Media Moment, "Family Feud " Racisim " Who's side ?"

In the video we see an example of stereotype of race and gender.  I noticed this clip of the show Family Feud  because it was so offensive and I was stunned after watching it.    Firstly, as opposed to advertisements where we see representations of people this is an actual clip of something that took place naturally.  The black girl faked a handshake when givnig the white woman a handshake.  This alone shows that she is childlike and has no ettiquette even when on national television.  When Steve Harvey explains to the white women that she's 17 and that "they play like that", the black girl responds to Harvey, "you supposed to be on my side".  This is where I sensed something wrong.  The black girl felt thast Steve Harvey should have sided with her because they both share the same race.  In a serious tone he  lists the responsiblities that he has as a man in his  family.  We now adhere to the stereotype that the man is the provider.   What came to mind are the stereotypes that have been previously diccussed about Black people in society, also briefly in class.  Black people being portrayed as childlike, uneducated, not classy, being unable to filter what they say, and as having little to no ettiquette.  Personally I was ashamed being that I am a young black female just as contestant, Brianna.  Something as small as this for viewers can automatically set stereotypes in their minds about young black females.  Her actions reflect failure of her upbringings.  My question then becomes how can people like Brianna, who dont know any better, change their perspective on certain situations like this?  Or is it necessary for her to change her ways, is it acceptable?  What about the young black females who now have to prove otherwise because of certain experiences like these?  Should they prove or should society (white/ dominant) know to judge people by individuals and not by the cultural groups of which they may belong? 

Media Moment, Women in the Arab world

Due to recent events taking place in NY as well as the rest of the world, I found myself more and more concerned with the way Arabs are being presented in the media. Being that i am an Arab myself, I get extremely emotional whenever Arabs are in the media because they are always being depicted as "the bad guys".
I know that we will be talking about Arab women in the media later on in the semester, but I came across this documentary that i found extremely interesting about Arabs in films and didn't want to forget to post it later. Some of the things Dr. Shaheen speaks about are things that never even crossed my mind but really got me thinking. He speaks a little bit about Arab women at around 12 minutes, but I highly recommend that anyone who has the time watch the whole thing.

http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/reel-bad-arabs/

When we get to the Arab section in the syllabus, I'll post more about some of the incredible things Arab women have done ( Including a woman who has invented machined to detect and slow down cancer, AIDS, and liver disease)

As of this moment I don't want to ask the class any questions since we still have a while before we get to that part of the syllabus, but please let me know if anyone has seen the documentary or is just interested in discussing the Arab world, I'd be more than happy to answer any questions :)

Alya Fetyani

Media Moment, "Burger King Breakfast March Commercial"

This is a commercial for Burger King that I remember seeing on television a few years ago. I wanted to share it because of how the women are portrayed. There are only three women in the commercial and they play the stereotypical role of the “housewife,” the “working woman,” and the “sexy girl next door.” Two out of the three women do not seem interested in a meal at Burger King whatsoever, which signifies that consuming meat and beef in particular is a masculine activity which women have no business in partaking. The only women who is eating the breakfast sandwich is depicted as wearing the “pants” and a work-related uniform.The three women are all passive and used as props in the men’s eager quest to the restaurant. The first women has a briefcase thrust upon her. The woman holding the garden hose and sipping on her drink connotes a sexual thirst, which causes all the men to stumble along the way as they sing “yummy, yummy tummy tummy.”

Is this a parody? If yes or no, should the women be portrayed the way they are?

Does this commercial stereotype the male actors as well as the female?

Reflection on 9.19 Class Discussion

       After the class discussion of the four terms we learned which are myth, schema, ideology, and hegemony, I have been thinking about these ideas and how I apply them to the world around me. I thought about things like how men sit on the train versus how women sit, what happens when an elderly person gets onboard, the figures on top of wedding cakes, and most of all trends and fads. I am curious about the origin of fads and how they develop. Does the fashion industry create them or are they created within society? 

      The class discussion based on Christina’s question was extremely thought-provoking. I think that most people view race as a touchy subject that should be avoided because it is “uncomfortable” while I think it should be spoken about more in school. Being open minded is a learned trait. I can relate the class conversation to a conversation with an author working on her memoir who came to one of my classes. She is writing about her struggle with her identity as a result of the pressure that are forced upon her by the hegemonic ideas. For the majority of her youth, she was brought up as white in a racist suburb when her birth parents were black and Chinese. Her parents were forcing her to pass as Hawaiian because of the light color of her skin. She speaks about the term “passing” in her memoir. 

Looking into the History of Colored Women in the Media

The history of women that has been played in the media is one that have show women to be soft, vulnerable, dependent, homemakers, and much much more but the way women of color has been portrayed is totally different then that of their Caucasian counter partners. Colored women have not been looked upon as another women in the fight towards anything. They have always looked as being other to the mass. Their history in the media has never been one of vulnerability or homemaker. Their view has been of nanny, unintelligent, whores, housekeepers, aggressive, good cooks, and the disfigurement of their bodies; they have never been looked upon as women, if you remove the label of women, they haven't been looked upon as person neither. This link http://youtu.be/_FMFnw9fgC0 would guide you through the history of colored women in the media. After I watched this short video I cried, you tend to open your eyes to what has been going on around you once confronted. Do you think that this image truly represent the way colored women has been viewed in the media or do you think that this is and over exaggeration of how they were depicted in the media?

The Perception of Beauty

I was able to locate an ad in regards to the true development of production of what the viewers seen as advertisement. They obscure the way the women looks to what they depict to what should be viewed as http://youtu.be/iYhCn0jf46U. When did we as women allow society to give an image of a woman over the way she truly looks. I thought this women was beautiful the way she was before the digital enhancements. What do you think? As we have been learning in class the deconstructing of images and this would be a perfect one to practice with. So, I pose the question is there a wait that we could bring back the true beauty over the enhanced beauty of women?

Media Moment, "The Guardian"

Please watch. It is only 30 seconds. The Guardian

I was watching a video on TED.com about how "women should represent women in media". At the end of the talk, the speaker Megan Kamerick showed this video to represent how we as consumers and absorbers of media, should see the whole picture of something and not just one perspective.

Perspective can often make or break a message. As New Yorkers, we have a tendency to glance at media images, covers of newspapers or magazines, and make our own assumptions based on that glance. Do you think the world would be better off if every single consumer gained a highly educated literacy for media and avoided manipulation? Is it beneficial that some people are easily manipulated by media producers?

ENCODING/DECODING