I am going to be blogging about something from a while ago, but it ties into what we are now doing in class. I am very interested in representation. Not just representation, but negative representation. I don't understand why the media makes certain things or people look bad, or stupid, or something they're not. I've talked about women being misrepresented in a past blog post. Right now I want to focus on dogs. You may think I am so weird.. but I love my dog. My dad told me when he was younger his father told him to stay away from Doberman Pinschers. He said they were the meanest dogs ever, and if you get near one they will attack you. My dad grew up thinking dobermans were evil. When I was young my older brother brought a pit bull home. He said the dog was being fought, and she was so sweet she needed a home. My dad said we couldn't keep her because we weren't aloud to have dogs at the house we were renting at the time. I was so upset because I never had a dog. I instantly fell in love with the breed. I was young and didn't know they were something people were afraid of. Finally years later (last year) I got my own pit bull. I hadn't realized how badly they were represented until I got one. My boyfriends mom refused to let him in their house. We had to get her warmed up to him, and now she is a huge pit bull advocate. I love teaching people about pit bulls because I know so much about them. They don't have "lock Jaws" and they aren't vicious at all. A bull dog has a stronger bite than a pit. The news will only talk about a dog attack if its a pit bull. There are thousands of dog attacks every year, and pit bulls are less then 1% of those attacks, but they are the ones that are represented as being evil, and mean. The only reason people fight pit bulls is because they are so loyal. Years ago farmers called them Nanny Dogs. They would leave their kids home alone with them knowing their loyal pit bull would take good care of them. Look I can go on and on, but I wont. I love my dog, and I hate how media misrepresents him. I do my best to teach people how sweet, loyal, and caring pits actually are. I don't want media to be the reason I have to walk my dog around with a muzzle on. In some cities pits have to be wearing a muzzle and a harness, and they are banned in some cites..all because media says they are dangerous.
Wow. I learned things that I never knew about pitbulls. Youre right, the way people view pitbulls is very demeaning. I actually like pitbulls only bc they look cool but my mom thinks they are dangerous only bc she heard about pitbull fighting. I found it surprising when you said pitbulls fight bc they are so loyal to their owners. Nice blog!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you fully. My dad adopted a pitbull one day and was so terrified of it because of how they are represented in today's media. I never seen the dog because he gave him away the week after.
ReplyDeleteAutumn, I loved this blog post! You are very passionate about Pit Bulls and I think that's awesome! I have had experience with them and they are seriously the sweetest dogs. It's crazy that people are so against them and have pre conceived thoughts about them but they don't really even know how they really are. People are so judgmental about things in society as well. It's truly sad.
ReplyDeleteI've known a lot of people who have rescued these breeds that were used for fighting and it really is sad because it isn't the dog it's the trainer. I think it's because these breeds are very loyal and protective which make them great dogs but can also cause problems. The media definitely doesn't help with the problem.
ReplyDeleteWow! I'm glad you shared with us about pit bulls! My view on pits was like most people that they are vicious dogs and they aren't meant to be let loose at all and that they serve the purpose of a guard dog only....
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