Module 2 Readings
This weeks module was very eye opening for me. For starters, I don’t watch a lot of television or spend a lot of time keeping tabs on what is going on in the media so once it was assigned in this module it blew my mind. It was sickening to see the numbers/data presented in front of my own two eyes.
The reading that stood out to me the most, was “Struggling With Stereotypes”. This stood out to me the most because it did not start by saying “STOP MAKING STEREOTYPES!”, because this is unrealistic. Instead, it made the point that generalizations and stereotypes are a part of our society, and the world we live in. Stereotypes are broken into three different categories, which are generalizations, labels and depictions. It started by saying that not all generalizations are negative, and that some are needed. For example, if the generalization is evidence based then it is good. However, the issue with generalizations and stereotypes in the media that that it serves as “a circular source for generalizations about diversity”. Which means that a particular piece of media can contribute or cause a stereotype about a group, even if that particular piece of media isn’t stereotyping. This stood out to me, because this happens all the time in the media(particularly the news), however the media outlet always plays victim. The article went on to say that the issue isn’t if the media is stereotypers, but if they are contributing to the stereotype. To tie this back to students, and the young children the article made the important point that it is unrealistic to teach you students to not stereotype. However, instead we should be teaching them the difference between accurate/useful generalizations and negative/hurtful ones.
Another part of the reading that stood out to me, was “Out of the Mainstream: Sexual Minorities &Mass Media”. This article stood out to me, because I found it to be highly accurate. For starters the article pointed out that the media plays a crucial role in enculturation and in the process of social definition, which is rarely a positive one. The main issue with this is that the media uses stereotypes as a “code”, that they know their audience will understand. This is a huge issue because this causes the circle of stereotypes to continue. Another point this article made, that I had never considered before was that that media decides the norm because most people now a days receive their information from television, and it’s “fictional reality”. This gives the media, (or whoever is releasing the information) to determine “where the center will fall”. Meaning, that whoever is the source of the information determines that their information is accurate and others are the extremes.
Lastly, Karen Sternheimer’s Chapter Three was by far the most intriguing and interesting read we’ve had so far. The chapter titled, “Does Social Networking Kill?” shines a fresh light on what others believe to be true about the new fad of social networking/media. Social media/networking has taken over, in terms of how people communicate. Most people that grew up in a different generation, where technology wasn’t as advanced and social networking was nonexistent, have a negative connotation about what social media has become. Most people assume that with this new outlet, and “this ability to invade each others privacy” the suicide rates have skyrocketed. However, Sternheimer puts this thought to rest. She claims that their is no factual evidence to support this claim, and that in fact suicide rates have gone down. However, she does make it clear that “new media takes a school yard taunt and gives it a new meaning when electronically”. She states that, “spoken words may fade into the past eventually, but electronic messages never die”. This statement stood out to me, because although she is saying that social networking does not kill, it still hurts a lot more than prior to the technology. Overall, she makes the point that there is no factual bases to the claims that suicide rates have risen, and that the only thing that has changed is our heightened level of care taking.
