Feminism and the Influence of the Media

I recently went to a lecture given by Ariel Levy about contemporary feminism and the influence of the media on today's girls. One of the most interesting points that she made was that women today have a sort of "if you can't beat them join them" attitude. By attempting to join men, women themselves are wronging other women. An example of this is, two women were producers of "The Man Show." When asked why, they responded that by working on a show like this, they could never again be judged as prissy women. Yet, as these women were trying to prove themselves, them they were counteracting the work that many others try to do. In effect they where almost making it alright for the men of "The Man Show" to not respect females.

Another point that was made is that we must differentiate between the things that we are doing for pleasure and the things we are doing as a performance. In our culture sex sells, because of this girls feel pressure to conform to these standards. So, it is crucial that we know what we are doing for ourselves and what we are doing for the sake of the display.

However, the most important part of being active in feminism is finding what you believe in. You must work for the issues you fine important. It is when you work for a cause you care about that you truly make an impact.

Feministing

A panel from the blog Feministing came to speak on Monday. I had never read anything on their blog before, so their views were relatively new to me. It was interesting to hear what the different panelists had to say; considering each was so different from one another. Their differing backgrounds gave them the ability to view feminism and woman's rights from different angles, which allowed the audience to gain some incite.

One of the girls talked about the way that the conservative ideologies of the community where she grew up shaped her early views of feminists. It was not until college, when she was surrounded by varying ideal, that her opinions began to change. Since then she has worked with feminist organizations.

Another panelist, from BC, spoke about the way the girls of BC view themselves. As compared to the start of freshmen year, recent female graduates of Boston College have lowered self-images; however the male self-image does not change. This supports the fact that men and women are different in the views of society; this campus is just an example of the added pressures on women. I found this fact to be interesting.

Glocal Music

Last week I went to see a film focusing on local music scenes across the globe. It was interesting to see how although the types and styles of music changes, the trends in the way the art was handled seemed to remain constant. The same problems with big record labels and the idea of fighting homogenization was the same in almost every region.

One interesting thing I picked up on from the film is that it seems the places which are most secluded from outside influence produce some of the best artists. An example of this is Santa Fe, NM. However, cities like LA, in the crossroads of the music industry, seem to produce many artists none of them too special.

The two men who man the film traveled not only across the county but to Australia, South Africa, Mexico and France to do their research. It was interesting to see all of these different regions and cultures portrayed through one common medium: music.

I was talking with some friends about the upcoming release of Saw VI (to be released October 23rd) and we got on the topic of violence in movies an other sources of media. Questions arose about whether studies had ever been conducted attempting to link gruesome movies with violent behavior. Does the violence we watch cause violence actions?

This reminded me of the video we watched "Bhutan: The Last Place" where television was introduced to what was a previously pure society. I found it interesting the way crime rates slowly rosed over time and how young boys began imitating the violence they saw in wrestling programs. Is this enough proof to say that violent media has effects on a society?

I decided to look into Bhutan a bit more, in order to see how much change the "last place" has gone through since their new introduction. Kuensel, the Bhutanese national newspaper, suggested that since the introduction of TV there has been an increase in consumerism and the want for a more Westernized culture. Also, for the first time Bhutan is seeing broken families, people dropping out of school and youth crimes. This is only in addition to the expected increase in burglary shoplifting and other crimes of violence we associate with the introduction of television.

However, within the last year, the people of this nation have began to view media as a source of entertainment, instead of a source of news. This change is a positive one for this new view of television might help to stop the increasing in crime rates as the citizens stop looking to their TV's for their information of the world. Perhaps as the Bhutanese learn to determine what behaviors should be imitated and what should not be, the rest of the world will learn as well.

Times They Are A Changin'

I'm not sure if this is off topic or not... but since hearing about the music industry the other day I was in the mood to hear something that was NOT mass produced. So, I decided to listen to some Bob Dylan. I just have to say how much I love "Times They Are A Changin' ." Of course, I hate to narrow anything down to favorites, but if I had to, this would definitely make top five. As you listen you return to a time before crappy pop rock took over the top 40 charts, a time where people actually heard music, good music.

This song was released in 1964 and was an original composition by Dylan. He meant it to be a song with purpose. He felt that "times are a changin' " is more than just a statement, but that it portrays a feeling along with it.

The lyrics he wrote over forty years ago still hold true today. Our society and culture is getting faster day by day. The only way to survive is to change along with society. It seems that there is no way to return to the time before we seemingly were drowned by media of all types.

Not only does Dylan make the statement that society will continue to change, but he calls for political as well as written reform. This is such a strict contrast to what is within song lyrics today. What current top 40 hit even attempts to go near that issue? Most popular songs nowadays are suggestive of sexual acts or telling of some teenage love affair.

It seems like what our youth listens to lacks any sort of meaning whatsoever. Perhaps that is what is plaguing them. We must put some thought and originality into what we listen to, instead of just aiming at what will sell.