One for the road; super heroes and princesses

I enjoyed our debates about the good and bad of super hero culture.  It makes sense to study it as the super hero market is booming; constantly having remakes, influx of comic books, prevalence of video games.  It is a dense theme to study, full of intrigue and questions.  The interesting aspect that these characters can both incorporate negative and positive messages makes the super hero world full of greys instead of black and whites.  We see gender roles and norms being challenged and contested.  With our obsession, it also reflects in the popular media with certain shows, like Toddlers in Tiaras and any type of show featuring house wives, where the women have princess like tendencies.  It challenges both the comic book themes as well as when we talked about the issue of wealth and popular culture; the disparity between our fascination with the poverty stricken to the lavish and ostentatious of the rich.  These can be breeding grounds for debate between the harm this can cause and also the possible benefits, too.

With male super heroes, more often than not we see this male character as honor bound, regulated by ordained laws and rules, sometimes as reasons to go against those constructed laws, use of violence to stop violence, ironically, emotionally devoid/detached and always the savior of women.  It constructs a role model for little boys that can give them strong tendencies and backbone but also can reinforce archaic thoughts on gender roles and norms.  The emotionless male, incapable of expressing themselves, always brooding, has to look like a "badass", can be taxing to us, as men.  I find it frustrating that men are nearly always depicted in movies, games, television and so on as strong, but emotionally detached figures.  And if they have any remote since of emotion, they are instantly gay.  Straight men cannot have emotions?  And what does it say to gay men that they are stereo typically labeled as flamboyant with their emotions?  Probably outright offensive.

I find myself artsy, reflective on my thoughts and emotions, not particularly "manly" and aggressive in that respect.  So I wouldn't be surprised if I come off out right gay to some.  It's completely absurd, but it happens.  Many norms that males fall under, I simply have no interest in, and perhaps it is how the media depicts us straight men, especially of my age.    Media depicts me as a cold wall, hard to sympathize for, constantly drinks and parties, watches football and so on.  I couldn't be further from that norm. Men are capable of showing emotions and they do not have to be gay to express the way they feel.  Gay men are not always "girly", flamboyant etc; they can be super manly too, have "bro" time, pound 6 packs and have a blast watching football.  And much like how I could feel about women's take on how popular culture and how they are depicted, I find it a necessity to fight for my difference, to say that these norms are absurd.  Women are not over sexualized, stuck in a different reality where they are a princess and must be pampered and what not (which the media seems dead set on).

I definitely sympathize for their cause as I have a cause to fight, too.  A straight man can fight for gays.  A straight man can also be very in touch with his own feelings without being gay. There is nothing wrong with being gay.  He doesn't have to be a devoid wall.  He shouldn't be judged on his masculinity from what his hobbies are.  The idea of both masculinity and feminism is utterly idiotic.  Being versatile in both roles, strange as the thought is, has allowed me to appreciate both causes.  We are all our own superhero, it is our choice into which we like to see our own heroic characteristics as.

All aboard the Civil Rights Act 2.0

The last few weeks have been a slight bummer; we can't seem to get a break of seeing the glaring issues that still reside in our country.  Our country can say we are striving for reforms in terms of civil equality but from Dr. McCauliff and the the messages the class is trying to establish, I make the argument that this is all rhetoric with crossed fingers, with a mean grin.  Which also brings up that preconceived notion that rhetoric has a crooked tendency, touched on quite frequently throughout the first weeks of class and as an underlying theme from then on.  The LGBT community have been fighting for now years for legalized marriage yet the trend of homophobia is still rampant.  I have friends that are deeply homophobic and know of others that take fairly ridiculous actions to avoid gay couples; literally stepping off of a side walk from passing a couple.  It is utterly despicable  and pathetic, just because of a sexual orientation that differs from the norm, we act completely uncivilized over.  Due to America's tendency to be Christian in religious followings, it also doesn't help that in some interpretations, but not all, of the Bible label homosexuality as sinful.  I will end with that on religion as I do not plan to argue over religion, bash, or criticize, however it is an issue that must be noted.  It also does not help that any type of ethnicity or sexuality that does not conform to white american or heterosexual orientation depicted in popular media has to conform to a since of moderation.  We can only approve of each type in small doses, within a specific context and under regulation.  We admire Ellen for her stance and her coming out (but only after time had settled after the storm that had been caused from that moment), but god forbid we see her partner and their affection towards each other.  But it is totally okay for our white ethnicity to display damn near pornographic footage in everyday life throughout popular TV.  Just watch an hour of MTV, you'll get an idea.

And after watching how sports constructs the hyper masculinity and militarism in popular culture, both differing ethnicities, gender  and sexualities are still in jeopardy.  It is a tragedy, but it is a reality.  Homosexual men oppressed to come out due to hyper masculinity in sports is shameful.  Women being oppressed against pursuing a passion within sports, also a complete shame.  Who ordained one person to strip a human of their rights and of their status as an equal?  What is so hard to comprehend that we are all human beings, all with common goals of living life to its fullest potential?  And yet we still struggle with the acceptance of equality, the acceptance that of ethnicities other than whites as being equal; I still see our ethnocentrism showing with our blatant world policing and other ridiculous acts of hegemony.

 I am filled with so much anger and sadness; why can we not live in a world of peace?  Why must be war with others?  Why must we have violence within our relationships?  And our popular culture and media gratifies and conforms to these issues.  Why is equality such a hard thing to come by in this day and age?  We still have a long road ahead of us before we can fully be happy with our situation.  I believe classes and mentalities that Dr. McCauliff are selling (don't misread that statement) are future hopes for us.  We, as a collective body, can show our underlying issues to the public.  We have a duty, now, to promote progressive trains of thought and these can be simple thoughts, too; the mentality that everyone, you, me, him and her, are equal.  Culture is a beautiful thing...it is also a terrible thing.  We have the power to make a change.

http://religions.pewforum.org/reports/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_and_homosexuality