Masculine tropes: The Modern Prince Charming

After watching The Feminist Frequency, I realized that today's society(and Wellesley in particular) concentrates on the effect of media on women as well as their portrayal. However, I think the way that men are portrayed in media is just as important. Indeed, I think we can all agree that the way that men act and think has some important implications for women.

After thinking about a few popular TV shows and movies, I've divided the lead male characters into two main categories: Princes and Princesses. This post will discuss the former.

The modern-day Prince is a man who is witty, charming, handsome or some combination thereof. Ladies love him and men want to be him. Or kill him for making the ladies love him. He has a cool, suave demeanor and is often time aloof and mysterious.


And all of that seems to make up for the fact that he has some really important unsavory personality traits. In fact, he seems to always be forgiven for these offensive traits simply because he is charming and women fall all over themselves when present with a smooth talker. Let's examine few examples:

Don Draper is main male lead of the hit show Mad Men, a show about an advertising agency on Madison Avenue in the 1960's. Don's very job is to manipulate words and pander to clients. He is literally a master of seduction. In addition to looking dapper all the time in a well tailored suit, he also is occasionally the champion for the ladies(usually Peggy or Joan). He also has a beautiful Jaguar. However, he has also had numerous extramarital affairs...and he stole someone else's identity(which is a felony). But hey, he's handsome and debonair so we can let that all slide right?

Next up is Edward Cullen, sexy vampire protagonist of the Twilight Saga. He's sparkly and has perfectly tousled locks AT ALL THE TIMES. He's moody and broody but oh so handsome. His eyes smolder and his voice is melodious and appealing. So appealing, in fact, that Bella(his unremarkable mortal girlfriend) would throw herself off a cliff just to hear it in a flight of dementia. He is a mentally and emotionally abusive boyfriend who puts Bella in danger constantly because he wants to eat her every moment he's around her(and so does every other vampire). He eventually marries her, virtually erasing all conflicts that had been built up over the course of the first three books. So...he wins in the end, right? Also, he has a really nice car too (+1)

Lastly, Jacob Black is the anti-hero of Twilight. He is Edward's main competition for Bella's affection. Again, we really receive no insight into his character other than he's the "typical" teenage guy: angry and horny. We have no information about his interests outside of Cars and Bella. While Edward is icy and aloof, Jacob is supposed to radiate warmth and friendship. He's Bella's best friend and her attraction for him snuck up on her out of nowhere. He's incredibly tall, ripped and also has really sexy hair. In the third book of the saga, he sexually assaults her but this is covered up because he just loves her sooooo much and wants to give her the normal life that she can't have if she's with Edward. In the end he ends up falling in love with Bella's daughter and so he gets a happy ending as well. Jacob does not have an expensive car but he does have a shiny motorcycle.

What is particularly disturbing about these tropes is that they essentially are teaching guys that they can be good looking, rich or charming and get whatever they want(which basically means whichever women they want). The sad thing about that, is that I've observed this to be kind of true in my own life(but that doesn't make it okay). These men are physically, emotionally, and mentally abusive yet they basically can do anything they want because they can make women swoon so that they forget all those bad things. But you're Wellesley women...you won't forget.

Hats off to the W network!

I would just like to take the opportunity to acknowledge all the international students that have read my articles. A year ago, I would never have thought that my writing would be read by people in South Africa, Mexico, Cambodia, Russia, Ghana, India, Tanzania, the UK, Canada and lastly in the good ol' US :)

First Year Experiences: How to do Laundry

While some people might find this remedial, I did laundry for the first time EVER by myself when I arrived at Wellesley and I thought I would type up this quick guide for those who have no had this experience yet. Here we go:

Step 1: Put your quarters into the washing machine to make sure that it's working; machines are rarely labeled when they are out of order. A load of laundry costs $1.00 USD and the machines only accept quarters. There is a change machine in the Campus Center for you to use.

Step 2: Load the washing machine with your clothes; be sure to unroll sleeves and socks to make sure they are washed properly. 

Step 3: Insert detergent. For the first couple of months, I used laundry sheets that contained detergent, softener and anti static. Those can be put in right where you put your clothes. For liquid detergent, there is a labelled opening on the top of the washing machine where you can pour the detergent. Liquid detergent can be measured out using the cap of the bottle.

Step 4: Select appropriate setting. I usually use cold water to reduce the probability of leaking dye or shrinking clothes.

Step 5: Insert quarters into the dryers to ascertain working machines.

Step 6: Transfer damp clothes into the dryer.

Step 7: CLEAN THE LINT SCREEN BEFORE YOU START THE DRYER. If you do not, the dryer will BURN your clothes.

Step 8: Select appropriate setting. I usually use "White and Colors" but this depends entirely on what you're washing. 

Step 9: Clean the lint screen after you're done too.

And you're done!

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A few notes:

1) Yes, you can wear things more than once. Thicker items (like jeans and sweatshirts) and basically anything that doesn't touch your body directly can be worn 2 or 3 times before needing to washed. 

2) Be careful about what you put together in a load. Wellesley washers and dryers are highly unreliable and if loaded with a lot of thick objects(like during the winter), some of your clothes may not come out completely dry. Alternatively, some of your items(especially new clothes) may leak dye or other chemicals so if you're unsure, use a bit of detergent and wash them with warm water in the sink to test them out.

3) Try to keep track of how much time left you have before your laundry is done. There is a time on top of each of the machines to tell you this. If it's a busy day and you've abandoned your laundry, there is a good chance that someone will come and take your laundry out and place it somewhere else so that they can do theirs. If they're nice, it will be in your hamper. If they're mean, it will be on top of the machine with the most embarrassing items clearly visible.

4) Stock up on underwear and socks: These are usually the limiting factor for when I want to do laundry, not my actual clothes. I usually do laundry about once every week and a half. 

I think that's about everything, hope that was helpful :)

First Year Experiences: The Roommate

So here's the first of my first year blog posts.

Clearly, they ordered Lemon Thai

One of the incoming first years mentioned her anxiety about having a roommate this coming year and I thought I would address it. Last year, I was definitely excited about having a roommate but it was a little nerve racking too. To put this into context, I've basically been an only child throughout middle school and high school, never went to boarding school and have never had to share a room with anyone before, except on family trips.

Throughout the course of this past year, I have seen a lot of varied roommate pairings. Some of these have worked, others have not. When it doesn't work out, the blame does not fall onto one person or the other. It is not solely one person's fault that something didn't work out, just that certain circumstances have made it impossible for them to live together.

The two most important things for successful roommate pairings(in my opinion) are as follows:

1) Sleep patterns: Do you go out and come back really late? Do you sleep really late on the weekends? Are you generally a morning person? Are you an evening person? Are you a light sleeper? Are you a heavy sleeper? You may not know the answer to these questions yet but it'll be something you'll figure out soon enough. Once you do, try to work out a policy for how to deal with potential differences. For example, in one roommate pairing I knew, if one roommate had to work for more than 20 minutes after the other roommate has gone to sleep, the working roommate would need to find another place outside of the room to work for the remainder of the evening.

2) Visitors: While you may enjoy having the freedom to have your romantic partner(or even just friends) over, this requires quite a bit of adjustment for your roommate, whether it's giving up the room, or having someone stay in the room overnight. It's something that should definitely be hammered out in the beginning of the school year, no matter how silly you feel doing it.

I think the most difficult part of dealing with roommates is open communication. There are a whole host of complications. People don't like hurting other peoples' feelings, they want to be best friends with their roommate but their roommate isn't feeling it so much. There are a lot of little things that you might need to talk about that you don't even realize you need to talk about because you've already dismissed them as too banal. I assure you, they are not.

So when you arrive on campus in August, try to keep an open mind. Be flexible and try to accomodate and compromise. This is your first act as an adult and while you might think this redundant, but your roommate at the most basic level just needs to be someone you can get along with well enough to live together peacefully. You'd be shocked at how much of a difference this can make in your overall experience here.

Glee Finale

Finals are done so I'm celebrating by 1) Blogging and 2) Blogging about something other than school yay!

So tonight was the two hour finale of Glee and warning: THERE ARE SPOILERS HERE.

The first part was centered around Tina, who has essentially been portrayed as a flighty background character. However, they brought to our attention the following facts:

1) She is one of the founding members of the Glee Club

2) Most people don't seem to even know her name

3) She usually spends her time during what few solos she has either crying or being laughed at.

Now I happen to think that Tina is a kind of problematic. I don't really like her because she's too extreme: either she is playing the sweet nice girl or she's acting out without reason. There's really no buildup and no middle ground. BUT. I think that it addressed some important points; mainly that she was screwed over week after week and that her character is severely under-developed.

Sugar as Quinn and Joe as Mike

They had her hitting her head and having a sort of hallucination where a bunch of people switched places and that was fun for a bit. I think that Dianna Agron(Quinn) as Sugar Motta was pretty funny. 

My favorite part from her though was her saying "Yeah, I know Rachel Berry is a pain in the butt" and then defending her to Whoopi Goldberg. It shows that she has some sort of fire, even if it's only starting to manifest itself. Is this supposed to be a hint about what's to come then for next season? Overall it was a kind of lackluster episode, though I did enjoy hearing more about Puck's storyline as well as Beiste's (I recommend you watch this part for yourself, it's actually pretty dece). Also, even though I don't think that Glee could ever be considered "heavy" or "serious" television, I think that having such a high probability that dreams could be destroyed and having the characters be afraid of that possibility was a good writing choice. A not so subtle reminder that not everything can or will go your way in life but that you should rise up and meet whatever challenge comes your way. 

Anyways, on to the second part. Nationals are coming up and everyone is really driven to win. Vocal Adrenaline's selling point is that they have a transgendered lead singer, Unique who is played by a winner of the Glee project(Alex). He(She) sings "Starships" for the performance; the intensity and mechanical quality that the performance had kind of turned me off....a lot. Also the second song used pinball machines which I found slightly ridiculous. 

I liked that Jesse took a break from being a douche to help Rachel out and proved that no matter how old or successful you get, getting complimented by a mentor/person you respect in the field you love is an awesome feeling. I think we can totally sympathize here.

So New Directions finally wins Nationals(not really surprised there) and although they're not exactly the most graceful winners, it's nice to see them winning for once instead of being interrupted by weird events(ie impromptu makeout sessions, babies being born etc).

I think that the confetti party at the high school was a little over the top; at my former high school I don't think people would have particularly cared. The Brittany/Santana kiss was cute though and I'm happy they can celebrate this huge win. The fact that Emma's virginity was like a prize for Will winning Nationals is highly problematic but that's another post for another day. Also, random girl who was way too excited to have Rachel's autograph? A little weird.

Also, Will as teacher of the year? I can't even begin to describe how much I've come to hate his character and the fact that he got teacher of the year is vomit worthy. But I guess they need to end on a high note. A really really high note. And "We are the Champions" as the final song? A really really really high note. Though I liked that they cut to Sue on the "No time for losers" part (classic).

Overall, this was a really cute(though cliche) episode but it was everything that I expected it to be and really you can't ask for more than that.

The Same-sex Marriage Post

This will be a short one because I need to go study for finals.

BUT. I thought I should say something.

So unless you are living under a rock, you probably know that North Carolina's state constitution was revised earlier this week to legally ban gay marriage. President Obama has spoken out in favor of gay marriage as have countless other people, from celebrities to Youtube Stars; this is a topic of much discussion.

And just so that we're clear, I am totally completely for Gay rights and I think that they should most definitely be allowed to marry in the United States, a place that prides itself on supposed equality. And after all, "Who am I to get in the way of true love?"

One thing that I would like to add to the discussion(because I'm still in finals mode) is that homophobia is a contrived notion. In lieu of my Greek Tragedy final I would like to point out the system of pederasty in Ancient Greece. When a young man(called an ephebe) was coming of age, he would be put into a homoerotic relationship with an older man and in return, the older man would exchange "knowledge" about life and the universe. This system was considered the highest form of love and was lauded by many different playwrights from Socrates to Aristophanes and Plato. This homosexual relationship was deemed the purest form of human relationships and ennobled because of the flow of knowledge between men.

So yeah. That's something to think about. And also worth noting, there are a gagillion poems by Sappho extolling the virtues of lesbian love.

I think that the take home point from this whole debate is that marriage exists in a religious sphere and a legal sphere. And in the US, we are all citizens protected by national law. There is a lot of tension at the moment between national and state law. I happen to think that marriage is a basic human right, and as such should be protected under national law.

Anyways, I know that wasn't like a brilliant revelation or anything but I got excited that something I learned in the classroom was pertinent to today's news.
Best Wishes.

Mad Men dives into the Mod 60's

Warning: this contains spoilers.

Remember this? Mrs. Draper 1.0

Season 5 of Mad Men is now well underway and after a year and a half hiatus, fans were anxiously awaiting what the new season would bring.

Mrs. Draper 2.0: How far we have come.

The writers are really playing up the theme of change in this season and I think when you consider the first season, it's very artfully done. The second, third and fourth season seemed to drag on messily. When Don and Betty tried to patch their sham of a marriage and then the hostility that came with the divorce, I was constantly cringing and waiting for the writers to put an end to their misery. Also, I for one am very excited that the show is starting to tackle issues like race and drug use. It really gives the viewer the sense that the late 60's were a time when the world was changing so fast from what it had been. The progression through the seasons brings this into focus really nicely.

Space dress and go-go boots? For a thirteen year old? Really Megan?

How the mighty have fallen

Furthermore, the characters are developing really well and though I'm skeptical about how labored everything seems to feel to Don this season, I really like that Sally and Megan are getting more screen time, separately and as "mother" and daughter. Megan is really starting to come into her own at work and over the course of the last few episodes, we've seen her mature quite a bit more. Sally is in that awkward stage of being between child and teenager and I wish we could fast forward to her teenage years so we could see Don having a fit when he finds out she slept with Glenn or something like that. Her main antagonist this season seemed to be her step-grandmother. It's like Betty dropped off the face of the Earth. I hated Betty Draper so much in Season 3 and 4 that I'm frankly relieved that we don't see much of her now. She was kind of a monster before with her borderline abusive treatment of Sally. After her cancer scare she's pretty much dissipated into the background. I will miss her awesome wardrobe though.

The costume designers have started taking more risks with color palettes this season which really emphasizes the changing times. The contrast is astounding actually. I think the most indicative outfit of change is Jane's outfit pictured below. Gone are the pencil skirts, button ups and French twists. I'm not quite sure what her inspiration was for this outfit but it's certainly daring. All the men seem to be wearing hideous plaid sportcoats as well this season. What up with that?

While there are the occasional wonky moments, I'm pleased with Season 5 overall so far. It's nice to see that they're weaving new stories into the mix because Pete/Peggy/Ken storylines seem somewhat trite now. We needed something new and they delivered. Don seems a lot less suave this season but I respect that choice by Matthew Weiner. Stay tuned for more updates.