Module 4

Once again I find myself questioning the world because of knowledge base I have gained thus far from this course. Yet, these questions I ask do not follow media negatively, but rather positively in terms behavioral change. I figure if corporate anomalies can have so much influence on the world through their outlets, why than can’t positive influential media dominate the norm. Sadly, I know that the focus of our humanity is construed into an illusion. Which makes me see media is a great source of power that can be used to promote more awareness. Yet, I feel a person must be educated to fully comprehend what they see. Education itself provides critical reasoning skills that allow an individual to accept or reject ideas. Wouldn’t it be great to understand media in terms of judgement based on logic rather than depend on quick decision making skills which are not always correct? With that said our world is not the minority who see through illusion. Our world is the majority who follow a managed market that utilizes its sources to define an individual’s behavior. Such behaviors can be noted in Karen Sternheimers book on sexuality and body dissatisfaction.

I now want to discuss Sternheimer’s book because I feel both chapters allowed further insight into media in terms understanding how stupid our world really is when we perceive media that has the potential to be perceived more positively than negatively. Let me begin with Sternheimer’s chapter titled, “Pop culture Promiscuity Sexualized images and Reality”. I felt that this chapter set me straight on my on perception of how media portrays sexual content. Before I believed sexual content provoked behavioral changes within adolescents to cause early pregnancies, when in fact it was the not case. I was just like everyone else blaming sex on media platforms as if it were a cause and effect to dire situations. After all my idea of sex through the media was based on the belief that it sold. Which it does, as Sternheimer states, “blame market forces. Sex has become another product of contemporary society, circulating more rapidly and difficult to control and regulate because highly sexualized images attract attention and profit.” (143) Although, Sternheimer’s outlook on sexual media follows my own thought process this was indeed an idea that was falsie. Sure sex can buy you out, but it was the lack of knowledge through educational systems, parental rearing of children, and even laws that contributed to behavioral change. It was not the media itself, but rather the mentors of the new generation. After all sex comes naturally to all of us, it is a survival mechanism for god sake. Why than should we shame kids into not doing so or being curious, let alone ignore those who do not follow the trend of getting pregnant to early. Yet, as I stated before it all has to do with how one is raised during their development. Sternheimer states, “Family monitoring, support and communication are also important predictors of teens likely to hold off on having sex.” (151) With that said shouldn’t the focus be on educating parents who are not educated to avoid situations such as these? Similarly, what of consensual laws that allow adult men to easily have sex with adolescents. We shouldn’t blame kids for doing what comes naturally. After all there is no study out there that states that sexual content in pop culture is to blame. In contrast, spoof studies such as those in Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) seek to provide an understanding to such a phenomena with correlational data, but this data misguides adult parents into believing adolescent behavior is caused by media. When in fact their data only reviews negative rather than positive. Thus, instead of blaming pop culture and kids we should focus on ADULT education and changing their behavioral patterns to adjust to making media more positive than negative in terms of sexual content. In contrast, consider media negatively in terms of body dissatisfaction between those who are skinny and obese. Could this create behavioral changes that are seen as issues within our current and new generation?

Sterneimer’s chapter titled, “Media health Hazards? Beauty Image, Obesity, And Eating disorders” approaches media in a none bias way in accordance to how beauty is defined. I first want to approach obesity because it is a growing epidemic and it was something I enjoyed reading in my clinical course at CI. Again, pop culture is to blame when we perceive obesity. Either it may be from children eating high fat foods or not engaging in physical activity or viewing products that allow this behavior. Yet what if there was more to obesity? There is no doubt that studies have shown an increase in obesity within industrialized cultures, but many factors contribute to this increase. As said by Sterneimer, “This doesn’t mean that watching television for long periods of time with a lot of snacking and little exercise is aa good idea, just that the cause of obesity are more complex than media use”. (201) Consider socioeconomic backgrounds or even ethnicities that contribute to obesity. For god sake I grew up seeing this. Consider a Latino family in East Los Angeles with a house hold of 7. Both parents are workers and contribute, but are below the standard norm and are considered poor. Wouldn’t it than be hard to feed a family of 7? Would the family not gravitate towards fast food? These are the common issues that belittle our health. Not media as a whole. I will say that media contributes, but is not the determining factor to this issue. Again, it is the education behind allowing individuals to understand their consequential choices towards their health. However, I would like to think that there are individuals out in the world who understand, but are pitted to follow these norms for survival purposes. I also understand that health care is not equal, nor does it seek to embrace those who are troubled. It is all a business in my eyes. If we cannot trust business such as these how than can our society become healthier? I feel media and communities thus play a strong role in changing behavioral patterns. As Sterneimer states, “real change comes from partnering with communities and recognizing the realities of their circumstances in order to create opportunities for leading healthier lifestyles.” (214) I feel that this is the challenge that lay before our society. The first step comes with coming together equally and recognizing the issue at hand. Fully understanding what can be done to end problems such as these. I feel it is a problem structurally that is having a top down effect on the lower parts of society. Which is creating this influx of negative outcomes that are hidden with the use of media. Yet, I would like to think of the structure as if it were human analogy. This human is strong in nature, it has many cells, but each cell is divided in some way. Causing an imbalance within its structure. Therefore, if there is balance than there is unity.