What are you for Halloween?

The media can affect our costumes. This weekend was very special in that there were tons of Halloween parties and everyone was adorned in costume. I saw, however, an increase in the amount of "sexiness" in the girl's costumes. Most of the girls I saw took the chance to dress up in more revealing costumes than they usually wear. I am not saying there is anyhting wrong with wanting to look sexy, I just noticed that the guys didn't seem to care very much. I saw many guys in funny costumes, or creative costumes. I saw many girls wearing practically nothing (and it was really cold this weekend). I am not trying to condemn anyone, its Halloween you can wear whatever you want, but, I couldn't help but notice this fact. So I started to think. I realized that the media plays a role in this. In much of what is on television and internet, there is this image of women as sexual beings, fitting a specific beauty ideal, which a very low percentage of the people on this planet can actually achieve. Halloween for young people seems to reflect that. The perpetuation of this beauty ideal and idea that women are suppoed to be beautiful, in very narrow standards, creates in young women, the need to achieve that. The halloween costumes I saw on girls were very revealing and not very creative. Just a thought...

Free Free FreefeminismFree Free

For this media log, I would like to discuss how I think the image of feminism, through the use of the media, can be rectified. The stereo typical feminist is what the majority of this society thinks of when they hear the term. The stereotype of us being loud mouthed, man hating, hairy legged, hairy armed yadda yadda yadda is not at all based on fact, but the impression that few extreme feminists make on the public. I think that is President Barack Obama were to say, through the mediums of the news, and radio, that he were a feminist, and why he is one, then the negative connotation with the term "feminist" would decrease. Such powerful tools are the media, and you can communicate your thoughts and ideas to millions of people at a time. Coming from the president, the national and international community would see feminism as more legitimate. As we have seen through this class, the media can be used in many negative ways which further blinds society. However, I contest that there are some positive ways the media can be used. In this case, the usage of the media described above would bring support and legitimacy to the feminist movement.

The Falola Experience

            First a Summary:

             I was, for some unknown reason, able to hear one the most esteemed and advanced scholars in his field discuss an elaboration of what we consider ethnocentric, transnational globalization. In his lecture on the Globalization of African Culture, Falola refers to three specific, yet all encompassing  ways that African culture has been stretched, ignored, altered, and degraded.

Through the Nigerian, specifically Yoruba, knowledge of medicine, outsiders could gain more political and psychological stability through a more in depth analysis of plants and animals.  He explained that the Yoruba people of Nigeria have advanced and in depth knowledge of the workings of plants and animals to make medicines, poisons and so on. He alluded to Ceasar and how he attained his power through the use of medicine, and poison, therefore this type of knowledge can influence and systemically change the society we live in, for the definition of “power” will the have changed to a power of knowledge instead of the power of wealth and the western views of success. Through knowledge from the Yoruba, leaders from all economic and environmental sects of society can transcend their superficial separation and gain power.

The audience also saw how the adoption of African culture in American society, strips it of its authenticity, and in this way a new African American culture is born. African American culture is quite a different than African culture. We watched a film displaying how Africans living in America are stripped of their culture and are expected to alter themselves to fit better with the American identity.

Finally, Falola explained how the slave trade, slavery, and racism are globalized transnationally which reinforces new cultural meanings and can create an African identity, different than the authentic African form of being. Globalization has played a role in this in such a large way. We are more and more a global society connected virtually and physically. As alluded to by a reading in my Anthropology of Sub Saharn Africa class, Terence  Ranger in his article “The Invention of Tradition”, explains how there can exist societal changes with the introduction of differing forms of governance, power, and religion, all of which are three ways  globalization is exemplified. The spread of capitalism,  or the need to always be excelling in the allocation of the western idea of wealth, has also played a role in shaping the global society and stripping cultures, like African cultures, of its very fundemental form of understanding and being, which inhibits and disables society from evolving into an equal and just system. 

Now a reflection:

This lecture was absolutely enriching. It gave me a more indepth understanding of how, in a sense, we are all being colonized and we are all influenced and systemically supported in becoming a homogenous and uniform culture which strips other cultures of their importance and meaning. His lecture made me consider gender relations, patriarchy and how the media plays a large role in the hemogenization of culture. Through media such as the internet, hollywood, TV, and the news, we are constantly reminded of where the elite class places importance. Therefore, through these subconscious and sometimes explicit tools of reinforcement, we as a society are shaped and molded, and in many cases oppressed, by the perpetuation of patriarchy, ethnocentrism, racism, and the like.  I have so far come to the conclusion that the only way to gain clarity is to open your eyes and view EVERYTHING through a critical lens. Ask, why do I believe this? Why is society constructed like this, and who does it mostly reflect? Then we will be able to raise an awareness of these issues and can adopt our own ideas of what is means to share the world with billions of people. This was an awesome experience.  

my copy cat

When I was younger I was obsessed with the disney film, The Little Mermaid. This is the only example I could think of because I was pretty sheltered from the internet, common music and TV. But I thought, with my red hair, that i was Ariel. I had a bag that was like hers, I carried a fork in it, I was a freak for The Little Mermaid. It took a while for my family to convince me that mermaids are not real. To this day I still somewhat beleive that they are real. No one really copied this as much as I did, however, I do know of many people who were also obsessed with this film as a child.

Homecoming?

I attended the homecoming game on Saturday, one could say. However, I ended up getting kicked out right when I got there. I am twenty one years old and I was under the impression that one of the perks to being twenty one is that you can drink legally. The reader can take this however you want, I admit to have been drinking but I will also say that I was not rowdy, or causing hysteria, I just stupidly asked one of the people who work there where a certain seat section was because I couldn't find it.  Well, I found myself watching the game from the outside of the stadium, while all of my friends watched it inside. I have never exerienced such heightened security. I knew it was because of the Springfest riots, and the stupid and violent behavoir exhibited there, however, I couldn't help but feel like it was the media too. Had there not been international media coverage of the incident, which JMU is not proud of, then the fear which bred heightened security would be less. There were thousands of youtube videos, pictures on google image, and news coverage. I am simply saying that for someone who lacks the intention of "getting rowdy", and who simply smelled like alcohol, experienced getting kicked out of my senior year homecoming game. Not only was I kicked out but they were extremely rude to me and wouldn't even listen to what I had to say. Of course, youre thinking, I had some alcohol to drink, but when did that become a crime? to be twenty one and have had some to drink? Isn't it the violent behavoir that gives drinking a bad name? I was not being violent, I wasn't yelling, yet I was being treated like a menace of society.

Misinformation.

The biggest and most influential example I can think of where I experienced a cognitive bias was during these past presidential elections. I wanted to be involved because I was finally old enough to vote. I would turn on the news to try to catch on to what was going on. I had heard of Hillary Clinton, of course, and President Obama and John McCain, but I didn't know who I liked quite yet, although I was certain not John McCain, and what I found influenced me for a brief period of time. I saw how the news was portraying Hillary Clinton, and began to think about her as a crazy woman, trying to be a man. Well, my best friend at the time liked her, and told me this. She didn't tell me why and I didn't ask. So I looked her up and read about all of her stances and figured out for myself where she stands in the political spectrum. I ended up liking her the most. The media tried to discredit her because of her tought exterior, while leaving out her righteous goals and viewpoints. After this I never really rely on the news to give me valuable information. As for the department of information, that scares me more than what we have right now. I could say that  I trust the government and the media maybe equally. I may be a freak for that but I can't help it. The first thing I thought of was propaganda. How the government would steer its news in a way to make America look awesome, what we're doing nationally would of course look good, why would the government made well known it's international mistakes? And if it comes from the government most people wil trust it because they think it's official "government information". We all just have to search for the truth outselves and not depend on others to do it for us. There is no better way to understand something than to see it with our own eyes and then see others perspectives, which is where the news can come in. Then we can possibly shape a more well rounded point of view.

Media Monitoring

http://mediamatters.org/p/about_us/

This is very interesting. In class discussion and in our class readings, we delved ino the how the media, namely the news, can be bias towards a certain perspective. This organization called Media Matters is a non profit which extracts the conservatively bias news and sheds light on its bias. It goes a step further as well. This organization actually notifies activists, journalists and the general public when there is a misconception and then distributes articles and information which rebuts the primary argument. I think these types of organizations are very important. I was skeptical of them, and still am for I feel I have little knowledge on them, as I have recently stumbled across them. However, on their home page, I did read reactions of FOX news, as well as other news mediums like the New York Times. Their home page is scattered with a wide range of topics, like immigration, global warming and more specific news stories, where they came from and how they are bias. Organizations like these are necesary in my mind, to keep the media in check, however it does get hard when figuring out if they are just as bias as the news stories they are reporting against.

Drug Ring Bust, and it was next to a school!

       Earlier this morning at 11:19 AM in Rosenburg, Texas, nine people in one household were arrested for running a drug ring in their mutual home. They were then charged with countless offensives and fines, and sent to jail. There were 8 children in the house with ages ranging between 8 months and 9 years which were placed in child services. The home also happened to be located across from a junior high school.
       The article on the media and its effect on the criminal justice system can be closely related to, perhaps not the story, but the way it was potrayed. The media has a way with making one understand the story in perhaps a more dramatic way than necesarry. Mentioning that the location of the drug ring was beside a school is not what I am referring to, but how it was stated in the article title and how it was referred to simply made it seem as a ploy to gain viewers. In this way, the media is reconstructing the nuances of the story which can inturn inspire various emotions in the reader. Additionally, it listed the various charges that each of the household members recieved which were many:

Peggy Meza Cantu, 50. Bond set at $275,000.

• 4 indictments for manufacturing/delivery of a controlled substance
• 1 indictment for engaging in organized criminal activity
• 1 charge of manufacturing/delivery of a controlled substance in a drug-free zone
• 5 charges of unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon
• 1 charge of child endangerment
• 3 charges of theft of a firearm
• 1 charge of possession of marijuana in a drug-free zone

Ashley Vasquez, 19. Bond set at $45,000.

• 4 indictments for manufacturing/delivery of a controlled substance
• 1 indictment for engaging in organized criminal activity
• 1 charge of manufacturing/delivery of a controlled substance, more than 4 grams
• 2 charges of child endangerment
• 1 charge of possession of a controlled substance, less than 28 grams, in a drug-free zone

Along with many others. The surplus of charges, whether rightfully or wrongfully attained, increases my awareness of the increasingly punitive nature of our criminal justice system, which is a major way this story coincides with the above mentioned article.
           This crime coverage could only be considered a form of entertainment if entertaining could be defined as anything that increases the dramatic appeal of the story. This case coverage could influence CJ policy by making people think we need to crack down more on school areas or monitor more the areas where there are many people in one house or some obscure reason, instead for say, attacking the reasons many people resort to selling drugs in the first place: their economic status. The system could instead, turn to more retributive justice ways, as opposed to a restorative justice route. This article was very straight forward and at first glance didn't seem to raise any question in my mind but if you analyze its fundemental value, the systemic influence of the media's perspective is abundant.
http://www.click2houston.com/news/25299851/detail.html