The Beanie Baby Craze
“When you have something intended as innocent fun for children,
you can count on adults to turn it into an obsessive, grotesquely over
commercialized ‘hobby’”
It all started with Cabbage Patch Kids, parents paying top dollar for those plastic headed and not so cute dolls. The next big wave to hit was the Tickle Me Elmo a character from Sesame Street, who you could squeeze and it would laugh and jiggle. And now we are in the midst of a tidal wave, that’s right, the Beanie Baby Craze. These small bean bag animals, which were first produced in 1994 by the Illinois based Ty Co., are a huge hit with children and adults alike. People of the Beanie Baby movement will go to great extremes, and pay an obscene amount of money for one of these small animals, taking this “hobby” past the line into absurdity.
A couple years ago when I was at a BBQ picnic, a little girl came up to me and tossed me a fish beanie baby, having never seen or heard of them I looked it over for a bit, then I lobbed it back to her and she ran off throwing it up in the air and dropping it each time. At that time I would never have thought that people would go mad over them. I feel a certain obligation to shed some light on the strange even ridiculous behavior that some of you display while partaking in this madness. For instance, there have been stories of people following the UPS deliverers around town to see which store will be getting the latest beanie babies. When they do find a store that carries the new ones usually others have also, creating a mad rush to get the one that they want. Children have had these toys snatched right out of their little hands in this frenzy, arguments even fights have erupted. Some of you Beanie Baby followers will even try deception to get as many of them as they can. A clerk at a toy store recounts a day when they had received a big shipment of new beanie babies. To be fair, a three Beanie limit had been established. One customer had bought her three, went home changed clothes, put on make-up, and changed her hairdo and went back to get three more.
In 2005, the Vermont Teddy Bear Company produced a controversial bear for the Valentine holiday. The bear that was made was called “Crazy for You” and wore a straitjacket. It became an issue when the company was confronted for offending the mentally ill. After the problem became apparent to the organization, it responded by saying that it would continue selling the toy until the inventory was empty. It was put out for the public in January and was sold out by February 3. The ethical issue in this case is whether or not Vermont Teddy Bear Company handled the situation ethically correct.
To her parents¡ªHester and Dimmesdale, Pearl plays a role of living scarlet letter compelling them to face the reality and confess their sins to the whole world. As the product of their passion, Pearl is a constant mental and physical reminder to her parents of what they had done wrong. It seems that her mission is to force her parents to suffer a lot from the punishment while she was brought up happily and innocently. Pearl successfully achieved this by firming the letter the center of Hester`s life. More than one time, Pearl asked Hester about the letter, which caused Hester`s intense agony of a shame generated in her. With Pearl being around her, Hester will never escape the punishment of her wrong deed.
Pearl was the result of Dimmesdale and Hester committing adultery. She has wild behavior and serves as a reminder to Hester of her sin, as she reminds her of the Scarlet Letter. She plays a vital role in pushing the story along. Her attitude towards Dimmesdale changes as time goes on. At first, she puts her hand on his cheek and accepts him. Then, she regards him as man entangled in the devil’s doings. Then, she wouldn’t accept him as her father until he revealed himself as her father. At last, she accepts him as her father as he reveals himself on the scaffold. She could finally live her life as a person, instead of this constant reminder to her parents of their sin. The changing attitudes of Pearl towards Dimmesdale really shows how influential Pearl is and how it reflects on the story
It would be hard for one to dispute the fact that MTV has influenced every pop culture trend since its birth in 1981. One could even say that MTV is pop culture. No other media network holds in the palm of its hand the power to control popular cultural evolution the way MTV does. What other media network has influenced and helped shape public opinion, filmmaking, newsgathering techniques, presidential politics, and world politics like MTV has? In addition to that, MTV can take credit for reconstructing the music industry (Rushkoff 126). One would be hard pressed to find a person who does not enjoy some type of music. Thus, "Music" television was built on a foundation that was virtually united by the whole world, and its popularity was inevitable. MTV chose popular music as its beating heart, instead of classical music or jazz. Young people around the country could now see their favorite music icons 24 hours a day, seven days a week. As a result, the young people of America were given a national/international platform to share their common voice, a voice that to this day wants to be heard. Since MTV has such a large hand in shaping the young minds of today, it is important that both parents and children are aware of the impact MTV has in their daily lives.
Gender roles in toys are overwhelmingly obvious. The breakdown has not changed in so many years that we all comply with and follow without question. Taking a trip to the local Toys R Us store showed me just how obvious the line was drawn for the sexes, showing a specific division of the two. The stores layout clearly establishes the line between girl’s toys and boys toys. There are very few isles that will intermingle within the sexes. For this project I selected the following age groups; infant, preschool and school age with a focus on girls toys.
When I hear the word toddler I think of little girls walking around in mommy’s shoes, and miss matched clothing (because she’s getting to the age where she likes to dress herself.) And of course a cute smile that’s missing a few teeth. The word glitz, glamour and sashes don’t come to mind. Nor does the image of a little girl who’s fake from head to toe. Wearing wigs, flippers (fake teeth), inappropriate /reveling attire and fake tans. I don’t think of little girls dancing around a stage in front of hundreds of people getting judged on their “beauty.” Well, that is exactly what children’s pageants consist of. Pageants exploit a child for their outer beauty, their talents and over all perfection or as pageant judges would call it having” the whole package.” I bet pedophiles think the same thing and find these pageants very entertaining. And most of all, I don’t want to see a mother trying to live out her dreams through her three-year-old child.
Pearl’s speaking out against her mother demonstrates her courage and defiance. She often goes against her mother and says what she is thinking, without worrying about the consequences. Sometimes, Pearl blatantly disobeys her mother, to the extent where Hester no longer recognizes Pearl as her sweet little daughter, but as someone else entirely. Pearl has always been obsessed with her mother’s scarlet letter; she is always touching it, and asking how Hester received it. One day, Pearl is playing in the tidepools at the beach, and she makes her own letter “A”, out of seaweed,
it is to make them want something, or to get their parents to buy it
Child beauty pageant in reality is expected to act ‘childlike’ but rather they are forced to
Toy stores are perfect places for a sociologist to use their sociological imagination. Gendering and racism is thought to be something that is socially constructed as opposed to biologically constructed. Gendering starts during infancy, and around 2 years old children start to internalize these gender differences. I argue that children’s toys help socialize children into gender specific roles. Toy stores, like Target and Toys R Us help us understand what types of toys help to gender children. I will explain how the toys in the toy aisles differ and compare. Not all toys are either male or female, some toys are gender neutral.
... in the toy industry is to make toy safety the number one priority and to fulfill the customers’ needs.
“Dress codes and school uniforms increase school safety by eliminating gang-related clothing and helping aid in the recognition of nonstudents on campus. Other potential benefits cited include better student behavior, more resistance to peer pressure and improved emphasis on academics. About one in four public elementary schools and one in eight public middle and high schools in the USA have policies dictating what a student wears to school.” (Ellis)
In the 1700’s, puritan society focuses highly on sin. Pearl, from the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne in the 1800s is a superior example of sin in a person’s life. In “The Role of Pearl” by Anne Marie McNamara, the significance of Pearl’s character is thoroughly analyzed. Pearl is the daughter of the main character, Hester; who is an adultress. People tend to ignore the importance that Pearl represents in the novel. Pearl gives meaning to many ideas throughout the story, especially structure. Without Pearl, the story would not come together as well. The people of the village realize that Hester has sinned when she is seen pregnant. Therefore, McNamara stresses the embodiment of sin, the significance of Pearl protecting her mother, and
Have you ever wondered how sneakers were created?The sneaker was invented more than 3,000 years ago.Sneakers became popular due to people needing them,sneakerheads collecting and selling them.,and athletes started having their own brands.Anyway, the sneaker is a very popular item today and there are a lot of reasons why they are so popular.
Having no distinctive rules about the appropriate apparel can bring concern to the notion of the student’s health and safety. Violence in the schools today has been labeled by health professionals as a threat to the overall health and academic success of students (King, 1998). As the issues in violence continue in schools, many have noted a possible connection between school violence and the type of apparel that the students are wearing at school (King, 1998). The trends at schools and most importantly the urban schools follow the fashion industry which is dominated by gang related apparel (King, 1998). Through the use of such clothing the concerns of such gang violence would most likely increase. The baggy clothing and oversized shirts can attribute to an indirect increase in the transporting of drugs and weapons into the school (King, 1998). In addition to the issue of lack of uniformity is the issue of socio-economic status. Students injuries have been attributed out of envy of other students designer clothes (King, 1998). The school is supposed to be a safe environment that is a good atmosphere for learning. However, when there is violence in the schools the atmosphere is not conducive for such an atmosphere and actually affects the student’s motivation for learning (King, 1998). The result of the lack of safety is a failure on the potential teaching and learning capability. Thus, in an environment that would use uniforms would be able to establish a better academic outcome as the fear of violence from gang and class distinction would be eradicated. It would help students concentrate on their school work, easily recognize visitors to the school and help students with the issue of peer