Gender-Neutral Parenting

            One form of parenting I admire is letting children choose whatever they wish to be interested in.  Parents who let their children play with either dolls or Legos regardless of the child’s gender is crucial to enhancing the child’s creativity and interests.  Sasha’s parents allowed him to play with whatever he wanted to and dressed as he pleased, which, in my opinion, was a good choice. Children should be able to choose what they want to play with and what they want to wear without feeling society’s pressure.  What I do not agree with is the more extreme version of gender neutral parenting: when the parents do not tell the child that he or she is a boy or a girl. 

I think that not telling the child his/her gender may do more harm than good.  Sasha’s parents did not tell Sasha that he was born as a boy, or refer to him as “him.”  They simply referred to their child as “the infant,” which I believe to be incredibly cold.  If they wished to refer to Sasha without using gender-based pronouns, they could have selected other descriptors, such as “our child” or simply use his name.  Sasha’s parents say their gender-neutral parenting will be hard to keep up as Sasha grows older and enters school.  This article did not mention anything about the parents’ thought process for when Sasha reaches puberty, but I would be interested in reading about that.  If Sasha was not told he was biologically a boy from an early age, how will he learn to accept this fact and thoroughly understand it when he is already in school with other children?

After reading the article Sasha, I decided to read some of the comments on the article to look at other perspectives.  Apart from much negativity on the subject, one woman mentioned that the idea of “declaring” a gender should not stereotype a person.  This made me think about our discussion in the first lecture about cis-gender and trans-gender individuals.  Cis-gender individuals identify with the gender they are born with, while trans-gender individuals do not.  Gender neutral parenting essentially aims to let children choose how they wish to be portrayed without society’s input, but in Sasha and Storm’s cases, these extreme measures may just be too extreme.  Regardless of whether or not Sasha or Storm identify with their biological genders, they will both have to recognize the gender they were born with at birth simply for health reasons.  Finally, since this kind of parenting has not been studied before, we have no way of knowing the impacts on the child in the future.

Stressed, Tired, Rushed: Portrait of the Modern Family

            The article Stressed, Tired, Rushed: Portrait of the Modern Family written by Claire Cain Miller discusses the overarching theme of the tradeoff between time spent at work and with family.  It does this by talking about the ever growing phenomenon in which families have both parents working full time jobs.  This lifestyle is compared to families with only one parent working or families with one full-time worker and one part-time worker.  It is now more likely that children will grow up in a home with both of their parents working.  This trend has grown substantially in the past few decades and has left many parents feeling “stressed, tired, and rushed” most of the time.  Many parents feel as if they are not spending enough time with their families and find it hard to come up with an equal balance between work, friendships, and family.  Miller then goes on to mention a survey which found that “college-educated parents and white parents were significantly more likely than other parents to say work-family balance is difficult.”  This highlights the so-called “stress gap” between race and education. 

            Miller then writes about the differences in work between mothers and fathers.  Mothers are still performing most of the house work and caring for the child while also working at a full time job.  This leads to many parents feeling as if they aren’t performing their best in the various aspects of their lives.  They aren’t spending as much time with their children or performing their best at work, leading to a lot of tension.  However, the article provided some data pertaining to the tradeoff between both parents working full time and having one parent stay at home.  Looking at the median household income as data to highlight this claim, Miller points out that the household income with both parents working full time is $102,400.  This number is compared with $84,000 when one parent works full-time and the other part-time, and finally $55,000 when only one parent works full time.  But when parents are spending time at home, they are spending more time with their children instead of housework.  In addition to this change, parents are also taking a more “egalitarian” approach and are attempting to divide childcare and housework evenly between the two parents.  The article ends with the topic of paid family leave, with one woman stating that it should be “absolutely gender-neutral.”

Maggie Pugliese

Professor Braverman

WGS 220: Gender and Pop Culture

November 20, 2016

Trendsetting: Ready, Set, Go Viral

Medical advances have grown exponentially over the past few years, particularly through the treatment of cancers.  Unfortunately, many families have been affected by various types of cancer, some more aggressive than others.  What provides the most hope in the fight against cancer are the extraordinary advances that medicine and technology have made in the process of detecting and treating this terrible disease.

            One of the ways doctors detect cancer is through the use of a positron emission tomography scan, otherwise called a PET scan.  Cancer cells uptake glucose for metabolic processes and grow differently from normal bodily tissue.  Simply put, the idea behind PET scans is to supply cancerous cells with radioactively labelled glucose, then perform a scan of the person’s body.  As the radioactive glucose is broken down by the cancerous cells, positrons are produced as a form of energy.  The PET scanner reads this energy output and forms an image, providing doctors with information such as the cancer’s location or metastasis of the cells (Nordqvist).  In addition to detecting cancer and its spreading, some new testing processes involve the use of PET scans to test “the effectiveness of cancer therapies within just a few hours of treatment” (Offord).  In these situations, once a cancer treatment drug is given to a patient, the PET scan can show doctors “the moment the drug starts working.”  The dying cells affected by the treatment light up, giving doctors insight as to whether or not the treatment is working to combat the cancer (Offord).

To create awareness not only for the prevalence of cancer, but also the technological advances in cancer treatment, I asked that people post a photo of their pet to Instagram using the hashtag #petsforPETS.  I researched a bit about what makes something “go viral” and learned that in order for something to “go viral,” it must “incorporate emotional hooks…that catch the attention and sensibility of a particular audience” (Balance 699).  People post photos of their pets on social media all the time and frequently use hashtags, leading me to believe that the short nature of the hashtag and the universally lovable subject in the photograph would provide ease to make this idea go viral. My target audience was anyone who had any kind of pet (dogs, cats, fish, birds, snakes, etc.) and the idea was not gender-specific, creating even more incentive for any person to participate.  I chose to use Instagram as the social media platform to track this project simply because it is where people share pictures most often.  Additionally, Instagram allowed for an easier data collection method in tracking the popularity of the hashtag over the four week period.  Hashtag usage is also more prevalent on Instagram compared to other social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter.  The hashtag “#petsforpets” already existed on Instagram, so I decided on #petsforPETS to easily distinguish posts specifically dedicated to my project from other posts that were unrelated to my project.

            To start this trend, I began to spread my idea on October 20^th by talking to people about it to see if it would catch on just by word of mouth.  Not surprisingly, this was a failed attempt. So at the start of the official tracking period, I posted a picture of my dog with an explanation of my project, using the hashtag #petsforPETS.  I received a lot of positive feedback in reference to the post, such as people telling me how they would love to participate.  I tracked the hashtag weekly over the course of four weeks, noting how many posts were made each week.

            After I made my first post, there were two other posts within the first week.  There were ten posts within the second week, and in the third week, there were five more posts.  Finally, in the fourth week there were an additional three posts.  My goal was actually very simple: to spread the idea in the form of a hashtag to people that were not directly following me on Instagram (i.e. people that are once-removed from me).  In this way, I was successful in my goal, since many of the posts had to be sent to me individually because I could not view them on Instagram, meaning I did not follow them.  However, I was unable to spread my idea outside of the TCNJ community. 

A downfall of using Instagram to track the viral project comes to the surface due to privacy settings.  When people make their profiles private, others are not able to see their posts unless they follow them.  I was able to see the “Most Recent Posts” that used the hashtag, however, I could not see the actual pictures.  In these cases, I had to reach out to anyone who might have participated in the project and ask them to send me a screenshot of their post directly.  What was most frustrating in this assignment was how unmotivated people were in terms of whether or not they actually shared the hashtag.  People often told me that it was a good idea and that they would post something soon but unfortunately, they did not.   My logic at the beginning of the project made me believe the easier a post was to make, the more likely people were to participate.  With the most recent viral phenomenon, the mannequin challenge, I have learned that it is actually the opposite.  The mannequin challenge required a concerted effort from a group of people, but surprisingly, the trend has become increasingly popular, regardless of the amount of effort that had to be put in.

Here is an example of an Instagram post from the beginning of the tracking period:

Works Cited:

Bacareza Balance, Christine. “How It Feels to Be Viral Me.” Gender, Race, and Class in Media. 4^th ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2015. 668-677. Print.

Nordqvist, Christian. “MRI / PET / Ultrasound Radiology / Nuclear Medicine PET Scans: How Does a PET Scan Work.” Medical News Today. MediLexicon International, 3 July 2015. Web. 15 Nov. 2016. <http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/154877.php>.

Offord, Catherine. “Dying Light Marks the Spot.” The Scientist. N.p., 29 Mar. 2016. Web. 16 Nov 2016. <http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/45674/title/Dying-Light-Marks-the-Spot/>.

Social Networks

For this week’s blog post, I decided to look at two of my Facebook friends’ profiles and compare them.  Since everyone has different interests and personalities, I chose two very different friends of mine to consider how people portray themselves online.  Of course this will not encompass all profiles, it is just something to think about.  The first profile I looked at, Person A, has a Facebook profile very similar to mine.  I have known her for a very long time, and she frequently posts many pictures of her family, close friends, and pets.  Her posts on Facebook have not changed much throughout all of high school and now college, which I believe to be a testament to her true personality.  Although she is a woman, her profile is not particularly gendered; she has a job working as a scientist, so lately many of her posts involve scientific references.  The personality that comes through her Facebook profile is extremely similar to her personality in real life.  Due to our long friendship, I can say that her virtual profile would not lead anyone to believe she puts up a front or has two personas.

The next profile I looked at, Person B, gave a very different impression.  This person is also a woman and the most frequent pictures she posts are from the summer.  Usually, she is pictured with her friends either dressed to go to a party or to the beach.  In contrast to Person A, Person B only portrays a fun, party version of herself on social media, but around her family, her personality is more reserved.  Although many of us could probably identify this way, this really highlights the idea that people have “front stages” and “back stages” to their personalities.  Her profile is definitely gendered, due to the way hashtags and captions are used. 

I believe that social media has a huge spectrum of uses.  Some people wish to portray themselves and their lives as they are, while others enjoy carefully constructing their profiles to only portray one side of themselves.  Neither situation is better or worse than the other, they are simply preferences on how each person would like to portray themselves online.  The idea of “virtual profiles” could be understood in a couple of ways.  First, it could represent the person’s true personality through a different medium, therefore their profile would essentially be their virtual personality.  Or in another sense, some people would prefer to filter their “virtual profiles” to have complete control over how others perceive them.

NetGirls: The Internet, Facebook, and Body Image Concern in Adolescent Girls

The study NetGirls: The Internet, Facebook, and Body Image Concern in Adolescent Girls began by discussing body dissatisfaction among adolescent girls.  Body dissatisfaction comes primarily from media sources such as Facebook or television, and in severe cases, it can lead to eating disorders.  The study focused primarily on Australian adolescents who have turned to the internet as their primary source of media.  It referenced a few statistics, such as how “Australian and US youths spend an average of 1.5 hours online per day outside of school work.”  This study is from 2013, so it would be interesting to see any drastic changes in that number with the growing popularity of other social media such as Instagram or Twitter.  Other studies were referenced, noting their purpose: to examine the relationship between internet use and body image concerns.  The results of these previous studies showed a correlation between body image concerns and internet exposure, specifically through the use of Facebook.  The aim of the current study was to further examine the relationship between these two factors on a larger scale.  The scientists hypothesized a positive correlation would be present between Facebook usage and body image concerns.

 This study was achieved by taking a sample of high school girls with the average age being 13.7 years old, from “metropolitan and rural, public and private schools [and] a wide range of socioeconomic stautses.” The girls reported how long they spent on the internet each day excluding time for school work.  Then, they recorded which sites they spent time on (i.e. Facebook or other websites) to gage their internet exposure.  In the next section of the experiment, body image concerns were examined through the “Sociocultural Attitudes Toward Appearance Questionnaire” and by employing the “Objectified Body Consciousness Scale-Youth.” 

The results stated that the majority of girls (95.9%) used internet in their homes, with about half of the girls using the internet in their bedrooms.  The scientists found that the most favorable website was Facebook for social networking and instant messaging.  Next were the results for the relationship between internet exposure and body image concerns: internet exposure was associated with “the internalization of the thin ideal, body surveillance, and drive for thinness.”  This study found that Facebook users specifically scored “significantly higher on all indicators of body image concerns than their non-user counterparts.”  The paper ended by noting some of the limitations of the study, such as the method of data collection.  Further studies should be done to obtain more precise data and perhaps further draw the connection between internet usage and body image concerns in adolescents.

Drama Is the Cure for Gossip: Television’s Turn to Theatricality in a Time of Media Transition

This article, written by Abigail De Kosnik, discusses the interest in US television with showing the “true self” of characters when many TV shows actually show edited versions of people’s identities.  Kosnik first talks about the show Gossip Girl and the extremely privileged, wealthy characters in the show.  The characters live in Manhattan’s Upper East Side, and although they are high-school aged, the characters are often involved in more serious, adult matters.  While some of the problems on the show revolve around ideas such as whose family has the most money, or what family has the highest social standing, they are still high schoolers.  Furthermore, the show is more concerned with problems involving relationships, school, sex, and gossip.  Kosnik points out what while these adolescents are extremely wealthy, “gossip is the most important currency in their world” (Kosnik 566).  The gossip in the show is distributed via Gossip Girl, an anonymous character that frequently sends out gossip “blasts” to students, ruining many students’ reputations.  This demonstrates the power she has over everyone involved.

Gossip Girl viewers “are asked to identify with the Upper East Siders” even though many of the characters are so theatrical that it is hard for viewers to do this (Kosnik 566).  The students in the show learn that “while internet rumors circulated about them tell some portion of the truth, it is never the whole truth” (Kosnik 566).  Kosnik then asks the question why contemporary TV demonstrates people discovering themselves either on stage or performing in front of audiences.  The anonymity of the internet has made it easier for people to lie and create unauthentic representations of themselves.  Internet reputations have become increasingly important for people’s identities, both online and in real life.  Both identities are threatened by gossip, but the internet has made it easier to gossip anonymously.  Another problem with this is that anyone who reads gossip online has no way of knowing its validity.  Although this is a problem, gossip will still spread regardless of if it is true or not. 

Television shows have often acknowledged this fact, but also acknowledge that to reveal one’s true self, it must be done in a dramatic fashion.  The dramatic event often happens in a moment and is completely spontaneous.  Often this spontaneous reaction/decision/behavior is in front of an audience to show others the revelation of one’s “true self” (Kosnik 569).  She ends this chapter by writing how television “displays people’s most intimate journeys…as public performances” (Kosnik 570).

Reality TV

For many of us, reality television has been a phenomenon that has been around for our whole lives- many of us grew up with shows claiming to portray people’s “real lives.”  But those story lines depicted were usually filled with drama and issues that made it hard for viewers to believe it was actually reality.  These shows can become a problem when viewers are unable to distinguish reality from these heavily-edited, augmented versions of “reality.”  I would say the only “real” part of these TV shows is the fact that the people being filmed are real human beings; the situations and drama that often occurs is usually amplified via editing by the producers of the show.

With that being said, I used to religiously watch Jersey Shore when it was still being aired on TV.  For whatever reason, watching these people and all of their bad decisions was a form of entertainment.  Actually, the entertainment aspect is probably the whole point of many reality TV shows.  Viewers are able to watch spectacles of drama that the characters are involved in in the form of a weekly episode.   Jersey Shore makes it really hard for viewers to pick a “favorite character,” especially since they are all essentially portrayed the same way- young people consumed with the party scene and hook-up culture, living together at the Jersey Shore.  Because of this, I chose a couple on the show to examine how each individual is portrayed compared to the other.  I have seen all of the episodes, so I picked one at random that showed Ronnie and Sammy having one of their notorious fights. 

The episode starts off by recapping the couple’s most recent argument.  Sam was frequently heard saying “I just need space” from her now ex-boyfriend, Ron, the stereotypical way reality TV shows portray this scenario.  The other girls in the house decide to take her to the boardwalk to distract her from her breakup, while Ron also goes to the boardwalk with Pauly.   But while the girls were sitting in a bar, Sam notices Ron walk by, and says to one of the girls, “I think he was with a girl.”  The camera then switches to Pauly and Ron to show that he was not, in fact, walking with another girl. 

 These screenshots were taken as Sam said she saw Ron with another girl, and the shot immediately after her statement.  Now regardless of this shot, he MAY have been talking to a girl just as Sam said, but the audience would have no idea.  The next thing she says is, “If you want to play that game I’m gonna go out there and I’m gonna find the hottest guy at this bar and get Ron back for talking to a girl.”  She decides to talk to as many guys as she can and make sure Ron is there to see it to be spiteful and make him jealous.  From this one scene alone, Sam is portrayed to be the crazy ex-girlfriend still overprotective of her ex, while simultaneously making Ron look innocent.  Previous episodes of the show however, have actually shown him cheating on Sam, yet the show still frequently decides to put her at fault for their unhealthy relationship, not both of them together.