Patriarchy according to the Bell Hooks reading is defined as a “political-social system that insists that males are inherently dominating, superior to everything and everyone deemed weak, especially females, and endowed with the right to dominate and rule over the weak and to maintain that dominance through various forms of psychological terrorism and violence.” (pg. 18) The author explains how feminists politics and viewpoint acknowledge this masculine hierarchy and aim to challenge not just men but also the women who have been indoctrinated by patriarchal values.
Up until about a year ago, I had stumbled across a serious issue called FGM (Female Genital Mutilation). Recently I have confronted the issue to others who I thought may have heard or knew what it is. Oddly enough, the family and friends I socialize with everyday either had not been introduced to the topic before or was uncomfortable discussing this. Interestingly, although I have learned about some violence towards women and societal patriarchy in school. Nothing like this was ever learned or discussed or even introduced.
Patriarchy is included in our school systems through curriculum as well as the hierarchy of power in a school system. FGM is a practice held out by women for men, this is what the author meant by the women who are indoctrinated and manipulated by patriarchal values. She says, “Women can be as wedded to patriarchal thinking and action as men.” (pg.26) She explains here that the fight does not just reach out to men only, but also to other women and in the case of FGM, to the women who you may be closest to. There are many artist who confront FGM through their artwork. One peice of work by Olubunmi Tamitope Oyesanya called The Scourge, depicts the horrifying moment of FGM. She is protesting the patriarchy of FGM through her painting as it confronts the audience.
I don’t find myself to be an extremist when it comes to media. I use social media every day of my life but not to the point where I can’t go a day without it. There are only three apps that I constantly use such as Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter. On these sites, I follow my friends as a way to stay in touch and a couple celebrities such as Duane Johnson for motivation. I don’t usually critique on anything I see on my screen; the most I would say I would do is either liking a photo or retweeting a post that I find to be funny or relatable. As for myself I don’t produce much contact on my social media accounts. The only times I would post something is either a photo on my Instagram which is rare and on occasions I would tweet quote that I heard throughout my day that others might find relatable. When I feel either down or enrage I would vent my feeling in a tweet. I would say I am your average media consumer nothing major.
Based on media, I would say a lot of my taste in clothes and shoes is highly influenced by the pages I follow on Instagram and twitter. Pages like Highsnobiety, Complex, and Hypebeast. These pages allow me to stay informed with what is in style. As an average consumer a lot of my decisions in purchasing items is influenced by what I see on my feed. If the shoe or brand of clothing is not “hyped” I won’t buy it. This is a real problem because sometimes these things cost more than they are worth and it really takes a toll on my wallet. I know I am not the only one that is influenced by what we see on our screens. At the end of the day, we as a society ends up being one and lack originality and individuality.
When something happens in the world, ranging from celebrity gossip to real world catastrophes it would all appear on media. Now a day’s twitter and snapchat is how we stay up to date on what’s going on in the world. Personally I would say that I’m not always up to date with the news because on twitter my feed is full of junk like memes but there would be that one post that my friends would retweet that is actually important such as the government shut down. Besides twitter I also find important news on snapchat. When I am tired of looking at stories I would swipe right and there you’ll find a bunch of stories from companies such as CNN, Now This, CBS and The New York Times. Snapchat is really the new face of journalism. I can’t remember the last time I bought a newspaper or even turned on the television to watch the news. The bright side of social media today is that keeps us under one network and we see what is happening around world instantly without the censorship of news channels. We are the real reporters.
When it comes to activists, acts of resistance and protest media plays a big part in the movements. Media has a positive and negative contribution in the message these movements are trying to make. The positive side of media is that the message that is being brought up for example, Black Lives Matter is being sent throughout the globe. This allows more and more people to join the movement every minute. Without media it would take years for a movement to be heard across the nation. Ways that these movements are being known is more than just a news broadcast; twitter is the best way get a message across. A simple hashtag would allow people who share the same feeling towards an issue to use the same hashtag, resulting to the next person to do the same creating a domino effect. The down side of media is that it could also destroy a movement and create a following that is against it. Keep in mind that everything that we watch on television or online is all biased. The person reporting can either be supporting or against a protest. An example I can think of is a protest that resulted in destruction of property and a rare occasion violence that could potentially lead to a person death. Throughout the years’ media has covered these protest gone wrong, painting a negative image for a certain movement. People would consider protesters to be savage animals but that is not the case. Just because a select few raised havoc in one city doesn’t mean that everyone involved are any worse. I feel is that though there are pros and cons, the pros definitely out way the negatives. Without media many of the changes we need to see to improve our society wouldn’t happen. It takes awareness for everyone to work in a better tomorrow. We don’t have to physically be at a protest to be involved. Just a simple click of a button can make a huge difference.
In this article, Emily Colucci talks about how the art world has all-women exhibitions and how that has a negative impact on the female role in the art world. She writes about how throughout history, the art world was dominated by men. Also, she did write about a couple of artists and their opinion about the art world and feminism. By having a all-women exhibitions, feminist are hurting themselves. However, in an interview with Jenny Mushkin Goldman, she claims that through these all-women exhibitions, they are making some progress on the rise of females in the art world. Another artist Indra Cesarine, she claims that she should not have to focus on gender to get the art but the other way around. (focus on art than the gender).
This week’s topic in my English composition class are
gender roles and what we are so used to doing/expecting from the opposite sex
in today’s society. One of the readings that we were given is I Want A Wife, by Judy Brady. The essay
is in list form of 10 reasons of why she wants a wife. Some of it included the stereotypical
“I want a wife who will keep my house
clean. A wife who will pick up after my children, a wife who will pick up after
me.” (Brady)As you read closer
to the end it becomes a little more intense with requests that are deemed ‘too sensitive/personal
to talk about with others.’ Things like “If,
by chance, I find another person more suitable as a wife than the wife I
already have, I want the liberty to replace my present wife with another one.
Naturally, I will expect a fresh, new life; my wife will take the children and
be solely responsible for them so that I am left free.”(Brady)
Throughout the essay I became infuriated with what I was
reading because I was unaware that the author was a woman. Immediately into the
2nd point I was thinking “This
guy has to be kidding me right now.” Instantly my mind went to thinking a
man was writing this. . . but why? Now thinking about it, I too fell into the
patriarchy we saw Bell talking about. Most people think or have thought in a
way that men are superior to women, and whatever they want the women must do. Of course, times have changed, however, in the
70’s when Brady wrote her essay, it was an accurate representation of what men
want and a great example of patriarchy.
Bell mentioned in her text “At church they had learned that God created man to rule the world and
everything in it and that it was the work of women to help men perform these
task, to obey, and to always assume a subordinate role in relation to a
powerful man.” (Hooks 18) Which I think it is a good explanation to why I
instantly thought of a man writing it. Even though Brady wrote the essay in a sarcastic
manner from a man’s point of view, at the end of the day, it was a women
calling out the patriarchy enforced in the 70’s.
**I know this isn't exactly a typical form of art/artist. However, Brady was a feminist and acitivist, and I feel her essay really ties into Hooks.**
“Patriarchy is a society where women are dominated by men.”
While doing my online research, I came across the Radical
feminism website. Their goal is to eliminate patriarchy - by disobeying current
social norms and organizations. They are trying to bring awareness to sexual
objectification, rape and violence against women. It is important to understand
that Racial feminism is against patriarchy and not men.
I came across this article that relates to what is being discussed in class. The name of the article is called “The Latin American Women Artists Who Fought Patriarchy with Their Bodies” Benoît Loiseau talks about Latina artists going against the patriarchy. This article discusses the various issues that women around the world go through such as rape, racism, and inequality. These women are making an impact by using their platforms to discuss what is wrong with society. Some of the arts that are being used are performance, painting, and sculpture. Some of the women mentioned in the article such as, Ana Mendieta creating a statement on rape. Despite the controversies behind these pieces, it is creating awareness and hopefully create stimulating conversations and later on actions to create a solution to these issues.
Although sometimes I do not think I have a big role in media consumption and or media making, I have recently realized how much I am actively involved. I am usually having debates with myself on why I should either be or not be on my phone more, either searching through articles or watching snap news. One of the most interesting things Snap started doing was introduction to the snap map, where people all over the world could share their locations and stories. The map seemed to be something to unite people together, it was fascinating to see other cultural activities posted live from others around the world. However, there was also a security issue with having your location revealed online while also giving the government more accesses to one's private information. It seems a lot of apps for consumers are designed to have some kind of intrusive function to track a person's information which I try to stay aware of.
As for media consumption, I try my best to understand the certain viewpoints and biases of different press companies and news channels. I do not watch most news channels anymore, however my grandparents are up every morning eating breakfast, drinking coffee, and never forget to put on channel 2. Most times I tune it out, other times I’m listening to the stories and thinking about how people who are years older than me detached from this digital age are responding. I usually wonder what they’re thinking about this and how or if they acknowledge this transition society has made into technology.
Media is all over activists and protesters, especially during the new Trump administration, I have noticed more people becoming involved in political and social issues. Either positive or negative, there are people everywhere sharing articles, videos, and propaganda. There are shows, comedy channels, comedians, and movies that are all expressing a message. This year, the media has been all over women's rights in relation to the Golden Globes where many celebrities wore black to show solidarity to victims of sexual abuse. Anywhere I looked through my phone, there was another celebrity facing sexual allegations and being blacklisted. Although some cases were especially evident (like Harvey Weinstein), Hollywood does not care but rather is using the media to gain more clout, because bad publicity is still publicity.
Sometimes though issues like this are purposely shoved in our faces while hiding other serious events and problems the world is facing. I do not mean to discredit a serious issue, sexual abuse has been happening for years because of a masculine dominate society much of the world faces. However, some and myself included at times only get involved with news that is delivered to them. It takes some searching and digging to discover what is happening in the world, or even the local news. Media focuses on issues that they know everyone is paying attention to, but may not be the most important problem to be addressed. A video that depicts this digital age we live in is called Carmen by Stromae. He is a Belgian musician, and even though he sings in french, a lot of the music is translated to understand the lyrics. However, this video alone can be understood without words. It is a propaganda style animation that depicts this extreme apocalyptic digital age, but there is a lot of truth I think everyone faces somehow.
Media is all over activists and protesters, especially during the new Trump administration, I have noticed more people becoming involved in political and social issues. Either positive or negative, there are people everywhere sharing articles, videos, and propaganda. There are shows, comedy channels, comedians, and movies that are all expressing a message. This year, the media has been all over women's rights in relation to the Golden Globes where many celebrities wore black to show solidarity to victims of sexual abuse. Anywhere I looked through my phone, there was another celebrity facing sexual allegations and being blacklisted. Although some cases were especially evident (like Harvey Weinstein), Hollywood does not care but rather is using the media to gain more clout, because bad publicity is still publicity.
Sometimes though issues like this are purposely shoved in our faces while hiding other serious events and problems the world is facing. I do not mean to discredit a serious issue, sexual abuse has been happening for years because of a masculine dominate society much of the world faces. However, some and myself included at times only get involved with news that is delivered to them. It takes some searching and digging to discover what is happening in the world, or even the local news. Media focuses on issues that they know everyone is paying attention to, but may not be the most important problem to be addressed. A video that depicts this digital age we live in is called Carmen by Stromae. He is a Belgian musician, and even though he sings in french, a lot of the music is translated to understand the lyrics. However, this video alone can be understood without words. It is a propaganda style animation that depicts this extreme apocalyptic digital age, but there is a lot of truth I think everyone faces somehow.
I am a casual consumer when it comes to social media. I no longer devote hours of time scrolling mindlessly through Facebook staring at trash fires. Now I mindlessly scroll through Instagram for hours on end consuming photo upon photo of cosplayers. In addition to my Instagram scrolling habit I also utilize Reddit quite often to feed my scrolling addiction. The difference being I can actually learn something from Reddit whereas Instagram is purely for eye candy pleasure. Due to my media intake essentially being quite small for a millennial, I don't create any content. No blog, no Instagram photos of my own, no Reddit karma. I merely watch from a distance and keep my interactions purely anonymous.
I suppose when it comes to social media I tend to compare my lifestyle and abilities to those I witness on Reddit and Instagram. I often diet in attempt to look like the cosplayers I admire so dearly, and I try new things based on random threads I come upon while browsing Reddit. For example, I once stumbled upon a beautifully crocheted knight helmet on /r/pics and I was in awe. It was so cool I wanted to make one for my boyfriend since Christmas was fast approaching. I found a link to the tutorial the poster had used in the comments section and devoted a solid 8 hours of hard work and podcast listening to making that wicked knight helmet. It did not come out nearly as cool and I cursed myself for not being as skilled as those who post on that subreddit.
When it comes to everyday life I don't believe I have gone a single day for quite a while without someone showing me some meme of some sort on their phone. Shoot, my mother is constantly watching NBC in the living room which has become a Trump sucks circle-jerk. There is a not a single moment where the news coverage is anything different unless there is a terrorist attack or some serious weather related event. Mass media is saturating my everyday life on a constant basis. I'm drowning in it.
Since a lot of my news coverage comes from Reddit, I tend to see activism and acts of resistance and protest covered in a positive light where change is encouraged. Typically these are events happening in other countries though, as protests don't happen as frequently or in as large of a scale in the United States as they do in other countries, unless people get particularly riled up (Like Occupy Wall Street). For example a quick glance at /r/worldnews reveals 2 links to protests in Europe. The comment sections are alive with discussion and controversial opinions both supporting and denying the protest but nonetheless bringing awareness to the topic at hand and boosting the article potentially to /r/all which is the front page of Reddit. Other media sources such as news networks on the TV tend to take a neutral factual standpoint when it comes to protests and activism. Political graffiti is never showcased on TV but on Reddit tends to make front page. Personally, I think activism should be the main topic on every media outlet and every news outlet. That kind of coverage helps facilitate change which is necessary for society to grow.
Media especially those of popularity at a time have a presence that influences everyone in some shape or form. My role in media consumption I believe is to use such media to cure myself of ignorances I have on certain issues or subjects as well as to become overall a better human being. Whether it is keeping up with political issues or reading news articles online or just taking a glimpse at the arts, I would gain clear and constructive knowledge that will hopefully influence me to want to become politically active. Now in actuality, the media I consume more on the regular is Youtube by a long shot. I watch a lot of videos that could range in subject matter from gaming to thought-provoking to just plain old music. My critique on media is by far how much it could drain your life away. A problem that I only noticed until recently is how so many people are on their phones at the same time leading to this almost robotic like state. It's scary in my eyes since those who do that on daily are missing out on the true beauty of the world and of its creatures. I think my role in media making is in due time to create either poetry or music that is outside the mainstream because I find most of the whats in it to be boring, a fraud, and draining on the mind.
I would say that if you are talking about influence, about maybe fifty percent is measured against media examples and images. An example of it being of influence would be when I saw a picture of a dead child's corpse on a shore during the Syrian Refugee Crisis, just a wave of sadness and a want for change splashed onto me. A more lighthearted example of influence by media is when the whole ice bucket challenge fad was making its way through the web. I remember that my family and I participated in it to join in on the fun. Besides my influence by media, I also think seeing a part of myself within it is also appreciated. As a queer person, I love to see gay couples or someone who is trans being represented in commercials or shows or movies. Obviously, there is still more work that needs to be done in that area but diversity within media really helps in the process of knowing that you are acknowledged.
A common experience is most definitely created by this new age of media. Just the wide availability for one to have a device that gets connected to the internet creates this giant network for anyone to share anything. As with the example of the Syrian Refugee boy, his picture went viral as well as a narrative that humanity should feel ashamed for the unneeded death of a child. People around the world who had no relation to this boy still felt empathy and had even been inspired to rise up and attempt to do something about this. When it came to the United States election everyone who was a citizen or just an outsider were keeping eyes on it. Media networks were great influencers in swaying the minds of the electorate whether it be to vote one way or the other. Whether or not that should be right is another story, but the media created a common topic that everyone had to talk about.
The ever so "none biased" mainstream media covers those who reek of activism or who do acts of resistance and protest as chickens without a head. I get very annoyed when anyone belittles protests and activists as if what they are doing is meaningless and will not amount to anything being done. Of course, this is not a new thing if you look back in American history. Before the emancipation of African slaves, there were many activist and abolitionist who spoke out against slavery. People belittled them but look at the change that happened with their help. If nobody speaks out nothing will ever change. Now, this is not to say that media outlets blankly does not cover protests, I mean look at the Women's March on Washington D.C in 2017. But mainstream media outlets need to get in their corporate heads that no longer can one choose whether or not to cover a protest for social media will just take your place.
Social media is the modern day newspaper for many individuals including myself. It is more than just a habit to people, but more of a life style. Functioning without social media can be hard. I would not say I am addicted to it, but I do spend a great amount of time on instagram, snapchat and twitter. My role in media consumption is a big one. My phone is the first thing I look at in the morning and the last thing I see before I fall asleep. Others can agree to the previous statement because everyone does it.
Being that social media and the internet is the primary source to everything that connects you to the world, it measures a lot of who I am because it keeps me up to date with all world events, tragedies and entertainment. With out social media or the internet, life would be boring. Social media gives individuals the opportunity to share their lives with others and connect/ bring people closer to each other. A great amount of relationships are formed within social media and families are created because of it. Meeting a significant other on social media can be easier for people who are too afraid to approach someone in person. About a year ago my cousin married his wife, who he met via Facebook.
The media covers activists, acts of resistance and protest in many ways. A great example can be the protests against the President of the United States, Donald J. Trump. Indeed he is an idiot, but social media is showing everyone how much of a true idiot he really is. With his excessive use of twitter, as every day goes by he is seen as the fraud of a President this country has offer, giving us a bad name. Many women protest against him for his acts against feminism.
The article Women's March 2018 as it happened: Hundreds of thousands join nationwide protests against Trump written by Andre Buncombe, Jeremy B. White and Chris Stevenson states, "Hundreds of thousands of women around American and the world took to the streets for the 2018 Women's March, a year after the first such event was held in opposition to newly elected US President Donald Trump." In other words, because of Trump being such a terrible president and a feminist, women and men are coming together to march against him in the hopes of congress to understand the issue and force an impeachment. Because of social media many individuals like myself can be up to date with all this recent news.
In my opinion media has a huge impact on our everyday life. The world revolves around the news, Instagram, Facebook and even Twitter. So just like majority of the people in the world it plays a major part in my life. But, the biggest rule that every one does not follow is that you are never suppose to listen to everything on T.V or social media. Majority of the info that is provided or spread are trash or just gossip to ruin a celebrities life. So never take something and run with it. Just like any other teen the media can be very helpful or inspiring. For example, the top trend on how to wear something when it comes to style. The audience might also be inspired to cook something. By watching a video on Instagram, Pinterest or even twitter It can teach the audience a lot of new things; whether it is positive or negative. The only thing about media that does tend to bother me would be the negativity. Unfortunately, it is life so there is nothing anybody can do about it. I would hate to imagine how people felt towards the negative propaganda during World War II. A modern example would of been the young African American boy wearing the H&M hoodie. That was not okay!!! Also people thought it was funny to make more meme's but with different ethnicities with stereotypes that are followed by the race. A lot of common experience deals with social media as well. I use social media to promote flyers for upcoming events on campus, and to promote my fraternity programs. Social media also helps you keep close connections with long lost friends from elementary or high school. Over all, social media can be your friend or your worst nightmare. Lastly, the media just like the government tend to cover up many events that occur just so we can gear away from it or so us the people don't do into depth about it. Lets use Sandra Bland as an example; she was an African American woman that was arrested for no unnecessary reason. She was handcuffed by the officer Encinia. He fired at Sandra for no reason. The mystery that is going on is; was she dead before or after the mug shot for when she got process.
I am on the internet everyday to play video games, watch videos, research, or keep up with news. I have to keep with the media in order to be able to instigate conversations. Especially when I am trying to talk to new people and I want their opinion on what is going on in the world. I have to check what is happening in the world by watching YouTube videos or going on Twitter. If something big happened or something dumb I would use it to gain insight on people's opinion on the subject.
For example, when I was a Freshman in Secaucus High School, my friend and I were playing Skyrim. I was only watching him play for a while then I decided to check the news. I came across an article about Japan having another tsunami and I was completely shocked about it. I told my friend about it but he was too busy trying to figure out how alchemy worked in Skyrim. My friend kept wandering how to use alchemy while Japan just had another tsunami even after I told him about it.
Another example is when my friend John and I were talking about how there something bad happening everyday during the summer of 2016. We were playing a game called Overwatch and we would check the news and constantly hear a tragic death happened. First we would hear about a truck running over pedestrians, then we would hear about a club shooting in Florida, and then Christina Grim was killed. We would talk about how terrible the world was, especially me because I was so shocked that there was no time to mourn any of their deaths because there was so much death.
We use media a lot to either gain insight on the world or follow the latest trends that are happening. Another way we use media to show the latest meme's that would mock society or political comics that would express the author's dissatisfaction with the any political ideologies. The news usually covers mass protests or riots. Social media is also a way to spread awareness and resistance by gaining followers who share the same ideas. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xCJbJjpIqE
I guess I could say that my role in media consumption is rather high. I use social media apps such as Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, Snapchat, and Youtube at least once per day. I spend a lot of time on social media, maybe even too much time on there. And the thing is, I don't notice how much time I've spent until my whole day has been wasted sitting around refreshing my Twitter timeline!
But even though I spend so much time on social media, I feel like I'm not actually consuming anything of substance. I post a couple things about my interests or about my day on Twitter. I post my art when I finish it. I'll watch baking videos on my Instagram explore page. But that's really about it. Despite using these social media sites often, my presence on there is rather nonexistent. I think I'm mostly on social media in order to get away from what is happening in the real world, which is probably not the best idea.
I think rather than media examples and images influence what I want to do rather than who I want to be. For example, I follow a lot of artists on Instagram. Whenever I scroll through my feed, I think to myself "I want to be able to draw like that" or "I want to be able to create something as good as that." I know that I shouldn't compare myself and my art to others, but sometimes i just can't help it. Most of the time it makes me feel terrible about my art, but occasionally this will motivate me to do better.
I feel like the sharing of images, events, and stories has become such a common thing for our society. Most people are getting their news from Facebook and Twitter nowadays. While there are still people who watch the news on cable (like my dad), people mostly find articles online that tell them what's going on in the world. Media consumption in recent years has become so centered on technology and the different forms of social media. For example, I saw images from the Women's March on my Twitter timeline and stories about the march were put together in one of those Twitter moments.
Maybe this is just me not paying attention, but I feel like activists and protests don't get that much coverage on cable news networks. It's like they talk about whatever protest occurred for about 5-10 minutes, then they move on to talking about how terrible the Trump administration is doing. Activists and protesters are given more space on social media though. I feel like this is because that is where most discussions for protest begin. Many people document their experiences in these protests on Twitter or Snapchat because that's how people will see they are participating and working to make a change. Online articles always highlight the the thoughts and experiences of the protestors, and will sometimes include popular, related tweets from the day of the protest. Online media seems to be more willing to embrace these protests, while cable news networks would rather invalidate or make them seem like they're not that big of a deal. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/20/us/womens-march.html
Introduction Post
When I was in Fourth Grade, my mom made me a Facebook
account. I remember thinking my life just got so much cooler because I was able
to chat with my peers from school and play games with my cousins who lived far
away from me. I updated my status daily and tried to be-friend as many people
as possible, this way, the next day at school I can brag about my hundreds of
friends. . .what a mistake. . . this was the start of my addiction.
Today, I wouldn’t necessarily call it addiction
because I believe I can separate from the internet from time to time, however,
the word just seems to fit. Like many others, the first thing I do when I wake
up, is check all my social media outlets. . . Snapchat, Twitter, Instagram, you
get the jist. It has now become a part of my daily routine just like when I was
younger on Facebook. I go on them because sometimes I want to laugh, see what’s
up with my friends, and that’s my main source of news around the world. I
believe that I mainly get my humor and what I find funny from media. Other than
that, I would have to say my personality is what I built, and my views are
always my own, but it’s good to always see other perspectives.
Going back to how social media outlets are my
main source of news, I remember waking up on October 2nd and
checking my Twitter and found myself immediately crying. I looked on the moments
page, only to find out there has been another mass shooting, this time in Las
Vegas. All day I was checking for updates and finding out how I could help. If
it wasn’t for social media, I probably wouldn’t have known what had went on.
Some days it’s disappointing to see negative news that blow up because of what
happened on social media, but it also reminds me that I always need to be doing
x, y, and z to stay safe. At the same time, websites like Go Fund Me where
trending and they raised $15 million for everyone effected in this shooting. Which
I think is absolutely amazing because 20 maybe even 10 years ago, that wasn’t
even possible.
With media these days it is very easy to get self-absorbed
into society and what everyone else is doing. However,media isn’t just an outlet for feelings but
ways to spread news and get people aware of what is going on in the world.