It's Barbie's World: Superficial Expectations of the Opposite Sex

"Some boys kiss me, some boys hug me
I think they're okay
If they don't give me proper credit
I just walk away

They can beg and they can plead
But they can't see the light, that's right, that's right
'Cause the boy with the cold hard cash
Is always Mister Right

'Cause we are living in a material world
And I am a material girl
You know that we are living in a material world
And I am a material girl"

These were just more than bad lyrics from the 1980s it is also a way of life  for some women today. Women are expecting their men to make them feel secure-- financially secure that is and more and more younger women are entering  romantic relationships with older men aka the sugar daddy ( or in the young males case using older women--Sugar mommas-- for financial security).

Famous sugar daddy Hugh Hefner, 85, pictured with his fiancee Crystal Harris, 25.

Sugar daddies are spending large amounts of ends to keep their sugar babies happy from college tuition, elaborate trips, and pricey shopping sprees; there's nothing that these men won't do, except provide a realistic and meaningful relationship. This superficial expectation of having a wealthy man has left the average men feeling insecure and jaded by the opposite sex.

One student at Emory said, " The reason I am hard on women because they act like if a man doesn't have money is automatically a scrub or trifling [ referencing the T.L.C song "Scrubs"]."

So ladies, would it be so bad if we relaxed our standards just a bit?

Some of you are probably nodding yes while others are rolling their eyes.

Nevertheless, men are not just the victims in this situation. Men also have superficial standards for women in which they expect for them to be living barbie dolls. Take for instance, self proclaimed Barbie doll Nicki Minaj. She has a large bosom and a legendary buttocks all of which are rumored to be plastic. Yet, men don't seem to care whether or not her body is "man made". On the male rating list for women, she ranked number 10 for being insanely hot.  Here's the list according to one blogger:

"10 - Insanely hot. Model material. Great face plus assets. However, I could never get with this type of woman because they would be simply to much to handle. Top 0.5%.

9 - Also amazingly hot. I could date her but probably not marry because it would likely be based solely on looks. Top 2.5%.

7-8 - Wifey material. Still very attractive and hot. But I could see myself with someone like this. Actually could pay attention to things other than her looks. 8 = top 10%. 7 = top 20%

5-6 - Cute or pretty. 1 on the binary. 6 = top 35%. 5 = top 50%.

1-4 - Either fat, ugly, butter face, no physical features, or a combination of them all. Lower 50%. 0 on the binary for me."

For women to be ideal they would have to be naturally blessed or have to spend a large amount of money just to compare to someone like Nicki Minaj; and even then there is always the chance of looking like Jocelyn Wildenstein.  Ughh I shuddered when I saw this picture.

Again, lets be realistic people  hardly anyone has that kind of time or that kind of money especially in this economy does to be a sugar daddy or a barbie doll?

Sadly, so many men and women are preventing themselves from entering good relationships because they are too focused on getting a Hugh Hefner to take care of their financial needs or a life size Barbie.

U.S. History According to Facebook Users

In my core class, my professor quizzed us on several questions pertaining to U.S. History. Needless to say most of us looked at him with puzzled expressions while the  few of us with laptops scrambled to Google the answer. Thank god for Google. Later on that week, someone suggested that if history was converted to Facebook statuses we would remember them. Great idea since my generation is so technology driven.  Below I have posted the materialization of this idea from Emilyd.  Thanks Emily.

I can say that I did learn more from random Facebook posts than I ever did in a classroom. Hmm who knows what else Facebook could teach us academically. 

Puff Puff Pass The Smartphone: The Addiction of Technology Among Young People

Imagine you're out to dinner with friends, and everything's fine, until you get that all too familiar feeling.  You begin to break out in a cold sweat, panicking while you search your pockets and purse for your cellular phone. You quickly tap the Facebook or Twitter app and release a sigh of relief once you see your Facebook or Twitter screen appear.  After about 20 minutes of social networking, you can finally get back to your friends.... at least until your next craving begins. 

The addiction to internet or medically known as internet addiction order has taken over the lives of 66% of the public. Individuals are sneakily checking their cell phones under the tables, faking bathroom visits just to Facebook in the stall, or plugging up their Crack berries (or Meth droids) in the back of classrooms so not even a low battery will disrupt them from getting that one hit. 

Some people may argue that it is all apart of modern day life. However, this isn’t just an ordinary desire to stay connected; it has developed into a full blown need.

Our addiction to the internet is so severe that people have described going 24 hours without the Internet to quitting an alcohol or cigarettes, according to a report from British company Intersperience. 

According to the LA Times,  “More than half of Americans would rather give up chocolate, alcohol and caffeine for a week before parting temporarily with their phones.”

A recent survey by technology firm TeleNav says:

• ·         One-third would give up sex, 22% would give up their toothbrushes (versus 40% of iPhone users, who evidently love their phone more than clean teeth)
• 
  
• ·         21% would rather go shoeless before separating from a mobile phone.
• 
  
• ·         Sixty-six percent sleep with their smartphones by their side.
• 
  
• ·         About 40% of those surveyed reported feeling lonely without the Internet, and 53% felt upset at being deprived. One person described unplugging to "having my hand chopped off."

In some cases, internet addicts have to be sentenced to rehab.The British newspaper The Telegraph reports that in central London there is a rehab clinic called Capio Nightingale Hospital specifically for individuals who are addicted to the web, computer games, and mobile phones. 

 

The rehab is dedicated to helping "young people [ some of which are as young as 12] to go ‘cold turkey’ from their technology compulsion."

 

This is serious people!!! KIDS ARE IN REHAB!!!

What do the suppliers (Motorolla, Apple, or Google) or the drug dealers (Spring, AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile) think of all of this? On one hand, their customers are willing to neglect their personal lives and risk going to rehab than to be without their smartphones. On the other, these companies hire a large portion of the general public. So what do we do? Get rid of jobs or cure the addicts? 

Race and the 21st Century

In America, it seems that African-Americans have subdued themselves into two dated mentalities know as the slave mentality or black supremacy. No I am not saying there aren't any exceptions from what my post is discussing, but there is definitely a wide margin of individuals that allow the concept of race to heavily affect their behavior.

The first mentality was brought on through a slave owner named Willie Lynch who single handly recognized that inorder for the master to remain domniate over his slaves he needs to be able to controll his slave through psychological tactics.  In a purported speech he gave to slave owners in 1712, he dicussed a new strategy of control that will prevent slave rebellion. Lynch believed distrust, fear, and envy are stronger emotions than adulation, respect, or admiration; and should be applied to the following scenarios:

"Don't forget you must pitch the young Black male against the old Black male ... You must use the dark skin slaves versus the light skin slaves ... You must use the female versus the male ... You must also have your white servants and overseers distrust all Blacks, but it is necessary that your slaves trust and depend on us. They must love, respect, and trust only us" (http://www.duboislc.org/html/WillieLynch.html)

Whether or not Lynch existed remains unknown; however, the strategy was right in it's approach for the continuing servitude of blacks and in establishing a slave mentality of the Black race.

Neverthess by the late 1960's the African American mindframe radically shifts into the state of racial pride and Black unity. Black prominence is embraced and mistrust is casted on the Caucasian race thanks to the teachings and ideology of legendary figure Malcom X. X encouraged his follwers to use violent tactics against their enemies who had oppressed the Black race for several decades. Unknowingly, this implanted a seed among African Americans to believe that they are victims of  oppression, violence, and discrimination and for this they deserved revenge.

That was over 30 years ago and sadly African Americans are still under the same mentalities. So many are inclined to sterotype and outcast their own race and refer to individuals as hoodlums, thugs, or chickenheads (women). While finding comfort and relief among the Cauasian race.

Still there are others who are quick to use the race-card anytime a white policemen pulls them over for a traffic violation. This usually drives a wedge between the races in which the average Causian man or woman feels a form of guilt and unsteadiness around Blacks; while African Americans feel that they must defend themselves from white men and women who they believe see them as a slave.

But my question is why are we as humankind allowing our  differences to negatively shape our thoughts and behaviors?

Personally I believe our society is so heavily concentrated on compeition and success that we are willing to find any excuse we can to get ahead. Whether it's affirmative action or plain ol' racism. Until we are ready to unite and see past our differences the human race will continue to break down.

Free Milk!: Cohabitation in the United States

Remember when you were young and your parent's way of discussing sex was the birds and bees? I particularly remember my mother repeating the phrase, " Boys won't buy the cow if you give the milk away for free." Now after decades, mother's advice is proven wrong according to modern economists.


Years ago, cohabitation would have sent our mothers to an early grave: now it's becoming a social norm. The number of unmarried couples between the ages of 18-30 living together has been steadily inclining while the number of marriages within the same age group has been declining: a trend economists credit to the recent recession.


The average person in America earns $46,000 or less in a year. When you consider that the average wedding costs approximately $20,000 (and thats without the fireworks or doves) that's nearly half of your yearly salary. YIKES! 


 "For many American young people, cohabitation is a low-cost, no-hassle alternative to marriage," according to The Washington Times. Young couples aren't as financially secure and society pressures them to have a big, expensive wedding. Also, with the divorce rate being nearly 50 percent it is wise for couples to "test" the relationship prior to marriage. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/nov/20/cohabitation-nation/


But, if you’re still not convinced to give “your milk away” for free consider this: “The odds of a divorce among women who married their only cohabitating partner were 28 percent lower than among women who never cohabitated before marriage," according to Dr. Daniel Lichtner, sociologist at Cornell University Ithaca, New York. Yes, that’s right: going down the moral path and not cohabitating is 28 percent more likely to lead you to divorce. (http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-07-28-cohabitation-research_N.htm)

With the cost of living rising and jobs becoming more scarce, ladies and gentlemen, why not make it easier on yourselves and let your significant others “sample your milk” so to speak? At least until they can afford to buy the whole cow.