Select any exhibit and analyze it with 300+ words. Use the "Critical Lenses 101" flexbook. Look in the EXACT way the "Critical Lenses 101" flexbook tells you to as a critic. Ask the EXACT questions the "Critical Lenses 101" flexbook tells you to ask. Have the "Critical Lenses 101" flexbook with you as you study your exhibit and as you write this blog task. You must use at least four vocabulary words from the flexbook to earn maximum credit. Remember: grade = your effort to improve your intellect.
“EXHIBIT” = novel, play, song, job, sculpture, film, poem, concert, painting, myth, sketch, poster, artwork, photograph, t-shirt, television show, biography, board game, military situation, college visit, speech, advertisement, event, place/building (school, office), game, brochure, practice, rehearsal, ritual, haircut/style, website, routine, suit coat, celebrity...
(View and write about the pictured film, Full Metal Jacket, for this blog task or extra credit if you'd like.)
“EXHIBIT” = novel, play, song, job, sculpture, film, poem, concert, painting, myth, sketch, poster, artwork, photograph, t-shirt, television show, biography, board game, military situation, college visit, speech, advertisement, event, place/building (school, office), game, brochure, practice, rehearsal, ritual, haircut/style, website, routine, suit coat, celebrity...
(View and write about the pictured film, Full Metal Jacket, for this blog task or extra credit if you'd like.)
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For this blog I will be breaking down the aspect of school with a Freudian lens. How does psychoanalysis matter in this exhibit? It helps to reveal what school does to destroy what could’ve been a great mind. It isn’t necessarily the schools fault but something that occurs while the child is at school, such as bullying, can break a child down the fear going out of their comfort zone and proving themselves to the world. It affects the ego, the id, and conscious mind of a child. What does psychoanalysis reveal about this exhibit? It reveals that schools force children to be people they are not and this can destroy the mind of a child that could’ve changed the world but now will fight the world because of what has been done to him as a child. The combine is a dangerous thing that people may think is good but without people being different we would all just live the same boring lives and nothing would get better in this world. The great minds that are different from the rest have made this world better whether it’s the car and just a fire. We wouldn’t have discovered these important things in our lives without people being different. Then there comes the other students involved in the combine. Some have a better ability such as the ability to run faster and stronger so they become football players. These individuals think they are better than others in some cases, not all, and pick on the ones that are smarter and intellectual because they aren’t “popular.” This makes them think they are not wanted in the world and they begin to make a shell around themselves to fight off the world. These ones can potentially do harm to themselves or to others through violence to protest what has been done to their ego and id. And the ones who cased them to be this way are also doing harm to themselves because they begin to think they are amazing and can obtain anything but when they get to the real world they fail hopelessly. Then when the world needs the ones who can obtain the goal they aren’t willing to because they are still affected by their school days and how society destroyed them. This isn’t a laughing matter because intellectual children are either doing depressing things to themselves or their minds don’t flourish like they should because of what happened in the past. It is the sad fact of American life that brawn comes over brains and it makes us look unintellectual to the rest of the world when countries like China are flourishing because they monitor a child’s life and make sure they get a fair chance to succeed. I pray that one day this will change so brain goes over brawn.
Clark 2
Tonight I found myself drinking out of an old childhood favorite sippy cup after visiting my grandpa for his birthday. It is not the usual sippy cup you might think of; instead it is a honey bear (below is a link to a picture). It was introduced to me by my grandma many years ago. As a child, my family would spend Sunday afternoons at my grandparents. At lunch time, my grandma would always prepare my sisters, cousins, and me juice in a bear. Every afternoon it would be a debate on who got to have the “big” bear that day. There was only one that was larger than the rest. While looking at that situation through the Marxist lens I realize that even young children think that “bigger is better”. We understood that the bigger the bear bottle was, the more juice you would receive. Just like in society when the lower classes look with greed at the upper class. The one lucky grandchild would get the big bear for the day and would be happy because they “won” similar to the ruling classes. Although our moms claimed they chose fairly, the rest of the grandchildren would be upset comparable to the lower classes in society being ruled by others in a democratic fashion. Unfortunately, my grandma had Alzheimer’s and passed away about six years ago. A Freudian critic would observe that unconsciously I may have been longing for my grandma back today. Instead of grabbing a regular glass I subconsciously took out the bear to fulfill the void that had crept to the surface while at my grandpa’s house. Besides fulfilling the void of my grandma, the critic would note that I drank out of a sippy cup to achieve narcissistic bliss to be a child again with no responsibilities or worries. By analyzing a simple action of mine it can reveal a lot about me and what I was consciously or unconsciously thinking.
Pollema 2
(link to the picture)
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_CGyqH_C6Pn4/TAJqvGKugoI/AAAAAAAABKc/uqprVQgTDUg/s1600/honey+bear.jpg
As children, my sisters and I loved to play the game of Monopoly. Though we never played by the rules and always stole each other’s money, we enjoyed the independence of playing without our parents. This past weekend our home lost power for a short amount of time. As my family sat together with nothing to do, we decided to play the one game we all love…Monopoly. As we began, memories flooded into our minds of the times together as children when there were no worries or responsibilites. A Freudian critic would view this as returning to a state of narcissistic bliss, where worries are extinct. I think we all subconciously chose that game to achieve that state of mind, if only for a little while. I think as each individual grows older they repress memories of their childhood to make room for the knowledge and new memories they begin to obtain. When those repressed memories return one sometimes becomes envious of the simpler times as children when life is nothing but fun and games. I sometimes feel guilty for allowing myself to repress those joyful memories but they always seem to surface at the most unexpected times when I need them most.
Monopoly can also be viewed in a highly Marxist critical lens. The aspect of the game is to buy, own, and maintain as much property as completely possible. This relates directly to the ideal goal in life; achieve as much power and status as the world will allow. Of course the game offers the opportunity for hardships as reality does, but makes it much easier to rise out of by paying money. Again the money is a symbol of class and power. In reality most lower class citizens do not have the money to pay their way out of sticky situations yet the game implies that money can fix everything. Millions of people struggle on a day to day basis to make money which does not always help them fix the situation that they’re in. The most obvious way to view this game as a Marxist is the power status. Once you’ve bought all the land and put houses and hotels on it, you’ve achieved monopoly. You now have control over everything on that game board because you bought it. This game teaches children that the more money and power you have the more likely you are to succeed and be happy…because everyone is happy when they win the game.
Donovan 7
Sitting here, I can’t stop thinking about how I lost my bet in the Packers-Vikings game and I have to wear a Packers jersey today. It got me to wanting to talk about football in general and why it’s frowned upon that women play it. Are there “natural roles men and women fill? Yes, men are the players and women are the cheerleaders. Why? Who knows? It has been that way for years. Who puts the limitations on genders? There are none in football. If you remember Bri Matthies, she played on my pee-wee football team. She was a starting defensive end. As we mature and grow older, our bodies start to differ. Men grow in size as far as arms, legs and overall muscular bodies. Women grow in much different, but every bit as much exciting ways. Who grants these privileges? Society grants them. We enjoy the exploitation of women as far as cheerleaders go and we use the women to our advantage. We usually consider male cheerleaders to be homosexual, but I doubt Aden, Matt, Zach, Logan and Ben are. Gender roles obey men to do the work, women to point out what the men are doing. This is exactly how football and cheerleading go. We feel that men have hegemony over women, like our society has for so long. Should we scrap our created gender roles and stereotypes? Ask Ashley Martin what she thinks. In 2001 she became the first woman to play in college football, notching three extra points for Jacksonville State. This proves that women can play football; it proves that roles in some ways are complete B.S. What about men is valued? Their strength, size and speed on the football field is valued mightily. They are supposed to be strong, work and come home to a woman. What about women is valued? That they are in skirts pointing out what men did because that’s how they were brought up to learn and to be there when they get home with a hot meal ready. Football, you are SEXIST! The oppression that women had to go through, Ashley Martin gives them hope, and I say that if they are good enough, give them a helmet.
Rokeh 7
Evaluating blogs might be the whole reason blogs exist, so I choose to evaluate Kaitlyn’s blog and be somewhat of a devil’s advocate. Not being sexist or holding any beliefs different than those of Kaitlyn, just reasoning differently for the sake of stimulating the conversation and the age old theory of gender roles. Society and sexism are held with both Marxist and Freudian theories. The way society tells us to live is how we live. That doesn’t mean we all believe or follow the ways we are told by society. If you use psychoanalysis, you figure that many women and men try to escape the boundaries of gender role, and some do. It is healthily believed however, that men are supposed to be big, tough, and masculine. As where women are supposed to be household maids, pretty, dress skimpy, make less money than men and not partake in the same activities. Is it society’s fault for letting this happen? Or is it each individual’s fault for not standing up against these stereotypes? I may believe women subconsciously or even consciously act like women are told by society. They see how well things work in the circumstances that they are in, and coincide with society. They choose to be how they are because they listen to their superego as mothers and choose to be careful and safe with and in their surroundings. It is wired in most women’s brains to be like mothers and their mothers’ mothers. Exactly alike are men, not wanting to be like their weaker more oppressed females in the family, they choose to want to be like the men in the family because they are the same gender. This proves with both theories of Freud and Marx that even if it is unjust or unfair, Gender roles and the idea of sexism are unavoidable and will forever prevail in our world. The world is only what we create it to be, and this is the world that was, is, and will be created until all of mankind ceases.
Weisenbach. 1.
^^^ I misread the name of the blog before mine and my blog exhibit is indeed about Kyle Rokeh's blog.
-Weisenbach
At first I was really struggling to find something I wanted to analyze. I wanted to do something that I wouldn’t have done normally so I read the exhibits that Mr.C put underneath the blog task criteria and I saw a building, perfect. Think of a huge sky scrapper how much design and charisma there is to these. Why aren’t they all just square conventional boxes that could actually be more structurally stable and adequate for its purpose. It’s to show power if you’re looking at it with a Marxist lens. It’s to show the building next to yours that we are bigger and better it’s the true epitome of wealth, and power. But this is all of America which also shows how hubris we are. Because of these massive buildings proving our power is exactly why we were attacked on September 9, 2001 or otherwise known as 911. Al-Qaida do not like how greedy we were so these humble people attacked us. This is also ironic because of our greed we didn’t think anything like this could happen yet it did. But moving on to a Freudian lens. Could it be a folic symbol of America’s masculinity or just the businesses masculinity. Does owning these huge buildings make these people feel fulfilled and achieving narcissistic bliss, or is it just them trying to be better and greater than their parents, because their parents always had big houses and huge business buildings. Yes, yes to all of these, these are all signs that a Freudian critic would look for and say is why these people desire such huge buildings and wealth. Their parents made them want to achieve more then what they themselves had they made them succeed in life otherwise their parents felt as failures forcing them to strive for the biggest and the best. All of this subconscious thinking and influencing is what makes America such a powerful wealthy country, and I hope this blog helped you realize what these huge, beautiful, unbelievable buildings truly represent.
Fontenille7
Brandon Valley football is part of the 11AA football program in the state of South Dakota. Because there is a major skill and size difference between the schools in 11AA, the top four teams received a free pass to the second round of the playoffs. The imminently lopsided games between the Sioux Falls and small west river schools were very oppressing towards the defeated team and were viewed as no fun for anyone. At the start of the new and improved 2011 playoffs, six schools from the Eastern South Dakota Conference and six schools from the Greater Dakota Conference began their road to the dome. After the first round of playoffs, four schools from each conference remain. Interestingly enough, the four GDC schools are all from Sioux Falls. These schools also hold the ranks one through four. The ESD Conference schools hold the ranks five through eight. The ranking system is based on a meritocracy. This means the team with the greatest ability (in this case most power point) will receive the highest rank (number 1). This team will play the lowest ranking teams in order to be placed in the championship with the supposable easiest games. I like to view the top seed as the temporary king of the roost while the lower ranked teams are trying to upset their higher ranked opponents. An upset would bring class mobility to a team causing a change in rank. The defeated team, although a better record, will no longer have a chance to win a state championship, and they must settle for a very disappointing finish to their year. The teams that win a conference or state championship try to flaunt their superiority by hanging a banner in the gym for everyone to see. Team members are handed medals and most likely will receive t-shirts with some type of catchy phrase or drawing letting everyone that sees them know what they have accomplished. (Marxist lens)
Murren 1
It took me quite awhile to figure out what I was going to analyze for this blog. The only thing I have had on my mind was my elk hunting trip in the Black Hills last weekend, and how a Freudian critic would analyze it. We left Friday afternoon when I got out of school. Friday night we got to the Cabin and made pizza. Then at four in the morning my dad came into my room and woke me up. My Id was unsatisfied with the feeling of waking up so early on a Saturday I did not work! We went out to the field to go sit in the trees before day beak the displacement of this was wrong I could feel it. When we walked for a few miles and didn't see anything. I though it was going to be easy, but I was wrong! So after checking a few more spots and walking a total of five miles in broken down trees my hope was beginning to be lost. We went back to the cabin to find my mom and grandma had lunch ready for us broccoli and cheese soup not my favorite! My mom and got into an argument because she didn't make me anything I liked. I was tired and hungry and I wanted her to feel like I did, so I let my ego play a role in my angry and took it out on her. My dad then made me lunch! I went to my room and took a three hour nap to calm down. I woke up to my mom and grandma putting vitamin E on my feet they were really red from my new boots, not broke in yet. I then felt guiltily for making my mom feel bad when all she wanted to do was help me. It was time for the Saturday night hunt I was not looking forward to it at all. My grandpa dropped my dad and I off at this tree in a valley to wait. It was getting cold and dark and we weren't seeing anything. Then a another truck drove though the valley and we knew we weren't going see anything then. At sundown grandpa picked us up it was unsatisfying. Sunday morning then came and again my dad woke me up very early we had a new final spot to check before coming home. We went to this spot got in the trees and waiting it was only ten minutes and we saw them a heard of about eight my brother, Dillon, was now sitting next me and looking though his binoculars and me though the scoop we found one without any horns I pulled the trigger and she dropped with only one shot. My dad and grandpa was so proud of me it was an amazing feeling reaching a great narcissistic bliss.
Dede 2
Okay, so I know this is going to be a little mean, but I am going to analyze my dad using the Feminist Lens. My dad, along with many others probably wishes sometimes that he had boys, instead of girls. So he chooses to do “boy” things with my guy friends, such as get the tractors out, and drive them around. But what he does not understand is that us girls love to drive the tractors as much as, or even more than the guys do! I wish sometimes that he realized that girls can do that same things that guys can, and we can appreciate them just as much. He would always choose to do something with guys than with his own girls. Sometimes I understand his choices, but other times I don't. To him, the girls always come second, even if it his own family. To my dad women are portrayed as those who should do the house work, and not go out and adventure out and see what the world has to offer. My dad was not the one who taught me how to hunt, it was my mom that taught me, because my dad did not want to teach me, because I am a girl, and according to him, girls should not hunt, or be able to shoot guns. When my sister had a band competition, my dad chose not to go, but instead he went to our neighbors football game. He didn't teach us how to ride dirt bikes, my mom did. I think sometimes what my dad says to my sister and me puts limitations on what we think we can do, but then my mom comes and reminds us that the sky is the limit, and we can subjugate anything we put our minds too. My dad won't come and watch us play sports, because to him, sports are not for girls, only guys. Sometimes I wish I was a guy, just to get my dad's attention more, but I am happy with who I am, and sometimes it is fun to prove him wrong, just to show him that I can do anything. I don't think my dad will ever change with this, but I hope someday he will realize how much of a Feminist Critic he really was, and that he really missed out on his girl's lives. I am sorry dad, but you were easy to analyze using the Feminist Lens.
Drexler 5
Monopoly is a brutal cut throat game that shows just how bad business can be. This board game is a perfect exhibit to look through a Marxist lens at. To begin my analyzing, Monopoly shows the big difference between the rich and the poor. The base of class structure is, simply, the losers. The losers at the end of the game own no property, have no money, and are made fun of by the winners. The winners, or Bourgeoisie, of the game own all of the money and property. The winners in a sense crush the base’s hope for social mobility. Money is everything in the game of Monopoly. It symbolizes power, wealth, and to an extent how important someone is. Another concept of the game is that it shows how easy it is to gain/lose property. If someone were to look at Monopoly from another perspective they could say that the game encourages class mobility. Because the game shows how easy it is to gain property, the base or lower class might have hope that they too could gain property in real life. Oppression is also shown through the game of Monopoly. When someone is winning the game, they try to take advantage of the losing member. This shows oppression because the winners take advantage of the opposition’s money. The more money that a player has, the more houses/hotels that they place on their property. The more hotels/houses on property the more the rent is. Every time someone lands on their property they charge money. The lower the money the player has in the game the closer they are to becoming the hyenas of the class system. If a player monopolizes utilities, railroads, or the different divisions of property the more money they make. Monopoly is the perfect example of how the rich take advantage of the poor-whether intentional or not.
Beukelman, 2
Everyday when I walk down the hallways to my next class I notice everyone’s backpack. I think I subconsciously wonder why a certain person has the backpack that they do. So, that is what I chose to analyze for this blog. I feel that the backpack a person is wearing tells a lot about their personality. If they have a plain, dark colored backpack, they might be shy and go through the routine of school, but if they have a bright colored one, they might be more outgoing and lively. On the other hand there are people that hang their backpacks below their butt, while others have it hiked up on their backs. The kids with it on their back can be seen as more nerdy or caring more about school and the others with it below their butt probably don’t care as much. There are a few people who do have it hang, though, because it is seen as more “cool”. These kids don’t do things for themselves then. They just go with what everyone else is doing and can get used for it. Another trend about backpacks I noticed is that several people’s backpacks are damaged. They are either ripped, the zipper doesn’t work, or the straps fell off. I always wondered, “Do they not have enough money to get another bag?” I don’t quite know why people would want to walk around with all their belongings hanging out or have it dragging down the hallway. It is probably more trouble for them to handle it from class to class rather than going and purchasing a new one. I used the Marxist lens when I analyzed this part. Do the kids higher on the social ladder have the more expensive, neater, well put together backpacks? But I hate to think this way because it is similar to judging a book by its cover when you don’t know their story. One last thing that I analyzed about high schooler’s bags is the senior’s tradition. Almost every year there are many kids in the senior class and some from the junior class who decide to go out and get a kid backpack or one with a cartoon on it of some sort. I think this shows that they are a little more childish at heart and like to have fun. But it could also mean that they still have some of their childhood in them and don’t want to leave it behind. Since it is their last year of high school, having a kid backpack could show that they don’t want to leave and go away to college and start being an adult. So, the next time you are walking down the hallways, try and look around to see the different types of backpacks and analyze them. What does their backpack say about them?
Benz7
Haunted Houses usually give people the willies. For this blog assignment I am choosing to analyze the Orpheum Theater through the Freudian lens. For the Halloween season I am going to share the story of how it's haunted. The ghost who they call Larry is following his id by hanging around the theater. In my opinion ghosts who hang around long after their death are staying around for a reason. They are either afraid to move in fear they will miss out, or in fear of whats on the other side. The oppression Larry feels about his death is causing him to stay behind and haunt the theater. One theory on how Larry died is envy. People say Larry was murdered by the husband of the woman he was having a sexual affair with. The murder most likely happened in the balcony where Larry is spotted most. In one incident late in October of 1959 a man by the name of Ray was putting in some extra dress rehearsal time and he was directed in his script to look up at the balcony and that's when Larry was spotted. He was a blue pulsating light with a male apparition and Ray felt a rush of freezing cold air, almost as if the door to a freezer was open. Another sighting was in 1972 when a man who they call Jack was getting the stage ready for a children play at the theater the next day. Jack heard a voice behind him and turned to find a picture of a man from the late 1890's. The picture was mysteriously dropped and after a time of sitting on a light board it disappeared. Most people believe the picture was of Larry trying to find a different way to communicate and letting Jack know what he looked like. Larry is trying to repress the memories he had by getting a human to communicate back with him. He means no harm but I think that Larry needs to confess maybe or just tell someone on how he died before he passes over. Happy Halloween!
Grimmius 1
I am going to do my blog on one of my favorite TV shows, Parks and Recreation. You can look at this show from all three lenses. The first lens I am going to talk about is the Freudian lens. Two people who follow their id's are Tom Haverford and Donna Meagle. They have one day that they go around and shop for hours and get whatever they want. They call it the “treat yourself” day. Leslie knope is one of the most positive and hard working characters on the show. She follows her superego and tries to do everything right. Another to people who follow their id's are April Ludgate and Andy Dwyer. They are a couple and they go around and party and just don’t care about anything. Another lens you could look under when viewing this exhibit is the Marxist lens. One character that climbs the economic ladder is Leslie Knope, she worked in the government as a parks and rec deputy director and then she worked hard and eventually got high enough to run for office in her town of Pawnee. Another lens you can view this exhibit under is the feminist lens. When watching the first episode there was a man whose name is Ron Swanson. He didn’t care about government or anything at all about his job and yet he is still the one who runs it. Leslie Knope should run it because she is way smarter than Ron because she actually cares about her job and the people in her town. She attends every town hall meeting and public form while Ron just sits in his office and just has April ignore all his phone calls and meetings so he doesn’t have to do anything. Whenever he does have to do something he just asks Leslie to do it.
Zens pd.1
On the blog website, it says that if we analyze Full Metal Jacket we get extra credit. I youtube-ed the first scene and I’m incredibly surprised that a teacher would suggest that students watch it for extra credit. I thought it was hilarious and witty but wouldn’t expect the same from an English teacher. I’ll analyze the opening scene to Full Metal Jacket. I’ll set the scene. “A group of new recruits in the US Marine Corps have just arrived at Parris Island for recruit training. After having their heads shaved, they meet their drill instructor, Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, who wastes no time in starting the process of making the civilians into Marines.”
The movie begins by showing multiple men getting their heads shaved in an old-school barber shop. We hear a song start to play. It’s “Hello Vietnam” by Johnny Wright. None of the men look incredibly happy or excited to be getting their heads shaved or to be going off to training. I believe that the shaving of heads is partially to show equality between Marines but also, in this exhibit, to ‘demasculinize’ the men. Try a feminist lens. It’s kind of like taking away their only bit of personality and originality in those identical uniforms and formations. It’s the only way they can look like themselves; and they get it taken away just like it means nothing. It’s showing that they need to have complete and utter respect for the general in charge and that they themselves are just little minions that will be taught to be controlled and obey. They realize that this is the end and the beginning. It’s the end of the cool, chill, relaxed lives they’ve been living and the beginning of something crazy organized.
The first insult they receive from their sergeant is their mouths being referred to as “filthy sewers.” They’re learning very early that the drill sergeant is the one in charge and he is a force to be reckoned with. The next few insults are “maggots,” “sound off like you got a pair,” “ladies,” “pukes,” “the lowest form of life on earth,” “you are not even human f-ing beings,” “nothing but unorganized grab-asstic pieces of amphibian shit.” This is their sincere welcome to boot camp! Again, he states early that he is not to be screwed with and if he is, there will be major repercussions. Look at this with a Marxist lens. Even though they weren’t born as “pieces of amphibian shit,” that’s what they’ve been turned into. Sergeant Hartman is the king of the castle and the new recruits are his little robotic slaves that he’ll mold to be perfect little weapons. Although money doesn’t play a role in this exhibit, social status and standing definitely do. Your status is incredibly important in any field of military. If you don’t respect the status ladder or try to jump rungs, you will be in major trouble that’ll be hard to walk your way out of; and that’s IF you get up that ladder. Just through the first two and a half minutes of this movie I am intrigued to watch more and try to analyze it with different lenses.
Oleson 2
The other day I found myself watching Food Inc. for the second time. The first I watched it was a couple of years ago. I still thought it was a great documentary but I didn’t have a good reason it was good. Now after a little studying of the lens it brought I whole new perspective of why the movie ask the question it does. The director of Food Inc. did a fantastic job questioning aspect of our food system without answering them. A small part of the questions are asked through the Freudian lens. One of the biggest debates in the movie is the difference between quality of food and quantity. They take a look at two companies the produce chickens. The first one is the giant Tyson chicken, which produces millions of pounds of chicken each day. They require there chicken farmer to stay to their precise specs of how to raise a chicken, which to some people are not moral. It makes you wonder if Tyson is just serving their id by making as much as possible and neglecting to care if the chicken is good or not. Their chicken meets the FDA standards that compared to the second company means nothing. The second company is a small famer who only makes a small amount of chicken every week. The FDA said that his chicken doesn’t meet their standards but in a non-bias test showed Tyson chicken has much more bad bacteria then his. A Freudian would say that he is being controlled by his superego because he cares about the quality of his chicken not how much money he makes per chicken. A Marxist would look at this event and say the only reason the FDA feel the independent farmer chicken is bad is because he is small and doesn’t have any power in the market. He is not able to control the lobbyist. Another event between quality and quantity is looking at a family in poverty and some of the choses they have to make based of monetary problems. The father of the family talks about how he can go into a fast food joint and get multiple burger to feed his family for a few dollars but if goes to a supermarket can only by a very small amount of “healthy” food. I look at this a see one of the hardest problems some people face. The dad either has to starve his family and eat healthy or have all the food they need but be very unhealthy. It shows how society forces people to make unmoral decisions and because of those decisions are oppressed from moving up the ladder.
For this blog I decided to pick my truck for the exhibit. My truck is a red with gold trim 2001 Ford f-150 super crew. Though the truck is now ten years old with over 140,000 miles it still is a great truck and to me still seems brand new. Saying that leads me to my first lens that I used to view my truck; the Marxist lens. First I will start with the box, I use the box to haul things like square bales and fencing supplies when I am working. Also, in the box of my truck I have a black tractor supply co. tool box full of wrenches, sockets, pliers, jumercables, a jack, a chain, and many other misc. tools. Viewing the box with a Marxist lens I see that the tools and box show that I work hard to stay off of the base of society, while trying to move up in class mobility.
I would consider my truck old compared to others on the road these days. Sure I would like to have a brand new F-250 with it all jacked up with big muddin tires and a loud dual exhaust but, all of these things would just satisfy my superego. Instead I will stick with old faithful and save my money but, every now and then I will break down and buy something nice for my truck. An example of this would be the custom made camo seat covers that coat the inside of my cab. The covers weren’t necessary for my truck but, they look really awesome and match my personality to the truck. All of these are from the superego side of my brain where I choose to spend money on something that will make me look cool. The seat cover do however add a very tough perimeter to my seats, which helps when I forget to take different tools out of my back pocket before I jump into the seat. Viewing my truck this way has got me thinking more and more about different lens I can see every time I jump into my truck.
sundvold, pd.2
College and choosing a career seem to be on almost all of our minds lately as we are being expected to make these decisions within the next few months. Therefore, I have chosen to analyze different professions using the feminist lens. Gender expectations play a major role in what careers we decide to pursue. For example, most guys choose jobs in fields such as mechanics, engineering, or landscaping because they are expected to build and be strong. Women, however, are exploited in such careers and have the gender role of taking care of others. Do to this stereotype many more females acquire jobs such as nursing and teaching. Men are also valued more in society. They often times have higher paying and more prestigious careers such as doctors, lawyers, and business owners. In past generations, women did not work at all and were thought to be incapable of such careers the men were doing. However, women are now changing the way culture used to be and stepping up and pursuing challenging careers that men have been doing for so many years. I also think that women being discriminated for so long is a major reason as to why women tend to work harder and many aspects of life. Females work harder in school, sports, and even try harder then males to make their appearance better. Boys have been given the privilege of being “better” at everything for so many generations, therefore, women feel they need to work harder to prove that they are equal and attempt to change the stereotype that society has created. I am glad that women are finally being less discriminated against then they used to be in past generations. If we scrapped out gender roles and stereotypes then everyone could express they’re talents and passions in what they choose to do as a career making our society a better place to live.
Hoff 5
For this blog task, I will be analyzing the hobby/sport of tractor pulling. As I am not a huge sports fanatic (only watching football occasionally) I thoroughly enjoy a tractor pull. The point of the pull is to pull a sled loaded down with weights as far as possible or 300-350 feet. The sled automatically shifts the weight, making it harder for the tractor determining the winner. In this hobby, it is similar to racing, or other activities of the sort in that whoever cheats the most wins. This isn't always the case, because those with fat wallets along with a burn hole in their pocket also win. This can easily be looked at through a Marxist lens in that money equals power. Power in the tractor being capable of pulling more, as well as power from the person spending the money, buying his spot to be number one; gaining influence, happiness, and opportunity. The pulls have guidelines for the people entering the tractors that they are supposed to abide by, this being said, there’s always a few in every bunch who push the limits and follow their hubris and it is just a matter of time before something breaks (ex. bore and stroking the engine to the maximum, injecting jet fuel and water into the combustion chamber, and LOTS of air dismissing any guidelines.) Pushing things like this to the limit, running on your own pride will end up biting you in the end. Another Freudian view I have while attending these pulls is the guys who hook on their "daily driver" pickups and try to pull, is a sign of id vs. superego. These pickups are not meant to pull like a tractor is equipped to. In the end, these pickup guys have to be pulled off the track because they broke their driveshaft or melted parts of their engine... should have followed the superego! Lastly, when viewing across the crowd, the majority of the people include typical looking men-hard working, dirt stained hands, blue jeans, and driving up in a pickup. A feminist critic notices that the men dominate this sport. The best thing I like to view about this exhibit is a nice John Deere leaving a healthy cloud of smoke into the air roaring down the track! An environmentalist critic would outlaw this sport!
Austin Carlson Pd: 1
Music is an allegory. Through the lyrics the music artist reveals a story that have symbols to society. As I analyze through a feminist lens, I noticed that I’ve never heard a female rapping about drugs and alcohol. This act leads me to believe that no woman do anything illegal. We tend to think woman are suppose to be the proper, law abiding person when the men can go sleeping around and doing drugs. It makes it seem as if it’s okay for men to run around and do what they want, but if a girl does it then she will be punished. It’s the same for Hip Hop artists too. There are so many men whom are well-known and only one woman. Nicki Minaj is one of the few women in the genre of music. She is taking a stand and showing the men that females can be independent as well.
As for country music, women tend to like. It’s well known for love songs and songs written about an ex-boyfriend. There are men whom are country song writers, but they write a lot about drinking, partying, and affairs or relationships they had with women. This is showing me that women are shown to be emotional and unforgiving. For example, the lyrics from a Carrie Underwood song Before He cheats “That I dug my key into the side of his
pretty little souped up 4 wheel drive,
carved my name into his leather seats...
I took a Louisville slugger to both headlights, slashed a hole in all 4 tires...Maybe next time he'll think before he cheats.” This is a very emotional song that she wont be forgiving the guy who has done her wrong. Where you have the men who sing about alcohol. For example, Toby Keith’s song, I Love This Bar, “I like my truck (I like my truck)
I like my girlfriend (I like my girlfriend)
I like to take her out to dinner
I like a movie now and then
But I love this bar”. This is telling me that men value a bar and drinking more then they do the things the own.
Music is as if split in thirds, similar to the One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest where there are divisions in the room of acutes and chronics. There is a category that girls mostly like and a category guys mostly like, and in the middle there are some free floaters who just like everything. I don’t understand why society can’t just make everything for everyone and not be separated by any means.
south7
While reading the blog task for this week I found myself drawing a blank as to what exhibit to analyze. Then I realized I could analyze a computer since that is a highly valued item in today’s society. From a Marxist point of view, a computer represents money and power. A computer opens a whole new world; you can find basically anything you want at the click of a button. Having this kind of access shows a great deal of power. Countries can do many good things and bad things with a computer in the palm of their hands. Also, a computer is definitely not cheap so in order to have one you must have some money because it is not a necessity. The bourgeoisie might have many computers. They might not need multiple computers but they have them just because they can. Computers can also be analyzed through the Freudian point of view. Going back to the bourgeoisie having multiple computers, this also might have something to do with their id. They buy multiple computers and say that they need each of them for a certain reason. At the same time their id, or unconscious thoughts, is wanting more computers because it displays a large sum of money. As for high school students, we feel that with a computer we can have all of our homework answers. By having a computer available we are achieving narcissistic bliss, which means having no worries. We don’t have any worries as long as we can just ‘Google’ the answers. Some people feel completely lost without a computer. As a world, we rely maybe too much on computers and technology in general. They are a great, world-changing item but there are many negatives with the advancements in technology. I feel computers are a great piece of technology but after looking through the different lenses it makes me wonder how great they really are.
Christensen 2
I spend dang near an hour of my school day driving to and from the VA hospital in Sioux Falls. On the way there, I’ve had an ample amount of time to analyze people’s driving. Every day I see certain actions people always subconsciously and habitually commit. One of them is tailgating. A person’s id tells them to drive as fast as they possibly can running over and demolishing every and anything in their path. They obviously can’t do this, partly due to other vehicles on the road. Many drivers’ answers to this problem is to proceed to following at an unsafe distance from the vehicle in front of them in an attempt not to slow down. This is a stupid and narcissistic thing to do for many reasons. If you have a larger following distance you will not need to slow down when the car in front of you turns. You have a better chance of making it through a green light. And you will save fuel by maintaining a more constant speed. All in all, tailgating is simply when a driver’s id trumps, or wins over, their superego. It’s dangerous and inefficient. Another thing to ask is “What is going on in the mind of the other drivers?” This is admittedly hard to tell at times! Mainly, I see some guilt on the road, which stems from the overly abundant amount of anger. If a child presses the “walk” button, a car doesn’t turn right on a red light, or a person doesn’t go enough over the speed limit to satisfy the other driver, anger almost always follows. Anger is prevalent and leads to other problems such as more speeding, tailgating, and general unsafe, reckless driving. If drivers would be able to have their superego lead over their id, they would all be less angry and stressed, they would save millions of gallons of fuel, and drivers and pedestrians alike would be safer on the street.
Hosman 5
For this blog task I decided to choose something that we have talked about before, my scooter. When looking through the Freudian lens you can see perfectly why I choose to drive one. I am choosing my superego over my id because a lot of people tease me for not having a car and for driving a 49cc scooter. I choose to save a lot of money on gas because on average I pay about $2.10 to fill up for about a week of driving. Plus the rising gas prices don't affect me as much as it does other people that drive those big trucks that get less than twenty miles to the gallon. These people are letting their id control them because they are wasting gas, killing the environment and are just trying to seem more masculine The insurance is also a lot cheaper on a scooter than a car. I also am helping out by not releasing as much CO2 into the air which is helping the environment. You can also look at how simple a trend can start once one person decides to change things. One other person that I know personally that drives a scooter is Ben Schultz, but I know that there are others in our school as well. I personally believe that it will only be a matter of time until more people decide to spend money on a scooter that will pay off in the long run. I only paid $500 for it and it was basically brand new and I can drive it from about April/May until the snow falls, so even when I do finally get a car I will keep the scooter so when I drive around town I can save a little money which I think is very smart right now. You can easily compare myself having a scooter instead of a car and someone spending money on a brand new flat screen instead of just keeping their TV that does the job well. People that can't do this clearly don't know how to choose their superego over their id.
I chose to analyze Dr. Pepper’s new soda, Dr. Pepper Ten, and its controversial advertisements. The slogan for the new Dr. Pepper Ten is “Not For Women.” The commercial shows a man running through a jungle with a gun and getting shot at by lasers and dodging explosions. He then jumps off a cliff and lands in a jeep type vehicle and takes out the bad guys with a booby trap. It is supposed to represent a movie scene and the man asks, "Hey ladies, enjoying the film?" He pauses for a moment and says, "'Course not. Because this is our movie, and Dr Pepper Ten is our soda." He ends the commercial by telling women everywhere they can "keep the romantic comedies and lady drinks." I see this ad as somewhat comical and somewhat offensive to women. I’m sure Dr. Pepper wasn’t trying to degrade women or say they can’t drink Dr. Pepper Ten. I’m sure they’re just targeting men who are embarrassed or ashamed to drink diet soda and want them to feel differently about their new soda. In the commercial, Dr. Pepper is expecting all women to dislike action and all men to worship them. I can see why women would find this so offensive. Dr. Pepper is telling women that Dr. Pepper Ten is not for them. They say that it is for men and has “Only ten, MANLY, calories.” It is saying that a man’s role is to be as “manly” as possible and watch all sorts of gory films, while women are to watch romantic comedies and drink lady drinks. All the controversy that Dr. Pepper has made by this new ad campaign is quite interesting and always creates an interesting conversation.
Wickett 5
I have decided to anazlye the exhibit "Mean Girls." From a Marxist lens I will ask the question, "How do social classes interact with each other? Is there greed?" As you watch this film you see that the Plastics are made up of 3 girls that live high on the social ladder. They have tons of money, and they show no respect to anyone else. Katie(Linsday Lohan) is this girl that comes to this small town from Africa where she grew up with her parents. She knows no one, but her looks make the Plastics notice her. The girls one day ask Katie to join them for lunch, and she does. From then on, she is always hanging out with the Plastics, ditching her true friends who were trying to help her get back at Ragina George(Rachel McAdams). Which tells us that Katie is climbing the social ladder and reaching the top. I would also add that Ragina is putting the limitations on genders by how she believes girls should be beautiful and mean. She also makes a motion that the pretty girls can only date jocks. Throughout this exhibit the only guys we get to know are jocks, and on homosexual. The value of women in this film is brought down by the way these girls are portrayed as backstabbers to each other. These Plastics have a Burn Book that they write nasty, mean things about other girls at school. This does not give women a good reputaion in society. Ragina George represents the id of this exhibit very well. She does nothing nice for anyone, she's even mean to her fellow Plastics. The id is taking over Ragina, she does not know how to be a nice girl to anyone, not till the very end of the movie. Katie, I would say starts off with a superego by joining the lower leveled kids and just being a good person. Once she begins to hang out with the Plastics here comes the mighty id! She does learn to control her id towards the end of the film when Katie realizes what she is missing.
Olson 2
Women every day are held on different standards then men in everything they do. They are treated differently, viewed differently, dress differently, but when it comes to the military, I feel it is wrong to set them on different standards then men. In order to get into the military there is a sequel of physical tasks that is needed to be up to a certain standard to pass. The men’s standards are much greater then the women. In all the branches there are 4 major tests that they challenge you over. The tests are sit-ups, push-ups, pull-ups, and a run of some kind. In all of these tests, the female standards are lower. This doesn’t make much sense to me. In combat the enemy isn’t going to give females a handicap. The enemy isn’t going to slow down their bullets just for women. So, why do we hold them at different standards? Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s great that females want to fight for our country, and our freedom. But are we helping them by lowering the standards? I don’t think we are. In my opinion females should be welcome to join the military if they set a standard physical test. If the enemy isn’t going to hold the females on different standards then we shouldn’t either. When the recruits are at these places, doing these physical tests to get in, the army is suppose to prepare these young men and women, not condemn them. I’m not saying females are any less capable of making a difference then men, but they need to see that they are all fighting at the same level here. There isn’t a separate level for females in combat, so there shouldn’t be a separate level in testing.
Schultz 1
For this blog task, I have chosen to analyze doctors using a Marxist lens. The doctors are the king or the bosses of the hospital. They write out the orders for the staff below them to follow to insure the best possible treatment for the patients well being. This means the doctors have the power over the “lower” staff because they have education and money to show for all of their years spent in schooling and from climbing the social ladder. There tend to be very few females in this profession also indicating that the men have the majority rule over the women. Doctors are viewed as being one of the smartest groups of people and they have to meet a very high expectation. They have to have the image of being wealthy by the way they dress and the way they travel. Also, they not only do they have to be smart, they have to be attractive according to societies image. Doctors have the pressure of having to know the answer for ever case and every question that comes their way. One of the biggest pressures that they have to endure is having to be perfect; they can’t make any mistakes. If they do make a mistake society would look down upon them or even question they doctors education if the mistake was that serve. Doctors are some of the most responsible people in society. They are also some the most educated, doctors not only have to be book smart but they need to understand how to act in a social situation. Although the doctors have to rely on the nursing staff and the other units to work together and follow through with their orders, the doctors have the most responsibility under their belt that comes with being the highest branch in the system.
Tofteland 2
I am choosing to analyze a special Sports Illustrated magazine, which is the swimsuit edition. This magazine is strongly looked through the Freudian Lens because of all of the sexual images that appear in the magazine. Even though this magazine was designed by a woman, its purpose is probably to attract the attention of males and super models themselves. I’d say it’s safe to say that the majority of people, who order the swimsuit edition, are probably males. It is a magazine full of obviously gorgeous looking women wearing very few articles of clothing. The swimsuits they wear are very revealing and even though they may be degrading, they agree to wear these in the interest of attracting men in hopes that it may boost their career. It also shows that in today’s society what most women are willing to give up in order to obtain some sort of publicity or personal gain. This is the part where the Feminist lens really comes into play. They portray this idea that in order for you to be attractive or beautiful you have to be blessed with perfect looks, perfect body, and you must also be willing to show it; the possible superstructure of the magazine world. This magazine is trying to tell women in our society today how beauty should look. If you don’t look like the women in the Swimsuit Edition, then you aren’t beautiful and nobody will want you. This hurts the self esteem of most young teenage women and their appearance, putting them at the very base of extinction (so they feel). They think that if they don’t look as good as those women, then they are not worth it. It can destroy how those women can feel about themselves and it can lead to things like depression. You wouldn’t think that a magazine with gorgeous women in it could pose such harm to so many young and old individuals. It is demolishing the class structure in our culture.
Kulzer pd.2
For my blog I decided to Analyze the store Buckle. I've been shopping there for a couple years. I never realized how this store could be analyzed in every lens. The first lens I'm going to analyze Buckle in, is the Freudian Lens. I think subconsiously I want to feel "accepted" and "cooler." I always thought that I liked buckle jeans, just because. But I think I wear them because I feel like I fit in, or that I feel better then somebody who isn't wearing them. Almost anyone who wears them, I think of differently. I feel bad saying that but I feel like they are "cooler" and also have money because they can get expensive. The second lens i'm going to analyze Buckle in is the marxist lens. This lens can also play into the Freudian lens by the word I used earlier, money. Money, is no doubt something everyone wants. Money gets you what you want. Buying buckle brand shows that you have money which can be considered power. And with power comes popularity. Which comes back to the social ladder. If in the lion king, they were people instead of humans, I bet they would be wearing Buckle brands! Jeans are shown as a symbol of not only money but also being "cool". And lastly, the Feminist lens. This can be analyzed through the Feminist lens by the glitter, studs, jewels, and sparkle. Many girls wear these jeans and can feel "pretty." I realized the other day that their is now a brand of Miss Me ( a type of jean) for guys. These jeans have, just like the girls, sparkle! They are now making guys shirts to with jems and sparkle. If I at any point saw a guy wearing sparkley jeans, I would probably start laughing. Those types of jeans are just suppost to be worn by girls. It gives them a feeling of feminity. Because girls are suppost to look nice, and have sparkle. Verses boys who are suppost to be more masculine and clean cut. My brothers wear Buckle jeans and they had told me that girls who wear them can come off as more attractive, because it shows they care about what they wear. Their is also a statistic shown that guys are more attracted to girls who dress up. This plays into feminity because this makes girls want to shop there, obviously because you would attract more guys! And who doesn't want that. Buckle is still my favorite store and I will probably always shop there because I'm addicted to their jeans. Because they make me subconciously feel more powerful over someone who isn't wearing them.
-Seydel Pd. 7
I am sitting here trying to decided what to analysis. I came to a conclusion to analysis the military. The military deals with the Marxist Lens. It is said to be the more rich class out of all the other jobs out there. Because the military earns a lot of money this could interact with how other social classes feel. For instance the poor class could envy or absolutely them for making more money than them and the military doesn't care. The middle class could all depend on what they do for a job. Someone could have a high paying job but not make as much as a military person or someone could have a more crappy job and absolutely be jealous of what a military person makes. The lower or poor class is living life miserably were as people in the military are living life happily.
The military also deals with the Feminist Lens. When the war started out women were not able to be in the military. People thought it was a disgrace for women to join. Women were supposed to sit at home take care of the kids and cook. They also sat at home hoping their husband will come home. But now days women can join all they want and have there families worry about if their child is coming home. People have strong feelings now days at how women are joining. They believe they should not be in the military. They should be at home like back in the old days at how they care for others. They women now are considered much more aggressive then men. They are much more mean and do take crap from anyone.
Brannan,7
In school, we face a social structure problem. In my opinion this is the hugest problem, I feel that there shouldn't be social structure, yet we continue to form cliches. In my analysis I view our school social structures to be tamed by sexist, racial, and intelligence seperations. I examine some of the students just standing in the hallways, they tend to be girls gossiping about which boy is the cutest or how there parents did this or that or even possibly just the upcoming dance. Everytime I walk by I catch some obsurd comment about a boy, and therefore I can say it's a gender expectation of the girl's to gossip. I can say likewise for the boys when I walk by a group standing outside the door of their next class instead of preparing before the bell. Generally it's about what "Billy" or "Max" did to gain the attention of certain groups or possibly the teacher by acting out in an id. The feminist lense can lead into much of the freudian lense when we have certain expectations of genders. Males in school will brag about how rough and tough or how beat up they are from their endured football experience. Although the Freudian lense will show how females try to break that sort of social barrier by asserting themselves into powder puff football or actually join the football team. For the Marxist lense, I see different powers occuring through out certain cliches, every group has a leader it seems like, but which group truly dominates? Well, it seeems that the athletes are generally more popular and well known/liked by others. Where as the groups with more intelligence and less athleticism seem to go more unnoticed until the end of the year when Dr. Tailcott announces all of their achievements. Most surprisingly, all of the lenses fuse together when I say that women will endure stronger grades to place themselves higher in power, because they're expected to have less athleticism so they take advantage of intelligence to bring themselves into the proletariate type of life style. For the racism part, well we only have so many different cultures, but the majority is caucasian. Awesomely enough, I don't see a lot of clumping except for the caucasions, but almost every cliche has diversity. I think that our school has small diversity, but we treat it well. It's great to know that females try to boost their intelligence, but I think it's necessary for everyone to do so to break the social barriers in school, that I analyze as power dominating, sexist, and racial friendly.
Franklin period 1st
For this blog I chose to analyze professional hockey players and my hockey magizines titled "USA Hockey". In ice hockey it is always assumed that the more expensive stuff you buy, the better player you will become. When looked at through a Marxist Lens, it is a lot like saying that only rich people have the "privilege" of playing hockey. Does the expensive equipment really make you better/more powerful? Looking through a Freudian Lens, it could be said I long for the past when I still played ice hockey, a sport I loved and thrived to be better at. Also are hockey players just following their Id by checking other players into the boards? How about when they commit a penalty? In this magizine there are specific professional hockey players that are giving advice about how to perform certain tricks, or how to better your performance on the ice. Are they doing this because they actually care about other players? Or is it simply for them to become more popular among the people? It could possible that they are being paid to have a word in this magizine, so they could just be doing it for the money, and could not care less if they have an influence on other people. Professional hockey players also often "taunt" goalies after scoring on them. Is this a sense of oppressing the goalie? Do they think they are better than the goalie? How about the team they just scored against, are they better than the whole team they are facing? When in reality they could not have gotten the goal without their teams aid.
MPeterson Pd.2
After seeing what the topic that we have to write about was, I knew exactly what I was going to do. I am going analyze one of my favorite TV show, Gold Rush. Gold Rush is a TV show about six men that sold almost everything they had and left their families for awhile to go up to Alaska and try to find gold. The men don’t have much money so they have to try to use their resources the best they can. Looking through a Marxist lens, none of the men have won the environmental lottery but that is why they are in Alaska to try to strike it rich on gold. The man that owns the land they are mining on is a very Marxist person. All he is worried about is how much gold they get; he doesn’t care about their health or anything like that. The man that has a mining operation just a mile or so away has a very big id. He likes to show off how much gold he has got over the years and how well his operation works. He does a little superego because he does help out the six men if they need some supplies. If looked through the Feminist lens, you would notice that there are very few if any women on the show. All of the wives of the miners are at home doing the best they can to keep their houses but none of the women are mining. The TV show is pretty much based off of the Marxist lens because the whole show is about how people go to follow the American dream so that they can live in wealth. The problem is that even if they men aren’t finding very much gold, they are getting paid a pretty good amount of money to be on the TV show. If you watch the old season and then start watching the new season which starts Friday Nov. 28, you would notice that this season they all have new trucks and newer equipment and that came because of the TV show not because of the gold. So even if your just looking at a TV show you can still analyze it trough all three lenses.
Thorson 5
When thinking about what to analyze I started to think about the many stores in the mall. I thought that Victoria Secret would be a great store to analyze. First of all, before you even enter the store you see many posters hanging up in the windows of the store. They are of women dressed in just bras and underwear with long, sleek, and perfect bodies. We can analyze these posters with a Freudian lens. These woman and Victoria Secret for putting these posters up are following their id. Most woman would not feel comfortable having a picture of themselves up with just a bra and underwear on, or most woman would have their superego kick in and they wouldn’t do that. Also, the women who model and the store are trying to repress one’s own desires and impulses towards pleasurable instincts. You can also analyze the store with a Marxist lens once you actually get into the store. Many girls at school have jackets that say “Pink”, which mean they are from Victoria Secret. They feel by wearing these name brand jackets and pants give them class mobility. Just by wearing these they can go from being the very low class of proletariat to bourgeoisie which is just a step about proletariat. It also shows that they have money and are well maintained. It is pathetic that we allow the clothes we wear and the things they say on them to help make us ‘cooler’ or more ‘powerful’. The ideology people have of how stores or certain styles make us fit in and feel accepted is sad, it’s something that needs to be changed.
Van Hemert, pd.5
For this blog task I chose to analyze Marxism in school. On the obvious level you can see different tiers with seniors, juniors, sophomores,and freshmen. Although that only covers the student body. If you include the Faculty they are measure with the lowest being new teachers all the way up to more experienced teachers. After the teachers comes the principals with the head being Dr. Talcot. Now with the student body within the individual classes you can see competitions forming everywhere. There are competitions for girls, grades, guys, sports, class officers, student council, student of the month and many more. Males compete with other males in the weight room to see who is stronger or faster. Our school and schools around America train us to be Capitalists and compete for everything you want. This has its ups and downs. For instance it could ruin friendships but can also get you what you want so its a pick and choose kinda thing. Teachers compete with each other to do better than the other ones so they don't get fired. I think that overall training kids to be Capitalists is a good thing to a extent but come on America lay off the gas pedal a little bit
Wible 5
For this blog I chose to analyze women’s sports and men’s sports. After analyzing these subjects through the Feminist lens it is clear to me, and everyone else, that women’s sports are discriminated against. This takes place from childhood all the way up to professional sports. Men naturally fill the masculinity role and women naturally fill the support system role in this case. As I have noticed in high school so far, men’s sports attract more attention and are more appealing to the average individual. If there happens to be a girls basketball game and a boys basketball game in the same night, the fans would chose the boys game. This has bothered me all throughout the years. Even if the girls team is better and more successful, the fans will still choose the boys. They like the faster pace and heightened intensity. I feel this is a huge exploitation on women. Gender roles shouldn’t be carried out into things like sports. Even though they are, sadly. I will admit that boys are more entertaining to watch than girls but every time I have had to choose between a boys and a girls game, I have chosen the girls because I know what it feels like. During the soccer season, boys and girls play at the same time and at the same place. We would round up a bunch of fans to come support us but they would all end up at the boys game. We need the support just as much as they do, if not more because we receive less of it over time. Whether we want to admit it or not, it bothers us a great amount. Female sports have been subjugate to male sports as long as I have lived. I know there is a Title 9 rule now that gives women’s sports advantage over men’s sports because they have been oppressed all this time. Women will never match men physically but we know how to take them over mentally and maybe that will result in women’s sports getting more attention. This has been something I have thought about for awhile now and I’m glad I finally got the chance to express myself about it.
Corcoran 5
For this blog I will be breaking down and analyzing the Marine Corps boot camp though a Marxist lens. The more obvious part to analyze is the two different classes. There are the recruits representing the base or proletariats and the Drill Instructors as the elite class. Though the Drill Instructors are only ranked as Sergeants; in boot camp they are in charge and the top dogs. The recruits or proletariats are going to be stripped of their freedom and are going to be oppressed for the next thirteen weeks by the Drill Instructors. They are going to make them feel like they are nothing and worthless. However there is somewhat of a social ladder you might say, in this case it’s called rank. The recruits start as a Private or in some cases a Private First Class, those ones ranked as Private can rank themselves to Private First Class with hard work and showing motivation throughout boot camp. This higher rank means higher pay grade, even though they are ranked a little higher they are still treated like nothing. Their freedom is taking away by shaving their heads in order to make them all the same, and there giving the same cloths and the same of everything in order to take out any individuality. All the power in boot camp rests with the Drill Instructors; the recruits have no say in anything that goes on. The recruits have nothing except each other. The only interacting between the two classes is when the higher class is calling names or screaming orders at the proletariats. There is no greed between the two classes the recruits have to accept the fact that they don’t get freedom or anything until they graduate from boot camp. Upon graduation, the recruits are now Marines and start there new life based on a different social ladder. The newly graduated Marines are placed at towards the bottom and have to earn their way to the top. The Marines at the top are in charge and still tell the lower ranks what to do and when to do it.
Eigenberg 5
While trying to decide what to analyze for this blog I came across Twitter a couple times. I noticed that it is very possible to analyze anything even the social network. I came to my decision to use Twitter or Facebook for this blog. They can both show the different classes between people. The more likes, comments, notifications and retweets someone has shows they are more popular or in the higher class. On the other hand, the lower class is ignored or made fun of. They seem to have less power than the others on the Internet. For example, the people in the higher class or the so called “popular” teenagers think they have more power and might ignore the lower class’s statuses or tweets or possibly not even follow them on Twitter. They aren’t important to them because they believe they are better. The oppressed don’t matter much to them. The Freudian Lens seems to be the easiest lens to use with this topic. The social network brings out the narcissistic bliss in everyone. Posting pictures of themselves daily or quite often show narcissism. They are obviously trying to get attention. That is when some people become selfish when using these. They help satisfy their id with all the likes, comments or most followers and friends. Their ego is boosted with the help of their own friends. The social network is just one big competition if you think about it. The only reason people post the things they do is to be noticed. We all need some kind of attention from others and that is a way of getting it now with the high reliance on technology. Someone who might have many retweeted tweets or followers most likely feels good about themselves because of the fact that everyone is giving them attention. However, tying the Marxist and Freudian lens together, the lower class may feel down inside knowing that they aren’t getting as much attention as everyone else is. This causes them to envy the higher class. The great invention of Facebook and Twitter happens to just put pressure on everyone. It is the competition everyone is trying their best to win.
Hovde 2
While trying to decide what I should write for this blog I decided to choose to write about my Ford mustang. In many peoples eyes it may just be just a car. To me I think of it as a positive influence on my life. The mustang came with it's stock wheels. I choose to put on a set of chrome rims on it. The car before it had it's wheels looked like a girl car. Now that the car has it's wheels it can be considered a manly kind of vehicle .You could say that the car looking like a girl car as a Feminist lens. It would be a feminist lens because of people saying that it is a girl car. People think that it's unmanly to drive a Ford. Well I'm here to tell you it's not. It's the manliest thing you can do. In high school kids always want the best things they want to satisfy their "ego". Students may think they will be a higher in a "class" or greater part of society. Money is everything of our life we use it for everything. Having better things doesn't always mean you are the coolest kid on the block or better then any other person. I don't feel that having a decent car is making me any better then lets say a kid who drives a rusted piece of junk. Having what makes your "happiness" grow more and more. People will be people some may "envy" the other person due to the lack of money or knowledge of what the other person may have. In many ways my car gives me a positive attitude on life. It may get me from point a to b, but it makes my life more enjoyable. It gives me a positive attitude on life.
Keller Pd.5
Normally when you have strong feelings for somebody weather its family, friends, or relationship, the word “love” is used. Love can be used in many different ways and be said/shown in many different was as well. When you tell somebody you love them it normally is saying you would do anything for them and have total faith and trust in the person. Love can be miss used thou to, so how are people suppose to know when its being miss used or just used for the other person to benefit? For the miss use of the word, there really is not anything people can do about it but try and use their best judgement to pick it out and to truly know they believe its true before using it. Using the word love seems to be the easy way out for most people so they don’t have to think of something clever and long to say but, hey if its what a person means then they should use it but in the right way/meaning. For instance, a married couple or family members, I believe should use the word “love” so they know they truly do care and believe in them. I think the song “Love Like Crazy” by Lee Brice express’s it the best: “Be a best friend, tell the truth. And overuse "I love you". Go to work, do your best. Don't outsmart your common sense. Never let your prayin' knees get lazy. And love like crazy”. I strongly believe everybody should have at least one person in this world that they know is there for them and truly loves them for who they are and excepts them for who they are. For one word, it is a very strong word and seems to be one of the strongest words. An example, for the word being a strong one comes straight from the bible: "In the end there are three things that last: Faith, Hope, and Love; but the greatest of these is Love!” –1 Corinthians
-Schroeder, pd.5
I will be viewing the movie Full Metal Jacket from a mainly Marxist point of view. When looking at the exhibit we can focus on 2 main Marxist points in the movie’s context, the first being it’s “set caste system,” by this caste we can see how clearly in the armed forces that you are separated from your officers immediately when it comes to treatment and freedoms. The training camp they attend is very dictatorial, your drill instructor is your master, your are his dog, you are expected to obey his every command, be it to run, stop, or jump, they ensure that you follow their rules when they want you to. Not only are you taught your place but you are also taught to conform, upon arrival they are shaved and given the same gear and identical guns, in the camp it seems as if individuality was frowned upon. The second Marxist idea in the movie is military itself, despite the fact that it conforms you to be a well oiled machine, it isn’t run democratically we don’t vote whether or not to attack certain places there are higher ups that tell us whether or not we are able to. When we look at the movie from a feminist point of view we see its blatant sexism, even though the movie was based on the Vietnam War even today women are not allowed to serve on the front line because they were deemed unable to kill someone face to face. This shows that we still place women in their typical role as a housewife rather than view them as soldiers even though they go through every aspect of training a man does. Also in the movie on the Vietcong side we can see young boys fighting against our soldiers, from a feminist point of view we see that as saying a 12 year old boy has more rights than a woman to serve his country.
Zody 1
As I was pondering the thought of what I should discuss in my blog task, I just couldn’t come up with any ideas. Then I thought of a TV show that I normally watch, Family Guy. Now I know it probably isn’t the best show to watch on a daily basis, but it was the first show that came to my mind. I would like to start out with analyzing Peter Griffin. There is so much to analyze about this man. Is the id winning in this character? Well I would say yes it does 100% of the time. In some shows he lets his ego get the best of him, and he just does whatever comes to his mind first. I also noticed about Peter that he has many Freudian slips. Not always in a matter of talking, but also in his actions. This show is very fascinating because of how they reveal real life sometimes. Peter Griffin says, and acts in certain ways because the creators of the show make him that certain way. But if you notice that almost everything that he does is something everyone has always wanted to try at one point in their lives but never got the courage to do so. That is why I marvel at Mr. Griffin because although he ignores his superego, he still does things that everyday people just think about doing. Another character that is good to analyze is Stewey the talking baby. I believe that he represents the id in the show. Everything he says and everything he does represents the id in a nutshell. I can’t remember a show that I have watched where he does not want to kill his mother. Now I’m not a doctor, but I think that is an act of the id and not the superego. Also, a talking baby is a displacement in the reality lives of people. Stewey is a perfect example of the id in general, and Family Guy is a great exhibit to use to analyze using the Freudian lense.
McClanahan 1
While I as trying to figure out what I would write for this blog I realized I am really into music so I decided to write about one song in particular Raised by Wolves by Falling In Reverse. Many may not know about Falling In Reverse, but if anyone knows the band Escape The Fate they would maybe know who Ronnie Radke is; who used to be Escape The Fate's lead singer. Ronnie however spent the last few years in prison and when he finally got out Escape The Fate wouldnt take him back, they told him to leave. In the song he sings "One day they'll see, it was only me" he is meaning the band was only good when he was there and they will soon realize he was their "money"; the one who had the power and who gave the band the opportunites they got up to this day. His "id" would be how could I get back at the band; well the line "This war is mine" is pretty much showing that right there, Escape the Fate's This Wars is Ours song Ronnie is taking the line away from them. Knowing that he was the reason the band got so good his "ego" is to start his band as the "base" of the band and the band members are just the "accessories" of the band. Ronnie has some really good talent and this song really shows how he feels towards the band that made him how he is today and where he is now after Escape the Fate didnt want him anymore.
Hillman Pd.1
Every morning I find myself watching Spongebob Squarepants. I never really thought much of it until a couple of weeks ago when I started to question some of the things I saw on the show. So I decided to write my blog about it. While watching the show I noticed that it is very pro-homosexual as well as pro-capitalism. It is also anti-gender role and very sexual. If you view this show through the Feminist lens you will notice that Spongebob has some very feminine qualities. For example, he can be seen curling his eyelashes as well as talking in a very feminine way. Also in one episode he continues to rip his pants for everybody to see his bottom. This shows that he could be homosexual. You will also see that Patrick is very feminine as well. For starters, he is pink, which is usually known for being a girl color. During one episode Patrick is seen wearing fish net leggings on his legs with short shorts on. Even Squidward Tentacles has feminine qualities. Squidward is into art, music, drama, and even tanning which are usually stereotyped as feminine characteristics. Squidward goes against his gender expectations of liking sports and violence. Another character on the show who goes against the gender expectations is Sandy Cheeks. She is a squirrel who is from Texas. She is seen as a roughneck Texan who loves to go bull riding and roping. She barbeques and is tougher and stronger then anybody else. She has the characteristics of the “man’s” role in society. This show is also pro-capitalism which you can see through the Marxist lens. Mr. Krabs is an entrepreneur who owns the Krusty Krab. He has worked his way up to become a business owner and now can control Spongebob and Squidward who are employees of Mr. Krabs. This teaches the people who watch the show how a good economy works. If you look at this show from a Freudian lens you can also see that it is very sexual. It has names such as Sandy Cheeks and Bikini Bottom, the name of the town, which are sexual things. So after analyzing this show there is much more then “what meets the eye.” When you view it through some of the lens’s you can clearly see that it is pro-homosexual, anti-gender role, and even sexual.
KPetersen 7
As I’m sitting here thinking about what to write for this blog it finally hits me what I want to write about. I am going to write about what I love to do the most. And that is playing soccer. When I tell people that I play soccer they always give me a funny look. Looks like you really play that stupid sport or who plays that sport any more. And it gets me thinking about everything that goes into soccer and why I love to play it so much. Soccer is a very physical sport and you have to be in shape for it year round. The game of soccer is very simple thou. You put a little round ball into a big square net as my coach would tell my team. Ya I will admit it’s not the greatest sport to watch. But playing it is a whole different story. When I am out there playing nothing else around me matters. I feel like it’s just me and one other girl on the other team trying to see who can score first. And when you score first it’s this big adrenalin rush like you never felt before. That no one can’t stop you. You can do anything you want. And when you get scored on you feel like someone just ran up to you and kicked you in the stomach with all their might. It doesn’t feel good. But with help from my teammates around me I feel when can come back and win. All it takes as my coach says is believing in yourself. Never giving up when times are hard. That with hard work and determination you will go places. When my school soccer team didn’t do very well this year those words were hard to believe and I felt like it wasn’t true. But my coach gave us all a pep talk and said there is always next year don’t give up hope.
Haley Jones pd1
I decided to analyze the college selection process that my peers and I are all agonizing through. The decision of where to achieve higher learning is not only a stressful ordeal, but also a potential life changing choice. I’ve narrowed down my options to five universities with extensive research and college visits. Before I go into depth on this subject, I want to emphasize that any college is a great option if it’s the right place for the student to learn and grow. My choices are Minnesota, Iowa State, Kansas, Nebraska, and USD. I’ve always had envy towards the kids that go off to big colleges far from Brandon. Minnesota, being the fourth biggest school in the nation, definitely meets these standards. My parents both received degrees at Iowa State and John will likely be a Cyclone next fall. I worry that I might feel guilt for not following the family tradition, but I’ve never been a follower. Yet another part of me wants to satisfy my id by going to Kansas or Nebraska. These are schools were I have friends who could help me through the strange times of college. They also have a high girl to guy ratio (more girls) and are known for parties. This makes me wonder if I could truly focus on academics on these distant campuses. We all know every college has these strong temptations right in front of you. My last option, but not last resort, is USD. By going in state I could save money, be close to home, and have many friends close by. I used to bash South Dakota schools because I flat out found them to be inferior in some way. This may be due to the media or social expectations I have been subjected to. After looking into schools around the state, I’ve had a change of heart. I realize that South Dakota has many great options whether it is State or STI. College is scary and thrilling at the same time. I find myself in denial at times wondering where time has gone. I’ve been blessed with great teachers and an amazing environment; these gifts have given me the opportunity to choose from such scholarly institutions. Hopefully in the near future I will decide the school that is right for me.
Klumpp 2
For my blog I choose to analyze the show “How I Met Your Mother.” This show is my favorite show at the time which is the reason I choose to analyze it. During this show it shows that it can be very anti-woman yet it can be pro feminism. There is a lot of capitalism in the show. One of the interesting things about this show is that the most womanizing guy in the show is played by a gay person. Showing that it doesn’t matter what gender or sexuality you are it is all acceptable. Throughout the series it shows of a bank called GMB which is the biggest sign of capitalism in a show that I have ever seen. It shows how some rich people can be very anti-environment where they even put in there doing a commercial once a year to show they aren’t what people say they are. Dealing with the feminist lens in this show they have a womanizing man in there that hits on anything that moves. Where they even play games on what he has done with women in the past, he also demoralizes women in the show by doing the lemon law where if you do not like someone within the first 5 min of the date then you can lemon law them and leave the date saying it’s over. This show is also pro woman in some areas the actress playing Robin is Canadian and acts like a man some times. While the actress that plays Lily acts feminine she can also be very assertive of herself if something doesn’t go the way she wants she will hunt down the person that caused it and give them a piece of their mind.
Ryan Carnes P. 7
As the winter season approaches I cant stop thinking about the upcoming snowboard season. I thought it would be quite interesting to view snowboarding through the lenses we use in class. First off I would like to start viewing snowboarding through a Freudian lens. To most people snowboarding is viewed as just a winter activity. I see snowboarding as a stress reliever that lets me feel free to get away from the stresses of everyday life. Snowboarding is like a blank canvas that lets me express my creativity and style. Where the mountain is my canvas and my board is my tool to show every move I make. I can express these things by how I ride and what I ride on, whether its fresh powder or going to the terrain park. When I choose to ride powder it shows how free I feel while riding, making big turns and flying across floaty feeling snow. I can show my creativity by choosing lines (the trail I choose to go down.) To a normal snowboarder they would choose a simple way down and stay on the trail. But I see the mountain differently. A simple roll of the mountain can be a jump where I can challenge and express myself. When I choose to ride the terrain park, where all the jumps and rails are, I can express my creativity and style. When performing a trick I can express my style by how I perform it. When viewing snowboarding through a Marxist lens you can see what class an individual is in. If you see some one with an old run down board you can assume they are at the base of the social classes. But if you see some one with a brand new high-end board you can assume they are part of the upper class bracket. Finally viewing snowboarding through the Feminist lens, you may observe how the female snowboarding industry can be viewed as boring and less entertaining. It can also be known as the “other” side of snowboarding. The women snowboarders can’t do many of the tricks the males can do so it’s less entertaining to watch. But to some like me it is more fun to watch the pro women ride because they perform many tricks I can or do some tricks that are right above my skill level. Which pushes me to be better at the sport I love. With my enthusiasm towards snowboarding, I hope to follow it until the day I die.
Brown pd2
When examining deer hunting through critical lenses mostly I use the Freudian lens. Deer hunting can be looked at as either satisfying a person’s id or satisfying a superego. When looking at is as satisfying an id you think of the hunter just trying to kill a trophy to hang on his wall. By looking at it as satisfying a superego you think of a hunter supporting his family by bringing food home to put on the table. Taking a trophy deer is a narcissistic bliss to some while just shooting a deer is to others. I personally would rather provide food for my family by taking any deer and satisfying my superego. Deer hunting can also be considered to be a dream to many. There are many places where people are not allowed to hunt deer and have to travel and pay a lot of money just to shoot one. Those dreams can be interpreted to be a dream for a narcissistic bliss. Deer hunting can also be analyzed using the Marxist critical lens. Hunters are usually considered to be in the middle to upper class because of the expense of deer hunting. The hunted, deer, also can be viewed as lower class citizens because they only have themselves to worry about and have to deal with all of the poor weather conditions outside. When hunting deer people are also viewed as machines that use adrenaline as their oil to function when a deer walks into range; the oil helps them steady the gun or draw the bow. Tracking a deer after it is shot also can be looked at as working to get the things you need to get further in life. Finally finding the trophy is the number one goal and puts you on top of a mountain.
Kuck 5
th laptop and book bag in tow I wonder down to my room, racking my brain to try and decided what to analyze for this blog. I get to my room sit down on my bed and proceed to waste 30 minutes of my time trying to decide what to analyze and that’s when it came to me. I decided I would analyze the concept of "time" through the Freudian lens. Time is everything we do, say, are, yet it is nothing at all. With time we know exactly when we need to be somewhere, when we have to leave to get there or even when to move onto another place. We fulfill our narcissistic bliss by doing different things throughout the day, week, month, or even year. These are all ways of expressing when we did something in our life or other ways of saying a time we did something. Narcissistic bliss wouldn't be obtainable without time because we wouldn't be able to tell when things were going to happen. For example, lets say you knew your favorite show was going to be on tonight but you didn't know what time, it’s very possible you would miss your show. Another way of looking at "time" is through your memories. Without time we couldn't recall all the times we fulfilled out ids or followed our superego for the better. We would be lost in everything we did or didn't do because we wouldn't have a concept of when it happened. Time is also our age, maturity, independence, and freedoms. Age determined by time gives us the privileges we cant wait for. To finally be able to do what we want without permission. Time is maturity because over an expanded period of time we learn more, grow more, and become independent. Another example of time through age is I find myself lately looking forward to the day I turn 18 because it is a time to celebrate but also the time I become an adult and get adult privileges. Without a concept of time how would we know how old we are, or how would we classify or describe how long we have been here on this earth. Much like 18 many people or young adults can’t wait to be the "wonderful" age of 21 because they can then legally fulfill their ids by doing more adult things like drinking. Life is all determined by time and without it the world would be extremely different. Maybe for the better or possible it would be worse but we will never know because everything we have become or know we will soon become is determined and monitored by time.
Beldin pd. 1
I want to analyze "Grey's Anatomy." This is my favorite show on television right now. This show is Pro-everything basically and this is how. The Marxist lens the surgeon's (resident's) want the power, in the hospital they want to over take the attending doctor. They also want everything they can get and will fight for it if they want to be in on a surgical operation the will be like a shark fighting for its prey. Second Feminist the men in this show are very telling of the women you have to do as they say but you can do as you please its like "do as I say not as I do" type thing in the hospital and they all did treat people the same but not now its more like the people who married the attending got the advantage. So as for Derek and Meredith Grey get the crap because she was flirting with him when she was just a 1st year resident. So did Christian and Bourge
Merkel PD.1
For my exhibit I chose to analyze a magazine ad I found. We see the beautiful Sofia Vergara sprawled seductively across a pure white, fur rug wearing a low cut leopard dress that hugs all the right places. Initially I deduct how this obviously targeting men. Then I look closer and notice that in small font in the corner reads, “kmart: Exclusive Collection”. It shocked me- this is from kmart? Do to the nature of the ad I didn’t expect it to be from a more modest store like kmart. I mainly focused on how do women function is the exhibit. They are shown as objects to be put on display and judges by society. So this ad is trying to make women think that if they were her clothing line, it will make them more appealing to the opposite sex and they will avoid criticism. It also goes as far to have in bold letters at the top, “Work What You Got!” Realistically, most women wouldn’t be wearing her outfit in the position she’s in, but it looks more sensual than if she were simply standing there. The photo is also taken at this angle to accentuate her feminine qualities and flawless figure. The photographers intension was to make this ad as sexual as possible while still keeping it publicly appropriate because, lets face it, “sex sells”. I thought about why they chose that piece of clothing for her to wear- animal print. I think it’s showing how with the aid of her line, Sofia was able to unleash her animalistic side which appears to men, and so can you if you buy her products. For many its likely this ad only made women self-conscious about their appearance, which then intrigues vulnerable women to spend money on the clothes. The company ignores the emotions of women everywhere so that they can solely make a profit. There is meaning and purpose to every advertisement, and it’s interesting to study them deeper.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hJnuZ-MwYn8/ToZAzjXKjOI/AAAAAAAAhLU/bXvW10Cvgjk/s800/SofiaVergara%2BKmart%2Bbillboard.jpg
While recently I have viewed a movie I have thoroughly enjoyed, I have decided to analyze it with the feminist lens. There is one scene in the film that I found especially intriguing. This is a scene when the bridesmaids are trying on dresses after eating at a Mexican restaurant that has made them all sick unexpectedly. Megan, one of the bridesmaids, begins to have the beginnings of bowel movements and stomach issues. While she is the first one to get symptoms the other girls begin to feel like vomiting and run to the bathroom. The bathroom is especially nice, somewhere you wouldn’t go to do the duties they had to do. One is puking in the toilet while the other is having bowel movements in the sink, while the bride is outside doing her duties in the middle of the street. In this scene gender expectations are violated by women doing things that would be deemed unattractive. The fact that they are puking and pooping, they are not filling their natural roles of a woman. They are being portrayed as animals that can’t control themselves. Oppression is not being followed in this scene because the bridesmaids are doing what they want. They are against the system in a sense that they are breaking the rules of society. Nurse Ratched would be appalled at the ladies by their performances. Hegemony is used in the film by the bridesmaids by them not fulfilling the typical house wife role and staying home they are being the man and being dominant in society; they are being “the man of the house”. Gender roles are flipped in the wedding setting by the men not really having anything to do with it and the women taking complete control over everything. The film “Bridesmaids” is a highly liked movie by feminist critics because for once the women are the dominant character.
Cushing 5
I have chosen to write this blog using the feminist lens analyzing a high school. In a high school there are boys and girls ranging from 12-18, who all dress every so slightly different, think in a different way, and go about their day differently. Guys are treated differently in sports then girls are, whether it’s the attendance at sporting events or their social status. At many girls sporting events the attendance are lower then guys events. Why is that? Are girls wimps? Are they boring? They may play the sport with a little bit different strategy but that doesn’t mean that they are wimps or boring to watch. Men are known to be more muscular, more exciting, and more fun to watch. They are only known for these things because of what society has brain washed us with. Then if you listen to the gossip, why is it usually about all the bad things that girls do and not every bad thing the guys do? Why if a girl is sexual with more then one guy why are they called sluts and whores but if I guy does it they people just sort of shrug it off and say that’s life? In reality there is no difference in the two actions, it is the same idea. In high school men are given the gender role of asking girls out, or to dinner, or to a dance. If a girl does it people frown upon it and say the guy is a wimp. The gender expectation is for guys to stick up for their date or girlfriend. When you walk down the hallway and see inappropriate clothing, who would you think it would be? Usually girls are known to be the once to not always dress appropriately. If guys wear short shorts they are teased that they aren’t a man, or not masculine. In the classroom why do girls try so hard and guys just let whatever is going to happen just happen? Why don’t they try as hard as girls do? Maybe it’s because girls don’t have the sports to impress people with because society is more drawn to the guy events.
- Paul 5
Well, Recently I’ve been thinking to myself and talking to many others about my new job at the Century Theater and how great it is to work there. Even though I am still somewhat of a newbie at working there I thought it would be an exhilarating idea to right about in my blog task. There are infinite ways to use the Marxist lens for this particular topic. For starters, there is a is a definite social and economic ladder that you clime while you work there. For a lot of the employees that have been working there for a few months to a year are usually treated with respect and are well adored by all the other employees and managers that have worked there. As for the employees who have just begun working there (like me) are usually treated with less respect and are often looked at to be somewhat clumsy in everything they do. Also, just like in every work place, you have your classes as well. You have your employees, who usually have lower respect depending for how long they have worked and how good they are. Then you have your Co-managers who keep track of the employees and make sure they are getting the job done and done right. And last you have the manager himself who runs the whole building and is always respected. My work place can also be looked at as a meritocracy. I didn’t just get this job by walking in the front door. I had to go through a whole interview with questions asking me about what kind of skills and abilities I had and how go I was at using them. They couldn’t just higher any old shmuck off the streets, because he may not have the skills it takes just to do the job required of him there. The biggest thing about my job working there is their one superstructure that all employees must follow which is the customer always comes first. In ways the customer is a higher rank than some of the employees on the social ladder because they get treated with intense generosity and way more respect than any of the employees do. Even though I have only been employed there for two weeks I already feel like not human when I work there. In a lot of ways I feel like I am just another one of the machines behind the counter that we use. I might as well be another machine behind the counter, because I am no different from the other machines. I take the customer’s order without any complaints, no matter how mad they may make me. I feel as if at times I am on auto pilot when I am working. I say the same sentences over and over to each customer and feel like I’ve made the same order at least a thousand times. There have even been times were I’ll be making myself something to eat at my house and I feel as if I’m not making something to eat for myself but for another person. None the less, I still do enjoy my job extremely much.
Stoltenburg 5
Cars and or Vehicles are a very big deal in the modern world especially for high school teens. Most kids either get a car based on looks, engine size, features like heated seats, or they just get it because its the only thing they can get. If its the case were you get it because you don't have a choice, then you could see it through a Marxist critical lens. This lens sheds light on not having a choice because you either don't have money to afford what you want or your parents or higher power oppress you from getting the one you like. Other teens have more luck because they work to pay for what they want or they just get their parents to buy it for them. Usually when a teen gets to choose the car that they want the thought crosses their mind that they need something cool to impress people. This brings me to the feminist lens. For the guys they usually want to get a loud truck, a rice burner, or a fast muscle car. They usually get one of these three to impress the ladies of course. It would be against their gender role as men to make a choice without thinking what women will think of their choice. On the other hand girls can go either way on a vehicle. I think that most really just want something cute or cool. I think they may also look at vehicles with four doors just because they want to be able to have room for their friends. One rule that I have herd about that is feminist is that if a car has four doors it is considered a chick car, with a few exceptions of course. Lastly I would like to interpret the Freudian lens in choosing a car. One thing that I saw about choosing a car that is Freudian is a persons libido in the choice. Libido is a persons sex drive. This influences some teens when they get a car. They want a car that appeals to the opposite sex because they want them to notice them more. They think that if they can get envy from them that they will have a better chance at getting a hotter spouse as well as a bigger house.
Dede 1
I would like to analyze the Greek System and hopefully change Mr. C’s and other people’s negative opinions of fraternities and sororities. My parents, two uncles, and an aunt were members of a fraternity or sorority in college. I have had many opportunities over the years to visit and participate in Greek events.
Are fraternities and sororities just places to go to satisfy your id and live in narcissistic bliss or are they organizations that help you succeed in college and beyond. Hollywood portrays fraternities as houses where people go to get drunk, have sex, and slack off. My research and experience tells me that Hollywood’s propaganda is a fallacy. According to a nationwide study, less than 3% of the U.S. population is Greek, but Greek men and women head 86% of the 50 largest corporations in the U.S. All but three U.S. Presidents since 1825 have been Greek, as are 43% of the current U.S. Senators and 36% of the members of the House of Representatives. Also 40 of 47 U.S. Supreme Court Justices have been Greek. Given all that information, I’d say that Greek members do climb the social/economic ladders and are the ruling class on campus and throughout our society. At Iowa State University, the average GPA of Greek members in 2011 was 3.04 compared to non-Greeks average GPA of 2.88. Research also shows that Greek students have a 10% greater chance of graduating from college than their non-Greek counterparts. Another study found that Greeks throughout the U.S. rate their college experience better than non-Greeks. The same study found that Greek members are more financially successful, more involved in their communities, and donate more money to charities.
My personal experience combined with this research leads me to believe that pledging a fraternity will improve the likelihood that I will be successful in college and beyond. Fraternities are similar to a football team; they offer a sense of belonging and support that is difficult to find anywhere else. They help create bonds of brotherhood that are envied by those who have not had the opportunity to be a part of such a system. I hope that I will someday soon have the opportunity to become a member of a fraternity and that I will be able to help dispel some of the myths regarding the Greek system.
Klumpp 5
Works Cited
http://www.whygogreek.com/stats.html
http://www.sparknotes.com/college/life/page13.html
I would like to analyze the Greek System and hopefully change Mr. C’s and other people’s negative opinions of fraternities and sororities. My parents, two uncles, and an aunt were members of a fraternity or sorority in college. I have had many opportunities over the years to visit and participate in Greek events.
Are fraternities and sororities just places to go to satisfy your id and live in narcissistic bliss or are they organizations that help you succeed in college and beyond. Hollywood portrays fraternities as houses where people go to get drunk, have sex, and slack off. My research and experience tells me that Hollywood’s propaganda is a fallacy. According to a nationwide study, less than 3% of the U.S. population is Greek, but Greek men and women head 86% of the 50 largest corporations in the U.S. All but three U.S. Presidents since 1825 have been Greek, as are 43% of the current U.S. Senators and 36% of the members of the House of Representatives. Also 40 of 47 U.S. Supreme Court Justices have been Greek. Given all that information, I’d say that Greek members do climb the social/economic ladders and are the ruling class on campus and throughout our society. At Iowa State University, the average GPA of Greek members in 2011 was 3.04 compared to non-Greeks average GPA of 2.88. Research also shows that Greek students have a 10% greater chance of graduating from college than their non-Greek counterparts. Another study found that Greeks throughout the U.S. rate their college experience better than non-Greeks. The same study found that Greek members are more financially successful, more involved in their communities, and donate more money to charities.
My personal experience combined with this research leads me to believe that pledging a fraternity will improve the likelihood that I will be successful in college and beyond. Fraternities are similar to a football team; they offer a sense of belonging and support that is difficult to find anywhere else. They help create bonds of brotherhood that are envied by those who have not had the opportunity to be a part of such a system. I hope that I will someday soon have the opportunity to become a member of a fraternity and that I will be able to help dispel some of the myths regarding the Greek system.
Klumpp 5
Works Cited
http://www.whygogreek.com/stats.html
http://www.sparknotes.com/college/life/page13.html
I wasn't quite sure what to analyze for this blog task but, I decided to analyze my relationship between my dog and I. For this I will be using mostly the marxist lens. To my dog, Izzi, I am the upper class since I have control and responsibility over her. When she was young, I chose her name, trained her the way I saw fit, and continually keep her from doing things she isn't supposed to do. This is how she knows that I am the one in control. Just the other day, Izzi was satisfying her "icky demon" (freudian lens) by snooping through the garbage can. I am supposed to look out for her so I made her stop in order to keep her from ingesting something that could have harmed her. Izzi can be seen as the lower class since she, like all dogs, is expected to do what she is told. I think this is how most humans, no matter what social class they're in, satisfy their need to feel in control of something or someone (freudian and marxist lens) since being the one in control signifies wealth and power (marxist lens). To incorporate the feminist lens, I will be going off of the topic of just my dog and I and look at the kinds of dogs everyone chooses. Girls are sometimes thought to have the smaller dogs since they are deemed to be "girly" and soft; while guys usually like the bigger dogs since they are seen as being tough and "cool". Actresses and other female stars are especially notorious for carrying around little dogs in bags to be used as "girly" accessories instead of companions. Izzi is a Yorkie but is in no way girly; she is my best pal with a big personality and right now is sleeping in my room on my chair snoring like a bear (if bears really do snore).
-Huntimer 2
For my exhibit I decided to analyze the song “How far” by Martina McBride. With the Marxist lens you could ask about the social classes and you could analyze that the male was higher on the social ladder because of the fact that it seems he controls the entire relationship. You could say the female climbs the social ladder when she decides to take the power and walk away from the relationship and tell the guy he is going to have to make the effort if he wants the relationship work. That she is tired of the way things are and isn’t going to sit here and take it anymore. The relationship seems to be oppressive to the female because she is trying to make the relationship work but the guy wont put in any effort. There is a lot of tension in the relationship and as it seems neither side is happy with it. They both seem equally miserable. With the feminist lense you could ask about the natural roles both genders fit. There is a definite gender difference because the girl is put in the role of doing all the work for the relationship and the guy is just along for the ride, to enjoy all the good things in the relationship. Society is the thing putting limitation on the relationship because girls are supposed to be the mushy ones where the guys are just supposed to be there for the sex. Society is the one who grants privileges to the genders and tells us who we should and shouldn’t be in a relationship. We should get rid of these gender roles because a relationship should be worked on from both sides not just one. A creator’s gender affect the exhibit because they will lean to the favor of their gender. When you analyze this with the Freudian lense you can say that the male followed his id and superego in the relationship because he acted out like a guy. The characters are seeking narcissistic bliss because she basically says I’m going to leave and you need to come after me and tell me I’m worth it and you want to be in a relationship with me. The female in this exhibit is basically saying I’m unhappy so I’m going to leave and see if you come after me and tell me you want me if not I’m going to go find someone else who will.
Corliss 7
As I was debating which exhibit to analyze this week, I decided to, out of boredom, quickly check my fantasy football lineup for this weekend. In doing this I noticed how I could analyze the website of CBS sports, which is the website I do my fantasy football on, with multiple lenses. The first thing I noticed was how the entire page is almost completely dominated by men. In fact, the only woman I see on the page is picture above the link to an article called “Kardasian NBA Love Triangle? Do tell”. This correlates with a Freudian lens also, as the article is of a clearly sexual and impulsive nature. After scouring the page for more things to analyze, I realized the obvious fact that no womens' sports are covered on their website. Along the top is a list of all the sports that are followed; nowhere on this list is non male sport, even when looking through the “more sports” category. In our lens analysis packet on the feminist lens page, part of it says to “rethink the cannon” in reference to the “greats” of all time. This made me realize how much this website conflicts that ideology; surely there are many great women athletes in today's world, but why aren't any on this web page claiming to be a “sports guru”? Many aspects of this page fit nicely under a Marxist lens as well. This is exemplified by a section in the middle of the page called “experts”. This clearly forces readers to believe that these so-called experts are the ones to listen to; it also implies that the reader's, or anyone else's opinions are irrelevant. CBS wants its readers to believe they are the best and most knowledgeable sports center, in doing this they oppress other websites or opinions. Nowhere on the homepage do I see a link that leads to a sports article outside of CBS's domain. As a Marxist critic I begin to wonder how the major sports networks interact with each other, is there tension between CBS and ESPN, for example? Both of these companies surely think they're the superior force, but which one really is? After analyzing this website, I have increased insight towards the real reasoning behind the things I read and see everyday; it's important to be aware of how this shapes me.
If you were to venture onto Google.com and enter ‘female Halloween costumes’ you would see pages and pages of provocative, sexy, fit, good-looking women dressed in next to nothing. The expectation that all women should look like that, or wear clothing like that came about due to our changing culture. In the 1950’s and farther back women were expected to cover their features and not worry so much about their figure simply because they were not exploited the way they are in the present media. I wonder if all the respected women who fought for women’s equality and rights wanted or intended these new gender expectations.
These pictures give the idea that every girl, who wants to wear a costume on Halloween, which are no longer contained by their prepubescent shells should look like this. Even on a holiday when a person can look completely disgusting and get candy and treats for it women still should ooze sex appeal. Our cultures subjugating standards on females have been increasing to such skyscraping levels that as women we feel the need to please every man’s fantasy to just feel content with who we are. As a female I think gender roles have changed only slightly for the fact that we are still subservient to men, everything a women does is to be accepted by a man and society. Women have gained more freedoms over the past 30 years and are almost as equal to man as we can get, yet there is the need for them to serve and meet the man’s unconscious thoughts and ideals created by their ids.
I think women have come a long way from being at the bottom of the food chain, but I also think that the demands society places on us is our fault. If women were to never expose, and exploit themselves these idealistic expectations would not be placed on the female race. This may be contradictory to what I stated before but that is really how I feel.
These days a women is oppressed because she is overweight, has small breasts, and no butt compared to 30-40 years ago it a women was oppressed for the simple fact she was a women and inferior. Present day women act and dress according to a man likes. Although these are two completely different motives for being subjugated they are still equally prominent reasons a woman would still feel inferior to a man.
Ms.Rise 7
When thinking about what to choose to do my blog about, I was thinking about the approaching weekend. I figured everyone is making huge weekend plans with their friends and family. I was wondering about what people do, trying to think of certain people and guess how they spend their weekends. Then I figured a lot of us high schoolers will be doing illegal things this weekend, like lots of high school aged kids do. The main thing: underage drinking. Underage drinking is one of those things that most teenagers try, and some participate in frequently. I’m not promoting underage drinking whatsoever, just for the record. There are a lot of ways you can look at and analyze drinking and alcohol in general. Through the Marxist lens you can say that the richer, upper class people will drink more expensive alcohol. The teenagers with no job and little money, or the ones who just don’t want to spend a lot of money, probably buy alcohol like Keystone. They might also buy just a small bottle of hard alcohol. On the other hand, the people willing to throw down more money might purchase more expensive beer or a large bottle or something just expensive in itself like Champaign. Another way to look through the Marxist lens would be to say that in some way, teenagers think they will climb up some social ladder by drinking on the weekends. There’s some unwritten and unexplained notion that if you get drunk and be crazy, you’re kind of “cool.” Now, there are definitely people that will disagree with that statement and believe the complete opposite, but I’m willing to bet there’s a lot of people who agree with the statement, too. I think its safe to say that from the above statement about getting higher up in the social class by drinking, that the “money” in this sort of society is your stories. People won’t believe you that you get drunk and get crazy if you don’t have fantastic, believable stories to tell. I can see underage drinking through a Feminist lens as well. Guys always want the girls to drink. They think that if a girl gets drunk, they are more likely able to “get it in” with the female. This makes the girls look easy and vulnerable. The guys that drink sometimes find themselves jealous of the girls, however, also. This is because girls never have to buy their own alcohol. Guys will just hand it out to the ladies because they just want to get them drunk, to get them in bed, like I said before. This will then lead the girl to be called a slut, whore, hoe, or easy, and the guy to get a high five. That, is the definition of a double standard. Now, the act of the intoxicated teenagers having sex, is due to their id, according to Freud. They aren’t really using their conscious mind to make their decisions and instead using their id. The id wins in this situation. Or just drinking in general. Underage drinking is a very idiotic activity to participate in because it can lead to severe consequences and punishment. So, just by trying a sip or chugging that beer, or showing up to that party, your id has won.
Swanson, 1
For my blog task, I chose to examine the Cradle Of Filth's sixth album (and my personal favorite), Nymphetamine. The word nymphetamine is a portmanteau (made up by their frontman, Dani Filth) of the words “nymphomania” and “amphetamine.” The album focuses mainly on women. They also divulge into several other topics, but I'll touch on that more later. The title track of the album is explained by Dani Filth to refer to "a drug-like addiction to the woman in question, with her insidious vampire qualities literally bringing her lover back from the brink of the spiritual grave, only to bury him further on the strength of a whim. The album is written in the style of Edgar Allen Poe's works, and leaves one thinking that, despite the character's inner agonies, he is really a welcome submissive who readily enjoys the terrible highs and lows of his relationship with this alluring and filthy, depreciative succubus." At first, when looking at some of the songs off the album without looking more into the bands ideology, you might easily come to the conclusion that they're misogynists. This is very untrue. When looking through the Feminist lens, you see that their anger is taken out on this album more towards women than men, yes. But when examining their other materials, you start to notice how they almost put women up on a pedestal. I am currently reading their book called The Gospel of Filth and they have a whole (very lengthy) chapter devoted to the “femme fatale.” In this chapter Dani Filth explains that, to him, it feels more natural to almost worship someone of the other sex than to “worship” someone of the same sex. This band is considered Lucifarian which is essentially a subdivision of Satanism. This means that they don't literally worship anyone, but if they ever come close to worshipping something, it's women and feminine power. They often use imagery in their songs of old goddesses from ancient religions. The band has almost always had a female in their lineup so that's another proof that they feel the need for prominate feminine gender roles. Quite a few of their songs (on this album) are actually “filthy” love songs. Especially the songs “Nymphetamine, Gabrielle, Medusa and Hemlock, and Filthy Little Secret. Now, shifting gears, I'm going to examine through the Marxist lens. This album touches on the legend of Mephistopheles and Faust in the song “Absinthe with Faust.” I really find this lore fascinating. It was created by the church in Germany to persuade people to not get entangled with the newfound science. It shows how the church and politics were mixed way back in the day. If Cradle of Filth had written this mocking song when the legend first came out, they would've faced oppression from the Christian church. The clergymen had way too much political power for what's healthy, especially when mixed with their religious power. Looking through to Freudian lens, you can definitely pick up on some id clashing with the superego and some hardcore narcissism. In the song Nymphetamine, they address that following your id and sexual desires endlessly will lead you down a very dark path (in this case leading to suicide). The narcissism comes in on the part of the woman in the song “Nymphetamine.” They even mention Narcissus himself “heaving midst Narcissus on a maledict blanket of stars”, adressing how narcissistic she is and how she doesn't care one bit about what happens to the man in the end. The album is just drenched in Freudian and Feminist propoganda. I encourage you to check it out if you're ever bored and want to hear some really poetic lyrics (and if you don't mind some intense language).
Hair 5
As I was watching TV trying to come up with a topic for this blog task, the perfect show came on. NCIS is the show and this is about a group of special agents that investigate navy and marine crimes. Looking at this show from a Marxist point of view shows that this organization primarily focuses on the crimes of any marine or navy officer regardless of the social class. It is fair to say that this show is definitely a meritocracy. Each time this group of agents gets a case it sometimes becomes very oppressive for them. The younger agents usually get stuck doing book work and later start to learn the ropes of how to handle an investigation. The agents move up the ladder with the more field time they are allowed and by getting the job done. This show does not show a lot of oppression to anyone on the team. NCIS treats all of its members fair and keeps them all on the same page so no one is exploited. They all know they have a job to do and they do it no questions asked. There are some social tensions that build but its all in good fun. The characters of NCIS show how they win a bet by rubbing it in the others face. NCIS shows a group of highly trained agents that follow the rules but are not suffocated by them. To be part of this team you would have had to have been not a proletariat but in a higher class. Every agent on the team is given a pretty fair amount of freedom to express themselves and let the others know who they are. NCIS is a very good show that shows how some of the work is done on a navy ship and also shows how investigations are handled. This show really shows an influence on some viewers that they should become part of the navy or marines.
McConniel 2
The way people dress can be analyzed very easily with lenses. What you wear and how you wear it says a lot about you. Most people’s ideology today would be to buy the most expensive name brand clothing items to satisfy their id and appear to be at the top of the social ladder in the highest class. For example, someone who wears generic brand jeans would not be seen as wealthy like someone with name brand jeans. The person who wears the generic brand listened to their superego, buying a cheaper product that does the same job. Possibly even better, they most likely do not have those fancy holes or rips like the name brand pair. Looking though the feminist lens, generally it is mostly females that go clothes shopping and buy more expensive items than males. But there are exceptions to that; I know some males that have 30+ pairs of shoes and/or hats. In my case, I only have 3 pairs of shoes that fit and I wear. One pair I have had for a few years and they are pretty used and abused. There is a hole starting in the heels, the leather is fading and cracked. I even remember almost losing them in Lake Superior after our canoe tipped over. Instead of throwing them out, I still wear them while mowing lawns so I can keep my other pair in good shape to wear to school and look nice. Fads make people listen to their ids and buy whatever is the “in” thing is to make them look superior to those who do not follow a fad. That is because somebody will look proletariat if they do not follow a fad, due to not having the necessary money to afford something that is necessary to be considered cool.
-Grogan 5
For this blog task I have chosen to analyze school. School can be analyzed in many lenses, so first I’m going to analyze it in the Marxist lens. A Marxist critic would analyze school mainly by popularity. Jocks are primarily the top of the popularity for the guys, and for the girls it’s mostly the rich, pretty girls that are at the top of the popularity ladder. The jocks can be inferred as the bourgeoisie to a Marxist critic. Most of them get away with bad decisions because they may be a star player in a game. The nerds of the school, or those who get A’s, can be considered the proletariats. They can be seen being picked on by the jocks. Like in movies, they are the one’s getting their head flushed in the toilet. Jocks mostly pick on the proletariats just to get their own self- esteem up, and gain there power. You have to devour the weak to move up the ladder.
A Feminist critic and analyze a school also. A feminist would see a girl more towards the bottom of the ladder in school. One reason for that is that I would consider a football game would get a bigger audience than a volleyball game. Also a girl can play football, but a guy can’t play volleyball because boys are genetically stronger, better built, and better at sports than a girl. Also another reason why a girl would be at the bottom of the ladder in a school is that say a guy and a girl would have sex, the girl would be called a slut or whore (bad reputation name) and the guy would be called a player or pimp (good reputation name), so a critic of this lens would say gender roles and gender expectations play a huge role in school. As the school year continues, I would more than likely see this in the halls, classrooms, or even the lunch room. It can probably be seen every where in the school.
J. Nelson 7
Lil Wayne, one of the biggest names out there for hip hop industry and one of the richest rappers out there ever. I'm going to analyze him through the marxist lense and the feminist lense. Through the marxist I see Wayne being in the industry cause of the power, fame, and money. But then again who wouldn't want that? He gets his power from the people who love his music, everyone respects him cause of his abilities and what he does on the mic. He has many other artists wanting him to help him produce their music or feature is their new single or album becaus they now that he will make it much better than it is, and he will bring more sales and popularity because his name is on the song. He is definitely on top of our societys charts, and he will always be because he won the lottery. He has money and will always have money, he also has a god given talent of writing amazing lyrics. He knows he is a total winner but he's not very cocky about it, he still remembers where he came from and where he grew up. Now from the feminist lense, his lyrics might be very offensive to some women. They have to understand that he doesnt mean to be offensive. On the other hand a lot of girls love him because he is famous and he has very inspirational lyrics that get the ladies going. Wayne also brought up or made famous a new rising superstar, Nicki Minaj. She will most likely be the best female rapper to ever rap. At the end of it all you have to love "Mr. Carter" or Lil Wayne.
Reta7
For my blog task I decided to analyze the movie “Super Troopers”. This movie is dominated by the Freudian lens by id. In the beginning there are three young adults smoking marijuana, each of them are following id. They also represent a Marxist lens because they are driving an older car that’s worn down and they are middle class representing they are not of any importance. All of the State troopers are oppressive to society and those in social classes lower than theirs. They are all greedy for power, and each member of the department exploits their authority, to try to climb the social ladder. This movie has strong Freudian influences most from id. The officers all use their id to enjoy their job but use their super ego only for personal gain and climbing the social ladder. Psychoanalyzing the characters you can that that Rabbit the rookie tries to fit in by doing what is asked from his for a sense of belonging, and is the most normal of the group. Officer Farva has serious anger issues that could be from his childhood, from possible being bullied or being a bully that he still needs to do as an adult, and following his id without any care. Using a Feminist lens you can see that Ursula from the spurbury police is definitely one of the smartest people of the movie yet shunned to the office work because she is a woman. The men always make her do the boring stuff, and not let her have patrols even though she is probably better at it. Mac has a more of an adrenaline-junkie personality enjoying risky situations, and being crazy probably as a result from a mediocre childhood that was not acceptable to him. Thorny the leading officer is discriminated against by the others because he has a darker skin color and looks Indian or Mexican. Yet thorny is the smartest of the state troopers and uses his superego more than id unlike the rest of his co-workers.
Like pd. 7
For this week’s blog I wasn’t real sure what to analyze. I couldn’t come up with something I thought would make for a good blog. After a little thinking I decided to use the feminist lens on the new DVD Bridesmaids. The film could be a feminist movie because it’s not afraid to go there and chip away at the appearance of what a woman should say and do. Women want to be able to laugh at themselves and the situations in life that they all experience in a healthy way and not be exiled into playing the comic role of a normal girlfriend/wife, the good-time gal, or any other stereotypical female character as portrayed through what men or society say they should be. With no background view into where the woman is coming from. Bridesmaids made me stop and think: Can women turn and think about their romantic and friendly relationships and see the humor in their shared experience? Yes. Can women identify with characters that are imperfect and trying their best measure up against the sometimes harsh and unforgiving standards of society? Yes they can, and it’s funny. Most of the humor in the film was like something me and my guy friends would talk about or do. It was actually a woman that made me look at this film this way. Me being a guy I didn’t really think the movie would be all that funny maybe just girls think its funny or something. But my friend convinced me to watch it and it wasn’t too bad, I may have to watch it again. Maybe the movie itself isn’t a feminist film but it shows just how feminist our society is and how different girls can be when they aren’t trying to impress everyone just to fit in. It’s a perfect example of women expectations and gender roles.
Crow pd 2
With it now being the month of October, only one thing can come to mind… the World Series. Baseball is America’s pastime and you can analyze it with any of the three lenses that we have learned about. Marxist lens will be the one that I use to analyze with. In baseball, there is clearly a proletariat and a bourgeoisie. This year, the bourgeoisie team was the Philadelphia Phillies. They may not have made it to the World Series this year, but when looking at the 2011 MLB power rankings, they top the charts with a 99-60 record. Unfortunately for the Houston Astros, they were dead last in the power rankings with a disastrous record of 55-104. In most people’s eyes, the ideology of baseball is that the teams with the most money will be the ones who will win the World Series, however; the New York Yankees, who spend by far the most money on their players, are not in this year’s World Series like most people would have expected. In order to be a good baseball team, you don’t need to be the team with the biggest pocket book. This is where meritocracy comes into play. If you look at this year’s power rankings, you will notice that within the top half of the entire MLB, there are at least five teams that in my own opinion got their ranking by playing their season one game at a time, and not by buying the best players around. You can all see how the MLB oppresses many players. The league does this by mainly headlining the big name teams like the Yankees or the Red Sox and also by creating “bigger than life” stories about only the more prestigious players like Alex Rodriguez or Robinson Cano for examples. The MLB also oppresses the lower baseball divisions. The AAA, AA, and A leagues are hardly ever mentioned in the news unless some big name player is playing in one of the leagues for injury rehab or something of the sort. Baseball is and always will be America’s pastime, and there will always be something to analyze with the sport each year, but until the next season can start, either the St. Louis Cardinals or the Texas Rangers have to be declared the World Series Champion, so until that time has come… GO CARDINALS!
Johnston 5
War can be a multitude of things; it could be about brotherhood, sacrifice, or about animalistic urges and slaughter. I reviewed and analyzed the movie _Full Metal Jacket_ and noticed that both ends of the spectrum can be viewed in this movie. In the beginning you see the dehumanizing of the recruits. From the shaving of the heads, to the punishment of difference (seen in the treatment of Pile when he is forced to pull his pants down, suck his thumb, wear his hat backwards and carry his rifle upside down) all the way to the sayings ingrained in them, you see misery and the destruction of personality. Even the recruits view of sex has been altered through humiliation. The "maggots" as the Sergeant calls them, are forced to march while holding both their rifle and their "gun.". They are forced to chant, "This is my rifle, this is my gun. This is for fighting, this is for fun." The entire stay at Paris Island is nothing more than the formation of killing machines and the destruction of identity. Once in the field, though, the feel of the movie changes to a more light hearted theme, more triumphant. Personality is awarded back as the soldiers fight for both their and their friends' lives. Some hypocrisy, or duality as Joker calls it, can also be observed. You can see Joker wearing both a peace sign and a "Born to Kill" helmet. As he explains in the movie, this is to show the duality of man, and their multiple purposes and simultaneous beliefs. I highly encourage anyone and everyone to watch this movie. It is not an entirely lighthearted film, though it has it's moments. It's a serious movie about war, death, life, basic existence and the loss of innocence and progress into manhood. The system tried to crush these men, but they persevered. This movie is a prime example of how the military, though it's intention is to create robots, sometimes backfires and instead just creates a family like bond between those fighting alongside each other. It's probably one of the better movies I've seen in a while.
Stirrat 5
For my blog task I chose to analyze Mattel’s Barbie. Ruth Handler, a founder of the famous Mattel toy company, invented Barbie for girls to act out their future. Ruth thought it would boost her daughter’s self esteem to play with a doll that had breasts. Years later Barbie has had many careers but they have always been as one type of caretaker or another. Barbie has been a nurse, a stewardess, a flight attendant, and has held other jobs that are stereotyped as a woman’s job. Barbie was based off of a German sex doll called Bild Lilli who was not actually intended for children. Everything about Lilli and Barbie is anatomically incorrect both dolls have unusually large breasts and over exaggerated hourglass figures. Lilli, Barbie’s German counterpart is also blond haired, and blue eyed she was made after World War II. Barbie and Lilli are both considered as being the perfect woman. It is ironic that a doll created for children dream about their future with, actually ruins their idea of self worth. Another irony is that a woman made the toy that suppresses women.
Minihan pd. 1
I have chosen to analyze the show Sister Wives. Through the Feminist Lens, it is quickly noticed that although the show’s main characters are female, their lives all revolve around one man. The first time I watched the show I was confused and quickly found myself asking how society would react if the roles were reversed, if four men were married to one woman. I feel that if the show would be reversed, much of society would be watching it and thinking that the woman was either a “gold digger” or a “whore”. Although the theme would be the same, society would react to it differently for the simple change of gender. As of now, most of society is confused by the fact that the women would want to all share one man. Society is blaming this choice of lifestyle mainly on the women. While the man is given high fives, the women are criticized. I have even noticed myself finding it hard to come up with ways that the man is at fault, because I have been around the ideas and expectations placed for each gender my entire life. Another factor that I have come to notice is the fact that none of the four women have a job outside of the home. Each woman stays and takes care of her several children and keep a clean home in case the man is to choose to stay there. From the moment the women wake up till the moment they go to sleep, their lives are revolving around their husband and their husband’s needs. If it were the man who was staying at home, they would be seen as lazy, and not fulfilling their “duties”. Women and Men are different by gender and have many physical differences but it is society who has made different expectations for each one.
Vivens 5
While trying to figure out what to analyze for this blog, I decided to analyze my lake cabin. I will analyze my cabin through the Marxist lens. The Marxist lens will make most people think that we are in the upper class when we are really just like everyone else in the normal/middle class. Some people would say that it is a waste of money driving up to the lake every weekend and a waste of money to pay for everything all year when you are only there for six or seven months. Another way to analyze is through the feminist lens. While looking through the feminist lens I can see a lot more. While driving around the lake on the jet ski, pontoon, or four-wheeler, I rarely see any women driving any of them. I will always see the women riding behind the man; is that considered to be a “gender role?” Many guys I know would say that girls can’t drive and aren’t trustworthy enough to be left alone with one of those machines. While the girls that I see driving jet skis or four-wheelers, they are a lot more careful and a lot less wreck less than the men are. The last way to analyze the lake is through the Freudian lens. The Freudian lens shows us that there are people that are on the lake that satisfy their id. They buy what they want and will sell what they have if something better comes out so they can have the best there is out there. It also shows us that there are people that do the exact opposite and satisfy their superego. They buy what they need to get by to have enough fun and that is it. They may have any extra home but they have it as a get away to have fun and enjoy life. Burkman5
One of my favorite movies is Black Swan. This movie has a lot of symbolic meaning, so I’ve chosen this film to dissect in a Freudian lens as my topic of discussion for tonight. Black Swan follows Nina (Natalie Portman) an unconfident, shy ballerina who is in a constant struggle to find perfection because she’s afraid to let down her pushy director, her overprotective mother, and even herself.
My mind is racing as I see continuous parallels between Black Swan and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. I noticed that Nina is much like Chief Bromden. Nina is envious of her rival Lily because of how free-spirited she is and even how she is able to “let go of herself” as she dances, much like Chief Bromden is jealous of how McMurphy is able to make change within the ward. I also used dream interpretation to analyze these two characters. Nina has a dream (or a hallucination) that Lily takes away some of Nina’s innocence. If you look more closely in that specific scene you’ll notice Lily’s back has a black swan tattooed on her upper back. This could symbolize the swan entering Nina and beginning to really take over her life. As Nina “wakes up” she can’t separate reality from her dream, which could be considered a Freudian slip. In Cuckoo’s Nest, Chief Bromden is in a daze struggling to find clarity out of the fog also.
Throughout the film, Nina is in denial that her mind has been altered due to the pressure of her newly acquired role. She is a dynamic character because at the beginning of the film she is completely innocent, but as the rehearsals continue she loses herself and becomes a narcissistic “black swan.” I think as Nina falls into her downward spiral of the becoming her evil swan twin, she begins to satisfy her id more and more. She goes out partying, does drugs, and makes sure to keep herself far away from her mother. She feels no guilt as she abuses her mother and as she seemingly “kills” Lily. This is proof that Nina’s sweet, shy characteristics are submerged by the pressure of becoming the perfect dancer, but this makes me wonder how far people will go to be “the best.”
Merkel, 2
I had a very difficult time picking what to right my blog task because all I could think about was getting this over with so that I could play wow so I figured why not write about wow. For those of you who haven’t touched a computer or played a video game in the last ten years wow stand for world of warcraft, the top grossing and most played video game ever so much so that call of duty doesn’t even come close. The entire game is a struggle of the Marxist lens, sorry Freudian and feminist you are not going to get mentioned much, to level your character and amass gold in an extremely inflated economy. There are the noobs, or people who ether just started or are really bad at the game, who are treated like lepers and kicked from groups and guilds , most simply described as a workers union, the instant there noob status is reviled while the good players get into the best guilds with the best perks. This is very similar to people, the poor and homeless are not allowed in places of high class while rich have near free reign of the world. Then you have the two factions of the game, the hoard and the alliance. The alliance is the more visually pleasing of the two groups and more commonly played by small children and upper class adults. The hoard is kind of ugly and dirty more played mostly by serious gamers (people without lives). To change the subject to feminism this game is actually very fair, if not biologically accurate, in the fact that there is no advantage to having a male or female character.
Sivertson 5
So this blog task obviously took me awhile to think of something to analyze about, but I decided finally to analyze on the different types of groups of people in Brandon. The Marxist lens definitely shows in a few of these groups such as, the smarts, the popular, and the “thugs.” All of the really intelligent people are part of the Marxist lens because they’re on top of everything in school. The smartest people get a ton of awards and get recognized so much especially as seniors during graduation. They’re also usually involved in a lot of different groups that not only make them seem smart but also kind and caring such as peer helper and salsa. I don’t quite understand why only the smart people join those types of groups, I feel like anyone and everyone should participate in something like that, it never hurts to help another person out. The second group, the “popular”, is also part of the Marxist lens. They’re so full of themselves and it doesn’t matter what type of grades they get as long as they look good and are noticed by everybody in school. All the most athletic and best looking people are usually the most popular. It’s not very fair that they’re the ones getting noticed the most and not the people who have a 4.0 or got first in quiz bowl. I think it’s completely ridiculous and should be changed but unfortunately, it will never change because of society. The quiz bowl to us just isn’t that exciting to watch. The last group is the “thugs.” Honestly, we live in Brandon, South Dakota I don’t think we should be having thugs, but since we kind of do I guess they could be part of the Marxist lens also. All thugs think they’re the best people in the world and have the most money. Thugs don’t go very far in life but as long as they have high self esteem, I guess good for them. There are a lot of South Dakotans that are so afraid of thugs because we aren’t used to them, so when we see someone in baggy clothes we immediately get scared and honestly I feel like that’s what they want, they love having that power over everyone. Thugs could also be part of the Feminist lens. Usually they are only guys, and if girls want to be part of their gang the guys’ just call them dirty names and use them, but for some reason the girls still stick around. Girl thugs get judged a lot and most people prefer to them as hoes. Sadly the city of Brandon and our state is changing dramatically with these 3 groups. I hope someday things will get better with them and maybe we can start supporting our quiz bowl team a long with our athletes.
Meyer 2
For this blog task I chose to analyze the movie Chicken Run . It is a movie about chickens forced to lay eggs for a farmer, Mr. Tweedy, and his wife, Mrs. Tweedy, who want to escape and be free. Looking at the movie through the Marxist lens, it is clear that the movie could be seen as the working class, the chickens, want to escape the abuse of the upper class, the farmer. It could also be seen that the pie making machine could be seen just as the combine was seen in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest , as a way the farmer can conform the chickens. As the chickens could be seen as the counter culture and after they go through the machine or the "system" they all become pies, or are conformed by the system. Also in the movie the chickens have to lay a certain number of eggs, and if one of them doesn't meet their quota by the end of the week they are taken and Mrs. Tweedy chops their head off. The eggs can be seen as money in this situation and the fact that each chicken is expected to lay a certain amount of eggs can be connected to our economy, in which everyone is expected to make a living in our society. Also in our society if we don't make enough money and cannot make enough to set a quota, we are fired from our jobs just as if a chicken doesn't meet their quota they are "fired" from being a chicken. If we look at the movie from a feminist lens, we can see that Rocky is a very sexist character. He never remembers the Ginger's name and refers to her as babe. Also he uses his status to get all of the other chickens to do things for him. Finally, looking through the Freudian lens we can tell that Both Mrs. Tweedy and Rocky are id based characters. Rocky uses the fact that he is a "flying" rooster to get the chickens to do the things he says. Also he lies about being able to fly, and doesn't care about any of the other chickens. He is only worried about himself and his safety. But towards the end of the movie his super ego takes over and he goes back to help the chickens. Mrs. Tweedy though is strictly id based. She doesn't care about the well being of the chickens, which can be shown in her idea of turning all of the chickens into pies for her benefit. She only cares about how much money she can get out of the chickens, and if they do not reach her expectations they are thrown aside.
Ladwig 5
While thinking about what to write about in my blog task, I decided to write about a movie. Because there are so many movies that I've seen, I decided to choose the most recent movie that I've seen in cinema club, _The Shining_. The movie is a classic horror film starring Jack Nicholson as a man who, along with his wife and son, takes a job as a caretaker over the Overlook Hotel while it is closed during the relentlessly snowy winter. As the movie progresses, Jack Nicholson's character, who conveniently is named Jack, experiences Cabin Fever, which causes him to hallucinate, and eventually attempt to murder his family. The one thing that stood out to me the most was the sexism throughout the film. Using the Feminist lens, I was easily anle to interpret and visualize the constant presence of sexism. Jack's wife, Wendy, is given the only important female role in the film, but is portrayed as stupid and weak. The filmmaker doesn't even try to hide it, because there are multiple scenes in the movie where Jack calls her stupid and she doesn't even have to courage to stand up to him or prove him wrong. Jack constantly insults Wendy more and more as the film progresses but she doesn't have the guts to leave him. In fact, she doesn't even have the courage to kill jack even as he is trying to murder her and her son, Danny. She has the perfect opportunity to kill Jack when he is breaking into the bathroom but instead she cuts his hand, only making him more angry. Also, it seems she is weaker and more stupid than her son, Danny. In fact, Danny, a young boy, shows he is more courageous than her by killing his own psychotic father. This is just one movie out of many that portray women as weak, stupid, and less important than men.
Ekeren 5
When looking at someone’s car, whether they picked it out or not, it says a lot about them. The style of the car, the color, the size, anything. Well, when someone would look at the outside appearance of my car, they could analyze it by using a Marxist lens assume that I’m not upper-class by the rust and the style of the car. You could also notice that because of all the scratches, dents, and the half missing taillight on the back right-hand side of my car, that I have been in a car accident. Taking a deeper look into my car, you’d notice that it’s full of crap. There’s clothes everywhere, food, duffle bags, makeup; just crap. With all of those things, you could see that I basically live out of my car because of living at two separate houses. Superego vs. ID, I’m using my ID with having a messy car. The food would tell you that I don’t have a lunch so I eat in my car on my way to intern or to work. A couple other things in my car ARE a picture of a boy right on my dash, a cross country running pin pinned on my mirror, and my cell phone right next to the driver’s seat. All these things are completely surrounding the driver’s seat and show the importance of each one and that they mean something to me. You could look at the car next to mine in the parking lot. Analyzing that car, you would assume it belongs to an upper-class, organized person. Everything is nicely organized and put away. Nothing is left on the seats or the floor, just a purse and a cell phone. Something as simple as a car can say a lot about a person and their personality and interests and values in life.
Kruger 2
What are the first high school sports that come to mind? Most would say football, basketball, track, and tennis; however, why isn’t soccer? South Dakota is the only state in the US that doesn’t have sanctioned soccer. From a Marxist view, soccer is the low class being oppressed. Football and basketball appear to get the money and the recognition. You hear about the quarter back getting special treatment from the teachers representing the control and influence of the upper class. They are the athletic prodigies in which everyone strives to be, because football is the manly sport. While soccer is the most popular sport in the world, it is fairly new in South Dakota. Many people don’t understand soccer, but remember playing as a child and feel that’s all there is to it. Most boys start playing soccer and then switched to football because of societies influence of being a strong man. South Dakota will finally begin to phase in high school soccer over the next five years and hopefully, help schools work it into their budgets. Four years ago, soccer and cheer & dance were on the table to be sanctioned in South Dakota; while the schools were willing to approve cheer & dance, soccer was forced to wait four more years before their chance.
Soccer isn’t just being oppressed in South Dakota, sadly. In the US, the average salary of a professional NBA basketball player is higher than the highest paid MLS player ever. In many countries soccer is a way to escape poverty and perhaps that is why we haven’t had much of an interest. In 1974, Pele came to play soccer in the US. Pele is considered the greatest soccer player ever, and because of his talent towards the game, soccer finally became a spectator sport in the US. Those soccer clubs were so poor that Pele’s first game was a dirt field painted green. Soccer has progressed since then, but some people don’t wish to view soccer as a real sport.
Krege
pd. 1
For this blog task I chose to analyze Halloween. When viewing halloween costumes through freudian, marxist, and femenist lens you can learn a lot more. First off, when a lot of us teenage girls and boys think about halloween a few things come up. Halloween gives women an excuse to dress as scandalous as they please and men a chance to be weird and creepy without being questioned. Also, it gives people in the lower class a chance to appear equal or even more wealthy than someone in the upper class. Once you hit your teenage years, Halloween isn't about who gets the most candy, it's about who looks the best in their costume. If you take a walk through one of the many halloween stores that pop up just in time for Halloween you will notice several things. On the female side there are walls and walls of "sexy" nurse, sailor, police officer, and every other costume made possible by the littlest amount of fabric possible. Over on the men's there are almost just as ridiculous costumes including "super sperm", various other superhero costumes, and cowboys. Some costumes can be very pricey at the cost of over one hundred dollars while some of the cheaper ones range from fifteen to twenty five dollars. Women are expected to look hot like a hot, sex symbol on halloween, especially at some of the halloween events like dances and costume parties. The females who get the most attention are the ones who are wearing little to nothing. Through a freudian lens you could say these women are obeying their ids. They know how ridiculous they look, but they want to win the attractive "competition" that silently goes on among all girls, and go out in it anyways. The women who don't dress up or wear something covering themselves more than the average costume are obeying their superegos. In conclusion, Halloween can be about trick-or-treating or when viewed through critical lenses, women who obey their id's, and men who have placed this gender role on them.
Nelson 7
The first thing that comes to mind for a good majority of people when they hear the word "Nurse", is a generally a woman. When I analyze a nurse through the feminist lens I, too, think of a woman. It's rarely unheard of, and actually somewhat hysterical when you hear of a male nurse. The first thing that comes to my mind is the movie "Meet the Parents." In the movie, Greg is a male nurse. Throughout the entire movie, his fiance's father makes fun of his occupation and insists that he study to become something more manly. However, the father is right, he should find a new occupation. Women are supposed to be the ones who take care of the sick and care for more than just herself, right? Women are more caring, in my opinion. When her husband is sick, she cares for him in any way possible; it's what we are taught to do.
When I look at nurses through the Marxist lens, intelligance and hard work comes to mind right away. It's been proven that girls try harder at school, care about their education, and mature faster than guys do. Girls are generally stereotyped by men as "over-acheivers." I've witnessed it many times. Since the fact has been proven to so many types of people, it's become expected that all girls succeed in the focus of education. I think this is actually why more women become doctors and nurses than men; because it takes more focus on school work. The men are expected to be good at sports, and want to become physical therapists for sports, or play in the major leagues.
The Freudian view takes deeper thinking, but the point I'm about to make has gone through every man's head. Female nurses are often categorized as being somewhat "slutty." Think back to "Cuckoo's Nest" for instance. Nurse Ratched's breast are rumored to be huge. We don't find this out for sure until McMurphy exposes her, but it ends up being true. Then I think of character day. How many girls walk through the doors of the school dressed as a slutty nurse? Quite a few! It's the same way with halloween costumes. Lastly, Grey's Anatomy, once again. On all the nurses' breaks, they all venture to a different supply closet with a different man. It's become expected in the TV show because it happens so often! The feminist lens stimulates thought the most, but nurses can be looked at through Marxist and Freudian views as well.
Hoffman 5
So for my analysis I choose to study music, more specifically hip hop. To me this is a very familiar topic because I love memorizing music lyrics. I don’t just sit there and see how loud I can play my bass, I like to understand and analyze the lyrics of the song. From a Marxist viewpoint it could be said that music is all about money and power. This could be said because countless of songs are about money and being on top of the world. These lyrics show the importance in the artist’s lives and the power they need or want from writing the song. In songs, artists talk about coming up from nothing and becoming everything that everybody wants to be, whether its coming up from poverty ,or most commonly called the hood or ghetto, or from another harsh and shameful background. I guess the best way to describe it is that most of these artists that right these songs didn’t win the environmental lottery. So my next lens is the Feminist lenses. Usually in these songs cases women are viewed as objects or possessions. My theory on this is that while these artists were young they viewed their father treating women as objects and/or possessions. But on the other side of the equation the women in the songs give themselves the negative reputation. They thrive off of negative attention because they feel that it is better and easier to get negative attention instead of applying themselves and get positive attention and seen for who they really could be. Instead they fall into the trap of music and feel that if they sacrifice their learning opportunities and their personalities that they will get this money and power that is renounced multiple times in the lyrics of an artists songs. So all in all I feel that music can send out a powerful message of lenses whether it is consciously or not. But I am sure that some of these artists see the power in their songs consciously and use that knowledge to their advantage to gain the power in an intellectual way.
Alexander 7
This evening I will be analyzing the need for certain species of fish to school, or swim in groups, with the Marxist lens. The base to this analysis is directed to the mystery of, if fish have to swim in groups to feel protected or if it is just their nature. The factor seems to stay constant that smaller, more vulnerable fish are found schooling together. This means that these fish could be seeking protection or strength from one another. The smaller fish could also be seeking power by combining strengths to overcome the fear of larger fish. There is always a leader, or a couple of leaders, in a school of fish. When I feed my fish, they all show greed, whether they are schooling fish or not. They break from their school and become very greedy, trying to keep their class, which they think they hold. Schooling fish, whether they realize it or not, receive their power from each other, yet they still fight over the power that they share. The class or size of fish does not suggest their greediness. All fish are just as greedy as the next. Most parenting fish actually eat their young after they are born. This could be an example of Oedipus, except the parents who conceived the young are taking their babies out of any position to over throw any kind of power held by the parents. The young are able to climb a social ladder as they grow bigger and become unable to be eaten because of their agility and size. The babies become part of the bourgeoisie, or upper class of fish, when they overcome their baby state. Sometimes male fish trying to impregnate female fish can oppress or stress them if the specific female has just had a litter of babies. Any female of any animal needs recovery time after birthing their young. Usually when my fish become stressed; they become very vulnerable to the entire fish community. The system exploits the proletariat fish and they are killed and usually eaten. In a happy community of fish, everyone is the ruling class. All of the fish seek power and receive power because of their group swimming. All of the fish get all of the positive benefits and everyone is happy because of it. The lower classes usually end in a miserable death; therefore the lower class is definitely not happier than the ruling class. Fish that become sick or stressed usually are shoved to the bottom of the tank or the top of the food chain. Fish do not have any sympathy for weaker fish. It can be demanding for fish to obtain a school of fish because they must be physically fit to be able to keep up with all of the other fish, if not, they will suffer. In the fish community, males dominate in colors and glorification. Male fish flaunt their wealthy colors and extravagant fins in order to get a mate to breed with. Males will fight each other to show their strength too. Schooling fish can be set up for failure if not enough fish are in an aquarium to set up a community to school with. If less than three fish are together and have the need to school, they will become stressed, lonely and die. Most all fish have set up a successful government of power whether big or small. Small fish find their security and strength through other fish to swim and school with. Larger fish show their strength or power by eating smaller fish. All female fish are dominated compared to the males. The power of males is superior to females and they show their opportunity for power by fighting other males. I believe that some fish swim in groups to feel protected, but then again, it is a creature’s nature to feel protection.
Boscaljon Period 2
For this blog task I have decided to analysis my intermediate family. I will be analyzing with the Feminist and Freudian lenses. When I was a toddler, my father took full authority through oppression. He subjugated my mom in a way, she was always suppose to do everything he said with no questions asked and she was expected to have dinner ready and on the table when he got home. If my mom had a lot to get done, my oldest sister, Lois, would have to take care of my other sister, Keia, and I. Gender roles were definitely followed when my dad was in the picture. After my mom and dad got divorced, Lois was to take on the role of being a mother to Keia and I so my mom could take the role of my father and work to support and provide a home for our family. Lois thought that taking on the role of being a mother to us at the age of about 13 was too much. She started following her id and got into a lot of bad stuff. For the longest time she was heavy into drugs and she got sent away to treatment for it. To her, the treatment center was a place for her to fulfill her narcissistic bliss, she didn’t have to take care of Keia and I and she got a place to live and people to take care of her for a while. Going to treatment centers was like going on vacation for her, she loved it. When I was seven, my mom gave Keia and I to my grandparents and asked them to take care of us till she was ready to take us back. My mom then followed her own id and endured her life in narcissistic bliss. This had a major effect on our lives. Keia and I felt unwanted by our mom, we felt like we didn’t matter to her and that she didn’t love us. Now, my mom, my sisters, and I are all a family again. Sometimes we live in denial that our mom ever left us, but we can’t change what had really happened. Everyday, we see how guilty my mom feels for just leaving us like she did, and she wishes she could take it all back. She tries her hardest to make up for everything that she missed after she left us, but she will never be able to live in the memory she missed out on. Life goes on though, and every day, our family grows closer and stronger.
Bennett 7
Well, since I already did a military/marine exhibit to analyze the last couple blog tasks, I decided to analyze the fascinating movie: “WALL-E”. The movie is set in the future where the humans gave up on being resourceful and “going green” on earth. Thus, the ecosystem is filled with extreme amounts of trash piled up, air becoming too toxic to sustain life, and Earth became a giant waste planet. Because of this, a giant spaceship (Axiom) transported the humans out in space and left an army of proletariat robots known as “WALL-E” (Waste Allocation Load Lifter-Earth Class) to clean and tidy up earth for the intended 5 year period. Sadly, that plan failed as the film proceeds on and showing only one WALL-E (who has greatly achieved the knowledge of being resourceful) left on earth. A quote to fit WALL-E nicely is: “One man’s junk, is another man’s treasure” As I watch WALL-E in biology, I thought it would exciting to wear the “Marxists lens” while watching this film. The social class, the way I see it, could be viewed in two different ways: (1.) humans are the higher class against the robots. By sending a bunch of robots to clean up their mess on Earth while they sit and relax on a cruise (Axiom). The Robots have no rights or control into how they are being used for the humans benefit. If the robots were to be malfunction, they were to be discarded or sent into the “mental institution” for robots. (2.) On the Axiom, the superstructure BNL (Buy N’ Large) is obviously referred as the Wal-Mart of today. Especially with their little jingle, “Buy n’ Large it’s your superstore,
we’ve got all you need and so much more,
Happiness is what we sell
that’s why everyone loves BNL!”
The BNL Corporation controls everything for the humans. How the travel from point A to point B, the way humans interact behind the screen, consuming food through a bottle, telling them, “Blue is the new Red!”, etc. Of course, the sad oppression Jane saw BNL with an astonished face when WALL-E got her face away from the screen for the first time. A good observation on how robots are on the higher social/economic ladder and humans are in the lower class. Example: Auto, the robotic autopilot who controls the Axiom. This “antagonist” directive is to make sure the humans are not to be returned to Earth since the intended 5 year period “clean up Earth” has failed. Humans on the Axiom became obese and lazy as they let technology take over their lives. It seems to be a clash on who’s on top of the social ladder between humans and robots depending on how it is viewed. The plant is to be viewed as hope between the humans and robots and also the ticket to go back home/Earth. I put on my Freudian lens and saw WALL-E is not interested with the humans returning back to earth and be a hero. He wants EVE and his id to hold her hand. From the day he met her, all he ever wanted was to hold her hand and doing everything he can to be with her. WALL-E shows his phallus (not literally, just the way he reacts) when EVE kisses him and he is just completely stunned by it.
I really enjoyed watching this film. It can teach a person a lot about going green and helping Earth to be more sustainable.
Frazer pd. 1
Darth Vador is an icon of Marxism and even Freudian lens. He’s a symbol of complete power in the movies. Seriously, he was recognized as a Jedi prodigy. Thus proving that he won the genetic lottery by far. By becoming a Jedi alone, automatically he’s considered a higher class of person since not many people are able to wield the force. As he slowly underwent his transformation into Darth Vador, he grew more, and more powerful. He had influence, he had soldiers, he had the money, he had pure power. If that doesn’t make him a symbol of Marxism, then I don’t know what does.
Now, using the Freudian lens… While considering the transformation that he has experienced, going from Anakin Skywalker to the fearsome dark lord, Darth Vador; he goes from a normal young man to a manipulative almighty sociopath. But who can blame him? The moment he was born his mother claimed he was immaculately conceived. Which, growing up in a household with that high held of a belief, can turn someone into a psycho. He has the strange idea growing up that he’s perfect due to his mother putting him on a pedestal practically, and then having that very same mother be killed… That‘s like begging to become some mentally disturbed sociopath. Not to mention, Anakin also grew up to be a slave as a child. To be honest, his past is a lot like Adolf Hitler‘s of all peoples. Aside from Adolf having an abusive father, it almost seems like Hitler and Anakin have the same childhood. It doesn‘t help that both of them become masters of destruction in their own way. Also, we can’t forget the dark, and even destabilizing influence that the almost sadistic Emperor has over Anakin. The Emperor and his unethical influence over the young Skywalker is probably what finally pushed the emotionally unstable Anakin into darkness completely.
When you take a deeper look into Anakin’s dark complexity, and how he got there, it seems to reflect on society somewhat. Anakin could represent the average teenage of today’s generation (aside from the fact that he’s an evil light saber wielding lord of awesome). Insecurity, paranoia, depression, trust issues, unstable emotions… Dead ringer for the horrors of going through the torturous teenage years. It really shows that by surrounding yourself with the wrong set of people, you can turn out to be… Well, a psychopathic "God".
~ Hauser, period 1.
I chose to analyze the movie Harold and Kumar go to White Castle. In the movie Harold Lee and Kumar Patel are stereotyped into a class structure because of their ethnic backgrounds. In the movie many forms of symbolism are used showing the class conflict. The two white co worker in the office force Harold to do their work while they enjoy their weekend. They drive a BMW showing that they are wealthy and their license plate says, “ladysman”, a display of libido. They get instant clearance through the gate while Harold has to walk to his boondock parking spot and has to stop and show ID for clearance. Kumar has definitely won the genetic lottery, he is extremely intelligent but he only wants to live a simple life and satisfy his id. Between Harold and Kumar, Harold represent a superego and Kumar represents an id. When they detour to Princeton they meet Cindy Kim and her friends, all stereotyped as nerdy Asians, but actually throw a cool party. After a raccoon attack Harold goes to the hospital and Kumar performs emergency surgery on a gunshot victim displaying his intelligence. At this point in the movie a motif is revealed as the misfortunes that they encounter. When they meet Freakshow, who has definitely lost the genetic lottery, we find that he is actually a nice person and very religious. They then meet Neil Patrick Harris who has won the genetic lottery but suffers from a desire for sex and drug abuse. At the gas station the extreme dudes pick on the minority clerk asserting their class dominance, and they find more racial issues when a cop fines them for j-walking. Harold and Kumar finally achieve revenge on the social class structure by stealing the extreme SUV, and satisfy their id when they make it to White Castle. Harold ends the work dumping in the office when he sees the two white co-workers and stands up for himself.
Heidbrink pd.1
I decided to analyze the Disney movie Anastasia through the Marxist lens. In Anastasia there is a fine line between how the different social classes are treated. Dimitri is part of the proletariats, or the lower/working class, and he is treated like he is an alien to the people and is completely different than the rest of the people. Anastasia is part of the upper class until the palace and town of St. Petersburg is under attack and Anastasia loses contact with her family and becomes a proletariat as an orphan in an orphanage. Anastasia slowly climbs the social ladder when she turns eighteen and leaves the orphanage to find her true self. She meets Dimitri and he helps her find her family. Anastasia climbs the social ladder with the help from Dimitri and finds her Grandma in Paris. The ideology that is driving Anastasia to find her lost family is her locket that has a picture of her family in it and her gut feeling that there is indeed someone from her family out there waiting for her to come home. Money to Anastasia is happiness, freedom, love, and family. Everything that means anything to her is when she is finding her family and when she actually finds her grandma and is reunited with her. Rasputin, the bad guy, shows oppression when he is attempting to kill Anastasia. He used his power over her in a cruel, unjust manner. He tried killing her to win the crown and be ruler of St. Petersburg. He let greed get in the way and all he wanted was to be on top and he wanted the best. Rasputin did not want to be at the base of the ladder, he wanted to be up at the top with Anastasia and her family. The Upper class does flaunt their wealth by wearing all their fancy jewelry and sitting in their reserved boxes at the opera. In this movie, proletariats are almost given more freedom because they seem to be living a sort of life in narcissistic bliss. This is because Dimitri who is a part of the proletariats just up and left to help Anastasia find her family and this was serving his id. He should've stayed there and worked for his living but instead he wanted to help this beautiful girl find her family and win money. This is analyzed through the Freudian lens.
Sorensen 7
In high school every athlete wants to have the most playing time or they expect the time to be split evenly. But in reality, that never happens. Social status blurs with the actual skill ability of the student and their fate on the school team is determined that way. It isn’t fair to the student who works their butt off, but all the coaches see the ‘name brand’ players and the hard working students get pushed to the side. Don’t get me wrong, this doesn’t happen to everyone, this is just something I have learned to know throughout my years in high school sports. Coaches would never admit to this, but money plays an important factor. If daddy gives a lot of money to the district their son or daughter would reap the benefits of the ‘kind donation’. Along with money, comes power. This is just the way society works, the proletariats will always be considered to be under the bourgeoisie. It is possible however to ‘climb’ the social ladder, switching to the ‘popular’ group can help you out in various ways. It will get your name recognized by more students, hopefully in a positive way and not going in the opposite direction. The system is definitely oppressive to the members of the overt proletariat group, they have a slim chance of being the ‘superstar’ in high school. Where the covert proletariats have a slightly better chance and the bourgeoisie have the best chance in playing high school sports. The class system that is incorporated into the high school causes tension between players and coaches, parents and coaches, even between peers. The students are all competing for the top spots or the varsity team, there are always underdogs that keep pushing for the top. The class rank closely relates to the freedom of the student, a group of highly ranked students seem to control the rest of the student body. Being in high school is rough for some students because they are always considered to be under the wealth or power line and the are unable to break the mold. McDonald.2
Every day after school I walk into my dads body shop, I go straight to the fridge grab a diet coke and head into the shop and go one my way to work on what ever project we have in the shop, today was much different, today I realized this is my last month walking into the shop, when ever I feel like it. I won’t be able to raid the fridge, or misplace tools, instead I will head home. Hard to get use to? I see this in many different lenses, first is the feminist lenses, I’ve been going to the shop since I was seven, the school bus would drop me off across the street, back then it was normal never thought anything of it. It wasn’t unusual is my life, as I got older, people find out I spend majority of my afternoon there they find it unusual, like a female working in a body shop…for fun? It something that doesn’t happen very often and I get judged for it, if its negative or possible I don’t care. I also see the Marxist lenses, us having a shop is pretty cool. I have a lot of friends who build cars and they know me as the car girl who’s father owns that shop in Brandon…but in less then a month, it wont be ours, it will be history the shop I called my home, the place I grew up isn’t going to be mine anymore. Instead someone elses. It became my identy people knew me as a Knudtson, they would always bring up my dads shop and on occasion his helicopter. Now that we are selling it I wonder, what I’m gonna get first…a new car, turbo kit, sick rims? When I think about it…to me its about the money but to my father, its about getting to live his dream as a pilot. The shop that was once is dream became his prison, and I’m selfish because I like being known by that. Scared I can possibly loose my identity.
Knudtson7
I am going to talk about how boys think they are better at soccer than girls. Boys talk about how they think girls suck at soccer because they are wimps and don’t want to get hurt. I would have to disagree because I have not played a game and walked away without a bruise or two. I honestly believe that girls play harder because we have something to prove. The girls are a limited on the selection of soccer gear. They don’t have as many different kinds of soccer cleats or balls. More people go watch boys play because they think it will be a more interesting and physical game. I think they just don’t want to admit that girls are better and they want to make the guys still feel like they have the upper hand. Guys always think they have the upper hand on everything. Woman in soccer have less of an opposition for brand of cleats. We don’t get to play with guys because they think we will get hurt, I think they are just worried about us hurting them. In soccer people value how fast and how many goals they have made. In the boy’s games, the boys score constantly. In the girl’s games they don’t score constantly, they like to pass to get a good shot. That is probably why people do not like watching girls play soccer. Not much to watch because girls play as a team not as an individual. podhradsky7
I have finally decided that I would write about the physical appearance of men and women through a feminist view. Are there "natural" roles men and women fill? Yes, women are typically suppose to be thinner and shorter than the men. Also they. Must dress better and look good every day while men don't care what they look like and no one expected them to. If women don't dress nicely we are frowned upon and we are mocked for it. When we show up. Somewhere in sweats we are looked at as lazy or tired. Men on the other had just look comfortable. To what extent are our roles created by culture? Our roles are created by culture because they are the ones really showing us that we should be like the celeberaties that we see on television and magazines. We see the celeberaties and the models and we see how men look at those women. When we see that we want to be like them and look like them therefore we get the same outcome that they do when it comes to success and men. Who puts limitations on genders? Society puts the limitations on the genders and how we are suppose to act. When girls act more like men or anything out of the "correct" way that women are suppose to act society frowns at them ands tells them that they need to act correctly or they will never be liked by anyone. and if men act or dress like girls they are automatically hated and frowned upon as though being like a women is horrible and a disgrace to mankind. Society also grants the privileges that the gender gets and determines how much. A woman is smaller in society, careers, education, as well as in size. A man is bigger than the women in almost every way. Should we scrap our created gender roles and stereotypes? We should scrap them and we should be allowed to choose what we want to do with our lives and be treated equally for what we do weather in career or in appearances. A creator's gender affects an exhibit because the artist is going to make her look smaller and more venerable and show that she needed a man to help her through everything.
Lush pd.2
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