Final Project: Technonormativity

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=922Gh1dL8OM

Marlena Brown, Jake Doolin, Christopher Haygood, Samantha Holifield, Dawn McGough, and  Anson Shull 

Guilty

This blog post is going to be like a summary of this semester so far. And really only one word works for me. Guilty. Through everything we have studied, I have found that I am a victim, a contributor, a mindless bystander, and whatever to almost every single "pitfall" or trend we have seen.

I used to pride myself in not having a smart phone…and yet, here I am with a brand spanking new iPhone. And some people accuse of selling out. And I feel Guilty.

I'm willing to admit, I've done the pretend to text and walk. And does that make me a bad person? No. But I feel Guilty. Because as a class, we have stated that it's not the most "appropriate" thing to do. We should be more social and kick the anti-socialness out.

When we watched the movie about food, I got so mad. I live on a farm, and we do good things. Our chickens were so the opposite of what was shown in the movie, that they ran faster than us. But yet, I felt Guilty. I eat those foods mentioned that aren't good. I usually don't buy fresh foods and buy local. It just happens that it doesn't work out. And I shouldn't feel Guilty for going to McDonald's for a sweet tea. I'm not eating the trans fats and fries and burgers. But oh well.

I watch reality television. Not Honey Boo Boo. Not Duck Dynasty. But I enjoy the occasional Dance Moms. And I feel Guilty because I'm contributing to a cycle, and deep down it makes me feel uncomfortable. I hate that I am essentially part of the "problem."

Bottom line, I feel Guilty for absolutely no reason, but society is creating this vicious cycle of watch our shows, but wait, let's publish a study on how these shows are damaging our society.

Real Life vs Reality

So…we knew this day was coming. Here Comes Honey Boo Boo was shown in class. My life is over. But seriously, there is a reason I avoid channels like TLC, Discovery Channel, and even now the History Channel. Nothing is sacred. The HISTORY CHANNEL is subject to these "reality television shows." It's upsetting.

So where does this leave us? Between a very hard place and very large rock. As a society, we crave to see how the "other side" lives. So we get Honey Boo Boo, The "Real" Housewives, and Moonshines…or something. And it varies from what I would consider real life.

 Because as much as we'd like to think we are better than this media showcase, we fall into this trap. And sometimes we can't get out. Because people keep watching these shows.

Case and point!

My little sister is obsessed with 16 and Pregnant (don't even get me started). She watched it from the beginning (when she was like 12). And over the years, she got it into her teeny, tiny head that getting pregnant at 16 was fine. You get a television show, what more could you want. Yeah, needless to say, that show is no longer allowed in our house anymore. But obviously, we know that these teenage moms aren't living it up like they seem. Yeah, the fighting might be real (and only slightly exaggerated), but some of them have like really nice cars, and are going to college, and shopping whenever they feel like. I can tell you that is not what my sister's life would have been like if she got pregnant. So this is how our society is falling into the trap of Reality vs Real Life.

And I agree with the point brought up in class today, these people are signing a contract. They are willingly putting themselves in these situations.

My guilty pleasure, Dance Moms, has become almost too dramatic for me to watch anymore. In fact, I'm like 5 episodes behind because of that. I can't tell you how many time Kelly has pulled her daughters from the dance studio….but the next episode here she is again. She is always claiming she can't stand to put her children through the trauma…but here she is. And it's because of a contract. And on the the reunion show, it is brought up that she could break her contract, but she won't. I'm assuming the money is to good.

But this is what we are faced with as a society. This fake reality that we all believe is true. And it is only going to get worse.

Girl Power or Girl Whiner?

While I totally agree that women need to have some sense of empowerment, but I feel like the articles and women "yelling" for people to notice how powerful we are, it loses its true meaning. We fall into the stereotype of women who are submissive, weak, and needy. We have this need for attention, so we act out and call it empowerment.

I'm not calling all girl power movement useless, but they may be coming obsolete. We fall into the princess culture, and fail to come off as the empowered women we strive to be. The phrase, all press is good press, can be brought up, but it becomes this campaign of "look at me," "look at what I can do." And it sucks. This is, I would guess, not what these campaigns are truly about, and it generally misses its target.

One way to break this stereotype, would be to approach all things calmly, so the dramatic out lashes are not seen. So often we see women screaming at news reporter or violently protesting, not good. This is a very negative view for women, and becomes a new stereotype that society sees. Unfortunately, we have to look at how men are handling their lack of empowerment or untrue stereotypes and we see they are not "acting out" like women.

Just some things to keep in mind.

My Switch to the Dark Side--Day 5 With an iPhone

So, a couple weeks ago, I admitted in class that I had a dumb phone. I know, shocking, who would admit such a lame thing? But I found the conversations that we had in class very interesting. People talked about how they used their smart phones to entertain, pass time, pretend they don't see people, and overall avoid face to face interaction with other humans. With a dumb phone, there is only so much you can do. After 5 minutes, everyone knows you aren't doing anything on your phone other than avoiding the people around you. I've played the trial versions of Tetris, Uno, and Scrabble on my phone several times; I've organized my pictures; I've managed my messages; and I've typed "asdfghjkl" over and over again to pretend that I am actually having an engaging conversation with someone and I can't possible look away or talk to you. And I survived.

Last week, in one of my classes, we had a random online assignment we could work on in class that I had no warning about. I didn't bring my laptop, so I asked the teacher if there was something else I could do. "You can use your phone," is the response I got. Um, no, I can't. The teacher looked at me quite perplexed and said I could go to the lab. Wow, way to judge me for not having a smart phone. But this isn't the first time I've been ostracized for not having a smart phone. My freshman year, I was told that it was insane trying to be a telecommunications major with a dumb phone. Gee, thanks, now I really want to pursue this major. So I finally broke down and got a smart phone, well begged my parents until they gave in.

And on day five of having this phone, I must say, I almost wish I had my dumb phone back. Not only have I been getting a bazillion text messages saying, "OMG! You got an iPhone?", "You better follow me back on Instagram!", "I SnapChatted you like 20 minutes ago, why haven't you replied?", "I sent you an email, and I know you can check it on your phone, why haven't you responded?" and so on and so forth, but I've been bombarded with information from everyone and their brother.  All I can say is, holy crap. Connection overload. Fun fact: I don't actually want to talk to everyone 24/7. So I am in an awkward adjustment phase.

I don't answer phone calls very well; I blame autocorrect for EVERYTHING, because I can't type; and I have a death grip on my phone constantly. I'm terrified to drop my phone, when before, eh, no big deal. So, maybe an iPhone isn't worth it? I will admit, I like being able to check my email, track the busses, and see how much money I have in my bank account, but is it worth it?

In one of the articles and class discussions, we talked about how we become more disconnected and rely heavily on our phones. I can say that I spent 25 minutes on Facebook yesterday during a class while the teacher droned on and on about something that I cannot for the life of me remember. So I missed out. I used to be that person that talked to people on the bus or in line, but now I can do stuff on my phone, and not have to make other people awkward. So going off the article, "Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?", I would ask, "Are our phones making us lonely?" Probably. We get absorbed in this idea that it is socially acceptable and required to have a smart phone that most people freak when someone tries to talk to them. Newsflash, that's how you make friends...you talk to strangers. My mom, who has no need for a smartphone, is considering getting one for her upgrade because the regular phones are A.) all the same, B.) suck, and C.) aren't really upgrades, you just have a new version of your old phone.

So am I happier with my new phone, I guess. My old one sucked, but I probably would have been just as happy with an new version of it. I do like my new phone, but I guess I just don't see what all the hype is. Maybe it just takes some getting used to.

Dad's on FOX

Last week, Dads premiered on FOX. From the beginning I was hooked. I watched all the previews, I marked my calendar and cleared my schedule just so I can watch this show...well, let's just say I got a lot of homework done that night. The show was very offensive.

Now, I can take the jokes and the pokes with the best of them. I watch Family Guy and all those other shows that make people cringe, but this was insult after insult thrown at everyone. No one was safe. There were sexist jokes, age jokes, racist jokes, and much more.

I believe the Feminist Perspective can be applied quite effectively to this show. While a male dominated cast, gender roles are emphasized with stereotypes, specifically on women. There is a Mexican cleaning lady, an Asian co-worker, that dresses up in a Sailor Moon type outfit, and an attractive women married to a nerdy successful guy, who I am assuming is rich. The dads are interesting characters because they switch from being an uncaring father to a hovering "mother" figure.

While I get that it is a comedy, I find that they might not see the ratings they anticipated. Bad acting coupled with awkward puns and camera angles, leaves much to be desired. I watched the second episode to give it another shot, but I feel the show has lost the momentum  they had going for them.The episode is based off of pot brownies and using them to create a new video game (for their company) and then "accidentally" drugging their fathers.

All in all, the show is a stereotype filled half hour.