The unanticipated control of Birth Control

Birth control, also known as the pill, revolutionized sex in the 60's; but who knew it would now revolutionize how women select their mates. Alexandra Alvergne, lead author covering the birth control study, suggests that "the use of the pill...might induce women to mate with otherwise less-preferred partners, which might have important consequences for mate choice and reproductive outcomes." Ovulating women naturally are attracted to "masculine" men (chiseled jaw lines, muscular body) and men are naturally attracted to ovulating women. However, because women on the pill no longer ovulate normally, it has altered the way in which they select their mates. The study conjectures that women are choosing partners with weaker qualities, which might result to genetically disadvantaged babies.

The scientific advancement of the pill has allowed couples to engage in a more safe and responsible intimate relationships. But now, 40+ years later, ongoing studies have shown that the pill has a quite unsettling long-term side effect on how women mate and reproduce. Will the next generation, offsprings of the pill users, look uglier? Will they be physically weaker? What can we expect from the following generation? Additionally the article mentions briefly about how people are meeting and interacting with each other in a completely new realm: online dating sites. This phenomenon also adds to the changing mating patterns the pill has presented. I wonder, to what extent is new science/technology changing human social patterns improving human life? If it is not improving, then why?

Achieving Manhood

Rudyard Kipling's poem "If" ultimately suggests that finding the perfect balance between fantasy and sensibility allows one to define himself as a man. This perfect balance, however, seems nonexistent. The criteria that the poet presents are very difficult –practically impossible – to achieve, suggesting that becoming a man will never happen. The poem is written in a very heavy and shrewd tone, making the reader feel infantile and discouraged from even attempting to achieve equal wisdom. The poet assumes that being a man means that “Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,” which any youngster knows is impossible.

If I were the son that this poem was addressed to, I would feel trapped in boyhood. However, there is something in the poet’s tone that brings about hope. The possibilities and promises that are offered seem much greater than the adversities that first must be overcome. This, I believe, is everyone’s battle in maturation: we are presented with such hardships in life, yet it is when we battle through them and succeed that we grow.

Toddlers and Tiaras

The documentary, "Toddlers and Tiaras" gives a behind-the-scene look at beauty pageants. These young girls have it all: good hair, gorgeous nails, perfect make-up. Is all of this too much? In my opinion, these parents are just living vicariously trying to make up for their unfulfilling childhood. Young girls should not be worrying about getting their legs shaved or wearing fake eyelashes! Also, dressing these children in small, revealing clothing only makes them grow up too fast. Don't these parents realize how damaging this will be to the girls when they grow up? Imagine how image absorbed and vain they will be in the future.

A Bad Case of Nostalgia

Sega Genesis. All That. The Backstreet Boys. These are all representations of nostalgic figures in our past. Whether it's your favorite video gaming system, a television show, or your adolescent years jam from back in the day, Generation Y--roughly ranging from ages six to twenty-nine--is definitely a sucker for the "pop culture of the late '90s and early 2000s that makes them wistful." Though it has been a proven trend for nostalgia to hit generations towards their older years, authors like David Browne--a New York Times writer--theorize that the September 11 attacks forced our generation to grow up faster, and in turn sparked a frenzy for us to desperately clutch onto any menial form of identity we can get our paws on. Although I do admit the September 11 attacks did trigger a shock wave whose reverberations can still be felt today, I don’t think that it would be equitable to pin our early case of nostalgia on those attacks alone. In contemporary society, we have done away with an exuberant amount of traditions that we once held dear for centuries such as the downslide from the extended family to the nuclear family to the divorced/separated family. Since our generation has made such radical shifts in the little time we’ve been here, it’s no wonder why nostalgia has crept up on us in our early years.

Gosselins Reach Truce for Twins' Birthdays

(8 Oct. 2009) Isn’t it just fascinating that someone’s name could be misspelled on a birthday cake? Oh. My. God. Jon Gosselin (who is he, again?) was, like, able to see his two daughters on their birthday. His soon-to-be ex-wife Kate, like, did not kick him out of the house.

Wow. I feel enlightened. Picking through bits and pieces of People magazine can be entertaining at times, I’ll admit. But one thing I’ll never fully comprehend is how articles such as this one make headlines.

Yet despite the brain cells I may have lost reading about the Gosselins, it did get me thinking about divorce and its effect on the youths of our nation. In a society where break-ups have become just as commonplace as marriage, how are people coping with everyone from step-parents to step-siblings to step-cousins? Sometimes divorce may be the best immediate answer to a failing marriage, but are there any ways to detect and avoid a hasty break-up?

Or are children becoming immune to divorce as it becomes an expected outcome of marriage?

Growing Old: A Journey of Self-Discovery

Four babushka dolls in checkered cloth caught my eye today. Just below them read the words, “Growing Old” in bold red font on the book cover. I couldn’t help but stop and take a look on my way out of Green Library. Flipping through the table of contents, I noted chapters including discussion on everything from "dying usefully" to "narcissus and the fear of becoming wrinkled." The author, Danielle Quinodoz, is a psychoanalyst in Geneva with an extensive amount of clinical experience working with the elderly. I believe her psychoanalyst twist and personal introspection would prove an interesting read.

Anyways, I thought about just heading to the dorm for dinner before the dining hall closed. I was planning on glancing at the book another time.

Signs of age and aging surround us every day, yet we hardly ever give ourselves the chance to stop to notice them. Before you know it, we’ll all have graduated from college, established careers, and hit retirement.

Are there certain ways to take in aging slowly, one day at a time, so that we may prepare ourselves for the appearance of a wrinkle? Thinking about it now, I’d be a little nervous to say the least when I notice my first gray strand of hair.

But we've all got time, right? Salt and pepper hair is a long way away...

" Ritualized Homosexuality in a Nacirema Subculture"

It's often considered good advice to "walk a mile in someone else's shoes," and this article certainly offers an interesting approach to doing so (sorry I couldn't find an html version, the link to the pdf is in the upper right corner). Michael Kimmel, under the clever guise of an anthropological observer, offers a witty, stinging, and highly amusing satire of fraternity initation practices, and coming of age rituals in general. While some of the images described are definitely not the prettiest, and are chosen more for shock value than practicality (I for one could've gone several lifetimes without knowing what an "elephant walk is" and been more than content to do so), it certainly forces a new level of reflection on some of the ridiculous things we've been conditioned to put up with for various levels of acceptance.