Reflection Post (LAST POST, WOOH!)

Now that I've taken Critical Thinking, I definitely look at media with a different perspective as opposed to how I viewed it before taking the class. Sure, I knew that the main goal of most companies was to sell their product; however, I was certainly not aware of all of the advertising techniques/appeals, I didn't know about things such as narrowcasting and lovemarks, and I never noticed the implicit messages that are embedded in various advertisements.

Now that I am aware of the arsenal of techniques and appeals out there, I can't help but try and figure out which ones a company is using when I see one of their advertisements. It's a good thing and a bad thing I guess. It's good since I can figure out how an advertisement is trying to trick me or get me to buy a product, but It's also bad because it sucks the fun out of watching a movie since I'll just anticipate, for example. product placement. And it's like I can't watch a commercial without a bunch of techniques and appeals flying around in my head. But I guess there is a price to pay for knowledge. 

I don't think my media habits have changed very much this semester. The only forms of media that I really use are Twitter and Youtube and it seems to have stayed this way. This is probably just because they're not soiled with desperate companies trying to sell me, for example, a backwards robe as though it were some avante garde creation.

Being an educated consumer is important because educated consumers are able to look at advertisements and really think about whether they should buy the product or not. If one is not educated, then they may well be dumb enough to think that a McDonalds burger will bring happiness or that a Coke will make you the rad rabbit of the block.

I think that many media sources in America have some work to do. Too often they publish irrelevant stuff like a celebrity dating rumors or bend the truth in order to convey a deceiving message. Media should actually present things that matter, it should inform the people and inspire them to do positive things like climb out of any holes that they may have fallen into. I don't really care how "unrealistic" or "corny" it may sound, but something that lacks in a large part of our society is love and compassion, which is partially the media's fault. Media sources needs to stop glorifying foolish things and must tell the stories that count, it should be a backbone the reinforces the good (Ha, well that shows my value assumptions, doesn't it?)

Farewell my blog, it was nice while it lasted.

Women in American Media

America, land of the free and home of the brave. The country where we are all equal in value, and also in opportunity...or so that's how the story goes.

In America, many of us are taught this idea that we are all equal, that we are all capable of doing what anyone else can do and that we're just as good as anyone; however, whether this teaching is truly implemented within our culture should be questioned. The media we consume portrays a very different perspective. Magazines and random articles on twitter do not hesitate to share naked photos of  female celebrities and they're quick to criticize them for gainig weight or having stretch marks, things which  are completely natural for humans. Media makes it seem as though women are not human. It is almost inevitable that a picture of a female celebrity is to be electronically edited in order to make them appear "more attractive." Women are wanted to show cleavage and be sexy for men, but simultaneously, shouldnt be showy or else they're a "slut." A woman must be highly intelligent, but when it comes to serious political discussion she is subtly, and sometimes not so subtly, pushed aside by the male-majority and told to waste her intellecuality on minor tasks such as house work.

Why is it that females in movies are constantly portrayed as sex-objects and only serve the purpose of obsessing over a male? Are girls/women not capable of living without one? I believe that love and companionship are beautiful things. I think that to have someone love you with all of their being is priceless. But this idea can be expressed without females being depicted as obsessive freaks that cannot function with a male counterpart.

The list of disadvantages that females face when compared to males is endless. To proceed would not be necessary, for the inequalities are apparent and they stretch far as well as wide. However, are women not the ones in movies and media that agree to participate in degrading films or pictures? Women are not forced to sign contracts to star in movies that depict them as objects, they are not forced to take photos or star in commercials that show them in a distasteful light. But then again, it is likely that the consumptiom of this very media is what perpetuates the cycle that continues to mold some females to fill these stereotypical, powerless, and objectified roles.

The way to defeat these portrayals is simple. The sooner we recognize the horrible ways in which the media portrays the majority of females, the sooner this stereotypical classification of them will cease to be prevalent. It's important to expose this issue, to teach small daughters, neices, cousins, sisters, etc. to not fall into the traps that some will set in attempt to keep them voiceless and dehumanized. And this is not simply a fight for the females, but males should also join and begin to hold other males accountable for enforcing the simple classifications of women. Hopefully this issue of gender inequality is one of the many issues that we as humans will eventually overcome.