Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Disney's Frozen is NOT About Homosexuality!



Well...okay, it might be. But that is not the reason to bash it and say that it is teaching your children horrible things! Yet, this is what this blog has stated, and for some reason, it has really, REALLY pissed me off!

My thing with what this blogger has stated is that the advocacy of homosexuality is prevalent throughout Frozen and that this is something horrible. That is her opinion, and I respect that she has this opinion. What I don't respect is that she is saying this about a children's movie that has, in my opinion, multiple meanings. She has given it only the one meaning and doesn't seem to be at all open to it being about other things, such as Elsa finally being able to be herself, and not locking herself away. She is able to love herself and her power! She doesn't have to be afraid. And in my opinion, this is a great message to anyone who needs to hear it, be them boy, girl, young, or old.

Now, I'm not saying that homosexuality isn't being stated in this movie. In fact, I don't care if it is. What I care about is that people are only giving this wonderful movie the one meaning. If you would read this blog, you can see my point. Or what I'm trying to make as my point. That good movies, art, music, anything really should have multiple meanings. The more meanings that people can find in a movie, or any other piece of art, means that it is able to speak to multiple groups of people. So yes, Frozen can be about homosexuality and embracing who you are. It can also be about finally accepting that you are not a certain type of person that you have tried to be and you have come to terms with just being yourself! How many young girls need to hear this message? Or just people in general? How many need to hear that they can just let it go and just be themselves, however they perceive themselves to be?

And yes, I am also Mormon, like the first blogger. I'm not trying to bash her...much. And if I am, I'm sorry, I'm really trying not to, just voicing my opinion just like she is. I'm just not happy with the way she has presented her opinions is all. All I can ask is that everyone be open to other's opinions, as I'm trying to do so, and respect those opinions. But also realize that your opinion, when coming from a well known culture (Mormonism) can paint an ugly picture for the rest of us in that culture. So...just be open-minded to what others think and know that what you type can be seen by a lot of people. 

So, enjoy these clips! I love them and I believe in that we can just be ourselves and be happy doing so.



Enjoy!

Ashley

Monday, February 17, 2014

Kinship, Gender, and Adoption

Hey everyone! Just a brief post on something that I'm working on right now. I'm in a class called Kinship and Gender for my Anthropology major, and we're going through adoption right now in the curriculum. And we were assigned to watch an episode of Adoption on the Hallmark Channel. And the episode that I am watching at the moment is called "Vietnam Journey/Generations of Hope."

I'm very much interested in Asia and the ideas the culture that they grow up in. As I'm married, I'm also interested in having my own family. I know that this is a blog that not many pay attention to or even one that many can see, but for me this is a bit of a place where I can tell my fears. One of my fears is that I will not be able to have children with my husband. It's something that I don't really think about often, nor is it something that I have mentioned to my husband. Yet, at the same time I'm not all that worried. My Heavenly Father will look out for us, and He will help us when it comes to children. If we can have children of our own, then I will thank my Heavenly Father and do all that I can to believe that I can be a great mother! But if we are unable to have our own children, and this is a slim chance at that, then we can adopt.

If it does come to adoption, then I would like to adopt from either the reservation where my dad grew up or from Asia. I know, extremely different  places, but that is what I would want. 

So yeah...that's what's been going through my mind right now. It's not a lot, and it's a very unfounded fear, but it does help me a bit to be able to write it out. Thanks for listening to me, those of you that are.

Monday, January 13, 2014

Dusting Off the Past

Yeah, trying to restart this blog that I started last year. Not that I wrote a lot in it to begin with, but I just liked writing things down in a place that can be found. Not private things, mind you. But things that I would like to share, like my beliefs and how I want to make them stronger. Who knows...maybe there's someone out there that needs to read what I write. I'm also trying to get better at using this as this will most likely be my way of documenting my travels to India later this summer for my field-school. And my way of letting friends and family know what's going on with me in India.

So...this is what a lot of this post will be about. Just getting caught up a little on things and getting this ready for more posts in the future.

I have recently gotten into watching the Vlogbrothers on youtube. It's run by two brothers, Hank and John Green. They are amazing and hilarious and it's a great way to unwind at night. It's basically about Hank and John talking to each other back and forth through videos on youtube as well as other websites that I haven't explored as of yet. John is an author and he has written several books, including The Fault in Our Stars, Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines, and Paper Towns. He's also written one with David Levithan. I've only read The Fault in Our Stars and I LOVED it! It's one of my goals  to read some of his other books.

Hank Green on the other hand is someone who "does all the jobs!" He runs VidCon, writes songs, and several other things that I'm not really sure about. But their videos are awesome and I love watching them.

Anyway, besides Vlogbrothers, there's not much else going on. I've started my second to last semester of school. I have this, my field-school in the summer, and then fall semester and then I'll be done. Well...that's the best case scenario. Worst case is that I'll be graduating in April of 2015 instead of December of 2014. We'll just have to see how that goes though.

Now about my field-school. I'll be going to India, as I stated earlier, but more specifically, Vizag. It has another name, but it is really complicated and I don't know how to spell it, so it's just easier this way. While there, I will be doing my own research on what it is that I want to research. What this means is that I will be getting field-work experience before I'm even graduated, so YAY me! The way that I understand it, not a lot of other colleges/universities do it like this so I have a unique opprotunity as well as having a leg up on the rest of the other Anthropology graduates when it comes to graduate school application time.

Anyway, that's about all that has gone on since I last wrote. Well, that and there was another General Conference. I have several favorite talks, I just need to go through them again so that I can write about them here. That's another thing, I'm going to try and be more faithful about writing about my spiritual experiences. Maybe that way I can become just a little bit closer to my Heavenly Father.

TTFN (Ta Ta For Now)