Extra Credit Project for Rhetoric

Dear Bloggy, This is an assignment for rhetoric that we could do to have extra credit. There's some serious formatting problems and it's a teensy bit boring but I worked really hard on it! So read it!! (:

Tyra Banks is a double-edged sword. On one edge lies crazy. On the other lies beautiful, strong and sensible. If these two sides were ever allowed to duke it out, without hesitation I would place my bets on crazy. Tyra Banks screams at unsuspecting girls, cries when called fat, says things without thinking, and generally ignores the unspoken rules of stardom, but she is genuine, and for this I applaud her. The contrast between her former image as a model that embodied the “niche desirability” (Joseph, 238) of an African American woman, and her current image of total abandon on reality television is large enough to be upsetting. If this contrast is studied more closely however, there begins to be a pattern of a woman who is dealing with a multitude of flaws but is unconditionally accepting of herself. She is a better role model now than she was when she was modeling professionally because she represents a real woman who has a grasp on confidence and happiness, and she empowers others to do the same.

Image Credits: Janet Mayer, PR Photos and Screen Capture from The Tyra Banks Show, h/t Tracie at Jezebel.com, Edited by Kelly Johnson

I present to you “Exhibit A,” a photo of Tyra from a German edition of Ellemagazine in April 1993.

Image Credit: Elle Magazine, fmd1.com

In this photo she is looking elegant and refined. Her slender, long neck (the mark of a model) is visible in the photo just above a modest neckline. Her lips are open in a come-hither sort of way, revealing perfect, white teeth. Her eyebrows are regally arched, her eyes alive with the spark of a camera flash, and her skin free from imperfections. She wears a high-fashion red hat and large double pearl earrings, creating a look of “quintessential” (Joseph, 241) class. Everything about this photo is relating that Tyra Banks is a well-kept, unbelievably beautiful woman who can deliver sex appeal without appearing sleazy. Looking at this airbrushed photo, one would imagine that Tyra’s day-to-day life includes sipping tea and eating scones, taking long walks in her garden with a parasol, and riding horseback through the vineyard. Not only was she beautiful during her modeling days, she was extremely talented. At the top of Tyra Banks career “she could earn $50,000 a day and had a lingerie contract worth $4 million;” she could “flip through a dozen looks--sexy, pensive, dreamy, flirty--in a dozen seconds” (Blakeley, 4-5). Her “chameleonic” (Joseph, 242) image that jumped from girl next door to fierce high fashion to entrepreneur was to be envied. If Banks had never opened her mouth on a television show that allowed her a free range of dialogue, Americans could sleep at night knowing that she has a calm, classy personality that should be emulated by her fans.

But yawn, how boring would that be? Yet another pretty face paired with another perfectly proportional body topped off with a bland personality to match. Watching Tyra crash and burn every now and then is admittedly entertaining.

Image Credit: Screen Capture, UrbanDictionary.com

Tyra rose to the top of the industry with her slim figure and talent for modeling, but why is she still at the top? Because she gives people something to be interested in. Some critique her for rising to the top on the wings of Victoria’s Secret, an industry that values wafer-thin women, and then turning around and advocating for the acceptation of heavier body types. Her recent focus on “inner beauty” and “being your own weight” on “The Tyra Show” leave critics rolling their eyes, because she would never be where she is today without a beautiful face and a slender body:

Sure, she can make confessions about her ample rump or her forehead that is so high that people call her "Fivehead," but no one forgets for a minute that she belongs to an elite group of idealized females who make vulnerable people feel that much more uncomfortable. (Martel, 8)

To these people I would say: you are missing the point. As Tyra stands up on her talk show, she is sending an important message that goes beyond what she is “ostensibly” (Joseph, 238) advocating. In fact, in order to look to Tyra as a role model, her claims must actively be ignored. With her words she is hypocritically urging America to create a new frame of mind when it comes to physical appearances. With no words at all, however, as she is standing in front of millions of viewers screaming, prancing and rolling on the ground while her live audience opens a free box of Vaseline, she is sending the strongest message of all: it’s okay to be you.

Clip Credit: Vaseline Frenzy, Username: Suuhl, Youtube.com

Tyra is so okay with herself that she comes off as conceited and “overdetermined" (Joseph, 238). And who am I to say that she is not? All signs point to the fact that she is fairly full of herself, and her show can be almost unwatchable because of the discomfort that it causes the viewer. She lovingly brings herself up so often that it’s no wonder her critics are feeling a little bit nauseated, but there is a bigger issue here. Beautiful Tyra Banks is crazy, and she is crazy about herself. Her extreme confidence, although sometimes troublesome, is refreshing in a place where the fear of failure reigns. Heidi Klum spoke about this confidence to TIME magazine:

[Tyra] shared her experience and knowledge with me. In this industry there are a lot of people who don't want to help each other, but I guess Tyra was and is secure because she was always willing to share what she had learned—and, trust me, I asked a lot of questions. (Klum, 1)

If Tyra Banks had stayed silent in the pages of a magazine, there is no way that she would have been able to be a true role model for women. She may have been stunning and talented, but she would only be another face in an advertisement, causing women to chase perfection and be disappointed when they can’t catch it.

While flipping through a fashion magazine, if I run across a beautiful model I immediately want to be like her. This model (scantily clad and laying limbs akimbo across some prop) has her life together; she is confident and sexy. She has men asking for her number at night and she is always prim and proper. Never doing anything socially unacceptable, models are only seen being sexy, high fashion, or the girl next door. Nobody will buy your product if you place it on the body of a model rolling on the ground or falling off a chair or bugging her eyes out of her head. But why am I attracted to this particular way of life? This model could have low self esteem, be a smoker, and obsessively diet to keep her job. All she has going for her (that I know of) is this picture.

Image Credit: Screen Capture, gucci.com

A real role model should be someone that inspires women to become the best version of themselves, not to always be reaching for some unattainable standard. Some people think that unscripted Tyra and her crazy antics are “strange for a woman who usually preaches the virtues of dignity, creativity and can't-touch-this fierceness” (Martel, 10). Maybe they are strange, but does that mean that she is not a good role model for women? Women can be unreasonable, have complete breakdowns, and get so excited about little things that they embarrass their loved ones.

Now let us take a look at “Exhibit B:” Tyra Banks’ meltdown during an elimination ceremony on “America’s Next Top Model.”

Clip Credit: Tyra Banks going crazy, Username: Playa66, Youtube.com

Tyra screams at the unsuspecting model contestant, Tiffany, who did not burst into tears and want to end her life as she got kicked off of the show. Tyra screams at her, “I was rooting for you, we were all rooting for you, how dare you!” and ends with “take responsibility for yourself”(Tyra Banks’ Tantrum, Youtube). Her rage reaches through the television, making even the viewer wish that they were not watching. I can’t decide what is more shocking, that Tyra lost control at all or that they decided to air the cut. Tyra Banks is the executive producer of the show; one word from her and the “incident” never happened. I can only conclude that Tyra was in the editing room watching herself scream at Tiffany and in that moment, using her sweeping confidence, made the decision to keep it. Soon this clip would be aired on television and eventually become a Youtube sensation, complete with multiple videos and over a million views. In this situation, Tyra is once again demonstrating that she can lose professional control but still be okay with herself about it. With these types of actions she is giving the women in her audiences a sense of hope; that if Tyra can love herself through her (many) imperfections, then maybe that’s what they should do as well.

It’s important to look at crazy Tyra Banks as a role model for women because strangely, she is the best role model there is. Looking past her eccentric personality characteristics and her egotistical tendencies, one can see a woman embracing her flaws (probably even loving them) and living her life with passion. If all women’s role models were passionate and a little bit unreasonable instead of fashion models living perfect lives through the pages of a magazine; the world might be full of more happy women. Instead of spending their time running to catch up with the “image of perfection,” they would learn to love themselves and accept love from others, even through their flaws. And the world could really benefit from some more happy, confident women!

Photo Credit: Americas Next Top Model, The CW, h/t: Images.Damncrows.com

Works Cited

Blakeley,Kiri. "Tyra Banks On It." Forbes. Forbes.com LLC, 3 July 2006. Web. 6

Mar.
2010.<http://www.forbes.com/free_forbes/2006/0703/120.html>.

Elle Magazine April 1993. Tyra Banks. Apr. 1993. FMD1. Fashion Model

Directory, 1999-2010.Web. 6 Mar. 2010. <http://www.fashionmodeldirectory

Gucci. "spring summer 10 ." Advertisement. Gucci.com. Gucci Group N.V., 2010.Web. 3 Apr. 2010. http://www.gucci.com/us/campaign/spring-summer/.

Joseph, Ralina L. "'Tyra Banks is Fat': Reading (Post-)Racism and (Post)

Feminism in the New Millennium ." Critical Studies in Media Communication

26.3(2009): 237-254. JSTOR. Web. 27 Mar. 2010.

<http://sfx.lib.utexas.edu:9003/sfx_local?genre=article&isbn=&issn=15295036&title=Critical

+Studies+in+Media+Communication&volume=26&issue=3&date=20090801>

Klum,Heidi. "Tyra Banks." Editorial. Time.Time Inc., 30 Apr. 2006.Web. 7 Mar.

2010.
<http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/

0,9171,1187401,00.html>.

Martel,Ned. "For the Most Part, Far From the Modeling Crowd." Editorial. New

YorkTimes. The New York Times Company, 2 Nov. 2005. Web. 6 Mar. 2010.

<http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/02/arts/television/02mart.html?_r=1>.

Mayer, Janet. The Tyra Banks Show and Tracy Reese Bring Fashion Week to the New

York Port Authority. 10 Sept. 2007. Exposay.com. Exposay, n.d. Web. 3 Apr.

2010. <http://www.exposay.com/celebrity-photos/ tyra-banks

Morrissey, Tracie. "Tyra Banks." Photo. Jezebel.com 14 Sep. 2007. 3 Apr. 2010

<http://jezebel.com/300115/tyra-banks-new-season-new-weave-same-ol-crazy>.

"Tyra Banks has Gone Insane." The Tyra Banks Show. Oxygen. OH, n.p., Sept. 2006.

Youtube.
Web. 7 Mar. 2010. <http://www.youtube.com/

watch?v=LPloclVWWus>.

“Tyra Banks' Tantrum." America's Next Top Model. United Paramount Network. UPN,

n.p.,13 Apr. 2005. Youtube. Web. 7 Mar. 2010. <http://www.youtube.com/

watch?v=ujj_sGzNbtQ&feature=related>

If you're still with me, you're a saint lol
<3 Kelly

It is neither good nor bad, but thinking makes it so.

Hello bloggy, today is Thursday and I am blogging just a teensy little blog. Yesterday was a pretty typical day except that I got to see the phantom of the opera, and smell it, and feel it lol. My sister is totally nuts and we got the third row back, right in the middle! It was really awesome though, this is the second time I've seen it but it never ceases to get old. I guess it's not really the story, it's how it's told. Plus Andrew is a total and complete genius. I really enjoyed watching the conductor of phantom because he wasn't bad looking and he would get REALLY into the music. The singing was amazing and christina loved the costumes. My favorite is when they all start singing at once and it's like crazy in tune/sounds really good together but they are singing totally different things. Anyway, today was a pretty normal day as well, complete with homework and calculus studying. Me and my mom (who has a heart of gold and is amazingly amazing) just got off the phone deciding who had it worse because she's taking business classes lol. Anyway I'm going to eat dinner and then return to math. Which is sad, but sometimes true.
<3 Kelly

No Time for a Witty Shakespeare Quote!

Hello Bloggy, it is the end of Tuesday (of the next week!) and I will have to be short again. The rest of last week just flew by I guess. On Wednesday I went to bible study and we watched a movie about the prodigal son.
We mostly talked about how Jesus chases after us to come bring us back to him. I like to think that that is true. When we were about to go back from link it started raining REALLY REALLY crazily hard. It stopped in like 15 minutes though lol. I can't really remember Thursday except that me and Troy ran errands around Austin. On Friday I went with Troy to his grandparents in pflugerville. We ate dinner and just looked at old pictures and watched some basketball, it was fun. Then on saturday I went to belton to have easter and celebrate my dads birthday. We hid candy and I took a few pictures until I had to leave and come back to Austin. On my way back I got stopped by a state trooper who gave me a totally unrealistic ticket. Okay here's the story: so I was driving 75 on a 70 knowing that all the cops were out at the end of the month harvesting souls. I only let myself go 5 over because I figured I would'nt get stopped. Conveniently enough I passed by a state trooper when no one was around me and he decided to pull me over. He asked me if I had a reason for speeding and I thought he meant going 5 over so I said no, then he told me I was going 83 and issued me a ticket. What I should have said was, excuse me, I have never gone over 80 in my life much less right now when all of you cops are out stealing peoples souls. But what came out was a meek: okay. So anyway I could contest it but I was going 5 over which is still speeding and Its the same amount of money plus defensive driving. So boo. But I mean, it was kind of unethical that he would radar someone else and pull me over for it. Haha, I just reread that part and I totally sound guilty, but i KNOW how fast I was going because I was watching for it lol. So after that I got back to austin and me and troy drove to brenham for abel and sarahs wedding shower. It was too cute and the dinner was good as well. Then on Sunday I went to church and we also went to the salt lick, which serves very delicious BBQ. I had ribs! Then me and Anna and Troy went to the PCL to study study study. I like to study with people even if we aren't studying the same things because I can look up and see a familiar face! Yesterday was pretty uneventful and today the high point was finding my phone when I had lost it in a lecture hall and taking pictures of the UT tower lit up with the number one.
SO...now you are up to date! I will really try and post some pictures later but its creeping up to 130 and i better get to sleep!
<3 Kelly

I actually did this one!

Brevity is the Soul of Wit

Dear Bloggy,
This post will be short! Yesterday was rather uneventful and I spent a lot of the time doing calculus with troy. Today I went to class (it was really hard with my foot because my classes were alllll the way across campus) and then I went to run errands with Anna, we ended up getting easter candy lol, we're probably a bad influence on each other. But I got a HUGE pack of paper and I almost bought a cookbook. Also today I found out that my season of Bones was double sided and it caused me great joy. I thought I had watched it all but apparently I had only watched half of it! The middle of my day was rough because I just hurt everywhere but I'm feeling pretty okay right now as long as I don't move too much lol. I am going to watch Bones now and begin my spring cleaning! Which I am uncharacteristically excited about. I will try and pay more attention to you later bloggy but right now I am too busy!
<3 Kelly

"Child of weakness watch and pray, find in me, thine all in all."

First one is mine! Second is not.

If music be the food of love, play on

Dear Bloggy,
It is Sunday and today I am hobbling better than ever! Today we took all of my apartment things to storage and loaded it up. And when I say we I mean Troy because my mom is little and can't pick up things, her husband rick was really sick and I'm gimpy. So Troy moved everything into our storage space lol. I limped things over to him sometimes! But mostly I helped by just riding on the dolly. Then we packed up and headed back to austin, stopping in georgetown to eat at souper salad. It was surprisingly very delicious! They have all the salad fixings you can imagine and soups and baked potatos and pasta and pizza and bread things, haha I sound a little crazy but I was just pretty surprised that they had all of those things and I would recommend it. Then we drove back to my apartment and Troy helped me put my things in a cart to wheel up to my room. I unpacked my things and me and anna talked about our very eventful spring breaks and now here I am. It's a little bit hard walking around here because the girls all look at me when I limp, and I either have to limp or walk reaaaallly realllly slowly so it draws attention either way. maybe I will just use my crutches if I can't walk by tomorrow (I fully expect to lol). I decided today on the drive to austin that I want to be one of those adults that when people think of me they think of how committed I am to Jesus. I did kind of bad over spring break about reading my bible and listening to the little whispers of Jesus and it made me feel sad and lonely. He's the only one that can fill what's empty inside me and I want to show that to other people I'm just having trouble figuring out how. I feel like every love story, every hero story that truly strikes us in our hearts has its roots in the cross and the love of Jesus for us. How many stories are there out there about someone loving someone else who is in some way unworthy, or about someone saving someone else and offering their life in return. Every story that we truly love reflects Jesus. And the worst part about it is that it sounds so cliche, and you can listen to people talk about Jesus all day but if you don't see him then it means nothing to you. I wish that somehow I could cross that barrier and show people the true Jesus that I know, a fierce, loving, protective God who never abandons and always is. I am feeling more and more like SRD is my home, and I'm sure that when I FINALLY consider it my home it will be time to move. I'm staying here over the summer too to take classes. Oh! At 11:11 me and Anna made wishes that we did not have swollen ankles or pink eye! Poor Anna's eye is sooo red :( Also she wrapped my ankle very profesh because she is good at wrapping ankles! I sort of like blogging on days when nothing really happened because then I get to talk about what I think. Believe me bloggy, if it weren't for you everyone around me would be a little bit annoyed at having to listen to all of my thoughts! I think I will head off to bed now, so until next time (:
<3Kelly

Go to you bosom: Knock there, and ask your heart what it doth know. -Shakespeare

I did none of these this time!

but men are men, the best sometimes forget.

Dear Bloggy,
It is Saturday. This morning I woke up at the Z's house and watched Tarzan with Troy. I really love that movie especially the music in it and I'm not afraid to admit it. Plus there are snuggly gorillas throughout, and although I think real life gorillas are scary, these seem to be cuddly. Then I ate lunch and me an troy went to run errands. I rented a storage space at big red storage, we stopped by sonic for happy hour, and then we went to Al's formalwear to get Troy's tux fitted. Then we went to look for a movie to rent, and I saw that New Moon had come out so we stopped by walmart so I could crutch in there and buy it! I don't normally buy dvd's but New Moon was really good lol. And I definitely love dakota fanning, because she is really great in everything I've seen of her!
Then we went back to Troys house and ate dinner with his family, they are so nice for feeding me all the time and it's good food too.
I definitely need to learn how to cook something other than noodles I decided. Then we watched New Moon which his mom was excited about (at least a break from basketball!) and I went home because my mommy was coming back into town. I only saw her for a few minutes though because she was tired, so I guess I will see her tomorrow. Then Troy stayed with me for 30 minutes and we played the "try and hit the ping pong on an obscure doorframe in a roundabout way" game.
Then he left and now I'm sitting on my bed in my very empty and clean room (we are almost moved out) while tiny pricks of pain shoot through my foot every now and then lol. It is very quiet except for that wind blustering around out there! Tomorrow is the last day of spring break and maybe I am ready to get back (except for all the walking and stairs that await me) I sort of like to keep busy and have a routine, even if it means working harder than normal. I will go to sleep soon because it's late, maybe i will post some pictures tomorrow.
<3Kelly

Enchanted

Dear Bloggy
It is Friday and I haven't been able to update until now. I have no idea what happened on Monday, I just can't remember lol I'm sure it had something to do with getting the house ready to sell. But on Tuesday I went with Troy to Lake Buchanan to spend the night with his family. We watched couples retreat and 2012, neither of which were very good (for different reasons).
Then we woke up early the next morning to go to enchanted rock which was really fun. We climbed up the front and then went through a long black cave where we had to crawl through tight spaces and shimmey between rocks. It was very adventuresome and also really fun. When we got out of the cave we were at the bottom of enchanted rock on the other side, so we had to climb back up the mountain from that side which was a little bit more steep (or a lot more steep) me and troys sisters and mom took like forever to climb that part. Then we climbed back down the other side again, and went down a slippery granite river (which I almost fell in but troy grabbed my pants so I didn't) and we climbed up some big rocks to take pictures and went back down the mountain towards the car. It was only then, on the flat footpath did I slip on a piece of gravel and roll my ankle out. I heard a pop but I tried to keep walking. Then the pain hit me and I almost died lol. I just sat on the ground until my desire to throw up had passed and then Troy carried me on his back up a rather lengthy flight of stairs and back to the car. His family let me put my ankle in their cooler and we drove to a barbeque place, which was, despite my pain and embarrassment at having to hop to the bathroom, very delicious. My ankle swelled up pretty big and I couldn't put any weight on it so I just hopped around the rest of the day. We came back home and since my mom had left, the Z's were nice enough to take care of me (just like they always do) Two weekends ago when I had strep they took care of me too. I swear I usually don't get sick or hurt, but the past 3 months I've just had the worst end of it. I hear bad things come in threes though so I should be done! Anyways so Troy fixed me up some crutches and took me to walmart to get coloring books and on Thursday we crutched to the doctors so they could xray it (just a precaution I was almost positive it wasn't broken) and then I just relaxed in their living room while we watched the basketball games (my bracket is already way wrong). So today I hobble! I still use the crutches to take weight off my ankle so it doesn't hurt but I am definitely hobble material. I'm hoping to get all the way better by Sunday so I can walk to my classes. I feel kind of bad that I always look at people who have crutches but no cast and think that they're fakers, now that I am one of them I will think a lot nicer towards them, as I realize how much pain and inconvenience it can cause! Troy has been being so nice to take care of me and pick up my things and get me water and such, I am glad he is my Troy. So today I did a little homework and a lot of relaxing and I'm sure tomorrow will be the same. I will be sad to go back to school. I will post enchanted rock pictures (pre-sprain) when I can get the pictures on here!
Until Later
<3 Kelly