Extra Credit #2

1) Discuss how the three waves of feminism are each trying to build on, and address shortcomings in, the earlier waves’ treatment of gender politics. In the first wave, in other words, what are they trying to fix about society? In the second, what are they trying to add to and fix in the first wave? In the third, what are they trying to add to and fix in the first and second waves? Discuss this through an image or video you find online. (150-200 words)

The three waves of feminism have built on each other over time. In the first wave of feminism they are trying to create an equal society between men and women. This wave focused on equal rights. Women fought for their voices to be heard and wanted the same about of rights as men. This wave would be seen as quantitative because women wanted more rights and wanted them enacted as laws. Women felt that they would bring purity to the world of politics. Overall, the first wave of feminism is trying to fix society by creating an equal playing ground for men and women.

In the second wave of feminism they believe in equal recognition and has a more qualitative approach to feminism in comparison to the first waves quantitative approach. As the first wave is trying to enact actual laws creating equal rights, the second wave focuses on the overall quality of life. In this wave they are trying to add a quality life on top of a life of total equality.

The third wave of feminism can be titled as agency. This wave is characterized by a desire of women to find a voice of their own and to stand up for themselves. I this phase post constructs have been weakened such as the notion of the “universal woman.” This waves believes that they can still wear lipstick and heals while being treated equally as men. This waves builds on the second in the fact that they believe in an equal quality of life, while still being able to have girly characteristic. This wave doesn’t look their femininity.

An example of what could possibly be a third wave feminist is Queen Rania of Jordan. Here is a lady who have run her country while still having kids and wearing lipstick and heals. She may still believe in equal quality and quantity of rights but can still maintain being a mom and working women who is trying to improve the quality of life in her country Jordan

These three waves of feminism builds on each others shortcomings eventually creating an idea where a women can can equal rights and power as men and still maintain classic female characteristics, like Queen Rania.

Question #11

11) Find two critical texts from the semester, and discuss how they relate to or expand the argument of your overall topic for the semester, drawing on a specific advertisement you did NOT discuss in your papers.

Over the course of this term I studied the notion of perfection and the desire to have a “dream” life, which in most cases is unattainable. I looked at different “American Dreams” through different demographics and found that consumerism played a huge factor in the portrayal of happiness. Two text which relate to my overarching theme this semester is Juliet Schors article, “The New Politics of Consumption, Why Americans Want So Much More Than They Need” and Janice Radways article, “Women Read The Romance, The Interaction of Text and Context.”

These two articles relate to my topic of a dream life which is in fact is almost impossible to obtain. In my analysis I look at the demographics of mothers who in most cases want the classic “American Dream” as Schor describes “Trophy homes, diamonds of a carat or more, granite countertops, and sport utility vehicles are the primary consumer symbols of the late 1990s.” In my content analysis I look at a photo essay portraying the classic “American Dream” of having the two kids, maid and perfect husband, but also shows how this sense of consumption and wealth can deteriorate a relationship as in my image the couple is breaking up. This is similar in Schors article as he talks about the competitive consumption and how society believes that you have to “Keep up with the Jones.”

Janice Radways article also relates to my topic of this dream life. This article discusses women’s obsession with romance novels probably because it creates a fantasy life. Reading romance novels allows for people to escape reality and engage in a life they perceive to be perfect. This desire for perfect romance could be seen in a variety and vast amount of media as a lot of media revolves around romance. Not only do these women dream a life of romance but also maybe just simply a life that isn’t their own. Society always wants more. Consumption can be seen as the dream in itself.

These two images of Gossip Girl portray both the dream and unattainable life. Gossip Girl portrays a lifestyle in NYC which the teenagers live in pent houses by themselves and live a unsupervised life. Not only is this a dream life for teenagers but also for men as Chuck Bass has a life with extreme wealth and girls always be his side. As this lifestyle can be a dream, Gossip Girl also shows how consumption can deteriorate relationships and in fact create extreme unhappiness and conflict. This show portrays that this stereotypical fantasy life is in fact unattainable and that consumption doesn't always create happiness.

Question #10

10) Using a video or image you find online, apply three critical texts we read during the semester (each at least two weeks apart), and discuss how they relate to and build on one another, giving us different but related perspectives on critical media and cultural studies (250-300 words).

Throughout the term we looked at theories and readers, which built off of each other as we increase our intelligence about critical media and cultural studies. One of the first readings we looked at was “Women Read The Romance, The Interaction of Text and Context” by Janice Radway. In this article she talks about how women love to read romance novels, one reason being to escape from reality both literally and figuratively. She says that the readers admit that the characters and events in the pages of romance novels do not resemble the people and occurrences that they deal with everyday. Rather, women like to escape their reality and live a pretend “perfect” life while reading a romance novel.

Another text, which we read, is “Advertising and the Political Economy of Lesbian/Gay Identity” by Fred Fejes. In this text we look at the issues of minorities such as lesbian and gays and how they are portrayed in the media. As the minority group of gay and lesbians grew, so did the advertisements towards this perceived demographic or more commonly towards the straight man demographic. They market stereotypical gay men as upscale, high-spending consumers interested in the latest fashion and living a glamorous life. These two articles portray an unattainable life, which is seen in advertisements. We cans see this is the fact that women love to read romance novel to escape from reality, and in the fact that gay men are often portrayed in the media as living a high-class life.

Yet another article we read this year was “’Con-fusing’ Exotic, Producing India in U.S. Advertising” by Sanjukta Ghosh. In this article we learn about exoticism and orientalism and how racial minorities portrayed in the media. Media can trivialize racial identity and cultural minorities culture. It is said in the article that magazines such as Vogue use traditional products from a unique culture in their photos. Rather than recognizing these traditions and cultural importance, the media puts indigenous people and ways in the background. This article relates to Fejes article in the sense that minorities are often either simply not seen in the media, or not given the credit deserved.

This is an image from the Sex and the City the second Movie where this is an example of the media portraying the exotic, racial minorities being trivialized and even a portrayal of an unattainable and dream life. This is a clear example of exoticism in the sense that these ladies are walking through sand dunes, in Eqypt while wearing outfits many indigenous clothing, devaluing traditions and cultures. Also, this is an image of a fantasy life. It most cases this is unattainable to be looking glamourous while walking through a desert. Sex in the City is an example of a movie which shows exoticism in a racist light. At the same time, this movie portrays an unattainable and fantasy life, such as ones which are portrayed in romance novels and in advertisements portraying wealth and modernism as seen in Fejes article.

Question #9

8) Find a "news" story from the Onion News Network, and compare it to a contemporary news story of clip from a "real" news source. Discuss them both in terms of gatekeeping and agenda-setting functions, as well as the breakdown and reevaluation of discourse that Baym talks about in his article.

It is seen in Baym article, “The Daily Show: Discursive Integrations and the Reinvention of Political Journalism” we learn about the rise in “fake” news such as The Daily Show. He says, “The 2004 pew survey found that 21% of the people ages 18-29 say they regularly learn about news and politics from comedy shows such as Saturday Night Live. Another form of “fake” news comedy is the Onion News Network. I found a video called “AA Destroying The Social Lives of Thousands Once-Fun Americans.” This clip is a parody of actual news, and it pokes fun at the biases new channels use such as gate keeping and agenda setting. Gate keeping is the process of when the media filters out what they say to the general public. Doing this allows them to create their own bias over news stories. A reporter can decide which sources are chosen to include in a story or what stories are printed. Agenda setting is the theory that the news media have a large influence on audiences by their choice of what stories they consider are newsworthy and important for the public to know. This creates a huge bias as the media can choose not to broadcast an important message or a story. These two techniques are being made fun of in this AA video. In this video we can see that they are trying to imitate a real news station. The beginning shows a graphic of the date, and a capital building, which is very similar to news channels. This video in terms of gate-keeping is poking fun at issues in society in which the media doesn’t report. Although this video is clearly a joke, we can realize how ridiculous the news is, as this video is reporting something as crazy as AA making people not fun and boring. This video makes fun at what is shown in the media. Another video I have is from ABCNews. When I was looking for a serious video, I came across the most popular videos, which was in fact this one. The background and opening is very similar to the “fake” news. It is interesting to me that this video was aired nationally. Although this could be a very serious issue in surrounding areas of the happening, this in most cases, would not affect the general public. News channels like ABC news practice gate-keeping and agenda setting to preserve their image. This video could be implying to the public that they are never safe, and that crazy happenings such as this one, happens in reality. Though agenda setting society starts prioritize what is important through what is shown through the media, such as this video. It was interesting looking at the most popular videos, which included issues that I at least find, not informational and important but rather for entertainment, such as a video of Oprah addressing lesbian rumors. In conclusion, Baym states, “It concludes that The Daily Show can be better understood not as ‘fake news’ but as an alternative journalism, one that uses satire to interrogate power, parody to critique contemporary news, and dialogue to enact a model of deliberative democracy.”

AA Destroying The Social Lives Of Thousands Of Once-Fun Americans

Question #8

8) Watch the first part of Mouse Trapped 2010 and Mickey Mouse Monopoly, and explain USING SPECIFIC ELEMENTS FROM THE FILMS how they are good examples of the different approaches of political economy and cultural studies. Define each approach briefly, and CITE GROSSBERG'S ARTICLE IN YOUR RESPONSE (100-150 words)

Political economy is the distribution of wealth made up of consumption and production. Political economy relates to both of these videos, Mouse Trapped 2010 and Mickey Mouse Monopoly. In these videos we can see that there is an overarching power, (money) which dominants all of Disney. In Mouse Trapped 2010 we hear interviews of people who "love disney" but are not compensated fairly for their work. They talk about how they need government assistance, which is ironic in the fact that the Disney Corporation is one of the wealthiest and biggest in the world. This may be the case, buy the people who work on the lower tiers, can't survive off of their pay. Disney is clearly a monopoly as it controls and has power over not only their employees but the culture in general. As people continue to go to Disney and broaden their love for "fake" life, Disney will continue to gain power and political power over society and especially the working class people of Orlando. This video is a good example of political economy as it is showing Disney as a place revolving around political power and dominance (money) over society.

In Grossbergs article, "Cultural Studies vs. Political Economy: Is Anybody Else Bored With This Debate?" he argues the differences between cultural studies and political economy. Cultural studies concern the political nature of contemporary culture and also looks at the past issues and conflicts seen in society. Rather than focusing on money, cultural studies present ideas such as the notion that education and intellect can create social stability beyond economical means. Grossberg describes cultural studies, “First, because cultural studies ignores the institutions of cultural production, it celebrates popular culture and gives up oppositional roles; second, because cultural studies ignores economics, it is incapable of understanding the real structures of power, domination, and oppression in the contemporary world.” Here we can see the difference between cultural studies and political economy, by Grossberg saying that cultural studies doesn't understand the structures of power and domination, such as one which Disney creates. In Mickey Mouse Monopoly, we can see Disney not only influences people politically and economically but also culturally. At one point in the documentary a little girl asks her mom why dark people are always doing bad things. The connotation of race is seen in movies such as Beauty and the Beast, where the beast is dark. This is an example of cultural issues, of how even little kids understand the underlying portrayal of race shown in Disney movies. Disney has created a monopoly over not only the people who are directly influenced by Disney (workers) but also the culture (through Disney movies).

Question #7

7) Explain how the following video, How to make your breasts look bigger, is both an appropriation and reappropriation of sexual signifiers, and discuss the implications of the film from both perspectives (i.e. the appropriation and reappropriation of sexual signifiers from early pornography) (100-150 words).

Underwear:
How To Make Your Breasts Look Bigger

Appropriation is defined as the adoption of some specific elements of one cultures by a different cultural group. Usually things that are appropriated are removed from indigenous culture contexts, and their meanings are changed. While this is a definition of appropriation, reappropriation is the cultural process by which a group reclaims, or literally RE-appropriates terms or things that were previously used with a different purpose. In this video, "How to make your breasts look bigger" we see both appropriation and reappropriation taken from sexual signifiers from early pornography.

In this video we see appropriation from her wearing merely just a bra and through her actions/attitude taken from early pornography. The way she presents herself, by pushing her breast together and the raspy and sexy voice can be seen as being appropriated from early porn. At that time, these things were seen as normal and sexy, which this girl is now making her own - her own way to get a guy to notice her. This video also shows reappropriation in ways such as her big push up bra. This sexual clothing has been reappropriated so that today it is seen as sexy. The sexy voice of talking slowly and raspy has also been reappropriated in the sense that this old technique was once used to lure guys in, and even today it is reappropriated in media to do the same thing. This women also makes sexualized noises which was seen in early pornography.

Question #6

6) By drawing on the articles on the exotic and globalization from class, discuss the following advertisement:

This advertisement is very interesting as it portrays orientalism and globalization in ways which are common in todays media. In Sanjukta Gosh article, "'Con-fusing' Exotica, Producing India in U.S. Advertising" she said, "This chapter examines how media, in general, and advertising, in particular, produce a commodified and an Orientalist vision of India that simultaneously erases indigenous peoples out of the landscape or puts them in the background" (275). This quote describes what is happening here in this video and other advertisements in society. Here we see minority groups, being used in our mainstream media. Not only are these exotic cultures being portrayed in a different light, they also make the native people look "stupid." In this American Express advertisement, a comedian Canan O'brien travels to the middle east to find the best cotton to make fabric. We see O'brien negotiating with a native person and as he does so he uses his fingers to count, portraying that the native man is "stupid" and even maybe making fun of him. Media, like this advertisement makes exotic cultures seem incoherent and diminishes these cultures values and norms. This video also connotes that American need the "best" even if it entails going to extreme norms to fulfill our need for consumption and perfection. Exoticism and orientalism which is seen in this video, appropriates cultures. This is one of the basic concepts of globalization. While globalization can both be good and bad for cultures, we can see that it is good in the sense of blending cultures. We can engage in intercultural exchange, as seen in this video where O'brien gets the cotton and other goods from another culture. Although this video is "playing" on exoticism through humor, in reality globalization can be good to decrease the barriers of unique and different cultures.