teacher student relationships

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1aHcsWJiJTrb7jYXAyeKvo0HJoghJyqU2_nP1lNTc3E0/pub?start=false&loop=false&delayms=20000&slide=id.g1f7b4a4ff6_0_206

Protect Her

The first thing I think of when I hear the phrase "locker room talk" is a bunch of guys standing in towels in the locker room talking about girls in a negative sexual way. This image has mostly been constructed from the media, and how that has been shown in tv shows and movies.

Alexis talks about how guys are put on auto-pilot when it comes to talking about women in this way. It is so deeply embedded in them from the media and other sources. It becomes a part of their masculinity, and I do agree with her. Any opposition to this is a threat can be seen as a threat to their masculinity.

So, in this blog I am going to personally reflect on Alexis' Ted Talk. I said earlier what first comes to my mind when I hear the phrase "locker room talk". Even saying it in my head it sounds like a dirty word. There is a negative connotation attached to it even though if you separate the three words most people would not view each word negatively or bad. Honestly, I get angry when I talk about this topic with people, especially my experiences talking about it with men. I've experienced men using this term as like a safe haven for talking badly about women. Saying things like, "oh yeah well that's only locker room talk it doesn't mean anything". A lot of them try to devalue what is said in there to justify that what they are doing or saying is okay. But it's not. How do we talk to men about this? I really admire Alexis for the work she does, going into actual men's locker rooms and talking about this topic with them. It needs to be talked about, but on a larger scale. Alexis mentioned that emotional education is something we are not teaching our children in schools and I agree. I think this effects men and how they show emotion. Showing emotion can also be seen as a threat to their masculinity. This can go on to affect their relationships and friendships in the future. Locker room talk is taken so lightly, and people don't think of it as really harmful but it can be extremely harmful.

I wanted to mention this in class. Alexis Jones was on the special 13 Reasons Why: Beyond the Reasons. Check it out!

Cinderella Ate My Daughter & Enlightened Sexism

I am going to connect Orenstein, and Douglas to two articles we read in class. The two articles I am going to connect them to are Croteau's Media and Idealogy, and Raby's A Tangle of Discourses: Negotiating Adolescence.

First Orenstien, and Croteau.

Croteau's main argument is that media matters, and that media is an ideology. Orenstien makes a similar argument when talking about the impact that Disney princesses. Orenstien talks about how Disney movies, specifically Disney Princesses affect young girls. She uses her own daughter as an example of this when talking about the snow white example. Her and husband made sure that disney princesses did not appear in their house, but that did not stop their daughter from being exposed to them. This proves Croteau's point that media is an ideology and it matters. The messages that these princesses are teaching young girls are to be saved by a prince, and be taken care of. Disney is selling an idea.

Douglas and Raby.

These two articles talk about Raby's pleasurable consumption and the power of consumerism of the teenager. Douglas talks about her experience shopping with her daughter. She talks about ads on tv from Victoria's Secret that were aimed towards teenage girls, and objectifies women. I liked reading about her experience with her daughter at Abercrombie & Fitch. I could really relate to his because I remember dragging my mom into that store as a teenager because all the girls at school we wearing clothes from there, and I wanted to fit in. My mom hated that store, and did everything she could to not get me to wear any of their clothes. Raby refers to this discourse as pleasurable consumption. The teenage years are the ideal age to spend money and shop. Stores and brands produce these items so that teenagers will buy them. It is a never ending cycle.

It's funny reading these articles about "being a teenager" and remembering having similar experiences that the authors will talk about. I've never thought about how these experiences could've effected me at the time or even today. I'm glad I'm getting some new perspectives now.

But First Let Me Take A Selfie

Both SelfieCity and Teen Vogue discuss the phenomenon that has become "the selfie". Selfies matter because they are being used around the world on social media as a form of self expression. The use of selfies has become a trademark for social media sites like Instagram and Snapchat. The topic of selfies relates to previous readings like Raby's Discourse article and Lesley's Framing Youth. A selfie relates to all five discourses that Raby talks about in her article. Teenagers and selfies are being labeled as a social problem. Also, Lesley talks about the ways researchers have gone about understanding youth is to seek out the spaces in which teens have created for themselves. This is what selfiecity has done by researching the use of selfies around the world.

The media has put teenagers and selfies together and displayed the two in a negative light. Selfies overall are not dangerous, but the media focuses on the isolated incidents involving risk and selfies. The article I hyperlinked is about the heightened risk that teenagers have of getting lice from taking selfies. The first sentence, "Parents, lock up your kids and take away their cell phones, because you never know who they are rubbing scalps with when they take selfies" (Mullins). This quote is a perfect example of the class theme teenagers are not some alien life form. The whole article is completely ridiculous, and acknowledges how ridiculous the claim is that teens are at a higher risk of getting lice. Raby talks about the storm and at-risk as discourses related to teenagers. The music video #SELFIE displays many of those discourses throughout such as sex, alcohol, and drugs. This shows selfies as like a gateway drug to all these "risky activities".

LANGUAGE + POWER = DISCOURSE

 So I decided to write extended comments on Bristol’s blog for A Tangle of Discourses: Girls Negotiating Adolescence by Rebecca C. Raby. I chose her blog to write about because I really like the quotes she chose, and I love her style of writing. I thought this would be a fun blog to write. Bristol chose three quotes spoken by one of the teenager’s interviewed named Vienna. I want to talk about the discourses related to Bristol’s blog. The whole idea of “coming of age” is messed up I agree. These three words hold a lot of power, and affect the way most people treat teenagers. Who determines when someone is of age? What does “of age” even mean? You can vote? You can drink? Do these things make you an adult? Bristol also uses a quote from Vienna where she talks about rebelling. This is where teenagers are seen as at-risk and may rebel using drugs, alcohol, start to have sex etc. The term rebel is another discourse associated with teenagers that has been around since the category “teenager” was invented. It was interesting what Vienna said, “a lot of kids rebel because society expects us to” (445, Raby). I think this tells us a lot about the power of language, and how discourses are used to influence teenager’s behaviors. 

Points to bring up in class: What discourses that Raby mentions most reflects your teenage experience? I am interested how my classmates personally related to this reading. I know when I was reading it I felt very connected to a lot of teenagers that were interviewed. 

How to be a teenager

The music video Last Friday Night by Katy Perry came out when I was in tenth grade. I remember being obsessed with it. It portrays Katy as an teenager in the 80's. She is supposed to look like a "geek" in the video, and goes over to her neighbors house to tell them to quiet down while they are having a party. Katy Perry's character ends up getting swept up in the whole scene, and making lots of  decisions she later regrets. The idea is that she is going to continue to do this every weekend. Even though I knew this music video was ridiculous and not a real representation of teenage life it made me want to "experience" things while I was in high school. It gave me that idea that high school is the time where I can make mistakes and get away with them.

This was one of my favorite movies when I was a teenager. The plot is about a girl in high school who takes her twin brother's place at his boarding school, so she can play on their soccer team. This whole movie is about gender roles, and what is expected of boys and girls in high school. Amanda Bynes who plays the lead character kind of challenges those typical gender roles by trying out for the men's soccer team. This movie taught me all about social roles and norms in a "typical" high school, and values within high schoolers as well.

When I was in middle AIM (AOL instant messenger) was extremely popular. It was I guess the first form of social media that I was aware of. It's sole purpose was just to message people when you were online. However, you could put messages while you away sort of like a facebook status. Also, I remember putting your "relationship status" on your profile. So I had my boyfriend's initials and a bunch of hearts next to his name to show people who I was in a relationship with. AIM introduced me to the concept of flirting online. It was used to talk to friends, but also to talk to guys that you might not have the courage to talk to in school.

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