Future Of Gender Roles

So what does the future hold for the 21st century man? Will the roles of the household be switched? Will the man be responsible for cleaning the house and tending to their children while the wife runs off to work? It seems as though the trend is slowly but steadily moving into this direction. People 50 years ago wouldn’t have ever imagined women being the heads of financial households, but now it is very common scenario. The glass ceiling that kept women from advancing in the work force for so many years has slowly begun to disappear, as more and more women have begun to hold top ranking positions in large corporations, Bank of America being one example. No one knows what the future may hold for these roles in society. It could be easy to claim that it is merely a trend, something that every 50 to 100 years shifts back and forth in a kind of natural way of balancing things out. But the reality is that never before in recorded history have women had so much freedom to peruse their goals like they can today. So who knows, maybe this trend is here to stay. Perhaps we have entered into a new era, where the female has now become equal to or greater than in some cases, to her male counterpart. Over the next few months, I’ll be posting sporadically on some of these issues that I might come across in the media, as well as continuing to provide advice for guys out there on how to beef u their social skills. But as for right now, I am going to enjoy these next couple of weeks and take a little vacation, beginning coincidentally on Cinco de Mayo (wasn’t planning on it, but I’ll take it anyways). So until next time, which will probably be in a couple of weeks, this is Stewie Griffin signing out, PEACE!!

4) Killa App

'Say all you have to say in the fewest possible words, or your reader will be sure to skip them; and in the plainest possible words or he will certainly misunderstand them.’

-John Ruskin

Now, I’ve been looking over my old posts just to get back into the swing of things and I noticed a few things, aside from a few angry rants that seemed to go nowhere. I saw that while I listed some of the various issues that plague modern media in regards to how they have begun to portray men and women, but failed to give any ideas, advice or tools to help young men. There’s obviously been a great stride for women, as many of their roles have portrayed them as intelligent, powerful, and independent. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said in the case for men, with sitcoms frequently showing them as useless guys unable to accomplish anything without goofing up. So how can I help those young men who are in need of a few bits of advice now that they are beginning to hone their social skills and venturing out into the real world? While I can’t hand out to every young guy out there a male role model, the least I could do is offer some tools that could help point them in the right direction and maybe even give them some life lessons that mommy just would never be able to answer. That tool my friends, was none other than Axe’s “The Fixer Show”.

While they could have easily gone the way of Old Spice, Right Guard and other products by showing funny commercial guys could relate to, Axe took it a step further by providing an interactive website that offers men advice on various topics, a la “Men’s Heath” or “Maxim”. There’s a link to Wikipedia where you can learn about the history of the company, an interactive video on how to “responsibly” use the sprays, YouTube videos showing their most popular commercials, and finally, a fictional talk show called “The Fixer Show”. Hosted by a young man in his late 20’s, The Fixer Show is geared towards giving advice to young guys everywhere, who he claims, seem to suffer from many of the common pitfalls guys get themselves into during those wild weekends.

“The geriatric”, “the girl with hairy armpits”, and the “girl with more muscles than you”, is how the first episode begins, with its discussion on questionable hookups and how to avoid them. The second episode discusses the lack of energy guys sometimes get, hinting more to the fact that it’s because they’ve passed out with their shoes on, a big no-no in the world of the house party. The Latin party spirit and how white men should embrace it, is the theme for the third episode, as they claim by doing so, it would result in being more successful with women. The final episode discusses the issue of having to deal with the friend who tries to party to the extreme, only to end up complaining the next day about how much pain he’s in, causing you to have to babysit him. His hilarious take on how to properly deal with friends like this is something you have to see. But wait, there’s more! Along with each episode, is a list of pranks that can, how shall we say, “convince” your fellow party partners to think twice before engaging in these questionable acts. Some of the high jinks included creating faux photos of your friend standing next to a questionable hook up, which is actually pretty funny once you see what kinds of photos they give you to work with. Others involved creating a profile of your friend on a fake latino social networking site that pretends to appear as though dozens of latin women want to be his friend. Two of my personal favorites involve the bad habit of passing out at a party and the morning after. One of the sites marketing tools involve having viewers submit some of their videos pulling pranks on their best friends. Some of the best ones involve firecrackers but that just might be personal preference (note to self: buy firecrackers). Lastly, for those who have friends that constantly whine over hangovers, you can email them a video provided by Axe which depicts a man preparing some kind of cocktail made up of disgusting ingredients like fish, dog food, hot sauce, clam chowder, and many more.

Some of their advice seems very useful, but what about its short comings? Where does the tool fail? I believe its biggest weakness lies in the fact that it cannot be accessed via mobile phone or portable device. I mean, c’mon, if I’m right in the thick of a tough situation at a party with no friends around (or sober ones at least) who can guide my slightly buzzed self into the right direction with some good advice, I’m gonna want to whip out my phone and seek counsel from the old’ “Fixer Show”. All it would take would be the footage of the guys the morning after in the “Shock” episode for me to say “Whoa, I better slow down on the drinking; I’m not trying to end up like that guy.” The ideal tool I would create would be widget based, geared towards cell phones that upon activation, would present a list of situations in big, bright buttons that you could push to activate. With scenarios like “First date”, “Frat Party”, “Big Night”, “Hangover”, each would come equipped with their very own form of advice and maybe some instructional videos on how to properly maneuver through the situation, or in the case of “hangover”, how to get over it as pain free as possible.

So now that I’ve put in my two cents about the product, I think it’s time we see what other people had to say about it. Since there wasn’t really a comment section on the website that allowed for people to voice their opinions on the various products, I decided that the next best option was to go onto Amazon.com and check out what customers had to say. Overall, the reviews were pretty good. Out of 35 reviews, 25 of them rated the product as 5 star quality. Maybe the “Fixer Show’s” advice on using their products to get out of a rut really was helpful after all. Some of the customers even rated their favorite colognes, with “Kilo” coming in overall as the preferred choice. Then there were the occasional few people out there that claimed it did nothing for their “game” and that it didn’t help them attract any more attention from girls than if they had not used it in the first place. In my opinion, it seemed that it was more the whiny customer that was the problem rather than the product, but that’s just me. The market in which these products are catered to is pretty obvious, as the 15-25 year olds practically dominate the sales. It’s estimated that they made over 30 million in revenue. Not too bad considering that the company has its origins in France back in 1987 and only recently in 2002 did they finally begin selling their product in the US markets.

With all its great advice and knowledge on how to avoid potentially disastrous situations, there are still some out there that are asking themselves, “that’s great and all, but why should I listen or even use this tool? How will this benefit my life?” My answer to all you doubters out there comes in the form of a question. In all those situations described, how many people do you know, friends or family, that would give you the honest advice you so desperately need in those great times of need? The way I see it, “The Fixer Show’s advice is the best some of these guy out there are gonna get. Problems with constantly engaging in questionable hook-ups? There’s advice for that. Constantly waking up with a hangover, possibly in front of someone’s yard with the sprinklers hitting you? There’s advice for that. Always feeling like you never have enough energy come party time? Yep, advice for that too. Have faith my fellow readers and check out the tool, see if the advice you acquire saves you from turning a potentially epic night into an awesomely embarrassing night, with pictures and maybe even video footage to prove it.

Essay #1

1)
“Jesus, we have a fraternity in the house!” shouted the host. The audience exploded into cheers, yells, and whistles, as the majority was indeed frat guys. I was attending the Laugh Factory for the first time and I was excited to see what kind of talent that would unexpectedly drop by and kill the audience. You never knew when people like Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, or Dane Cook, love him or hate him, would hop on stage and perform. Unfortunately, this was not one of those nights. The talent however, was still good, the food was better, and as long as the drinks kept coming, I was a happy camper. As I sat there listening to the routines, I noticed a similar trend in jokes that never seem to get old with the crowd….relationships. Ah yes, when in doubt, bust out the marriage routines. One by one, each comedian would whine about how much his marriage sucked or how his kids hated him because he could never do anything right, further dwindling himself into self-deprecation to the enjoyment of the audience. Now granted, this was a comedy club, so of course they’re going to put themselves down in order to get a few laughs. But as I sat there, I began to ask myself, why is it that over the last few years, has there been an increasing trend in the media to portray men as dim-witted idiots? Idiots who are completely submissive and lack any kind of spine that would allow for them to stand up for themselves? It was an issue I had recently began to think about, so I decided that I would look into it a little more closely.

Turn on the television and there it is. Shows like “Everybody Loves Raymond” or “The King of Queens”, featuring the husband who every episode gets an earful from the wife, succumbing to her ultimatums, or being denied sex as a form of retaliation, to the laughter of the live-audience in the background. Commercials have also seemed to have caught onto this trend. There are too many to list but if you watch closely, many of them will present it in a kind of way where the male is childlike figure, while the female, who may be his wife or girlfriend, is the motherly figure who knows best and any attempt to see things differently from them usually results in her referring to him as “silly”. KFC had a great example of this where two grown businessmen were sitting in a stroller crying like babies because they hadn’t eaten yet. Suddenly, the wife appears with a chicken sandwich, talking to them in baby talk saying “awwww, there you go, is that much better?” The two men react by hopping up and down in their seats clapping their hands wildly. Now let’s think about this for a second, what kind of message is this conveying? I understand the humor that they’re trying to imply, but how would the viewers have reacted had the female had the roles been reversed? Looking back at advertisements in the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s, this was indeed the situation. A ketchup company once advertised their product with a new easy to open top. The slogan went like this “you mean a woman can open it?” Imagine how the reception would be towards that. Women’s advocacy groups would be marching up and down that company’s headquarters protesting and boycotting their products faster than you could say “wow that was sexist.”
Thankfully we live in a time where women have more opportunities than ever, but now it seems as though the men, specifically young men, have begun to come under fire, with masculinity being the target. Parents have become more protective than ever over their children. Most kids are no longer allowed to go around the block to play for fear that a kidnapper may be lurking in the midst. My 10 year-old cousin told me that his school has banned the game of tag because they said it is unfair to the person who’s “it”. Even on my way to school, I passed by an elementary playground and noticed that they’ve applied padding to every tetherball, basketball, and monkey bar pole. In little league sports, everyone’s a winner now, since they don’t want to hurt anyone’s self esteem. What happened to competition? What happened to learning valuable life lessons through tough losses and hardships as a team? Mix this with the fact that many young men are being raised by single mothers with no male role model, and what results is a child that is overly coddled and sheltered from the harsh realities of real life. So what can be done to prevent this from happening? I’ve discussed the recent media trend amongst adults but how will these stereotypes begin to look once these young boys mature into adults? Will a male’s masculinity be seen by society as too aggressive, overly macho, insensitive? Over the next few weeks, I’ll be looking into these issues and present articles from other writers so we can see what the overall consensus is on the issue of masculinity.

2)

The Eagle has landed!! I’ll have to admit, at first I felt that I was going to be alone in this endeavor (get it? Like the spaceship), but as I began to look around for blogs that shared similar interests in my subject, I was pleasantly surprised to discover how many were out there. Most of these blogs dealt with women bashing and how women were evil, blah, blah blah. Let it be known that my blog is not about that. I am a believer in gender equality, which is why I feel it is important to bring attention to the shift in gender roles and how men are beginning to be viewed by the media and ultimately, by society itself in a negative way. Many will disagree of course and claim that it’s merely society’s way of poking fun at how “all” men tend to act, very similar to how we men tend to be accused of grouping women into one kind of stereotype. I welcome all opinions, male or female.
I was pleasantly surprised on how many points of views I came across, including one written by a woman who felt that feminism had come and gone and that there was no need to bring it back. She felt that once it had passed, many women still enjoyed taking care of the household, while only a small group was left feeling like their rights or representation had failed to be met. One that caught my eye however was one that dealt specifically with the topic of males becoming overly feminized, titled "What Men Are Saying About Women". Despite the fact that is posts are few and far in between, with only 10 posts in 2008 and only 1 in 2007, the writer “Percy Anvil”, discusses in rich detail many topics about feminism in mainstream society, usually by examining news articles from the U.S and the U.K. as well as various videos dealing with women. Yes, he claimed, there was nothing wrong with a man sharing his feelings with a woman, but when shows like “Queer Eye For The Straight Guy” began to emerge, he had to draw the line. He asked since when did society feel it was necessary for men to get a pedicure and manicure? What was wrong with a man having rough hands? Must we all be required to be as dainty as the opposite sex? With an audience being catered obviously more to men than women, his posts are at times controversial, but I suppose that's what’s expected when one deals with the topic of feminism. Regardless of which side you’re on, you’re bound to disagree with some of his points, which I think, makes it such an interesting topic to discuss. Overall, his blog seems as much informative as it is entertaining and I’ll be looking forward to his future posts.


3)"We write frankly and fearlessly but then we 'modify' before we print."
- Mark Twain, Life on the Mississippi

It's interesting how over time, the reader can get to know the character of the writer or people in which they speak of through complex sentence styles, metaphors, and figures of speech. We can begin to construct an image of a person. We can come to understand the values for which they stand for, the type of hobbies and activities they enjoy partaking in and even the age of the writer based on the kinds of pop culture references they talk about or use as an example. In the world of blogging, I feel the various writers have begun to exemplify the first half of Mark Twain's quote, while the latter has begun to fall by the wayside, thanks to the anonymity of the internet. No longer can we feel accountable for what we say. Despite the fact that it can be both a positive and a negative thing, I see it from the perspective that one can now freely express his/her views without any personal censorship. In regards to my topic, it can be at times a touchy subject. It's the kind of topic that if discussed in a classroom or at a party, it would no doubt result in a heated debate between the sexes. As a result, many people remain quiet, despite possibly being well informed on the subject, due to social pressure. That is what makes blogging so beautiful. It allows those who we'd never expect to be so outspoken on a particular topic to express their views in a way that may or may not contrast sharply with their public persona.

When one comes across Youngbuck's "The Rantings of A Young Man In A Feminized Society", the voice you hear is exactly the one his blog title describes. He's a man in his mid 20s who see's the world a bit differently than most people might, perhaps in a George Carlin kind of way; in the similar fashion of how Carlin felt the government or media was having too much influence on how we dress and live our lives. He brings to attention in his trademark style of rants full of exclamation points, things he observes in his workplace, from issues such as dress codes biases to articles he finds on domestic violence. His ideas are always fresh and original. However, his big topic is usually relationships, as he always seems to be confused about why men decide to marry when he feels that the warning signs are all around us. I agree with many of his points and at times also feel just as frustrated with the way men allow themselves to be treated as doormats. He defends men by providing men proper responses and counter arguments to issues women always bring up around men, like the “Where is this relationship going?” conversation You get a feel of what he stands for and the kind of family he grew up around when he comically discusses going to his cousin’s house for Christmas in, "Are you on the down low?".

"I haven't seen you with anyone since you left that China girl." (She refers to my ex-girlfriend who is Filipina as a China girl, even though she knows her name and knows she's not Chinese".

I laugh, because I can relate to having family members question me on the holidays about whom I'm seeing and whether or not am I going to bring them around to the family. His style at times changes to a more sarcastic and even comical approach, almost as if to give the reader a break from the emotionally charged posts. I feel his wild style of writing and commentary is more than enough to keep me reading his blogs in the future and I encourage you to do the same.

So Easy, A Caveman Could Do It?

Summertime is around the corner and like myself, I'm sure many of you guys out there wanna lose a couple of pounds before hitting the beaches, but you have no idea how to do it. Dozens of magazines claim that they have the answer, but let's face it, if they did, would they need to keep updating their monthly issues with different diet plans and workout routines? I think not. So I did some searching online and I came across a blog that had an interesting post on the topic of diet and exercise. Created by Mike O’Donnell, a professional fitness coach and trainer, his routine is mirrored after the lifestyles of cavemen, yes cavemen. He claims that back then, they didn't die of diabetes, suffer from osteoporosis, or any other diseases that plague our modern society. He breaks it down,claiming that cavemen lifted heavy things, never relied on straps or braces, sprinted and walked for survival, and ate plenty of natural foods. Before you start thinking that you have to give up your laptop, cell phone, and walk around barefoot, he gives us advice on how to use these tips in modern society. He recommends lifting heavy, keeping sets to 5-10 reps, running intervals, as in switching off between sprinting/walking. He says that you should adopt a "lifestyle cardio" type of activity like hiking, dancing, or some kind of martial art if you have the time. He also claims that you should workout without the assistance of gloves, straps, or braces in order to AVOID injuring yourself. Well worth the read, I'd recommend checking it out before beginning your diet plan for the summer.

Help out a friend

Lately I've been in a helpful type of mood. This, in fact, is actually very helpful considering the fact that I have to create a presentation based on a widget that can help out young men everywhere. But one shouldn't assume that only devices such as this can help men. You, yes you can help out too. We all have a friend or two that could use some help or advice. Maybe he's awkward around women, despite the fact that he's a cool guy to be around once you get to know him. Perhaps he doesn't know how to party without ending up in situations that he'll regret the morning after. I have a buddy of mine who we'll call Dave for confidentiality purposes, that always, and I mean always, gets trashed to the point where one of us has to take care or "babysit" him for the rest of the night. He's still green when it comes to partying, so I took it upon myself to show him how to pace himself so he can avoid having to call it a night early. I have another friend whom has become notorious for, how do I say it, waking up next to people he probably wouldn’t want to under normal circumstances. Taking pictures of him hanging around these people the night before for blackmail was unfortunately the only way I knew that would get him to think twice (mean? Yes. Effective? Ditto.) So next time you and your buddies are out and about Saturday night and you see one of your fellow amigos engaging in questionable behavior, don’t be afraid to lend a hand. Till next time, this is Stewie Griffin saying, PEACE!!

Critiquing the tool

So now that I’ve put in my two cents about the product, I think it’s time we see what other people had to say about it. Since there wasn’t really a comment section on the website that allowed for people to voice their opinions on the various products, I decided that the next best option was to go onto Amazon.com and check out what customers had to say. Overall, the reviews were pretty good. Out of 35 reviews, 25 of them rated the product as 5 star quality. Maybe the “Fixer Show’s” advice on using their products to get out of a rut really was helpful after all. Some of the customers even rated their favorite colognes, with “Kilo” coming in overall as the preferred choice. Then there was the occasional few people out there that claimed it did nothing for their “game” and that it didn’t help them attract any more attention from girls than if they had not used it in the first place. In my opinion, it seemed that it was more the whiny customer that was the problem rather than the product, but that’s just me. The market in which these products are catered to is pretty obvious, as the 15-25 year olds practically dominate the sales. It’s estimated that they made over 30 million in revenue, so I can imagine how many people are using this tool. Sure, the product works great, but the boys are still gonna need some advice on how to manage themselves now that they’re going out and partying.

So we’ve talked about how awesome the tool is and how it can help improve men’s lives everywhere, but what about its short comings? Where does the product fail? I believe that its biggest weakness lies in the fact that it cannot be accessed via mobile phone or portable device. I mean, c’mon, if I’m right in the thick of a tough situation at a party with no friends around (or sober ones at least) who can guide my slightly buzzed self into the right direction with some good advice, I’m gna wanna whip out my phone and seek counsel from the ol’ “Fixer Show”. All it would take would be the footage of the guys the morning after in the “Shock” episode for me to say “Whoah, I better slow down on the drinking, I’m not trying to end up like that guy.” The ideal tool I would create would be widget based, geared towards cell phones that upon activation, would present a list of situations in big, bright buttons that you could push to activate. With scenarios like “First date”, “Frat Party”, “Big Night”, “Hangover”, each would come equipped with their very own form of advice on how to properly maneuver through the situation, or in the case of “hangover”, how to get over it as pain free as possible. Shoot, I might even make a reference or two to the Axe products, saying that a nice warm (or cold) shower with the power of Axe.

Why take advice from the Fixer Show?

So we’ve discussed some of the features axe’s website contains, more specifically, their show aptly named “The Fixer Show”. With all its great advice and knowledge on how to avoid potentially disastrous situations, there are still some out there that are asking themselves, “that’s great and all, but why should I listen or even use this tool? How will this benefit my life?” My answer to all you doubters out there comes in the form of a question. In all those situations described, how many people do you know, friends or family, that would give you the honest advice you so desperately need in those great times of need? The way I see it, “The Fixer Show’s “advice is the best some of these guy out there are gonna get. Problems with constantly engaging in questionable hook-ups? There’s advice for that. Constantly waking up with a hangover, possibly in front of someone’s yard with the sprinklers hitting you? There’s advice for that. Always feeling like you never have enough energy come party time? Yep, advice for that too. So my challenge to all you out there that still haven’t considered trying out the tool on Axe’s page is this, give it a shot and see how much it could help you out during your night outings. See if the advice you acquired saves you from turning a potentially epic night into an awesomely embarrassing night, with pictures and maybe even video footage to prove it. Until next time, this is Stewie Griffin signing out, PEACE!!

Tools and Advice

Hola mis amigos, this is Stewie Griffin reporting to you after a nice and maybe a bit extended Spring break. Now, I’ve been looking over my old posts just to get back into the swing of things and I noticed a few things, aside from a few angry rants that seemed to go nowhere. I saw that while I listed some of the various issues that plague modern media in regards to how they have begun to portray men and women, but failed to give any ideas, advice or tools to help young men. There’s obviously been a great stride for women, as many of their roles have portrayed them as intelligent, powerful, and independent. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said in the case for men, with sitcoms frequently showing them as useless men unable to accomplish anything without goofing up. Add to the fact that most young boys are being raised by single mothers, and you now have a generation of boys being raised without a strong father figure. So while I cannot provide every adolescent with a male role model, the least I could do is offer some tools that could help point them in the right direction and maybe even give them some life lessons that mommy’s just would never be able to answer. That tool my friends, was none other, than Axe’s “The Fixer Show”.

Yes, I know that the site is one that sells deodorant and other similar products, but struck me about the site is how they market their products. They could have easily gone the way of Old Spice, Right Guard and other products by showing funny commercial guys could relate to, but Axe took it a step further by providing an interactive website that offers men advice on various topics, a la Men’s Heath or Maxim. There’s a link to Wikipedia where you can learn about the history of the company, a interactive video on how to “responsibly” use the sprays, youtube videos showing their most popular commercials, and finally, a fictional talk show called “The Fixer Show”. The Fixer Show is a fictional talk show, hosted by a young man in his 20’s who’s job he claims is to give advice to many of the guys out there who suffer from many of the common pitfalls many guys get themselves into.

The first episode deals with questionable hookups, where he begins to comically go down a list that includes “the geriatric”, “the girl with hairy armpits”, and the “girl with more muscles than you”, which he claims is sexy, until she has you pinned down and wants you to call her “Fred”. He goes on to explain how to avoid them and of course, in the event that a questionable hook-up does occur, he recommends that you use their product. The second episode discusses the lack of energy guys sometimes get, hinting more to the fact that it’s because they’re hung over. The hosts jokes about guys looking like old people, asking viewers when the last was that they saw a bunch of old people doing wild stuff, while walking across a panel of old people doing wild and crazy things. They then demonstrate what happens when you pass out at a party with your shoes on, a big no no in the world of college. The Third show goes on a bit on a random tangent about the Latin spirit and how white men should embrace it, as it would result in being more successful with women. The fourth and final episode that’s discussed deals with having to deal with the friends who tries to party to the extreme, only to end up complaining the next day about how much pain he’s in, causing you to have to babysit him. His hilarious take on how to properly deal with friends like this is something you gave to see.

tools for guys

Funny thing about attraction......

So I'm nearly finished with my essay, when it began to occur to me what the implications of my views might have on other people. It's a given that people with argue my perspective, as they would any side that dealt with attraction. Many feel that love is a special thing between two people while others look at it as merely an animalistic urge to reproduce with the opposite sex, something that's been hardwired into our bodies in order to insure the survival of our species. Regardless of how you look at the situation, there's still a mating game that needs to be played in order to attract a desired mate of the opposite sex. Call it courtship, call it "pick-up", the bottom line is that it still needs to be done, and it's a game that is constantly changing. With the status women possess in the 21st century, things that were once seen as desirable traits women looked for may not be as important. Many women have become financially independent but still seek someone to start a new family with. The stay at home father has slowly begun to be more desirable than the bread winning husband. So my question to those who have read my paper is this, how will this affect the way men and women present themselves to each other now that the stereotypical gender roles have begun to change?

What Do Women Want?

Ahhh the age old question, what do they want or to be more specific, what do they like in a man? The market that deals with this question is a multi-million dollar industry, as books, seminars, and more recently, “gurus” have begun to emerge, each with their own unique style, claiming that they are the ones who know the “true” answer to this question. Shows like the “Pick-up Artist” have spawned thousands of men who dedicate their lives to studying the art of “pick-up” so that they can master the skills necessary to get any girl they want. The debate over which style reigns superior draws many parallels to that of the debate over which martial art style is the best. But just as the popularity of any martial art depends on the skill of the fighter that represents it, the same can be said about any one of the “Venusian” arts a person decides to study under. For those of you who wonder where the hell I’m going with this, be patient as I shall soon arrive to my point. Overall, the two things that each venusian style tends to agree with, (maybe a tad too general) is that one must: 1) be unique from everyone else, whether it be by style of dress or by your personality and 2) avoid being the nice guy i.e. buying her drinks at the bar/club, complementing her looks right when you meet her, etc. Seems simple enough no? But from personal experience, I can testify that every new encounter I’ve had with a woman was unique and to a certain extent, had different opinions as to what they looked for or found attractive in a man. Now there’s a great debate on whether or not these certain favorable traits are universal worldwide or if they vary depending on your location and culture. This is something I’ll be researching in the days to come, but in the meantime, I was fortunate enough to have visited some clubs and “ultra lounges” over the weekend in Sacramento and while I was there, decided to conduct a little observational study of my own to see how women responded to various types of men.

On Friday night, we visited an ultra lounge called “Dream”. Very posh type of setting that seemed to attract an upscale type of crowd in the mid 20-40’s. We arrived pretty early so I was able to see who came in with a group and who came by themselves. The lounge had a separate area from the bar and dance floor where people could reserve a table and bottle service. I noticed that as the night went on, many women who either came in by themselves or in groups tended to hover around these areas while the dance floor seemed to be packed with men who came by themselves and men/women who came together as a group. The bar section was full of guys who came by themselves or in groups of 2-3. They seemed like they weren’t having a good time as they just stood around the edges of the dance floor, clutching their drinks and watching everyone else. One thing I noticed was that any man who seemed to have any kind of authority, whether it was the promoter, bouncers, managers or even men who seemed to know them pretty well had a pretty strong response from women, as many were either around them at all times or at their table.

Night 2 consisted of me and some friends walking around downtown Sacramento and visiting some of the bars, as St. Patty’s Day weekend was already in full swing. The bars we went to were more casual. The scene consisted of people enjoying the weekend with some friends and a couple of green beers (great beer btw). Many of the girls here seemed to enjoy hanging out with guys who seemed to be having the most fun in the bar. Compared to the quiet guys who were by themselves or seemed too shy to socialize with anyone, these guys seemed to be the lives of the party. Small drinking games, funny stories and a lot of laughter seemed to indicate that they were having a good time, which some of the women there seemed to notice. Again, I saw that going to a bar or club was not a good idea if you were a guy.

We visited a few more bars and clubs that night and a pattern that I began to notice was that regardless of your income or looks, if you appeared very relaxed and were having a good time with a group of friends, the chances of you meeting women were much better than if you just came by yourself, looking like you were just there hoping to “get lucky” with someone. It seemed as though the women were more relaxed around the “fun guys” because they came off as men who didn’t have any hidden agendas, they were there just to have fun.

The Topoi

Using the Topoi takes you down an interesting journey into topics you never thought you'd come across. In the beginning I felt I was going to simply be discussing the gender roles and how they were portrayed into the media, but as I began utilizing it, I began to stumble onto a more scientific topic that was already well into discussion. While I was writing my way in, I was wondering why these gender portrayals were beginning to be favored by the media. Was this what women considered attractive? It was here that I began to research what it was exactly that men and women considered to be attractive in each other. This was what I would call my "thesito", which is that attraction is relative to your culture or your location in which you live in. Many would argue that women are attracted to good looks or money, but could it be possible that we are missing the big picture? Could it be that the money (intelligence, being successful) the looks (feeling confident resulting in you carrying yourself better) all of these traits are the result of something bigger? These will be various topics that I will attempt to put my two cents in with the help of my sources. In the end, perhaps I could present a new perspective on how we view out levels of attraction towards people in various parts of the world.

Remix Pt. Deux

1)
Midterms are upon us! Like a plague of locusts that can be seen in the distance, looming over the horizon, teasing menacingly as they begin their approach and inevitable arrival to students’ classrooms. They will leave many with blank stares and papers as barren as fields they devoured; no one in the land of Academia is safe from their attack. For many, the task assigned is not an exam but rather, an essay. Alas! There is a glimmer of hope! Perhaps one could prepare, so when the time arrives, they shall be spared (That is my official rhyme for the day). In order to do this, I’ve begun finding my sources and giving them annotations, and on that note, I’ll begin with the first one.

Ridley, Matt. The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature Penguin (Non-Classics) (June 1, 1995)

In The Red Queen, Matt Ridley presents thought provoking ideas into why males and females engage in sex. In the biological sense, the obvious answer he claims deals with the fact of keeping the genes a step ahead of disease and ensuring that one’s genetic offspring survives to replicate in the future. But what he goes into even more, is to see why the male and female minds are wired differently in the realm of sexual attraction as well as why each sex is attracted to certain traits the other sex would have no interest in.

In the first few chapters, his methodical approach to human sexuality can be a little mind numbing. For those who trek past them will later come to appreciate his reason for cataloging the various categories that he deals with. He draws many parallels to animals in the sense that sex is a major driving force in evolution. He contends that behavior such as polygamy, infidelity, monogamy and sexual jealousy, all stem from this theory and can be explained from his ideas. In my field of study, this can prove to be useful because it allows me to look at various topics I am already studying from a different point of view. I can use his ideas to explain why women tend to want to settle down and raise a family with one kind of man; while on the other hand, they prefer partying and letting loose with another kind of man.

Dawkins, Richard. The Selfish Gene Oxford University Press, USA; 2 edition (October 25, 1990)

In his second book following Sperm Wars, Richard Dawkins’ The Selfish Gene talks about how biological organisms are merely the vehicles in which genes are using in order to replicate more favorable genes by way of passing them to the biological offspring. He is quoted as saying:

“Selfish", when applied to genes, doesn't mean "selfish" at all. It means, instead, an extremely important quality for which there is no good word in the English language: "the quality of being copied by a Darwinian selection process."

The way his material benefits my research is that it, once again, can be used to describe human behavior. He draws parallels between genes and human using other biological objects in order to further their survival by way of “selfishness”, or what Dawkins perspective of selfishness is.

2)
They say that sex sells and if that’s indeed the case as it seems to be, one must come to understand what it is that appeals to a man and a woman in order to apply it to a successful marketing strategy. With the help of these next few articles, I will attempt to contribute to an already ongoing and often hotly debated argument about what seems to make both genders tick in the realm of sexual attraction.
Dr. Nina Buar.

“Some Like Them Hot: How Germans Construct Male Attractiveness.” Technical University of Berlin (2006)

In this study, a group of women in Germany ranging from 16-92 years of age were tested to see what traits they felt were most desirable from men. They are presented a series of photos in order to determine physical attractiveness and they were also given a questionnaire asking them to rank certain qualities such as personality and level of income. What also comes into play here is how their culture plays a part in deciding what is considered attractive. Factors such as religion and upbringing she feels, is going to contribute to her test subjects decisions. Dr. Buar also touches on how media has played a role in deciding how the ideal German male should look and act.
It seems as though Dr. Buar’s goal is to determine how the media and German history have played a factor in deciding what an attractive male should be and look. Her methodology seems to be geared towards how much culture plays a part in how one defines attractiveness, which would explain why each culture has its own standards of beauty. In my field of research, it provides an excellent source of information in regards to a group outside of the United States. It provides me a glimpse of how some Europeans define beauty in comparison to America’s perception.

McCormick, Brian Emerson .Arousal in Social Context: “The Social Basis of Perceiving Others’ Erotic Relevance and Erotic Desirability” Rutgers University – New Brunswick (2002)


In Brian McCormick’s article, he attempts to solve the question of what it is that makes us desire one another and if the answer lies more than skin deep, what else is there. Throughout his essay, he explores the various factors of desire based on the writings of other scholars. His two conclusions are, as stated in his summary, are: “(1) erotically ir/relevant to the viewer and (2)
erotically un/desirable to the viewer.”

Similar to what I am attempting to do, his approach involves using comparative historical evidence in order to find a pattern and come to a conclusion. His work helps my research in the sense that it allows me to approach an idea from a different perspective. His entry is different from my other articles because he is attempting to examine male-female attractions on a grand scale rather than by just focusing on a particular culture or group.
Some of my other articles that I’ve chosen for my research topic include:

Oliver, Mary Beth. ”The impact of sex and gender role self-perception on affective reactions to different types of film” (Jan. 1998)

Gender Roles in Music Videos

Dawkins, Richard: The Selfish Gene: Oxford University Press, USA; 2 edition (October 25, 1990)


3)
I dunno about anyone else, but Pageflakes is a godsend in my opinion. I’ve just been introduced to a new site called Pageflakes.com and I have to say that it has to be one of the most productive and manageable websites one could have if he/she (as I’m sure plenty of women pay attention to my site haha) was to organize all of their favorite web pages into widgets onto one simple page. Rather than reading the newspaper in the morning, I could turn on my laptop, browse the top headlines of news sites from around the world, check my Facebook (because who really has a Myspace these days?), and even critique my blog, all on one page.


The first part I wanted to talk about was my universal search engines, one being a blog search engine, and the other, a kind of Google search application. By entering a key word like relationships, I can zero in on the latest news dealing with that specific topic. There’s a variety of topics that came up in the results. For example, an article dealing with a survey taken in colleges back east revealed that when it came to one night stands, looks over personality were preferred by women. With much of my interests in gender portrayals in the media and attraction between the sexes, it’s good to have a tool that will keep you up to date on the latest topics. I also have my bookmark widget set up called citeulike.com, that contained all of my Zotero bibliographies so all I have to do is click on the widget and presto, my citations are all listed. The second part of my widgets deals with the mainstream media. News articles like the New York Times, The Washington Post, MSNBC, and even BBC news allow me to see the latest research articles they publish on the sexes. Although many of them are consumed with the war in the Middle East, one should not rule them out as valuable sources of information. Topics on relationships may not appear immediately on the headlines, but I guarantee you, if you do a little bit of searching, there will be the occasional article that presents statistical information as well as polls on the sexes. I also chose BBC world news as a resource because I felt that I was important to have an outside world view on my topic, that way, my findings would not be biased to one country.

The next section I dedicated my pageflakes to was my RSS feeds. It’s important for me to keep up on my blogs that I followed the first few weeks I opened up shop with a blog of my own. With this tool, I’m able to follow Youngbucks’s rantings in New York as well as “the women’s view of feminism”. I was able to create an RSS feed for my social bookmarking soul mate “Ozonethegreat206”. I can now follow all of his bookmarking and see what articles he posts that could assist me in my field of study. A cool little feature pageflakes has allows you to add as many RSS feeds as you want. I did this for many of the blogs I already follow and mentioned in my previous posts. And yes ladies and gentleman, as shallow as it sounds, I included the blog of your’s truly onto my page. I know, how egotistical of myself. Moving on to my other widgets, I decided that it would be important to have a couple women blogs that dealt with relationship advice. Why, you ask? Because I feel that it is important to see from a women’s point of view what they consider as attractive, as well as how they perceive men. One article I found was called “http://womeneed.blogspot.com/2008/06/successful-relationships-tips.html”.Gossip blogs demonstrates what the media decides to focus on, but provided little on relationships. Feminist blogs were also a powerful tool in observing how the other side of the spectrum observed certain situations involving men. So there you have it. It’s still brand new, but over time, I’ll be smoothing it out and maybe adding a few more widgets. I’ll keep you updated on anything interesting I find on the way. Until next time, this is Stewie Griffin signing out, PEACE!!

Pageflakes

I dunno about anyone else, but Pageflakes is a godsend in my opinion. I’ve just been introduced to a new site called Pageflakes.com and I have to say that it has to be one of the most productive and manageable websites one could have if he/she (as I’m sure plenty of women pay attention to my site haha) was to organize all of their favorite web pages into widgets onto one simple page. Rather than reading the newspaper in the morning, I could turn on my laptop, browse the top headlines of news sites from around the world, check my Facebook (because who really has a Myspace these days?), and even critique my blog, all on one page. Oh, and did I mention that all of this was free? Because I felt that it’s so awesome, I decided to give you guys a tour of my very own page flakes.

The first part I wanted to talk about was my universal search engines, one being a blog search engine, and the other, a kind of Google search application. By entering a key word like relationships, I can zero in on the latest news dealing with that specific topic. With much of my interests in gender portrayals in the media and attraction between the sexes, it’s good to have a tool that will keep you up to date on the latest topics. The second part of my widgets deals with the mainstream media. News articles like the New York Times, The Washington Post, MSNBC, and even BBC news allow me to see the latest research articles they publish on the sexes. Although many of them are consumed with the war in the Middle East, one should not rule them out as valuable sources of information. Topics on relationships may not appear immediately on the headlines, but I guarantee you, if you do a little bit of searching, there will be the occasional article that presents statistical information as well as polls on the sexes. I also chose BBC world news as a resource because I felt that I was important to have an outside world view on my topic, that way, my findings would not be biased to one country.

The next section I dedicated my pageflakes to was my RSS feeds. It’s important for me to keep up on my blogs that I followed the first few weeks I opened up shop with a blog of my own. With this tool, I was able to reate an RSS feed for my social bookmarking soulmate “Ozonethegreat206”. I can now follow all of his bookmarking and see what articles he posts that could assist me in my field of study. A cool little feature pageflakes has allows you to add as many RSS feeds as you want. All you have to do is upload the blog’s website and presto, you now have a widget version of the blog, available for reference whenever necessary. I did this for many of the blogs I already follow and mentioned in my previous posts. And yes ladies and gentleman, as shallow as it sounds, I included the blog of your’s truly onto my page. I know, how egotistical of myself. Moving on to my other widgets, I decided that it would be important to have a couple gossip and women blogs on my page. Why, you ask? Because I feel that it is important to see from a women’s point of view what they consider as attractive, as well as how they perceive men. Gossip blogs demonstrates what the media decides to focus on. An example for this week is the Rhianna, Chris Brown scandal. Apparently, despite the beatings, she has decided to get back with him. We can also see how they felt about that decision, as the blogger claimed to be outraged, saying that it would demonstrate her acceptance of domestic abuse.

So there you have it. It’s still brand new, but over time, I’ll be smoothing it out and maybe adding a few more widgets. I’ll keep you updated on anything interesting I find on the way. Until next time, this is Stewie Griffin signing out, PEACE!!

Annotations pt. 2

They say that sex sells and if that’s indeed the case as it seems to be, one must come to understand what it is that appeals to a man and a woman in order to apply it to a successful marketing strategy. With the help of these next few articles, I will attempt to contribute to an already ongoing and often hotly debated argument about what seems to make both genders tick in the realm of sexual attraction.

Dr. Nina Buar. “Some Like Them Hot: How Germans Construct Male Attractiveness.” Technical University of Berlin (2006)

In this study, a group of women in Germany ranging from 16-92 years of age were tested to see what traits they felt were most desirable from men. They are presented a series of photos in order to determine physical attractiveness and they were also given a questionnaire asking them to rank certain qualities such as personality and level of income. What also comes into play here is how their culture plays a part in deciding what is considered attractive. Factors such as religion and upbringing she feels, is going to contribute to her test subjects decisions. Dr. Buar also touches on how media has played a role in deciding how the ideal German male should look and act.
It seems as though Dr. Buar’s goal is to determine how the media and German history have played a factor in deciding what an attractive male should be and look. Her methodology seems to be geared towards how much culture plays a part in how one defines attractiveness, which would explain why each culture has its own standards of beauty. In my field of research, it provides an excellent source of information in regards to a group outside of the United States. It provides me a glimpse of how some Europeans define beauty in comparison to America’s perception.

McCormick, Brian Emerson .Arousal in Social Context: “The Social Basis of Perceiving Others’ Erotic Relevance and Erotic Desirability” Rutgers University – New Brunswick (2002)

In Brian McCormick’s article, he attempts to solve the question of what it is that makes us desire one another and if the answer lies more than skin deep, what else is there. Throughout his essay, he explores the various factors of desire based on the writings of other scholars. His two conclusions are, as stated in his summary, are: “(1) erotically ir/relevant to the viewer and (2)
erotically un/desirable to the viewer.”
Similar to what I am attempting to do, his approach involves using comparative historical evidence in order to find a pattern and come to a conclusion. His work helps my research in the sense that it allows me to approach an idea from a different perspective. His entry is different from my other articles because he is attempting to examine male-female attractions on a grand scale rather than by just focusing on a particular culture or group.

Some of my other articles that I’ve chosen for my research topic include:

Oliver, Mary Beth. ”The impact of sex and gender role self-perception on affective reactions to different types of film” (Jan. 1998)

Gender Roles in Music Videos

Dawkins, Richard: The Selfish Gene: Oxford University Press, USA; 2 edition (October 25, 1990)

Anntonations

Midterms are upon us! Like a plague of locusts that can be seen in the distance, looming over the horizon, teasing menacingly as they begin their approach and inevitable arrival to students’ classrooms. They will leave many with blank stares and papers as barren as fields they devoured; no one in the land of Academia is safe from their attack. For many, the task assigned is not an exam but rather, an essay. Alas! There is a glimmer of hope! Perhaps one could prepare, so when the time arrives, they shall be spared (That is my official rhyme for the day). In order to do this, I’ve begun finding my sources and giving them annotations, and on that note, I’ll begin with the first one.

Ridley, Matt. The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature Penguin (Non-Classics) (June 1, 1995)

In The Red Queen, Matt Ridley presents thought provoking ideas into why males and females engage in sex. In the biological sense, the obvious answer he claims deals with the fact of keeping the genes a step ahead of disease and ensuring that one’s genetic offspring survives to replicate in the future. But what he goes into even more, is to see why the male and female minds are wired differently in the realm of sexual attraction as well as why each sex is attracted to certain traits the other sex would have no interest in.

In the first few chapters, his methodical approach to human sexuality can be a little mind numbing. For those who trek past them will later come to appreciate his reason for cataloging the various categories that he deals with. He draws many parallels to animals in the sense that sex is a major driving force in evolution. He contends that behavior such as polygamy, infidelity, monogamy and sexual jealousy, all stem from this theory and can be explained from his ideas. In my field of study, this can prove to be useful because it allows me to look at various topics I am already studying from a different point of view. I can use his ideas to explain why women tend to want to settle down and raise a family with one kind of man; while on the other hand, they prefer partying and letting loose with another kind of man.

Dawkins, Richard. The Selfish Gene Oxford University Press, USA; 2 edition (October 25, 1990)

In his second book following Sperm Wars, Richard Dawkins’ The Selfish Gene talks about how biological organisms are merely the vehicles in which genes are using in order to replicate more favorable genes by way of passing them to the biological offspring. He is quoted as saying:

“Selfish", when applied to genes, doesn't mean "selfish" at all. It means, instead, an extremely important quality for which there is no good word in the English language: "the quality of being copied by a Darwinian selection process."

The way his material benefits my research is that it, once again, can be used to describe human behavior. He draws parallels between genes and human using other biological objects in order to further their survival by way of “selfishness”, or what Dawkins perspective of selfishness is.

A word on commercials

I was on The Rantings of A Young Man in A Feminized Society the other day when I came across an interesting post that dealt with commercials. What fascinated me was the fact that it was this very same thing that got me started on looking into the topic of feminism and how it has begun being implemented on television, but mainly on commercials. I agree with what he was talking about when he mentioned the fact that many of the commercials seem to pressure or even put a guilt trip on men to go out and buy materialistic things for their women, as if that's going to prove your love for her. I remember listening in my car to a radio commercial from a jeweler who was claiming to be the listener's "feminine side" and that "we need to talk. Your woman is special and it's time you show her how special she is." The 30 second commercial proceeds to pound the guilt trip into the listener until he begins questioning himself and decides that he needs to buy something in order to prove his love, "starting at $3500 dollars". The thing that always makes me laugh is the fact that there aren't nearly as many commercials telling women to buy their man gifts. I can't remember the last time the wife hops over the couch surprising the husband with tickets to a ball game or something like that. I wonder why that is? Hmmmmmm.....

Social Bookmarking Soulmates

Alas I’m free! Never more will I have to write in Spanish, with my mind working overtime to translate every word that I call forward onto the paper, no! The words can flow freely now like a damn that has succumbed to the relentless pressure, hahahaha….well…at least until my next Spanish exam and mini essay, but in the meantime, I will take full advantage of my current situation by bringing you yet another informative post by yours truly, Stewie Griffin. Now, considering the fact that Valentine’s Day has come and gone, I was unfortunately unable to provide you with any advice in regards to what to do and what not to do around that special someone, that is unless you’d like to bookmark it and refer to it next year. If this is the case, feel free to drop me a comment or email and I’ll happily provide you with all the tips and tricks required to just that. In the meantime, I have something special that may interest those who’d like to meet people that share similar interests, yet at the same time aren’t exactly the most social butterflies out there. Ladies and gentleman, I give you….Social Bookmarking Soul Mates.

So what’s up with Social Bookmarking Soul Mates? Sounds kinda creepy and bit stalkerish, but have no fear, in time it just might end up growing on you. The way it works is you log onto a social bookmarking site like Digg, Delicious, or Furl and begin looking up specific tags or bookmarks that cater to your interests like baseball, politics, fishing, whatever, you get my point. Then, once you find what you’re looking for, you look to see who posted that specific article or web page. From here you can click on their name and search around their profile to see what other interests they have. This, my friends, is where the magic happens. Although subtle at first, your pulse begins to quicken as you begin to realize how many articles on Deep Sea Marlin Fishing they’ve come across. Your pupils begin to dilate as you see how similar both your points of views are on the war overseas. You begin to feel that they just might be the one and in a leap of faith you….decide to leave them a comment saying how cool they are that their into _____ because so are you and in the future you’ll be keeping an eye on their profile to see what kinds of things they come across, and that they should also follow yours as well.

Ok, so I’ll admit it’s not the most romantic thing one can do during Valentine’s Day, but for those other 364 (365 during leap year) days, a tool like this could prove to be very useful when researching projects. Ahhh see? You knew sooner or later I was gonna tie it back to how it could be applied to blogging, I couldn’t help it. With something like this, you could say goodbye to spending hours searching media outlets for specific articles and instead, streamline your interests by setting up specific tags and bookmarking articles for future references. One person I came across with just a few minutes of browsing was a man by the name of “Ozonethegreat206”. On his profile, his articles were neatly organized by way of tags. Each specific tag harbored 1-10 articles on that specific topic, making it very convenient to find the articles I found interesting. I also saw other interests that he had such as how to take online guitar lessons and even tips on how to increase comments posted on your blog. Overall, he seemed like a pretty cool person and I would definitely look him up if I needed any more articles on feminism in the media.

Blogoooooooramaaa!!

I thought I'd give ya'll a lil remix of the last few posts I've put up these last couple of weeks. Call me lazy or uncreative, but it is what it is, enjoy!

1)
A few nights ago, I attended the Laugh Factory for the first time. I was surprised at the talent that I heard would be drop by unexpectedly and just kill the audience. You never knew when people like Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, or Dane Cook, love him or hate em, would perform. Unfortunately, this was not one of those nights. The talent was good, the food was better, and as long as the drinks kept coming, I was a happy camper. As I sat there listening to the routines, I noticed a similar trend in jokes that never seem to get old with the crowd….relationships. Ah yes, when in doubt, bust out the marriage routines. One by one, each comedian would whine about how much his marriage sucked or how his kids hated him because he could never do anything right, further dwindling himself into self-deprecation to the enjoyment of the audience. Now granted, this was a comedy club, so of course they’re going to put themselves down in order to get a few laughs, but what I’ve begun to notice, the issue I will be talking about in my blog, is the increasing trend in not only comedy clubs, but in mainstream media itself where men have begun to be portrayed as dim-witted idiots who are completely submissive and lack any kind of spine that would allow for them to stand up for themselves.

Turn on the TV and watch any primetime show or commercials and you will see it. Shows like “Everybody Loves Raymond” or “The King of Queens”, featuring the husband who every episode gets an earful from the wife, often ending with her giving him an ultimatum of succumbing to what she wants done or if not, denying him sex. Commercials are especially what caught my attention to this issue. There are too many to list but if you watch closely, many of them will present it in a kind of way where the male is childish figure while the female who may be his wife or girlfriend, is the motherly figure who knows best and any attempt to see things differently from them usually results in her referring to him as “silly”. KFC had a great example of this where two grown businessmen were sitting in a stroller crying like babies because they hadn’t eaten yet. Suddenly, the wife appears with a chicken sandwich, talking to them in baby talk saying “awwww, there you go, is that much better?” The two men react by hopping up and down in their seats clapping their hands wildly. Now let’s think about this for a second, what kind of message is this conveying? The way I see it, it sends the message that men have begun to lose their sense of self-reliance and one could even say that it puts women in a negative light by conveying the fact that women are still in charge of feeding their husbands.

Now much of this may sound like it’s no big deal. We’re all grown men and women; we understand that it’s an attempt at humorous marketing or an attempt to liven up a sitcom, right? Yes, but what happens when these stereotypes begin to be portrayed in children's shows? What kinds of messages are we sending to our children about what is considered “ok” and “normal”? How is this going to affect their behavior towards others when they grow up? Will young girls see that it’s ok to treat people in this fashion and more importantly, will young boys allow themselves to be treated that way? Over the next few months, I will be discussing these issues and the effects they may or may not have on our next generation of young men and women, as well as any articles that deal with this issue. Till then, this Stewie Griffin signing out on his first official post, peace!


2) Hey ya’ll, I’m back again to educate as well as entertain you readers out there in cyberspace by bringing you some blogs I’ve come across lately that you just might find intriguing. I’ll have to admit, at first I felt that I was going to be alone in this endeavor, but as I began to look around for blogs that shared similar interests in my subject, I was pleasantly surprised to discover how many were out there. Most of these blogs focused on men’s rights as well as exposing the attempts to feminize the males in society, something I’ll be discussing in great detail. Of course there were some out there whose goal it seemed to be about bashing women rather than examining the bigger picture, that is, how the media is playing a large part in influencing men how to act. Let it be known that my blog is not about that. I am a believer in gender equality, which is why I feel it is important to bring attention to the shift in gender roles and how men are beginning to be viewed by the media and ultimately, by society itself in a negative way. Many will disagree of course and claim that it’s merely society’s way of poking fun at how “all” men tend to act, very similar to how we men tend to be accused of grouping women into one kind of stereotype. I welcome all opinions, male or female. I was pleasantly surprised on how many points of views I came across, and just to make sure I wasn’t referring to an all male group of bloggers, I came across some that were even from women who felt that feminism had come and gone and that there was no need to bring it back. She felt that once it had passed, many women still enjoyed taking care of the household, while only a small group was left feeling like their rights or representation had failed to be met. In the end, I decided to go with another blog that seemed more provocative and one that left me thinking differently about how I viewed feminism in society.

So the blog that I decided upon was titled "What Men Are Saying About Women". Despite the fact that is posts are few and far in between, with only 10 posts in 2008 and only 1 in 2007, the writer “Percy Anvil”, discusses in rich detail many topics about feminism in mainstream society, usually by examining news articles from the U.S and the U.K. as well as various videos dealing with women. His writings seem to be more academically geared rather than professionally, with an audience being catered obviously more to men than women, similar to what I am attempting, except for the fact that I will be posting more frequently. His posts are at times controversial, but I suppose that's what’s expected when one deals with the topic of feminism. Regardless of what side you’re is on, you’re bound to disagree with some of his points, which I think makes it such an interesting topic to discuss, but anyway, there doesn’t seem to be as many posts as I thought there might be for one who seems so outspoken on the topic. Perhaps he decided to call it quits, or is just out there somewhere gathering his thoughts. Either way, he needs to hurry it up and post some more! Two of the more interesting posts that I found on his blog involved one that dealt with single mothers’ children being responsible for 70% crime rate and the other on the statistics between male and female valedictorians. Overall, his blog seems as much informative as it is entertaining and I’ll be looking forward to his future posts. I encourage everyone to check it out, as it should keep ya’ll entertained while I continue scouring the web for some other juicy blogs. Till next time, Stewie Griffin has left the building, peace!


3)"We write frankly and fearlessly but then we 'modify' before we print."
- Mark Twain, Life on the Mississippi

It's interesting how over time, the reader can get to know the character of the writer or people in which they speak of through complex sentence styles, metaphors, and figures of speech. We can begin to construct an image of a person. We can come to understand the values for which they stand for, the type of hobbies and activities they enjoy partaking in and even the age of the writer based on the kinds of pop culture references they talk about or use as an example. In the world of blogging, I feel the various writers have begun to exemplify the first half of Mark Twain's quote, while the latter has begun to fall by the wayside, thanks to the anonymity of the internet. One can no longer feel accountable for what he or she says. Despite the fact that it can be both a positive and a negative thing, I see it from the perspective that one can now freely express his/her views without any personal censorship. In regards to my topic, it can be at times a touchy subject. It's the kind of topic that if discussed in a classroom or at a party, it would no doubt result in a heated debate between the sexes. As a result, many people remain quiet, despite possibly being well informed on the subject, due to social pressure. That is why blogging is such a wonderful tool. It allows those who we'd never expect to be so outspoken on a particular topic to express their views in a way that may or may not contrast sharply with their public persona.

When one comes across Youngbuck's "The Rantings of A Young Man In A Feminized Society", the voice you hear is exactly the one his blog title describes. He's a man in his mid 20s who see's the world a bit differently than most people might, perhaps in a George Carlin kinda way; by that I mean in the similar fashion of how Carlin felt the government or media was having too much influence on how we dress and live our lives. He brings to attention in his trademark style of rants full of exclamation points, things he observes in his workplace, from issues such as dress codes biases to articles he finds on domestic violence .He seems confused as to why men decide to marry when he feels that the warning signs are all around us. I agree with many of his points and at times also feel just as frustrated with the way men allow themselves to be treated as doormats. You get a feel of what he stands for and the kind of family he grew up around when he comically discusses going to his cousin’s house for Christmas in, "Are you on the down low?".

"I haven't seen you with anyone since you left that China girl." (She refers to my ex-girlfriend who is Filipina as a China girl, even though she knows her name and knows she's not Chinese".

I laugh, because I can relate to having family members question me on the holidays about whom I'm seeing and whether or not am I going to bring them around to the family. His style at times changes to a more sarcastic and even comical approach, almost as if to give the reader a break from the emotionally charged posts. I feel his wild style of writing and commentary is more than enough to keep me reading his blogs in the future and I encourage you to do the same. Well, it seems like my laundry is almost done, so I better wrap it up. Until next time, this is Stewie Griffin signing off, peace!

Social Bookmarking

So what’s in a Social Bookmarking site? For the amateur web surfer (do we still use that phrase, or is it just me?) who may stumble across one might not at first be sure what their looking at. Various articles covering a wide spectrum of topics ranging from world news and scientific breakthroughs, to the more entertainment related issues like celebrity gossip or random hilarious photos and videos. To the casual reader, it does feel like a one stop spot for all your entertainment needs. For the more frequent internet user, he/she realizes the usefulness of such websites. With social bookmarking sites, one can “tag” specific words of phrases so that in the future, any topic, news article, or image that has those words attached to it will automatically be presented the next time you log onto the site, thus eliminating unwanted articles. In the field of research, this for me has become quite a godsend. Rather than sifting through dozens or even hundreds of articles, I can go straight to the ones I’m interested in, as has been the case in my blog topic of feminism in the mainstream media. One website I’ve used for quite a while with a lot of success is Digg.

Although Digg may not be quite the social bookmarking site as, say Delicious or StumbleUpon, it’s proven to be quite helpful when it comes to searching for articles on various topics. If I need a cartoon or image dealing with technology or politics, at the top there’s a row of options you can choose from to narrow down your topic. From there, you type in a word or two that you’re looking for and before you know it, you’ve found what you’re looking for. Here’s a good example, the other day I came across an interesting article while on Digg that dealt with a woman’s point of view on the negative side of feminism. Let’s say I found the topic interesting and want to find similar information. By clicking on the comment section, I can see what category this article came from as well as what the top articles are in that category, according to how many people have read them. From here I found a study that claimed women respond to more masculine faces compared to those who feminized. I could go on about other articles I found, but I think you get the point; Digg is an excellent tool for your researching as well as your blogging needs.

I encourage others out there who may be interested in deciding to blog but are having difficulty choosing a topic to blog on. With so many topics and categories to choose from, it shouldn’t be long before you come across something you find interesting and can blog about, as well as referencing the articles you come across. I was also surprised how much easier it was to find articles that dealt with the topic of feminism in the mainstream media. A lot of the other websites didn’t really have that much to offer in that area which was why I was really drawn to using Digg as a social bookmarking tool.

Personalities through writing

"We write frankly and fearlessly but then we 'modify' before we print."
- Mark Twain, Life on the Mississippi

It's interesting how over time, the reader can get to know the character of the writer or people in which they speak of through complex sentence styles, metaphors, and figures of speech. We can begun to construct an image of a person. We can come to understand the values for which they stand for, the type of hobbies and activities they enjoy partaking in and even the age of the writer based on the kinds of pop culture references they talk about or use as an example. In the world of blogging, I feel the various writers have begun to exemplify the first half of Mark Twain's quote, while the latter has begun to fall by the wayside, thanks to the anonymity of the internet. One can no longer feel accountable for what he or she says, and although that can be both a positive and a negative thing, I see it as a good thing that we can get to see how one truly feels about a certain topic and can express his/her views freely. In regards to my topic, it can be at times a touchy subject. It's the kind of topic that if discussed in a classroom or at a party, it would no doubt result in a heated debate between the sexes. As a result, many people remain quiet, despite possibly being well informed on the subject due to social pressure. That is why blogging is such a wonderful tool. It allows those who we'd never expect to be so outspoken on a particular topic to express their views in a way that may or may not contrast sharply with their public persona.

When one comes across Youngbuck's "The Rantings of A Young Man In A Feminized Society", the voice you hear is exactly the one his blog title describes. He's a man in his mid 20s who see's the world a bit differently than most people might, perhaps in a George Carlin kinda way, by that I mean in the similar fashion of how Carlin felt the government or media was having too much influence on how we dress and live our lives. He brings to attention in his trademark style of rants, full of explamation points, things he observes in his workplace, such as dress codes biases to articles he finds on domestic violence He seems confused as to why men decide to marry when he feels that the warning signs are all around us. I agree with many of his points and at times also feel just as frustrated with the way men allow themselves to be treated as doormats. You get a feel of what he stands for and the kind of family he grew up around when he comically discusses going to his cousins house for Christmas, "Are you on the down low?".

"I haven't seen you with anyone since you left that China girl." (She refers to my ex-girlfriend who is Filipina as a China girl, even though she knows her name and knows she's not Chinese".

I laugh, because I can relate to having family members question me on the holidays about who I'm seeing and when am I going to bring them around to the family. His style changes at times to a more sarcastic an at times comical approach almost as if to give the reader a break from the emotionally charged posts.