TOW #21- The Pear

The image above is a vintage advertisement by the Warner Brothers advertising their new girdle. In the time period, advertisements like this were very popular, and often considered normal on a day-to-day basis.

The advertisement uses a pear to say that a woman with larger hips without larger breasts to balance them out is unnatural, therefore not beautiful. The comparison to a pear makes the woman in question seem like an object opposed to a person. Though it is affective in the message is trying to send, body images are still something that we are trying to improve today. With modern images of the same message, we are failing to advocate for respect for our bodies in both men and women. Naturally, all people are born in different shapes and sizes. Wider hips, broader shoulders, and different attributes prepare the human body for different things depending on their circumstances. One may find that swimmers tend to have much broader shoulders and backs as well as flexible legs so they can properly traverse through the water quickly and efficiently. On the other hand, who run track tend to have much leaner upper bodies with stronger legs in order to guarantee maximum performance. If we reference the picture, a woman born with wider hips is considered the best for childbirth. Considering where a woman who is, by the bodily standard, 'pear-shaped', we may find that her origins of birth go back to a period in which childbirth was common and praises. Thus, the shape is natural. How is it then, that a shape like this is unnatural for women?

People these days blame photoshop and other media for the bad body image that the generations have faced. However, we fail to consider that it is just a way to make it much easier. If we go back and consider things like the girdle, the corset, and many other beauty devices, we may find that the negative images are tied much deeper down than we think.

TOW #20- The Tipping Point

While reading Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point, I was able to observe many key rhetorical devices that he uses in order to make his argument: Everything is caused by something else, whether that be morally, economically, or just a day-to-day event.

Several times throughout his book, he puts together several rhetorical events that allow us to visualize the situation much better. He talks about the idea of yawning, and how yawning can often trigger a chain of yawning that eventually ends in a large yawn party. He even asks of the reader themselves is yawning (I did. Are you yawning now?). He also asks how many times you expect a piece of piece of paper until it's 50 times in order to talk about geometric progression. This way, we are able to visualize and apply information in order to comprehend what is happening.

He also uses listing in order to help the reader understand his points. In order to define the principles that make things lead to something larger, he says "..one, contagiousness; two, the fact that little causes have big effects; and three, that change happens not gradually but at one dramatic moment," (Gladwell 84). This helps the reader follow along with the meaning and the idea that he is trying to put forth.

Overall, this book helped me come up with ideas that can help me look for signs in the future. It may help me find connections to the causes in order to see how they can lead to something bigger. It may be able to improve my writing, plotting, and overall, my way of thinking.