Grace's Blog

I'm sure that we have all heard the story of the girls water polo team who put away their phones every night, and were able to go to bed at 9:00 every night with their homework done. I have seen many attempts of people trying to do the same.  They will delete all social media apps from their phones.  They will work on their homework, and in most cases, less than an hour later, the apps will be redownloaded, and they will be scrolling through their instagram feed.  Why is it so hard for us to let go of our phones?  Why is it that we can’t even take and hours break from social media?  Is it because we like to be in the know? Or is it simply because we like the image of others lives?  Are we seeking an escape that only our phones can provide?  I’m sure that I cannot answer any of these questions. But I do find it interesting that though they are so hard to give up, when we let go of social media, we seem to be happier. We seem to do better in school, and ...

Can you remember what television was like before Netflix?  I sure can’t. From what I gather, families would gather together on tuesday nights to watch their 20 minuet show before heading to bed. Sitcoms were the main form of television. If we look way back at The Andy Griffith Show, or more recently, Friends, each episode is not really connected. There are some consistencies, but if you had a meeting scheduled at the same time as the time your favorite show aired, you would not be missing all too much. You would just wait a week and would be back on track. Due to the introduction of Netflix, the whole nature of television shows has changed.  I was watching Pam and Jim’s wedding on the show The Office, and my parents contemplated on when the episode aired. Because they had been watching the show for years rather than a few months, the wedding was so much more exciting and impactful. They had been waiting for so much longer for this to happen, and it was a major event in pop cul...

Its no shock that women in the media are highly objectified.  This has been an issue that has gone on for too long with so little change.  Especially I have found that in cartoons and super-hero movies, women are put in outfits that are very showy outfits.  In the documentary " Miss Representation", they said that most  cartoons wear the same clothes with the same amount of coverage as in R-rated films. I believe this to be so largely due to a male dominated industry of film production.  "Wonder Woman" was released in the summer of 2017, and has shown incredible improvements in its representation of women since earlier depictions of Wonder Woman. This 2017 film was directed by Patty Jenkins,  while all other on-screen depictions of Wonder Woman were films directed by men.  The costume in the 2017 film was far less revealing than past films, and much more practical.  The costume was one that reflected an actually empowered women, while those of...

While watching Miss Representation in my Critical Thinking class, I found it fascinating that almost all photos of women that are publicized are photoshopped.  I find this to be terrible.  Why ask a woman to come in for a photoshoot if you are not even going to appreciate her natural beauty, to the point where you feel the need to change it?  It is horrifying.  It must be so damaging to those being photographed, to have to feel like they are not good enough to be themselves.  To have to constantly feel as though they in their natural beauty are not able to be accepted by society.  These women must feel like they have to be photoshopped in order to be accepted, which of course is not true.  This process also has very damaging effects on the women and girls who look at these image.  For the most part, they know not of the photoshop, and are then held to an unattainable ideal.  These girls and these women look to these models as what society acc...

Social media is the biggest way that trends are spread. Trends can travel the space of the world in only a matter of seconds. A popular account may post something, and minutes later, almost everyone has seen it. This quick spread has not only spread trends, but has made people popular. The biggest and most recent example is Mason Ramsden aka “the yodeling walmart boy.” It started with someone  video taping him. This video quickly went viral, and could be found on every social media platform. The next day, there were two remixes made of the short song he toddled in the walmart. People staged videos in which they went to their local walmart and danced to the remixes. Due to gained popularity on social media, and everyone talking about him outside of the screens, the kid went on to perform at Coachella. This kid became huge due to the quick spread of social media. A few weeks following his performance at Coachella, he real races a song that he wrote, and could be seen talking to celeb...

After watching Merchants of Cool , I was found asking my self: What is "cool"?  How does something come to be cool? How are trends started? In the past "cool" has been defined as toys, people, music styles, or clothing. Sometimes what is cool becomes cool due to its utilitarianism.  For example, Birkenstocks (the sandals) were seen as a really ugly shoe. My mom had a pair in the early 2000s, and everyone made fun of her for her "ugly" shoes.  However, a couple years ago, Birkenstocks made a comeback, due to the comfort that the shoes provide.  But who was the one brave enough to wear these supposedly ugly sandals in order to convince the rest of society that they are comfortable and practical shoes, that could be trendy.  Someone who was already praised in society?  But how could one person influence so many others, especially when no one person is credited? Sometimes phrases or words become cool.  This can typically be credited to Youtubers, Vi...