultural class; it implies that they have access to high end education facilities (i.e. Princeton). It also allows one to infer that the couple is well educated and linguistically skillful; therefore they are of higher class.
They mentioned that a Roman Catholic priest performed the ceremony showing their class and power through religion. They are of the religion that is seen as most powerful.
The bride is keeping her name, demonstrating female power and class. Then a full paragraph on her Educational background, employment and accomplishment follows. Then a shorter less detailed but just as powerful paragraph follows with his educational background and accomplishments. Both she and the groom obtained a B.A. from Princeton University and M.A.’s from two other Universities. They both work at Universities. He is the director of a humanitarian department at Princeton University and a commander in the Naval Reserve. She works as an adjunct professor at University of Columbia. She also held a powerful position at a financial company and is on the board of a humanitarian international organization.
This article emphasized much of their educational background and accomplishments. There is a picture of the couple also. They are middle aged and Caucasian.
So far the article included everything we needed to know to place them in the high end of the class power spectrum. They are white middle aged, Roman Catholic, well paid, well educated people who held their wedding at Princeton University, a place of power. Their wedding is announced in The New York Times a high end News Paper in a powerful U.S. city.
The wedding announcement that I found was in the Montreal Gazette. Usually I find that these announcements are somewhat short and they talk about the engagement and information about the wedding. This article that I found had a whole story to it. It was the story of how they met and it was actually quite long. It talked about how they met in high school and onto college and university. So they obviously had enough money for school. The people in this article came across as upper-middle class people that were brought up in good homes in a small town. It seemed very pleasant.
I read a few more and noticed that most of the articles in this section all come across as well off people getting married. I have to say that I’ve never read a wedding announcement that came across as 2 struggling people deciding to spend money that they don’t have for a wedding. I don’t think that wedding announcements are hard to use as an example of class differentiation because they all try to embellish what they have to seem more well off then they really are.
NEW TOPIC
So this week I had the chance to sit down and watch the show TMZ. What a disgrace of a show. It is an entertainment show that deals with celebrities and paparazzi. The photographers basically follow celebrities and ask them stupid questions, and later the hosts of the show make fun of the answers and the situations. It really brings to light the type of worship we give to celebrities. Even on shows like entertainment tonight, we hear about breakups and love situations which are really none of our business. In trying to find the message behind these shows I can only assume that most people like to hear about the dream that the stars are living.
I find that when it comes to celebrities, the North American people feel the need to butt in and dig out all this information. It is almost like we worship them and all that they do. This does not help in showing students role models who have worked their way up, or overcome obstacles (although I’m sure that some of these stars have). The message given by shows like ET and TMZ seems to be about sex and drugs, not about the work the celebrities do.
Any thoughts on this?
I chose to examine a wedding announcement that was featured in the largest metropolitan newspaper in the United States, the New York Times. This paper is among the few newspapers that I read on a fairly regular basis. The New York Times has a readership that is, generally speaking, both more educated and more prominent than many of New York’s other daily newspapers, such as the New York Daily News and the New York Post.
The specific wedding announcement that I wish to discuss publicizes the marriage of a couple that fits the image that the New York Times attempts to create. The announcement begins by introducing the bride and groom. It states their names, their parent’s names, the date of their wedding, and provides a short description of the family’s background. The introduction to the couple does not really indicate their class, however as I continued to read on, I discovered more information about the couple. I learnt that the bride is a twenty six year old Harvard graduate, and was a PhD student in History at the time of the publication. This piece of information indicates that she is a highly educated woman and was most likely included because, being an ivy league graduate, her background is relatable to the experiences of some of the readers of the paper. Her father is a retired Technical Director for BiC.
Then the announcement moves on to discuss the groom, an ex-Air Force pilot who is now working in finance at Wells Fargo in Short Hills. The couple met at the International Debutante Ball in New York City, where the bride was a debutante representing Greece. “Debutante”, which is the French word for “female beginner”, is a young woman from an upper class family who has reached the age of adulthood, and is introduced to society. The fact that the bride and groom met at her coming out to society event indicates that the couple comes from upper class families and has high social status. Debutantes, and those who attend debutante balls, typically descend from higher status backgrounds.
After reading several wedding announcements in The New York Times, I noticed that they usually follow a pattern. The newspaper tends to only include wedding announcements of couples that come from prominent and high status families. I then looked into the criteria that The New York Times uses to determine which couples should be included in the wedding announcements. I found a link that led me to the wedding/celebration section on The New York Times online and read their “How to submit an announcement” page. The New York Times requires the couple’s addresses, schooling, and occupation. They also need couples to mention “any noteworthy awards that the couple may have received, as well as charitable activities and/or special achievements”. Furthermore, they require information on the couple’s parents, such as where they live and their occupations.
I was not surprised when I read the “criteria”. As the New York Times is a prominent newspaper, they hold certain standards. They only include couples who can be relatable to those who read the newspaper, and couples who will draw attention to the newspaper.
Response to Emma’s blog:
I completely agree with what you are saying. I rarely watch any of those types of television shows because the life of a celebrity does not interest me. These are people that we do not really know yet some people believe that their lives are the most important thing. Our society has become the type of people who feed of others’ failures and troubles. When regular people hear that a celebrity has broken up with someone they get excited at the drama rather than feeling compassion as you would for a friend going through the same situation. We have become a society of observers, watching others and trying to forget about our own lives.
Not only are there shows such as ET and TMZ that show facts and fiction about popular celebrities but there are “reality” shows that are suppose to depict the exciting life of certain people. To become a famous celebrity, you need to be popular in the eyes of the media and in order to do that, people tend to look for scandals and romance neither of which are teaching our youth to be independent or about real life.
So for this blog I decided to take a look at the wedding announcements in 2 different newspapers. Firstly, I decided to observe the announcements in the Montreal Gazette. These were simple, no pictures, no background information, to the point, and all had one goal, to celebrate a couple’s marriage. Then i decided to take a peak at the wedding announcements in The New York Times. These all had pictures of the couples, information about their parents, how they met, their education, and their ages. I think that the way in which the announcements are presented in the New York Times is more of a bragging right that a wedding announcement. These announcements make the paper look more distinguished and popular. The one that I fully read was about a young couple who got married in New York, it goes on about their extravagant jobs, and their wonderful education, and how wonderful their parents are. To me these announcements represent the All American Life! I am supposing that for your wedding to be announced in the New York Times there must be certain criteria and standards.
**NEW TOPIC
This weekend while watching the Grammy’s, I couldn’t help but notice a recent trend; the almost desperate attempt from many of today’s stars to be different. By different, I don’t mean to be overly outspoken or to have interesting hobbies. Physically and aesthetically, the stars have definitely taken their look to the next level. Of course, the first person from the Grammys that comes to mind when I say different is Lady Gaga. Her futuristic look has many people talking and even though I thought I had seen it all, she somehow manages to top whatever she has done before. In today’s conformist society, it is hard to assume that people will follow in those footsteps. Rihanna is also someone who is often wearing very unique clothing and hairstyles. However, after Rihanna cut her hair to a bob, it seemed like millions of young girls had gone out and done the same. Is there a limit to how far one will go to imitate a celebrity look? Will there be a world filled with Lady Gaga look-a-likes in the near future? I find it interesting that while young people are desperately trying to fit in they are doing so by attempting to set trends that come off as outrageous and different. Is it still most important in today’s society to fit in, or are we putting more and more emphasis on a need to be different?
This was a interesting post to read, thank you for sharing it.