Module 4
After having taken Intercultural Communication at Channel Islands University a year ago, I was not entirely unfamiliar with the concept and definition of culture upon viewing this week’s videos by Terry Dugan. In the first short clip listed in this week’s module, Impact of Media on Culture- What is Culture, Part 1, Dugan defines culture as “a learned behavior by individuals of a given group.” (Dugan, 2010.) In other words, individuals absorb information about the world around them and how they must process information accordingly from other members of their nuclear or immediate family members along with any other persons who make up a specific group that they may fall into. However, I had not thought to apply the lessons that I had learned in that course to media literacy until now. Were you familiar with these concepts prior to taking our summer course? How did your views change after watching these short clips?
One such way in which media influences culture, and vice versa, is through the use of mass communication. Duncan asserts that we have been participating in mass communication as a society since the rise in popularity of the radio. It is through shared experiences that we start to form the foundation of our common culture. In the second clip of his series, titled Module 2, Part 2, developing a Common Culture, Duncan asks us the question “are we better off with a common culture based on mass media?” (Dungan, 2010). What do you think? I would argue that yes, we are better off with a common culture based in mass media.
After reading chapters 6 and 8 of Connecting Social Problems and Popular Culture, I believe that Karen Sternheimer would agree. Despite the fact that the media does have a direct impact on our social structure, Sternheimer provides evidence against the popular notion that modern media is promoting sexual promiscuity, especially in teens. In fact, “according to the CDC’s YRBSS study: the rate of high school students who have ever had sexual intercourse declined from 54 percent in 1991 to 47 percent in 2011.” (Sternheimer, 2013, pg. 150). In line with Sternheimer (2013) I argue that the media’s influence on our common culture has been significant, because it makes light of certain issues that are ingrained within our culture, yet those issues have and do still exist outside of the media. For example, in Chapter 6: Connecting Social Problems and Popular Culture, Sternheimer argues that “the media did not initiate women’s objectification, but we see it most clearly there.” (Sternheimer, 2013, pg. 160). What she means is that the media, in some ways, do reflect the uglier realities of an already formed society and further reinforces these popular notions.
Sternheimer further illustrates this notion of media merely influencing culture rather than causing the negative societal viewpoints in Chapter 8: Media Health Hazards? She poses the question, “do media images contribute to a sense of body dissatisfaction?” (Sternheimer, 2013, pg. 210). Prior to reading this chapter, I would have answered yes to this question. All of the news outlets use fear to make us believe that an increase in information has created the new phenomenon of body image issues. Every day we are exposed to various advertisements whose implicit messages tell us that our bodies are not good enough, thin enough, and pretty enough without their product. Yet, Sternheimer asserts that “contributing is not the same as causing the problem in the first place, as those who are troubled about their bodies are likely to seek out information on weight loss and unfavorable comparisons that justify their negative sense of self.” (Sternheimer, 2013, pg. 210). What she is trying to say is that individuals who already suffer these feelings will actively seek out media that reinforces their negative images.
This theory of media contribution over media causation correlates with Dugan’s commentary about The 8 Elements of Communication. What I am trying to say, is that there are several layers to communication, therefore, it is not as easy as we would presume it to be to internalize negative media messages. Dugan explains that the 8 elements of communication are made up of: a sender, a process of encoding, a message, a channel, a channel, a process of decoding, a receiver, feedback, and the chance of noise. (Dugan, 2010). In this case, the sender, the person or medium originally giving the message, would be the mass media.
This also parallels Dr. Christina Pabers’ teachings about yin and yang. For every layer of yin, there is also a layer of yang. Our society hangs in a complex balance and it is not so simple to take in one media message without feeling the effects of another. I am trying to say that we cannot view a very yang advertisement without experiencing the effects of yin. This helps to balance us out so that we can maintain our mental and physical health. Everything has layers to it. There is not one thing that is able to cause a culture to behave the way that they do. Rather, many layers of complex thoughts, images, and messages.
