Stephanie Hanes’s article “Little Girl or Little Women?” , is more of an emotional piece of writing that controversially adds in the Disney Princess effect that the young girls unknowingly participate in. The author then proceeds to the concern of sexualization while nearly failing
When springtime came around and it was time for a carnival queen to be selected, she was picked by her peers in her homeroom class to run, along with fifteen other girls from the other classes. Her outfit choice would be essential to becoming queen. “I knew I couldn’t beat the other contestants at their own game, that is, look like a bobbysoxer. Yet neither could I look too Japanese-y. I decided to go exotic, with a flower print sarong, black hair loose and a hibiscus flower behind my ear.
How well Wes Moore describes the culture of the streets, and particularly disenfranchised adolescents that resort to violence, is extraordinary considering the unbiased perspective Moore gives. Amid Moore’s book one primary theme is street culture. Particularly Moore describes the street culture in two cities, which are Baltimore and the Bronx. In Baltimore city the climate and atmosphere, of high dropout rates, high unemployment and poor public infrastructure creates a perfect trifecta for gang violence to occur. Due to what was stated above, lower income adolescent residents in Baltimore are forced to resort to crime and drugs as a scapegoat of their missed opportunities.
Lianne George was a writer for New York magazine and Metro TV, and a reporter on the arts for the National Post. Currently, she is a senior editor for Maclean’s, in which the article, “Why Are We Dressing Our Daughters Like This” was published. Maclean’s is a popular magazine which covers national and worldwide political and social issues concerning families in the United States and Canada. The targeted audience is educated, in the higher middle class, and around forty years old with an equal men and women reader ratio. In the article, George clearly shows how in society younger girls are shifting towards dressing more provocatively from marketers introducing them to sexual trends.
In the 12 months to April 2009, there were approximately 348,500 females and 41,900 males aged 5 to 14 years in Australia who participated in dancing’. Gender stereotypes supports hegemonic
The author denounces sexism and believes in change. She demands the audience to acknowledge the injustice women have suffered in history. She demands change. In ‘El eterno femenino, she debunks popular notions of the feminine mystique. Castellanos ' method here is comic, and through a theatre language comprised of visual and verbal clichés she precisely captures, and then subverts, the many stereotypes of male-female roles and behaviour.’
During the 1950s and 60s, many young teens started to rebel in various ways to break free from the ‘Ozzie and Harriet fantasy’ their parents and generations before them have experienced. This was displayed through the themes of various rock and roll songs. A specific theme described in many songs at that time was the defiance of stereotypical gender roles. Despite being common back then, this theme and many others at that time are still evident in modern music today. A prime example of the defiance of stereotypical gender roles in modern day music is Lady Gaga.
The genre of blues exploded into the blues craze during the 1920’s. During this time, white record producers saw the untapped goldmine that was blues music performed by people of color. Ma Rainey was one of them, and to some, one of the first, giving her the title, ‘The Mother of Blues’. The 1920’s was not only an era of continuing homophobia from the past (although that would change, briefly, into a mild form of acceptance until the more conservative 1930’s), but also of harsh racism. And yet, one singer, Ma Rainey’s, broke these restrictions.
The topic of self confidence is a subject that is heavily discussed when it comes to girls of all ages. Journalist, Stephanie Hanes, examines the current trend of sexualization amongst young girls. In the article “Little Girls or Little Women: The Disney Princess Effect”, Hanes examines the current trend of sexualization amongst girls. She addresses the issue of desiring to become a women too soon. Hanes develops her article by using the literary techniques of pathos and logos to describe the emotions young girls feel when they see images of women with unattainable features.
The very act of cross-dressing itself was subversive, especially in Spain where costume was hugely important, not just on stage but in real life. Literary critic William Egginton notes in An Epistemology of the Stage, that when it came to costume the "Spanish public was extremely sensitive to such signifiers of class and could not, for example, tolerate or comprehend a scene in which the signs of social status presented by costume and speech would conflict". (402) With the audience so sensitive to costume details, what must they have thought about Rosaura 's male attire? Women dressing as men was a common device used by playwrights in the Golden Age (mujer vestida de hombre ) and one wonders was it merely because it was practical?
In a society that is heavily influenced by mass media, women are repeatedly compartmentalized into unrealistic, and often degrading standards of appearance and sexuality. Doris Bazzini’s research on magazines and Caroline Heldman’s blog explores themes related to a woman’s appearance, while Jessica Valenti elaborates on the concept of virginity in her essay titled, “The Purity Myth”. Despite the diversity in scope when it comes to womanhood, there is a numerous set of expectations that a female must fit in order to be “ideal”. However, this checklist is so specific and debasing that it renders the criteria useless. The three main pre-requisites in being the ideal woman include physical attractiveness, sexual accessibility, and purity.
This role has diminished through the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, but the need to be masculine remains in countless men. Makeup, tights, and ballet shoes are not considered manly. Therefore, a subsequent stereotype has become prevalent. Persistently, people erroneously believe all danseurs to be gay, weak, and feminine. Frequently, male dancers are left to feel inadequate and are discouraged from their art because their manliness is questioned.
As well, butch lesbians are homosexual, and do not participate in the same type of misogynistic existence as typical straight men. Butch lesbians do not have the same privilege of men, and are kept at a level of disrespect both based on gender and sexuality. Even though stereotypically, butch lesbians are seen as the ‘man’ in lesbian relationships, and expected to fulfill similar emotional and sexual duties. In reality, butch women as personal identities are the bane of heteronormativity, because masculine lesbains oppose traditional gender roles, and are gay. Though, this does not stop the heteronormative binary from existing, and prevailing over other forms of lesbian
Although this distinction in skin color may build on to Ursula’s villainous and dehumanizing appearance, it also explains the inspiration many Drag Queens draw from villains’ deviant spectacle, as they are famously glammed up dramatically with heavy eyeshadow, contour, glitter, and blush among other coats of makeup. “Drag Queens” are men who perform highly theatrical forms of femininity for the purpose of entertainment. Further evidence that villains inspire the queer community includes Todrick Hall, a well known Drag Queen and YouTube sensation who reimagines and pays tribute to Disney villains through his YouTube videos complete with flair and flamboyant arrangements. As Todrick Hall notes about his rendition of the “Spell Block Tango”, “I have always had a strange fascination with the Disney villains’ side of the classic fairy tales and now through the music of Chicago you’ll get to hear their stories.” No doubt, the diva and unapologetic attitudes of Disney cinema villains is a source of empowerment for queer femmes who are oftentimes ridiculed and ostracized for their flamboyant expression.
She further suggests that there is a tendency to look beyond cross-dressing or ‘transvestism’ as it challenges the binary of ‘female and ‘male’. Garber is careful not to call it the ‘third sex’; instead she classifies it as ‘third’ which puts into question “identities previously conceived as stable, unchallengeable, grounded and known” (Garber 13). Keeping this in mind it is also important to answer certain questions regarding the cross-dressing motif. Questions such as does the use of cross-dressing motif point towards an interest in the historical practices or does it bring out the contemporary debate around gender? Secondly, what is accomplished by using this motif: - blurring of the gender differences or the heightening of the same?
