Expensives

Recently I began keeping track of my budget and boy was I suprised how much money I truly waste on absolutely nothing! I knew that at times I can be high maintenance, but I had no idea that much money comes out of my pocket for the silliest things! I was the most surprised to realize that I spend such a large amount of my paycheck on food. This is silly because I have plenty of food at my house, which I can, most times, comfortably eat. Instead I find myself going to Chipotle or some other restaurant to eat. After evaluating such a trend, it is clear this needs to change. Although this may sound ridiculous, as long as I am young, I should take advantage of what my parents provide!
Furthermore, I also noticed that not only do I spend money on food, but I also spend it on clothes. I don't go shopping as often as I notice most girls going shopping, but in the one week I tracked, I just happened to go to the mall and spend a lot of money on clothes I probably don't need.
After noticing all this money I have spent and evaluating myself as a person (a relatively low spender compared to my friends), I find the lifestyle I am living to be high class. Perhaps intead of spending my money for myself, I should find a better use to it.

Consuming Gender

The media has a large effent on gender roles across the world. Both men and women have certain expectations and standards they are expected to live up to -- many of which are unrealistic. Those that don't fit within the boundaries the media has boxed us into, are in many cases, socially disconnected because of the disapproval from others around them. Most people blame the media for this problem of social alientation, but the reality is, the media would be nothing without the support from its people. Stick skinny girls wouldn't be considered ideal if the people didn't support models. The media, of course, has helped bring up the hype and something needs to be done. Women have transformed into sex icons while men have transformed into buff body builders. The ideal girl has turned into a (insert actress here) and every other girl is expected to look like her. The focus no longer is on personality, it is more so the similarity between the tv and the person.

Spongebob Macaroni

I think we would all agree that the media has impacted us in drastic ways, especially because of the widespread and constant use of technology; however, with this, I believe we are able to avoid advertisements just as cleverly as they are there. For example, TiVo gives us the ability to skip through commercials and just watch the show/movie. Even in the video we saw in class, kids have practically grown immune to the advertisements on the side of the webpage, so companies have turned to making games for the kids so they can advertise to them via the games they play, but who is to say we haven't already grown immune to that as well? Also, in the video, there was such an extreme amount of complaining regarding companies targeting kids using their favorite cartoon characters. But was this video suggesting the kids no longer watch their favorite shows? It is only reasonable that a child would want some toy/backpack/food associated with their favorite show; this isn't something to complain about. In my opinion, what the true problem is, is how new technological advancements are being targeted toward children. It sickens me that I see kids in 3rd grade listening to iPods and they are bullied if they don't have one. Also, if a kid asks for a toy, this doesn't put such an economic burdon on the parents; however, if this same kid asks for a phone, then the parents are put in a very uncomfortable and unfair situation.
Overall, advertising tv characters isn't a huge deal, but advertising unnecessary things to children is a situation that needs to be observed with more scrutiny.

Mommy and Daddy

Family is a huge influential factor in growing up and shaping how children will be as they get older. Family is who you are born with and (hopefully) die with, so it is clear that they have a huge effect on one's life. The values parents teach their children are most often the values the children also value as a result, however, many times, it is these values that kids vow to stay away from when getting older. For example, my parents value a number of things above getting good grades, while I value grades and education over almost anything. Yet, the moral values I was taught regarding respect and manners have stayed with me becuase of what my family has taught me. Many times when children are struggling/have a problem, the connection can be linked back to home life. Many troubled kids have broken homes and their morals were never set in place.
The true link to having a successful future is being born into a successful, happy family; however, clearly this is not an option up to us.

Morrie's Dependency

Although from the surface it may seem as though Americans are afraid of being too dependent on one another, just as Morrie said, "There is nothing innately shameful about being dependent. When we were infants we needed others to live, when we are dying we need others to live, but here's the secret - in between we need others even more." What Americans truly fear is physical dependency, not emotional dependency. We fear death and we fear approaching death because the approach towards death is one where the factor of physically dependency regresses back into childhood where the only way to live is from reliance on others. Emotionally, however, we are extremely dependent on one another. We depend on our families and relationships for love. This is not a bad thing, though. In the grand scheme of things, everyone needs one another from the moment we are born. In most societies, however, we try so hard to stray away from this dependency. We want to be able to live for ourselves and not for others, but the further we try and stay away from it, the worse off we are. Dependency can have negative results such as the pain after broken trust; however, there is a reason we strive so hardly for love. We want to love, but love, in itself, is a dependency on another person. Although Americans want to stay independent, we need each other more than ever.

Munich Madness

This week we read an essay written by Stefan Schirmer, the journalist from Munich, and I must say, I wholeheartedly disagree with him! I read the essay regarding rules and was disgusted by how he views America. We have been bombarded with all different shows/movies/texts that explain how poorly other countries think of us and not once have we examined the positives. Perhaps no country views us in a positive manner, but this is unlikely. My parents came to America for a reason -- they wanted freedom and Schirmer's view on freedom is far unlike our own. Freedom to him is freedom from rules and restrictions; like he explained, they may have a drinking age, but who follows it? Freedom for the Americans is set by our Bill of Rights and we are expected to follow the laws because if we didn't this country wouldn't be as successful. In my opinion, America, will all its pitfalls and mistakes, is still the most successful country in the world. America has its faults like every nation, but we aren't known the same way Iran or North Korea is. Schirmer, along with every other critic, deserves to show a bit of respect.

America's Melting Pot

Culture is an aspect that can both define and isolate us. It has the ability to not only make us unique and different, but also simultaneously serve as a barrier between one culture to another; however, this isn't as much of a problem as most may say. I think this barrier is a test on character. If we, as human beings, are capable of climbing past this barrier and learn something new, then that, in itself, is proof of our versatility and capability of acceptance.
On a personal level, I am a mix of cultures. Coming from a family born and raised in the Soviet Union that moved to Italy, Austria, and finally here, I have Russian blood in me, intermixed with the American ways of life. If my parents were able to pick up their belongings and a suitcase and travel to a foreign land (as glorious and exaggerated as it sounds), both assimilating into this new culture and keeping some of their own traditions, then why can't we do the same and accept it?
When looking at all the death and war plaguing the world around us, it is clear this isn't because the Arab world has gone mad or because America is greedy, or anything of the like; in fact, it is because we are still having trouble accepting and diversifying. We travel some place and expect everyone to speak the same language and have the same ideals, and are surprised when this isn't the case. The extremists are appalled to learn we don't share the same religious beliefs as we do, and respond in a way that threatens the safety of every nation.
In an ideal society, culture will bring us together, but for the time being, it still separates us.