Friday, December 3, 2010

Media

I know I talked about the commercials that bugged me in class, and I never posted about them. Well here is my mini rant and the actual commercial.


                Okay, I get that the product is supposed to be good for you, and make your butt look nicer? Well I mean, that’s all someone could get out of it. How degrading to women, that they could care less about what the women looks like from the waist up. And why does it have to be only that she has a nice butt, is that the only attractive thing about the women? This is a horrific example of why girls today are under such pressure to be ideal, when in fact I the women were supposed to resemble, aren’t even real. There is so much touching up, and refining and whatever else they have to do to make it better and more unreachable for the average women. It’s ridiculous.

                Next, ever since this class, I’ve had a real hard time looking at t.v. the same way. I’ve never noticed how every single woman on television, whether it be a commercial, t.v. series, or movie, must be “perfect” (it’s in quotes because, let’s face it, it’s not real), and yet, all of the men, are just average. How fair is that!? I never thought I was susceptible to this, and yet, it’s all I can see now. And its aggravating.

Last, but probably not least, I recently went to New York with a friend. We first did the typical time square, radio city, New York tour, and then we went to visit another friend in upper Manhattan. As we rode the subway, it became more evident that there were only two white people on the train, my white female best friend, and myself. All of a sudden everything I learned this year became clear. I had never been the minority, and I was scared. I felt like I stuck out like a sore thumb, and everyone saw the nervous little white girl in me. I never want to feel like that again. And I can’t help but think that some people feel like this every day of their lives, having to question the way they’re treated simply because of the color of their skin. And I’m very aware that I only scratched the surface of this feeling. I told my friend I didn’t think I could go with her to visit there again.
                I decided to try again next week. I knew what it would be like, and I knew that if I was sure of myself, it wouldn’t be a problem. And honestly, I was so less scared. I could smile and laugh and joke, and be myself without a worry. This could have been the two extra white males we brought with us, but I’d like to think I grew within those few days. This time on the train, I took time to look around, and I couldn’t help but focus on the advertisements. On a train, full of different races and cultures, the ads were mostly, lighter skinned people, advertising schools. “Choose the right school fast” “get your degree online” as if the only way to be this happy was to be lighter skinned and educated. I again made a connection to class. I understood how hard it must be to see that every day on ones way back and forth into a neighborhood that most tourists would never step foot in.
                I want to thank every single person in this class for helping me become who I am. In these few weeks I’ve learned so much through not only my experiences but also listening to everyone else’s. It was a great semester, and I’ll truly miss this class.

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