I have a problem with Elsa.
Actually, Elsa herself isn't too bad. I have a problem with how young girls currently idolize Elsa.
In the grand scheme of things, we are making progress. Elsa is leaps and bounds better than Sleeping Beauty or Cinderella. Again, my problem isn't really Elsa herself. My problem is that we presented young girls with 2 female characters and they all latched on to the wrong one. How did this happen?
A few weeks ago I finally saw Frozen. I had heard some of the hype and I knew that young girls were coveting Elsa costumes while the Anna costumes sat on the store racks. So, while I did enjoy the movie overall, I couldn't shake the feeling that we failed our girls somehow. The movie ended and I actually said to the ITH "I'm confused. Elsa isn't even the main character." And, as if to prove me right, the credits rolled and the first voice actor credit was for ANNA, not Elsa. I think Elsa was third or fourth. So, the people that made the movie agree that Anna is the main character, NOT Elsa.
Lets think about the two characters. Elsa has magic powers that make snow and ice. That is the one thing she has that might make her "better" then Anna. To protect Anna, they lock Elsa away and try to teach her to stop her powers. She is unable to stop her power so she stays locked away. In a way, this is admirable. She keeps herself locked up to protect her little sister. This is what a loving big sister would do. The problem is that both girls are actually miserable due to the separation. Anna is the one who tries and tries and tries to re-connect with her sister. Elsa just gives up.
Then, of course, their parents die. It IS a Disney movie after all. The girls grow into young women and the whole time Elsa keeps herself locked away, and the whole time Anna never gives up on her sister. Then, for whatever reason, there is this special day where they have to open up the palace and meet their people. Apparently it's time for Elsa to take over as Queen. Who knows who was ruling the people in the years while the girls were growing up. We just time lapsed over that part, so no worries.
When Elsa still can't control her powers and everyone finds out, she runs away and builds herself an ice castle. While the message behind "Let it Go" in the movie is a decent one (stop hiding who you really are) they contradict their own message by having Elsa literally hide herself from the world while singing the song. She is still being the protective older sister, keeping her dangerous powers from hurting anyone. Yet at the same time she's being weak and short sited and self-deprecating. We never see her push back against her exile even though she's miserable and knows that her sister is also miserable. No one, including Elsa, ever considers "hey, she can't stop this, so lets figure out how she can use her power responsibly." Elsa just sees herself as broken and unfixable.
Anna, on the other hand, learns of her sister's powers and immediately decides that they can find a way to live with it. She chases after her sister. She fights back. She risks her life. She saves her sister. Yes, she does some dumb things like agreeing to marry a guy she just met. However, that is behavior you might expect from someone who was locked in a palace her whole life, lost her parents at a young age, and was not even allowed to interact with her the one other child and family member in the building. Additionally, Anna's character grows and learns throughout the film. Elsa just miserably accepts her fate until Anna forces her to see things differently.
So, Disney presented two female characters and both are far better than many previous options we've presented to our girls. The movie actually passes the Bechdel Test. I'll even ignore the annoying fact that we still feel the need to make both girls princesses.... apparently we think young girls won't to relate to female college students so instead we present them with idols from a social culture that is at least 100 years out of date. However, the way I see it, comparatively we have a the weak sister and the strong sister. Thankfully our main character is the strong sister. Good job Disney. Yet somehow, all the little girls want to be Elsa and not Anna. I'm not even sure who or what to blame, but we are still failing our girls. We have a long way to go.
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
The TDE's Guide to Bees and Wasps
Sorry for the 2 week hiatus. As I previously mentioned, we're out of town a bunch this month. Internet was not always available and well... I'm on vacation so I decided that I didn't HAVE to do anything, including the blog. But, we're home now so it's back to the routine, including the blog.
It's also summer now and summer means all sorts of critters and bugs are around. We noticed some bees and wasps scoping out our balcony and I began to wonder what I could do to discourage them from building their home too close to our home. Off to the internet I went to see what I could find!
Criteria for my Bee/Wasp repellant research:
1) I was looking for something that would repel, not kill. I'll admit that I'm kinda a wuss about bees/wasps and other stingy things, but I also like having food to eat. So, I would like to keep the bees alive, just away from me.
2) As non-toxic as possible. Even if it is just repelling (and not killing) the bees I don't want to spray toxic fumes on my balcony.
3) The cheaper and easier the better.
4) Confirmed by more than one source online. While this still doesn't mean it actually works, it's a little bit better than accepting everything I read anywhere online as fact.
What I found:
To keep the buggers from moving in, this apparently works. They won't build a nest/hive if there is another colony nearby, so if you hang up some brown paper bags stuffed with newspapers they think it's someone else's nest and should move on and find somewhere else to build their home.
To keep them away from you or your gathering, the obvious:
1) Don't wear perfume, cologne, etc. especially floral scents.
2) Cover food or just don't leave it outside at all. This is especially true for sugary things.
3) Avoid brightly colored clothing*
*NOTE: Some discrepancy here. One site said avoid yellow and white and that wasps can't see red so red is a good color to wear. Another site said specifically to wear white. Multiple sites simply explain that wasps ARE visual so if you look like a flower they may be attracted to you. That logic makes sense. Lots of flowers are red or pink so I would think that wasps would be able to see red. I didn't research further.
Additional Suggestions, new things to try:
1) They don't like mint/peppermint. I saw this on multiple sites.
2) Cucumber slices/peels. Really. Cut them up and lay them around. Bees and wasps apparently don't like the smell of cucumber and they stay away. I saw this on multiple sites and am definitely going to try it out.
3) Tea Tree oil + Benzaldehyde. I'm adding this to the list simply because it came up so often. It was always these two things together, never one or the other or one mixed with something else. It seems odd to me because, as far as I know, I can't run out to the store and get a bottle of Benzaldehyde. Maybe I can? I'm also not sure how safe Benzaldehyde is. Besides, I'm much more curious about the cucumbers anyway.
4) Other scents that may repel them: cinnamon, garlic, other strong smelling herbs, wormwood, and human breath. Multiple sites said that if you stay calm and blow gently on the wasp they will fly away, possibly because they don't like how our breath smells. Though this could backfire if you just ate something really sugary I suppose.
In Summary, here is what the TDE recommends:
1) Don't look or smell like a flower
2) Keep food, especially sugary food, covered or indoors
3) Hang up paper bags stuffed with newspapers
4) Cucumbers and mint.
I'm not sure how to set up a truly controlled experiment, but I'll definitely report back any findings I collect this summer on how well the cucumbers work.
Most useful sources:
(I scanned many additional sites, but these three support the bulk of my content.)
WikiHow
DIY.com
StepIn2
Garden Guides
Daily Mail
It's also summer now and summer means all sorts of critters and bugs are around. We noticed some bees and wasps scoping out our balcony and I began to wonder what I could do to discourage them from building their home too close to our home. Off to the internet I went to see what I could find!
Criteria for my Bee/Wasp repellant research:
1) I was looking for something that would repel, not kill. I'll admit that I'm kinda a wuss about bees/wasps and other stingy things, but I also like having food to eat. So, I would like to keep the bees alive, just away from me.
2) As non-toxic as possible. Even if it is just repelling (and not killing) the bees I don't want to spray toxic fumes on my balcony.
3) The cheaper and easier the better.
4) Confirmed by more than one source online. While this still doesn't mean it actually works, it's a little bit better than accepting everything I read anywhere online as fact.
What I found:
To keep the buggers from moving in, this apparently works. They won't build a nest/hive if there is another colony nearby, so if you hang up some brown paper bags stuffed with newspapers they think it's someone else's nest and should move on and find somewhere else to build their home.
To keep them away from you or your gathering, the obvious:
1) Don't wear perfume, cologne, etc. especially floral scents.
2) Cover food or just don't leave it outside at all. This is especially true for sugary things.
3) Avoid brightly colored clothing*
*NOTE: Some discrepancy here. One site said avoid yellow and white and that wasps can't see red so red is a good color to wear. Another site said specifically to wear white. Multiple sites simply explain that wasps ARE visual so if you look like a flower they may be attracted to you. That logic makes sense. Lots of flowers are red or pink so I would think that wasps would be able to see red. I didn't research further.
Additional Suggestions, new things to try:
1) They don't like mint/peppermint. I saw this on multiple sites.
2) Cucumber slices/peels. Really. Cut them up and lay them around. Bees and wasps apparently don't like the smell of cucumber and they stay away. I saw this on multiple sites and am definitely going to try it out.
3) Tea Tree oil + Benzaldehyde. I'm adding this to the list simply because it came up so often. It was always these two things together, never one or the other or one mixed with something else. It seems odd to me because, as far as I know, I can't run out to the store and get a bottle of Benzaldehyde. Maybe I can? I'm also not sure how safe Benzaldehyde is. Besides, I'm much more curious about the cucumbers anyway.
4) Other scents that may repel them: cinnamon, garlic, other strong smelling herbs, wormwood, and human breath. Multiple sites said that if you stay calm and blow gently on the wasp they will fly away, possibly because they don't like how our breath smells. Though this could backfire if you just ate something really sugary I suppose.
In Summary, here is what the TDE recommends:
1) Don't look or smell like a flower
2) Keep food, especially sugary food, covered or indoors
3) Hang up paper bags stuffed with newspapers
4) Cucumbers and mint.
I'm not sure how to set up a truly controlled experiment, but I'll definitely report back any findings I collect this summer on how well the cucumbers work.
Most useful sources:
(I scanned many additional sites, but these three support the bulk of my content.)
WikiHow
DIY.com
StepIn2
Garden Guides
Daily Mail
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