Feminist Frequency

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnJxqRLg9x0

For my video I choose one concerning the issue of the Straw Feminist, a strangely hurtful character trope found in many TV shows and movies, even ones I hold dear to my heart, such as Rugrats and Powerpuff Girls.

In this video, we learn about the Straw Feminist. It is a trope were a female character who strongly believes women's rights and other feminist issues, is constantly seen as a nag or put-down. Examples are included in a such popular shows as Family Guy and The Powerpuff Girls. In Family Guy episode, I am Peter, Hear me Roar, Peter Griffin is tricked by a feminist attorney into thinking he is a woman. The attorney in question is based on famous feminist, Gloria Altright, crudely named, Gloria Ironbox. In The Powerpuff Girls episode, Equal Fights, the girls fight a feminist super-villain who manipulates them into seeing inequality everywhere they go. The video ends with Anita saying that this trope is set up to discourage feminist issues and give a negative spine on feminists.

While this video has some good points, there are many faults. At certain points, it feels like Anita is attacking none-existent monsters and search for flaws that aren't there. For instance, she mentioned South Park and the character of Wendy Testaburger as an example. Wendy in the show as a positive character, a strong and intelligent female, smarter then Kyle even. In the episode in question of Family Guy was meant to satirize certain aspects of feminism and how work places tend to give special treatment to female workers over male workers, as Peter is in trouble for making a joke a female coworker didn't like. Even some of her examples from children's cartoon like Rugrats seems more innocent then what is given, how Phil and Lil's mom domineers her husband. It had some good points, but on the whole, the examples and research were poor.

Hegemony and the Justice League Trailer

Today, a trailer for Zack Snyder's Justice League (2017), staring Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill, was released. It was flashy, bright, and there seemed to be more jokes. Compare this to two other trailers for films in the DCEU (DC Extended Universe), that being Man of Steel (2013) and Batman V. Superman (2016), and your have a very different movie. Why is this?

The DCEU has not had great success critically. Upon their releases, Man of Steel received mixed reviews, while Batman V. Superman received negative reviews. These came not only from critics, but the audiences as well. Strangely, a lot of the critics and viewers had a similar complaint to these movies? The film's were too bleak. The dark scenes of the films contradicted with The overtly dark tones of the film's seemed to only put discomfort in many viewers, as both audiences and critics seemed to agree. Looking back at the trailers for Man of Steel and Batman V. Superman, the trailers were more serious and represented the dark tone of each movie. However, after the reaction for Batman V. Superman came out, DC scrambled to change. This was because the reception had begun to effect the film's box office returns. While both films were hits, they weren't the mega hits the studio was looking for, especially when trying to compete with those in the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe). Because of this, changes had to be made.

This started with Suicide Squad (2016), both the movie and the trailer. The first trailer for Suicide Squad was dark, slow, and serious in tone. However, the second trailer, realsed after Batman V. Superman, was more comically and colorful when compared to the first trailer. Reshoots for the film were also done, in order tof give it a more light hearted tone when compared to previous films in the series. Looking at the trailers for Wonder Woman (2017) and Justice League (2017), the trailers seem to be more light hearted and colorful in tone, as well as the overall films.

The Harry Potter Lightening Bolt

In J.K. Rowling's epic saga, Harry Potter, the titled protagonist a young wizard, is left a permanent scar on his forehead by his archenemy and the main antagonist of the series, Lord Voldemort. The scar is strangely in the shape of a lightening bolt. Some could write this off as just a neat little symbol, but knowing the symbolism and hidden meanings of the series, there is more to this symbol then meets the eye.

First off is the fact that it is in the shape of a lightening bolt. A lightening bolt has a long history in many cultures. It is seen mainly as a symbol of power and strength. Thor of Norse Mythology, is the God of Thunder. In Norse mythology, Thor has the ability to summon thunder and lightening at a whim. Similar to Thor, Zeus of Greek Mythology, who is the God of Olympus, has similar powers and abilities. Both these figures are symbols of power and strength within their cultures. This connects to the strength and power of Harry's character as well as wizards in general. As a wizard, Harry grows to become a talented and powerful wizard, destined to defeat Lord Voldemort. Although he takes his time, Harry, as well as the Wizards around, showcase tremendous power and strength through their magic.

Then there is the fact that it is a scar. Harry as a character has not had an easy life. His parents were murdered, he lives with abusic relatives, amd he sees constant horrors throughout the series. The scar also symbolizes Harry's constant struggle. He is scared in more way then one, and at the head of it all his Voldemort, the wizard that has caused Harry the most pain. The scar serves as a reminder to Voldemort, to his loss, and to all that he was suffered. It a scar in more ways then one.

Hegemony and The Gluten Free Diet

(image source)

 For this week's topic of Hegemony, I thought of diet and health trends that have become mainstream even if they are wholly irrelevant or potentially dangerous. I usually like to write my topics and blogs based on something I have a little bit of experience with, and I very easily remembered my struggle with the gluten-free diet. Allow me to regail you:

I chose to adopt a gluten-free lifestyle for nearly a decade through my teen years due to unidentified digestive issues. I had excruciating stomach pain coming on most strongly when I was about 13; I would lay sick in bed for a few days and when I began to feel better one of the things I would try to begin eating again was some toast or plain pasta. After a few cycles, my mother began to notice that I would quickly get sick again just after I had regained my appetite.

It was a terrible few months of this cycle, and my mother did a lot of research, finally finding a specific diet called the GFCF Diet that mostly pertained to children with Autism (my mother specializes in Autism spectrum education). This diet cut out all carbs, starch, grains, pretty much everything except for fruit, vegetables and water - no kidding! As my health improved after a few weeks of eating only raw simple sugar molecules, I slowly added back one foodgroup per week, waiting until I ate something that would make me ill and mark itself as my culinary enemy. Sure enough, it was bread, and having been going through hell for so long I was quickly persuaded into eliminating all grains from my diet (save for rice and potato). It was assumed that I had Celiac disease, which is an auto-immune disorder where your body believes gluten to be a foreign non-food substance and attacks its own digestive system.

At that time, gluten-free food was virtually unheard of. Go to a grocery store or restaraunt? They had never seen such a thing. Most people 15 years ago didn't even have a concept of what gluten was in the first place. My mother and I experimented with many terrible muffin and pancake recipes that called for ground almond meal, butter, and applesauce... yuck. Eventually we found a specialty store that had frozen gluten-free bread which was made from rice flour, it always came frozen and was very dry and crumbly (and expensive!).

The exact bread I used to get! (source)

Gluten-free has become a much bigger and more well-known trend, and truly a trend it is. Even after I finally felt that there was awareness about Celiac disease and began finding gluten-free products, I also soon realized that many people were eating gluten-free because they believed it was healthier for them - not because they would get violently ill if they ate it. I was rather miffed, that my struggle and pain had suddenly turned into the next Atkins diet. It made me want to be normal again, more than missing bread had done. There was evidence beginning to emerge that Celiac disease was even more rare to have than just being sensitive to gluten or feeling sick from a certain food. Celiac disease is a genetic auto-immune disorder, there was no way half the country had it! I began to doubt everything I had been through, and also began to cheat on my diet to test the boundaries.

I finally had a blood test done in 2012 to determine once and for all if I had the genetic marker for Celiac and it was negative. I had a perfect tolerance to gluten in foods and from a medical standpoint should not have ever had any issue eating bread. I happily went out and bought pizza and donuts and had a field day eating it and not getting sick at all! Though of course I still had many questions and my grievances with the diet hipsters were still burning strong. They would soon find out the truth:

Today there is very strong evidence against the gluten-free diet, because it is plainly and simply not necessary for the average person to worry about. It does not help one lose weight or reduce cholesterol or anything similar. Whether it was because of similar struggles like my own, or only because someone popularized it as the new "low-carb diet" there is now an abundance of gluten-free products available on store shelves, and in restaurants of all kinds. You can order a burger at Red Robin with a gluten-free bun, and there are boxes of gluten-free pasta and cake mixes in stores - things I only could dream about when I was 13! Most people buy these things without knowing any of the history of the movement at all, and without realizing that unless they have a medical sensitivity or Celiac disease, they could be saving a lot of time and money by sticking with normal foods that cost less and taste better - let's be honest, Gluten-free things will never ever taste the same as gluten-laden foods. I'm happy to be healthy again, and to eat as much cake as I want!

Mmmm donuts! (image source)

In this case, it was more the upper class part of society that deemed the Gluten-free diet trendy and made it inclusive, and it certainly takes a fair amount of money to be able to buy ready-made GF products off the shelf rather than making everything from scratch yourself, but it was essentially a minority that had the disease and needed the initial products. Only after someone created a fad out of the specialty food did it become mainstream, and now nobody really gives it a second thought that we have so many options for gluten-free alternatives (and other allergy-sensitive products) when 10 years ago nobody was talking about it. This conflicts with mainstream society because although fad diets have been around for centuries, its rare that a diet created out of medical necessity for a little-known auto-immune disorder becomes so wide-spread and the original meaning forgotten. Now the trouble only lies in properly educating those who see it as a fad diet instead of a medical necessity before it could potentially be a reverse health hazard for those choosing to not consume gluten when they really should be.

As we are all familiar this symbol is used in nearly every electronic device.

The symbol signification is the power symbol or standby symbol. Its signifier takes place as a circle with a line running through its arch. It signified by turning devices off and on or on standby without fully disconnecting the electronic. The symbol is actually a product of both the off symbol represented by “0” and the on by “1”. These symbols are universally recognized as symbols of on/off. I feel the myth that could be associated with this is that the devices are not truly off but only on standby and still reserve some energy in use.

Jordan Mania

The mass production of Jordan sneakers has been a on going conversation within the community of "Sneaker heads".  With Jordan sneakers you have the originals that were released while Michael Jordan was still in the NBA and the rereleases, which are a reproduction of the original. The most sought after Jordans are numbers 1-23, each design that originally released were given a number and then a name identified with, by a color (i.e Jordan 12 Playoffs or Jordan 7 Bordeaux) pictured below. Over the years the releases have included new colors that would not be considered original and more numbers to continue on with Michael Jordans legacy.

Jordan 12 Playoff via Flightclub.com




Picture via Flightclub.com

Over the past 7 years the demand for a pair of Jordans has risen, that has not gone un noticed by the Jordan Brand. Since the rise, they have started to release more pairs within a set release date. Prior to this, there would have been a set number on how many would be released in total, making them more valuable. You would not have found a pair on the shelves more than an hour after a Saturday 8 am release. People were willing to pair almost 5 times the amount paid for them at one point. Now you  can find pairs still on shelves weeks later because of the over producing and higher costs of a pair of Jordans.

This week a gesture that I'm going to talk about is winking. This gesture has been around for many years and some people take it in many ways. The wink is the facial expression made by briefly closing one eye and it is an informal mode of nonverbal communication usually signaling a shared hidden knowledge or intent. But if we look more into it winking can be flirty or friendly, but most commonly an inside joke between two people.

To break things down here, the Signification regarding the ‘wink’ is that it is called a wink as simple as that. As for the signifier for the wink it is a facial expression as I said earlier, made by briefly closing one eye and opening it. Going on, lastly as for what is signified are several things. Focusing on one, the main meaning/definition of the verb typically to indicate that something is a joke or secret. The wink is being used as a signal for this.

This week I'm going to talk about hand motion paper towel dispensers. The reason I'm going to talk about this is because many places have them. Going from hotels to restaurants pretty much any place that has a bathroom there is a hand motion paper towel dispenser. These dispensers are continually producing new versions of itself, there are many different brands regarding this. I guess we could say that distracts us from real world change because now we're just kind of used to things doing simple actions for us. Like simply getting your own paper towel rather than just waving your hand in front of it, automatic doors that open and close for us When entering and exiting stores. Not to mention the motion toilet flushing that is also in many places with a bathroom. 

This does socially cement people to the popular culture because I'm sure most of us know and have used a hand motion paper towel dispenser. Of course, this is a good invention, considering I could keep us from a lot of germs with the old-fashioned handle that you push up and down to get your paper towel. Although we could just take some paper towel with our hands but that just wouldn't seem normal in modern day.

After watching the damsel in distress part:1 tropes versus women in video games, The video speaks, for the most part on the way women are portrayed in video games, of course. She starts on speaking about a woman character by the name of Crystal who was a hero but unfortunately, we were never able to play the game because it wasn't the final draft we could say. The game is at its final draft and has been played but they have been some major changes. One being that Crystal, the female character is now no longer the main hero, but she is now the damsel in distress stuck in an ice crystal who needs to be saved by the new hero whom which is a man.

Crystal is in a different outfit which is much skimpier than when she was the main hero. 

This video has influenced my thinking on the particular area she was discussing in many different ways. One being that, woman and cultures I seem to be as weak physically, weak emotionally, although not so much weak mentally. These traits can Portray woman to be helpless, which plays a big part in the damsel in distress. And it is now known in my eyes, that women are in fact being 'robbed' at the chance to be heroes.

Barboza, David. "How China Built 'Iphone City" with Billions of Perks for Apples Partner." N.p., 29 Dec. 2016. Web. 8 Feb. 2017.

This article is about a hidden bounty of benefits about the production of apples most profitable product, the iPhone. In this article, we learn about Apple and how it's the world’s most valuable company's and one of China's largest retailers. It was said that the city of 6 million people in an impoverished region of China the factory there is owned and operated by apples manufacturing partner they go by the name of fox conn, they can produce 500,000 iPhones a day. We learn that the local government is doling out more than 1.5 billion iPhones to Foxconn. Although Apple came later than many other technology companies, it now generates nearly a quarter of its revenues from sales in China and has some of the fattest profit margins in the business. A 32 GB iPhone 7 cost an estimated $400 just to produce, yet it retails for roughly $650 in the US and Apple manages to earn 90% of the profits in the smart phone industry worldwide. There are many issues with in this situation. It doesn't make sense that there are thousands of phones being made a day in factories that are being sold for more than it cost to make. 

Sheriff Woody... the well-known cowboy Who stars in Disney's Toy Story sequences 1-3. Woody, he is a cowboy doll and favored most by his owner, Andy. Woody is a cowboy in many different ways that it cannot be denied. You can tell by woody appearance that he is a cowboy. He wears brown cowboy boots and a flannel with a cow printed vest, is it possible to be anymore “cowboy” like? Not to mention his famous phrases like "you're my favorite deputy "and "there's a snake in my boot!"

 It was said in the video that cowboys are adventure seekers and explorers. Sheriff Woody is most certainly a cowboy, considering these are the few traits Cowboys carry. Sheriff Woody is also white and a male, these are the "attributes of a cowboy" as stated in the video. Cowboys do not have to take place in the past, nor do they have to take place in the west. The setting of this movie does not take place in the West... nor does it take place in the past, but rather inside a modern-day toddler’s bedroom.

The Medical Cross

This week's lesson on semiology and symbols was very enlightening. As similarly as I am learning to take a step back and look at the "why" of enjoying video games or anime, I am now looking at different logos and signs used not only in pop culture but in every day life. I began to think about all the similar images used not just in America, but around the world, such as traffic signals that can be almost universally understood. Yet as I was searching for which one I'd like to examine more closely, I kept coming back to the universal symbol of medical personnel: the medical cross.

In America, the cross is usually synonymous with The Red Cross organization and as such is almost always displayed as red on a white background. In Europe, it is more commonly a green cross on a white background, or vise-versa, which denotes more of a pharmacy than a doctor.

Red Medical Cross logo, stylized. (image source)

The symbol itself in red and white eerily reminds people of the white cleanliness of hospitals, the sheets, gauze, uniforms, etc, but the red? Is it blood? You would think such a color would put people off, but I believe it has much more to do with the country it originated: Switzerland. In looking into the history of the symbol and the Red Cross organization, I immediately thought of combat medics. The symbol was derived from the Swiss flag after a tourist witnessed the horror and destruction while traveling abroad to Italy during the Italian unification wars.

Flag of Switzerland over the Swiss Alps. (image source)

This citizen returned home with much commentary, soon writing a memoir book of seeing almost 50,000 wounded soldiers simply left on the battlefield. His ideas evolved into a conference that formed the basis for all combat medics in the armed forces of the world, and also the basis for the Geneva Convention and it's laws about the rules of engagement and treatment of prisoners of war. Subsequently, the flag of the country that inspired such a global structure was imitated in the symbol of the organization of medics.

Combat medics of the Red Cross are clearly marked with white armbands and symbols on their helmets to denote that they are non-combatant personnel and need not be targeted by either side as they are only there to help the wounded. They assist with conflicts and disasters as an impartial third party.

World War 2 re-enactment. (source)

Even without all this history being told, if you were in a foreign place or were approached by a foreign person, and needed medical assistance, it would be very easy to use this symbol to communicate what was needed.

Historical background source: https://www.peimag.com/why-is-the-medical-symbol-for-first-aid-a-red-cross/

Feminism and Basic Human Rights

In this video clip about the “Smurfette Principal”, the host of the video discusses the disparity in female to male characters represented in Hollywood and popular culture. It is called the smurfette principal because in the cartoon “The Smurfs”, there was only one female character. Smurfette was introduced by the stories villain, Gargamel, and her primary function was to seduce, deceive, and debilitate the male Smurfs so that Gargamel could eat them. We see this in Hollywood all the time, only one woman in a cast of men. Her role is usually casually belittling, divisive, or reinforcing some kind of untrue stereotype about women. Penny from the “Big Bang Theory” was used as an example. Penny is basically the Smurfette who lives next door. She plays a ditsy blonde girl who has sex appeal. You know, the typical female character. Not much intellect, but boy is she pretty! There are, however, several other women in the show, which is slightly contrary to video maker’s point. Yes, Penny is the only female lead – but the Big Bang Theory has at least three other pretty well developed female characters, which is rare Hollywood. But it's not enough. While one could point out the progress in the past fifty or so years, It is overwhelming, at the same time, how much work remains to be done in terms of female rights. Regardless, though, it is true. We are just so used to seeing these things in pop culture that we don’t even think twice to question them. As I have said before, it seems the vast majority are oblivious to the world around them. 

I think about women’s rights and feminism every day, and have always been a strong voice in defense of equality. This is sort of my one problem with feminism. It’s not a problem with Feminism, it’s a problem with white feminism. Middle to upper class white women have so much more power and influence than women of color, who are objectively more oppressed, and they don’t really use it as well as they could to help their fellow sister. It’s kind of like sitting in front of a homeless person  picking at your big plate of hot food and complaining about how gross it is, and then throwing it away. I find that many of our most outspoken and public women’s rights leaders of the day are awful. Take Lena Dunham for example. Everyone loves this strong and independent female. She is such a strong voice for women, they say, and a voice of her generation. Well who is Lena fighting and speaking for, exactly? Middle class white women? (Here is some great analysis on exactly what I am talking about by Sensei Aishitemasu. I don't think she is famous or anything, but I have been following her visceral commentaries for some time, and I think she makes really great points that I had never thought of. NSFW NSFS, very graphic language). Just offering a different perspective. So if in America white men are the tip of the social and class iceberg, where does that leave white women? I would say it leaves directly below white men, and I would also venture to say that there is a whole lot more below that line which needs to be addressed.

I’m not trying to be incendiary, I swear. I’m not some macho dude writing this note because I feel threatened by feminism or something. I guess my point is this; it can be challenging to watch a group of middle to upper class white women rally about inequality, knowing some of the real poverty and inequality – not just in the US – but in the world, as well as their social position in the grand scheme. I’m not talking about the women’s marches that have been occurring over the past few months. Those marches have been nothing short of amazing and will be a huge part of this country’s great history. A truly great moment. I’m all about it, women’s rights all day! It is insane how women are treated in society, and there are many other groups who are treated just as unfairly. We need to stand up and fight everyone. Women’s rights, LGBTQ rights, Black rights, Muslim rights, etc. These are all basic human rights. We are all human, men are not superior. I feel like the current messaging of the feminist movement, frankly, is not working. Like this past Presidential election. Hillary Clinton was the better candidate, for me, because her priorities aligned more with mine; equality. Well, that’s not true. She was my candidate because the DNC robbed Bernie Sanders of running of the Democratic ticket. But ok. Moving on, If anyone voted for Hillary just because she is a woman than that was irresponsible of you. Hillary losing wasn’t a loss just for women and the feminist movement, it was a loss for human rights and equality across the boards for all of America. If only the DNC hadn’t sabotaged Bernie Sanders, and in turn, America. Never has a politician spoken so directly about everything I care about. Oh America, what is happening to you…

Put a Peephole in my Brain, Two New Pence to Have a Go

            In this article on Andy Warhol, the author explores Warhol’s art, style, approach, and overall meaning. What I found interesting here is that Warhol, in a sense, was mass culture and elite culture at the same time. It was brilliant. Warhol was a solitary man most of his life, and as an artist, he was a successful illustrator in the New York art scene. The art world is a fickle beast, and Warhol’s success is a bit of an anomaly. When Warhol was first written off as a mass-produced illustrator who would never have unique pieces of valuable art, he turned the art world on its head. Warhol repurposed the pop culture and mass culture all around him into elite culture items. His career launched, and Warhol is still considered one of the most important artists of the 20^th century

 Warhol pictured here with Michael Jackson, showing how big of a pop icon Warhol really was

            The mark of a great artist had always a matter of unique and relatable perspective. Curators and collectors payed attention to brush strokes, colors, subject matter, feelings evoked, feelings expressed, etc. At least that is how I think we judge art. But Warhol cracked some kind of code and somehow took mass culture ideas and made them unique. He took mass culture, and then sold them as elite culture. 

Warhol's Campbell's soup can series, release in 1962.

Photo of the famous Marilyn Monroe piece, 1962-1967

            So, what was the difference between the Andy Warhol print of a Campbell’s soup can and just tearing one of the labels off a can from the store and framing it. Well…Andy Warhol drew one, and the other came off of an assembly line press. It just goes to show how deeply we are effected by mass culture. Even in the sacred world of Art, a place where mass produced garbage has no place, people are drawn to it like a fly to honey. Mass culture got its own genre; Pop Art. And Warhol, one of the pioneers, is a genius for that. Hey, how many artists actually get to actually hang around and enjoy their fame and success? Warhol experienced rock-star-style fame for his artistic contributions. The song Andy Warhol is one of my favorite songs ever written by the late, great David Bowie. Here is the first verse and chorus, as well as a link to the song.

Like to take a cement fix
Be a standing cinema
Dress my friends up just for show
See them as they really are
Put a peephole in my brain
Two New Pence to have a go
I'd like to be a gallery
Put you all inside my show

Andy Warhol looks a scream
Hang him on my wall
Andy Warhol, Silver Screen
Can't tell them apart at all
Source

Good Luck

            In the film Taken, Liam Neeson plays a retired CIA operative, failed husband, and loving father. Neeson is such a cowboy in this movie. As Lance points out in the Cowboy lecture, the most common attributes of a cowboy are that he is “white, male, masculine, self-sufficient and self-reliant, often dealing with Native Americans, Mexicans, Chinese, or other foreign threats.” (Eaton Web) Check, check, check, check, check. Neeson’s daughter is kidnapped in France, and Neeson employs his supremely badass skills in foreign threat operations to track her down and bring her home safely.

            I am not particularly an action movie guy. I like the action movies from the eighties, and I think the ones that come out today, like most films coming out today, are awful. Additionally, I cannot stand the tough guy or cowboy mentality. Taken, though. This movie is so good. Neeson goes to Europe by himself and takes on an entire network of human traffickers, starting at the bottom and working his way up to the top. 

One of the best scenes in the movie, when the action begins its ascent to the climax. Source.

            Neeson is clearly having a hard time adjusting to his life outside of the CIA. The viewer gets the impression that he is most comfortable in his CIA skin, and he has a harder time adapting to day-to-day civilian life. It is similar to the western dynamic of “Life still being worked out”. In that sense, we can think of his work in the CIA being “the wild west”, and his more calm life outside of work being “move civilized, back east”. Neeson’s struggle is real, as he is the greatest father ever in the western environment where his daughter is about to die, and a pretty crummy father back east where things are calm. If you haven't seen this movie (which I highly doubt), than see it forthwith. It is awesome.

Mother's Little Helper

Sure, we need pharmaceutical drugs. Medicine has made tremendous advancements in the modern world, and has proven to increase human life spans in many, many cases. I know that before my wonderful grandmother passed on from breast cancer in 2008, modern medicine had afforded her many more years with her loved ones than we had expected. She also experienced a tremendous amount of pain from the drugs. And, without diving into a completely new topic, I cannot deny that her social status ensured elite care. So drugs are important. Some drugs are important. If you can afford them.

When I was a younger, I was diagnosed with “ADD”. Yes, I bet a lot of you were too. I didn’t take it seriously at all. It just felt like an excuse to slack off and not get as much shit for it. I know that most of my friends had been diagnosed with ADD, too. As well as all of my older sister’s friends, and my older brother’s friends. Really? We all had ADD? Well…I know we all had Adderall. Or Ritalin. Or, before that, the diet pill fad. Or, eventually for some, cocaine. The drug companies have been feeding us amphetamines forever. It is part of popular culture. I could make the same case for Xanax, Valium, Quaaludes, Klonopin, and the rest of the benzo and barbiturate brood. And let’s not even get into the heroin epidemic and its early causes. These types of drugs are synonymous with Rock and Roll. The Rolling Stones song “Mother’s little Helper”, released in 1966, is about Valium:

“What a drag it is getting old
"Kids are different today,"
I hear ev'ry mother say
Mother needs something today to calm her down
And though she's not really ill
There's a little yellow pill
She goes running for the shelter of a mother's little helper
And it helps her on her way, gets her through her busy day”

*http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/rollingstones/motherslittlehelper.html

And one need not dig too deep into their Eminem or Lil’ Wayne album to hear more talk about getting high on highly dangerous drug combinations. I have no issue with that though. It’s not their fault that these drugs are so abundantly available. It was part of navigating our childhood, and still is today for kids, I assume. I took Adderall for many, many years before I realized that it was doing me more harm than good. And then I took it for some more years. But here I am today, Adderall free, studying and doing my homework. Thinking clearly. Synapses sparking away.

The reality is that a high percentage of kids probably just aren’t cut out for the rigid school system that awaits them. I am a creative type person. There is nothing going on in the public-school system to truly stimulate that need, so of course I had a hard time paying attention. But instead of saying that our children are diagnosed with a clinical disease as early as 7 or 8 years old and giving them a highly addictive controlled substance to focus better, maybe we should take a look at the education system. Looking at you Betsy DeVos. Oh, what’s that? You’ve never stepped foot in a public school? Oh, right on….sweet. This should be great for our future generations.  

Those Dank Memes

Oh supreme Meme Lord, I pray that thou shalt bestow upon me the most precisely perfect worded image that coincides with my situation!

Pepe the Frog (source)

Though the term itself was not coined until 1976 by Richard Dawkins (source) the meme has been around for about as long as humans have. Memes are most common today in the forms of images, words/phrases, songs, and the like. They are ever-changing and evolving along with the people who distribute them. As a culture itself, one is considered a knowledgeable "Meme Lord" for using the right meme in the right place at the right time. The aforementioned KnowYourMeme.com is a very good resource for those wanting more information on a particular meme, where it originated, and what it best relates to or what context it should be used in.

Even if you yourself do not wish to allocate time and effort towards constantly downloading and sharing every meme you can find to relevant places (for instance, your friend posts that they just lost their job, so you reply with a meme to cheer them up instead of actually writing out your condolences and best wishes) you can still be well-versed in Meme culture by simply understanding as many of the references as you can possibly remember.

Memes extend to more than just ridiculous satirical additions to everyday happenings and conversations. In fact they can actually lead to some very profound commentaries on current events and other negative things that happen instead of just existing for the sake of comedy alone. For instance, during the past Presidential Election, candidate Bernie Sanders (and probably others) had a Facebook page dedicated just to making memes of him, even if the captions or voice clips were of very important topics:

This photo is set up meme-style, but the words are true and important. (source)

I find that Memes can be a way of saying things in common terms to others who also understand what that common term is. It's a complex visual representation of what centuries ago would just be a simple fashion style or phrase that was universally understood. Posting a link to a short video or a silly image has become modern shorthand on social media. Instead of saying to someone, "that's ridiculous, who has the time to deal with such a thing?" we instead use the meme image of the southern black lady quoted saying "Ain't nobody got time fo' dat!" It then became a .gif animation, a voice clip, and even a song!

As our society lives on, I see that older memes are still appreciated even though new ones are being generated. Though sometimes they are regarded as slightly less relevant a response than a newer meme, you will also see that you get brownie points for using a more archaic meme that newer social media users may not have been around for in its respective heyday. In fact, there's an entire genre of meme images based on historical happenings or portraits. Some are meant to instruct, some for commentary, and some purely for comedy.

In many cases, modern memes combine multiple elements together to form a finished product. For instance:

(source)

The above meme of Teddy Roosevelt combines a historical portrait of him and incorporates his original quote of "Speak softly and carry a large stick." However, it's put together in the format of a previous meme, that of "The Most Interesting Man in the World" from the Dos Equis commercial, in which the original slogan is, "I don't always drink beer, but when I do, it's Dos Equis." This evolved into an entire category of memes, sometimes using the original ad's photo but changing the subject, following the "I don't always ____, but when I do ________" type of format. (source)

One last important aspect of Meme culture it's how wide-spread it has become even outside of social media. You'll often hear people speaking the words of meme images and videos out loud in conversation and a majority of people can understand what that person is talking about. In one of the most famous examples I can think of is the BuzzFeed video in which former President Obama took part; almost making a mockery of himself at times, but cementing his place forever as the Dankest Meme Lord President the United States shall ever see!

Love him or hate him, either politically or personally, President Obama involved himself publicly in Meme culture - thus proving it's importance and value on the world's scale. Thanks Obama!

Strategic Butt Coverings!

That's right, you read correctly. Butt coverings. This is the controversial topic covered in Feminist Frenquency's video from the overarching topic of Tropes vs Women in Video Games.

Oh look! There's Laura Croft in the very first example, just as I mentioned in my discussion post about how the game takes place in third person view, where the player's eye is drawn to her meticulously crafted behind. What's the problem with this? Well, there wouldn't be so much outrage over it if in contrast the same design strategy was used for male characters - except it isn't. Similarly, I want to add that the first ever game where Lara Croft appeared is incessantly mocked - even by fans - because of her hilariously awful character model. Here, the game designers basically said through the design: "It doesn't matter if her boobs look super bad, as long as she has boobs for the boys to look at" and it's completely and utterly ridiculous to place that much emphasis on having that be a feature when they couldn't even animate it properly. In hindsight they should have just had her mildly endowed or even flat chested, but no - it was more important that she have ice cream cone-shaped breasts than none at all.

Atrocious. Found in an awesome article of the evolution of her character over time (source).

In contrast, along with the many other challenges facing people like myself - female gamers - we face the reality that male video game characters are not treated with such injustice. Which actually kind of sucks because I would love to get a clear glimpse at Ezio Auditore or Soldier 76's ass! I had not guessed that the title of the video would actually refer to the men of video games, who are explained in the video as having an excuse to not have their butts shown because the game creators want the people (read: men) to identify with those characters. But the women? Nope, just there to be eye candy, maybe move the plot along a bit at times.

I think its high time we take a closer look at the demographics of game consumers and also at the way we are portraying gender and sex in video games. The game industry would love to believe that it's just young straight men who play their games, and secondarily that they play them either to relate to a male character or want to stare at a sexy female. I can only name a handful of times that I've gone to a video game store and not been asked if I was buying the game for my boyfriend or brother. No! I'm buying the game for ME! By the way, when the next Assassin's Creed game comes out, can I get a lingerie skin for the male protagonist if I preorder the gold edition? Pretty please!

Now that's what I'm talkin' about! Ezio Auditore from Assassin's Creed II by DoubleLeaf on DeviantArt.

Either everybody should have their junk hanging out for people to enjoy - or everybody should be covered properly. This trope doesn't even begin to cover my gripes with parts of the cosplay industry - whereby a lot of "popular" female cosplayers usually wear lingerie or bikini or sexy versions of armor or of regular characters. Sometimes they even cosplay a "sexy female" version of an original male character that wasn't ever sexualized at all! I'm never sure whether to be annoyed at these people, or just enjoy their creativity. I may never know which side I stand on. I just want to see more dude butts.