Tag Archives: chapter 11

Adidas is Amazing

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Many sports attire stores such as Nike, Puma, and Under Armor use male and female when trying to promote couples athletic wear. Although on Valentines Day this year Adidas pushed the boundaries on the “couples wear.” As you can see in this picture it is two girls most likely kissing and working out. Now when I first saw this picture I didn’t think anything of it, but then I read the comments about people being upset and saying Adidas shouldn’t have done this. In chapter 7 we talked about ways that women should do when they are Growing Up Feminine. Women should be worried about their appearances, be sensitive and caring, negative treatment by others, and be superwomen. In this add it is showing women, not only being in a relationship, but also being fit, working out, and getting stronger. Many people had a problem with this add because it’s two women, but all I see is love for and individual and love for being healthy.  Thoughts?

*click on the Adidas word to view the image*

 

#puppybabymonkey

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When watching the super bowl last night and seeing all the unique commercials that were played during those four hours, one that stood out to me the most was the #puppymonkeybaby commercial promoting Mountain Dew’s new drink. This commercial was promoting the new drink by saying that it has three awesome things combined in the drink. This drink is called Mountain Dew’s kickstart, which includes dew, juice, and caffeine. Although many thought that this commercial was very strange the aspect that stood out to me the most was that they just showed men drinking the new drink. The men were sitting around the television just “chilling” and then the puppy baby monkey comes out and hands the men the drinks and they drank them and started dancing around.

This stood out to me because in chapter 6 we talked about sex and gender. Julia T. Wood ( 2015) states that sex is based on biology, whereas gender is socially constructed and expressed. For example, in this commercial women are portrayed to not just sit around a television and “chill” for the night. Someone even in my class today commented, when we watched the video that it was strange and weird and that’s why women weren’t portrayed in it. I believe that adding a women role in the commercial would have made it more relatable to audiences and the target audience could be both men and women. I love Mountain Dew and watching that commercial is was sad that there was not a woman role portrayed.

 

 

 

*Insert Feminist Rant Here*

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Just wanted to make sure that everyone was up to date with their sexist-occupations list, since 2013. A few big ones were caught encouraging the “men>women” lie around the world, recently.

(Very recently.) Yesterday, the Women’s Media Center released a report that stomped on my Mass Media Communication Studies Degree.

“Sixty-five percent of U.S. political stories published during a three-month span in 2014 were written by men,” wrote a man for Poynter Institute.

“The report, which examined about 27,000 pieces of content produced at major news organizations during three months in 2014, shows that men produced the majority of coverage in nearly all cases. Three organizations — “PBS Newshour,” the Chicago Sun-Times and The Huffington Post — reached or surpassed gender parity.”

 

  • The New York Times: 32 percent female, 68 percent male
  • The Denver Post: 32 percent female, 68 percent male
  • USA Today: 33 percent female, 67 percent male
  • New York Post: 36 percent female, 64 percent male
  • The Washington Post: 39 percent female, 61 percent male
  • The Los Angeles Times: 40 percent female, 60 percent male
  • The Wall Street Journal: 40 percent female, 59 percent male
  • The San Jose Mercury News: 41 percent female, 59 percent male
  • The Chicago Sun-Times: 55 percent female, 45 percent male

Aside from my journalism passion being crushed, my soccer one also took a hard hit. Adding injury to insult, this Saturday marks the first match of the 2015 Women’s World Cup, and FIFA’s sexist decision to hold the entire tournament on artificial turf.

When Abby Wambach — the 2012 FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year — heard of this news, she noted, “The men would strike playing on artificial turf.”

 

Playing on turf is exponentially more dangerous than playing on real grass. And exponentially more expensive to upkeep. The Men’s 2014 World Cup got a $550Million Stadium built in a developing country (that ended up becoming a bus parking lot after the tournament ended) while women have to settle for turf in Canada.

Many famous female soccer players filed a lawsuit against FIFA, but later dropped the charges. 

The dozens of plaintiffs included U.S. Women’s National Team player Heather O’Reilly, who told NPR that the plan to use fake grass “is a blatant demonstration of FIFA not placing the women side by side with the men. You know, many men’s players refuse to play on artificial turf, actually, and the thought of it being played in the World Cup is almost laughable.”

How is it that oppression against women is still so evident and so prevalent? If professional athletes gave up their attempt to fight discrimination with their high profiles and the resources they have, what does that mean for us everyday women?

The Media Stops at No Woman

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[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lE2_4yt0Aow[/youtube]

There is no media outlet that is not discussing Caitlyn Jenner’s reveal. Its an inspiration and movement of acceptance for our society and the transgender community. The level of acceptance has been overwhelming. In this video I have found Jon Stewart breaks down the discussions about Caitlyn and realizes some deep issues for her and all women. People immediately began talking about her appearance using sexual words to describe her body and look. The media then went on to talk about how there must be Photoshop used and the outfits made her look better. They also compared other women to her, as well as talked about her appearance according to her age. Jon Stewart commented on this saying “of course people can not lift a woman up without tearing another down” and “yes go ahead and remind her she has an expiration date on her beauty”. He also compares how she was talked about before her transition, people use to talk about her accomplishments as Bruce, and now its her outward appearance. Here is a transgender individual opening up in hopes of raising awareness and being honest with her struggle with gender identity and the media has to analyze and comment on every aspect of the way she looks. There is an upside to this, she is being treated equally as a woman, the media does this for women left and right. They are depicted as sex objects or torn apart for their appearance not fitting the societal norms of physical attractiveness. Jon Stewart ended it perfectly saying, “welcome to being a woman in America”.

What do you all think? Did you pick up on this in the medias coverage? I did not, and enjoyed seeing this perspective. Do you feel this is how the media treats women in the media usually? Do you feel these pressures from the media or society? Were these the thoughts you had when first seeing her reveal?

Meet Caitlyn Jenner

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I thought this post would be appropriate because of the general topic being very popular especially in this class about Bruce Jenners transition. June 1st, Bruce made the official transition into the public as Caitlyn Jenner, from here out I will refer to her in feminine pronouns.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjfKWoksmlk[/youtube]

With all of the pre-caitlyn news, you could say it was hard to believe, however after seeing Caitlyn with all her gorgeous-ness, it truely was breathtaking and moving. A quick glance at the photos and one gets the sense of “she was meant to be she”.

In this article on CNN, I found an interesting statement (not to steer away from Caitlyn):

“Indeed, most stories about the cover photo could not help but include glowing reports of Jenner’s white, satiny corset and long, brunette locks. But, then, I guess, what else is new when it comes to media representations of women. It’s all about what she’s wearing and how good her skin looks, isn’t it?”

What I found interesting was that transgendered females and females in general are still facing the sexualization of females, even Caitlyn Jenner. Why is this?

Welcome to the World, Caitlyn Jenner!

 

 

Single Dads Are Not Extinct

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This evening I was watching television while eating dinner with my single mother, (a regular occurrence), when a Whirlpool commercial came on, here it is:

Although this commercial did not yell “single dad alert”, it brought to my attention how maybe there is an equality issue for the single fathers in the World who are raising children alone. Single fathers are unlikely to be recognized and also believed in that they too can raise a child single handedly. This week, we have discussed the different personality traits and communication styles of males and females. This topic, brought to my attention that maybe it is more difficult for a male to be naturally inclined to be a mother figure and a father figure. In this commercial it shows the struggles of not being a perfect dad, burning food,  neglecting to show up to sports games to support the child, and other struggles. Being a single mom is a regularaly praised topic, praising mothers all over the nation for doing the best they can. However, single dads is something that is increasingly becoming more common and may deserve an equal amount of praise. According to the The Atlantic- The Rise of the Single Dad there are more than 2.6 million single father households in the United States.  This article also discusses the unfairness of child custody cases always going to the mother because it is “best for the child”, never considering the father just because they may lack maternal instincts.

I found this commercial interesting to be brave enough to praise dads in general and also single dads; a rare sight. This is a gender difference in equality with men and women. What are your thoughts?

Rape on Virginia College Campus Becomes A Rape on Late Night Television Series

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Most of us have heard about the rape case that took place at the University of Virginia campus. Well, for those of you who have not, here’s a quick news coverage story of the event:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmA8PzRAKVs[/youtube]

Pretty messed up right? In class, we talked about the importance and urgency for Americans to feel comfortable addressing such issues as rape or sexual violence. Jackie’s account of her gang rape had, yes, started people talking about the issue and realize the urgency to address rape and sexual violence on college campuses. However, upon the police later finding holes in her testimony, the case was dropped and has now left a scar created by negative attitudes about Jackie, the University of Virginia, all Greek life at the University of Virginia, poor journalist practices, and, most importantly, it cast doubt on the truthfulness of all rape victims known and unknown.

Now, five months later, the popular crime drama “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit” has created an episode storyline that one could say was taken straight from the University of Virginia rape frenzy with only the adjustments of being set in New York at a New York university. Don’t believe me? Take a look:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2ktYSydJ2k[/youtube]

Now, I could be wrong, but the purpose of shows like Law and Order SVU is to raise awareness on issues like sex crimes and other related crimes. The news coverage surrounding Jackie’s false story created enough negativity and now the crime drama is only adding to the feelings of negativity creating an environment of doubt and uncertainty surrounding the stories of rape victims. A follower of the television series Facebook page wrote, “While I love this show, it would have been great not to have a show that undermines the epidemic of rape on colleges. Why would they do a show that discredits rape on campus[?] [T]his instead is continuing its perpetuation that all women lie about it.” Well that’s a good point! Victims are already horrified of what they just experienced, now the media reporting on the UVA rape case and the Law and Order SVU television episode have the potential to scare future victims into hiding out of fear of being ridiculed for what they themselves know to be true.

All that Jazz?

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Jazz Jennings posing with her book that was written to support transgender teens.

Fourteen-year-old Jazz Jennings became a You Tube star as she advocated for transgender rights.  Recently, Clean and Clear featured her in an online advertising campaign called “See the Real Me.”  [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyNZXQ136oI[/youtube].

Now she is becoming the first to star in a reality TV show that focuses on the life of a transgender teen.  According to CNN, the show called “All That Jazz” will debut on TLC in the summer of 2015 and focus on Jazz and her family “dealing with typical teen drama through the lens of a transgender youth.”

I’m glad to see more shows with diverse casts that feature people in in more complex ways who are transgendered.  But, given that TLC is the same network that featured such “reality” shows as Here comes Honey Boo Boo and Toddlers and Tiaras, I am not holding my breath waiting for a thoughtful portrayal of the life of a young person who also happens to be transgendered.

If this show falls prey to the same oversimplified, one-dimensional representations of gender that some of the other TLC shows include, this leaves us with question: Is it better to have no or few representations of a person who is transgendered, or one that may have some truths to it, while overemphasizing “drama” and perhaps reinforcing some stereotypes too?

Sh*t Girls say about their Hair…or boys?

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Does anyone remember the shoes guy? ‘Shoes…let’s get some shoes’, well apparently men acting as women through comedy is back on the social media top hit lists! I was browsing around on YouTube recently when I came across this new advertisement for Aussie hair products. It’s interesting because it’s a man who I believe is cross-dressing, acting as a women with our many various daily hair issues. I personally find the advertisement funny because I can relate to it, but I feel it would be a different story with men. Watch the video below!

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-igSlC7oD4[/youtube]

Also, check out Daily Mail’s article on how the video stuck up millions of hits, but along with a lot of controversy. It’s funny to me how boys can be spot on with things they don’t even have to deal with everyday. I find it interesting that these kind of videos are becoming increasingly popular on all types of social media, how men act as women and women act as men.