Brian+S.

I looked over at the flashing clock. “8:00” was blinking, flooding the whole room with light every other second. I plopped down on my bed, opened a bag of chips, and flipped the channel to channel five. No theme song, it just cuts to the chase. I see the recap of events, and I sometimes think to myself, “Why can’t I talk to my friends about this?” I watch Glee virtually every Tuesday, and I enjoy it to the fullest. I’ve always known that Glee is a show meant for girls, but I’ve never really cared. The show has gone on for two seasons, and I know almost everything about it! When I go on the Glee Facebook page, and look at the list of fans, there’s about one guy for every fifty girls. My theory is that males just think it’s about romance and drama, but it’s really about a lot of things that happen in high school, just exaggerated! Especially when I watch the advertisements for this show, they’re usually extremely pink. Whether it’s pink around the edges, or the characters wearing a pink shirt, it’s all over the place. The ads also have a sense of peppiness, which is connected to cheerleading, which is a woman’s sport. Just by watching the ads, any person can tell that Glee is a show that’s meant for girls. My brother sat on the other side of the table, staring at the screen as I flipped the channel over and over, until I got to channel 5. “What are you doing?” I ignored him. He continued to stare at the screen, until five minutes later, he swooped in, took the controller from my grasp, and quickly changed the channel. “What’d you do that for?” I asked with obvious annoyance. “Because that show is stupid.” When I asked my Dad what he used to watch, it was the usual answer, which consisted of Popeye and cartoonishly violent shows. When my brother walks into the kitchen and sees me watching Glee, all he says is “gay.” It’s as simple as that for most guys, as we have a “set list” of shows we watch, which is usually made up of shows like Family Guy and Survivor. I do watch those shows, but there’s another whole dimension of shows out there, so why not give them all a go? This question caused my Dad to hesitate, as he retaliated with saying that he just didn’t have enough time. I didn’t have any reason to believe this, as he hardly did his homework, but I decided to ask my brother the same question, especially since he only watches Pokemon and Teen Titans. He said that shows like Glee and Degrassi will make people laugh at him. This triggered a scene in my head, of when Mr. Conley asked which boys watched Glee, only one raised his hand, and it was a joke. I was extremely hesitant to raise my hand, and I didn’t, because I knew that people would laugh if they thought I was serious. But why would they laugh? I love this show. The exaggeration and preposterousness of the events make me laugh. No opinion is wrong, yet I don’t know why a lot of people don’t go outside of their set of shows and try out new things. When I watch tv in my living room, if I even touch the controller while Glee is on, my brother will wrestle to get it out of my hands, and I can tell he tries pretty hard, considering he gets it and changes it to a more “manly” show, like Family Guy. I know how people react to these kinds of events physically and emotionally, but I wish I knew why. My Dad and brother refused to answer any more questions, as they were busy. But I went to a couple of friends and asked them what they thought. A majority of the boys said that it was because they were never in the mood, and a majority of girls said that they //did// watch it because they were “always in the mood for singing and happiness.”

I like the fact that you put the part about how during class you didn't raise your hand even though you do watch Glee. ~ Maddie D.

First thing to do is expand--try describing in a full paragraph an episode, or a typical scene--make your readers see it. 2nd-- you've got to get into the why you can't talk about this--mrC

I like how you added experiences from class and how you added what other people watch instead of Glee. - Jackie B.

Describe why you like the show and possibly ask your brother why he doesn't. - Jen

I would look into how the show is advertised, and see if it is made to be more reactive to girls or boys. I would possibly connect this to other shows that are thought to be "girl shows" and see if you understand why it seems to be a "girl show". UPDATE: ** I'd say "I know that Glee is thought of as a show for girls..." **.When you say ** that you can't talk about ** thing in the show, are you serious, are you exaggerating, or do they exaggerate situations that you can't talk about in real life because they aren't as intense in real life. C** hange "women's sport" to "aimed towards girls" **. ** "only one" what raised their hand? ** Are you talking about you being the only boy to raise their hand? Preposterousness **seems too bulky**. Sorry about the lack of continuity in text size and color. -Matt Solnick

Try to add anecdotes from your friends and why they don't like the show/do like the show. ~ Maddie D.

Try to add quotes or anecdotes about why people think boys can;t watch or like the show. Like little mini interviews. - Jackie B.