Blog 12

In my recent Race, Gender and the Media course, we watched a video over how latinos are portrayed in the media. Not only have latino's been in the media as long as there has been film, they've also had to deal with different stereotypes.

In an article I had to read for my Culture, Rhetoric and Ideology class, I discovered that there are six latino stereotypes in the media: they are considered to be el bandido, the volatile tough homeboy, and the sinister and wealthy drug lord, along with the male buffoon and the latin lover. Latina's also fit into different stereotypes: the harlot, the female clown, and the dark lady.

Although latino's and latina's have been in the media as long as caucasians, they have had to endure more problems to get to the Bronze screen. They've had to work the graveyard shifts for centuries. Sadly, some latino's can perform better and look better on screen than do some Caucasian actors.

Unfortunately, because of American's standards set towards hispanic's and latinos, they do not get the respect that they deserve. I believe that they should be able to perform whenever and however they like, without the stereotypes. Again, unfortunately, I do not see this happening anytime soon.

Blog 11

Recently, Spike Lee visited the University of North Texas to speak to the students and motivate them to do whatever they want to do. I have yet to watch any Spike Lee movie, but by the way Spike Lee was speaking at this event, I could tell he had a lot of respect for African Americans and their education.

Honestly though, it might have benefited me to have seen one of his films prior to his speech to understand more of how he feels about the African American population. Besides being a motivational towards African American’s, he was also disrespectful towards head figure George Bush and the television writer Tyler Perry.

At the end of the speech, he took questions and responded to many of his fans who adore his work. He must have portrayed African American’s right, or else he wouldn’t have such a large fan base.

I believe he seemed like an interesting man with plenty to say.

Blog 10

In the movie that we watched in my Race, Gender, and the Media class, it discussed Disney movie characters and the Disney Corporation. The class discussion was based on whether or not we believed that Disney characters were innocent or not.

            When I was a child, I obsessed over Disney movies and still do to this day, only now they are Pixar motion pictures instead of the original Disney movies. While watching the video last week, I was surprised by all of the subtle imagery that Disney had created that was not innocent, but when I was a child I did not notice any of the harmful imagery discussed in the film.

            Now that I am older, I can see that Beauty and the Beast was not a fairy tale at all, but I do not think it is okay to think that Disney purposefully made their movies to be indecent for children.

            Another topic that came up in the discussion was the lack of black people in the film Tarzan. When I was a child, I was unaware that the first movie was so racist towards the people who lived in the jungle. I do believe that Tarzan was a wholesome children’s movie, but I am disappointed that they did not represent a whole minority in the film.

            Throughout the discussion and the movie, I was terrified by what Disney has displayed for children to watch, but because children are so innocent they are unaware of the terrible misrepresentation of race and gender in the Disney films. I do believe that something should be done to the original movies, but only to please parents and family members who do not approve of the movies in their entirety. 

Blog 9

In the recent movie that we watched in my Race, Gender, and the Media class we discussed how women are portrayed in video games. The verdict that was decided was that women are depicted as being abused by men.

The video game that was being dissected was Grand Theft Auto. In the game, the male character is allowed to sleep with a hooker and then beat her to death to steal the money back that he gave her. In my opinion, a man beating a woman is wrong, but I must speak the truth here: Whores on the streets do experience battery, do I think it should be depicted in a video game? No, not particularly, but it is, unfortunately.

The thing is, this is an option in the video game. The player does not have to use this option. I have played this video game on multiple occasions, and I have yet to use a whore, beat her to death, and steal the money back. Yes, I am aware, it is the concept of the option being available that is the problem here, but everyone who plays the game has the option to either do it or not. Just because someone plays this option in the video game, doesn’t mean that they are going to go out on the streets and beat a hooker.

Although women are portrayed as being abused throughout video games, this does not mean that the player will choose these options to do so. But I must add that if parents have a problem with their children learning about abuse through video games, such as Grand Theft Auto, they are the gate keepers and have the decision to either allow their children to play the game or not.

I do believe that abuse is prevalent throughout America and that something needs to be changed in order to make it go away, but we can’t just take it out of video games if we don’t take it out of the other parts of the media first.

Blog 8

In the recent movie that we watched in my Race, Gender, and the Media class we discussed how men and masculinity is portrayed in the media and how the way the media does this affects the audience opinions and views of how a “real” man should act.

            It was only yesterday, when I witnessed a woman being yanked around by her boyfriend. I believe he was trying to protect her from the oncoming cars in the parking lot, but the way he violently grabbed her, picked her up, and placed her behind him was out of line. Men have been taught through the media that they must be strong or tough, and that being sweet and non-aggressive won’t get you anywhere except to be labeled as a pussy by their peers.

            I believe that men try to keep this “act” up, jut to impress their other male friends, but when they’re with a woman all of their guard comes down (sometimes). I recently read an article about male African American athletes that were portrayed in the media as abusers towards their spouses. Not only were these athletes male and considered aggressive in nature, they were also African American (a double stereotype). It was terrible to discover that the athletes’ coaches and friends dismissed their actions towards their wives because they worked in an aggressive environment.

            Throughout the article, the author criticized the media for constantly portraying African American athletes to only be domestic abusers. She also made a point to discuss how there was a lack of white sports athletes portrayed as domestic abusers as well.

            I know that we live in a society where abuse is overlooked and not taken seriously, but yesterday when I saw this aggressive act towards a woman, it took everything out of me NOT to get out of the car and say something to him.

            I believe that men need to be portrayed in a better light than as aggressive or tough, because I believe it is the media who have really pounded these ideas into most aggressive abusers heads. They have made movies where violence and aggression were a main part of the action, passing over there parts where they should have said that these actions are not something would happen in real life.

            It is not okay that we are allowing these things to happen on television, movies, or ads and I believe it is yet another thing that should be changed for the better. 

Blog 7

In the recent movie that we watched in my Race, Gender and the Media class we discussed how gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgenders are portrayed in the media. For many decades, the media have slowly started to incorporate GLBT’s more. In the movie, one of the main points they brought up was that Americans are slowly becoming blind to the way the media has incorporated gays into television series, movies, and advertising.

Because media have portrayed gays in a certain light, many Americans have used these depictions to stereotype gays. One example is in Sex and the City. Stanford Blatch and Anthony Marantino are two gay men on the show. The series depicts these two characters as flamboyant, stylish, and out with their sexuality. I would like to argue that most gay men in America are neither flamboyant or out with their sexuality.

For years, Americans have been against gays and lesbians because of their sexuality, but one must remember that this wasn’t their choice. I believe it is because American’s don’t understand that being gay isn’t by choice, is one of the main reasons why many Americans discriminate against them. Straight Americans cannot truly understand what it is like to be gay in the society, and because the media portrays gays in a poor light, it is understandable that many straights are against gays and lesbians.

But I do believe the media are trying to put a better light on lesbians and gays. One example is in show Grey’s Anatomy. Callie Torres and Arizona Robbins are two lesbians on the show. Throughout the series, the audience is introduced to their fling and watch it slowly turn into an ongoing romance where Torres invites Robbins’ to move in with her. Just in this example, we can see that the media are trying to introduce to the audiences that gays and lesbians can live together, and everything is not going to turn into chaos.

It is because the media have put this spin and shed some light onto the subject of gays and lesbians, that Americans will slowly learn to accept these people’s decision and respect them for it. It is said that people learn most of what they know from watching television, if the media continue to portray GLBT’s in a very good light, then thing’s will turn around for them.

In my opinion, I believe that no matter what your sexuality may be, that we all must be treated equally and depicted with respect through the media. Just because your sexuality may not be what the majority thinks is right, doesn't mean it is truly wrong.  

Blog 6

In my recent Race, Gender, and the Media class, we discussed how race and gender are portrayed in music videos. On my own, I decided to research a few music videos of my own to discuss. The first music video I found was a popular song played on the radio entitled Sex Room by Ludacris. In the music video women are portrayed as sex objects. Of course this is not a surprise for a song called Sex Room, but I must bring something to your attention. Women are allowing this to happen to them, not only are these women defiling their good name to be in a dirty video, but there's also another point I must make here: The women are African American. I must call to attention that African American girls that I know have always had a problem with how they are depicted in society, yet here they are in a rap video discussing how these men want to use these women.

But Sex Room is not the first and only video to depict African American women like this, there's also another video by Nelly entitled "Tip Drill." African American women in this video are partially nude and dancing in front of men singing about how they want a "tip drill." Many would argue that these women decided to be in the videos themselves, but I only wonder do they have respect for themselves outside of doing dirty music videos?

Our world is full of music that objectifies women, whether it be sexually or violently. I only have a problem with this, because our youth is listening to this and they are the future, as we were the future years ago. When they learn to objectify women from rappers and other people they look up to, they will objectify women throughout their lives and this will be an ongoing problem throughout time.  

Blog 5

In the recent video we watched in my Race, Gender and the Media class we discussed how women have been portrayed in the media for the past forty years. Over the years women have been silenced through large advertising campaigns for make up and clothing. Not only have they been silenced, they've also been picked to pieces in images that only show them as objects. Now that media are portraying women as silenced objects, men look at women as sexual objects who should be submissive in every situation they are put in.
Recently I watched a documentary over Russian mail-order brides. Men who are too lame to find a woman who will put up with them in America have started finding women online to date from other countries, such as Russia. The main reason that these men are looking towards Russia for their future spouse is because the women are more submissive, said the documentary. Not only are they more submissive they haven't had the feminist rights movement over there, the way America has. One of the sad stories that the documentary told was about a man who married a woman from Russia through mail order. Once she was in America, she wouldn't have sex with him. One day he raped and murdered her. Through this one act of violence towards mail order brides, the state of Washington decided to place a piece of legislation on the mail order bride websites.
Women shouldn't feel they need to be submissive, from America to Russia. We should be able to express our opinions in our relationships and our careers. The way the media has portrayed us is disturbing and should be changed. Women should be able to be who they are, however they want to be, no matter what it is and the advertising companies should learn to deal with this.

Blog 4

In my recent Race, Gender and the Media class we watched a documentary on the "black newspaper." From the late 1800's to the Civil Rights Movement, African Americans had their own newspaper. Of course, back then, racism was a huge factor because African Americans had just been freed from slavery. Nowadays, African Americans are supposed to be portrayed equally in newspapers and magazines next to the white man. Although we have integrated the two newspapers together, I do not believe African Americans are treated equally.
On every woman's magazine cover around the country, white women are displayed. Rarely do we ever see an African American displayed on the front cover. I believe that African Americans fought for their right's a long time ago, yet the media is treating them like a minority.
In all honesty, this is wrong and something we should change. African Americans should be free to have a newspaper if they feel they need it, and should be able to be displayed on the front of a magazine.

Blog 3

In the recent movie that we watched in my Race, Gender and the Media class we discussed how race and gender are portrayed, not only poorly in the media, but in advertising as well. Women have been taught through different advertising ploys that being beautiful is the only way to reach a certain level of success in careers. Not only have women been taught that beauty is the only way to reach the top, they have extended this to many different aspects of women's lives.
Women have been taught through advertising that they must buy this certain product to look this certain way and this, in a way, is a poor area of advertising. They not only have targeted women, they have also targeted young girls that they need to be a certain weight to be accepted in the world.
Ads, such as the new Dove body campaign, have brought their viewers back to reality. They are teaching girls at a young age that they should accept who they are and strive to whom they want to be, but that they can beautiful in their own skin and do not have to strive to be modelesque.
As we saw in the video, advertisers have made the people in their ads so perfect, that women can not feel beautiful in their own skin, ever, because they have placed such a high standard on what an "average" woman should look like.
This is poor advertising and it should be changed. Women shouldn't only be looked at for their beauty, but also for their personality. Women of beauty have been so successful because advertisers make companies standards higher than what a "normal" person could ever achieve.
In saying this, advertisers have placed too many standards on what a woman should do to achieve what they want to look like, smell like, and what these women should wear, putting much emphasis on brand names and make up that is very expensive and not accessible to women in this economic downturn.
Why should we strive for what they want us to be? Why can't we just be who we are, without the standards, and allow all of us to be unique and not a size 0.

Blog 2

In the recent video we watched for Race, Gender and the Media, it focused on how the media has portrayed different races and gender throughout television history. Through shows such as I Love Lucy, the media portrayed Ricky Ricardo as a mean husband who always found fault in his wife, Lucy. But I must say, the comedy in I Love Lucy is great, even if they portray Ricky as a mean husband and Lucy as the generic housewife who always gets into trouble.

Although television still plays old shows like I Love Lucy, the media has evolved from portraying females as housewives to extraordinary women who find jobs in the corporate world. Such as the show, Sex and the City. Carrie Bradshaw is a renowned writer for a small newspaper in NY who makes a decent living and can afford her fabulous lifestyle. Far from the female role, Lucille Ball played in I Love Lucy.

Though people may find I Love Lucy humorous, times have changed. Women don't play the ordinary housewife role anymore, and to even think that the media would put women in such a bad light as only being able to be a housewife, they should be ashamed of themselves.

Women nowadays are capable of picking the lifestyle they choose, but the media still hits the nail on the head when they place beauty as the number one priority for women. Through make up ads and clothing ads directed towards women, they have caused an outburst of teenagers who think they have to look a certain way and act a certain way all of the time.

I guess the times haven't really changed, they've just placed different ideals into the media for women to catch on to. Back when I Love Lucy aired, it was common for women to be the housewife who take care of the kids. In our modern era, women are now shown as sex symbols and that beauty will get you far. But I really don't believe beauty should be the main priority of women, but because the media has placed such a demand that a woman must put so much effort into their already busy schedules, women believe that without beauty they will not find a husband or a job.

In the end, we're the one's who make our decisions, but when the media is throwing ideas out such as these, how are we supposed to do our own thing if everyone else expects a certain image?

Blog 1

In a country where we’re all supposed to be treated equally, the media has done more to separate society into classes and races than to treat everyone fairly. They treat the rich better than the poor by giving them more airtime and portray African Americans as belligerent criminals who are out to get anyone.

            Although the media has put more emphasis on stereotyping certain minorities, what would happen if they didn’t target minorities and only discussed what whites are doing? If they didn’t resort to targeting the minority, I believe that it would create more problems. The minority would be upset because they didn’t get their airtime and begin to wonder if the media only cared about reporting on the white society, inevitably leading those groups to have an even stronger disliking towards people who are white.

            Honestly, I believe that if they didn’t target certain groups and give people something to think about, someone would have a problem with it. No one is going to be 100% happy with what the media has to say about anyone or anything, for that matter. People have the choice whether to watch the news or turn it off, no one’s shoving it down anyone’s throat.

            The media has been around for over 100 years and they haven’t done much to change their slogan: reporting on what’s important to Americans. Yet, how are they to determine what is and isn’t important? For what may be important to one group of people, may not even come across a certain group of people’s minds.

            We’re set to believe what we see and what we hear. We have been given a set of guidelines from our parents and the media of what to think about certain groups of people: stereotyping. People have began to have such a negative outlook on certain minorities because the media has represented them to be terrible people, so whites think that every Mexican in this country is probably here illegally stealing our jobs to thinking that if a black man is walking down the street, he will probably draw a gun and steal their precious possessions. We think all of these things because the media has placed such a negative set of guidelines into societies minds.

            Is the media really giving us something to think about or are they putting ideas in our head to continue the racism that this country started with?