While my main Pandora station is named girl!grrrl! girl!, I have to admit that my favorite song is by a male band.
And here it is.
For those of you who like your music soft and sweet, this isn't it. But it's the best song in the world. Just focus on the lyrics.
NoFx was in town this month but I had a class and an invite to an information session on a Masters program at a local college. So I did the responsible thing and skipped the concert. Plus I'm poor, and tickets cost money. But I would love to see this song live.
What's this got to do with Jane Austen?
Really?
My name is D.D., the song is Whatever Didi Wants, and what I want is to post this song on MY Jane Austen blog. Makes perfect sense to me.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Thursday, January 6, 2011
The Jane Shore
I once had an idea for a book titled What Would Jane Austen Do? which would take current events and look at them from her perspective. Someone else did actually put a book out with that title so there went that idea.
But really, Ms. Austen would not have known what to do nowadays. She lived in the late 18th century, before texting and webcams. Her writings reflect the concept that even if you had flaws, if you were basically a good person then you were rewarded (Elizabeth from Pride and Prejudice, Catherine from Northanger Abbey for example). If you were selfish and mean-spirited (Mrs. Norris and Maria from Mansfield Park) or irredeemably silly (Lydia from Pride and Prejudice) then the consequences were bad.
Things currently would be a complete culture shock to her.
The Jersey Shore, for example. Yep, I really went there.
I had successfully resisted that mess, and was quite proud of myself. Then this weekend Lars was sick. Don’t worry, he’s on antibiotics now and doing much better.
But I spent the weekend with a dog constantly at the door to go outside, with no sleep. By the end of the weekend I had a touch of cabin fever. And the only thing on the telly was a lengthy marathon of the Jersey Shore.
I looked at it like it was research. I mean, if I’m going to be a psychologist, shouldn’t I at least have seen a little of what my clients may be talking about?
The lab: a rented apartment in Miami. The experiment: put a bunch of trashy people together and observe their behavior. The hypothesis: this will create a hit show. Validity: absolutely none. This experiment had no controls for confounding variables as the participants in the experiment freely interacted with the outside world, so no internal validity. As for external validity, due to the small number of participants included and the lack of diversity, this experiment can only be applied to these participants and no further hypothesis can be generated about human behavior in general.
However, this particular (un)scientific observer noticed a couple of things:
1. The double standard is alive and well. If a girl dares to act outside of the stereotypical behavior expected from women, she will be punished (i.e. will be kicked out of the house).
Guido 1: She brings back all these different guys to the house. What girl does that?
Guido 3: She’s the dirtiest girl that I know.
2. The Madonna/whore categories for women are still in use. This is the idea that the wife, the mother of your children, “Mary”, the good woman, is treated one way. While “dirty” girls, “Mary Magdalen”, are used for baser needs.
Or in Jersey Shore vernacular:
The Wifey/DTF Paradigm
Toward the end of the participants’ stay in Miami, both Vinnie and Pauley meet women that they really like. Vinnie, when given the option between “his” woman and other women, chooses her consistently. I was kinda impressed based on previous behavior.
Pauley, however, doesn’t have sex with the woman he meets because “he wants to get to know her better” while continuing to round up women at clubs to take home to “smash”.
The problem is that human beings do not fit neatly into categories. This concept is disrespectful toward both “types” of women, as it demonstrates a faulty understanding of women as one-dimensional, not as complete people or human beings. Something less.
In the end, I was left completely flabbergasted that people live like this. I understand that only certain parts make it into the show, but even a quarter amount of the alcohol imbibed would kill about a million brain cells. Which explains a lot, I suppose. At least I expanded my vocabulary.
But I still prefer the Big Bang Theory. It's so much easier to comprehend.
But really, Ms. Austen would not have known what to do nowadays. She lived in the late 18th century, before texting and webcams. Her writings reflect the concept that even if you had flaws, if you were basically a good person then you were rewarded (Elizabeth from Pride and Prejudice, Catherine from Northanger Abbey for example). If you were selfish and mean-spirited (Mrs. Norris and Maria from Mansfield Park) or irredeemably silly (Lydia from Pride and Prejudice) then the consequences were bad.
Things currently would be a complete culture shock to her.
The Jersey Shore, for example. Yep, I really went there.
I had successfully resisted that mess, and was quite proud of myself. Then this weekend Lars was sick. Don’t worry, he’s on antibiotics now and doing much better.But I spent the weekend with a dog constantly at the door to go outside, with no sleep. By the end of the weekend I had a touch of cabin fever. And the only thing on the telly was a lengthy marathon of the Jersey Shore.
I looked at it like it was research. I mean, if I’m going to be a psychologist, shouldn’t I at least have seen a little of what my clients may be talking about?
The lab: a rented apartment in Miami. The experiment: put a bunch of trashy people together and observe their behavior. The hypothesis: this will create a hit show. Validity: absolutely none. This experiment had no controls for confounding variables as the participants in the experiment freely interacted with the outside world, so no internal validity. As for external validity, due to the small number of participants included and the lack of diversity, this experiment can only be applied to these participants and no further hypothesis can be generated about human behavior in general.
1. The double standard is alive and well. If a girl dares to act outside of the stereotypical behavior expected from women, she will be punished (i.e. will be kicked out of the house).
Guido 1: She brings back all these different guys to the house. What girl does that?Guido 2: Guys do that, not girls.
2. The Madonna/whore categories for women are still in use. This is the idea that the wife, the mother of your children, “Mary”, the good woman, is treated one way. While “dirty” girls, “Mary Magdalen”, are used for baser needs.
Or in Jersey Shore vernacular:
The Wifey/DTF Paradigm
Toward the end of the participants’ stay in Miami, both Vinnie and Pauley meet women that they really like. Vinnie, when given the option between “his” woman and other women, chooses her consistently. I was kinda impressed based on previous behavior.
The problem is that human beings do not fit neatly into categories. This concept is disrespectful toward both “types” of women, as it demonstrates a faulty understanding of women as one-dimensional, not as complete people or human beings. Something less.
In the end, I was left completely flabbergasted that people live like this. I understand that only certain parts make it into the show, but even a quarter amount of the alcohol imbibed would kill about a million brain cells. Which explains a lot, I suppose. At least I expanded my vocabulary.
But I still prefer the Big Bang Theory. It's so much easier to comprehend.
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