Memos.

TO: Amy Chastain
FROM: Brittany McCarthy
SUBJECT: Writer's Notes
DATE: 7 May 2010

To be completely honest, this has been the most productive English class I have ever taken. I've learned more this semester than I did the entire time I was in high school. Before, I didn't truly understand MLA style at all. Now, I get excited when it comes to writing papers for other classes. I also analyze basically everything I read and everything I see on television. It almost drives me crazy because it has become such a habit.
My favorite part of English 108 was the class discussions. Although sometimes I was quiet, I was always listening. I liked our discussions because of all of the topics that were brought up. Our class had people from all different backgrounds so it allowed for very different opinions. With so many opinions and ideas, it made writing CRJs, coming up with ideas for papers, and blogging so much easier. While writing my papers, I could think back to our class discussions if I was having trouble finding significant things to write about.
My least favorite part of English 108 was doing peer review. I didn't ind reviewing the papers of my peers. I sometimes felt that they weren't putting as much effort into my paper as I was putting into theirs. I know it is almost impossible to have a full class of students that want to help one-another. I didn't mind this so much because of your comments on my paper though. They helped a ton!
I liked blogging because it was a simple way to get points. I also liked that the blog post assignments consisted of our opinions. It is much easier for me to write when I am stating my opinions. The only downfall with blogging is that some students to respond to others. Even though I knew that I was getting my points for responding to their posts, I would like to know what they think about mine.
I'm pretty indifferent about the critical response journals. I didn't like them but I didn't have them. The did help me with arguments for my papers though. The only critical response journal that I had trouble with was the last one. This was because I had trouble writing so much over such a small article.
Overall, I loved English 108. I learned more than the typical writing skills. I now know what feminism is and I feel up to date on things that are going on all around the world. You wouldn't think that English could revolve around such interesting things.

TO: Amy Chastain
FROM: Brittany McCarthy
SUBJECT: Branded: The Buying and Selling of Teenagers written by Alyssa Quart
DATE: 7 May 2010

Branded was my person favorite this semester. It has so many topics within it that allows any reader to connect. Alissa Quart gives examples of how each and every individual can be branded. After reading Branded, I am constantly thinking about how marketers are trying to con me into buying their products.
A subject that I could closely identify with in Branded was young women wearing name brand clothes. I was always pressured to “look the part” while in middle school and high school. Quart brings up interesting points that should be brought up with young women. If this book is read by college students, maybe they will think about how they are influencing their children when they have them.
Branded also made me realize that there is absolutely nothing that can define you but what is inside. Quart makes it very clear that brand-named clothes, shoes, jewelry, and cars are only covering up the true person you are. Why should we want to cover up the person we truly are? We shouldn't. This book explains that so well.
I believe that Branded is the perfect book for an English 108 class. It was the most simple to read, but gave are class so much to talk about. Branded is the perfect book for setting the standards of the class.

TO: Amy Chastain
FROM: Brittany McCarthy
SUBJECT: Hip-Hop Revolution: The Culture and Politics of Rap written by Jeffrey O.G. Ogbar
DATE: 7 May 2010

Hip-Hop Revolution was my least favorite book. Not only was it more difficult to read, but I couldn't really connect with anything in it. I am not a huge fan of hip-hop or rap music, but it did make me think about the music I do listen to.
Authenticity is one of the subjects that did interest me. It made me wonder why artists sing/rap about the things that they do. Eminem is one of the rappers that Hip-Hop Revolutions made me want to closely exam. Just because he is Caucasian, people tend to say he's not authentic. After reading Hip-Hop Revolutions, I have realized that authenticity truly is important. I now think about every song I listen to whether it's hip-hop or not and wonder if the singer had honestly gone through what they're singing about.
Although I disliked Hip-Hop Revolution , I would recommend it for a future English 108 class. I'm sure that there are students that loved Hip-Hop Revolutions that hated Branded. It is only fair to have a variety of topics within the books we read. Hip-Hop Revolution didn't turn out too horribly. A challenge in reading is always good.

TO: Amy Chastain
FROM: Brittany McCarthy
SUBJECT: Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture written by Ariel Levy
DATE: 7 May 2010

Female Chauvinist Pigs was very interesting. I enjoyed it because Ariel levy discussed things that are not really brought up in the midwest. We don't see much prostitution or trans-gendered people around here. It allowed me to understand different lifestyles from different parts of the world. Of course, it's hard to understand reasoning for certain things, but it gave me a more clear view of what goes on around the world.
Again, this book brought up too many topics to list. A topic that interested me was America's devotion to the porn industry. I am much more aware of things being related to sex. It is sickening that we cannot even watch television without seeing an advertisement that somehow refers to sex. We constantly see commercials for dating websites, Girls Gone Wild products, and Viagra. Levy made it very clear about how “rauch culture” is becoming normal for America. It is unbelievable.
I closely examined Olympic Athletes posing for For Him Magazine and Playboy. I was amazed that they believed posing naked was a “trade up.” This was one of the many things that made me wonder what the world is coming to.
I would definitely recommend this book for a future English 108 class. I mean, it talks about sex. Our class proved that a book with all of the topics that this book had can keep a class engaged in discussions.

Female Chauvinist Pigs.

I would recommend Female Chauvinist Pigs for a future calss because it brings up so many topics that aren't really talked about in the midwest. It has so much information it is hard to keep up with which is why I am happy that it's the last book we read. Before reading ht ebook, I didn't know much about feminism, or that there are many types. I think that feminism is a subject that people should talk about. Female Chauvinisn Pigs is the perfect book for it.

In paper 4, Rhiannon and I are addressing the issue of anorexia. Our audience will be young women. We will create an inspirational poster/display board with quotes and things to let the young women know that they are fine the way they are. We will also have a brochure with the health risks to let them know exactly what they are doing to their bodies. We hope to change the minds of young women that are currently anorexic, and to prevent ones that have allowed to thought of anorexia to cross their minds. Hopefully we will be able to find true stories of women that have suffered anorexia to tell about how they overcame it.

Feminism

1) What is feminism?
2) Do they consider themselves feminists? Why or why not?
3) What are women's issues and interests that feminists would be considered with?
4) What stereotypes do others categorize feminists?
5) Is there a need for feminism today? Why or why not?

1. What is feminism: equal opportunity to all women AND men, knowing that you can choose to be a mom, wife, full time worker and/or all of the above. It's about not being labeled a woman as a negative, you can't do something, mentality
2. Do you consider yourself feminists? why? Yes, I do. I believe in the freedom of choice no matter what gender, and I believe in fair treatment of each person no matter their gender.
3.What are womens issues and interests that feminists would be considered with? Equal pay, women in the military (in combat situations), working mom issues like daycare.
4. What sterotypes do others categorize feminists? They are bitches, "feminazis" man haters.
5. Is there a need for feminism today? why or Why not? things are so different for your generation vs Grandma Evans' generation. Consider the fact that at 20 she already had three kids and your grandma was on the way. She didn't have the same choices for school, working, marriage, etc. I think because of the feminist movement of the 60's and 70's you have choices that are even different from mine. The question whether there is a "need" for it now is hard because YES there is, but that's just because I don't want things to revert. It's like saying should we still have Civil Rights issues. Really, all of that should still be fixed, but that's nearly impossible to do, but if we can't fix the problems, let's not forget that they are there, and if we didn't have feminists, then I think we would forget there are a lot of problems, still, with equal rights

1) women have equal rights 2) I dont think femenists consider themselves feminists, because its been taken out of context 3) Im not sure i quite understand the question? but women think they deserve equal rights and are indivduals and do not have to answer to any man, which would the same as a femenist. 4) Femenist are stereotyped to hate men and to be overly opinionated. 5) I believe that women have equal rights today, but I still dont consider having femenists a bad thing, because we are still obligated by society

1. A feminism is the movement for women's rights, wether it be economic, political or social, attaining equlity to men.
2. No I do not consider my self a feminist. There are some things in this world that I think are better left to men. (Opening doors, doing the laundry... if all women were fiminists, there would be no romance in the world....)
3. Issues usually are job equality, pay scale, opportunities. Housing seems to be a big issue these days. It is tough for a single mother to get a loan to buy a house for example.
4. Stereotypes would include such things as agry men haters, and in the past it was even said that most feminists were lesbians. Today it's more like stong willed women that do not depend on a man to get ahead in the world. Taking care of ones self should not stereotype a woman as a feminist.
5. I do think there is a need for feminism today, to a point. Socioty will not allow women to get too far, but yet with most marriages failing these days, it is up to the women to take care of the family core. Values of struggle seem to carry on from one generation to the next. Keeping a family unit together is what a woman puts first. But in the end, it's her and the kids against the world. Women have to stand up and be noticed in order to get anywhere., all is not equal, now or ever.

Female Chauvinist Pigs

While reading Female Chauvinist Pigs by Ariel Levy, I was surprised about multiple things. Levy writes, “If you ever watch television when you have insomnia, then you are already familiar with Girls Gone Wild: late at night, infomercials show bleeped-out snippets of the brand’s wildly popular, utterly plotless videos, composed entirely from footage of young women flashing their breasts, their buttocks, or occasionally their genitals at the camera, and usually shrieking “Whoo!” while they do it.” The first time I saw the infomercials, I thought it was a mistake. How could anything like this be on television? What if kids are wake up in the middle of the night and are flipping through the channels? I couldn’t believe it. The producers of the GGW organization probably have some type of children in their family. It makes me wonder if they think about those children watching such infomercials. I was also surprised about the Olympic athletes posing for Playboy. I think that it is completely degrading for them to do that. While reading Female Chauvinist Pigs, I connect to both books that we have read prior to this one. All three books that we have read have given multiple examples to back up their argument. In Branded, Alissa Quart used many young teens/tweens as examples of how they had been branded. In Hip Hop Revolution, Jeffrey O.G. Ogbar used multiple artists to prove his point. So far in Female Chauvinist Pigs, Ariel Levy has used both “Playboy” and “Girls Gone Wild” to express her opinion. I am enjoying Female Chauvinist Pigs more than I did the other two texts.

Proposal

While writing this paper, I plan to explore Playboy. I will discuss why people pose/work for Playboy and what got them to that point. I will choose certain people that have posed for Playboy, and try to understand why they chose that route. Some of the people I am interested in writing about is the Olympic Athletes that chose to pose for Playboy. They weren't only Olympic Athletes, they were gold medalists. It's not like they needed the money, so it makes me wonder why. I was also look at Hugh Hefner and how he affects what the models do. I have read that the models are basically his slaves, and if they do just one simple thing out of line—like talk to the wrong person, they get fired. I don’t personally understand why someone could live there life knowing that they are being controlled by another person. These girls are obviously beautiful, or they wouldn’t be a part of Playboy. I want to understand why girls with so much going for them choose Playboy over going to school, or having a “normal” family. Some of the models I will use as examples to look at more closely are Pamela Anderson, Drew Barrymore, and Rachael Hunter. I will give an in depth look at how they grew up, and how they ended up with Playboy.

Keepin' It Real: Definitions in Flux/Realer Than Real

Definitions:

Hegemonic: the social, cultural, ideological, or economic influence exerted by a dominant group

Peculiar: strange, queer, and odd.

Multiethnic: made up of people of various ethnicities

Obfuscating: confusing

Tumultuous: disorderly or noisy, disturbance

Sacrosanct: treated as if holy : immune from criticism or violation

Malleability: capable of being altered or controlled by outside forces or influences

Keepin’ It Real: Definitions in Flux

Hip-hop came about in the 1970s in South Bronx. This caused criminal activity and the black community to be associated directly to hip-hop. Since hip-hop came from South Bronx, which is a mainly black community, whites have been removed from hip-hop culture. This is because most are from middle-class, suburban living. In hip-hop, whites are not considered authentic. Eminem is an exception to this. He is authentic because of his experience. He doesn’t rap about surreal things. He raps about the troubles he has been through. Also, he was one of the first whites to take the chance and enter hip-hop.

Graffiti art and b-boying are only considered authentic to hip-hop in the Latino community. Some African Americans have attained doing graffiti art and b-boying, but it did not originate where hip-hop did.