Women in Popular Music

 Here is our project: Women in Popular Music.

Group Project

Group Members:
Andy Koval
Abby Rondot
Alex Donaldson
Danielle Roehr
Jackson Hamilton
Kara Bates

Coming to Terms with my Parasocial Relationship

When we first discussed parasocial relationships in this class, I was in denial. I did not believe I could have a parasocial relationship at all--there was no individual in society I felt myself longing over or bringing up in daily conversation.

But then, one day, it hit me: I have the world's biggest crush on Patrik Stump. If you don't know who this is, I'll be happy to fill you in. He's the lead singer of Fall Out Boy. Judge me all you want, but I will forever be a loyal Fall Out Boy fan from their beginning with "Take This To Your Grave" to their most recent release (which someone brought up in a previous blog post).

Patrick Stump had me at hello--and by hello, I mean his angelic voice. I can remember the day we "met." I was in my mom's van, and we were listening to 103.3, a radio station in Indianapolis. A song called, "Chicago Is So Two Years Ago" came on, and I knew it was love. The lyrics and the way his voice filled the car--everything about it.

After that day, I bought their first cd. I shared my love with my friends, but I made sure they knew Patrick was mine. They could have Pete, Joe or Andy, but I jokingly said Patrick was my future husband. I knew everything about him, so it only made sense!

The middle school days passed, but I still love the band. To this day, I still admire Patrick. I follow him on Twitter and act as if I know everything about him. I talk about him as "Patrick" in real life, rather than his full name. I stick up for him if anyone makes fun of him from his chubbier days or if someone makes fun of his musical talents.

So that's that. I am no longer in denial. Patrick is my future boyfriend. And that's final.

Will things change?

Some days, I don't think things will change. I get scared that women won't ever feel good enough because the media will continue to brainwash them to think so. I get scared that little girls will get sucked so far into the "princess culture" that they won't know how to get out of it. Maybe it is what some young girls want. Maybe the they enjoy the pre-disposed gender role that they have been give. However, if it was up to me, everyone would've been lucky enough to play with Barbies and Spiderman/Batman/Star Wars action figures at the same time, like I did. I looked at the toys as equals. Spiderman and Barbie took just as long to get ready for the day. There was no sense of needing to overdress my Barbie. Then, I took this philosophy to myself and decided I would not fall into the princess culture.

How can we prevent this? Wille we always be the damsels in distress with a dress on, pink shoes and sparkles on our faces? The thing that scares me most about this, is not that women won't be strong and stand up for themselves or not have the ability "choose" who they want to be, is that they will grow up knowing nothing better. They will grow up with that sense of entitlement and feel like they are much better than everyone in the world because of what their parents have taught them or what society shows them on the television. The world does not need more "bratty" individuals seeking out self-fulfillment through photos, compliments and how many people pay attention to them. (And yes, I am referencing all of the pageant shows on television).

After everything we've learned in class and discussed, it's safe to say that, hopefully, the second wave of feminism is here. Hopefully, mothers and fathers and the people around young girls can influence them to be themselves and not fall into the trap of the princess culture--and not fall into the idea that they cannot be strong, independent women on their own.

Food Inc. Reflection

After watching Food Inc. in class this Thursday, I am overly tempted to go back to my vegetarian ways. The tactics that the film included to persuade watchers to eat more organic things and the situations that animals live in were extremely impacting. I'll be honest, I am guilty of purchasing food from McDonald's, Taco Bell....the list goes on.

While I am aware of the consequences of eating at these places, I still do it. But why? For me, it is the social aspect. My friends want to go out at 3 a.m. to get Taco Bell or grab a quick dinner because we do not have a better time to get food. It's exactly what we have discussed in class. We do not take the time to nourish our bodies in the best way possible. We do not take the time to sit down, cook a real meal and enjoy it slowly.

After this video and discussion in class, it definitely makes me want to change my habits. People glamorize the healthy lifestyle, but do they live it? I can recall many times when I have to tell people I am proud that I spent time making grilled chicken and vegetables (I know; it's kind of sad).  However, I do want to make a change in my eating habits. I do want to make it lifestyle, rather than something I do out of the blue. I do not want to encourage society's bad habits any longer. It is difficult because I can change this for myself, but what I would love is to help instill change in everyone around me. My dream would be to live a life like Italians or those in Spain who sit down and enjoy their meals. I would love to be like my next door neighbor who only eats organic food. If more documentaries like Food, Inc. were shown to a younger generation, maybe there would be hope for the future. While I'm trying to break the habits, it would be best if the habits didn't exist in the first place.

Social Media Lives

Do we plan our lives on social media as much as we plan our day to day plan? After discussing in class our obsession with social media and constantly updating it, I’d say so. We display ourselves as a different person on Facebook, Twitter and any other media. There are those who have different profiles for different groups of people—family, professionals, friends and maybe those who they don’t even know.  This hinders our real relationships outside of social media. (This goes back to the whole Catfish idea and not displaying ourselves as who we are). Or does it?

If we’re constantly posting picture of what we are doing, does it help our relationships outside of social media? People post constant updates, facebook statuses and pictures to let the world know what they are doing. We plan to take a picture and then post it up as soon as it’s taken so that the world knows what we are doing. I even have certain friends who will plan to post a certain status or tweet at a certain time to create some sort of “message.” Do we go out of our way to do something that we can tweet about it, or do we really tweet in the moment? This goes with pictures. Are we really having fun, or do we have to post a picture, get “likes” and social media attention to have fun?  I’m guilty of posting pictures as soon as I take them, but the more and more I think about planning life around social media, it makes me want to reject it.

People would be more interesting if they didn’t post on social media all the time. It would make people a little mysterious. Instead of tweeting everyone five minutes, posting one creative tweet or something that actually means something would make life a lot better. Sometimes people feel the need to update social media. They NEED to change their picture. The world just needs to know what food they are eating or hear a rant about their boyfriend/girlfriend/whatever friend.

What I’m saying is, we plan our media, we plan what we want people to think of us, and it’s constantly changing. The only way to make this addiction useful is to post quality things. Because you can only be so famous on the internet for long.