Media Messaages; What film, television and popular music teach us about race, class, gender and sexual orientation 2000
Description:
• Course Text: Media Messages
o Chapter 2, "Gender: In Pink and Blue and Vivid Color" (pp. 51 - 97)
This chapter explores the roots of gender socialization, beginning with a thought experiment in which you imagine how your youth would have played out were you the opposite gender, and continuing with examinations of gender roles throughout history and in media portrayals.
o Chapter 6, "Sexual Orientation and the Fabrication of 'Normal'" (pp. 255 - 323)
This reading encourages the exploration of how sexual orientation has been perceived throughout history and how the status of normal is currently perceived in modern popular culture.
• Web Sites
• Note: For this week's Application, you will analyze two or more magazines. You are encouraged to look at print editions of the magazines; however, you may also use their Web sites as reference:
o Cosmopolitan magazine
http://www.cosmopolitan.com/
"Cosmo" targets young women with articles on sex, beauty, and fashion.
o Maxim magazine
http://www.maxim.com
• Article
•
o Onstad, K. (2008, September). That old thing? Chatelaine, 81(9), 207 - 208. Retrieved from the ProQuest Central database. (Document ID: 1543519891).
This article analyzes the way Hollywood casts and portrays 40-plus-year-old women.
This article is from the Walden University Library database and is also available there. Use the ProQuest Central database, and search using the article's Digital ID: 1543519891. (Note that the above link may take a few moments to load.)
• Web Resources
•
o Enjoli perfume ad, circa 1970s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4X4MwbVf5OA
This is the iconic commercial mentioned in this week's Introduction. Note the way each woman's role is caricatured and how the woman who plays all three roles is portrayed as self-assured and happy.
o Cindy Jackson
http://www.Cindyjackson.com
On this site, Cindy Jackson proudly displays her extensive "makeover" via cosmetic surgery (click on My Surgery for before and after photos and a description of the procedures she has undergone). Popular culture seems to encourage this kind of overhaul, and many people are sold on the idea that these kinds of steps are necessary to achieve true beauty.
o The Campaign for Real Beauty
http://www.dove.us/#/cfrb/
This ad campaign for Dove® beauty products is diametrically opposed to the "Cindy Jackson" mindset; it champions the "everyday" woman's features rather than the stereotypical ones marketed by the beauty industry.
o The Axe Effect
http://www.theaxeeffect.com/#/axe-campaigns/get-clean-to-get-dirty
Axe scents for men are sold by Unilever—the same parent company as Dove—but are marketed to a different audience and convey very different messages about women and attractiveness. Many individuals and organizations have called for Unilever to be more consistent or to drop Axe advertising altogether.
o The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation
http://www.glaad.org/?pid=183
• In this Application, you will study the messages two different popular culture texts send to predominantly female and predominantly male audiences. You might expect them to differ dramatically—but you may also be surprised at the similarities.
Questions about this assignment? Post them in the Ask the Instructor area. That way, everyone in the class will see and benefit from the Instructor's response.
To prepare for this Application:
• Review this week's Learning Resources. In particular, look at either print copies (preferred) or the Web sites for Cosmopolitan and Maxim magazines. You do not have to buy the magazines; it should be sufficient to flip through them at a newsstand.
• Establish how the editors for each publication chose the articles, imagery, and advertising in order to reach their target audience.
• Reflect on what these messages overtly or subtly communicate about each gender.
• Examine how the messages may reinforce or challenge existing stereotypes and how these messages have affected your personal identity. Do they reinforce, inspire, or challenge your personal identity?
The assignment:
• Compose a 1- to 2-page paper in which you do the following:
o Compare the messages these magazines communicate to men and women.
o Examine the effects of media messages about gender roles on your personal identity.
o Support your assertions by making at least 2 references, in proper APA format, to your course readings.
This reading encourages the exploration of how sexual orientation has been perceived throughout history and how the status of normal is currently perceived in modern popular culture.
• Web Sites
• Note: For this week's Application, you will analyze two or more magazines. You are encouraged to look at print editions of the magazines; however, you may also use their Web sites as reference:
o Cosmopolitan magazine
http://www.cosmopolitan.com/
"Cosmo" targets young women with articles on sex, beauty, and fashion.
o Maxim magazine
http://www.maxim.com
• Article
•
o Onstad, K. (2008, September). That old thing? Chatelaine, 81(9), 207 - 208. Retrieved from the ProQuest Central database. (Document ID: 1543519891).
This article analyzes the way Hollywood casts and portrays 40-plus-year-old women.
This article is from the Walden University Library database and is also available there. Use the ProQuest Central database, and search using the article's Digital ID: 1543519891. (Note that the above link may take a few moments to load.)
• Web Resources
•
o Enjoli perfume ad, circa 1970s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4X4MwbVf5OA
This is the iconic commercial mentioned in this week's Introduction. Note the way each woman's role is caricatured and how the woman who plays all three roles is portrayed as self-assured and happy.
o Cindy Jackson
http://www.Cindyjackson.com
Click Here To Get More On This Essay!!!
On this site, Cindy Jackson proudly displays her extensive "makeover" via cosmetic surgery (click on My Surgery for before and after photos and a description of the procedures she has undergone). Popular culture seems to encourage this kind of overhaul, and many people are sold on the idea that these kinds of steps are necessary to achieve true beauty.
o The Campaign for Real Beauty
http://www.dove.us/#/cfrb/
This ad campaign for Dove® beauty products is diametrically opposed to the "Cindy Jackson" mindset; it champions the "everyday" woman's features rather than the stereotypical ones marketed by the beauty industry.
o The Axe Effect
http://www.theaxeeffect.com/#/axe-campaigns/get-clean-to-get-dirty
Axe scents for men are sold by Unilever—the same parent company as Dove—but are marketed to a different audience and convey very different messages about women and attractiveness. Many individuals and organizations have called for Unilever to be more consistent or to drop Axe advertising altogether.
o The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation
http://www.glaad.org/?pid=183
Click Here To Get More On This Essay!!!
This activist organization's site chronicles current events surrounding issues of sexuality and its portrayal in the media.• In this Application, you will study the messages two different popular culture texts send to predominantly female and predominantly male audiences. You might expect them to differ dramatically—but you may also be surprised at the similarities.
Questions about this assignment? Post them in the Ask the Instructor area. That way, everyone in the class will see and benefit from the Instructor's response.
To prepare for this Application:
• Review this week's Learning Resources. In particular, look at either print copies (preferred) or the Web sites for Cosmopolitan and Maxim magazines. You do not have to buy the magazines; it should be sufficient to flip through them at a newsstand.
• Establish how the editors for each publication chose the articles, imagery, and advertising in order to reach their target audience.
• Reflect on what these messages overtly or subtly communicate about each gender.
• Examine how the messages may reinforce or challenge existing stereotypes and how these messages have affected your personal identity. Do they reinforce, inspire, or challenge your personal identity?
The assignment:
• Compose a 1- to 2-page paper in which you do the following:
o Compare the messages these magazines communicate to men and women.
o Examine the effects of media messages about gender roles on your personal identity.
o Support your assertions by making at least 2 references, in proper APA format, to your course readings.
