As I was surfing the web to delve into this project, I started to look for discourse that would fit my previous topic. As I was looking, I was repeatedly getting sidetracked watching Beyonce performances on Youtube, reading articles about Michelle Obama on CNN, or reading VOUGE interviews with Tina Fey. It was a disaster. Then it dawned on me that I should do my project on what I really love, and that is my role models. There are so many women in the news that I am fascinated with and I am lucky enough to have found amazing women to look up to. It is time for us to bypass that article on Britney Spears shaving her head, or Ke$ha’s new sex tape. There are so many outstanding women we can aspire to be, we just have to look in the right places. High school is a time that young girls really struggle with themselves and I believe finding a role model, the right role model, is crucial to finding ourselves. In our society, women are fighting back and the postmodernism period is recognizing this movement. The discourse I collected highlights some of my favorite women from my favorite programs. I would love to read your comments and who your role model is!
1.) Comedians are definitely people I look up to, but female comedians are sometimes hard to come by. Samantha Bee is the only female member of The Daily Show cast and she is hilarious, smart, and definitely a fabulous role model.
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Male Inequality | ||||
2.) “It's a bad girl's world and good role models for young girls are getting increasingly more difficult to find.
“They are out there, though. Many of them, in fact. They're just not making the cover of People. However, I think it's clear that mothers, aunts, grandmothers and even young girls themselves are actively seeking these women out and besides those that we call mother, sister or doctor, there are many out there making waves in the world as well.”
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/165477/7_outstanding_role_models_for_young_pg3.html?cat=38
3.)This is an article about the top 20 most influential women in the world. I have not heard some of these women’s names before, but I found it fascinating to read what they have done. You can skim each woman's accomplishments and see who you may aspire to be like the most.
http://www.lilithgallery.com/feminist/womenofpower/Top-20-Influential-Women.html
4.)These two clips I saw on the Nightly News and I was lucky enough to find them on the website. These seemingly average Joesettes (instead of average Joes) have made big differences. For me, this sparked ideas on how I can make a difference, hopefully it does for you too.
8.) I grew up watching this video almost everyday on TRL. Destiny’s Child’s music and videos about strong, independent women still stay with me today. I love the messages in their songs and Beyonce is still my ultimate role model…as many of you know.
9.) This is a video I saw on The Ellen Show of Beyonce making a big difference in a little girls life.
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
5.)When President Obama was elected into office, I instantly fell in love with his wife, Michelle. She is beautiful, smart, articulate, and has a fierce fashion sense. This article highlights one of the many ways she uses her power as the First Lady to make America a better place. I can only hope in the future, my kids will have a role model like Michelle.
“She announced the Let's Move initiative at the White House. The program focuses on what families, communities and the public and private sectors can do to help fight childhood obesity, which she and health experts have termed an epidemic in the United States.”
http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/02/09/obama.child.obesity/index.html
6.) When I was watching Idol Gives Back, I was drawn to Annie Lennox. Her work towards HIV/AIDS has been monumental. Not only was her story captivating, but her passion. I’m so glad her work was highlighted on such a popular TV show, it was truly inspiring. In this short write up, she explains why she wore a shirt that read “HIV positive”.
http://www.popeater.com/2010/04/22/annie-lennox-hiv-positive/
7.)I love this article about Lady Gaga. She is a women who recognizes the impact she can make, and acts on it!
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1635862/20100412/story.jhtml
8.) I grew up watching this video almost everyday on TRL. Destiny’s Child’s music and videos about strong, independent women still stay with me today. I love the messages in their songs and Beyonce is still my ultimate role model…as many of you know.
9.) This is a video I saw on The Ellen Show of Beyonce making a big difference in a little girls life.
10.) This is an interview with Tina Fey in VOUGE Magazine. Everyone loves Tina Fey, she is intelligent, charming, self deprecating, and funny. Many can agree she is one of the best role models for young girls.
“A friend of mine recently said this: ‘Her existence is such a relief.’ By which she meant that women of a certain age who are cool, funny, and smart but who are by no means fabulous—who are in fact befuddled by much of what passes for fabulous these days—are relieved to see Fey celebrated as such. When I share this with Fey, she says in the most sincere tone imaginable, "That is such a lovely thing to say." She thinks it over for only a second. ‘I feel like I represent normalcy in some way. What are your choices today in entertainment? People either represent youth, power, or sexuality. And then there's me, carrying normalcy.’ Pause. ‘Me and Rachael Ray.’”
http://www.vogue.com/feature/2010_March_Vogue_Cover_Girl_Tina_Fey/
11.) Meryll Streep is the classiest woman I know of and the most respected performer in Hollywood. Her accomplishments are astounding and she serves as a wonderful role model for young girls and older women.
“The movie business—which long assumed that success lay in making films aimed at young men—has reacted to such eye-popping numbers with bemused consternation. Many studio executives have been privately convinced that it wasn’t worth even a modest budget to make films about women, particularly older ones, and they seem stunned that a series of movies about middle-aged women racked up such enviable grosses. “The problem isn’t just the fact that studios forget that movies about or aimed at women have an audience—they honestly don’t know how to market them,” says Nora Ephron, who wrote and directed Julie & Julia. “What they know how to market are movies aimed at teenage boys. I don’t think my movie would have been made without Meryl.”
http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/features/2010/01/meryl-streep-201001
12.) I was so happy to see Lindsey Vonn win her gold metals! In a profession dominated by men, Lindsey Vonn really stood out and had the whole world cheering for her.
Works Cited
"Annie Lennox Attends 'Idol Gives Back' Wearing HIV Positive T-Shirt." PopEater.com. Web. May 2010.
Bennetts, Leslie. "Something About Meryl." Vanity Fair. Jan. 2010. Web. May 2010. .
HALO- Sydney. Perf. Beyoncé. Youtube. 20 Sept. 2009. Web. May 2010. .
Kaufman, Gil. "Lady Gaga Says She's Celibate And Fans Should Be Too." MTV.com. Web. May 2010. .
Lindsey Vonn Cover. 2010. Photograph. SI Vault. Sports Illustrated. CNN, 8 Feb. 2010. Web. May 2010. .
Lunchbag Volunteer. Nightly News with Brian Williams. NBC. Web. May 2010. .
Male Inequality. Perf. Samantha Bee. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Comedy Central, 3 Feb. 2010. Web. May 2010. .
Meter, Jonathan Van. "Miss Tina Regrets." Vouge. Mar. 2010. Web. May 2010.
Moi, Moi Is. "7 Outstanding Role Models for Young Women." Associated Content. Web. May 2010. .
Nursing the Homeland Back to Health. Nightly News with Brian Williams. NBC. Web. May 2010. .
Park, Madison, Alan Silverleib, Val Willingham, and Suzanne Malveaux. "First Lady: Childhood Obesity Fight Is about Fitness, Not Looks." CNN.com. Web. May 2010. .
Survivor. Perf. Destiny's Child. Youtube. Web. May 2010. .
"The Top 20 Influential Women in the World Today." The Lilith Gallery of Toronto. Web. May 2010. .
I think this topic is awesome first of all! All the woman discussed were pretty well known and great representations of what a role model should truly be. You know I have a soft spot for olympic athletes so the Lindsey Vonn cover was something I loved. I also really liked the article about the 20 most influential woman. I was not shocked that out of these 20 woman, I only knew who 7 of them were. There were 4 woman included on this list who were all the president of their country of residence! This was mind blowing! I also enjoyed the entry on Michelle Obama. Although I may not agree with all of her husband's policies, I think she is a great lady. Did you know she promised the graduates of George Washington University this year that if they gained 100,000 hours of community service in the DC area she would speak at their graduation?? Talk about motivation!! The graduates well surpassed that goal and got their speaker! Another aspect of your project I liked was that not all these woman were famous. The two woman in example 4 are a great way to show every day people are role models too. They change the world just as much as any celebrity does. It motivates people to help by letting them know you don't need to make millions of dollars in donations to help people. It was great how you used many media outlets as examples of discourse like the videos, comedy sketches, music, as well as serious new articles. Your discourse shows that positive influence is in the media, sometimes you just have to look harder for it.
ReplyDeleteThis was an amazing project. I loved reading all your pieces of discourse that I wished it could keep going on. I felt extremely inspired by your project. The role of women is vital to our society. Women speaking up more and more are what cause us to become stronger.
ReplyDeleteThe first piece of discourse was full of sarcasm and I liked the fact that a women was trying to point out male dominance in a very sarcastic way. She was also making it seem like men are not treated as equal until you got to the part that said, “Men run just 485 of our fortune 500 companies and only 3 branches of government.” It chose how dominant men are and although women are treated equal we are still far behind men.
I found discourse number three one of the most pieces of discourse you had. It was amazing to read about the top 20 women. I was surprised to find that 8 out of the 10 top 10 women were foreign women trying to make change to their country. The women I found most interesting was Sonia Gandhi. It says, “Her position in government is one of the highest offices in the world’s second most populous nation (the most populous democratic nation).” I think it is fascinating that a woman is basically in charge of India. I also found Indra Nooyi, CEO of Pepsi, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, Argentina’s first elected female President, Michelle Bachelet, President of Chile, Yoani Sanchez, journalist in Cuba, and Aung San Snn Kyi, the only person to win a Nobel Peace Prize and be imprisoned, were some of the most influential women I have ever read about.
In discourse number seven I was surprised to hear that Lady Gaga believes in celibacy. It seems very contradictory to her music videos and music lyrics. I read through the comments and many of them agreed that she should teach that in her music as well and not only say to be celibate but teach it also. However, I still find her very influential and commend her on her bravery to wear the weirdest outfits and not conform the norm.
Beyonce is by far my top role model. Same as you! :] When I watched discourse number 9 I almost started to cry when I saw the people in the audience crying and then the girl crying. It was so moving and I thought it was an amazing thing that Beyonce did I find her to be the most influential and best role model of all time.
Overall, I thought this was an amazing project. I loved our topic on influential women and I think you accomplished what you planned to do with this project. Women everywhere are speaking out and trying to create a better world for everyone. Good project :]
This was a very creative project. Your topic was unique and inspiring to read about, and I feel like I learned a lot about the amazing women of the world. I like how you not only showed influential and powerful women role models such as Michelle Obama or Oprah, or celebrities like Beyonce or Lady Gaga, but everyday women, like the video about the lunchbag volunteer. The article about the 20 most influential women was my favorite part, because it showed how much good women can do and have done. You clearly cared alot about this topic, and its evident in your choices and comments.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your project. I liked the variety of women that you picked as role models as well. You went from celebrities like Lady Gaga, Michelle Obama, and Beyonce, to normal civilized people, and to sport celebrities like Lindsey Vonn. We don't realize what celebrities do to help other people. We just see them on the television. I think that it is extremely important to help out other people in need, and you show a wide variety in people who do so. The video about the women in Haiti was very sad. It definitely gave me a different lookout on life. For people who are interested in sports, you showed Lindsey Vonn who is a great influence on kids. She showed how hard she had to work to get to where she wanted to be. To her surprise, she got a Gold medal.
ReplyDeleteAt the beginning of your project, you said that when we responded to your project that you wanted to know who our role models are. I would have to say that my role model is my friends. I look up to them every day, because they are all great individual people and they all do something to help others in some way, shape, or form, and I absolutely love them for that.
Megan Preis
ReplyDeleteMay 10 at 8:50pm (facebook inbox)
Leah, I love your discourse project. I think that the idea of displaying how much women are prominent in society today is crucial, and every American citizen (men and women,) in fact, everyone in the entire world should view your project. I think that it was a necessity that you included the article about the top 20 Influential Women in the world. In this case, it was clear that most individuals in the US do not know about worldly women of power and strength, and we should learn about women on a global level as a society. I love how you included a combination of serious, amazingly kind women, funny women, and women of politics; it truly defined your project powerfully. Also, I loved how you included music videos such as "I'm a Survivor." It proved how sometimes we do not even realize how we can be influenced from a variety of sides of a source.
commenters in order:
ReplyDelete1.) Ava Rojo
2.) Sara Benson
3.) Katie McMorran
4.) Lindsay McCoy
5.) Megan Preis