Foxy Megan

This is a perfect example of "The Male Gaze" theory that we discussed today in class. The more I thought about, the more I realized that this idea is so common throughout all types of media. Not only are these women being objectified, but I could not think of a single example where the girl was not either naked or in some type of sexy outfit.

            What is "the gaze" exactly?  -- describes the act of looking; began as the study of the objectification of women in visual texts. The issues involved when discussing "the gaze" include the following:

• the objectification of women-- seen as objects
• the commonality of female nudity -- display implies subordination
• internalization of the gaze, changes women's perceptions of themselves and makes them think of themselves as objects
• shift to objectification as a source of pleasure (for both the looker and the looked-at)
• men as the dominant group have been the looker (the subjects; women the objects)

         The point about the source of pleasure for both the looker and the looked-at made me come to the realization that not only do the examples show women in nudity, but that they are getting pleasure out of being looked at and objectified. The idea of women putting on a performance for men makes the situation that much more dramatic.

        In Arnie's Media Aesthetics class, we learned that the camera angle determines how the audience is going to interpret that particular frame. For this example with Megan Fox, I wonder how this theory would alter if the camera was simply more wide angled and included more in the frame instead of just her midsection. Would the audience members still feel as if they are taking on the role of the looker? 

 

Psychoanalytic Analysis- Bruce Almighty

When we were talking about fantasies today in class, there was one movie that came to mind--Bruce Almighty. This is a movie about a man who is down on his luck, and complains to God about not doing His job correctly, so he is given the opportunity to be God for one week.  This at the time fulfills the wishes of the main character, Bruce.  However, Bruce finds that being God is much more difficult than imagined.  The apparatus of the film is how Bruce deals with being God, and how he uses the powers of God for his own benefit, which is another form of fantasy for him--he wants to see the people who demoted him or treated him badly be embarrassed, as well as be looked at (or the scopophilia part of the film) by his girlfriend, who later becomes his fiance. The voyeuristic part of the film also comes when he gets revenge (the desired object) over the people that demoted him, and how he gets a promotion.  However, the thing that gives him the most pleasure is the pursuit of this 'happiness' that he desires that comes from material things and unsatisfying parts of his life, that he goes after until he realizes what is most important.

Mickey Mouse Monopoly

Our discussion about cultural studies in class got me thinking about a movie that I watched in another class on analysis of Disney and their movies, it is called Mickey Mouse Monopoly. The gender roles in Disney films are very obvious and prominent. All of the Disney films portray females as highly sexualized. This includes all of the humans, animals including fish, bunnies, etc., and objects such as brooms, cabinets and tea pots. All of these characters have stunning eyes accompanied by very long and beautiful eyelashes which they are constantly seen batting and using to seduce the male characters. They also all have very defined and accentuated hips, small waists and defied breasts. All of these are physical aspects of what is portrayed as a typical and ideal female. The female characters in Disney movies use their bodies and seductiveness to get their way and get what they want. These films are teaching little girls that using their bodies for manipulation is a good thing and is even encouraged. Females are also seen as there to serve the men, cook, clean, look pretty and are of less significance to the male characters. Disney is conveying a message of what femininity is all about and how it should be by putting it into a “magic kingdom wrapper” that presents this sexualized female as amazing and desirable. 

This movie came as a big shock to me because I had never really thought about this portrayal of women  in Disney movies. They are looking at women and how they are represented that result in teaching girls how they should act or look. These are all stereotypical representations of women. Disney creates a pseudo feminism that seems to portray women as independent but really in the end they need a man to save them or to be happy and fulfill their womanly role. This creates an ideology that girls should strive for and a culture that women should base their lives around. This cultural analysis looks on the gender portrayal of women and points out all the stereotypes that have been fulfilled in the Disney movies. It shows how women are regarded by the construction of their characters and the acts that they may do throughout the movie. This outlook on women is fairly over the top and extravagant for how they should be presenting and conducting themselves. This representation marginalizes females and their roles in the world. 

The Hungry #splitzontreez.....................racism?

 Please watch before commenting!

My really good friend showed me these links a few weeks ago. Regrettably, I have probably watched each video approximately 65984659.2356 times. Regrettably still, I find these videos to be quite hilarious. Our discussion in class on Wednesday really got me thinking about each and every stereotypical message (and there are a lot) in each and every one of these videos. 

I would just like to inquire what it is exactly about these characters, story lines, stereotypical depictions, etc. that we (I?) find so hilariously funny. They are obviously degrading an entire group of people through the use of comedy. Therefore, why does that make it okay?

What do you guys think about the term "ratchet"? In my opinion, it obviously implies the same meaning as "ghetto", however I think it stems just a bit further than that. I personally think that it degrades those of color at an even further level through different connotations such as: stupid. Poor. Unintelligent. Violent. Over-sexualized.
Is it appropriate?

What about the language?
What about the food?
What about the ghost?
What abut IT ALL?

What does this say about our culture's use of comedy?

Just think about it!

Along with Meghan's thoughts about the culture of the girls soccer team I began to think about the many cultures that we are involved in on a day to day basis. Some of the cultures you never really notice unless you think about it.

The culture of the classroom. In the classroom we have different rituals such as the teacher lectures, the students ask questions, we have class discussions on important issues. We memorize facts, we present projects in front of groups, we take exams, we write papers.
The classroom also has a language we talk both formally and informally depending on the teacher. We talk about important issues in discussion format. This is a culture I never really knew I was apart of until I actually read Meghan's post.

The culture of the cafeteria. In the cafeteria we grab plates, wait in lines, get seconds, listen to the Pandora station the "caf" people pick, we sit with certain people, we sit in chairs at tables. We also have a language when it comes to the cafeteria, we call it the "caf" no matter what the bon appetite people say it is called. This is a culture.

It is interesting to think about the many cultures that evolve inside the American culture. Culture is a way of life of a group of people. The many cultures that we exist in on a day to day basis impact the ways in which we interact with the other cultures that we are involved in. Just think about it!

The Royal Effect

As a country, we have watched the royals for years, and consumed everything about their culture.  From buying magazines to purchasing the clothes that Kate Middleton wears when she goes grocery shopping. This is an example of cultural studies because we are trying to understand how a group of people live.  In addition, we live in a society where privilege is taken into account, and who is in a position of marginalization. The nonstop coverage of Prince William and Kate is an example of 'whitness.' Given that these two people, and the entire Royal Family is white, they constitute the racial norm that makes up some of our society. This brings up an interesting question....if these two people were a different race, would they have such widespread coverage? Would the world be as anxious to see their new baby, Prince George? Would billions be watching with wishful thinking as Kate Middleton lives out her lives with her prince? With each issue of People Magazine that has these two on the cover, it brings to light beliefs that the media has that this is the dominant hierarchy--that more people would watch as they brought their firstborn son out of the hospital than a special press conference or speech that President Obama (or any other President for that matter) would have. There is also a hint of cultural studies in this portrayal of William and Kate because of the different representations that are shown as the couple travels the world, and goes to events--how they interact with eachother, what they are wearing, and whether they are/were expecting, and interactions with other members of the Royal Family. It's all part of this ideology.

In relation to doing a cultural studies analysis of the students at Regis University in class today, I decided I would do an analysis on the women's soccer team.

-Practices/rituals: Monday is our off day. Tuesday-Thursday we wake up every morning at 6am for practice. Tuesday is fitness day, so you can literally feel the anger and frustration in the air on those mornings. Wednesday afternoons are spent in the weight room trying to make our bodies more proportional considering we all have thunder thighs and toothpicks for arms. Game day is Friday and Sunday. We always do a walk-thru before games. In the locker room, we must listen and sing to certain songs. One of the girls is the official hair-braider and does everyone's hair. I am the official back cracker. Coaches come in and give the pre-game speech 5 minutes before we hit the field. If it is a home game, we have a warm-up CD prepared. We do the same warm-up before every game. Sunday night is "Soccer girl Sunday's." Everyone on campus knows about it. "It's a sprint, not a marathon" is our quote for the night meaning we start the festivities at 7 so we can have a successful night and still get our sore bodies into bed at a decent hour. Monday mornings are spent recovering and reminiscing about the night.  

-Language: You know, that soccer terminology. Gear it up. Squeeze the space. Take up residency. Get on the line. 120's. 300's. Beep test. 4-3-3. 3-4-3. Don't let balls squirt through seams. Crossing runs. In-swinger corner kick. Out-swinger corner kick. Direct free kick. Indirect free kick. Off-sides. Off-sides trap. Back line. Wingers. Yellow card. Red card. Stay on your mark. Zonal defense. Man-marking. Man on!

-Mentality: The women's team has quit the track record. We're always on top. We win the RMAC tournament. We make it to the NCAA tournament. Even though we are technically student-athletes, let's be real, we are athlete-students. Basically, when it comes down to it, soccer takes over our lives and we accept that so we learn to get shit done.

-Relations: We call our coaches by their first name or a nickname. Head coach: JB or Bizz. Assistant coaches: Kaleen or Kay. Megan or Mons. Behind JB's back, we call him J-Balls, but shhh don't tell him. We are in tight with the athletic administration. Most of us work for game crew so technically they are considered our "bosses," but that is never a used term.

-Institutions: We are a bunch of community service freaks. As a team, we do community service a lot throughout the year. We partner with Denver Scores, local food banks, local park clean-ups, Dare to Play Soccer, and Global Down syndrome Foundation to serve them in anyway possible. Through these outside institutions, Regis soccer has created a great name and reputation in the community.

The Kardashian "Kraze"

Keeping Up With The Kardashians is a mindless show that has been aired on the E Network for over 7 seasons now. There are also branch show like Kourtney and Khloe Take Miami. This show delves deep into the lives of the Kardashian family. As cameras follow the Kardashians around the audience gets to see parts of their "lavish" lifestyle. This show has created somewhat of a "cult" like following. The overall message of the show in my opinion is consumerism, the Kardashian family is constantly consuming, the audience of the show sees them consume as well. This goes along with what we have been talking about with Marxism, in the fact that the mode of production determines the social relations of production or (class structure). The Kardashians are very wealthy and overly consume.

This causes the "cult" like following to consume as well. The Kardashians have stores, perfumes, make-up, clothing, shoes, books, and movies that have the Kardashian brand. The people that are so obsessed with the show are constantly trying to be like them, look like them and consume like them. This creates almost a "Kardashian ideology" of constantly having to consume. This entire show as well as the Kardashian Family Brand creates consumer mentalities. Constantly consuming like the Kardashians is not going to make people like them or as rich as them.