Doc Roldan’s Blog: Writing on Writing

It is interesting to see how widespread and commonplace the idea was that the wife or woman was to always be in the kitchen, cooking and cleaning and getting things ready for when the husband or man came home from his job so that he would have something to eat after a hard day’s work, that there were even advertisements about making time in the kitchen easier on the wife.  This one in particular I find shocking because in not as many words, it tells the wife that her place is the kitchen and that that is her job; it tells her that it is her duty to work in the kitchen as it is the husband’s duty to make the money.  What a frustrating time the 1950s must have been for women who could think for themselves.

This one is great for a laugh.  It’s funny to see how this is blatantly directed at young to middle aged men out there at the time.  The man on his rugged motorcycle, with the army style camo paint job.  The rugged outdoor terrain of the apparently deserted beach.  The thick, manly mustache.  The side car that comes equipped with its own rocking blonde in short shorts!  It clearly screams out ever man’s dream.  Then there’s the cigarette in the man’s mouth.  Smoking won’t necessarily get you to this point, but with advertising like this, it will be a breeze to think it will.

A very interesting read.  I find myself feeling for the situation that Bartel is in with his wife and wonder if I will land in his place someday.  Although, I don’t quite agree with his generalizations of men and their attitudes growing up, I like that he thinks that the women need to just ‘Buck up’ when it comes to the child rearing situation.  It is unfortunate that whatever he did, she only saw the faults in it, and took out most of her frustrations on him.

Cottle seem to think we live in an utopia society. theoretically, the addition of an extra spouse would be magenificent.
in reality, thee addition of a alternative spouse will be catastrophic. we are failing to realize we are human. how do we guarantee that this relationship will be for housing purposes. physical and intimate attraction can form, and this could possibly destroy the home. how do you dispose of an unwanted spouse when you no longer need or want their services. you cannot fire them as if they was a nanny, they are now part of the family. love is the glue that keeps relationships and families together, without it, the household is prone to failure. if you just need a person to help around the home without pay, then request the services of another family member. this way you can love them, with out the sexual attraction, the children have a familiar figure in their lives, and the same goals will be accomplished

i agree with the passage for the most part. The mall is a place that build community and filled the void in many societies. It plays host to a meeting ground for people of all genres. even the smallest malls have “play pit” for the children to enjoy while their parents are shopping. The mall is the place to find mates as well as court them.

However, the authors made a comment about the mall being referred as “Shopping Centers” instead of “Seller Centers.” They say “this indicates clearly that the wishes and desires of the shopper takes priority over those of the seller.” this i do not believe. Calling any place a “shopping center” is Pathetic strategy used to make the customer feel value. the sellers want the customer to believe that they are the main focus; this, in turn, makes the customer feel wanted. a satisfied customer is more likely to spend money then an unsatisfied customer

William Kowinski states at the beginning of this piece that “Malls make some people sick” and  that some people hate malls. A lot of these people are not just shoppers, they are also people who work at the mall. It is weird to me that people can actually get physically sick by going to the mall but those people should just stay out of the mall if they do not like it that much. The most interesting part of this writing was when Kowinski describes the “Zombie Effect” by Babara Lambert. It describes how tv and malls have the same effect on people which is strangely true. While watching tv “we are everywhere and nowhere in particular, just as the mall.” If you have ever sat and watched tv or went shopping then suddenly realized that hours had past and you didnt even know it, then you have experienced the Zombie Effect. All you have to do is look into the eyes of someone watching tv and it is just like a shoppers eyes. /Mossor

Bartel explains something that a lot of men can probably relate to when it comes to their wives. He tells about how is wife has so much anger on a daily basis and how she is always saying that he doesnt know what she goes through This statement is most likely is the truth because not a lot of men can relate to women and understand what they go through. Even though he says that he helps out with the chores, he is not there as much as she is so he would not understand what she goes through unless he went through a day in her shoes. All Bartel is doing is complaining and it seems that he hates being married. I think that what they really need to do is sit down and talk so they can work out their problems before something bad ends up happening./Mossor

This piece was probably one of the most interesting ones that I have read so far. The idea of having an extra spouse in a marriage is not something that you hear most couples talking about everyday. To me the idea is completely crazy but Michelle Cottle brings up some very good points. She points out that it would lessen the workload so that there would be more time for leisure activities. It provide an extra helping hand so that there are less worries throughout the household. Although this is a very good point, I do not think that an extra spouse is a good idea. Even if it helped lessen the workload, I could not see myself having an extra spouse in my relationship. /Mossor

Wow! This piece by Cottle is abruptly controversial, but entertaining at the same time. To suggest having an “extra” spouse is something modern day America does not hear of a lot. However, it is only fair to examine the author’s viewpoint. She makes a few good points about having extra help. The workload for both spouses would not be as strenuous and a lot of time would be freed for activities that had been long discarded. But, I think the author overlooked the various consequences of having someone else perform important tasks. For instance, it takes away from parental bonding if someone outside the family takes care of principal duties. Overall, the article was great to read and something radical to contemplate.

From the initial sentence of the italic introduction, I knew this article would be interesting and entertaining. I was shocked to discover that even in homes where the women make more than half of the income, the men still expect their wives to perform virtually all of the housework. I was not surprised to find that happier marriages and better sex lives are among men who perform more housework. Delving into the article, I thought the opening paragraph was the same story for most marriage lives I hear about. Everything was easy and uncomplicated. Then she explained how when their children were born, she felt her life became restricted while her husband’s life remained the same. I felt empathy with her on that note. I definitely think the formal agreement was a significant and brilliant idea. And, it worked!

This is so ironic. Many Older generation parent preach that kids should go to school and try to make a better life for their families. They reflect on the life and reveal that they didn’t have the same opportunities, especially women. Now we have undergrads from one of the most elite institution in the nation saying the will give everything up to raise their family? I do not understand. Women seems to be the more family oriented genders, but that doesn’t mean they should be the only one giving conceding to the family. I feel that those women who answered the survey never really wanted to be a working professional, they just wanted the opportunity to become one. they also need to attend yale to gain the status need for a top ranking husband. as the book said, less than 25 percent off the nation is living of a one-parent check. in order to live comfortably, these women will need to obtain a husband with a big check book.

Bartels explains how much anger his wife seems to have on a daily basis, but it sounds like he is just complaining the entire time. I don’t understand what it is like to be married or have kids, but he makes it seem like he hates it more then anything. He complains that his wife says he doesn’t understand what she is going through, and I agree that he probably doesn’t. Even though he puts in a lot of time into helping with chores, he still isn’t there as much as she is. Unless they talk about their problems with each other, they will continue to be angry and fight. It is also not a good idea for them to keep fighting in front of their kids. /Arielle Schwartz

This article by Louise Story was an interesting one. Women in top colleges such as Harvard and Yale prefer to put aside their chosen career paths in order to raise children. What I found rather shocking is that women of today, more so than in the past, want to stay at home and take care of the family instead of working full time. I agree with these women when they that there is a difference between a child that is brought up with a stay at home mom and a child whose mother was always working. I do not agree with the idea of having to give up your dreams. I think that being a career woman and successfully raising kids is possible. It’s hard work, but doable.

I have been to Disneyland several times and it is just how the author if this article has described it to be. Disney’s Main Street USA gives the visitor a feeling of what the early twentieth century was like. It conveys a feeling of the late Victorian Period. Shopping malls all around the country are modeled from Walt Disney’s Main Street USA architecture and design A lot of the time, mall designers will go to Disneyland or Disneyworld to see how tourists move through and appreciate the retail environment. In both of these places, once you enter, you have left the real world outside.

    Shulman’s case is probably, if not, the best example of why marriages fail. She  spends good portion of her article complaining about the unfairness of having to “do it all” after she gave birth to her two children. Nonetheless, she does recognize that the responsabilities should be shared between spouses. Now, there is a big difference between complaining about something and doing something productive. She can complain all she wants but the position she finds herself in is nothing more than the consequence of a bad judgement. I am not here to tell anyone how to coexist as a couple but the fact is that marriage is a serious union between two people, which, naturally, implies that some responsabilities must or should be shared. It is of ultramost importance for the spouses to agree to “the terms of trade” before they get into a serious relationship. Only then can a marriage progress and sustain itself. (Garcia, Erasmo)

This article by Keith O’Brien was pretty startling. I always saw the United States as a fairly liberal country taking steps outside of the norm and tradition, but the rate at which the population of single, never wed, people is growing is just staggering. I come from a country that as soon as you find the means to support a family you move out of your house, get married, and have kids plenty of kids. Once i read that 27.9 percent of the population ages 30-40 in 2003 where not married my mind was boggled, and the rate is increasing. It is my own personal opinion/theory that if this continues then the birth rate will drop, there will eventually be more elderly people than young people, the non-working elderly will strain the economy, and the small group of young people won’t be able to bring as much profit and usefulness into the economy . In my opinion it seems as though people are just too selfish in thinking about themselves and their ‘hip’ single lifestyle when they should be able to devote their time and accept new responsibility in a family.-Sergio A. Martinez

Lizabeth Cohen makes the comparison of the mall to the threat of democratic values. The location and settlement of the mall is the first she addresses and brings up the fact of freedom of speech as well as property owners. It was not until the mid 90’s that people started viewing the malls as public and community places. Since malls had become the new sidewalk district legislature had to step in at certain points to allow for freedom of speech legally in the malls, as well as for the rights of those in the mall, working and shopping. The opportunities and convenience the malls offered to the people was affected after the wars, and social movements such as accommodations in regards to race. Not all malls are the same, variation is great. The location and population that is most current around that location immediately dictates what population of people will be at that mall the most. The mall is a vast place that is equal to the structure of our government, it provides opportunities for many, and while not always equal it is set up to provide equal opportunities. /Elizabeth Stein

Richard Keller Simon compares the modern day mall to a garden. He states how there are varieties of gardens as there are malls, and this ranges from French, English, and Italian gardens. He explains how the type of people that travel to the malls and how they behave while in the mall is similar to the mannerisms in the gardens. Just like gardens, the mall provides what the general public prefers to see. The architectural structure and decorative choices are very similar as well, whether it is the use of fountains or plants. Like gardens, the mall offer different paths and routes to different areas of the mall as well different lighting in specific parts of the mall. He vividly compares the modern mall to previous landscapes and construction of gardens. /Elizabeth Stein