According to John Berger, men do the seeing and judging whereas women are at the receiving end. Women are judged, looked at, and in turn judge themselves. Berger examines paintings of nudes, media, and society in pointing out the ways that women are seen by men. Their value and success in life depend on how they are perceived. Quite profound!
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It's one of those momentous moments in history that we'll remember forever. Time stops for a moment. We'll recall exactly what we were doing when we first heard the news that Obama Bin Laden was killed by U.S. armed forces. Americans and supporters celebrate this victory in the war against terror. Justice has been served.
Yesterday, President Obama delivered a well-prepared speech at the White House confirming his death and the circumstances surrounding it. Instantly, status updates in Facebook revealed users' jubilation and thoughts. Celebration erupted in Time Square, Ground Zero, and outside of the White House. Finally, there was something more newsworthy than the royal wedding that bombarded the airways. Something more relevant. That alone is reason for celebration.
He reminds me of Ewan Mcgregor (hottie) and he's very funny. Full of energy or anxiety, as he identifies it, Vlogbrothers, explores our anxieties at large. He discusses some of the most commonly asked questions on Google auto-filled. We seem to ask our most dreaded and intimate questions online. Probably easier that way. We might not want to know the answers to our questions. Even if we already know them, or think we know them.
So instead of turning to the person or people beside us, we pose the questions to our favorite search engine. "Is my boyfriend gay? Is my girlfriend pregnant? Is my wife having an affair?" We think that Google should know the answers to our matters of the heart. If only it were that simple.
YouTube is the enabler of self expression and promotion. It has created stars out of many ordinary people with hidden talents. The people responsible for creating and maintaining the website talk about their vision and experiences. We get a glimpse into the space they work in through the photos of the YouTube office in San Bruno, California. Keep innovating!
Priscilla Renea talks about the way she used YouTube to set herself apart and get the attention and exposure that she wanted. She devises creative ways to achieve YouTube fame. She likes to sing and has sung the dictionary, played one string on a guitar, and posted songs of Justin Timberlake the minute they came out. She shares her secrets to stardom. They have worked for her. She is now signed with Capital Records. Her album comes out in October. Congratulations Priscilla!
Paulina Porizkova appeared on the Craig Ferguson to talk about being fired from "America's Next Top Model." She joked about looking for a job at Starbucks. I appreciate her sense of humor.
Donald Trump, the owner of the Miss USA and Miss Universe Pageants, decided to allow Miss California, Carrie Prejean, to keep her title amid risque photos that surfaced from her past. Carrie Prejean was asked to speak. In an honest and emotional press conference, she talked about her controversial response during the Miss USA pageant. She gave voice to her values and those of many Americans. She pointed out the freedoms that Americans enjoy, among them, freedom of speech. Let freedom reign!
Everyone can get their 5 minutes of fame these days. With blogs, social networks and self-promotion, we can all be celebrities. On the internet, we create and recreate our image. It's how we we define ourselves. Ben Walker sings about the pressure to be on all the social networks just so we can be somebody. In his words, "You are no one if you're not on Twitter. And if you aren't there already, you've missed it." It's one catchy tune. He sings it well!
We still live in a puritanical society. Sex sells and Calvin Klein is very good at using sexually evocative imagery to sell his products. The Calvin Klein Obsession ad featuring Eva Mendes slithering around in bed naked talking about love and obsession is banned. What is the controversy? Is it that exposed nipple? What's so provocative about a nipple? How is it different than any other body part?
The ad celebrates the human body, love, and sexuality. The only problem is in the perception of it as something obscene and inappropriate. The female body, every single part of it, is beautiful. Let's celebrate it.
Artistically done, a pretty 16-year-old teenager cries out for help. Her message is ambiguous. She says she has no name and sees the world coming to an end, but then what? It's deliberately ambiguous. That makes it intriguing, quite intriguing.
