Week 8:Research Topic- Postpartum Depression in the Media (or lack there of)

My topic is Postpartum depression in the media, specifically television and how Postpartum is never talked about. However on the rare occasion that it is discussed it is connected to murdering your children or having similar thoughts. Postpartum is a serious form of depression and should be treated as such, not all women want to hurt their children, that is usually not as common. Most feelings are about being overwhelmed, not a good mother, or lacking the energy to do the things you know should be done. I have chose a clip of Tom Cruise speaking about Postpartum with Matt Lauer, where he speaks about Brook Sheilds being treated with medication of this illness.

Week 7: Internet

I counted 178 "Social Networking Websites" for my search on wikipedia.org

I have heard of 11 of them. I don't know of any that aren't listed.

I am going to look at faces.com which is a social networking sight for teens in the UK. It began in March 2002 and has changed names a few times before landing on faces.com, it is mostly female users aged 16-22 years old. It is like most social sites allowing you to blog about yourself and friend/follow other users. I use social networking sites to keep in touch with friends from high school and before. Especially being a stay at home mom I stay in contact with most of my friends. I use Facebook, MySpace the most frequently.

An incident happened to me on Facebook about a year ago. I had a falling out with a friend/roommate. She owed me a large amount of money for rent that she had yet to pay me, but had since moved out after I asked her to leave, for not paying rent anymore. I posted a comment on her "wall" asking her if she had my money yet, after I did she never responded, HOWEVER her friends lashed out at me calling me many foul names and telling me to be patient and wait (even though she had owed me this money for over a year, and had gotten herself fired and failed to try getting another job). Needless to say I don't talk to her anymore and haven't dared post anything else on her wall.

Week 6: Television

Length: 9:11

Description: A collection of TV clips displaying many different gender stereotypes in America.

Chapter: 9: Television

Question: When was television's golden age, and why was it golden?

Answer: The golden age for Television was from 1948-1958, this is the period when TV was most popular, however it portrayed most ethnicities and the women gender in a poor light. Making the white male race and gender the superior to everyone else.

Week 6: Favorite Movie of 2009/ and all time

My favorite movie of 2009 is Invictus, with Morgan Freeman playing Nelson Mandela, and Matt Damon as the Team Captain of the 1995 South Africa Rugby team. I liked this movie because it was about South Africa after Apartheid and Nelson Mandela trying to reunite his country through a common interest, rugby. I am interested in the stories that came from South Africa during and after Apartheid so this caught my attention, I thought it was acted wonderfully and the story had a deep and serious message delivered through a fun activity and world championship. I watched this movie on the internet. Here is a trailer for Invictus:


My favorite movie of ALL TIME would have to be Cry-Baby (1990) with Johnny Depp (and no not just because he is hot!) I saw this movie for the first time when I was 11 I think, and I probably watched it 10 times in a row, on Laser Disk (like a record for movies) It is a comical musical about the 50's where a "Greaser" (bad boy) falls for a "Square" (good girl) and how all of their friends don't approve. And of course his ability to shed... just one tear. This movie I thought was just hilarious and it has stuck with me all these years as my all time favorite! Here is a trailer for Cry-Baby:

Week 4: MAGAZINE PROPOSAL

NAME: Mommy Mayhem: A Magazine for Stay at Home Moms

CONCEPT: This magazine is one of a kind with the sole purpose of helping stay at home moms, and single mothers. Giving them ideas for their children, as well as themselves. Tips on relaxation and how to keep yourself from going stir crazy.

READERS- This is aimed at women 18-45 of all ethnicities with a strong emphasis that no matter the age they all have children in common. It is for middle class, and below,. All different interests and focusing on how to drop that baby weight to feel good about yourself again. We want to EMPOWER all the moms out there who don't always feel like they are in control.

COMPETITION- Bay area parent, and Parenting Magazine, however this is aimed specifically at the mothers who have decided to stay home and raise their children, or single mothers who work, but come home and take care of their kids alone. Lets face it not many men read the parenting magazines anyway, so why not make those women feel that much more special, sometimes that is all they need, something for themselves.

Five Advertisers- Las Madres play group, Desatin, Johnson and Johnson, Local Day Spa, Graco

Five Articles-
-Activities that are fun for you and your kids
-10 Great ways to pass the time with your children
-5 ways to help yourself relax when your kids are throwing a tantrum
-5 ways to help stop & prevent your child's next tantrum
-10 minute work outs for the busy mom looking to get her figure back!

COVER- The cover will have a picture of a mom with her kid(s) dressed in bright clothing from and advertiser. Playing in the living room. Title of the magazine running horizontal across the top of the cover in bold lettering. A few blurbs about 4 different articles in the magazine (2 on either side of the cover)

HAITI RELIEF

Hey guys,
I have set up a donation web page at mercycorps.com for the HAITI relief. Please visit my page and donate if you can. It doesn't matter how big or small the donation, every bit counts!
THANK YOU!

MY HAITI RELIEF DONATION WEB PAGE!!!!!

Week 3: Books

Three books most influential in my life.

Kaffir Boy. By: Mark Mathabane- African American history has always been and interest of mine, and this book was a huge look in to apartheid in South Africa . I found it absolutely inspiring how he survived and never gave up hope. It makes you appreciate everything you have, even when it doesn't seem like much.

Black like me By: John Howard Griffin, was also a very influential book for me. I think it is amazing the huge difference in the way he was treated when he was white, and when he was pretending to be black. I feel like it relates to me now, even though I am Caucasian, my fiancee is from Mexico and a lot of people still give us dirty looks from people because we are an inter-racial couple, and we have children together. It is interesting how people think and act even to this day about the color of some ones skin.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.By: Ken Kesey is my third most influential book. It talks about mental institutions and how they were ran in the 1950's and what was being done to patients. My mother suffered from Bipolar disorder and had a pretty bad case of it. She had to be hospitalized many times and endured E.C.T.... Electro Shock Therapy. So when I later read this book it struck a quite personal note for me. Obviously people are not treated in the same manor as they were in the 50's, and the people that are patients now actually have real issues and aren't just being sent there for their independent thinking or radical ideas.

All these books had messages that keep me thinking until this day.