a look into the real life of a blonde.

In conducting my interview with my friend back at home, Ashley, who has had to deal with the blonde stereotype herself gave me a few good perspectives in seeing what it’s like to deal with that. She did enlighten my research as she told me what it was like growing up when she was always referred to as being a dumb blonde for the most part. She has been a cheerleader for the majority of her life since she can remember and when people would see that and the fact that she was blonde, they always assumed she said that she had no brains. But people without knowing her would make these judgments just from looking at her hair. But truth is she in one of the intelligent people I know. She maintained a 4.0 all throughout high school, as well as was part of many extra curricular activities. Some of those activities consisted of the Student Government Association, cheerleading, Interact club, and Mu Alpha Beta. And not only was the 4.0 was from taking regular high school classes, she took honor and AP classes and was able to earn those college credits. She was at the top of the with being ranked number 4 from a senior class at almost 400 students. She discussed with me how even when people knew all this, if she would a silly decision or didn’t know something, people would just throw out the dumb blonde comment. At times it wasn’t said directly, but she said that it was always hinted at and she easily picked up on it. So she talked about how that stereotype can be a disadvantage to her, no matter how much she has accomplished, people will still refer to the stereotype just because of a silly comment. This really allowed me to see what it is like for a person, one that I actually know, to have to deal with this and how it can really affect one’s life just because of this stereotype that’s portrayed in the media. The way I will incorporate this into my paper is going to be in the area where it talks about how the stereotype in the media can affect peoples’ lives in real life. This will allow me to show from a regular person’s point of view how difficult it can be when people just assume just because from your hair color that you are certain way, even if all other things in your life go against. That with being associated with this stereotype, they are constantly having to prove themselves.

Questions I would Ask People

For my interview, I would need to interview some people who lived during the cold war. I will interview people like my grandfather who served in World War II and my uncles who served in Vietnam as well as my Mom and Dad who remember the nuclear bomb drills they did in school during the Cold War. Some questions I would ask.

1) In school what was taught about the Soviet Union and communism?
2) Does any Propaganda stick out in your mind from that time?
3) Were you as a person afraid of the Soviet Union?
4) As a reader, could you decipher what was propaganda and what was not?
5) Did you know the government was putting out propaganda?
6) What was some of your thoughts about Joseph McCarthy and his Team used to root out “traitors”?
7) Did your parents ever talked about the Soviet Union to you?
8) As growing up did you ever remember seeing Propaganda in any form? Did you believe this?
9) Over seas, was there propaganda about the Soviets or United States Present?
10) What was the atmosphere like during the Cuban Missile Crisis? What were your views? Did this affect your life?

These are only a few questions I could ask. I like being able to ask my grand parents about more political issues and then talk to my parents or uncles about things they saw when they were little and how they affected them and what were they taught. i am looking in responses that may even be laced with popaganda or to find out a source to where the government was feeding propaganda to the masses

So You Think You're Superman?

My research paper is about the stereotypes of males in the movies. So far what I have found from my research is that the abilities and traits in the movie are not always false, but rather just really exaggerated. Producers make guys do superhuman things and give them exaggerated masculinity. After some research I was curious to how this affects guys in “real life” Did they realize that this was all fantasy or did they strive to be like what they saw in the movies. I was also curious if the portrayal of guys in the movies was any influence to the standards that girls set for potential male companions. After the two interviews I conducted with a “normal” girl and a “normal” guy I was somewhat surprised that the answers I got supported the thesis of my paper. While both admitted to realizing that things that appear on the big screen are very different than in reality, the male admitted that after going to see an action film, he has a desire to do some of the things shown or even just inspired to go to the gym. He doesn’t think that the appearance of the male is so hard to accomplish and he could look like that too if he wanted. When asked if he thought that girls set their standard based on what they saw in the movies he said that to some extent he thought they did. My “normal” male expressed how he felt that sometimes a girl expects him to know the perfect thing to say or expect him to never make a mistake. In reality mistakes are made…ops. In the movies when a male makes a mistake it turns into something great that is beneficial to the plot. Doesn’t really happen that way! I found that part he was talking about very interesting. The “normal” female that I interviewed was a little ashamed to confirm the guys claim that she can’t help but to build this idea of the “perfect” man. Her prince charming…that will be gorgeous and flawless. So basically what it all comes down to is that although what we see in the movies is acknowledged as fantasy, it does subconsciously influence the way we react to reality.

interviews anyone??1?

For my research I interviewed an Abercrombie and Fitch model. They ideas they presented were not unlike my own, a disgust in the objectification of women to sell products, and to expand their own economic agenda. The idea of marketi9ng I think is universally good, however when they use sexy adds and false claims of the unattainable beauty they promise it really hits a nerve. My interview was helpful because even if their ideas were similar it reinforced my belief in what this paper stands for, and they often had the same points but came to them by a different measure, this was helpful because it gave me many different angles to pursuit this paper. The most captivating thing that was said was “Its all bull-shit” they clearly pointed out that the materialistic foundation in which this country seems to be built upon will crumple do to the greed, and overall immaturity as a nation and a people as a whole. This excerpt from my interview process will be incorporated in my paper in the section of self improvement or self destruction.

Interviews

The topic of my research paper was stereotypes in men (i.e. nerd, jock, rebel, etc.). Instead of interviewing just one person, I interviewed two people, one who is often looked at as a nerd and one who is looked at as a jock. By having both interviews I got two different sides and two somewhat different opinions. Individually, the questions they answered did help me get some insight but I ended up getting a lot more information when I compared their answers. I have a decent relationship with both of the guys I interviewed so I don’t feel like they spruced up their answers because they were embarrassed or anything, I think they both gave honest answers. They didn’t really point me to any other sources but just having the interviews and analyzing the responses gave me more information. I think the most captivating insight that I got was from “the jock” I interviewed, I asked if he thought that he fit stereotype (dumb, cocky, no emotions, etc.), and why or why not; he responded with a very detailed answer and gave me examples of how not only him but a lot of his teammates (also jocks) do not fit the stereotype. He said “No, I got a 25 no my ACT my very first time taking it, and at least 4 of my teammates are some of the highest ranking kids (grades wise) in our class. Our football team has the highest cumulative GPA in Florida. There are some cocky athletes but that’s all about personality not necessarily because they are jocks. Saying that anyone doesn’t have emotions is pretty stupid, I think. I myself am a pretty emotional guy. One of my friends just broke up with girlfriend of 3 years and he is totally devastated right now.” I just thought that the solid facts he gave me really added to his point, and I believed his argument. After the interviews I really did start to view the topic more openly and really think about their answers and I felt more confident about my analysis. There really wasn’t anything I didn’t understand that they said, as I mentioned they were both friends of mine and gave me pretty clear, honest answers. When I compared their responses I ended up getting even more information and noticing certain patterns, so that gave me another few points to address in my paper. Their answers really just helped me solidify my thoughts on the topic and gave me a better argument. The interviews really helped me better understand what real guys thought about it all considering the closest I could get to a real guy’s opinion online was some b.s. Yahoo blog posting that a bunch of bitter women would respond to. Their answers kind of motivated me to really think about all sides of stereotypes and to try and argue the different views of a jock and a nerd, but to also show that, in general, they had the same process when it comes to the stereotypes.

Possible Prospects

For my research paper on the stereotyping of all Asians being smart I’ve already gotten two interviews setup. One interviewee is a friend of mine whose mother is Asian. Nonetheless, the interviewee herself does not have any physical features of an Asian. I have another friend who is from the Philippines but is frequently referred to as Asian by other people. I am also planning on interviewing my TA for Pre-Calculus. Although I’m not sure if she is Asian or from the Philippines, she has the physical characters that fits both cultures. I want to interview someone who believes in this stereotype to find why is they think it to be true.

Each of these individuals will bring add a new aspect to my research. My first interviewee brings diversity to my research for she is African American with an Asian mother. My second interviewee brings up the question, does anyone who look Asian also considered in the all “Asians are smart stereotype?”

Among the questions that will be asked will include:

1. What is your strongest or favorite subject in school?
2. What is your major?
3. What is your GPA if you don’t mind sharing?
4. How often do you study?
5. Do people think you are lying when you tell them you are half Asian?
6. Does your mother put pressure on you to study?
7. Do you hang around mostly Asians? Do they have high GPAs or find Math and Science to be easy?
8. Do other students ask you for help often because you possess the characteristics of an Asian
9. What are their reactions when you tell them you are Philippine? Do they think you are less intelligent if you cannot help them with a particular problem?
10. As part Asian, do you think all Asians are smart? Why or Why not

Media Media Media!

I am writing my research paper on how alcohol is portrayed in the media and how that in turn affects how our youth today perceive it. This makes it easy to interview people because almost everyone is affected by thing. The funny thing is that I just read this blog post topic and I realized that I have already interviewed someone for my paper. I interviewed my cousin who grew up and actually was really affected by alcohol. He had to drop out of high school and he got two DUI’s. Some of the things that I asked him were:
1. How did you start drinking?
2. What were some of your major influences?
3. If you could go back what would you change?
4. What are you up to now?
5. How did the media play a part of you drinking?
6. Did the media make it cool?
7. How old were you when you started?
8. What shows did you watch?
9. What movies did you watch?
10. What would you say to other kids now?
So these questions lead to a good conversation. If I could I would also interview a police officer and some sort of director.

The Typical Sorority Girl

 Thinking about the stereotype of sorority girls it wasn't that hard to think of people I would want to interview for my research paper. Of course I would love to interview famous women who were involved in sororities such as Pearl Buck who was a Nobel prize winner but actually passed away in 1973 or Kathleen Blanco who became the first female governor of Louisiana, but since thoses people would be a little hard to interview I came up with some others. I think my paper would benefit from talking to the president of a sorority such as Courtney Peck from Tri Delta. The reason I feel like this would be helpful for my paper is because she could help to give me an insider point of view of everything that goes on in a sorority and what exactly goes on. I would ask her questions such as what exactly does she do for her sorority and for society. I would love to ask her what her favorite parts of being in a sorority is. Lastly I would ask her if she would give up being in a sorority just because of the stereotype that she is given or if being in a sorority is worth it.I would also love to interview a girl who is a part of a sorority but does not fill the typical stereotype that is given to her. I would like to ask her questions such as how does it make you feel being put under this category. I would also like to ask her if she feels like she is helping to prove this stereotype to be wrong  and what exactly she thinks she can do to prevent this stereotype. I would also like to interview a girl who fits into the typical stereotype. I would like to ask her if she feels like she fits into the stereotype  and how exactly it makes her feel. I would also like to know some of the things that she does for the sorority.  

Pressure, Pressure, Pressure

When thinking about the stereotypes that movies create for guys, I can’t help but wonder how this affects the “real” boys. Does it put a lot of pressure on them to have the media portray them in a different light than what is possible? I would like two interview two normal “everyday” guys off the street; an athletic looking one and maybe a more intelligent looking one. I would want to ask them if they feel like movies put the idea in girls’ minds that they can be perfect. Do they ever feel like they are not getting a fair chance with a girl or her standards are too high. And even from themselves, do they watch these action movies and think to themselves, “wow I need to run to the gym to compete with that guy”. Another person I would like to interview would be Vin Diesel. He is always seen in action movies as the bad boy that can do anything. I would want to know if the characters he plays resembles his life out of the movies at all. Does he ever meet people that expect him to be like the guys he portrays in movies? And the last person I would like to interview would be someone who has a job that you might see in an action movie, like a sniper or even just an everyday cop. In movies the things that these people can do are exaggerated and even to an audience it is noticeable. Can a duet of hot married fighting assassins really take out a whole agency of assassins coming after them?! Hm… I would want to ask the person with this job about the pressures that they feel, if any, to complete this image that people have of the supernatural hero.

Many people have may have not noticed stereotypes of different cultures within Disney movies. Not until it is pointed out, people realize that there are negative and positive stereotypes with certain movies. This interview section may be repetitive, asking my mom, grandma or grandpa and younger cousin asking them very similar questions.

1. My mom; I would interview my mom because she raised me on Disney movies. I feel that by interviewing my mom I would get the opportunity to see if parents have noticed these types of stereotypes when allowing their children to watch these movies. By interviewing my mom it would add a more personal touch to this research paper. I would ask her:
- When watching Disney movies, did you notice stereotypes on certain cultures?
- If she say yes, which movies?
- Would you have let me watch it if you had noticed it before?
- Do you think these stereotypes really affect young children?
- Do you think any young children really notice them?
- Now that I’ve brought up the fact of stereotype in Disney movies, can you think of any that are negatively portrayed?
- Any positively portrayed?
- Do you think there is a reason as to why they use these stereotypes?
2. My grandma or grandpa; I would interview either my grandma or grandpa, depending on who has the most time. I feel that by interviewing them, I would be able to get the older generations opinion on stereotypes in Disney.
- I would ask him/her if they had noticed any stereotypes in Disney movies?
- Do you think that stereotypes of certain cultures have changed over the decades?
- Have Disney movies become more or less noticeable to these stereotypes over the years?
- Do you think Disney is trying to say anything else through these stereotypes?
3. My younger cousin; I would interview my younger cousin that is 10 years old. I would interview him to get the younger generations opinion on stereotypes in Disney movies.
- I would ask him if he even knew what a stereotype was.
- After explaining it, I would ask if he has noticed any stereotypes in any movies before?
- Do you think that Disney put these roles on these characters on purpose?
- Does the role match the way he looks?
- What does a villain usually look like?
- What does a hero usually look like?

Cuz it's Boy Meets World!

With the large popularity of 90’s television series, it is easy to assume most viewers have basic knowledge of the TV plots. The stereotypes in gender roles played on shows such as Boy Meets World and Full House greatly influence the theme and morals followed by the shows. For my essay I would be interested in interviewing the creators of the show Michael Jacobs and April Kelly. I would probably also interview the main character Ben Savage. For the directors I would ask if they knowingly added the typical gender role stereotypes, and what their motives were for twisting character Amy Matthews role from typical at home mother to uncommon businesswomen of that time. I feel like understanding their viewpoint on the importance of adding in those typical stereotypes would benefit how media is affective. Discovering they may not have even known they added these stereotypes would add even more significance to the fact that stereotypes have become to general to our knowledge. People subconsciously gender stereotype. For Ben Savage I would probably ask how playing the “good boy” was difficult or easy, and how fans perceive his real life personality. In addition I would ask how his boy meeting world incidences may or not be stereotypical to the life of a growing boy. It is easy to assume his role may be what really goes on, but his approach on script and approach in real life may differ. The information I gather from these interviews will help compare and or contrast the real life situations of stereotypes in young maturing adult hood and real life adult perception of the teenage world. Unfortunately I will not be able to interview them but I could interview a fellow peer who has viewed the show and ask if the gender roles displayed on the show are what they stereotype people as, and if the show affects they way they thought prior or after.

?Y?

Would anyone want to openly admit to using performance enhancing drugs if they weren’t forced to? Probably not, this is why the interview sector for my paper is probably going to be difficult, but at the same time simple to obtain. In this type of society the best answers don’t come from interviews and press conferences, they come from actions. Who I would be interested in interviewing (but would be impossible), is Barry Bonds, Deuce McAllister, Jose Canseco, and the CEO of a pharmaceutical company in Alabama who was the architect of a $3.1 million dollar steroid ring, if I am not mistaken. Questions that I would like to be answered are not complex at all, the simply state: Why? And through that all my other curiosities would be fulfilled. Each interview would add to my thesis. On top of seeing what users think, I would like to get a legal perspective on the matter, which would prove as a counter to what the athletes would say. In addition to the interview, I believe I have a solid topic, but I don’t know a typical stereotype for what I want to discuss, does anyone have a stereotype that contains anything about athletes, and performance enhancers? On top of that, the way i would go about interviewing these multi million dollar star personnel would be researching interviews that ask the same questions or similar ones that i would want to ask. But I dont want to empasize only steriods as performance enhancers, i want to add all the other types such as HGH, and deca, as well as supplements that are deemed to be on the verge as performance enhancers such as creatine monohydrate. In this sense i could use personal experience because I have used supplements before and could be a viable source in saying how different supplements have helped me or even lagged my performance. All in all, i believe the interviews will be my weakest sources in the sense that they wont be done one on one, but strongest because they are a first hand account of what goes on behind the scenes.

Interview

My research paper is about Family Guy and the modern stereotypes it portrays so the main person I would look to interview would be the director and voice of the show Seth MacFarlane. I would ask him his opinion on some of the things he showed on the show. I would also ask him if he does indeed put the stereotypes in as a joke to make fun of common stereotypes or as ridiculous as it sounds to promote the stereotypes. I would also like to know if there are any stereotypes he personally takes as offensive and does not include in the show.
Another person I would like to stereotype is people of these groups maybe one of each to get there prospective on the stereotypes and if they feel they have anything in common with those stereotypes, to see if there is any truth behind it. For example ask an asian about the smart stereotype and why people think that, also what is his gpa, is there a cultural difference or parenting difference that causes this stereotype? I would also like to ask them if they take offense to their stereotype being put into a cartoon for humor purposes?
That would include the interviews I would like for my paper, fortunately Seth MacFarlane is very controversial and has many interviews that I have found that may answer some of my questions. The other interviews I would need shouldn’t be hard to acquire.

interviews, yes?

In thinking about people that I would like to interview for my research paper, I realized it was going to be a little hard for me because I’ve never had to interview anyone before for a research paper. So it’s definitely going to be different doing so for a paper. I thought about who would be good to interview that would give me good information I could use. Since my topic is about the stereotypes of blondes and how they are depicted as “dumb and ditsy” in the media, I figured I would interview a couple who knew a lot about the media and why such stereotypes are portrayed so much in the media. I plan on asking them such things like, “why do you think this stereotype is so popular in the media?” and “how do they think it came about?” Another couple of people I would to interview are ones that have been affected in real life because of this stereotype in the media, for one example a close friend of mine Ashley because she has her own experiences having to deal with this stereotype since she is a blond and many people just assume she is dumb. I plan on asking her how this makes her feel when people just assume because she is blond that she is dumb, when really she has been at the top of her class all her life in school. I also would like not only her opinion on the matter but also if she thinks the stereotype does any justice to blondes in real life, as well as if she thinks there is any truth at all to what is portrayed. I feel like doing these interviews will expand my knowledge and I can get a feel also for the personal experiences that one must go through due to the stereotypes depicted through the media. So I think it’ll be interesting to hear what each person has to say about the topic.

Well, duh.

I started thinking about that whole "Disney is a racist." train of ideals, and I realized that the 1950's weren't exactly America's time to shine in the realm of openmindness but that one must take into consideration that for alot of small children if an artist didn't overexaggerate the characteristics of a cartoon character, they wouldn't understand how that character was any different. Causpitz's blog picture is actually what turned this lightbulb on for me. The indian chief is clearly an almost comical representation of a Native American, but if he had merely been another character, sobeit dressed differently, a child (the intended audience) wouldn't be able to differentiate so quickly and easily from other characters in a work.

Muscular, Rebellious, and Brainless

In the media males and females are portrayed in very different ways. While there are some woman characters that surprise us with their wit or strength, guys in the media are pretty consistently stereotyped as being “manly”. In action movies guys are strong, attractive looking, and rebellious. Even in chick-flicks, while guys are portrayed as sensitive and chivalrous, they are still attractive and act like a tough boy attitude. In my research paper I plan to discuss why our society puts so much stress on guys being muscular, rebellious, and tough. Guys are expected to have the Abercrombie or Hollister models body and reasonably, that is far-fetched. So why does are society judge our males on a scale of how big their muscles are or how tough they are? In movies such as Live Free or Die Hard, The Fast and the Furious, or the Bourne movies the males are “hot”, law-breakers that are not a afraid to get in trouble. These movies always have them saving the day with their fighting techniques or skills that would take over a lifetime to realistically learn. The media also portray men as seductive and brainless. They are rebels that are not afraid to cut classes or talk in slang, yet they always get the prettiest girls and know exactly what to say to make a girl melt. In http://www.peertrainer.com/LoungeCommunityThread.aspx?ForumID=1&ThreadID=33406 a few people blog about males being portrayed as the dominant people in society, even without intellectual skills. In my essay I plan to discuss the roles of men in media society and why they are portrayed that way.

sexy time

As of now I am thinking on doing my research paper on the sexed- up world we live in and the stereotype that all teenagers(especially males) think about is their sexual desires. For my main media source I will be using the movie American Pie for my point of reference. Yes we all know and love American Pie for its absurd sexual comedy, and we also know that in these American Pie movies, all the boys in the group seem to think about is sex, and they all end up getting some eventually whether it be from a random girl, a girlfriend, or even a mom.  The kinky band girl, the weird guy who likes hot moms, the typical jock... they all get sex. one other source that I will be using is the Axe commercials and website. Axe is all about smelling good and attracting all sorts of beautiful women just because you are using their product. Is this true? no not really. their website even has a moaning noise when you go to click on a link to another part of the site. disgusting? yes I do believe it is... but once again this stereotype that the american teenager is all sexed up supports the idea that just by showing these obviously ridiculous commercials, one of these young men watching them will subconsciously hope that by buying the product, they too will somehow become this sex target and get all the women to flock to them. Another source i will be using is from a website that tells of statistics and facts about teen sex as of 2005 to show just how many teenagers are in fact having sex. This site will either disprove or support the stereotype that all American teenagers are sex obsessed. So far in my research, with having these 3 sources, I think this will be a good topic for my paper on the stereotypes of what goes on in the teenage mind regarding sex.

An Unreal Reality

For my research paper I was thinking about analyzing the different medias that children are raised with. This includes Disney's movies, Barbie's advertisements, and much more. Looking at Disney's movies there are many stereotypes. The ones I want to focus on are the false ideals that they teach children. Most of their older movies portray women as the home care takers and helpless, the men are the physical power and hero, step parents are evil, and much more. However we all know that in today's society these ideals and stereotypes are not true. It seems there are a divide in bloggers. It seems that the argument is that yes Disney does this, but the parents’ upbringing of the child will ultimately determine the outcome, not Disney. This is a matter of opinion, but if you look at the opinions of some psychologists (considered experts), there is more validity to these statements (http://thedisneyblog.com/2008/08/08/constructions-of-masculinity-in-disney-movies/). Another stereotype that is put into children’s heads is that all women are skinny, large chested, and tall. A prime example of this is Barbie. According to many blogs her physical dimensions are impossible to survive as a human being. She would have the height of 5’9”, a bust of 39” and a baby’s size 3 feet. These dimensions are given on a blog and therefore cannot be blatantly taken as true. However if one takes these facts and does more research on concrete sites, you will find that almost every site agrees with this blog.(http://www.supertoy.org/cgi-bin/wiki/read.cgi?section=Supertoys&page=barbie)

Misconceptions of Blondes

In looking for a topic to research on for this paper, I decided I wanted to research around the “dumb blonde” stereotype perceived in the media, specifically in movies. I want to analyze how in movies such as “Legally Blonde” and “The House Bunny,” how blondes are seen to be not so intelligent, as well use their looks to get what they want since they lack the common sense. I want to analyze how these movies incorporate this misconception about blondes, and compare how blondes in other movies are better represented and show the actual potential of them in reality. At looking at a couple of blogs concerning the blonde stereotype, I came across one that stated how there was a new keyboard for blondes, one that they could better understand because it came in their kind of words. This emphasized how much of that stereotype is out there not only in the media but also in real life how people perceive blondes to be dumb. And I definitely thought it to be unreliable and a definite misconception and just wrong to even kid about that. (http://g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/691327/Keyboard-For-Blondes-Plays-Up-On-Legally-Blonde-Stereotypes.html) Another blog I came across was more informal, discussing about some stereotypes in movies about blondes and it to be “pervasive” to the author. She discussed her own experiences with the prejudices while growing up being a blonde due to these misconceptions of blondes in films and just the media all around. It just shows how the stereotypes are not a misrepresentation, but can also affect one’s experiences in life because of it, sometimes negatively too. (http://askmissa.com/2008/11/09/gentlemen-prefer-blondesbut-not-for-marriage/ ). Both these blogs did allow for the posting of comments. But both these blogs I see to be more opinions rather than more truthful, yet I agree with the second one definitely more than the other.

Looking Subtly Different.

My question has clearly been asked before. The relationship between artists and the drugs they are so often associated with is a match that has been the focus of many a discussion in the past. However, my question seems to implicate a different set of rules as the studies in the past. I do not intent to focus on merely one group of artiste, my focus lies across the spectrum from musicians to authors to painters. I also have no plans to limit myself to one drug; to focus on only, say alcohol. Personally, I feel that would not properly take into consideration what needs to be done to paint a clear picture of the complexity of the artistic world and how drugs play into it. These effects haven't just been studied recently either. More than half a century ago, according to the ArtNewsBlog, tests were being performed to see the results of LSD on a sketcher's work. 

The results are, interesting. My implication in this paper is not to humourize or play down a phenomena, but instead to explain it. 

Disney and it's beautiful truth

It took me a while to decide what to do my research paper on. I thought it was going to be a lot easier than it actually was. In the end, I choose to do the stereotypes in Disney. In multiple Disney movies, there are misrepresentations and stereotypes of different cultures. The movies that stuck out to me right off the bat were Peter Pan, Pocahontas, Aladdin, and Hercules. Both Peter Pan and Pocahontas have misleading roles of Indians and their culture. Aladdin gives the Arabians a mean, controlling role and are stereotyped as a villain. As for Hercules, this movie is stereotyped that all women are weak, and all men are strong. But as I was researching for this topic, I found much evidence supporting my opinion. Such as this article, http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/1995/03/03-15-95tdc/03-15-95dops-column.asp that gave me much help.
During my research I also found many other movies that used stereotypes. Such as Arsticats, The Jungle Book, even The Little Mermaid (http://www.cracked.com/article_15677_9-most-racist-disney-characters.html). I know that these examples and movies are accurate from my own personal knowledge of watching and reading the books of these movies. I know I will have to research more about the real accurate information of each culture, but these websites gave me a starting point in which cultures I need to research and to what extent.

90's Television Series

Some of our favorite shows from "back in the day" were entertaining, yet taught us life lessons along the way. Whether from the fatherly talks in Full House, to the family love in 7th Heaven or the teachings of Mr. Feeny in Boy Meets World, television series during that time gave viewers insight on morals in undercover situations. Subconsciously we picked up on the typical stereotypes and morals through the actor’s sarcastic and comical behavior. A main factor during this time was stereotypes on gender roles. For my paper I decided these great, all-time loved television series were a perfect way to explain gender role stereotypes in media and how influential they can be on society. I discovered that the stereotypes on television not only alter our perception of people, but support the perceptions already established by society.
We are biologically, one gender or another, female or male. What we make of that though is our decision. Most commonly it is portrayed little girls have dolls, wear dresses, play tea party and grow up to me mom's who care for their children and are often found in the kitchen. Boys grow up playing sports, liking girls, getting messy and dirty and grow up to be men, strong, handsome and bring in money to support families. While these may appear accurate in many cases, it is due to media influence and stereotypes. Why can't a girl play sports, or grow up and support the families, why can't a father be a stay at home parent preparing the children’s lunchboxes? Is it not socially acceptable?
I was able to find articles written by professors and researchers as liable supporting sources to these accusations of gender roles as well as websites confirming the described roles to specific characters in Boy Meets World. http://therottenlittlegirls.com/2009/02/04/do-you-do-gender/ is a blog about gender roles in society that can be related to the character descriptions in http://www.tv.com/boy-meets-world/show/158/episode_guide.html

Family Guy

I chose to do my research paper on the stereotypes in family guy. Family guy is believed to be making fun of stereotypes used in movies rather than promoting these stereotypes. Others like Latoya Peterson of Racialicious found the stereotyping a little problematic even if it is played off as a joke. Some even find these stereotypes as offensive. Family guy takes a humor approach toward modern stereotypes including that of Asians as smart/bad drivers, blacks as bad with the law, cops as racist, jews as good with money, I am choosing to pick out all of these stereotypes and throw in others and my own views on them supported or negated by data. Most of the information found on this topic is based on opinion so there is really no right or wrong therefore there is no factor of a reliable source because different people have different opinions on how and why these stereotypes are portrayed.

http://read.elanso.com/ArticleModule/UKQwQcQmODHaHlLmGJNOJ2Ii.html
http://www.racialicious.com/2008/05/19/the-cleveland-show-family-guy-spin-off-is-looking-questionable/
http://stewiesplayground.com/2008/09/11/racial-stereotypes-on-family-guy/

            I am thinking about writing my paper on the stereotypes that sororities face. I wanted to take the normal things that people characterize sorority girls as and do research to show the impact that sororities have made on society. I also wanted to research ladies that were part of sororities and show what they have done in their past and what they are doing now.

            When trying to focus on a media the first thing I thought of was television. Legally Blonde is one movie that stereotypes sororities, but then in the end shows how the girls aren’t just about their looks that there is brains behind them too. I found blogs on Legally Blonde such as this one. http://thankyounetflix.wordpress.com/2009/01/31/legally-blonde/ This showed the plot of Legally Blonde from another’s eyes. I think that this blog did help me because it showed me other peoples opinions of it so that I could kind of see what others thought. The writer of this blog said that normally they would be turned away from a movie like this, but that after seeing it, it actually turned out to be something more then what you would picture a movie about a sorority to be.

            Another movie I was interested in using for my paper is Sydney White. I was unable to find any blogs about this movie so far.  I think this movie fits perfectly with what I want to write my paper on. It portrays exactly what most people would think of when you hear sorority. It shows the girls being mean and cruel to others.  It also shows them only caring about themselves. When people watch this it just shows them that what they have always heard about sorority girls is true. So with my paper I would like to show how the stereotypes aren’t right.

Homosexuality

Society today has turned the topic of homosexuality into a very touchy subject whether it is in a classroom, among friends or even in churches. Even though I strongly believe that homosexuality is wrong and immoral I do not think that that is and reason to treat homosexuals as lesser people.
Now even though I feel this way I really want to look at how the media portrays people in this light and how simple platonic relationships can sometimes be viewed different, like Turk and JD in "Scrubs."
The nice thing is that even though this is a topic that rarely gets discussed openly, there is still a lot of information out there on this topic and surprisingly the majority of the information is reliable. Also there seems to be a good amount of information on both sides of this argument. The fact that I am very involved with a church that has just been through that trials of a split due to the topic of homosexuality, I consider myself pretty knowledgeable one this topic.
I have found great websites that religious groups have put together such as http://www.religioustolerance.org/hom_bibc1.htm which has done an excellent job of giving both sides of this argument that homosexuality is wrong which will make it easier to examine how it is portrayed in the media and specifically the show “Scrubs.”

Are Foreigners Really Always Villians

In my In in mypaper I was going to tackle the stereotype that all foreigners are villains. You might sit there and say hey foreigners aren’t Evil. True but just this last election one of the big issues was immigration. You have people calling for tighter immigration controls I decided to go and look at http://www.usbc.org/ which is the United States board control organizational web site I then decided I needed to look at one for immigrant’s rights and found http://www.justiceforimmigrants.org/myths.html these were both interesting to look at because on the border control website you have a set of facts calling out immigrants and on the other web site you have them saying the opposite of the other facts. If you think about it in a lot of movies the villains come from another country or school or even galaxy. The next question is aliens all bad and villainous well this guy here thinks he is 98% sure they are not hostile http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread276918/pg1 first I do not believe we have aliens flying about in top secret spaceships. Yea maybe one crashed 60 years ago but by now with our technology it would be hard to miss them. Nut either way since as to our knowledge now we are alone so really it is ones opinion whether an alien is good or bad. And movies and shows lead us down the road that says they are villains. Movies like Rocky 4, and 300 give these foreigners embellished looks and tries to make them look as if they cannot be defeated or over come so when our protagonist triumphs it is another boost for nationalism. Key example of stereotyping foreigners would be when the united states rounded up all the Japanese people on the west coast and put them in concentration camps, or when we tried so hard to destroy the native American population.

There has always been dispute over athletes and the reason that they receive tournament pay. My opinion on the fact supports athletes and their unrealistic salaries because I have been an athlete for over fifteen years. The amount of work that these individuals put into their respective sports is overwhelming where only a few individuals can achieve the optimum level. But as for everything in this world, there is always a way to beat the system, and there is always a way to fall victim to the system. In this case, I am looking to analyze either the role of performance enhancing drugs in professional sports, or the role of drugs (not related to performance enhancers) in the world of sports. Maybe I will even use a little bit of both. In reading a couple of articles and blogs I have found a lot of information and examples pertaining to my subject. Most recent and memorable instances include Michael Phelps’ controversial picture with a “bong,” and Barry Bonds’ past teammate testifying in court saying Bonds knowingly took steroids. Drugs as advertised can always lead to a downfall, but when thought of in a deeper perspective can lead to glory, if pursued stealthily, and the act of being infamous. The shame I think isn’t in being caught, it’s in the records that were made, broken and shattered, due to cheating. Retrospectively if a athlete is taking illegal drugs that should cause his performance to lag but instead he is doing well (i.e. marijuana) what should make him stop? There are many other questions that I have that I can answer but this blog will be a preview to the actual paper. The sources I found are legitimate, and the way I know is that they are blogs written by people who share my common interest.

http://germanarca12.wordpress.com/2009/02/09/doping-in-sport-a-deadly-games/
http://rammy90.wordpress.com/2009/02/09/michael-phelps-judgment/
http://hoardedordinaries.wordpress.com/2009/02/09/the-team/

The Amazing Asians... Bet There Smarter Than You

How many times have you stereotyped an individual? Or how many times have you been stereotyped? The one stereotype that I’ve found to be the most interesting is “all Asians are smart.” I must admit that I’ve had that same mindset as well. During my research, I’ve uncovered a lot of information about Asians and the emphasis they put on education. Although all Asians aren’t computer and technology wizards, education is a primary element in most Asian families. I’ve discovered a few articles from online newspapers and articles. I have confidence in the sources that I have chosen because the NY Times is a major periodical. Thus, the authors in these sources are more than likely to be credible. As for the blogs, I don’t think they are reliable in the sense of factual information. However, they are reliable when it comes to seeing the topic in different perspectives. I visited http://www.progressiveu.org/051720-why-are-asians-smart and I wasn’t able to post a comment without an account. Nonetheless, there was a comment posted that said,

“Some people are clearly born with more raw intelligence than others. They seem to be able to get A's in school and solve complex analytical problems without effort while others struggle to achieve the same results. These people have a genetic gift. That does not make them better or worse than anybody else, just a little different. They may be brilliant but in other ways they may have genetic challenges. Google Steve Hawkins for an example.”

My question to this post is do you think people like Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla also possessed this genetic advantage? Do you think that they possess Asian genes as well?

Among other sites that I visited were:

• http://www.newhorizons.org/strategies/multicultural/le.htm

• http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE7DD113AF93AA35752C1A96E948260&scp=1&sq=asians%20and%20education&st=cse

• http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/10/education/10asians.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=asians%20and%20education&st=cse

These sites provide some background information on the Asian-American culture and some statistics of Asians and higher levels of education.

stereotypes of the mentally handicap in the media

The stereotype that I am contemplating doing for my research paper is the stereotype of the mentally handicap in the media. I have chosen a few movies, some of which purely make fun of the mentally challenged and others that actually show them in a good light. The two movies that my main focus is going to be on are Radio and the Ringer. As much as I would love to do this topic I am worried that there is not that much information on it. As I began researching I found that the information is pretty repetitive. I was unable to find a running blog about my topic but I did find one really good website. It focuses on every stereotype in the media but allows you to narrow your focus. The website does have a blog on it but I couldn’t find a blog post that had anything to do with disabilities. I tried to find a blog about my topic but had no such luck. I am sure as I put more effort into the research I will be able to come across some more specific information. The website is http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/issues/stereotyping/persons_with_disabilities/index.cfm and may be helpful to other topics about stereotypes in the media.

Research Paper

The topic I am researching for my paper is the different stereotypes on men, and I will be using one of my favorite movies, She's the Man. I have been looking online and have found more information than I thought I would but I am still worried that I will end up stuck or not finding enough. I found a Yahoo blog that asked the question "what stereotypes do men have?" and then a bunch of answers but half of them were like bitter women who clearly have a history of bad relatonships and think they are somehow offending their ex's by listing some random and outrageous "stereotypes". Now that was just on one page, my other pages seemed to be pretty legit and helpful so hopefully I wont have the problem of finding false information. Some of the pages were articles so obviously I couldn't really post a reply on it or anything but the blog page I could easily ask a question or even start a new blog of my own and get some... intelligent answers hopefully. Unfortunately, the one blog I did look at was aobut 2 years old so I assumed that blogger's research on the topic was probably over and I didnt comment on it but I am in the process of finding a new page. The one I was using is http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20061012162456AAA4QcX.