Sunflower Seed #7: Team Sports in America

Team sports in America has taken many different shits. According to Football High a video we watched in this week's class and the reading we did titled, A Variety of Religious Experience there are two themes such as transportation and heroes and role models that stuck out to me. Throughout Football High transportation is shown throughout the video. One main form of transportation that many of the teams use is a school bus. This helps teams leave and arrive together as a whole. In the reading A Variety of Religious Experience, transportation also comes up but in a different way. Transportation such as trains began to emerge during the Industrial Revolution era. Trains aloud for spectators to travel easier and quicker to games that were farther away which is exactly what school busses do for teams today. 

Another theme mentioned in both the video and the reading is heroes and role models. In the video, Football High, Kyle Frasier the quarterback for one of the teams is seen as a role model to a lot of younger athletes who attend the same school as him because of his phenomenal football ability. Younger students look up to him because of his success that he has been acquiring throughout his football career. The theme heroes and role models also occurs in the article we read. A Variety of Religious Experience also shows the theme heroes and role models by informing us that people often think of heroes as people who are hardworking, diligent, successful and an individual that gives people something to look up to. Kyle Frasier meets the exact definition mentioned in the reading because he gives younger students something to look up to which is himself. Kyle Frasier's success and hardworking personality make him a role model because people look up to those who are successful and work hard for the success that they achieve. 

Sunflower Seed #6: Men

Last week in class we were assigned the reading titled Boys will Be Boys by Guy Garcia and also watched a video clip in titled Mansome. After last Thursdays class there were many connections that were made between the video and the reading but there were three in particular that stood out to me.

Within the video Mansome it begins to talk about how men all around the world have decorated themselves but it is now becoming more socially acceptable for men to do so. Things like shaving or maintaining grooming areas is becoming a more common practice. In the reading Boys will be Boys it discusses how advertisers are now trying to get men to look at themselves more so that they have to buy the new products. This connects because as stated in Mansome the growing youth is now becoming more concerned with there appearance as more products are becoming available. 

The second connection I made was when both the reading and the video discussed the idea of becoming a man. Within the video when the two men are sitting together in the hot tub they say that the idea of becoming a man is when the individual starts to take responsibilities for their actions. A similar idea is discussed in the reading. Men are now said in the reading to be taking responsibilities now more related to their significant others rather than themselves. The older generations of men did not use to spend so much time within the house doing house hold things but now that is not the case. 

The most important connection I found between the reading and the video was the idea called Metrosexual. This term is described as a man who is heterosexual but thinks his appearance is very important. This term also makes an appearance in the reading as well. In the reading it talks about when the term first hit the U.S and it almost instantly became a slur word. This word changed the "soul of the male consumer"(Garcia, 3). 

Sun Flower Seed #5: Undergraduate Student at Duke University

In class this week we talked about an undergraduate student at Duke University and her struggles as a young individual trying to succeed. According to The View one of the major tv shows that covered the story the cast was so surprised that the undergrad student had first seen porn at the age of 12. One of the cast members was even in aw at the thought of such a young girl seeing such a thing. The View was one of the only tv shows that interview the young girl. The View cast asked the young girl about why she proceeded her career as a porn star and she responded that it helped to pay her tuition along with giving her an empowering feeling.

Another media show that covered the topic was Take Part Live. In this show they discussed how it was her personal decision as a young adult verses how The View viewed her more so as a child. Take Part Live also discussed just like The View that it helped her pay for her college tuition. Discussing that she was an adult gives the viewers an opinion that it is okay for her to make decisions for herself because it truly is. While The View talks about her in regards to a young child and it makes it feel like she should not be participating in such a thing.  Take Part Live also stressed that it was her own decision and that people should not be treating her the way they have been with death threats! She in no way deserves that criticism that she has been receiving.