5 Year Anniversary-Double Standards

Today is the 5 year Anniversary of Chaka's World. To celebrate, I thought I'd share some thought I have about double standards. Double Standards are found in many different aspects of life. They are common in politics, but I'm going to avoid that topic. One double standard that comes to mind is how it is acceptable for girls and women to idolize and talk about how gorgeous some men are, but if a guy does the same thing about beautiful women, it doesn't seem to work out quite as well.

Let me first start with teenage girls and young women. If you see their Pinterest board or posters in their room, they will probably have tons of pictures of Zac Efron, Ryan Gosling, and Taylor Lautner and they will comment how they are such a hunk, dream boat, or some other lame name to indicate how infatuated they are with them.

Now if a teenage boy puts pictures of Selena Gomez, Brooklyn Decker, or Megan Fox up and comments about how "hot" they are, then they are often accused of objectifying women and looking at them as objects as opposed to human beings.

An extension of this double standard that really bothers me is when women with boyfriends or even married women will list as their likes on Facebook and say things like Hugh Jackman or George Clooney and rant and rave about how they are so in love with some celebrity in front of their significant other.

If a married guy were to talk about how beautiful he thinks Kate Beckinsale or Halle Barry is in front of his wife, then people will think he is an insensitive jerk or his wife will probably take offense and elbow him in the ribs. So what's up with that? Luckily my wife isn't that way. She only has me wear that Brad Pitt mask each evening when I get home because she said the kids think it's funny.

The most extreme level of this double standard is when married women like Twilight Moms totally get into teenage boys that are half their age. People might look at them and think they are a little fanatical and shake their head and laugh, but if a grown man were to act the same way over a teenage starlet, then people would be clamoring for them to be listed on the national sex offender registry.

One other area that comes to mind is how women are able to compliment other women so easily with no questions asked. I always hear women say things like "She is soooo gorgeous", " you have the most amazing eyes, hair, etc". If I were to tell a male co-worker or friend that he looked "so handsome", the eyebrows of everyone within earshot would raise and it would get really awkward.

Even though there are double standards and they don't seem fair, I'm kind of glad that some of the rules don't apply to men and women equally.

Drug Commercials

We live in a litigious society and as a result people have to protect themselves by disclosing all kinds of information. Legal disclaimers are common at the end of most commercials, especially if the product can affect your health. The drug commercials I see on TV and hear on the radio are a great example of this. The snake oil salesman had it made back in the day. He could say what ever he wanted, but today drug companies have to list every single side effect that could possibly happen.

Let's say you have heart burn and you decide to take a pharmaceutical product for it. The commercial says it may relieve your symptoms, but then it goes on to tell you that you may experience dry mouth, dizziness, diarrhea, headache, slurred speech, bloody stools, convulsions, paralysis, etc. Hey drug companies, you had me at dry mouth. I think I'll just stick with my heartburn, but thanks.

Even though drug companies have to disclose all the scary side effects, they still have ways of making their product appealing to the masses. These commercials always have smiling models in comfortable situations enjoying life. They are usually shown exercising, gardening, having a picnic, dancing with their significant other, or walking on the beach. These models either have amazingly high levels of self confidence or have no idea what the commercial is about. How can the beautiful lady look so confident and dignified. Doesn't she know she's promoting a product to help you stop pooping your pants?

I wonder if the same guy writes all these commercials since they are all so similar. "See our ad in Good Housekeeping, Ask your doctor is (blank) is right for you". These commercials also seem to have quite a budget since most of them are not your usual 30 second spots. Some of them are even several minutes long.

I have also noticed a correlation between drug commercials and attorney commercials. As part of my retirement plan I am considering having my physician prescribe every new drug know to man so when the law firm commercials start asking if I ever took (blank) I can say I did and can be part of the settlements. Maybe I should run that by Dave Ramsey first.

My top 20 Tweets

I have noticed the disturbing trend that more time is passing between my posts. I have to admit that Facebook and Twitter have drawn quite a few people's attention away from blogging, including myself. For those of you not into Twitter, I have decided to list some of the tweets I have authored over the past couple months. The only thing better than a top 10 list is a top 20 list so here you go.

1) Spent 6 hours yesterday with my first ever yard sale. Made $22.50. I will only do it again if I can get half a dozen hoarders to RSVP first.

2) I'm becoming more fitness conscious. I quit using the remote door opener and now I unlock the car by turning the key to burn more calories.

3) It bugs me when celebrities change their real name for show business. I just found out Mr. T's real name is Mr. H.

4) Muffin top: Funny how the same word can either mean something that makes you hungry, or something that makes you lose your appetite.

5) What goes around, comes around. I just had a client walk off with my pen...The one I picked up from the bank earlier today.

6) The only thing that can compare to the excitement of earning an Olympic Gold medal is when I get my LinkedIn e-mail updates.

7) Ladies, looking for a way to come across 20 years younger? Just pronounce it "LIBARY"

8) Badminton is to the Summer Olympics what curling is to the Winter Olympics.

9) I know many people who are gluten intolerant, but my dietary challenge is that I am glutton tolerant.

10) I'm pretty sure corn nuts were created by dentists as a way to insure job security.

11) I sometimes get the names Dana White and Vanna White mixed up. My friends who are into MMA and the Wheel of Fortune think I'm an idiot.

12) Chinese food, I love you too much to not tell you that everyone is talking behind your back about how lame your hard cookie dessert is.

13) I'm glad to see so many gluten intolerant friends coming out of the closet. When I was growing up, society was not as accepting of them.

14) I accidentally referred to Bruce Banner "Hulk" as David Banner. A mistake like that could have cost me my life if it happened at Comic Con.

15) Ink refills for my printer cost more than filling up my van. Big oil has nothing on big ink!

16) Dear Cap'n Crunch, Thank you for the fleshy stalactites I now have hanging from the roof of my mouth.

17) I think the name "Lady Bird Johnson" sounds like she should have been Bob Dog's sidekick on Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood.

18) Was feeling depressed & lethargic. Just realized it's probably because I bought anti-inspirant instead of antiperspirant by mistake.

19) The effectiveness of using a chainsaw is offset by the amount of time it takes to actually get it started.

20) The cheapest testosterone supplement I've been able to find is just watching the Expendables 2 trailer at the beginning of each day.

If you have a Twitter account, feel free to stay in touch at @Chaka4612. Stay tuned for my next post when I give you a summary of all of my Facebook updates that you may have missed. Just kidding.