Entry 15: Inside Toyland

From my work experience, one could identify inequality at each job:

As a nanny, my role is somewhat of an unequal advantage 

by virtue of me having a job. I think the stereotypical nanny is

a female, varying in ages; however, media often times portrays

the teenage babysitter (such as in movies like The Incredibles or When a 

Stranger Calls). Both my gender and age give me an unfair advantage

to a job, when in reality, a 30 year old man may be just as 

qualified. Like Williams' observations of retail hiring, nannying is 

seen as a temporary job, both by the customer (parent) and the 

worker (the nanny). While this assumption is true, it does not really enable

someone to be a full-time nanny, unless of course they owned a daycare or 

something of that nature. 

I definitely fit the babysitter appearance stereotype portrayed in 

When a Stranger Calls. 

When I was a swim lesson instructor, the inequality was far more subtle.

Unlike the toy stores, the staff at the pool I worked at was very diverse.

There were males and females, mostly in high school or college. But there

were a few older instructors too. Ethnicity-wise, the staff was also pretty diverse.

There were probably more white people than any other race, but 

compared to the demographic make-up of the town, I'd say the pool staff

was much more diverse. Inequality I witnessed was similar to the gender-specific

toy issues Williams saw. When it was game time, girls would 

often play mermaids or play with toys and pretend to make food.

On the other hand, boys would play more violent games, like monsters

and sharks.

My job at Abercrombie was the most similar to Williams book.

The 50 person floor staff was primarily white, with the exception of three 

Asians, one African American, and someone with Native American ancestry. 

There were more females than males too, but the tasks were pretty much

 the same. The stockroom staff, though, was primarily male and had a 

lot of Latino workers. The merchandise is incredibly overpriced, so 

I believe it is targeted at an upper-class consumer population, like

"Diamond Toys" which is who usually shopped at the store. 

When more middle-class shoppers came

in, they often were easy to point out. They usually went straight to the 

unorganized, messy clearance section. Workers, unfortunately myself included,

would get really upset because they would make a huge mess, and usually

end up buying a ten dollar shirt (in the shoppers' defense, it was impossible 

not to make a mess unless you happened to be an XS and wanted whatever shirt

was folded on top). Also, these costumers usually paid in cash with exact change.

The intended audience was also white, illustrated by the multiple pictures of white children.

Occasionally there would be someone from a race of color, but 

Abercrombie had some lawsuits, so I'd attribute it to that.

I like girls that wear Abercrombie and Fitch...

I guess this song could have had an effect on popularity.

Overall, Abercrombie was definitely relatable to Inside Toyland

 not only in terms of workers, but also in terms of intended audience.

The points Williams made in the final chapter I think were useful; it's

not often that you read a piece that offers solutions to the problem the 

author is writing about. I also liked how the reading fell in time with the

holidays...it definitely made me want to watch Elf.

"10 am tomorrow, Santa's coming to town."

Entry 14: Social Class and Education

Bettie's article had an insight I didn't really think about

in my own life until recently. I always considered myself middle-class,

which is stupid if I consider pretty much every aspect of my life, until

last year. In a journalism class, there was a graph showing

just exactly what incomes accounted for middle-class and, as

stupid as I am with information like this, I knew my family's

income was well above the given number. After that, I

was very curious about my family's financial breakdown,

so I started asking my parents a lot of questions. I learned my dad

makes more money than I thought he did, and when my parents always

tell me I'm "lucky," which I undoubtably am, it really translated more

to "you're more upper-middle-class." 

It was really interesting to me how the girls learned to somewhat

define their own class standing. I thought it was also interesting how

different girls related to their friends class standing. Some girls

didn't perceive their having to work harder than their friends

as an innate difference; however, with Liz and Amanda,

it was intriguing to see Liz's angst toward Amanda

when it came to the difference in their levels of effort, and how Amanda

was able to slack off more. I feel like that's kind of a relatable issue regardless

of class...I know a variety of people who can not study at all and come

out with a grade they're content with, whether it be an A or a D. I do

see how the attachment between class is made, though. I've never

really made class connections in schoolwork, but I definitely have in other

regions. 

For example, one of my best friends is really wealthy, and he gets

a pretty hefty allowance each month. And he usually goes over his allowance or

is near $50 or below by the end of the month. I get really agitated

when I try to ask how he spends that much money, but then

I end up feeling really guilty because although my parents don't really

buy me things, pay for a lot of my food, or pay for gas, 

they virtually pay for everything else in college. In my experience,

I think there's going to be some form of class jealousy anyway you 

slice it. Even though I'm very well-off, there are things I 

get jealous of that people even more well-off have. 

Likewise, other class ranks are going to be jealous of something

a rank "above" them obtains. 

This really isn't relative, but this is all I could think about.

Entry 13: Gender- "Women, Power, and Hair"

Lady Gaga uses a resisting form of conformity

with her hairstyle to convey her power.

Thorne's study was interesting to me because I had made the connection that 

resistance to norm hairstyles was a form of showing power, but

I had never made the connection of accommodation as a form 

of taking power. I thought the girl who dyed her hair red was interesting too;

I see the vixen thing, but I mainly hear "gingers don't have souls" from

my friends when I talk about dying my hair. I also thought it was weird that 

the participant who's asian's boyfriend told her to change her hair.

Yes, I think hair can be seen as attractive, but from my experience with guys,

I've never heard of a guy really noticing hair unless it's a dramatic

change.

Personally, I rarely considered power when I style my hair; I guess

I would fall into the third category. I just kind of go through cycles

of growing my hair out, donating it, and then cutting it really short.

About a month ago, though, I was at a friend's house and I straightened my 

hair before we went out. My hair is pretty much down to my butt when 

straightened, so sometimes people will make comments about 

its length. One of my friends asked why girls did that. 

He also started asking why we get dressed up even if we know

we're just hanging out with friends. I gave a kind of smart-alec

remark, like would you rather us look like shit...but he had a pretty

good point. If I had to answer completely honestly, I think

it would be because I want to control people's perception

of me and on some level to have people, no one in particular,

to think I'm attractive...not that hair alone can do that...and

I guess me wanting people to find me attractive relates to power in ways 

I've never consciously noticed.

Entry 12: Gender- "Doing Gender as Resistance"

I'd consider myself to more of a tomboy than girly-girl

any day, but in my work experience, I completely contradict myself.

While employed at the great Abercrombie franchise, I found 

myself trying to ensure confidence in shoppers by convincing

them a particular style was very in, or, my personal favorite I caught myself

saying, "very fall." What does that even mean? Anyway, I would

not be caught saying anything like that around my friends.

I think in the environment  and the provisions of the job influenced my 

gender roles. As a female employee (or model, as they call you), you are

required to wear natural make up, natural hairstyles (meaning down or in

a pony tail), no nail polish, pink or red toe polish, flip flops or gray converse,

Abercrombie jeans, and a gray, blue, or white shirt. Aside from fitting the company's

look, the requirements enforced a definite gender type. My own behavior altered

while working there for sure.

.....yep

The reading by Tibbals sort of resinated with my Abercrombie

experience as well as my experience as a swim instructor. All the 

female instructors took on roles of flirty teachers or nurturing teachers.

I chose the nurturing role, but a lot of my friends got in trouble

for using lessons as a "social" time. I feel like we've all had an experience

that supported Tibbals claims. At family restaurants, particularly this one

trucker restaurant near my house, there are a few waitresses who not only

act maternal toward me, but my whole family as well. On waitress

asked my dad if my grandparents, whom go there

every weekend, were doing ok. That amount of care displays just what

Tibbals was referring to. Likewise, I've been to McDonald's or other

similar restaurants and have noticed the androgynous personas

the servers take on. One thing I think the reading did not really address

is the treatment of customers in family-style restaurants when the

server and the customer are the same age. I don't really know 

how I act with people working my own age. I feel like I'd be

just as respectful by bonds of age and mutual understanding of work,

but I don't know if everyone feels that way. Most adults 

I witness are respectful to servers around their age, but

it would be interesting to see if there is a different pattern of interaction.

Entry 11: Halloween and Urban Legends

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Me and my roommate dressed up as Rafiki from The Lion King

The Best and Horiuchi reading about urban legends was so

interesting to me! And relevant...in my english class, my teacher brought it up

too; however, he kind of confirmed what the piece was saying about

people not really knowing the history of any razor blades in apples. 

Anyway, there was always this old man in my neighborhood who gave

out apples and I remember one year, even though he's being doing it

since I was four, my dad warning my not to eat it, or 

at least let him inspect it before I did. For the record, I witnessed

my friend Courtney eat that apple almost every year, so that

old dude was just healthy I guess. My dad is a child of the

sixties, so it would make sense why he warned me, because

he was around ten when all the fear associated with the 

"Halloween Sadist" stuff began. 

The figures are what really intrigued me in this story;

I would almost expect more sadistic happenings, especially with the

hype Halloween gets for being such a dangerous time. Also, the 

fact that the two deaths were family related was surprising/ kind of sick.

The media's role in the hype is disappointing, but something I've covered

in my journalism classes...the news often repeats stories

and lacks complexity by only taking the same side to a story every time.

If the news reported a story with the actual facts, and included them in

the headlines or the lead, I think some misconceptions could be 

cleared up for the news-consuming public.