As I was clicking through the daily news I found this as a headliner for the entertainment section:
Heidi Klum's 'naughty' first date: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,352078,00.html
Just by reading the title of the article I was immediately offendended. It makes you believe before even reading the article that this woman is a whore and easy, when that is not what the article is saying at all. I am just thinking about how these kinds of articles will look towards their children when they are older. It makes me sad that even successful, independent, beautiful women like Heidi Klum can be targeted as being 'easy' even when she has been happily married for 3 years. If the media can make her look 'easy' then there is no hope for the rest of us.
Then farther down the page there is an article that talks about how hollwood stars that are men go out without their girlfriend or wife. They make it sound like they are just innocently trying to get away from the women and let loose. There is actually no negative language towards these men in this entire article. That just goes to show you how the double standard towards gender plays out every day in the media.
Here is another article that I found that was extremely wierd to me: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,347851,00.html
The author of this article mocks Paris Hilton the entire story when she expresses how she is a role model for younger girls because she has created a successful business and follows her dreams. The article continues to go back to the fact that she is physically attractive and uses that as a negative trait to have when you are a business person. This article shows how the media creates the social standards for women and how you can either be beautiful or successful. Paris did not mention how she thinks she is a good person because she can wear a size 0, she was stating how she created a successful business and feels that girls can look up to her because of that. Personally I believe Paris to be an inspiration to women, although how inappropriate and ridiculous she is sometimes because of her ability to have it all. She is a beautiful woman, who is not afraid to show her sexuality, and has confidence in her abilities. I think that she has a few things to teach men about what women are capable of.
I was looking on the internet for news today and I came across this segment on msnbc.com and it made me think about some of the final questions that were posed on our last day of class.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/24261505#23960050
The purpose of this video was to show the public what Dr. King's last moments were like when he was shot on the balcony in Memphis. The reporter asked what how he thought King would react to America today if he was still alive. He said that when King died America noticed that there was division in America and a real race problem. I think that race is also a problem with today's society still and I also believe that things can be changed and Dr. King is a very good example of how that change happened. Not only with his death, but in his life he not only helped change laws but also attitudes towards race in general. I don't believe that it takes a momumental figure like him to develop change but rather an inspirational idea.
I also came across a video about President Bush's daugher and her upcomming marriage.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/24261505#24261505
She mentioned how lucky she was to find someone at such a young age that encouraged me to have a career and to do what she really wanted to do. Her fiance is not going to have a national holiday set aside for his birthday, but he was in a way doing what Dr. King was doing. He told her that there are many ways to live your life, and you have the ability to choose whitch path to take. You don't have to be a Hillary Clinton or an Obama to change the world and I think that some people have missed that message.
The people that are in these videos are white males and females that have southern accents. Their accents make them sound not very smart and they are portrayed as southern rednecks. The songs that the white males sing have a lot of stories about how things used to be. This makes the white male seem really laid back and easy going with few problems. The white women are portrayed as very natural and not materialistic.
After watching these videos, it would be easy to assume that white people do not socialize with blacks or any other minorities and only with other people like them. That white people live in the country and not in the busy city life. Another conclusion would be that white people are rednecks and don’t try to make much out of their life. The videos show old cars and classic ways of doing things.
Here is an example of a video that would be on CMT: http://youtube.com/watch?v=qymwbsOG190&feature=user
The music videos maintain the stereotype that white people don’t socialize with other minority groups. Also that white people like to drink alcohol and party with themselves.
Music Videos on BET also portray some very daunting stereotypes. There are very rarely white people in the videos and this makes the public assume that white people are not allowed to take part in the young African American culture that is in America today.
Here is an example of a music video that would be on BET: http://youtube.com/watch?v=t-xJxuJSnRc
These kinds of images on Television help create the line between blacks and whites that the youth of America carry over towards their everyday life. If they don't see people they look up too, such as musicians or stars, then they assume that it is not a socially acceptable thing to do.
Millions of American will tune in to ESPN this Saturday for the NFL draft day. I have been watching a few mock drafts on TV and have come to notice a few disturbing things that I probably would not have noticed if it were not for this class.
The athletes playing football are white and black males. The announcers are two black and two white males. The referees are white males. The blacks are portrayed as dominate and stronger athletes. The white athletes are portrayed as inferior and under the black players. Although the announcers never come across as biased to any race group, there are certain media clips that make whites come across as hard working athletes or good decision makers. The black athletes are portrayed as natural athletes.
If you were just to watch this you would think that white people are the minority and black people are better athletes. Since the coaches are white males you would still assume that white people held more important roles in decision making. It would be easy to assume that when it came to natural ability in athletics, blacks are in the majority.
This media outlet reiterates the stereotype that white males generally are in the important decision making positions. Stereotype that only white male’s posses the ability to be team leaders is showed in this media outlet. It also reiterates that black males are better athletes and there are more black athletes than white athletes. This media outlet also reiterates the general stereotype that “white men can’t jump” and black are better athletes because during slavery they were bred that way.
These stereotypes are even seen in athletic advertisements. Compare the two advertisements with a black person and a white person, can you tell the differences that I mentioned above are prevelant in athletic competition?
I really enjoyed the queer studies presentation because I had no idea what to expect. I think that eventually Oklahoma will have this program but we will probly be one of the last colleges because we are in the "bible belt".
Society today has shown interest in "queer studies" or how people with different lifestyles live in America today. On MTV there is Tila Tequila who a bi-sexual woman and has her own dating show. It is very common to find images of both gay men and women on television and I think that it is important for college students especially to understand the people behind what the media depicts.
Here is an article about how these images are shown on television today.
http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/WinterConcert/story?id=4088351&page=1
I think that as Journalism students we must become familiar with all the audiences that we are reaching out to. It is important to understand that being a leisbian or homosexual is not just a decision that affects your sex life but also your lifestyle as a whole. I hate seeing the typical stereotypes on TV like the show "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy". Actually one of my favorite shows is "Ellen" and she actually openly talks about her relationships but her show does not revolve around her sexuality.
I agreed with the comment that a student made in class about how a lot of people have friendships and know gay people, but they don't know about the lifestyle. It is important for us to understand the political, social, and legal issues that gay people have so that some of these problems can be fixed to better understand the audience.
