2. Media Literacy

Article - Got to this one through Media Lit. I found it to be an interesting article; I have certainly noticed a lot of people smoke in movies, and I know from experience that when I see people smoking in movies I want a cigarette really bad (and it really sucks because I quit a month ago).

Media Literacy - This one is chock full of links regarding all different types of topics and issues surrounding the media and helpful information for teachers. And who doesn't like free stuff?

About-Face - This one was good. It's about harmful media messages, aimed at women and girls, and the influence they have on self esteem and body image. I particularly enjoyed the Gallery of Offenders; I haven't seen have the ads they have listed and they are outrageous (especially #9). On the other side of it, they have a Gallery of Winners, showing the ads that have taken the right approach (a winner!). They also have a place for readers to send in their own thoughts and images they have found (positive and negative).

Found this (along with others) through the about-face site [Other Links]
Media Watch - "Our goal is to challenge abusive stereotypes and other biased images commonly found in the media. Media Watch, which began in 1984, distributes educational videos, media literacy information and newsletters to help create more informed consumers of the mass media. We do not believe in any form of censorship, especially the silencing of marginalized groups. We believe education will help create a more active citizenry who will take action against commercial media saturation." They also provide a list of links to check out. [Resources]

Women in Media - "Women In Media & News, a media analysis, education and advocacy group, works to increase women's presence and power in the public debate. WIMN's POWER Sources Project provides journalists with a diverse network of female experts. "

Women's Media Center - "The Women’s Media Center makes women visible and powerful in the media. Led by our president, the Emmy-winning journalist, writer, and producer Carol Jenkins, the WMC works with the media to ensure that women’s stories are told and women’s voices are heard. We do this in three ways: through our media advocacy campaigns; by creating our own media; and by training women to participate directly in media. We are directly engaged with the media at all levels to ensure that a diverse group of women is present in newsrooms, on air, in print and online, as sources and subjects." [about]

Safety Net - This comes from the American Academy of Pediatrics website. It's a resource for parents on how to keep their children (teens too) safe on the internet. Like the others it's full of links for them to click on to learn more. The AAP also has a campaign called Media Matters that works to make parents, children, and even pediatricians aware of the influence the media has on adolescent health.

1. Christensen: "Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us"

In "Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us," Christensen writes of her own experiences and issues with American media, along with teaching her students to view it critically. She "wants [her] students to question [the] accepted knowledge and the secret education delivered by cartoons as well as by the traditional literary canon" (127). Disney movies and Saturday morning cartoons are not being critically assessed by children; they unknowingly accept the subtle (or not so subtle) stereotypes and grow up believing them to be true. Girls start believing women cannot have brains and beauty, Ursula is the evil sea witch from The Little Mermaid and while she's smart, she's ugly (130), and if a girl wants to be happy, it "means getting a man, and transformation from wretched conditions can be achieved through consumption - in their case, through new clothes and a new hairstyle" (133). On the same token, boys learn that "men must be virile and wield power or be old and the object of 'good-natured' humor" (131).

Christensen also makes a point to say that people should not just make note of and realize these stereotypes are in place, but should try to enact change. She does not think it is enough to teach the students "that it's enough to be critical without taking action[.] That we can quietly rebel in the privacy of the classroom while we practice our writing skills, but we don't really have to do anything about the problems we uncover, nor do we need to create anything to take the place of what we've expelled" (134). As a teacher, her goal is to mold her students' critical thinking skills, while using it to incite them into action and strive for change.

I didn't really have any issues comprehending this reading. I suppose I don't really understand how people can honestly take cartoons or Disney movies for example so seriously, especially the outdated ones Christensen was writing about. Peter Pan is from the early 1900s and Walt Disney's version is from 1953, obviously Wendy is viewed as the mother and it's the only role she has to fill. Even her examples of newer cartoons - Aladdin, Pocahontas, and Mulan are 10 years old. Now everything has to be so politically correct that kids watch animals, or even inanimate objects (like cars), fall in love and what sexist or racist lesson could kids possibly learn from cars?

This reading relates to the 3rd assumption the course is shaped by, that media matters. She says, "many students don't want to believe that they have been manipulated by children's media or advertising...they assure me that they make their own choices and the media has no power over them - as they sit with Fubu, Nike, Timberlands or whatever the latest fashion rage might be" (128). Teenagers and youth are ruled by the norms presented by the media; whether they accept or reject them, their lives are still being dictated.

I grew up watching Winnie the Pooh, Barney, and Sesame Street, all popular children's shows, but Christensen doesn't address them. Instead she discusses now outdated programs; some of which are no longer on television, yet Sesame Street has been on the air for 40 years. I guess it must be doing something right or she would've mentioned it as being detrimental to the psyche of growing children.

Lucky Number Thirteen

I learned the truth at 13. No...wait...that was Janis Ian, and she was 17.

Hmmm, I guess I don't really remember the beginning of my teenage years. I turned 13 a couple months into 8th grade at BMS (Barrington Middle School of course), so I guess it was 2001. Oh yeah, I remember making a big deal because my brother's high school open house was the same night as my birthday, and of course it would be an outrage if my parents went to that and skipped out on celebrating my 13th birthday. Overall it was pretty uneventful.

Back then I was still playing softball, and the summers were awesome playing All-Stars. However, it was totally lame at the same time because my mom was an "assistant" coach. I use the term loosely because in my opinion she never knew what she was talking about, but I'm only her daughter so I guess my thoughts about it didn't matter.

Thinking hard, I remember that was the year that for practically every book report-type thing we had due, me and like all my friends would just read The Princess Diaries books...it was pretty sweet. I remember I'd go to "parties" at my friend's house, before drinking was the thing to do, and we'd order pizza, watch stupid movies, and play manhunt for all of ten minutes, after which everyone gave up because there was no where to hide (of course they didn't listen to me telling them that from the beginning). Even then I wasn't doing much in school, I mean come on I was in the 8th grade! It doesn't get much cooler than that. Sometimes I wish I did and wasn't such a slacker; that definitely carried on into high school.

I started high school and of course was ignored by my older brother. The last thing he wanted was for people to realize we were related even though it was so completely obvious considering we have the same last name and look so much alike. Sometimes brothers can be stupid.

I wish I had known then, what I know now, even in terms of school material; I would be super smart now. I probably didn't have the greatest of friends, some were good, but others were of the super fake, mean, 13 year-old-girl variety, and that's not good for anyone's self esteem.

But most of all, I wish I had realized what those crushes on my English teachers were really about and why I obsessed over that one Dixie Chick (Emily)... It would have made me more aware about myself and maybe then I wouldn't have felt so uncomfortable all throughout high school trying to be the person I wasn't and I'm not.