Living on My Own

Well after months and months of looking for a place to live other than my parent’s house I am living on my own. I moved everything in last Saturday and I love my new place! Decorating was my favorite part of moving, but I still am not done. I have been living on my own now for a week and I already have some advice for other young people wanting to move out. Number one it is EXPENSIVE! There are so many things you take for granted when you live with your parents, like toilet paper, cleaning supplies, and other random things. Food is so expensive especially when I prefer healthy food over junk food. My first grocery bill was almost two hundred dollars! Number two you are always busy. Now I know why my mom would complain about dinner, laundry, and a dirty house because there is always something that needs to be done. I have never been this tired; forty hours a week of work, school three says a week, and household duties leave little time for sleep. I like for things to be neat, clean, and organized so when something is messy I cannot just leave it alone so picking up some clothes can turn into an hour of scrubbing floors because I saw they needed done. Number three don’t take TV for granted. With the grocery bill, utilities bill, and rent on top of other expenses like gas there is not a whole lot of money left over so we have decided to wait on getting cable. Thank God we have a ton of movies because that is the only thing we can watch. I realize now in just a week how many things I took for granted living with my parents and how hard it is to have nice things. For everyone wanting to get out of their parents’ house as soon as they can here is some advice really think about the costs involved with living on your own because you will be on a tight budget, appreciate your parents, and learn how to cook because it is way cheaper to cook meals than buy frozen dinners or go out to eat. 

Social Lubricant: How a Marketing Campaign Became the Catalyst for a Social Debate

The article I read for this week was called “Social Lubricant: How a Marketing Campaign Became the Catalyst for a Social Debate” by Rob Walker. The article was about Dove body cleanser’s new advertising tactic. Dove is using what they call “real” women for their ads. The Dove girls featured on many billboards are not the traditional super thin models pictured on most beauty products. Dove is using these real women as a marketing tactic, but instead of just selling more lotions they have sparked a controversial issue of what is beauty in our society. Many beauty ads feature women that are super thin and flawless, but how many women look like that? This is the problem; beauty standards are unrealistic. The article expresses that many women need to hear this that it is ok to not be perfect because a thin perfect body is not the only way to still be beautiful. I completely agree with the author on this issue. Rarely do I see curvy women with dimples, freckles, and other imperfections in beauty ads. Do companies think that if they put real women in ads they won’t sell their products because the women are ugly? That is crazy. I believe that beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. As long a woman is confident in her own skin I do not see why society should put her down for her looks when she loves who she is. Beauty is real so why shouldn’t real women be featured in beauty ads, instead of fake breasts, liposuction thighs, and airbrushed faces?