Why Disney princesses and "princess culture" are bad to girls

https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2016/06/24/princess-culture-is-bad-for-girls-now-theres-proof/?utm_term=.2f6f0981f87e

Summary
Disney princesses are popular and well-liked by preschool kids.
Little girls love the princess culture and it becomes stereotypical that little girls love princesses as a result.
However,Disney princesses suggest to girls that beauty is of utmost importance.
It also suggests that girls should be sweet and submissive,and expect men to help them in dire situations.
Love at first sight is also common.
Studies show that girls engaged in princess culture behave in more feminine ways.
Princess culture does not help girls to behave in better ways.
However,princess culture has positive effect on boys.

Opinion
I feel that princess culture should not be exposed to girls at such a young age because it will have a negative influence on them.Girls will start to be wary of their body image starting from a very young age and will also learn about love and affection which are negative influences on kids.If girls are to be shown Disney shows,parents should accompany them and direct to them the positive messages the show is trying to convey to them instead of the negative ones.

Synonyms
Validate-approve
Idealized-glorify
homogeneous-alike
qualitative-approximate
methodological-high-tec

Racism

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/15/magazine/how-one-stupid-tweet-ruined-justine-saccos-life.html?_r=1

A person who works in New York tweeted about his indignities he met on his way to South Africa to visit his family. He made a really racist tweet with no bad intention but his tweet instantly became a famous tweet around the world. He got a lot of unwanted negative comments and attractions. Even though he deleted the post and his account, it is still being spread around and the comments will live on forever.

I feel that he shouldn't make a tweet so racist. He said he won't get AIDS because he is a white. Although he tweeted for fun and with no intention to discriminate the people in Africa, other people misinterpreted it. The tweet spread like wildfire across the internet and Justine recieved a lot of negative comments and unwanted attentions. Although there should be a freedom of speech, we must still be careful of what we post because people will still feel unease when they see remarks that discriminates them.  So, everyone needs to be careful of what to post online by thinking in other people's shoes when they see the post.

Can money buy happiness?

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/jan/07/can-money-buy-happiness

Summary
Money is the factor which determines the success of a person.However,it is wrongly thought by everyone that the more money you have,the more happy you will be when in fact,money is the greatest source of anxiety as shown in surveys conducted on some Britons and Americans.

Opinions
I agree with the conclusion that money does make us happier,but only up to a certain point.I believe that as long as we have enough money,we would be happy enough,but too much of it will not grant happiness.However I believe this varies from person to person since some people would surely lead a happier life with more money while some may not.

Vocab
Associate-combine
Satisfaction-achievement
Plateaus-elevation
Psychologist-therapist
Diminish-reduce

Summary of 'Disney Princess Culture'

Princess culture still has its place in today's media and commodities, while it becomes less stereotypical. We still tend to think obedient characteristics is necessary for female characters subconsciously. The stereotypically gendered message creates a wrong preconceptions for growing children. For example, males are expected to be both physically and emotionally strong. Females are expected to be submissive and emotional. Initially, Disney princesses showed typical womanly characters, but over the time, these portrayals exhibit more manly behaviors.

                                                                                                          Yifan  [78 words]

Journal on 'Teams and Teamwork'

Link:http://www.derekstockley.com.au/newsletters-06/067-teamwork-importance.html

1. Typical definition of team and teamwork from people in a leadership training program is A group of people, contributing their individual knowledge and skills but working together to achieve a common goal/task.
2. most people agree that using teams and teamwork provides benefits to both individuals and organisations.
3. Modern technologies and new ways of doing business are changing the ways we use teams,  but the underlying principles and benefits remain.
4. Distance is no more a barrier. Virtual teams are more and more common thanks to internet.
5. They collaborate from different parts of the word through telephone calls, email, file sharing technology and other online meeting methods.
6. Team composition is critical for success. In fact, the definition has highlighted three important fundamentals.
7. Team members each contributes individual knowledge and skills.
8. Working with harmony and a positive attitude together is critical.
9. An understanding of the common goal of each member conduces to effective teamwork.
10. Teamwork as a concept has grown over the last 20 years. However, teamwork success is not automatic. Teams have to be established for the right reasons. Team member selection is very important, as is ensuring that the team purpose is clear and agreed upon.

Opinion:

I think teamwork really becomes vital in many aspects of our lives, especially for working. For example, our school's mathematics program requires students to make up teams to solve problems. However, while teamwork has its increasingly huge importance, personal abilities and achievements cannot be ignored. After all, the standard of a team is decided by the least capable member, just like volume of water a barrel can contain is decided by the length of the shortest wood block. We cannot only focus on how to foster team players because teamwork is not only relying on others but to do a better job through cooperation. For example, no matter how well primary school soccer team members can cooperate with each other, they can be easily defeated by untrained adults. Therefore I believe a personal abilities should not be underrated as they are premises of excellent teamwork.

Journal: Media stereotype

--Summary:

Alberti required for a day that her female schoolmates come to school without makeup. This is to build their self-confidence. Julia asked a magazine to promise not to beautify photos and to be honest about the process. Mass media portrays impossibly thin, barely dressed female with perfect features. This gives an impossible model for girls and continuously causes low self-esteem and anorexia. The Girl Scouts of America puts effort against mental problem caused by the model. They may better the image of girls of every ethnic. However, it takes time.

--Opinion:

The image of thin body figure is formed deeply in most girls’ mind. Mass media always chooses slim models to be presented to the public. Since people commonly  just blindly think that the models are beautiful, girls tend to admire them and thus lose a lot of weight at a younger age in order to fit the ‘traditional beauty’. For example, even Alberti still struggles against the images. When asked if she also thought of herself as pretty, she paused, then said, "I'm still working on that. It's a little harder to do it yourself." Therefore, the stereotypical way of media portraying female really affect girls and women’s opinion on what is beauty, and causes them to lose self-confidence.

--Synonyms:

1.scantily---barely

2.unattainable--unapproachable

3.celebrity---dignitary

4.traction---resistance

5.artful---skilful

http://www.northjersey.com/news/young-women-are-fighting-back-against-media-portrayals-of-b

Journal: Disney princess culture

--Summary:

Plentiful princess culture still exists in media and commodities. Princesses have become less banally ‘pink’. People are uneasy with powerful female roles without classic obedient manner. The gendered information needs female to appear beautiful and concentrate more on their appearance than intelligence. This can affect girls’ prospection and concepts of what different genders “normally” do. Men are muscular, confident and agile. Women tend to show obvious mood. Earlier films portrayed female stereotypically while later ones added muscular features.

(80 words)

--Opinion

The image of Disney princesses should not focus on the traditional stereotype of female as it may bring negative impact on girls. Some films like Cinderella tell girls that it is not how hard you work but how beautiful you are that lead to success. In this way girls tend to lose a lot of weight at a younger age and a higher amount diagnosed with an eating disorder in order to fit the traditional beauty of princess portrayed in Disney films. A study carried out by researchers from Brigham Young University, Texas Tech University and Linfield College in the US, funded by the Women's Research Initiative targeted at both parents and children found that ‘Princess culture’ in Disney films could lead to body esteem issues in young girls, as Disney Princesses tend to be slim, pretty, and often with an impossibly small waist. Thus, Disney princess should not be portrayed to be thin and beautiful which always comes into people’s mind when they think of beauty.

--Synonyms:

1.stereotype---banality

2.submissive---compliant

3.prone---tending

4.masculine---manlike

5.expectation---prospection