Media is an important aspect of study as it is contemporary and always changing, the media as a whole has an effect on every individual in a certain way. Joseph Bazalegette, a civil engineer in the 19th century quoted “Media studies opens up your understanding on how things work, how people become informed-or-misinformed, and how myths and ideologies that govern all our lives are created and sustained.” The internet has a big role in the transmissions (data between two devices) and diversification, and most of the people who are on these websites is our youth, teenagers and early adults. The media has been blamed by critics for promoting violence, sexism, racism, homophobia, and other brutal social occurrences. Although it gives us another level of connection with what’s going on with our favorite celebrities and the recent events happening around us today, it comes to show the difference between masculinity and femininity, misleads our youth, and influences females to turn to substance abuse.
Social websites like facebook, instagram, twitter, snapchat enable users to upload their digital images, which is therefore of interest to see how gender is performed in this area. However, one particular relevant bias factor has still been overlooked in the literature, namely adolescents endorsements of stereotypical gender roles. Disney pixar promotes a new model of masculinity that acts into acceptance of its “feminime” aspects, combine both feminime and masculinity in both their “princesses” and their male characters. “Prince charming being too two dimensinal to do more than inadvertently shape the definition of the protagonists femininity”. In their films, it’s usually the male character that faces a problem “nomosocial life” and desire with a feminized object to achieve “what it means to be a man”. They show how the alpha male shows no emotion but anger, become “ombre macho”, unquestioned authority, physical power, social dominance, competitiveness for positions of status and leadership, lack of visible or shared emotions and social isolation.
While on the other hand, females characteristics are thin, beautiful, kind, obedient or punished for disobedience, and “headed for the alter”. An example of the alpha male that the authors give is the old-school famous Mr.Incredible when the start the movie The Incredibles he (Mr.Incredible) starts showing his physical appearance that is able to for him to stop speeding motiveicales, crashing through buildings, and keep the city safe from criminals. But then later in the movie when he stops his crime fighting to his wedding, he shows up late which gives him that emotional isolation state. But than pixar tries to show a combination of Mr.Incredible and his wife and daughter to escape in the movie film. “…, he must also admit to his emotional dependence on his wife and children”.
Secondly, media promotes our youth dangerous behavior, pornography, dirty language, and other activities that aren’t normal but advertisements make it seem that it is. Several videos recognize different ways of being gay and lesbian in diverse geographical contexts, advertisments also show how sex is more about “disconnecting and distance than connection and closeness”. Children, young teens, teens all know different ways on how to mainstream and find different gimmicks on how the world is growing. “Male violence is subtly encouraged by ads that encourage men to be forceful and dominant, and to value sexual intimacy more than emotional intimacy”. It comes to show that the men who show real intimacy with women they mock them just for doing the opposite and this is why it encourages boys to become like them. Researches on the effects of viewing violence on screen especially among children found that it may give out potential for aggression. The media is causing children to become less sensitive to the pain and suffering of others, more fearful of the world around them, and even become more likely to behave aggressively and even harmful towards others. Exposure to media violence can dull people to violence in the real world and for others, watching violence in the media becomes an enjoyable habit but doesn’t result in the anxious arousal that would be expected from seeing such imagery. The age of mass media was intent with problems of representation, homogenization, and manipulation, and these problems define the thinking about youth consumption and commercial culture in much of the 20th century.
Consequently, the media and advertisements make females the blame for how others react or do towards them, literally anything said or done could be taken out of context. Women have found a common statement that they are repeatingly the ones being objectified through advertisements and nothing has or will change that, sex pornographic advertisments especially because of fetishizes products, infuses them with an erotic charge which makes us disapointed since the “products” never can fullfill others sexual desires or meet their emotional needs (Jean Kilbourne 556). Us females seem to be held responsible as Jean Kilbourne demonstrate when sex goes the wrong way, as in getting pregnant or victim in a rape or sexual assult just because of how we show our apperence. “Constantly exhorted to be sexy and attractive, they discover when assaulted that they very sexiness is evidence of their guilt, their lack of innocence.” Some may agree with it, others believe that it’s all nonsense and even say a bit sexism, but were so desperate to believe we are in control of what happens to us that we get scared and shut out. It is encouraged that females can deny this by being the “good girls”, avoiding dark places, staying out of bars, dressing “innocently”. Kilbourne proves how the world seems to put women the blame for it all (domestic violence) due to disguise and seductiveness while on the other hand, men’s bodies aren’t as judged or invaded. She explains how men are not likely to be raped, harassed, or beaten. Not only is it women that take responsibility, also of all ages.
The belief that they are “temptress” in disguise, maiden, sexually insatiable and seductive, conveniently transfers all blame onto women which isn’t fair, because of how far we’ve come to finally represent our image. There is such a widespread and “open contempt” that its hard for women and girls not to learn self hatred, harassment, violence, all that seem to hurt and damage the females who have already been surrounded with what can cause them to self destruction behavior and addiction. Many females turn to food, alcohol, cigarettes, and other drugs in a misguided attempt to cope. In The Invisible Alcoholics; Women and Alcohol Abuse in America, “In a culture that cuts off women from many of their own possibilities before they barely have had a chance to sense them, that pain belongs to all women. But at some level, all women know it is to lack access to their own power, to live with a piece of themselves unclaimed.” The media seems to put out that women exist only to fulfill the needs of a man, that men have power and women are the objects of that power, only due to the assumptions that we can control our feelings. If no ones realized, addictions are not incidental in the lives of women. Usually it’s because of disturbances in relationships in childhood(violent disturbances). When they’ve hit the isolation stage they reach out for a substance to numb their pain and to tend her isolation so she could connect again.
It is often argued upon that the media can give us another level of connection with what’s going on with our favorite celebrities and the recent events happening around us today. In retrospect, many people believe that social media has helped bridge a world together, but ultimately social media has continued negative aspects. It shows us about somebody else’s lifestyle and point of view on life and maybe even learn from their mistakes. Although the core of its claim is valid, it suffers from its flaws that celebrities do have a lack of privacy and also how we keep comparing our lives too much to somebody else’s. When it all comes to a personal use, there is a lot more to fear from the media on an individual level than on a comparison level. Plenty of celebrities and individuals fear the lack of privacy, punishment and negative responses others can give.
In essence, social media accentuates the differences between masculinity and femininity by promoting negative inperterpitation to our youth, and blaming women for others actions. The media studies shrugs (positive and negative attributes) observes what defines good online criticisms. Where lack of demand for content is and where career models have to finesse the art of being quick workers. The media highlights the destructive nature that social media provides creating social stigmas and chaos within the younger generations. At Least 70% of women experienced more than one type of harassment, threat or attack in the past. As the years pass on, technology is going to continue to keep growing and become more powerful than what it is right now, it’s one of the fastest growing industries. But how long more are we going to keep creating this, if partial of it is breaking us down and making us seem objectified, or even something that we aren’t? Reality of it is, we need to wake up and realize how little social media is making not only the world, but also us individually.
Works cited
- Avdeeff, Melissa. “Beyonce and Social Media: Authenticity and the Presentation of Self.” From Inquiry to Academic Writing fourth edition, edited by April Lidinsky, Bedford St.Martin’s copy 2018, pg 496-505
- David Gunkel. “The medif of truth; media studies in the post truth era.” web.a.ebscohost.com.libproxy.ocean.edu. October 2019, Vol.19 issue 4, p 309-323.
- Gilliam, Ken & Wooden, Shannon. “Post-princess models of Gender: The New man in Disney Pixar.” From Inquiry to Academic Writing fourth edition, edited by April Lidinsky, Bedford St.Martin’s copy 2018, pg 542-552.
- Kilbourne, Jean. “Two Ways a Woman Can Get Hurt”; Advertising and Violence. From Inquiry to Academic Writing fourth edition, edited by April Lidinksy, Bedford St.Martin’s copy 2018, pg 555-575.
- Warner, Kristen J. “The Sustainability of film and media studies.” web.a.ebscohost.com.libproxy.ocean.edu. Winter2018, Vol 57 Issue2, pg143-147