Brand X

[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?

Comments

[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?

[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!

[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!)

[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.