Okay, so after our discussion in class I realized that trying to do face-ism in music videos might be really hard to accomplish. How would I quantify instances of face-ism in a moving text? I'm still very interested in doing some sort of analysis of music videos and after watching the Dreamworks III video, I think I have another, more feasible idea.
I'd like to do something with the women featured as background images in music videos... I'm not sure what aspect I'd like to analyze though. Race, what they wear, face vs. body shots, emotions they show (if any), how many random body shots of particular body parts are shows (random booty shakin', etc), how many times are the artists shown without the girls vs. how many times are the artists shows with the girls?
I would like to analyze Billboard's charts. I'd like to take the top 5 or 10 videos for each of the following Billboard charts: Rock, Country, R&B/Hip-Hop, Latin, and Pop on any given week.
Is this a more do-able option?
THANK YOU! :)
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Axe and Dove...
The freaking Bow Chicka Wah Wahs are the most annoying people to ever grace the Internet. Good Lord.
As frustrated as I get with our cultural definition of beauty, when I see things like the Axe Bow Chicka Wah Wahs video, I know that I'm not crazy. I have a hard time putting my words together to explain how ridiculous and messed up things are today. How backwards we are as a result of what the media tells us is beautiful, and important, and desirable.
When I saw the Dove video - That it supported a cause called the Dove Self Esteem Fund, etc, I applauded them for putting out such an amazing message - one that people, especially women, really need to see.
I was infuriated when I found out Dove and Axe are owned by the same company. Basically, Dove wants you to think they've got a good conscious and they're on board with questioning what the ad industry tells girls they should look like, but really... they are trying to capitalize on that viewpoint, which they obviously do not hold. GRRRRR. I almost think they're worse than the some of the immoral, tacky advertisers who blatantly only produce media with scantily clad women, fake breasts, and suggestive poses...
As frustrated as I get with our cultural definition of beauty, when I see things like the Axe Bow Chicka Wah Wahs video, I know that I'm not crazy. I have a hard time putting my words together to explain how ridiculous and messed up things are today. How backwards we are as a result of what the media tells us is beautiful, and important, and desirable.
When I saw the Dove video - That it supported a cause called the Dove Self Esteem Fund, etc, I applauded them for putting out such an amazing message - one that people, especially women, really need to see.
I was infuriated when I found out Dove and Axe are owned by the same company. Basically, Dove wants you to think they've got a good conscious and they're on board with questioning what the ad industry tells girls they should look like, but really... they are trying to capitalize on that viewpoint, which they obviously do not hold. GRRRRR. I almost think they're worse than the some of the immoral, tacky advertisers who blatantly only produce media with scantily clad women, fake breasts, and suggestive poses...
Project Ideas
So, I've been thinking a lot about what I'd like to do for my final project. I am extremely interested in doing something that relates to how women are portrayed in print media. I'd like to do a different study, not an exact replication of one we've studied in class. I also think it would be neat to somehow study face-ism in music videos, but I'm not sure how I'd judge that. Would I do 5 male artists and 5 female artists and see how many face vs. body shots there are at the end of all ten videos? I'm not sure how I'd pick the videos/artists, either. Top 5 male and female artists on MTV or on Billboard? How long would the shot have to be to constitute a tally for an instance of face-ism? If 5 seconds counts as a face-ism shot, and the camera is on a man or woman's face for 30 seconds... does that count as 6 instances of face-ism, or should I not worry about measuring it like that, and simply count each instance as 1 whether it lasts 4 seconds or 40 seconds?
WHEW...
WHEW...
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Killing Us Softly
My favorite part about last class was watching the video Killing Us Softly. I mean, I know it was kinda dated... and sorta cheesy... but everything that was said held truth. I have never been comfortable with the way entertainment and advertising media portray women. I wrote a private blog entry a while back that touched on the topic.
"I want to understand fully and be content with not ever looking like or sharing any similar thought processes with the bottle blonde, size zero, double-D chested women that have somehow gained the coveted title of "What America Thinks Is Beautiful". There is something wrong with our society, or me, or maybe both when a 115 pound, size 2 woman feels conscientious about her weight. 115 is too much, and 34Bs are not enough, my hair always looks like crap, my stomach doesn't look sculpted - and because I don't look like the photoshopped, air-brushed women in this picture when I leave my house in the morning - the quirks that make me ME are also the reason I never feel up to par. Wanna know what perfect looks like in real life? "Perfect" looks exactly like you and I, completely UNPERFECT."
So... yeah, I feel like a lot of people don't understand why I feel the way I do with regards to this subject. The kind of women I just described are "hot" to men, and looked up to by other girls, and the subject of a million ads. That's why I'm happy I watched this video... there is at least one other woman in the world, and hopefully more, that feel the same way I do.
"I want to understand fully and be content with not ever looking like or sharing any similar thought processes with the bottle blonde, size zero, double-D chested women that have somehow gained the coveted title of "What America Thinks Is Beautiful". There is something wrong with our society, or me, or maybe both when a 115 pound, size 2 woman feels conscientious about her weight. 115 is too much, and 34Bs are not enough, my hair always looks like crap, my stomach doesn't look sculpted - and because I don't look like the photoshopped, air-brushed women in this picture when I leave my house in the morning - the quirks that make me ME are also the reason I never feel up to par. Wanna know what perfect looks like in real life? "Perfect" looks exactly like you and I, completely UNPERFECT."
So... yeah, I feel like a lot of people don't understand why I feel the way I do with regards to this subject. The kind of women I just described are "hot" to men, and looked up to by other girls, and the subject of a million ads. That's why I'm happy I watched this video... there is at least one other woman in the world, and hopefully more, that feel the same way I do.
Friday, September 28, 2007
JOUR4250 Sept. 28. 2007
I really enjoyed hearing Karen Thomas' story about venturing to Louisiana for the Jena 6 protest and I also enjoyed hearing about her experience and background as a journalist. I had her as a professor last Summer for News Reporting I, and she never told us half of the stuff I learned about her today. She's a very talented writer, and someone I look up to as an aspiring journalist.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Jena 6
For my mini-content analysis I looked at a Life Magazine from 1969. When I started hearing about the Jena 6 case, it made me sad to realize that we are still dealing with the same issues in 2007 that we were dealing with in the 1960s. I don't remember the last time when there was a huge civil rights upheaval (with the exception of the Don Imus case), and this one seems so very cut and dry. White kids getting misdemeanors while black kids get felony charges... both for committing the same crimes.
How can that happen?
I loved last Friday's class period. I thought one of the most interesting things that Prof. Liambiase talked about was the fact that "the human brain hasn't really changed or evolved very much in the last 10,000 years, we are still hunters and gatherers... we still have that biological thing in our minds that wants us to question and feel threatened by people of other "tribes"" and how we really "need to make a conscious effort to override those feelings, since they're not necessarily what our heart feels." I had never thought of it like that before. I don't know why that one sentiment stuck with me, but it did.
My grandparents came from out of town last week to watch my little brother's football game. They are from a very country town in East Texas; they are not very well traveled or cultured and it breaks my heart (and even embarrasses me) that my granddaddy still uses the N-word. The first thing he commented on when we got to the game was that Mansfield's players were all "Ns". Then, 3 black adults came into the stands and one sat by my grandaddy, I saw him lean over and whisper, "Just great" into my granny's ear. He was so visibly uneasy, and I can't understand why after almost half a century those feelings are still intact.
I know that it was just the way things were when he was growing up.
He's not a bad person or a mean-hearted person and I love him very much.
I'm just upset by the Jena 6 case, and the tensions that are still so alive.
How can that happen?
I loved last Friday's class period. I thought one of the most interesting things that Prof. Liambiase talked about was the fact that "the human brain hasn't really changed or evolved very much in the last 10,000 years, we are still hunters and gatherers... we still have that biological thing in our minds that wants us to question and feel threatened by people of other "tribes"" and how we really "need to make a conscious effort to override those feelings, since they're not necessarily what our heart feels." I had never thought of it like that before. I don't know why that one sentiment stuck with me, but it did.
My grandparents came from out of town last week to watch my little brother's football game. They are from a very country town in East Texas; they are not very well traveled or cultured and it breaks my heart (and even embarrasses me) that my granddaddy still uses the N-word. The first thing he commented on when we got to the game was that Mansfield's players were all "Ns". Then, 3 black adults came into the stands and one sat by my grandaddy, I saw him lean over and whisper, "Just great" into my granny's ear. He was so visibly uneasy, and I can't understand why after almost half a century those feelings are still intact.
I know that it was just the way things were when he was growing up.
He's not a bad person or a mean-hearted person and I love him very much.
I'm just upset by the Jena 6 case, and the tensions that are still so alive.
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Blog #1 (JOUR4250)
I get most of my news information from the DFW Quick, which I pick up every day before class. The articles in it are pretty brief, but I get the gist of what's happening in this area and around the world. I also watch the local news on t.v. once or twice a week.
I'd say I seek out news, by reading it or watching it, about 3 hours per week.
I'd say in the NEWS media (and not entertainment media) I see a lot of emphasis on race. News stories somehow always boil down or relate to race in some way. I'm not saying that's good or bad. Race certainly deserves to be talked about, especially when it is the motivating factor behind someone's actions (whether those actions are positive or negative). There really isn't very much emphasis put on sexuality in news media outlets, there aren't any news segments about "healthy sexual relationships" or "expressing your sexuality"... there are general health segments that might briefly cover something semi-sexual, articles about safe sex (and safe sex statistics for high schoolers or college students, etc), and there are stories and/or articles about bad sexual stuff like rape. Gender is talked about kind of simultaneously with sexuality; when one is talked about, the other normally is too and vice versa. And honestly, I don't think the news media puts any emphasis on disabilities. Sometimes they'll do a special segment on someone with a disability who has triumphed in some way, but I don't remember the last time I've seen something like that.
Kelly Knickerbocker
JOUR4250
I'd say I seek out news, by reading it or watching it, about 3 hours per week.
I'd say in the NEWS media (and not entertainment media) I see a lot of emphasis on race. News stories somehow always boil down or relate to race in some way. I'm not saying that's good or bad. Race certainly deserves to be talked about, especially when it is the motivating factor behind someone's actions (whether those actions are positive or negative). There really isn't very much emphasis put on sexuality in news media outlets, there aren't any news segments about "healthy sexual relationships" or "expressing your sexuality"... there are general health segments that might briefly cover something semi-sexual, articles about safe sex (and safe sex statistics for high schoolers or college students, etc), and there are stories and/or articles about bad sexual stuff like rape. Gender is talked about kind of simultaneously with sexuality; when one is talked about, the other normally is too and vice versa. And honestly, I don't think the news media puts any emphasis on disabilities. Sometimes they'll do a special segment on someone with a disability who has triumphed in some way, but I don't remember the last time I've seen something like that.
Kelly Knickerbocker
JOUR4250
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