March 7th-Seventh Class

After the mid-term, I felt pretty good about it. I loved that we got to watch an episode of NCIS! I love those types of detective, investigation shows. We had to list gender roles that we saw in the show. That part was easy. For the other part, I could have been more prepared but over all, I feel that I did a good job on the exam!

February 28th-Sixth Class

The movie that we watched during class was very entertaining! Not only because it was funny, but the things that the women did in this movie are so stereotypical. Sylvie is the rich woman that has the nice car, she shops at Saks Fifth Avenue, always has her phone in her hands, takes her dog everywhere with her, and she thinks that everyone wants to be her. Mary is wealthy and finds out that her husband is cheating on her because the over-talkative nail technician doesn't know how to keep her mouth shut. Crystal is the woman that Mary's husband is cheating on. She's the girl that everyone wants to look like. Edie is the one with all of the kids. She doesn't really keep up with her appearance, which I think is something you find with someone with a lot of kids. The stereotypes that they showed in this movie were hilarious, because majority of the women are exactly like that! They all talk at the same time, they stick up for their friends, and unfortunately there's always some type of drama going on.

February 21st-Fifth Class

During this class, we talked about gender vs. sex. For our assignment, we were asked to pick our favorite TV show and analyze the class and gender messages. My favorite show is Dexter and I noticed A LOT of gender and class messages. I never really noticed them, but I found a lot. Dexter is a blood spatter analysist for the Miami Police Department's forensic team. Like every normal person, he has a hobby that he does in his spare time. But his choice of hobby isn't so normal. He kills guilty criminals. He believes that they don't deserve to live in jail. Like most TV shows, Dexter is portrayed as the masculine, non-emotional husband that brings in all the money. His wife, Rita, is portrayed as the helpless, innocent, stay at home mom. She was abused in her previous marriage, so she is very vulnerable but surprisingly, she gives everybody the benefit of the doubt. One look at her and anyone can tell she is a mother. She is always wearing a floral dress, barely any make up, and her hair is usually undone. It was interesting to see the gender roles and how a lot of TV shows have the same gender messages.

February 14th-Fourth Class

During class, we watched a show called Veronica Mars. We were supposed to look at the different levels of class. I think that mostly all TV shows show the same characteristics of the different classes. The upper class is the snotty, rich, white kids that drive the expensive cars and their parents hand them everything on a silver platter. These kids probably never have to work a day in their life, or if they do, they move up in the world simply because of their money or even because of their last name. The middle class is portrayed as the hardworking, trustworthy group. This is the group that is focused on the future. They want food on the table and a roof over their heads. They want their kids to have a great life but they're not spoiled and are disciplined. The dad brings in the money and the mother is a "soccer mom" and is always home taking care of her kids and cooking dinner for when the dad comes home. Lower class is portrayed as the unpopular group. They never have any friends, they never get anywhere in life, and everything was lost because they have some kind of problem like drug or alcohol addiction. I don't think that the stereotypes that you see in TV shows are true. But it's interesting to see how people portray them.

February 7th-Third Class

During our third week of class, we discussed social class. A lot of people wonder what class they classify themselves in. There are basically three different social classes. There is upper class, middle class, and lower class. It is very interesting to compare today's social classes to past social classes. The upper class back in the Victorian era never worked and they usually got their money from inheritance. Looks during that time were outrageous! To show that they were upper class, their skin would be very pale. Which shows that they don't work. Women wore very big and dramtic hats, big dresses with layers of petticoats underneath, corsets, gloves, and most of them carried an umbrella around to block the sun. Today, we are the total opposite. Most people have to work to become part of the upper class. Just like back then, looks are important. Some people don't like to admit it, but they are. But today we don't like to have pale skin and we don't block out the sun. Women today don't wear crazy, poofy dresses and corsets on an everyday basis.

January 31-Second Class

Last class we discussed the positions and power that people have in society. In my town back home, there is a very wealthy family that everybody knows. Everyone knows who they are and everybody knows their name. Whenever you see them you always say, "Hi," to them. A couple years ago, two kids from that family that I went to school with did a very mean prank that affected the whole town. Everyone thought that they were going to get punished for the prank, and possibly put in jail for it. But no. The father of these kids offered to help pay for the damages and even more. And the kids were let off and were not even punished for their actions. Their father didn't even care about what they did because he knew that he could pay his way out of it. This just goes to show you that the power that somebody holds in society can affect a whole town. A lot kids these days are so spoiled and get everything handed to them on a silver platter. Hopefully these kids will one day realize that the real world is not like that and they actually need to work to get what they want. Not everything can be solved with mommy and daddy's money.

January 24th-First Class

January 24th was our first meeting for class. We did an icebreaker to get to know everybody. We were told to tell the class two truths and a lie about ourselves and we had to figure out which ones were true and which one was a lie. It was very interesting to hear what everybody had to say. My two truths were that I want to be a fashion merchandiser and that I love the outdoors. My lie was that I love ice cream. A lot of people said that my lie was that I love the outdoors. I think they said that that statement was a lie because when people look at me, they see that I dress girly and they automatically think that I do not like the outdoors. That just goes to show you how people stereotype and make assumptions about somebody before they even get to know them. I came to find out that my class is a very diverse class, which is awesome because everybody will have different opinions about the topics that will be discussed and everybody will bring different ideas. I am really looking forward to this class. The diversity of the class will make it very interesting.