When Will My Reflection Show Who I Am Inside?

           Wow, time really does fly by. Freshman year was pretty tough for me and when I heard that we had to take a writing class and critical thinking class, on top of all my other classes, I contemplated on whether or not to stay in HISP. But I told myself to suck it up because I thought there was a slight possibility that I might actually do well this year. I should have known better. Now I wont get into college, my parents will send me back to the rice patties in China, and I will have to live on the streets as a hobo and I don't like hobos. Hobos scare me. Especially the ones in San Francisco. Even though things didn't go well for me in my classes, I never said I didn't enjoy them. There was a small part of me that really liked the zero period classes. That's what's so great about the HISP program. We are able to take classes that are totally different than the regular school standards. I really appreciate the opportunities we are given in this program.

           Before I took this critical thinking class, I was oblivious to everything that surrounded me. I never knew the effect of media had such an impact on our lives. Media is everywhere, and it is scary to know that we are exposed to it everywhere we turn. It is almost impossible to imagine life without media. I admit that I am a victim of the media and now that I think about it, the media I consume impacts my life immensely. The media forces me to look at an advertisement of perfect people and compare it to myself. It makes me tell myself things that aren't necessarily true and it builds my insecurities to a point where I am ashamed of myself. I realize that I am not an individual. I follow trends, I act like people want me to act and I try to fit in with the crowd. It makes me angry to know that I am exactly what the media wants me to be. I have become more aware of the techniques advertisers use when they introduce a new product to because of the media unit we did in this class. I feel a little bit better about myself because I know that the people in the advertisements are clearly photo-shopped to perfection. There are such a wide variety of advertising techniques and the way advertiser's use them is very successful.

           After spending so much time analyzing the media, I actually stop and watch commercials now a days. I apply every thing that we have learned and picked apart every aspect of the advertisement. It bothers me to know that the media creates so many stereotypes and makes their viewer feel as though they cant be themselves. I think teenage girls and boys are the ones who suffer the most when it comes to the media. During these few years, teenagers are filled with so much insecurity that we fall into the traps advertisers set us up with. I haven't changed how much media I consume on a daily basis but I definitely am more aware of the literacy and the meaning behind each advertising technique used. I don't take advertisements very seriously now because I have learned that basically everything we see is fake. However, I am not blaming the media for everything. It is partially our faults for being sucked into their little schemes.

          Overall, I really enjoyed taking this Critical Thinking class because it opened my eyes to the world and the media. I looked forward to writing my blog every week because I got to share my opinion and provide my own personal writing to all of you. I also had fun reading everyone else's blogs as well because I felt like I got to know my classmates better by experiencing their writing and opinions. Okay.. well, um, bye. (:

Media Blog #12: Hanes Shirts vs Cats

 

             

             Cats are so cute. They're fluffy, soft, and quite irresistible in my opinion. They always try to bite me when I pet them. ... But they're so soft! This Hanes commercial is one of my favorites on TV at the moment and it instantly caught my attention.

 

            This commercial started off with a couple of guys hanging out on the couch. One of them is wearing cats on his shirt. Yeah you heard me. Cats! With the Gestalt Principal, it shows how outrageous the cat shirt is. It really does look crazy cool and I'm sure cat lovers will go crazy when they see this commercial. The other guy is telling the one with the cats on his shirt that Hanes has new and improved shirts - softer than a kitten! This commercial uses the ad technique of testimonial when the cat guy asks Michael Jordan what he thinks of his cat shirt. Michael Jordan responds with "Duuude, wow." He is making the cat shirt look dumb and making the Hanes shirt sound appealing to the viewers.

 

           But I got it off of Sky Mall.



Media Blog #11: She Looks Like... What?

 

           So I came across this song a while back ago and it seemed perfect for this occasion. Mike Posner's song, Looks Like Sex, is one of the many songs that objectify women and seems to stay very catchy as well. That's what all songs seem to focus on now. Love, sex, and drugs. Girls see themselves as objects and it's all because of the media. Young women see advertisements, music videos, movies, and celebrities and force themselves to be exactly like them. Girls crave perfection but just like anyone knows, nobody is perfect. That's why media is at fault. They are sending the wrong message to girls by saying you can get anything if you have a sexy body, if you have a pretty face, if you are absolutely perfect. The list is endless and the media is definitely not a good influence for young girls. But how could we possibly stay away from all this?

 

           Mike Posner's Looks Like Sex is quite disturbing in my opinion. Although this song is extremely catchy, it gives the wrong message out to young boys and girls. In the song Posner sings:

 

"That ass makes me wanna oooh, oooh, oooh,

You know exactly what you do, oooh, oooh, oooh,
I would really like to take that home
Everybody here knows

She looks like sex, sex, sex, sex
She looks like sex, sex, sex, sex
She looks like sex, sex, sex, sex
She looks like sex, sex, sex, sex
She looks like..."

 

           Yeah I get it, she looks like sex. Man, how many times do you have to say it..? This song speaks for itself. Men see women's bodies as objects and they take advantage of that. What bothers me the most is that women accept this idea of selling their bodies. I know that it isn't right for men to treat women as mere objects but I believe women are to blame for this as well. If women don't want to be treated like this, why do they wear skimpy clothing? Why do they go to extreme measures to be impossibly skinny? Why do women get plastic surgery? The answer is attention. That's what it's all about. Women desire attention and they will do whatever it takes to get it.

 

           We see this everywhere in media and in our daily life. In commercials and magazine ads, they use women's beauty to sell us something that we don't really need. Women are plastered on advertisements, posing seductively. When men mirror those same images, we laugh. We think it is pathetic and it's as though they are making fun of women. When women pose seductively, we just accept it as a part of life. We as a culture accept it.

 

            All these ideas get into the minds of young girls everywhere. Even though they really aren't objects, people start to think the only way they can be beautiful is to allow themselves to become objects rather than people. The media tells us that women are useless and they are only used to please men and sadly, it starts to become true. Even after everything girls go through to try to be perfect, it is still not good enough in the media's eyes.