Social Justice Assignment

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. 

 

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.