To follow up from last week's analysis, chapter fifteen of Ronald Takaki's A Different Mirror deep drives into the era of post-World War II. Astonishingly, it was only a little over twenty years ago when the University of California Board of Regents member Ward Connerly formally banned affirmative action in the university admission process. For the fear that this practice promoted a form of 'reverse discrimination' because seats would be pulled away from whites and Asians in order to favor African and Latino Americans. With this in mind, Connerly shared a similar ideology with President Ronald Reagan that African Americans could match the growing success of Asian Americans should they study and work hard enough. After his success with…
The Broken Mirror was written by Katherine Phillips, M D, who is Chief of outpatient services and Director of the Body Dysmorphic Disorder and Body Image Program at Butler Hospital in Providence, Rode Island. In this text, Dr. Philips explains and answers various questions about an unknown psychological disorder known as Body Dysmorphic Disorder or BDD. The text answers various questions about the disorder including: What is Body Dysmorphic Disorder? How does one know if they have BDD? How does BDD affect one’s life? And what is the treatment plan for BDD sufferers (Philips 1996)?…
I feel a strong connection to the argument he posed about our society being “entranced by images” which is highlighted in paragraph 5 and 6. We live in a technological age where media is accessible. I believe over time many individuals have developed an obsession with social media causing them to have difficulty deciphering between reality and a fantasy.This has created false relations between the celebrities and their viewers and the comfort that the media seems to bring to…
Claribel Alegrίa in Nicaragua in 1924 and a year later her family was exiled to El Salvador because of her father’s support of Nicaraguan guerrilla leader Augusto César Sandino, Alegría 's family was forced into exile by Anastasio Somoza, a Nicaraguan politician who later became commander-in-chief of the Nicaraguan army and eventually the nation 's president. Her poem I am Mirror was translated in 1978. And is the topic for this critique.…
Sylvia Plath’s poem “Mirror” and Gwen Harwood’s poem “In the Park” explore the concept of loss diversely. Plath’s poem surrounds the distress regarding the inevitability of aging and its impact while Harwood’s poem explores how the truth cannot be hidden when faced with motherhood.…
Within the article, Roxby recognizes social media sites as a facilitator of demeaning commentary and a promoter of our instinctive tendencies to compare ourself to others that impairs the self-confidence of millions of active users. Roxby discusses how users utilize endless photo editing applications to enhance images to become eligible members in the “beauty contest dynamic” that pervades Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and other social media sites. Roxby explains how society today uses social media as a primary mean of communication; therefore, endangering one’s self confidence by simply using these messaging sites is nearly…
Christine Rosen’s essay makes a brilliant point that social networking sites have become the modern equivalent of a self portrait. People post the pictures they want others to see and information that may be flattering to themselves all in order to create a façade to boost their image. The development of social network sites have not just appeared over night; their origins began with a low tech bulletin board system called WELL which was launched in the 1980s but with the years to come more networking sites like Facebook and MySpace quickly emerged.…
Barbara Tuchman’s A Distant Mirror is about as entertaining as a history book can get or should be. Tuchman is a captivating storyteller and the quality of her history of France in the 14th century speaks for itself as the book has remained in print after 25 years. Famous for her engaging, narrative style that makes history flow like a thrilling novel, Tuchman presents a comprehensive review of 14th century Europe (via France, the dominant European power of the Middle Ages). She emphasizes three main events that dominate the lives of Europeans in the 14th century: the Plague, the Hundred Years' War and the Papal Schism. Despite this large-scale vision, she also succeeds in bringing this "distant mirror" as close to the reader as possible.…
Data aggregators are collecting personal information from websites. It is not only a name and a basic location, but what a person searches on the internet. Any action online has been tracked by these vultures, always scavenging for scraps of meat to fill their daily quotas. These bits and pieces of information become a second-self; “In essence, a second-self – a virtual interpretation of you – is being created from detritus of your life that exists on the web” (Andrews 710). As if this portrayal of the true self was not enough, social media makes a more psychological argument of the true self. Orenstein explains how the self is “becoming a brand”, something that is being advertised to others hoping for some people to buy into this persona (447). The problem is that this persona is also false. The self should be developed from within not developed by the likes and retweets received when interacting with social media (Orenstein 447). Orenstein even admits she has noticed at times when she has fallen to the need of updating a status, “As I loll in the front yard with Daisy [Orenstein’s daughter] or stand in line at the supermarket or read in bed, part of my consciousness splits off, viewing the scene from the outside and imagining how to distill it into a status update or a tweet” (448). This need to inform everybody online of what is happening at that moment by tweeting and posting pictures that are sure to be judged…
Rosen explains how individuals are constantly urged to market themselves to a world full of strangers via the Internet and its numerous social networking sites. They are expected to create a personal image that is seen as consistent and memorable. Many let out their thoughts and emotions hoping for a reassuring response from the audience. However, studies show that sharing too many personal details online may in fact have negative effects when it leads people to vent their feelings in a void, without the support of a receptive audience. Rosen also highlights how the Internet is creating an unbalanced relationship between liberty and security. He questions why people are more concerned with feeling connected than with the personal and social costs of exposure. Rosen discusses how “our conceptions of personal truthfulness has changed from sincerity to authenticity”(415). More and more people in today’s society have no problem disclosing intimate details to strangers. Some even create false images of themselves to appeal to others as trustworthy and intelligent. Rosen brings up the idea of “personal branding”, in which individuals present the best version of themselves in order to establish and maintain emotional connections with strangers. These personal branders thrive upon approval from the public, hoping to become more successful in their careers. Rosen states that amongst the chaos of everyone struggling to stand out as unique, personal branding…
Social media and the impact it has on self-esteem. The way we put a lot of efforts on what we post, when we post and who sees what we post for self-actualization is coming to be a problem. Could this be how people’s self-actualization are fulfilled in the near future and what does it mean for the present? Introduce the life Black Mirror depicts.…
In a world where celebrity information is so readily available especially through social media it gives an inside into celebrities personally lives which causes individuals of all ages to find themselves intrigued by these celebrity’s lifestyles. Some celebrities even have a sort of cult following such as the Kardashian sisters from “Keeping Up With The Kardashians” who even have their own Apps that enable people to follow their lives. This cultural obsession with celebrities make possible for marketers to easily use celebrities to gain recognition and boost their brand, these actors transfer their meaning onto products they promote.…
Author, Jacob Silverman, uses the ideas from a Danish academic, Anders Colding- Jørgensen, to explain his viewpoint on using social media to put oneself out there for everyone to see. “’We should no longer see the Internet as a post office where information is sent back and forth, but rather as an open arena for our identity and self- promotion – an arena that is a legitimate part of reality, just like our homes, workplaces and other social arenas in our society’” (Silverman 163). Silverman is supporting the idea of anorexics showing themselves off and posting how far they have come because they are able to self-promote with social media. Anorexics tend to self-promote themselves without meaning to but instead just to share with others what they have gone through with diverse social media…
In the twenty-first century people are exposed to the media, whether it is the television, films, magazines or tabloid. Those individuals who are considered as celebrities plays an important role in people’s lives by acting as role models for those seeking guidance or advice, also influencing their body image perception with the impact of the neglected to fully appreciate the impacts that celebrities have on issues such as drug use, eating habits and cosmetic appearance. Consequently, many people possess a dream and imagine to become a principal or a famous in different subjects such as sport person, a television presenter or movie star. It is definitely not a bad dream, but I would argue that being a celebrity, whatever the field, brings…
It is ironic how people idolize celebrities just because they are sexy, rich or just because they are “amazing” at acting or singing. Now individuals are discrediting the real and valuable qualities of a person, it is why America will not longer have heroes. In the article “The End of Admiration the Media and the Loss of Heroes,” by Peter H. Gibbon, a senior research fellow at Boston University’s school of education, argues about the lack of notable people and the bad impact that media does today. In addition, Brad Zembic, the author of “Print Media and the Rabbit Hole,” addresses the loss of credibility and respect of some newspapers and magazines. Although some individuals think that famous people are heroes, society should know to classify a person as a “hero” because today people think that celebrities are heroes for what they do. A hero has the respect of others and is willing to give himself for people, qualities that a celebrity will not really have.…
