I felt that our group did a really good job presenting the main points of each author, and everyone was very well prepared for the discussion. Because of that, we were able to have a really good conversation about both sides of the issue. We were all very respectful of each other's feelings, and no one was attacked, or felt that they needed to explain why they feel the way they do about this sensitive topic.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Reflection 1
I had a really positive experience with the SAC this week. It was a good exercise to get us into "critical thinking mode." It's been a little while since I had to sit down with a topic and deconstruct the argument of a writer. We did a lot of that in Lauren's English 1A class when we read the critical essays about Huck Finn, and that was last fall, so it's been a little while for me.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Hello!
Hi everybody! My name is Lisa. I work at Starbucks and I've been going to the JC for a year now. My major is Social/Behavioral Sciences, and I hope to get my BA in Psychology, and my MA in counseling. My ultimate goal is to be a guidance counselor in a continuation high school, or a community college like this one. I went to Analy High School, but I graduated from Laguna. I took Lauren's English 1A class last fall and it was a really good class, so I'm feeling pretty good about this one. Nice to meet all of you!
Monday, December 8, 2008
Essay #6 Peer Review Draft
Hey, Group!
This is my draft for essay #6. I put in some notes in italics so you could see where I am going to add more. I had some trouble with this essay, so any suggestions you have would be awesome. I know I need to define "mall culture" a little better in the third paragraph, and I plan on doing it after the peer review. I have another article that I found last night that is about mall culture and fine art, and how the two relate. It's a really neat article, so I will be adding at least a paragraph or two to discuss that. Finally, I couldn't really find much for a counter-argument. Everyone seems to sort of agree that there is a mall culture, so if you have any counter-arguments, let me have it! I have a little bit of an idea for a counter, but I am sort of stuck with it, so I want to see what you guys say before I go with it. Thanks for your feedback!
Mall America
For intro: where malls originated from (Underhill, 4), consumerism (from fine art of shopping article), and/or the rocks & water quote from “mall together now.”
Most people go to the mall, get what they need and leave, not returning until the next time they need a new pair of shoes or they read in the Sunday paper that Macy’s is having a big sale. These people don’t see the mall as recreational or fun, they just go because they need a specific product or service. Factor out this group of people, and you are left with a different type of population. The people that are left, who are they? On the surface, they are shoppers, workers, and mallrats. Together, they belong to a culture that is widely unrecognized as a whole. Most people do not realize that there is such a thing as “mall culture,” or that it plays such a huge part in shaping us as a society.
There are many parts that make up this mall culture as a whole, ranging from young to old, rich to poor, and everywhere in between. Just like the United States, the mall is a melting pot: so many different types of people come to the mall, and while they are there, they are a part of the whole. There’s the trophy wife wandering around with a Frappuccino and an armful of shopping bags, the exasperated mother who drops her kids off at the toy store so she can do her shopping in peace, and the man picking out a gift for his wife at the jewelry store. Once school gets out, the mall is overrun with teenagers trying on clothes they have no money to buy, and filling their stomachs with sticky-sweet cinnamon rolls. And then there are the “mallrats,” who steal change out of the fountain in the middle of the mall and hang around the front entrance after the merchants have security chase them out. Last, but certainly not least, are the mall employees who are the oil of the shopping machine, so to speak.
Some might argue that there is no such thing as “mall culture,” but in the words of a teenage mall queen, “Whatever. There totally is.” I worked in the mall for ten years; three of which were spent managing a candy store and an “old-lady shoe store,” and seven of which were spent managing a “California Teen Lifestyle” retailer. One might think I am generalizing and limiting my focus to the younger crowd, but in my years of working at the mall, I have realized that the culture includes so much more than just the teenage “valley girls” with their miniskirts and cell phones, and the boys with their baggy pants and noses for trouble.
On the other hand, quite a few of my friends and family agree that mall culture is sweeping the nation. I spoke with some co-workers at “Company X,” my most recent employer, and we came to the conclusion that not only is the mall a culture of its own, there are even smaller groups that make up sub-cultures within the mall. The largest one that comes to mind is the employees. You might, for example, go to the mall and realize that the girl who helped you find an outfit to wear to your cousin’s Christmas party is the same girl who sold you your work shoes at Sears five months ago. Practically everyone who works at the mall knows each other. It’s almost like a community within the culture; some employees become friends, and I have even known married couples who met while working at the mall. Malls create thousands of jobs, and the list is almost endless: maintenance workers, security guards, salespeople, store managers, mall managers, and much more than I could even begin to list right here. It is shocking to think how many Americans would be unemployed without the mall. Now that we have created this culture, it seems to own us.
What makes us go to the mall? For a teenage girl, it’s almost like a rite of passage to go to the mall with her friends. Free from the watchful eye of their parents, the girls try on forbidden bikinis, drink frappuccinos, and flirt with boys. Is this healthy behavior? Shouldn’t they be doing something more wholesome than learning to consume, especially unsupervised? I think so, and I’m not alone. I came across an article written for the New York Times Magazine by Firoozeh Dumas, about her 13-year-old daughter’s birthday trip to the mall, and although she allowed the trip to take place, she “…was not about to drop the girls off by themselves” (Dumas). Not done here…still another quote to add and respond to.
Some people go to the mall for the social aspect, and aren’t even there to shop. The teenage girls get all dolled up like their favorite starlets on the pages of Teen Vouge, and the mall is their catwalk. They strut their stuff, hoping to attract the stares of the teenage boys, who cruise the mall in packs, too shy to break away and approach. Moms pushing newborns in strollers come to the mall because they have to get out of the house, to have social interaction with anyone who speaks more than just baby talk. Old people go to the mall just to talk to someone, because they have no one at home to talk to. I’ve even seen a homeless man in there, talking to the soda machines. An alarming number of people go to the mall just because they’re bored and have nothing better to do. I can’t imagine having that much spare time, but I can’t speak for everyone. It’s almost like the mall has a magnetic pull, people go there and don’t even know why.
In our culture, the mall is a symbol of prosperity, and so if you go to the mall and leave with armfuls of shopping bags filled with goodies, then you must be prosperous. I mean, you can afford all the stuff you bought, right? If your credit card is still working, then no worries – at least until the bill shows up in your mailbox and you realize you are deeper in debt than you thought. So many of us fold under the pressure of the marketing schemes these retailers dream up that we end up broke, or worse, with a distorted body image. Even I almost fell for this a couple of times when I worked at “Company X.” We were given huge discounts on certain outfits so that we could wear them to work and “look the part,” in the hope that our impressionable teen target audience would want to look just like us and buy these exact outfits. There’s even a name for this type of strategy: “Brand Right.” What this means is, if you wear all the “cool” brands, then you, too, are cool. It is amazing to watch people pay to turn themselves into a walking billboard for a brand.
“Branding” is an important part of mall culture. These days, any card-carrying mallrat can take one look at you and be able to tell exactly which stores you shop at, just by the clothes you are wearing. In his book Call of the Mall, Paco Underhill says that “The store names do a good job of differentiating the tribes—you’ve got Pac Sun versus Abercrombie & Fitch versus Against All Odds” (Underhill 161). In my years working at the mall, this was very apparent to me. I’ll come clean on the identity of “Company X” – it’s Pac Sun, and it was directly across from Hot Topic. Most kids who shop at Hot Topic wouldn’t be caught dead shopping at Pac Sun because it isn’t “punk” enough for them, and most kids who shop at Pac Sun would rather die than shop at Abercrombie & Fitch because it’s “too preppy” for them. Suggest Old Navy or American Eagle to any of the aforementioned teenagers, and you’ll get shot down in a second. Why? What on earth is the difference? As an adult, think about which stores you shop at, and which ones you would never set foot inside. It’s the same concept, which Underhill refers to as “retail tribalism” (Underhill 161), and we all participate in it. We choose the tribe we want to identify with, and by what we are wearing, we show the world our loyalty. I shop at Old Navy, but I’d never set foot inside an Express store. I’m just as guilty as any other shopper, whether I want to admit it or not.
Don’t get me wrong – in theory, the mall is a great idea. My mom pointed out that she is drawn to the safety and convenience of the mall. She likes knowing that she can go to one place and get everything she needs without having to worry about driving from one shop to the next. It is one entity, enclosed and safe, where you can get just about anything your heart desires. Under one roof, you can get Craftsman tools, a push-up bra, a motorized robotic vacuum cleaner, 600-thread-count sheets, a lime-green Kitchenaid stand mixer, and a book about Chuck Norris. I’m not fibbing or stretching the truth, I really did see every one of these things on my last trip to the mall. Granted, most people don’t go to the mall looking for any of that stuff, but they take comfort in knowing that they wouldn’t have to run all over town searching for it if they needed it. In some ways I do, too. If I ever need something really outrageous, the mall is always the first place I go, and it rarely fails me.
Maybe the next time you go to the mall, you will read between the lines and become aware of the small parts that make up the mall culture. Maybe you won’t, and you still think there is no such thing. Are you denying it because you just don’t see it, or is it because you are afraid to admit you are a part of it? I didn’t see it at all before I worked there, and now it is all I can see on the rare occasion that I do visit the mall. When I go into the stores and see the energetic young employees, I can’t help but wonder if they see it too; and I look at the shoppers and wonder if they realize they are a part of it.
Works Cited
Dumas, Firoozeh. "Mall Together Now.(Magazine Desk)(LIVES)(Column)." The New York Times Magazine. (July 13, 2008): 66(L). Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Santa Rosa Junior College Library. 8 Dec. 2008.
Theil, Stefan. "The Fine Art of Shopping; A new museum exhibit celebrates the growing bond between high culture and mall culture :[Atlantic Edition]. " Newsweek 28 Oct. 2002: 86. Research Library Core. ProQuest. Santa Rosa Junior College Library. 8 Dec. 2008 http://www.proquest.com.proxy.www.santarosa.edu:2048/
Underhill, Paco. Call of the Mall. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2005.
This is my draft for essay #6. I put in some notes in italics so you could see where I am going to add more. I had some trouble with this essay, so any suggestions you have would be awesome. I know I need to define "mall culture" a little better in the third paragraph, and I plan on doing it after the peer review. I have another article that I found last night that is about mall culture and fine art, and how the two relate. It's a really neat article, so I will be adding at least a paragraph or two to discuss that. Finally, I couldn't really find much for a counter-argument. Everyone seems to sort of agree that there is a mall culture, so if you have any counter-arguments, let me have it! I have a little bit of an idea for a counter, but I am sort of stuck with it, so I want to see what you guys say before I go with it. Thanks for your feedback!
Lisa Dunbar
Lauren Servais
Engl 1A
8 Dec 2008
Lauren Servais
Engl 1A
8 Dec 2008
Mall America
For intro: where malls originated from (Underhill, 4), consumerism (from fine art of shopping article), and/or the rocks & water quote from “mall together now.”
Most people go to the mall, get what they need and leave, not returning until the next time they need a new pair of shoes or they read in the Sunday paper that Macy’s is having a big sale. These people don’t see the mall as recreational or fun, they just go because they need a specific product or service. Factor out this group of people, and you are left with a different type of population. The people that are left, who are they? On the surface, they are shoppers, workers, and mallrats. Together, they belong to a culture that is widely unrecognized as a whole. Most people do not realize that there is such a thing as “mall culture,” or that it plays such a huge part in shaping us as a society.
There are many parts that make up this mall culture as a whole, ranging from young to old, rich to poor, and everywhere in between. Just like the United States, the mall is a melting pot: so many different types of people come to the mall, and while they are there, they are a part of the whole. There’s the trophy wife wandering around with a Frappuccino and an armful of shopping bags, the exasperated mother who drops her kids off at the toy store so she can do her shopping in peace, and the man picking out a gift for his wife at the jewelry store. Once school gets out, the mall is overrun with teenagers trying on clothes they have no money to buy, and filling their stomachs with sticky-sweet cinnamon rolls. And then there are the “mallrats,” who steal change out of the fountain in the middle of the mall and hang around the front entrance after the merchants have security chase them out. Last, but certainly not least, are the mall employees who are the oil of the shopping machine, so to speak.
Some might argue that there is no such thing as “mall culture,” but in the words of a teenage mall queen, “Whatever. There totally is.” I worked in the mall for ten years; three of which were spent managing a candy store and an “old-lady shoe store,” and seven of which were spent managing a “California Teen Lifestyle” retailer. One might think I am generalizing and limiting my focus to the younger crowd, but in my years of working at the mall, I have realized that the culture includes so much more than just the teenage “valley girls” with their miniskirts and cell phones, and the boys with their baggy pants and noses for trouble.
On the other hand, quite a few of my friends and family agree that mall culture is sweeping the nation. I spoke with some co-workers at “Company X,” my most recent employer, and we came to the conclusion that not only is the mall a culture of its own, there are even smaller groups that make up sub-cultures within the mall. The largest one that comes to mind is the employees. You might, for example, go to the mall and realize that the girl who helped you find an outfit to wear to your cousin’s Christmas party is the same girl who sold you your work shoes at Sears five months ago. Practically everyone who works at the mall knows each other. It’s almost like a community within the culture; some employees become friends, and I have even known married couples who met while working at the mall. Malls create thousands of jobs, and the list is almost endless: maintenance workers, security guards, salespeople, store managers, mall managers, and much more than I could even begin to list right here. It is shocking to think how many Americans would be unemployed without the mall. Now that we have created this culture, it seems to own us.
What makes us go to the mall? For a teenage girl, it’s almost like a rite of passage to go to the mall with her friends. Free from the watchful eye of their parents, the girls try on forbidden bikinis, drink frappuccinos, and flirt with boys. Is this healthy behavior? Shouldn’t they be doing something more wholesome than learning to consume, especially unsupervised? I think so, and I’m not alone. I came across an article written for the New York Times Magazine by Firoozeh Dumas, about her 13-year-old daughter’s birthday trip to the mall, and although she allowed the trip to take place, she “…was not about to drop the girls off by themselves” (Dumas). Not done here…still another quote to add and respond to.
Some people go to the mall for the social aspect, and aren’t even there to shop. The teenage girls get all dolled up like their favorite starlets on the pages of Teen Vouge, and the mall is their catwalk. They strut their stuff, hoping to attract the stares of the teenage boys, who cruise the mall in packs, too shy to break away and approach. Moms pushing newborns in strollers come to the mall because they have to get out of the house, to have social interaction with anyone who speaks more than just baby talk. Old people go to the mall just to talk to someone, because they have no one at home to talk to. I’ve even seen a homeless man in there, talking to the soda machines. An alarming number of people go to the mall just because they’re bored and have nothing better to do. I can’t imagine having that much spare time, but I can’t speak for everyone. It’s almost like the mall has a magnetic pull, people go there and don’t even know why.
In our culture, the mall is a symbol of prosperity, and so if you go to the mall and leave with armfuls of shopping bags filled with goodies, then you must be prosperous. I mean, you can afford all the stuff you bought, right? If your credit card is still working, then no worries – at least until the bill shows up in your mailbox and you realize you are deeper in debt than you thought. So many of us fold under the pressure of the marketing schemes these retailers dream up that we end up broke, or worse, with a distorted body image. Even I almost fell for this a couple of times when I worked at “Company X.” We were given huge discounts on certain outfits so that we could wear them to work and “look the part,” in the hope that our impressionable teen target audience would want to look just like us and buy these exact outfits. There’s even a name for this type of strategy: “Brand Right.” What this means is, if you wear all the “cool” brands, then you, too, are cool. It is amazing to watch people pay to turn themselves into a walking billboard for a brand.
“Branding” is an important part of mall culture. These days, any card-carrying mallrat can take one look at you and be able to tell exactly which stores you shop at, just by the clothes you are wearing. In his book Call of the Mall, Paco Underhill says that “The store names do a good job of differentiating the tribes—you’ve got Pac Sun versus Abercrombie & Fitch versus Against All Odds” (Underhill 161). In my years working at the mall, this was very apparent to me. I’ll come clean on the identity of “Company X” – it’s Pac Sun, and it was directly across from Hot Topic. Most kids who shop at Hot Topic wouldn’t be caught dead shopping at Pac Sun because it isn’t “punk” enough for them, and most kids who shop at Pac Sun would rather die than shop at Abercrombie & Fitch because it’s “too preppy” for them. Suggest Old Navy or American Eagle to any of the aforementioned teenagers, and you’ll get shot down in a second. Why? What on earth is the difference? As an adult, think about which stores you shop at, and which ones you would never set foot inside. It’s the same concept, which Underhill refers to as “retail tribalism” (Underhill 161), and we all participate in it. We choose the tribe we want to identify with, and by what we are wearing, we show the world our loyalty. I shop at Old Navy, but I’d never set foot inside an Express store. I’m just as guilty as any other shopper, whether I want to admit it or not.
Don’t get me wrong – in theory, the mall is a great idea. My mom pointed out that she is drawn to the safety and convenience of the mall. She likes knowing that she can go to one place and get everything she needs without having to worry about driving from one shop to the next. It is one entity, enclosed and safe, where you can get just about anything your heart desires. Under one roof, you can get Craftsman tools, a push-up bra, a motorized robotic vacuum cleaner, 600-thread-count sheets, a lime-green Kitchenaid stand mixer, and a book about Chuck Norris. I’m not fibbing or stretching the truth, I really did see every one of these things on my last trip to the mall. Granted, most people don’t go to the mall looking for any of that stuff, but they take comfort in knowing that they wouldn’t have to run all over town searching for it if they needed it. In some ways I do, too. If I ever need something really outrageous, the mall is always the first place I go, and it rarely fails me.
Maybe the next time you go to the mall, you will read between the lines and become aware of the small parts that make up the mall culture. Maybe you won’t, and you still think there is no such thing. Are you denying it because you just don’t see it, or is it because you are afraid to admit you are a part of it? I didn’t see it at all before I worked there, and now it is all I can see on the rare occasion that I do visit the mall. When I go into the stores and see the energetic young employees, I can’t help but wonder if they see it too; and I look at the shoppers and wonder if they realize they are a part of it.
Works Cited
Dumas, Firoozeh. "Mall Together Now.(Magazine Desk)(LIVES)(Column)." The New York Times Magazine. (July 13, 2008): 66(L). Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Santa Rosa Junior College Library. 8 Dec. 2008
Theil, Stefan. "The Fine Art of Shopping; A new museum exhibit celebrates the growing bond between high culture and mall culture :[Atlantic Edition]. " Newsweek 28 Oct. 2002: 86. Research Library Core. ProQuest. Santa Rosa Junior College Library. 8 Dec. 2008 http://www.proquest.com.proxy.www.santarosa.edu:2048/
Underhill, Paco. Call of the Mall. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2005.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
November 19 - Plagiarism
Response to question #1:
In this case, I do think the school's penalty was way too harsh. This was a program sponsored by the University, and there were students from other schools there. I have a few thoughts on the situation, first being that I don't think it was exactly fair that these students had their cases decided by professors instead of by students like they usually do it. However, I understand why it was done that way - they were out at sea and that process was not available. Second, I agree that there are only so many ways to say something, and the charge may have been a bit excessive. Third, I disagree with the University's decision to put the students ashore in a foreign country to fend for themselves. That's a bit much. I bet they were scared out of their minds.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Essay #5
Okay group members (and whoever else is reading this), my essay isn't done yet, and I haven't organized my paragraphs. Some things will seem out of order, and if you have any ideas on how I could say something better, let me know. Please, tell me what you think! This papaer was written right after I worked my last shift at my mall job of seven years, and I felt kinda saturated while I was writing it. Happy reading, and thanks for your input.
Mall America
Most people go to the mall, get what they need, and leave; not returning until the next time they need a new pair of shoes or they read in the Sunday paper that Macy’s is having a big sale. These people don’t see the mall as recreational or fun, they just go because they need a specific product or service. Factor out this group of people, and you are left with a different type of population. These people who are still there, who are they? On the surface, there are shoppers, workers, and mallrats. Together, they belong to a culture that is widely unrecognized as a whole. Most people do not realize that there is such a thing as “mall culture,” or that it plays such a huge part in shaping us as a society.
Some might argue that there is no such thing as “mall culture,” but in the words of a teenage mall queen, “Whatever. There totally is.” I worked in the mall for ten years; three of which were spent managing a candy store and an “old-lady shoe store,” and seven of which were spent managing a “California Teen Lifestyle” retailer. One might think I am generalizing and limiting my focus to the younger crowd, but in my years of working at the mall, I have realized that the culture includes so much more than just the teenage “valley girls” with their miniskirts and cell phones, and the boys with their baggy pants and noses for trouble.
On the other hand, quite a few of my friends and family agree that mall culture is sweeping the nation. I spoke with some co-workers at “Company X,” and we came to the conclusion that not only is the mall a culture of its own, there are even smaller groups that make up sub-cultures within the mall. You might, for example, go to the mall and realize that the girl who helped you find an outfit to wear to your cousin’s Christmas party is the same girl who sold you your work shoes at Sears five months ago. As I worked at the mall year after year, I came to realize that there is sort of a hierarchy among the mall employees (expand on this).
There are many parts that make up this mall culture as a whole, ranging from young to old, rich to poor, and everywhere in between. Just like the United States, the mall is a melting pot: so many different types of people come to the mall, and while they are there, . There’s the trophy wife wandering around with a Frappuccino and an armful of shopping bags, the exasperated mother who drops her kids off at the toy store so she can do her shopping in peace, and the man picking out a gift for his wife at the jewelry store. Once school gets out, the mall is overrun with teenagers trying on clothes they have no money to buy, and filling their stomachs with sticky-sweet cinnamon rolls. And then there are the “mallrats,” who steal change out of the fountain in the middle of the mall and hang around the front entrance after the merchants have security chase them out. Last, but certainly not least, are the mall employees who are the oil of the shopping machine.
I have watched some of the same kids grow into teenagers, all the time being shaped by the things they see at the mall. (not even sure I'm going to deep this idea, put it somewhere else, or just trash it completely)
In our culture, the mall is a symbol of prosperity, and so if you go to the mall and leave with armfuls of shopping bags filled with goodies, then you must be prosperous. I mean, you can afford all the stuff you bought, right? (I think this is an important angle, I just didn't have time to type any more. Let me know what you think.)
Maybe the next time you go to the mall, you will read between the lines and become aware of the small parts that make up the mall culture. Maybe you won’t, and you still think there is no such thing. Are you denying it because you just don’t see it, or is it because you are afraid to admit you are a part of it? I didn’t see it at all before I worked there, and now ten years later I have to admit, I am a part of it. (not finished yet)
Lisa Dunbar
Lauren Servais
Engl 1A
15 Nov 2008
Lauren Servais
Engl 1A
15 Nov 2008
Mall America
Most people go to the mall, get what they need, and leave; not returning until the next time they need a new pair of shoes or they read in the Sunday paper that Macy’s is having a big sale. These people don’t see the mall as recreational or fun, they just go because they need a specific product or service. Factor out this group of people, and you are left with a different type of population. These people who are still there, who are they? On the surface, there are shoppers, workers, and mallrats. Together, they belong to a culture that is widely unrecognized as a whole. Most people do not realize that there is such a thing as “mall culture,” or that it plays such a huge part in shaping us as a society.
Some might argue that there is no such thing as “mall culture,” but in the words of a teenage mall queen, “Whatever. There totally is.” I worked in the mall for ten years; three of which were spent managing a candy store and an “old-lady shoe store,” and seven of which were spent managing a “California Teen Lifestyle” retailer. One might think I am generalizing and limiting my focus to the younger crowd, but in my years of working at the mall, I have realized that the culture includes so much more than just the teenage “valley girls” with their miniskirts and cell phones, and the boys with their baggy pants and noses for trouble.
On the other hand, quite a few of my friends and family agree that mall culture is sweeping the nation. I spoke with some co-workers at “Company X,” and we came to the conclusion that not only is the mall a culture of its own, there are even smaller groups that make up sub-cultures within the mall. You might, for example, go to the mall and realize that the girl who helped you find an outfit to wear to your cousin’s Christmas party is the same girl who sold you your work shoes at Sears five months ago. As I worked at the mall year after year, I came to realize that there is sort of a hierarchy among the mall employees (expand on this).
There are many parts that make up this mall culture as a whole, ranging from young to old, rich to poor, and everywhere in between. Just like the United States, the mall is a melting pot: so many different types of people come to the mall, and while they are there, . There’s the trophy wife wandering around with a Frappuccino and an armful of shopping bags, the exasperated mother who drops her kids off at the toy store so she can do her shopping in peace, and the man picking out a gift for his wife at the jewelry store. Once school gets out, the mall is overrun with teenagers trying on clothes they have no money to buy, and filling their stomachs with sticky-sweet cinnamon rolls. And then there are the “mallrats,” who steal change out of the fountain in the middle of the mall and hang around the front entrance after the merchants have security chase them out. Last, but certainly not least, are the mall employees who are the oil of the shopping machine.
I have watched some of the same kids grow into teenagers, all the time being shaped by the things they see at the mall. (not even sure I'm going to deep this idea, put it somewhere else, or just trash it completely)
In our culture, the mall is a symbol of prosperity, and so if you go to the mall and leave with armfuls of shopping bags filled with goodies, then you must be prosperous. I mean, you can afford all the stuff you bought, right? (I think this is an important angle, I just didn't have time to type any more. Let me know what you think.)
Maybe the next time you go to the mall, you will read between the lines and become aware of the small parts that make up the mall culture. Maybe you won’t, and you still think there is no such thing. Are you denying it because you just don’t see it, or is it because you are afraid to admit you are a part of it? I didn’t see it at all before I worked there, and now ten years later I have to admit, I am a part of it. (not finished yet)
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
What role does the media play in teaching values?
I feel that the media has a huge role in teaching values, specifically the "male and female ideal" values that we have been discussing in class. When I was growing up, we didn't have cable TV at home, so we really didn't watch anything other than the evening news, or PBS programs. When I was young, I experienced little or none of the pressures that I do now to look a certain way. I never really wanted to look like Barbie because I just couldn't imagine how she walked around on her tippy-toes all the time, but boy does she project an image. I see how so many little girls are bombarded with images to live up to, and I can't believe they don't fold under pressure in higher numbers. I had Punky Brewster, who looked like a pretty average little girl, and now there's Miley Cyrus, who is featured on Teen Vogue's "10 Best Dressed" list for September 2008, made to look as much like a grown-up as possible. http://www.teenvogue.com/style/bestdressed/topten?slide=3
I haven't even gotten started on the boys yet! I just googled that magazine, MH-18, and there is a picture of a totally ripped guy who doesn't even look like a teenager! The headlines include, "Drink This, Get Stronger," and "Get the Girl."
Tell me, after you're done watching High School Musical that the media doesn't play a role in teaching values.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Response to Election Results
This was an historic election, as we all know. I am left feeling hopeful, yet at the same time, a bit disenchanted. I am absolutely thrilled that we elected Barack Obama to be our President. I am hopeful that he will energize us as a nation, encourage us, and engage the young population. I feel that President Bush helped create such a negative image of America, and Obama has the power to help us shed that image. I was so amazed at the turnout of young voters. I work at Starbucks, and we gave away free cups of coffee to people who voted yesterday. There was a constant stream of people coming in our door, excited to have voted, really feeling like they were a part of something, and that their vote counted. I have never seen so many young people this engaged in an election...A woman brought her 18-year-old daughter in right after voting, and she was so excited to have voted for the first time in her life; a 17-year-old boy came in wearing buttons showing support for his candidates, and I asked him if he had voted. When he said he wasn't old enough yet, I gave him a cup of coffee anyway. It felt good for me to go out and vote, then encourage others to do the same.
I am so sad that proposition 8 was passed. I believe that a basic human right was taken away from many people. I really thought that one would lose by a landslide. At the same time, we approved proposition 2, which, for someone such as myself, who was a strict vegetarian for the last 10 years, is great. But what does it say about us when we are willing to give farm animals more basic rights than human couples in love?
I kinda had to cut that off so I could head to class, so it is a little bit brief...but I feel it gets the general idea across.
I am so sad that proposition 8 was passed. I believe that a basic human right was taken away from many people. I really thought that one would lose by a landslide. At the same time, we approved proposition 2, which, for someone such as myself, who was a strict vegetarian for the last 10 years, is great. But what does it say about us when we are willing to give farm animals more basic rights than human couples in love?
I kinda had to cut that off so I could head to class, so it is a little bit brief...but I feel it gets the general idea across.
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