November 23, 2009
Macy's Day Parade
Posted by lrhart at 04:35 PM | Comments (0)
November 13, 2009
They Told Her Her Name was Margaret
As all my friends compared their tokens to the world we're not allowed in we realized something something pretty funny about someone we thought was our best friend, Margaret. We were comparing our prided fake forms of identification, or only pass into Ann Arbor bars as we anxiously anticipate our 21st birthdays. The best is when a friend who is 21 will offer a younger friend their driver's license fo the night, and opt to use their passport which always serves as comical relief as if foreigners come to Score Keepers. Anyway so during our casual conversation someone's passport was passed around. I noticed our friend who we thought was named Margaret simply had "Maggie" printed on her United States of America legal document. Curious why her nickname was on her passport, we requested clarification immediately.
Here's Her story:
Flustered and overjoyed with the overflowing emotion of childbirth, her parents named her "Maggie O'Malley" (Last name changed for privacy). A few months later husband and wife began talking, that maybe "Maggie" is a bit too informal for a first name, especially as their boisterous bouncing baby enters the real world; "Maggie" is simply not conducive for business cards. Both in agreement, they decide Margaret O'Malley is far more fitting and Maggie's mother would handle the situation promptly by having the birth certificate changed. Case closed, every teacher from now own would call attendance and as "Margaret O'Malley, would you like to be called by a nickname", Margaret's answer "Maggie is fine". The young girl would tediously learn her cursive signature with two extra letters, and ultimately develop her identity as "Margaret O'Malley". As the college application process neared Birth Certificates were to be tucked away in envelopes and this so called Margaret realized she was technically and legally still "Maggie". Apparently her mom brushed off the legality of a name change and figured if her daughter and everyone who met her daughter was told her name was Margaret, well her name would then be Margaret.
The concept of not knowing your real name for the first 18 years of your life rumbled a chuckle out of everyone present. That and of course Maggie's mother's absurd justification for not changing her daughters name as if she simply forgot to pick something up from the dry cleaners 17 year's earlier. Maggie in her rage of passion on the subject expressed the urgency of changing her name to "Margaret", after years of her mother persuading her that truly was her name. But
Posted by lrhart at 04:41 PM | Comments (0)
November 11, 2009
Shout outs to my blogging buddies!
It’s hard enough to get your two cents in 25-student English class, let alone a larger university lecture, but with blogs your thoughts cannot be disrupted. Some peers blogs are definitely worth a read if you’re looking for entertainment, or just a knock on their craniums.
My first shout out goes to Matt McCrary’s Rad Rhetorical Reasoning Blog. Easily one of the most entertaining blogs of the bunch, possibly because of the entries short nature that are perfectly compatible with my minuscule attention span or the minimal amount of time students have to allot to non “academic” reading. Regardless of their short stature, Matt’s blogs tend to be wholesome, engaging and thought provoking. Some of my favorite entries include “Pants, Pants, Pants”, “Impermanence”, “If Only Somebody Told Me All I Needed was Axe”. Matt encompasses individuals internal struggle to find self-identity through wardrobe choice all into a singular pair of pants in his “Pants, Pants, Pants” blog. His humor and tone make Matt seem approachable, even to an audience that may never meet him. I always appreciate a personal touch in writing that doesn’t read like a textbook, such as comparing the permanence of a childhood Texan home with the ink of tattoo. By persistently incorporating his sheer hatred for Bio 172, Matt creates a comical trend with his personal distaste familiarizing the audience with his dislikes and likes. Overall, the fluidity of Matt’s blog let’s the audience dive into his uninhibited stream of consciousness. Grab a raft and check it out: Matt McCrary’s Rad Rhetorical Reasoning
Andrew is another blog buddy deserving of a shout out for his blog: A Magniloquent Manifesto. The color stimulus alone is enough to grab my attention, but if you look past the vibrant hues and sophisticated formatting of Andrew’s blog you can get a taste of his personality and his writing concerns. “Drew meets Andrew and bad things happen.” is definitely an entry a range of soul-searching college students can relate to. This hunger to escape the barriers that confine us in the identity we have spent so long forming is at the highest amplitude during these years of undergraduate self-reflection. Unlike most students though, Andrew was able to live out his alter self “Drew” in Germany, but now having crossed back over the pond he expresses the difficulties of fitting the footprints he left in America that no longer match his new identity. Andrew’s ability to tackle such a complicated topic into a personal green-fonted blog with references to frogs in boiling water, circulates the audiences feelings inciting further discussion. His October 10th entry, “Working the System” entry punctures a subject most educators would avoid: What the point of education if students just work the system to get high marks? What student wins? The one who learns the most or the one who can get a A without learning anything? Andrew’s fearless take on this topic especially considering this is an academic based blog is admirable – plus I like his insertion of SAT words – everyone loves good vocabulary (wide generalization, but I love new words).
Posted by lrhart at 07:33 PM | Comments (1)
November 09, 2009
How do you get men excited about shoes?
Well John White's advertisers have thought this one through. In a recent GQ magazine (Gentleman's Quarterly) I found an advertisement for John White's Hand made shoes. From the John White Shoe's website you can learn about these handmade shoes are made to high standard using the finest leathers, materials and workmanship, however non of these points are incorporated in this advertisement.
The advertisement displays a black and white silhouette of a gorgeously sculpted woman modeling in lacy underwear with a singular brown leather shoe cradled above her bum. Instead of focusing on the craftsmanship of the shoe, the focal point is a women's back and behind. While the consumer and audience of this advertisement is intended to be fashionable males, there are no males in the advertisement. In fact there are no faces in the advertisement at all because only the women's back is shown cutting over her face creating this mysterious figure. The advertisers rely on stressing the beauty of the shoe mimicking it's shape to the the sexuality of the highly attractive female figure which consumes most of the advertisement. I guess the advertisers are trying to correlate that purchasing this shoe has some correlation with being a sexually desirable male by mysterious women in lacy boy short underwear.
Check it out for yourself: John White's Shoes
Posted by lrhart at 01:22 PM | Comments (1)
November 06, 2009
Hitler: Can he convince you?
To this day people find it baffling that Adolf Hitler convinced so many Germans to blindly follow him into a disastrous wartime and execute the murder of millions of Jews during the Holocaust. However, the same persuasions and tactics used by the Hitler are used to convince people of things today, whether it be to believe a specific belief, vote for a political leader, or simply purchase one hair product over another.
Since elementary school I have learned the correlation of Hitler = bad. You probably learned something along those lines too... possible even have seen Schindler's List a time or two, and if you were lucky enough heard the first hand account from a Holocaust survivor. If someone asked you, would you follow Hitler as a dictator, what your answer be? Could Hitler convince you to support socialism? Like most people, you would probably answer: Of course not. But hindsight is 20/20 and we have learned that the Nazi party in which he led was responsible for genocide of 6 million Jews, and any human with a heart would not support murder. I like to think that I'm resilient and are capable of making educated decisions, but I know Hitler would have convinced me, and this is why...
The Context: Germany, 1934 Hitler is continuing to gain power. Germany was in the grips of economic and political depression from World War I and national pride was sinking further, already at an all time low. The Germans were angry, resentful, demoralized and needed someone to bring their spirits up. Hitler was German's glimmer of hope.
The Man: His fiery speeches and propaganda of a desirable, strong, unified Germany fueled the vulnerable people of Germany enough to convince them to believe Hitler was the answer to their misfortunes. He made huge promises of change and reform. He offered jobs by rebuilding factories, and he offered a scapegoat for Germans to focus their anger on: the undesirables and ultimately the Jews. Hitler's charisma and promise for a more powerful Germany lead to a full nations support. There's no doubt that Hitler was not a natural born leader.
The Propaganda: Hitler's power to convince through propaganda as reiterated to me while watching the black/white film "Triumph of The Will"- a movie made under the guidance of Adolf Hitler himself in 1934. As we watched this film in class, our english instructor asked us to note the visual and verbal observations that made claims to the German people. The subtleties in this propaganda became not so subtle when consciously looking for for claims over 70 years after the making of the film. The opening scene shows a airplane flying through the sky (a camera shot that had never been seen before) showing the technological advances of the time. Hitler soars through on his private plan landing after the arial whimsical view of the Nuremberg. Masses of people saluting him showed the overwhelming support for Hitler's cause as he was escorted to his hotel. Tents orderly lined camps with scenes of men indulging in the plethora of food, beer, and brotherhood. Parades of women in traditional German clothing lined the streets delivering to Hitler the food from the latest Harvest. Nazi socialist flags lined the buildings and wrapped the triceps of the loyal followers protecting Hitler. Just from watching the movie, I felt the national pride fired by Hitler. His persuasive and passionate speeches of a unified powerful Germany, scenes of happiness, overabundance of food, working men and women, and glimpses of strong German heritage and tradition surviving the economic depression created a desirable world that anyone would want to live in. This was only one movie. Imagine the speeches, the newspapers, the signs, the posters, and the support from all your friends and neighbors... not hoping on the bandwagon of Hitler's wrath becomes more difficult.
Maybe some people wouldn't fall for it. But if I were a German during this time, I don't think I would have predicted the repercussions of the rise of Hitler, heck I'd probably be supporting him along the way.
Posted by lrhart at 05:02 PM | Comments (1)
October 30, 2009
Did the Feminist Movement Fail if I Opt-Out?
For the inquiry paper I chose to question the social identities of the Stay-At-Home-Mother vs. the employed mother. I studied these two polarizing identities interested to see which is better: Nurturing your children as home as a full time occupation, or taking on the challenge of both caretaker and provider.
As a full time undergraduate student at a top University I struggle to solve this problem knowing upon graduation I will have not only invested nearly $200,000 for my education, 2,000+ hours of classes, approximately 3,000+ hours worth of studying, but ultimately 4 years of my life. But it doesn’t end there. Post college comes graduate school which will be another time and monetary investment when I could be a working woman adding something to society rather than studying my way to this unattainable ideal life style of World’s best Mom combined with the most realistic careers: CEO, Nobel Prize Winner, Female President or World Renown Surgeon. Easy Right? This vision of the perfect lifestyle is fueled by this American illusion that “we can have it all”, but having “it all” doesn’t exist. I wonder if I will be resentful towards my children if I dispose of my hard work for an apron and pacifier, yet part of my dream is to be a mother.
Through my inquiry I stumbled upon something unfamiliar known as the “opt-out revolution”. These revolutionary women who recognized that they’re capable of everything men are. These women have degrees from top universities, Harvard, Columbia, Princeton and other prestigious schools. They march to their own beat in power suits ready to take on the world, and even put off having kids to pursue their high status careers. Yet all these polished and professional women choose to put away their suits and quit their careers to become full time mothers. These women began what is called the “Opt out revolution” no longer equating success with a partnership at prestigious law firm or fame, and conveniently got off this highway on maternity exit.
As women look at the “top” they’re increasingly deciding they don’t want to do what it takes to get there, and are redefining success. I’m not saying women are giving up on all these rights they worked so hard to earn during the Feminist movement, but while women are at a level playing field with men, having this money and power comes at a high price: giving up their role at home.
This battle is now being content with the decision to opt-out, wondering if you failed your self by leaving your successful career, or wondering if you’re an inadequate mother by sticking with it. Take home message: Women aren’t conquering the world because they can’t, it’s because they choose not to. So has the feminist movement failed? Or is another reborn? What does this evolving spectrum of demands on women mean for our gender?
For my convincing paper I wish to convince my audience that the socially constructed roles of mothers remain relevant years after the feminist movement because women still struggle with repercussions of their decisions: employment or stay at home mother. While Rosie the Riveter may have told us to climb the power ladder, societal pressures shouldn’t make women feel punished for choosing to climb back down.
Posted by lrhart at 11:01 PM | Comments (1)
