Television watching is often an activity that some will use in order to get away from the stresses of their daily life, using it as an excuse to sit down and relax. When TV watching is done in a group setting this dynamic changes. It becomes a social situation.
Often when watching TV as a group, people will talk through important plot points, paying attention to their friends instead of the story. Many times, the plot of the show being watched will launch a story from one of the viewers that will distract the rest of the group. When people watch TV they commonly discuss the show, as well as other things and eat. I find that I am more inclined to eat while watching TV in a group setting rather than alone.
I notice that people are more inclined to talk to their television when in a social setting; because they want their friends to know what they are thinking about the show they are watching.
Occasionally people’s actions are influenced by what they watch. During a lighter scene, people are more apt to get up, move around, and chat. During a darker scene, people are usually glued to their seats in anticipation of the drama that will come out of their show.
Depending on the group watching, the talk one hears among the viewers can vary. During a drama, people often ask each other about the plot and what they think might happen. They take this much more seriously than they would a comedy. Comedies cause people to launch into their own hilarious tales, as well as make comments about what is happening on TV.
Usually, most of the talk relates to television in one way or another. Whether the show inspires a conversation to arise or it directly relates to the plot of the show, the show still inspires the conversation because it is a common ground that everyone is thinking about.
When watching television in a group setting, the pressure is off the people to keep each other entertained. They can focus on the TV, and speak if they feel like it. The presence of a TV often relaxes a social situation. It is something that the people have in common. They are both watching the same thing. It can even be a bonding experience. I would not say that TV negatively impacts social situations, but it does change them.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Feeling Hyped
The media reaches many different audiences around the world. With such a great audience, I suppose it is nearly impossible to make sure that no one is offended. Particularly in advertising, where people are perpetually stereotyped in order to reach a certain audience, it is especially difficult not to offend certain people.
One particular encounter with the media that I found offensive was commercial that Burger King recently released that mocks women’s apparent affinity towards tiny things. I find it offensive because I feel that it mocks the intelligence of women, saying that they will simply love any item in miniature. There are many other ads that are equally offensive, but this ad strikes a chord with me.
If I had to name the feeling watching this commercial gives me, I would have to call it insulting. It provokes me every time I see it, forcing me to nearly always change the channel when it comes on. I would hate to think that men would be so stupid as to think that buying things in miniature would bring them flocks of women.
The feeling of being ridiculed for my gender is particularly offensive. Even if some women do find miniature food adorable, why would they all fawn over it? Even more so, I feel that this commercial suggests that women aren’t equal to men, and that women can easily be tricked into talking to men.
The way that this commercial offends me shows that I hate it when people doubt someone’s intelligence based on their sex, and I do not like the way that makes women seem like objects to be toyed with.
I think that ultimately what disturbed me was the commercials ability to make women feel small. It may just be a commercial for Burger King, but it still portrays women in a negative light. This showed me the importance of respecting the customer. I’m sure that just as many women eat at Burger King as men do, but what is the women’s incentive for eating there? Burger King should recognize that women are a group that should be respected, not objectified.
One particular encounter with the media that I found offensive was commercial that Burger King recently released that mocks women’s apparent affinity towards tiny things. I find it offensive because I feel that it mocks the intelligence of women, saying that they will simply love any item in miniature. There are many other ads that are equally offensive, but this ad strikes a chord with me.
If I had to name the feeling watching this commercial gives me, I would have to call it insulting. It provokes me every time I see it, forcing me to nearly always change the channel when it comes on. I would hate to think that men would be so stupid as to think that buying things in miniature would bring them flocks of women.
The feeling of being ridiculed for my gender is particularly offensive. Even if some women do find miniature food adorable, why would they all fawn over it? Even more so, I feel that this commercial suggests that women aren’t equal to men, and that women can easily be tricked into talking to men.
The way that this commercial offends me shows that I hate it when people doubt someone’s intelligence based on their sex, and I do not like the way that makes women seem like objects to be toyed with.
I think that ultimately what disturbed me was the commercials ability to make women feel small. It may just be a commercial for Burger King, but it still portrays women in a negative light. This showed me the importance of respecting the customer. I’m sure that just as many women eat at Burger King as men do, but what is the women’s incentive for eating there? Burger King should recognize that women are a group that should be respected, not objectified.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Discovering Politics
Politics in the United States greatly influence the lives of its citizens. The media is very significant to the way that citizens experience politics. Without it, most citizens would have no idea what is going on in politics from day to day.
My earliest memory in regards to politics was during the 1996 Clinton-Dole elections. I was in second grade. I remember that my friends had very different feelings than my family, and I felt very conflicted, considering this was an election I had absolutely no control over. Looking back on it now, my friends’ arguments for one candidate were not very logical and sounded made up.
I had absolutely no media influence in concerns to this election, probably because I didn’t watch the news and wouldn’t read a book that didn’t have pictures. As soon as the election was over, my thoughts on the election ceased to matter, and did not encourage any interest in politics.
Now that I am older and actually have a say in who the next president is, I feel more inclined to follow politics and form opinions on political matters. I feel more of a responsibility to make myself aware of politics, rather than pure interest.
One moment that affected the way I thought about politics would have to be the Lewinsky Clinton scandal. It made me realize that the pedestal that politicians, especially presidents, are placed upon does not make them infallible. It was the first time that I had witnessed a major political screw up. The media’s coverage of this scandal only amplified this in my mind and made it seem even worse.
When reading about politics I typically scan the article in order to see the most important information. I still find it difficult to maintain an interest in politics, but I feel obligated to be aware of my political surroundings.
Barack Obama is a political figure I respond strongly to. His presence and promises of change inspire me to believe in this country.
Occasionally I find it difficult to take politics easily when they are displayed in the media. It seems as if the media turns political events into a soap-opera like plotline in order to entertain readers, when it should be reported on objectively because it will affect readers’ lives.
I feel that certain television shows encourage this entertainment via politics. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart uses comedy and politics to entertain its viewers. While this show is quite enjoyable, it does mock important events in politics.
Sometimes I feel that I do not want to involve myself in politics. It is not something I particularly enjoy and I feel an obligation to follow it. However, it is my responsibility to make myself aware of politics through the media.
My earliest memory in regards to politics was during the 1996 Clinton-Dole elections. I was in second grade. I remember that my friends had very different feelings than my family, and I felt very conflicted, considering this was an election I had absolutely no control over. Looking back on it now, my friends’ arguments for one candidate were not very logical and sounded made up.
I had absolutely no media influence in concerns to this election, probably because I didn’t watch the news and wouldn’t read a book that didn’t have pictures. As soon as the election was over, my thoughts on the election ceased to matter, and did not encourage any interest in politics.
Now that I am older and actually have a say in who the next president is, I feel more inclined to follow politics and form opinions on political matters. I feel more of a responsibility to make myself aware of politics, rather than pure interest.
One moment that affected the way I thought about politics would have to be the Lewinsky Clinton scandal. It made me realize that the pedestal that politicians, especially presidents, are placed upon does not make them infallible. It was the first time that I had witnessed a major political screw up. The media’s coverage of this scandal only amplified this in my mind and made it seem even worse.
When reading about politics I typically scan the article in order to see the most important information. I still find it difficult to maintain an interest in politics, but I feel obligated to be aware of my political surroundings.
Barack Obama is a political figure I respond strongly to. His presence and promises of change inspire me to believe in this country.
Occasionally I find it difficult to take politics easily when they are displayed in the media. It seems as if the media turns political events into a soap-opera like plotline in order to entertain readers, when it should be reported on objectively because it will affect readers’ lives.
I feel that certain television shows encourage this entertainment via politics. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart uses comedy and politics to entertain its viewers. While this show is quite enjoyable, it does mock important events in politics.
Sometimes I feel that I do not want to involve myself in politics. It is not something I particularly enjoy and I feel an obligation to follow it. However, it is my responsibility to make myself aware of politics through the media.
Seeing Gender
To define what exactly it means to be a certain gender according to the media is difficult to pinpoint. The media changes so much that it could be telling people that being a certain gender could mean a million different things. However, I think certain media sources have a fairly stereotypical version of what they think being a woman is today.
Looking at magazines like Cosmopolitan, Elle and Glamour, which are all targeted towards women of the same general age, it is fairly certain that they have a specific version of what they think being a woman means. This can be seen in the articles and advertisements they choose to run in their magazines.
These magazines run articles that pertain to beauty, sex and fashion more than any other type of content they run. These magazines also make an effort to make women aware of the issues that plague people today, but primarily these magazines do not serve that purpose.
It isn’t completely unreasonable for these magazines to run so many of these articles because people do enjoy them and find them interesting, but many of these magazines portray aspects of beauty, fashion and sex to an exaggerated degree. It seems as though these topics should be the most important subjects that women should be focused on, when in real life this is not the case.
Some of the values associated with these magazines are positive. It is good to take care of yourself and feel positive about how you act and look. However, when these values are dependent on the response of the opposite sex, they become unhealthy.
It is easy to see that these texts are directly aimed at females. They use female models, show feminine clothing, advertise towards females and have articles that only pertain to being female.
I do not feel particularly offended by this because usually I do not bother to think about it, but upon reflection, it seems as though these magazines limit what a woman should be by focusing only on these things.
These magazines are all about self improvement. They focus on looking better, flirting better, and overall becoming a better woman for the sake of men. It makes the reader see having a man as validation of their hard work on themselves. They ask the reader to look at themselves and try to improve their faults. This is not necessarily bad, but when coupled with the wrong reasons, it becomes negative to their self esteem.
I have been reading magazines like this for years, and frankly, I never really bothered to look at what they were saying about the female population. It has influenced how I feel about my appearance and myself in general. It has influenced how I feel that I woman should be, but not to an unreasonable extent. It has placed expectations on women that are not really fair. However, if people examine this media more closely, they will understand that they do not necessarily have to live up to their expectations.
Looking at magazines like Cosmopolitan, Elle and Glamour, which are all targeted towards women of the same general age, it is fairly certain that they have a specific version of what they think being a woman means. This can be seen in the articles and advertisements they choose to run in their magazines.
These magazines run articles that pertain to beauty, sex and fashion more than any other type of content they run. These magazines also make an effort to make women aware of the issues that plague people today, but primarily these magazines do not serve that purpose.
It isn’t completely unreasonable for these magazines to run so many of these articles because people do enjoy them and find them interesting, but many of these magazines portray aspects of beauty, fashion and sex to an exaggerated degree. It seems as though these topics should be the most important subjects that women should be focused on, when in real life this is not the case.
Some of the values associated with these magazines are positive. It is good to take care of yourself and feel positive about how you act and look. However, when these values are dependent on the response of the opposite sex, they become unhealthy.
It is easy to see that these texts are directly aimed at females. They use female models, show feminine clothing, advertise towards females and have articles that only pertain to being female.
I do not feel particularly offended by this because usually I do not bother to think about it, but upon reflection, it seems as though these magazines limit what a woman should be by focusing only on these things.
These magazines are all about self improvement. They focus on looking better, flirting better, and overall becoming a better woman for the sake of men. It makes the reader see having a man as validation of their hard work on themselves. They ask the reader to look at themselves and try to improve their faults. This is not necessarily bad, but when coupled with the wrong reasons, it becomes negative to their self esteem.
I have been reading magazines like this for years, and frankly, I never really bothered to look at what they were saying about the female population. It has influenced how I feel about my appearance and myself in general. It has influenced how I feel that I woman should be, but not to an unreasonable extent. It has placed expectations on women that are not really fair. However, if people examine this media more closely, they will understand that they do not necessarily have to live up to their expectations.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Forming a Style
When considering the way that I dress, it is very difficult to narrow my style down to one specific genre of clothing. I’ve noticed that I go through cycles in how I dress. This cycle usually begins at the beginning of a semester of school. It starts with me caring about my appearance. I take the time to pick out shirts and pants that go together and make sure my shoes and purse match.
This begins to go downhill as soon as the first sign of stress concerning school appears. Gradually, I start to think about my outfits less and less, often opting to throw on t-shirts and jeans. Eventually, I find myself in a jeans and t-shirt rut, which is very difficult to get out of. I also find that my clothing often reflects my self esteem about my appearance. When I start to feel stressed about school, I usually comfort myself through food (I like to eat my feelings), and eventually this causes me to gain weight, which effects how I feel about my appearance. I then try to hide in my clothes.
I feel that the clothes I have been wearing recently probably tell people that I don’t care about my appearance. My clothing tells very little about my personality because I haven’t been dressing myself in a style that I particularly like. My current style probably communicates that I have been feeling stressed, making me lazy in my style choices.
Even when I am dressing myself in a way that I like, it is still almost always casual. I’m not really one for dressing up. There are so many styles that I always want to try out, but I still find myself drawn to casual clothing. I wish that I liked to wear skirts and dresses more. I even made that a goal for myself over the summer; but more skirts. I tend to feel less comfortable in dresses because I never feel like they look “right” on me, but I like them so much on other people that it makes me want to wear them.
I often find myself flipping through magazines and admiring the styles of others. I actually follow fashion quite thoroughly, but you wouldn’t really know it from the way that I dress. It seems that I never want to take the effort to dress the way that models are dressed, and I never seem to want to take the fashion risks it must take to dress the way they do.
I feel that although people want to be seen as individuals in fashion, people still care about what others think about their appearance and are too afraid to dress completely out of style. Style is a way of expressing one’s self, but not too much. People use fashion to communicate a message of how they want to be perceived, and usually, they want this style to be admired, not questioned.
This begins to go downhill as soon as the first sign of stress concerning school appears. Gradually, I start to think about my outfits less and less, often opting to throw on t-shirts and jeans. Eventually, I find myself in a jeans and t-shirt rut, which is very difficult to get out of. I also find that my clothing often reflects my self esteem about my appearance. When I start to feel stressed about school, I usually comfort myself through food (I like to eat my feelings), and eventually this causes me to gain weight, which effects how I feel about my appearance. I then try to hide in my clothes.
I feel that the clothes I have been wearing recently probably tell people that I don’t care about my appearance. My clothing tells very little about my personality because I haven’t been dressing myself in a style that I particularly like. My current style probably communicates that I have been feeling stressed, making me lazy in my style choices.
Even when I am dressing myself in a way that I like, it is still almost always casual. I’m not really one for dressing up. There are so many styles that I always want to try out, but I still find myself drawn to casual clothing. I wish that I liked to wear skirts and dresses more. I even made that a goal for myself over the summer; but more skirts. I tend to feel less comfortable in dresses because I never feel like they look “right” on me, but I like them so much on other people that it makes me want to wear them.
I often find myself flipping through magazines and admiring the styles of others. I actually follow fashion quite thoroughly, but you wouldn’t really know it from the way that I dress. It seems that I never want to take the effort to dress the way that models are dressed, and I never seem to want to take the fashion risks it must take to dress the way they do.
I feel that although people want to be seen as individuals in fashion, people still care about what others think about their appearance and are too afraid to dress completely out of style. Style is a way of expressing one’s self, but not too much. People use fashion to communicate a message of how they want to be perceived, and usually, they want this style to be admired, not questioned.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Interpreting Technologies
It’s interesting to see the dependence that humans have developed on new technologies today. When thinking about the people before us, I often wonder how different it was to grow up without the technologies we hold dear today. They don’t seem to feel deprived of anything, yet when I think about life without my computer, I can’t help but think about how much it contributes to my life.
Recently I went through an experience with my computer that I found particularly traumatic, although looking at it now, I severely overreacted. Spyware masking itself as anti-spyware infiltrated my computer, giving it viruses. I had a panic attack, and then promptly took my laptop to the technicians at Flagler. Through the entire experience, I felt like I was taking my child to the hospital, asking the "doctor" what I could do, pestering them non-stop (I went in to check on it four times- I was annoying, and I regret it now). It turns out, the program’s the technician gave me worked, and now my computer is virus free...as far as I know (rumors about the Conficker virus are scaring me half to death).
This experience reminded me how much I value my computer and use it on a day to day basis. I check my e-mail multiple times a day, use it for school research, typing documents, as well as catching up with friends from home. It gives me information I would probably never be aware of without it because it is so easy and always available to access.
I value this piece of technology because of what it does for me. It links me to the farthest places of the world. Thanks to the portability of my laptop, I can access this information from almost any part of the world. My laptop changes the way that I look at information because it is always quick and easy to access. I feel no sense of urgency when I watch the news on TV because I know that I can look up anything that I am curious about later on my computer.
The computer has changed how I feel about doing things individually. For the most part, multitasking is what I do. I watch TV while listening to music (I’m aware of how stupid that sounds, but to explain, I mute the TV, then listen to the music on my computer, while surfing the internet. I don’t really know why.), and doing things one at a time can often drive me crazy. Looking at this technology has made me realize that I even multitask on this one device.
The things I get from my device are not things that I couldn’t get from other sources. I could write papers by hand, I could look at the newspaper or watch TV, and I could listen to the radio for music. However, computers link all of these activities together, making it possible to do them in one place, which I really appreciate.
Recently I went through an experience with my computer that I found particularly traumatic, although looking at it now, I severely overreacted. Spyware masking itself as anti-spyware infiltrated my computer, giving it viruses. I had a panic attack, and then promptly took my laptop to the technicians at Flagler. Through the entire experience, I felt like I was taking my child to the hospital, asking the "doctor" what I could do, pestering them non-stop (I went in to check on it four times- I was annoying, and I regret it now). It turns out, the program’s the technician gave me worked, and now my computer is virus free...as far as I know (rumors about the Conficker virus are scaring me half to death).
This experience reminded me how much I value my computer and use it on a day to day basis. I check my e-mail multiple times a day, use it for school research, typing documents, as well as catching up with friends from home. It gives me information I would probably never be aware of without it because it is so easy and always available to access.
I value this piece of technology because of what it does for me. It links me to the farthest places of the world. Thanks to the portability of my laptop, I can access this information from almost any part of the world. My laptop changes the way that I look at information because it is always quick and easy to access. I feel no sense of urgency when I watch the news on TV because I know that I can look up anything that I am curious about later on my computer.
The computer has changed how I feel about doing things individually. For the most part, multitasking is what I do. I watch TV while listening to music (I’m aware of how stupid that sounds, but to explain, I mute the TV, then listen to the music on my computer, while surfing the internet. I don’t really know why.), and doing things one at a time can often drive me crazy. Looking at this technology has made me realize that I even multitask on this one device.
The things I get from my device are not things that I couldn’t get from other sources. I could write papers by hand, I could look at the newspaper or watch TV, and I could listen to the radio for music. However, computers link all of these activities together, making it possible to do them in one place, which I really appreciate.
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