Activist Project: Women's Rights

In John Berger’s novel, Ways of Seeing, he writes “…owners were usually men and the persons treated as objects were women, this unequal relationship is so deeply embedded in our culture that it still structures the consciousness of many women” (Berger). Because this idea of inequality between men and women has been around for so long, it is something that is very hard to get rid of. As human beings, we contribute to our society and our culture; and we must work towards the abolishment of the idea of inequality.

Justice for Girls in an active organization that works to prevent the issue that is often brought up in Berger’s Ways of Seeing: objectification of women and inequality. This organization promotes freedom from violence, social justice and equality for teenage girls living in poverty.

Since the age of 5, I have been periodically involved with the YMCA – both as a participant and a leader in their programs—and as an extension of the YMCA, the YWCA. The YWCA works in local communities providing activities and support groups for young women. This organization has worked with over 25 million women in 22,000 communities (Brennan). While in high school, I was involved in a program run by the YMCA. The goal of this program was to bring about equal rights for women all over the world. This is an issue that women have faced for many, many years. Although women are given equal rights under the law in Canada, there are still inequalities that take place in our nation between men and women; as well as in many other parts of the world. As a woman, I feel it is my duty to stand up for women’s rights, and to help create a world of equality.



Works Cited
Berger, John. Ways of Seeing. British Broadcasting Corporation and Penguion Books, 1972.
Brennan, Susan. Women Leading Change. 2009. 12 November 2009 .

Culture JAMMING

The term culture jamming refers to “billboard alteration and other forms of media sabotage” (Culture Jamming). The producers of these “culture jams” transform the original medium to produce an ironic or satirical effect (Wikipedia: Culture Jamming).

The above image has been altered to create a play on words. The image states “Years in the fashion industry made me a salve to my ill figure.” The words “Tommy Hilfiger” have been changed and made to say “to my ill figure”. The reason for this is because the fashion industry as a whole sends out the message that the “ideal” woman should be over 5’9” and have a 22” waist. They must be unreasonably thin—to the point where it could be detrimental to their health—to be beautiful. Although this is not ideal and is completely unrealistic, women in many parts of the world strive to acquire this “beauty”. This specific example of culture jamming makes us stop and think about what the fashion industry along with the media are doing to women; how it is harming them.

Throughout Scott McCloud’s book, Understanding Comics, specifically in chapter five, he uses cartoon images to make emotions visible. Chapter five begins on page 118, and starts off by asking “can emotions be made visible?” (McCloud). Stop and think about this question for a moment… Can emotions be made visible? I believe that they can. On page 121 of Understanding Comics, McCloud goes on to say that “The idea that a picture can evoke an emotional or sensual response in the viewer is vital…” (McCloud). To me, this image supports that idea. Although the girl in the image appears to be free from any emotion, the image as a whole evokes a lot of emotion in its viewers. It represents the pressure on girls and women to conform, to look a certain way, and to fit in.

Works Cited
Culture Jamming. 10 November 2009 .
McCloud, Scott. Understanding Comics. New York: Harper Collins Publishers Inc., 1993.
Wikipedia: Culture Jamming. November 2009. 12 November 2009 .

Net Neutrality: Don't take our freedom away!

Net neutrality refers to “non-discriminatory treatment of traffic” (Save Our Net.ca). In other words, this means that all information accessed on the web is treated equally. It is all delivered as quickly as possible by the company who has published/ posted the information. Because of net neutrality, internet users are able to use any content, application or service on the web without interference from the provider. The job of the network provider is simply to move the information; not to choose how efficiently the data is transferred based on its content (Save Our Net.ca).

Debates regarding net neutrality are taking place on an ongoing basis. Internet Service Providers feel that network usage should be monitored and controlled. They feel that certain information and sites on the web should be accessed at a higher speed than others. ISP’s wish to have control over user activity, however, after having so much freedom on the web, would this really work for users? Some may think so. Some may feel that more “useful” sites will run more efficiently, whereas “useless” sites will not be as efficient. Maybe they feel that this will increase productivity. It is my belief that net neutrality is something to be valued, as it gives users the freedom to access any information at a standard pace.

Lawrence Lessig, in his book entitled Free Culture, says “Through legislation, litigation and changes to the network’s design, copyright holders have been able to change the essential character of the environment of the original internet. The architecture and law that surround the internet’s design will increasingly produce an environment where all use of content requires permission... this is a creator’s nightmare” (Lessig , 277). This quotation describes the future of the internet without net neutrality. Without network neutrality , the internet will become a place of constant restriction, rather than freedom.



Works Cited
Lessig, Lawrence. Free Culture. New York: Penguin Books, 2004.
Save Our Net.ca. 5 November 2009 .

Media Hegemonies: Who Owns What?

Hearst Corporation is a very prominent media corporation and is located in one of the busiest cities in the world, New York City. This corporation is very diverse with interests such as newspaper and magazine publishing, business publishing, television and radio broadcasting, cable networks and internet business.

Hearst owns over 15 newspapers that are delivered to people all over the United States on a daily basis. This company owns close to 20 US magazines and creates nearly 200 international editions of these magazines (Hearst Corporation). Some magazine titles include Cosmopolitan, CosmoGIRL, Esquire, Harper’s Bazaar and O, The Oprah Magazine. Their broadcasting sector includes 29 television stations in different states across the country, and two radio stations. Some of their major television channels include ESPN, A&E, Lifetime and Cosmopolitan TV (Columbia Journalism Review). This corporation also owns Sirius/XM radio. Their business media ownerships include 20 business-to-business information services and electronic databases (Hearst Corporation).

There are a number of implications that can arise out of cross media ownership. One of these implications is that a number of the company’s sectors could publish/air the same information in order shine a positive light on the company. Because the information is coming from just one source, the information is likely bias. Although this may contribute to the success of the company, this can make for inaccurate news. This issue is touched on in Toxic Sludge is Good for You. On page 89 of the book there is a quotation stating “he can make a strategically planned program look like a spontaneous explosion of community support” (Stauber and Rampton). This is what media corporations do by putting a news story/advertisement/PR segment in one of their publications or on one of their broadcast station. They then continue to support the story using their other media ownerships. They create a hegemony: an influence or control over a group of people.

Works Cited
Columbia Journalism Review. 25 October 2008. 2 November 2009 .
Hearst Corporation. 2009. 5 November 2009 .
Stauber, John and Sheldon Rampton. Toxic Sludge is Good for You. Monroe: Common Courage Press, 1995.

Fake News: Designed to alter perception and reshape reality.

In the book Toxic Sludge is Good for You, Stauber and Rampton discuss propaganda and its implications on news and the media. “Journalism is in fact in demise, and its collapse is opening ever more opportunities for PR practitioners to increase their influence in the news room” (Stauber and Rampton). This quotation suggests that the news delivered in the media today is less factual, and more about advertising and propaganda.

“PR has become a communications medium in its own right, an industry designed to alter perception, reshape reality and manufacture consent” (Stauber and Rampton). This definition of “public relations”, taken from page two of Toxic Sludge is Good for You, relates very closely to the definition of “propaganda”. “Propaganda” is information, ideas or rumors deliberately spread widely to influence one’s perceptions.

Public relations practitioners work to make the individuals or corporations that they represent look good. Therefore, the information that they provide often stretches the truth. Because of this, we come into contact with propaganda. Propaganda “presents facts selectively” to bring about a desired reaction. Technically they are not “lying”, however, they are “lying by omission” (Yahoo Answers). This results in individuals who all believe the same thing because of what PR professionals are telling them. We no longer form our own opinions about the “news” we are reading. We are persuaded into believing what these public relations workers want us to believe. If PR continues to take over true journalism, we will no longer have factual news, but media full of propaganda.



Works Cited
Stauber, John and Sheldon Rampton. Toxic Sludge is Good for You. Monroe: Common Courage Press, 1995.
Yahoo Answers. 2009. October 2009 .

Buy Nothing Day – a day in which people around the world work to create awareness about over consumption—has been taking place for almost as long as my fellow classmates and I have been alive. This day takes place on November 25th and includes events such as free, non-commercial street fests, relaxed family outings where no money is spent, credit card cut-ups and public protests.

One may ask “what is Buy Nothing Day all about?” This year (2009), Buy Nothing Day will confront the economic crisis we are in. The recession that we are currently in has caused financial meltdown for many; so again, what is this all about? "If you dig a little past the surface you'll see that this financial meltdown is not about liquidity, toxic derivatives or unregulated markets, it's really about culture," says the co-founder of Adbusters Media Foundation, Kalle Lasn. "It's our culture of excess and meaningless consumption — the glorified spending and borrowing of the past decade that's at the root of the crisis we now find ourselves in” (Buy Nothing Day Confronts the Economic Meltdown). This quotation makes a valid point in saying that this economic crisis that we are in is a result of our culture. A culture of over consumption. One where credit cards and borrowing create purchasing power. Because borrowing and over consumption are so prominent in our culture, many individuals, families and large corporations are in debt; causing a recession. By taking part in this day, we will become more aware of over consumption and hopefully work towards putting an end to it.

An example of the “excess and meaningless consumption” that Kalle Lasn is speaking about the in the previous quotation is television. In Understanding Comics, McCloud says “Television has reached into the lives of every human being on earth” (McCloud , 59). This statement shows just one example of over consumption. Ask yourself “Do I really need television?” When you really think about this question, you will come to realize that there really is no need for television. It is just one of the many things that we as humans spend more and more money on. News that we see on TV can be read about in the newspaper; the same goes for advertisements (which for the most part are contributing to over consumption anyways). Perhaps you feel that you need television as a form of entertainment; however, why not entertain yourselves in other ways? Ways that don’t cost money; like spending time with family and friends. Let’s remember what is truly significant in our lives, like our family, and put more of our time and effort into spending time with them, rather than spending money on useless, materialistic objects.

Works Cited
Buy Nothing Day Confronts the Economic Meltdown. 2009. Obtober 2009 .
McCloud, Scott. Understanding Comics. New York: Harper Collins Publishers Inc. , 1993.

Participatory Culture: FACEBOOK

“Human beings live in two different kinds of environments. One is the natural environment and consists of things like air, trees, rivers, and caterpillars. The other is the media environment, which consists of language, numbers, images, holograms, and all of the other symbols, techniques, and machinery that make us what we are” (Postman).

Social Networking, including websites such as “Facebook”, “My Space” and “Twitter”, are all a part of the “media environment” referred to by Neil Postman. These sites are all designed to bring together people who wish to share aspects of their personal lives, make new friends and find old ones, discuss issues, etcetera.

Although Facebook is considered a “social network” I feel that it is more than just that. It allows one to access games, blogs, knowledge communities and many more features; therefore I think that Facebook fits into many categories of “participatory culture”.

“Facebook's mission is to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected. Millions of people use Facebook everyday to keep up with friends, upload an unlimited number of photos, share links and video, and learn more about the people they meet (Facebook)”

The above description pretty much sums up my usage of social networking. My purpose in using Facebook is to become more connected with those around me. It allows me to keep up with both old friends and new ones; I can view their photos, as well as share my own with them. I can see what they are doing on a daily basis through their “statuses”. I can share my ideas and opinions with them through “notes” and “blogs” and I can learn more about them through their personal profiles.

What will they come up with next?!



Works Cited
Facebook. February 2004. 10 October 2009 .
Postman, Neil. The Humanism of Media Ecology. June 2000. 7 October 2009 .

Theory: Epistemology

“Understood quite broadly, epistemology is about the creation and dissemination of knowledge in particular areas of inquiry” (De Rose).

Epistemology studies how we know what we know. Where does this knowledge come from? Does it come from our families and our upbringings? From our peers? From the courses we take? Or does it come from trips and visiting foreign places?

I believe that it comes from all of these places. I believe that our knowledge is shaped by our experiences; from everything going on around us.

I feel that a lot of my knowledge is gained through the media. Media is something that most, if not all, of us come into contact with on a daily basis. Media has had an effect on my knowledge in many ways; two of them being books and television.

Books and novels are media that have definitely had an impact on my knowledge. From the time I was four years old and learned to read, books have been broadening the horizons of my knowledge. “Come and Have Fun”, the first book I ever read, taught me to maintain a balance between play and responsibilities. The “Harry Potter” books made my imagination run wild, and at the same time, taught me about the importance of family, friends and education. There were all of the books in high school English classes that forced me to read the book and relate its contents to other concepts and put my ideas into writing.

The next medium that has influenced my knowledge is television. There are many forms of television that have influenced my learning. One type is reality television. Reality television has taught me ways of life; the ways I do not want to live my life, and the ways that I do want to live my life. I do not want to grow up to be a spoiled rotten “Kristin Cavallari”, but I would like to grow up to become someone like “Lauren Conrad”. Lauren is living her dream, with a career she loves, and a lifestyle she enjoys. The next type of television that has affected my knowledge is News television. The News allows me to see other parts of the globe and what is going on in these places. It informs me of current issues that could have an effect on my life.


Works Cited
De Rose, Keith. Standford Encyclopedia of Psychology: Epistemology. 14 December 2005. 7 October 2009 .

Decoding Advertising

Over the course of a lifetime one will come across many, many advertisements. The purpose of advertising is to promote or sell one’s company, products or message. By coming up with creative and intriguing ideas and putting them into the form of advertising, companies work to gain prospective customers. Once they have these customers hooked, their work is not only for the purpose of gaining more customers but also to keep their current customers loyal.

When looking through a number of advertisements I began to think about denotation and connotation; denotation is what we see, and connotation is the way we see it. Connotation is affected by our personal beliefs and experiences and our cultural values.
The advertisement that I chose to focus on is an advertisement created to promote cigarette sales.

WHAT is seen in this advertisement is a woman smoking a cigarette and some text; that is the denotation of this ad.

HOW I view this advertisement is based on my own upbringings and values. Because both my parents smoke, it is in my nature to hate smoking. I see the addiction that they have for this nasty habit, and it makes me despise smoking and cigarettes. I see this advertisement working to promote cigarette sales and even further than that, it works to promote smoking. In this picture, the smoking woman appears to be happy, implying that smoking is a good thing that makes people happy. This advertisement, although it is so far from the truth, is successful. It works to appeal to the senses of its viewers. “The coolness, the true mildness, the ripe, delicate taste and fragrance…” (Neatorama: smoking ad). This almost sounds as though this advertisement was trying to sell some type of fruit or dessert. In fact, we know that cigarettes are harmful to those smoking as well as everyone around them. Cigarettes do not have a “delicate taste and fragrance”, they have an awful taste and scent that leaves everything in sight smelling just as bad (Neatorama: smoking ad).


Works Cited
Neatorama: smoking ad. 6 October 2009 .
Reilly, Ian. Semiotics! 6 October 2009. 6 October 2009 .

Mass Media

The Oxford Dictionary defines the term “mass media” as “the main means of mass communication, such as television, radio, and newspapers, considered collectively” (Oxford English Dictionary). What is your definition of this term that many often refer to but never really think about?

The definition of the term “mass media” that I like to refer to is “The vehicles such as radio, television, newspapers and internet which deliver news and information to a wide audience” (Reilly). However, this definition is very limited in terms of the technology and media that we use.

The mass media used to be comprised of only eight industries: newspapers, books, magazines, recordings, radio, television, movies and internet. As technology continues to advance, this definition no longer remains so clear cut (Lane). Do you feel that technology and media such as cellular phones should be included in mass media? How about video games such as Xbox 360, that allow us to connect with other gamers around the globe?

In my opinion all of these new developments should be considered part of mass media as they allow for mass communication. An individual with a cell phone has the ability to place a call to almost anywhere in the world, allowing them to deliver news to the citizens of that area. Although the conversation is between only two or three people, this news can then be spread even further through the other elements of the mass media such as television, radio and internet.

Video games do not only allow their players to connect and play against others, but they also share a common message which is the same for every person who plays the game. Everyone who plays Halo will be taken through the same steps and have the same messages and ideas delivered to them; which can be said of any video game.

So you tell me… should these technological devices be considered a part of the mass media?

Media Ecology: The Television

"Television is teaching all the time. It does more educating than the schools and all the institutions of higher learning."--Marshal McLuhan (DeBoer).

The above quotation shows Marshal McLuhan’s belief that television is a form of media that is constantly educating children as well as adults. He believes that we learn more from television than we ever will in any form of schooling. This is a statement that I agree with. Whether we’re watching educational programs on stations such as Discovery Channel, the News which informs us of events taking place in surrounding areas, or reality TV, it is all educational in some form or another.

Programs aired on channels like discovery, show us other areas of the world, and teach us about all the different species, and different ways of life.
The news informs us of the daily happenings. It opens our eyes to the things taking place in our towns, cities, countries and our world.

Although we may not view reality TV as educational, we all learn something from it and it has an impact on our culture. Some may see these people acting out on TV as rude and obnoxious and these viewers learn that this is not the way they wish to live their lives. Others may view these people as ideal, and follow in their ways of living. Either way this has an impact on society and our culture.

Television has also impacted our culture in the sense that it forces us not only to rely on our ears and our hearing, but also on our eyes and our vision. As Marshal McLuhan would say, the television is an extension of the human eyes and ears. It allows us to see and hear the occurrences taking place in other parts of the world (The Playboy Interview: Marshal McLuhan).

Another way that television has affected our culture is by creating a sort of global village. Because of television, internet, the telephone, etcetera, people in all areas of the world are able to connect and communicate with one another. Television is a medium that has caused time and space to collapse in the sense that we can deliver a message, information, pictures and videos from one side of the world to the other in mere seconds. These messages and viewings of other lifestyles around the world affect our culture and the way we live (The Playboy Interview: Marshal McLuhan).

Works Cited
DeBoer, Ron. Ontario Media Literacy. September 2009. 4 October 2009 http://www.angelfire.com/ms/MediaLiteracy/index.html.

The Playboy Interview: Marshal McLuhan. March 1969. 4 October 2009 http://heim.ifi.uio.no/~gisle/links/mcluhan/pb.html.

Step 1: The Setup

All in all, setting up my blog was not overly difficult. The typical user name, password, and email entries. Next I was given the option of 9 different layouts, and told to choose one. "Dots" simple and a bit of colour. Seemed like something I would pick. The choice of font size and colour was not hard at all, considering we all have our favourite fonts that we use all the time. Mine's Georgia; and purple was obviously the colour to choose... dark enough to read, and my favourite colour since I was 3 years old. Finally I was asked to come up with a title that would be the heading of my blog. The first thing everyone sees. BIG BOLD letters right at the top of my page. What would I call my blog? This is the question that stopped me in my tracks. It would have to be creative, yet something that others would come to understand. After contemplating this question for what seemed like hours, it came to me. HALF OF MY GRADE!?

HALF OF MY GRADE?! The thought that immediately came to mind when faced with this assignment worth 50% of my grade in this essential course.

One of John Berger's many theories states that what we perceive, and the way our perceptions are formed, is always a function of our past experience (Berger).

In my past experience, tests and assignments have been worth a maximum of 20% of my final grade. Therefore, when faced with an assignment worth 50% of my grade in this course, I was shocked. This is where I noticed the big difference between high school and university. In high school students are asked to complete many small day to day assignments, group activities, quizzes, tests and essays; all worth a small portion of the students’ grade. In university, students are given a couple assignments, an essay and an exam or two. These few things are what make up the students’ final grade in the course. Because there are so few things assigned for marks in each course, everything assigned is heavily weighted (like these blogs worth 50% of our final grade.)

As time goes on, and I become more accustomed to this type of marking, I’m sure my perceptions will change and I will get used to the fact that a single assignment can be worth such a large portion of my grade.

For now, this idea remains shocking to me, as I'm sure it is to many others as well.





Works Cited

Berger, John. Ways of Seeing. London: British Broadcasting Corporation and Penguin Group, 1972.