Typical

     What is it about blonde hair and blue eyes that is so appealing to the public? Both "The Bluest Eye" and "Our Barbies, Ourselves" demonstrated how those two characteristics are generally seen as desirable.
     Barbies, at least the classic ones, are notoriously known for their blonde hair and blue eyes. These toys are given to children at a young age, when they are the most apt to be influenced, perhaps causing them to wish for the sense of normality these physical characteristics will give them. Even her boyfriend, Ken, has blond hair and blue eyes. In the future, maybe Barbie and Ken will have a typical family of beautiful blond haired, blue eyed children, living together in a Barbie dream house.
     Another example of the glorification of blonde hair and blue eyes lies in the popular children's series referenced in "The Bluest Eye"- "Dick and Jane." For those who didn't have those books read to them as a child, the Dick and Jane is a childrens series that describes a perfect family, some with- you guessed it- blonde hair and blue eyes. This again sets a standard for the American family to live up to.

     Shirley Temple is yet another media representation of the perfect blonde haired and blue eyed American, as described in "The Bluest Eye." Shirley Temple is considered to be perfect in the eyes of America, giving people joy in the time of the Great Depression, and again setting a precedent for the typical American family.

The Other

     The "othering", or discrimination of others is clearly a huge problem in today's society as people are singled out for their race, gender, and religion. We see this "othering" demonstrated in the real world, as well in literature and media. The type of discrimination that I most identify with, however, is gender discrimination. This has helped me to relate with many of the authors whose pieces we have read in 11AP, such as Brent Staples, Deborah Tannen, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Elizabeth Stanton.
     Brent Staples, who wrote "Black Men and Public Spaces," talked more about being "othered" for his race than for his gender. However, as Tannen, the author of "There is No Unmarked Woman," would argue, the fear directed towards Staples wasn't only the result of him being black. If a woman were to come across a black woman at night, it is likely that she would be less afraid than she would be had it been a black man. Here lies an example of gender discrimination- the belief that men are inherently more powerful, and therefore more dangerous than women.
     In The Scarlet Letter lies another example of gender discrimination- the difference in how Dimmesdale and Hester are seen for their crime of adultery. While both Hester and Dimmesdale are literally "marked," in the words of Tannen, Hester's mark is worn on the outside while Dimmesdale's is well concealed. There is also a huge difference in how society views their adultery. While the townspeople spent years shaming and excluding Hester, when Dimmesdale confessed to his sin, the townspeople made excuses for him, and some even denied that his confession even happened. This problem is still so common today, under the name of "slut shaming."
     These examples of gender discrimination against women are outlined in Stanton's "Declaration of Sentiments." She states that "He has endeavored, in every way that he could, to destroy her confidence in her own powers," and that "He has created a false public sentiment by giving the world a different code of morals for men and women, by which moral delinquencies which exclude women from society, are not only tolerated, but deemed of little account in man." This document, having being written in the mid 1800's, illustrates problems that are still abundant today. It appears that we have come so far, and maybe we have, but we still have so much further to go.
     Here's an amazing video illustrating the discrimination against women: A Very Realistic Military Game

Quests for Revenge

     In honor of the return of my favorite TV show tomorrow (!), here is a very The Walking Dead centric blog post. (SPOILER ALERT)
     While reading The Scarlet Letter, I couldn't help but notice how similar Chillingsworth is to the Governor. The Governor, for those who don't actively follow The Walking Dead, was one of the main villains in seasons three and four. He had set up a town, a refuge of a sort, named Woodbury, and appeared to be a heroic figure. However, Woodbury, the supposed sanctuary, had it's dark secrets, as did the Governor. These were well concealed by his intelligence and cunning nature. It was revealed that the Governor had been hiding his zombified daughter in his apartment, and when Michonne "killed" the already dead girl, the Governor developed a personal vendetta against Michonne. This started a war that I won't go into detail about, but suffice it to say that the Governor conned his town into fighting with him against good people. Twice.

(Spoilers and some violence)

     Chillingsworth happens to display many of the same characteristics of the Governor. He too is primarily motivated by revenge. He makes it his life's mission to repay Dimmesdale for the affair Dimmesdale had with Hester. However, to the public, it appears that Chillingsworth is a good and noble man. His intelligence aids him in his quest for revenge. 

     The downfall of these two characters shows what happens when one is primarily vengeful, harboring a deep vendetta inside of him or her. Inevitably, the hunger for vengeance will cause destruction, to not only an enemy, but to the holder of it him or herself. 

To Conform or Not to Conform

     Now that it's Sunday, I can breathe a much needed sigh of relief- spirit week is finally over. Why do I have such a problem with spirit week? What's the big deal? Well, the answer lies not in the idea of spirit week itself, but the avid, almost obsessive participators in it. It's a nice idea in theory. However, a week designed to single out and ridicule people who don't conform to the designated dress style of they day tends to get old (at least to me), very quickly.
     I wasn't always this critical about spirit week. I used to take part in it myself, mainly freshman year. However, sophomore year, I wondered what would happen if I didn't participate, just for one day. I didn't expect it to be such a big deal- mainly I just didn't want to have to put together a special outfit, but instead sleep as late as I could and put on whatever I first found. But, when I got to school, I found myself being singled out, not only by my friends, but by absolute strangers. That year turned me off to the idea of spirit week as a whole.
     This year, however, was even worse. A large majority of the junior class was obsessed with winning, stating that we "HAVE" to win all four years. So, when I showed up to class dressed in whatever I grabbed as I rolled out of bed, I was met with an astounding amount of criticism and degrading comments. It got so bad that people were attempting to physically change my appearance so that I fit in the guidelines for the day. I suffered through having a white piece of paper duct-taped to my shirt, a japanese food held up next to my face, and my face being painted.
     Similar to Hester Prynne and in the words of Deborah Tannen, by not wearing the designated spirit wear for the day, I had been "marked". I had been singled out, admittedly by my own choice, for the sole reason of being different. If it bothers me so much that people are isolating me for not participating, why don't I just suck it up and conform? Because I believe that I shouldn't have to wear a certain color not to be ridiculed by my peers. So yeah, I might be the kind of person you hate and curse at when the junior class loses spirit week for the day. But at least I'm not mindlessly conforming to a social standard, and at the very least, I get an extra five minutes of sleep.