Are we trained by the media?
Mostly where I wanted to go in this topic is the general idea that both women and men are given a role in the media that trains us to think of ourselves a specific way.
Of course I know a lot of social media has been screaming about women being sexualized and "Feminists" have been parading around and shoving information in everyone's faces. But is the opposite true for men as well?
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I know that not every piece of media is going to fit into the general idea of the majority, but I would have to agree that there is a 'stereotype' that is placed with both males and females.
For the most part in media, women are sexualized in advertisements and are pushed as something that you would want to obtain.
For men there is a lot of things that force the idea of traits and items that make you masculine.
Now the part I've been wanting to see peoples opinions on is this:
For women, generally there is an attack on men for the reason as to why they are sexualized. Women are taught by media to be objects that submit to a man and that simply by being sexy it's their fault if a man can't help themselves. I have personally experienced men randomly coming up to me and asking my age to check if I was legal enough for whatever idea they had in their head. Not to mention disgusting cat calls in parking lots.
For men there is a heightened bar for masculinity. You have to man up, you can't show your emotions, can't be all homo with your bothers. Rather than being trained as an object by the media men are showcased as having the power. However if you are a man and you don't feel on level with these traits you're persecuted for not being a man or recently they just shove insults down.
What do you think about these things? Agree- disagree? Extra information or thoughts?
Other little tidbits and thoughts
The phrase "Man up" and "Grown a Pair"
Very common phrases that are exclusive to men. Of course I've used them before but what I'm trying to point out is that there is now equivalent for women. These phrases instill the idea that stepping up to the plate, being responsible, being fearless and taking initiative are unique masculine traits. Things that women cannot posses.
I come from the sound and to be honest, half of my family is the essence of what a man is within the media. I know a lot of people who can't believe that there are men out there that are really like that because they've never been exposed- and I've lived with them my whole life. I have a brother whose arms are decorated with skulls because it's "Badass" There's a ford pickup truck parked outside and I promise you he has never used it to move a damn thing yet. He wants to drink beer all day and watch tv as an occupation. Shamefully, I have another that did something absolutely vile. He had the audacity to ask my other brother to tell his girlfriend to bend over and shake her ass for him. We were livid. I could put down a few more things but I'll leave that as that.
Tried to keep this a little short to leave room for thought.
Well of course, pre-internet a lot of media is geared towards the general society, and general society still believes, in a way, that the man should step up to the plate and be responsible, fearless, tough, etcetera. The older fellows of this generation were practically raised on those ideals, but I don't see it so much in youth. Media is now primarily internet-based, where individuals can gain success without catering to a generalised audience, so you don't get those ideals shoved in your face all the time anymore.
I think it may be more society influencing media than anything, perhaps.
Oh yeah I do agree. The issue is that we all interact with like-minded people on the internet often who either dismiss it as dumb or whatever. The issue is that the real world is not so clear-cut. so media will always have an effect on people's perceptions, because not everyone really socially interacts with strangers on the internet (outside of basic networking) like we do.
I definitely agree. The concept of today's journalism stems back to "yellow journalism" of the American Gilded Age right after Reconstruction. The concept basically is that instead of exhibiting worthwhile news, the media displays news stories that attract attention and elicit response from the audiences. Yellow journalism has traversed into all types of media such as websites like Buzzfeed to local news channels to showcase 'surprising' news with shocking titles and to influence society's thought processes.
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