Body Obsession?

I've experienced so much in my life that has been wonderful; my life has been beautiful so far.  I really try to concentrate on the positive always, but I really have my parents to thank for that.  I guess when nothing goes drastically wrong in your life, it's a little bit easier to like.  (Take the "Rate My Life Quiz" I found online!)   I grew up with a mom and a dad (married) and an older brother.  I went to a Catholic grade school, attended church each Sunday, wore hand-me-downs to ballet and softball, and loved every part of every day.  I really lucked out because even when my cousin found out about her brain tumor or when my grandma passed away from cancer, I understood that this was just a part of life and that each person has obstacles to overcome--but what were my obstacles?  I really never had any.  Through adolescence and high school years, I wanted to learn what my strengths and weaknesses truly were.  I joined everything.  I was involved in cheerleading, musicals, teen institute, pep club, student council, church choir, and was a tour guide on a canal boat during what little free time I had.  I found out that I am good at doing all of those things.  I became captain of cheerleading, president of teen institute, vice of student council, and got raises several times at work.  I am a people person and that makes me proud of myself.  I love helping others and I know I'm good at it.  I'm a horrible story-teller, can't argue to save my life, but I am good at counsel and involvement.  I never really worried about my body until my sophomore year in high school, and when I had time to consider it even being there, I didn't dwell on it.  The more that overly-active body slows down, the more I notice the things I don't like in my body, but I always try to focus on the good in my personality.  I try to remind myself that I have had the perfect life and that others have it much, MUCH worse than I do.  I also remind myself how I look at others.  Unless something drastic happens to someone else, it goes unnoticed by everyone except for that person.  Others will not even notice when I am broken out and bloated, but I do.  On those days I try to focus on my personality and maybe wear a cute bra or some new shoes, that always seems to help! 

Identity Crisis!

Understanding identity can be quite challenging for some and Diana Courvant in "Body Outlaws" is no different.  She, as a trans-gender going through the process to become a woman needed to be overly exposed and accepted to finally accept herself.  She writes, "Though I wasn't ashamed of being a trans woman, I began to realize the safety issues inherent of my growing visibility.  Being a freak was dangerous."  It sucks that that is true.  No one really wants to stand out.  Covering Barbie's MOD'rn cousin Francine's melted foot with her new "Prom Pinks" outfit could leave her fitting in with the crowd in "Mondo Barbie: Barbie Q."  And in "Mondo Barbie: The Barbie Murders," the thought of being different is unheard of so much that they consider any one barbie's action a collective group action.

The readings for this weekend really got me thinking about the future of plastic surgery. How can so many people just want to lose their own identities to become something so stereotypical.  It's unbelievable that people would pay so much for bigger boobs or a smaller waist when there are starving children all over the world.  What a waste of money.  Not to mention the risks of surgery.  It just seems like an overall bad idea unless it is to fix an actual problem.  My thoughts are---accept the way YOU are. YOU are beautiful the way you are, so just let the true YOU shine!

So, In any part of language, all words are said and interpreted differently depending on the speaker/listener.  When it comes to writing, there is no difference. However there are many clues as to what a typical female vs what a typical male would write, specifically dealing with topic, details, and emotions.  As a woman, I fell that my topics are always focused more on emotions and described with further detail, or more fluff.  The emotional connectivity to the story is more important than the facts within what's written.  Online, I feel like the differences are even more pronounced.  Typing words I focus on visual ways to bring an audience in and try to make what I say fun.  Many men just get to the point because adding all the "fluff" is useless to them.  They probably don't want to read the extra stuff, so they leave it out.  Seems simple enough to me!

About Me =)

My name is Lauren Baer and I am currently a junior HSLS major hoping to become a speech-language pathologist in a children's rehabilitation center or elementary school.  I work as as a peer adviser here at school and work doing various other random things in my small town when I'm home for the summer. I am taking this class as my Junior English and was thrilled to learn the content of the course revolved around Barbie and her image. I have always loved writing and I've always loved Barbies, so why not bring the two together?  I'm sure Barbie will bring up some intriguing topics to discuss throughout the quarter, so I am anxious for what we will be doing these next few weeks

I have several barbies still left in a toy box somewhere in my basement.  My mom is determined to save all of my treasured toys to keep for her future grandchildren, so in the basement they stay to wait and gather dust until some crazy kid comes into this world to play with them.  My favorite barbies included a rockstar barbie with long blonde straight hair (which I immediately cut and didn't understand why it resulted in me getting scolded), a barbie that balanced a bird on her palm, and the barbie I could take in the bathtub because she actually could swim with a battery pack oxygen tank, flippers, and hair that I could never understand why it turned green (in our well water).  As I got older, I liked American Girl Dolls and other dolls with more hair I could cut, braid, wrap, or curl...and now I just use my roommates.