Modern Day Charlie's Angel

Shows such as Charlie's Angel's were very popular for their time. The sexual content was a definate aspect of it that was very much enjoyed by watchers of that time. The Angel's, Sabrina, Kelly, and Jill, were very attractive cops who solved everyday crimes for the FBI. They're sexuality was a new thing on television. Viewers in the 1970's were not used to sexuality being an aspect of regular television programming. In today's media, sexuality is very common. The idea of the "Sexy Cop" is a fantasy of most men. This was all started with Charlie's Angels. The show was a revolution for television. Without it's groundbreaking sexuality, a lot of sexuality in the modern day media may have not existed. The girl's on Charlie's Angels are very subtley sexy. In the opening scene of the pilot episode, you see Farrah Fawcett's character playing tennis in a skimpy outfit. At that time, this was a big deal. This show helped pave the way as to what we see in media today. The Go Daddy commercials are very un-subtle in sexuality. They are quite blunt as to the point they are trying to get across. They want male attention! The girl in this commercial is a modern day Charlie's Angel. She is a cop, that underneath the uniform is sexy (yet again, this is a male fantasy). This commercial in the 1970's would be wildly innapropraite. These days, this is screened on televisions all over the world. Most individuals wouldn't think twice about the over-sexed media we have been accustomed to. This goes to show you how groundbreaking a show like Charlie's Angels was. What would our media be like today without a show like that? A lot more subtle perhaps?

Dirt Girl

Have you ever watched modern day children's cartoons? They are not nearly as educational as the ones from my childhood. When I was growing up, i remember watching Bill Nye the Science Guy and the Magic School bus while I ate dinner and did my homework. Both of these programs held a significance towards my learning as a child. I got to learn how to relate science to life and how to conduct experiments. I also learned how to work as a team to get tasks done. I loved these television shows not only for their educational value, but the fact that they were fun too. While babysitting recently, I realized that children's shows really have none of this educational value. The intelligence in children's television has severely deteriorated. There is this television show called "Dirt Girl World", that the little girl liked to watch. It was about a girl who lives in a junkyard like place and has adventures in the dirt. Her song even says they like to get "grubby". What is this telling children? That it's okay to go out and have adventures in the dirt? That it's fine to be careless because your having "adventures". The morals and lessons that are being taught have changed drastically from when I was a kid. Frankly, it has changed for the worse. We need to have cartoons and children's shows that are beneficial to today's youth. From watching Bill Nye the Science Guy, I always took away a lesson and it made learning more fun. What exactly can you take away from dirt girl? By giving children an educational backbone in cartoons, it is helping them for the rest of their lives. You need to give children an early start in education, that will help them pursue education in the future.

Has Porn Gotten Out of Hand?

It's amazing how much violence,racism and anti-feminism porn gets away with. In today's pornography, women are dominated and I don't understand how it is sexy. Before writing this blog, I looked at a few porn images and it does quite the opposite of what it is intended to do for me. It does not turn me on in the least, it disgusts me. These women are being tied up to be rag dolls, and it's gross. To be honest, we can not just blame this on the men. Women in porn chose to do this for money. They chose to be dominated and poked and prodded for an easy buck. It's gross to see what extreme these women are willing to do with their bodies. In most of the porn I have seen, the men are doing the domination. What is this saying about us as women? That we really have no control. That we are willing to let men do whatever they want, just for the pure fantasy aspect of it. This is not how it should really be. The real fantasy should not be a woman strapped up in leather all oily. It should be to have a nice job, a family and a person you love. Porn has gotten to it's all time extreme. Now, where does it stop. In my research, I saw women in cages, women strapped together like prisoners, and women strapped down to boards. How bad is it going to go, and how far are we willing to let it go before we lose all individuality as women. Were not just something you and uncork and pork. Porn has given men license to think of women as purely a sexual object. All these years, fighting for feminism and this is how were seen? Why not have a real relationship rather then looking at sexual relationships online? In doing my research on the matter I found some interesting research. San Fransisco psychotherapist, Gregory Rowe, stated," For 90 percent of men, images are a big source of stimulation," he says, whereas women - an estimated 25 to 30 percent of online porn users - tend to prefer interactive chat rooms. ComScore Media Metrix, a company that measures Internet usage, reports that more than 70 percent of men age 18 to 34 visit a pornographic site in a typical month." It is ridiculous how porn has gotten out of hand. In fact, many lose their jobs to the simple fact that they are obsessed with porn. You know porn has taken over when you can't step away from the computer and live your normal life. So has porn gotten out of hand? I would say certainly.

Sex in Advertising

Recent Commercial...
            In today's world, the topic of sex is not as shocking as it may have been, say 40 or 50 years ago. Why is this? Sex has been even more casual in the media. Sex is referenced in popular shows like sex and the city but it is also in front of our faces in advertisements.
            The reason that sex has been seen as not a big deal is that we see it everyday.From burger commercials to commercials trying to sell women underwear... it's everywhere! Because of this, shows like sex and the city can get away with showing sexual scenes and sexual words. It also lets modern day reality shows get away with the vulgarity of referencing to sexual things.
          When compared to commercials to the 1950's, there is a significant difference. Commercials were not sexual in any sense. Their purpose was to sell the product with nice and homely people that could easily be your friend. Because of this homely lifestyle being portrayed, television shows were much more homely. Shows like "Leave it to Beaver" portrayed this lifestyle as well. Television mirrored commercials much like how it is today. By this correlation, society was much like television, tailored and sophisticated.
        Television is mirror as to how society is at the time. in the 1950's, society was more tailored. in 2012, it's all about sex to sell products.



Commercial from the 1950's

True Life Tells the Truth about Plastic Surgery

True Life - MTV Shows - Full Episodes

            While talking about plastic surgery shows such as 'Extreme Makeover" in class, it has become apparent that these shows have become a phenonmenon. But why? I don't see the appeal to these shows.
These shows make viewers make them feel like it's okay and acceptable.
             In shows such as "Extreme Makeover", the idea of plastic surgery is glamorized so that the everyday housewife can look it that and say, "Maybe a nose job is necessary."
             While reality shows that corrupt our thinking are on the market, there are other shows that show the consequences of taking plastic surgery so lightly.
              I am a frequent viewer of MTV's true life, and when talking about plastic surgery in this unit, one episode stood out to me. This episode was called "I hate my plastic surgery'. This episode is about two girls who had plastic surgery done but do not like the results. One woman, Nikki, had a nose job.After the procedure she realizes that she does not like how it is done and wants to get it fixed by going through another procedure.She is basing her decision on the fact that she is an aspiring model. Her reasons seem purely superficial.
           As opposed to Nikki, the other woman on the show had other problems that were not superficial. Amanda had a breast implant and it quite literally was killing her. Her body had a deadly reaction to the silicon. She got severely sick from the procedure and was not able to perform basic functions anymore. She wanted to get them taken out .She decided to go through another procedure to get them taken out in hopes that she will be able to go back to her normal life.
         Reality shows such as these, actually show reality. As opposed to "Extreme Makeover", this show shows consequences to these decisions, not just benefits. It shows that making the decision to get an unecessary procedure done, may change your life.
       Having television shows such as these on the air is important to viewers. It shows them what could really happen. It shows them that plastic surgery does not only result in beauty, it can also be life threatening.

Call of Duty? Or Call of Violence?

Call of Duty. Harmless video game or a picture of violence that influences audiences? This is a very difficult determination. We have learned in previous classes that media can influence audiences in many ways. We even learned from George Gerbner that heavy viewers of television were influenced more than light viewers. So, how does this apply to video games? Could it be the same concept. If Gerbner can make that correlation between television and effects, then couldn't it be the same for video games?

Call of Duty is one of the most played video games in the United States. Statistics show that during call of duty's first week, the average play time per week per person was 20.45 hours. This game has taken the U.S by storm. But why is it so popular? The violence. Violence is the main key to any video game. Without the violence aspect of this game as well as others, this game would not sell.
How does this violence aspect effect its audiences? Dr.Rich, a doctor at the Children's Hospital, said,
" All video games create behavioral scripts, which encourage the player to respond to the virtual environment in certain ways and rehearse those behaviors over and over. If the game is fun, the brain connects those behaviors to positive feelings."

He also said, "Rather, the concern is what the research shows: that playing such games shifts players’ ideas of what’s normal." 
Video games such as these ultimately effect its audience. It alters their normal way of thinking. And the problem isn't necessarily apparent. Most video game players have no idea what is happening to their brains after they are done their several hours of gaming. They just think its a game. But is it?  What is it really doing to it's growing audiences?
It is shown that players of these games have more violent tenancies. So as this trend continues to grow, its players will continue to grow as well and possibly violence.  

That 70's show: A show about Masculinity?

I was watching one of my favorite T.V. shows and I realized that there are a lot of masculine aspects to this show whether it be a charachter that represents masculinity or a character that is the complete opposite of masculinity.

The creaters of the show seem to be telling a story of masculinity through its charachters. The characters of Steven Hyde, Michael Kelso, and Red Foreman. The character that represent the opposing role: the wimpy and easily made fun of are Fez and Eric foreman.
Hyde and Kelso are the epitome of masculinity. Hyde is the tough guy that drinks and breaks all of the rules. Kelso is the ladies man, who is not the brightest, but always seems to get what he wants. Red Foreman is the father that takes control over just about everthing. He using his yelling and sarcasm to enlist fear in his son and his sons friends. Each of these characters shows an idea of masculinity whether that definition being rebellious, flirtacious or feared.

The other characters, Eric and Fez, show an opposite idea of masculinity. Eric Foreman is the wimpy friend who is scared of his father and even sometimes scared of his friends. It seems like he is never the leader, he is the follower. Fez is the foreign exchange student who is often made fun of. He is not able to get a girlfirend and is often questioned on his masculinity.
Now, this show is a very popular show on T.V. My question is, do people realize what they are watching? They are watching the strong male characters who get their way. This is very rarely the case. Just because you are tough and feared, are you automatically popular? In a lot of cases no.
Then you think about, who would most male viewers want to be like? The tough character or the wimpy submissive character? More guys would gravitate towards the tougher character for the simple fact that they would most likely emulate them.

The female characters also play an important role in this idea. The character of Donna, who is also Eric's girlfriend, comes off as a very tough woman. She would be the one that "wears the pants in the relationship'. By having a strong woman paired up with not as strong of a man, is this saying something about his masculinity? Absolutly. By portraying this relationship on such a popular show, it is showing that a man is not a real man if he has a strong partner. Although, it shows a positive role for females, it doesn't necessarily give a strong role model for males in relationships.

Next time you watch a show, think about how the characters play a role in how you think about femininity and masculinity. Jackson Katz wrote, "The poses we strike and the images we create can tell us a great deal about what's going on in individual men's lives and in our culture as a whole." He is saying that our portrays of media say something about our culture and how we think. Media plays a strong role in how we think and how we act as females and males.
By watching this show you see both masculine men and submissive men. You also see strong women and feminine women. So the question is, who do you want to be like after watching this show?

Masculinity in Advertising

http://youtu.be/7cZH861tZhs


In class, we watched footage of television clips from famous T.V. shows that depicted masculinity and what it is like to be a "real man". These depictions occur frequently on the T.V shows we watch from day to day. But what about what is in between the shows? Commercials can be just as influencing as the T.V shows we watch.
While flipping through the channels the other day, I saw this commercial for a gillette razor. It amazed me at how masculinity is drawn out in one single 30 second commercial. You have these three celebrities, who are the epitome of masculine. They are dressed nice, and walk with a specific manly swagger. They even walk into the room and get all the women's attention. By seeing this commercial, what exactly is it telling men?
This commercial is telling men that if they buy this razor then they can be as manly as these men. Perhaps that only manly men use this razor. Deffinatly by using this razor, it puts them at a higher class to where they can dress nicer and get more women's attention. It seems that the ultimate man uses this razor.
What is this saying about men in advertising? That advertisements want to show men as "real men" to sell their products. Author, Tom Nakayama, said, "In general, these concentrated views of manhood suggest the many ways in which advertising negatively affects men by narrowing the definition of what it means to be a man in American society." I believe this is true. By narrowing the idea of manhood in the media, it is negatively affecting its male viewers and buyers. They will believe that if they do not buy a gillette razor, then they are not really a real man. This is not the case.
Advertisements such as this are altering our way of thinking and how we view ourselves as a whole. While flipping thorugh the channels, think about what the commercial is saying and how it can affect you.

How 16 and Pregnant Shows Gender Roles

I am the first girl to admit that I watch mtv's 16 and pregnant and teen mom. But I never thought it would relate to school in any way. While in class and in our reading, the topic of gender is discussed and how it is portrayed in media.

            In our textbook reading of chapter 3, "the meaning of memory", there were several television examples of how women are portrayed on TV shows. Their examples relate back to the 1950's. One of the books examples was "Mama's Birthday" in which the woman didn't have much of a say as to the decision making was in the family.

            In class, we also discussed the women's role in the household. The women were portrayed as the housewife back in the 50's which sooner had a turnaround due to economic problems. Women did not often have jobs in the 1950's and the men were the sole bread winners of the family.

            While thinking about this concept of equal rights and women in the work place, I thought about an episode of "16 and Pregnant". This episode was about a girl named Aubrey who was 16, pregnant and getting married to her boyfriend. Her and her husband had financial issues which led them to have to live with her grandmother after the baby was born. Her husband, Brandon, had a full time job but could not afford to get them out of her grandmother's house. When they realize their financial situation Aubrey decided she wants to get a job. Automatically Brandon has a problem with this. Brandon even said, " It's more practical that I work, Your contributing by taking care of the house." He does not respect her wishes to work, even though Aubrey shows the argument that she wants to be seen as equal. Throughout this episode it seems that job roles were a big conflict between the two of them.

            Though watching this episode and talking about equal rights of women in television, it makes me realize that a lot of the same issues for women are still occurring today and television makes it apparent to viewers.  I have included a link to the episode on mtv's website.

http://www.mtv.com/videos/16-and-pregnant-season-2-ep-15-aubrey/1652862/playlist.jhtml