From Ugly to Royalty

     
I was watching The Princess Diaries and realized that they are making making an interesting claim within the plot about women and their societal expectations. Mia is a regular awkward high school student who finds out she is princess of a foreign country called Genovia. After much convincing, she accepts her role as heir. When she accepts she then must undergo an extensive makeover and training to act like a "proper" lady. A team of professionals completely change her physical appearance and make her princess material. This conveys the claim to the audience that the only way to be a true princess is to look and act a certain way. This can be harmful to little girls and their self esteem if they feel that they do not look extremely pretty, and will think that they have to change themselves in order to be important. I love this movie to death- it is hilarious- but it was interesting to me to see the claims being made about appearance.

Democratic Debate

While watching the democratic debate, each candidate was making arguments right and left. One argument that stuck out to me most was from the democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. She was arguing that the minimum wage in America is not sufficient enough for citizens to survive in society and makes the policy proposition that it should be raised. She claimed that if she was elected president, she would raise the minimum wage for workers in America and it would help the economy and society as a whole and not harm it. On the republican side, candidates argue that this will idea will only raise costs for businesses and cause them to lay off employees because they simply do not have the means to pay wages that high. I personally do not really think that raising the minimum is the best idea, but noticed her policy argument and claim that she was making during the debate.

How Smart are Smart Cars?

                                       
On Wednesday October 21st I attended an event on campus called Energy Innovations: Solutions for meeting 21st Century Energy Needs that was hosted by a number of organizations including the MSC Student Conference on National Affairs. I have little knowledge of this topic, but as a committee member I was required to attend. Knowing that this event was a panel, I went in with the intention of locating arguments that certain panelists were making. One speaker, a man named Robert Stewart made an argument that contrary to popular belief, electronic cars are not necessarily more environmentally friendly. He claimed that although they use electricity instead of fuel, energy is still being used just through battery power. He used his position as owner and founder of Lime Investments, LLC and his background in the energy field to establish ethos with the audience. He also utilized a power point presentation that contained statistics and facts regarding the amount of energy electric cars use to establish logos in his argument. Because of his credibility and the evidence he used in his argument, I went from thinking that electric cars were so much better for the environment to realizing that although they are not using regular fuel, energy is still being consumed regardless.

Because.. What else are wives for?

I came across this ad while browsing the internet and I noticed that it made a very outdated argument and claim. The image says  "The Chef does everything but cook, that's what wives are for!" It implies that the man is the chef, and that the man's role is to do everything in life except cook. This makes the argument that the man (chef) does most of the hard/important work like sustaining the family, providing the means to cook, etc. while giving the impression that the only purpose the wife has is minute tasks such as cooking. The graphics of the image are aimed to relate and appeal to the traditional American family. The advertisers use a white, happy, middle-aged couple to make the claim regarding the appropriate roles of husbands and wives. This is an interesting ad as society has greatly transformed over the past few decades. In the past, women were expected to cook and clean while the men worked. Now, women are filling a bigger role in society and this argument loses its momentum as times change.


http://www.mybaycity.com/scripts/p3_v2/P3V3-0200.cfm?P3_newspaperID=NewspaperID&P3_ArticleID=6759

"Too Young?"

While browsing my favorite news website (Drudge Report), I came across this article regarding recent concerns for the ages of models.  An Israeli girl named Sofia is working as a model in one of the most prestigious fashion shows in Paris at only 14 years old. This article describes the concerns of the community regarding her young age and whether or not she should be able to model. The opposition makes the strong argument that a 14 year old should not be involved in such a cutthroat industry, and that other countries have restrictions preventing young girls from walking the runway. They also argue that someone so young should not have to experience the pressure of being a model and travelling the world on their own. Sofia offers a strong rebuttal saying that while some look down on the modeling industry, she is treated well and that this life of modeling is her own decision. Sofia's argument may be the strongest because she draws on her personal experience, there is no law prohibiting her from this occupation, and that if she does not feel uncomfortable walking the runway, why should other people?

http://news.yahoo.com/too-young-teenage-model-spurs-age-debate-fashion-150955403.html

Music With A Message

I don't pay much attention to celebrities and there are music artists that I really really dislike, but Meghan Trainor definitely takes the cake. She has received a lot of criticism about her song "All About That Bass", but the song that bothers me the most is probably "Dear Future Husband". Some are upset because they believe the song supports anti feminist, but its distorted claim and portrayal regarding marriage bothers me the most. The song includes lyrics like "After every fight just apologize", "we'll never see your family more than mine", and "Buy me a ring". I feel that many young girls these days have a completely distorted view of marriage, and this songs like this only reaffirm that. This song makes the argument that girls feel that they should be treated like royalty, that they're always right when they are wrong, and that they should be pampered and spoiled by whoever they date. Trainor uses her ethos as a celebrity as she claims that if, and only if, men do these things, they become husband material. This claim is completely invalid and convinces young girls who listen to this music to be selfish and spoiled instead of loving and caring in their relationships.


http://www.meghan-trainor.com/#bxFDw5AIKWghLoA3.97

Blog Post 5

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykdpHzKjYD0&feature=player_embedded

Smoking is a very interesting issue for me. Despite all of the convincing evidence that smoking is harmful to your health, it is still one of the most common trends across the globe. It is particularly interesting to analyze how those involved in the anti-smoking movement choose to persuade their audience. Usually, we see advertisements and campaigns focused on the argument portrayed in the top image. This image conveys the argument that when you choose to light that cigarette you are making a conscious decision to shorten your life by morphing the smoke into the shape of a firearm. The second photo uses an argument targeted more towards women when they show a beautiful model smoking. Her reflection shows a completely different image that represents the effects smoking can have on your outward appearance instead of focusing more on how it damages you on the inside. The last anti-smoking public service advertisement above is the short video clip. This ad uses a different angle and argues that tobacco users are being played for a fool by the big tobacco companies when they use their products. The video shows a tobacco company owner swimming in a pool of cash.

These three very different ads make the claims that tobacco harms the user, has an effect on the users outward appearance, and that smoking is not a financially sound investment. The arguments in these ads are not only directed at the smoking population themselves, but can also be directed towards those who have the potential to become smokers. They are created to instill a negative mental image so that when that person picks up a cigarette for the first time, they will think of the scary model, or the idea that they are basically shooting themselves because smoking can end their life.

I believe that the first image might go too far. Although smoking is extremely bad for your health, the image comparing the habit to pointing a firearm at your head is a little extreme. There have been multiple examples of people who have smoked their entire life and it does not result in their death.
However, I think that the other images are fine. Smoking does have an effect on your appearance and it is important for people to know that. Smoking also is an extremely expensive habit.

I think there are multiple reasons that millions of people continue to smoke despite all of the advertisements and campaigns against it. Although smoking has been proven to cause cancer and other health problems, it is not necessarily guaranteed. Many people continue to smoke without any major consequences, and I think that some believe that the habit is worth the risk. Another reason may be due to the bad reputation of the media and advertising industry. Many people feel that most advertisements lack ethos and are exaggerated and false, so these harsh ads cause people to be more skeptical and ignore the arguments that are being made.

After researching the topic, I found that most people quit their smoking habit due to the social pressure and the expense of tobacco products. In order to effectively discourage the use of tobacco, ads should focus more on these aspects of the habit. Ads should pinpoint the idea that smoking is considered smelly and gross to others and emphasize the realistic cost of the habit. In order to maximize effectiveness, advertisers should include more logos in their advertisements. If billboards and images include hard numbers on what the average smoker spends yearly on tobacco products, they may be more effective. If advertisements also appeal more to the idea that other people are not fond of smokers, the social pressure may have more of an impact.

http://10steps.sg/inspirations/artworks/50-most-creative-anti-smoking-advertisements/

Blog Post 4 Red Paper Clip

Unfortunately, I was not as successful as Mr. MacDonald in my endeavors in bartering red paper clip and failed to end up with something as cool as a two story house in Saskatchewan. I started bartering last week with my roommate. I managed to trade my red paper clip for a blue pilot pen. Arguing that my paper clip was valuable was probably the most difficult for me. I told her that it would be useful in holding her papers together without having to use a stapler (leaving holes in the paper), but mostly hoped that she would pity me enough to make the trade. The next day after acquiring the pen, I was sitting in class and decided to make my next move in class with the kid next to me. I started the conversation by praising the wonderful pen and how well it wrote. I talked about the grip and the outstanding ink color then asked him if he would be willing to trade anything for it. He had extra Scantrons in his backpack and said he would trade one for the pen. Knowing I was going to be in a class with students taking a test the next day, I had a feeling that someone might forget and an extra Scantron would be extremely valuable so I made the trade. Just like I had predicted, someone in the row in front of me forgot a Scantron and began to panic. I told her that I had an extra one if she wanted to trade me two dollars for it. She started to hesitate and I knew I was going to have to make a solid argument. She said that Scantrons did not cost anything above one dollar and that her paying two dollars was not reasonable. I then argued that if she were to leave to go get one she might be late for the test, and she soon accepted to make the trade. Next I was attempted to make a trade with a very skeptical vending machine. After several minutes of hard bargaining, I finally convinced him to trade a bag of Gardetto's for my two dollars. Sadly I did not get a new house or anything of that magnitude. Through this process, I was able to successfully go from being the owner of a boring red paper clip to a very proud owner of a delicious new snack!

 http://www.umt.edu/launchpad/RedPaperclipChallenge.php

Men vs Women

I was watching The Simpsons the other day and noticed a claim that they made regarding roles in the family and men vs women. In society, most view the father figure as the one who leads the family and provides support. In this show that perception is completely backwards.  In The Simpsons, Homer Simpson is an idiotic character who is sloppy and selfish. The wife and daughter act as the glue that holds the family together, while the husband and son are a complete mess. This show makes the underlying claim that men are less intelligent than women and are incapable of responsibility in most cases. The more I thought about it the more I realized how common this is in most tv shows and movies. I don't really agree with the argument made in this show, but I'm definitely going to keep watching it because it is hilarious.

http://www.eonline.com/news/308496/d-oh-the-simpsons-matt-groening-denies-springfield-location-reveal