Brand X

Nov. 11th, 2008 07:43 am
vovat: (Bowser)
[personal profile] vovat
First of all, happy birthday to Andy Partridge, formerly of XTC. I believe he's 55 today.

And now, I think it's time for a list of things I have some trouble understanding.

1. Fashion. Not the "hey, this outfit looks good" kind of fashion, but the kind where people are obsessed with brand names. I guess that, as a straight male, I'm not really supposed to get it, but, like, what's the point of buying a Coach bag? Does having the letter C all over it really make it better quality? And what's with the faded-looking T-shirts with store names on them? Also, why do we drive on a parkway and...no, wait, that's something else.

2. Cheerleading. I mean, it's not that I can't see the appeal of scantily clad women jumping around (straight male, remember?), but people take it WAY too seriously. I mean, cheerleading competitions? Sure, it takes talent, but it's a show, not a sport. Not to mention that I associate cheerleading with bitchy emaciated girls.

3. Sports. I've mentioned this before, and I have to say that, although I don't like them, I have an idea as to how people can get caught up in the excitement. I have no idea how people can talk so much about the results of sporting events, but in all fairness, they probably don't see how I can talk so much about Super Mario Bros. and Oz books. I guess that, while my chosen means of escaping from reality involves the realm of the fantastic, theirs involves guys running around and throwing things.

4. Enforced gender differences at fast food restaurants. Okay, I don't know that this is common, but I overhead the worker at the McDonald's drive-thru asking whether someone wanted a "boy or girl" Happy Meal. Why not just ask which product they prefer, instead of trying to reinforce the stereotypes?

Date: 2008-11-11 01:20 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] suegypt.livejournal.com
Teehee, cheerleading as a competition, oy vey! I've got one for ya, what's the deal with "competitive eating" being considered a sport, so much so that people are trying to get it into the Olympics...

It disgusts me whenever July 4th rolls around and they have hotdog eating contests, etc. They have celebrities now, known ONLY for stuffing their faces and not puking. This while a good 20% (at least) of the children in this country are classifiable as food-insecure.

And, yeah, why do the girl Happy Meal toys suck?

Date: 2008-11-12 12:08 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] vovat.livejournal.com
Well, hey, I'm pretty sure poker is in the Olympics, and that's not a sport either, although it is a competitive game. As for competitive eating, I'd say sitting there and stuffing your face is kind of the opposite of an athletic competition. Now, some of the physical challenges from Double Dare involving food might count as sports. {g}

And, yeah, why do the girl Happy Meal toys suck?

I think the Wizard of Oz dolls were considered the girl's toy, even though I know some guys who got them. So I guess that doesn't always apply, but it often does.

Date: 2008-11-11 01:49 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] rockinlibrarian.livejournal.com
2. Well, to be fair-- and this is coming from a former marching band geek, so I really AM being fair-- cheerleading competitions are truly competitions of skills and all. Whether that makes them a SPORT is debatable, but you don't have to be a sport to have a competition.

4. Seriously, I was thinking that the last time I went to McD's too. I had Sam, and I saw that they had the Matchbox cars and said "They may SAY three and up, but that's a toy I think will be safe for you that you will like so we might as well pass on the toddler meal this time." But the lady asked me "boy or girl?" and I was like "Well, he IS a boy, in fact, but I think if he was a girl we'd still want the car." Although I don't think I actually said all that, just thought it. I mean, when I was a little girl I was as girly as can BE-- TOTALLY your Disney Princess type (though they didn't have that line back then)-- yet even I loved playing with Matchbox cars too, so really!

Date: 2008-11-12 12:10 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] vovat.livejournal.com
2. True. Maybe I'm just a little tired of EVERYTHING being made into a competition.

4. I think I know several girls who would prefer the Hot Wheels (I know [livejournal.com profile] bethje would), but not any boys who would want a Barbie (which isn't to say they don't exist).

Date: 2008-11-12 12:32 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gloworm59.livejournal.com
Well, here's the thing - the Happy Meal Barbie isn't a *real* Barbie, it's a little 3-inch model of a Barbie, whereas the car is usually a real car, er, a real Matchbox car. So, it's like you get a fake toy if you get the Barbie. She can't play with your other Barbies unless she's Mini-Me or something.

Date: 2008-11-12 01:45 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] vovat.livejournal.com
"Hey, look! It's Barbie's cousin with the non-functioning pituitary gland!"

Date: 2008-11-13 08:47 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] yosef.livejournal.com
oh man, I totally remember when I was little and Happy Meals did the car-or-Barbie thing. I was always disappointed, because while I liked those types of cars, they weren't nearly as exciting as movie/TV tie-in toys. I also remember wishing I could ever get a complete set of certain collections, but it's probably better we didn't actually go to McDonald's enough for that to happen (although we definitely went too much anyway).

Date: 2008-11-12 01:06 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] rockinlibrarian.livejournal.com
4. This is probably the strangest pitfall of the boy/girl Happy Meal months! I get the feeling if Mattel (I think it's Mattel) wanted to push a new line of toy cars, that would be the only option, but it's when they're pushing a particularly girly toy that they feel the need to offer a more masculine option, and just throw in the car because it's easy.

There was this boy at the day care I used to work at who announced once that his dad had thrown away his Barbies. But that kid had definite gender identity issues (why did he always want to play the Princess when they were playing things? And why did he proudly proclaim that his favorite color was pink, but when any other boy attempted to claim the pink crayon/pink shirt/whatever, he would tell them "Pink is a girl color!"?), so is probably not a typical example.

Date: 2008-11-12 01:48 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] vovat.livejournal.com
I get the feeling if Mattel (I think it's Mattel) wanted to push a new line of toy cars, that would be the only option, but it's when they're pushing a particularly girly toy that they feel the need to offer a more masculine option, and just throw in the car because it's easy.

Yeah, probably. Isn't there some toy that's closer to a doll for boys? I think it's Hasbro that makes G.I. Joe, so no dice there.

And in some countries, pink is considered a masculine color. That's what I've heard, anyway. I actually like pink, and I know girls who don't.

Date: 2008-11-12 05:19 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] rockinlibrarian.livejournal.com
I've heard the pink for girls thing is something that only started in our culture in the early 1900s anyway. Pink is a variant of red, which is a strong and fiery color, so that's pretty masculine. Whereas blue is a peaceful color, so originally the color designations were pretty opposite. Maybe it started as a way to BREAK gender stereotypes and it just started new ones!

Date: 2008-11-14 01:39 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] vovat.livejournal.com
Yeah, I've heard that before, too. I wonder why it ended up being switched.

Date: 2008-11-11 10:48 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] colleenanne.livejournal.com
I think cheerleading IS a sport.. those girls are risking their necks (literally) with their gymnastic feats and pyramids. It is a lot of hard work and practice. And I, too, am a former marching band geek (clarinet section leader. WHoo hoo!)

Date: 2008-11-12 12:11 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] vovat.livejournal.com
I think cheerleading IS a sport.. those girls are risking their necks (literally) with their gymnastic feats and pyramids. It is a lot of hard work and practice.

But I don't know that its being dangerous and taking hard work makes it a sport. I mean, construction is dangerous and hard, but I don't think anyone calls that a sport. {g}

Date: 2008-11-12 12:27 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] colleenanne.livejournal.com
There are elements that can be judged. It's just as much a sport as figure skating.

Date: 2008-11-13 07:43 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ozma914.livejournal.com
My sister was in the clarinet section, then went on to be dum major for two years. (I was in choir and show choir, as is my daughter.) Yay, music geeks!

Date: 2008-11-14 01:40 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] vovat.livejournal.com
I remember someone at my college mentioning that he didn't really care for marching band, because it was more about playing loudly than doing anything musically interesting. I guess I can see his point.

Date: 2008-11-14 06:24 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ozma914.livejournal.com
I always thought the marching band was more multi-talented than most other musicians, because they have to hold a tune while marching in step. It's like my daughter singing and dancing at the same time in show choir -- I haven't a clue how that group can do it without crashing into each other.

Date: 2008-11-13 07:42 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ozma914.livejournal.com
I'm with you on the other stuff, but after watching my daughter practicing and prepairing for her show choir competitions for the last few years, I'm not prepared to tell cheerleaders or anyone else that they're not in a sport. But then, what's the definition? If the definition of sport is competing with another individual or group to get a higher score, then cheerleading (and show choir) can count -- but then, so can a thousand other things that no one thinks of as a sport. If you add in having to be physically fit, maybe that narrows it down some, but you'd also have to throw in practicing a lot, or else some current sports (like auto racing or curling) might not count.

Ah, forget it. I just like the outfits.

Date: 2008-11-14 01:41 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] vovat.livejournal.com
Hey, if I wanted to see girls in skimpy outfits, I could always go to a burlesque show, right?

Date: 2008-11-14 06:23 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ozma914.livejournal.com
Sure, sure. But ... there's something about the cheerleader outfit ...

I'd just as soon not examine what that might mean about my psychology too closely.

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