Wanna be a Princess? Lose the Frizz!

I think I speak for just about every girl of my generation when I say that after watching the Princess Diaries, I waited with bated breath for the day that my grandmother would tell me that I was to become the next Princess of Genovia.  I absolutely love this coming-of-age movie; the dorky, awkward nerd-girl turning into the graceful, lovely young woman by the end of the story.  There is only one tiny little detail that gets my goat every time: THEY TAKE AWAY HER CURLS!!!



http://blogs.disney.com/disney-style/fashion/2014/08/03/lets-talk-about-the-fashion-from-the-princess-diaries/

While I am as anti-frizz as any other girl, I take offense that the stylists completely hijacked Mia Thermopolis' curls and gave her a full blow-out.  After her "transformation", Mia has some of the sleekest, straightest hair that I have ever seen.  Why is it that Mia is only seen as desirable and fit to rule a kingdom after her hair has been tamed to within an inch of its life?  And beyond that, to maintain this façade, Mia will have to damage her hair with heat and hairspray everyday.  It's simply not healthy!

Like Mia, I had MAJOR issues with my hair growing up.  If I did not put my hair in a pony tail everyday, it looked like an albatross had built a nest on my head.  Fortunately I got my act together in high school and learned the value of hydrating conditioner and curl crème.  Unlike Mia, I decided to work with my hair instead of fighting it.

Here I am as the albatross carried me off after finding out that I was not, in fact, a tree.

This prejudice against curly hair in Disney Princess movies runs deeper than just this movie, however.  While many of the princesses have wavy hair, there is only one princess that has the wild curly hair that I identify with.  Merida, from Disney-Pixar's Brave, has some of the coolest hair I have ever seen.  She is fearless, smart, funny, and, for much of the movie, seen as unfit to rule.  Her wildly curly hair is seen as un-ladylike, and she is forced to hide it under a hood.



http://www.insidethemagic.net/2013/05/exclusive-disney-bravely-responds-to-merida-makeover-outrage-says-2d-new-look-was-for-limited-use-only/
http://healthfulmd.hubpages.com/hub/princess-merida-brave

Why is it that Merida and Mia are both seen as unfit to rule when they have curly hair?  People should not be judged on their competency to lead by how they look.  I have often wondered how I will have to style my hair after college when I am on the job market.  Will I have to cut my hair short or straighten it in order to look responsible to prospective employers?

Society simply holds women to too many standards when it comes to appearances, even in Disney movies.  Most people recognize that Disney Princess waist lines are unattainable to the real human being, but even their hair has created false expectations.  I know way too many girls who hate their hair and feel the need to straighten, curl, or otherwise change it everyday.  I'm not saying that these are bad things, they can be fun and make you feel pretty! But if girls start to feel ugly when they leave their hair to its natural texture, then something is wrong with how they are viewing themselves. And it is probably due in part to how their role models, aka Disney Princesses, are portrayed.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/307792955755121280/

 

I hope that people start acting more like Mia's friend Michael.  He recognized Mia's real inner beauty long before everyone else because he could see through what everyone saw as her "ugly" outside appearance.  And as the movie shows, it goes both ways.  The pretty, popular kids in the movie turn out to be total jerks, showing that my Grandmother's old saying is true: "Pretty is as Pretty does."  In other words, you are only beautiful if your actions are too, so Mia was beautiful when she was "ugly" after all.

 

Judge people by their actions instead of their looks?

http://cdn29.elitedaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/giphy12.gif

Stop Smiling?

I know that many of you are probably thinking that my blog has been hacked after seeing this title.  What happened to the girl who wrote "Seven Ways to Never Stop Smiling"?  I am asking myself the same question right now, after reading the first chapter of Barbara Ehrenreich's Bright-Sided: How Positive Thinking is Undermining America.  The first chapter, Smile or Die: The Bright Side of Cancer, is all about how breast cancer patients are expected to take their treatment with a positive attitude and an almost child-like disposition inclined towards sparkly pink things for distraction.  Ehrenreich takes the stance that it is unfair to hold the patients to this expectation; she believes that they should be allowed to feel cheated and upset about their condition.

At first, I felt that Ehrenreich was being absurd.  Why shouldn't we try to make breast cancer patients as happy and optimistic as possible?  I have always been a big advocate for happiness, and who hasn't heard that a positive attitude helps drive sickness away?  But Ehrenreich exposes this as a myth; even those who smile the most don't always get better. 

I also realized that, unlike Ehrenreich, I have never been diagnosed with cancer.  How could I possibly argue with her about how it felt to have people telling me to turn that frown upside down even as I vomited and lost hair during chemotherapy?  As I looked back on my life, I realized that I am not the most pleasant person to be around when I only have the common cold. 

Ehrenreich also tackled the notion that breast cancer will make you a stronger, more vivacious person in the future.  For one thing, it could kill you.  And if it didn't you could get a mastectomy or chemotherapy that would leave you very weak for quite a while.  I really did not want to hear this because I have always gone by the saying "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger," but then I realized that she isn't saying that breast cancer won't make you stronger in the long run.  Instead she is saying that we shouldn't treat cancer like it's some path to a better life.  It should be seen for what it is, a nasty, horrible disease that has more risks than benefits.

I think I finally began to understand Ehrenreich's whole message and stop taking offense to it by the end of the chapter.  In the last few pages she talks about how if the patient doesn't want to be cheerful, they are often seen as outcasts and blamed for their feelings.  She says that is simply wrong, and I can definitely get behind her here.  People shouldn't feel forced to be optimistic, if a breast cancer patient feels discouraged about their illness they should have every right to express that without feeling that they will get their head bitten off.  While I might not agree with everything Ehrenreich has to say about happiness, I now understand her viewpoint a little better.  Endless optimism when it comes to breast cancer is extremely limiting and unfair to all involved; it is a terrible disease that will usually do much more harm than good.

Seven Ways to Never Stop Smiling





As an avid smiler, I often get the questions "Why are you always so happy?", "Have you ever actually been angry?", and, my favorite, "Can you even frown?".  This last query ends with me being forced to hold a grimace until I simply can't hide my pearly whites any longer.  I just can't help smiling, it's part of who I am! And while I can't explain why I have such a cheerful disposition, I can share with you, dear readers, some of the little everyday things that make me grin.  Hopefully they will brighten your day as well, and allow you to become happier, smilier people in the long run.


1) Search for a smile in unexpected places

One of my favorite twitter accounts is called Faces in Things (@FacesPics).  In each of their tweets, they feature a picture of a random object and find a face in it.  I have done this my whole life, and every time I see a doorknob, car, or coffee stain smiling at me, I can't help but smile right back. 

Some of my favorite pictures from @FacesPics
 

2) Step on something that crunches

In this season of gloomy, chilly weather, sometimes it's hard to find something to be happy about when you're outside.  My favorite thing to do when this happens is to find the nearest crunchy leaf and stamp on it as I walk to class.  There are few more satisfying sounds than this crinkly noise, and I can often be spotted taking a zig zagging path along a sidewalk just to hunt out the most promising leaves.

Look at that leaf! It has the perfect curl and color to be a first-rate crunching leaf!
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFBx0Vdx_rNl7EMQzJswh6gpVud2Ens6qbyWF_55Fj0_isvaOy4BePn1CYBRnXQx6FLZMrAWGlLuHQuTmKzDK6RpsMqCpqqJqBKxzA_dIYDVDG2fzN7aq9ScJ6rZ0QKcwd1zAtIM6ohRM/s1600/crunchy+leaf.jpg

 3) Make yourself a creative little treat

So maybe you had a bad day, and all you want is a cupcake to cheer you up (a bad idea if you read my previous post, but we all have our guilty pleasures).  However, who wants to clean up the mess of baking, and, more importantly, who has an oven in their dorm room?  You can get around these obstacles if you have my favorite cookbook, Mug Cakes: 100 speedy microwave treats to satisfy your sweet tooth.  That's right, you can make cupcakes in your microwave!  While I have only done this once or twice, just looking at all the cute little recipes never fails to make me smile.

http://www.catchingfireflies.com/products/mug-cakes-cookbook.html

4) Let your feet have some fun

Another way to turn a frown upside-down is to add some joy to the place where you end up looking when you are feeling down: your feet!  How do you do such a thing, you may ask?  Why, only by wearing the quirkiest, zaniest, awesomest socks you can find!  They don't even have to match if you really want to go the extra mile.  Trust me, not only will fun socks make you smile, but everyone around you is sure to get a kick out of them too.

Just a few favorites from my extensive collection

5) Say something funny

This could mean intentionally, if you are gifted in the way of comedy, or unintentionally, if you are sort of an awkward, unfiltered person like me.  And if it is unintentional, don't be afraid to laugh at yourself!  No one laughs at my jokes nearly as much as I do, and I don't laugh at anyone else's jokes as much as mine.  Just think of yourself as the funniest person you know, and you'll never be able to get that smile off your face.


http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736x/71/94/87/719487ba853328be4b44ec204e2493fb.jpg

6) Have some awesome friends

Seriously though, while laughing at your own jokes is great, it's even better when you have some other people to laugh with you.  Well, maybe they won't laugh, but you still know that they love you even when they are shaking their heads exasperatedly and leaving you at the table by yourself to go refill their drink.  Which was already half full when they left.  Oh wait...

I've made a lot of friends since coming to Augie, but the best have been my fellow freshman swimmers.

7) Spread the love

Finally, the best way I know to make yourself smile is to make someone else smile too.  Make someone a mug cake, tell them they look ravishing in those knee-high whale socks, laugh at their jokes; it's easy to make someone's day a little brighter.  It's just like that old saying, "Giving is better than receiving". So go out there and make the world a happier, smilier place to be!

http://www.eco-generation.org/ambassadorReportView.jsp?viewID=1536

 

Cupcakes: The Dessert of Discord

http://passionpending.typepad.com/.a/6a01157163b531970c0177445301dd970d-pi
 

Cupcakes: they're sweet, colorful, bite-sized...and they're taking over the world!  In the past few years, stores selling these sugary little treats have popped up in towns all over the United States.  While they seem unassuming, don't be deceived; this takeover is hostile.  The cupcake promotes seclusion and selfishness.  The consumer doesn't have to wait to host a party to buy a cake, she can have a party for one with her own personal dessert.   The cupcake argues that other people aren't necessary to celebrate life events, when in reality celebrating has always been about people coming together. 

Even if you do invite guests to your cupcake party, you are basically saying to them that you don't want to share with them. Your cupcakes argue that you would rather do without delicious leftovers just so that no one else will touch your own personal dessert.  Also, instead of compromising and baking a cake that will fit everyone's tastes, you divide people into groups of those who want the chocolate cupcake and those who want the vanilla.  Some would argue that this allows people more options, resulting in a more satisfactory party, but I believe a marble cake could have solved this problem and kept the unity alive to boot. 

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrWqozP4n37sLGm-r86wrHEt1FjcO5bX4wh0zxBk-A0HvTf7QSjxdIoLhjdLLuaAjQkjMO6kQTJywy0S7Kg9lPQ_ahuTmwLttrkf_c-wgSKvM4j2H24hNbagxrRiD9z9TDKaUvYMzKpFc/s1600/everytime-i-get-dp-my-precious.jpg

Some of my very favorite memories center around my birthdays growing up.  Whether they were family or friend parties, there were always lots of people around to celebrate my special day and eat a community dessert. Some desserts were made by my mom, including a sandcastle cake for my under-the-sea themed party and a double-chocolate raspberry cake for my chocolate-obsessed stage.  Some were made by a bakery, including a cake that looked like a hamburger and a cake with my face printed on it with edible icing.  One wasn't even a cake; it was an ice cream pizza.  Regardless, I never had a birthday party in which I served cupcakes; even as a small child I saw the value of creating unity through a shared snack.

Unfortunately, I have been to one birthday party in which cupcakes were served: my father's.  We were too busy to hold an extended-family birthday party, so we just ate a nice meal at home and bought a couple of cupcakes from The Cup, our neighborhood cupcake bakery.  While I appreciated being with my mom, dad, and sister, having one solitary cupcake staring back at me made me feel kind of sad that I wasn't with my grandma, aunts, uncles, and cousins as well.  In the future, I will always try to avoid resorting to cupcakes as a celebratory food, and I encourage you, dear reader, to do the same.  Cell phones are small potatoes compared to cupcakes when it comes to the real cause of deteriorating social skills in America; we must do all we can to resist their delicious temptations!

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j234/theVowels/CupcakePicC2.jpg