Sunday, January 25, 2015
Archbold and Chaudhry
Pat Archbold comes across Lakshmi Chaudhry’s
‘Men Growing up to be Boys’ article and immediately knows he must get in touch
with her to discuss their similar views. He emails her a link to his article
‘The Death of Pretty’ and the two agree to meet up for coffee. It is a cold
winter morning at Starbucks, the two order their lattes and have a seat across
from each other. Archbold starts off by letting Chaudhry know just how much he
admires her article and thoughts and agrees that men and women’s values have
definitely changed over time. They talk about how the media and society has
changed the values of men and women for the worse. They both agree that women
of this generation idolize the ‘superstars’ for their sex appeal and strive to
look like them. These women do not realize that by doing so they are teaching
other little girls that in order to get a man’s attention you have to look and
dress a certain way, and this is where the ball goes rolling down the hill.
They both agree that the media has impacted the men of this generation and has
lead them to value the wrong things. These men think buying a bottle of Ciroc
or a certain body spray will get them all of the ladies. They both agree that
things need to change or in the near future things will get a lot worse. Archbold
and Chaudhry both had a rather pleasant discussion and felt that it was great
talking to someone with such similar ideas and views. They both want to build a
friendship so, they exchange numbers and agree to meet up often to discuss
their views and new articles. They say goodbye and both take off on their
separate ways.
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If I was at the table with them, I believe I would agree with everything they mention. I would definitely add more to their topic about setting an example for young girls. The situation regarding girls and their perception of themselves will never get better if the current exposure doesn't decrease or go away all together. The same thing could also be applied to the men-children never growing up. Material possessions will only get you so far in life before you end up with great luxuries and no life partner or name for yourself. We would all get along and I think I would learn something from the both of them.
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ReplyDeleteIf I were to be at the same table at Panera Bread as Chaudhry and Archbold I would personally probably not get along with either of these authors. They have such one-minded opinions and are very strong on it. How could Archbold write a whole article about how the way a woman presents her self defines her innocence and if she’s asking for attention she has destroyed her innocence and prettiness? Therefor she is not cherished and consumable? That’s complete bullshit. Yes everyone in entitled to his or her own opinion but what is wrong with not being or being innocent? And how could you say and make all these things when you aren’t even a woman your self. And as for Chaudhry I honestly wouldn’t comment much because I am a female and cant vouch. However the title of her article Is very interesting and misleading, once you read the article the title is the opposite, she does give a lot of examples from other view points which I think is very important. If we were all at a table I wouldn’t start an argument because that’s not who I am I would just listen to what they have to say and take mental notes. I think they both are good writers however their topics are and can be very popular and prevalent making it difficult because everyone has different opinions when it comes to these topics.
If I was sitting at Starbucks at the same table with both of the authors I would be sitting enjoying my over complicated drink I order and constantly agreeing with their thoughts and ideas. I feel as if society has influenced men and women very much. It has placed sort of a goal each gender has to reach. A girl must reach the goal of finding a man and because she is so caught up with what everyone has to say and think she wants to be that hot girlfriend every boy wants and not the innocent good girl who stays home on the weekends. On the other hand guys try to be how society portrays them as such boys who even at the age of thirty still want to go and party with all the ‘’hot” girls. Most guy in today’s society are looking for a temporary female. Such as what Archbold describes as a tool. They want someone they can take home and sleep with and not have to deal with the next day. So yes it sucks to know but most men in today’s society will most definitely go for the girl they feel they can sleep with the quickest, the one with the short “hoochie“ skirt and boobs half way out because they have portrayed themselves in such a way.
ReplyDeleteIf I happened to be sitting at the same table as both of the authors while they were having their discussion, then I would probably disagree with most of what they had to say. Archbold goes on about how women used to project innocence and consider themselves pretty, and criticizes them for gradually doing away with that traditional mentality in order to appear hot instead, arguing that they are practically turning themselves into objects in order to get the attention of men. The ironic thing about that is that Archbold isn’t objectifying women any less than how he claims they are objectifying themselves now, because he is acting like there is only one proper lifestyle for a woman to take without losing what he believes is the only thing they have that’s valuable. The fact that he only considers only one thing about women valuable implies that he has little respect them in any other way. This is shown best when he uses Grease as an example of something that supports his point of view. While the only main thing that changed about Sandy by the end of the movie, he no longer sees her as valuable because her appearance doesn’t make him think of her as innocent, meaning that she must be objectifying herself as a result. As for Chaudhry, while I agree with her that corporations have been taking advantage of the changing times in order to find ways to convince people to buy their products, I believe that she is blaming the wrong thing when she says that equal rights for women is the reason for it, which is also a problem seen in Archbold’s argument. I would listen to what they said, but I would not be having fun at that table.
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