Masculinities

It looks as if Mens Healthseems to define masculinity through ones ability to stay in shape; granted, that shape consists of being completely ripped as to appeal to the opposite sex in the ultimate way. It definitely seems to send a message to more over-weight men, with headers such as “belly-off,” “fight obesity,” and “eat better.” With this in mind, it does have a conscious goal of getting men all over the world into the best possible shape, which hopefully would yield a healthy lifestyle and success with women.

In contrast, Dull Men seems to lump the rest of men into another less-desirable group, because it has shares no focus on sexual appeal. Instead, it praises the ordinary man, giving him a place where he is “free from the pressures to be in and trendy.” This site gives men (who may have less to offer physically), a chance to feel at home with themselves alongside others who are similar. Masculinity is not defined here with photos of sculpted abs or nutritional diets; rather, it is found within the intellectual and moral simplicities found throughout these men.

Ask Men is in my opinion the most stereotypical of the sites in terms of how it shows masculinity. Immediately the viewer notices the various images of beautiful women scattered across the page, leading you to believe that only a sexy, successful man could ever attain one of them. This site is sheer testosterone, which may be viewed as a primarily negative thing from the majority of viewers.

I could definitely see some of these sites leading to anxiety for a lot of men; Men’s Health, although it promotes being healthy, may push men to believe that they should look a certain way. This pressure could possibly confuse men into thinking that their acceptance hinges on their ability to look as sexual or hip as possible. It could, however, lead them to a more healthy place, if they decide to do the suggested things (ex. diet, exercise), or a more confident mindset if they utilize all the suggested advice concerning women and relationships.

Aspects of my Personal Homepage

If I were to have my own space on the Internet, choosing aspects to help form my identity would be simple yet somewhat difficult. Initially, including my interests would cover most of my persona; it seems, however, that such an approach would limit the specificity of my site and mislead users as to what I am truly like. Quite simply, I think being able to express the little nuances of one’s character through a homepage would be quite a task to accomplish.

With that in mind, these are some aspects of my identity that I would wish to include on my site:

I LOVE music…I like performing it, writing it, listening to it and being around it…I play the guitar, and would love to have a career in it. John Mayer is a big part of my life, my biggest influence and overall idol. I frequent his site everyday to keep up with what he is doing (I check the sites of probably 5 0r 6 musicians everyday, but I didn’t want this list to be all about music…this site is most important).

johnmayer.com or j-mayer.org

I am also really into sports…I watch Sportscenter and football religiously. I don’t really go to this site all that often because I watch it on TV, but it still represents a part of me as a space on the web.

espn.com

I like to watch stupid/funny/interesting things that have little value to me other than for entertainment; therefore, YouTube gets a lot of visits from me.

youtube.com

Wikipedia is like YouTube for me, only smarter. I know it isn’t widely accepted by scholars, but I accept it! I’ll browse an article, find a word that leads me to something else, which has something in it that takes me to another article, etc. It’s fun to read about useful (and sometimes useless) information.

wikipedia.org

I guess it would be important for people to know where I’m from, and since McDaniel is such a big part of my life at this point, I would include aspects of my schooling on my site.

mcdaniel.edu

I like playing video games…especially the one mentioned below…it’s been delayed several times and we are all very upset about it. You should be too.

smashbros.com

I find graphic design really fun and interesting…working with InDesign and Photoshop this past semester was something I would like to pursue if the opportunity presents itself. Although this site doesn’t exactly encompass graphic design, it is something I’m interested in and helps to make things look as interesting as possible.

dafont.com

Again, I know I’m missing things, but these sites should give you a good idea about who I am. Hopefully my homepage will represent myself in a nice fashion.

Book Options

Free Culture: The Nature and Future of Creativity

By: Lawrence Lessig

Lessig’s book centers around the idea that our overall ability to creatively express ourselves has been diminished by what is described as “Big Media”. This exertion of control over our culture creates roadblocks for the imagination, thus effectively halting the creation of new products or ideas. The focus on copyright laws as well as the concept of intellectual property give the book a legal feel, which is counteracted by Lessig’s ability to explain his points through more simple story-telling. The ideas are revolutionary and characterize free-thinking, as Lessig pushes the notion that all aspects of our entertainment lives (including TV, radio, music, film, interact, etc.) are dominated by large companies looking to protect their own interests. This in effect limits what we can see, do, hear and create through any of the aforementioned mediums.

The Internet in Everyday Life

By: Barry Wellman

This work essentially discusses the effect the Internet has had on the world and particularly individuals who use it everyday. It ponders whether or not the Internet has taken away from our experiences in reality or strengthened our social connectivity through the use of cyberspace. The book is based heavily upon how the Internet has drastically changed the method of communication used by society and the effects that have occurred because of it. It details what kind of people are on-line, what they are doing there, as well as how long they are participating. All of these factors play a part in either creating a mutual meeting ground for millions of people or a social divide that lessens our ability to communicate in traditional ways.

Assignment for Weds. 1/30: Web 2.0 Sites

Since I am already somewhat familiar with wiki interfaces (browsing, not creating), I decided to pinpoint three sites from that area to discuss in more detail. I chose this type site because I find it the most efficient method for users to place information on-line for the masses to digest.

Wikipedia is by far the most popular open-ended encyclopedia on the Web, and it seems to have become the most successful among its many imitators. The most interesting thing about these sites is that they are written collaboratively from volunteers all around the world, with little limitations set to who can edit information. This leaves the chance for misinformation, but users are highly encouraged to include references or else entries will be removed.

wikipedia.org

Both SocialText and Twiki are similar to Wikipedia, allowing open-ended contributions by essentially anyone in the world. One major difference, however, is that these pages support blocking access to specific pages through passwords, thereby limiting the range of potential collaborators to those who know the information.

It seems like SocialText seems to be one of the easiest programs to use, while one may initially trust Wikipedia due to its immense popularity. SocialText claims that “simple tools with simple rules yield the best result,” giving it the feel of a site that those with little experience could utilize.