Shopper 4 -The Cosplay shopper
The first shopper one day was, Denise, a young woman in her 20’s who came in dressed like she was straight out of a manga volume. She had brown hair in pigtails that were covered in ribbon. She had a backpack with a cat with a moon on it that she told Steve she had “just bought it” in the Japanese section of the local Hot Topic and that they were “having a Sailor Moon sale.” (I should note that Hot Topic is a national chain of clothes and toys). She was filled with smiles and went out of her way to say “Hello” to every customer that came in after she did. She spent a lot of time browsing and reading the manga on the shelf. When she then walked up the register her hands were filled with a large number of Sailor Moon volumes. I must be honest, that as an observer, I had expected her to just browse or to buy something small but she ended up spending over $150.00 in the store and talked to Steve about various Japanese bands and upcoming conventions for
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Heather and Sara are juniors at the local Catholic High School. The first give away was the matching uniforms and the conversations that were whispered as they looked around to see who else was in the store. Whether they were looking to impress someone or trying not to be seen was something I was not able to clarify. They were looking at manga that focused in young women of strength and character, which is called ‘shojo’.
They liked best the stories that had the girls solving problems and getting a boyfriend. They laughed as they said that but as they explained “teen magazines only focused on being pretty and service projects” and they liked strong girls. They had just recently learned about manga and were not sure they could explain it to their family and friends. Between them they bought one book with cash. They said they thought manga was “cool” but they had to leave to go home and do homework. No car for these girls, they were
It is well known that books read by adolescents are somewhat inappropriate in certain ways such as language and the types of actions done by the characters. Some books consist of drugs, sex, and violence which obviously isn’t very appropriate nor does it consist of positive values. It is easy to see why some books ar...
The graphic novel “This One Summer” by Mariko Tamaki displays a relevant modern-day manner of teenage conversations, dilemma, and emotions in the 21st century. The novel did an accurate illustration in presenting the modern-day concern, curiosity and interest of children and teenagers as one example on page 22, when Windy asked Rose “do you have a boyfriend?” it displays the curiosity of a child in their relative/friends love affair, which most teenagers are mainly concern of nowadays. Body image also takes part on the graphic novel as Windy and Rose talks about the size of their breast on page 35, and comparing it to other people as Windy shares the story “this girl in my dance class is ten and she’s like a D cup. Maybe a G.” The novel illustrates some of the concerns a modern teenager might have, which can be relatable to most young teenage readers as they share the same concern or discussions they have with their friends. The dialogues and conversations that is shown in the book are very vulgar as one example on page 39-40 when the Dud’s friend and the adolescent girls exchanges the words “sluts and assholes”. Which later was adapted by the young teenagers in their vocabulary as
This Story takes place in 1961, in a small New England town's A&P grocery store. Sammy, the narrator, is introduced as a grocery checker and an observer of the store's patrons. He finds himself fascinated by a particular group of girls. Just in from the beach and still in their bathing suits, they are a stark contrast, to the otherwise plain store interior. As they go about their errands, Sammy observes the reactions, of the other customers, to this trio of young women. He uses the word "Sheep" to describe the store regulars, as they seem to follow one and other, in their actions and reactions. The girls, however, appear to be unique in all aspects of their beings: walking, down the isles, against the grain: going barefoot and in swim suits, amongst the properly attired clientele. They are different and this is what catches and holds Sammy's attention. He sees them in such detail, that he can even see the queen of the bunch. Sammy observes their movements and gestures, up until the time of their checkout. At which point, they are confronted by the store manager and chastised for their unacceptable appearance. He believes their attire to be indecent. Sammy, feeling that the managerial display was unnecessary and unduly embarrassing for the girls, decides to quit his position as checker. Thought he knows that his decision may be hasty, he knows that he has to follow through and he can never go back. He leaves, with a clean conscious, but the burden of not knowing what the future has in store.
The book I chose for this assignment is Reviving Ophelia. This was a very interesting book. Mary Pipher, PhD. discusses the roles that society plays in shaping the self esteem of teenage and preteen age girls. The author contends that our society today is very look-obsessed and media driven. Through magazines, television, fashion, and retail the "idea" girl is formed and anyone who doesn't fit this idea is not perfect in the culture that girls live in today. Weight issues have caused conditions of anorexia and bulimia putting young girls in jeopardy of declining health. Dr. Pipher chronicles the life of adolescent girls from their carefree days of being energetic, assertive, and tomboyish to their losing themselves at the onset of puberty. Most girls lose their previous selves to fit into a norm of society, being more passive, depressed, and self-critical. The main point of this book is to help uncover the true self of adolescent girls and to give them techniques to help them combat the views of society. This quote from the book summarizes all that the author was addressing when writing this book. "Most girls choose to be socially accepted and split into two selves, one that is authentic and one that is culturally scripted. In public they become who they are suppose to be."
These three girls were wearing bathing suites that caught the attention of everyone in the store. In this small town such apparel is unacceptable to the residents. Sammy observes their bathing suites, their hair, and their bodies as they walk through the store. He becomes lustful of the leader of the girls and gives her the nickname “Queenie”. Sammy goes into detail feeling faint describing her breast like two smooth scoops of vanilla. The girls flow through the store going against the normal traffic to get a jar of herring snacks. Queenie leading the way arrives at Sammy’s register to check
First, the customers are compared to sheep which further pushes the message of Sammy’s boring life. Sammy reinforces this when he describes the customers, “All this while, the customers had been showing up with their carts but, you know, sheep, seeing a scene, they had all bunched up on Stokesie, who shook open a paper bag as gently as peeling a peach, not wanting to miss a word.” This quote compares the monotonous customers to sheep who are gawking at what’s going on but not commenting on anything. Second, the clothing symbolizes the difference between dull, the customers, and fresh, the girls. The typical A&P customer is “A few house-slaves in pin curlers” and dressed in “baggy gray pants,” while the girl have a “good tan” and “long white prima donna legs.” The girls not only appeal to Sammy’s male hormones but also to his yearning for something
Cosplay is a combination of the words costume and play (Winge, 2006, p.65). Cosplay involves people transforming themselves into fictional characters by creating and wearing costumes (Okabe, 2012, p. 226). Often cosplay involves learning the mannerisms of the selected character or dialogue and attending conventions and events acting as that character (Okabe, 2012, P.225). The term “cosplay” wasn’t coined until 1984 by a Japanese anime director named Takahashi Nobuyuki (Kelts, 2006, p.287). After seeing people dressed as sicence fiction characters at World Con Los Angeles, Nobuyuki used the term to describe the scene and encouraged Japanese fans to use costumes in the same way (Winge, 2006, p. 66). Cosplay started to become increasingly popular
In the short story “A&P” by John Updike, a young store clerk named Sammy observes three young girls walking into the store, and in great detail describes the appearance of each girl. He obsesses over these girl’s every move throughout the story. Eventually the girls go to cash out only to be halted by the manager who tells them they need to be “decently dressed” when shopping at his store. After Sammy rings the three girls up he tells the manager he quits in order to impress the girls. Unfortunately they don’t notice and when he leaves the store he realizes the girls are gone, and that he has made mistake. The author paints the protagonist as an individual who despises his job, and as a very cynical person who loathes the average customer at
For this exercise I decided to visit the Holyoke Mall to observe the many different behaviors people displayed while shopping. As I was sitting at one of the benches on the second floor I noticed a pattern of certain actions and behaviors.
Although one’s good deeds may often not be acknowledged, the inevitable lesson of maturity can be taught through such experiences. In “A&P”, Sammy is a teenage clerk who is not acknowledged for accomplishing what he thinks is a good deed. During a hot day, three teenage girls walks into the A&P grocery store, wearing only their bathing suits. The image of the girl’s revealing attire provides an absolute contrast to both the simple interior of the store and also of the other conservative customers. Sammy describes the customers as “sheeps” because they look mindless as they follow each other around the aisles in continual, constant motion. However, these three girls conflict with the imagery of “sheeps” by breaking the norms of what the A&P grocery store, and society in general, has proclaimed as acce...
The authors approach their subject in a sympathetic and sensitive manner in an effort to ameliorate typical parent/teen confrontations. Sections intended for teen readers are highlighted in blue and written in a conversational style where the author is talking to the teen reader. Numerous quotes from other teens are interspersed within these sections to give the material a very user-friendly feel. Parents will find these sections very useful in that they provide a supportive and understanding perspective. They give teens a chance to step into the shoes of their parents and ponder their situation within a wide range of potential parental concerns.
The Plastics were the most popular girls in school, but also the messiest and most insecure. Downing others to make themselves feel better was what The Plastics lived for. It took for chaos, confusion, and betrayal for them to get to the gist of who they really are as individuals. The adolescence period in one’s life is a very tough and exciting time. A teen is constantly going through changes daily; physically, mentally and emotionally.
This article by Judith Bowden is slightly different. This specific article is a biography about her days of costume designing. I found this article very useful because it is coming straight from a reliable source who knows the ins and outs of costume designing. In this article Bowden writes about how she collaborated with the rest of the filmmaking team. She stated, in order for her to be a good collaborated and designer she had to read the script before hand to get an idea sketched out and think visually about and gets ideas such as pictures, poems, quotes, that could possibly benefit her and her creativity. She also wrote about where she got her inspiration, she said that her inspiration came from all over and really depended on the genre
This book is basically following the gossip of the privileged, beautiful, and filthy rich teens. While many novels have a one-person view of their story, this one allows you to understand each character’s thoughts. Welcome to New York City’s Upper East Side, where teenagers have unlimited access to money and whatever else they could ask. This book begins when the girl everyone loved to hate, Serena van der Woodsen is back from boarding school. Everyone claims she was kicked out.
Spencer, Chloe. “What’s the point of School Uniform?” The Guardian. Guardian News and Media Limited, 03 Oct. 2013. Web. 19 Feb. 2014.