Gender Bias

This week in class we read an article about men and women roles on television. To refute my posting last week, women do seem to play a role on television of less importance. I can see how their roles portray them as less important or less capable. Even in the shows I mentioned last week, Desperate Housewives and Grey's Anatomy, the women play dominate roles but their problems seem small compared to the men. A male doctor is the cardiovascular surgeon and said to be the best doctor in the hospital.

This raises the controversial issue of women being better or worse at high authoritative jobs. After reading a study conducted in Reader's Digest, there are pros and cons to this situation. They placed headphones on a male and a female. In each headphone, two separate stories were played and they were asked after to recall what was said. The woman tried to grab bits and pieces from each ear. However, the male ruled out one side and focuses intently on the other side and his story was much more detailed than the woman’s story. So, this concludes that women can better multitask but men can get a single job done better. Interesting how a mom could wash the dishes and hear the kids in the living room playing. She is able to do both or neither of the tasks. The father could do one or other completely but would not be able to participate in the other task. This sort of brings up the situation of sacrifice or gamble. You are gambling on whether the woman can complete both tasks successfully with the chance that neither will get done. The man is a more definite decision and involves sacrifice and opportunity cost.

In conclusion, the roles on television adhere to views by the public. What I mean by that is what the public finds acceptable. As long as the great reviews come in, the writers are doing their job and doing something right. Though it is off the topic, it reminded me of this situation with the headphones as I read about job positions.

It's A Festivus Miracle!

The grind is over. After a long day at work, I settle myself on the couch for two quality episodes of seinfeld. Right off the first thiry seconds, I know what episode is on and I'm in for a treat. The episode is focused around George and his dad Frank. Frank developed a holiday called Festivus to replace the commercial Christmas that everyone gets to experience. He wants to be a trend setter and his traditions are extremely awkward and hilarious that he developes over the years. Kramer, George's friend, catches wind of this intriguing idea and wants in. He wants to be apart of Festivus and asks Frank for help.

This episode is inciteful in many ways. On the one hand, the viewers are watching how interesting it can be to be different around the holidays. Seinfeld is able to put a twist on subjects that people find regular and boring. Instead of sitting around the Christmas tree, they sit around an aluminum pole, high strength to weight ratio, and tell stories about all the ways everyone has disappointed them over the past year. The holiday sounds rude but don't we all have things built inside of us that we want to tell other people. Don't we often want people to recognize when they have done something to disappoint us in some way. I for one would like a plain holiday like this. Obviously I would not want things to get hostile in any way but just the idea of a separate holiday shows us that it's not really that weird. From Kwanza to Christmas, the difference in cultures celebrate their beliefs in different ways. I love the show and I love the way this episode can be viewed in so many ways.

Tonight was a great example of how Seinfeld relates situational nothings to spark peoples interest. We all should take something from this episode. Even if it it just a lighet mood with a different perspective about other different celebrations. I would recommend to at least try to show and then think about what you went through during your day. Odds are some part of Seinfeld mentioned it.

Gerbner's Findings

This week was the first week that we really took the focus off advertisements. Though we did not have class Monday and Wednesday was a blizzard, the readings from this week focused on something that everyone engages is everyday, television. The second part of the first reading was about George Gerbner's findings and coorelations he developed when studying what messages are sent through television.

Don't worry. This is more of an editorial about the readings then a summary. Gerbner's research was extremely detailed but also very bias. He is able to constuct percentages and shocking statistics about what he wants to find on television. I can only agree with him to an extent. His statements about male genders playing more significant roles and how women are easier to persuade is only his opinion. It's funny how Desperate Housewives and Grey's Anatomy are the two most popular prime time shows now. Desperate Housewives is all about women and the things they go through. Men do not have significantly powerful jobs and don't run the show in their respective relationships. Grey's Anatomy is focused around Dr. Meredith Grey. Yes, I'll admit it that my girlfriend got me hooked and I do watch it every Thursday religiously. This is not the point though. Dr. Yang, a woman, is the best resident with the highest cridentials. In both shows, women are the main focus and their roles are more signifcant and powerful than that of the men.

I am not saying that George Gerbner's finding are completely false. He may have a point when he speaks about crime and even health. However, the target age groups are there for a reason. It is a business. No one ever said that business was fair or unbias. Ask Donald Trump how business works. Gerbner is simply contributing to what he finds appauling. He is trying to shape television by lending his opinion. As I read this, it became obvious to me that he was doing nothing more than stirring the pot even more. Credible are his sources, shocking are his statistics, but hypocritical are his conclusions.

Bro or Manzere?

We have the idea. We will walk into NBC and tell them we have a show about nothing! That pretty much sounds like the most unsuccessful idea ever, but Seinfeld managed to do it. This show is one of a kind and proves that a situational nothing can actually be a thirty minute episode.

One of the episodes last night was focused around George's father, Frank, and his enormous breasts. It all starts out with George and my favorite character Kramer waiting for Frank to get dressed so they can go out. Well frank takes off his shirt and reveals some big hooters. This sparks an idea in Kramer's mind. He is sympathetic towards Frank's sore back and thinks that support would help him. This is no cartoon. Kramer actually wants to develop a male bra. George is completely appauled and becomes furious with Kramer after he proposes it to Frank. Frank thinks this may be a good idea and they should try to market it to the public.

Why is this so wrong? Well, male bras are not socially acceptable in our culture. It doesn't matter if they are hooked in the back by velcro or not. I could sympathize with elderly men and I for one would not ridicule it because I will be old one day too. There are two ways to look at it and I feel like if it is not noticable or distracting, let him wear "The Bro." As is turns out, Frank tries it and his wife is disgusted. Estelle, Frank's wife, threatens to divorce him and wants him to move out. She is sick of his stunts and wants separtion from him for a while. Frank and Kramer pursue the possibility of marketing their product. The idea is shot down fast but long enough to make a thirty minute episode centered around this topic. The show is pure genius.

Writing My Paper

The saga is over. Today I finished my final publication for my paper on how the advertisements I chose were directed toward me. For me, this writing experience can be summed up in one word, unique. I will not major in any kind of writing and going into this class, I did not feel like I would like it or it would benefit me in the least. However, I realized by writing this paper that this sort of assignment is kind of fun. I have only been in college for one semester but already I am sick of taking notes and studyng from them.

This writing assignment gave me a chance to search through magazines and develope a project. It was kind of like being back in high school again. The assignment was unique and allowed me to complete a college assignment without reading a whole lot and instead just expressing what I thought of a certain advertisement. Writing four pages did not turn out to be that difficult once I got on a roll.

The assigment also made me realize the things I need to work on. It's easy to look at your paper and find a bunch of things wrong with it. When I first read my essay as a rough copy, I was pretty much bored with it. However, with some editing I think I helped make a pretty good paper that I am proud to hand in. I have a lot of things I need to work on and creating more tone in my next approach will be vital. In conclusion, the paper I worked on was my first experience with an assignment that I enjoyed doing while in college. Hopefully the next topic is as easy to write about for me. I enjoy sitting down and putting my thoughts into publication. It was a unique experience for me since I have been in college.

"Stick A Fork In Me Jerry, I'm Done"

Ahh yes, the best time of the day has come around. I am sprauled out on the couch ready to watch Seinfeld. This episode mostly featured Jerry, Newman, and Kramer. Kramer is a different kind of character but is always reliable for a dumb idea to entertain me. Today he decided that he was going to use butter as a moisturizer because he was orginally sick of how his face felt after shaving. Instead of using a vasoline or after shave, he elected to use butter because he enjoyed the way it made his skin feel.

Now we all realize how stupid this idea is because of how it would make ur face smell and how unnatural it is to moisturize with butter. He decides, since it feels so good on his faces, he is going to use it all over his body. Jerry is disgusted with the idea and tells him he does not want to hear about it again. After a quick run to the store, he comes home to find Kramer fallen asleep on the roof tanning. He smells like turkey cause of the butter and he believes he has been baked. Newman, the typical overweight character, grows a fond attraction for Kramer's representation of food.

The idea was completely rediculous and falling asleep on a roof baked in butter will not cook a person. That is what makes this situation so bizarre and hilarious. Also, no other person is going to want to eat you if you bath in butter and smell like turkey. We reserve a word called cannabolism for that type of practice. Later in the episode, Kramer ends up spilling shreaded garlic on himself and holding a green leaf. Newman sees his opportunity to eat Kramer. Of coarse, this is not a cartoon and he is abruptly brought back to reality by Jerry. Kramer's idea once again has found a flaw. Please, next time you think a cooking device can be used for something else, think of Kramer and the possible bad outcomes that can result from it.

Image Is Everything

Our readings this week were directed towards images. We were to analyze pictures and what we thought of them or what message was trying to be sent across. Well, my partner and I were given the images of the Virgin of Guadeloupe. In these two images, there are many similarities and differences in the messages being sent.

The lower picture is an painting on the side of a building in Chicago, while the other appears to be in Mexico. It is obvious because we know about the difference in structural design and also small clues that help the reader to identify the location. In the lower picture, there is a family immigrating into the United States, or at least that is message being sent here. However, if you look closely you see there is a man trapped behind a fence. This fence must symbolize the border between Mexico and the United States. This painting has more of an impact on society today because our president proposed to build a wall divided the two countries. This painting was not done before the presidents proposal so the way Americans view it now may be different.

The proposal to build a wall dividing the United States and Mexico has it's pros and cons. For example, many people may be for the building because it will help eliminate illegal immigrants from coming into the U.S. and taking away American jobs. On the other hand, The Virgin of Guadeloupe would not be for the increase in hostility. Overall, this picture can relate to the real world situation by showing people what religion would choose and we always believe that religious figures, such as the one on painting, would enjoy peace and harmony amongst all people. The picture even differs from the top in the way the people are represented. In the bottom, where there are no cracks on the building, they have color to their faces. This could be interpretted as the way Americans view their culture and people or that the Mexican mural did not have as detailed, gifted artists to design their picture.