Rage! Need hug.

This article makes me sooooo mad. What the hell is up with that guy? Those models aren't even that big! They're average-sized, pretty, and none of them have big rolls of fat, or a gut like I do, or anything! I just want to drive to Chicago and beat the shit out of this asshat. Who equates a woman's thigh to KFC, then says her underwear isn't skimpy enough? Hypocritical jerk.

Shit like that makes me wish I were a lesbian, because most girls will understand that the majority of real woman don't look like the freaks in advertising. (Yes, I know there are some women who are naturally skinny -- I'm friends with a couple girls like that.) At least around girls I don't feel like I have to dress up to meet anyone's standards.

Seriously, this is the attitude that gives girls low self esteem. How can anyone live in a society that espouses this kind of view on body image and not feel like crap about themselves because they can't live up to impossible standards?

(no subject)

How evil are you?

o_O Okay...

Woot.

I went shopping for my upcoming Charleston trip today. After two hours at JCPenny, I've come away $171 poorer. At least the clothes are nice. But, gah, I hate clothes shopping. It takes forever to find stuff in my size that I like, and once I do, I have to see if I can afford it. I'm kind of glad for my debit card.

Strangely enough, when I told mom how much I spent, she didn't get pissy like I thought she would. Hmm.

Went to dinner with Grandma at a Thai restaurant. That stuff's good. And now I want to go to a Mongolian barbeque, right after we go to a Japanese restaurant so I can have some yakisoba, damnit.

I need to buy coloring books and crayons, and probably some of those cardboard books for little kids. And I need to bring my GameBoy, and stuff... Oy. This might not be a fun flight.

New layout!

It's not perfect (the background image won't line up, and I don't care). But it feels like I got thrown into one of those old libraries with the fireplaces, the walls covered in bookshelves, and the mandatory old leather armchair. (Hint: the LJ is the armchair =P.)

Whaddya know, more articles.

This article is about violent video games and their effects (or lack thereof) on teens. I now love this person.

"To be fair, there have been about 300 studies on the effects of violent media, about 30 of which have been about video games. Most have found little to no connection, although some studies found a small, casual correlation between aggressive people and violent media.

Even if true, this does not necessarily mean violent media has created aggressive people. It is more likely that aggressive people are attracted to violent media. Blaming violent media would be like going to the opera, noticing that most people there are rich, and concluding that opera makes people rich. (Classical opera, by the way, is chock full of lust, incest, murder, suicide, and revenge.)"

Yeah, that's like saying that Shakespeare causes violence in English majors (have you read Hamlet?), or that all white, middle-class males are possible serial killers and should be treated as such. Just because there is, supposedly, a "common factor" in a series of crimes, it does not mean that that factor is the only reason those crimes happened.

"Gaming is also a new medium, one that has recently become wildly successful. Young people play them and old folks don’t understand, so they must be bad. Don’t forget that in the 1950’s, rock and roll was linked to youth violence in the same way. The hedonistic, tribal rhythms were going to turn America’s youth into a bunch of violent maniacs. Rock and roll was banned and censored all over the country. A bill was even put before Congress in 1955 to ban rock and roll altogether."

Yeah, I don't get why video games are so OMGWTFEVUL!!!, when there have been various forms of entertainment that have been just as bad, if not worse, than GTA. The Romans and the Colluseum and crucifixion, Shakespeare (again, read Hamlet!), the Crusades... There are plenty of books with detailed rape and/or gore scenes that were written long before video games, or even movies. And jeez, people act like nothing bad ever happened before pixel became so much damn fun. Because Jack the Ripper was all in our heads, right? Those silly prostitutes just tripped on a butcher knife and managed to kill themselves, removing organs only a person knowledgeable in anatomy would be able to.

Okay, done with the rant.