Reflection (Blog #8)

The writing process for my blogs was very fun! It gave me a chance to write about popular culture that I am interested in. It also let me think critically about how women are portrayed today. It was nice to get the basis of what I was going to write about from class, and then really dive deep into my thoughts and come up with some of my own views. What I enjoyed most about the blogging process was that it got us out of the monotonous paper writing routine. This blog really allowed for creativity, both intellectually and aesthetically. In our world today I think that working from the internet is a main way of getting your message out there. So by allowing us the opportunity to create a blog, we are now able to share our views from class and also from our minds to the world... or whoever seems to stumble upon our little Women and Media blogs.

Raunch Culture (Blog #7)

Rihanna’s music video for “S&M” portrays Raunch Culture in various scenes throughout the video, by depicting pornographic images to reveal a hyper sexualized female whose proposed sexual liberation is actually self-objectification. The video “S&M” embodies the ideal that women are supposed to be seen as kitchy and slutty to be seen as sexy.

“Hotness is not the same thing as beauty, which has been valued throughout history. Hot can mean popular. Hot can mean talked about. But when it pertains to women, hot means two things in particular: fuckable and salable”(Levy, 31) This video is giving the image of Rihanna being fuckable. How the video portrays this is by putting her in many different sexual scenarios.

Rihanna’s music video for “S&M” is a perfect example of Raunch Culture, from the sexual innuendos, perceived female sexual liberation, objectification, and infantilization. Raunch Culture is prevalent in the “S&M” music video by selling sexiness to a mass audience through the form of music. The entire music video is selling Rihanna as a sexual object and to make her be perceived and fool the audience that this is a sexually liberated woman. Even though she is not actually displaying characteristics of a sexually liberated woman in the video, it is about making the audience perceive sexual liberation. Futhermore, this music video is selling female sexuality to the masses with a catchy tune and a celebrity to reiterate the message that she is sexually empowered and you want to be just like her. If you aren’t like her, then you are not a sexually liberated woman.

Felicity. (Blog #6)

I used to watch the show Felicity when I was a kid after Buffy the Vampire Slayer. So I decided to revisit it. I saw it on Netflix and started getting really into it because I didn't really understand the concepts of the show when I was a kid. Felicity seems as though she is a strong, intelligent, woman. Much like the characters from Sex and the City. So when discussing Sex and the City, it made me think of the show Felicity in the same light.

The thing about the show Felicity is that she and her friends have formed their own family. There are many issues that come up, but yet they still have each other. Recently I watched an episode where Felicity and her girlfriends had a sleep in at their college health center for the morning after pill. It wasn't being offered at their school anymore so they wanted to do what was right for women! This definitely demonstrates second wave feminism because Felicity and her friends are standing up for women's reproductive rights.

From the article by Gerhard, she talks about women’s sexual equality, social power and authority, social achievements, second wave feminism, gender differences, and living “like men”. I think that the show embodies all of these. Although Felicity is a strong female, she still succumbs to a woman's happiness lies with romance and love. Felicity constantly is in search of this boy that she followed to NYC, Ben Covington. He is her Mr. Big to Carrie Bradshaw. Nonetheless, I do believe this show shows a lot of powerful women standing up for what they believe in. For instance, Felicity is always in control of her sexuality. If she doesn't want to have sex with the boy then she doesn't. I wish this show was still on air because it instilled a lot of strength that I believe young girls are missing in today's shows.

RuPaul (Blog#5)

Ru Paul is without a doubt the most well-known Drag Queen. Her show, Ru Paul's Drag Race, is a competition (similar to America's Next Top Model) on who will be the next drag superstar! The deeper question is, is this exploiting Drag Queens in a negative way or is it shedding light on a community which was once not talked about?

It is so progressive for television to have a show dedicated to Drag Queens. From Strykers article, "The Introduction to Transgender Terms and Concepts", she writes how "there is a steady increase in transgender visibility, and the trend has been toward increasingly positive representation".The show reveals the inside scoop of what goes into becoming a Drag Queen-- padding, make-up, clothes, waxing, etc. It is showing real men who are dressing up and performing as women. The reason people think it could be negative is because they are used for the amusement of viewers to either make fun of or to bond with. When you really think about it, what reality show doesn't do that? Hetero-normative reality shows are used just the same as Queer shows are, such as Ru Paul's Drag Race.

Either way you want to look at it, the word is getting out there. The show has been said to make people feel that they are a part of a community. For instance, if a little boy who loves to dress up as a woman feels alone because he truly doesn't know what is wrong with him. He can look up to Ru Paul and see that there are other people just like him. The show brings such positivity in that respect. It truly reveals to the masses that Drag Queens do exist and that they are real human beings that love to dress up and nothing is wrong with it. It makes it normal. Which is how it should be. After all, we as humans are the one's that created clothes to have a specific gender affiliation. Who is to say that make-up and dresses are a feminine attire, we do. If we just get rid of gender stereotyping clothes then there would be no such thing as drag, and it would be seen as normal.

"We are all born naked, and the rest is drag!"- Ru Paul

Representations of Lesbians in the Media (Blog#4)

Two of my best friends are a lesbian couple. I was over at their house recently and I told them how we discussed the show The L word in my Women and Media class. They were excited to hear what was discussed since they are fans of the show and lesbians. They seriously own every season and swear by it. They say it is sort of a lesbian's guide. I started off by asking them what they thought about the characters.

They instantly had their favorite characters. They started spouting out who they loved, who they thought was a bitch, who they wanted sexually, etc. Then I began to ask them if they thought the lesbian community was well-represented in the television show. They instantly said "No way!". One of my friends is what you would consider the "male" in the relationship. She has very short hair and wears masculine clothes. She says that she can't relate to any character on the L word except for maybe Shane. Even Shane doesn't really adhere to all the "butch" lesbians. She is still very much expressing femininity throughout the show. She just looks more masculine compared to the other characters, who are without a doubt very femme.

According to our readings from Pratt, The L Word seems to be adhering to the heteronormative concepts of beauty and gender. It is so true. If you look at all of the characters they are all beautiful slender wealthy women. Many would say, who would want to watch ugly people on television? I understand that there is a common form of beauty but when the general public is not well represented in what THEY are paying for, I think something is wrong. Personally, I think that the public would enjoy watching something that they can relate to. All of that aside, I do believe that The L Word is a great show because it is portraying lesbians in a popular television show which is getting lesbians in the public eye.

A Bite Out of Inequality (Blog#3)

When looking at advertisements there is always a hidden message hiding behind the stillness of a photo. The representations of women, specifically the woman in the Diesel ad, are greatly depicted in a negative way. After reading Ways of Seeing by John Berger, I have a new outlook on women being the object of male and female viewing pleasures, also known as the “male gaze”. Diesel’s “Be Stupid” ad campaign represents the “male gaze” by depicting women in a passive way.

The “male gaze” as defined by Berger is that “men act and women appear.” (47) The woman shown in the advertisement is the object of the man’s desire. Her role in the advertisement is to just appear there. The woman’s sole purpose is to entertain the eyes of the viewer. In lecture, we discussed that the “male gaze” defines “women as passive, vulnerable objects to be consumed and scrutinized by a patriarchal.” (Kanagawa) The woman is being portrayed as a vulnerable object by clenching her sweater for security and leaning back submissively into the man’s face. With his hands pulling her and guiding her in whatever direction he wants suggesting she is not in control of her body. In the Diesel advertisement, the woman is shown from the waste down with a man’s mouth attentively on her backside. She is of no importance except to be the object. She is purely there for the man to use for his pleasure.

The Diesel advertisement supports the “male gaze” by presenting the woman in a subordinate role by focusing on the man’s aggressiveness toward attaining her body for his object. The ad achieved this by having the man squeezing, grabbing, and biting her butt. The “male gaze” is represented to the fullest by showing subordination, male dominance, and the objectification of women. She is shown as a passive woman that can’t fend for herself. Although this ad can be challenged and analyzed on what it represents. The main concept to take away is that if a woman is used as the pure visual pleasure for a man in an advertisement, then it is without a doubt a representation of the “male gaze.”