The "Average" Doll

If you had the choice to buy your cousin a fantasy, typical Barbie doll this holiday season or an "average" doll, which would you chose to buy?

Consumers this year will be asking themselves this question when faced with the two different types of Barbie's on shelves. Nickolay Lamm created a new kind of Barbie based on "what the Barbie would look like if she actually had the measurements of an average 19-year-old woman’s body (based on CDC data)" , as stated in Time Magazine. He created this doll in 2013 as an art project, and since then the project has raised to a whole new level. Through social media, the Lammily doll reached thousands of parents and consumers, all inquiring about where and when they can buy the doll. Lamm then crowd funded money to produce the doll right in time for the holidays. In January, Lamm will be expanding on his creation, adding a sticker extension pack complete with acne, moles, freckles, the ability to blush, scrapes and bruises, scars, cellulite and stretch marks. Lamm also released a video of second-grade students reactions to the doll, shown below: (skip to 3:44 to see the kids comparison of Lammily to the typical Barbie doll)

Although Lammy has received a lot of positive feedback and support, he acknowledges and expects negative feedback as well. He "insists" all of his additions, like stretch marks and bruises, come from a good place, but knows that they will be questioned. "I hope there are enough people who believe what I believe. I think 25% to 30% will think the stickers are stupid and the rest will think it’s good." 

Don't get me wrong, I think this doll is great. I think that this is something our society needs and young girls could definitely benefit from. It could potentially raise self-confidence to girls from a young age, which is something that I think is amazing. However, it's hard to believe that this project will replace Barbie. Barbie is an icon, something that has been around for what seems like forever, and imagining a world without Barbie is almost impossible in my opinion. Unfortunately, I think this project will be a fad. I think it needs a lot more support in order to have the power it needs; it needs to be more than just a statement to society. The press that the doll has gotten has definitely helped and I hope this message reaches Barbie, hopefully helping them realize their dolls flaws. 

What's Your Number?

If I told my parents that I wanted to apply to 29 schools, I think they would think I was crazy. I would think I was crazy too. I have no idea how many schools I will apply to, but I'm fairly certain it will be more than 5. When my mom was applying to schools, she applied to 2 and got into both; my dad applied to 3 and got into all as well. In 1990, 9% of students applied to 7 or more colleges, however in 2011, the number has risen to 29%. This leads me to question why these numbers have increased so drastically from when my parents were applying to college, which may seem ages ago, but really was not that far in the past.

In an article I read in the New York Times about college applications, I was startled at the numbers of applications to colleges some seniors will be sending out this year. Alexa Verola, an example student from the article, applied to 29 schools already. Now, that might seem like a lot, but there are students who will double her number. Students may argue that they are looking for the best fit school for them, but are they really finding it by applying to dozens of schools?

The article claims that there are multiple factors effecting why students feel they need to apply to more than a couple of schools, but the main factor is fear. For me, this was the least surprising part of the article, because I know that I will feel the same way when applying to colleges. Colleges is something exciting, but the application process (from what I hear) is terrible. There are so many colleges to attend and so much you can do at those colleges that the choices seem overwhelming. I have friends who know exactly where they want to go, and will probably still apply to more than 5 colleges "just to be safe". For the rest of us who have no idea where we want to go, or what we want to do in college, the whole process can make you feel like a deer in headlights. I think the number of seniors in our graduating class is another contributor to student's fear. With a school as big as New Trier, student's may feel like it is almost impossible to differentiate and stand out when competing with 1,000 other student's for one spot. So is the girl who applied to 29 schools in fact crazy? What do you think?

The Pathetic Turnout for Midterm Elections

As most Americans know, last week was midterm elections. Little did most know, however, that it was the worst voter turnout in 72 years. Yes, you read that right. America had almost the same percentage of voters in 2014 as it did in 1942, which was when the country was in the middle of World War II. The country had a total voting percent of 36.3% compared to 40.9% in 2010. In a nation that prides itself in being able to vote, why did less than half of the citizens vote? 

In an article I read in the New York Times, the reason given for this incredibly low turnout are "apathy, anger and frustration at the relentlessly negative tone of the campaigns." This article argues that neither the Republicans or Democrats gave voters a real reason to vote; Republican's campaigns strictly opposed President Obama, and Democrats didn't release any plans for the future or show the effect of their changes over Obama's presidency. However, I think the greatest reason for this extremely low turnout expressed in this article is the negative ad campaigns. The intention of a negative ad campaign is to highlight weaknesses in your opponent, but the downside of these campaigns is that generally people don't like the tone of the candidate. The result? People not voting at all. I can see how this is true because I hate ad campaigns as much as the next person. It leads me to think about the candidates themselves. Why don't candidates talk about all the things that make them qualified? I know that I would like to see the candidates accomplishments, beliefs and plans for the future. Wouldn't that be better than pointing out perceived weaknesses of your opponent? 

This article lists only a few of the reasons people didn't vote at midterm elections. As a young person who is almost eligible to vote, I'm concerned with what the other reasons are. To be honest, I don't really pay attention to politics or feel knowledgable about the subject matter. I wonder if other young people feel the same way I do; do people feel disconnected to politics? From what I understand, there are two political parties: democrats and republicans. But there are also plenty of people who are in the middle of the two (the middle ground). The gap between the two sides has widened over the past couple of years, moving further and further away from a middle ground. The extremism of both sides of the political party have made it so that politicians can't work together for the common goals of the average person. This makes politicians less relatable to the real world, potentially causing less people to vote, especially those who are caught in this middle ground. I feel like this is another major reason why people didn't vote, especially for young people. What do you think is the main reason people didn't vote in the midterm elections?

Does Your Grocery List Include A Firearm?

What would you do if you walked into your local grocery store and spotted a hand gun holster on the shopper's belt loop next to you in the produce section? I know I would quickly put down whatever item I was holding and try to walk away without having her notice me. I would definitely feel unsafe, and frankly very scared. I imagine this is how most shoppers would react, which is why it is surprising to me that 31 states allow shoppers, or other citizens to carry firearms in public.

64% of shoppers in those 31 states feel the same as I do. Recently, I read an article in the Huffington Post about a poll and petition taken by the Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense In America. This group is trying to stop permitting open firearms in Kroger, a massive supermarket chain all across the country. This Wednesday, the members of the group plan to petition outside a Kroger annual investor's meeting with 300,000 signatures supporting their position. 

Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense In America is an extremely powerful group whose goal is to advocate for stronger gun laws. Impressively, the group has already convinced other major food chains like Chili's, Starbucks, Chipotle and Target to announce a no-guns policy in their stores. How do they accomplish this? By rallies and petitions, but especially through social media. Last month, the group started creating aggressive ad campaigns to promote their message, like the one shown below. 

The Moms Demand Action Kroger campaign

I think that the Mom's are bringing up a really important issue. Before I read this article, I didn't really think about the possibility that someone could be walking around with a gun in the local stores in my neighborhood. I realize that I live in "the bubble" therefore this is probably highly unlikely that I would see anyone with a gun in any of our stores, but this is still a little shocking to me. It immediately reminded me of another blog post I wrote about the number of handheld guns carried by woman. While I can understand that people may feel unsafe in public, I don't see why a gun is a necessary accessory while shopping at Kroger. Grocery stores are always crowded, no matter when or where you go, and they are filled with young children. What happens if a child gets access to your gun kept in your basket?