Disney Princesses- Too Provocative?

                Growing up, the Disney princesses were my absolute favorite role models. I always wanted to dress up like them, live in castles like them, meet a prince just like they did. When I was younger, I never noticed the clothes the princesses were wearing, never questioned why they were wearing something so revealing. Now that I’m older, I can clearly see what I failed to notice in my single-digit years. But the real question isn’t why the princesses dressed the way they did- it’s how their outfits have changed over time.

                One of the websites I found that discussed the evolution of Disney princess’ clothing stated that over the years, there has been a “formula” for the Disney princess movies. The “formula” was that the main character was a female who could not or did not stand up for herself and relied on an outside source to assist her in finding her happily ever after (ex. Cinderella needed her fairy godmother).

                As time went on, the formula changed ever so slightly. Disney princesses relied less on outside sources and more on ancestral traditions. Then Pocahontas and Mulan were released, and a whole new perspective on princesses came about- no longer was the princess waiting around for someone to rescue her, now she was the one taking action. I really liked this twist to the princess stories- these movies aren’t about finding happy ever after by just sitting around doing nothing. These movies suddenly showed children that there was something worth fighting for, and hard work and determination would get you where you wanted to go.

                Last but not least, The Princess and the Frog. With this movie, Disney found a way to keep the kind hearted spirit of their very first princess movies mixed with the strong girl power of their more recent movies. Personally, I really liked the princesses before, but just because those movies are considered classics does not make them more appropriate for children to watch. Think about it- in Tangled and The Princess and the Frog, did the lead female role wear provocative clothing? Was her whole purpose in the movie devoted to finding a man? Was she fairly independent or did she rely heavily on an outside source to motivate her through her life? I think the more recent movies have better messages to give to young children; they create a more realistic view of society’s relationships between one another. Women don’t need to sit around waiting for a man to rescue them- we are able to get off our butts and do something with our lives, something the old Disney princess movies didn’t show before.

 

(441 words)

Why Even Bother With An Extra Day?

                Three day weekends used to be so amazing- the thrill of one more adventurous day, that feeling of euphoria after sleeping in one more day, an extra day to not eat school lunch. And then you grow up, and you start taking harder and harder courses, you get a job, you start paying bills. Your schedule fills up quickly with things you need to do, or have to do- but very rarely is your schedule filled with wants and desires. Somehow amongst all this chaos growing up brings, you are expected to do your homework, make it to work on time, memorize scripts for plays, musicals, and the like. Yet on three day weekends those of us who have zero free time, who would love to just lay around and do nothing all day long- we finally get the chance to catch up on sleep and talk to our friends. At least, that’s what we try to tell ourselves will happen on our extra day off. The reality of the situation: that third day is even busier than all of the other days of the week.

                I find it interesting that teachers assume that because we have no school on Monday, we should have time to do extra homework. I mean really, it’s quite convenient for them- it opens up time in class for even more work, and pushes the rest of the day’s assignments to the weekend. Just in case any teachers happen to read this, an extra day off of school should be spent, I don’t know, AWAY from school or school-like activities. Just because we have an extra day does NOT in any way mean we have an extra day to do homework. That’s not how this works, teachers. For some of us, we work on that Monday. Some of us have family visiting on that Monday. Some of us have rehearsals; others of us have plans with friends.

                I personally have a ton of homework this three day weekend- and believe it or not I actually have less time than I usually do on weekends to get all this homework done. Why didn’t I do it Friday night, you might ask. I was at school all day, then speech rehearsal, then work- I didn’t get home until 10:30 that night. Saturday? I was up at four in the morning to go to a speech competition, then came home and had to babysit. Sunday afternoon I am able to do homework (just like normal weekends), but I work Sunday night- and then family is coming tomorrow.

                Just because we have a three day weekend does NOT mean we have more time for more homework. If anything, teachers should lay off the homework so that we might actually enjoy the fact that we have a three day weekend. Think twice before you assign a bunch of pointless assignments next time, teachers. It would be much appreciated.

 

(489 words)

Gender Roles

                How big of a role does the media play in how you perceive yourself? Are you someone who can watch an advertisement and not compare yourself to it, or are you someone who runs to your nearest Ulta store immediately after the commercial ends just to buy the newest “miracle” product? Can you easily count the number of times you have judged yourself? Have you ever watched a commercial and thought that you should buy the product, only to realize it is being advertised at a different gender? The role of the media in the way we view gender roles has influenced us to very easily distinguish the difference between men and women.

                For instance, I’m sure you’ve all heard the stereotype: women belong in the kitchen. In today’s society, this isn’t necessarily true. My mom, for example, is a stay at home mom who still likes cooking dinner for her family every night. At the same time though, my dad loves making breakfast for us on the weekends; it’s not just my mom that works in the kitchen. There are arguments out there in the world that the general public has altered the way we view gender roles, and that women no longer are confined in the kitchen. I personally don’t believe this. Over Christmas break, my family drove to Illinois to be with the rest of our family. While we were there, some of my older relatives were asking me about what I wanted to go to college to become, and I answered that I was considering becoming a Physician’s Assistant in Pediatric Cardiology. The younger relatives thought this was a really good thing, and seemed proud that I had an idea of what I wanted to become. My older relatives however, were shocked that a girl would want to start a medical career; and then I realized that they had grown up in a time when women stayed at home and raised children and kept her family in order. Never had they expected a girl two generations later to take on a job that was once dominated by men.

                And that’s just one personal example. My example included real life experiences, and was not influenced by the media at all- it was influenced by time. Times have changed, and those who haven’t woken up and realized it need to. Women aren’t the toys of men. Women weren’t created to live stereotypical lives. Women are people, not Stepford Wives. Let women do what they want to do- no one has more power over them, and they do not have more power over anyone else. Men and Women are equal, and should be treated as so.

 

(447 words)

Kill 'em with Kindness

                Have you ever worked so hard for something, you would’ve done anything for that one thing, but because of someone else you fell short and didn’t get what you were aiming for? Well Monday, you did it. I didn’t think you would, but you did. You actually made yourself get worse.

                Before I begin, I want to point out that this post isn’t a complete rant, it actually serves a purpose. See if you can figure out what it is.

                I’ve been working at a movie theatre for about two and a half months now, and my boss messaged a bunch of us that he was looking to promote a couple of people. I thought for sure I would get it, as I have been working my butt off, getting the job done to his standards, taking extra shifts, helping out when needed, and doing what I was asked to do when I was asked to do it. But no. Today when the schedules came out, I saw that two of my coworkers have been promoted… Not me. One of them I already knew would get the raise- she is a good worker, she doesn’t complain, and she gets the job done. I’m actually happy she got the promotion. The other worker that got promoted however has complained about the job since day one, even mentioned to me (twice) that she was looking for another job because she hated working at a movie theatre that much. But she is the one who got promoted. So what was she doing that got her the promotion?

                I realize from my side of the story it sounds like I’m making myself look better than her, but that’s kind of the point in an argument- to make yourself look better in order to win the debate. I also realize that I probably sound insanely jealous right now- which makes sense because I am completely jealous. Right now I am a confused, pissed off, jealous teenage girl who wishes her boss would open his eyes and see how hard she works.

                All in all, this Monday has been worse than my usual Mondays, mainly because of this whole work atrocity. The more I think about it, the more hurt and angry I get. Sometimes life isn’t fair, but I guess that’s where the phrase “grin and bear it” comes from. My mom said that the best way to look at this situation isn’t to go to work being pissed at the world and showing my frustration and anger to my coworkers. She said I should just kill them with kindness, and then they’ll have to notice my work ethic and promote me eventually. We’ll see what happens, I guess.

 

(454 words)

The Script- Hall of Fame

                I skimmed through the titles of my old blog posts, and I realized I had only written one review. As a huge music lover, you would think song and artist reviews would be easy for me to write. The opposite is true, however, but I decided it was time I tried writing a review again.

                This review is over The Script’s new song “Hall of Fame.” Personally, I have not been a huge fan of The Script in the past, but this song of theirs is currently one of my favorites. It is upbeat and catchy- which make for a great song in my opinion.

                I actually loved this song enough to sit down and try to teach myself how to play it on the piano. It took me the majority of my Saturday afternoon to figure out the notes and chords, but it was worth it. I then thought to go on YouTube to watch a couple of piano cover tutorials for this song, just because I knew I would learn the song faster if I watched someone else play it first. Below are two links: one for the song itself and one for a piano tutorial, in case you want to learn it as well. For those of you who do want to learn how to play this song on the piano, the video link below should help you out a lot. It took me a lot longer than it probably should have, but then again I’m not the most talented pianist out there in the world.

                For anyone who is as into music as I am, you should check this song out. If you’ve heard it already- great! I hope you liked it as much as I did. If you don’t like it, that’s okay too; everyone has their own preference. I hope some of you who read this post attempt to play “Hall of Fame” on the piano, and I hope to hear of your success if you do! Good luck to all of y’all who try it out.

 

Tutorial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iMXMRZRfRg&NR=1&feature=fvwp

Song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jukv9Q1eR2g

 

(349 words)

Confidence is Key

                As we’re coming up on the halfway mark in the school year, life is starting to get busy. Teachers begin cramming assignments into the schedule to have done before midterms, students begin to shift from that “I hate school, this is stupid and pointless” attitude to a more excited and motivated attitude. But for me, life is even busier than ever.

                With speech competitions right around the corner, lines are being memorized to perfection, choreography is being rehearsed to the point where it is forever etched into your brain, costumes are being pulled together last minute, and coaches are cracking down on the seriousness of competitive acting.

                Between school, AP classes, work, and speech rehearsals, my life is a whirlwind of boring teachers, uninteresting homework, pushy bosses, colorful makeup, and sore muscles. I don’t know what it is about speech, but the choreography we perform never fails to make me sore. I mean really, this year we are puppets. How hard do you think it is to act like a puppet? Harder than you think my friends. Much, much harder than you think.

                I guess in the long run speech and homework and work has built my character up to what it is today. Without homework, I would probably be a thousand pounds from eating out of sheer boredom and would probably be addicted to the world wide web (more so than I am now). Without work, I wouldn’t be the movie lover that I am today (I work in a movie theatre, in case you were wondering. And I actually would still be a movie lover even if I didn’t work there- but this way I get to see movies every single weekend). Without speech, I wouldn’t be confident to stand up in front of the class and read something I wrote, and I wouldn’t be as independent and confident in myself as I am today (this is very true- I used to be super shy, but now I’m kind of a big deal).

                I think that’s one of the things I love most about this time of year though- the crazy, hectic, busyness of everything I’m involved in. As much as I hate getting up for school in the morning, I get to see my friends every day. As much as I wish I didn’t have to have a job, I wouldn’t quit for the world. As much as I wish I could memorize my script with my choreography on the first try, I will never be frustrated enough to give up. This time of year is what I live for, and I am glad that I get to be a part of everything I’m involved in.

 

(450 words)

Monday, Penguins, and Antarctica

                Alright all you Monday people, listen up. I really need you to understand something for me. For those of you Monday lovers who happen to be teachers: pop quizzes are not the way to go, homework shouldn’t be assigned by the truck load, and classes should include a ten minute nap. For students: we need to protest that all of the above are not being done; of course, we can’t protest until tomorrow because Mondays are dumb and unproductive, and we wouldn’t be making our point very strong if we were trying to be productive on a Monday. And for those of you who are parents: don’t ground your children on Mondays- if anything it just pisses them off more, which is the opposite of productive.

                I had this crazy, amazing idea while I was daydreaming in class today, that I thought maybe y’all would like to hear. You ready for this? It’s pretty big.

                What if we took all the Monday loving people and put them on Antarctica? I mean really, they could have their own little world down there! They could do all the Monday things the rest of the world hates- and they could celebrate Monday every single day. To me, this sounds like the perfect solution. All those Monday-ers could do whatever it is they please on Mondays, and the rest of us (the anti-Monday-ers) could stay home and sleep, or eat, or do whatever the hell we wanted to do.

                I told you it was a crazy good idea.

                This is the part where you thank me. And then you go buy boxes big enough to fit humans, packaging tape by the miles, and stamps that say “FRAGILE” and “SHIP TO ANTARCTICA”.

                I guess there is one little tiny problem with this whole idea.

                What if the penguins in Antarctica aren’t fans of the Monday thing?

                Oh no. What have I done to those poor little penguins?

                Does this make me a terrible person? Actually, no it doesn’t. I look less terrible if you compare me to the teachers I so kindly, casually, and indirectly mentioned above.

                This is where I sigh and tell you all that as much as I would love for this scenario to play itself out, it’s not going to happen. I guess I’m supposed to compromise or something so I guess I will settle with telling all of y’all to stop being Monday people. Monday lovers are the worst, and all they do is make anti-Monday people feel even worse on Mondays. If you are a Monday person, take a hint and try to be less like you currently are and more… Sleepy. Hungry. Tired. Bored. You know, like the rest of us.

(454 words)