Angela McRobbie’s Analysis of Jackie Essay Example for Free

Angela McRobbie’s Analysis of Jackie Essay This essay will be exploring Angela McRobbie’s analysis of Jackie and why the magazine has seen a new found popularity in recent years. Jackie was a popular British weekly teenage girls’ magazine published by Scottish company D.C. Thomson which was published from 1964 up until 1993. It was named after the children’s author Jacqueline Wilson who worked for D.C. Thomson at the time. The magazine was most popular with girls in the age range of 10 to 14. Before Jackie made its debut, magazines aimed at teenaged girls were normally romance orientated comic strips such as Mirabelle, Romeo and Valentine. Although Jackie did indeed feature romantic stories, they were not the main focus of the magazine. Features that had normally previously featured only in women’s magazines such as problem pages, fashion pages, reader’s true life stories, and hair and beauty advice were now introduced to a teenage population. Indeed Jackie was written by the women’s magazine department of D.C. Thomson rather than the one focused on children’s comics such as The Beano and The Dandy. Taking all this into consideration, it could be argued that Jackie provided the blue print for the modern teenage girl’s magazines. In her analysis, McRobbie says she feels that Jackie tapped into the biological nature of teenage girls, when they start to become more curious about their changing bodies and start to show an interest in the opposite sex. The Cathy and Claire problem pages were a popular feature with readers of the magazine, and many problems readers wrote in with mainly focused on boys and other common problems that come hand in hand with growing up. McRobbie believes that one purpose of the magazine was to prepare girls for the â€Å"brief flowering† period that many young working class women in that time had before marriage but after they had just left school and started work and so had freedom and a disposable income to go out with their friends to pubs a nd dances and buy adult items such as clothes and make-up. Richard Hoggart discusses this period in his analysis of working class teenage girls in his book The Uses of Literacy. One feature Jackie was famous for was its photo stories that provided a stepping stone to fame for celebrities such as Fiona Bruce and Hugh Grant, which were usually of a romantic nature, in the style thought to appeal to the young women of the target audience. These provided girls with a romantic ideal which McRobbie discusses in her analysis of the magazine, McRobbie believes that young girls are conditioned to seek romantic based  relationships instead of sexual ones and that romantic stories like the ones that featured in Jackie and other magazines aimed at teenaged girls at the time helped to reinforce this. Again, these can seem comically clichà ©d and dated by the standards of today. In fact, one of the reasons that Jackie may have regained popularity is that this style of article, although probably reasonable at the time written, seem almost laughable and maybe also politically incorrect by today’s standards (for example one article featured in The Best of Jackie Annual on ways how to attract boys suggests that a girl should try sitting on a park bench â€Å"looking tearful†, and a fashion feature refers to plus sized girls as â€Å"fatties† and very slim girls as being â€Å"stick like†). To many people in 2012, these almost seem like satire. Indeed, on the popular bookselling website Amazon, The Best of Jackie Annual and it’s spinoffs such as Dear Cathy and Claire The Best of Your Favourite Problem Page can be found under the sub-category â€Å"Humour†. A feature that can be found in The Best of Jackie Annual, which had previously been published as a part of an actual Jackie Christmas annual, on how to survive Christmas parties advises the readers to be wary of drunken bosses and uncles making passes at them. This is disturbingly mentioned in a casual and almost light hearted fashion, like it is a common occurrence to be expected, and perhaps even tolerated. The idea of a girl so young being put in a vulnerable position with a much older man, especially one who is in a position of authority or a relative, would be unlikely to be treated in this fashion today. This article may appear humorous to some people in a dark way, simply because it is so shocking and highly inappropriate by today’s standards. Another reason why Jackie may have seen a new increase in popularity is because older women, who would have been readers of Jackie in the past, may want to look back at their youth and remember a much simpler time before they had children to worry over, bills to pay, jobs (or lack of them) and mortgages. Looking back on the past is something which has always been very popular with people and becomes more common during times of economic recession, like the one Britain (and Europe in general) has been struggling with in recent years. There are numerous discussions on the internet in forums with older women talking fondly about their experiences and memories of reading Jackie. When Jackie stopped being published in 1993, D.C. Thomson realised a new magazine aimed at teenaged girls called Shout,  which could possibly be seen by some people as a rebranding of Jackie. Shout is still being published today and I compared a recent copy of Shout from May 2012 to a copy of Jackie from June 1981. Both magazines feature a celebrity on the front cover, with Shout having Cheryl Cole and Jackie having Adam Ant, and both also have tampon adverts on the back covers. A similar layout to that which Jackie used, and which McRobbie discusses in Jackie: An Ideology of Adolescent Femininity, is used in Sh out. Problem pages, fashion pages, celebrity gossip, hair and beauty advice, â€Å"pin-ups† of attractive male celebrities, horoscopes and reader’s true-life stories all feature in both magazines, although there are clear generational differences in these articles between the two magazines. Advice given in the problem pages of Shout is more concerned with more serious issues such as sex and alcohol abuse and also offers career advice. In the days of Jackie’s popularity girls were not often encouraged to stay on to do further education after the compulsory school leaving age and usually got married at an age which would be considered very young today, whereas today many girls go on to go to college and university and choose to put off marriage and having children to a later stage in life, if they opt to at all. Jackie also contained sewing and knitting patterns, which are things which are no longer common hobbies with teenaged girls today. This is likely due to fashionable clothing being sold cheaply in supermarkets and high-street stores such as Primark and Asda. The popularity of teenage magazines is currently on the decline, with many once popular magazines no longer being published. This is possibly due to the fact that the features of teenage magazines such as celebrity gossip, hair and beauty tips and updates on the latest fashions are readily available on the internet. Even if a young girl finds herself in need of advice there are now websites such as Yahoo Answers, Girls Ask Guys and Answerbag where she will be able to get (possibly dubious) responses to her question quickly from a variety of people across the world and there is also websites set up by charities offering advice on more serious matters such as abuse, bullying, drugs and sexual health. It is also worth having a brief look at the context of the magazine’s existence, with the early-mid 1960s being a reasonable period of progress in Britain. In the nation of Labour leader Harold Wilson’s â€Å"white heat† † (Sandbrook, 2005:737) – a nation still getting over the war, but  proudly (if cautiously) advancing in what historian Dominic Sandbrook called â€Å"a new era of creativity and progress† (Sandbrook, 2005:737)– it is only natural that Britain’s young women would have a need for their own entertainment and place for advice. While it is true that this is not the intended focus of the essay, such a background should not be ignored, and may go some way towards explaining the magazine’s eventual demise(arguably, rebranding) in the very different world of the 1990s.

Parental Manipulation and the Homogenization of Americans Essay

Parental Manipulation and the Homogenization of Americans Wooden arms and legs jerking, braided hair flailing, and glassy eyes rolling, the ragged dolls parade the cardboard stage. Their lifeless limbs give the appearance of haphazardry, but I know better than to be deceived by this bumbling surface. Behind the curtained stage, a woman deftly maneuvers the puppet figures; each movement is carefully controlled with a small sleight of hand. A string lifts, and their mouths open. Another tenses, and their arms rise in unison. Silently, they mimic the voices of their master: she who holds the strings. Watching this puppet scene, I am reminded of a dinner party I once attended. Over a slice of raspberry cheesecake, I remember commenting on my aversion towards women who wore dark lipstick—how they were really just trying to be seductive in a way demeaning to the female community. The moment the words came out of my mouth, I regretted them—not because I didn’t believe what I had said but because I remembered then, that the words were not my own. Not only was I echoing my mother, I also actually believed I was expressing my own sentiments. At times like these, I feel myself being pulled along by strings invisible, propelled by unseen forces—forces that not only influence my outward actions but also my inner character and mentally as well. Under normal circumstances, I am naively unaware of their presence. In â€Å"The Strange Homogenization of Americans,† Gibbs Staff and FA Jones relate that â€Å"Americans have been homogenized and conditioned to react in the same way.† They go on to assert that most Americans do not realize they are behaving in a â€Å"predictable and programmed manner.† And for a while, I did hold on to that deep-seated... ...ity Bride as a Cultural Icon.† Encounters: Essays for Exploration and Inquiry. 2nd ed. Ed. Pat C. Hoy II. and Robert DiYanni. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2000. 277-81. Gibbs Staff and FA Jones. â€Å"The Strange Homogenization of Americans.† Gibbs Magazine. Date of Posting Unlisted. 26 Oct. 2002. . Gorman, Benjamin A. â€Å"Toys are Us.† Yale New Haven Teacher’s Institute. Date of Posting Unlisted. 17 Oct. 2002. http://elsinore.cis.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1985/6/85.06.04.x.html>. Hall, Mitch. â€Å"The Plague of Violence: A preventable epidemic.† Checkmate Press, 2002. 28 Oct. 2002. . Nelson, Pamela A. â€Å"Toys as History: Ethnic Images and Cultural Change.† Ethnic Images in Toys and Games. Balch Institute. 17 Oct. 2002..

Doppelganger

Doppelganger In doppelganger the main protagonist Andrew has a crisis of identity. Who is he? Is he the good boy, he describes himself in chapter 6 as a â€Å"G gated kid in an X rated world†. Andrew is in fact an assessory (assistant) to the crime; under the law he would be considered guilty or culpable. This means that he has responsibly for crimes that he knows about and lets happen. When Josh bullies the year seen boy unnecessarily and Andrew allows it to happen when he could intervene Andrew is also guilty. Andrew did not intervene when josh destroyed the religion teacher’s personal photo.Andrew did not intervene when josh bashed and robbed the pizza delivery boy. Andrew allowed josh to drug him with beer and whiskey, which enables josh to seduce Melanie. Throughout the book Andrew continues to allow both Josh’s to control him and to manipulate and to deceive many people. In the alternate world bad Josh has more power because in that universe/parallel world there are fewer controls on peoples beastliness. Andrew watches as Josh randomly attacks a teenager at Kings Cross, smashing his face in with knuckle-dusters, bad Josh called that an ‘announcement’ of the HallBoys.My Josh said the same thing when he bashed the year 7 boy at school. He has said that it was also an announcement to watch out. Both joshes use violence and intimidation and emotional manipulation to control people. Josh uses Andrew, he calls him ‘buddy’, and he invites him to things like the party and holidays. Josh puts on a mask on concern and interest for Andrews life; but actually uses him for his own game. In this way Josh is similar to Carl Denham. Bad Josh is significantly more violent. It is through understanding the violence of bad Josh that Andrew begins to take responsibility for his own actions.Andrew starts to plan how he can stop bad Josh from killing many more people when he attacks the inner station. This results in Andrews attemp t to kill ‘My Josh’ through drugging his beer/stout. Symbols/ Motifs of Decay †¢Used condoms †¢Random sex †¢Decaying building and streets/broken windows †¢Rubbish †¢Overcoats, great coats, army gear †¢Cleanliness, dirt †¢Food †¢Violence as a means of control †¢Reading as an escape and knowledge †¢Knowledge as power †¢Religion as a means of control †¢Self control †¢The beast within There is two types of masks, the ones we are conscious of and the ones that we are unaware of.

Air Force Academy Acceptance Rate, SAT/ACT

The United States Air Force Academy is a federal service academy with an acceptance rate of 11%. The Air Force Academy is highly selective, and the application process is different from many other schools. Applicants must meet eligibility requirements including U.S. citizenship, age, and marital status. Students who meet eligibility requirements can submit a Pre-Candidate Questionnaire application which will determine if they are competitive to become an Official Candidate for admission. Applicants must also receive a nomination from a senator, member of Congress, the Vice President of the United States, or a military-affiliated nominator. Other components to the Air Force application include a medical exam, a fitness assessment, and a personal interview. Considering applying to the USAFA? Here are the admissions statistics you should know, including average SAT/ACT scores of admitted students. Why the United States Air Force Academy? Location: Colorado Springs, ColoradoCampus Features: USAFAs 18,455-acre campus is both an operational Air Force base and undergraduate university. The iconic Cadet Chapel stands against the backdrop of the Rocky Mountains.Student/Faculty Ratio: 8:1Athletics: The Air Force Falcons compete in the NCAA Division I Mountain West Conference.Highlights: USAFA delivers a high-quality education tuition-free. Upon graduation, students must serve at least five years in the Air Force. Acceptance Rate During the 2017-18 admissions cycle, the U.S. Air Force Academy had an acceptance rate of 11%. This means that for every 100 students who applied, 11 students were admitted, making Air Forces admissions process highly competitive. Admissions Statistics (2017-18) Number of Applicants 10,376 Percent Admitted 11% Percent Admitted Who Enrolled (Yield) 98% SAT Scores and Requirements The United States Air Force Academy requires that all applicants submit either SAT or ACT scores. During the 2017-18 admissions cycle, 42% of admitted students submitted SAT scores. SAT Range (Admitted Students) Section 25th Percentile 75th Percentile ERW 610 690 Math 620 720 ERW=Evidence-Based Reading and Writing This admissions data tell us that most of the U.S. Air Force Academys admitted students fall within the top 20% nationally on the SAT. For the evidence-based reading and writing section, 50% of students admitted to USAFA scored between 610 and 690, while 25% scored below 610 and 25% scored above 690. On the math section, 50% of admitted students scored between 620 and 720, while 25% scored below 620 and 25% scored above 720. Applicants with a composite SAT score of 1410 or higher will have particularly competitive chances at the U.S. Air Force Academy. Requirements The U.S. Air Force Academy does not require, but recommends, the SAT writing section. Note that the Air Force Academy participates in the scorechoice program, which means that the admissions office will consider your highest score from each individual section across all SAT test dates. Applicants who score below 580 on the ERW section and 560 on the math section of the SAT will not typically be competitive for an Air Force Academy appointment. ACT Scores and Requirements The U.S. Air Force Academy requires that all applicants submit either SAT or ACT scores. During the 2017-18 admissions cycle, 58% of admitted students submitted ACT scores. ACT Range (Admitted Students) Section 25th Percentile 75th Percentile English 27 34 Math 27 32 Composite 28 33 This admissions data tells us that most of the U.S. Air Force Academys admitted students fall within the top 11% nationally on the ACT. The middle 50% of students admitted to USAFA received a composite ACT score between 28 and 33, while 25% scored above 33 and 25% scored below 28. Requirements The U.S. Air Force Academy does not require the ACT writing section. Unlike many universities, the Air Force Academy superscores ACT results; your highest subscores from multiple ACT sittings will be considered. Applicants who score below 24 on the English section and 25 on the math/science section of the ACT typically will not be competitive for an Air Force Academy appointment. GPA The U.S. Air Force Academy does not provide data about admitted students high school GPAs; however, the admissions office indicates that most successful applicants tend to rank near the top of their class. Self-Reported GPA/SAT/ACT Graph United States Air Force Academy Applicants Self-Reported GPA/SAT/ACT Graph.   Data  courtesy of Cappex. The admissions data in the graph is self-reported by applicants to the U.S. Air Force Academy. GPAs are unweighted. Find out how you compare to accepted students, see the real-time graph, and calculate your chances of getting in with a free Cappex account. Admissions Chances The United States Air Force Academy is one of the countrys most selective colleges with a low acceptance rate and high average SAT/ACT scores. However, the Air Force Academy has a  holistic admissions  process involving other factors beyond your grades and test scores. The U.S. Air Force Academy looks at the  rigor of your high school courses, not just your grades. The academy requires all candidates to complete an interview and pass a physical fitness assessment. Winning candidates typically demonstrate leadership potential,  meaningful extracurricular involvement, and athletic ability. In the graph above, the blue and green dots represent accepted students. You can see that the majority of successful applicants had high school grades of B or higher, combined SAT scores of 1250 or better (ERWM), and ACT composite scores above 26. The higher your grades and standardized test scores, the better your chances of admission. Tuition Costs and Benefits The U.S. Air Force Academy pays 100% of the tuition, room and board, and medical and dental care for Air Force Academy cadets. This is in return for five years of active-duty service upon graduation. First-year cadet pay is $1,087 monthly (as of 2019) before deductions for uniforms, textbooks, a personal computer, and other incidentals. Cost-reducing perks include regular active-duty benefits such as access to military commissaries and exchanges, commercial transportation, and lodging discounts. Air Force cadets can also fly (space available) in military aircraft around the world. If You Like USAFA, You May Also Like These Schools Students interested in the Air Force Academy for its highly-ranked engineering programs may also be interested in  MIT,  Caltech,  Cornell University,  Purdue University, or  Stanford. For those interested in a school affiliated with a branch of the U.S. Military, other options include the  Coast Guard Academy, the  Merchant Marine Academy,  West Point, and the  Naval Academy at Annapolis. These schools have similar admissions procedures to the Air Force Academy, and also have highly selective admissions.   All admissions data has been sourced from the National Center for Education Statistics and the United States Air Force Academy.