Elizabeth Edwards Statement

December 7, 2010, Elizabeth Edwards passed away from terminal cancer. She was the wife of two-time presidential candidate John Edwards.

Leading up to her last days, she released a statement that touched the hearts of many. The message from Edwards, reads:

"You all know that I have been sustained throughout my life by three saving graces – my family, my friends, and a faith in the power of resilience and hope. These graces have carried me through difficult times and they have brought more joy to the good times than I ever could have imagined. The days of our lives, for all of us, are numbered. We know that. And, yes, there are certainly times when we aren't able to muster as much strength and patience as we would like. It's called being human. But I have found that in the simple act of living with hope, and in the daily effort to have a positive impact in the world, the days I do have are made all the more meaningful and precious. And for that I am grateful. It isn't possible to put into words the love and gratitude I feel to everyone who has and continues to support and inspire me every day. To you I simply say: you know."

The Hair Down There

We pluck, wax, shave, use lasers, and other forms of abuse in order to get that hair off our bodies.

Forms of hair removal are practiced for reasons including cultural, sexual, medical and religious; and have been practiced in almost all human cultures. Isn't that crazy?

It's a very common thing for women to shave less in the winter, for very obvious reasons. You aren't showing off your legs in the winter, it provides a little extra warmth, and as soon as you shave it will grow back due to goose bumps!

What about the Brazillian wax? That's a lot of pain to endure, but many women withstand it in order to get rid of all pubic hair for their personal preferences.

There are also different ways to style your nether regions. I don't think they had hearts down there during the 1800s.
It's all for personal preference. Many men man-scape their areas, but it is less common for them to go through what women do. Why are we the ones to shave? I guess it would be fairly disturbing for the men to worry about their pokey legs.

Whitney Thompson is the newest America's Next Top Model Winner, and has recently spoken out about the plus size model "trend".

She was recently interviewed on Huffington Post, and talked about modeling and plus sized women.

She used to be an under-weight model, but quit modeling because she was practically starving herself.
In the interview, she says:

"I'd love to introduce myself to people as a model, [but] if I do that, they look me up and down and go Really? And so I have to say I'm a plus size model. But, truthfully, size six is considered plus size and some size fours are too fat to be models. My BMI is where it's supposed to be and I workout and I eat right -- I mean most of the time. It's all about balance."

Check out this video below, and you can see how beautiful and confident she is. Hopefully she will help this trend become a reality, and young women can feel comfortable in their own skin.

Adoption Fever

Sandra Bullock recently adopted a 3 1/2 month old boy from New Orleans. Madonna adopted a one-year-old from Malawi. Meg Ryan adopted from China, Angelina from Ethiopia.

It's a great thing that celebrities are supporting adoption, but controversy has arised on those who take children of different backgrounds from their own. Why not adopt from their own country? Is it a PR ploy? Why does being a celebrity speed along the process when non-celebrities have to wait several years?

Madonna said:

"After learning that there were over one million orphans in Malawi, it was my wish to open up our home and help one child escape an extreme life of hardship, poverty and in many cases death, as well as expand our family."

Below is a brief story about Sandra Bullock and her son, Louie. I admire how she has come so far despite her horrible misfortune with her awful cheating husband. Media and the public thought her adoption was a PR ploy to get around her divorce, but her and her husband had actually been planning on adopting for years.

Obsession With Housewives

Calling all housewives! The Real Housewives of 'whatever' city are anything but desperate. There is DC, New Jersey, NYC, Atlanta...and I know several more. The Bravo reality TV series features extremely rich women who get to do whatever they want to with their endless bank accounts. Am I being too facetious?

Why are we so obsessed with watching women spend money and get plastic surgery and create drama between their "friends"? Ok, I am a little bitter. I know the answer! We like to poke fun at how deceitful and spoiled these TV stars are, because we can't afford to blow money in the same fashion. I always say, "I'd never spend money the way they do, even if I had millions." However, I'm sure I'd lose control if money problems were suddenly dissolved.

These women are materialistic, drive expensive cars, live in over-sized homes, have plastic surgery, and so on...but why wouldn't they? We enjoy watching them spoil themselves silly, yet snub our noses at them because they throw money around on a very obnoxious level. Put yourself in their shoes...how would you not lose control?

Women = Shopoholics

All women love to shop, right? According to a recent trend in holiday commercials, women are in fact crazed bargain shoppers.

Target issued a series of Black Friday ads during the month of November. They feature a hyper, middle-aged super blonde bargain shopper who is preparing for Black Friday sales the day after Thanksgiving. The woman is played by the comedian Maria Bamford who starred in ten short commercial spots created for the promotion of the 2-day sale.

Target's CMO said the commercial producers encouraged the comedian to “revel in the character of the passionate holiday shopper…It’s fun exaggerating those manic shopper tendencies.”

Sure, I like to shop for good deals. However, I know more men who get excited for these crazy sales in order to get $400 off a flat screen TV. I think these commercials are funny, but are they soley aimed at women? Do men pay attention to them? Did Target lose any male shoppers from these commercials...or possibly gain?

Bad Girls

The Bad Girls Club idolizes young women who are fiesty, catty, overly sexual, drink a lot, messy and get in fights with each other. Real life bad girls, that we can watch on TV, judge, and go back to whatever we were doing. If you look at the photo above you can see, "Bad Just Got Good". I think this means, watching bad girls be bad and live out their role is now good and entertaining to watch. This scene below is at a reunion where a controversial topic was brought up, and several of the women got in a fight. Yep.

Are these girls really bad? Are they being edgy for the sake of TV? Whatever they are, we are watching it for entertainment. The only source of depth in this show is when the girls break down and get upset because they miss their loved ones, or if they confess true feelings. Are these girls putting on a fight for the sake of drama, or do they have issues that aren't being sorted out?

On the Wikipedia page it's described as, "The show's premise follows seven women with a number of personal, behavioral, and psychological problems — deemed "bad girls" — as they live together for four months."

So these girls with strong and competitive personalities are being put together to either make their problems better, or worse. It's like putting a bone in a bag full of pit bulls.

An interview with one of the women who appeared on the program said this:

Q. What is a “bad girl”?
A. "A bad girl is someone that has no idea of who they are and where they are going….they might but they need a push…someone that doesn’t care who and what people think about how you live your life because in the end you only have one life to live so live it to the fullest…no one feeds you or gives you life or money you and only you will so do it yourself don’t depend on anyone but yourself!"

It boggles my mind what we see as entertainment right now. I don't know what else to say.

Oh, Ellen.

I watch The Ellen Degeneres show every morning. She is a great role model for children and adults, and truly gives back to her fans. She is a selfless person. She makes a ton of money, but loves to help out people who are having a difficult time making ends meet. Ellen is also a CoverGirl and brings a more humorous side to the realm of modeling and beauty products.


She is a lesbian, and speaks about it every so often on her television talk show. I remember a few years back I was getting my hair trimmed in my small hometown, and Ellen came up as a topic of conversation. Before I expressed how I felt about Ellen, my middle aged hair-dresser said: "Oh, Ellen, I can't stand her. She's gay, and she's on TV. I don't want my kids watching that shit. She talks about kissing her girlfriend or whatever, I just think her show needs to be taken off. Too many people watch that."

As she took the scissors to my hair, cutting away a little more feverishly than before, I decided to keep my mouth shut. I didn't want my opinion to make her hand slip and cut an ear off. In my mind, I was thinking, 'Are you serious? How can her sexuality even compare to the sex and violence on TV? How can you wish for a career to fail based on that?'

Many other thoughts raced through my head, possibly regarding the way she raised her children...I couldn't help the judgmental call-outs that were supporting my angered defense. So I said, "Well, I don't mind her."

Regarding the recent tragedy of the young college student who killed himself because his roomate video taped him having sex with another male, Ellen sent out this message. My hair dresser was being a bully. A close-minded bully. There is a serious lack of education and awareness.

Risque Behavior

Pop superstar Katy Perry is known for her controversial hit "I Kissed A Girl". Since then her popularity has grown and her controversy has continued, and is being accepted by people of all ages.

Her most recent album "Teenage Dream" has gained a tremendous amount of press, and shows her laying naked on cotton candy clouds. I think Katy Perry is very talented and all of that, but naked on an album cover, with 'teenage dream' cast as the album title...yes teens are listening to her and loving her. Teenage girls want to be her. I guarantee you that teenage girls will be dressing like her for Halloween.


Katy shot a segment for the show in which she sings a cleaned-up version of her song, "Hot N Cold" with Elmo. The song made its way to Youtube even though it wasn't supposed to be aired yet, and racked up nearly a million views. Some parents complained that her cleavage was showing too much, and producers have now decided not to air the sketch.

What was she/they thinking pairing up that low cut outfit with Elmo? She is bouncing around and her breasts are actually jiggling. I don't understand why a girl who sings about sex is being marketed to the Sesame Street crowd anyway.



The SNL got a hold of it.

The Mad Men Influence

Mad Men, the popular television series on AMC, has deeply influenced American culture. The relationships among the men and women express empowerment, subordination, independence, and sexuality. The costume design has also affected men and women viewers. There is a contest that allows fans to upload a photograph depicting themselves during the 50s and 60s in order to win a chance to be on the show. Men and women have embraced the classic fashion sense that was mainstream during this time period.

There's even a Mad About Style Guide.


The men are made for the workplace and the women take care of the kids. The women in the office are all secretaries, except one young woman who strives to be like the other guys, and sometimes pushes through. Here is a video "Mad Men in 60 Seconds" that illustrates a few of the themes during the season.



Since I am not an avid viewer, I will not jump to any conclusions that may not be true. However, I do feel that the show is idolizing sex and cheating in a different light compared to other TV shows. Several of the female characters are very voluptuous and curvy, but are also seen as sex symbols in the office.

My feelings about this program go back and forth. It places the male in a position where he can do whatever he wants, whether it's cheating or drinking liquor all day during work. Positive themes do arise, for instance the young woman who is a creative genius at the advertising firm, and gets promotions above the other males.

How To Shower: Men vs Women

I posted the course recommended shower video on Facebook, eager to see what some of my friends had to say.

I received a few responses back from seven males and one female. Here are a few responses:

"I love how frantic she gets!"

"Haha it's true...at least on the man side."

"Wow, the mohawk! It really happens!"

"Mairin, as a mass media professional, do you think the creators of this film purposely chose the screenshot of a nearly nude large breasted woman as the thumbnail of their video to increase views?"

"Can't forget to leave your 'coarse butt hair' on the soap and then pee. Man Law."

The female wrote, "LOL."

I enjoyed this video because it's funny and for the most part it's true. Women use beauty products like fancy facewash and shampoo for various reasons. Personally, I am attracted to a product that promises smooth skin and less blemishes, and has hight consumer ratings. If I receive positive results I will use it again and praise its powers to others. I'll admit that I have been caught in the mad web of consumer product production and advertising.

Women are expected to smell pretty, look pretty, have clear skin, have smooth legs and shiny hair. In order to live up to these expectations that society and media have created, we use beauty products day and night. In the shower, after the shower, getting dressed, during the day, after work and before bed. Just think how much money we spend on those items?

Men on the other hand are supposed to smell fairly good most of the time. Their hygiene is not deemed as important as women's hygiene. Men are usually excused for their lack of cleanliness and conservativeness regarding bodily functions. Haven't you heard, "women don't sweat, they glow" or "women don't poop." However, men have hour long conversations about their duties in the restroom. It's socially acceptable for a man to be in a public setting that is hot in temperature with underarm sweat marks and slight body odor; yet a woman in the same situation would be frowned upon.

Women aren't supposed to age. In our society, women don't look as pretty when they age. Men are more attractive as they grow older. Those crows feet wrinkles are sexy. Women's eye wrinkles should be shot with Botox. Men look handsome with specs of gray in their hair. Women, don't show those roots. Go die the gray out, at least until you reach an age where it's acceptable to have gray hair. As seen in the comment above, there is this idea of a "Man Law" that is understood by both sexes.

Ok, women aren't the only ones harped on by societal expectations. Men are supposed to have six-pack stomach's and defined arms. Men are supposed to be tall and strong. It goes both ways. We are not happy with what we have, so we use products to try and get close to that image we want for ourselves and what others expect to see.

And yes, I do think the still image of the woman grabbing her breasts was chosen to catch the attention of viewers.

Pass Over

This summer I visited my friend Jonathan who recently moved to New York. He lives in Harlem and each day we took the train to Manhattan to sight see and check out the city. I have never been to New York or seen been to a city as fast-paced and crowded. I tried to fit in as smoothly as possible so I dressed a little edgier than usual, wore my camera slung around my side rather than around my neck, researched my directions prior to hitting the streets and tried not to drop my jaw at the sight of breathtaking sky scrapers.

I tried to pass as a native New Yorker. I attempted to swim in the sea of business commuters and fashion forward individuals who filled the underground train system and swept the busy streets.

The class discussion that compared passing and covering made me immediately think of my New York trip and my attempt as passing as a local. I was constantly reminded that I was hiding my slight Texan accent and my excited physical reactions.

People do it every day: hide a stigmatized trait in order to pass as something they are not. A pale black woman passing as white. A deaf man reading lips and nodding along in order to pass as being able to hear. A lesbian passing as straight in a room of conservative people. A born and raised Texas passing as a New York native.

Passing can occur anywhere. If you walk into a high-end department store looking for an expensive item, you don't usually wear old flip flips and a torn-up shirt. If you go to a rock concert you probably won't wear a cowboy hat and wranglers. If you are going to a football game you won't wear the business suit you wore to work. You want to be treated as you belong there so you dress, act and talk like you do. You are passing as a buyer, a rocker, a fan, even though you may not be.

These are just simple examples, but passing occurs in more serious situations dealing with race, sexuality, religion and so on. Due to the limits and standards that our society has created over time we create an outer image that we want others to read, even if it doesn't match up internally.