For this week’s sum blog I would like to talk more about the
Media discussion we had in class. Media
is under constant judgment because of the role it plays in our everyday lives
and the fact that we are simply surrounded by it. Media of course is the delivering of
impersonal communications to a vast audience.
The media often portrays an ideology of wherever it is being broadcasted
by defining and explaining the world and that makes valued judgments about that
location. The media also demonstrates a
sort of Hegemony. This refers to the
assumptions we make about our social life and on the terrain of things that we
accept as natural or the way things are.
This can be seen in an academic setting with professors and students and
also in masculinity. The two examples we
focused on in class were obesity and rape culture.
Influence from media cannot be ignored and if very evident
in the obesity example. As we watched
the video clip, I do believe that the “Headless Fatty” was a fitting yet
interesting title. It does however
describe this nations view on obesity and supports the Sapir-Whorf
Hypothesis. The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
states that people perceive the world through the cultural lens of language and
this is shown in the obesity video because of the almost shame of being
overweight brings to a person simply by the title of the video. For the Rape culture example we watched and
listened to a song called “Blurred Lines” and like many other popular songs of
this time was a great example. I found
the study that compared the lyrics to actual phrases said by sexual offenders
to be interesting and eye opening because I have heard that song before and
never thought of it in that context.
Both of these examples have shown the influence that media has on the general
public and I am excited to explore through many more examples.
Below I have attached a link to a video with a little
different perspective on media influence than the mainstream and found it very
interesting and I hope you do as well.
