Written Analysis 5 Due 09/27/14

The slogan We Can Do It was said by Rosie the Riveter who changed the work force for women in America to redefine the place of a woman. Before Rosie the Riveter, the theory of division of labor between the sexes was well defined. The man was the bread winner who goes out every day to earn a wage and bring home the food. The woman place in society was at home to cook and clean, bake cookies and take care of the children. But everything came to an end when Rosie the Riveter came up with new ideas of working woman. Nothing can be done under this sun without a woman I can say America history would never be built without a woman. The Rosie the Riveter popular culture icon was one of the people who made women feel that in many instances, they were able to do many of the things reserved to men. The most very interesting thing was Doyly who played an important roll We Can Do It ironically lasted for only two weeks on the job before quitting her job saying she feared hand injury because it will prevent her from playing her cello. In one way or the other I think Rosie the Riveter differently changed the era because of Equal Rights was Amendment which was a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution designed to guarantee equal rights for women and was passed years later in 1972, was one of the results of the shift in the theory. It is important to have pop culture in a society because they personify hope and good will. Our culture reaches out to people through pop culture because they are people we look up to in many ways also they give us hope and represent people we would like to be like.                                                  

                                                         Written Analysis 4 Due Sept 21,2014

            Rosie the Riveter an iconic figure of a strong female who fought for women workers to archive a percentage of working class women since the World War II. This has empowered a lot of women to work and be independent many movements started for equal the law for the same job. The ERA, the equal right amendment the Rosie the Riveter popular culture icon was one of the things that made women feel that in many instances, they were able to do many of the things reserved to men. But with the advent of the second world’s war and the need to have factories turning out machines while most men were fighting, the theory was rearranged so to speak, Rosie the Riveter was the woman who had self-esteem, leadership and physical confidence. Rosie’s self-esteem helped to create jobs and opportunities for women and was the forbearer of the achievements in equal opportunity in the work place for women of today. The woman who was known with the slogan We Can Do It, took it upon herself when the men was taken to war leaving the factory jobs and many other jobs empty which caused shortage in employees. Rosie “We can do it”. During the WWII all eligible men who were 18 years and above were mandated to go the war, the Riveter was a feminist who stood for the women and the nation as well. , she inspired a lot of women to the work force, and she promoted independence among women and recruited a lot under. All this while women have been deny employment and was discriminated because of their gender but everything changed when Rosie took over to empower women to work. After evaluating the theories of my work I came to realize the decision she took help the women to get on their feet to work.

DUE September 18, 2014

Journal Article Analysis Summary

I am a Monument, On Learning from Las Vegas.

I am a Monument  was written by Aron Vinegars and On Learning from Las Vegas was written by Robert Venturi, Denise Scott Brown and Steve Izenor. Aron Vinegar was the one who reviewed the importance of architectural in 1972. Vinegars titled his book with the signifier I am the Monument after he examined the subtitle On Learning from Las Vegas. The authors of LFLV then came together to include Vinegars title words on a printed billboard sitting atop of a building to announce that it is in fact a monument. Vinegars 2008 book released in paperback for both signifiers owe thanks to Rene Magritte’s painting for reinforcing the distinction between words and the objects to which they refer.

                In 1972 the original book was published by three teachers from Yale University. The students and architects traveled to Nevada City to see what they could do to build the environment to influence popular culture.  Rather than bemoan the anti-intellectual commercially driven nature of the Las Vegas strip, the group embraced and elevated its very character. Venturi, Scott Brown and Izenor introduced a new dichotomy in defining the building that express their function, meaning with decorated sheds that can change the meaning by the sheer switch of a sign.

                The new look of the Las Vegas strip, then called ugly ordinary, was developed to help define post modernism in architecture and was presented in heroic forms. Vinegars theories explored the ugly and the ordinary architecture and found a new way of interpreting and  uncovering  its relevance for the early twenty-first century. The LELV becomes more than a historical polemic which stands as a theoretical treatise with those who appreciate and study the building environment. He begins his investigation through the lens of skepticism which allows him to question the sincerity and the seriousness of LELV.

                Acknowledging his own debt to philosopher Stanley Cavell, Vinegar redefines the modern duck and the post- modern decorated shed not as dichotomy, but as a way to understand the others. Mr. Vinegar is particularly intrigued by the graphic differences between the first and second editions of LELV. Muriel Cooper designed the initial publication in 1972 and Denise Scott Brown redesigned the more modest and stripped down revised edition in 1977, both published by MIT press.

                Ms. Cooper approach to the book’s layout to present a visual equivalent to the experience of the Las Vegas strip, Ms. Scott Brown’s was to refocus the book’s emphasis from the visual interpretation to the conceptual content of the text. The former design was duck and Mr. Vinegar postulates that the true understanding of LELV can be understood only in a comparison of the two visualizations. This parallels the conclusions he reaches about the current relevance of the book. David Hickey suggests that while America is a very poor lens through which to view Las Vegas, Las Vegas is wonderful lens trough which to view America. LELV has held our attention for 40 years and the reason why Mr. Vinegar has delved so deeply into the ideas of architecture sign, symbol and meaning.

                In my own words I will say this article was very important and very educative and shows how architect can change our surroundings. Today Las Vegas has become the heart of America and is well known for the beauty of its architectural and visual designs. Examples are Caesar’s Palace, Venetian, Excalibur, Wynn and others. All came together to make the face of Las Vegas we all see today.

Mr. Vinegar’s important re-analysis of Learning From Las Vegas and I am a Monument, likewise reinforces the relevance of reassessing developments in architectural forms and meanings.

Reference

Levine, S. (2012). I am a Monument, On Learning from Las Vegas. The Journal of Popular Culture, 45(6), 1337-1339.

               

                

Written Analysis 3 Due.14 Sept, 2014

My selection as a popular culture icon is Rosie the Riveter, the woman who changed the face of women in the work force. She redefined the place of a woman in the American consciousness and was known by the slogan” We Can Do It”. She represented the women ability to take over jobs in factories when the men were sent to World War II, in an era when women were known to be housewives and homemakers. She was the quintessential heroine. Rosie the Riveter was the woman who had self-esteem, leadership and physical confidence. Rosie’s self-esteem helped to create jobs and opportunities for women and was the forbearer of the achievements in equal opportunity in the work place for women of today.  

Before Rosie the Riveter, the theory of division of labor between the sexes was well defined. The man was the bread winner who goes out every morning to earn a wage and bring home the bacon. The woman’s place in society was at home to cook that bacon, bake cookies and have and raise children. But with the advent of the second world’s war and the need to have factories turning out machines while most men were fighting, the theory was rearranged so to speak.

After the war and the men returned home, the workplace had changed. Women felt empowered for having kept the war effort going well by their work. Now they demanded more. Many movements started that brought to the forefront the plight of women and their demands for equal treatment under the law for the same job. The ERA, the Equal Rights Amendment which was a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution designed to guarantee equal rights for women and was passed years later in 1972, was one of the results of the shift in the theory of division of labor.

The Rosie the Riveter popular culture icon was one of the things that made women feel that in many instances, they were able to do many of the things reserved to men. My insight is that thanks to that icon, women of today can do anything men do if they put their mind to it. Soon we may have a woman President of the United States. 

                                                      Written  Analysis 2 Due.7 Sept, 2014
                               

                                                      Rosie The Rivete  ( We Can Do It )

Popular culture

                The popular culture I chose was “Rosie the Riveter”, this name became very popular during the World War II. Rosie the Riveter was a feminist who stood for the women and the nation as well.  She believed in equal right as what men can do women can do too. In the early 1900’s the stereotype of women been house wives and all what they were good for was to keep the home clean and have children whiles the men work hard to put food on the table, Rosie the Riveter changed that ritual. “Rosie the Riveter who was a 17-year-old factory worker became the inspiration for a popular World War II recruitment poster that evoked female power and independence under the slogan” "We Can Do It!," (Chron, 2014). During the WWII all eligible men who were 18 years and above were mandated to go the war, leaving the factory jobs and many other jobs empty which caused shortage in employees.  “The manpower shortage of World War II necessitated the entry into the workplace of millions of women, many of whom had previously been denied employment on the basis of their gender” (Chron 2014). All this while women have been deny employment and was discriminated because of their gender, they depend sole on their husband’s income. In this era it was very difficult for a woman to be independent without the help of a man.  Rosie the Riveter encourages and mobilized the women to work in the factories and many other jobs that had openings. After the WW II, many women stayed working and managed the house as wives too. This movement helped women till today, although there are still discrimination in the work force against women is better than the early 1900’s. According Feminist Majority Foundation (2014), the glass ceiling "is not simply a barrier for an individual, based on the person's inability to handle a higher-level job; rather  the glass ceiling applies to women as a group who are kept from advancing higher because they are women”.

Reference

Chron (2014). The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter. Retrieved from   http://events.chron.com/movies/show/1130443-the-life-and-times-of-rosie-the-riveter

Feminist Majority Foundation (2014). Empowering Women in Business. Retrieved from http://www.feminist.org/research/business/ewb_glass.html 

Written Analysis 1 Due. Aug 31, 2014

            Today’s news headlines out of Ferguson Missouri are in direct relation with the portrayal of race in American media. Just like in older days the American Indians were portrayed as savage beast to be shot down by cowboys, black and brown people are today portrayed as thugs and hoodlums that need to be apprehended, incarcerated or just plain killed. In the sixties, those images of blacks were of drugs gangsters or prostitutes. And the role blacks were assigned to play in the media such as films and television were in the line with that image.

With the advent of television the images of blacks stared to change little by little thanks mostly to Black Entertainment Television (BET). The 1970’s were still a bit stereotypical, the shows were funny but still portrayed blacks in a back shade. Then came the BET cable channel launched in January 1980, the programming of which gave birth to the pro-eminence of HIP-HOP, probably the world’s greatest American cultural export phenomenon, copied and imitated the world over. Hip-Hop has made black culture “cool” all over the world.

The 1980’s brought about a sort of revolution in the media when it comes to black’s image in the media. NBC television started broadcasting The Cosby Show, a SITCOM about a middle-class family in New-York, whose father Bill Cosby was a Medical doctor and his wife, Felicia Ra-shad was a lawyer. Their children were college bound kids and well behave. This show was not about the usual ghetto types of before. The offshoot of the Cosby show was A Different World, a show about the college campus life of young black men and women, which also showed that black kids could actually aspire to higher education.

These days black entertainment executives like Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry have built up their own entertainment empires, allowing them to produces movies and TV shows that portray blacks in favorable lights. They have been able to bring about an era that promotes black people in better way. The so called mainstream media still does not help and continues to kill black image in their portrayal of them. That is what leads to a lack of democracy evidenced in the treatment of blacks by the police and the powers they have.

My three contemporary icons are Bill Cosby, Oprah Winfrey and Michael Jackson.

Bill Cosby.

Who is Bill Cosby? Bill Cosby is an American comedian, actor, author, television producer, educator, musician, and activist. I chose Bill Cosby because of the good advice he gives to both black and white kids of this nation, especially to the black people. Mr. Cosby’s dissertation discussed the use of Cosby Kids TV show as a teaching tool in elementary schools. He is also a role model to blacks. Most black kids who think and have the mentality they can never make it in life because of the color of their skin. This icon means a  lot to me in so many ways, but what touched me the most are his speeches about education that urge black child to go to school and get an education that would lead them to higher achievement and a better life.

 Oprah Gail Winfrey.

Who is Oprah Winfrey?  Oprah Winfrey is an American media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer, and philanthropist. I chose Oprah Winfrey because of her good work done not only in America but around the world. The so-called Queen of all media the greatest black woman philanthropist in American history, In fact, she is one of the most influential women in the world. And as a black woman, that means a lot. My most memorable moment of Oprah Winfrey was when she was awarded the President Medal of Freedom by the president Barack Obama. She is an inspiration to many women, black or white, putting smiles on their faces when all hopes seem to be gone. Her generosity is immense as evidenced in her investments in girl’s education, especially in Africa. That mission of empowerment is based on the thinking that when you educate the man you educate individual but when you educate a woman, you have educated a nation as a whole.

Michael Jackson.

Michael Jackson was an American singer, songwriter, actor, dancer, businessman and philanthropist. I chose Michael Jackson because of his great contribution to music, dance and fashion as a whole, but especially to black culture in particular. He will remain a powerful global figure in popular culture forever. The King of Pop as he was called, Michael was known with his music since he was a child. He sang and danced into the hearts of American and the world with his brothers. Looking back to the early 1980 he became a dominant figure in popular music and helped continue to break down racial barriers in entertainment. This icon means a lot to me because of the way his music and dance took a lot of kids out of the street to put their life in to good use through music. Many artists today owe their entry in music to Michael for he was a role model to them. It was a sad day and a shock to many in the world when the news came he was dead. Even after his death he is still the King of Pop. His legacy in Pop Music will endure forever.

Tuesday August 19,2014.

·         Define popular culture

Popular culture is the system of attitudes, behavior patterns, beliefs, customs, and tastes that define the people of any society. It is the entertainment diversions icons, rituals and actions that shape a society’s everyday world. Pop culture is the shared knowledge and practices of specific group at a specific time, pop culture both reflects and influences people’s way of life.

What does it mean to you?

Popular culture makes me aware of different cultural norms which helps me interact with a particular audience or race without disrespecting any culture.

·         Discuss the relevance of popular culture to you in a business environment and in your present and future career.

Businesses do not exist in a vacuum, and even the most successful business must be aware of changes in the cultures and societies in which it does business. As society and culture change, businesses must adapt to stay ahead of their competitors and stay relevant in the minds of their consumers. A major socio-cultural factor influencing businesses and business decisions is changing consumer preferences. What was popular and fashionable 20 years ago may not be popular today or 10 years down the road. Different styles and priorities can undermine long successful products and services. Currently I work in the health field; the popular culture now is converting all patient information electronically due to the more advancement of technology. This allows a patient to assess his/ her medical information anywhere in the states.

What would you consider to be an example of a pop culture artifact? And why would you choose it?

An example of a popular culture artifact I chose is “Rosie the Riveter” an iconic figure of a strong female war production worker. I chose this because it shows the growing number of percentage of working class women since the World War II. This has empowered a lot of women to work and be independent.

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