Brainwashing or Advertising?

From an early little girls are taught by society that their looks matter. Think of the three year old who is constantly praised for being "so cute". More and more kids are spending long hours in front of the television where the media continuously bombards us with messages like how to lose weight, being thin and beautiful, what type of clothes make you look thinner, and so on. The media rarely shows average females who represent our reality instead we see supermodels who appear to be getting thinner and thinner. For instance, overweight females are almost never shown and if they are, they're  typically portrayed as lazy, and the ones without friends while thin women are the successful, popular, sexy and powerful ones. How can we tell girls and young women that it is what's inside that counts, when the media continuously contradicts this message?  

Furthermore, popular magazines have been repeatedly accused of using anorexic models who weight about 25 percent  less than the average women and maintain body weights that are 20 percent below what is considered healthy. What message does this send to young women and girls? Do you think the media plays a role in the development of eating disorders? If so, why?

Also, some of these models undergo plastic surgery to create the 'perfect body', and many photos are air brushed before being printed. The images that the media tries to sell and advertise as normal are NOT normal and the body types that are constantly shown are unattainable for most people but because we are continuously shown these images we start to believe it is. What affects do these images have on children especially tittle girls who don't necessarily understand or know that the images presented to them are fake? 

Finally, I would like to know what solutions you would pose to counteract the media's negative influence?

  

 

Happy Mother's Day!

I like how Futureshop's ad for Mother's Day include a kitchen appliance on what to buy for her. Especially that both the kitchen appliance and headphones are pink as well they are stating that all female mother's like the colour pink. My mother hates pink...so should I still buy these gifts for her? 


What do you guys think about this ad for Mother's Day by future shop? Do you think many mothers would be offended by this ad? 

The following poll was part of a Guardian newspaper located in the UK. This poll is quite recent and talks about whether the government should abandon plans over whether or not to allow gay marriage within the country. As you can see, there were far more votes for stopping it, as opposed to going along with it, as previously planned. Should the Government have even allowed a poll like this even to be published? Especially knowing that it could get negative feedback from the public?

Within our media, and the certain types of shows that we see, we often come across episodes that seem to have some homosexual tendencies, or parts were the characters 'act gay'.

For example, in Spongebob Squarepants, it is undetermined whether Spongebob is Patrick's partner, or if they are just extremely close friends. There was much controversy over whether they should be confusing young children like this, and thee was even talks of canceling the show altogether.

CAN YOU IMAGINE YOUR CHILDHOOD WITHOUT SPONGEBOB?

Do you agree with the skeptics by saying Spongebob should be cancelled? Or do you think that people are just over thinking the whole issue and should let it slide? 

Is this a change I see?

In the movie The Hunger Games we see a switch in the typical gender stereotypes.  In this movie Katniss, the female protagonist, is the strong, powerful individual compared to the male protagonist Peeta.  Peeta is smart, calculative, good with strategy and very artistic.  However when compared to Katniss, his physical strength is nowhere close to hers.  She is powerful and knows how to survive, not that Peeta doesn't but when it comes to fighting Katniss has the upper hand.  Suzanne Collins, the author, did a fantastic job in showing a change in stereotypes.  Normally the male is strong and protects the woman however in The Hunger Games, Katniss fights to save Peeta, she takes on the challenge to fight the other contestants (Tributes) to get the medication Peeta needs to survive.  It is not like Peeta doesn't try to save Katniss; he pretends they are in love, and he joins the other tributes to pretend to attack her.  However it would normally be expected that the female is good at strategy and convincing others but it is the opposite here.

Do you think that as a society we are moving away from the typical stereotypes and changing them?
How is the older generation accepting this change in stereotypes?  Is Collins taking a step in the right direction or is her action to portray a change in gender not going to do much?  Is the normal girl in today's world like Katniss or are the females in today's generation still following the stereotype that girls are weak and need a man to protect them?  From what lens is this movie being shown?

Know Your Role!

  Ignore the song, and any footage after 2:23

Haven't you notice that in most movies, and television shows the female and male characters are always or similarly portrayed the same in each movies/television shows.

The female are always shown as doing chores such as cleaning, lauding and cooking, are known to be sex object for the purpose of serving men, and are victims that can't protect themselves from harassment, sexual assault and murder without their man, weak mined, skinny, lady-like, and beautiful.

Male on the other hand are shown as independent, strong willed, muscular body, have no emotion at all, very aggressive and violent at times, always have a past history, and for some reason are single. They usually meet their lovers in the movie/television show.

What i am trying to say is, why hasn't the media done anything about this? I am certain they know all these stereotypes are occurring, and they are still turning head away. Once you go see a movie you like, you wish that the main character was you, and thus you start to regret your life. Do you agree with the fact that the movies/television shows that your going to see in the future need to change the role of men and female. The video also states that at a young age you hear about gender roles. For an example a female ALWAYS has to play with Barbie, Polly pocket, and Disney princess. While a male ALWAYS has to play with Lego, Star Wars and Hot wheel. I think it ridicules to the amount of stereotypes we have as a kid and growing up watching movies/television shows that strive on gender stereotypes as mention above.             

Steve?

“God Made Adam and Eve, Not Adam and Steve.”

Many claimed that this quote came from a homophobic, and others claim that it came from a devoted Christian man. This has been in my head for a long time and I wanted to research how it came about, but sadly thus is all I got.

Do you have the media literacy skills to consume and deconstruct this media text which often times is heard on a medium such as religious radio network or across many other medias like religious television networks or the internet?

What specifically is the dominant discourse of this quote that the originator intended, and in what lens would someone view this quote?

If you believe in God or even if you don't, how you do feel about this quote?

Does it make you feel any different against Christianity or any other religions?

Or does it give you a stronger feeling towards homosexuality?

Homosexuality is the new sexy

Everyone (or at least I think everyone) knows the new popular teenage British boy band, One Direction (1D). These boys were the winners from the British show, X Factor and have now officially released two songs that hit the billboards as number #1 for 2 weeks on going.

The reason many females and males appreciate this boy band is because of their voices, their songs, their looks ... and their "homosexuality" act.

Now many people find this entertaining, confusing but yet still attractive. Many fans question the sexuality of the boys, however in interviews all 5 of the boys have either concluded with themselves as currently dating a female, or defined their sexuality as straight.

Here is a video of the boys acting homosexual and having a really close “bromance”. Video is 10minutes long, not necessary to watch all of it. Search up One direction - video diaries if you want to see more variety within the boys. 

Does this mean society is slowly starting to accept homosexuality?

How do you think homosexual people feel about this?

Do you think it eases off on the tense of "coming out" now that One Direction is being admired and accepted for their “homosexuality behaviour”?

Think about it .... 
Now that this boy band is accepted by BOTH genders, and are a big part of media, they contribute a new "trend" to society. There are individuals who look up to these boys, and this may conclude in society continuing on their trend.


Do you think it will then be easier for men to not be questioned about their close "bromance", or like Mohamed's post questions about two straight men hugging, would that then be considered "normal"?