Ellen Kim Lexi Leib Presention: Rape in the Eyes of the Law

 From reproductive rights to the wage gap to laws regarding rape, the politics of sex is unavoidable. But since 1 in 5 women, (at least two people in this classroom) will be raped in their lifetime, today we are going to be focusing on rape and how it is handled by various facets of the law from collge campuses, the police and legal system, as well as in the military. As well as the solutions to these problems.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Bnd5vmA8joRcm35Pm-U0Y7NLTgM8GqWD6zBp2YGIgxU/edit?usp=sharing

#WomenAreMoreThanJustAPrettyPictureToLookAt

        Although it may seem as though we have come a long way since blatantly sexist advertisements in the 1950s,

A sexist advertisement for ketchup from the 1950s

today we are exposed to not only sexist, but also racist, controversial, and over sexualized advertisements. The term “sex sells,” is one widely known but this kind of concept brought forth by the workers of advertising companies are causing serious issues in our society. Not only are the hyper-sexualized advertisements influencing the scope of sexual violence and rape culture, but also are affecting young people who see these types of images. As described by Jean Kilbourne in Beauty & the Beast of Advertising, “….the ads sell a great deal more than products. They sell values, images, and concepts of success and worth, love and sexuality, popularity and normalcy” (121). 

Personally, this is truly sickening to look at. This young girl is placed side by side imitating a model that is being sexualized whilst advertising a bathing suit.

When looking up images online for “sexualized advertisements,” practically every photo that came up featured a woman. Men were only seen in these advertisements when gawking at or seducing a woman. Why is it that women are primarily the ones being used for sexual innuendos or for the pleasure of a man? Most of the executives making the decisions about how to sell their products are WASPs and men who attempt to create an advertising world in which no one is “ugly, overweight, poor, struggling, or disabled” (Kilbourne, 122). This Carls Jr. advertisement and this Paris Hilton burger ad look as if they are straight out of a pornographic film. Without reading the title I would not know they were promoting a fast food restaurant. The patriarchal society that we all live in is extremely evident in the types of advertisements and commercials that infiltrate our minds at any given moment. 

        These images that we are all exposed to are meant to generate dissatisfaction and offer images of transformation of a “new you” (Kellner, 130). The preferred look as described by Wykes and Gunter is “young, slender, sexual, and white” (206). This is clearly evident in the VS advertisement for bras (except that VS included one model who is not white in order to refrain from being accused as discriminatory of other races). Not only are female viewers under the impression that they need to look like the models in order to be considered “beautiful,” but they are also at risk for eating disorders in their hopeful attempts at looking like those they see in advertisements. Most of the advertisements promote a youthful and pore-less look, which insinuates that any sign of aging is to be avoided. As said by Wolf in Culture, “…[the woman] is taught to dismiss her own mother’s teachings about beauty, adornment, and seduction, since her mother has failed- she is aging” (74) 

    But why is being beautiful something people think they need to obtain in order to feel confident, powerful, or happy? This idea was brought forth by Lindsay King-Miller’s “Here’s What Bothers Me About the New Dove Ad” article. The Dove Ad displayed two separate doors that were labeled “Beautiful” and “Average” and women from around the world were to make the conscious decision as to which door they should walk through. They were conflicted between choosing the door that society tells them they are and how they actually feel about themselves. I agree with the argument that King-Miller made in her article regarding the idea that feeling “average” should not be seen as needing a self-confidence boost. When my friend tells me, “I feel meh today,” my automatic response is to say “oh stop it, you’re beautiful.” But why? Because society and companies like Dove and Lane Bryant make it clear that we are all beautiful- but of course whilst also selling us a bar of soap or pair of jeans.  

  Within the first 15 seconds of this Maybelline commercial, a clear example of this unrealistic, un-humanlike ideal that woman are told to look like- was expressed. "100% pore-less perfection," "like [your face has] been airbrushed" were phrases the company used to sell a foundation to consumers. Those who view this and similar types of commercials are being told that they are to look flawless as if they were airbrushed which is ironic because that is exactly what the models in the magazines and commercials are. 

Finding an alternative way to market the products of food, beauty, and clothing companies is vital for our society, as they are promoting the idea that it is okay for women to be sexualized to the public, supporting the idea of a rape culture, and advocating that in order to be accepted in society, women models must fit a certain mold in order to attend to the needs of a male counterpart. My suggestion for alternative methods of advertising would be to- and this is very dicey- focus solely on the product the company is promoting. Less emphasis should be placed on the model displaying the product and more on the actual product itself. For example, if I were to be working for a makeup company selling a lipstick, rather than having a woman completely covered in different types of beauty products, I would only have her wearing the lipstick. Almost every beauty advertisement that I see has a model advertising a specific product while wearing a plethora of others. We need to be aware of these advertisements and commercials that we see in order to change society’s outlook on what we value and what messages we want to promote.

 

Works Cited

Kellner, Douglas. Reading Images Critically

Kilbourne, Jean. Beauty and the Beast of Advertising

King-Miller, Lindsay. "Here's What Bothers Me About the New Dove Ad"

Wolf, Naomi. "Beauty Myth"

Wykes, Maggie & Gunter, Barrie. "Conclusion" from The Media and Body Image.

Image/Video References:

 https://sites.psu.edu/jshap426/2014/09/23/rcl-4-you-mean-a-woman-can-open-it/

 http://about-face.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/line.jpg

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VK0ZxBgqU6M

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsyOXm4W9gs

 http://www.sparksummit.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/lovemybody.png

 http://www.beautyandtheboutique.tv/younger/

 https://nataliecupac.wordpress.com/2014/03/21/burger-kings-super-seven-incher-itll-blow-your-mind-away-this-ad-definitely-does-but-for-all-the-wrong-reasons/

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DdM-4siaQw

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTgeUVOxl8E

 http://i1276.photobucket.com/albums/y472/johnsalmonworld/IMG_2684_zps9636a7a7.jpg

 http://images.hellogiggles.com/uploads/2015/12/29/gwenopi-copy-700x525c.jpg

Final Project Proposal

Jimmy Hu

Professor Doris Caçoilo

MEDIA 384.00 Project Proposal

10/22/16

                                                            Final Project Proposal

            I thought of one project that may be within my reach and that is creating a picture book that tells the story of freedom.  It would feature a girl who would pursue freedom within society but she was ultimately oppressed by the people she encountered.  With a help of a magical animal, yet to be determined, she was able to become the one with the most freedom.  I would research the different kinds of picture book to help with my drawing but the story will be from my mind and from the influences I may have during the development of the story. 

            I will be using crayons as my medium to draw since the story may be serious at times and I want the story to be fun.  I am mainly doing this because I do not really have any other ideas or any better ideas.  I do not know who I am making this picture book for since it may be decided for me.  It could be for adults who is tired of reading books that requires flipping through the dictionary every sentence or for children who wants read a fun picture book.

            I want to publish this on YouTube as a video with multiple pictures and with music.  I am not sure about what may happen with the book in the future but if I get a better idea this project may not happen at all.  I am still thinking.

Presentation Body Image

A children's book: Final Project Proposal

Daphnie Gonzalez 

October 22, 2016 

Women in The Media 

Project Proposal 

As I thought about myself as a child and what influences greatly impacted my childhood, I decided that my project should be focused on children. I strongly believe that children's education and life experiences greatly impact how a person views the world as an adult. The foundation on which a child stands on, I believe makes all the difference. I want to slowly crush gender roles and gender norms for children. I know that this may be very hard and nearly impossible but this thought has paved the way to my class project. 

For my project I would very much like to write a children's book. Parenting is in part, preparing our children for adulthood one day. And we do this slowly. One example, we ask our children what they want to be when they grow up. We set ideas into their expanding minds that they can be anything in the world and to start thinking about that now, whether there 6 years old or 15 years old. But as I've noticed, because how the world is viewed, gender norms slowly pile in, and often children stray toward what they see as normal occupations for their gender.  

So for my book, I would like to break it up into three parts. I want to first focus on girls and occupations that are not in the norm for a woman (this part has of the book is finished). Then for the second part I want to focus on boys occupations that are not in the norm for men. Lastly, I want to mesh these 2 parts and create a section that focuses on all jobs for everyone.  But I want to bring this to life in a fun rhyming way that is short, concise and captivating for children. I want to do this in a three part way because I feel like parents may feel more inclined to read this to their children if it somehow caters to what they already know (which are gender roles).  I may not be able to add illustrations because I don't know anyone who is capable of that kind of artistic work but I will definitely see if I can find someone.  

As far as where I will be able to publish this, I am not to sure. I am hoping that if it were possible to be able to get it published as an actual hard cover book I would really like that. 

Update on the presentation project:

Jessica & Daphne

Media has a huge role in representing and depicting race with its stereotypes. We can first start off with the news that Jennifer Lawrence will be playing as Mulan. It's fake, but the fact that this fake news being put out there made so many people accept it in a second is a problem. The media made it okay that we all believe this fake news within a second. Those who saw it, were infuriated, including me. White women are dominated in the media industry and there aren't much women of other races.
Then, the media industry has the ability to "white" everything and that goes from purposely changing the name of someone of another race to a name that makes it easier for them to pronounce.
Racial depictions over the years were even worse because the stereotypes made before are still stereotypes that are still represented today. Asians are still famous for their no eyes, and "asian face", hispanics are stereotyped with something.. nasty. What's even worse is that the shows now even has a stereotyped category(?) as the name of the show. For example, an asian abc show gets called "Fresh off the Boat", a black family show gets called "Black-ish" but a white family show gets named after their last names. If you don't see what's wrong with that, there's a problem.

Final Project Proposal

Allen Zhu

Professor Doris Caçoilo 

Media 384

10/22/16

Final Project Proposal

            For my final project, I want to do a retrospective of interactions between genders. Specifically, I want to observe it during online gaming. Normally one doesn’t think much on the words between people, but rather their actions in game. Whilst most persons playing are usually of the male gender, there are indeed women as well as other genders who play. In addition to observing the game play, there are live streaming sites like Twitch where the divide between male and female streamers can be only described as controversial at best.

            Two of my female friends are active streamers who usually are on as specified with a schedule. While not popular, they have people who watch and interact with them. Sometimes there are those who bear ill will towards them and will use words in an attempt to garner attention or hurt them. I want to analyze the words between people during such sessions. How are words different between men and women, men and men, women and women? How do my words change when talking to different genders? How do words change when we don’t know the other’s gender? Does the use of a mic or only using text affect the message and understanding?

            For now I don’t really know the way I want to present this, but I will be dividing myself when gaming. Perhaps I’ll divide my research more and sometimes be actively only pay attention to the interactions, but other times I’ll immerse myself into the game in order to let my guard down and see just how my own interactions between different genders are.

Final Project Proposal

                 I have been watching and obsessed with TedTalks for a while. I love TedTalks, but I know that I can't lecture at a TedTalk in time (though I would want to); so I decided I will make something similar. I browsed through YouTube and I've come across so many science informational videos were all in the form of a fast-forward video, or a cartoon-based video. Surprisingly, I discovered one, and the next played, and after that until a few hours later, I was still stuck in the same loop. So, with all that, I realized why not combine a TedTalk with a stop motion and make it similar to a Ted-Ed talks because what's more influential than a TedTalk? A TedTalk with pretty fancy motions. 

            I will be mainly focusing on TedTalks and creating a "story" in the form of an educational video that has examples from the actual TedTalks (of course, adding credits at the end of every quote said.) I've come across a really inspiring TedTalk about a women who escaped from North Korea and saved her family as well. Media doesn't show how powerful women are, or how we can improv a risky occurring just so they can save who they love. That made me think; First of all, she is a women of color, and second, she had the audacity to get up there and say every detail that happened. This was the complete different visual we see in Media. What we see is a woman, calling for help because she can't find her family in the mall, we see a woman who screams for help when something goes wrong for them.. Then, I came across another talk that's lectured by a Model. Yeah, she talks of the behind the scenes of modeling, but not only does she talk about it, she visualizes it for us in her own skin, not in her modeling picture, but as her real self and she's talking about appearance of the construction of a women depicted by the media. 

             It upsets me. A lot of the older generations, are misogynists. "You're a girl, you can't be a doctor. You're not smart." or "You're only an asian girl, you can't make it in America." I don't say this, nor do I tell anyone, but I am insecure, as probably more than half of the women (and maybe men too) are too, but we can't admit it. I want people to watch this stop motion, and feel comfortable in their own skin, feel comfortable in acknowledging the power of images in perceived successes and failures. 

               I want to distribute it to everyone and everyone who can view it by just opening the web browser, so YouTube sounds like the best platform to publish it on. I am a designer, a web designer, I can't draw, but I can write and show. Maybe, it won't be part of my official portfolio, but it will be in my portfolio with a bookmark labeling it "An Influence" because my goal is to influence and let a legacy live. Let women, children, my children at work, or just the person next to me realize that the media has a bias, and there's nothing to show your inner self, or be yourself. Everyone is different, and that's the psychology part of this project. Maybe if it's educational from the science point of view, maybe, it can pop out more to everyone that watches it. 

Final Project Propsoal

Lexington Leib

Professor Doris Caçoilo

Media 384

October 22, 2016

Final Project Proposal

            For my final project I will be creating a short documentary that investigates slut shaming and social media. I will include interviews with experts in women’s studies, anthropology, technology and sex therapists as well as young women that I know that use social media platforms such as Instagram, and Snapchat to take ownership of their sexuality. The goal of this piece is to raise awareness and discussion on the policing of women’s sexuality, how it affects young women, and how it has been impacted by technology. It will also consider the question of whether or not posting sexy images is empowering or self-objectification.

            I am still in the very early phases of this project. I am currently trying to find experts to interview and conducting research. So far I have read about 5 lay articles on the subject and have found that many psychologists think it is harmful to the self-esteem of women to rely on social media for gratification.  Dr. Susan Krauss Whitborn states “When self-esteem becomes largely dependent on how sexy one looks—and not how intelligent, kind, friendly, or inwardly attractive one is—other problems result, especially in their interactions with the men in their lives, who themselves may have become conditioned to objectify women. Men might treat them with less respect, showing outright or subtle forms of sexism that can range from patronizing mannerisms to verbal or even physical attacks,” (Source). The young women I know who post proactive pictures and messages on their social medias accounts will often talk about how men treat them differently because of it, yet they still continue to do it. I want to explore why this is, and get down to the nitty gritty of how women take ownership of their bodies and sexuality.

This documentary is for anyone who participates in social media, and will be shared on youtube and vimeo and on my personal website. My career goals are to work in the entertainment industry as a producer and writer for television and documentaries. So this will be a great addition to my portfolio, and will demonstrate my ability to make a dynamic, well edited, and possibly edgy documentary. After the semester is over I could expand this into a larger length film.

Timeline

Oct 29

·      Find at least 10 experts,  send out emails and/or calls and see who would be willing to be interviewed by me

·      Have first draft of interview questions ready

Nov 5

·      Do interviews with Isha, Becca and Lilly –young women who are very comfortable about their sexuality and social media presence

Nov 12

·      Have interviews scheduled with experts

Nov 19

·      Interviews

Nov 26

·      Interviews

·      Post Production

Dec 3

·      Interviews

·      Post production

Dec 10

·      Post Production

Dec 17

·      Project Due