price of "perfection"

I completely agree with the technology of this day and age changing our ideas on what beauty actually is. It's ridiculous how many celebrities in the previous video have had plastic surgery and, also, how before any picture is released of a celebrity or model it is practically always retouched (99.9% of the time). People look to Hollywood and its stars to know what's in style. For this generation, a big trend seems to be surgery. In an article that I found, there was a woman who has undergone 8 surgeries in order to have a bust size of FFF. An average breast augmentation is about 300-400 CCs of silicone. But this woman's implants contain 1000CCs or 2 quarts of silicone. Putting this much silicone into your body is hazardous to your back & shoulders as well as to the rest of your body (because it develops scar tissue against the silicone). Also, it doesn't say in the article, but on the original news broadcast, the reporter said that when the woman lays on her back she can hardly breathe. I find it extremely saddening that some take surgeries to such lengths to boost their self esteem and be more like the stars and models in Hollywood. The article also mentioned how breast augmentations have risen 900% in the last 15 years. So, even though not all go through such extreme surgeries as the woman in this article, women and men are doing more and more to reach their goal of perfection. The only trouble is, when will they ever be at that level? And, health-wise, is it really worth it?

January 21, 2009 7:33 PM

This was my post from week 1, but I had it in the wrong spot

artificial intelligence

A few weeks ago in class we watched a short video called "did you know" or something. One of the portions of the video said that in a few years there would be a computer created that would be smarter than humans. I don't know about you guys, but to me this is a ridiculous idea. In the condition of our economy we need all of the human jobs we can get & by giving jobs away to computers, though it may be cheaper, doesn't help our nation's financial state or the people in it. Another thing the super computer reminds me of is are the movies A.I., Terminator, and iRobot. In all of these examples, humans are almost completely reliant on technology and are inevitably screwed over because of this. It seems to me this destination is where our world is headed.

reliance on technology

I agree that communication is an enormous need in our society. And because our nation is so huge, most of our communication takes place via technology. Without electronic communication, our society wouldn't be able to function as it does. I, myself, use technology to communicate all of the time. By using email, facebook, phones, ect... I use some form every day. It's kind of a scary subject to my, how dependent our world, especially our country, is on technology. If anything were to ever happen that would take our technology away, I'm almot posative there would be disorganization to the point of anarchy. All of our system wouldn't be able to work, and it's scary to think where that would leave us.

computer crash

I get what Jenna is saying. At my clinical site and at hospitals all around the world, the ability to function efficiently depends almost entirely on computers. All of the patient records, charts, and data are on their computer database. Plus computers are also the main way in which the medical staff communicates with one another (through accessing updated charts everyone is on the same page). I recently asked what a hospital would do during a power outage or if the computers ever crashed. The nurse said that they have enough written records to get by. But our culture has become so accustomed to having technology and information at our fingertips that I don't think a hospital or our society, for that matter, could manage. At least until the system of doing things was totally revamped.

Nationalism

When talking about Canadians and how they don't want to be associated or thought of as Americans it reminded me of how Spanish speaking people get lumped together as well.  Often it is only because of their language and perhaps sometimes their profession and or skin color.  In a scene from the movie Clueless Cher tells her maid that she doesn't speak "Mexican" and the maid is immediately offended because she is from El Salvador.  These are very similar situations and show how just by referencing another country someone can be immediately offended.  

Here is a clip from the movie, the actual quote is about 8:30 into the clip (in case you want to skip ahead).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iA5dudU47xQ

Role Models????

Do role models exist anywhere?  When I was a teenager the Mickey Mouse Club had just spit out there group of Teen "Role Models" and look were they ended up.  Most notably is Britney Spears, but the rest of them I wouldn't exactly call role models either. 

If you look at sports, you got football players running dog fights, and baseball players taking human growth hormone.  The one athlete I would've called a role model has lost that title in my mind.  Lance Armstrong overcame cancer and proved to be the best of his sport numerous times, and then he left his family for Sheryl Crow????   That's a great message for anyone!  Overcome disease, prove to be a success and then leave the people that stood by you when you were down! 

Politicians....Not even going there.

 

I would love to say religious officials, teachers, and parents should be the perfect role model but sadly anyone could pull numerous examples that prove otherwise.

Role models are made, not born.  No one is perfect and everyone makes mistakes.  Anyone you call a role model probably has done, or will do something reprehensible that makes that title null and void.  

beauty & youth

The desire to be older but remain looking younger has become a huge moneymaking market. Yesterday, at a dermatologist appointment and while I was waiting for the doctor, I began to read the magazines they provided. But the only parts of the magazines that were in the office were the articles about cosmetic surgery. There was botox, of course, lip plumping, some treatment to make your eyelash’s growth increase and grow longer and darker, and there was even an article about taking fat from one area of your body, via liposuction, processing it, and then putting it back into your face to fill in wrinkles. To my knowledge, no other culture places as much emphasis on youth and beauty as the United States. In the US, beauty is achieved through looking young and youthful. But if aging is the natural course of life, why do we try so hard to fight it?

Male gaze in art

I have also noticed how, even though men were the first portrayed nude in art, nude women are far more common. I noticed this especially around the Renaissance or 1500s, when art (especially paintings) were more realistic. Paintings such as Venus with a Mirror, Venus and Cupid, Sleeping Venus, the Three Graces, Birth of Venus, and so on all feature nude women. The artists who painted these great works were men: therefore their view, or "gaze," was biased towards women. They painted women because their view towards them was one of beauty because that is what their human instincts tell them to appreciate. This trend of nude women in art has shaped our society today. For instance, the Seinfeld clip below, the Mardi Gras tradition of flashing, and the skimpy clothes that girls wear are all areas of nudity or something along the lines of it that are socially acceptable for women but not for men.

"Black Box"

After the class discussion about the idea of the "Black Box" and how a movie theatre is a perfect example of that. I thought it was really interesting how the purpose of the movie theatre is to limit distractions and really captivate you in the movie yet the things that destroy and break down the "black box" are things that are sold to us at the movie theatre. The room is supposed to be black so that we as viewers are focusing on nothing but the movie. The things that break down that focus and concentration are things like people, POPCORN, CANDY, and SODA! All of which are things people love to have at movies and probably even go to the movies specifically for the popcorn, I know my mom does. So I find it hard to understand why something in our main stream culture and something commonly practiced is so contradictory to itself. Also, if anyone has ever read Plato's The Republic, there are very interesting corellations between Socrate's allegory of the cave and with the "black box" theory.

lssacademy.com/2008/01/14/shadows-or-reality/

Sneaky sneaky corporations...

I, too, have been noticing the current trend of "rebellion." I'm no expert in this field, but I believe those rebelling are rebelling against society's norms as well as corporate America. I've also noticed that many of those who dress the part of a rebel tend to shop and buy their clothing at stores such as Hot Topic.

The only trouble is, Hot Topic is a chain of stores that is being run by a money-grubbing corporation. Those running this corporation must have realized at one point that there are always going to be people who rebel against society and what ever else, and realized there was big money in selling stuff to advertise that fact to others.

I agree that when people rebel, they typically try to define themselves as individuals. Their way of doing this is by buying clothing and accessories from a store; a corporate company where millions of other people shop for the exact same clothes, with the result that those rebelling and attempting to individualize themselves end up looking the same as the rest of those trying to rebel as well as supporting a multi-million dollar corporation.

The unfortunate result of this is that all of the things people were rebelling against are now a huge part of what characterizes them as a rebel. In short, they are now a part of what they're supposed to be rebelling against. They've fallen for the exact same corporation trap as the rest of us. So is rebellion in this way actually possible?