Friday, September 16, 2011
Monday, September 5, 2011
Disney Princesses Kick Butt
I am a feminist...kind of. If you define feminism as believing that men and women should be treated with equal respect and dignity, and that women have been repressed by men for far too long, then I am a feminist. If you define it as bra burning, career obsessed, anti-motherhood, then no, I'm not.
A lot of my fellow feminists seem to have a big problem with Disney princesses. They say that they teach little girls that they need a man to rescue them and make their lives complete. Some of the early ones, sure. Snow White is a little dumb (doesn't everyone learn not to take food from strangers? Especially creepy old hag ladies?), Cinderella talked to animals...weird; and Sleeping Beauty, well, slept through most of her story. I don't really see how that argument holds up for the rest of them though. Let's take this in chronological order.
Ariel: She and Prince Eric worked together to kill Ursala. With out her warnings and underwater fighting skills, or his sailing chops, they both would have been toast.
Belle: She is TOTALLY my favorite one. She doesn't need a man...she is smart, independent and brave. She first saved her father from a life of inprisionment, with no thought of her own freedom. She could see through both Gaston's good looks to his egotism, and the Beast's ugliness and ferociousness to his good heart. Then she is the one who fought off the wolves in the forest and hauled the Beast's heavy body back to the castle. When the villagers attacked the castle, she tried to stop them, and even after she got locked up, she kept trying until she made it out to warn them. She saved the Beast on that roof-top and kept him from falling. Most importantly, though, her love saved him.
Jasmine: First of all, she is the royal one in this story, not her man. Second, she fought Jafar just as hard as Aladdin did. She speaks her mind, and obviously isn't afraid to put herself in danger. She stood up for the poor boy in the market place who was trying to get something to eat.
Pocahontas: Again, she is the royal one in this story. And once again, she is the one who saves John Smith, not the other way around. She stood up to her father, who also happened to be her chief, in order to save John's life. It takes a lot of courage to go against cultural norms like that. Then she sacrificed him in order to serve the greater good.
Mulan: Hello, she killed the whole Hun army! And saved her boyfriend, and the emperor of China, and the Chinese army. She was super smart and figured out how to use brains over brawn, and ended up being a more valuable soldier than any of the men she worked with.
Tiana: She is perhaps the hardest working of any of the princesses. And, again she saved the prince, in more ways than one. With out Tiana, Prince Navine would never have made it out of the swam alive; he also would never have become a useful human being.
Rapunzel: This girl can wield a frying pan! She was willing to sacrifice her freedom to save Flynn's life. That is pretty awesome if you ask me.
I don't see anything in these stories that would teach a girl to be co dependant, or that would teach her you have to have a man to get by in the world. All of these characters are perfectly capable of taking care of themselves. They chose to include a man in their lives, and to let them take care of her every once in a while. The princess rescues the prince just as often (if not more so) as he rescues her. Isn't that the way it's supposed to be?
A lot of my fellow feminists seem to have a big problem with Disney princesses. They say that they teach little girls that they need a man to rescue them and make their lives complete. Some of the early ones, sure. Snow White is a little dumb (doesn't everyone learn not to take food from strangers? Especially creepy old hag ladies?), Cinderella talked to animals...weird; and Sleeping Beauty, well, slept through most of her story. I don't really see how that argument holds up for the rest of them though. Let's take this in chronological order.
Ariel: She and Prince Eric worked together to kill Ursala. With out her warnings and underwater fighting skills, or his sailing chops, they both would have been toast.
Belle: She is TOTALLY my favorite one. She doesn't need a man...she is smart, independent and brave. She first saved her father from a life of inprisionment, with no thought of her own freedom. She could see through both Gaston's good looks to his egotism, and the Beast's ugliness and ferociousness to his good heart. Then she is the one who fought off the wolves in the forest and hauled the Beast's heavy body back to the castle. When the villagers attacked the castle, she tried to stop them, and even after she got locked up, she kept trying until she made it out to warn them. She saved the Beast on that roof-top and kept him from falling. Most importantly, though, her love saved him.
Jasmine: First of all, she is the royal one in this story, not her man. Second, she fought Jafar just as hard as Aladdin did. She speaks her mind, and obviously isn't afraid to put herself in danger. She stood up for the poor boy in the market place who was trying to get something to eat.
Pocahontas: Again, she is the royal one in this story. And once again, she is the one who saves John Smith, not the other way around. She stood up to her father, who also happened to be her chief, in order to save John's life. It takes a lot of courage to go against cultural norms like that. Then she sacrificed him in order to serve the greater good.
Mulan: Hello, she killed the whole Hun army! And saved her boyfriend, and the emperor of China, and the Chinese army. She was super smart and figured out how to use brains over brawn, and ended up being a more valuable soldier than any of the men she worked with.
Tiana: She is perhaps the hardest working of any of the princesses. And, again she saved the prince, in more ways than one. With out Tiana, Prince Navine would never have made it out of the swam alive; he also would never have become a useful human being.
Rapunzel: This girl can wield a frying pan! She was willing to sacrifice her freedom to save Flynn's life. That is pretty awesome if you ask me.
I don't see anything in these stories that would teach a girl to be co dependant, or that would teach her you have to have a man to get by in the world. All of these characters are perfectly capable of taking care of themselves. They chose to include a man in their lives, and to let them take care of her every once in a while. The princess rescues the prince just as often (if not more so) as he rescues her. Isn't that the way it's supposed to be?
Friday, August 26, 2011
My Dream Roles
Time to lighten the mood! My family loves movies. We watch a lot of them...no seriously a LOT of movies. One of our favorite things to do is to watch the credits and find the weird extra names. Here are my top ten favorites:
10) Holographic Drunk (Star Trek: First Contact) - If you are a hologram, can you get a hangover?
9) Plastic Prison Guard (X-Men) - I think it would be a real acting challenge to play someone made of plastic.
8) Nosy Lady at Accident (Stranger Than Fiction) - I think it's funny that they specify where exactly she was being nosy...
7) Claw Hottie (Date Night) - Who wouldn't want to be a hottie, let alone a CLAW hottie?
6) Boo-Boo Buster (Baby Mama) - This one just sounds awesome.
5) Little Man (O Brother, Where Art Thou?) - self explanatory...
4) Pappy's Staff (O Brother, Where Art Thou?) - again, it would be a real challenge to play a stick...
3) Drugstore Judge (Stick It) - "I give this drug store a 9.3"
2) Under Cover Bums (Captain America) - Hahaha!
1) Armpit Boy (My Dog Skip) - This is the one that started it all; after I read this extra part name, I knew that one day having a part with an equally awesome name would be my life's goal.
10) Holographic Drunk (Star Trek: First Contact) - If you are a hologram, can you get a hangover?
9) Plastic Prison Guard (X-Men) - I think it would be a real acting challenge to play someone made of plastic.
8) Nosy Lady at Accident (Stranger Than Fiction) - I think it's funny that they specify where exactly she was being nosy...
7) Claw Hottie (Date Night) - Who wouldn't want to be a hottie, let alone a CLAW hottie?
6) Boo-Boo Buster (Baby Mama) - This one just sounds awesome.
5) Little Man (O Brother, Where Art Thou?) - self explanatory...
4) Pappy's Staff (O Brother, Where Art Thou?) - again, it would be a real challenge to play a stick...
3) Drugstore Judge (Stick It) - "I give this drug store a 9.3"
2) Under Cover Bums (Captain America) - Hahaha!
1) Armpit Boy (My Dog Skip) - This is the one that started it all; after I read this extra part name, I knew that one day having a part with an equally awesome name would be my life's goal.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Update
So it's now official. My dad is leaving us. He packed up his stuff last night and is looking for a place today.
Please keep my sweet mom in your prayers.
The man who is causing all this hurt to people who love and care about him is not my father. He isn't the guy I grew up with. I'm not sure where that guy went.
Thank you for all your love and support. I seriously have the best people around me!
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Yin and Yang
I have some good news, and some bad news. Let's get the bad news out of the way first:
1) My maternal grandfather, aka Grandpa, was just diagnosed with multiple myloma. If you are like I was 3 days ago, you don't know what that is. Well, it is a relatively rare form of bone cancer. Actually it's cancer of the plasma cells that support your bones and bone marrow. He is stage 3, which means it is pretty advanced, but hasn't metastasized to other parts of his body. It is mostly in his spinal cord, ribs and hip on one side. He is taking it pretty well; he has to wear this awful back brace now to support his weakened bones. It's basically two big pieces of hard plastic, one over his chest and stomach, the other over his back, that strap together on the sides. He calls it his Ninja Turtle outfit...
2) My dad is probably moving out. I don't really have anything to add to that yet. It's still a little fresh.
OK!! Enough of that. Now the GOOD NEWS! I have four to balance out the bad :)
1) I have now officially started school (I have gone to all my classes). And it is going to be an amazing semester: independent research, abnormal child psychology, yoga, family economic issues, and social development.
2) The new trax line...is awesome. There is now a station 8 minutes from my house (if all the lights stay green), and I no longer have to transfer trains. Whoop Whoop!
3) I got UROP funding for my research. I get paid $10 an hour to work on my project. How sweet is that?
4) Dr. Recchia and I FINALLY got reliable on the coding for my project. It is a huge relief to have that finished. Now I can just get going with the coding.
So, all things tallied up, things are ok. There are some scary, sad things, but there are also some exciting, happy things. I have my moments of feeling down, but doesn't every one? It takes opposition in all things to make us stronger, right?
1) My maternal grandfather, aka Grandpa, was just diagnosed with multiple myloma. If you are like I was 3 days ago, you don't know what that is. Well, it is a relatively rare form of bone cancer. Actually it's cancer of the plasma cells that support your bones and bone marrow. He is stage 3, which means it is pretty advanced, but hasn't metastasized to other parts of his body. It is mostly in his spinal cord, ribs and hip on one side. He is taking it pretty well; he has to wear this awful back brace now to support his weakened bones. It's basically two big pieces of hard plastic, one over his chest and stomach, the other over his back, that strap together on the sides. He calls it his Ninja Turtle outfit...
2) My dad is probably moving out. I don't really have anything to add to that yet. It's still a little fresh.
OK!! Enough of that. Now the GOOD NEWS! I have four to balance out the bad :)
1) I have now officially started school (I have gone to all my classes). And it is going to be an amazing semester: independent research, abnormal child psychology, yoga, family economic issues, and social development.
2) The new trax line...is awesome. There is now a station 8 minutes from my house (if all the lights stay green), and I no longer have to transfer trains. Whoop Whoop!
3) I got UROP funding for my research. I get paid $10 an hour to work on my project. How sweet is that?
4) Dr. Recchia and I FINALLY got reliable on the coding for my project. It is a huge relief to have that finished. Now I can just get going with the coding.
So, all things tallied up, things are ok. There are some scary, sad things, but there are also some exciting, happy things. I have my moments of feeling down, but doesn't every one? It takes opposition in all things to make us stronger, right?
Saturday, August 20, 2011
I'll tell you what I want. I want someone who will be monogamous and nice to his mother. I want someone who likes musicals, but knows to just shut his mouth when I'm watching Lost. And I want someone who thinks being really into cars is lame and strip clubs are gross. I want someone who will actually empty the dishwasher instead of taking forks out as needed, like I do. I want someone with clean hands and feet, and beefy forearms like a Disney prince. And I want him to genuinely like me, even when I'm old. And that's what I want.
~Liz Lemon (30 Rock)
Amen, sister. Amen.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
People Are Good
Lately things have been a little crazy with my family. Actually, it's more like 'turn your world upside down' crazy. I don't want to go into too many details of what's happening, but it's been really hurtful. And it's hard.
That being said, I am still so grateful. I have the most amazing support system anyone could ever ask for. I have priesthood leaders who care about me and have my best interests at heart. I have a best friend who has listened to me cry over the phone countless times, always very patiently and with limitless compassion. I have other best friends who don't know what's going on, but can tell always when something is wrong and know when to push and when to just let me be. I have amazing extended family members who are so full of love and light. I have mentors who never hesitate to give me the benefit of their experience and wisdom in a thoughtful, tender-hearted way. I have the best baby brother. He has become so mature, and can always make me smile. I have the best older brother who goes out of his way to protect me and offers me the best council. I have a mom who is a pillar of strength. Most importantly, I have my Savior Jesus Christ, and my Heavenly Father. They are in control and They will make sure that things work out the way they should. My Heavenly Father loves me unconditionally and has made it clear to me that, whatever happens, I will be ok, and my family will be ok.
Yeah, things are hard right now. Yeah, it really sucks. But imagine what it would be like with out all the help I've been given...God is good!
That being said, I am still so grateful. I have the most amazing support system anyone could ever ask for. I have priesthood leaders who care about me and have my best interests at heart. I have a best friend who has listened to me cry over the phone countless times, always very patiently and with limitless compassion. I have other best friends who don't know what's going on, but can tell always when something is wrong and know when to push and when to just let me be. I have amazing extended family members who are so full of love and light. I have mentors who never hesitate to give me the benefit of their experience and wisdom in a thoughtful, tender-hearted way. I have the best baby brother. He has become so mature, and can always make me smile. I have the best older brother who goes out of his way to protect me and offers me the best council. I have a mom who is a pillar of strength. Most importantly, I have my Savior Jesus Christ, and my Heavenly Father. They are in control and They will make sure that things work out the way they should. My Heavenly Father loves me unconditionally and has made it clear to me that, whatever happens, I will be ok, and my family will be ok.
Yeah, things are hard right now. Yeah, it really sucks. But imagine what it would be like with out all the help I've been given...God is good!
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