Blog #3

In the article Making My Narrative Mine: Unconventional Articulations of a Female Soldier, Manda V. Hicks she explains that “being a female soldier is a built in assumption of many that you could not have done what a man has done and you could not possibly have given the same that a man gave,” (462). This was a meaningful sentence to me and explanation of the life of a female soldier. This sentence, in particular, you could see that in this culture or organization if you will, not only do women not get credit for their work but based on this sentence it is shown that Hicks felt like women were seen to be completely incapable of doing work in the army. I pride myself on being a strong, independent and capable women and when I see a situation like this it is hard for me to face and accept as reality and something that does happen in a specific culture.

Something that I have discussed in a few of my other classes is positionality which means “the occupation or adoption of a particular position in relation to others, usually with reference to issues of culture, ethnicity, or gender,” (English Oxford Living Dictionaries). This also touches on the idea of intersectionality, which means when people of other genders, social classes, and levels of privilege come together as multiple identities to become more of a whole. In this moment when Hicks indicated that the life of a female soldier is assuming that she as a female could not have done what a man has done, showed me the lack of intersectionality, just very different identities that do merge together. However, this emergence is very demonstrative, where the males feel like they must show their dominance in a culture like the army. In this military culture, we could make the claim that women are oppressed in this setting, they are not given credit or appreciated as useful members of the military, rather just something that the males can make jokes or be insensitive about. Women in the military are proud to represent and fight for their country, this is especially, not the place where oppression should be visible, nevermind exist. In the magazine Everyday Feminism,  “intersectionality is a framework that must be applied to all social justice work, a frame that recognizes the multiple aspects of identity that enrich our lives and experiences and that compound and complicate oppressions and marginalizations,” (Jarune Uwujaren & Jamie Utt, 2015). In my mind, this one short sentence regarding what it is like to be a female soldier brings up countless issues regarding equality, positionality, intersectionality, identity, meaning, oppression and privilege. Which is way more than I would have thought when I began writing this.

Derek Bryant - Blog Post #3

As I was reading the assigned chapter for the week, chapter 10, I realized that the topic of interpersonal relationships is something that I have heavily gone over in my Leadership 325 class. The textbook discusses how important interpersonal relationships are and how they effect our everyday life, but it very quickly goes over interpersonal relationships in the workplace. While looking at interpersonal relationships through the lens of emotional intelligence and soft skills in the workplace, you get a completely new take on it. When you are put into a position of leadership, it is very important to have strong and established interpersonal relationships. In the article Why Should Anyone Be Led by You? by Robert Goffee and Gareth Jones it states that to be a good leader you need to, "Hone your ability to collect and interpret subtle interpersonal cues, detecting what’s going on without others’ spelling it out." (Goffee, Jones, 2011, p. 50) As a follower, people want a leader that is real and actually cares about their well being. People react better to a leader when they can relate and understand that they are imperfect, but not too imperfect. It goes on to discuss how you want to have selective weakness that can actually be seen as a strength. The article also talks about how being authentic and approachable is also an important part of leadership. All of these things are created by interpersonal relationships. Personally, it is interesting to take an idea like interpersonal relationships and apply it to different areas of life. As a communication major, I love being able to show and support that fact that communication is one of the most important aspects of life because of how much it effects everything. There is nothing that doesn't involve some type of communication, so it is interesting to break down all the different areas that it overlaps. Interpersonal relationships are important in all walks of life, inside and outside of the workplace because it follows you everywhere. In the article that we read for this class, Family Bullies by Keith Berry & Tony E. Adams, we see that interpersonal relationships at home can be complex and difficult to understand. Overall, learning as much as we can about interpersonal relationships is only going to strengthen the future of relationships and communication.
 

Blog Post #3

"Nickelodeon, a children's cable television channel, has claimed since its inception that its role is to "empower kids" and motivate children to be "agents of change."

The quote shown above comes from the piece, We the People, some of the main points of what this piece is trying to argue is that television allows people to change for the better. Through television people are given access to information from all around the world and news is constantly coming in with 24 hour news networks. Basic cable channels such as Nickelodeon are not, in my opinion, making children agents. The programs that are on those types of networks are in no way informative to their consumers and are there for an entertainment purpose. If there were any television channels that would have these effects on children or anyone for that matter would be news networks that are keeping people informed on what is taking place around the world. Any from of informative or educational networking would also have these types of effects on the public but, the sad truth is that there is not a demand for these types of channels. Things like television have simply been converted to entertainment and advertisement tools to make larger corporations money. If we wanted this to change there would probably have to be more regulation on what is allowed to be broadcasted out to the public.
Media devices such as the television have had a massive impact on our culture. The way that we have been able to culminate towards a television is nothing short of a dependency on it. Because it is like this way I believe that the use of television should be more effective. There needs to be more educational and informative programs if we really want to see people become the agents of change we so desperately desire in our society. I believe this can be easily achieved, with more thought and slight regulation this can be achieved and the results will be positive and effect our future and we will have more socially conscious individuals to take on the issues that need to be addressed.

Blog Post 3

Blog Post 3

            The media plays such a large part in our daily lives, it is now considered one way we are socialized as kids. Socialization simply just means how one learns the norm of our society. If we learn through media, then the media has a responsibility to understand the impact what their images have. I do not believe one should completely regulates what is presented on media, but there needs to be recognition of what the media meaning has on people. Representation is considering to be the re-presenation of something that is already presented. Communication takes this definition one step further stating that “[images] give meaning to the things they reflect” (Warren Fassett 217). For someone more developed “learning how to see the power of media messages enables you to be critical consumers, to make choices about what you believe and how to relate to the messages you encounter”. This quote not only sums up the goal of chapter 10, but also the goal of this class. We are constantly spoon feed norms and standards through the media, and if we choose not to think about what we are consuming, then we are choosing to not think about who we are.    

            I choose to relate this quote back to the TV show Friends. This is not only an iconic TV show of the 90’s but still in today's culture. I watched this show not only now while doing homework, but as a child with my mom. As I rematch this show, I can better see the underlying sexiest message this show produces. Not only are the characters Monica and Rachel dressed in provocative weighs in at least one scene per episode, but the actions to producers have the charters take demonstrate their understanding that females have a different role in society compared to men. After Ross has a child with his first wife not only did he hardly see the child, there was very rarely any mention if the child. This becomes such a thing that the producers have other chatters during the show mock it. After Rachel having a child, the theme of how the child was portrayed in the show was very different. Emma, Rachel and Ross's baby, was in many episodes following her birth. She was also discussed by other characters throughout the show. Some could argue that this is because both parents are in the friend group, but I believe it is more than that. Rachel moves out of Ross's apartment and into Joe's, and there was not fight for Ross to keep his child with him in a nicer apartment. When Rachel leave to go to Paris, she was going to take Emma with her, Ross was not a part of the plan. This show places emphasis on another child relationship, not a combined one. This show re-presents the idea that mother are the parents that are meant to care for children, that they are the ones responsible for providing it a home and love. The show even produces a scene where the idea that ross would leave, and it would just be Rachel and the baby, again no mention that ross would even want his kid. The message that is produces is that a baby is the mother reasonability, and a male is only good for dad jokes.

            Although this is just a TV show, the message it produces has reached millions of viewers. The may not have intended to create characters that follows sexist tendencies, but that is what has been produced. As I have grown older, I have realized what it means to be a woman, but for those who have not reached that point, is showing a woman with double d’s and a size two, is who she idolizes. Warren and Fassett are correct to say that understanding the media's message and how it affects one is critical in development, but what about those who can’t critical analyses these shows? This quote is not only a good reminded on how to be a productive member of consumerism of the media, but an even bigger reminder that there is still work to be in helping those who can't make the distinction between fake and reality.  

References

Warren, John T., and Deanna L. Fassett. "Chapter Four." Communication: A Critical/cultural

Introduction. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE, 2015. 217. Print.

Blog #3

" Learning how to see the power of media messages enables you to be critical consumers, to make choices about what to believe and how to relate to the messages you encounter." (217)

This quote really grabbed my attention in the readings this time around because I believe it is so important in today's world.  Media is everywhere. We honestly cannot escape it anywhere we go.  Whether we go see a movie or go on social media or even sit down to watch a sports game on the weekend, media is involved somewhere or somehow and a message is always being projected.  The sad thing is from what I see, people sometimes do not take the time to discern what is being projected towards them and take it for what it is instead of analyzing and researching every angle.  This is a personal perspective but I am sure other can relate to this opinion I mean we even discuss this topic along the lines in class.  If people (not all but some) were willing to dig deeper and possibly further educate themselves on the mainstream messages of today, it may effect how we react all the time.  This, in my opinion, comes from reading.  I am not referring to multiple tweets but actual articles, multiple of them.  If people would create a passion for reading and searching for the right angle, then they would create a more discerning perspective about the messages that are being portrayed. Knowledge is everything in this world and it is right in front of us.  We just have to be willing to chase it because gaining knowledge is work it is not easy but it is worth it.  Read multiple articles from multiple sources and compare and contrast.  Read a book! It does not even have to be nonfiction because any type helps with the skill of reading.  I sincerely advocate for the hobby of reading because I feel like it is becoming a lost art. 

https://careersinpsychology.org/impact-media/

Blog Post 3

"Television shows and films bring the message home that no one can truly feel good about themselves if they are poor"

This sentence came from chapter 15, seeing and making culture. More specifically the piece was looking into the way that media effects culture. This literature was very specific and identified one type of culture and how they have been constantly portrayed and stereotyped in vast amounts of media. In regards to the underprivileged or lower class this is something that must be very hard to break within the views of society. The reason that this topic caught my attention so much was due to the overall way that media portrays situations and we never question a lot of the actions. For example in class we watched a video that took this topic even farther and examined Disney as a company. In this examination many revealing findings came out and aspects that I would have never even noticed before. For example, in the beauty and the beast the woman is continually abused by the beast and she forgives him and in the end finds a way to love him. When critically examining this it shows that girls should allow men to abuse them and in the end they will change. This gives women the idea that they should stay in the relationship no matter how they are being treated. When we watch Disney at first glance this is not something that we think about, but when taking a different perspective we can see that their are hidden messages that might not be the best for kids watching these movies. While doing more research on this topic one of the things that kept coming up was the way that the media portrays individuals with mental illness. We continually see these people being portrayed as crazy, dangerous and people that we should take all action to stay away from. We often even see these people in horror movies or haunted houses used to be scary or people that we should run from. US News wrote an article on this topic and stated when we educate ourselves on this topic we can truly "distinguish between fact and fiction, stereotype and reality and the characters onscreen vs. our real life peers". By doing this we can actually realize that individuals with mental illness are not all criminals and violent. The most important thing to keep in mind with all of this is no two people are exactly alike and therefor we should not treat people this way. After researching and discussing this in class the topic really stood out to me due to the fact that I never knew it was an issue. This is something that for me I can now see was a problem and that is why I wanted to write on this topic. Now when I watch TV, movies or consume any type of media no matter what reputation a company has, like disney who is supposed to be a fun experience for kids, I should not take everything at face value. Continuing to be critical will make sure that I am not conforming to false assumptions on individuals in society. I hope that more people begin to realize that this is an issue and begin to look deeper into what they are consuming on a media perspective.

https://health.usnews.com/health-news/health-wellness/articles/2015/04/16/how-mental-illness-is-misrepresented-in-the-media

Blog 3

The most important sentence comes from chapter 10 of our textbook. It states, “perhaps one of the greatest injustices that film and television commit, for us as people trying to make relationships work, is the way the storytellers imply that relationships are easy.” This statement is so important because, this is true. TV and film does imply that relationships are easy. For example, fighting and then making up immediately with very little dialogue in between is very common in romantic movies, like in the film, I Love You Man. The problem emerges when we believe that relationships are in fact this easy and uncomplicated. Same relationships  managed in this way may lead to less interpersonal communication because the person or persons who believe relationships are easy may end up glossing over important conversations and issues that need to be addressed in order to advance or keep an interpersonal relationship. To put it simply, a person who is been manipulated into thinking relationships are easy may miss out or not recognize how important dialogue and true conversations are within a relationship.  Relationships require considerable effort and time for them to work. I have observed that in my own life, in relationships where the other person and I didn’t want to put in this necessary effort and time that the relationship demanded.

This false concept that relationships are easy made me think differently about how media influences us because it is really beneficial to realize how these forms of media influence how we think about the world or another person. Just turn on CNN and Fox to see how Donald Trump is portrayed. Fox News will put a positive spin on their stories about Trump, while CNN will be much more critical of his policies and what he says. In conclusion, I demonstrated that the sentence in the book is correct in saying that TV implies that relationships are easy. I then expanded on this idea insights within real interpersonal relationships. I then displayed that this concept of relationships being easier on TV is presenting how media influences us and how we view relationships.

http://money.cnn.com/2017/10/30/media/fox-news-paul-manafort/index.

I chose this article because it further proves that news coverage is skewed between conservative and liberal stations in his coverage of Donald Trump. This news media is influencing from supporters and liberal voters alike.