POST I

The majority of the people in this country, and even the world, probably do not understand the influence media has on their life. In the digital era, from the moment you are born (and helping raise a newborn has helped me fully grasp this) you are bombarded with imagery whether it is from your television, your toys, the caricatures in your room, and even your own mind as you reinterpret sounds and words into shapes and form. Now, at the age of 21, I also realize how the word media is synonymous with propaganda. Explaining this, however, is difficult at best. There are several terms which help, though, and the readings we’ve done in class have further solidified an easier and more accurate definition for these go-to terms for exposing the fallacies in American media.

Power is domination and control, sometimes (…most times) synonymous with institution. The thing about power, however, is that it usually conjures images of red and black and small mustaches on German men. It’s not always like this. The American media, I would argue, is one of the most powerful national entities; even more so than the president, I would say.  John Berger highlights only one aspect of why this is so: envy.  Berger says the reason why advertisements and publicity is so efficient in garnering revenue for enterprises and manufacturers is not because they are great at selling a product but rather because they are great at selling the idea of needing that product, the envy of what another has and they lack.

Hegemony ties into the idea of power, because it is an elite’s influence (indirect or direct) over another faction of society. This is important to discuss because this influence shapes our cultural values and society. When advertisements illustrate the glamorous and unattainable lives of Manhattan’s blue blood socialites, it leaves viewers wanting to achieve (or, at best, emulate) that quality of life. I recently watched my friend Martha and our mutual transwoman acquaintance watch Sex and the City; what I noticed was a perverted desire for the lives of those four women, as if their current existences were unsatisfactory and they longed to be the real-life versions of those characters on television. When an illusion becomes more enticing to you than your own reality, you need to reevaluate what you’re doing with your life – and, also, what types of media you’re digesting. “The Era of Crowds” states that the progressive growth of power takes place when certain ideas are propagated and are engrained in the minds of an audience.

Sexism is a very complicated topic because of its broad nature. In the context of bell hook’s discussions and excerpts, however, it is the institutionalized violence (whether it is physical or psychological) against women. This phenomenon is perpetuated by patriarchal societies such as ours ,which establishes a strict gender dichotomy that forces women into a submissive domestic and societal role. The opposite of this is feminisim, and the best way to describe it is through a popular quote that says it’s the “radical notion that women are people.” Stacey Ann Chin often does spoken word on reclaiming her sex.

The Gaze is also a phenomenon which is very broad. In most cases, as in Berger’s Ways of Seeing, we address the male gaze. He states, "according to usage and conventions which are at last being questioned but have by no means been overcome - men act and women appear. Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at." Even in classical art, the male gaze is evident. Moreover, there is the white gaze (which, as a POC, I am not here for!), the lens through which most media is filmed.  The object is what is a possession or owned, in this case, the object of the images or media.

Pedagogy is much easier to explain if we look at the Greek roots of the word. ‘Peda’ indicates a relationship to children (pediatrist, pedophile, etc.) and “gogy” means to “lead.” Knowing the Greek meaning, understanding the English meaning becomes entirely different: the art of educating. bell hooks refers to pop culture as our pedagogy.

Popular culture and representation go hand in hand because between them exists a symbiotic relationship. Popular culture can be defined as the mainstream contemporary collection of music, media, fashion, and just overall anything really. What is important to note is that the way things are represented in that pop culture influence society. For example, certain products like Air Jordans are a reflection of Michael Jordan’s fame and appeal to buyers more than Airwalks. In that same way, Supreme is a brand that appealed to the cool and underground scene and made people covet being a part of something other than mainstream.

Spectacles and ways of looking are intimately related. When we see an object that has been marketed to appeal to a demographic, they want it and will do what they can to achieve it (including pay rent late on their studio apartment just to have a Maison Martin Margiela sweater because of one gotdamn Kanye song). Kruger talks about the nature of reflection changing from mirrors to video camera in the sense that we look into ourselves as a result of the images we see on the screen.

Consumerism and consumption are the fuel behind the economy. The reason why the media exists as it does is to provide substance to feed our capitalist economy. The word consumer creates an idea of a brand’s audience as mindless drones who eat everything thrown their way.