For my second formal writing I chose the Cosmo website for women. I have been writing about how this website sends messages towards women that may potentially become violent. I am also discussing how this website is extremely heteronormative and causes “othering.” Through the ads and text on the website, young women may be seriously affected by websites such as these. The scary fact of information like this being on a website is that it is even more easily accessible and available to women. Many young women may be visiting websites such as these without a parent knowing. Many phones are currently easily accessible to the internet which is also a factor about this website.
For my third paper, as of now, I am going to continue to use this same website and discuss how it could be changed to bring across more positive messages. I am also going to write about men’s websites that are similar to these and how they are different from women’s. I would also like to write about how I think this website and websites like this one will change in the future and what I think is actually going to happen. I am interested in researching the back ground and history of this website to find out some more about it.
Last Tuesday when we watched the video about the women with the disability of having no legs, I had mixed feelings about the show. I don’t think the show was trying to make fun of this woman. However, I think if the show was geared more towards the medical aspect then it would make the show more credible. I found the show interesting to watch but I think it is geared more towards human interest, instead of education.

2-16

I feel like I have constantly had the Olympics on since they have started. I’m not a huge sports person but I think they are sometimes interesting to watch and especially the Olympics since they do not occur that often. When were in class on Friday and talking about the readings and how women are seen as less and weaker then mean, and in turn this is a form of a disability. I never really thought of it that way but it definitely seems to fit the mold for how our society seems to think today. The more I thought about it I noticed more parallels with how society thinks of women and of those people who have a disability.
Back to the Olympics…women and men’s sports are also different from each other. When I think of the Olympics I think of the women participating ice skating and the men participating in snow boarding. The fact that that was the first thing that came to my mind future shows how gender stereotypes have been instilled in our brains. Women have different adaptations and rules for their sports in the Olympics and they are often viewed as the slower ones. Women definitely play a huge role in every sport in the Olympics but I still feel like there is a parallel between women's sports and the idea that women are seen as having a “disability.” Clearly there are aspects in sports where men would be faster and stronger because of the way that they are built. However, I feel that there is still an idea of weakness placed on women in sports then in men. I believe that I have been instilled with these ideas because of the media through methods from magazine advertisements, to commercials TV programs. I will definitely continue to watch the Olympics and look for incidents of gender stereotyping.

I was really shocked by the TV program that we watched the other day in class. I have never seen a show like this before, and to be honest, I didn’t even really know any shows like this existed. I think it was bold and daring of the producers to create this show and I’m proud of them for doing so. Even though there were many parts that I found unrealistic, I thought the TV show made many good points about heterosexuality and homosexuality. I think this show is geared towards homosexuals and heterosexuals. I don’t think I would necessarily be interested in watching this show on a daily basis, but I would be interested in seeing how the TV producers carried on the show and changed it in future episodes and seasons. I wonder if it continues to be unrealistic? Perhaps I will look into a synopsis of future episodes.

For my second formal writing I would like to use the “Real Housewives of Orange County” TV show. The show portrays women who live in Orange County as, slender, wealthy, gorgeous, and having the perfect life. My sister lives in Newport Beach, in Orange County, so I thought it would be interesting to use this show for my paper because I have been to Orange County many times. This show portrays an image that if you are from Orange County, you will portray these qualities. I think it also puts pressure on women who live in this area as well. I asked my sister how she felt about the show. She said that the show is unrealistic and makes her feel like she needs to fit into a particular mold of people. She admitted that she does watch the show and finds it entertaining. However, she said she must not take it too seriously or else she will drive herself crazy. I thought it was interesting and enlightening to hear her views about this show.