You Are A Strong & Independant Woman Who Still Needs A Man

In today's t.v shows we see women everywhere. It's no longer a shock to us to see women doing "masculine" jobs anymore. Many of them still suggest that a woman cannot do the job without a man's help though.

In the show Bones. Dr. Brennan is an anthropologist and highly intelligent. She prides herself on not needing anyone and being able to work alone. But when she starts working at the Jeffersonian with the FBI to help solve murders she realizes the help from others is all part of the job. Like Hodgens and Zach who test the samples, and Angela who is the tech and does all the computer stuff. But the other main character, Booth, the FBI agent who is paired with Temperance seems to be there to show she can't do it alone. And although Dr. Brennan is smart pairing her with a buff man sometimes takes away from her credibilty. It sometimes comes off as when she's working alone, she can do everything all by herself, but when Booth is in the picture she becomes a little more submissive and lets him take charge of things.

Another show where there is a strong female main character is Law and Order: SVU. Detective Olivia Benson has proved that she can work alone and function as an independant woman. When she is alone she is very dominant and takes charge of situations. She looks out and protects herself without needing anyone else to assist. But when she is with her partner Elliot Stabler she is often pushed into the submissive role. When working with her partner and she tries to make a dominant move it is also paired with a scene later in the episode where she needs Elliot's help whether it be needing protection, help with a suspect, or when off the job needing him to talk to or lean on for advice.

Although subtle, I feel these shows encourage women to try and be a strong and independant female while also reminding them they do need to depend on men. They can try to do it on their own but it'll only last for so long before they need a man's help.

Duck Dynasty

One of my new favorite shows is Duck Dynasty. I think it is good, clean humor that is appropriate for all ages. There's no swearing or dirty humor. Although they are millionares, they don't seem to mind working for what they've got. They aren't arrogant or snooty because of what they have and they seem pretty down to earth when we look at families represented in the media.

Given they are a deep southern rooted family, I disagree with the representation of the men and women in the show. It just plays out the typical male and female role stereotypes which don't seem to ring true in today's society, at least not in the cities and suburbs. Phil and Kay are the parents to Willie, Jase, and Jep. Each son is married and has children. They seem to have strong family ties and are very family oriented people. I disagree with the representation of the women in the show. Miss Kay is always in the house doing typical housewife work like watching after the grandchildren, cleaning and keeping the house in order, and having food on the table for whenever Phil decides he's hungry and comes through to eat. The wives of Willie, Jase, and Jep are very active in the church and keeping up appearences. They are always doing some type of volunteer work, shopping, and cleaning their houses.

The men in the show Phil, Si, Willie, Jase, Jep, Godwin (family friend), and Martin (family friend) are always seen outside in the woods doing "masculine" activities. They ride four wheelers and ATV's through the mud and the swamps, shoot up beaver dam's, cut down trees, go hunting, build fires, or some type of physical labor that their wives have requested. They always make fun of one of the other guys if one decides to something that may "take away from their manlieness" or something that may be a little more feminine. One example is when the family went to Hawaii and Willie lost his luggage, he bought a surong which is a typical Hawaiian skirt type of thing that many men in Hawaii wear. But all his brothers thought it was a dress and made fun of him the entire trip for it.

The one thing I find funny through all of this is that through all of these men's "masculinity", they are bossed around by the women and awful lot. When one of the girls says jump they all ask how high. Some attribute this to their southern ways and the respect for women they have. I'm not quite sure what to make of it. I do think that it reinforces how fast paced our lives are and the progress we've made in veering off the traditional gender roles.

Eat This, Not That

Within the past 10 years there has been a huge push by many people in political power and educated Americans to get fit and live a more healthy life. It makes a whole lot of sense that we should want to lead a more healthy life for numerous reasons: happier demeanor, better overall health,and of course-the sexy body that everyone so deeply craves. The media does an awful job in representing this. There are so many ads and commercials that advertise things like "drop ten pounds in a week" or "get that sexy beach body in no time at all". They market this get fit quick crash diets that DO NOT WORK! But they do such a great job in selling it that people actually buy into it. People are not as smart as they really think they are. If they took the time to look into these crazy diets and workout plans, they would realize that IT DOESN'T WORK! All of these Jenny Craig ads and Weight Watchers online say you can "eat whatever you want and still lose the weight"... please. You can not eat whatever you want and still expect to lose weight. They broadcast how it is all about portion control. Well the peole who are looking into these plans wouldn't be there in the first place if they knew about portion control or eating right. The market does such a good job in setting up one specific diet that is supposed to fit the entire country and it just doesn't work like that. There are so many other variables that come into play when talking about a specific diet for just one person it's crazy to think there is just one diet to lose weight for millions of people.

Another booming market advertised is the use of weight loss supplements. People who struggle with weight say it's because they just can't do it. WRONG! Your just being lazy and coming up with excuses for why you cannot lose weight or get healthy. Where there's a will, there's a way. Your just choosing to take the easy way out. Companies market these supplements, that are packed with things that are horrible for your body to begin with, as a way to help you acheive the goals you've always desired. "Take these pills and in two weeks or less you'll have a beach ready six pack" are you serious? That is crazy but the companies do such a good job of selling it to consumers they buy into it. Instead of taking a little time to research other options,or just getting off the couch and going for a walk they buy these pills which make them sick.

One person I really look up to is Michelle Obama for taking huge steps in trying to encourage parents and families to eat healthy and make better meal decisions. She is a big advocate for childhood obesity and she realizes if we can educate the parents on what they are feeding to their children it will get them thinking about what they are putting in their bodies as well. I think the biggest cure for the obesity rate is educating the less fortunate who don't necessarily realize the impact on their bodies. For middle and upper class though, it's pure laziness. Which there isn't a cure for yet.

If the advertising companies would do a better job in advertising the importance of eating healthy instead of advertising the end all be all diet to Americans I think we could be in a better place. And if instead of only advertising crash diets and weight loss supplements they advertised the importance of physical activity we might see a more healthy population. The hardest part though is the fact that a McDonalds burger costs $1.00 and a bag of salad costs $3.00, for lower class and even working class, it's not hard to understand this issue.