For
my social justice seminar I attended a presentation of how women are portrayed
in the media. This is something that we
have discussed in class before and how women can be treated unequally. In the
presentation at one point they showed a part of a music video where a woman was
standing with a bunch of men getting drinks poured on while she was dancing
around and the men were loving it. Then
they showed a video of a woman in South America where she was on a street and a
bunch men going up to here and pouring drinks all over her. They were yelling for her to dance and other
rude gestures. The woman was crying,
trying to escape from this but she could not since she was surrounded. The men seemed angry that she was not dancing
around and the broken woman was soaked.
This related to Christenson since the media presented something that
influenced a society. The men have seen
women getting drinks poured on them in the media and the women act as if they
enjoy it while in actuality it is a poor representation of how women should be
treated. This was really powerful to
watch and it made me very upset.
Another
article that I made a surprise link to was the Hunger of Memories. I am not too sure how this connection came
about but it did. I remember in this reading
the author discussed about his first day in school and how nervous he was. In the seminar it was discussed how younger
and younger children are seeing these music videos where women are being
disrespected. In my mind I somehow made
this connection. Let’s say there is a
girl who is nervous about her first day of school this year because all she
wants to do is fit in and be normal. Now
she watches the media and sees how women are represented. She gets the idea that is what I must do and
now makes a poor decision based on the media.
I know it is a stretch of a connection but somehow this is one that
somehow came into my mind and to me it makes sense. People just want to be accepted and in a
situation where it is your first day of school and you are nervous, this may
come into factor.
Another
reading I related it to was Delpit. Now
with Delpit it was kind of discussed about how teachers plan differently for
white and black students. According to
the presentation I attended it is similar with music videos. That they must portray the women of the two
separate races differently. Both are
degrading to women but the fact that they actually have to plan this so
differently. The presentation talked
about how the white women needed to half extremely skinny bodies, long flowing
hair, and be able to flirt. The black
women can wear their hair differently, must have a big butt to expose, and can
be a little more assertive then the white women but still must listen when it
is time to be put in their place. Both
of the separate planning just makes me want to shake my head. A teacher must plan differently to teach
students based on their race (not the individual but the color of their skin)
and how the media must plan differently if they want to show off a white woman
rather than a black woman. It just makes
you wonder about some people.
The
presentation was very interesting how it used direct examples from the media to
show their point. The presentation
mostly focused on music videos but it was so impactful. You hear all the times that women are
disrespected but when clips are played over and over again with the thought in
your mind it really makes you think. It
showed how women can be abused, stalked, be servants, and just be
degraded. When you are watching these
videos sometimes you do not even put these pieces together but once someone
points it out to you, you see all the wrongs in these videos.
Earlier
I discussed about the part where women were having drinks poured on them in the
media VS in real life. This is something
that will stick with me for a while. It
was so impactful because you see this in videos but you do not think, what
would this be like in real life? The
woman is not proud of what is happening, she is broken and in tears. It was just such an impactful moment to
watch. The people watching sat in
silence and the person speaking did not have to say much since the images did
the talking. Powerful was the word I
would use to describe this moment.
Hopefully
one day things will change. That people
may be able to stand up and say no! That
women will not say well if the media is showing it than that is what I must
do. Maybe if people saw the break down
that we did then maybe people would change.
I know it is only for entertainment but where is the line drawn? Where do people say this is not real and
decide to take a stand?
This assignment
did remind me of some of our readings in class.
One reading that I related it to was Kozol. There a boy was immune to the horrors that
were around him and unfortunately in a lot of these cases that was spoken about
the women are in some bad situations that they have become accustomed to. This especially happens in foreign countries
where women have few to no rights.
Another reading I related it SCWAAMP, this is because in the reading
they talk about how men have all the power and very much so in these music
videos the men do. The speaker even said
that exact quote, that men have all the power and the women are used as
tools. It is not right that the women
are degraded in these videos but unfortunately in the year 2014 they still
are.
![](http://cdn.assets.cougar.bauer-media.net.au/s3/digital-cougar-assets/AWW/2013/09/18/24645/blurred-lines.jpg?Image=%2Fs3%2Fdigital-cougar-assets%2FAWW%2F2013%2F09%2F18%2F24645%2Fblurred-lines.jpg&Width=625&AllowUpSizing=False&Mode=Crop%20%20%%3E)
in this photo from the hit song "Blurred Lines" you can clearly see how men are empowered and women are used as tools. In real life if a scenario like this were to happen then the woman would probably not have the same expression on her face that she does here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyDUC1LUXSU
here is the video of the song i stated above. You can clearly see how the women are exploited and how they are used to draw men in. Yes, this is a catchy song but once you actually listen to the lyrics and see what they are saying you can become appalled by just how disrespectful they are being towards women.