Media Blog

In watching the documentary "MissRepresentation," I was especially impacted by the idea that many  women have begun to objectify themselves. Self-objectification occurs when a one sees oneself as an object and believes that one's looks are his or her most valuable asset. I believe that the reason women have begun to see themselves this way is the result of the version of women that the media perpetuates in our society. Over the years, women have been constantly objectified in the media, leading more and more women and young girls to incorrectly learn that they are most valuable for their looks and their sexuality. Our society as a whole has extremely unrealistic expectations of women. Oftentimes for a woman to be recognized for her accomplishments, she must first be perceived as beautiful or sexy. But usually once a woman is seen as attractive, she will be molded into a sex object by the media. Almost all forms of mainstream media only portray beautiful women or criti...

The film MissRepresentation discusses the roles of women in our modern-day American society, revealing the progress that still must be made until women are given the same value and opportunities as men. One portion of the documentary focused on the fact that female politicians are often represented by the media as less then men in some way. Instead of using full titles for women politicians, such as Senator or Mayor, a journalist may write "Miss." Dropping  a woman's title for "Miss" makes her seem less powerful. It is a sly way for media that claims to be unbiased to convey the message that women are inferior and should not be taken seriously. Other words can be used to convey the same idea. An article might say that a man "stated" his point while a woman "complained."The use of the word complained makes the woman seem more emotional than the man, and therefore less worthy of a high power job in government. Sneaky cues in media such as this ...

In the Frontline episode, "Merchants of Cool," I was introduced to the concept of the "Midriff". This character is a prematurely adult woman portrayed in the media. She is a sexual object and proud of it. A "Midriff" promotes the idea that a woman's greatest asset is her body and that she should use it it order to be successful. In 2001, when "Merchants of Cool" was released, Britney Spears epitomized the idea of the "Midriff" with her scandalous videos and sexualized lyrics. In her "Baby one More Time" music video, she is dressed up as a hyper sexualized schoolgirl with a short black skirt and a cropped white button down blouse. She dances down the hallway of her fictional school with undeniable confidence as she displays her body and her sexuality. This image of Britney Spears sent the message to an endless number of teen girls that they could empower themselves through showing of their bodies and owning their sexualit...

In class, I recently watched the Frontline film, "Merchants of Cool," which discussed marketing techniques used in the ever growing teen market. What struck me as particularly intriguing was the fact that the teen market today has much more sway than any teen market in the past. The teens of previous generations barely had a fraction of the money that teens today have at their disposal. For the first time in history, teenagers have enough money at their disposal to sway an enormous market. Because of the fact that teens today have so much power as consumers, companies see the potential revenue in developing advertisements and products that appeal directly to teenagers. One quote from "Merchants of Cool" that stood out to me was that companies view teens as "Africa, like a country ready to colonize." I know subconsciously that teens are just being manipulated by companies in order to sell products and I dislike the fact that we are merely a platform for h...

In most TV shows or movies centered around a teenage set of characters, these teenage characters are often portrayed by actors and actresses that are much older than the teens they are supposed to be representing. Somehow we are fooled into thinking that these actors and actresses represent what most teenagers actually look like. Media targeted for the teenage audience often uses a more mature set of actors and actresses which can make us think that we should look like them and lead to a unhealthy mindset surrounding body images when we can't make ourselves look the same way they do. One show that sends this message is Pretty Little Liars. For the majority of the show, the characters are supposed to be in high school. The main characters are a group of girls who are underclassmen in high school when season 1 of the show begins. The actresses who play these teenage girls are much older than the 16-17 year olds they are supposed to represent. It looks as if a bunch of twenty-someth...

WHOLE STORE 50% OFF, screams every window hanging of any store that is having a sale on any particular day. What most people don't see is the fine print   that says: does not include kitchen ware, jewelry, men's clothing, electronics, designer shoes, bedding, junior's jeans, intimate apparel, baby clothes, perfumes, or prom dresses. The sale does not ever actually include the whole store, they just want you to think it does. Using bright bold lettering to show you what you want to see, retailers can get you to ignore the less glamorous fine print that reveals the extensive list of exclusions. This is an advertising technique used by most companies to get us to buy our products. For example, clothing stores like Macy's send out a large number of coupons to their card holders, usually promising 20% off or 20 dollars off of a purchase in white font that stands out against the bright red background to distract from the lovely surprise on the other side of the card. On the...

This past week I have been trying to immerse myself in the Spanish language though media in hopes of developing better conversational Spanish-speaking skills. I have been watching shows in Spanish and listening to as much Latin American music as I can. While scrolling through the top 50 charts in many Latin American countries on Spotify, I saw that a remix of the song "Despacito" featuring Justin Bieber was at the top of the charts in many different countries. I was instantly confused. Why would the new version of the song be more popular? And then I realized that it was because it had Justin Bieber in it. It is interesting to me that people in Latin America know who Justin Bieber is. If they had not known who he is, he would not be on the top of the charts. I don't know many Latin American celebrities so seeing that enough Latin Americans like Justin Bieber to put his song on top of the charts was surprising. It shows how much influence the U.S. has on the world and w...

I spend too much time scrolling through the endless chasm of pretty Instagram pictures. Most days, I will look at Instagram multiple times during the day to see what my friends and anyone I follow has posted. I mostly go to Instagram so that I can see what my friends have been up to. But, I also inevitably see a ridiculous number of advertisements in the process. When I am exceptionally bored, I will go to the explore tab of the app which shows me what it thinks I want to see. I am inevitably bombarded by flawless pictures of celebrities who look impossibly perfect. Many posts are directed to sell a product even though they may not seem like it. For example,  a while ago, a large number of celebrities were posting pictures in their Calvin Klein underwear with the hashtag #mycalvins. The pictures seemed casual, as if the celebrities had taken them themselves. The posts were obviously sponsored but somehow they managed to become viral and bring in huge amounts of business for Calvin...