Depictions of "ideal" Men in Media-- Week of 9/24- 9/28/2012

     Over this past week, in contrast to last week's studies, we centralized our thoughts around men portrayed in the world of mass media.  Just like women, media portrays and inflicts these ideas of what it mean to be a "feminine" female or a "masculine" male in todays society.  However, this concept is nothing new, media has been trivializing these ideas of feminine or masculine traits for longer than many of us have been alive.  Media's imposed meaning of men and women, as they are shown in mass media, have become ideal norms of society.  These normative depictions of men and women do have consequences for our society's overall self-esteem.  Does that mean these stereotypes of gender, class, and race, will eventually change?  Probably not, because these images of sex in masculine and feminine forms, and these depictions of men and women in advertisements have for a long time now allowed advertisers to impose insecurities in people's self-esteem, which at the same time allows major companies to profit from consumers "attempting to 'FIX' themselves.  Although these norms may not change in mass media, it is still important to gain awareness to these ideas portrayed in media, through media literacy.  As I mentioned in my last post, women and girls are constantly reminded what it is to be the "ideal" woman, which is formed through media images and messages.  Although women's images through media can be more demeaning, and show more vulnerabilities of women, men are also victimized to these "ideal" masculine norms portrayed in media.
     Unlike women being shown to be seductive yet vulnerable and submissive, men are supposed to be tough, stoic, and not show feelings.  They are supposed to be muscular, dominant, and large in places they may only know of.  All of these stereotypes are imposed on men through media, but these are stereotypes victimizing all men.  Race and class can fold into these stereotypes for men easily when through media we see all Italian men are part of the mafia, Oriental men (of any descent) knowing Kung Fu, African American men being gangsters and street smart, Indian men being silent and stoic or emotionless, Mexican men being part of the drug cartel or an immigrant fighting for survival.  All of these stereotypes are heavily prominent and enforced in today's and past media.  Of course, these ideas and stereotypes do not hold up to the truth of our culture, but media does not capitalize on all aspects of viewpoints of the truth.  All of these normative stereotypes of men are historically and presently shown for all men in media, but above all media portrays men to be strong.
     This past week, our class openly discussed these issues of men's media depictions.  We watched a documentaty, Tough Guise by Jackson Katz, in which covered much of the issues I have already discussed, and much more.  Katz also discussed the consequences of society's intake on these media portrayals of men.  Some of the consequences involved media's lack of information in reporting stories of tragic shootings, despite the killers' feelings of inadequacy that were reported.  Another consequence discussed was the increase of men's violence in result to gain respect and overcome inadequate masculinities, otherwise, shown in the media.  The instilled ideas of what it is to be a desirable woman or men, is often taken from the ideas we form through the media in which we are exposed to.  It is sad.  Violence and eating disorder sky rocket, while companies gain profit, and its audience gains feelings of inadequacy and insecurities.  I bet you those CEO's of the companies producing these images could not contest to these societal norms of masculinity or femininity.  There are probably areas they have or still do fall short in, for those expectations of men or women imposed by media.  However, we don't see them, or their high school pictures; we see the faces of the people they pay to market their brand.  For all the money in the world, a person can look flawless, but that does not change who they are, or make them any better of a human being.
     These ideas of masculinity and femininity are instilled in us since we were born, as it was for are parents, and many generations prior; media just enforces these idealistic depictions and trivializes them, as Hugh Hephner would trivialize his 24-year-old wife as a trophy for his accomplishments.

This past week, we were asked to choose examples that enforce these societal norms of masculinity and ones that weaken them.  The ones I chose to represent enforcing these ideas, were easy to find, because they are everywhere.  To narrow it down, I chose a movie clip from one of my favorite movies, Blood in, Blood Out...

Vatos Locos and Tres Puntos Fight Scene

This scene was a retaliation of Vatos Locos Gang on the Tres Puntos Gang for hurting one of their cousins.

The other two videos I chose were going against the societal norms of masculinity.    These examples are much harder to find in media.  There are not many of these examples in media, but I could not decide on one, so I chose to share two.

The first on I chose is a thank you speech from Roger Waters at The Wall concert he performed at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Il.  For those who are unfamiliar with who he is,  he is one of the lead singers from Pink Floyd.  The crowd was so appreciative of his performance, it was hard for him to speak over their encore.  Pink Floyd had been around since the 1960's and Waters is up in age, so being close to one of his last performances ever, he became emotional with the gratitude of support from his fans.  I was actually at this concert and this part was very emotional for the entire crowd.  By the way, the show was sold out entirely, and the stadium was packed!

June 8, 2012- Roger Water's Encore to The Wall Performance

The last video I chose was of Derrick Rose's public speech at his Adidas Promotional Convention for the release of his new shoe.  Rose is the point guard for Chicago Bulls, and I am a huge Bulls fan.  As a fan, I already can appreciate Rose's accomplishments; however after this speech, the entire world has a new appreciation for him as a person.  This was a speech he gave at the promotional event for his new shoe release.  He gets pretty emotional in expressing his appreciation in this speech.  The speech left me in surprise and, even emotional to his words.  I think it was amazing for him to express his appreciation in sentiment and so emotional.

Derrick Rose's speech for new shoe release

 

Depiction of Women in Advertisements in Mass Media-- Week of 9/17-9/21/2012

     Over this past week,  our class discussions revolved around the focus of women in advertisements and the social impacts and consequences they leave for women who are subjected to their messages.  Over this past week, our class discussed and studied about the portrayal of women in advertisements and how the media's ideal image of women in advertisements impact both women and men, and how these images affect many people's self-esteems.  To begin, many of the common themes we were able to depict from analyzing a numerous amount of different advertisements were: the objectification of women, the ideal of women being flawless (both in gestures and beauty) not to mention thin, the idea of women having no power at all or being extremely powerful, the reinforcement of women's domestic roles, an animalistic approach implying dehumanization, racial and gendered hierarchies, violence and vulnerable images depicting women as being victimized, and many more demeaning images of women.  I named a few of the common themes that arose from one advertisement to the next, and although we should question if these are the messages we want people to receive from mass advertisements, these messages have been embedded for so long throughout all media, that there seems to be little room for change.
     Sex Sells! This is a concept all of us have been exposed to since we had first seen a single commercial, or magazine, or even through the first doll or action figure we may have owned first.  We are not the first generation to be exposed to these messages; our parents, grandparents, and many more generations prior have been taught through media the ideals of what "beauty" was supposed to mean.  These messages have a huge impact on girls growing up, and can even cause or lead to many of them developing insecurities, and complexes about not only their appearance, but also how they feel as a whole.
     Over the past week, our class watched two films and read an article relating to these topics in particular.  The first film we viewed was Killing us Softly III (2002) by Jean Kilbourne.  This documentary addressed many issues about the long term effects of women's portrayals in advertisements, and how these ideas of women through media are normalized in the minds who are exposed to them.  The film also addresses the damages these common themes of images of women in advertisements has on women's self-esteem throughout the world.  These depictions of women are very contradicting.  From the moment we begin to be exposed to them, we are taught the be beautiful through our appearances and materialistic things, rather than our personalities.  We are also taught to be submissive and innocent, while at the same time we are supposed to be alluring, seductive, and dominating.  As Jean Kilbourne says in her film and the article we read from her, "this concept of contradicting ideals of women can be tricky," while at the same time overwhelming.
     We also watched a segment of a movie called Reviving Ophelia by Mary Pipher.  An interesting thing I took from this film, was that less than 5% of women have the natural genetic body images of the women we are exposed to through advertisements, and that the average model is 5'10'' in height and only 110 lbs.  My first reaction to this surprised me.  Even though I am exposed to these advertisements regularly, I guess I never thought that the average weight would be so low for people of that height.  Overall, after both films, and the article we read, I realized three main things in all of them.  First of all, all three sources imposed the ideas that as women we look to peers and media to form ideas of how we "should be".  These advertisements we are subjected to and influenced by are then internalized, which lead to women creating complexes of themselves and feelings of inadequacy.  In addition, all advertisements featuring women also reinforce the idea and teach women that sexuality is valuable.

     The topics of our classroom this past week made me think about some of my experiences throughout my previous jobs in fragrance, and in Clinique Cosmetics.  When I worked for fragrances, I had clients, both men and women, who looked for a signature fragrance.  This concept of the fragrance being "signature" meant that they wanted people to think of them when they wore this specific fragrance.  They wanted this fragrance to trademark them.  I also had clients that would buy every perfume of cologne under a specific designer.  For instance, I would have clients that would come in and buy every Marc Jacob fragrance, or Dolce n Gabanna, Dior, Armani, or Chanel.  People would attempt to mask themselves with a designer, or a scent.  I am also addicted to fragrance.  I have over 60 bottles, but my choice of fragrance is not impacted by a designer name, its by the scent.  However, I do not have a fragrance that trademarks me because I cannot settle with one scent.  I like to have a different scent for every day or mood that I am in.
     I also remember working for Clinique, and I would have certain clients who would come in with complexes about themselves and insist on needing a particular product to "fix" themselves, even though I would attempt to reassure them they did not need it.  Clinique is interesting in their depiction's of women in their advertisements, because there aren't any.  Clinique is one of the only, if not the only, cosmetic company that does not use any people in their advertisements.  Although, they do not use people, it is interesting to still have clients of women still coming to the brand convincing themselves they need a particular product to "fix" something.  Sometimes the product the customer needs can help with assisting their concerns, but on the other hand you still have people who convince themselves they have skin or body issues they don't have; therefore, they don't really need the product they are convincing themselves of the do indeed need.  One of my memories at the counter, in particular, really disappoints when looking back on it.  I was a sales person, so I was not going to refuse to sell someone something they convinced themselves of needing.  However one time, I had a mother come to me with her 10 year old daughter, telling me about her daughters skin issues.  At around this age, I was thinking acne may have been the concern, but that was not the case.  This little girl's skin was flawless! The daughter was standing right next to her mother, while the mother was explaining to me that her daughter was developing wrinkles, and that she needed a cream to fix them, and makeup to cover them.  I explained to the mother that all her daughter had was expression lines, which was completely normal, while the daughter still remained silent.  The mother persisted that her daughter needed a repair creme for wrinkles.  I then explained how I did not recommend the specific product for a girl her age, and then recommended a preventative creme more age appropriate, even though I explained ten was still a bit young to fulfill such a skin care routine.  The daughter then lashed out n said how she needed the heaviest coverage makeup, and a repair creme for her "wrinkles", because she referred to herself as being "ugly".  The mother then went silent and smiled in satisfaction of her daughter agreeing with her. I then proceeded to grab the products they wished for, rang them up, and wished them a good day.  I was a professional giving my recommendation, and they both convinced themselves, that this young girl had skin issues she did not have.  I gave my recommendation, and attempted to reassure her self esteem that they were both worrying about issues that weren't there, but they did not want to listen so I was not going to refuse to sell them.  This situation is extremely sad and disappointing, but it just goes to show the impact of the women portrayed in advertisements and the impact they have on women exposed to them.

Relation between Gender, Class & Sexual Orientation

     In a previous assignment, I was asked to recall my earliest memories of learning to behave as a girl, when I became aware of race and its meaning, when I became aware of the existence of social classes, and when I first became aware that different sexual orientations exist.  These memories were a little difficult to recall, because they were so long ago.  In addition, my first memories of when I was first introduced to what they actually were, may not have been when I really began to understand them.  My understanding of all of these categories (gender, race, class, and sexual orientation) continue to grow even today, as I become aware and more informed about the differences in each of them, rather than what solely affects me.
     For instance, my earliest memories of gender, was taught to me through social construction of what it was to be a girl.  I understood that boys were different from girls by the way I was taught to behave growing up, opposed to my three brothers.  As mentioned in class, many of our early memories of learning gender were formed through media, controlled environments such as schools, and the toys we were bought and played with as well as the clothes we were dressed in.  I did not learn about other gender oriented statuses until later in high school.
     Race, social class, and sexual orientation, were all concepts many of people in the class, including myself, became aware of later as we grew older.  Each of theses concepts many of us became aware of each of them, and how they related solely to our lives.  As I grew older, I was able to understand and see how other people different from myself, were subjected to each of  these categories, and realized different people are affected by gender, race, social class, and sexual orientation differently.  My first memories of each of these, were merely the understanding that everyone is different, but I didn't come to understand or explain these difference until later in life, and throughout school.
     For example, I understood that my older brothers were Mexican, and they had darker skin than me, as a child, but I really didn't understand the differences in societal construction of race, until I went to school and learned more about the history of this country.  I also seen the categorizing of races mentioned on television, and in other media outlets, in stories that were being told.  Media has a major impact on people's understanding of races, other than their own.  Whether that is a good thing or a bad thing, is in the context of the way the story is being told.
     I didn't really understand social class, or the many different types of sexual orientations until high school.  Social class meant nothing to me at the time, besides that some people live better than others, and some people can afford more expensive lifestyles.  Again, the categories of low, middle, and upper class are in a sense socially constructed.  When I realized some kids having brand new cars at 16 years old, I realized that they definitely had more money than my family did.  I continue to grow my understanding of social classes and the economic scale of each of them, but it is still a hazy line between defining actually what lower class is and lower-middle class is.  Like social class, my understanding of the multiple sexual orientations was not really clear until high school and college.  I was introduced to and taught that there were multiple sexual orientations in seventh grade's health class, but they were never really explained in-depth.
     Gender, race, social class, and sexual orientation are all integrated in our lives and impact our lives on a daily basis.  Many people become familiar with these concepts through media, family and friends, schools and controlled environments, and religious organizations.  Our understandings of these continue to evolve through various relationships in our lives.  The meanings of each of these categories are socially constructed, and all interconnected with one another.  Even though the meanings are socially constructed, each of these  influence our daily lives, while our perceptions of them all have their own consequences.

Intro

Hey everyone!!!

My name is Janelle Kluczynski.  I am currently a senior here at UW-Parkside, and will definitely be graduating this upcoming May, in the Spring.  I am a Communication Major concentrating in Public Relations.  I am also minoring in English and going for the Media Literacy Certificate Program.  I work at J.B. Robinson Jewelers selling diamonds and pretty, shiny things, as of right now.  It is fun for the most part, but eventually I hope to work in a field involving promotions and /or event planning and organization.  Otherwise, I look forward to taking this class and learning more about its content and this blogging process.
I'll be back soon posting more! : )