Tommy Boy(s)-Without Chris Farley and David Spade

The discussion of tomboys have gone from being common topic to a sort of taboo. The transformation of how the tomboy image from the 1950s to 2012 is viewed by society is intriguing. Hatch describes how over time the views of tomboys changed from (post-war era) someone wanting to simply blend in with society to a lesbian outsider who wants to stick it to the people who don't support them. This is a direct result to how media has portrayed tomboys in their narratives. When tomboys were initially introduced in media to the public, they were seen as people who wanted to be a part of a group or activity that would not normally sanction their participation. Today, a tomboy is seen as nothing but a future lesbian or radical chick; even if most end up trading in their dirty, ripped blue jeans for a dress and heels at some point in their adolescence period.

We can owe this change of perception to specific media pieces such as the films: Bad News Bears, Paper Moon, and Freaky Friday because they pointed society towards believing that becoming a tomboy is not a fruitful endeavor. If the initial perception of a tomboy was carried over through the decades to our present time, then I believe that the topic of tomboys would not be a form of taboo. A girl who can throw harder than a guy should have the opportunity to pitch on the guys team even if she has to dress up like a guy. Believe it or not, but it happened back in the day-and I was afraid during the ages of 10-12 that one day I would maybe strike out swinging to one of these boy/girl pitchers. But, I'm glad that it is safe to say that those sorts of experiences are unheard of in 2012.

The gender inequalities such as men over women, straights over gays, and whites over other races that are apparent in our society have put a pressure on these types of touchy social subjects. They are the components that fuel the transformation of how the tomboy image is viewed by the public. The growing fear of these sort of queer topics will only worsen the acceptance of tomboys across the population and force the actual tomboys to choose their lifestyles at a quicker pace. People should not be influenced by media on their decision whether a certain type of personality should be judged as moral or immoral. And then again, I don't think that it is too important to worry about these types of things. It is probably just a phase that these people go through. By the time a solution can be drawn up, the person will have already turned in her boy clothes for women lingerie.

"New Girl" - No problemo

From what I can tell from the preview "New Girl", I would have to say that the show seems pretty interesting because it's characters seem to delineate from usual stereotypes. Yesterday was the first time I had heard of the show, and after reading all these articles and watching the the preview, I am confident in saying that I do not think that "New Girl" is offensive or demeaning to women. I understand where the argument can be made. In the article "Is New Girl Secretly Feminist?", Zooey Deschanel is viewed in a negative light because she is seen as someone immature and dependent on male figures to teach her the way. Other critics of Zooey point out that she is merely another character learning the ropes to becoming the ideal woman by adhering to societal believes on what she should do and what she can't do.

Before "New Girl", my only experience with Zooey Deschanel is in her role in "500 Days of Summer." As other articles have pointed out, a perfect epitome of a "hipster" or "indie" pixie girl. I really don't see a problem with Zooey repeating her role as someone who is seen as different, because at least it's a deviation from the romantic comedy castes that we see so often. I just read a pretty interesting article talking about romantic comedies. It's written by a Chloe Angyal, editor of a blog called Feministing, working on a doctoral thesis on romantic comedies. The ironic thing is that when she was writing this article Chloe was going through her own breakup with her perfect boyfriend who had apparently dumped her the day before Valentines. She found herself acting like the characters on romantic comedies:

"You might think you're above the influence of these movies, that you're too savvy and cynical for your expectations and ideas to be shaped by them. I certainly thought I was, and maybe you are - but you're probably not. Romantic comedies shape the beliefs and expectations of even the most cynical and media-savvy among us, especially when they catch us at our most vulnerable."


After reading this article, I first must applaud her for putting together a rather in-depth analysis of romantic comedies, but more importantly I think Chloe has evoked the question of "How much of what we watch, is what we come to expect?" 

I think that Zooey being a quirkie indie kid is not a bad think, instead celebrates that not all women are alike. Here is her critic of Romantic Comedies which I found to pretty spot on:

"This wouldn't be a problem, of course, if romantic comedies depicted women and men, and sex and love, in a positive and realistic way. But they don't. Romantic comedies teach us that a woman's life is empty and meaningless without a man, and that any woman who believes she is happy being single is simply lying to herself. They teach us that love is only for straight white people –- skinny, beautiful straight white people, at that. They teach us that men are sex-crazed, commitment-phobic animals who have to be manipulated into romantic relationships, and that when a man really loves a woman, he'll demonstrate his feelings with grand gestures that barely skirt the line between love and stalking."

In other news, I found these articles to be just as interesting because of the questions that arise....

Should equal physical requirements be applied to women in the Military?
http://jezebel.com/5876787/should-lady-marines-get-a-break

How do these anti-feminist organizations still exist?
http://jezebel.com/5885338/a-warning-to-whorish-girls-that-theyll-never-find-a-husband

A very interesting perspective. My strange roommate my freshman year had a fleshlight, and I think subconsiously all of my friends including myself had this internal debate.
http://jezebel.com/5884727/dildos-for-dudes-in-defense-of-boy-toys

Just posted ---- "Lack of Females Roles....still going on, like today"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=PH8JuizIXw8