“Hip Hop style is a black urban renewal” Tricia Rose
This article is very challenging to read. Rose talks extensively about the economy of New York City in the 1970’s in this particular piece of the reading I totally lost interest it was like blah, blah, blah, blah… (Sorry Dr. Bogad!) :o)
Hip Hop is a style that definitely nobody can deal with because not everyone understands the true meaning of hip hop and its roots. Some of the themes Rose describes in hip hop are: graffiti, break dancing, and rap music all come from the African Diasporas and within that gives birth to what is today’s hip hop music. Rose defines hip hop as a means of communication, identity, and expression; mainly the urban life of African-American society. It is culturally defined as a voice for the voiceless. Although most of society rarely denotes significance in hip hop music, its meanings go beyond lyrics, dance, and themes.
The main focus of Rose for the reader (in that case me!) is to “demonstrate the importance of locating hip hop culture within the context of deindustrialization and to show hip hop’s primary properties”… and now these qualities are portrayed in our everyday society among our youth. Hip Hop “crews” as Rose calls them are seen as families were they are intercultural interacting with one purpose. Similar to the Hines article were he describes teens as a group of people foreseeing one purpose.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
A Little heartbeat... A little Life!
So I posted my comments for the Juno film, but I rethought what I wrote and here is something else:
A little heartbeat…A little Life
“Juno” is a comedic movie staring Ellen Philpotts-Page who was born on February 21, 1987 in Canada. Due to her outstanding performance Page received an Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress. In the film “Juno” we come across a teen that finds out she is pregnant at the tender age of 16. I believe this film celebrates the fact that a teen can become pregnant and not be judged or seen as naïve or an idiot. I also believe that the themes that run through out the movie tap the glass in what society believes is correct.
Being pregnant as a teen does not mean your life is over and this film teaches us that with all the correct resources, a teen can face pregnancy and transform what is seen as a crisis into a miracle. Luckily Juno has a pretty good mind set when she faces the reality of a positive pregnancy stick.
Two options come to her mind: Abortion and Adoption. The visit to an abortion clinic is a mind-wrecking one. The first welcome is a group of anti-abortion people outside yelling and telling you things that at that particular moment you do not want to hear.
Those made Juno realize that an abortion was not a good option for her, making a second option of giving the baby up for adoption. The one thing I highlighted throughout the movie was Juno’s family: understanding, loving, and overall respectful of her decisions. Teens face hard emotions in their teen years: peer pressure, drugs, alcohol… and in some instances pregnancy. What goes inside a teens mind when that pregnancy stick turns positive is a feeling that is indescribable. It is emotional, overwhelming, it marks a turning point in a woman’s life that is devastating. You’re whole life gets put on hold while you wait for the baby to be born.
What does it mean when you fall in love at such a young age? What is the possibility of two teens staying together? Coming of age is a reality that Juno has to face; the film is very straight forward with sex, gender, class, and relationships.
A little heartbeat…A little Life
“Juno” is a comedic movie staring Ellen Philpotts-Page who was born on February 21, 1987 in Canada. Due to her outstanding performance Page received an Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress. In the film “Juno” we come across a teen that finds out she is pregnant at the tender age of 16. I believe this film celebrates the fact that a teen can become pregnant and not be judged or seen as naïve or an idiot. I also believe that the themes that run through out the movie tap the glass in what society believes is correct.
Being pregnant as a teen does not mean your life is over and this film teaches us that with all the correct resources, a teen can face pregnancy and transform what is seen as a crisis into a miracle. Luckily Juno has a pretty good mind set when she faces the reality of a positive pregnancy stick.
Two options come to her mind: Abortion and Adoption. The visit to an abortion clinic is a mind-wrecking one. The first welcome is a group of anti-abortion people outside yelling and telling you things that at that particular moment you do not want to hear.
Those made Juno realize that an abortion was not a good option for her, making a second option of giving the baby up for adoption. The one thing I highlighted throughout the movie was Juno’s family: understanding, loving, and overall respectful of her decisions. Teens face hard emotions in their teen years: peer pressure, drugs, alcohol… and in some instances pregnancy. What goes inside a teens mind when that pregnancy stick turns positive is a feeling that is indescribable. It is emotional, overwhelming, it marks a turning point in a woman’s life that is devastating. You’re whole life gets put on hold while you wait for the baby to be born.
What does it mean when you fall in love at such a young age? What is the possibility of two teens staying together? Coming of age is a reality that Juno has to face; the film is very straight forward with sex, gender, class, and relationships.
Friday, February 15, 2008
Film: "Juno"
The harsh reality that teens face today besides peer pressure, drugs, alcohol… is pregnancy. What goes inside a teens mind when that pregnancy stick turns positive is a feeling that is indescribable. It is emotional, overwhelming, it marks a turning point in a woman’s life that is devastating. You’re whole life gets put on hold to wait for the baby to be born.
In the film “Juno” we come across a teen that finds out she is pregnant at the tender age of 16. A lot of things came to my mind while watching this film: I remember with my first pregnancy I went to “Family Dollar” to get a pregnancy test just because I couldn’t afford to go to CVS or Walgreen. And as soon as the stick turned positive I cried, I cried because only one thing came to my mind: What am I going to do now? I felt lost and devastated.
One concern while watching the film was that I didn’t believe that her “friend” Bleeker wanted her to give the baby up? And an idea came to mind: What does it mean when you fall in love at such a young age? And next to that what is the possibility of two teens staying together? Coming of age is a reality that Juno has to face; the film is very straight forward with sex, gender, class, and relationships.
There was a language usage kind of “Hippie style” that I couldn’t understand. But overall the best thing in the film to me was Juno’s relationship with her family. The communication between them helped her through the pregnancy and that’s what is important when you become pregnant, understanding from society.
In the film “Juno” we come across a teen that finds out she is pregnant at the tender age of 16. A lot of things came to my mind while watching this film: I remember with my first pregnancy I went to “Family Dollar” to get a pregnancy test just because I couldn’t afford to go to CVS or Walgreen. And as soon as the stick turned positive I cried, I cried because only one thing came to my mind: What am I going to do now? I felt lost and devastated.
One concern while watching the film was that I didn’t believe that her “friend” Bleeker wanted her to give the baby up? And an idea came to mind: What does it mean when you fall in love at such a young age? And next to that what is the possibility of two teens staying together? Coming of age is a reality that Juno has to face; the film is very straight forward with sex, gender, class, and relationships.
There was a language usage kind of “Hippie style” that I couldn’t understand. But overall the best thing in the film to me was Juno’s relationship with her family. The communication between them helped her through the pregnancy and that’s what is important when you become pregnant, understanding from society.
"I miss"
I miss every moment that time stole
everything that the distance does not let me do
every thing I want to do and destiny does not let it happen
every truth that covered all the lies
all the love that selfishness has taken from me
all the smiles that have vanished because of my sadness
the actions that have not let me act
the friends that distance has distanced from me
I miss the yesterday that today has not let me lived
I have missed so much, that I have learned that to not miss, I need to do everything I want and everything I miss.
From color to black and white
This is a poem that I wrote to my son Jayden while looking at his first sonogram and I just wanted to share it with everyone...
I changed from color to black and white
By: Benelix M. Gonzalez
Everything changed as soon as I saw you,
I changed from color, to black and white
And it became so easy, to love you, something
That I wouldn’t imagine, I gave you my love with just one eye.
Everything trembled, inside me,
The universe wrote that you had become mine
And it became so easy, to love you, something that I wouldn’t
Imagine, getting lost in you’re love, simply happened
I am already all yours.
Before I spend time with you my love,
I just have to tell you that you are the love of my life
Before I start loving you more, please listen
Let me tell you that all of you, without you being here,
That way I felt before I even saw you.
All of you surprised me
I changed from color to black and white
I know it is not easy to say I love you
I didn’t expect it
But that’s the way love is
It just simply happened
And I’m all yours already
Before I even saw you.
By: Benelix M. Gonzalez
Everything changed as soon as I saw you,
I changed from color, to black and white
And it became so easy, to love you, something
That I wouldn’t imagine, I gave you my love with just one eye.
Everything trembled, inside me,
The universe wrote that you had become mine
And it became so easy, to love you, something that I wouldn’t
Imagine, getting lost in you’re love, simply happened
I am already all yours.
Before I spend time with you my love,
I just have to tell you that you are the love of my life
Before I start loving you more, please listen
Let me tell you that all of you, without you being here,
That way I felt before I even saw you.
All of you surprised me
I changed from color to black and white
I know it is not easy to say I love you
I didn’t expect it
But that’s the way love is
It just simply happened
And I’m all yours already
Before I even saw you.
Friday, February 8, 2008
"Unlearning the Myths that Bind Us" author: Linda Christensen
“Unlearning the Myths that Bind Us”
Author: Linda Christensen
It is hard to look at this paper and not find it concerning, worrying, and funny. The authors’ main focus is to have students critique the portrayals of hierarchy and inequality in children’s movies and in cartoons. “Then I want to enlist them to imagine a better world characterized by relationships of respect and equality.” The author starts by decoding cartoons and making students think critically and focus on specific stereotype of the characters seen in the cartoons. Racism, sexism, social inequality, the strive for the perfect body, economic and political issues all these labels strive in images we see not only in cartoons but in magazines, TV, radio, etc.
By analyzing some of the contemporary cartoons one question came to my mind: Is it good or bad that SpongeBob Squarepants is not portrayed as a male or female? Even though the cartoon itself seems stupid and has no purpose whatsoever. My son Jayden can spend a whole afternoon watching this particular cartoon. Do cartoons like this teach our kids better sexism value due to the unknown sex of the character?
Society has the powerful tool to infect the minds of humans throughout the media. They teach us how to want, to live, to dream, and to hope. But sometimes we have to stop and ask ourselves for what? I wanted to find a comparison with Tomas Hines reading and I found that most teens in our society spend most of their time and energy: “figuring out where they fit in –the universe, the world, the economy, their social circle, their family…” The main concern of teens is that they want to find a place in society and adapt to it.
“No one wants to admit that they have been “handled” by the media.” That is were young women start dealing with the so-called “Barbie syndrome” and the depression (at a very young age), anorexia, bulimia. Also boys have a tendency to grow up with the mentality of a warrior, and then the machismo takes place in most males because of what our children see everyday in the media. But if or youth starts embedding itself onto what the media portrays, our children are going to suffer one sad life growing up.
Author: Linda Christensen
It is hard to look at this paper and not find it concerning, worrying, and funny. The authors’ main focus is to have students critique the portrayals of hierarchy and inequality in children’s movies and in cartoons. “Then I want to enlist them to imagine a better world characterized by relationships of respect and equality.” The author starts by decoding cartoons and making students think critically and focus on specific stereotype of the characters seen in the cartoons. Racism, sexism, social inequality, the strive for the perfect body, economic and political issues all these labels strive in images we see not only in cartoons but in magazines, TV, radio, etc.
By analyzing some of the contemporary cartoons one question came to my mind: Is it good or bad that SpongeBob Squarepants is not portrayed as a male or female? Even though the cartoon itself seems stupid and has no purpose whatsoever. My son Jayden can spend a whole afternoon watching this particular cartoon. Do cartoons like this teach our kids better sexism value due to the unknown sex of the character?
Society has the powerful tool to infect the minds of humans throughout the media. They teach us how to want, to live, to dream, and to hope. But sometimes we have to stop and ask ourselves for what? I wanted to find a comparison with Tomas Hines reading and I found that most teens in our society spend most of their time and energy: “figuring out where they fit in –the universe, the world, the economy, their social circle, their family…” The main concern of teens is that they want to find a place in society and adapt to it.
“No one wants to admit that they have been “handled” by the media.” That is were young women start dealing with the so-called “Barbie syndrome” and the depression (at a very young age), anorexia, bulimia. Also boys have a tendency to grow up with the mentality of a warrior, and then the machismo takes place in most males because of what our children see everyday in the media. But if or youth starts embedding itself onto what the media portrays, our children are going to suffer one sad life growing up.
Monday, February 4, 2008
Talking Points on Thomas Hine
The word teenager comes from the 1940's the terminology is of an individual that are in a same place: high school, sharing a common experience, and young and open to new things. In the eyes of a psychologist they speak of a period of psychic development that preceeds maturity. Sociologists and Anthropologists talk about physical and social maturity. The objective of the reading is what adults expect from teens, and also how teens fit into the world and how they shape it.
The themes that I found throughout the text are: -money, diversity, crime, politics and sexuality. The author takes us back into a journey that started in the sixties and walks us till the present time. Hines gives us an intense text on what a teen is or what a teen is in the eyes of society. When the author starts talking about diversity among teens he gives us a broad example of diversity among youth: comparing the teens that work in urban areas vs. those that work in the rural ones. The teens that are seen as "breadwinners" for their families vs. the independent teen, the teens that were slaves...etc.
One thing that adults seem to think of teens always is that teens are difficult to deal with and our parents were teens and did crazy things during their teen years.
I don't understand why the term teen was created to describe an age group that had suddenly become of great interest for marketers and social reformers?
The themes that I found throughout the text are: -money, diversity, crime, politics and sexuality. The author takes us back into a journey that started in the sixties and walks us till the present time. Hines gives us an intense text on what a teen is or what a teen is in the eyes of society. When the author starts talking about diversity among teens he gives us a broad example of diversity among youth: comparing the teens that work in urban areas vs. those that work in the rural ones. The teens that are seen as "breadwinners" for their families vs. the independent teen, the teens that were slaves...etc.
One thing that adults seem to think of teens always is that teens are difficult to deal with and our parents were teens and did crazy things during their teen years.
I don't understand why the term teen was created to describe an age group that had suddenly become of great interest for marketers and social reformers?
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