Allies in Christ

As we navigate social media, it's easy to stumble upon a surprisingly negative and competitive tone when it comes to religion. So often we see many in our faith flaunting that we are the only true church. I don't blame them for their religious pride. I, too, sometimes adopt a smug air when it comes to religion. I love my church! I praise it for the joy it brings, the comfort it offers, and the knowledge it shares. I believe that I belong to the Church Christ established here on Earth--that's why I proclaim that I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Yet this zealous devotion sometimes can appear down-right condescending--especially throughout media platforms. We shouldn't discriminate against other religions because we believe that ours is "true-er" than theirs.  Such behavior and beliefs are self-defeating. We should be combining our efforts in bringing about goodness and virtue. When unwholesome media seems to permeate our TVs, Facebook feeds, blogs, and Youtube ads, the only way we can really combat it is by spreading our message. As we align ourselves with all decent media efforts in a kind and respectful manner, we bring others to Christ--because of the message we share as well as the way we choose to share it. Now is not the time to be prideful; all who represent Christ deserve our support.

#GirlsCan

I was really impressed by this Covergirl initiative. The premise of this campaign was to prove that girls are capable of scientific and technological advancements. They further address the importance of inner beauty, self-confidence, and disproving stereotypes (especially those regarding gender). I enjoyed this commercial because it showed powerful young women who discovered talents within themselves--it wasn't just another makeup company teaching girls that they have the potential to be beautiful if they use the right beauty products. Oh my goodness. It made me so happy. Watch it.

Bones as Wonder Woman

Guys. I love Bones. I'm only 3 seasons into it, but it has been a magical journey. It's such a unique television viewing experience because Dr. Temperance Brennan (aka "Bones") is such an unusual character. The show centers around Bones, a remarkably intelligent woman whose enormous cache of facts and logic makes her an unstoppable crime solver. She's so stinkin' cool, guys. Though pretty rough around the edges, she wins the trust and respect of countless coworkers and friends because of her honesty and sincerity--she is completely void pretense. She's incredibly rational and consistently relies on her own strengths to accomplish her goals. Honestly, she breaks nearly every female stereotype seen in TV today.

I could write a song about how wonderful she is....

Until I watched the Halloween Episode in season 3.

OH THE HORROR!



WHAT DID THEY DO TO HER????

Oh goodness. It made me so sad. Why did they need to make her wear a nasty outfit? She's my role model--she shouldn't be dressing like that! However, it did make a really really fun episode. And even though the costumes were super nasty, I was glad that they dressed her like a super hero because it served as a very satisfying contrast.

In the episode, she used critical thinking skills to discover a serial killer's lair and to track him down. She also was able to save a little girl and comfort a distressed friend--all while wearing her Wonder Woman costume. I ended up realizing that yes, she was dressed in what media portrays as a "super" outfit, but her behavior was able to supercede her appearance. As she achieved countless obstacle, I realized that the only thing heeding her progress was her silly little costume. She was a force to be reckoned with in spandex, yes, but she is also consistently unstoppable in every other episode as she rocks her lab coat. I learned that she was not what she wore, and that in this instance her actions spoke louder than her appearance. She was far more superior than Wonder Woman ever could be.

Dog With a Blog

For my coding project, I have been viewing television shows geared towards preteens and adolescents. The humor is often base and the plot lines are consistently predictable and unrealistic. But that's besides the point. What bothered me was the portrayal of their leading ladies. As I watched "Dog With a Blog", I was utterly shocked. The star of the show is a young teen girl...who only gushes about her boyfriend, and wears enough makeup, fitting clothing, and hair products to pass for a thirty year old woman. It broke my heart. I felt uncomfortable viewing her, recognizing that a 13 year old was more glamorous than I, but also because I realized that this girl was the new role model for tweens. It shocked me further as I looked at pictures of her from the previous season: the difference between the two was astounding. The fresh-faced, loose clothes, spunky little girl had been robbed of her carefree appearance in a matter of fifteen episodes! Yet, I think she was robbed of more than her wardrobe. Her character was quickly revolutionized from a kid that was completely absorbed in her love for her dog, to a young woman whose dialogue only revolved around crushes and boys. It's tragic. I wish I had something more remarkable to post about this subject, but I'm too bummed about it to think of something profound to say...the only words that come to mind are "ick", "bummer", "gross", etc.


Season One Images:










AND......

SEASONS TWO AND THREE







***Granted, the young lady is consistently dressed appropriately--nothing revealing or terribly provocative, which is actually pretty refreshing. But the whole basis THE DOG ON THE BLOG, was hardly mentioned anymore...because she was too busy flirting! Yikes.
There's so much that needs to be said regarding the implications of media portrayals on young ladies. But I won't delve into it. I'll just say this: we are what we watch. As we continue to show girls TV content where characters are only good for flirting, young ladies are going to adopt a similar perception of their own worth.

Normal Relationships

I was raised in a conservative, Christian home; I was surrounded by conservative, Christian neighbors; and I only had conservative, Christian role-models in my life. I had wonderful, dedicated relationships to reference as I grew up. I always knew what ideal relationships looked like. But I couldn't help but wonder, as I grew up, whether these relationships were applicable to me. I figured that my parents, neighbors, and the parents of my peers were wonderful models of how a desirable relationship should look like, but that I could not personally relate to them because I was a young woman living in the 21st century. I began to assume that these lovely relationships were ideal--but not particularly realistic. I mean, I grew up in a utopia--Utah is, after all, quite removed from what one would experience in other parts of the world. Since I grew up surrounded by Mormons, I could only compare relationships to what I'd seen in a Mormon context.

Where, then, did I look for "real-life" examples of relationships? Well, Grey's Anatomy and Friends, of course. Those shows portrayed relationships that I knew I would never encounter in my small hometown of Centerville, Utah. And though I certainly never aspired to the depicted relationships in these shows, I did assume that their characterizations of love and romance might be more close to what I might experience than the blissful yet dull characterizations I saw at home. I assumed that what I witnessed at home was idyllic, but something that I couldn't personally aspire to. I figured that my parents and neighbors were remarkably lucky, but that I would have to be a little more cautious because relationships simply weren't that squeaky-clean today. I assumed that my home life was far too removed from what really happens in the world.

This makes me so sad. I mean, how does that even MAKE SENSE? Television is more realistic than the things I see in real life???

 No. I refuse to believe that. While sexual promiscuity, including relationships based on sexual gratification as opposed to personal commitment, may be becoming the increasingly popular norm of our culture today, that does not change the fact that ideal circumstances can be MY normal. Yes, my parents' committed relationship does not match what we would expect to see in the "real world", but why on Earth does that matter? It thrived in MY world! I lived it--and so I know that it can be achieved.

I'm not going to lower my expectations about love, dedication, and fidelity in relationships. The experiences of my family and friends may not be "normal"--but I dare say that I knew that from the start. They've always been much, much better.

Email=Efficiency?

Many of my friends rave about the supposed efficiency of email. 

"You can avoid awkward conversations with email."

"You can reply at any time. There's no pressure."

"It's SO MUCH FASTER."

Well, I think they're all full of it. Emails are less than efficient. It would be faster for me to simply walk the twenty minutes across campus than to write a simple email.

Why? Oh, you know, just because I'm the type of person that over-analyzes. Every. Stinking. Thing. 

Honestly truly, it takes me twenty-five minutes to write a one paragraph email. I'm never certain whether my joke is going to come off as sarcasm or if it's not obvious enough to be a joke so that it's instead perceived as a really really dumb comment. But if  I leave it out, I might be considered far too serious and boring. So then I overcompensate, by including smiley faces and exclamation points after every comment. This results in my email appearing to be written by a giggly 12 year old girl...which is just marvelous.

By the time I finally compose the letter, and I'm about to press the send button, I begin to wonder: did it take me too long to respond? Oh my goodness. Are they going to assume that I'm not committed enough to them to email quickly? Do they assume that I'm incompetent because it took me so long to email back? Or worse, do I seem overeager by emailing them so quickly?

Oh heavens. It's just the worst. 

Oh my goodness. Look how great this is! With the recent push by church leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to flood the world with the gospel, LDS.org has also pitched in to make church more easily shared through social networking and pinterest. Those little sweethearts have even begun creating their own "memes" of inspirational quotes. Here are some of my favorites: