Assert Yourself Workshop

Took place: October 21, 2010. 12pm - 1pm. 

In this workshop, the difference between being passive, assertive and aggressive was spoken about. Things I learned include:

-Assertive is not a black and white kind of thing. Assertive is the middle ground of aggressiveness and passiveness, and it contains the strength from each side. 

-Being aggressive means not respecting the needs, opinions or feelings of others. Aggressive people do not apologize, or see problems as their fault, ever. They feel others have no rights to ask for things and usually think in terms of "you do not really matter."

-Passive people do not express their needs, opinions or feelings. They apologize for things (even when it is not their fault) and do not respect their own rights. These kind of people feel as if they do not have a right to ask for things they want. When they think, it is in terms of "I do not really matter."

-Assertive respects the needs, opinions and feelings of others. They apologize only when it is their fault, and allow others to take their own responsibility too. They respect both their own rights and those of others. Assertive people have no trouble asking for needs and wants. Also when they think, it is in terms of "I have to respect matters of my own and others."

-Statistics show that females are more passive than males. 

-Some situations do not benefit being assertive, so being passive is not always a "bad" way to act.

-Culture influences one's communication in different domains such as with family, friends, or school. The way one acts at home may be different than at school, due to the amount of comfort he or she feels in a particular environment. 

-Different cultures have different ways of acting. The western culture is more individualistic; therefore, when people of this culture speak or think, it is in a direct manner and often personalized. "What are YOUR feelings?"

-Eastern cultures are object-focused and more indirect. They think in ways like "how might WE resolve this?" These are collectivistic cultures, and do not often think in "I" terms but more as "what can WE do?"

-Because being assertive in some cultures is not as important as in others, communication might be lost or difficult when two individuals from each of these different cultures try to speak to each others. 

wooo, done. :)

Non-muse Event

volleyball game. sjsu vs. university of the pacific

10.19.10

Fever, Chapter 4.

-When the Supremes first auditioned for Berry Gordy, they were told no and that they need more experience. Later on, they were Motown's most popular girl-group.
-Mick Jagger was a misogynist!
-Martha Reeves was at first just a secretary, until one day she filled in for Mary Wells at the studio and that was when her career began.
-"Dancing" was a code word for sex, but also it meant protesting. This was because of all the civil rights demonstrations that were happening around that time.
-The Beatles were enormous fans of girl-groups and covered many songs by them!
-Motown women wore beehives, dinner gloves, and similar sequined dress as their other group members.
-Smokey Robinson wrote songs for both female and male groups. It was interesting how he was able to grasp both opposite sides of emotion so well when it came to writing.
-Motown's first number one song was "Please Mr. Postman" by the Marvelettes!
-The Who were a band which represented the extreme male energy in rock music. They would smash instruments, act aggressively and Keith Moon (drummer) would produced such an intense, loud sound with his drums. Therefore, more men than women were fans of the Who.
-In Britain, music expressed the problems with class discrimination. While in America, music dealt with the issue of race and trying to bring different colors together.

There you go, some entertaining facts from Fever!

Fever 2

~ Girl group lyrics spoke about desire and fantasy fulfillment. The groups were like storytellers, talking to other women and allowing guys to listen in on their conversations about men.
- Guys bought records by girl groups so they could learn more about what women were saying about them and just talking about in general.
~ Women were told to be sexy, but also innocent. Hollywood wanted them to be glamourous but at the same time not greedy with their wants for clothes and jewelry. It was vital to be married, but at the same time it was hard for marriage to not be an economic difficultly. Being a girl seems to be just as tough now as it was then.
- The song "Maybe", by The Chantels, allowed other women to join rock n' roll and was an inspiration for other girl groups.
~Girl groups looked to female songwriters and managers, but were only produced by males. Now a days,  it is the sort of the same way with males mainly acting as producers for all artists.
- Phil Spector was an incredibly successful producer in the 60's. His productions hit the Billboard 27 times and made the Top 40, 17 times. All of this in just 5 years!
~Spector "sang" through his women artists. For an example, he wrote a song about his dead father called "To Know Is to Love Him", which was recorded by the Teddy Bears.

I guess why not do a couple of facts about Tina Turner, from Fever's chapter 3 as well.
~Tina Turner began rock feminism. Her voice was full of passion, but at the same time rage. This all came from the abuse she felt from men, whether it was from her husband or the producers. Her voice was unique from all the other women singers during that time. She was told she had a "male" sounding voice. Even through all the abuse from Ike, she stayed strong and is still currently known as a legend.

songs i avoid listening to

5. Bad Day- Daniel Powter
It is a pretty old song which, at one point in my life for a little bit, I actually thoughT was catchy. Once I started watching American Idol and realized that they played this song every episode, I just could not stand listening to it anymore.
4. Rude Boy- Rihanna
Personally, I just think this is a ridiculous, annoying song by Rihanna about sex. Also, she put this song out right after she had gotten physically abused by her boyfriend. :|  So, I really do not understand the point of it. Plus, the song just sends a bad message to all the young girls who idolize her.
3. Candy Shop- 50 Cent
A disgusting song, as well as it sounds incredibly emotionless.
2. California Gurls- Katy Perry
The beat is lame, the video is just stupid, and the lyrics are pointless. It does not even represent California girls.
1. Crank That- Soulja Boy
The whole song is pretty much the chorus repeated, and it's a good thing that the chorus is incredibly horrible, too. I cannot believe that this was a craze a few years back, or that this is even called music. What is the song even about?