"MISter"representation

     


      Men are victims of misrepresentation ,however: not as much as women. Men in media create images that younger males strive to follow but often find mixed results when they try. There are hundreds of TV shows, movies, and videos open to the world that depict men in three different ways. There are the "skirt-chasers", the "metro-sexuals", and there are the "macho men". These three categories of men seen on TV and other sources seem to embody what a man is, right? Wrong.
      For too long men have been depicted as these things and they just don't cover whats a man truly is. Personally, I identify with none of these categories and I could most definitely name 10 other males I know that identify with none of these or slightly with one. In my opinion as a man it is time for a change at how men are seen in the media. It is time to pull away from these three main categories that incorrectly define what as man is and to place a real man, open to debate on what a real man is, on the screen.

"Miss"representarion

   


      Women are severely misrepresented in today's media seeing as thought the main idea of the usage of women in media is sex appeal. For some time the world (specifically men in advertisement projects) has seen women as their gendered stereotypes instead of valuing them as human beings. The media objectifies women in ways that are quite sexist all for the name of selling a product to those who that women may appeal to.
      It is as though these major networks have convinced both men and women that women can only be valued for their appearance which causes teen girls to strive for a look that is both sexist and impossible seeing as most of the beauty and sexual appeal isn't very present before Photoshop. Even in politics women are constantly being scrutinized for their appearances and if they behave like "proper" women, both factors having almost nothing to do with elections or politics. Misrepresentation of women in media has been a reoccurring situation and it is time to leave it behind and embrace women not for sexuality but for shill and perseverance.

What is Cool?

     


      The dictionary defines cool as being "fashionably attractive or impressive". This definition has not changed since the creation of the specific usage of the word cool as being popular was created and it is something advertising companies are ruining. In my opinion the over usage of the  "cool" factor on commercials creates a world where nothing can be cool without it having to be a secret. When companies stupidly use today trends in music, dance, or clothing they often begin to lose their cool factor the  ore they are witnessed be teens.
      This decision by companies to use cool in their commercials as a way to appeal to a younger graphic is becoming a situation. It is as though they are taking what is cool away from us and turning it into a past fad. Yes I know that does happen naturally but when companies show something very popular with today's youth in television 100 times in a day it looses its value as an embodiment of cool.

My Response to the Merchants of Cool

     

     
      Frontline news for PBS did an amazing job analyzing the appeal of cool to the youth that make up a rather large marketing opportunity for ad companies. The short documentary revealed to me several things: one, teens are becoming a more important market than adults,two, people literally search for cool within teens, three, there is such thing as the band "Insane Clown Posse". What I was most shocked to learn about however, was how much advertising is targeted straight at us, teens, and how much of it is entirely based off of what is cool rather than giving the facts and selling without any flash.
     To companies such as McDonald, Coke, and MTV finding what is cool is absolutely necessary to have a successful fiscal year and to be able to sell their products with ease. For MTV this is mostly the case seeing as they can communicate with teens over the television through music. Music is a factor of cool that is constantly changing so MTV chooses to change with it, always remaining popular without holding true to their original "beliefs".

I Agreed Without Reading

     


      It is on everything. Taking the form of a long essay that all must "read" in order to agree and move forwards in our lives. Except for one issue, we don't read all of the terms of agreement. The decision to haphazardly move forward without knowing what private information you just "agreed" to give away is something we all suffer from. People who strive for efficiency or have no patience to read a lengthy essay on their phone care not about its effects if they agree without fully understanding what it is they are agreeing to.
      This is something that these companies know and because of that, it seems like they are constantly adding new things to their terms of service knowing that we wont read them. This is something that needs to stop. Either terms of service should be entirely abolished or a briefer version that summarizes any major points should be made. The length of these terms vary depending on the application or website, but all should most definitely be condensed to better allow the consumer to know what it is they are doing before they make a mistake.

The Truth About America by Childish Gambino

   

     



      On May 6th, Donald Glover under the alter ego name of Childish Gambino released the video accompaniment to This Is America, a song that was first heard by the public earlier that evening in a live performance on SNL. After only six days on the internet, it has already received over 87 million views. His video has been deemed one of the most controversial expressions of the first amendment of our time seeing as he tackles gun violence, our ignorance to media, and even the apocalypse as death dawning a black cloak rides by him on a white horse.
      His video is absolutely filled with "hidden" messages from the old confederate uniform pants he wears to the church choir he mows down with a machine gun in reference to the Charleston church shooting seen in 2015. His video is a statement on how we revere firearms shown whenever he shoots someone as he places the gun on a piece of red cloth in a reverend fashion. The dancers behind him, African American children, are smiling throughout the video representing both how black children are used to seeing violence or how we are all ignorant to the truth. Either way, this masterpiece by Childish Gambino brilliantly and creatively tackles many current issues all at once and rather successfully.

The Music Industry is Becoming too Sexual

      

Picture Above from "Barbie Tingz" music video.
Probably one of the cleaner shots from that video.

      Just two days ago American-Trinidadian rapper, singer/songwriter Nicki Minaj (born Onica Maraj) released two different videos to accompany two of her new songs. The songs "Barbie Tingz" and "Chun-Li" are quite explicit both lyrically and visually. Using sex appeal and profanity, Minaj can and has been putting herself in a position of extreme popularity and a net worth of about $70 million as of the last year. What absolutely amazes me is how well she has done based off the fact that she has no actual talent except for body enhancements she has made with her earnings. What doesn't surprise me is how she has used sex appeal to achieve such success.

      In today's environment, sex sells. To both men and women, sex appeal is something that is considered highly for any form of entertainment. Unfortunately, Minaj has a younger fan base meaning her fans under the age of 18 are being influenced by a woman who uses her physical features to gain popularity over other artists who are better than her but do not fall to sex appeal to reach certain popularity levels. 

    Years ago, sex appeal usage in the music industry was considerably lower than it is now. Bands like The Beatles and the Bee Gee's used sex appeal but without the extremes we see today. Back then, faces were the only things used alongside voices to attract a fan base rather than revealing parts of ones body to the public that should not be posted for all to see. 

We are Sheep to be Led:

      

      We are all bandwagons. We see a brand, recognize it because of popularity, and feel that we must side with them because everyone else is. Brands like Urban Outfitters and Nike have this kind of fan base and their goals are to expand to the ends of the Earth. Big companies like these seek a large fan base so that they can increase their current fan base all on the grounds of increasing their current net worth. Amazon is becoming one of these companies seeing as they are swiftly taking over companies that run their business in the material world rather than selling from an online source.  

      People just want to be part of a "fad", part of a popular name brand that is easily recognizable and to be part of a group of people who also have the traits of a "band-wagoner". We all are herded like sheep to the "best" product and to the popular name brands rather than the smaller brands that are constantly being overshadowed by Walmart or Apple. Companies like LinkedIn and Song Airlines have been beaten by their rivals only because they can offer anything and everything in their power to the consumer, drawing us in and claiming us as their own.