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.