Halloween Costumes

Halloween is coming up. I was looking around for costumes for a Halloween party I may be going to. I noticed all the costumes for adult girls are slutty. Every single one. It’s ridiculous. This is what society wants girls to look like? Then I looked at the little girls costumes and they are all princess type costumes. I looked at the boys costumes and they are all batman type of costumes. I don’t agree with what people are being taught to dress like. If im not a slutty nurse for Halloween than what eles am I going to be? There are no other costumes available in stores. The stores do not give people any other choice. I think it is wrong to teach people these mindsets. I hate these stereotypes. The baby boy's costume has muscles! Thats crazy. The boy wearing the batman costume is flexing his arm. The little girl wearing a princess costume is holding her dress out. The woman wearing the nurse out fit is showing cleavage and her legs. Her shirt is short.What do you people think of the Halloween costumes? Do you agree?

images from http://www.factorycard.com/cat_Holidays--Seasons_Halloween_Costumes--Accessories_Kids_Boys_Superheroes_Batman-Costume_1281_123302_568321.html

Washington Post Article

I recently read an article from The Washington Post called the “Study Ties Wage Disparities To Outlook on Gender Roles”, which was very interesting. The article is dated September 22, 2008 and the author is Shankar Vedantam. Vedantam says, “Although men with a traditional outlook earned the most, women with a traditional outlook earned the least. The wage gap between working men and women with a traditional attitude was more than 10 times as large as the gap between men and women with egalitarian views”, which shows that men make more with either view except that even men with egalitarian views make less than traditional viewers. Women are at the bottom in either view.

Why are women making less? Vedantam has many reasons why women make less. Vedantam says, “The critics argue that more men choose higher-paying professions such as law and business and more women choose lower-paying professions such as education and social work, and men tend to work longer hours”, which illustrates that women may not be reaching for the high rank careers. Men are out numbering the women in high paying professions. Vedantam finds information that “Traditional-minded men might negotiate much harder for better salaries, especially when compared with traditional-minded women. Alternatively, it could also be that employers discriminate against women and men who do not subscribe to traditional gender roles”, which shows that people stereotype and people are taught to live this way. In my opinion women are taught to be quiet, polite, and not to be pushy so women do not fight for higher salaries. People also discriminate women and do not think women are as intelligent or as strong as men are so they do not always get hired. Many men do not accept other men if they act feminine or think women should be equal to them. Many men want to be in power and want to show masculinity. They do not like the idea of a women being equal to them.

I think this article has really useful information that I can tie in with my own life along with what I have seen happen with others. I think women should stand up for themselves and fight for higher salaries without being afraid to break the stereotype. I also think women should reach out to be lawyers and reach out for higher paying jobs. I do not think women should just settle. If a woman wants to go into a lower paying profession such as education because that’s where their heart is at then they should go for it but it’s not good to just settle for a profession if the reason is that they think they can’t do better. BREAK THE STEREOTYPE!

What are your thoughts?

Should Women Quit Work?

“Beside Every Successful Man.” Copyright (c) 2008 by Megan Basham. Megan Basham wrote this book for wives. She thinks a woman should stay home and take care of the kids. She says this way you can support your husband’s career. The author thinks women want to stay home. She mentions, “ a twenty-nine-year-old woman — another doctor — shares that while she enjoys her job well enough, she “hates that she has to have it,” protesting, “I want to be a wife and a mom ... I shouldn’t have to be a doctor.” She is giving people the impression that women want to stay home but it is not always the case.

I personally do not agree with this mindset. In my personal opinion if I was a stay at home mom I would not be mentally stable. I would be bored out of my staying at home all day cleaning and taking care of the kids. I do not think it is a healthy way to live. People need their minds stimulated. They need to be in a social setting. I would be a miserable person if I did not get out of the house. In order to keep your mind young and health you need to be doing something. I think it is good for women to have jobs. It is a good contribution to your family and it gives you a sense of self worth. I think she is giving the wrong message to women.

Check out this http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26675865/ and read more about it. What is your opinion?

What About Public Interest?

Six major companies are taking over pubic interests in the U.S. such as Viacom, Time Warner, Walt Disney Company, General Electric, News Corporation, and Vivendi Universal. They are deciding what shows and commercials people view or hear.The shows they choose teach us stereotypes. Should it be up to them to choose what the people watch and learn from their shows? Or should the American people fight for their own public interest which is in the First Amendment? Monopoly power is what is most important to these compainies and not our public interest. These companies want to be big, make money, have control and power over everyone eles.

The American people need to learn about these Mass Medias. People need to understand what is being taken away from them which is their public interest. People need to know about the First Amendment and understand that they have the freedom to decide for themselves. Its time to act. Do not let others decide for you and take over your choice.

I learned about Mass Media mostly from http://www.fepproject.org/factsheets/mediademocracy.html#mediademocracyhttp://www.fepproject.org/factsheets/mediademocracy.html#mediademocracy
. I talked about many of the topics they cover.