18 Kids and Counting - EXTRA CREDIT

TLC apparently feels the need to pay people lots of money simply because they have a lot of children.  This is an odd phenomena,  but I seem to be stuck on the reproductive bandwagon also.  The family with the most kids, the Duggars, are now expecting a grandchild... wait, didn't Mrs. Duggar just have a child a few months ago...  yes.  This show has a lot of masculinity present because the husband is entirely in charge in these families.  Josh (the oldest Duggar child) and Anna got married a few months ago and have been trying to have a child since their wedding day.  Now four months later, they are expecting.  This is a very masculine thing because they refuse to use birth control, ever.  The woman doesn't have a right to use birth control.  This was even in their wedding vows (worded a bit differently, simply that they would not try to prevent pregnancy).  I think that our culture has moved to a place where it is unfair to tell a woman what they can and cannot do with their own body.  But then again, maybe Anna wants to have eighteen children like her mother-in-law.

Toddlers in Tiaras - EXTRA CREDIT

This week I watched TLC's Toddlers in Tiaras and found many signs of what some may call feminism.  This show is absolutely crazy, I have no idea why you would make a three year old model in a pageant!  The littler girls are becoming "feminine" by spray tanning, wearing "flippers" (basically false teeth), having more makeup on then most adult women, and wearing fake hair.  I realize that fairy tales show girls as beautiful, but there's a fine line between beautiful and creepy.  These mothers have reached utter weirdness.  There are even some boys in these pageants.  Are we turning these boys into preppy little girls?  I don't think that it's right to make little boys or girls do these things, and that it does not give them a good self conscious.  These kids are going to grow up to feel that all you need in life is to be beautiful, and that being beautiful will win you trophies, money, and sashes.  I'd love to see these kids in about fifteen years and see where they ended up.

Ace of Cakes

The many hours a day that I spend sitting in my dorm room have recently correlated to the many hours of E!, TLC, and Food Network that I watch a day.  Tonight, I watched one of my new favorites Ace of Cakes, a show about a company, Charm City Cakes, that makes thousand dollar cakes.  One of the cakes that Duff and the guys were making this week was a giant fortune cookie that had a fortune coming out of it saying "will you marry me?"  I thought this sounded like a great idea, but not a very masculine idea.  This made me think of the many ways that guys propose and how it isn't a very masculine thing.  But I guess I'm glad that it's this way, because if it wasn't girls across the world wouldn't get "that feeling" when the guy proposes.  But I really enjoyed how the man was proposing to his girlfriend because it was a very interesting way to propose.  I find it interesting that you can find feminine and masculine traits even in Food Network tv shows!

CSI

While flipping through the family TiVo this weekend, I stumbled across a somewhat old episode of CSI, with special guest Taylor Swift.  Now, I'm not a huge fan of CSI and similar "cop shows" but I love Taylor Swift, so I figured why not.  This episode was about a family that managed a sketchy hotel that is always the hot spot for crime.  The daughter of the family, Haley (Swift), becomes friends with one of the detectives, Nick.  The episode starts out with a dead Taylor laying in the middle of the parking lot.  At this point I was highly upset, I was hoping for her to be a little more predominant in the episode.  But, then we flash back to a year sooner when the family was just moving into the hotel.  I thought that Haley showed many feminine attributes that could go unnoticed.  First, she asks Nick lots of questions and tells him that she can handle the truth on the answers.  The says two things -- that women are curious (very true) and that some men tend to coddle women and sugarcoat their answers.  Next, Haley's hair goes through many different colors and lengths over the course of a year.  This is also something that is very common for females, for some it's because they like change, for others it's because they can.

Private Practice

Being an avid Grey's Anatomy fan, it should come as no shock that I have become a follower of the spin-off Private Practice.  Interestingly enough, I hated Addison Montgomery on Grey's, but on Private Practice she brings a whole other personality, that I love.  This week it seems like everyone is having relationship woes.  Addison, falling for the husband (who is a gorgeous surgeon) of one of her patients.  Pete, sleeping with everything in sight, while meanwhile maybe having a baby on the way.  Violet, has no idea who her baby's daddy is.  And Cooper, who is living with his best friend (Violet) against his girlfriends wishes.  I'm going to focus on Addison because she seemed to be the most feminine, in my opinion, in this episode.  I find it interesting that once again, Addison would be placed in a "cheating" situation.  On Grey's, Addison was married to Derek Shepperd, but cheated on him with his best friend (plastic surgeon, Mark Sloan), now once again we see Addison, but in a new light.  Addison is falling for the surgeon, Noah, but knows that it is the wrong thing for her to do.  This time around Addison takes the high road (at least until next week...) and tells Noah no.  I thought that this was a very feminine thing for Addison to do because she stood up for what she knew was right.

Chopped

Food Network has tried over and over again to make shows about amateurs competing while cooking.  Their most recent attempt is the show "Chopped".  This week the four contestants consist of three men and one woman.  To make it even better, the one woman is a vegetarian.  On this show the contestants are given four or five "mystery" items that must be put in their dish.  The first round is making the appetizer, one person will be "chopped" in this round.  This goes on until there is only one person left, and they win the competition.  I find it interesting that there is only one girl.  I think this is much different that most American's would think because many television shows give the idea that a woman's place is in the kitchen.  Almost every round has some type of meat as a mystery item, this makes it even harder for the female.  While, she knows how to cook meat, it isn't her specialty.  All four of the dishes look appealing and (according to the judges) taste amazing.  But who do you think obviously gets "chopped"?  If you guessed the woman, you'd be correct.  I think that Food Network is sending the wrong message by only having one female contestant and by not treating her fairly.

Chelsea Lately

Since August I have watched more of E! than ever before in my life, one of my favorite shows being Chelsea Lately.  If you've never seen the show before, I don't recommend it for the politically correct, but for the college kid who just wants to laugh, it's perfect!  Host Chelsea Handler is probably the most crude woman that has ever graced the planet, but that's what makes the show so great.  Chelsea goes against all feminine characteristics, yet still dresses like a lady.  The show always starts off with "the round table" where Chelsea and a few of her comedic friends talk about celebrity gossip, meanwhile screwing everyone that has done ANYTHING in the past twenty-four hours.  Chelsea shows the opposite of feminism by talking about everyone, meaning that most girls on television are looked at as politically correct and polite women.  But many Chelsea is being what all women actually want to be: belligerently honest.  Maybe we, females, should take a note for Chelsea Handler and start telling the truth.  Or maybe not.