Lauren's American Dream View more presentations from lauren3895. Continue reading

It seems like in the past year everyone's been talking about The Help. It was nominated for four Academy Awards, and Octavia Spencer won for best supporting actress. The most obvious themes in the movie are centered around race and class, and the film, while garnering mostly positive review, has received criticism for using racial Hollywood stereotypes like "Mammy". While it's not really gotten a lot of attention for its focus on women, the film also has a lot to say about gender roles and stereotypes. If you haven't seen it, The Help centers around the lives of two women... Continue reading

After browsing fbomb, I came across an article that discussed the common practice of men paying for women's meals, drinks, tickets, etc. The author of "Let Me Buy You Dinner" claims that by refusing to be paid for, she is keeping her self-respect and working towards her life's goal: "I won't be lulled into just settling down with someone exceptional- I am going to be exceptional." While most of us don't think much of the men-paying-for-dinner ritual, she describes it as a "twisted tradition". While I agree that the origins of this tradition came from a sexist environment where women... Continue reading

Amazing books often come with highly anticipated movies that rarely measure up. This disappointment isn't always caused by a poorly written screenplay or bad production; it is just impossible to recreate the individual and unique experience a good book gives each of its readers. As readers, we create the scenes as we read, and it's unlikely that the movie director will have the exact same vision in his/her mind. Also, reading a book gives the readers more time to connect, invest in, and get to know the characters. By the time we actually see our favorite character on screen our... Continue reading

To give some background, Buckwheat was a character in a series called Our Gang (Little Rascals) that ran from 1934-1944. The "Buckwheat" character was subject to controversy in later years because it contained elements of the "Sambo" or "Jim Crow" stereotypes. Eddie Murphy made a series of Buckwheat videos in the 1980's. He appears as an adult Buckwheat and highlights the issues with the Buckwheat character. This video appeared on SNL and uses parody and hyperbole to make fun of and criticize the Buckwheat character. Eddie Murphy uses parody by imitating Buckwheat's hair, clothing, characteristics, etc. He uses hyperbole to... Continue reading

Race is a very important issue in America and is used to define and categorize people. In many ways, race is a social construction based on the dominant stereotypes of a culture. This is seen all the time in culture, whether in a stand up comedy routine, movie, song, or TV show like Saturday Night Live. While many people to take a humorous approach to dealing with race issues, race has more effect on people than just portraying them in a stereotypical light on TV. Race comes up in important national issues like education, crime, gang violence, immigration, and affirmative... Continue reading

I found The Scarlet Letter's ending to be extremely satisfying- especially when I read about the deaths of Dimmesdale and Chillingworth. I was not a fan of either of them, so it seemed right for them to die in the end while Hester and Pearl went on to live. After thinking about it a little, though, I began to wonder: Was it 'fair' or 'right' for them both to die? Chillingworth: Chillingworth showed very few redeeming qualities throughout the novel. In the beginning, we heard a little bit of his former self: the quiet scholar. Other than that, though, Chillingworth... Continue reading

While reading The Scarlet Letter, I have been consistently surprised (and a little confused) by the names of the characters. At first, I thought that the names must have been common for the time period. Upon further reflection, however, I think that the names could be representative of the natures of their owners... Hester Prynne: I couldn't get anything from Hester, but "Prynne" does rhyme with sin, and Hester's role in the book is definitely sinful by Puritan standards. Roger Chillingworth: Does the "chilling" in Chillingworth have anything to do with his character? So far he doesn't seem too bad,... Continue reading

Romeo and Juliet is well known for being a very romantic play. However, while it dying for the one you love is certainly romantic, Romeo and Juliet also has several characteristics of Romanticism/Transcendentalsim. Strong Emotion: Clearly, Romeo and Juliet feel some pretty strong emotions for each other. They are willing to sacrifice their family life to be with each other. Romeo even chooses death before life without Juliet. That is certainly a decision based more on feeling than reason. Power of imagination: This isn't made as clear in the play, but it is definitely implied that Romeo and Juliet are... Continue reading

Okay, not exactly. This post isn't about female stereotypes, but it is about the notion of being completely clean/pure or very dirty/used. This time, we see it in advertising. Kleenex is using a false dichotomy to promote their newest disposable hand towels. While these towels are probably more sanitary than re-using a cloth towel, that doesn't mean that the the disposable towel is completely sterile and a cloth one is infested with germs. This is a great example of an "either/or" logical fallacy. Continue reading

Mad Men is a period drama featuring the American business world in the 1960's. The show is immensly popular across many generations and shows a different way of American life that many young people have never experienced. While the show is entertaining and well written, it in many ways romanticizes an era in which sexism and drug/alcohol use were widely accepted. The show, which ironically centers around advertising, is giving consumers an idealized view of the 1960s. Sexism is a prevalent theme in Mad Men but is never really brought to the surface by writers or seen as a major... Continue reading

When seeing this currently airing Tide commercial, I was immediately offended. The reasons are obvious: Why should girls have to wear pink? Why can't they play with blocks? Why are we pushing gender roles on such young children? The commercial seems so overtly sexist and dated that I was distracted from what Tide may have been trying to do. After re-watching this commercial, I realized that Tide may be making fun of this stereotypical perfectionist housewife. The elaborately decorated living room, the pink cardigan, sensible haircut; it all fits. Is this commercial trying to present satire? If so, I don't... Continue reading

Here are some reasons I think Obama's speech was so effective: Right off the bat, Obama gets the viewers on his side. By downplaying the political significance of the speech, he is making his mission clear: Obama wants to help hard-working and responsible, yet jobless, Americans. How kind and selfless of him. Obama is also throwing around a lot of terms that once “defined” the American job situation: hard work, responsibility, fairness, loyalty, decent salary, good benefits, etc… He even goes as far to say that, in those days, if you did the “right thing” you could make it in... Continue reading