Well? Have you heard of the Gossip?
No, I’m not talking about the rumor mill. I’m talking about Gossip, the indie rock/punk band based in Portland, OR. Led by Beth Ditto, the band has been around since the turn of the century and recently signed with a major label (Sony Music Entertainment).
The band has a lot of rock, punk, and pop influences, but they have their own unique style. Here’s one of my favorite songs of theirs, “Pop Goes the World.”
Consider the title of the post for a moment.
Yes, I am a philosopher, so it is kind of my job to ask questions like “What is Beauty?” and “What is Intelligence.” Philosophers love these types of questions because everyone “knows” the answer, but no one can give a coherent definition without a ton of classifiers and exceptions.
And if the definition is so unclear, why is so much pressure placed on people to be normal?
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You may have heard of the “5 monkeys experiment.” It is called by several different names: the 5 monkey experiment, the monkeys in a cage experiment, the monkeys and social control experiment, etc. It is a cleverly designed experiment, though ethically questionable, which tests the influence of groupthink and tradition.
The experiment is extremely telling and says a lot about how we come to believe what we are told, even without a full explanation for why.
And though the experiment is widely cited, no source is ever given. To me, this seems to suggest that the entire experiment is a hoax.
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I just finished reading the short story “Just Walk on By” by Brent Staples. It is a memoir about Staples’ early college years, learning about how his race and physicality instill fear in others.
I especially enjoyed Staples’ story because I identify with it a lot. I try not to let my perceived race impact the way I interact with society; however, because of my skin color, people sometimes perceive me as a threat. Like Staples, I did not realize this until I moved away from home, into a big city. For me, the city was Boston.
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I just watched an amazing video on TED.com that I had to share with you all. In this TED talk, Ken Robinson discusses how the current education system around the world seems to squelch creativity more than encourage it. Ken is both incredibly informative and incredibly funny, so you shouldn’t have any trouble watching the whole thing trough.
Ken pretty much says it all in the video, but he also opens up the floor for a whole dialogue about school, education, creativity, and childhood development. I encourage you all to watch.
I have lately been doing some thinking about privilege. Privilege, by definition, is something that is taken for granted. If you are living with privilege in a particular way, it is difficult to notice just how much it impacts your life. Or I should say, it is difficult to notice what you don’t have to go through because of your privilege.
People often talk about racial privilege or gender privilege and maybe even sexual orientation, religion, or socioeconomic status. However, I realized that these are just the tip of the iceberg. I was shocked when a friend introduced me to what she described as “fat culture” and how people don’t usually think about how overweight and obese people are marginalized by society.
It was after this realization that I decided to make a list of every privilege I know of. The way I figure it, everyone has privilege in some way or another. Of course, there is nothing inherently wrong with that, but I believe people should be more aware of the privilege they take advantage of. That was the intended purpose of the list. Read More…
Though I usually complain about my relationship status, I decided to go in a different direction. I wouldn’t be so interested in getting into a relationship if I didn’t think it was worthwhile, so I thought I’d share some of the finds I’ve collected from the great and vast internet seeing as it is Valentine’s Day.
Some of these are very pretty while others contain some of my usual cynicism. Although, all of them are enjoyable to me. I hope you like them too. Read More…
I was recently discussing what people consider the most fashionable male image. The first thought that came to my mind is GQ Magazine. The magazine’s cover often displays images of the most “fashionable” people of the time. For further research, I decided to take a look at the GQ website. I was immediately shocked by what I saw.
On the front page of the website, they displayed promotional images for their special New Years topics. The first two were articles on the top male and female fashions of past years. I had learned once that male figures tend to be displayed with close-ups of their faces while women’s whole bodies are shown. Women, even in professional and business settings, are usually unable to avoid being represented by their bodies. This is evidence of our society’s obsession with the female body image. Read More…
This one is mainly for the ladies, but guys can learn a whole lot from this as well. This post is a pretty long one, but there’s a lot of good stuff in it, so you may want to read the whole thing. In short, I overheard a great conversation on the subway today, and I thought I’d share what I gathered from it.
There was a couple sitting across from me and they were with a female friend. The woman (for our intents and purposes will be named Woman) was telling her friends (the Boyfriend and Girlfriend) about how she had just been asked out by a friend of hers. What hooked me into the conversation is when she said, “Really, he’s the nicest guy, but I just…” At that point, I didn’t even try to look like I wasn’t paying attention. Read More…
Men can be feminists. I hope you all new this already; however, if you didn’t, now you do. They can. And many are. A lot of people have the wrong idea about what a feminist is and what they stand for. Although, I don’t want to try to make any argument about that here. Instead, I wanted to vent a little frustration I have built up about life as a woman today. Read More…
