Hi!
Okay, haven't written in here in a while. And I have good news and bad news.
bad news-I'm probably going to stop writing this blog
good news-I'm starting...this new thing. It's partially a photoblog...partially something else that I'm not going to talk about too much because its...supposed to be kept in the dark, even when I start the blog don't expect to know the second aspect of it right away.
I'll be keeping this blog up so when I have an update or something I can post it on here.
I'll hopefully have the new blog up and running tonight.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Monday, March 7, 2011
Princesses--Cinderella
Okay! So...lately I have been completely obsessed with like Disney Princess/Grimm Brothers princesses and so I thought it'd be cool to do a segment on my blog going through each of my favorite Princesses and analyzing them! So for the first day I'll start with one of the most basic princesses: Cinderella.
There's your typical Disney Cinderella
Origin: According to wikipedia, Cinderella may have had it's origins in the first century B.C. *Another version of the story, Ye Xian, appeared in Miscellaneous Morsels from Youyang by Tuan Ch'eng-Shih around 860. Here, the hardworking and lovely girl befriends a fish, the reincarnation of her mother, who was killed by her stepmother. Ye Xian saves the bones, which are magic, and they help her dress appropriately for a festival. When she loses her slipper after a fast exit, the king finds her slipper and falls in love with her (eventually rescuing her from her cruel stepmother).
Another version of the story, which is similar to the Chinese version, exists in the Philippines. The story is known as "Mariang Alimango" (Mary the Crab). In this version, the spirit of her dead mother reincarnates as a crab, hence the title, and serves as her "fairy godmother".
Several different variants of the story appear in the medieval One Thousand and One Nights, also known as the Arabian Nights, including "The Second Shaykh's Story", "The Eldest Lady's Tale" and "Abdallah ibn Fadil and His Brothers", all dealing with the theme of a younger sibling harassed by two jealous elders. In some of these, the siblings are female, while in others, they are male. One of the tales, "Judar and His Brethren", departs from the happy endings of previous variants and reworks the plot to give it a tragic ending instead, with the younger brother being poisoned by his elder brothers(*taken from wikipedia).
There have been many, many versions of Cinderella after that, it became a well known fairy tale, told and retold with generally the same outcome. Generally there is a beautiful peasant girl who is slave to her evil stepmother and ugly stepsisters.
Why it is so well loved: Little girls everywhere dream of being saved,(whether or not this is good thing is up for debate)so in this story there is a damsel in distress who is saved from her misery by a handsome prince who whisks her off to become a princess. Who WOULDN'T want to be a princess!? I mean honestly, getting waited on hand and foot and having a hunky-hunk guy who's madly in love with you?! COME ON! Who would say no to that? There is also the element of underdog here--Cinderella is the underdog. She is in no position of power, she has no way out and she is still loving, beautiful, kind and hard-working. You automatically want her to win. Everyone, no matter how hard you try, is attracted to that. Putting aside all of the sexism, and her being a 'helpless woman'; people are attracted to this story on a superficial level.
What does having a "Cinderella Story" imply? The thing I truly find sad is the fact that there are teenagers everywhere that still want a "Cinderella Story"(saying you want a Cinderella Story is almost as bad as saying you want to be Romeo and Juliet...newsflash: Romeo and Juliet kill themselves in the end). Frankly, I don't want to have a really shitty life and then have a man come and "save" me. No, I want an equal love. Now, I am not saying I don't enjoy the story of Cinderella, and I am not wanting to dash little girls dreams--because I wanted that at one point as well. But, I had a moment in my life when I realized, wow, while I still love those romantic notions, while i will always have that side of me that wants to be "saved" I would rather save myself and be a capable person. I'd like to think I'd stand up to the bitches that were called my "step family" and just run away. I really hope other little girls have that realization too, or at least something a long those lines so they don't grow up to be woman who think men control their fate and their lives. That mindset could not only lead to an abusive relationship later in life but is also just an unhealthy way to live.
What was Cinderella thinking? "A dreams a wish your heart makes when you're fast asl-shit, I am a fucking slave!" I feel like Disney may have gotten it a little wrong. So how old is Cinderella in the Disney movie? Eighteen? Maybe Nineteen? What eighteen or nineteen year old girl would be waking up singing when she knows she is a slave? Also, the girl is obviously pretty hysterically lonely...she talks to fucking mice for God's sake! I do love the movie Cinderella...it makes me smile every time. But if you think about it, I don't think any girl would be that okay with cleaning all day(herein lies some of Disney's obvious sexism). She's content with dreaming of freedom while cooking, cleaning and pretty much being her step-family's bitch. And she never acts on her dreams. If Cinderella had been real I bet she would have been thinking, "Damn, this really sucks. I want to GTFO." She'd probably have moments of: "Forever alone." (and that would be right around the time she starts talkin' to the mice). All in all, the "real" Cinderella would have probably been a lot angrier than the Disney Cinderella. She maybe even would have attempted to escape--like a normal human.
any questions? Feel free to ask on formspring!
There's your typical Disney Cinderella
Origin: According to wikipedia, Cinderella may have had it's origins in the first century B.C. *Another version of the story, Ye Xian, appeared in Miscellaneous Morsels from Youyang by Tuan Ch'eng-Shih around 860. Here, the hardworking and lovely girl befriends a fish, the reincarnation of her mother, who was killed by her stepmother. Ye Xian saves the bones, which are magic, and they help her dress appropriately for a festival. When she loses her slipper after a fast exit, the king finds her slipper and falls in love with her (eventually rescuing her from her cruel stepmother).
Another version of the story, which is similar to the Chinese version, exists in the Philippines. The story is known as "Mariang Alimango" (Mary the Crab). In this version, the spirit of her dead mother reincarnates as a crab, hence the title, and serves as her "fairy godmother".
Several different variants of the story appear in the medieval One Thousand and One Nights, also known as the Arabian Nights, including "The Second Shaykh's Story", "The Eldest Lady's Tale" and "Abdallah ibn Fadil and His Brothers", all dealing with the theme of a younger sibling harassed by two jealous elders. In some of these, the siblings are female, while in others, they are male. One of the tales, "Judar and His Brethren", departs from the happy endings of previous variants and reworks the plot to give it a tragic ending instead, with the younger brother being poisoned by his elder brothers(*taken from wikipedia).
There have been many, many versions of Cinderella after that, it became a well known fairy tale, told and retold with generally the same outcome. Generally there is a beautiful peasant girl who is slave to her evil stepmother and ugly stepsisters.
Why it is so well loved: Little girls everywhere dream of being saved,(whether or not this is good thing is up for debate)so in this story there is a damsel in distress who is saved from her misery by a handsome prince who whisks her off to become a princess. Who WOULDN'T want to be a princess!? I mean honestly, getting waited on hand and foot and having a hunky-hunk guy who's madly in love with you?! COME ON! Who would say no to that? There is also the element of underdog here--Cinderella is the underdog. She is in no position of power, she has no way out and she is still loving, beautiful, kind and hard-working. You automatically want her to win. Everyone, no matter how hard you try, is attracted to that. Putting aside all of the sexism, and her being a 'helpless woman'; people are attracted to this story on a superficial level.
What does having a "Cinderella Story" imply? The thing I truly find sad is the fact that there are teenagers everywhere that still want a "Cinderella Story"(saying you want a Cinderella Story is almost as bad as saying you want to be Romeo and Juliet...newsflash: Romeo and Juliet kill themselves in the end). Frankly, I don't want to have a really shitty life and then have a man come and "save" me. No, I want an equal love. Now, I am not saying I don't enjoy the story of Cinderella, and I am not wanting to dash little girls dreams--because I wanted that at one point as well. But, I had a moment in my life when I realized, wow, while I still love those romantic notions, while i will always have that side of me that wants to be "saved" I would rather save myself and be a capable person. I'd like to think I'd stand up to the bitches that were called my "step family" and just run away. I really hope other little girls have that realization too, or at least something a long those lines so they don't grow up to be woman who think men control their fate and their lives. That mindset could not only lead to an abusive relationship later in life but is also just an unhealthy way to live.
What was Cinderella thinking? "A dreams a wish your heart makes when you're fast asl-shit, I am a fucking slave!" I feel like Disney may have gotten it a little wrong. So how old is Cinderella in the Disney movie? Eighteen? Maybe Nineteen? What eighteen or nineteen year old girl would be waking up singing when she knows she is a slave? Also, the girl is obviously pretty hysterically lonely...she talks to fucking mice for God's sake! I do love the movie Cinderella...it makes me smile every time. But if you think about it, I don't think any girl would be that okay with cleaning all day(herein lies some of Disney's obvious sexism). She's content with dreaming of freedom while cooking, cleaning and pretty much being her step-family's bitch. And she never acts on her dreams. If Cinderella had been real I bet she would have been thinking, "Damn, this really sucks. I want to GTFO." She'd probably have moments of: "Forever alone." (and that would be right around the time she starts talkin' to the mice). All in all, the "real" Cinderella would have probably been a lot angrier than the Disney Cinderella. She maybe even would have attempted to escape--like a normal human.
any questions? Feel free to ask on formspring!
Thursday, March 3, 2011
The Truth About Homeschooling
So as my first post on this blog I thought I'd give you a little insight into what my homeschooling is like and what my experience has been. Here is the lowdown(and I'll probably continue to have posts like this letting you know every REAL thing about homeschooling...more than the bullshit you'll get from websites):
-Not all homeschoolers are socially inept. A lot of us can handle all social situations. (That is not to say that the stereotype doesn't come from SOME where...)
-Not all homeschoolers wear floor length skirts and high necked polo shirts(imagine the Duggars on that 19 Kids and Counting). It's cool that they wear that stuff because they're religious and all that...but really...most homeschoolers aren't like that. I'm actually pretty into fashion.
-Not all homeschoolers are homeschooled because they are super smart, super dumb, religious, or hippies.
-Homeschoolers do have regular schooled friends
-WE HAVE FRIENDS
-There are places to go/things to do during the day for homeschoolers. We take some classes together(and yeah you can think but aren't you supposed to be schooled at home? Yeah it's all about being self motivated, and having alternative classes and stuff! I'm not going to explain all the facets of homeschooling), there are like social groups of kids that get together to do activities.
Those are the basics and I know a lot of that are the best things about homeschooling, so here are some things i've seen in my time as a homeschooler that has really sucked. (But a lot of it is also stuff that happens in schools):
-There was LOTS of drama in the 'group' I was part of. Sadly, I wouldn't recommend that certain group to any homeschooler anymore. Plus the drama, cliques, and down-right bullying that I saw weren't handled very well.
-I have also experienced mothers that homeschool their children ending up being too much of that mom. The mom that pretty much smothers her children and doesn't let them grow or move on.
-Then there is the 'cool mom' problem. Oh yeah, I saw that a lot as well. SO many homeschooling moms who were bound and determined to be 'cool'. Just be a mom. If you ARE cool, people will think you're cool. If you aren't, you're still probably a great mom.
-There are the bitchy girls that don't ever stop being bitchy.(Just like in highschool!)
-There are LOTS of rumors...and things that wouldn't be a huge deal in high school end up being huge deals to some home schooled people. ALSO, when you're homeschooled some PARENTS get involved in the gossip/rumors. That is truly sickening.
But above it all it's about loving to learn, and truly TRYING to learn from everything. So if you are motivated to learn and grow and if you can handle highschool...you can certainly handle the high school years of homeschooling. I went through all that shit while keeping grades up and dealing with other delemmas and I can still honestly say homeschooling has been amazing and I would NEVER change the fact that I was homeschooled.
Any questions? Feel free to comment or send a question to...formspring!
-Not all homeschoolers are socially inept. A lot of us can handle all social situations. (That is not to say that the stereotype doesn't come from SOME where...)
-Not all homeschoolers wear floor length skirts and high necked polo shirts(imagine the Duggars on that 19 Kids and Counting). It's cool that they wear that stuff because they're religious and all that...but really...most homeschoolers aren't like that. I'm actually pretty into fashion.
-Not all homeschoolers are homeschooled because they are super smart, super dumb, religious, or hippies.
-Homeschoolers do have regular schooled friends
-WE HAVE FRIENDS
-There are places to go/things to do during the day for homeschoolers. We take some classes together(and yeah you can think but aren't you supposed to be schooled at home? Yeah it's all about being self motivated, and having alternative classes and stuff! I'm not going to explain all the facets of homeschooling), there are like social groups of kids that get together to do activities.
Those are the basics and I know a lot of that are the best things about homeschooling, so here are some things i've seen in my time as a homeschooler that has really sucked. (But a lot of it is also stuff that happens in schools):
-There was LOTS of drama in the 'group' I was part of. Sadly, I wouldn't recommend that certain group to any homeschooler anymore. Plus the drama, cliques, and down-right bullying that I saw weren't handled very well.
-I have also experienced mothers that homeschool their children ending up being too much of that mom. The mom that pretty much smothers her children and doesn't let them grow or move on.
-Then there is the 'cool mom' problem. Oh yeah, I saw that a lot as well. SO many homeschooling moms who were bound and determined to be 'cool'. Just be a mom. If you ARE cool, people will think you're cool. If you aren't, you're still probably a great mom.
-There are the bitchy girls that don't ever stop being bitchy.(Just like in highschool!)
-There are LOTS of rumors...and things that wouldn't be a huge deal in high school end up being huge deals to some home schooled people. ALSO, when you're homeschooled some PARENTS get involved in the gossip/rumors. That is truly sickening.
But above it all it's about loving to learn, and truly TRYING to learn from everything. So if you are motivated to learn and grow and if you can handle highschool...you can certainly handle the high school years of homeschooling. I went through all that shit while keeping grades up and dealing with other delemmas and I can still honestly say homeschooling has been amazing and I would NEVER change the fact that I was homeschooled.
Any questions? Feel free to comment or send a question to...formspring!
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