Week four

 I find it so interesting how the idea of a "coming of age" party has been perpetuated throughout society as a critical point in a young persons life. From the information that I saw in the Alvarez piece and from the episode from the Sweet Sixteen program, I observed that a lot of these parties started out as a ceremony to recognize the shift from girlhood into womanhood, but ultimately they turned out to be extremely over the top parties displaying the families wealth and social status. Alvarez described how the Quinceanera has evolved into something that parents throw to give their children what they themselves could never have. Most of the parents who were throwing these elaborate parties told their children that when they were their age, their parents could never afford to give them a Quinceanera. With this new generation of privileged youth, Alvarez describes these rites of passage as becoming "rights" of passage. The youth of today feel a sense of entitlement for these extravagant parties that are becoming less about the actual maturing transition and more about a gaudy display. Between the Alvarez piece and the Sweet Sixteen piece I noticed a lot of the same elements, one in particular being the princess aspect. I find it interesting that Alvarez opened her piece describing what it was like to wear a pink frilly dress and a crown, being the center of attention. In the Sweet Sixteen episode, the first elements that were discussed about the girls party were the Versace crown that her mother had given her and the ball gown she was going to wear, and how important it was that she was the center of attention. Everything about these rite of passage parties revolves around turning the girl into a princess. A crown and a ball gown are standard with every event and the whole premise is making that girl feel like she is Cinderella for one night.

If I was going to capture a "coming of age" party on television I would do some things differently. Obviously I understand that the Sweet Sixteen program grabs so many of its viewers from the outrageous purchases and behaviors of the shows cast, but I would like to see a coming of age party that doesn't just show its subject throwing fits in a ball gown. I would choose to cover someone who was a little more down to earth, who actually celebrated this event with maturity rather than with spoiled outbursts. I can't imagine that I would capture a very large audience by doing this, because so much of television focuses on the shock and awe value, but I am sure I could get quite a few feminists and intelligent groups of people to tune in. 

Week Two Blog Post

What it means to be a girl, and how a girl is "supposed" to be a girl, are two different things. Society often tells us what a girl is "supposed" to be but that by no means actually carries any merit. In today's society girls are often told that they should be polite, obedient, pretty, and sweet. By societies standards these are the qualities that make a girl a girl. I have always felt what it means to be a girl is personal to each individual girl. No one can tell you the things you are "supposed" to do or the things you are "supposed" to believe, in order to make you who you are.

In The Sound Of Music the song that the characters Maria and Liesl sing discusses how the sixteen year old should approach dating and getting married. In the song it explains that a young girl must wait and be patient until the right man comes along and makes you his. This song basically says that a girl must prepare her whole life and wait for the day that she is taken as a bride and becomes a mans property. To be fair the song is dated and a little innocent in its lyrics, but it still suggests the same stereotypical material, that girls greatest endeavor in life is securing a husband to take care of them. I believe we have made quite a lot of progress as women to prove this stereotype false, however I still see a lot of young girls who feel that securing a husband should be the most important thing to them. 

I grew up in a really close minded community where 95% of the community was made up of LDS families. In the LDS faith women are encouraged to stay home and to start thinking seriously about marriage at a young age. Unfortunately because of this stressed belief, many of my friends focused their attention on getting married, and many never pursued further education beyond high school. The idea that girls must seek out a husband is still out there, and it isn't only talked about in the LDS faith. There are a lot more women today who understand their potential extends far beyond receiving a wedding ring, but I think society still needs to keep moving. Being a girl should be all about expressing yourself in any way that you please, and becoming who you want to be, not who society tells you to be. 

The Easy Bake Oven

In the early 90's when I was kid there was one toy that every girl had to have. The Easy Bake Oven was the ultimate play experience, every girl who had an Easy Bake Oven immediately became the most popular girl to play with. I remember making my Christmas list in July with an Easy Bake Oven topping the list. The Easy Bake Oven was an amazing toy for young little girls who liked to play house. The small pink oven would make bite size portions of delicious baked goods. The instructions were simple enough for a young girl to understand, often times you would add water to a pre packaged mix with a bright picture of whatever  baked good it would make on the front, then slide into the mini convectional oven and wait a few minutes for the pink timer to ding when it was finished baking.

The Easy Bake Oven commercials that aired on television consisted of groups of giggly girls gathered around a pink mini oven baking various types of baked goods. It was very clear by the pink colors, girly floral print, and pastel colored cooking utensils that the oven was designed specifically for girls and not for boys. Boys did not typically play with the oven, however they would come and join us girls to help us eat the bite sized baked goods when they were finished. If boys played with this pink oven they were often perceived as feminine, I even had a neighborhood boy that I played with tell me that cooking was something girls did, not boys. The Easy Bake Oven was generally marketed to girls between the ages of six to eleven, I was eight years old when my best friend and I got ours for Christmas.

The oven was definitely seen  as a prized toy to own and it was considered a more mature form of play that young girls really sought to participate in. Instead of turning the knobs on your Fisher-Price oven to produce an imaginary plate of dinner for your "family" you could actually use a real oven and produce a real result, which revolutionized how little girls played. I can't deny the fact that I enjoyed playing with my Easy Bake Oven, but as I have gotten older I can see how the toy supports a stereotype, of women being homemakers and focusing on cultivating their baking skills for their male counterparts and children. The Easy Bake Oven was a toy that encouraged girls to act out domestic roles in play, but after some further research I have found that in recent years The Easy Bake Oven has produced a new gender neutral design. The gender neutral model being marketed is not a girlish pink color but a light blue, and the commercials even feature groups of children consisting of girls and boys playing together. The oven is still typically more popular among young girls but I do think that young boys are beginning to join in the play as well.

Week One

My name is Chantay Fry, I recently transferred from Dixie State University down in St.George Utah up to the main Utah State campus in Logan. I am taking this class to fulfill part of my credit requirements for my minor in Women and Gender studies, as well as having a general interest in the subject matter. I am currently majoring in Family Consumer and human development, and I plan on applying for law school once I have completed my bachelors degree. In my down time I enjoy napping, watching Netflix, cooking, reading, and singing. I am a big Jane Austen fan, with Pride and Prejudice being my favorite book out of her collection. I grew up as the oldest of four daughters so my sisters and I find that we can relate to that particular book quite well. So thats a little bit about me, I am excited to be taking this course, and I look forward to getting to know all of you this semester.