Sex -Role Socialization

Children pick up on the concept of gender identity at an early age. This sex-role image is ingrained into our brains as early as the age of one. Michael Solomon book Consumer Behavior states that by the age of 3 most American children associate driving truck as a males job and cooking and cleaning as a woman's job. There are all sorts of little nudges that help us make this assumptions. Certain cartoons for example,like the Power Rangers, have distinctive colors distinguishing them from which ones are girls and which ones are boys. The girls wear light colors and the males suits are normally darker. Power Rangers wasn't the first to start the color scheme of which colors should be represented by boys and which should be represented by girls, but it would be pretty silly to all of us to have a pink boy power ranger.
The roles that parents have while we grow up has a huge impact on the way we distinguish between sex roles.For me, I was raised with my mom always doing the cooking and cleaning while it was my Dad's responsibility to mow the lawn and change the oil in the cars. It's funny because one time my mom was out of town and I remember getting a call from my Dad, asking me how to cook a hot dog. Really?? It was winter so he couldn't use the grill, and if you can't grill it, or buy it at McDonald's then he is completely clueless.
I also remember dividing out our weekly chores, I have a younger brother and sister and it was always me and my sister's job to clean the bathroom and vacuum and my brothers usally took our trashes and help mow the lawn. It is an interesting concept to think about because both sexes are perfectly capable of cleaning toilets and mowing lawns.

Toxicity

I recently joined a group called Just Cleanse. What we do is spread awareness of toxicity and educate people in living a healthier life style. I have been apart of this group for two months now and am getting ready to do my first event on May 13th! So exited! When I was first introduced to the idea of cleansing, my only goal was to loose  a couple pounds. Little did I know, not only would I accomplish loosing weight but the natural energy that I felt from cleansing out my body was indescribable, and all I wanted to do was share this experience with everyone! The best part is everything is completely natural.
Recently, I was sent an amazing e-mail about the power that these products have and it truly touched my heart:
Hello Everyone,

I have an update from Julie, the Cancer patient we sent shakes and want more energy to. She has stage 3 Epiglottis Cancer and it's the fourth battle with cancer for her.She has been using Isagenix for two weeks now. Two Shakes a day and Want more energy when she needs it.
Her Red Blood Cell count should be 4.2 - 5.4 Million and hers has not been above 1.9 - 2.6 in over a year now. Right now it's at 4.7 Million !!!!
Her White Blood Cell count should be 4,500 -10,000. and hers has been around 70,000 and she is now at 7,964 !!!! She usually has to get blood transfusions and gets hospitalized for a common cold. She has a cold right now and she said she feels great. Her Doctor wants more Info and he is Ecstatic about her results and wants her to do the cleanse. I absolutely LOVE ISAGENIX !!!! I am hoping to get some more support for Cancer Patients that cannot afford it. I have another person I am interested in helping. She has Thyroid Cancer and two young children. As soon as I start making more Commission, my intent is to start a group that helps Cancer patients to receive our products for free or a reduced cost that they can afford. Julie is not able to work right now due to her condition. The blessing here is that she is FIGHTING again. I know I cannot save the world but I know we can make a difference one person at a time. I feel blessed to be a part of such an amazing group of people such as you guys and I appreciate all of your support.

It just goes to show you, when you put good stuff into your body, good things are going to happen! For me I noticed an increase in energy, better sleep, I'm more focused, don't crave all the crappy foods I once had to have, and my work outs have gone to the next level.

Tip Share

A recent incident has been brought to my attention, first because my best friend works in the labor department in Helena and second it was brought to my attention because it concerns the place that I have been employed for four years. The article is about tip sharing in the restaurant industry.  Apparently it's actually illegal for management to make you share your tips with other people in the restaurant. I have mixed feelings about this; I don't mind tipping out the people who helped me at the end of the night, I mean they worked just as hard as me, so why shouldn't they get tipped out a little. On the other hand I don't agree with the fact that your tips are being garnished because other employees are getting paid minimal wage and your tips helps to even that out. It's a scandalised way to avoid paying employees that are not waiters or waitress more than minimal wage. It's funny how it's suppose to be your choice if you want to tip out or not, but if you don't, it's a known fact that you will be fired. I am more than willing to help out the people who help me but it sure does make you skeptical of the business practice when your tip outs are to even out fellow co-workers wages.

Disturbing....

raspberries
You see this beautiful looking fruit?  Personally, I love raspberries! You would never guess what your actually eating when you eat raspberry flavoring found in Jello, some ice creams and raspberry flavored drinks. Well I'm about to tell you something very disturbing... RASPBERRY FLAVORING COMES FROM A BEAVERS ANAL GLAD!! Gross, huh? I bet you will double think next time you want to add raspberry flavoring to something. It is so mind boggling how unregulated the food market is. Beavers anal glads, Really??

Understanding culture is key to consumption and i think people are becoming more and more aware of that. Last summer, when I was in Argentina, I was wondering threw a food court at he mall and I turned around the corner. There were men with little caps and women with bonnets and what were they standing in line for?
Kosher Mc D's!!
I thought this was the coolest thing! I have never seen anything like this before. It just goes to show you how culture affects consumer behavior and much you can gain if you take culture into consideration.

http://pinterest.com/

This is how I felt today. When I finally got outta bed this morning after pushing my snooze button at least 3 times, I marched up the stairs for a glass of milk before hitting the shower. It was the last of  the milk carton but it was just enough to fill my glass. I chugged down the milk and headed for the shower. After I got dressed I realized what time it was and went to call my friend to tell her to save me a seat at church, and for some reason my phone was no were to be found. I don't have a land line and I happened to be home alone so calling it to find it was out of the question. I tore apart my room throwing my blankets off the bed raced up and down the stairs checking the bathroom, kitchen laundry room, and even went out to my car even though I knew it wasn't there because my alarm clock is one my phone, so I knew I had once had it this morning. At this point church had already started and I sill had sopping wet hair and no make up on yet. I obviously was not going to church anymore so decided to just make breakfast instead. As I open the refrigerator to grab the eggs, I saw it! Darn thing was sitting in the fridge in place of the milk carton. Who puts there phone in the fridge? And why did I not think to look there!

GMO's

 The problems that GMO's (genetically Moditfied foods) are haveing on our bodies are increasing as the FDA continues to inforce putting  chemicals in our every day foods. 75% of our food we consume everyday are Genetically altered in some way, which means that our fruits and vegtables are not as good for us as we thought. If you buy an apple at costco and picked one from a tree the real apple will stay fresh for about a week tops, and the costco apple stays pretty and fresh looking for about a month!!! That's crazy! No joke either, I have seen it. Makes you wonder what exactly they are putting in those things. Ever herd of the expression, "an apple a day keeps the doctor away?" Well back in the early 1900 that might have been true but because today's foods have been so genetically moditfied you actually have to eat 26 apples to keep the doctor away!! No wonder why our obesity levels are so large, were not getting the nutrients that we need from the foods that we are getting!