Last blog

Since this is my last blog, I think it is appropriate to talk about what I learned this semester as a whole.  First I want to talk about privilege.  After taking race, gender and the media, I have a whole new outlook on white privilege than before.  Now when I go to the store or to a restaurant, I notice how I am treated differently because I’m white.  I am now much more aware of how minorities are treated during my day-to-day outings.  I don’t have to worry about being watched when I’m in a department store because they assume I will steal something and that is a privilege I never would have thought of before this class.  I also realize I am privileged because it was not hard for me to find somewhere to live next semester because I am white and anyone will rent to me.  These are privileges that came to light in race, gender and the media that as a white person, I have never noticed.  

I also want to talk about racial diversity in the media.  After taking this class, I am now much more aware of how much white people dominate the media.  All of the shows I watch have Caucasian actors and actresses and barely any of the commercials have minorities either.  When I watch the news, I notice the stories are always about white people unless there is a black person or other minority involved in some sort of crime.  Although these are things that were already problems, I didn’t notice them until someone brought them to my attention.  As a media professional, I want to make a conscious effort to bring diversity to the news and to journalism because the media doesn’t represent minorities in a positive light. 

Another thing regarding race that I have learned is how stereotyping a race can be very harmful even if it’s a positive stereotype.  I never realized how harmful stereotyping Asians could be because assuming they are all smart can create pressures and cause low self-esteem in the long run.  That is just one example that I never realized was negative.  People don’t realize that stereotyping is just as bad as being racist and I didn’t even know I was doing it.  When you see a black person driving a nice car and you assume it’s because they are an athlete, that is a harmful stereotype.  I never had someone bring that to my attention until this class.  Stereotyping is something I personally want to work on because I think it can be just as bad as being racist. 

One of my favorite topics this semester was about gender in the media.  This is something that has always interested me because as a woman, it really frustrates me the way women are represented in the media.  Stick thin models being portrayed as sexy is so frustrating to me.  Like I said in my project, the average woman in the United States is a size 14 and the average model is a size 2.  I think the media has such a negative impact on women’s self-esteem because it is impossible to live up to such high standards.  As a media professional, I want to incorporate average sized women in commercials and advertisements because I don’t think it’s healthy to be portraying such thin women as “normal.” 

In conclusion, I learned a lot about race and gender in this class and I want to take what I learned and be a more open-minded person and a better media professional.  I think diversity is so important and it is something journalists and advertisers really need to work on.  

Hip-Hop Media Assignment

Hip-hop is a music genre that is a mix between rap and pop; it is more than just a type of music though, it’s a culture. Hip-hop lyrics usually rhyme and have a story behind them.  There is a lot of sex and violence in hip-hop music these days and African Americans mainly dominate the culture. 

5 hip-hop artists I have not heard before:

1.     Da Muzicianz

2.     Pitbull

3.     Dem Franchize Boyz

4.     Flo Rida

5.     Tay Dizm

The song I listened to by Da Muzicianz is called “Gyrate.”  It is about a girl going to the club and dancing dirty on all the guys.  “Gyrate that big behind” and “shake that thang” are lyrics that are repeated throughout the song.  It is a sexist song that reflects poorly on black artists and women. 

The song I listened to by Pitbull, a Hispanic artist, is called “Boom, Shake, Drop.”  It is also about dancing in a club.  It is also a sexist song that is about women “shaking it” in the club making all the guys “want to grind.” 

The song I listened to by Dem Franchize Boyz is called “Turn Heads.”  Some of the lyrics I heard were “she want to kick it in my pimped out Chevrolet” and “who am I ridin wit, nigga two hoes.” The song was not only sexist, but the black artists used the “N” word throughout the song.  It perpetuated the stereotypes that black people are “ghetto” and black women are “hoes.” 

The song I listened to by Flo Rida is called “Low.”  Just like the other three songs, Low was also very sexist.  Lyrics such as “apple-bottom jeans,” “I turned around and gave that big booty a slap,” and “shorty she was worth the money” gave the impression that women are sluts that can be bought.  It perpetuated gender stereotypes and reflected poorly on the black artists singing the song. 

The last song I listened to was by Tay Dizm and it is called “Dreamgirl.”  Although this song was not as sexist like the others, he did refer to his dream girl as one who “gets it poppin’ every night.”  The artist also used the “N” word throughout the song. 

5 hip-hop videos I watched:

1.     Bow Wow “You Can Get it All”- the video is about Bow Wow’s girlfriend who he likes enough to not cheat on.  The video shows all the girls Bow Wow could have, but he chooses to be with his girlfriend instead.  Everyone in the video is black.

2.     Riskay “Smell Yo Dick”- the video is about a cheating boyfriend who gets caught by his girlfriend because she wanted to “smell his d***” to see if he cheated.  Everyone in the video is black. 

3.     Ciara “Never Ever”- Ciara is singing about how “if that boy don’t love you by now, he will never ever love you.”  Ciara is gyrating in the air the entire time.  Everyone in this video is black too. 

4.     Pussycat Dolls “Buttons”- the video features Snoop Dogg and they are dancing provocatively singing about how they want a guy to “loosen up their buttons.”  The girls in the group are a mix of white, black, and Hispanic. 

5.     Beyonce “Irreplaceable”- the video is about how Beyonce’s boyfriend cheated on her so she is kicking him out.  The video is empowering for women. 

The two radio stations I listened to that broadcast hip-hop are 98.9 Kiss FM and 104.9 The Beat. 

Corporations that have utilized hip-hop to advertise their products:

1.     The Gap- they had hip-hop dancers in their clothing commercials

2.     Covergirl- has hip-hop artists modeling in their print ads

3.     Armani- Beyonce danced in a commercial for “Diamonds,” a perfume by Armani

Hip-hop has become a part of mainstream culture in many ways.  For instance, it has become more appropriate to curse and talk about sex in public.  A specific term people joke about and use is “hoe” in everyday conversation. 

My parents said they listened to rock, country, and pop was just coming about when they were younger.  Three specific artists they remember listening to were The Beatles, Willie Nelson, and Led Zeppelin. 

After listening to/observing various hip-hop songs and videos, I was surprised at how much profanity is in the music we listen to every day.  There are a lot of curse words and sexist comments that I have never noticed before.  I think this has had a huge impact on culture today because it is making it more appropriate to participate in indecent behavior.   I think it is interesting that our parents listened to rock and country and they didn’t have the same problems with lyrics that we have today.  Hip-hop perpetuates so many race and gender stereotypes and it is becoming normal to see them in music videos and hear them in songs.  

Representation of Minorities in the Media

Sample Advertisements:

1.     A commercial for Vogue eyewear had three models in it and one was black.

2.     A commercial for Gossip Girl on the CW didn’t include any minority cast members. 

3.      The photographer on America’s Next Top Model was black along with Tyra Banks and some of the models.

4.     On CSPN2 every single political figure was white.

5.     A Coors Light commercial had all white actors in it.

6.     An HP wireless computer commercial had an Indian in it.

7.     When watching BET, every commercial had black people as the majority in them.

8.     BET also showed a commercial for Dora the Explorer and Dora is Mexican. 

9.     On the Real World cast there is only one black woman and she is stereotyped as the “mad black woman.”

10. An Olay commercial featured both black and white models. 

11. Every advertisement except for one in Shape magazine featured white women, only one had a black woman and you couldn’t even see her face.

12. One article in Shape magazine was about working out and the woman was white and the personal trainer was a black man.

13. The cover of In Style magazine had Beyonce on it.

14. One article about “couture couples” in In Style featured ten couples and only one couple was African American and one couple was Mexican.

After reviewing many commercials and print advertisements, I noticed there is not enough representation of minorities.  I was surprised to see that African Americans are much more frequently represented than any other minority.  I was not surprised though that they are much less shown as the leading actor or model in the ads.  Although African Americans were frequently in the commercials, they were not usually shown as the “leads” unless it was BET which is obviously centered on African Americans.  In the few hours I examined the TV ads, not once did I see a commercial that contained a Mexican, Asian, or Native American.  I saw only one commercial that had an Indian as the focus.  When examining the print ads and articles in magazines, a few of the articles contained Mexicans and African Americans but absolutely none of them had Asians, Native Americans or Indians. Any time there was a minority in a print or TV ad, it was always an African American over any other minority.  But whites definitely dominate both TV and print ads. 

Reflection:

In an ideal world, it would not matter what race was in an advertisement because people don’t “see color.”  But in today’s world, I think the reason minorities are not portrayed enough in the media is because advertisers are worried the product will not appeal to the majority audience, whites, if a minority is representing the product.  I think it is important for all races to be equally represented in the media but it just isn’t that way.  One thing that I think would help is having a more diverse Journalism world.  If there are more advertisers and editors that are minorities, then they will be represented more in the media.  It was very surprising to me to watch TV for a couple of hours and not ever see a Native American or Asian in a commercial.  They are so under-represented and although blacks aren’t represented enough, they are at least being represented.  As a person going into the Journalism world I think it should be a goal of all advertisers to represent every race.  The media is not an accurate portrayal of how the real world is.  I think the print advertising is especially bad because I did see some blacks in the TV commercials but the print ads were almost always white in all the women’s magazines.  It is unethical to be portraying only white women in beauty magazines because what kind of message is that sending to young girls?  That being beautiful means being white. 

 

News and the Media 3-27-09

Who decides what news is?  That is a very complicating question.  There are a few groups of people that I think determines the news.  Obviously journalists decide to an extent, but I think the government and advertising play a huge part in what we hear on the TV and on the radio.  Journalists many times will report only “half” of the news; the half that the government wants to be heard.  Whatever is in the best interest of the government is sometimes what gets reported.  I also think advertising plays a part in the editorial content because without the advertising dollars, the news could not exist.  Advertisers can enforce their political views by threatening to take away their advertising dollars if the reporters don’t give the information the advertiser wants them to.  Some journalists are ethical and report every piece of information that is important to an event, but I also think journalists are heavily influenced and manipulated by outside forces. 

            I think we need a media that represents a diverse range of people because otherwise we would see only biased material on the news.   It is impossible to report on a situation from every possible point of view if you don’t have a diverse news team.  Topics and concerns vary depending on who is reporting the information.  For instance, the media initially reported the war in a completely one-sided way.  The war was depicted from President Bush’s point of view and not all of the facts were presented.  In the press conference in one of the Bill Moyers reports, it is apparent the journalists were told what to ask and President Bush already had answers prepared.  He didn’t have to answer any questions he didn’t want to.  This is a biased way of reporting the beginning of a war.  People thought the reason we went to war had to do with 9-11 even though it had nothing to do with that.  It is important to have a diverse range of people regarding political views when giving American citizens vital information about war. 

            The media has also failed to cover recent social protests.  The protests against the war have been swept under the rug and completely ignored.  During the Civil Rights Movement, it would have been front-page news but now no one cares enough to cover it.  Advertisers have too much power over editorial content and vital news information isn’t being reported.  The media was extremely beneficial during the Civil Rights Movement because the media actually covered major events such as protests.  Protests would make front-page news and force government officials to listen to the people.  The protests would also influence other citizens and get people riled up to join in.  Now, the news doesn’t help much regarding protests because it isn’t even being covered.  Apparently there were hundreds, even thousands, of people that came together to protest the war in Iraq and we didn’t even hear about it. 

            I think it is important to have a diverse group of people reporting the news and covering important historical events instead of ignoring them.  First of all, minorities need to be represented on the news team so their views can be expressed regarding specific issues and concerns.  I also think it is important to have a diverse political group reporting the news so issues can be covered from every angle.  I also think there should be laws against the government and advertising interfering with the news.  Since they are currently allowed to interfere, we are not getting correct information regarding major issues going on right now.  As a person going into the world of journalism, I feel it is my personal duty not to be influenced by outside forces and only report the news based on facts.  I hope more young people going into journalism consider ethics before going into the workforce. 

 

 Bill Moyers: http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/11022007/watch2.html

Minority Media - http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/11022007/watch.html

Buying the war? http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/video/flv/generic.html?s=moyj06p24f’

Racial and Gender Stereotypes

02-24-09 6:30 p.m.

Personal Conversation with Kyle XXXX Friend

Argument about how guys are better than girls at everything

Gender stereotypes

 

02-24-09 10:00 p.m.

Social Experience at O’Connell’s

Beads were being passed out to “hot” girls

Gender stereotypes

 

02-25-09 2:00 a.m.

Television

Bow Wow music video

Black girls wearing tiny swimsuits were dancing inappropriately for Bow Wow vying for his attention

Racial and gender stereotypes

 

02-25-09 3:00 a.m.

Film

Doris Day movie, Don’t Eat the Daisies

Gender stereotypes

 

02-25-09 12:30 p.m.

Classroom experience Professor William

Class discussion about healthcare

Racial assumption/stereotypes

 

02-25-09 3:30 p.m.

Personal conversation with roommate (prefers not to be named)

Conversation about crime in Oklahoma

Racial stereotypes

 

02-25-09 10:00 p.m.

Social Experience at Logan’s

A group of girls were inappropriately dressed trying to get free drinks from the bartender

Gender stereotypes

 

02-26-09 11:00 a.m.

Television

South Park

Jesse Jackson episode

Racial assumptions/stereotypes

 

02-27-09 1:00 a.m.

Television

Cheaters

Racial and gender stereotypes

 

02-28-09 5:00 p.m.

Television

Dr. Phil

Racial stereotypes

Reflection:

I was not surprised by the amount of stereotyping in the media at all.  I always notice the way television in particular portrays black people as thugs or athletes, and women as sex objects or stupid.  It is easy to stereotype a group of people and turn it into an entertaining sitcom.  Also, as people commonly say, “sex sells,” and rappers and singers use women as products that sell their music by having them dancing half naked in the background.  One thing that I haven’t noticed though is the amount of comments my friends and classmates make that could easily be considered racist or prejudice against women.  I think we get used to inappropriate racial jokes and jokes against women and we don’t even realize how wrong they are anymore.  “It’s just a joke” is a common thing people say in order to justify their prejudice behavior.  It was very disheartening for me to notice how many racial slurs my friends’ use on a day-to-day basis because they find it humorous.  This assignment made me open my eyes and notice how offensive those comments really are.  Also, instead of laughing at the comments my guy friends make about women, I should be appalled.  They claim to respect women but then make prejudice comments. Saying “it’s just a joke” should never be a justification for racial or gender stereotyping.  It is just another form of discrimination.   

I think the constant portrayal of women as sex objects is one of the main reasons my guy friends don’t respect women as much as they should.  When young men are constantly seeing women dancing half naked on TV and loving attention for it, how could they possibly see us as equal?  We are often seen as “arm candy” instead of appreciated for whom we are inside.  I also think the way the media portrays black people is one of the main reasons white people are still racist today.  The media portrays minorities as less educated and less cultured and consequently society thinks that is reality.  All of the TV shows I noticed with black stars, the writers had them using bad grammar and bad manners instead of portraying them as smart.  Black people are also underrepresented in regards to having powerful job positions and are instead more commonly depicted as thugs, athletes, or blue-collar workers.  The media creates racial and gender barriers instead of breaking them down by showing equality.  I definitely think the media plays a major factor in the racial and gender issues America has today and something needs to be done about it. Women and minorities are being misrepresented in the media and it is causing hurtful stereotypes in society.  

Extra Credit 2/17

Due to Hopwood v. Texas (1996), academic institutions in Texas are not able to admit or provide scholarship support based on ethnicity or race.  Therefore, UT, AtM, Tech, and Baylor all do not use race-based admission.  Two other schools that I found that don't use race-based admission are Iowa State and Kansas State.

Assignment 2/13/09

Tim Wise discussed his perspective of privilege regarding race and I had never thought about privilege on a racial level.  When I think of privilege, I think of physical belongings that I am blessed to have because of my parents’ hard work.  If I were to think about privilege in regards to me being white, I think I would have a whole different outlook.  I think privilege is another word for freedom.  Privilege is being able to have opportunities to succeed in the U.S. and have all the benefits that come with being free.  If you are part a minority in the U.S., I don’t think you have all of the privileges of being free.  If you don’t get the same opportunities that come with freedom, I guess you can say you aren’t “privileged.”  I think the media utilizes privilege in media representation very poorly.  As a white person myself, I think the white society has no idea how bad racial discrimination still is in the United States.  I think we are sheltered and taught to believe racial discrimination is no longer a problem and the media does a poor job of representing society how it really is, and society still has racial issues.  Throughout the week I reflected on some basic privileges I have that I have never noticed or considered before.  Here are some of them:

1.     1. The privilege to feel comfortable and not out of place in class

2.     2. Being able to drive a nice car without people thinking I stole it

3.     3. Being able to go to a bar with my friends and not feel like the minority

4.     4. Living in a nice neighborhood

5.     5. Having enough money to pay my bills

6.     6. Being able to get a new job easily

7.     7. Being able to go to the store without taking a shower or looking nice and not feeling judged

8.     8. I talked myself out of a speeding ticket; had I been a minority would that not have been possible?

These are privileges I noticed throughout the week that might be true for minorities, but I can imagine might not be true for them all the time.  I do agree that as a society, we have a responsibility to change the way we look at other people and examine new stereotypes when we become aware they aren’t true.  Even if you claim not to be “racist,” I think it is still important to keep yourself in check and make sure we aren’t stereotyping people.  Specifically, one stereotype I think is still an adamant problem today is the "one drop" rule.  If you are the least bit Native American or African-American, you are automatically looked at as a minority.  I don't think it's fair to label people who may not want to be labeled a certain way.  For instance, my boyfriend is half Mexican and half white but people automatically consider him Mexican even though his family has lived in America for over six generations.  Labeling people based on "one drop" is just another way of profiling people in order to discriminate.  Another example is Native Americans.  If they are even 1/8 Native American, they are automatically looked at as Native American even if they identify themselves as white.  Instead of stereotyping people or labeling them, I don't think your race should matter at all.  

Here is a link to see the definition of the "one drop" rule in case you don't know what it means:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-drop_rule

Here is also a link to a site that talks about the roots of racial profiling, specifically cases dealing with police targeting minorities for traffic stops:

http://www.reason.com/news/show/28138.html