Blog #3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gi58pN8W3hY

The cultural artifact that I'm going to discuss today is the 1989 Disney animated film, The Little Mermaid, which was one of my favorite movies to watch growing up. As a child, I was absolutely obsessed with this film and showed my passion for it in several different ways including dressing up as Ariel for Halloween on several occasions and constantly carrying around my Ariel Barbie doll wherever I went. 

As I'm sure for many people in my age group, Disney animated movies were the backbone of our entire childhood throughout the 90's and early 2000's and everyone that I know, kind of had a favorite film from that era of animated movies that really resonated with them the most. The Little Mermaid was definitely that movie for me. While I may not have understood any subtext from the film at such a young age, I did love the colors of the film as well as the music. I just thought it would be so cool to be a mermaid like Ariel and have fins and fish friends. 

However, when rewatching the movie as an adult, it became clear to me that not all the messages in this film were positive or appropriate for young children, especially girls. This artifact conveyed to me messages that I do not agree with at all at this state in my life, but when thinking back on it, probably had a negative impact on my self-esteem as a child. In the song "Poor Unfortunate Souls" (hyperlink seen above), the villain of the film, Ursula, takes Ariel's voice in order to fulfill her dream of leaving the ocean and becoming a human. However, some of the wording used in the song is very disturbing as it describes how society views women and how they expect them to act. For example, the song lyrics are: 

"You'll have your looks, your pretty face

And don't underestimate the importance of body language, ha!
The men up there don't like a lot of blabber
They think a girl who gossips is a bore!
Yes, on land it's much preferred for ladies not to say a word
And after all dear, what is idle prattle for?
Come on, they're not all that impressed with conversation
True gentlemen avoid it when they can
But they dote and swoon and fawn
On a lady who's withdrawn
It's she who holds her tongue who get's a man."

Basically, this song is telling its main audience, young girls, that men don't care about what you have to say. That men just want women to be demure and submissive and while that may be true, the movie doesn't do anything to challenge that and show Ariel as independent. Instead, she completely follows everything that Ursula tells her and falls in love with a man that has never heard her say a word. While ultimately, Ariel does end up with Prince Eric; this is teaching young girls that in order to find love, you must please the man and be attractive enough because whatever intelligence you have doesn't matter. As a young girl, this only taught me that I needed to stay in my place as a woman and be skinny and pretty so that men would like me. This most likely damaged my self-esteem as a child, without even realizing it and caused lasting issues that would follow me throughout my teenage and young adult years.

Blog #2

Blog #2: Gender in Specific Contexts

Sarah Cohn

Prompt 1 – Identify a cultural artifact that shows gender representations in one of the following contexts: Sports/Fitness, Music Videos, Television Shows, or Movies. Describe your cultural artifact. Post an image, or provide a link to the cultural artifact. If you choose a television show, you may not be able to link to the show itself, in which case you should post an image from the show. Why did you choose this particular example?   (5 points)

The cultural artifact that I chose that shows gender representations is the music video for "Just a Girl" by the 90's Ska/Pop band, No Doubt. The music video can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHzOOQfhPFg. I chose this specific music video because the song itself is a feminist anthem with lead singer Gwen Stefani singing about the frustration that revolves around being treated differently for your gender. The music video also shows this through a depiction of both a male and female restroom. The male bathroom is beyond disgusting while the female one is very fancy with nice decor and female maids. Stefani, the lead singer, is showed very annoyed that she has to be in this restroom by herself and expected to be pristine and put on makeup while her male band gets to be grungy and no one tells them not to. This shows the disparity in which we treat the genders and how our society expects women to focus less on school, music, and their careers, and focus more on their appearance, while men can be crazy, gross, and grungy and no one tells them not to. 

Prompt 2 – Analyze.  Consider the cultural diamond as a starting point to begin your analysis. Then, review and incorporate the 5 key questions in the MediaLitKit to analyze your cultural artifact. 

The creator of this music video in terms of the cultural diamond, is Gwen Stefani and her band, No Doubt. Stefani created this song due to frustration with living in a world in which even as an adult, she was being treated differently for being a female by her family and by people within the music industry. As a result, "Just a Girl" was created and it's subsequent music video became the cultural artifact in which it exists in the social world of the music industry as a statement against inequality. The music video's audience would be mostly for females but also anybody who is/was frustrated with the growing disparity between genders. 

In terms of the MediaLitKit, the idea of authorship, or who created this message is shown in this music video at the very beginning where Stefani is surrounded by men in a car traveling to the next performance venue. This video portrays the idea that it is men who subconsciously promote the differences between sexes just by their inaction towards the fight for equality. Stefani's noticeable annoyance also shows the fact that while the men might not be aware of the issue, it is obvious to her because she's the one suffering. While these specific men probably did not start inequality against women, ultimately, choices by others resulted in this becoming a normal part of our society. In terms of format, the music video uses specific visual choices, like the differences in the male and female bathrooms, to attract the viewers attention. The male restroom is all grey, covered in graffiti and trash while the female restroom is colorful and features furniture and a decor that screams prestige. The music video also uses Stefani's reaction to the events that are playing out to help us as the audience understand her annoyance and feel sympathy for her. In terms of audience, not everyone might understand the message that this video is trying to produce. As a female, I too find it annoying to be treated differently simply based on my gender but if a male was watching this video, they might not feel the same way. They might interpret it as females always get special treatment which can be seen with Stefani getting the nice bathroom while the men get the trashy one. Especially in this sense, men might not understand their bias that is imposed on them by society and that they might not even realize when their female counterparts are being treated differently. In terms of content, the idea that is being sold to us is that women have it very tough because we often have different and more expectations placed on us when in comparison to males. One perspective that is left out of this music video is that of someone who is gender non-conforming or transgender and because they are not represented, we don't know how the gender disparity in this nation might affect them. Lastly, in terms of purpose, this message is being sent to help women air their frustration about being discriminated against because of their gender. Stefani is trying to convince others who have felt this dissatisfaction to speak out so that this issue no longer exists within our society. Stefani believed that this would not only help women feel empowered on an individual level, but also make a greater social change that would impact the public. 

Blog #1

Blog #1: Gender

Sarah Cohn

Prompt 1: Identify a cultural artifact that is a representation of gender – that is, what it means to be a woman, man, a transgender individual, or a person who exists outside of the gender binary. Describe your cultural artifact. Post an image, or provide a link to the cultural artifact. (3 points) 

The cultural artifact that I chose to represent gender in our society is the music video for "Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke, Pharrell, and T.I. Released in 2013, this music video and song caused a lot of controversy because of its sexist and misogynistic imagery. This video is a representation of gender because it shows the expectations and stereotypes for each gender in our modern patriarchal society, where men still are seen as superior and dominant to women.

https://youtu.be/yyDUC1LUXSU

Prompt 2: What does your chosen cultural artifact say about gender and gender expression? How does it reinforce traditional ideas of masculinity and/or femininity? Does it attempt to challenge or push back against traditional ideas about gender and gender expression, and if so, how? (3 points) 

As mentioned above, this music video enforces gender stereotypes that have been present in our society for decades. Ultimately, it portrays the idea that men are superior and dominant to women and this is shown both in the images in the video, as well as the lyrics. To fulfill these gender stereotypes, the men in the video are portrayed as ultra masculine, wearing suits, shiny clothes, and sunglasses, as well as portraying the idea that they're wealthy by pouring expensive alcohol to drink. This enforces the idea that because they're wealthy, that they have power, and that in return, they believe that they can have whatever woman that they want. The women in the video on the other hand, are portrayed as submissive and feminine. In order to help show the male dominance, the females are dressed in basically their underwear and are shown being submissive to the men throughout the video. This is seen when T.I. brushes the hair of one woman and when all the women dance in front of their respective male singers while they just gaze. This video does not push back against traditional ideas at all and does the exact opposite by reinforcing the idea that a women's body is just for men and that they "know she wants it" and that she's "a good girl".

Prompt 3: Do you feel that this specific representation of gender in pop culture has impacted the way you think about your own gender identity and expression? If so, how? If not, why not? (2 points) 

I personally do feel that this has impacted the way I think about gender identity and expression because I would identify as a feminist or someone who sees men and women as complete equals in society and this video had a big impact on reminding me that not everyone agrees with the way that I see the world. The representation that is portrayed in this video is not uncommon at all for someone to agree with in this day and age and that's a really scary thing to think about as a young woman in this world. While women have a lot more rights now then we've had in the past, there's now doubting the fact that a lot of men still see themselves as the dominant gender in society and that's something that I disagree with wholeheartedly.

Prompt 4: Examine your chosen cultural artifact using Wendy Griswold’s cultural diamond. What is the cultural object (the cultural artifact that you identified in Prompt 1)? What is the social world in which the cultural object exists and acts? Who may be the creators (producers) of the cultural object? And who are their intended audience (receivers)? (4 points)

The cultural object is the music video for "Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke, Pharrell, and T.I. The social world that it exists in is the music industry and pop culture in the year 2013. The creators of the cultural object are Robin Thicke, Pharrell, T.I. and Star Trak LLC that produced the record. The intended audience I would assume is everyone, but specifically men who agree with the views that they are expressing. The audience could be everyone because the controversy that this music video caused might've been on purpose to give the video more sales, views, etc. even if some of those are negative.