Cultural Studies by Chris Barker: Sex, Subjectivity and Representation

Out of the entire book, I feel that this chapter most represents what our society is all about, and that is Sex and Gender. Those two subjects alone rule how we live our lives everyday. Because I am a female I am supposed to look, dress, and act a certain way. If I were to say cut my hair short, wear baggier clothes, and start to hang out with guys and do "guy" things, then I could be seen as a dyke or a lesbian. The book says, "Men are commonly held to be more 'naturally' domineering, hierarchially oriented and power-hungry, while women are seen as nurturing, child rearing and domestically inclined". I do believe that the media has a lot to do with how both males and females in our society act and dress. In the section, The bitch, the witch and the matricarch, Diana Meehan did and study and concluded that "representations on television cast 'good' women as submissive, sensitive, and domesticated while 'bad' women are rebellious, independent, and selfish. She also says that Americans have spent over 30 years watching male heroes and their adventures... i ask... when is it our turn? We are always portrayed as "witches, bitches, mothers, and imps"... and I think that television is finally starting to show women in a different light. Shows like Sex and the City, Lipstick Jungle, Samanatha Who?, Ugly Betty, and Heroes where women are seen as independent, powerful, and they don't necessarily let men control how they conduct business.

I think it's really good that women are finally being given their time to shine. Women work hard everyday, and that includes being a stay at home mom, because even though the work they do isn't the same, it's still a difficult job nonetheless. And then there are those working moms who, when you think about it, have a job 24/7. A working father's job usually consists of going to the office, coming home, eating, watching tv, then going to bed, and on the weekends he would mow the lawn, and do other outdoorsy chores, and possibly hang out with the kids. But working mothers have it so much harder. They have to be the first ones up in the morning to get the kids to school then they have to go to work, then be home in time to pick them up, help them with their homework, clean the house, make dinner, and then get everyone off to bed so that they can start the exhausting process all over again. I am glad though that more men are partaking in more of the motherly duties and allowing their wives to pursue their goals and dreams and live the life they always wanted, doing the job they always wanted, and still be a mother. So we can thank the stay at home dads for letting their wives have their chance to be the heroes and breadwinners for their families.

American Psycho

So we saw American Psycho in class and I have a few things I would like to discuss:

1) Why was it titled "American Psycho"? Did he represent the All-American Man? Is it because it was based in America? I don't know... I feel that it stereotypes the men of this country terribly. If you are young, wealthy, and successful you will act this way and you will kill people. I understand that it isn't real, but when people from other countries see this movie, they have to think that this represents us just a little bit. But if the movie was based in Italy or France or Argentina, would the title represent that? Italian Psycho? French Psycho? Argentinian Psycho?

2) In the Barker book, the male was discussed. And from what was said about the male in general, I think Christian Bale's character portrayed this, and then some. He was the ultimate male... What the Barker book said and then we can multiply that by 10. He was handsome, very good-looking, worked out and built, he was engaged to a young woman of the elite class he was a part of, he was extremely clean and obsessive about it, and then he killed people and felt absolutely no remorse for it.

3) The movie was completely and utterly disturbing. The person who wrote it should be locked up... i mean, to actually think this stuff up is just awful.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Even though I've read Tennessee Williams' story, "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" now three times, I'll be honest, I don't like it much. There is so much ambiguity throughout the entire story that it upsets me... and reminds me a lot of the Reality TV show Maury. There is so much unnecessary drama it's almost hard to keep up.

Brick may or may not be a homosexual... you know what buddy? It's ok to miss your friend... and even though he's gay and you guys were close, it doesn't mean you are gay, or were gay for hanging out with him.

And then there's Maggie, who just wants a child because she feels she has to have one. Sometimes, people are not meant to bear children and I think Maggie's character is too selfish to selflessly care for a child. Her reasons for wanting one are purely selfish anyway... she wants a reason to sleep with Brick and she wants a reason for Big Daddy to give them the estate as opposed to Brick's brother.

Then there's the issue of Big Daddy having sexual feelings toward Maggie. I mean, it is weird, don't get me wrong, but she was quite gorgeous and it's ok to find her attractive, but the minute he starts lusting after her and trying to get with her is the minute he's gone much too far. He never does, but still, it can be seen as incest.

The Ambiguity throughout the story was obviously portrayed in the book with the assoiciations between a husband and wife and their family and friends.

The 40-Year-Old Virgin... or Serendipity?

Haruki Murakami: On seeing the 100% perfect girl one beautiful April morning One beautiful April morning, on a narrow side street in Tokyo's fashionable Harujuku neighborhood, I walked past the 100% perfect girl. Tell you the truth, she's not that good-looking. She doesn't stand out in any way. Her clothes are nothing special. The back of her hair is still bent out of shape from sleep. She isn't young, either - must be near thirty, not even close to a "girl," properly speaking. But still, I know from fifty yards away: She's the 100% perfect girl for me. The moment I see her, there's a rumbling in my chest, and my mouth is as dry as a desert. Maybe you have your own particular favorite type of girl - one with slim ankles, say, or big eyes, or graceful fingers, or you're drawn for no good reason to girls who take their time with every meal. I have my own preferences, of course. Sometimes in a restaurant I'll catch myself staring at the girl at the next table to mine because I like the shape of her nose. But no one can insist that his 100% perfect girl correspond to some preconceived type. Much as I like noses, I can't recall the shape of hers - or even if she had one. All I can remember for sure is that she was no great beauty. It's weird. "Yesterday on the street I passed the 100% girl," I tell someone. "Yeah?" he says. "Good-looking?" "Not really." "Your favorite type, then?" "I don't know. I can't seem to remember anything about her - the shape of her eyes or the size of her breasts." "Strange." "Yeah. Strange." "So anyhow," he says, already bored, "what did you do? Talk to her? Follow her?" "Nah. Just passed her on the street." She's walking east to west, and I west to east. It's a really nice April morning. Wish I could talk to her. Half an hour would be plenty: just ask her about herself, tell her about myself, and - what I'd really like to do - explain to her the complexities of fate that have led to our passing each other on a side street in Harajuku on a beautiful April morning in 1981. This was something sure to be crammed full of warm secrets, like an antique clock build when peace filled the world. After talking, we'd have lunch somewhere, maybe see a Woody Allen movie, stop by a hotel bar for cocktails. With any kind of luck, we might end up in bed. Potentiality knocks on the door of my heart. Now the distance between us has narrowed to fifteen yards. How can I approach her? What should I say? "Good morning, miss. Do you think you could spare half an hour for a little conversation?" Ridiculous. I'd sound like an insurance salesman. "Pardon me, but would you happen to know if there is an all-night cleaners in the neighborhood?" No, this is just as ridiculous. I'm not carrying any laundry, for one thing. Who's going to buy a line like that? Maybe the simple truth would do. "Good morning. You are the 100% perfect girl for me." No, she wouldn't believe it. Or even if she did, she might not want to talk to me. Sorry, she could say, I might be the 100% perfect girl for you, but you're not the 100% boy for me. It could happen. And if I found myself in that situation, I'd probably go to pieces. I'd never recover from the shock. I'm thirty-two, and that's what growing older is all about. We pass in front of a flower shop. A small, warm air mass touches my skin. The asphalt is damp, and I catch the scent of roses. I can't bring myself to speak to her. She wears a white sweater, and in her right hand she holds a crisp white envelope lacking only a stamp. So: She's written somebody a letter, maybe spent the whole night writing, to judge from the sleepy look in her eyes. The envelope could contain every secret she's ever had. I take a few more strides and turn: She's lost in the crowd. Now, of course, I know exactly what I should have said to her. It would have been a long speech, though, far too long for me to have delivered it properly. The ideas I come up with are never very practical. Oh, well. It would have started "Once upon a time" and ended "A sad story, don't you think?" Once upon a time, there lived a boy and a girl. The boy was eighteen and the girl sixteen. He was not unusually handsome, and she was not especially beautiful. They were just an ordinary lonely boy and an ordinary lonely girl, like all the others. But they believed with their whole hearts that somewhere in the world there lived the 100% perfect boy and the 100% perfect girl for them. Yes, they believed in a miracle. And that miracle actually happened. One day the two came upon each other on the corner of a street. "This is amazing," he said. "I've been looking for you all my life. You may not believe this, but you're the 100% perfect girl for me." "And you," she said to him, "are the 100% perfect boy for me, exactly as I'd pictured you in every detail. It's like a dream." They sat on a park bench, held hands, and told each other their stories hour after hour. They were not lonely anymore. They had found and been found by their 100% perfect other. What a wonderful thing it is to find and be found by your 100% perfect other. It's a miracle, a cosmic miracle. As they sat and talked, however, a tiny, tiny sliver of doubt took root in their hearts: Was it really all right for one's dreams to come true so easily? And so, when there came a momentary lull in their conversation, the boy said to the girl, "Let's test ourselves - just once. If we really are each other's 100% perfect lovers, then sometime, somewhere, we will meet again without fail. And when that happens, and we know that we are the 100% perfect ones, we'll marry then and there. What do you think?" "Yes," she said, "that is exactly what we should do." And so they parted, she to the east, and he to the west. The test they had agreed upon, however, was utterly unnecessary. They should never have undertaken it, because they really and truly were each other's 100% perfect lovers, and it was a miracle that they had ever met. But it was impossible for them to know this, young as they were. The cold, indifferent waves of fate proceeded to toss them unmercifully. One winter, both the boy and the girl came down with the season's terrible inluenza, and after drifting for weeks between life and death they lost all memory of their earlier years. When they awoke, their heads were as empty as the young D. H. Lawrence's piggy bank. They were two bright, determined young people, however, and through their unremitting efforts they were able to acquire once again the knowledge and feeling that qualified them to return as full-fledged members of society. Heaven be praised, they became truly upstanding citizens who knew how to transfer from one subway line to another, who were fully capable of sending a special-delivery letter at the post office. Indeed, they even experienced love again, sometimes as much as 75% or even 85% love. Time passed with shocking swiftness, and soon the boy was thirty-two, the girl thirty. One beautiful April morning, in search of a cup of coffee to start the day, the boy was walking from west to east, while the girl, intending to send a special-delivery letter, was walking from east to west, but along the same narrow street in the Harajuku neighborhood of Tokyo. They passed each other in the very center of the street. The faintest gleam of their lost memories glimmered for the briefest moment in their hearts. Each felt a rumbling in their chest. And they knew: She is the 100% perfect girl for me. He is the 100% perfect boy for me. But the glow of their memories was far too weak, and their thoughts no longer had the clarity of fouteen years earlier. Without a word, they passed each other, disappearing into the crowd. Forever. A sad story, don't you think? Yes, that's it, that is what I should have said to her.

The article that the 40-Year-Old Virgin group chose I felt was slightly off. In the movie, Andy is 40 years old and is still a virgin, aka... has absolutely no game at all, or at least until his work friends decide to help him. But this article is about a young man getting up the courage to ask a young girl his age out on a date, or at least get up the courage to say something to her. When he does they decide that if it really was fate that brough them together so they agree that if they see each other somewhere in the future it was meant to be. Well, because of their terrible illness, they were left with no recolection of one another so they forever pass each other on the streets and don't realize that fate is bringing them together again day after day.
Doesn't this article sound a lot like a movie that was made about four years before? It had John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale... Serendipity. He writes his name on a $5 Bill and she writes her name in a used book and for years they're looking for these items because they believe that fate will bring them back together. It isn't until they stop looking that these items fall right into their laps, and then they of course are together in the end.
But Andy, Steve Carrell's character, could be seen as similar to the boy in the article. Andy would probably still talk to himself like that before talking to a woman... but who wouldn't? I bet just about any man or woman who are about to go and talk to someone they find attractive has some type of line playing in their head... the first impression is always the most crucial.
The Group did bring up some points i thought were rather interesting though. Andy's character seemed to be more feminine, whereas the female characters seemed to be more masculine. Andy seemed to be the one getting pursued buy the women and in some cases, practically violated. This type of scenario doesn't usually happen, or isn't something our society is necesarily used to.
All in all, the group brought up some interesting points, I just didn't agree on their choice of article.

The Ultimate Cougar Movie: The Graduate

I really enjoyed The Graduate. Even though it was made so long ago, there really is no movie out there like it. Even the Jennifer Aniston one that I vaguely remember watching a few years ago didn't even compare to this one. I loved Ann Bancrofts character! She was the ultimate cougar, she really was. I did hate her though when she didn't let Ben date her daughter Elaine, but I guess it would have been completely disgusting if my mother would have slept with a love interest of mine... Actually, I'd rather not even go there.

But if Elaine and Ben were supposed to be together all along (it seemed like their parents had been planning this since birth, why did Mrs. Robinson sleep with him? Weren't there plenty of other young men she could have seduced? Why him? I also thought it was rather odd that they rushed her into a marriage to that doctor she had been dating. We knew he wanted to marry Elaine, but didn't he think it was soon? Didn't they consider his feelings at all? No one probably expected Elaine to run off with Ben, though. And even when they did get away and got on the bus, they looked happy for about 12 seconds. But I was waiting for some sort of embrace... but they never hugged, kissed or anything at the end. They turned to look out the window to see if they were being followed, they turned to look at each other, they smiled... then the smiles faded. It seemed like a big "Oh Shit" moment. I don't really think that they realized what being together meant. It meant her never seeing her parents again, it meant that she was still married. It meant that they had nothing, not a car even because his broke down, and she was stuck in her wedding dress.

I can officially add this movie to my favorite's list. I can see why it's a classic. There's nothing even comparable to it... it's a one of a kind. Oh and was Ben's dad Mr. Feeny from Boy Meets World? I was wondering that the entire movie...

Response Paper on Lipstick Jungle

In this class we have spent hours arguing over what Radical Romance really is and how to define it, but in reality, it can’t be defined; we all have different perceptions as to what the true meaning actually is. Society nowadays has become much more accepting of certain behaviors that definitely weren’t shown on television fifty years ago, let alone talked about during that era, but television has become a commodity and producers know that sex sells, so that’s what is shown. Last year the television show, “Lipstick Jungle”, started on NBC, in a way replacing “Sex and the City” which ended a few years before. The show has definitely come into its own, proving that it is nothing like the prior. It is a show about three women who are not only best friends but are the three most successful women in New York City. Based on the best selling books by Candace Bushnell (who also wrote “Sex and The City”), “Lipstick Jungle” goes on to illustrate how these women juggle their careers, their families, their love lives, their friendship with one another, as well as other “affairs”. This series portrays radical romance at its best and let’s the world see that it’s no longer a man’s world, women, too, can have it all—money, power, families, and a sex drive.
The women of “Lipstick Jungle” are fierce, successful, and gorgeous and they don’t let anything get in their way. Wendy Healy, played by Brook Shields, is a movie producer, and is married to an unemployed musician and together they have two children. She is the breadwinner of the family and Shane, her husband, stays home to take care of the children, and this situation usually isn’t seen too often, especially in film or on television. In the book by Chris Barker, it says, “Men are commonly held to be more ‘naturally’ domineering, hierarchically oriented and power-hungry, while women are seen as nurturing, child rearing and domestically inclined” (285), but these roles are seemingly flipped for Wendy and her husband.
Victory Ford, played by Lindsay Price, is a fashion designer, is a single woman in her early 30’s who caught the eye of New York’s richest bachelor, billionaire, Joe Bennett. Joe bought the rights to her clothing line in an effort to save her from failure and puts it under a different name. Like any man, Joe’s mentality is this: “…she is sex-absolute sex, no less. She is defined and differentiated with reference to man and not he with reference to her; she is the incidental, the inessential as opposed to the essential. He is the Subject, he is the Absolute- she is the Other” (de Beauvoir), which is why buying her clothing line was simply an act of dominance and trying to fulfill her need so that she could fulfill his. Victory eventually found out about this investment and didn’t like that the man she was sleeping with, in a sense, owned her. She agreed to let him own her company, but she broke up with him. Shortly after, she started dating her contractor, Rodrigo, who was hired to construct her studio that Joe Bennett is paying for.
Nico Reilly, played by Kim Raver, is the Editor in Chief of a prominent fashion magazine, has the most scandalous life out of the three of them. She fell in love with her college professor, Charles, and was married to him before she was 26. During one particular photo shoot for the magazine she works for, she met a man or a boy, rather, named Kirby Atwood, and they, in turn, ended up having an affair. “Women tend to stray from their husbands when they are not getting enough attention from their husbands, whether it be mentally, physically or otherwise. Many women feel that they have become alienated from their husbands and no longer feel that there is any love or feelings between them, at least not coming from their husband's part. Also, some women simply cheat on their husbands for the thrill of not getting caught, or the feeling that they are getting away with something. Often times it becomes an addiction for men and women alike, and seems to be uncontrollable until all is lost, including their marriage, their health, and many times their mental stability” (Fleenor). Well, after her husband had a heart attack and died, we soon found out that he wasn’t leading an innocent life, either. She found pictures of her and Kirby in his desk drawer, which were taken by a detective that he hired to watch her, and, along with the pictures, were divorce papers. To top it all off, one of his students whom he impregnated and was keeping in a loft somewhere on the Upper East Side was there at the hospital and demanding money from Nico, so that she could raise Charles’ baby.
If “Lipstick Jungle” isn’t the definition of radical romance, I don’t know what is. Another word for radical is extreme, and a different term for romance is love affair, and this is exactly what this show portrays: extreme love affairs. Whether it’s the married mother of two being the main source of income, a single 30-something trying to keep her independence, or a woman in a lackluster marriage in desperate need to feel loved or cared about again, the main point of this is that these situations are new(er) to our society. In these particular instances, we are so used to the man fulfilling these roles that this show has women satisfying. It’s true that society has changed drastically within the past fifty years, but there are still many women who gave up their career to be stay at home moms, but this show, even though it is just a television show, could show the world that women really can rule in a man’s world, that they can have it all- money, power, families, and, yes, a sex drive.


Barker, Chris. Cultural Studies: Theory and Practice. 3rd Edition. Sage Publications Ltd. 2008.

Page 285.

De Beauvoir, Simone. “Introduction: Women as Other”. The Second Sex. 1949.

Fleenor, Laura. "Why Some Married Women Cheat On Their Husbands". Why Some Married

Women Cheat On Their Husbands. 22 May. 2007. EzineArticles.com. 23 Oct 2008

<http://ezinearticles.com/?Why-Some-Married-Women-Cheat-On-Their

Husbands&id=575082>.

Ethnography: Fraterinity IM's

For my ethnograhy I studied a fraternity intramural game (IM's) in the gym at CSUN. IM's are a pretty big deal in the Greek system, almost everyone goes to watch. As I'm sitting against the bleachers in a corner the first thing I notice is a boy in a red cape that reads: My Big Sis Is The Bomb Like *Tick Tick*. For those of you that don't know what that means, it's a refrence to a rap song, but this guy was completing one of his many big sis missions before she reveals to him (meaning, he doesn't know who it is and has to complete a bunch of stupid tasks before she lets him know it's her). Although they can be somewhat humiliating, he wasn't the only one in there that was completing a mission. Two other guys had on white shirts with writing all over them, having to get girls from different sororities to sign them.

The guys are playing volleyball. Aparently, from what i've been told, the guys take Volleyball more seriously than any other sport they play. Sigma Chi is playing Lambda Chi Alpha and they are really big rivals. The entire game has been super close. My friend Jose is stretching... he thinks he's going to finally be able to play. I don't think he will.

Fraternity IM's are usually held on Monday nights, just after the sorority meetings. It's funny to me how girls are in business attire for meeting and apparently walk straight over to the gym right after, but some how they're in their regualr clothes that just happen to be their most revealing . There is so much flirting that goes on between all of these people it's ridiculous, and that is pretty much the main reason girls go at all. Taking a quick scan of the room, most girls aren't watching the game. Most of the guys are cheering for their brothers and those that aren't are talking to at least one girl. Some guys even have 5 girls surrounding them, making IM's the single easiest way to get all the people in the greek system together so they can flirt and get to know one another.

When you put all of the one on one action between the sororities and fraternities you really do get to see the brother and sister unity within each organization. In a school so big, it is so easy to feel lost, but when you join the Greek System, there's a feeling of belonging, everyone knows everyone. Watching everyone interact with one another, you really get the sense that people have created bonds that will last longer than just throughout the rest of their time here, in school.