First of all, thanks for the compliment Kathy! I'd love to talk with you after class. If you want in, we'd love to have you.

Again, to reiterate my initial idea: I'm interested in my group unpacking heterocentrism as a feature of Pink Think. All successful girls/women/ladies under P.T. are supposed to be straight, right? This attitude is extremely pervasive and still persists today. Even cultural texts that seem to repudiate most of pink think still seem to take it as a given fact that women desire men sexually. I'd like to look at how this programming works in today's culture, perhaps especially concentrating on young girl's magazines like YM and Seventeen.

If you're interested in getting in on this, let's talk after class on Friday. If a ton of people are interested, maybe we could split into two groups and cover different aspects of the phenomenon.

A final aside: although I'm enjoying the class, is anyone else missing theory? I was hoping that we'd be doing some work with critical/rhetorical theory, and we haven't gotten to that yet. I would really like for us to consider how the cultural issues around women's bodies affect women's writing - not just in terms of theme or subject, but also in terms of style and process. I thought we were going to have to wrestle with l'ecriture feminine theorists like Irigaray (sp?) or Cixous. Would anyone else be interested in us exploring that topic?

Woops--sorry, Dr. Fisanick. My bad.
Dan--I will see you tomorrow and am trying to come up with some ideas.

First I would like to say that I really enjoyed our class dicussion in class on Wednesday because I took alot of very different perspectives away that I normally would not have accomplished on my own. As far as the Pink Think project is concerned I am open to many new and different ideas as far as my own are concerned I have not really come to a definitive conclusion as to what exactly would best demonstrate Pink Think. So to my group members who post messages after me I am going to go back and re-read the definition and hopefully come to class tomorrow with some good ideas.

Dan--Next year, this course will be a split level course for both undergraduate and graduate students. In the split course, the graduate students will be reading plenty of theory. I think that for undergrads to wrap their minds around the concepts of the course is difficult enough (it was hard for me even as a grad student!) and do not need or even want the addition of complex theory. (Speak up undergrad if that isn't true!)

My way of thinking about it is that I am informed by theory and that theory makes its way into the materials that I have chosen for class, the ways in which we discuss those materials, and the types of writing that I assign.

I think that we would spend too much time trying to make sense of theory, especially Irigiray and the other French feminists, than getting to the heart of how body rhetorics shape our world and how we live in it.

If you ever want to talk about the French feminists or any other body theory, I would be glad to do so. Let me know.

So I was listening to the radio at work today when a valentine's day commercial came on targeting women advertising a contest for a "free valentine's day dinner with your heterosexual mate"!?!? I was completely shocked. It is advertisements like this and many other things that completely disregard and in a sense criminalize homosexuality. Thus I would be very interested in exploring this topic further in the Pink Think presentation. So Dan and others, after class on friday sounds good.
Dr. Fisanick- if there was a possibility of adding some theory to this course I would be extremely interested in it. I am thoroughly enjoying what we are reading however I do agree with Dan in that something is missing. I really believe that a theoretical aspect would not only help the class to better understand body image but also on a personal level to rationalize everything.

I think that this project is going to prove to be very interesting. As I told my group members in class, every time we talk about this I cannot help but think of the movie "Legally Blonde". Sorry to continually use movie references but I watch them constantly. Anyway, I was talking about it to a friend of mine and she said it was an empowering movie because it means that even the "girly girl" type could be sucessful. But I told her to look at it from the other view. It seems to be saying, sure women can be sucessful, but they can still wear pink, have their nails done, and spend hours getting ready in the morning. So, if women are looking to go out into the "man's world", be sure to be noticeable a woman! Anyway, that is just one example that struck me, I don't know if we could go anywhere with that.

I agree that the PT project is going to prove to be very interesting. As I had stated in class, I was disappointed that there was no representation of how PT affected African American men/women. I also with, who was that, that made the comment, that PT was not geared toward the African American community, but for the upper and middle class white families. I will be working with Amber and she has come up with a good idea and I am searching for materials to go along with the approach that we want to present. You'll have to wait until presentation time.

Jason, I liked your idea for the PT project but I think I'm going to go along with Amber. Maybe I could do a presentation with both of you. (Sike!!!!)

Also, I must say that I was impressed and pleased with the application that we received for the Philanthropy project. It was very thorough and seemed to cover all aspects of what we presented in our Mission Statement. I'm looking forward to other applications that we will receive.

I think I am going to go ahead and search for commercials and programming that expects or teaches girls to act a certain way. I will pay attention to the ratings for the shows and the commercials that are shown during that time. If anyone wants to work with me on this project, my phone number is 732-6282, and my email is sharpy7@msn.com. If not, I have a beautiful 9 year old red head that will help me. If its allright with the prof. I may have her help me present.

Tracy, you are just plain mean!

Bonnie, that is nuts! I have never heard anything like that advertised on the radio; it's so derogatory and exclusive. Unfortunately, this type of discrimination is legal in Cincinnati (the only city in the country that it would be)according to Article XII of Cincinnati's city charter. It denies gays and lesbians the right to legally pursue action against discrimination because of sexual orientation. In other words, in the city of Cincinnati, any person who is even perceived to be gay or lesbian can be fired from their job, evicted from rented housing, or refused service in a restaurant or other public place without any opportunity for legal recourse. If you are interested, you should check out the website for Citizens to Restore Fairness or come to a Xavier Gay-Straight Alliance meeting (Dorothy Day House: Thurs 7:30) which discusses these issues.

Jackie, Kristin, and I were discussing Pink Think project ideas on Wednesday and I think that we may focus on the dynamics of Pink Think in the entertainment industry. For example, actresses are often affectionately deemed "American's Sweetheart." What does that mean? Who is chosen and why? Is Pink Think influential in deciphering which female actresses are "loved by America"? This was only one of the possible routes that we discussed in addressing this topic. What do you think?

Yeah- I'm with Jackie, I don't have much to talk about other than that I'm really excited about the projects. Although I wish we had a little more time to work on them, they sound like they're going to be so interesting and fun. I think that Puja and I are going to explore the case in Burleson Texas, where a woman has been recently arrested and may be incarcerated beacuse she throws "Passion Parties." In a nutshell, she may spend some serious time in jail for selling other women vibrators, creams, and lingerie. We both watched Dateline on February 5th which highlighted this story and were appalled by this absurdity. It is 2004, and a woman STILL doesn not have the full freedom to be a sexual human being without shame or social disagreement. I'm Quite sure that men in this town are able to go to Strip Clubs, put their money in women's panties, and walk out into the community with no reprecussion or judgement, but a woman who goes into the pirvacy of another's home to sell a product and give women tips about how they can better enjoy their sex life gets arrested?!!!!!It infuriates me. so anyway, this is what Puja and I are going to explore.

Edited by author 02-13-2004 02:58 PM
As Tracy mentioned before, i will be working with her. The details are still a little hazy. The fact that Pink Think failed to bring women of color into the book, really annoyed me. I mentioned in class that African Americans do in fact encounter pink think ideas daily but it takes on a totally differnt light than was mentioned in the book. Tracy and I will be presenting the way that "pink think" has affected the African American community although it takes on a complelty different form. We are not trying to leave anyone out, so any one can work with us. I think that it would be interesting to see a different perspective about this issue.

I have found Pink Think to be interesting and after reading the other posts, I can't wait for the presentations. I'm still a little unclear though as what I want to do in our group. Whitney talked about Legally Blonde and I think this would be interesting b/c before Reese Witherspoon did this movie she did Pleasantville which her characters deals with the frustrations of a woman in the 50's. I think it was an interesting switch from trying to fight off Pink Think to seemingly embracing it full force in Legally Blonde. Also Jessica talked about looking at the ways that ads for make-up are still doing the Pink Think thing (Maybe she's born with it, Maybe it's Maybelline)and I'm love the idea. Something that I had thought about myself was music and Pink Think, I think it would be interesting to look at how females are represented in certain ways and how this influences societies ideas about women in the music industry. There just seem to be so many good ideas that I don't know where to begin.

I think that despite the frustrations we have had with "Pink Think" as a book, the projects will give us a better understanding of what pink think is all about, especially in the context of how it still exists today. The book was a bit outdated and so seeing how it works in a contemporary setting will really allow us to see what impact it really has. I agree that the projects sound very interesting and I am excited to be doing something like this and seeing what the rest of the class will reveal. Jeni and I were appalled that a woman would be sent to jail for throwing passion parties. The sexual repression of women is flabbergasting and hopefully we will learn some great things about the plight of women in this persepective.

First off I was wondering where we post our philanthropy messages this week because I did not find a place to post them on the usual site we click on,on the philanthropy homepage so I decided to make another post on this message board regarding the first proposal. Basically I enjoyed reading through this particular proposal mainly because it was thorough but to the point. However, in some ways I feel it does not focus enough upon its attitudes and possible resolutions to the body image problems many young women face today which I felt was most apparent in the description of the activities that this organization supports. However, I do agree with the teaching of young women about relationships with the opposite sex and how that impacts the way, unfortuneatly, many women today see their own bodies which I thought was a necessary component of this education on body image we spoke of in class.

I really got a kick out of the essay on body hair in /Body Outlaws./ I remember the slight disorientation I had on coming to college and being in a small community where virtually none of the women shaved. (Shaved their legs or underarms, that is. None of them had visible facial hair, so I don't know if any of them had to deal with that issue or not.) I quickly got used to it and it got to the point where it was disorienting to see shaved women's legs.

What's fascinating is that this social "requirement" of shaved legs is something that's been thrust upon us this past century, and is essentially a creation of marketing. It makes you stop and think that through advertising, women have come to think of features of their own body as "unnatural." And in my mind, that's a lot of what this course is about - discovering the ways in which our conceptions of women's bodies differ from the way women's bodies actually are and WHY there is that difference. Whose interests does that serve?

i think that the presentaiton will be very interesting becasue the book eminates the history of pink think, but what we will be presenting is the current twist n pink think. i think that this comparison will show that despite how riduculous some of the ideas in "pink think" were they are still around but a little better hidden. if anything alot of pink think i beleive is now subliminal. there are many advertisements that do a good job of seeling thier product and eminating what a woman shoudl be-how to look, act, be. i think the presentations will make us all ask why we still do these things. it will also present the new pink think that involves the career woman, and how the corporate world as an example can have lots of pink depite that most f these women in power would never be causght in pink. the idea of power is a new pink think. women who are in power can seem less feminine becasue maybe they downt have children or do not have much time to spend with thier families. women are often put in a tough spot that it has to be one thing or another-have a family or have a career.