Module 4 Reflections
Module 4 has made me focus on values and how values are represented and co-constructed throughout society. Module 4’s readings and videos have helped facilitate more awareness of values placed on me and society and how my own beliefs either contradict or coincide with societal values. Sternheimer (2013), argues that while media and pop-culture values tend to promote violence and teen promiscuity, that those values do not accurately depict trends in violence or sexuality in teens. We often take media representation as fact and choose not to look deeper and to me, it makes a lot of sense. Media create mediated realities, as learned in Module 3, so therefore, the realities we interact with everyday in the form of TV, news, movies, and online media are depicting a world that people are taking at face value. Furthermore, those with low media literacy skills are co-constructing their realities based off what media is portraying. These ideas are a bases of learning for me in this module and will connect to culture, values, and health while relating to media and pop culture.
While popular culture and media may be portraying teens and young adults as being more sexual as ever, the statistics for underage pregnancy’s and STD’s just do not match that fear (Sternheimer, 2013). However, I argue that there is still a cause for concern. Tomi-Ann Roberts (2011), proves that idealized femininity and sexualization standards are being passed on to younger and younger girls. With clothing lines target at young children that match what some 20 year olds are wearing it is easy to see how these values are being placed on children as young as age three. The cause for concern here is, how is this impacting the mental and physical health of the youth in America? In my student facilitated media critique I presented the class with ads targeting women that reveal values society has placed on femininity. Since culture is a combination of learned behaviors, values, beliefs, norms, and lifestyles created and maintained through shared experiences (Dugan, 2010), what do our beauty standards and expectations of women say about how society values women? To be a valued member of society must women look, act, and be a certain way? What happens to the women who chose to go against the grain and not live up to those standards? How does media depict those women? I believe that these questions, if thought about when experiencing media, can help facilitate media education and literacy.
Much like the changing perceptions of beauty over decades, ideas of premarital sex has also changed. It is not that teen sex never occurred before, it was kept secret and hushed, now media and society talks about it more freely and has more access to information and birth-control (Sternheimer, 2013). Much like the topic of media influenced violence, media influenced sex is not as powerful as people think it is. Teenagers have not gotten more sexually active however, something that has changed is our acknowledgements and media coverage of premarital sexual behavior (Sternheimer, 2013).
When talking about standards, and thinking about those questions, it is obvious how culture effects our answers. Culture has the power to liberate and limit us, divide, define, and unite us (Dugan, 2010), and I argue that with stronger media literacy skills one can cross divides easier and more effectivly. What I mean by that is I believe that media education has the power to break down barriers that not only culture puts up but that media and society has created. Watching the video series “The Story of Stuff”, by Anne Leonard, reminded me that with education and awareness, reform can take place. I’d like my classmates to respond by telling me how much more they have thought about the products that they used daily, be it cosmetics or electronics, since watching those videos. This video helps teach media education by taking down the limits and divides put up by media. Media literacy is a tool that can be learned and used to create healthier environments and lifestyles. Christina’s lecture opened my eyes to how societal values effect my own physical and mental health. It is an important topic because it can allow for healthier decision making and less unnecessary consumption. Anne Leonard talked about the life cycle of products and the consumption economy that has been created to control consumptive patterns. This connects largely with what Christina spoke about when explaining the need to create balance. Products are cheap and easy to buy and create a short-term instant balance and therefore keep us in a never ending loop of extremes and consumption.
Media has a huge influence on culture and life-styles in America, and I believe that cannot be denied. However, it cannot be blamed for every bad instance such as violence and teen promiscuity. The attributes it does have negative impacts on though, is personal health. While we can finally blame media for something the focus is still in the wrong area. Researchers and studies tend to focus on how much time children spend watching TV or participating in leisurely activities and not on actual nutrition (Sternheimer, 2013). To me this should be a no-brainer. Media and advertisers constantly market low-nutrient foods packed with sugar and artificial ingredients that contribute to weight gain (Sternheimer, 2013). Once again the focus is shifted from the tangible causes for problems in society. Instead of shaming the makers of terrible food, parents and care givers get guilted by poorly done studies that attribute poor health to home life activities and not the makers of bad food. I could not help but to connect these media issues to Christina’s lecture on health and balance. There are so many forces in the world pushing and pulling us to consume as much as possible. This is why I argue that media literacy is so important. Power must be taken back from media on an individual level to lead healthier more fulfilling lives.
