Week Five: Magazine Cover

Double Entry Journal 5

Quote:

“They say that it is no coincidence that as women are achieving greater social, political and professional equality, these magazines symbolically relegate them to subordinate positions as sex objects.” (Network, 2010)

Reaction:

I was shocked by this quote, not because I didn’t agree with it, but because I didn’t realize it sooner. More often than not, women are treated as objects in commercials, magazines, and other various media outlets, instead of human beings who have taken great strides in becoming equal to men. Now, I’m not a feminist, but I do agree that men and women are equal. Moreover, I believe that women are stronger than men in a sense because of everything we’ve had to push through in order to get where we are today as a group. It makes me sick to think that men try to reduce a woman’s role in life to nothing more than a sex object.

Reference:

Network, M. A. (2010). Men's Magazines and the Construction of Masculinity. Media Issues.

Related Resource:

Below is a link that talks about the construction of masculinity in men and how there is a difference in femininity. I would mainly focus on pages 4-8 of the text. It talks about how men are called “sissy” or “wimp”, if they do something that is socially considered feminine.

 Constructions of masculinity article

Courtenay, W. H. (2000). Constructions of masculinity and their influence on men's well-being: a theory of gender and health. Retrieved September 13, 2011, from sociology.osu.edu: http://sociology.osu.edu/classes/soc635/heimdal/Readings/Courtenay%202000.pdf

 

Week Four: Magazine Deconstruction

Media language:

The background is a firebomb from some type of explosion. The print is bright, bold, and big lettering. A celebrity is used to display the contents of the issue. Arnold Schwarzenegger is known for his muscles and action movies, so he is used to persuade men to read the magazine if they want to look like him. Arnold’s right arm is flexed in the picture, which shows his muscles and veins. This appeals to men who want to become ripped with muscles. Arnold is in a cut-off t-shirt which displays his muscles better. He also has a grimace, which suggests that no one should mess with him because he’s tough.

Institution:

Front cover of Muscle & Fitness magazine

Genre:

Fitness and Health Magazine

Representation:

This magazine represents white men, who are tough and strong.  It is geared towards any man who wants to be lean and strong.

Audience:

The audience for this magazine is geared towards men who want to get fit and muscular. It talks about ways to get lean fast and how to look like Arnold Schwarzenegger. It suggests that men should be strong, muscular, and lean with massive muscles.

Ideologies and Values:

The value that this magazine can raise is that men must be strong and tough in order to be a “man”. With Arnold wearing sunglasses in the picture, it suggests that it’s cool to be big and buff.

Narrative:

In a way, this magazine cover can suggest that men have to be strong and fit in order to be a man. It also can suggest that only women like a man that is tough and muscular. This can be due to Arnold’s action movies, in which he is the hero that saves the girl, who ends up falling in love with him.

Media language:

The print isn’t obtrusive, but small and bold, which signifies the importance of the text without it overwhelming. It’s a patriotic theme with the colors of red, white, and blue due to Arnold’s upcoming election as governor. Arnold is posed in a position that showcases him as relatable and amiable.

Institution:

Front cover of Esquire magazine

Genre:

Politics, science, general news for men

Representation:

This magazine represents white men who are knowledgeable and smart. It is geared mostly toward voters.

Audience:

This issue of Esquire is geared towards everyone, with an emphasis towards men because of the smaller picture of the British woman advertisement and the issue title of “man at his best”. It’s mostly focused on attracting the voting population—both men and women, which is why the cover is decked out in red, white (in Arnold’s tie), and blue (the background).

Ideologies and Values:

This magazine displays Arnold pointing with his right hand at the audience. An expensive ring on his finger and a red tie portrays wealth and power. He is smiling which shows his softer side and makes you feel like he cares. His suit makes him seem professional and competent. His body language suggests that he is just like us. He slouches a little in his seat, which suggests that he’s comfortable and friendly with the audience—almost as if he is on a personal level with the reader.

Narrative:

The magazine suggests that Arnold Schwarzenegger is the right candidate for governor of California. He is presented as friendly, smart (in the way he dresses), and sophisticated. 

They both display Arnold Schwarzenegger, but in two different lights. The first one is a tough and macho Arnold, while the second one is a professional, amiable Arnold.  In the picture to the left, Arnold looks tough and unapproachable. He looks like a jock that works out at the gym all the time. However, in the picture on the right, Arnold looks friendly and intelligent with his smart dress. He seems as if he’s all about the people with the patriotic theme.

Double Entry Journal 4

Quote:

“This explosion has outpaced our pedagogy, our curricula and methods of instruction, and the definitions of what it means to be literate in a multimedia society. (One major irony in American education is that no philosophy or pedagogy has been developed to take into account the role of visual representation in instruction, while at the same time increasingly large portions of the education budget are being spent on iconic technologies such as computers, video recorders, and video cameras.)” (Semali, 2001)

Reaction:

I never thought about the expansion of technology as surpassing the educational system’s ideas of literacy in our multimedia society. This quote is right, though. Teachers need to be focusing on the bigger picture, such as globalization. Our technology allows people to communicate and collaborate across seas now, and therefore, teachers need to be as up-to-date, if not better, with new technology than their students. Teachers need to incorporate technology within their classrooms and not for the traditional means, such as solely using computers, cameras, or recorders. They now can use live-feed to communicate with other teachers or students in other countries. It’s amazing what technology they have today that can be useful to teachers and to students.

Reference:

Semali, L. M. (2001, November). Defining new literacies in curricular practice. Reading Online, 5(4), Retrieved from http://www.readingonline.org/newliteracies/semali1/index.html

Related Resources:

I found a podcast program that talks about the use of technology in the classroom, and how technology should not drive the curriculum, but that the curriculum is the driving force, which can be enhanced by technology.

Curriculum

Techforteach, (Producer). (2011, March 3). Curriculum [Audio podcast]. Technology for Teachers. Retrieved from http://www.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?title=Curriculum&video_id=223443

Week Three: Corporate Media Deconstruction

Pantene, (2008). Extraordinary pantene commercial [Theater]. Available from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Um9KsrH377A

Summary:

This Pantene commercial that I’ve selected shares a story of a young, upper-class Thai girl from a private music school, who overcomes adversity, both physically and emotionally, by learning to play the violin, even though she is deaf and mute. She watches a street musician play and she becomes inspired; however, with classmates and others telling her she can’t do it, she abandons her dreams. It’s not until the street musician, who originally inspired her, gives her advice stating that she doesn’t have to be like others, “music is a visible thing” and all she has to do is closer her eyes to see the music. This lifts her spirits and she begins to play again with the violin that he gave her. Although, she learns from this street musician and practices with him, classmates and other strangers try to bully her and bring her down. One even took her violin from her and broke it into pieces. It’s not until the day of a classical music competition that the girl appears late to the contest. She followed a classmate’s act—the one, who bullied her in school and told her that she’ll never be able to play the violin because she’s deaf and mute. Once the girl played her violin with all her energy and soul for the audience of the music competition, she received a standing ovation. The tag then appears saying “You can shine” with the Pantene logo.

Media Deconstruction:

Eliciting Feelings:

This commercial is intended to elicit feelings of freedom, strength, loneliness, loyalty, faith, friendship, trust, sympathy, and good versus evil:

Freedom:

In the commercial, pictures of the girl running through tall weeds on a bright summer day are shown when she closes her eyes to see the music. It’s just her in a field with the wind blowing through her hair and the weeds.

Strength:

She stands alone in front of the audience of the classical music contest with her broken violin taped back together. She stares at them, until she raises her violin to her chin, and closes her eyes before she starts to play.

Loneliness:

An image of the deaf and mute girl sitting alone in her room flashes across the screen, after one sees her classmate knock her tray out of her hands in the cafeteria.

Loyalty and sympathy:

When the street musician gets sick and ends up in the hospital, the deaf and mute girl visits and stays with him. Everyone has had someone get sick and end up in the hospital. Also, everyone has experienced bullying, which the deaf and mute girl had gone through in the commercial.

Friendship:

The violinist builds a friendship with her mentor, the street musician, who was the only kind person to her in the commercial. He taught her how to play, and got her a violin. In return, the deaf and mute girl visited him in the hospital, which showed that they’re friendship wasn’t just from their shared interest in music.

Good versus evil:

The deaf and mute girl is portrayed as meek and kind; however, her classmate that she competes against is a bully and independent. As she plays the piano, she shoves her teachers hand away from her piano, when the teacher tries to correct her playing. The violinist plays alongside her teacher on the street. It is her who receives a standing ovation at the competition, and not the pianist, who was always mean to her at school.

The pianist bullies the violinist—knocking her sheet music off the stand, knocking her tray out of her hands in the cafeteria, yelling at her, and telling her that she will never be able to play the violin. In the end, the violinist gets a standing ovation from the audience at the classical music competition and the pianist gets nothing.

Faith:

Faith is a dominant feeling in this commercial. The deaf and mute girl had to learn to have faith in herself, after she learns that the street musician believes in her abilities to play the violin.

Trust:

The violinist trusted the street musician to teach her what she needed to know, and that he wouldn’t lie to her about being able to play the violin.

Commercial Overview:

This commercial targets young, insecure preteen girls. It demonstrates that with Pantene, a girl can overcome adversity and shine. It’s empowering to young girls; however, no adults are portrayed positively, except the street musician. The commercial focuses on the girls’ lives and leaves adults out of it.  

The main character always has her hair down in the commercial; however, her competitor keeps her hair in a ponytail—never letting it down. Also, long hair is flying in the wind and on stage as the deaf and mute girl plays her violin with all of her energy and emotion “leaving everything else behind”. These instances within the commercial are subconscious connotations about the power of Pantene helping girls shine by giving them the confidence to do so.

What one doesn’t know about the deaf and mute girl and her competitor is where their parents are during all of this that’s being portrayed. The audience is left with questions after watching the commercial. For example, some questions may be as followed: the story behind the deaf girl’s competitor, what happens after the deaf and must girl gets a standing ovation and what does the other girl do or feel about it, how the girl learned to play the violin when she can’t hear or speak, and why did someone break her violin in pieces and who put it back together. These answers will more than likely never be answered, since this story was probably created by advertisers. However, it’s possible to see if the commercial wasn’t based off an individual in Thailand during the period it was released.  Google is the best tool to use for researching this commercial’s story.

Double Entry Journal 3

Quote:

“When connotation and denotation become one and the same, representation appears natural, making the historical and social construction invisible. Therefore, a goal of cultivating media literacy is to help students distinguish between connotation and denotation and signifier and signified.” (Kellner, & Share, 2005)

Reaction:

I was astounded to read that media literacy practitioners study language and semiotics in order to make their commercials or media outlets more appealing and less suspicious. They use this language to entice younger generations to feel something about their product or information rather than just focus on what they see or hear. I chose the quote above because it just really surprised me that these people deconstruct words and meaning so much so that whatever they say poses no threat.

Reference:

Kellner, Douglas, & Share, Jeff, Initials. (2005). Toward critical media literacy: core concepts, debates, organizations, and policy. Discourse: studies in the cultural politics of education, 26(3), Retrieved from http://gseis.ucla.edu/faculty/kellner/essays/2005_Kellner-Share_TowardsCriticalMediaLiteracy.pdf

Related Resources:

In the video below, Pamela Meyer talks about her book, which involves "getting to the truth and building trust" in our media outlets (Meyer).

Pamela Meyer: Liespotting: Proven Techniques to... by Lifestyle-GrabNetworks

Meyer, Pamela (Writer). (n.d.). Pamela Meyer: lifespotting: proven techniques to detect deception [Web]. Available from http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xfs52k_pamela-meyer-liespotting-proven-techniques-to-detect-deception_news

Week Two: Photo Analysis

Photo Analysis Guide Picture

Photo Analysis Worksheet

Step 1. Observation
A.	Study the photograph for 2 minutes. Form an overall impression of the photograph and then examine individual items. Next, divide the photo into quadrants and study each section to see what new details become visible. The picture from the Photo Analysis Guide Link gives me an impression of poverty and depression.
B.	Use the chart below to list people, objects, and activities in the photograph. People Objects Activities Shoeless children Dead donkey Children with no chaperones Young children (about 5 years) to older children (about 10 years) in the street near a dead donkey Horse and buggies Children gathered in the street Adults standing in the background Old and weathered buildings Adults talking in the distance A small child walking by himself away from the camera Street lamp Horse and buggies driving in the distance Bricked streets and sidewalks Unoccupied wagon
Step 2. Inference  (Limit response for each question to 5 lines of text)
	Based on what you have observed above, list three things you might infer from this photograph. I would infer that the picture was taken during the Depression Era, because of the barefooted children hanging out in the bricked streets. One of the boys is wearing a hat that makes me think that the picture was taken in the ‘30s. The children’s clothes (suspenders and overalls) and the mode of transportation (horse and buggies) also look like they come from that decade. The dead animal in the street shows me that times are hard, because no one is trying to remove it from the road. It’s just left to the side out of the way from the horse and buggies.
Step 3. Questions
A.	What questions does this photograph raise in your mind? Why are the children gathered around the dead animal in the street? Why are they sitting in the street and barefoot? Why are the children not supervised by an adult? What situation caused a person to take the photograph?
B.	Where could you find answers to them? I could find the answers to my questions by researching the era and mannerisms of the Great Depression. I could look online or in encyclopedias.  I also, could try to find the picture through Google images (there is a little information about the picture on the top left-hand side of the picture).

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