research blog 15

Overall partaking in the research blog was not too bad. Some things I would consider changing would be starting the subculture chapters earlier in the semester to better understand the material at hand. The subculture chapters were highly important and sometimes a little difficult to understand, so starting them at an earlier date would probably reduce the risk of not understanding it. One thing I would change would be the busy work, possibly taking out a few reading blogs and possibly one or two research blogs. I found myself overwhelmed and uninterested because of the quantity of them. I think if the focus was more on quality over quantity the mindset of the students and quality of work would go up. I understand your mindset was to have quality with each and every single assignment; however I just felt overwhelmed and I know from speaking to other students they felt the same way, that we were partaking in busy work.
This research blog was a good way of keeping track of research, hw, and assignments; however, some subject matter and assignments seemed to be a little unclear. I found myself confused and therefore lacking some focus on some.

readiong blog 10

Tourists: Elderly, high-class, white collar, likely to travel to monuments and worldwide attractions.
Vagabonds: Lower-class, unlikely to travel far for vacation.

I am split on the world divided. I think there are some first world people who will travel outside their social norms, and also the same for third world. People in the first world may travel to a third world to help, volunteer, and donate time and money to help the unfortunate. There are plenty of people in non third world countries that will act and live as if they do not belong to that stereotype. O'Brien points out the diffusion in North America and many other countries throughout the world and continues on by saying, "...if every place looks like "home," the thrill of encountering "exotic peoples and places begins to lose its apeals"(O'Brien 339). I completely agree with this, I feel as if the world to conform and many places started to change to conform, no longer would there be cultural diversity.

Research blog 10

Fantasy baseball is a perfect description for hegemonic masculinity. The definition of the term is to basically describe as men overpowering women. Fantasy baseball is a primarily a male dominant activity. 85% of users are males, however women are on a rise in all fantasy sports. Throughout all the leagues I have participated in, for all fantasy sports, I have encountered only one female. I occasionally "play" fantasy football in a league with my football crazy older sister. I love that she is so enthusiastic and we share the love for the same team, the Steelers.


In the league people are always being judge in how they perform. The primary word in Performativity is perform. Fantasy baseball is a research driven and mostly lucky hobby. One can research day after day of stats of their favorite players, but not always do you have those players on your team. A draft is at the beginning of the season to help people pick players for their team. The better the players, obviously the better your team will perform. As the season progresses, if your team starts to lead categories and the league, people will see you in a strong light and see that you can perform as a good manager. However if your team is losing a lot and players aren't producing you will be looked down upon. Ever person in the league will always want to beat the best team in your league. This is similar to hegemony because of the higher power looking down on other and dominating others without say.

reading blog 7

Bamboozled had a huge spot for representation throughout the film. Representation is a way for symbols, pictures, and sign to be associated with an idea. In Bamboozled, the black men are shown as unintelligent, desperate, and willing to do anything. They show this by using stereotypes and "black face." The main characters were displayed as poor, uneducated, and desperate. The film uses the house band and calls them "Alabama Porch Monkeys," I mean come on! Spike Lee is displaying the ideas of discrimination and racism throughout the US. They set the "show" in a watermelon patch and give every actor black face so they appear to be the darkest skin color of black possible.

Each character had a very strong identity. Delliqua(sp) was shown as a tv writer desperate to make it big, he was considered an "oreo" and was displayed as a very high class, "white" acting black man. The boss, was shown with the identity of being a "black lover" and claimed he was blacker than Deliqua, noting he grew up in Brooklyn. These identities are extremely strong and are displayed in the most derogatory way possible.

Reading blog 8

This is a picture of a "goth." There is the subculture of goths who are usually younger people who dress in a lot of black and tend to idolize such poets as Keats and Shelly and seem to admire vampires and werewolves. This has become a popular subculture. I noticed while I was in middle school and throughout high school, people trying to find an identity that didn't really fit into any of the "social norms" like prep, jock, band member, or cheerleader, they seemed to go the exact opposite direction and went goth. I know there are true goth people out there who have their own set of morals and views, however, I noticed throughout my schooling, "goths," seemed to attempt to be different, but to me they all seem to look the same, exactly the opposite of what they were trying to do.

60's hippies were considered a counterculture because of them going against the social norm of the society of the time. They were into the marijuana movements, trying to go against the "man," or the government and rallying together to make their points heard! They are a counterculture because of them rebelling against the norm and what was socially acceptable at the time.

reserach blog 12

I have tried many different websites for fantasy football, but I have come to feel most comfortable and used to yahoo. The website is a way for us users to manage our teams and they make it easy for us to do our research on players and such. The reason this is a subculture is because not many people will research what players have the best average against Derek Lowe, or why Carlos Ruiz plays best on Wednesdays. This is something avid users will do, this is not a social norm, thus making it a subculture. Fantasy is a perfect world for these activities. It is a very far fetched idea for a regular Joe to be able to manage baseball teams with some of the MLB's best talent. It gives them the idea they are the owner or manager of a team and can use every action a real manager can. Sign, release, and trade are some of the actions that can take place, giving people the feeling as if they have some power! Fantasy baseball is clearly a subculture due to it is not normal for people to spend hours on end on sports sites looking up player stats, thus making it clearly a simple subculture(simple to some).

Reading blog 9

Space is a very intriguing yet difficult idea. Many people have very different ideas of what space is. Space could be set by a set of rules or regulations, or set just because of personal comfort. At my church back home, space is almost non-existent. The people in my community and at my church are all very friendly, open, and welcoming type of people. At our church they really like to show their love and affection towards friends and family at the appropriate times of mass. This is shown by hugs, hand shakes, or sometimes kisses on the cheek. All due to the amount of familiarity with each other. Many people at our church feel that the less space between one another, is a good way for people to get to know each other and for the community and the bond to become stronger. I, however, sometimes feel uncomfortable when I am there. I do not like it when acquaintances and people I barely know sit close to me, or hug me when I just want a hand shake. People in the community are very tight nit and close. It is a city of near 30,000 people and are all very involved with the community, schools, and churches. So I have come to learn about many different types of people, and have gotten to know them very well. Our city defines space in other ways other than the church. They will define space by the set up of our newly remodeled downtown and the amount of room for people to walk the sidewalks or park their cars. The downtown area has a homey, close, comforting feel to it. It bring the styling of an old town with a new feel and a welcoming feeling.