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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?

interrupting the cycle of oppression: the role of allies as agents of change

reflection:

while reading this article, a lot of loose ends were tied together for me. i feel as though that Ayvazian made this an easy read and made her points clear.  
my favorite part of the article is the section where "what is an ally?" is talked about.  this is a word i have heard in the course many times and never truly understood the meaning.  by the first sentence i felt more at ease with this word.  ( not that it wasnt explained in class, i just enjoyed the way that Ayvazian stated ALLIES) Ayvazian also used to word oppression to explain allies, which was another factor which made it easier for me to understand.  something i found mesmerizing was the last sentence of the third paragraph (pg. 116) "Even a white, able-bodied, heterosexual, Christian male will literally grow out of his total dominance if he reaches old age."  i found this so funny because it basically mocked the male race.. and the idea of women being more in control than a man.  i literally laughed out loud when this sentence was read.  
another section i was enjoyed reading would be the "providing positive role models" section.  i found it to be an awesome couple of paragraphs because it was encourgaing.  and let the article end on a good note.  it enforced the fact that much more is possible when you have someone to be your mentor, someone to look up to, someone to aspire to be like. 


questions for the class:
does anyone have a changed opinion on becoming/being an ally now?
does anyone have a role model? someone theyd love to be like?

ideology and media - croteau -- connections

CONNECTIONS:
reading this article made me think more on the textbook side.. along with it being a repeat of a lot of things already read and talked about in class.  other than this article being kind of a repeat, i thought it was kind of a hard read, since it differed so greatly from the articles we have been reading lately. 

for my first connection to the text I chose Cinderella Ate my Daughter.
both of these articles had lots to do with the media, and depiction of certain things.  and as for the ideology, both articles talked about the "norm" or life.  the things that are always seen, and recognized so quickly because of the media in the world.  although, Cinderella Ate My Daughter pertains to mostly young girls, ideology and media focuses on both of the sexes.  this is something that we talked about in class.  in the text, Cinderella Ate My Daughter, the author spoke of the problems her daughter may come about as she grows, and in Ideology and Media, the problems of both female and male were brushed upon. 


for my second connection, i chose the movie we watched in class: (sorry i forgot the name)
just like Cinderella Ate My Daughter, this movie was also about young females.  as i was watched the movie,  i thought of BOTH Cinderella Ate My Daughter, and Ideology and MEdia.  these three presentations of information are so close knit.  once again, the only difference is that Ideology and Media talked about the male race.. while the others didn't. what i liked in the movie was the interview of high school girls, talking about being bullied and peer pressured.  actually hearing truthful stories is different then reading them in the text.  in ideology and media, stories about the future and being bullied were only talked about. 


overall, all three of these types of "texts" have opened my eyes to the cruel world we live in.  if everyone was nice and could mind their own business the world could be a happier place.  growing up is extremely hard.. and i honestly could not even tell you which gender growing up is HARDER for.  i hope the best for my kids, (when i have them) and i pray that their wont be bullies.  while watching the movie, i could totally understand how these little girls felt.  i believe that everyone has been bullied in their past, its just sometimes kept deeper into the memory in some people than others.
as for media, media can be the biggest bully of all. 

presidential election night !

FIRST TIME EVER VOTING TODAY FOR THE PRESIDENT. very exciting. love having rights ;)

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so, walking in from the movies (i just saw paranormal activity 4!), i almost crapped my pants to see that my 15 year old sister watching the presidential election night! she not only made me feel like a proud mom because she actually cares about whats going on in this country, and reminded me that i needed to to do this homework assignment. LOL

unfortunately i had to watch this by myself cus i have a project to do..


when i first turned on channel 10, Sehldon Whitehouse was speaking.  and all i could think about is "did you pay your daughter to look at you like that and have that stupid smile on is she just dumb?"
next i see that david cicilline in the lead and will most likely win, so i text my mom and say "that douche you did not want to win is winning," her reply is "yeah i could have saw that coming. hes such a liar"
it made me think... arent they all liars? obviously im against Romney, but Obamas a liar too! they all say what you want to hear, and do nothing that they say.

AHAHAHAH julie tremmel just staring at the camera for a good 2 mins not saying anything... awkward...

elizabeth warren is winning, and projected to win..all i can think about is the commericals shes in.

honestly, watching this is making me mad and anxious.. i want to turn it off.

lincoln gambling is gonna be passed! YAY, sorry newport :(

well my two hours is up.. looks like Obama has more electoral votes.. just have to wait and see!

8 ways to be positive you're sex positive & wiki article - reflection

This was a fun read for me.  As I heard other people saying in class, “I am not afraid to talk about sex,”  I agree with this completely.  Ask me anything.. im not going to lie, sugarcoat, withhold.  Sex is a thing that is everywhere around us, most of the time good, sometimes bad.  I can say that I am sex positive.  And to back this up I can bring out one main point in the 8 ways to be positive that you are sex positive article.  Number 4 “know thyself.”  Ms. White says that she is sex positive and is okay with verbalizing what she lieks and dislikes with her parteners.  I am only 19, but I do have a good idea of what I like and do not.  I am not at all saying that there isn’t a lot more things to accomplish, try, challenge, and experience.  But this was the point that stuck out to me the most.  White asks some questions in this “know thyself” section, that got me to think myself. 

i believe sex is an important topic in life, and i regret that fact that it was never spoken about in my family.  i was on my own for sex ED, which was a good and bad thing.  i believe this is one of the main reasons i lost my virginity at an older age then some of my friends.  i didnt know how to ask about it, talk about it, or BE about it.  i know how i can help my younger sister now, and i know sex isnt wrong. 

This article is really awesome and I enjoyed reading, agreeing, and questioning myself. 

While White’s blog was a younger spin on the whole subject and brought me down to earth, the Wiki article was more informational.  Thank God I decided to read the blog first HA!

On Wiki it explains the different types of sex –positive and the different types of feminist that are or are not sex-positive.  My question was answered… do you need to be a feminist to be sex-positive?  I say no! and reading other blogs from my classmates I say they agree.  Wiki also talks about the word “Sex-Freedom,” which I enjoyed a lot.   

random post #2! --work uniforms

at stop and shop, the uniform requires jeans (which i never wear), an ugly mustard colored long sleeve, or short sleeve with the companies logo printed on the collar, and on the back, and a black apron.  however, sometimes the males in the company are required to wear hats, or just choose to wear a hat.  

SO, one night at work, i had nothing really left to do in the florist department so i was kind of walking around talking to people, when i saw a co-worker named Tyler, wearing a hat.  I kind of like the hats.. their cute just black with a little logo.  and stop and shop makes my hair so staticy i always wear it up anyways.  so i asked my manager for a hat.  he laughed and said "only the boys wear those," i told him i wanted to be one of the boys that night.  kind of hesitantly he went and fetched me a hat.  when Tyler had saw me again he told me that i was "trying to copy him," and that "those hats were only for the real men of the store." 
while walking around with this hat on i saw a couple of double looks come my way.  with this class in mind, i decided to wear the hat the next day at work, too.
this time a different manager was on and he too, made some sort of comment about me looking like a boy.  and my friend stephanie was working and decided she wanted to wear a hat too, just to be cool like me.  

the moral of the story is.. if i wear a hat.. im a guy? really.. girls cant wear hats in public places without getting double takes?

and this is a picture of me and stephanie being "boys."