Reflection

Over the past few months, I have grown much more aware of the impact of media. Whenever I see a commercial on tv or hear one on the radio, I immediately notice the strategies or fallacies used in the advertisement. A few months ago, I don't think I would have noticed all the tricks and traps in commercials and all the different ways that companies are trying to subconsciously control me. I never acknowledged the clutter or registered the numerous ads but now I notice them everywhere I go.

My media consumption has also decreased. After acknowledging how addicted I am to social media, I made an effort to put my phone away and not let it distract me. As a result, have been much more productive and less stressed. I never truly realized how much my phone controlled me until after I stopped using it as much. I feel more free when I am not constantly running to my phone every time it buzzes. I still use my phone more than I should, however; I use it much les than I did a few months ago.

I noticed that I am also much more aware of all the assumptions made by media and the negative impact that media has on me and the people around me. Media reinforces stereotypes such as the ideal images for women and men. These ideas are planted into the subconscious of nearly everyone. Eventually, they adopt these points of view without realizing the ideas were fed to them by the media. Whenever I see pictures of flawless models in magazines, I understand how fake the image truly is. No one actually looks like the people on posters. They are just pictures of models that were distorted in to something that is unreal. I know that I am not the only one who notices the artificial nature of media but I wish there were more people who could recognize this. If everyone noticed false images in media, then no one would hold themselves to these unrealistic standards. People could look in the mirror and accept their flaws rather than hate them.

I am glad that I kept this blog because it prompted me to dig deeper and break through the wall of media and expose the toxic messages behind every pretty image. I came to realizations about media that I don't think I would have noticed without this blog. I was also able to read other blogs from my classmates that were very interesting and introduced new perspectives on matters that I never would have noticed. Overall, this assignment was beneficial for me because it encouraged me to grow into someone who is aware of the double sided nature of media.

The Bachelor

I was recently scanning news headlines on my computer when I found an article that stood out to me. it was about a woman on the Bachelor who was sexually assaulted during her time on the show. She claimed she was drugged by a female masseuse who then sexually assaulted her while she was too intoxicated to stop it.

Besides this horrifying act of sexual assault, what really bothers me is why this woman did not speak up sooner: "she wanted to protect the franchise." I find this so maddening because she chose to protect the image of the franchise when she should have put herself first. This an example of a tv show that has created cult like devotion and I am sure this woman is not the only one willing to sacrifice herself for the show. The Bachelor and The Bachelorette have both generated so many followers who obsess over the show to such an extent where it is unhealthy. People are so invested in the show because the producers stage nearly everything so that The Bachelor and The Bachelorette are more entertaining. There is so much unnecessary drama in the show that is clearly staged because it is what the consumers want. Most of the viewers watch these shows because they love the drama which is why the producers create so much of it. This franchise has generated cult like devotion for the sole purpose of making more money which is why they manipulate so many people into blindly trusting the show. 

This woman should not have felt the need to protect the franchise over her own well being. Because she did not report this sooner, the person who assaulted her continued to work on the set which put other people in danger. This proves the serous consequences of cult like devotion. 

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Fangirls

As I was watching one of my favorite shows, Riverdale, I realized how emotionally invested I was in something that ultimately does not mean anything. It is just a show and it is completely fictional. There are many other people who become so obsessed with tv shows that they create entire cultures surrounding the popular show. They grow obsessed and create fan clubs and little communities that revolve around the media. They create fan fiction, fan art, and so much more. This obsession is not healthy. We treat fictional shows like Riverdale as if they are a part of our reality. Essentially, it distracts us from the real world and makes people detached.

Popular shows like Riverdale also string people along as they take at least a year to release a new season. And to make matters worse, they always end each season with a huge cliff hanger, which makes all the fans remain interested in the show. Once they release a new season, they repeat this process until the people start to grow tired of the show. 

I think the only reason I have not turned into a mindless fangirl is because I have grown more aware of how media manipulates us. After watching so many documentaries about the ulterior motives behind media, I am much more conscious of its deceptive nature. However, I am still affected by some of the tricks and manipulations. I am aware that it is all fake but I can't help but get emotionally invested in these mindless shows. I wish I could flip a switch and not be affected but I still fall into these traps and become obsessed. I allow myself to obsess over trashy tv shows because I look for distractions and excuses to escape from real life issues. I also make rationalizations whenever I watch too much tv. I'll tell myself that everyone else is doing it or I will only watch one more episode then I will be productive but these are only lies. Addictive shows like Riverdale create unhealthy habits that affect many people and ultimately create a negative impact. 

Leadership

When I watched Miss Representation, there were many concepts and facts that stood out to me, one of which was the lack of female leadership. The vast majority of our government leaders are made up of men. And the small percent of women who do appear in leadership are not taken seriously. Women are judged and ignored as the general public rally behind men. Women are judged for what they where, how they look, how they speak, and what they say. If a woman leader wants to be taken seriously, she must wear something fashionable but not too revealing, wear just enough makeup so that her appearance looks "pretty" but not too artificial. She must do everything perfectly and once she has done this, she will still be criticized. As I said in my previous blog post, it is never enough. She will always have a certain flaw that makes her less qualified than the male opponent even though they are equal. Women fight so hard for a chance to help lead and contribute to society but they must work ten times harder in order to have the same opportunities as men. But why is misogyny so prevalent especially with female leaders? It is because the media spreads these ideas and plants seeds of doubt into or subconscious. There are so many people whose initial response to female leaders is doubt but are they even aware of why? If people were aware of their subconscious decisions, would they still identify with this sexist mindset?

This same concept appears in news reporters. Almost all women who work as news reporters are pretty by societal standards. And just as women leaders, they are not taken seriously. They too are scrutinized and ignored. No matter the job, we always see this theme where women have to fight to be heard. To be understood. To be recognized. And though we have made progress there is still so much more that needs to change before everyone is considered equal.

Never Enough

The documentary: Miss Representation, Was vey enlightening. Before, I was definitely aware of these issues, however; I did not know the full extent of misogyny within the media. Women are portrayed as objects rather than people and men are conditioned to accept and contribute to the stereotypes of women.

What I find so unfortunate is how the vast majority of people are completely unaware of how affected women are by the media. Our perceptions of our own bodies are warped by the unrealistic expectations created by media. We become consumed by these expectations to such an extent where we are unable to find anything we love about our appearances. This leads to a variety of unhealthy habits. Women develop eating disorders, depression, and more. 

The entire concept of beauty is a social construct. Why is it that the perfect hourglass figures are considered beautiful? This idea of beauty was created by media and reinforced by consumers who add to the pressure for girls to look beautiful. The images of women in media are not even real. As if the carefully selected models were not gorgeous enough, their images are then altered into something entirely unreal. The pictures of models are airbrushed, made skinnier, and overall completely transformed. The pressure of becoming these images become so great that we do everything in our power to change our appearances but it is never enough. No matter what we do to change who we are or what we look like, there is always something else that needs to change. We always find a new flaw to scrutinize whether it is our own flaw or someone else's. People spend thousands of dollars on plastic surgery so they can have an appearance that is societally acceptable. But no matter what we do, it is never enough. 

Do We Have Our Own Culture?

The Merchant of Cool prompted a very good question: do we have our own culture? Media is a part of everyone and sometimes it is hard to tell whether we influence the media, or the media influences us. Maybe it is a combination of both but either way, these two factors cause people to constantly change their views and opinions.

There is a common pattern in the cycle of culture. People (mainly teens) find something they like or identify with and once media discovers something that is popular, they overuse it until it is no longer appealing. An example of this is music. One of my favorite bands was Twenty One Pilots and I used to listen to their music before they were so popular. The first time their song, "Stressed Out" was played on the radio, I was super excited because it meant that more people might share a similar taste in music. However, their song was played so many times that eventually, I cringed every time it was on. Then I was just disappointed because this song that I really enjoyed was twisted into something I hated. Afterwards, I looked for new music that I would like and stopped listening to Twenty One Pilots. I still like the band but now it is much less appealing.

This same scenario happens all the time. We find something interesting from the media or vise versa but then we obsess over it until we move on. This happens with songs, clothing style, movies, and so much more. Something is cool for a while but we always move on to something else. It's debatable whether this is good or bad. Even though we grow tired of things easily, we are always open to trying new things.

What is "cool"

In recent times, one of the largest targeted demographics for advertisement are teens. Teens are so important to large industries because if they find a certain product or brand to be "cool," then everyone will buy it. And for various reasons, many teens also have a decent amount of spending money. The goal of advertisement for teens is to target people like me. Even though I don't have a job or any way to make money for myself, I am usually able to buy things because my parents are willing to lend me spending money. This allows me to waste money on pointless things that I have seen in advertisement.

Teenagers are a good audience to target because if they find something to be "cool" it spreads like wild fire. There are so many teenagers who feel like they need whatever is "cool" which is why we all copy each other. An example of this is the iPhone. When I started to find phones appealing, it was not because I thought it would be practical or I thought it would make me safer, it was because all of my friends had iPhones. I thought it would be cool to have one because everyone else did. When I look back at how I felt, it seems shallow pointless. Just because everyone finds something appealing, does not mean it's better.

It's tricky to find something that teens like because what we consider "cool" frequently changes. Even though we are so challenging, teens are such an important consumer for big industries that people go to extreme measures to find what is "cool" for teens. In the video we watched in class, there was a group of people who made it their job to interview, photograph, and study teenagers so they could sell that information to companies. This information was so valuable to companies because they could use this information to create appealing advertisement.