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CastHER

Something that is still breaking my heart was the masculine woman, and Caster Semenya. I don't know why but I cam't get this story out of my head. It's just so cruel to me that anyone thought they had any right to ask if she was really a man- let alone make it national news. If yeah this was a valid assumption it should have been handled privately by sports officials and then dropped immediately. The way the news covered the story really disgust me, then on top of that the magazine using her as a symbol for the cover as a "changed woman" is unreal. I am a telecommunications major going into marketing and promotions, but this story really makes me want to step back and make sure I will be able to stand strong on my morals and values and my name won't go on something so degrading and hurtful like this.

Damn Girl, I Just Got Deep

What brought this post to mind is in lecture the other day we briefly talked about people saying "Oh, I don't like gay people, well except for you." That to me is disgusting. Society tells us since we are kids that we should “do what makes you happy”, “be yourself”, “express who you are”. I feel like this is what society claims life is all about. But in contrast these quotes are exactly what society will criticize you on the most. If a girl has sex because it makes her happy, she is without a doubt labeled a slut/whore/tramp. For Caster Semenya being herself was the furthest thing society wanted to see. You aren't allowed to be a girl and be butch- unless you're gay. But being gay isn't any better. All the time we see PDA, but if two men are holding hands it is very clearly unaccepted, looked at as disgusting. Society wants me to be me, but only the me society wants me to be. I myself am 100% straight, but I am 100% against homophobic abuse. To me abuse ranges from being ridiculed in school, to the states not allowing same sex marriage. Where the hell is the logic in the government having any say in who can get married in the first place? I do not see being gay as a choice, I never chose to be straight I was born like this, who are we to tell gays they weren’t born that way? A sin is a sin no matter how large you see it or not, God sees every sin equal. Every immoral thought is a sin according to the Bible, I mean damn eating shellfish is a sin. I think what’s wrong with everyone is that we are fighting for “gay rights”. Morgan Freeman said in an interview with 60 Minutes “No, I do not like Black History Month. Every month is black history, American history is black history.” And I say hell yeah Morgan Freeman. It’s the same war we fought for racial equality and women rights, but now for gays. When a man and a man have sex it is considered ‘gay sex’, if a woman and a man have sex it is just sex. When a woman and a woman join together in marriage its ‘gay marriage’, when a man and a woman get married its just marriage. If a man and a man hang out and play video games together it’s not called ‘gay hang out’. When two women go out to dinner it’s not called ‘gay dinner’. We are still fighting for human rights; we just gave it a fancy title and discriminated against a new group. Gay rights are human rights, and that, in 2012, is what we are still fighting for. And I find that a huge problem.

Facebook High

Re-reading the article "Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?" I am looking at it completely different. The first time I read it (when it was assigned) I thought it was basically a stupid article. I don't see loneliness as something that can be surveyed or measured, however apparently Mr. John Cacioppo has miraculously made this into a career. Anyways that doesn't matter, I still find the article's content rather questionable but I am not calling it's bluff just yet. The way I look at it is this article could have been a  hell of a lot shorter. Basically Facebook is an online high school, and people treat it exactly the same. Burke talks about how Facebook stalking only leads to skulking, but how so? If you are 'unpopular' via Facebook and you get jealous or lonely by seeing what everyone else is doing in their fun lives as recorded by status updates, pictures, wall-to-wall interactions, and so fourth; isn't that a bit pathetic? Yet the 'unpopular' Facebook crowd are the FB feins. You are asking for this self inflicted loneliness by signing on, and stalking. I know the article states this somewhere but it can't get anymore real; we create our own loneliness. Facebook will give you what you put into it, much like high school. The answer to your question, Stephen Marche, is no, Facebook is not making us lonely we are making us lonely. Maybe Facebook is even helping? In season 3 of Grey's Anatomy a man comes in for a full facial transplant, in order for you to be allowed to get the surgery you have to have a "support team" there for you during recovery. This man dealing with a very unattractive deformity to the face had no friends, no family, no one... except, an online blog where he and three other people- he has never met in real life- chats daily for hours. These people come to be his support team and they knew him better than I think I know my best friend. It's riveting. Can social networks play both sides; the isolater and the consolidator? 

Confessions of A Teenage Media Addict

This class has is becoming my very own MA (Media Addicts Anonymous). From the first week talking about our addictions, to fakebook, to the extremes of the extremes of parasocial relationships; you could really just call me a parasocial whore. Yes, yes, I was in fact the girl who finished 7 seasons ranging from 20-27 episodes per season, of Grey's Anatomy... in three weeks. Ashamed? No. Accomplished? Well, you could say that. I skipped work for Grey's, I took baths so I could set my laptop up on my toilet to watch Grey's, at one point I was willing to preform open heart surgery on my cat, if only my brother wouldn't have stepped in. I was- I am a Grey's fanatic. Sadly, this is not the only TV series that has swallowed me from the real world. Netflix is the creator of my problems. On Netflix I have fully finished series including: Cake Boss, Desperate Housewives, Teen Wolf, Make It Or Break It, How I Met Your Mother, Weeds (three times), Pretty Little Liars, and am previously stuck in the middle of Breaking Bad (thanks guys). However this, again, does not do me justice, on actual TV I am completely caught up with and watching weekly: Storage Wars, Face Off, Revenge, The Walking Dead, Two and A Half Men, Dance Moms, and The Pitch. This is not a joke. I have a problem, but I am not and will not seek help. I like my shows. 

This makes me wonder, when will the cultivation theory catch up with me? I am indeed a heavy user of numerous mediums. Media has totally taken over my life, but is this something I need to fix to live a normal life? I have Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, and an YouTube account. I have a MacBook Pro, iPhone 4s, Wii, Xbox, Nintendo, Dvd player, 39" Plasma, Gameboy DS, and a kindle. All used at least once a week, most much more, however I still seem to function as a normal person. I read IMDb daily to keep up with news, I haven't lost any friends due to my addictions, and I can tell you right now I am definitely not scared of our world. I consider my fears rational: needles, sharks, dying alone, and your typical Abraham Lincoln. Okay, okay, I admit that may not be normal, but you try having a reoccurring nightmare of good ol' honest Abe chasing you with a knife. It's whatever. 

Going on... I don't think I live a "fake" life on Facebook, but I certainly am a different person sitting behind the walls of my Twitter and Facebook worlds, as I am talking to you right now. Honestly, I have severely fell off my Facebook game as of late. However on Fb I am my mother's daughter, my Nana's grandchild, and all of my friend's mother's perfect friend to have. On Twitter it's a different front, I am your typical college kid and the movie/media guru of our time. These lives aren't "fake" or extremely dramatized, they are just the part of me I want you to see. My tumblr is basically an ode to Morgan Freeman... Speaking of, let's get into my many levels of parasocial relationships. Starting with Morgan, our relationship has been intimate and growing since a very young age of 12. You see, Morgan resembles my very favorite person put on this Earth, my Papa, only Morgan is African American and much more freckled. I can stand up and orally recite Morgan's entire biography found on IMDb. I can tell you what movie he is working on, and who he is working with, I can tell you I only need to see 26 more Freeman films to have watched everything he has had a role in (or narrated), and I will debate you until the day I die why The Shawshank Redemption is by far the best movie to ever hit theaters. Anyways, that's my most extreme parasocial relationship. My others include: Clint Eastwood, Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, and duh, my hubby, Patrick Dempsey. Trust me there are many more but why bore you any longer? Bye!