Interpreting Societal Ideas
How does media that surrounds us affect how we think?
Media and Media Literacy
Media is everything that surrounds us and is projected on us through all of the advertisements, TV, magazines, newsletters, tabloids, internet, and more. Media is everything that we see on a daily basis that is not related to our close friends and family. Media is society’s way of making us think the way we do. Media literacy is the ability to sort through all those ideas and ideals and choose what we see as truth and what we think to be twisted and convoluted. Being able to separate what is a trick in life, take for example society’s ideal beauty, and see that that is not what we have to believe is beautiful. Media, advertisements and magazines specifically, show that beauty is a stick thin woman with her ribs jutting out and at least three inches between her thighs when standing with her feet together. They want a woman who is perfectly symmetrical with long hair and no fat. If you are media literate, you can see clearly that this is what is projected into our minds, and not what we were born to think. We were born to think that our mothers are beautiful and no matter what shape or size they are that they are truly a work of art. If you are media literate, you can easily separate those two ideas, but if not, you can easily fall victim to the idea that unless a size zero, your mother is an ugly human being. Media literacy helps us separate the truths of the world from what advertisements and everything else in life try to make us think. It really comes down to whether you believe everything you hear and see on TV and in magazines and in ads.
Media Ideal
Media Literacy
Born Beauty
Budweiser Commercial: Puppy Love
Precis
New JoyCamps for High Fashion Models
UNITED STATES-In the fashion industry, it has been realized that the models are too large. So the models have been introduced to new "joycamps" that will help them get to more of the appearance of a concentration camp survivor that will really draw out their raw beauty and show the world what is acceptable to look like. "We need better role models out there for young girls to look up to and try to look like," says fashion editor Mark Wallace. When you take into account that these models are what all young girls try to look like, you should really try to make their looks more....natural. That is what they are going for at the JoyCamps. Who wants a model that only eats fruit all day? We need models that eat dirt from the ground at JoyCamps because there is no actual food for them there. These girls are going to be the best of the best because if they can survive starvation then you know they were made for the fashion industry.
Citizen Erased by Muse-Represents 1984 Book Theme
Performance Final
My ideas have definitely changed over the course of this class. I disagree with my original thoughts that media is everything that surrounds us except for our family and friends. Family and friends are also a large part of what influences us considering their ideals are largely affected by media as well. Their ideals projected onto me would be an indirect cause of the media's affect on them. Media literacy also is not only being able to sort through all the convoluted ideas that are projected onto us through ads and television but also to be able to change it. Something such as the Dove Beauty Campaign would be an action towards media literacy; presenting ideals that are different from societal standards. I learned how to voice my disagreements as well. Such as when Ms. Hicks told me I needed a sweater one day, my mind didn't go immediately to "dress code is so stupid" but to the fact that by telling me I needed to cover my shoulders, it was teaching me that the way I dress directly relates to how I am treated by my peers, and it is also teaching men that it is okay to constantly look at women as sexual objects rather than learning how to respect a shoulder and not be distracted by it. My argument has deepened. It is no longer immature, but thoughtful and well informed. This class was different than other language arts classes because it is not just simply reading and reciting new terms but it teaches us specifically how to navigate through life being an active member of society and not standing for the negative effects that media has on us and also accepting the good effects. I think in the future 1984 could be read on our own rather than in class because that was an easy way out for those who chose not to follow along. If we had to do it on our own they wouldn't have had the option to not listen and we would also have had more time to discuss the book in class and do other related assignments. I enjoyed this class more than any other academic class I've taken this high school career. It was real life and could be applied in a lot of places that regular high school education is lacking.