Blog # 6

Miss Representation is a film that sheds a light on how media portrays women unrealistically. The film demonstrates how media has evolved beyond being just the messenger, and has also become the message itself feeding into to our society. Miss Representation shows how the message society is putting out is teaching girls that the most important thing they can do is look good, and that their appearance surpasses any other achievements. And paired with new techniques and technology, computers and other digital mediums have allow us to edit theses images on TV and advertisements to a completely unachievable standard. The women on advertisements are portrayed as perfect, and girls are comparing themselves to these figures. This self objectification has become a national problem. And to add on to that, Hollywood is constantly hypersexualizing women. All of these things send off the message that in order to gain power, they have to do it through their appearances and their sexuality. And when women do achieve a significant amount of power and position, despite these factors playing against them, they often receive a lot of backlash. Media treats power as if it is only defined by men, and this dehumanization towards females has negative effects on society as a whole. It teaches boys to think that they have to be better than women, and this causes grown men to become threatened once women reach superior positions because they feel as if women are trying to take over instead of just growing themselves. In my opinion, Miss Representation did a wonderful job of exposing these realities and also educated people who may not have been aware that these things were going on. And I hope that film will cause people to break out of this mindset and form a realistic perspective on the expectations imposed on women.

Blog Post #7 Question 3

This is for question number 3 - "Do you think people today use the mass media differently compared with how people used media 10 or 20 years ago? Whatever your position, justify it."  

Yes I do believe people today use the mass media differently compared to how it was used 10 or even 20 years ago.  Ten years ago in 2005 YouTube had just been created which launched careers for many young inspiring celebrities today such as Justin Bieber. It is also a site where people can post videos of whatever they like, music, television, and even movies, which allowed many people to start viewing from the comfort of their homes. The social media known as myspace was created in 2003 which allowed people to post photos of whatever they liked for their friends to see, and later Facebook was created which is now the largest social media site in the world.  In 1995 media was used to get information, scheduling, advertising, and educational purposes. In the past ten to twenty years it has gradually changed to an invasion of privacy.  You can not do anything without it being posted online, discussed on the internet, or tweeted about.  For example in the past few years many videos have surfaced of police officers breaking up riots or acting out of character creating controversy between race and the law.  This is especially significant in the younger generation because they have grown up with this type of mass media where they think of it as the norm.  News stations now have to compete with media sites such as twitter and Facebook because the news gets out much faster and conveniently than waiting for the six o’clock news. Misrepresentation of how women and men are shown through the mass media creating stereotypes of each group of people has a negative impact on the next generation of children.  

Blog 7

Do you think people today use the mass media differently compared with how people use media 10 or 20 years ago? Whatever your position, justify it.

I believe that people use mass media the same as they did 10 or 20 years ago. Regardless of the form the media takes the goal is always the same. Take advertisements for women’s clothing for instance. In every era the message women receive is not one of comfort or usefulness, but the idea of maintaining physical beauty for a man. Advertisements for cooking products have always been directed towards women, except for grills; they belong to the men. And while perhaps the messages may have changed over the years, the goals for corporations have stayed the same. The idea is to instill the values of the perfect man or woman.

Television shows do the same thing, though differently than advertisements. Movies and television have longer to get their message across than a thirty second commercial, so they are able to be more subtle about it. Look at a show like “Friends,” which aired from 1994-2004. In friends the women are always dressed perfectly for the year it is. Even during flashbacks Rachel is always praised for being popular and pretty, while Monica, who is heavier in weight, is not. Even Phoebe, whom they all love, is a little on the outside of it all because of her quirkiness. Though they love her and she is still as much a part of the group as any, it is clear she does not follow the same standards as the rest. From 1994- 2004 the characters changed but the messages viewers were receiving did not. I believe mass media is used the same today as is was 10 or even 20 years ago.

Blog 6 - Miss Representation

Showing an overwhelming amount of footage of women being hypersexualized is an extremely effective tool that Miss Representation uses. The documentary overloads the audience with examples of women being objectified in the media and justifies their logic with proof. I appreciated that Miss Representation didn't completely focus on devastating and lasting effects the media has on women, but the impact that it has on men as well. I feel like this is a side to the story that isn't as often explored. Aggression, demeaning personality behaviors, and extreme reactions are just a few of the effects that men can face after being bombarded with media that portrays women as objects. These are lasting media effects, and effects that over-time will only reinforce improper behavior. When the men mistreat the women they feel like it is their fault, like they are not reaching a standard that has been set, and that they are not good enough. In turn, the male feels like he is obligated to push the women to be more like the "perfect" woman, and that if he doesn't execute dominant behaviors she will leave him. Many times the media portrays the extremes of personalities and behaviors because it leads to more dramatic and enticing stories. However, audiences who have not been educated on the devastating and inaccurate portrayl of gender roles in the media may not understand that these are not based on reality. If these inaccuracies continue at such a high degree, especially in a world consumed by social media, the downward spiral of women's media appearance will continue. If more people are exposed to the truth and films like Miss Representation hopefully society can become more well-informed and make changes towards improvement.

Blog Post #6 - Missrepresentation

6. How should one define gender? Is gender natural, or is it socially constructed, and if it is socially constructed, does that mean gender is anything someone wants it to be?

In the early 20th century, this thought of blue and pink representing boys and girls never held any significance. Boys and girls used to always be dressed in pink if their eyes were more brown, where as they would be dressed blue if their eyes were more brown. From a humanistic point of view, gender is the sole dividing line between the the two reproductive subclasses of the human species, however in today's advertising hyper world, it has been used as a tool in order to help the sales of boys and girls toys/clothing. The fact that now, marketers are able to designate a blue and pink side of toy stores specifies their target audiences down by double the factor. Making "his" or "her" barbie convertibles or bigwheels only helps to further promote this separation as well as help sales for companies such as hasbro. The saddest part of this is the social effect it has on young children today. A girl that likes to wear overalls and long sleeve shirts may be made fun of at school because she "looks like a boy", or a guy may dress "like a girl".  This is exceptionally concerning when realizing that just 70 years ago a boy and a girl's dress were only separated by the color of their eyes.... It goes to show where our civilization has gone through the prostitution of product marketing. 

Blog Post #7 - Uses and Gratifications

The uses and gratifications paradigm relies on the assumption that media consumers are not just passive viewers, but that they utilize the media shown to them by certain personal uses or gratifications. That is to say that one individual may not typically be a "South Park" viewer, but perhaps South Park's cartoonish style and perverse language made them feel like a kid again, so that person watches South Park when they are overwhelmed with life's turmoil. Other examples of this could be if someone had just been broken up with and watched romantic movies as a type of solace to make them feel as though there was love in their life. There are many ways to consume media in a non-passive manner, and in honesty, almost all of us do this subconsciously. This theory then comes into direct conflict however with the theory of "Strong Media Effects" which states that the media's agenda and issue creation (through priming and framing) are what drive the viewers to watch media, and influences what is important to the viewers. However obviously, the uses and gratifications theory negates that assumption.

Miss Representation (Post #6)

I thoroughly enjoyed our class viewing of Miss Representation. Despite considering myself a passionate feminist, I hesitated to watch the documentary because I was worried it would fall into the category of "white feminism" – feminism that ignores the specific issues that women of color face. While these fears were not entirely unfounded, as the documentary primarily addressed women's issues in a monolithic sort of way, I found the film to be helpful when taken at face value. The passion displayed by those interviewed was admirable and perfectly exemplifies the ways in which women can and should actively seek out change. As someone that wants to work within the political sphere, my favorite part of the film was the portion that dissected women in politics. A fact that in the film I found particularly disturbing was the correlation between women's self esteem and their political efficacy. I never would have correlated the two, but the statistics forced me to recognize these issues. Despite enjoying the film's overall message, I took issue with the film was the introductory slideshow that showed images of "sexualized" women (mostly actresses playing characters in movies, which doesn't seem entirely fair) in skimpy clothing next to well known women leaders and influencers. Pitting women against each other in this way does nothing to move society forward, but instead further pushes them into the dualism of either being sexy and dumb or buttoned up and intelligent. There is no right way to be a woman, and we should be allowed to embody all sorts of dichotomies along this scale without the fear of being shamed by other women.

Blog post 7 - discussion topic #6

6. How should one define gender? Is gender natural, or is it socially constructed, and if it is socially constructed, does that mean gender is anything someone wants it to be?

Gender, according to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, is defined as, “the state of being male or female” but I think the definition of gender carries different weights for different people. There is not a uniform translation of gender and it meaning and there will always be the displeased individuals claiming something is not fare. Bummer for them. Some might prefer the word gender to have only a scientific meaning and to not carry any social or societal weight. These people might be referred to as feminists whose goal is to create equality among genders. If you ask me, creating this equality erases dimension from human beings as God intended. Gender does place you in society and I mean that without any negative connotations attached. I think woman hold more power than we give ourselves credit for. Sometimes woman are so busy trying to prove that they can do all the things men can do that the advantages we hold over men are forgotten. Take the “gratification of experiencing the beautiful” as an example. It is from our text, it reads, “To experience the beautiful - we give high status to beautiful music, beautiful works of art, and people who are physically attractive- in particular, beautiful women. What is beautiful is another matter, however, and definitions of beauty change over time”. So there you have it- women are far more associated with the word beauty. And beauty, of the mind or physically, is powerful. We give it high status in society and we idolize it socially. With that power comes the responsibility to carry beauty gracefully and in a way that empowers younger generations to have confidence. I’m not the anti-feminist my opinion is just more traditional; I do respect the importance of confidence for any gender. I don’t, however, want the word gender to be a neutral term. Your gender will always define you as a human.

Blog Post 6: MISter-Understanding

  After watching Miss Representation I was thankful that it also addressed the two sides of the problem with the media's portrayal of women and that it destructive messages effect both girls and boys from a young age. As a boy we are given media that is meant to embody our role society. Originally I thought the message was to be manly, strong, good at sports and physically impressive. And that has been the predominant idea of a man since my dad was young. Now that I'm older I have noticed the concept of masculinity and what is portrayed as attractive has shifted allowing men to be more open about being nerdy and being accepted. The new message to men though is the idea of sexual conquest as a reward. From music videos to television the over sexualization of women has created a situation where men are in a way conditioned to expect sex from a prospective partner and that in of itself to the purpose of it. It is a very negative outlook because it devalues women and their sexual identity as a thing that must be won and can be discarded after achieving the 'goal'. This idea also affect women as they are also condition to believe that only was to hold onto a male partner would be to offer him sex and ultimately is perpetuating the same idea. It also puts pressure on men who have not had sexual experience. They feel that they are somehow defective and are intimidated the women they do have their first experience with would mock them from their lack of said experience. The media's portrayal of women are not only causing problems for girls growing up in this media over-saturated society but also the boys who grow up not know how to reach perceived social ideals and convincing themselves that those images of women are real.  

Blog post 6

The documentary shown in class “Miss Representation” depicts multiple examples of how women are portrayed in modern media such as pop culture, politics, and even television shows.  The documentary explained how many young adults learn so much from the media and what they see. Our society today uses multiple formats of media including television, Facebook, video games.  Most images of women in media are showing them as sex appeal, not being smart enough, or if smart not sexy and thats bad to be.  The documentary discussed how media in the United States is mainly shown from a male perspective.  Making an ideal image of what the perfect woman should be, and in doing that creating many psychological problems for young adult woman throughout the country.  Sixty-five percent of women and girls have an eating disorder.  It also explained how woman are seen in status of power, such as politics.  The average stereotype of a person in the government is male, married, has a college degree, ect.  so woman right from the beginning have a disadvantage. Another thing I found interesting was the difference between female actors and male actors.  In many movie roles woman typically get a main role in a film featuring a drama or the sort to speak “chick flick”.  Where as men get a role thats usually action packed, with fighting, and death, and saving the helpless woman character.  And films that feature a female lead in an action film usually still have the stereotypes of helplessness.  The media wants us to believe what they show on tv, the internet or any other format to be true.  When the reality is everyone is different in their own unique way, traits that would be seen in a woman may be seen in a man and vice versa.  The blend of gender roles have been intertwined for many years now and it will only continue to become more equal.  

Blog #7 - Question 4

What are the advantages and disadvantages of content analysis?

There are great arguments for both sides (those that think content analysis enhances your experience and those that think it inhibits your experience) so at the end of the day it comes down to your own preference and why you watch and observe media. 

Advantages:

Content analysis looks at the underlying messages that an artifact is trying to convey. It can speak to a larger message that you might not get by simply watching. Often it comments on the nature of society which allows the viewer to learn more about their own environment. They can bring to light social issues or injustices that need to be addressed that you might not have been aware of. It allows you to understand the characters of the shows you watch. Content analysis allows you to view intricate details of an artifact that you wouldn't have necessarily noticed during a casual watching

Disadvantages:

When looking behind the curtain, you can often times ruin the "magic" of an artifact. It's similar to understanding how a movie is filmed, and then trying to watch a movie without wondering how they decided to film each scene. You stop being fully invested in the artifact itself, but instead a part of your brain is constantly analyzing the show for the deeper messages and meanings. You can feel disconnected at times, Often times we watch media to distract us from reality, to give us a break. Content analysis can keep you grounded in reality, even when you don't want to be. 

Blog #6 - Miss Representation

Personally I think that the video does an excellent job in sending its message that women are not represented as well as they should be in the workplace. However, personally there were a number of things within the video that prohibited me from being as empathetic as I wanted to be. First, one of the biggest issues the women had is how female bodies are objectified throughout the media; they are always dressed provocatively and put in heated situations to stimulate men to attract them to watch. With all this said, the video itself starts off using collages of all these examples. It feels almost hypocritical in a way, because the hook they used in their media piece is exactly what they are saying is the issue with media. Next they bring up the issue of women always having to made up in make up, and that nothing on TV was realistic. Every single one of the interviewers had their makeup and hair done perfectly for this video. Finally, this video is about occupational disadvantages that women face, and yet all the women who were interviewed were women who were directors,founders, and other highly successful positions within their fields. The most influential part of the video for me was when they talked about the girls in third world countries who had almost no chance at occupational success in their preferred fields. Many aspects of the video itself contradicted many of the topics and issues brought up within the video, which makes it more difficult to feel motivated to make a change. The video hurt itself.

Blog #5

Psychoanalytic theory applied to media is essentially analyzing characters using two separate templates: archetypes and defense mechanisms. The archetypes more wholly define of a character, while any of the defense mechanisms can be found within any of the archetypes. These archetypes have been defined by Freud and are called the id, ego, and superego. While each character has each of these as a part of their personality, usually one archetype is most dominant in each person.

The id is chiefly concerned with pleasure. It seeks to find immediate gratification in all areas and doesn’t worry about how it might affect the greater social structure. It is the definition of selfish.

The superego desires to meet a higher morality, and wants to see the others in society meet the same standards. It encourages and praises others, and hopes to see them do the right thing.

The ego falls somewhere in between these two. It is a peace-maker, finding a balance between what is good for itself, as well as what will maintain a healthy society. It is the balance.

Each of the defense mechanisms are more specific personality traits that usually arise out of a character’s past experiences. They are used to protect their own emotional sanity from their perceived threats from society, hence the name. The point of psychoanalytics is to recognize these mechanisms, and discover how they came about. Freud has this iceberg theory, where the things we see and understand about ourselves and others (consciously) are merely a reflection of the subconscious reality, and we have to try and analyze what is going on within.

Blog Post #7

What it is meant by uses and gratifications? Which uses and gratifications do you think are the most important for people nowadays?

Uses and gratifications refers to the reasons people watch television shows or any media artifact. It explores and gives different motifs of why people spend valuable time of their lives sitting in front of a TV watching any type of program. This theory explains why TV shows, such as The Kardashians or Ladies of London, that are considered bad when analyzed by content or as a cinematographic piece, survive in a very competitive industry. I believe that, nowadays, the most important uses of media for people are: To be amused, to see others make mistakes, and to explore taboo subjects with impunity and without risks. Let’s explore this reasoning further...

To be amused. I believe amusement is the most basic use any human gives to media artifacts. We are always looking for ways to have fun and relax. We live in a globalized world where, in order to succeed, you need to work long hours and live in a stressful work environment.  Therefore, media exists as an outlet to escape the “real” world and enjoy a show that was created to entertain us.
To see others make mistakes. I believe that seeing others making mistakes is a very common gratification for users, this has become more prominent nowadays with the creation of reality TV. These programs are being created to show us “real life” people (upper-class elite most of the time) struggling in their daily lives more than the average "normal" person would. This makes the audience feel better about their own lives as well as mistakes.
To explore taboo subjects with impunity and without risks. This is a large part of media use since
the beginning of mass media. Like the saying goes,“SEX SELLS”, it truly does. Humans are always looking to explore the unknown and the forbidden. Media artifacts provide a safe environment where we can explore subjects and experiences that are not possible in our daily lives. This is a well exploited segment of the media and it can be seen across multiple media platforms, like daily news shows, movies, TV shows, books, etc.

Blog Post #7

3. Do you think people today use the mass media differently compared with how people used media 10 or 20 years ago.


My answer to this question would have to be no. Mass media has been used to entertain, educate, and persuade the public.

If we go back to what we discussed in the Marxism blog post, the media is used to promote some type of lifestyle and/or some type of culture. Media has helped shaped society through the years by advertisements and popular tv shows. Even though the question specifically asks about 20 years ago, you can go back as far as the 50s to see that media has always promoted a certain ideology. I Love Lucy was a show about a goofy housewife, whose life revolved around making her husband happy (as were a lot of sitcoms back in those days).

Media also knows how to be gender specific. Women are pressured to look a certain way because that is what will "attract" men. Men are pressured to act a certain way towards women because not doing so would be damaging to their masculinity.

Mass media has always been tailored to promote the interests of the big conglomerates in this world in order to make money. Media has always been driven by some ideology until some comes to "revolutionize" pop culture, only to create a new normal.

So no, people did not use mass media differently in the past because the purpose behind it is still the same. The only thing that has changed would be the new innovations of technology and the invention of streaming services and social media to help spread that ideology further.

Blog Post #3

The biggest thing I've learned about media in this class is that most content is created to serve a certain ideology. To go even further I realized that media helps shape modern culture and helps viewers come to terms what is "normal" in this new era of society.

Show writers have this unique opportunity to help redefine what the world sees as acceptable. Shonda Rhimes has constantly pushed the boundaries with her revolutionary shows. Her shows have showcased everything from inter-racial relationships to LGBT relationships to women and people-of-color in power. These ideas used to be ignored by the popular media for a very long time until Rhimes decided to put them on display on prime time TV. Rhimes also "makes fun" of the typical character that is used in shows (e.g. white male coming from an upper-middle class background). She makes this character look weak or sometimes gives them a less significant role in the show. By doing this, Rhimes has given a voice to a huge portion of society that has been ignored for the past two decades by pop culture.

Another show that has redefined societal norms is Modern Family. In the past, a "normal" family consisted of a mom, a dad, two kids, and maybe a pet of some kind. In Modern Family, we see that traditional family along side the "modern" family (i.e. two dads with their adopted daughter) and a family that is made out of an interracial relationship.

These two shows are showing viewers around the country that the traditional story line of TV shows have become a thing in the past. By doing so, the media has helped shaped a new tradition and helped society evolve into something more inclusive.

Blog Post 7 Question no. 3

Media and how we utilize it will always evolve alongside with the latest technology as long as humanity is around. I remember when I was young it took nearly a year for a movie to appear at the video store on vhs. Now video stores are all but extinct when you have red box at a corner or Netflix on your computer. Also that it takes less than five months for a movie to now appear on dvd, blu ray, and other media to be enjoy on home usage. What changed all of this was the true evolution of digital technologies through computer coding that has replaced tape and vinyl. Even devices such as iPods  now seemed to be outdated by the ever evolving iPhones and android phones. Ten uears ago phones were not yet at the stage of even texting now thats is as common as cell phones go. As for news at my work we still sell newspapers but nowhere near as much when I was young and it looks relegated to the older generation only doing so. By phone, laptop, or tablet; one can pick up what is happening around the globe free of charge. Only scifi shows and television were able to show this trend such as star trek albeit set in rhec24th century minus warp speed which may take centuries hopefully if we get it. So on regards to question 3 yes media has changed on the past 10 to 20 years and media back then foresaw the change. What we do with it now will impact the next ten to twenty years through an evolutionary process that it will proceed to take us.

Blog Post #1

I think this ad is great for a semiotic analysis because of all the different symbols and meanings that can be found in what looks like a simple gum advertisement.

What first attracted me to this ad were the bright lightbulbs in the center of the picture. The photographer purposefully placed these bulbs on a black background to make it appear like a glow was coming off of the image. After looking at the lightbulbs for a few seconds, I realized that the bulbs were in the shape of a smile.

When I first realized that they were in that shape, it made me think of the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland. In the original animated feature, the Cheshire Cat would disappear leaving a glimpse of his infamous, teeth-bearing grin behind. Having this thought in my head allowed me to fully see the idea of a human smile.

After analyzing the smile I looked further down the page to see the tagline "for bright, white teeth." I realized that the photo editor kept the letters white and put the same glow effect on the text to help it match the graphic above. Right next to the tagline is a picture of the product, Orbit Gum. The product also has the same glow effect as the tagline and the graphic of the "lightbulb smile."

Even though this ad is very simple, the message comes across loud and clear. If you buy Orbit Gum you're smile will be as bright as a bunch of luminescent bulbs. You will have the brightest smile around and it can easily be achieved by chewing the right gum.

This ad works because of its simplicity. Audiences today respond strongly to simple content that is still aesthetically appealing. This ad has the simplicity the audience loves but enough interest to engage the reader.

Blog Post 7- A Shift in Mass Media

Do you think people today use the mass media differently compared with how people used media 10 or 20 years ago? Whatever your position, justify it.
Media today is incredibly different that media in the 90s, with the invention and popularization of the internet there has been a shift in who holds the power to disseminate information. In 1995 most media consumption was still accessed through television, radio, and print media. This meant that the power to control the flow of information accessible to the public was in the hands of companies and groups, which greatly narrows the point of view being shared, and what was shared was held to strict guidelines. With the revolutionary change that the internet and the creation of social media and large media sharing sites like Youtube and Netflix, there is a much greater ability to show a variety of interests and perspectives. People today have much more access to things that fit their own unique interests than they have ever had in the past. Niche markets that would never be targeted with traditional media because of the small fan base can be satisfied over the internet by shows from internet distributers which can use things like crowdfunding to avoid the need for large audience to draw advertisers to fund the show. Not only does this allow viewers to create direct input to the shows that they actually want to see using these methods almost anyone can create their own content that they will then be able to share with as many people as are interested in the same topic.

Blog Post 6- Miss Representation

The documentary Miss Representation gives viewers a comprehensive look of some of the most pressing gender issues present in today’s society. It begins with the host, explaining how this issue came to be of vital importance to her at the birth of her daughter. This creates a more personal view for the audience who can likely relate to seeing a young girl close to them grow up in this world. The video also uses dozens of compiled media in montages of footage that demonstrates the hyper-sexualization of women in mass media. This quick succession of clips not only works to reveal just how massive the amount of such content exists but in a way it also works to catch the attention of the audience before explaining why this is problematic to the audiences who these techniques are often targeted towards.  
To me this is a very important issue because I believe treating any marginalized group as somehow having less worth than whoever happens to currently hold the power creates a great rift in modern society and prevents any possibility of cultural advancement. I very much believe that a future is possible where we can celebrate our individual differences of things like gender, race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation without resorting to judging and degrading anyone who is dissimilar. I also think there is a trend in media that (while still small and not perfect) supports this. Though still rare in the grand scheme of things, more popular media is being created by people who don’t fit Hollywood typical mold of the middle aged white male. As a result of things like this documentary there is also more of a focus on more empowering messages towards women.