Tag Archives: mass media

Owning Your Body: Body Shaming Comebacks

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This is an interesting article about how a number of men and women celebrities who have been body shamed for both being “too skinny” or “too fat.”  Prison Break star Wentworth Miller is particularly interesting because he breaks norms of masculinity described in chapter 7.  He discusses his depression, an issue commonly faced by many men, but one that often is not talked about publicly.

Miller responds to a meme that went viral mocking his weight gain.

Of course, my favorite response is Amy Schumer’s!  But, you’ll have to check out the article to get her take on it.

#aerieMAN

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When scrolling through my Instagram I came across this post from American Eagle advertising their new product under Aerie. This is a store owned by American Eagle that sells pajamas, underwear, and workout clothes. I, at first, thought the long haired individual was a women but when he turned around I was surprised to find out that he was a man selling men underwear.

*click video to view commercial*

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1qtgSW14kE[/youtube]

This video first caught my attention because Aerie is both advertising male and female undergarments, whereas many stores you can just find one for each gender. Another aspect of this video that caught my attention is the model in the video. In the TED talk “Looks Aren’t Everything: Believe Me I’m a Model done by Cameron Russell she talks about how she won in the genetic lottery. She also states that models are taught to be a sexy girl. She also states that we, as a society, has define beauty as being tall and slender. It was very refreshing to see an underwear model that was not the “typical” model. This model had a bigger butt, bust, and does not have a thigh gap. I know this commercial is about Aerie making men underwear and it’s great that this company is not just targeting women, but its also great that this company is using “normal” body figures in women and men.

What do you think?

 

 

Adidas is Amazing

Image

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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*

 

Careful What You Play With

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[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Be9pwMTtzW4[/youtube]

 

A couple of days ago, I watched an episode of Friends that called my attention and made me think about some of the things that we are discussing in this class. In this episode, Ross’ son, Ben, seems to enjoy playing with a Barbie, which makes Ross feel very worried because it isn’t really a toy that boys “should” play with. In his efforts to make Ben drop the Barbie, Ross brings a G.I Joe for Ben to play with since he is the “toughest guy in toy land”. I thought this had to do with something I read in Chapter 7 about growing up masculine. One of its themes was to be aggressive, which  involves being tough and not run from confrontations. When I read about it, I thought that of course it would make more sense for a boy to play with a G.I Joe rather than a Barbie, but this shouldn’t mean that it is “wrong” to play with toys that don’t reflect the traditional views of feminine and masculine. I remember that my sister and I used to play with Barbies while growing up but we would also ask our parents for Max Steel’s since we thought they were pretty cool too. But to conclude this thought, I just don’t think that we should be as worried as Ross because we see a toddler play with a toy that is not very “according” to their sex. In the end, a toy wouldn’t make that much of a difference because there are so many other factors that influence how we will decide to perform our own gender.

Who wouldn’t want to be Bruce Wayne?

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http://griid.org/2013/02/12/normalizing-male-dominance-gender-representation-in-2012-films/

Every Friday my roommate and I host movie night at our apartment. Unconsciously, we have exhibited our gender identity. We have experienced gender differently and have an idea of what it means to be female or male. Every part of movie Friday reflects our personal beliefs of our roles. The boys have picked movies like the Dark Knight Rises and American Sniper (which the girls thoroughly enjoy as well). As they have been socially taught and encouraged by their parents throughout their lives that it is masculine to be aggressive and self-reliant. In both cases the men are heroes that are dependent upon themselves and kick but all while looking good. As tradition would predict they are successful and strong men who save the day and eliminate the bad guys. I can’t really blame them for looking to Bruce Wayne  as a role model or manly goals… I mean he gets the ladies with ease, is a successful billionaire (sometimes), is strong, and has toys that blow things up. Moral of the story he embodies everything that our culture and most personal influences have deemed masculine. There are many more similar examples in the link provided that give insight on such movie characters.

#DearFutureHusband

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As I look through my Facebook news feed yesterday and today one of the popular things I am seeing is the Meghan Trainor video.  Trainor has a song out now called “Dear Future Husband.”  Within this song she is telling her “future husband” how to treat her right just by following a few simple things, like making sure that he gives her flowers every anniversary.  The song goes on just listing things that he should follow so he can treat her like a lady. To me though she was a little demanding with all the things she wants just so that her future husband can treat her like a lady.  Yeah it would be nice for those things but all females want their future husbands to treat them right in their own way.  I also think that the way she is dressed and dancing shows a little to “sexy” for mass media.  I thought that some of the outfits that she had on were low cut and tight which could be shown to be sexy during the music video.  Also with this video it can be a little sexist because you have a woman her asking things to be treated right by her future husband but what about the men?  They are also need to be treated right by his wife, so where is his video?

 

Tolerance vs. Equality?

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[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sVmJKZ85k0[/youtube]

This post is more of something I have had on my mind as I reminisce over this period of “history” that seemed to be so important to our society. NFL player Michael Sam has been deemed a hero as the first openly gay player drafted into the NFL. He came onto national television and made a public announcement in the form of interviews letting the world know that he was homosexual.

Though we can applaud his high level of confidence and self-esteem, I can’t help but wonder if this isn’t another case of egotistic professional athleticism taking the form of a gender social issue to gain publicity, attention, and a title. I don’t doubt that any of the personal information that Michael Sam shared was false. However, it seems that an announcement of this kind goes against the big picture of the “social issue” that Sam seems to be “promoting”.

The general consensus in society seems to be that the goal is for homosexual individuals to be considered no different or non-average than heterosexual individuals. This is equality that we can all agree is not only necessary, but an American and human right. With this being said, it seems counter-productive to go on national television to share your sexual orientation in such a dramatic fashion and welcome the title of a hero or a “first” when no other player in the NFL, gay or not (we don’t know because they don’t feel the need to…) announces who they enjoy on the weekends or being in relationships with.

If equality is the big picture goal, why does personal information need to be shared when it is not the norm for the “average” sexual orientation that people are trying to make apply to everyone to share? This is not to say that people should not express themselves or smother who they are. However, I do not see naming someone a Hero or a historical “first” because of their decision to share information that nobody was asking for or spectating over as a step towards the big picture goal of equality.

I also may not know what I’m talking about.

Grey Area to Bridge the Gap

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A popular ABC primetime show Grey’s Anatomy never ceases to amaze viewers on what the patients and staffers might do next. If you are an avid fan but have not watched Season 11 or the episode from Feburary 19th you may not want to continue reading, blog post contains spoilers.
The Feburary 19th episode of Grey’s introduced a new character Kurt Warren, Dr. Ben Warrens brother.  Kurt and Ben were shown in the beginning of the show spreading their deceased fathers ashes and when trying to return home Kurt collapsed and fell down a rocky hill.  Once Kurt was admitted into the hospital the doctors found out that his lab results showed very high levels of hormones and drugs that should have not been there.   Kurt later told sister-in-law Miranda Bailey that he was trying to be come a she.

On a gossip tv website TVLine the secret is revealed that Kurt’s storyline and transition is going to become a primary theme in this season of Grey’s Anatomy.  Why is it so important that Kurt becomes a story line rather than a family member who shows up for an episode or two?  Many times the writers of Grey’s introduce new cases, some family members, to relate to things going on in the world.  However, Kurt is here to stay because more of the American population is coming out as transgendered and our society needs to be aware of what that really means and how to need to adapt.   In Chapter two of Gendered Lives queer theory is moving beyond the two binary labels.  This theme in Grey’s Anatomy is helping to close gap between the “black and white” binary labels.

More controversy will be on the rise from this because Kurt was using illegal drugs to become a woman?  Now the hospital is going to help him transition?  According to the TVLine article Kurt will gain a love interest.  Do you think there should/ will be more characters and shows like this on tv?

Goddess Glorious Female Warrior

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Have you heard of the show called Parks and Recreations? I was watching it today and this episode was about a camp like girl scouts and boy scouts. One of the boys in the boy scouts wanted to joined the girl scouts camp. Soon all the boys wanted too because they were tired of the dirt/out doors and they wanted to play with puppies like al the girl scouts were doing. This was breaking the gender norms. When the boys were initiated in the camp they had to call themselves goddesses and they looked proud to do so.

A Fight Against Photoshopping or Objectification in Feminist Trappings?

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We’ve all seen the images… celebrities who look completely different than the pictures we see in magazines.  Here’s a few of the latest ones:

But, as well known feminist and columnist Jessica Valenti published in The Guardian, these “leaks” represent a violation of privacy, and celebrities who don’t wish to take up the fight against the narrow representation of body types in media shouldn’t be forced to do so. For example, Lena Dunham angrily responded to Jezebel’s offer to pay anyone who could obtain the original photos and publish them without her permission.  CNN’s Peggy Dexler points out that publishing Cindy Crawford’s picture without her approval to make a political point is just another form of objectification.

The publishing of pictures without approval is a violation of privacy.  Is Jezebel’s offer to pay anyone who could obtain Dunham’s pictures so far different than the hackers who broke into celebrities like Jennifer Lawrence and Kate Upton’s personal social media accounts, stole pictures, and sold them to be published?

On the other hand, celebrities like Cindy Crawford’s pictures of her real 48-year-old’s body, with sun damage, cellulite, and a small belly, have the power to help women realize that the body type consistently shown to us in media is not real.  These doctored images have real world effects on women ranging from eating disorders to purchases of products to “fix” these issues with money that could be better spent in other ways.

What do you think?  Should these pictures have been published?  Would you share them on your social media accounts?