Magazine Project

So right now I'm super angry because one of our group members who has our actual magazine has not shown up to a meet up this morning that was supposed to take place 9:30. I'm questioning if she's even coming to the exam period. I'm panicking because this project is 40% of our overall grade. I'm so heated because we put so much time and effort into this magazine and I would hate for it to all have been in vain. One night me and Tish even met in the library at 9 and didn't leave till 5 in the morning to make sure everything was right. I even took time away from studying for my exams to work on this project. I hope you don't penalize me and Felix for this group member's carelessness. We have tried calling her multiple times and she hasn't picked up so my guess is that she's s sleeping. We only have about 30 more minutes until the exam period. I am so frustrated right now.

The Frog and the Princess

Today I went to the movies with my little sister from the Big Brothers Big Sisters program to see The Frog and the Princess. The princess, Tiana, was totally different from any of the other princesses such as Cinderella or Snow White. Her initial dream wasn't to marry a prince. She wanted to start her own restaurant that her father wasn't able to make happen before he passed away. I thought that the movie portrayed her as being humble and independent. The plot of the movie was how a voodoo doctor named Shadow Man tricked Prince Naveen into giving his blood so someone could mimic him as the prince thus transforming him into a frog. He convinces Tiana to kiss him so he could turn back human but she ends up becoming a frog herself. Since she wasn't a actual princess but just dressed in a princess type of dress, the kiss didn't have an effect. The movie continues with the journey of Prince Naveen and Tiana as they try to become human again. I noticed that all of the characters had a New Orleans accent which made the setting seem as if it really took place in Louisiana. In the end, Princess Tiana ends up getting the restaurant she wanted named "Tiana's Palace" and finds true love in Prince Naveen as well. I think Princess Tiana is my new favorite Disney princess.

Commercial

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ELM2Ad3YuM Today while I was watching television, a commercial for a Britney Spears product came on. The theme of the commercial was fantasy since that was the name of the perfume. In the commercial, Britney Spears was a goddess and the male in the video was a hunter. The hunter shoots the goddess with a magic love arrow that causes the goddess to fall in love with him. She mentions the infamous fairytale notion that they "lived happily ever after" which made me think about fairytales. Her dress was very much similar to what a princess would wear and the hunter was of course masculine and attracted to her beauty as a prince would be to a princess. At the end of the commercial, Britney Spears says "Fantasy, everybody has one" which made me think how a princess fantasizes about falling in love with a prince charming figure.

Fairytale magazine

Our group has a lot of creative ideas for the magazine project. We haven't came up with a name for the magazine yet but we are in the process. I am responsible for the Fairytale award show. I decided to make a news report of the award show. The categories I included were for Best Leading Lady, Best Accomplice, Best Male Performance and Best Kiss. I hope that Tish and Felix like it after they read it. I'm still trying to decide what paper I'm going to turn into an article. I was thinking about turning my prince charming and damsel in distress presentation into an advice column and writng an article on the comparision on the different versions of Little Red Riding Hood. For my creative elements I wanted to make a WANTED poster for one of the villians in the fairytales and make a word search. Hopefully this project will turn out to be successful. I have idea my contributions to the project will be because I have a lot of creative ideas.

Amber Brown's presentation

I thought Amber did a great job on her oral presentation. She seemed very comfortable in front of the class and made eye contact the whole time. You could tell she knew her topic well and that she wasn't just reading from her notecards. She was informative on her topic of how fairytales influence gendering. Her powerpoint was neat and attractive. What really grabbed my attention during her presentation is how she described Disney's new fairytale "The Princess and the Frog." Up until that point, she explained how the Disney princesses usually wore pink or purple dresses and how the toys were girly. However, in describing the new Disney princess Tiana, she pointed out that unlike the earlier Disney princesses of her time, her dress is green. Also, toys adapted from the movie for little girls to play with are not the usual girly things we are used to seeing like a vanity set. The toys instead included like a bango and some other things that we weren't use to seeing. She mentioned that she doesn't know if this done was to make a change in the gendering influence or due to the fact that Tiana is unlike the other princesses because she is black. Overall, her points and information was really interesting.

Feminism and Sexuality

Today's presentations were interesting. I was happy that Carmen and Tish decided to pick a topic different from everyone else. I thought Tish's presentation was very creative. Women have come a long way since the 1950s as far becoming independent. The videos she showed during her presentation depicted this dramatic change. Its not uncommon for women nowadays to be able to take care of themselves whereas back then it was almost unheard of. Women were the ones who just cooked, cleaned and kept the household in order. Carmen's presentation was very shocking. There are so many sexual references made in fairytales! Her first slide and word "penis" grabbed my attention immediately. I liked how she compared Disney's versions of fairytales to those of earlier times. She explained how the Disney versions were more appropriate for children. I was very impressed with both of their presentations because they showed how fairytales have played a role in our society: good or bad.

Nickeloden Fairytale?

Today I was watching Nickeloden and was watching a cartoon about a fairytale. It wasn't a remake of any other fairytale we've come across. Instead of the prince saving the princess, the princess saved the prince! I found it very ironic that the roles switched especially after we have discussed this in class through our presentations. The princess was played by no other than Barbie (I think.. she looked like her) and I guess the Ken figure was considered the "prince charming." Basically a group of people planned to kidnap the prince and the princess over heard. When her and her 3 or 4 other friends tried to warn some of the royal people in the castle, they don't take them seriously and turned them away.They threatened that if they ever came back to the castle, they would have them imprisoned. Come to find out those people were part of the sneaky plot as well. They use the opportunity to go back to the castle when a masquerade ball takes place. (since their faces would be covered up by masks). Long story short, the evil people find out its them eventually and tries to fight Barbie with a sword. She ends up saving the prince in the end with the help of her friends. It was really interesting to see a princess save the day for once.

Oral Presentation #2

So far the oral presentations have been really good! I was disappointed with my presentation because I did not have as much time as I would have liked to work on it. Plus, I was unaware of the actual time limit. The presentation I really enjoyed was Chelsea's. She did a great job showing how fairytales have played a role in gendering our children. Her pictures and powerpoint were very appealing. There was never a dull moment in her presentation. I also liked Joey's presentation. I thought it was clever how he included how he contributes to the gendering problem in his conclusion. I have noticed however that most of the people that have went so far have either chosen the gendering or fairytale ideas prompt to present. I hope to see others present on some of the other topics just to see how others feel about them personally. As far as my feedback, it was pretty positive except I seemed to rush at times when i was nervous. (which I was). Everyone really liked my attention-getter of the Snow white video. I hope I did not make a D or a F on this presentation since I didn't meet the time limit.

Fairytales in modern day

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNsMZuYim4U As stated in one of my previous blogs, my oral presentation will be on how fairy tale ideals such as prince charming and damsel in distresss have an influence on our society. I have found more research and took the advice to include specific examples in my presentation. One of the examples I'm considering using is the Enchantment movie in which a fairytale princess ends up in our world and is not able to function on her own because she has been shielded and too dependent on "prince charming." Now I have never seen the movie for myself but I looked up the trailor on youtube. ( I have provided the link in this log as well). I do feel strongly that we can get rid of these ideals if everyone contributed by becoming independent, sespecially women. Men should help a woman to an extent but should put theirselves first. Selfish I know but sometimes you have to put yourself before others. Women should accept help from time to time ut not be dependent on that help. This was reinforced to me personally by my accounting teacher last week. She said by the time we all graduate, we should be able to take care of ourselves and not have to be dependent on someone else financially, mentally, or physically.

Breaking the Disney Spell

After reading this, I have a better understanding of what distinguishes fairytales from other genres. Jack Snipes does a good job in comparing folk tales to literary fairytales. The literary fairytales were intended for the people who could not read while folk tales were intended for everyone. I also read that fairytales weren't originally for children as well because of the symbolic uses and the unruly social behavior. Jack Snipes also mentions how Walt Disney has made a revoluntionary impact on fairytales. In the reading, he wrote "There is something sad in the manner in which Disney "violated" the literary genre of the fairytale and packaged his versions in his name through the merchandising of books, toys, clothing, and records" (Tatar 352). I agree to a certain extent but I think Walt Disney has made a good impact on children through his animations. Yeah, he does stray away from the original fairytales, but I believe that children can be more entertained and can believe the notion that sometimes dreams really do come true. Personally, I have read the original fairytales and I find Walt Disney's more appropriate and appealing to society today.

Fables Comic Book

I really thought the Fables comic book was a tad bit too much. As stated in class, the characters didn't possess any of the qualities (except appearance) that they had in the original fairytales. The only character that stayed in its element was the pig. i do agree that the comic book is more like reality than the fairytales which contain make believe themes and an "happily ever after" ending. One thing I did like about the comic book was the humor in some parts and the detailed pictures. The cussing went overboard. I know that most comic books have cussing, but like Amber Brown stated in class, the cuss words were used at awkward times in awkward ways.

grade and research outline

I am satisfied with my oral presentation grade. I got a B but was expecting a C. I was shocked to hear in class that I wasn't the only one who recieved a rude comment. That made me feel a little bit better about my presentation. On Tuesday when we worked in groups I felt the most prepared. I had made a trip to the library the day before to learn how to look for sources on the database. I found about 7 useful sources for my outline. I chose the topic about how prince charming and damsel in distress influence society's perception of relationships. Personally, I think these ideals can be stopped if women learned to survive on their own without being dependent on a male figure. In fairytales such as Cinderella and Snow White, Prince Charming comes to the rescue. If women like these two princesses learned how to get out of bad situations on their own and became dependent, the men wouldn't be so dominant nowadays.

My Presentation

My oral presentation went okay but it could have been better. I was really nervous but I think I deserve at least a C. I tried to avoid saying um but I noticed I said it once. My feedback from the class was pretty good. A lot of people said I needed to make more eye contact and not read so much from the note cards. I never did get a chance to go to the speaking center like I planned to and I think that would have helped me a lot. I'm very pleased it is over with because I hate speaking in front of people. One person also made the comment that they don't understand how the Perrault's version is better for children because of the pedophile reference I made. That kinda pissed me off since I don't take criticism well but the reason why Perrault's version is better is because even though the pedophile image might be scary to kids, it will enforce them NOT to talk to strangers and show the consequences if they do. The story basically teaches a moral. I mentioned that in my presentation so evidently they weren't paying attention.

Oral Presentations

Well today I'm super nervous about presenting today. I hope the class will understand what I'm trying to say and like my powerpooint. Last class when some people presented, I noticed that everyone either said "um", "uh", or "so." I hope I do not that during my presentation. I am really concerned about time as well because I felt a lot of people last class went over 5 minutes. When I practiced in front of my friend, my time was 4 minutes and 47 seconds which is close to 5 minute limit. If I present the same way I practiced then hopefully everything will be good. Due to time, I wasn't able to incorporate all in the points from my paper into my presentation. I had to pick the points that would be the most obvious and unstandable to the class. I got up super early to practice because when I get in front of people, I sometimes get stage fright and started stumbiling with my words. Another thing I noticed during presentations from the last class was that people did not make eye contact that much and had a monotone the whole time. Hopefully my presentation will embody everything on the rubic it needs to.

The Curse of Masculinity

The Curse of Masculinity article makes a good point. When men are more concerned with having the image of a macho man rather than showing their inner soft side, they are usually lonely and unhappy. The example in the article of men like Arnold Schwarznegger in Kindergarten cop shows how learning to value important things like family and love will work out better in the end. Another example is the prince in the Beauty and the Beast. The transformation of him becoming a beast is symbolic of his resistance to letting his caring and softer side show, thus causing him to portrayed as miserable and a monster. I feel its important for a man to defend his manhood, but not to the point where it defines who you are as person.

Beauty and the Beast

Beauty and the Beast is a fairytale that teaches most to never judge a book by its cover. However, as mentioned in the "Yep Gastons Gay: Disney and the Beauty of a Beastly Love, I feel the message they are attempting to send out is contradicting itself. The fact that the prince was suppose to be taught a lesson to love a person for whats in the inside but yet falls for Belle because partially because of her beauty defeats the whole purpose. The never judge a book by its cover principle is not in full effect in the story. I think the story would have been slightly different if Belle was ugly and not as charming as she was portrayed in the story. Also I do agree that the story is promoting discrimination againist homosexuals. I find it ironic that when he is a prince and he turns the woman away, he is shunned from everyone. Yet, he connects with Belle, everything is "okay." This is can easily interpreted as being symbolic of society not accepting homosexuals in the real world. That is just my opinion though.

"Make Believe Ball'

This past Saturday I volunteered at the Children's museum downtown to help out in an event they call "The Make Believe Ball" in which children dress up as their favorite character. The fact it was called a ball already gave me an idea of how the little girls were going to be dressed. I lie to you not, every little girl I saw was either dressed as Snow White, Cinderella, or some other fairytale princess. The costumes the little boys wore varied from scarecrows, spidermans etc. I find it fascinating how fairytales play a huge role in gender. I believe they play a bigger role in setting the standard for girls more than boys though. Today you see more things from fairytales made for girls than boys such as dolls, costumes, and playsets. I have rarely seen objects made for boys with prince charming or any male character on them. What even surprised me more was that I even saw a mother with a Snow White costume on. I guess Fairytales are incorporated into our daily lives more than we think.

My Graded Paper (Progress Paper)

Well, I never got a chance to have a conference but I was confident about the grade I made on my paper. When I got my paper back, I was disappointed because it didn't get the feedback I thought it would. I think the reason behind the 71 on my paper was the fact i didn't cite my sources. I didn't think I had to since it was an essay but now I see why. Before I got my progress report I was almost certain I was failing the class because I don't speak in class often because of my speech problem when I get nervous and plus I know I could blog more. However I was pleased to see a C because I was really considering dropping the course. I still would have felt more secure if I was able to have a conference but I know situations come up sometimes that are out of our control. From now on, I will have a goal to blog at least 3 times a week. I think blogging before a class and after class is a good idea because that would be 4 times a week. I really want to make a B in this class but I know the work effort I must put forth. I am very nervous about the oral presentations coming up because I have a hard time speaking in front of people. I plan to make a trip to the speaking center before I present though

Brothers Grimm: Hansel and Gretel

The Brothers Grimm version of Hansel and Gretel made me raise a lot of questions. Why is the father in the story included in the happily ever after ending even though he was part of the scheme that could have resulted in their death? My belief is that they wanted to maintain a certain image of the father figure to society. I think this attempt was a failure because to me the father is even more at fault than the "motherly" role. She was just a stepmother. However, Hansel and Gretel were his BLOOD and the fact that he let some woman dictate him in how to handle his kids is pathetic. A real male figure would have kicked her out instead for even thinking of causing harm to his family. You can even notice how the Grimm Brothers wanted to give the father a good image because how they included the father's resistance to the plot at first. It even states how he felt bad near the end of the story. I think its stupid and unfair how men are always justified for their actions in fairytales and the finger is always pointed at the female role.

Prince Charming syndrome

Yesterday I went to talk to a counselor about issues I was experiencing on campus including dating , and he brought up "the Prince Charming syndrome." When he mentioned this, I immediately thought about the discussions we had when we were on the Cinderella unit. I was unaware that there was a real medical condition in which prince charming is expected to just appear. He explained to to me that the Prince Charming syndrome occurs when a woman has her expections/standards of a man too high in which any flaw determines if he is prince charming or not. This was brought up after I told that him that every guy I meet I'm not satisfied with. After he explained it to me, I concluded that fairytales such as Cinderella and Snow White might have played a role in what I consider an "ideal" man. He didn't exactly diagnose me with the syndrome but he said that I have tendencies that are seen with people with this disorder.

Sex and Violence: The Hard Core of Fairytales

In my opinion, Maria Tatar does a good job exposing the graphic violence the Grimm Brothers intensify in their collection of tales. I never really took notice of it in this class. I think it is ironic that the Grimm Brothers would take out themes of pregnancy and incest, but yet keep the brutal murders and fighting instead. I understand that for audiences purposes, he wants to tone the content down to be suitable for children but he failed. My belief that he edits those particular themes out because as mentioned in class, he doesn't want to make shame men in society . Also, he probably feels that pregnancy and incest are more likely to happen in the real world rather than the extreme violence he includes to make the fairytale more horrific yet entertaining. He fails to realize that violence has just as much impact on the society as those other themes do. In modern day, a lot of violence that kids are exposed to through t.v, movies, and books can play a big role in how they turn out as a person later in life. By incorporating this violence in his tales could possibly send out the message that this type of violence is norm when its really not.

Discussion in class about Bluebeard

Last class when we had a discussion about the tale Bluebeard, I have changed the way I view him. I almost in a sense feel sorry for him but that still doesn't justify his actions.. In the discussion, I brought up the fact that its never mentioned in the tale why he killed his FIRST wife. This made me wonder if he was just a heartless killer or if she had lost his trust as well. Someone brought up a point that maybe he uses the key as a test for his wives and if they fail, their punishment is death. Its true that if his wives obeyed him, then none of this would happen but its only human nature to be curious about things. My belief is that maybe he was soo in love with his first wife and she did something so bad that made him lose trust in her and have a strong rage that resulted in her death. Ever since then, he was on a mission to find the right one and to confirm her, he uses a test i.e. the key in doing so. The reason I feel bad for him in a way is because its difficult in the first place to find love because of his appearance. The fact that everytime he thinks he finds love, and its not, almost makes you want to take his side. However, the fact that he is a murderer keeps me from treading that fine line. Theres no excuse for murder in my book.

Bluebeard: The Tale and Its Variants

Before becoming a part of this English class, I had never read or even heard of the story of Bluebeard. After reading it for the first time, I could see why it would be unpopular to some, especially children because of the graphic references to the dead bodies found. After I finished reading the tale and the different versions, I was intrigued how it was unique from other tales I've read. Instead of the cliche plot in which a girl is trying to find love in a male interest, the girl is this story is actually trying to get away from hers. However, I was displeased with Perrault's version because instead of putting the blame on the actual "villian", Bluebeard, he points the finger at the wife for going against his orders to not go through a certain door. He does so by showing the bad consequences for her disobedience as well as showing the consequences of the past wives. It doesn't surprise me much that he decides to justify Bluebeard's actions simply just because hes a man. In this case I think its really ridiculous. Its sad he tries to emphasize that a person's close call to death forced by another being is justifable. No one deserves to be killed by another person, no matter what they've done in my opinion.

My writing process

My writing process for the Fairytale analysis went very well. To make sure my thoughts were organized, I made a graphic organizer brainstorming ideas that I wanted to include in my paper. In doing so, I was allowed to finish the paper in a timely manner. After I came up with my thesis, I started writing my first rough draft. After I finished, I read it thoroughly and was not a 100% satified with my thesis statement, so I decided to rewrite it. I believe I had a strong thesis statement after I wrote my second draft. I didn't change a lot from the first draft because I thought that my body paragraphs referred back to my thesis statement and were very detailed. After completing my second draft, I took it the writing center. I was very pleased with my consultation with the English staffperson. She thought my paper was strong except for a few grammar mistakes. She even felt bad because she said she didn't have much to correct. I hope I make a good grade on this paper.

Domesticating Dreams

The article "Domesticating Dreams" by Naomi Woods has given me a new perspective of Walt Disney's Cinderella. After analyzing his version, I am not quite fond of the story anymore. As a child, Cinderella was my favorite movie growing up. Reading Woods' article has given me insight of Disney's "ideal" woman in which I totally disagree with this standard. The portrayal of Cinderella as a domestic goddess just because she's cheerful as being a house wife disgusts me. I believe in the empowerment of women and I believe theres more to women than just cleaning and taking care of the household. Walt Disneys sends a message out to his audience that if you behave in such a manner as Cinderella. you will be rewarded i.e. your prince charming will come to your rescue. Another thing, why does the reward have to be a male figure? Just goes to show you how the partriarchal comes into effect in the story. I have a little sister who is 6 that is obsessed with Cinderella. She talks of going to a ball and always says "I wish i was taller so I can dance with the prince." It use to be funny to me because she really thinks shes Cinderella. I wish I could explain to her the true meaning behind the story but because of her age, I don't think she would quite understand.

Fairytales in Pop Culture

Today I was listening to my IPOD on shuffle and came across a song entitled "Fairytales" by once pop teenage singer named Jojo. I had brought the CD YEARS ago and did not even realize it was on my IPOD until today. As I listened to the lyrics, it conveyed a melancholy tone which seemed ironic because when we hear the word "fairytales", we think of happiness. In this song, the singer sings about how she doesn't believe in fairytales since her heart has been broke. She's given hope on the possibility of living happily ever after. The introduction to the song in which she is speaking starts off like this:

"You know the story

You read the books

Boy meets girl

And they fall forever in love

But I know better

So here goes a tale

To the realest of the real"

Then the song goes into how she once upon a time believed in the concept of fairytales and why that belief no longer exists. To actually listen to the lyrics of this song is shame because this song can be applied to young girls in the real world. A lot of girls from a young age are made to believe love is like a fairytale and prince charming is around the corner. Sadly, this is not true and as they get older, they have to learn out the hard way. They end up getting their feelings crushed by some jerk and realize that those Disney fairytales they adored doesn't have the same outcome in most cases in life. It's human nature for girls to love fairytales at a young age but I also think it's a mother's responsiblity to warn their daughter to not expect a knight in shining armor when they start dating. It's important for girls to differentiate between fairytales and REAL life so they'll know what to expect and be wary of when they get older. These are just thoughts I'd thought I'd share.