Youth Movement Against Body Hate?

I think that for the 3rd and 4th quarters, body image has been a topic I have been thinking a lot about. Here are the two blogs I wrote about body image:
http://americanstudieswithbecky.blogspot.com/2013/05/abercrombie-and-fitch-body.html
http://americanstudieswithbecky.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-impact-of-moms-on-body-image.html

As I have mentioned before, the media plays a huge role in shaping people's views on how they should look. Because the media pretty much only shows airbrushed pictures of tall, thin, fit people, many teenagers have suffered from eating disorders and low self esteem.
However, I noticed that whenever I go on tumblr.com, I almost always see at least one post about self confidence and body-love. Here is what I find to be the most common example:

www.tumblr.com/

While almost every girl I know has some sort of dislike towards her body, I do think that recently there has been a lot of criticism of the media from adolescents. I am very interested to see where this will be headed, and I hope that eventually there will be a larger-scale movement to try and end body hate and the unrealistic portrayal of women in the media.

Attitudes Towards Different Languages

Recently in my Spanish class, we watched a short film called "El Rincon de Venezuela," which means "the Venezuelan Corner." It was about a family from Venezuela owning a restaurant in New York City, and their struggles facing classism and financial issues. At one point, the mother is trying to advertise by handing out flyers. As she yelled out the name of the restaurant, "El Rincon de Venezuela," a man walked by and said "English, English, I don't know.." This part can be seen at 7:45 in the video below.




This short clip made me think about how immigrants are treated in America, especially those who do not speak English. As we discussed in American Studies, people tend to have expectations that all people who live in this country must always speak English. I think this shows that many Americans are closed minded when it comes to different cultures. As you can see in the clip, no one stopped to talk to Rosario and her mom when they handed out flyers. Although this is a work of fiction, I wonder if their restaurant would get more business if it was owned by a white American family. I also wonder, if America is often referred to as the "melting pot" of all different cultures, why are people so closed off towards the different languages of immigrants?

Abercrombie and Fitch's "Ideal Body"

In every stereotypical school, there are the supposed "cool" kids and the supposed "uncool" kids. As silly as it seems, one thing I remember from my time in middle school and junior high was that the "cooler" kids stereotypically wore clothes from the store Abercrombie and Fitch. In fact, this is exactly the vision Mike Jeffries, the CEO of Abercrombie and Fitch, hoped for. In a recent interview with salon.com (linked HERE), Jeffries exclaimed:

We go after the attractive all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends. A lot of people don’t belong [in our clothes], and they can’t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely.

What's more, Jeffries has actually gone so far as to define what he considers to be uncool, pegging anybody who is overweight by today's standards as the ones who "don't belong." What the company does is make their clothing run so small that even the largest sizes will not fit some people. I personally don't own any clothes from this store, but I have definitely heard other girls say how they're clothes from A&F were about two sizes bigger than what they normally wear.

Sadly, this is just one example of how the media plays a huge role in shaping the way we think. By being completely discriminatory against people who aren't thin, this company is in a way trying to teach people that the only way to move up the social ladder of youth is to be skinny. Abercrombie is showing that there is a set mold for being "cool", and things that make people different like different body types makes them uncool, instead of a unique individual.

Mike Jeffries, CEO of Abercrombie and Fitch (Ironically sporting A&F clothing even though he is not  a "..kid with a great attitude.."

The "New" American Dream

While researching for my junior theme, I was looking for contact information from experts on environmental science (my junior theme question is: "Why is only 5% of land under protection by the government?") I came across a professor from the University of Vermont who teaches an elective called "Unlearning Consumerism." I thought this sounded very appropriate for my essay because one aspect I had been researching involves American values--what we value over nature. When I looked at the class syllabus posted online, there was a link to a website called "newdream.org". Here is their mission statement (as read from the "about us" page)

"The Center for a New American Dream helps Americans to reduce and shift their consumption to improve quality of life, protect the environment, and promote social justice.
We want to cultivate a new American dream—one that emphasizes community, ecological sustainability, and a celebration of non-material values, while upholding the spirit of the traditional American dream of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

Earlier in the year, I had a blog post titled, "The Meaning of Success." I stated that the typical American dream, or success, is mainly based on income and how much money a person makes. I find it interesting that there is a connection between the typical "American Dream" and environmental issues. The fact that a successful life involves a very materialistic, consumer lifestyle (which takes its toll on the environment with pollution and the over-use of natural resources) shows that the typical American values these possessions over the preservation of the land.

I am curious to see if the New Dream organization will gain a lot of followers and will be successful. I wonder if the general population of the US would be willing to change traditional viewpoints in order to cut down on damage to the environment and a generally wasteful lifestyle. If so, what would the US government would do about it? Would it agree to change its values to better a less materialistic lifestyle, or (more likely) would it try to promote consumerism in order to raise the economy?