Jessica Zarate – Module 2 Recap
I found the readings from Module 2 to be very interesting. I also enjoyed watching the videos and analyzing them. One of the topics that interested me were found in Sternheimer’s readings from chapter four. The topic shined light on ADHD and television. As a parent, I have often wondered how having two young boys whom are severely ADHD can sit perfectly still for over an hour to watch a television program, According to the text, in a study done in 2006, found that “children who have difficulty paying attention may favor television and other electronic media to a greater extent then the media environment of children without attention problems”. (Sternheimer, 2013). It was unclear whether or not these children were actually diagnosed with ADHD, which could alter the study; however, I would agree that my own ADHD children can be entertained by television, ipads, and other electronic gadgets for long periods of time.
One of the things that caught my interest were the YouTube videos that discussed women in the media. According to “#3, The Smurfette Video Principle (Trophes vs. Women) at 1:23 the video discusses a female essayist wrote an article for the New York Times, It goes on to say she was “disturbed by the lack of female characters for her young daughter to watch” and that “most programming aimed at young people had a majority of male characters with just one female in the group. The journalist called this the “Smurfette Principle”. The idea came from the cartoon “Smurfs” where in Smurfville there was only one female among the group of males. The lack of female roles in the media is a real problem, How are women today, in this day and age still seen as unimportant in society. What exactly does this say about how our society views and values women as a whole? Does media decide what we consume and what is acceptable? And why does the movie industry cater so much to men? In the other YouTube video in our assigned list, “Example media literacy final” A quote from Reese Weatherspoon stood out to me. It reads, “Women make up 50% of the population, and we should be playing 50% of the rolls on screen”. In my opinion, Reese Weatherspoon is correct. There should be many programs and movies available to women and young children. Women and little girls need to feel empowered, not seen on screen as the token female or the “sexy vixen” that makes a two second appearance. Women should be seen as equals in every form of capacity not just on the screen, but in the workplace as well.
