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[itscernest]

Feminism is Rad(ical)

Reading my "Am I a Feminist?" essay from the beginning of the semester, I have to say that while I gave it my best shot, I had a fraction of the knowledge about feminism that I do now. The main difference between my essay and my thoughts now is the level of information that I knew. This semester, I have gained insight into the many aspects of feminism.

One of the ways I defined feminism was as "the set of ideals, goals, and standards that women wish to achieve." Rereading that statement, I pause when I think about how I wrote that "women" want these accomplishments. However, one of the many major lessons that I have taken away from this semester is that men can be feminists too. Although men and women are often pitted against each other in the media, I am aware that all genders can promote the equality of women.

I also said that "I look forward to experiencing the evolution and changes that will happen to feminism in the future." I would most definitely change this statement today. I see this statement as a passive one, and I would like to take a more active approach to feminism. While I do look forward to feminism in the future, I would also like to personally ensure that women’s equality is achieved. I feel much more educated about the topic of feminism, and I feel confident in saying that I am an activist for women and girls.

[itscernest]

Who’s behind the screen?

Online communication includes a wide range of mediums, from social media platforms to online dating sites. However, as society becomes ever more enveloped by online interaction, people are provided with opportunities to say things with little or no consequences. Because technology has allowed faster and more convenient ways of communication, the internet has turned into a mecca for online interaction in the dating world.

This video presents a child predator social experiment, where young boys are the prey. In the video, the boys are lured to the house or car of fictional “Amanda,” where they find their disappointed and infuriated parents, instead of the girl that they had supposedly been chatting with for weeks. Predators use gender as a means to attract and capture their victims, virtually making themselves into whomever they want.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4sHoDW8QU4

This is a prime example of how people use the internet to assert aggressive and irrational behavior. Behind the screen, women and men are free to post their opinions, regardless of whether or not anyone else cares. They are also free to create fake profiles, regardless of their intentions. While the internet has proved to be a significant tool for communication, it also provides an outlet for predators and sex offenders to attract all ages of women and men.

I think that teenagers in today’s technology driven world are utilizing this form of communication simply because they have grown up with it. According to the National Sex Offender Public Website, “Approximately 1 in 7 (13%) youth Internet users received unwanted sexual solicitations.”

I think that most people can agree that online communication has made contacting people and keeping in touch easier, but as seen in this video, both boys and girls are subject to unintentional communication with predators.

Do you think that the internet helps or hurts the free expression of people’s thoughts and opinions?

How do you think online communication affects kids’ communication in real life?

[itscernest]

Broad City, Broad Representations

Broad City, a show originally created as a web series, is currently a popular TV show on Comedy Central. The stars(and creators!) of the show are Abbi and Ilana, two young, adventurous, and nearly broke girls living in New York City. This show rocks for several reasons, and I definitely think that it should be viewed by the UT community because of its realistic and open discussion of sexuality.

Not only does it provide an exceptional example of female friendship and love, while most media pits women against each other, it also discusses sexuality in positive ways that are uncommon to standard television. Broad City provides realistic conversations about sex without portraying it solely as a step in the direction of dating or marriage. Abbi and Ilana display obvious interests in having a good time, enjoying others, and enjoying themselves. They promote positive sex concepts because they are shown having consensual sex, and promote sex from a woman’s point of view that isn’t motivated by marriage.

In this show, sexuality is openly expressed, and communication is encouraged between partners. The show is also a positive example of gender representations because it has characters that represent a broad range of sexualities, genders, and ethnicities, and blends them all together to create a marvelous product.

Additionally, this show passes the Bechdel-Wallace test in nearly every scene. Another reason why I love this show so much is because Abbi and Ilana tell it how it is.

I think that the UT community would benefit from this show because it is enlightening, energetic, and entertaining. It represents sexuality as more than the narrow generalization that society has provided.

[itscernest]

Bridget Jones’s Diary about Gender Representation

My most recently watched movie just happens to be Bridget Jones’s Diary, which is a movie consisting of a young woman who decides to stop throwing herself a pity party over her lack of a love life, only to soon find herself torn between two very charming men. She is an adventurous woman who tries to take control of her life, starting with writing in a diary. However, most of the time Bridget finds herself in utterly embarrassing scenarios, ones that normally include men, alcohol, or unplanned speeches. The movie is unfolded from Bridget’s perspective, and the audience is made aware of her thoughts and feelings through these diary entries.

While this quite popular movie does present a romantic found in most “chick flicks,” the movie’s main character, Bridget Jones, also appears to be a strong, witty, and opinionated woman who does not care what others think of her. She is not afraid to say exactly what she is thinking, even if sometimes what she’s thinking lands her in some trouble.

I think that this movie does a great job at a gender portrayal of women because it presents a relatable woman who isn’t defined by the presence of men, but at the same time she can credit the men in this movie for adding some color to her life. Although this movie is not a total modification of the usual characters found in this genre, I do think that the gender presentation of Bridget Jones is positive as well as entertaining.

[itscernest]

My Media Addiction Depiction

While I’d like to think that my identity is defined by who I am as a person, my strengths and weaknesses, my passions, and my goals, my identity according to others derives from social media. I strongly believe that everyone has a great life on social media, because the way that people present themselves on social media is virtually perfect.

I see the media as a perfect world, where everyone lives their ideal lifestyles, and the media convinces me to strive to live in this impossibly perfect world, too. My undesirable relationship to media is influenced by society, because I constantly feel as if I have to keep up with today’s changing technology and lifestyle trends. Like many other individuals in today’s society, I hate to say, I am addicted to my phone, computer, and all of the other glorious things that come with these gadgets, like media for instance. I believe that I am fully aware of the media’s effects on human perspectives, but at the same time I am one of the millions of people who give in to the skewed perspectives of reality that the media places upon us. I am an active user of social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, I watch all types of reality television, and I will admit to occasionally reading gossip magazines, and loving them. I see advertisements continuously flashed before my eyes, usually without me even realizing it.

I am an active contributor and recipient of our media culture, and I know that media has a major impact on my identity. The media helps me define who I am, or at least who I think I should be, and the media helps others define who I am, or at least who I want them to think I am.

[itscernest]

“Man Up” Needs to Stand Down

This YouTube video is a written word poetry piece performed by Guante. He lists ten reposes to the common phrase “man up,” which is typically associated with being tougher, stronger, or more of a “man.” Guante displays a raw and powerful message about gender stereotypes that men are expected to uphold. The phrase implies that “competence and perseverance are uniquely masculine traits,” and he asks the audience to notice how no one ever says “woman up” when they want someone to be tougher. While young boys hear “man up” or “be a man” starting at very young ages, we have to wonder, what or who actually defines what a man is? With a culturally constructed idea of masculinity in mind, boys take the term “man up” as a message for them to be less of who they are, and more of the gender ideal that is presented to them through mass media. These two words hold so much power in male minds, and they can lead to damaging consequences to their individualism and self expression.

The implication with his message for society is to stop letting gender stereotypes define whether or not we are genuinely men or women. There should be no checklist of what actually makes up a man. Men are subjected to gender discrimination because they are essentially raised to believe that to “be a man” they must meet and maintain certain qualifications. In the media, males are given a very narrow concept of masculinity, and are provoked with hyper masculine idioms like “man up.”

Do you think society’s view of men in today’s culture is a positive or negative view? What do you think would be good ways to promote healthy masculinity?

[itscernest]

Blog 2- Personal Reflections and Media Misconceptions

Going to an all girls high school, there was a lot of focus on feminism and female empowerment. We read books that featured strong female leads, and studied powerful women from history and in today’s society. Despite being basically spoon fed positive feminist ideas, we still clung to the media for our complete understanding of gender. We allowed social media stars, pop stars, and television stars to tell us what we should be like. Specifically, I remember reading articles from Cosmopolitan and Seventeen magazines with my friends about tips on how to be sexy and attractive with the perfect hair and perfect bodies, which was all that mattered to us at seventeen years old.

I think one of the most negative messages that the media taught us in high school was to start comparing ourselves to others. We stopped encouraging each other and applauding each other’s accomplishments, and we started to develop extreme envy of other girl’s grades, looks, athletic skills, and even boyfriends. The media put a seed into our heads that we needed to be better than everyone else. They provided us with specific standards and expectations of how we should behave, and if we didn’t meet those standards, then we weren’t really “women.” Images that had the most impact on me were the images that I encountered through watching female artists’ music videos. Singers such as Nicki Minaj and Miley Cyrus had very provocative music videos. Watching those types of videos had an impact on me because they led me to think that since I liked their music, I should behave like they do. These images impacted the way we dressed and acted in public, because we allowed the media to convince us to care way too much about what others thought.

[itscernest]

What are representations of gender in media?

#7 What are some ways in which the media shows that “women don’t count for much?” (GMR Tuchman, 44)

In advertisements, women are just used as props to sell a specific good, and there is no value placed upon them other than eye candy. In media, women’s values are based on their looks, and they are viewed as a status symbol, usually to be attained by another man. This idea is used in mainstream movies when the nerd has to win the girl to become popular. In media interviews, the majority of questions asked to women are surface questions regarding their looks, diet, or childcare, which diminishes the value of their accomplishments and their intellect. Diminishing women’s accomplishments by reflecting on superficial matters appears on many media platforms, including politics and news castings. Women are consistently undervalued in the media through snide remarks as well as narrow portrayals that ignore their intelligence and substance.

Catherine Ernest

Liza Martin

Perry Baines

[itscernest]

Miss Representation in Our Nation

“There’s probably no more powerful influence in the way we view power than the way media treats power, and media treats power as defined by men.” In this quote from Pat Mitchell, President and CEO of Paley Center for Media, she states that we view power based on the media’s view of power, and that that view is determined by men. This quote accurately depicts what it is like in present day media. Most everything that we see and hear through the media is designed, produced, and starring men. While women in power in the media are criticized and condemned for their outfit choices or their hairstyles, men are praised for intellectual ability, whether they have it or not. The media’s representation of gender identity and power leads audiences to believe that women, even women in power, are not valued for their intellectual abilities or their wisdom. This issue needs to change, because I want young girls to aspire to be great and powerful women one day, without worrying about what the men in the media might say about them. If the media cannot respect the women who lead us, what does that say about the value placed upon the rest of the women in America? “We need media literacy as much, I think, as we need to learn to read.” This quote comes from Jennifer Pozner, who is the Executive Director of Women in Media & News. She makes this statement because of the lack of knowledge about media in America. We need to teach girls and boys, at young ages, about the truth in media. The truth is that what is portrayed should not be the standard for what is accepted. We should not categorize women as bitchy, catty, and as sexual objects, just because that is how they are depicted in the media. She states that we need media literacy just as much as we need to read, which emphasizes how important understanding the media and recognizing it’s power, as well as its deception, is.