In Conclusion... 1/18/15

After taking this class about the media and ways to navigate through it, I feel that I understand what the media is all about better than before and common ways that the media can trick us.  I realize that I consume a lot of media, even without knowing it.  I see media on the freeway in the billboard signs, I hear it on the radio in the car, I am even exposed to advertising by way of product placements in movies.

Because I am more aware of it around me, I think that I can respond to it better.  Since I know that the media is untrue and is potentially harmful, I can face it cautiously and not trust every word that it promises me.  It is important to have media literacy because you need to understand the harms that media can do to you if you are not careful.  In a world where advertising is hitting you from every angle, you need to be careful on how much you accept as the truth.

Looking back at this blog, I realize just how affected by media I am.  When I started this class, I didn't think that I was that effected by it.  This class has made me aware just how prevalent media is in our society and the harm that it brings to the people.  Media almost always promotes sexism, violence, etc.  Some even argue that we are not free thinkers anymore, that corporations make us believe we are, but in reality all of our wants and needs are put into our heads for us by the companies.  While I think that not all media is bad, we need to understand how potentially harmful it is and become more aware of how much media plays a role in our lives.  

Miss Representation 1/8/15

After watching the documentary Miss Representation in class, I feel really awful about the society we live in today.  Before this documentary, I obviously knew about sexism and how harmful it COULD be, but I didn't realize how how harmful it IS.  Probably even more frightening, a lot of times I couldn't identify what was sexism before this documentary because it just seemed so normal... like how reporters in an article would refer to a man as "senator" and to a woman (who is a senator) as "mrs."  Doing this undermines the woman's power and authority.  Before this documentary it never occurred to me that this would be sexism.

Miss Representation had some alarming facts in it to.  65% of girls/women will develop an eating disorder.  This is horrible.  We should be raised in a society that is all excepting and one where you don't feel bad about your body.

Also worrying is the fact that girls are beginning to see themselves as "objects" intended to please men.  Women have to be strong and be their own person.  When they become submissive to whatever men want, they are giving up their individualism and their own identity.  How will these women act later?  Will they know who they are as people and will they know how to act out on their own wants instead of someone else's wants for them?

Also, this documentary states that between 1937 and 2005, only 13 women were protagonists in animated movies.  Also, only one of these protagonists were not focused on getting a guy by the end of the movie.  This shows that we were brought up to think of women as lesser people.  Women were rarely the stars, they were rarely the interesting characters, they rarely had enough courage to go through a movie and be a dynamic character, and on a whole they were more boring and worse than men.  Animated movies are what children watch.  If children are brought up to think this way, obviously when they become adults it will carry over.