This message is not brought to you by the FCC

Language values are consistently changing as weather fluctuates during the seasons. It’s inevitable and sometimes those values may stick around longer than other values, but the point is, we’re not in Kansas anymore. Trying to censor language is not a way to keep protect children or keep them from learning bad habits, they have their peers for that.
I remember watching an episode of Family Guy called PTV and it is during this episode that the Federal Communications Commission invades Peter’s home and censors him in his own home. This invasion prompts Peter to sing a song about his opinion of the FCC along with his dog Brian, and son Stewie (which I found courtesy of YouTube and Hulu.com, you can see it below). However, if the FCC does not do this type of thing in real life, then why should they censor things on television? Okay I understand that some language is just too racy, but that is why ratings are put in place.
Obviously, Barney and Friends is not rated TV-MA, meaning the show is for mature audiences only, nor is True Blood rated TV-Y for all children. I am simply making a point because everyone knows that Barney is kid friendly and True Blood, well not so much. I am not in favor of some of the things the FCC has done, but the ratings are the only thing they've done right. If so many people worry about television hurting their children they should probably worry more about what they learn in school, who their friends are, and what music they listen to. The subjects in school are more important than what they watch in a thirty minute episode on TV considering a child is in school longer. When it comes to friends a child will copy not what they watch on TV but what their friends consider cool. And music, well, that is a little more delicate.
Music is a good and bad thing for kids. For example, classical music will have a different effect on children than punk music. But the fact is that whatever music, people will almost always try to sing along; and even if those lyrics are vulgar or pleasant, choruses are made to be catchy. Even if a child does not realize what the words mean, merely repeating them can be a negative influence. Let’s say a child sings a song with vulgar lyrics and repeats the song’s lyrics, that child is not understanding the words but still repeats them and if they were to repeat those words in the wrong place, serious consequences could result. Like I said, parents should worry more about other things than TV.
Television is just a form of escapism and most of what they show is not even relatable to real life due to the censorship of the FCC! Nothing is going to stop the language from developing, so why is the FCC trying to do so through television? Times are changing and we can either go with it or stay stuck in the past like those good ol’ folks over at the FCC. Let’s hope my blog is still up the next time I write something and not censored like everything on TV.

It's not polite to stare and neither is saying mean things.

Of course everyone has been insulted, and I do not just think that it is solely ethnic, sexist or racial insults that are thrown at people. But I do agree that everyone gets insulted even, the most powerful people, especially those. Don’t agree with me? Okay well let’s take for example President Obama. I do not even think that I have to go into it with this man. Just by simply mentioning his name, everyone can think of a racial slur that has been directed to the president either by a personally thinking it or a friend saying it. Still don’t believe me? Hmm, what about Bill Gates? Of course this man is a generous being, always giving to the less fortunate but I can remember several instances where people someone insulted Bill Gates because he was a “rich white geek.” Like I said, insults are not just expressed to ethnicities or race but even intelligence.
The reason why insults can be described on a broad scale is because the media has made it okay for people to insult each other. Right now, the movie Jackass in 3D is a great example of how the media has allowed people to be offensive. The Jackass show and movies have shown that it is socially acceptable to make fun of friends for being Black, practicing their religion or being whatever gender they are. However, this should not be the case. In fact, in cases like this, censorship should be incorporated. This is the one instance that I agree with censorship because it is insults that force people to hurt themselves, have no confidence, and in some cases even commit suicide.
Just because a person starts insulting another on an episode of Gray’s Anatomy, or two people get into a fight because of ethnicity in a movie, this does not mean that it is okay to do so in real life. However, media serves as a form of escapism for many and some do not recognize the difference between reality and fantasy. Thus, those people assume that just because their favorite actor or actress did something to insult another then it is acceptable to do so with others. Now, that’s just movies and television, but these are not the only forms that add to the growth of prejudicial language. Music plays a bigger part in these forms of offenses.
The reason I say music plays a bigger role is because the words are more direct than just implied like those in visual media. A rapper can rap using very explicit lyrics, and in those lyrics direct prejudicial language to people; and very easily can someone take that song and dedicate it to another person. By doing so not only does the receiver listen to the song but now they think how the song is directed to them.
The fact is that sooner or later everyone will be insulted through prejudicial language and it can be because of one’s weight, race, creed, or sex, but it can easily be seen that the reason for this is due to the ever growing media industry that permits such type of behavior. Eventually the media listeners, viewers and readers will bring those behaviors to real life causing someone pain and suffering. The only thing to do to avoid such type of behavior is by not taking part in the prejudicial language but listening to that old maxim: “If you don’t have anything nice to say then, don’t say anything at all.”

Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy!

Happiness is not free yet the feeling you get when you attain it is priceless. I would choose happiness over self-respect any day. I know it may sound weird but we humans forget that we are selfish. Everyone knows it, but many do not acknowledge this fact. By nature, I am a selfish human and I would choose to be happy rather than have self-respect because I think that when you are happy you eventually get the respect, but moreover you live a better life.
Currently, this world is full of despair and people literally do not stop to smell the roses. Smell the roses people! It will make you happier. The different scents can increase serotonin levels, and maybe even boost your endorphins. Happiness is something I highly value and I love to be able to just smile and be content. People do not take advantage of happiness and others are not granted the opportunity. Sure, gaining self-respect comes with a sense of pride but I also think that it is very egoistical. I know I was talking about selfishness, but there is a difference between being selfish for me and prideful/egoistic against others.
Here’s my thing; I don’t want to grow old and bitter. Life is finite and there are so many things on my bucket list and if eventually I decide to go streaking in the middle of a football (soccer) game and that will make me happy then I will do it. Otherwise, if I live with pure self-respect, what’s the fun in that? I am not saying that I will degrade myself, but just the term self-respect seems so prudish. Oh no, I do not mean people who have self-respect are uptight, it’s just that that self-respect comes with high morals, and I just cannot live up to some of those morals, so I would rather be happy and live life to the fullest.
For me, happiness doesn’t necessarily mean deviance; it just means that I will do what I want, when I want, how I want, because I want to. There are so many restrictions because of the laws put in place and I feel the self-respect also comes with unspoken laws that you can’t break. Again, I feel like I am speaking against self-respect, but the truth is that no one got anywhere on plain self-respect. You need happiness too. I am not qualifying this journal; because I choose happiness, but if I were to choose self-respect, then I would have to qualify by saying that in order to live a self-respectful life, I would need happiness to balance out things. Okay, granted by having self-respect you get the respect of others as well and you can live a respectable life, but why do I care what others have to think or say about me. I am not here to please other people; I am here to live a happy life.
I honestly can’t see myself choosing the self-respect path over happiness, because so far in my life, I am happy and I have never regretted anything for being happy. By being happy I know I will look back at my life later and be even happier that I chose a better path for me.

Less Goth, More Smiles

I wasn’t always confident, and actually I still think I am not all that confident as I say I am. Growing up I would always walk with my head down and rushing to my destination. Aside from the weird walk I used to do, I tend to have a very concentrated face, so what seems to be me “mad-dogging” someone, is actually me trying to focus on where I am going. If that isn’t enough I would dress very dark. It’s not like I was into gothic fashion, I just didn’t like people to notice me. But despite all this, mentally, I was and am a very happy and colorful person; I just needed to break out of my shell.
I broke out of my shell when I got into high school, don’t most people? Anyway, I broke away from the dark cloud type girl and started to walk a little more securely but I still tend to keep my head down at times; not because I am not confident, but because one of my fears is tripping and looking like a fool in front of everyone. Okay so maybe I still need to work on my confidence in that area. But the thing is that now I smile at people more and I think that is inviting be whenever someone smiles at me I automatically feel happier. As for my face, yeah, that’s a little harder for me to the break from the habit. I really do try to look more inviting when I stare out into the distance but for the life of me, it’s one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. My mom has taken pictures of me when I have my so-called concentrated face and let me tell you, I do not look like the nicest person in the world; and that is what kills me because I love people and the last thing I want for them to think is that I cannot be approached.
However, I am sure that my weird face is made up by the way I dress. I don’t dress grungy and neither do I dress very haughty. I dress comfortable because that is how I want people to feel around me. I know that whenever I sit next to someone in class that’s very grungy or super clean cut I don’t feel comfortable. I am not judging what they wear but I feel like I can’t approach them. I want people to know that they can turn around in class and ask me a question about what the professor said or if I understood the homework. There are times where I feel I can’t do that with my classmates not because of what they wear but because of the vibes they send out. I try my best to be a positive person and I have a deep belief in Karma, and that is why I try my best to be a happy go-lucky type of girl.
I know today’s blog may seem like I am trying to satisfy the people around me but that’s not it at all. I just want to be me and I want to be happy. What makes me happy is the ability to have people approach me and not be scared to talk. I know how intimidating I can be by the way I stare but I don’t bite and I don’t growl. Part of the reason why I changed my dark clothing and the way I walk is because I realized the few friends I had due to this demeanor; but now I am happy to be surrounded by people who are just like me: happy and confident.

Communication: The Proper Way

It’s hard to express myself and even harder when the person you are talking to has no idea what you are talking about. In my generation it is pretty obvious that there are so many slang terms and the older generation is not up to date with this lingo. This is no different than when I speak to my grandmother in Spanish.
When I speak to my grandma, I always have to remember to change my “ghetto” lingo into appropriate Spanish. My grandmother was born in the 1930s so when I say something to her without changing the words she usually looks at me with confusion and goes on to tell me that my generation has gone to –pardon the word- shit. I think she says this because it is different in the Hispanic culture where there is a lot more respect seen by the youth given to their elders than there is in the United States. So when I speak to her in anything other than a formal way she gets uncomfortable. For as much as I tell her that things are different in the United States, she just prefers that I always speak to her in a formal way.
When we do speak, we try to speak of not just how my schooling is going but how the world is deteriorating due to the carelessness of people. Yet I find this somewhat out of place because of my grandmother’s background; she stopped going to school at 13 years old and began helping her parents provide for her 8 younger siblings. She had to learn how to grow up faster than anyone and accept the fact she would not get a proper education. I feel that because of this, my grandma grew up with strict traditional values that would have originally lost their importance over generations. When I speak to her, I try to accommodate to her standards only because I know what she has gone through to get where she is now.
I look up to her and if I were to decide to speak to her in my slang terminology I sort of feel like I am disrespecting her. I have noticed that whenever I am around her I tend to use more intelligent words rather than made up words from the street. Whenever I end my visit with her I notice that I almost always leave with a greater sense of meaning than when I first arrive. I do not try to be some ghetto speaking girl but at the same time I am a firm believer that friends are one of the biggest influences in my life; therefore, I usually tend to start absorbing the lingo that my friends use. I try not to get influenced but I mean let’s face it- I still have teenage tendencies and psychologically speaking I will most definitely get influenced my peers.
The fact is however that despite getting influenced by my peers, I am able to communicate with my grandmother the way she expects without there having to be any room for confusion. I still forget to speak to my grandmother the way she expects whenever I visit her, but it’s not long until she straightens out the bad communication and turning it onto an intelligent conversation.