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WEEKLY PROMPT RESPONSE
My WP4 paper addresses the overwhelming concern the media and parents are placing on toys children use with regard to future defects on their self esteem and self image. Although I am arguing against this, the topic of body image amongst youth is certainly prevalent and far too many young people end up suffering from horrible eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia as a result of poor body image, and bullying from others due to the way they look.
Social media is a prime reason for tweenagers and teenagers dealing with body image issues; when they see photoshopped, perfect-looking people, they then possess a desire to be a carbon copy of them. Despite the generally accepted conception that these images are photoshopped, many people, particularly young girls fail to acknowledge this. There are many examples of social media ideas which promote the love of a healthier style of living, and encourage people to love their bodies. For example ‘#Fatkini’, is a hashtag which started going viral in 2012 ‘featuring women of all sizes taking selfies in their bathing suits’ and feeling proud to post them without editing their body into a shape which society deems as acceptable. The hashtag and movement was started by ‘GabiFresh’, a fashion blogger and body positivity advocate. Since the hashtag gained so much popularity, she went on to creating a line of swimwear for all sizes. This incredible hashtag is still very much in use today, and GabiFresh also benefited from making a business out of helping people with their self image.
Another social media movement provoking people to feel comfortable with their bodies is #LessIsMore, where survivors of eating disorders confidently post pictures of their bodies and share their story. The hashtag was created by a few inspiring, brave people who hoped that by sharing their stories, others would be inclined to do the same. Having said this, as lovely as the idea is, when people comment negative and unkind remarks on posts dealing with issues as sensitive as this, it can in fact be deleterious and worsen the issue.
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FULL DRAFT!
In a time where parents are paying more attention to the way their oddlers and young children play and learn, there is debate regarding the way in which conventional toys affect their health and well being. Despite the fact that over one billion barbie dolls have been sold and played with worldwide and the fact that Barbie dolls have been played with and cherished by a multitude of girls from a variety of backgrounds for years and years, there is a sudden realisation amongst “millennial moms” and the media that she is setting up young children with unrealistic and unhealthy body expectations. So, although there is a widespread belief that young girls playing with Barbie dolls could actually be inimical to the perception of their self image in the future, there is reason to believe this is just an overthought and that the new generation of parents giving their children technology to play with instead is far more deleterious to their long term health.
In the Western World, there is a propensity to follow trends and everybody wants to be give their children the trendiest, most current toys. However, young girls have been playing with dolls for a while and although the vast number of dolls have evolved over time, the concept of playing remains the same. Children have their dolls and their doll house and use their imaginations to create scenarios in which the dolls partake in. It is easy to get carried away in these games and fantasise into very unrealistic situations, which is one of the most beautiful parts of having a young, impressionable mind. Barbie has been a key toy in many lives for a long time; “I can still remember the pure, sweet, unadulterated joy I felt the day my mother surprised us with the dream house. At the time, it felt like a dream come true.” (Living dolls. (little Black girls' development of self-esteem can be impacted by the kinds of dolls they are given to play with) - Randolph, Laura B.) In 1975, a study looking at the different types of toys in 1-6 year old girls and boys bedrooms was carried out, to find that “Boys had more spatial-temporal toys” (Characteristics of Boys' and Girls' Toys - Judith E. Owen Blakemore, Renee E. Centers) and “Girls’ rooms contain more dolls, dolls houses and domestic items”. This lead to “Boys’ toys are more likely to provide feedback to children than are girls’ toys. For example, toys such as slot car racers, radio-controlled cars, or electric trains respond to a child’s manipulation of the controls” Characteristics of Boys' and Girls' Toys - Judith E. Owen Blakemore, Renee E. Centers). So, boys toys being responsive means they have a reason to be pushing buttons and playing with things, whereas with dolls, most of the fun is left up to the child’s imagination. Though there is some reason to believe that whilst playing with dolls, girls start to compare their dolls lives to their own life, thus rendering a competition between the child and her doll, leading to the girl wondering why she doesn't look like the doll, and can't live life like the doll. For example, “The fact is, we know why little girls have always loved Barbie. Because she has everything little girls dream of--a Corvette, a beach house, a handsome boyfriend. But that's not the problem and has never been. The problem, as women have been saying for years, has never been about what Barbie has. It's about what Barbie doesn't have, which is anything remotely close to realistic body measurements.” Randolph willingly accepts the fact that imagination and playing with the doll itself isn't an issue, more so the aesthetics barbie possesses.
Though it may seem that young girls aspire to look and act like Barbie, Mattel, the company who created her has recently been doing a lot to change the preconceived idea of a Barbie doll as a blonde, skinny girl who just stays in her house all day. They stated "We want Barbie to represent a lifestyle brand for girls, not just a brand of toys,” (Barbie Girls Rule - Edut Ophira
) because they are aware that the average American child has…….. dolls, thus rendering Barbie a considerable part of their childhood. Mattel has certainly put a lot of effort creating dolls to be ‘more relatable’ to young girls in the sense that dolls suddenly now aspire to be doctors, and train horses, aiming to stray away from the image of just being a pretty doll. Despite this, there is still a concern that due to world’s conception of Barbie for the past 59 years, “ads telling girls they can "be anything" or "become [their] own hero" are only wrapping the Mattel message--buy our products now!--in a vaguely girl-positive package”. With from this critique, there is still hope that Mattel’s efforts to push for the comprehension of Barbie career dolls can be a success. Barbies careers are in the fields of education, medicine, military, politics, public service, science and engineering, transportation, arts and business, giving children a huge choice of dreams and futures to explore. The dolls in those fields are even more varied as we have Disney’s Caribbean Resort Greeter Barbie, to TV Chef Barbie to Veterinarian Barbie (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbie%27s_careers). When the dolls come with a set of outfits and props appropriate to their career, it makes the playing experience more responsive, as instead of just being lackadaisical and prancing around as a Princess, the dolls have work to do, which leads to inspiring the children to gain more information about the career their doll has, hopefully by reading books.
Another reason to prove that barbie is in fact not harmful to self image, is the new sized barbie and barbie dolls of different races alleviate most of the conventional unrealistic beauty concerns the media has about the doll. “Yes, it was a big deal when Mattel created P a host of other professional dolls that provide little girls with positive images. But this body makeover thing? This is major. Large. Huge in the extreme. In fact, if the reaction of my Sister-friends is any indication, since the news that the plastic princess is getting plastic surgery hit the papers, for women everywhere, it's been party time.” (Living dolls. (little Black girls' development of self-esteem can be impacted by the kinds of dolls they are given to play with) - Randolph, Laura B.) The fact that black barbie dolls were not released until 1980 highlights her position as “ a gendered, racialized icon of contemporary commodity culture” (Dyes and dolls: multicultural Barbie and the merchandising of difference) but gives us hope that she is moving with the times. Mattel’s marketing strategy for the release of different raced Barbie dolls was extremely strategic and arguably more financially driven than ethically. Product Manager Deborah Mitchell stated "now, ethnic Barbie lovers will be able to dream in their own image" ” (Dyes and dolls: multicultural Barbie and the merchandising of difference) but Mattel was also very aware that "Hispanics buy about $170 billion worth of goods each year, [and] blacks spend even more." , so creating Hispanc and Black dolls would only bring them more rand more revenue. Though these efforts are strong, ******* points out “If I could line up across the page the ninety "different" colors, cultures, and other incarnations in which Barbie currently exists, the fact of her unrelenting sameness (or at least similarity) would become immediately apparent.” (Dyes and dolls: multicultural Barbie and the merchandising of difference)
There is no doubt that “Blonde bombshell Barbie is so much more than a pretty face. She's a multimillion-dollar empire; and Mattel estimates that three Barbies are sold every second” (Larger, brainier and more diverse: Barbie's radical makeover). After years of stereotypical perfection of a “pink-lipsticked smile plastered on her plastic face, her hair remained immaculate, and stress never took its toll on her skin, but in recent years, Barbie had let herself go.” , Mattel changed not only her face, but her body proportions, which seemed to be a contentious topic amongst the concerned parents. A study was carried out in which young girls were asked a series of questions and assessed to see how badly their dolls and the desire to physically replicate their dolls affected their self esteem and image of themselves. The findings were that ““Girls exposed to Barbie reported lower body esteem and greater desire for a thinner body shape than girls in the other exposure conditions. However, this immediate negative impact of Barbie doll was no longer evident in the oldest girls. These findings imply that, even if dolls cease to function as aspirational role models for older girls, early exposure to dolls epitomizing an unrealistically thin body ideal may damage girls' body image, which would contribute to an increased risk of disordered eating and weight cycling.” (Does Barbie make girls want to be thin? The effect of experimental exposure to images of dolls on the body image of 5- to 8-year-old girls.) So, the paranoid belief that playing with barbie dolls causes eating disorders has proven to be fairly untrue.
Although parents nowadays are unimpressed with the old fashioned connotations of barbie doing nothing and adding no value to their child’s life, Mattel has gone above and beyond to assure them that barbie is for all different races. all different sizes, and has an almost endless amount of dreams.
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ANNOTATION ASSIGNMENT
“Toys play important roles in the lives of young children. They stimulate pretend play, the development of cognitive skills, and social play with other children.”
“Boys’ toys are more likely to provide feedback to children than are girls’ toys. For example, toys such as slot car racers, radio-controlled cars, or electric trains respond to a child’s manipulation of the controls”
“Not one girl had a wagon, bus, boat or kiddie car in her room”
“Boys had more spatial-temporal toys”
“Girls’ rooms contain more dolls, dolls houses and domestic items”
“Girls had six times as many female dolls and nine times as many baby dolls as boys did, but boys and girls had about the same number of male dolls”
Dyes and dolls: multicultural Barbie and the merchandising of difference
Ann Ducille
usc libraries
While a number of other black dolls appeared throughout the late sixties and seventies -- including the Julia doll, modeled after the TV character played by black singer and actress Diahann Carroll -- it was not until 1980 that Mattel introduced black dolls that were called Barbie like their white counterparts. Today, Barbie dolls come in a virtual rainbow coalition of colors, races, ethnicities, and nationalities -- most of which look remarkably like the prototypical white Barbie, modified only by a dash of color and a change of costume. It is these would-be multicultural "dolls of the world" -- Jamaican Barbie, Nigerian and Kenyan Barbie, Malaysian Barbie, Chinese Barbie, Mexican, Spanish, and Brazilian Barbie, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera -- that interest me. For me these dolls are at once a symbol and a symptom of what multiculturalism has become at the hands of contemporary commodity culture: an easy and immensely profitable way off the hook of Eurocentrism that gives us the face of cultural diversity without the particulars of racial difference.
If I could line up across the page the ninety "different" colors, cultures, and other incarnations in which Barbie currently exists, the fact of her unrelenting sameness (or at least similarity) would become immediately apparent.
Larger, brainier and more diverse: Barbie's radical makeover
Anonymous. The Week; London Iss. 1060, (Feb 13, 2016): 52-53.
USC LIBRARIES
“pink-lipsticked smile plastered on her plastic face, her hair remained immaculate, and stress never took its toll on her skin, but in recent years, Barbie had let herself go.”
“Blonde bombshell Barbie is so much more than a pretty face. She's a multimillion-dollar empire; and Mattel estimates that three Barbies are sold every second”
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THREE PEER REVIEWED ANNOTATIONS!!
Does Barbie make girls want to be thin? The effect of experimental exposure to images of dolls on the body image of 5- to 8-year-old girls. - Dittmar, H., Halliwell, E., & Ive, S. (2006)
Google Scholar
A study in which young girls were asked a series of questions and assessed to see how badly their dolls and the desire to physically replicate their dolls affected their self esteem and image of themselves.
“Girls exposed to Barbie reported lower body esteem and greater desire for a thinner body shape than girls in the other exposure conditions. However, this immediate negative impact of Barbie doll was no longer evident in the oldest girls. These findings imply that, even if dolls cease to function as aspirational role models for older girls, early exposure to dolls epitomizing an unrealistically thin body ideal may damage girls' body image, which would contribute to an increased risk of disordered eating and weight cycling.”
Barbie Girls Rule - Edut Ophira
USC Libraries
The way in which Barbie doll is trying to change and become ‘more relatable’ to young girls in the sense that dolls suddenly now aspire to be doctors, and train horses, aiming to stray away from the image of just being a pretty doll.
"We want Barbie to represent a lifestyle brand for girls, not just a brand of toys,”
"We want to make sure we capture girls in the many ways they are spending their time now and in the future."
“It's too late for Mattel to change Barbie's status as an instasymbol of everything that's wrong with our culture's well-worn images of femininity and beauty. Unless, of course, they deliver a fleet of Barbies with cellulite, fat asses, nappy hair, big noses, and voiceboxes that discuss the inherent flaws of dolls as role models at the pull of a string. Ads telling girls they can "be anything" or "become [their] own hero" are only wrapping the Mattel message--buy our products now!--in a vaguely girl-positive package”
“Getting self-esteem from a company that brought us aerobics instructor Barbie is about as easy as squeezing the Share A Smile Becky doll's wheelchair through the too-small doorway of the Dreamhouse.”
Living dolls. (little Black girls' development of self-esteem can be impacted by the kinds of dolls they are given to play with) - Randolph, Laura B.
USC Libraries
Black barbie dolls were not released until 1980.
“Yes, it was a big deal when Mattel created Pediatrician Barbie and Dentist Barbie and Veterinary Barbie and a host of other professional dolls that provide little girls with positive images. But this body makeover thing? This is major. Large. Huge in the extreme. In fact, if the reaction of my Sister-friends is any indication, since the news that the plastic princess is getting plastic surgery hit the papers, for women everywhere, it's been party time.”
“If you have a daughter, you know why this Barbie makeover thing is such a big deal that The Wall Street Journal put it on the front page. Little girls love Barbie. And when I say love, I mean love. Not only is Barbie the best-selling toy in the world, the average American girl owns eight, eight, compared with just one in the 1980s.”
“I can still remember the pure, sweet, unadulterated joy I felt the day my mother surprised us with the dream house. At the time, it felt like a dream come true. “
“The fact is, we know why little girls have always loved Barbie. Because she has everything little girls dream of--a Corvette, a beach house, a handsome boyfriend. But that's not the problem and has never been. The problem, as women have been saying for years, has never been about what Barbie has. It's about what Barbie doesn't have, which is anything remotely close to realistic body measurements.”
California toy company say the whole reason they decided to give Barbie all the new body work, not to mention cut back on her makeup, is because that is what little girls wanted. "They wanted Barbie to be cooler," Sean Fitzgerald, vice president of corporate communications for Mattel, was quoted as saying. "They wanted Barbie to be more reflective of themselves."
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WRITING PLAN
FRIDAY 3/30- Research the new ways barbie dolls have been developed to resemble a realistic human body and how the dolls aren't just dolls, they have feminist empowering stories and outfits etc
MONDAY 4/2- Research how playing with dolls and dressing up was seen in the past and how parenting methods have become so much more cautious and intense in recent decades
FRIDAY 4/6- Intro and first two paragraphs
SUNDAY 4/8- Continued research on parenting and specific stories of children growing up with parents who fostered creativity and suppressed it
MONDAY 4/9- Research/ next two paragraphs of how media affects girls and the prevalence of it
FRIDAY 4/13- Research counter argument
SUNDAY 4/15- Argumentative paragraphs about how this can have long term negative self esteem effects
MONDAY 4/16- Continue counter argument paragraphs
FRIDAY 4/20- Conclude essay and check structure
MONDAY 4/23- Draft draft draft!!!!!
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THESIS
Although playing with barbie dolls and dressing up as a Princess is ostensibly seen as a waste of time and frivolous activity for young girls, it may actually be detrimental to their futures.
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GUIDED INVENTION
Having my friend Tine come over and do my make up and braid my hair so I don't have to struggle through it myself because I always want it perfect but suck at it. She also enjoys doing it too so I don't ever feel bad about asking for her help and making her dedicate so much time to getting me ready.
Also excited about JEP this Friday because instead of planning a history lesson we basically planned a party and are going to be playing musical statues and making bracelets with the third graders at 32nd street school
2) On a superficial level just looking nice and having interesting hair. Braided hair in particular catches attention and is just pretty to have and look at. On a deeper level being made up improves your own self esteem as ‘if you look good you feel good’, not only that but other people tend to have more respect for people who make an effort with their appearance but only in certain situations. For example, around friends or at school no one particularly cares how they dress but in a more formal setting, you feel you are inclined to dress better because other people form their first opinions on you from just looking once. Having said that, LA is way too casual and even at formal events, important people still wear jeans and don't brush their hair just because they can but they have a right to do that because they’ve made it, others still trying still need to attempt to impress
3) Having people compliment the braids and then getting to say my wonderful friend Tine did them for me. She may have aspirations to work in the hair industry and sometimes when people are impressed with how she has done my hair, they take her contact details and ask for the same thing. So, in a way, me asking her to dress me actually promotes her potential business!
4) The most prominent social issue would be why do people have to dress up to impress others, why can't first impressions be formed from getting to know someone first even though that is more philosophical than social because society is not responsible for sight being the first sense to kick into action upon meeting someone. Conventions like this were made by society in general, and are arguably taught to children throughout their upbringing, for example, at school if your uniform is not ‘proper’, if you are not wearing the right shoes, or your tie correctly, or shirt tucked in you can get reprimanded and are taught to severely care for your appearance in a way you may not care about or want to. I think the purpose of this is to teach children an organised mind is an organised life and you are more respected if you follow guidelines and dress to standard. This affects people of different identities as people may not be comfortable in assigned school uniform and may feel it does not relate to or help them express who they are at all.
Also, another social issue to consider would be to what extent playing dress up should be in a young girls life, yes it's wonderful to spend time playing with clothes, make up and accessories at a young age but that could lead to narcissism or at the other extreme lowering self confidence if they spend too much time looking in the mirror and could potentially end up with illnesses like body dysmorphia/anorexia
5) When barbie dolls were made to look more like normal humans i wondered how this would really benefit the young girls who played with them. It is more likely to be adults who analyse the body of the doll, and relate it to themselves. Young children won’t compare the dolls body to their own unless guided so by an adult, i believe they would just be happy playing with it and dressing it up
6) Questions I have in mind right now are whether school uniform ameliorates the school experience for students of all backgrounds so they don't have to stress about looking different everyday or worsens it because they have no freedom to express themselves, whether giving young girls joys and dreams of being a Princess and playing with dolls will ruin their future self esteem wise or not affect their future and simply allow them to have fun while they are young
7) I think there are too many concerns these days about how children should be spending their time in order to provide them with a productive and un-deleterious future. It's complicated because if we take away things like dolls and dressing up, or change them so dolls can only do things like be doctors and engineers (range of barbies) and dressing up as fairies and princesses is deemed as a waste of time, a part of their childhood, and a childhood their parents probably experienced is just taken away
8) I don't have an instinctive gut feeling yet as i would like to do more research
9) In the past. children have been allowed to do whatever they want, but now we are living in a time of over paranoid and cautious parenting, I'd like to research more about this
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VIDEO!
https://vimeo.com/259279254?utm_source=email&utm_medium=vimeo-cliptranscode-201504&utm_campaign=29220
PW- johnoliver
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FIFTH ANNOTATION
Serving Our Youth: Findings from a National Survey of Services Providers Working with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Youth Who Are Homeless or At Risk of Becoming Homeless
• Durso, Laura E.Gates, Gary J
Google Scholar
Discussing the rise of homeless LGBT youth, and reasons for this increase. Also addresses specific organisations available to help including TrueColorsFund, the Williams Institute and The Palette Fund
“Over the past ten years, the percentage of homeless youth providers serving LGBT clients has increased from 82% to 94%. A majority of LGBT youth are receiving services that are available to all young people, with 24% of agency youth-oriented programs specifically being designed for LGBT youth. Nearly seven in ten (68%) respondents indicated that family rejection was a major factor contributing to LGBT youth homelessness, making it the most cited factor. “
“While family rejection on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity was the most frequently cited factor contributing to LGBT homelessness, over 40% of the agencies do not address these family based issues. However, agencies were more likely to conduct family based work if they served LGB homeless youth under the age of 18:
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FOURTH ANNOTATION
Prevalence and Risk of Homelessness Among US Veterans
Jamison Fargo, PhD, MS, Stephen Metraux, PhD, Thomas Byrne, MSW, Ellen Munley, Ann Elizabeth Montgomery, PhD, Harlan Jones, George Sheldon, PhD, Vincent Kane, MSW, and Dennis Culhane,
Google scholar
Misinterpretations of figures of homeless veterans and reasons for their homelessness
“Homeless veterans are at higher risk for chronic disease; understanding the dynamics of homelessness among veterans can contribute to our understanding of their health needs.”
“Veterans who are living in poverty are more vulnerable to homelessness, an effect that is magnified by black race. For example, for the youngest age group living in poverty, more than 50% of black male veterans and more than 30% of black female veterans were homeless (compared with only 7% for nonblack males and 12% for nonblack females)”
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THIRD ANNOTATION
National Ingratitude: The Egregious Deficiencies of the United States' Housing Programs for Veterans and the Public Scandal of Veterans' Homelessness
Florence Wagman Roisman
Google Scholar
The shocking truths about how easy it is to end up homeless after doing service for your country, and how little the government does to care for people once they are retired, although the media tells us otherwise
“The government should ‘provide against the possibility that any person who honorably wore the Federal uniform shall become the inmate of an almshouse, or dependent upon private charity… it would be a public scandal to do less for those whose valorous service persevered the government”
“Conservatively, one out of every four homeless males who is sleeping in a doorway, alley, or box in our cities and rural communities has put on a uniform and served our country”
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ROUGH PLAN
How the National Alliance to end Homelessness works and involves more than just the homeless (getting volunteers involved etc)
How veterans, and those of respectable professions are fine one day then end up on the streets the next, and have limited help available to them from the government supposedly caring for them
How minors, who by law should be in foster homes are on the streets
Despite the arguable amelioration in the treatment of LGBTQ people, more now than ever are ending up on the streets
Ways in which the National Alliance to end Homelessness will carry out their mission
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ANNOTATION ASSIGNMENT
Educational Experiences of Hidden Homeless Teenagers: Living Doubled-Up
Google scholar
The book explains how the State of California does little to ameliorate the lives of homeless young people, and gives stories of how several individual children went from happy, fulfilling lives to now being on the streets.
“The mere existence of McKinney-Vento is a testament to the federal government’s acknowledgement that homeless youth face unique educational challenges”
emphasis on the word ‘mere’
“Resilience is the successful adaptation of an individual despite risk and adversity” - the only way to prevail!!
A Review of the Literature on LGBTQ Adults Who Experience Homelessness
Ecker, John ; Aubry, Tim ; Sylvestre, John
Routledge
Journal of Homosexuality, 05 January 2018, p.1-27
USC Library Search
Analysing the different scenarios and reasons LGBTQ people end up homeless, and why this may have increased in recent years
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WP3 thesis
To be in touch with homeless, is to be in touch with humanity. The National Alliance to End Homelessness is a fair policy that affects this country in a positive light. It gives a large reduction in the homelessness in some communities making veterans, people with disablilties and families using a proven model of permanent supportive housing, rapid re-housing coordinated focusing on outcomes that are proving that investments in the right kind of programs will have a positive impact for the most vunerable people in our country.
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MESSY DRAFT!
Within the LA dance community, there is a propensity to view each studio as exclusive to one style only, in the sense that Millennium Dance Complex is renowned for hip hop whereas dancers go to Edge for its stellar contemporary training. While many view Playground LA as an pretentious space for exclusively elite commercial dancers, there is reason to believe that the studio caters to all with a zealous interest in the arts. From being founded by two extremely different dancers, acclaiming strict guidelines of support and respect and hosting affordable classes, Playground LA is indeed inclusive to more than the presumed one type of dancer.
Opened in February 6th 2017 by the surprising duo: Robin Antin and Kenny Wormald, Playground LA really fosters and pushes the growth of dancers in all styles. From creating the renowned Pussycat Dolls to judging ‘So You Think You Can Dance’, Antin’s appealing resume encourages a certain demographic, young females, to come to the studio. Given that Los Angeles is the commercial dance capital of the world (http://www.dancetraveleat.com/a-dancers-guide-to-los-angeles/) , there are thousands of girls who come to Playground LA every week, benefiting from the heels and commercial classes taught by esteemed choreographers like Brinn Nicole and Nicole Kirkland. These choreographers represent Antin’s background and intentions for creating the studio in Melrose. On the other hand, Wormald comes from an entirely differently background, from learning hip hop on the streets of Boston as a young boy, to staring in Footloose. Wormald actually teaches at the studio himself and through his presence, more young males come to what is conventionally proposed to be a girly commercial studio. Bringing both the male and female demographic to the studio is key to showing how the studio is inclusive to all dancers.
As both Antin and Wormald have years of experience in the commercial dance industry themselves, they acknowledge the unfortunate disrespectful and catty behaviour that often occurs in dance studios. In order to make the studio a more amicable and pleasant environment, they have a strict set of guidelines displayed on the front wall as you enter the studio. The rules on the wall assert the fact that ‘boo-ing’ other dancers will not be tolerated, and that you must clap when others are finished performing. Although these seem like common sense requirements, most successful renowned dance studios in LA such as Millennium Dance Complex and Debbie Reynolds Studio do not outwardly encourage this positive behaviour, leaving opportunity for unkind and disrespectful behaviour in class. As Playground LA is visited by thousands of commercial dancers in LA every month, the regulations set by this studio really do affect a lot of dancers. Not only does this create a more friendly and productive atmosphere, but it teaches young dancers respectful behaviour that they will hopefully carry out into their professional dance careers, leading to the the whole LA commercial dance industry becoming a place of reverence and appreciation for one another. Moreover, keeping antagonistic energies and over-competitiveness out of the studio makes everybody feel more contented in trying their best and performing well.
Though it is common to feel nervous when performing to a room of dancers, imagine having to also perform to whoever is walking by on the street outside as well. At Playground LA, the glass front door makes it accessible for pedestrians to stop and look into class and see who is dancing. As Melrose is a very artsy district of Los Angeles, the pedestrians traipsing down the avenue are often tourists or artists themselves, who do stop to take a look inside. With the friendly environment fostered by Playground, students in class are made to feel comfortable and welcomed dancing with the others in the studio with them, and because that is so sacred it is not an interference to have the general public glance in too. On the other hand, some dancers may still find it intimidating that people who do not necessarily possess knowledge of the art can walk past and judge them, making Playground LA seem like an intimidating and unwelcoming place. However, overall I do believe the exposure is positive and does in fact make the studio inclusive, by inviting dance enthusiasts and potential clients in to have a look at what is going on without actually partaking in the activities inside the studio doors.
Distinguished founders Antin and Wormald aspire to use Playground LA to make dance a primordial part of LA culture for everyone, not just dancers. Besides from having the glass doors so people can look into the studio, they host beginner and elementary level classes, so newcomers can feel welcome in a professional environment too. Moreover, they offer the first ten classes you take at the studio for $60, so more people are inclined to try it out. After the initial ten classes, each class you take is $25, as the choreographers really are the most esteemed and best in the industry. This dramatic price drop in the first ten is what entices people to come try out dancing, and for some, just ten classes will give them a new passion and talent to pursue, making dance more inclusive and accessible to everyone. This of course is a wise business decision, as the hope is after ten classes you start paying full price and coming regularly, though because the core intention is to get the community dancing, it is not to be seen as a negative aspect of Playground LA.
In conclusion, Playground LA really is an inclusive space for the citizens of LA. Being a city of art and culture, dance plays a primordial role and having a professional dance studio be so inclusive to so many people……………………….
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SIXTH PROMPT RESPONSE!!
Although I have never felt the clichéd ‘being excluded from sports at school ‘because I couldn’t play, I have certainly found aspects of team sports to be far from inclusive. Netball lessons during third grade were everyone’s favourite activity of the week. As a class we loved being outside together, we loved the coach and indeed the sport itself. Every week we would all run out, do the same warm up together then drift off into our teams and start playing matches. It was unbeknownst to most of us at the time that within the first few weeks, we ended up playing the same positions in the same teams, which happened to be split according to our ability in the sport. This was an interesting dynamic in the space as at no point had the coach actually assigned us teams; we just collectively worked out who would be best at playing who and went from there.
In a sense, it is not formal exclusion having the strongest athletes play each other while the weaker ones do the same, in fact, it makes more sense as playing others of a similar ability is more likely to help you excel at the sport. I just felt that perhaps the weaker players, including myself, would benefit from playing with the more advanced amongst us. It seemed strange that there was already a hierarchy set up in the non physical space that separated a group of people that were otherwise so friendly and comfortable with each other. I do feel the lack of the coach’s intervention helped make this space this way. Had she encouraged us to play with different people and swap teams, maybe the space would not have felt closed off and in a way exclusive.
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