You Are A Strong & Independant Woman Who Still Needs A Man

In today's t.v shows we see women everywhere. It's no longer a shock to us to see women doing "masculine" jobs anymore. Many of them still suggest that a woman cannot do the job without a man's help though.

In the show Bones. Dr. Brennan is an anthropologist and highly intelligent. She prides herself on not needing anyone and being able to work alone. But when she starts working at the Jeffersonian with the FBI to help solve murders she realizes the help from others is all part of the job. Like Hodgens and Zach who test the samples, and Angela who is the tech and does all the computer stuff. But the other main character, Booth, the FBI agent who is paired with Temperance seems to be there to show she can't do it alone. And although Dr. Brennan is smart pairing her with a buff man sometimes takes away from her credibilty. It sometimes comes off as when she's working alone, she can do everything all by herself, but when Booth is in the picture she becomes a little more submissive and lets him take charge of things.

Another show where there is a strong female main character is Law and Order: SVU. Detective Olivia Benson has proved that she can work alone and function as an independant woman. When she is alone she is very dominant and takes charge of situations. She looks out and protects herself without needing anyone else to assist. But when she is with her partner Elliot Stabler she is often pushed into the submissive role. When working with her partner and she tries to make a dominant move it is also paired with a scene later in the episode where she needs Elliot's help whether it be needing protection, help with a suspect, or when off the job needing him to talk to or lean on for advice.

Although subtle, I feel these shows encourage women to try and be a strong and independant female while also reminding them they do need to depend on men. They can try to do it on their own but it'll only last for so long before they need a man's help.

Duck Dynasty

One of my new favorite shows is Duck Dynasty. I think it is good, clean humor that is appropriate for all ages. There's no swearing or dirty humor. Although they are millionares, they don't seem to mind working for what they've got. They aren't arrogant or snooty because of what they have and they seem pretty down to earth when we look at families represented in the media.

Given they are a deep southern rooted family, I disagree with the representation of the men and women in the show. It just plays out the typical male and female role stereotypes which don't seem to ring true in today's society, at least not in the cities and suburbs. Phil and Kay are the parents to Willie, Jase, and Jep. Each son is married and has children. They seem to have strong family ties and are very family oriented people. I disagree with the representation of the women in the show. Miss Kay is always in the house doing typical housewife work like watching after the grandchildren, cleaning and keeping the house in order, and having food on the table for whenever Phil decides he's hungry and comes through to eat. The wives of Willie, Jase, and Jep are very active in the church and keeping up appearences. They are always doing some type of volunteer work, shopping, and cleaning their houses.

The men in the show Phil, Si, Willie, Jase, Jep, Godwin (family friend), and Martin (family friend) are always seen outside in the woods doing "masculine" activities. They ride four wheelers and ATV's through the mud and the swamps, shoot up beaver dam's, cut down trees, go hunting, build fires, or some type of physical labor that their wives have requested. They always make fun of one of the other guys if one decides to something that may "take away from their manlieness" or something that may be a little more feminine. One example is when the family went to Hawaii and Willie lost his luggage, he bought a surong which is a typical Hawaiian skirt type of thing that many men in Hawaii wear. But all his brothers thought it was a dress and made fun of him the entire trip for it.

The one thing I find funny through all of this is that through all of these men's "masculinity", they are bossed around by the women and awful lot. When one of the girls says jump they all ask how high. Some attribute this to their southern ways and the respect for women they have. I'm not quite sure what to make of it. I do think that it reinforces how fast paced our lives are and the progress we've made in veering off the traditional gender roles.

Eat This, Not That

Within the past 10 years there has been a huge push by many people in political power and educated Americans to get fit and live a more healthy life. It makes a whole lot of sense that we should want to lead a more healthy life for numerous reasons: happier demeanor, better overall health,and of course-the sexy body that everyone so deeply craves. The media does an awful job in representing this. There are so many ads and commercials that advertise things like "drop ten pounds in a week" or "get that sexy beach body in no time at all". They market this get fit quick crash diets that DO NOT WORK! But they do such a great job in selling it that people actually buy into it. People are not as smart as they really think they are. If they took the time to look into these crazy diets and workout plans, they would realize that IT DOESN'T WORK! All of these Jenny Craig ads and Weight Watchers online say you can "eat whatever you want and still lose the weight"... please. You can not eat whatever you want and still expect to lose weight. They broadcast how it is all about portion control. Well the peole who are looking into these plans wouldn't be there in the first place if they knew about portion control or eating right. The market does such a good job in setting up one specific diet that is supposed to fit the entire country and it just doesn't work like that. There are so many other variables that come into play when talking about a specific diet for just one person it's crazy to think there is just one diet to lose weight for millions of people.

Another booming market advertised is the use of weight loss supplements. People who struggle with weight say it's because they just can't do it. WRONG! Your just being lazy and coming up with excuses for why you cannot lose weight or get healthy. Where there's a will, there's a way. Your just choosing to take the easy way out. Companies market these supplements, that are packed with things that are horrible for your body to begin with, as a way to help you acheive the goals you've always desired. "Take these pills and in two weeks or less you'll have a beach ready six pack" are you serious? That is crazy but the companies do such a good job of selling it to consumers they buy into it. Instead of taking a little time to research other options,or just getting off the couch and going for a walk they buy these pills which make them sick.

One person I really look up to is Michelle Obama for taking huge steps in trying to encourage parents and families to eat healthy and make better meal decisions. She is a big advocate for childhood obesity and she realizes if we can educate the parents on what they are feeding to their children it will get them thinking about what they are putting in their bodies as well. I think the biggest cure for the obesity rate is educating the less fortunate who don't necessarily realize the impact on their bodies. For middle and upper class though, it's pure laziness. Which there isn't a cure for yet.

If the advertising companies would do a better job in advertising the importance of eating healthy instead of advertising the end all be all diet to Americans I think we could be in a better place. And if instead of only advertising crash diets and weight loss supplements they advertised the importance of physical activity we might see a more healthy population. The hardest part though is the fact that a McDonalds burger costs $1.00 and a bag of salad costs $3.00, for lower class and even working class, it's not hard to understand this issue.

A Bad Call for the Modern Game

Consistent and positive media coverage is one of the prime goals of all sports administrators and players. The reason for this is simple. Sport and the media are two of the most powerful influences that affect how society works. They are also intertwined in that both affect how people think and shape ideas and emotions. Consistent media coverage can benefit a sport in a number of ways. It can provide a visual profile, create positive role models and, by increasing spectator appeal, help attract lucrative sponsorship opportunities for the sport. How the media portrays a particular sport or athlete can also impact on both the sport’s or the athlete’s credibility.

Research by the ASC into mass media coverage of women’s sport began in 1980, and has been carried out every four years since to gauge any changes in media coverage. Although the nation’s sportswomen are playing harder, faster and more professionally than ever, and have a proven international record, they still struggle for consistent, long-term coverage. In 1996, a two week survey was done to establish a measurement of coverage and additional information about the portrayal of women’s sport in the media. The findings showed that media coverage of women in sport is treated very differently from that of men.

The survey showed television coverage of women’s sport for the period sampled was just 2% of total sports broadcasting. Radio coverage was surveyed for the first time and showed a total figure of 1.4% of total sports broadcasts while sports magazines, which were also surveyed for the first time, registered 6.8% of coverage devoted to women’s sports. The good news was newspaper reports of women’s sports doubled since the 1992 report and recorded just over a 500% increase from the first survey in 1980. However, results showed only 10.7% of newspaper sports pages were devoted to women’s sport, compared with the men’s at 79.1%. The location of the stories within the magazines and newspaper reports also differs significantly from men. On the sports page, men will be on the front page and the first few pages after that. Usually the last page, at the bottom is devoted to the women's sports. On occasion co-ed teams will be mixed in on the top of the last page with the men's stories.

Sportswomen are significantly more likely to be portrayed in ways that emphasize their femininity and heterosexuality rather than their athletic prowess. Numerous studies have revealed that newspaper and TV coverage around the globe routinely and systematically focus on the athletic exploits of male athletes while offering hypersexualized images of their female counterparts. A major consequence of the media’s tendency to sexualize women’s athletic accomplishments is the reinforcement of their status as second-class citizens in one of the most powerful economic, social and political institutions on the planet. In doing so, media images that emphasize femininity/sexuality actually suppress interest in, not to mention respect for, women’s sports.

The widely held assumption that sexualizing female athletes is the most effective way to promote women’s sports creates cognitive dissonance. Marketing campaigns for leagues like the WNBA emphasize the wholesome nature of women's sports, highlighting the connection between fathers and daughters. The underlying message is that women’s sports embrace traditional “family values” and that their appeal cuts across generational lines. A "sex sells" strategy is counterproductive to that message. Should we buy the argument that what generates fan interest is how pretty athletes are versus how well they perform when a championship is on the line?

So what does sell women’s sports? The answer lies with women’s college basketball and the coverage it receives on ESPN. Each year during the NCAA’s March Madness tournament, women’s hoops garner record attendance and TV ratings. Coverage of the women’s Final Four bears a remarkable resemblance to that of the men’s: a focus on great traditions, conference rivalries (Duke vs. North Carolina), legendary coaches (Pat Summitt vs. Geno Auriemma), and, most important, showcasing sportswomen as physically gifted, mentally tough, grace-under-pressure athletes.

                                                                         

The Upstairs Lounge

The UpStairs Lounge arson attack occurred on the last Sunday in June, 1973, at a gay bar in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the United States, and resulted in the deaths of 32 people due to direct immolation or inhalation of fumes. It was started with Ronsonol lighter fluid on the steps near the entrance. The most likely suspect was a man who had been thrown out of the bar earlier that day; he was never sentenced.

Rev. William “Bill” Larson tried to escape and his body was found hanging out of a window. Police and firemen refused to cover his body claiming to leave it there as an example.

Coverage of the fire by news outlets minimized the fact that LGBT patrons had constituted the majority of the victims, while editorials and talk radio jockeys made light of the event. A radio host used the joke "what will they bury the ashes of the queers in? fruit jars" on air several times. Major Henry Morris, Chief of Detectives, made the comment "you know thieves hang out there and used false papers to gain entry or hide their true identities." A city cab driver appeared on television and said "I hope the fire burned their dresses off."  

The mainstream media was largely uninterested  in showing compassion for gay arson victims. Initial news coverage omitted mention that the fire had anything to do with gays, despite the fact that a gay church in a gay bar had been torched. What stories did appear used dehumanizing language to paint the scene, with stories in the States-Item, New Orleans' afternoon paper, describing "bodies stacked up like pancakes," and that "in one corner, workers stood knee deep in bodies...the heat had been so intense, many were cooked together." Other reports spoke of "mass charred flesh" and victims who were "literally cooked."

 

This was one of the news reports that aired the same day as the fire. The fire disappeared from headlines after the second day. And within a week any news of the fire was unheard of. The city had pushed it under the carpet as if it had never happened. To this day, the Upstairs Lounge is not something openly talked about in New Orleans. Initially, it was unspoken of because they were ashamed of the fact that there were homosexuals in existence among them. Now, it is unspoken of because it is something they have grown ashamed of and how it reflects upon their city.

Beauty & the Stigma of Difference

The media portrayal of women has become something that we, as viewer's, should not be proud of. Nine times out of ten, women are shown abnormally thin and have exaggeratingly fit bodies that in reality do not exist. In printed media, with the help of high tech broadcast programming, the bodies of these women are computer generated, touched up, body parts are switched around and cut and pasted according to what the advertisers think is best looking in their eyes. When the women and younger girls at home see these unreal images in the media, they struggle to attain these artificial standards and put their lives into jeopardy emotionally, physically, and psychologically. The repercussions of these unattainable standards are eating disorders, low self esteem, and depression.

The other end of this is the overwhelmingly negative image of overweight people. The media often portrays them in ill-fitting clothes or eating fast food, to illustrate the story of obesity. For one study, researchers looked at 429 news stories about obesity, along with their accompanying photos, published on five major news websites. Of the photos depicting overweight or obese people, the study found, 72% portrayed them “in a negative, stigmatizing manner.” Although news stories focus largely on reducing the obesity epidemic, the images that go with them have the opposite effect. Research shows that people who read a news story about obesity that is paired with a stigmatizing photograph subsequently express higher levels of weight bias than do those who read the same news story about obesity paired with a nonstigmatizing photograph.

The media so strongly influences not only how we view the world, but how we view ourselves. We give advertisers so much power over us and tell us what were doing wrong with our bodies. We're either too fat or too thin. There never seems to be a happy medium. The media puts so much emphasis on how our bodies look and they have created one norm for all different types of women to squeeze into. And if you don't fit, there are social consequences. We, as women, critique other women so harshly knowing how hard we each struggle. The media should encourage women to be happy and proud with their bodies and stop trying to conform to pop culture's beauty standards.

 

http://psupopculture.wordpress.com/2011/02/18/the-unrealistic-women-in-the-media/

LGBT in the Media

Media portrayal of the LGBT community varies from very positive and supportive to very negative and demoralizing. The gay community is constantly battling with the negative image and trying to overcome stereotypes in television, films and other media. Because many lesbians, gay, bisexual, and transgender people look just like everyone else the media tends to add images to make the community as visible as a difference in skin color. In many movies and television shows gays are depicted as prima donna, promiscuous, and bold. Despite the stereotypical portrayal of gays, the media has show support to the community with shows like The L Word, The Real L Word, Queer Eye, and Will and Grace. Recently many celebrities have felt more comfortable coming out of the closet which has, in turn, caused the media to create more gay friendly shows.  With the popularity of gay television shows, celebrities, and music artists, Western culture has had to open its eyes to the gay community and be aware of the social issues. With more shows promoting the acceptance of gays, people are able to view a more correct depiction of the LGBT community. The gay community has been targeted by marketers who view LGBT people as an untapped source of discretionary spending, as many couples have two income streams and no children. As a result, companies are advertising more and more to the gay community, and LGBT activists use advertisement slogans to promote gay community views. Subaru marketed its "Forester" and "Outback" models with the slogan "It's not a choice. It's the way we're built" which was later used in eight United States cities on streets or in gay rights events.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/daryl-c-hannah/lgbt-people-of-color-media_b_1466391.html