you fight like a girl

     In a world where fighting is seen as masculine how well of a fit are women in the UFC?  This was the question most people were asking when UFC owner Dana White announced the addition of a new women's bantamweight division.  Dana White eliminated all sense of doubt in the women fighters when he went as far naming two frontrunners in the division, Miesha Tate and Ronda Rousey as Coaches on the company's reality TV show "The Ultimate Fighter"

where the two women coached teams of both women and male fighters.
As far as the questions of masculinity in women's fighting the show seems to address this in the coach selection as Ronda Rousey has a very serious demeanor and is visually seen as less feminine on the show usually wearing dark colors, little to no make up and a scowl.
Rousey also acts in a much more aggressive way which is also seen as a masculine trait.

















On the contrary Miesha Tate was always seen in bright colors and dressing more feminine and has a bright positive personality.

The strongest statement the show had to make to gain acceptance of women fighting addresses the lack of entertainment because they would "fight like a girl" but the show needed to do little as the women fighters brought some of the best fights in show history with all the blood a gore associated with any entertaining UFC to date.

The Middle East is hotter than normal

The normally conservative Middle Eastern country Lebanon makes headlines this week in light of the Sochi Olympics when topless photos of one the skiers, Jackie Chamoun surfaced.  While the skier did willing take this picture for a calendar, some behind the scenes video surfaced that seemed to be a bit more X-rated.http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2014/02/topless-images-of-olympic-skier-a-scandal-in-lebanon/

While this kind of "problem" may be well known and even embraced in the United States as seen in popular stars such as Miley Cyrus' newest photo shoot, it is very new and struck major cultural cords in the Middle East.


Charmoun of course took immediate action to issue a public apology for what had happened stating
 "Anyways, I want to apologize to all of you, I know that Lebanon is a conservative country and this is not the image that reflects our culture." 
Despite all the negative this particular incident has sparked great outcry and support from Middle Eastern women starting the trend #stripforjackie as highlighted by sky news http://news.sky.com/story/1210599/topless-images-of-lebanese-skier-spark-row
This story Highlights massive cultural variations across the world that the most Americans choose to ignore as I am sure no one is holding their breath for Miley Cyrus to issue anything close to an apology for the same actions made as the skier, even if hers may have been a bit more deliberate.  This conflict shows that standards for things such as beauty are changing everlastingly and tie directly into media as Miley Cyrus' actions are deemed to be "Artsy" and the skier is made to look like the fool.

george zimmerman vs DMX. Right or wrong?

http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/05/showbiz/zimmerman-dmx-boxing-match/

          George Zimmerman has made headlines for many things ever since an altercation he had with Trayvon Martin that left the teen dead.  But even after the final verdict that declared Zimmerman not guilty, the Florida resident finds yet another way to get his name into the headlines with a "Celebrity" boxing match.  A major problem I see with this is how can anyone deem George Zimmerman a celebrity?  While yes, George Zimmerman is a well known name in America I feel as though there is too much of a positive connotation to the word "Celebrity" to ever use it in the same sentence as a man only publicly known for taking a teens life.  The only thing there is too gain here for anyone is money.  No matter the outcome of this fight Trayvon Martin is still dead.
           Some people want to see this fight to see Zimmerman "get what he deserves" but who is to say he actually will?  The proposed opponent, DMX is a forty three year old recovering crack addict, what happens if Zimmerman doesn't "get what he deserves" like most of you hope.  After all he is 13 years the younger. Its sad that Today in America people are profiting off a fight between a crack head and a murderer just because they associate it with a diluted definition of Justice.  There will be no justice involved in this boxing match, because giving attention to people who don't deserve it is an injustice the media has been doing the people of America for years.
            What does this teach the younger generation of boys of all races in America about being a man?  When they see a man who's name was made known by a crime get to participate in a high profile event such as a "celebrity" boxing match.  We are taught that attention is an important determination of success so why is the American media giving a non deserving man all the attention these young boy crave.  We complain when they act astray but we have to ask what kind of example do we as a country set for them?