Love and Valentine's Day

In the spirit of Valentine's Day, I thought I'd write a post dedicated to the special day. Not because I feel the need to bash the holiday itself (because who doesn't love getting chocolate and silly cards all day?), but because I've recently become disillusioned with the image of love that has been presented to me since I was little. As an eighteen year old girl who loves watching Romantic Comedies and listening to friends rant about boys, I can tell you all about young people's distorted image of love. We've seen picture perfect relationships on screens frequently for our entire lives and have grown to expect relationships just like those.

From the first movies we watched, movies about Disney princesses and their prince charmings, to the movies we watch today about complicated and intense relationships, we have built up in our minds what we believe we want and need in a significant other. It seems that if your love isn't constantly intense, dramatic and emotional, then it can't be real. The image portrayed by the media brings hopes up too high, and people become disappointed and bored as a result. Why can't a relationship be composed of two people who are completely comfortable and content together without the melodramatic moments? We get caught up in making things exciting and end up missing potentially good things or messing up the good things that we have. In an article regarding this topic, Reid Daitzman Ph.D, a clinic psychologist, describes that, "A guy who just had an affair really misses his wife and would love to be back with her talking about trivial things.” Parts of relationships are boring, and that's okay. 

The other issue has become that media has made love the center of our lives. Magazines, movies, songs and stories make us feel as if love is the only thing that will ever truly bring us happiness. In our society, love is overemphasized. While, of course, love is good and can most definitely bring people joy, it should not be the only important part of a person's life. Women and men should not be afraid to be independent. I know too many people that feel incomplete without a boyfriend or a girlfriend or lose sight of their entire future in order to stay with their significant other. Love should be important in our lives, but we should always have our own independent goals. Women, we are not Disney princesses who should spend all of our time waiting on princes, we deserve to seek an education and a career that brings us just as much joy and fulfillment as love does. Love is great, but it cannot be everything.

Reflection

Blogging has been quite an adventure so far. I've enjoyed the process of learning the new technique of writing and generally participating in the blogging world, and I've especially enjoyed the weekly search for striking images. I have found images from all parts of the world, both old and new. 

I believe that this is one of my strengths; I stick to my lens and explore different aspects of it. Some of my posts (like my last post, for example), are more related to my own life and use an image that I took. Other posts (like my Tank Man post or my Faris Odeh post) use strong images from far regions of the world that started movements and spread awareness of an important event in history. 

One of my challenges has been finding a photo that moves me every week. At times, I'd search for images in the world news and saw nothing that I could offer a new opinion on. For example, this happened with the blog that I'd posted on December 9th. I couldn't find an exact image that I wanted to write about, but I suddenly remembered that I'd recently watched several videos addressing the effects of media and photoshop on our perception and image of women. Since the purpose of this blog was to address the impact and presence of images in our culture, I realized that this video was completely relevant despite it being a video and not an image. Despite the challenge in finalizing the topic for this blog, I believe that it ended up being one of my strongest.

I believe that blogging in an academic environment is important, because it allows us to step out of our regular boxes and lets us take a look at the "real world" so that we can address a topic that interests us. Rather than constantly focusing on things like literary analysis and other more typical English class assignments, blogging has evolved my English class experience and has made the class more relevant to the real world. Blogging is a relatively new form of writing, and this form of writing is becoming increasingly important in our daily lives. Through my blogging experience, it's become more clear that learning blogging skills is almost essential.

I've quite enjoyed exploring the blogs that my classmates have been working on. I'm used to reading more traditional papers that these people have written, so reading something written by them in a more casual voice has been a both entertaining and insightful experience. For example, Jacob's blog is written through a satirical, somewhat like his own spin on the Onion. This is absolutely true to his everyday personality, and so it's interesting to see him take his sarcasm and create a blog out of it. I also admire Jack's blog, because I find it extremely intriguing to read a blog that constantly challenges my own viewpoint. Taking a look at things from an opposite perspective is difficult, but I believe that it is important to becoming a well-rounded and worldly person, and so I'm glad that Jack has taken this task and formed a blog from it. I also admire his blog because I'm sure it's been somewhat of a struggle trying constantly playing the devil's advocate and writing about things that he doesn't agree with, especially when he's discussing more sensitive subjects.

One goal that I have in the future is to search for more blogs outside of our own class's blogs, and generally to get more involved in the blogging community. I've found several blogs that interest me, but I have not really followed any regularly. I'd like to find some more blogs like the Happiness Project, because I enjoyed that one when I read it.

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Chicago and the Polar Vortex

On my trip to Spain over the past two weeks, I received constant updates from friends and family regarding the worsening weather in Chicago and the Midwest. I figured this weather would be no worse than the usual Chicago winter, so you could imagine my surprise when our plane flew right past the skyline and I saw the city under snow as well as a frozen Lake Michigan. Luckily, I managed to snap this photo from my seat that captures just how iced over Chicago became during its encounter with the "Polar Vortex" last week, and I am glad that I can share it with you all.

For anyone not living in the Chicagoland area (or anywhere in the Midwest for that matter), the weather this past week has been exceptionally bizarre. A predicted low of -50 degrees (with windchill) for two days in a row led to school cancellations and statewide warnings. Needless to say, the 34 degree weather that we experienced yesterday felt unusually comfortable.

Stay warm, everybody!

The Media and Women

As you can see, this blog post won't contain an actual picture, but rather a video. More specifically, a short video that demonstrates the way that Photoshop distorts the image of women in our media. Give it a look:

We are living in an era where every single flaw in a photograph or a video can be erased by Photoshop, which has created an unrealistic expectation of what beauty and perfection entail. Girls in the third grade have started wearing makeup, and eating disorders are rampant. Despite the numerous campaigns that attempt to show this distortion to the public and encourage young women to feel beautiful (such as Idea 9 and the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty), the warped female image can be seen all over commercials, billboards and magazines. The media and its control over what constitutes perfection has had enormous effects on our culture.

One such effect was brought up recently by a female news anchor who was called fat in an email by a viewer. She described that adults like this man are perpetually worsening and spreading this problem to the next generation. When one believes in the unreal images that the media feeds us and rejects anything different by calling someone fat or ugly, the younger generation watches and learns, and in turn, they spread the rejection of those who do not fit the media's false image. There seems to be no way out of this trap other than leading by example. If we reject these fake images, bringing their effects to light through proposals like Idea 9, and promote the appreciation of real beauty through campaigns like the Dove Campaign, then perhaps we can change things for the next generation.

As the news anchor describes in her video (link above), no one can know anything about her just by seeing her image on a TV screen. The fact that a man passed judgement on her as a person just because of her weight is unsettling, and attacks like this based solely on image must be fought against. There does, however, seem to be a movement towards the support of real beauty, as told by the news anchor through the amount of support that she has received since discussing the contents of the email. This is a movement that must be continued, and it must focus on looking past an image. We must shake the media's control of how we view and judge other human beings.




Video source:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4i8Ok7Z6kM

A New Angle

It's incredible that capturing a photograph from a different angle can add a new dynamic to history. Below is a photo of the Tiananmen Square protests taken by a photographer named Terril Jones. In the background, standing in between two tree trunks, we see the iconic Tank Man, but from a completely new perspective. Jones hadn't published the photo until recently.

The other published versions of this photograph are taken at eye level, and all show the tanks as they are only a foot away from the lone man. This photo allows us to relook at the event and gives the moment more context. From this perspective, where the tanks are still far away, we see that the Tank Man is standing, preparing himself for a confrontation long before the tanks reach him. He looks small amidst the chaos and rubble, but his presence is clear and strong.

The most striking aspect of this photo is most definitely the context that we gain. The photograph of the Tank Man that was widely circulated before Jones' version appeared shows us a brave man standing his ground in front of a row of tanks. What it does not show us, however, is the rubble that surrounds the man or the bulldozer cleaning up the destruction beside him. The original photo does not show us the men running away from the scene. Perhaps these men wanted to be brave with the Tank Man, but were too afraid to stand before the tanks. Different parts of this moment's story suddenly unfold, strengthening our knowledge of the protests and of history. In a way, this new perspective on a famous photograph enhances its meaning, showing even deeper valor than we had even assumed before. We can see what the Tank Man saw around him, a man on a bike staring and passing by as the tanks rolls forward.

How incredible that so much can be gained from one photograph taken by a man standing at a different angle.


Image Source:
http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/04/behind-the-scenes-a-new-angle-on-history/?_r=1

#Jeans

I recently discussed an article in one of my classes about a comment that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu made regarding Iran. The comment was made during an interview with BBC Persian when Netanyahu attempted to get the Iranian public to oppose Iran's leaders and their nuclear program. He stated that, “If the people of Iran were free, they could wear jeans, listen to Western music and have free elections,” to which young Iranians on Twitter reacted immediately. Their indignant remarks spanned from comments questioning Netanyahu's intelligence to photos demonstrating how very wrong Netanyahu was. Here is one of the images mentioned in the article: 

 The man by the Twitter handle of Sallar sat in his home somewhere in Iran, probably wearing jeans, and tweeted this picture. This photo could've been taken by anyone anywhere in the world, be it in the United States, Israel or Iran. The world community has become so similar in so many ways, and still there seem to be walls built around our sections of the world that keep us from seeing any other nation for what they actually are. Despite the widespread outrage in response to Netanyahu's comment, I'm almost certain that somebody (or likely a large number of people throughout the world) agreed with him and the way he thinks Iranians live their lives. Despite the tyranny of their government, the people of Iran do, in fact, wear jeans and listen to Western music. This is just hidden by the image we have created of Iran, among many other Islamic nations throughout the Middle East. It makes us sure that their nations are dark and robotic.

Our image of Iran and other parts of the Middle East is outdated. In a region so plagued by conflict, it is difficult to imagine people living normal lives and coming home to listen to pop or rock and roll, but these people really do exist, as we can see from the image above. How can we work to build bridges between nations and improve communication to end conflict when we don't even understand the countries that are constantly in the news? With media coverage often discussing conflict, nuclear weapons and warfare, it is easy to assume Iran is a "bad" place. Even Netanyahu, prime minister of a nation much closer to Iran than the United States, seems to hold this distorted image of the nation. But behind conflict and government lie real human beings who have families and wear jeans and listen to Western music, just like us. In order to find the humanity in another culture, we must learn to look past the images that media and our society provide.

Image source:

https://twitter.com/sallar/status/386814675285184512

Faris Odeh: The Image of a Martyr

I find it fascinating that one photo can fuel the emotions of an entire nation of people. A single photograph taken by a photojournalist at precisely the right moment can create a martyr in a culture, and can spark a powerful movement.

This is a photo of Faris Odeh, a Palestinian boy who threw stones at Israeli Defense Forces occupying an area of Palestine near the Gaza Strip. A week or so after the photo was taken, Odeh was shot dead by Israeli Forces when he was throwing stones again. This photo was then published, and an immediate reaction burst from all different corners of the world. The reaction was so vast, in fact, that it prompted tens of thousands of people to attend his funeral. His image has become iconic, and through his image, he himself has become a martyr for Palestinian defiance.

And how could this image not spark a reaction? What we see is a young boy standing all alone, fighting the presence of an enormous tank with only stones. My first thought after finding the photo was that Faris Odeh almost seemed to be a modern day Tank Man, fighting for a strong cause by standing up to a tank. One of the many differences between these two situations, however, is the fact that with Odeh's picture, we know the name of the martyr. And since we know the name, we can add a story.

I believe the majority of photos lack a certain context. Just by looking at this image, we have no clue what the boy's story is, other than the fact that he was Palestinian and strongly against the Israeli occupation of Palestine. The picture serves its purpose by creating strong reactions in its viewers, but with his name in mind, I couldn't help but wonder Faris's story.

Faris was a daredevil. Once conflict arrived in his region, he skipped class to get in on the action, much to the dismay of his teachers and his parents. His parents would get calls from teachers and neighbors warning them that Faris was out again. On occasion, his father would beat him for getting involved in the conflict; for this reason, he avoided cameras and news reporters, fearing that his father would find out about him. What struck me the most was a statement from his mother, who said that Faris watched the Hezbollah channel called Al-Manar, a channel that held becoming a martyr in high regard. She says that he wanted to join them.

It's unreal how large of an effect media can have on us, and especially on children. Looking at Faris's backstory allowed me to gain an entirely new perspective on his photograph, especially regarding his ideals and his motivations. While a picture is incredibly powerful in and of itself, there is so much that it cannot tell.


Photo source:
http://andrelevy.net/photos/struggle/palestine/faris_odeh.jpg