Susan Bordo: "Beauty (Re)discovers The Male body"

            In her article "It's a Face-Lifted, Tummy-Tucked Jungle Out There," Amy Splinder talks about the obsession over male appearance that has been surging in society for the past couple of years.  She explains that people see appearance as a way to compete against others and succeed in society.   She concentrates on how this has always been the case for females, but in recent years males have been getting into this trend.  As a result of this new trend, males find any possible way to gain a desired, youthful body; preferably easy and effortless methods, such as plastic surgery.  This has lead to the commercializing of effortless methods to improve appearances, which Splinder calls "faux fixes."  These shortcuts that improve appearances has always been something that concentrated on the female population, but with the new male interest on appearance it has been able to expand and has now become a huge industry.  Splinder traces all this back to the competition between young and older males, in which younger males are usually more in demand when it comes to most things, including jobs.  This has forced older males to try to look as young as possible because it is seemed as preferred in society.
                In the end, all this has resulted in the commercializing of the male body.  Since it has become such a big industry it has lead to even more advertising of male appearance. Creating a positive feedback loop in which the more male appearance is sought after, the more it is advertised, and the more it is advertised, the more that it is sought after.

Splinder, Amy. (1996). "It's a Face-Lifted, Tummy-Tucked Jungle Out There," New York Times, June 9.

Blog 5: David Foster Wallace Commencement Address to Kenyon College

David Foster Wallace's commencement address that he gave to Kenyon College graduates was actually very entertaining, I thought it was going to be like any other commencement address where everything is all dull and boring.  In fact, Foster even addresses this reality that most commencement speeches tend to be cliché and boring. 
                In his address Foster uses several small stories and parables to explain his thoughts.  For example, he tells the story about the Christian and the atheist in Alaska, explaining how things have different meanings depending on from what perspective it is looked at.
                He explains to the graduating class about how what they have just learned is not something that just fills knowledge, that it is something that they will use and incorporate in their daily lives.  He talks about the advantage 0f having this unique knowledge that people seem to take for granted or forget about.
                One of the greatest parts of this address was the "fish" story, where he starts the address by explaining that this is not the typical older fish teaches young fish story, tying it all in at the end.
This address truly makes one think differently about not only liberal education but about life in general.

Blog 4: The "Banking" Concept of Education

              In "The 'Banking' Concept of Education," Paulo Freire criticizes the traditional educational system, in where students are regarded as lifeless containers that are filled with knowledge.  Freire describes the banking system as a one sided conversation in which the teacher narrates without end and the student receives the information without question.  He explains how this way of learning limits the growth of the student and destroys their critical consciousness.  He talks about how in this system the person that knows the most is the one that is regarded as smartest, that knowledge is the only measurement of intelligence.  He argues that the banking system is a way of oppression in which humans are made to become part of the world rather than become their own being.
                After reading this passage, I realized that the educational system that Freire describes is identical to what I went through in high school.  Having to go to class everyday to hear teachers talk for hours and expect to remember everything that you were told.  Many times, I would try to ask why, especially in my math and science classes, but the teachers would usually tell me that I didn't need to know why, that I just needed to remember what.  This got to the point where I stopped questioning anything that I was told and just accepted the fact.  It wasn't until recently when I started college that I have been able to ask the why and be answered.
                Freire demonstrates how flawed the banking system is and how it must be substituted for a more liberal system.