Skinny Leg Jeans: A Hard Thing To Pull Off

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Skinny leg jeans have dominated the denim fashion scene for a few years now. Stoic and strong, they have remained a ‘must have’ garment in many people’s wardrobes.  Upon their inception into the fashion scene, they were primarily worn by females. Why? Well the jeans hug their figures and show off their lines. They are a stylish piece, and can be dressed up or down and look great with boots. Celebrities wear them, I wear them, and my friends wear them. I even own some in a few different colours. I’m just a part of the crowd.

But then their popularity overflowed into men’s fashion. The market expanded and now it is not uncommon to see men who will eagerly squeeze themselves into skinny jean confinement. For these men, I believe this to be a colossal mistake.

You can call me sexist if you like, but I think there are some outfits suited only to women and some outfits suited only to men. Skinny leg jeans are a garment for the ladies.  We have a history of adopting uncomfortable things to wear, and yet still manage to make them look fantastic- high heels immediately come to mind. With this experience, we can handle the skinny jeans. But men on the other hand, make them look ridiculous.

Countless internet discussion forums on the topic support my view. If you disagree, please let me know! An opinion that shines through the most is that skinny jeans are simply too tight on men, and for that reason they look stupid and are dysfunctional. According to istillhatescreennames (2010) “Men in skinny jeans look like they're wearing women's clothes...they are the by product of heroin, chic and Goth”. Shockolate (2010) asserts “I prefer pants where I can actually use the god damned pockets”, and Hateren47 (2010) says “I think they are for girls... When I see a guy in pants so skinny his ass is hanging out, I want to ... sneak up on him, grab him by the belt and lift him off his feet and shake him into them”. I too am annoyed by this careless display of arse by men. The University of Wollongong is rife with young guys wearing skinny legs so tight that they can’t seem to pull them up over their buttocks. A penguin would have a hard time out waddling them.

But looking silly is in no way as bad as the documented health effects that have been caused by this below the waist prison. Ammokid (2010) plainly states that “they crush my balls”. Could it be that skinny jean wearers will all one day suffer from infertility? Free thinker (2010) admits “I’m afraid to even try wearing a pair for the fear I can put them on, but not take them off. Then my legs will lose circulation, I'll have to get my legs amputated, and then I'll spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair”. This is not as paranoid as it sounds. A recent story by MSNBC (2009) showed how a woman named Parmeeta Ghoman became afflicted with a nerve condition called meralgia paresthetica, also known as ‘tingling thigh syndrome’. The condition can happen when constant pressure — in Ghoman’s case, from the skin-tight denim — cuts off the lateral femoral cutaneous nerve, causing a numb, tingling or burning sensation along the thigh. According to Dahl (2009), “over the last several years, experts say they’ve been seeing more people of a healthy weight complain of symptoms. The culprit: too-tight jeans”.

So why do we do it to ourselves? Many women have always taken a ‘beauty knows no pain’ attitude to fashion, and that’s fine as long as what they wear looks fantastic. But men and skinny jeans? Not a great look and clearly not a comfortable one. My only guess on why they choose this behaviour is because they are copying everyone else. Everyone else is copying the popular ‘Emo’ celebrities, and these pop stars only wear them to make them look more ‘Emo’ and gaunt, and hence more credibly hardcore. And so the cycle of bad fashion is born. Or perhaps men choose them because they accentuate a certain area in the pants. But if this means that you can’t pull your pants up, then sorry guys, you’re only drawing attention to the fact you have trouble dressing yourself.

What do others think?

 

References

Ammokid, Free Thinker and Shockolate (2010), ‘Poll: The Skinny Jean Fad’, The Escapist Forum website, 25^th August 2010, http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.227896-Poll-the-skinny-jean-fad?page=2

Istillhatescreennames (2010), Answeology website, February 13, 2010, http://www.answerology.com/index.aspx/question/2789894_Whats-up-with-skinny-jeans.html

Dahl, M. (2009), ‘skinny jeans give thigh a painful pinch’, MSNBC website, 22^nd May 2009, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30870617/

 Image 1: Shine website, (2008), 'Is This Ugly? Skinny Jeans on Men', http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/beauty/is-this-ugly-skinny-jeans-on-men-152526/

Latest news updates on all things MasterChef

This link provides you with the latest news about all things MasterChef Australia, sourced from hundreds of Australian news publishers, companies and blogs. Check it out for some intersting info, including the ratings success of MasterChef Junior- clearly, the craze continues!

http://wotnews.com.au/news/MasterChef

MasterChef: A Supersized Portion of Appetising TV

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MasterChef Australia has catapulted from just being another trashy reality TV series that fills the void between dinner and bed, to being the TV series of the decade. For many it has grown past being a form of media to become a nightly event, an aspiration, even a way of life. And it breeds. MasterChef has spawned various offspring in the forms of a MasterChef magazine, celebrity chefs and restaurants, Celebrity MasterChef and now, Junior MasterChef. Where will it stop?

The season 2 finale this year was predicted to be such a ratings success that it forced the National Election Debate between Julia Gillard and Tony Abbot to a different time slot. It certainly dominated the ratings (duh! I’ll take cooking over politics any day), with the final challenges being watched by “an average national audience of 4.63 million, while the announcement of the winner was watched by a peak audience of 5.74 million” (Bacco007, The Spy Report, 2010).
And it is not just the media who are enjoying the show’s success. Thanks to the MasterChef juggernaut, gourmet food producers and retailers are riding a wave of demand for exotic ingredients. According to Lower (2010), “As viewers try to reproduce the Ten Network show's gourmet dishes at home, pheasant, squab and quail are some of the high-end items finding their way on to shopping lists”.

So what’s going on!!!???  Why is a cooking show, (a theme traditionally reserved for the low peak daytime television media spots) drawing such a crowd? Why are men, women, boys and girls, young and old drawn to this phenomenon? Being a fan myself, I feel I can shed a little bit of light on the reasons behind this bizarre craze.

First of all, the show is hilariously overdone. Ridiculously complicated recipes made from exotic ingredients most of us have never seen before, merge in an inventive dish presentation that makes them look as though they should be in the Museum of Contemporary Art- not the kitchen.

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And these dishes are not just revealed modestly- Oh no. First the music intensifies and builds to a crescendo, and then the TV screen is immersed in flames as the show cuts to an excruciating ad break. 2 minutes later, we are brought back to the show. We watch the process all over again, and finally, with the clashing of a gong in the background, the silver lid is lifted from the plate and we get our first glimpse of the ‘Tart of Scallops and Truffles with Sweetbreads, spinach puree and Beurre Blanc’ (Season 2, 2010). Such a rush!

Another highlight is the judges. The faces of Gary, George and Matt provide constant amusement as they meticulously chew each mouthful. Concentrating hard, they derive every flavour from the dish with their highly credible celebrity tastebuds. They wield their cutlery like elegant buccaneers, and it never ceases to amaze me how in each episode they are able to dream up new and exciting similes or ways of describing the flavours. This alone keeps me coming back.

Finally, I find that the real charm of reality TV lies in its schadenfreude characteristic. Deriving pleasure from the misfortune of others is truly a wonderful way to relax in the evening and is the reason (I believe) that reality TV has become such a popular genre of programming in the past decade. I enjoy the fact that I am sitting slouched and comfortable on the couch while the contestants- everyday people like me- are tormented and questioned under conditions of extreme tension and pressure. That is true entertainment!

And now MasterChef Junior is airing to give us our entertainment fix. These kids are quite incredible in their cooking skills, with one kid tempering chocolate to perfection in the first episode last week. Are these children for rent?  

However this show is missing some of the key highlights that draw me to MasterChef original. The judges cannot possibly be mean or harshly criticize the innocent children- a real shame I think. Criticism can be character building. So it would seem that the only loser in MasterChef Junior will be Katy Perry, whose smash hit ‘Hot and Cold’ has been replaced as opening theme song by an inspiring cacophony of happy violins.

So these are the reasons I believe the MasterChef craze has taken off. Can you provide any more insight? Meanwhile, as the social trend continues to move towards many of us having a time poor lifestyle, we won’t always try to replicate this show’s fabulous dishes. However we can live vicariously through them as we watch the show with an egg on toast, and pretend it is something more.

Bacco007, (2010), "Ratings: 1 in 4 watch MasterChef finale". The Spy Report (Media Spy), 26 July 2010. http://www.mediaspy.org/report/2010/07/26/updated-ratings-1-in-4-watch-masterchef-finale/, accessed 14/09/2010

Lower, G. (2010),‘MasterChef proves a golden goose for food producers’, The Australian website, 24^th July 2010, http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/masterchef-proves-a-golden-goose-for-food-producers/story-e6frg6nf-1225896295409, accessed 14/09/2010

Image 1: Fenopy website (2010), MasterChef Screenshot, http://fenopy.com/torrent/MasterChef+Australia+s01e38+SDTV+xvid+avi/MjEyOTg0MA, accessed 16/09/2010

Image 2: TV.com website (2009), http://www.tv.com/matt-preston-says-masterchef-cooks-could-kick-my-a/story/14651.html, accessed 16/09/2010

Bieber's Fandom Goes Beyond Teenage Girls

Warning! This video is terribly frightening.
I hope its a spoof, but who could be sure in this crazy mixed up world.
Fandom can attract some strange and scary beaviour.

Reference:

glozell1, (2010), 'Grown Woman Crying Over Bieber', YouTube website, posted March 20th 2010, accessed 10/11/2010, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0F6UInVYdMo

Bieber Fever: Main Symptom = Heart Throb

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A fifteen year old singing sensation has stolen the hearts of teenage girls worldwide. Canadian born Justin Bieber was discovered by former Marketing Executive Scooter Braun via a YouTube video uploaded by his Mother. It showed a 12 year old Bieber singing Ne-Yo's "So Sick" for a local singing competition in Stratford for which he placed second (Wikipedia, 2010).

What the heck happened to the kid who beat him is what I’d like to know! Perhaps Braun thought he just didn’t have Justin’s good looks. Unattractive stars are clearly an industry no go zone with ‘experts’ like Australian Idol’s Kyle Sandilands insinuating that “ugly” people won’t sell records (Sams, 2006). Bieber had sold one million copies of his first album, ‘My World’ in the USA between November 17th 2009 and 8th January 2010. He must surely rate at the opposite end of Kyle’s “ugly” scale.

The Bieber Fever craze is not by any means tame and being a Justin fan is perhaps the new extreme sport for adventurous young girls. The casualty list is growing as obsessed, diehard fans are literally throwing themselves at this kid. Among the multiple injuries are hyperventilation, fractured bones and mob crushings (Tatnell, 2010), not to mention, broken hearts. If we do not find a cure soon, the Bieber Fever will surely kill!

That is, if he doesn’t die first. Justin’s teenage girl fans are crazy, aggressive and, it would seem, on the loose.These girls are after this heart throb's blood! The following video shows Bieber using a Segway to try and make his escape from a rowdy mob of screaming girls after a show in GlenDale, Arizona. At one stage freedom appears certain for Justin, but he is soon overcome by the desperate mob.


 
So why is there a ‘Bieber Fever’? Can you explain? I sure can’t! Leave a comment if you can help me out because this one’s got me stumped. There is so much good looking talent out there, so why do fans attach themselves to certain stars like fame frenzied parasites?

Relish it now Justin, before your voice gets a visit from the puberty fairy.

References
Sams, C. (2006), ‘Not Pretty Enough?’ SMH website, August 26 2006, accessed 03/09/2006, http://www.smh.com.au/news/tv--radio/not-pretty-enough/2006/08/27/1156617207947.html?from=rss


Tatnell, P. (2010), ‘Finger pointed at parents as Bieber fever catches Sydney by surprise’, SMH website, Aril 26th 2010, accessed 03/09/2010, http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/finger-pointed-at-parents-as-bieber-fever-catches-sydney-by-surprise-20100426-tmi4.html

Wikipedia, (2010), Justin Bieber, accessed 03/09/2010 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Bieber

YouTube, (2010), ‘Justin Bieber almost gets trampled-Glendale AZ July 25, 2010’ posted by Bielieber96, 26th July 2010, accessed 03/09/2010, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAAg6ePGZUE&feature=player_embedded

Image 1: The Star Celeb Website (2010), accessed 03/09/2010, http://thestarceleb.com/2010/06/14/celebrity-numerology-justin-bieber-isnt-perfect-gasp/