Final Project: Toddlers and Tiaras, Do We Love It or Hate It?

Confessions of a Pinterest Addict!

Hi. My name is Prakriti Bhargava and I think it is safe is assume I am a Pinterest addict. When you have over twenty boards made on Pinterest that you add to on the daily, religiously it might be an indication that you have a small problem. It hit me a few weeks ago that I am absolutely fascinated with Pinterest, which got me thinking what exactly is it about the website that has gotten me and many other woman hooked? It is said Pinterest is where women go to plan imaginary weddings, dress children that don’t exist, and decorate homes that don’t exist. After looking up some facts about Pinterest and Pinterest users I came to the fact that I am not alone. From September 2011 to February 2012, the monthly unique visit to the Pinterest site grew over 866 percent. So to answer the question what makes Pinterest so popular and addictive I stumbled upon the observation on the sleek design of the website. The design is very sleek so it allows excessive scrolling of content with minimal effort and minimal distraction. Also the whole design of the website is visual storytelling because it is all images with the need to read a description to decide if you like it or not. So in turn you judge with you eyes first , and can look and decide your opinion in split seconds. This allows for faster and more efficient ways of getting the main idea of the pin for judgment. Pinterest also gives woman the satisfaction and belief that if they are pinning the latest trends of clothes that they will in turn look like the model in the picture. Pinterest in on the rise of popularity and users believe it will soon become as popular as Facebook or other social networking sites.

Confession: During the duration of writing this blog post, I may or may not have minimized this tab to add pins to my “ Shoes!” board.

Happy Pinning!

Gender Assumptions

People begin to gender stereotype even before the child is born. People are consumed and intrigued by asking the question, “ Is it a boy or a girl”? I never really put much thought into this topic of gender stereotypes and roles until my little brother was born, when I was about 13 years old. My parents were told several times during doctor checkups and ultrasounds that they were promised a little baby girl. So in preparation  for their new child they went and bought everything pink possible, a pink blanket, clothes, bow ties and of course painted the nursery pink. Well needless to say when my little brother was born everyone was a little shocked. I remember for a few days after he was born my Mother had to dress him in pink and frilly clothes until they could go buy more masculine clothes. I remember everyone that came to my house to visit the new baby were all shocked that he was wearing pink clothes and were immediately concerned. This brings me to my current thoughts that in reality wearing a certain color or kind of clothing has nothing to do with how you will act when growing up. Even though my brother wore “ girl” clothing,  he currently as a thirteen year old would fit everyone’s perspective of what a person of male gender would dress like and be interested in.

I also think that people are so intrigued and worried about mismatched gender roles because our society as a whole is scared of standing out in any way that would seem abnormal or subject them to reticule in any way shape or form.  When people switch from the norm in gender expectations and dress like the opposite sex, or stray from the normal heterosexual relationship and sexual orientation it is directly related to the global assumption that girls are associated with the color pink, and boys with the color blue.

           

Abercrombie&Fitch

After watching Gender Roles in class it got me thinking just how explicit Abercrombie and Fitch’s marketing really is and the true factors behind the success of the business. During the film it mentioned that women and men have a certain image portrayed in advertisement  according to gender. This is especially noticeable in Abercrombie and Fitch’s marketing. I have had first hand experience with seeing just how this affects actually customers face to face.

When I turned 17 years old I decided I finally wanted to have some pocket money and decided to go job searching. A few applications later and an interview later I landed my first job with Hollister. I was ecstatic and ready to start my first day. I went to training before I could officially start when my manager went over store policies and training and most importantly what the companies call “ the look policy”. I was first told that I would be hired into the position of what they call a model that is essentially just a sales representative. My manager gave me a long list of what “ the look policy” consisted of, which was essentially a list of what I could and could not wear, what colors I was allowed to wear, what hairstyles were acceptable and what not also most importantly that I was to wear the brand. I was shocked at all the ridiculous rules that were to be followed just for how I was supposed to look like when I came to work. Just to give you an idea of a few of the rules: I was allowed to only wear gray, navy blue and white, I could not under any circumstance wear any black what so ever ( which included a black hair tie), and could only wear plain flips flops that were either brown, white or nay blue in color.  I ended up working for Hollister for almost three years before transferring this summer to Abercrombie and Fitch. This whole reason for this rant is that I came the company uses the models as advertisement as well media advertisement and both accentuate gender roles. Abercrombie and Fitch uses good-looking people to attract customers and show off the merchandise. One is more likely to notice a skirt and a sweater on an attractive, unique looking girl, rather than an everyday Joe Schmo. For people to think that the clothes look good on others and by making them attractive, customers feel they will have that appeal also.

My Parasocial Relationship with Andy Roddick!

Ok so here is a super brief insight for all of you people living under a rock out there about my future husband, professional tennis player Andy Roddick . His tennis career started in is youth when he became pro at the young age of 18. He continued his career to win several US Opens as a teen and made his big break through when he won his first grand slam at the US Open in 2003 making his # 1 in the world for men’s singles.

So I am not quite sure when exactly love at first sight started or when the fireworks went off for me, but I knew that he was something special. For started he has to be the sexiest man I have ever laid my eyes on. From his blonde hair to his athletic build he is absolutely perfect. I began to obsessively watch all of his matches and became his number one fan. There is nothing I would love to do more than watch Andy smash his record breaking serve at a lightening speed of 150 mph over the net and see his opponents try to return the serve and barely get a blink in.

My friend’s say I have a problem because Its safe to say I have spent a fair amount of money purchasing every poster under the sun with his face on it and coating my dorm room walls in his gorgeous face, but I am pretty sure they are just jealous.

 There is only one problem in this entire situation that is stopping Andy and I from falling madly in love and eloping to a Caribbean island to live happily ever after……he kind of has no idea I exist. So after learning about parasocial relationships in Pop Culture and Communications class I guess I finally have a name to all of this. I still have hopes that he will one day come and sweep me off my feet, until then I will continue to watch him through the TV, rooting him on and try and convince myself he at least knows of my existence.

Wii Shall Overcome....or not

I would like to say I fit the stereotypical image of a girl when it comes to video games and gaming in general. I have a blank spot in my mind when it comes to any sort of video game knowledge. So after reading the article Wii Shall Overcome by Jane McGonigal and having the class discussion on Monday it got me thinking about her proposition that video games could “save the world”. I have to say I strongly disagree with her and also slightly confused as how virtual gaming could in turn solve real world problems. I personally think that her statement about interaction through online video games builds social stamina is absolutely absurd and completely incorrect. Most video gamers even admit themselves how much time they waste everyday video gaming and often have negative consequences due to this such as missing an important deadline at work or school. So in short I do not agree with Mcgonigal and her idea that video gaming can help save the world. I believe that all successful ideas and tactics learned and discussed can and should happen in real life to solve “ real life” world discretions.  McGonigal’s main idea is to create a 1000 yearlong video game that is played by every person on the planet. I think that this is an extremely ridiculous plan and that it is extremely unrealistic. There as so many more things that can be done with this time that she wants to dedicate to people solely playing video games such as coming up with solutions to serious life-threatening world problems like world hunger, poverty or a cure for cancer.