Last Thursday I went to improv. It was the extra long Christmas
themed one. Many of the actors wore ugly sweaters and one even wore a
tomato costume just because it was red and green. Many of the audience
members also wore ugly Christmas sweaters. I really enjoyed the show. I
especially liked the game they played were all of the participating
actors were given a word and every time during the scene they either had
to get on or off the stage making up an excuse each time.
Not
just at this improv but at all the ones I have been to this semester I
noticed how they mention a lot of popular things or current events. And
those things definitely get more laughs. The improvers also often
invite people from the audience on stage to give them a chance to
participate which I think definitely makes a big difference for some
audience members. They also ask for ideas from the audience each time
for various things like what relationship the improvers should have or
where they are going, etc.
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Monday, December 10, 2012
Debate
.
I. Introduction: Mr. Speaker, let me begin with a story. She looks down at the magazine, the picture of the beautiful model. Perfect she thinks, she's perfect. She then looks up at herself in the mirror and realizes she isn't as tall and isn't as skinny as the model. She thinks maybe if I lose some weight I would be popular like this model. And that's just how it starts she starts skipping meals and when she doesn't see a change she feels like a failure. She feels fat and so this time she skips more meals and finally sees the result she wants. She gets more attention at school and continues but pound after pound and she thinks maybe if I just lose one more I could be even prettier. She is 13 years old.
I. Introduction: Mr. Speaker, let me begin with a story. She looks down at the magazine, the picture of the beautiful model. Perfect she thinks, she's perfect. She then looks up at herself in the mirror and realizes she isn't as tall and isn't as skinny as the model. She thinks maybe if I lose some weight I would be popular like this model. And that's just how it starts she starts skipping meals and when she doesn't see a change she feels like a failure. She feels fat and so this time she skips more meals and finally sees the result she wants. She gets more attention at school and continues but pound after pound and she thinks maybe if I just lose one more I could be even prettier. She is 13 years old.
A. As Prime Minister of the Government, I would like to
introduce you to our motion: that the American media demeans women and should
be recognized and dealt with.
1. My partner and I believe
that one way to do this is to raise awareness of the effect that the media has
as well as monitor what is being put out.
2. I will talk
about two things: First I will talk about the impossible beauty standards that
the media has allowed to become normal in American society and then I will talk
about eating disorders that many people go through to get to that unattainable
standard. Later my partner will talk about how the media sexualizes
women.
3. But before
I get started let me define media. Dictionary.com defines media as the means of communication,
as radio and television, newspapers, and magazines, that
reach or influence people widely.
B. First, The beauty standard. Thanks
to the media, we have become accustomed to extremely rigid and uniform
standards of beauty. Women are expected
to be tall and thin and gorgeous while still looking “natural.”
1. TV, billboards, magazines etc mean that
we see 'beautiful people' all the time, sometimes more often than members of
our own family, making exceptional good looks seem real, normal and attainable.
The average model is 5 foot 11 inches
115lbs while the average women is on 5 foot 4 inches and 140lbs.
2. Standards of beauty have in fact become
harder and harder to attain, particularly for women. The current media ideal of
thinness for women is achievable by less than 5% of the female population.
3. And don’t forget about photo shop and
lighting and all the other things photographers do to make their models look
perfect in print.
4. Now let me give you some
statistics. The National Association of
Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders found that 47% of girls in
5th-12th grade reported wanting to lose weight because of magazine
pictures. 69% of girls in 5th-12th grade
reported that magazine pictures influenced their idea of a perfect body shape. An ideal that for most is unattainable.
Now that I have explained the beauty standard let me move
on to what that beauty standard drives some people to.
C. My second point: Eating
disorders. Many people who try to attain
the beauty standard set by the media fall into or resort to eating disorders to
attain the weight or look that the media has told them is correct because they
can’t get to it in a healthy way.
1. Did you know that one in every 200
American women suffers from Anorexia or that two to three in every 100 American
women suffers from Bulimia. And that 95
percent of those are between the ages of 12, 12! and 25.
2. 50 percent of girls between 11 and
13 see themselves as fat. While children
should be playing they’re worried about not being slim enough. 60 percent of teenage American girls believe
they are overweight while in reality only about 15 percent of them actually
are. And I wonder how they came to that
conclusion.
American media is telling girls to reach a goal that is unhealthy
and dangerous.
III. Conclusion: Today I have told you of the ways that
American media changes the way a women or girl may look at herself.
1. I
have told you about the unattainable beauty standard that is set by American
media.
2. I
have also told you of serious eating disorders that may arise if they give in
to this beauty standard.
3. And
later my partner will tell you how media sexualizes women.
Works
Cited
"ANAD." Eating
Disorders Statistics « « National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and
Associated Disorders. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2012.
<http://www.anad.org/get-information/about-eating-disorders/eating-disorders-statistics/>.
"ANRED: Eating Disorders
Statistics." ANRED: Eating Disorders Statistics. N.p., n.d. Web. 10
Dec. 2012. <http://www.anred.com/stats.html>.
"Beauty...and the Beast of
Advertising." Center for Media Literacy. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec.
2012. <http://www.medialit.org/reading-room/beautyand-beast-advertising>.
"Beauty...and the Beast of
Advertising." Center for Media Literacy. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec.
2012. <http://www.medialit.org/reading-room/beautyand-beast-advertising>.
"Body and Beauty
Standards." The Body Project. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2012.
<http://thebodyproject.bradley.edu/standards/index.shtml>.
"Eating Disorder Statistics
& Research." Eating Disorder Hope RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec.
2012. <http://www.eatingdisorderhope.com/information/statistics-studies>.
"Media." Dictionary.com.
Dictionary.com, n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2012.
<http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/media?s=t>.
"Mirror, MirrorA Summary of
Research Findings on Body Image." Mirror, Mirror. N.p., n.d. Web.
10 Dec. 2012. <http://www.sirc.org/publik/mirror.html>.
"South Carolina Department of
Mental Health." Eating Disorder Statistics. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec.
2012. <http://www.state.sc.us/dmh/anorexia/statistics.htm>.
US News. U.S.News & World Report, n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2012.
<http://health.usnews.com/health-conditions/mental-health/eating-disorders>.
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