Hip Hop

I was reading the article "If women Ran Hip Hop" on pg. 534 and I was really intrigued. The format was completely different which kept my interest, the topic kept my interest too of course. I like how it is in the song format, as if it were a hip hop song, playing on the title. A lot of what the author was saying seemed stereotypical of woman though, for instance pretty baskets, females dressing sexy and random other things. But I do agree with a lot of the things, they would be nice to have out in the world, having counselors available, on-site child care, and detox centers. I would think that these things should be possible with a male running Hip Hop and I don't see why the author says that its woman who will bring about this change, it would take everyone. So I guess my feelings about this article are very mixed, it has a good message, but also a lot of sexual stereotypes and negativity towards males somewhat.

On a complete side note, my mission for work has been semi-completed. Yesterday I had a gentleman come up to me very excited to tell me what his costume was. He is going to be a flapper girl for halloween, and even showed me a picture; dress, wig, stocking and high heals included. So thank you random flapper man for making this holiday a bit more diverse.

Work so far

Well someone commented saying I should keep up with the next month and work, so I guess thats what the first blog of the week will be about since I am slacking and haven't read the articles yet (long night ahead of me with that). But anyways, I made it through my first week of work. A lot of the time I was just helping to get the store set up so I got to see almost all of the product, and halloween has grown so much since I was little, there are so many more options, and just it was amazing. I was surprised by a few costumers with some random comments which made the time a bit more interesting. We have a part of the store called the picture wall where all of the "riskier" female costumes are kept, and I had a few men actually ask if there was anything like that for men (which there isn't). I was hoping a male would ask me if he could try on one of those costumes despite the gender difference, but that didn't happen......yet. I had one guy, must have been in his early 20's ask me if he could try on a penguin costume. Penguins being my absolute favorite thing ever I thought I had found my soul mate. But then he decides to also ask me "If I wear this to a bar, do you think I will get any?" I was crushed to say the least and had to just giggle and walk away...typical male in my book, and I know I am stereotyping but oh well. Well I guess that is what I really felt was interesting from the work experience so far, more to come I am sure. Now I am off to do our reading, see you all tomorrow!

Halloween

I am starting a new job tomorrow at Halloween city in Appleton, and it has really made me think about costumes. I am excited to see all the little children come in and get excited about picking out there costumes and seeing how cute they are. But I am also excited to see how many people actually stick with the norms, how many people I can pick out what section they will go to, and how many people will try to be different. I want at least one guy to ask to try on one of our playboy costumes, a girl to try on some ridiculous male thing. I have a feeling that most people will stick to their gender noted costumes though, which is a slight disappointment, but it will be interesting to see if my hopes do come true.
On another note, an amazing book series that everyone should check out if you enjoy reading is The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. One of the main characters is an amazing female who goes against traditions and is on a whole new level.
Annnndddddddd one last random note for the day, here is an interesting website that I came across randomly believe it or not, it is all about women's issues and a lot of things in the news that we may have no otherwise known about so I suggest you check it out even if just briefly. I am interesting, click me!

Birdcage

While reading for tomorrows class one part in chapter 2 "systems of privilege and inequality in women's lives" really caught my eye. On page 65 in the institutions section it is discussed how a birdcage is much like a birdcage, one bar you can get around, but the meshing of all the bars traps us inside. This really made me think, because it is so true, since there are so many "bars" around us we are trapped inside the cage of oppression. The little door to let us out may be open at times, but chances are we will be trapped again and put back in. The cage of oppression is such a part of our lives we don't even realize it sometimes, we stay in our little area watching the world around us through the bars not knowing that there is more space outside of the cage. We never will know what is outside of our institutions "the cage" until we try to escape, and hope that we don't just smack into the cold metal and stay trapped. The meshing of the bars can be compared to how the different oppressions fit together a lot of times. Women are oppressed, so are minorities, if you are a female minority, your bars are meshing making it even more difficult for you to escape. 
This reading also made me think of a poem by Maya Angelou, who happens to be my favorite poet, the poem is 'I know why the caged bird sings'
here's the poem



But anyways, those are my random thoughts, and I am sure reading this you will think wow this is super random, but that's how my mind works. I hope at least one person was able to keep pace with me.