Thursday, January 30, 2020

Rethinking Giroux’s Disney Essay Example for Free

Rethinking Giroux’s Disney Essay In Henry Giroux’s book, â€Å"The Mouse that Roared† he argues that Disney animated movies lead to the end of innocence in children. He focuses mainly on the images that Disney portrays towards gender roles and gender stereotyping. He primarily targets the issues that women are portrayed as being subordinate to men and are viewed as property and objects of desire instead of as human beings. Giroux is unconvincing in his argument because he writes above the level of thinking and comprehension that most children who are exposed to Disney films would posses; by focusing on specific scenes, while ignoring the overall morals throughout the rest of the movies, he takes the message Disney is trying to illustrate out of context. Since Giroux’s argument is directed to the effect Disney animated movies have on the innocence of children, he discusses what images are portrayed and are picked up by children who view the films. He mainly explains that Disney movies teach young girls that men are dominate over women, and that men care more about a woman’s image rather than what a woman has to say. Giroux fails to consider that the children exposed to Disney films would not comprehend the message in the same way he does. The images that Giroux discusses such as; â€Å"Ursulas disclosure to Ariel that having her voice taken away is not so bad because men do not like women who talk is dramatized when the prince attempts to bestow the kiss of true love on Ariel even though she has never spoken to him. Within this rigid narrative, Ariels maturity and identity are limited to her feminine attractability and embodied by heterosexual marriage,† children from the ages of 5-13 are not able to comprehend the analogies and imagery that he points out. Children at that age are more interested in the whimsical entertainment of the films and are too innocent and oblivious to any of the symbolism that Giroux maybe trying to insinuate are present in the films. In the Little Mermaid children are more captivated by the singing sea creatures and the wonderful colors of the ocean than by storyteller’s views on women having a voice in society. Giroux argues that in Beauty and the Beast, Belle teaches young women that they are responsible for controlling a man’s anger and violence, and that any woman can change an abusive man into a Prince. However many children are going to be focused on the dancing, singing furniture rather than analyzing the message Giroux interprets; that Belle is just a prop used to solve the beast’s dilemma. The age of children that will be most influenced by Disney films, are at a level of thinking where they have not begun to recognize and understand the images that Giroux describes are embedded in the Disney films. Giroux supports his claims by dissecting various scenes from Disney animations to better describe his insinuations on what Disney films teach children. However Giroux tends to over analyze and take certain criteria out of context, and disregards other parts of the movies that would cause some of his analysis to be incorrect. For example he states that â€Å"in Aladdin the issues of agency and power center primarily on the young street tramp Aladdin. Jasmine, the princess he falls in love with, appears as an object of his desire as well as a social stepping-stone.† In the movie however, Aladdin is not in search of power and does not view Jasmine as a social-stepping stone, instead he wishes to be a prince in order to be allowed to marry Jasmine, the woman he loves. However in the end he chooses not to be a prince even if it means losing Jasmine, in order to help his friend and to be true to who he really is. Giroux fails to examine the rest of the movie which in result supports that Jasmine is not a social-stepping stone to Aladdin, since he only wanted to be a prince in order to be with her and then gave up his standing in the end. For those in Giroux’s audience who have seen the entire movie, the ending contradicts Giroux’s argument which then weakens it. Giroux argues that in the movie The Little Mermaid, Ariel giving up her voice for a pair of legs so she can go above the sea to be with her prince, illustrates that men do not care about what women have to say, but instead are more interested in their looks. Giroux doesn’t take into account that Prince Eric didn’t truly fall in love with Ariel until she got her voice back and he realized she was the one he was looking all over town for. Ursula also used Ariel’s voice in order to hypnotize Eric in to loving her, since she knew Eric was in love mainly with Ariel’s voice. This supports that Ariel’s voice matters immensely to Prince Eric, not just her looks, which highly contradicts Giroux’s argument. Without analyzing the full movie, Giroux fails to provide strong supporting evidence, because he does not realize that scenes from the rest of the movie contradict the image he feels Disney is insinuating to children. Many who have seen the full movies he uses as examples will see how other scenes in the film disprove his argument, causing him to become less convincing to his audience. Giroux may be right that Disney can have a negative effect on the innocence of children, and that parents should be cautious when showing Disney movies to their children. When discussing the movie Mulan Giroux presents a strong argument when he states that Mulan has to hide who she is in order to enter the war and help her father. He claims that she is a strong, independent, and bold female, but must change herself into one of the boys so as to help her country and family. In this example he uses the full movie as an example instead of focusing on one scene of the movie. In his example of The Lion King Giroux argues of when Mufasa dies and Scar takes over pride rock, the lionesses stay and do his bidding. He suggests that Disney is insinuating women are dependent on men to lead them. Instead of taking one particular scene out of context he uses the entire movie as an example, as well as insinuates a message that may not be out of comprehensible reach for children who watch this particular Disney movie. Throughout the film the lionesses rely on a man to lead their â€Å"pack† and to help them make decisions. Even at the end of the movie the lionesses did not rebel and fight back towards Scar until Simba returned and lead them into a revolt against Scar and the hyenas; making Giroux successful in presenting a strong argument to his audience. Giroux discusses certain images that he feels Disney portrays to children and assumes that the children viewing the films will see the same illustrations, or comprehend the embedded stereotypes in the same way he does. However he does not take into account that the target audience that Disney attracts is at too young of an age to comprehend the morals he insinuates Disney is communicating, mainly because those morals have not been taught to children, or have not been exposed to such life experiences, therefore are ignorant to the stereotypes in the films. Many of the scenes that Giroux discusses are accurate in plot, but he seems to take certain parts of the films out of context and dramatizes the morals that Disney is trying to communicate to its audience. Instead of looking at the overall moral of the story he tends to focus on the scenes that enhance his argument, rather than include all scenes in which could begin to discredit his point of view, causing his writing to lack strong supporting evidence. Giroux, Henry. The Mouse that Roares. Lanham: The Rowman and Littlefield Publishing Group, 2010. Print.

Wednesday, January 22, 2020

Rabbits in Australia :: Rabbits Animals Australian Herbivores Essays

Rabbits in Australia Introduction Coevolution is a natural phenomenon that has affected all habitats throughout the world. In general, it encompasses the interactions among different species within a general population and the adaptations each species makes to survive in such a diverse environment. The mere presence of all species that are currently in existence is proof that those species have adapted over thousands and millions of years in such a way that allows them to survive and reproduce. Through millions of years of evolution, well-balanced habitats have co-evolved to provide for the wide variety of species and their needs. Trees have adapted to weeds, weeds have adapted to the predation from herbivores, and so on up the food chain. Similar scenarios are seen throughout the world. Through the process of natural selection, specific species or broad species families will go extinct. However, these occurrences have largely been due to the natural flow and evolution of time. It wasn’t until recently that dominant species, such as humans, have taken the course of nature into their own hands. Throughout history, humans have had an increasingly profound impact on the areas in which they inhabit. Human population has increased in a slow yet exponential pattern since their evolution. These growing populations, along with species evolution have directed humans such that they have domesticated themselves and the things around them in ways that are both functionally and aesthetically pleasing. Plant species were transformed into useful crops, wild animals were converted to willing (and sometimes not so willing) companions, animals were hunted for food and for sport, and man's surroundings were modified as were seen fit. However, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. As the environment has become modified, harmful consequences have resulted causing many of the natural coevolutionary processes to fall out of balance. Slowly, the disruption of these delicate balances are taking their toll on the native habitats and transforming small temporary changes into permanent problems. The area of environmental modification that will be emphasized in this paper is the introduction of non-native species to new habitats and the resulting effects on that habitat; specifically, the introduction of the European Rabbit to Australia. History of rabbit origin in Australia It all started in 1859. Australia was slowly becoming populated with European pioneers who sought the newness of the great, unsettled continent. However, there were a few things from home from which they just couldn’t part.

Tuesday, January 14, 2020

Fast Food Essay

Many people nowadays depend on fast food restaurants in their daily life. Most of them particularly young people prefer to eat fast food such as hamburgers, hot dogs, French fries and pizza. There are many this restaurants are popular. The main ones are that the fast food is easy to get, cheaper, tastes delicious, and it is always ready. The main reason why fast food is so popular is because it is easy to get. Many people work long hours, so they do not have time to prepare their own food. It is easier and more convenient to stop and get something fast to eat, like a hamburger or a pizza. Also, in this times many women work and because of that they have less time to prepare family meals. It is easier for them to just order some fast food. Another reason for the popularity of fast food is that it tastes delicious. Fast food gives the children the kind of food they really love, such as nuggets, pizza, donuts, fries and hot dogs. Everyone loves fast food not only because it is always ready also because it tastes delicious. Nowadays fast food is also very popular because of advertisement. All forms of media advertise about fast food, such as the internet, television and billboards in the street. By these advertisements they know where every restaurant of fast food is located. The final reason why people also love fast food is because there are so many of them, next to their work place, their homes or on the side of the road. That is an important point to many people, because they do not want to waste time searching for a restaurant to eat, they want something near, fast and cheap. People eat fast food for many reasons, both bad and good. Most of the people consume it because it is easy to get, it is delicious and because they are everywhere. Everyone in some point of their life has eaten these food, because of the lack of time, or because you do not feel like cooking. Eating this type of food is not bad as long as you do not overdo it. If you combine it with a nutritious food everything is fine.

Monday, January 6, 2020

Ten Things to Stop Doing If You Are Stressed. Essay

Stress is unavoidable. It comes in many different forms and affects every person differently. Depending on personality and outlook on life, a person’s response to â€Å"†¦stress can be a neutral, negative, or positive experience† (Stà ¶ppler). Most people don’t know the proper way to handle stress, so they wish that they could avoid it all together. However, once the proper way to cope with stress is learned, it can be a positive experience in everyone’s life. The first step to handling stress is simply knowing why it is present. When there is a problem that is hard to handle, it is human nature to feel worried, confused, hopeless, or anxious (Martin). The causes of stress vary from person to person and can be both internal and external issues.†¦show more content†¦Consequently they tend to be less stress-prone† (DiscoveryHealth.com writers). Our personalities are formed starting when we are infants. Part of our personality comes from our genetic makeup, while the other parts come from our personal chemistry and reaction to experiences. When these three things are put together, they form an individual’s way of thinking, acting, feeling, and believing- their personality. A person’s reaction to an experience determines how stressful situations become for them. If an individual is always on the bright side and thinks things like â€Å"I can handle this†, then they will have an easier time handling stress than someone who thinks â€Å"This is terrible. I’m going crazy†. The power of our mind is incredible. We can imagine ourselves into any mental or emotional state we choose (Martin). That’s why optimists always have the upper hand when it comes to stress. Instead of believing that the situation couldn’t get any worse, they choose to let themselves learn from their stress by focusing on the positive. Even if their personalities are similar, people of different genders and ages cope with stress very differently. Studies have shown that women get stressed more often than men, but men’s stress tends to be more severe. Although men deal with their stress better than women, a woman has an easier time with the coping process. This is because females usually have stronger support systems. Having thisShow MoreRelatedThe Effect of Stress on Teenagers Essay1075 Words   |  5 PagesShe lives in a household with her dad who is a single parent and her two younger brothers. She takes care of her younger brothers most of the time while her dad works the night shift. On a daily basis Abby experiences many different things that make her feel stressed. Abby’s alarm goes off at 5:45 she struggles to drag herself out of bed still exhausted from the responsibilities of yesterday. She hops in the shower and gets herself ready for the day. 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