The media's way of portraying men and women influences how we view each other day to day. Women are stereotyped as weaker, more emotional people. They portray women as catty, and extremely prone to cliques. When we see shows on T.V., girls usually have their "bf" and a close group of friends. When they try and branch out or another girl tries to enter the group, there tends to be huge issues. Either the new girl is a threat to the group in some way, or she just isn' t good enough. If you take the movie Mean Girls, Katy is considered a threat by Regina, so Regina takes her into her group to keep her from becoming better than her. The whole movie is about how girls treat each other, and how they allow others to think of them. This movie portrays high school girls of different race, and status levels thes stereotypes girls have been given by our media. Yet, we live out this stereotype almost everyday. Girls do form cliques, girls usually don't branch out to other groups, and no one expects them to. If you are a girl without a group in todays world, you are pretty much alone, and others don't try to make contact with you.
I think boys have it easier than girls do mainly because guys, from what I have personally seen and experienced, both in media and in reality, get along with anyone and everyone. We see shows where a guy from any particular group or clique can fit in with any other group. They are hardly ever rejected from the group and this is because they are a male. I realize this isn't always true in reality, but it seems to be extremely close to true, especially at Burnsville where there are cliques, but guys seem to fit anywhere they go.
Besides being portrayed as loose and catty, girls have slowely been shown stereotypes that regress back to older days where girls kept the house. Guys, jokingly or not, have been heard to say "make me a sandwich" to girls, as though its thier job. This is extremely disrespectful to women and to men, because thier are many male chefs in the world and girls are useful for other things besides doing what guys want them to. This has gotten much better, from what I have personally experienced, although you still hear about older guys who think women have one place and thats in the home. These men tend to be more distrustful of women, especially in the world of engineerig, and will sometimes be expect women to prove their worth. Women have to work that much harder just to be accepted as equal.
I also think that there is a pressure on guys to be more masculine and "tough" than girls. The media hardly ever shows men as being weak, although there are a few "chick flicks" that do. It seems as though guys think they have something to prove and are prone to challenging other guys to see who is better at this or that. I think this attitude that some males have tends to intimidate girls, and at times, it can be something that both girls and boys think of as normal. Girls, according to the media, like tough guys, so guys act that way to impress girls and keep themselves from being seen as weak. While girls, who may even think that the tough guys is intimidating or just stupid, will go along with thier act and encourage it, because it's "normal".
Monday, February 23, 2009
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Blog #3 (American Values in TV)
It's amazing how a show that is about the supernatural can identify values of Americans. Charmed, the show i can sometimes view, represents American Core Values in multiple ways. They are represented through the characters' actions, decisions, and through what they think and say. The setting also portrays many values that are important to Americans, and so does the story line. How the characters dress and speak can express some of our core values. Through all these means of portraying American Core Values, Charmed seems to be encouraging viewers to value quite a few of these values.
Two values that seem to go hand in hand on this show are Achievement and Success and Activity and Work. The "charmed ones", as they are sometimes called, are constantly doing some kind of activity, either protecting innocent, fighting demons, or just trying to live a "normal" life. There is hardly ever a time in the show where you see them relaxing and doing nothing. During basically all of the activities the charmed ones perform, they are striving for, and usually achieve, success. Failure, to them, is NOT an option. In the episode I watched, Phoebe, one of the charmed ones, was obsessed with saving this guy she liked. It turns out that it was his time to die, and the angel of death wouldn't stop until he had his "victim" (for lack of better word). Over and over again Pheobe would work to save this man and time and time again she succeeded.
Another value this show portrays is Material Comfort. The charmed ones live in a large house, have pretty nice cars, and for the most part, live pretty comfortably. Yet, it seems that at least one of the sisters is searching for a guy to love. Having a man who loves you is portrayed as a material comfort to any female who watches this show. Almost every show that I've seen, there is some type of romance, either forthe married sister or for the single ones.
Efficiency and Practicality are also values that this show tells viewers to value. Whenever there is a problem with a demon or something of the like, the charmed ones work together quickly and efficiently to stop or get rid of the problem. The think of the best way to solve their dilemas and then they perform the solution they decided on. Yes, sometimes thier ideas don't work, but they always learn from their mistakes which can also represent another value, Progress.
Youthfulness is portrayed through the sisters themselves. All are pretty young and vivacious. They are energetic and sometimes a little naive. So, when people watch the show, they see young women living and fighting, and youthfulness becomes imortant to the viewers even though there is no fuss being made by the characters themselves.
Two values that seem to go hand in hand on this show are Achievement and Success and Activity and Work. The "charmed ones", as they are sometimes called, are constantly doing some kind of activity, either protecting innocent, fighting demons, or just trying to live a "normal" life. There is hardly ever a time in the show where you see them relaxing and doing nothing. During basically all of the activities the charmed ones perform, they are striving for, and usually achieve, success. Failure, to them, is NOT an option. In the episode I watched, Phoebe, one of the charmed ones, was obsessed with saving this guy she liked. It turns out that it was his time to die, and the angel of death wouldn't stop until he had his "victim" (for lack of better word). Over and over again Pheobe would work to save this man and time and time again she succeeded.
Another value this show portrays is Material Comfort. The charmed ones live in a large house, have pretty nice cars, and for the most part, live pretty comfortably. Yet, it seems that at least one of the sisters is searching for a guy to love. Having a man who loves you is portrayed as a material comfort to any female who watches this show. Almost every show that I've seen, there is some type of romance, either forthe married sister or for the single ones.
Efficiency and Practicality are also values that this show tells viewers to value. Whenever there is a problem with a demon or something of the like, the charmed ones work together quickly and efficiently to stop or get rid of the problem. The think of the best way to solve their dilemas and then they perform the solution they decided on. Yes, sometimes thier ideas don't work, but they always learn from their mistakes which can also represent another value, Progress.
Youthfulness is portrayed through the sisters themselves. All are pretty young and vivacious. They are energetic and sometimes a little naive. So, when people watch the show, they see young women living and fighting, and youthfulness becomes imortant to the viewers even though there is no fuss being made by the characters themselves.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Blog #2 (media influences on kids)
The "Consuming Kids" video was extremely interesting. I don't think I've ever connected any of the problems, like obessity and A.D.D., to the influence the media has on kids today. This video really opened up a new side of media to me. I never really thought that media would target kids just to train them to consume goods. It's really quite smart; hitting kids while they are learning the ways of the world around them. Yet, as good for the economy as encouraging kids to buy may be, I don't think that media is to blame for all of the problems occuring in children today.
Sure the media may completely surround us, but it is the responsibility of the adults surrounding the children to teach them how handle all of the advertisements being thrown at them. Adults have the responsibility to ensure that their children have self control when it comes to buying what they want. Kids need to be taught that there is a difference between needs and wants. There are reasons kids are more influenced by what the media tells them today than they were in earlier days. One obvious reason, the one mentioned throughout the video, is that kids are constantly exposed to advertisements and new culteral ideas. Another is that adults are not as strict about educating kids on good behaviors. Back in the day, adults were more strict on teaching their kids good morals and values. Today, although this doesn't seem to be true in many cases, adults aren't as strict in their teachings.
I think that adults are more desensitized than kids are which allows them to watch advertisements and not be as affected. Kids see adults watching, so they watch, but because the kids haven't been properly trained in receiving media messages, they are more influenced. We also should remember that people make media, so to blame the media is to blame ourselves.
Sure the media may completely surround us, but it is the responsibility of the adults surrounding the children to teach them how handle all of the advertisements being thrown at them. Adults have the responsibility to ensure that their children have self control when it comes to buying what they want. Kids need to be taught that there is a difference between needs and wants. There are reasons kids are more influenced by what the media tells them today than they were in earlier days. One obvious reason, the one mentioned throughout the video, is that kids are constantly exposed to advertisements and new culteral ideas. Another is that adults are not as strict about educating kids on good behaviors. Back in the day, adults were more strict on teaching their kids good morals and values. Today, although this doesn't seem to be true in many cases, adults aren't as strict in their teachings.
I think that adults are more desensitized than kids are which allows them to watch advertisements and not be as affected. Kids see adults watching, so they watch, but because the kids haven't been properly trained in receiving media messages, they are more influenced. We also should remember that people make media, so to blame the media is to blame ourselves.
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