Final project presentation link!

Acjn13.tumblr.com

random post #2 (a teens in the media youtube video)

i thought this video pertained completely to our class views and what we were learning in class.. i usually get really distracted, and can not watch a whole entire informational video, but i did watch this in it's entirety.  i believe this is a great representation of how teens and the media .. i also enjoyed how it touched upon my final project topic, teens and eating disorders.. i do think everyone should watch this video.

354 [10] - teens talking back

first i typed into YouTube, "teens talking back," the most hits on videos i got were directed towards parents trying to get the PARENTS to prevent teens from talking back.

i thought this was a funny video; to be quite honest. LOL

anywho; while continuing on with my search i found a lot of interesting videos.. this is one i would love to share about this one specific teen -Samm Pinkoff.  I watched her story and become very touched.  she is definitely talking back to society and letting everyone know about the life of a bullied teen


i also found a lot of anti-bullying sites written by teens, along with blogs, and tumblrs. i would say this is a great way to have teens finally speaking out and telling their stories.

this also had a lot to do with my final project about how teens see the media and idolize the media and the images of models being shown.
this tumblr shows how one young teen idolizes being skinny and seeing the skinny girls and boys on the television make her sad. 

i did come across some trouble when looking for actual facts about teens talking back. most of them were youtube videos.
i do feel like there could be more teens actually talking back on the internet.





comments/questions for the class:
have you ever spoken back on the internet?
do you feel like there should be more talking back on the internet?
can we help change bullying and misunderstood teens?

354[10] - glee reflection

REFLECTION:

for me i believed that blogging while watching/right after watching each episode would be the easiest and most efficient way to accomplish this assignment.

glee is not a show i am familiar with, but i am glad i got to watch the first episode of the season.. i do feel like this will make it a little easier to understand the show.

so here is my reflection on the first episode, season 1 episode 1 - "pilot"

right off the bat it was plain to see that the cheerleaders played a big role in this high school, because of their opening into the show and because of their reputation and that they have won a high award the year before and were on television.

another thing i sawKurt being picked on because he is "gay."  but something very subliminal was Fin being a little nice to him letting him take off his new Michael Kors jacket and backpack before dumping him into the trash can.

as the episode progressed i could clearly make out all of the stereotypes and cliques that high school really does have.

Kurt's gayness and the other kids (dont know his name) handicapped-ness is talked about throughout the episode  significantly.

for the second episode i watched - season 2, epi 6 - never been kissed

within the first 27 seconds i could see how this club has expanded greatly.. even Fin's now EX girlfriend was shown to be sitting in the glee club..

of course the first couple mins talks about sexuality and sex with the two "hottest" girls

Kurt being pushed into a locker for doing absolutely nothing but walking the hall way.

some girl making a comment about gay jokes.

the episode also makes a clear division between girls and boys.. This is where Kurt goes and stands with the girls and Professor Shu makes sure that he goes to his directed side.

i dont even know how Kurt could honestly be the only gay guy at school, i can already tell that this pressure is a lot for him, and this is why he finally stands up to the jock that keeps pushing him against the lockers.

Kurt finds a different school where he finally feels like he can fit in; he feels like his gay-ness would not be a problem here.

Kurt is very hurt that his bullying is not important to his school.. they displayed his gay-ness by crying.. which is considered a very "unstraight" thing to do, by guy code and tough guise of course.

Kurt finally finds a rock for him, an inspiration.. Blaine. who texts him a simple word "courage" where he stands up to the jock and actually finds out hes gay himself. something that would be socially wrong.

even after the confrontation and the kiss; the jock continued to hurting Kurt, just to keep the social idea that it is wrong to be gay.

another thing i picked up from this episode was that coach beast, since she has a non girlish figure, a deeper voice, and short hair she was automatically assumed to be a lesbian.

episode three -- season 2, episode 8 "Furt"

this is the episode where Kurt and Fins single parents get engaged. 

i thought it was disrespectful when Kurt and Shu go to Sue to new principals office, and Sue calls Kurt "lady" and more than once.

this episode also demonstrates bullying and violence importance in young boys. - the glee boys could not talk to Kurts bully without violence, which also lead to Sam being punched in the face. 

this episode was very different from the other two that we were told to watch.  this was the episode were unions were formed and trust and brotherly love was form.  this is where Kurt and Fin become brothers and it looks like things are going up.

i personally have never watched or enjoyed musical shows such as these, but glee was a very a good story and portrays lots of high school stereotypes.  especially about homophobia, violence and masculinity. loved this blog post.

comments/questions:

high school is portrayed to be an unsafe place where the social status is the most important thing.. 

do you think this show showed a lot of TRUE characteristics of high school?

what would you do differently if you were KURT?

glee analysis 

high schooler comes out to 300+ students that he is gay.. listen to reaction

354 [9] - hip hop - tricia rose

CONNECTIONS:

i am connecting what i have read and watched on hip hop to the most recent article Violence,Adolescent  Masculinity, and Homophobia by Kimmel.

i enjoyed reading the online question and answering section of this assignment.. it was a cool online webpage article. 

i automatically can make many connections without giong back to this article.  hip-hop/rap "promotes" the violence and masculinity of men.. teenagers.. the male race. ALLOFTHEABOVE

amoung violence, these songs promote belitting the female race and using them as just sex toys.  the songs of Hip-Hop and Rap are so demeaning to the females in the world.  and the music videos that these artists produce, are even worse.

but back to violence, rap songs and hip-hop songs talk about violenece and guns, getting revenge on people who have hurt them before, swearing and saying hurtful things to other men and women, etc.

something that i can pull from the question and answer portion of this assignment it:

"They're not going to listen to a lot of the kind of commercial hip-hop that we're talking about, where people are just rhyming about killing everybody who gets in their way and never caring about a woman — I'm not going to use bad language here; what's the point? — but you get it. There's no way that's going to be acceptable. So there's a kind of community-regulation factor in early hip-hop."

readmore

there it is right there.. right on the internet.  this is what the music is about! killing everybody and not caring for a woman.  this is what our younger generation is going to grow up and think about life.

as for kimmels argument, I'm sure he would agree that these songs are another reason for school shootings. -violence is something that is commonly the main point of hip-hop or rap songs, by MALE rappers or artists. i do believe that female artists do not rap or sing or MC to violence as much as male artists. 

overall, i do not want to put the blame on these people for the things that people go out and do (such as school shootings, fights, violence) however, i can admmit that a part of me feels like it is soemthing teens look into.  when we are young i do feel as though everyone has an idol or someone they look up too.  lots of teens look up to artists and rappers. 

this is because they have "everything" the american dream, SCHWAAMP!! they have money, nice cars, big houses, inground pools, all the clothes and diamonds they want, all the "big booty-hoes" they could ever imagne.  who wouldnt want all that ,.... right?

big booty hoes music videooo....

questions comments for the class:

would you allow your children to listen to hardcore rap or hip-hop?

how can you prevent your children growing up to know that this is not how you are suppose to live life?

is there a good hip-hop?

do you feel, personally, that music can effect teenagers/yourself?

what is your american dream?

354 [8] - argument --Adolescent Masculinity, Homophobia, and Violence by Kimmel

ARGUMENT-

While reading this article I could tell that there was a clear point that Kimmel was trying to portray.  Kimmel states that boys in school are the reason for teen violence. Kimmel talks about school shootings and how teen boys do them.  This is not always something I would agree on, due to the stereotype that only MALES create violence in high school.  This is because I have seen actual female violence when I was in high school.  I do, however, I feel that males do tend to be more violent.  WHY? Well lots would argue about video games, and the TV shows that show that males have to be the tough guys all the time. 

I thought that it was funny that this was the first line of the article "Violence is one of the most urgent issues facing our nation’s schools."  Pretty much told us what the whole article would be about.  Violence in schools can be considered bad, but do YOU think it accomplishes anything for the students?

Students think fights in school are FUN:

They record them; publishing them to YouTube

They chant, "fight fight fight fight fight!"

Stand in circles around the fight and WATCH

Encourage fighting

THIS IS BAD. I do agree, but I unfortunately feel like this is a big part of teen culture.

Where would high schools be without the fights that everyone always talk about? I personally remember being a senior in high school and someone talking about a fight that had happened when we were both freshmen.  That is three years prior!

Although, Kimmels argumentative article was drawn more to the school shootings.  –This is something that I do believe needs to be more talked about and stopped.  Shooting is wrong, and I know a lot of people would agree with me. School shootings are something that is becoming more and more popular.  Although, do we have to always stereotype teen males as the bad people who constantly want to shoot up the school?

Comments/questions for the class: do you think that it is fair to stereotype teen males for school shootings because they are the only ones who have done so?

Is there a way to stop school violence?

Is there a way to stop violence in teen males in general?

searching pintrest and i found... (random #1)

i am a common pintrest user, and while searching around on the "popular" tab.
i wanted to share this picture and fact that i found on pintrest because it has to do with my groups final project.

Mireya Medrano- Every 1 or 2 out of every 100 students in America will struggle with an eating disorder. This article discusses eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia. This article discusses the signs of these eating disorders. It also talks about the causes, effects, and treatments for someone who suffers from eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia.



pintrest link

354[7] connections between Cinderella Ate My Daughter and Brave

CONNECTIONS:

In class on Thursday, we watched the Disney film; Brave.  I had not seen this movie before and was extremely excited to watch.  Brave is about a young girl named Merida, who is born into a wealthy family, the king and queens child to be exact.  Coming from a girl’s point of view, I disappointedly say that this could have been a dream of most little girls.  Watching this type of movie has showed me that there is more to life, and I commend Disney greatly for making a movie as such. Hopefully this could change the next generation of children.

To compare this movie to the article by Peggy Orenstein; “Cinderella Ate My Daughter,” I would have to start by saying the plots of each are completely opposite.  In brave, Merida, the young girl, does not want to be a princess and get married.  In the article, Orenstein’s daughter was the center of her writings.  She wrote about how her daughter was becoming a “princess” right before her eyes, and she should have stopped it before it started.  As for Brave, showed how a girl can be independent and not always have to have an obsession with the color pink. 

Orenstein spoke of how her daughter was drawn to Barbies, the color pink, princess dolls, pocketbooks, and nail polish.  -- All of the things that are stereotypical to a young girl.  Completely opposite to this, Brave’s Merida, loved shooting her bow and arrow, riding fast on her horse Angus, and playing with other weapons. 

This movie was a great move for Disney, because it was finally the first time a girl was not a princess, saved by a knight in shining armor, or completely dependent on the opposite sex.

another thing i would like to compare is the appearance of Merida.. she is not a typical "girl" figure that Disney has portrayed before.  she has red curly long frizzy hair, and she seems to be pretty tall-looking in the movie.  i have never seen a princess with red hair! 

I thought that these were two GREAT things to compare.

And I thoroughly enjoyed Brave!!

questions/comments for the class:

if you have a daughter will you make sure that she becomes a strong independent lady? --does this mean NO barbies?  will you sway her away from liking the color pink?

Final topic proposals ? Not in cement

For this final project presentation I would like to do something with the comparison of teenagers to adults in TV shows. I am obviously open to other issues in the teenage world but this is something that is interesting to me. Another issue I am into for this project would be anything that has the do with TEENs in the MEDIA. I feel like this topic is broad and can be narrowed down. Either way, I would like to work in a group and I cannot wait to start
Another issue I could look at is the body image issues portrayed in magazines and on the Internet.

http://www.vogue.com/magazine/
Looking at this website for vouge magazine I already see things and pictures I could use in any comparison about teenagers 

midterm blogpost.

for the midterm presentation celine vescera, noelle patenaude, and jessica parenteau.
for this project we found it easiest to group message, because we all have iPhones.

for our project we decided to interview students around the college and ask them five questions about teenagers.
taking all of the information we receive from the students, we are going to take a standpoint of one author each and critique them saying things we think the author would say.



for this project something we all havent done before for this project was:
do a college interview, and use iMovie to edit all of interviews

for this project, so far I have:
done recordings, helped finalize the five questions, analyzed Raby's text

354[5] michael wesch - ted talk

ARGUMENT:
Once given the option to read or watch a video, i jumped at the thought of watching a video and not having to read! I've probably said this time and time again, but reading is just not my thing..
Anyways, I really enjoyed watching Mr. Wesch speak. I think his analogies and examples were amazing.  He was most defiantly arguing something here in his speech. 
Wesch is saying that the way to connect and make a point be proven, would not be possible without the internet.  He is saying that the internet can be used efficiently in classrooms and can actually benefit there also.  Other than the classroom, the internet can be used to change companies.  Just like the story Dr. Bogad told us in class bout her friend making a pickle video, or the spoof off of the Dove commercial that Wesch showed us in the Ted talk.

There were many great points shown in his presentation.. something i think proved his argument the most would be the Google Doc.  Google Doc is a document where, if invited, a person with a google account can make edits on this one document.  Wesch invited all 200 of his students, and it showed over 350 edits on one document.  Talk about getting your point across.

I completely agree with Wesch, i feel as though the internet and being connected in the classroom is something that is valued and makes the whole entire learning experience easier, and more interesting.  Instead of listening to a professor lecture on and on about something and write on the board, the notes can be right in front of you, virtually, on your laptop, tablet, iPad, etc.  I feel like it would make a student feel like they are truly learning instead of drifting off into space while listening to someone ramble on.

here i found an article where Brian Braiker talks about the pros and cons of technology in the classroom


comments and questions for the class...
how do you feel being technologically intertwined in classes? does this give you more of an urge to learn?  should technology be used in every class here at Rhode Island College?

354(4) - the rise and fall of an american teenager

The Rise and Fall of an American Teenager - Thomas Hine

HYPERLINKS: while reading this article i feel as though Hine really spelt out all of views on teenagers by adults, and by other teenagers.  it was a very good read and i think it really outlined all about teenagers.  

another good interpretation about the views on teenagers i found can be located here.

specifically in this article Hine speaks about all of the responsibilities teens have, and how little appreciation is usually shown (in average cases).. i am a firm believer in the fact that your teen years shape how you become and form as an adult. i also found this online article which agrees with me.

this also goes back to the nature vs. nurture debate from psychology.  

this also brings me to another point talked about often about teenagers.. the consumer consumption and teens. 

media says, advertise and shoot for the teens.. why? well maybe because their finally making money at their first part time job, and they don't have bills or things to really pay for... so aim for them! 

i for one, will admit, i spend a lot of money on petty things like shoes, and clothes.. this is beginning to change now as i search for a new car, and now want to buy things like food, and other expenses that are necessities rather then wants in my life.

things like magazines promote teens to buy their products A LOT, i feel. my prime example would be "Teen Vogue."

this picture right here is one of the many covers for teen vouge.. look at the text right there!

MUST HAVE SKINNY JEANS, AND COOL NEW SHADES... meaning the audience who looks at his magazine, TEENS, must HAVE/BUY these to look good and cool and be hip. this is what Hine speaks about.

i do feel like this article is just repetitive to the previous articles we have read thus far.






questions for the class:
do you feel like youve fallen into the teen consumer cateogory before?
do you fall for the things you see in magazines, or on commericals, saying to yourself "OMG I HAVE TO HAVE THOSE?"
is the media for teen consumption all that bad?
when you have children how can you teach them to be responsible with money and other things of importance?

354(3) a tangle of discourses - raby

A Tangle of Discourses: Girls Negotiating Adolescence - Rebecca C. Raby 

REFLECTION: Right off the bat i think of adolescent girls and how the media effects them, well actually, how a lot of things can effect a young girls mind. this title has already inserted me into the article, and i can already guess what its about..

 first off: id like to brake down some words; this always helps me analyze better and understand the main goals and concepts an author is trying to set forth.

 discourse = 1. Verbal expression in speech or writing. 2. Verbal exchange; conversation. 3. A formal, lengthy discussion of a subject, either written or spoken. 
adolescence = 1. growing to manhood or womanhood; youthful. 2. having the characteristics of adolescence or of an adolescent. 

"DISCOURSE CAN ALWAYS BE CHANGED."

To get personal, my younger teenage years were hard.. There was always something to pick and poke about me.. I didnt know why? Teenage years form you for your adult years i believe, and from reading this article i think that Raby would agree with me. 

--this article is about teenagers and the media, thought it was interesting and wanted to share.

I enjoyed how Raby broke down her writing into sections, this made it very easy to read (although i did still run into some complications).  

Another thing i enjoyed thoroughly was the personal interviews and the question and answer part of the article.. gave this writing a more casual feel.

"The present paper has examined key dominant discourses that frame adolescence, the investments behind these discourses and some of the contradictions
embedded within and between them. I have also considered how such discourses construct agency among teenagers." page 446
right here i believe is a very important quote.  Raby completely demonstrated many different ways discourse can change situations in either helping or hurting.  i never realized how important discourse is. 
discourse can be shown in either writing or in word of mouth.

Raby breaks down the teen into five different components:
1)the storm
2)becoming
3)at risk
4)social problem
5)pleasure consumption

i thought this breaking down of the teen was a great way to further detail the aspects of being a young adult.  i really appreciated these break downs and thought that they helped a lot.
for #1 Raby says that this is the risk taking stage of teens
#2 Raby states that this is when teens begin to find themselves and form real personalities in social and lonley situations
#3 Raby says that this is when the teen begins to experiment with different things, usually drugs, boys/girls, alcohol.. etc
#4 Raby says that this is when adults view the teens as annoying or as a burden
and finally for #5 Raby says that this is the stage where the media is pushing the teen to be something, do something, or buy something thats "COOL, IN, THE NEW THING" 






for class:
id love to dicuss how everyone's teenage years went..
did they happen in the five stages like Raby says they do?
Any cool/not cool experiences that you can honestly say shaped you into the way you are today?
How did everyone feel about the article? On point? a Bunch of bull?

354(2) - extended comments on unlearning the myths that binds us

Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us - Linda Christensen

EXTENDED COMMENTS:
For this specific blog post I chose to EXTEND on Becca's blog.  I LOVE Toy Story and she talked about it, so I figured I could totally expand on her great ideas. Here we go!

First off this is what Christensen is even trying to get across in her article..
-How do these cartoons affect US?
-How are the females seen on TV (cartoons, news, movies, game shows, etc.)?
-How are the money classes portrayed?
-Are MEN always the hero? The strong, unstoppable characters?
Searching on Google I found a great website article that talks about how women are shown in the media. After reading this article I feel a total connection to what Christensen says in HER article. Hub pages.com even talks about how women are shown as "little sex toys," this makes me sick.. take a look here!

SO Toy Story! One of my personal childhood favorites.. What can I say badly about this movie? Nothing.  What have I come up with after a media analyzation.. OH, a lot. Playing off of what Becca said about Toy Story in her blog:
"For example, in Toy Story (the first one) the only female toy was Bo Beep, and she had no active role. In the second movie, the new female character was Jesse who gives the appearance of being a strong female character, but in the end is still the damsel in distress. Not only that, but there are no portrayals of any characters of minorities (toys or people), and the only class portrayed was middle."
I really don't even think Bo Peep had much of a role anyways!  Woody stole the whole movie, really.  But as for the second Toy Story Jesse played a very significant role, where she did seem like a very strong independent woman.  However, in the end Woody still had to save her.
This goes back to the damsel in distress that even Christensen talks so much about.  Why do these cartoonized movies always have to have this woman being saved by a man?  What is the purpose! EVERY SINGLE disney princess movie is set up this way.. except for Beauty and the Beast, one of the only exceptions.  What is this teaching young boys? AND girls?  
-to be reliable on the man?
-to always be in control?
-to always save your women?!

(this class has made me analyze so many things i have before overlooked)

As for the classes of people, none were shown in this movie.  Is it something that can so easily just be pushed aside?  God created everyone equal, yes, but not all with equal paying jobs. i feel as though this is an important aspect in life.. it is something children should know about.. and what better then to show it in a cartoonized movie that I'm sure they'll watch over and over again.  i agree with Becca as she goes on in talking about the class in Toy Story.  Becca says that Toy Story is portrayed as a middle class home, i agree with this also. BUT when exactly does "middle class" truley show? who are we to decide what disney wants to SHOW as middle class?

Class and "ass" (females) (i just made that up!) are two very big issues in the media world. 
since this is clear and known why is nothing being done to change the views ?!


speaking of Disney; i found this little short clip of the female roles in Disney movies.. thought it was interesting..



overall, this article was a mind-blowing one.. once again pointing out all of the flaws in the media that we so quickly overlooked before.

comments/questions to the class!
Why do you think in Toy Story 2 there was a much more prominent female role?  Do you think there was something that MADE the director to do so?  how do you feel when you watch these cartoonized movies?  do you think anything is wrong with them? why are females just seen as for sex, and for extra characters?  why do males always have the more dominating role? would you let your children watch these movies knowing what you know now? since we are now older, do we feel differently and disagree with the way TV shows us specific aspects of life?
This i feel will be a great discussion! Something i think that is important is my above question... will YOU show these movies to your children as a parent? was it wrong of our parents to show us?

wannna know more about me?

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354(1) media and ideology. -- QUOTES

Media and Ideology - Croteau


Since I have read this article before, I can honestly say that this is a great read to start this class.  Not only because it talks about the media, but because it speaks of all the ways the media makes people look.. And I will be specially talking about how the media makes teenagers look. While reading, I had to change my mindset from the first time I read.

First I want to reiterate what ideology is.. Because even for the second time reading this article, I feel it's important to completely understand what  these words mean to the author.
In the second paragraph Croteau writes: "ideology. Is a decidedly complicated term with different implications depending on the context in which it is used" 
Using google search engine I found that their definition if IDEOLOGY is:

Noun A system of ideas and ideals, esp. one that forms the basis of economic or political policy: "the ideology of republicanism". The ideas and manner of thinking of a group, social class, or individual: "a critique of bourgeois ideology". As for the word media: well I hope everyone knows what that is.  . Something that really caught my attention right off the bat was the quote: "Most ideological analyses of mass media products focus on the content of the messages-- the stories they tell about the past and the present-- rather than the 'effects' of such stories."  Page 159 I picked this as my first quote to analyze because it really makes a lot of sense to me and this topic. Every story told on television especially about teenagers, never turkey show the effects of the bad or good decisions they make. Most teenagers are perceived on TV to be cool and get into trouble on purpose to make their friends laugh, or to seem like they are the best. But something that usually isn't shown is the consequences if these actions.  This makes  teens look irresponsible and not aware of the consequences of their actions.  I thought another relevant quote was: "Despite the likelihood of their having very different political stances, those who are concerned about media depictions of premarital sex have the same underlying concern as those who citizice the dominating images of the upper-middle-class family.   In both cases, the fear is that the media images normalize specific social relations, making certain ways of behaving seem unexceptional. If the media texts can normalize behaviors, they can also set limits on the range of acceptable ideas. " page 163 I felt like this may be the best quote I could have picked. This is the definition of television, I think. Teenagers on TV are portrayed to have underage sex, participate in underage drinking, and doing more "wrong" or illegal things. Thus, teenagers enjoy watching other teens, and older people like to make comments and disagree with the airtime. However, for teens who do not participate in these illegal activities, the media makes it somewhat normal, or "ok" to do these things. Creating curiosity in the teen watching these shows.  A show for example would be the new MTV hit, "Buckwild," reports have shown that more and more people are tuning in while the mayor of that town in West Virginia wants to cancel the show. Why you may ask? Because he said that the show is giving the town and state a bad name, while teenagers tune in and idolize the things that they do.  For my last quote I picked: "and as the internet expands, politicans continue to condemn the availability of sexually explict material online and argue that unregulated speech and imagery on the internet pose a threat to childrens safety and well being." page 160 This quote says right in the text that the media can threaten a child.  What is this quote saying?  That teenagers and childrren are often influenced by the media?  I thought that this would be a good quote because it puts the warning about young minds right in front of you.  This quote could not have been more straight forward.  As an adult writing this article, Croteau is saying that children and oung adults need to be monitored constantly.  Obviously as a 19 year old, i disagree.   questions for the class: will you monitor your childrens media intake? do you feel like you personally are influenced by what you see on TV?