Tuesday, 24 September 2013

Big Bang Theory


Throughout the series Penny is highly sexualised and treated with little respect from the other characters. 





In this clip, Penny calls Howard out on his 'creepiness' when he keeps flirting with her even though she has repeatedly told him to stop. Howard's actions are made to seem okay in this show because he goes off after Penny upsets him, making him seem like the victim here. Isn't Penny also the victim of unwanted harassment? At the end of this episode, Leonard makes Penny apologise to Howard by bringing up favours that he is owed. However, Howard is expected to apologise to Penny at all- not for making her uncomfortable or for harassing her- he is expecting an apology because he doesn't believe anything is wrong. This shows that this is what people expect to happen in real life- that she should apologise to him because she made him upset but why shouldn't he apologise when he made her upset in the first place?



Monday, 23 September 2013

Easy A



Easy A (2010) is a film about a girl who pretends to have sex with a homosexual boy in order to stop him from being bullied and get others to treat him with more respect. However, when the whole school finds out, more and more people ask her to pretend to have sex with them and they give her gift vouchers. The student body thinks of her as a 'dirty skank' and as seen in the clip, she is given many disgusted looks from other girls whilst the boys drool over her.
In the clip, Olive (Emma Stone) is called a dirty skank by her best friend because she 'slept' with multiple boys and she tells Olive that that is what everyone is calling her. This is a prime example of what happens in schools and in the world because women can not have sex with anyone without gaining a bad reputation. As seen in Easy A, many people (mostly girls) look down on Olive because of her reputation; giving her disgusted looks and scoffing her.  
However, the boys don't get shamed in the same way because it is socially acceptable for them to have sex with a girl- it even boosts their reputation. Even though they took part in the same activity as Olive, they are treated much better and with a lot of respect unlike her. 






Why does she get called these names just for having sex with some boys?

Tuesday, 17 September 2013

Female Friendship: Women Less Likely To Befriend Promiscuous Peers Regardless Of Their Own Sexual History, Study Finds

In case you needed more proof that your sex life shouldn't be anyone else's business, a new study suggests that the number of people you've slept with can affect whether other women want to be friends with you.

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Blurred Lines






[HERE]


He's a Stud, She's a Slut

"Outside of the feminist implications of the sexual double standard, the slut/stud conundrum has always been my favorite because it just makes no sense logically. Why is a woman less of a person, or (my favorite) "dirty," because she has sex?"


Excerpted from He's a Stud, She's a Slut by Jessica Valenti.

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What is Rape Culture?


Rape Culture is an environment in which rape is prevalent and in which sexual violence against women is normalized and excused in the media and popular culture.  Rape culture is perpetuated through the use of misogynistic language, the objectification of women’s bodies, and the glamorization of sexual violence, thereby creating a society that disregards women’s rights and safety.

Rape Culture affects every woman.  The rape of one woman is a degradation, terror, and limitation to all women. Most women and girls limit their behavior because of the existence of rape. Most women and girls live in fear of rape. Men, in general, do not. That’s how rape functions as a powerful means by which the whole female population is held in a subordinate position to the whole male population, even though many men don’t rape, and many women are never victims of rape.  This cycle of fear is the legacy of Rape Culture.


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Sunday, 15 September 2013

Miley Cyrus + Slut-Shaming


"It seems that we still can't handle what it's like for a young woman to be able to perform, as she chooses, without layering in a heavy helping of insults as well. While Cyrus was condemned for grinding on Thicke, very little criticism has been laid on the singer himself for his role in the performance. The nastiest of the comments have implied that Cyrus is somehow diseased because of her preferred dance methods."


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Friday, 6 September 2013

Two-Step Flow Theory

The Two-Step Flow theory is where information from the media moves in two steps. First the mass media will give the information to opinion leaders. The information then goes from opinion leaders to the public. But their information is interpreted with their own ideas and opinions. 

Examples of this are Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh cards. They were spread by word-of-mouth and by people telling other people about them- not by big advertising campaigns. 

Hypodermic Needle


The Hypodermic Needle theory means that the mass media can influence what the audience does. The message the media wants to be heard is "injected" into the audience's mind which would cause a response. There are three main types of this theory:


  • TESTIMONIALS: A type of endorsement which is when the media plays off admiration and respect of celebrities to influence the audience. 


These are some examples of testimonials (celebrity endorsements). They influence the audience to buy their products because a well-loved celebrity is approving of them. 









  • FRAMING: This is when the media are bias and deceptive. They leave out information that may make you change your mind about certain media issues or what they're trying to sell.





These are two examples of Framing. They both advertise their products but there is a lot of missing information. For example, on the advert above, there are starts next to 'free' and 'bottle' so there must be more to the advert. On the advert to the right, it says "results not typical" as they are advertising but not giving out all of their information- just one success story. 






  • BANDWAGON: Bandwagon has a mass appeal and readily attracts more and more followers. This is because everyone else is doing it and the audience wants to feel part of the community. 

These are examples of bandwagon advertising. The McDonald's one says that 'over 99 billion served' stating that a lot of people are getting McDonald's burgers that everyone else should too. This causes people to go to McDonald's because they don't want to be missing out. The mascara advert states that it's the number 1 mascara worldwide which makes people believe it is very popular and that they should also get it because many other people have.