Ageism

How are the Elderly Presented in the Media?

 
If this quote above were true, we would live in a completely different world. but as a society as a whole, we are obsessed with the idea of being young forever. Once you start gaining wrinkles and grey hair, you aren’t worth as much anymore. Commercials bombarded the older generation and make them feel that they aren’t enough the way they are, they must be looking as young as possible.

Our society is so consumed with looking youthful that people will do whatever it takes to look as young as possible. With Botox, make up, face lift, and more, the media emphasizes that being old isn’t glamorous 

They dont want to be viewed as they aged what so ever, and that they are still considered beautiful.

Also, when looking at commericals, older individuals are viewed as weak, absendminded, dependant. Being old isn't something to celebrate, it is something to chage.



In this coke commerical, the older individuals are okay. Their lives are amazing or fun, they are just living. Its not until they drink the product thta they instintly become young, and happy again. This product is displaying how being old is a hasle and something that needs to be changed in order to have a good life.

In the two commercials featured above, it shows that elders aren't up to par with the rest of society. They are either to weak to be alone, or they have no idea how social media works. Those are two main things that we strive on as well. People should be able to be dependent, and also have a means of communicating with other. Putting elders down in such a way is demeaning to that generation.

In conclusion, I think this commercial is something to learn off of. Yes, the older generation are different from the younger generation. But that doesn't mean that we should throw them away or belittle them. As a society, we should learn from our elders. They have lived long lives, with so much information that we aren't aware of yet.

Is the Media Homophobic? Presentations of Gays and Lesbians in the Media

Gay and Lesbians weren't in the media for a very long time. Even now, when looking at commercials, TV shows, or another form of media, homosexuals are not a main topic. Homosexuality in media is hard to find. It’s almost a taboo topic that isn’t brought up very often. There might be hints of it, but there isn't many solely focus on it. There are only a few shows now a days that have regular homosexuals on the episodes. One of which is Glee. This Show features a few homosexual couples.

The two most promenate are these two featured above. In the show, the characters struggle with bulling, but they always come out on top. They are considered strong for being able to "come out" and embrace who they truly are. 

When looking at this subject as a whole, I found that homosexuals are much more "acceptable" in todays standards than in the past. In a new TV show on MTV, it follows around two teenage lesbians and their lives through high school.

In this show, they are looked up too. Even to the point of winning homecoming queen and everyone wanting to be their friends. This is definitely a change from earlier years.

But, in the 1990s it was a completely different view. There was a talk show that featured a gay man, with a very flamboyant attitude.

The way he is portrayed is completely different to the way gays are portrayed today. They are feminine, but not over the top like him. 

Even though homosexuals aren't in the media as much, they are still given certain stereotypes.

Gay men don't all have to be feminine, wear girl things, and love to go shopping. On the other side of it, lesbians aren't always manly, tough, or butch looking. The stereotypes in the media put on a negative view toward these people groups.

Media isn't necessarily homophobic, but they don't put out a real image of who they are. They also don't have enough homosexuals in the media either. They need to be seen and heard more and not pushed down to being less than others. 

Gender Bias in the Media

         Gender Bias in the media is a very real thing. We see it in almost every ad, television show, commercial, or any type of media that we are subjected too. This causes a huge problem in our society today because it makes people think that they need to act a certain way because of their gender, when in reality, people should be able to portray themselves anyway they please. Sex refers to male and female, where gender deplicts how you portray your sex. Some people even think that there is no such thing as gender and that as a society we came up with that term without scientific evidence. 

       Women are typically in commercials that the media feels fit them, housewives who clean, busy soccer moms, teenage girls only worried about drama and boys. Men are usually in commercials about tools, cars, sports. The media places the different sexs into these roles and makes our society think that is what is right and appropriate. The media also affects how people view the different genders as well.

       In the media today, women are shown as an object or men to use. Women are only as good as their beauty and body.

       With just these 3 advertisements all we are shown is that women need to live up to what they media is expectable and when women are consisted "worthy" then they are just an object for men. 

     Women need to be a sexy, beautiful, feminine, smart, but not smarter than a man. Women are also considered the lesser of the two sexs because of this gender bias they have thrown at them. Women aren't portrayed as stronger than man, women always need a man to be the ones to save them. In almost every disney princess movie, the women isn't happen until her prince comes. 

This causes a lot of problems within young girls minds. Girls grow up watching these movies and form an idea that they should always be beautiful and need a man to save them. Now a days, there are princesses that don't need a man to make them happy, but they still aren't escaping media bias of how a princess should look. 

Every single one of them are beautiful, feminine, and wearing a dress. I have yet to see a disney princess in a different light.

     But media bias doesn't only affect females. Men are subjected to it just as much. Men are shown as the provider. He should be strong, have women, in control, and successful. 

     The media sets the stage for them to act a certain way and if they don't, they aren't man enough. The media sets a standard or men that shouldn't be there in the first place.

   Just in this commercial there are tons of stereotypes put onto men. Also when they talk about "real men" there is no such thing as a real man, every person is different and just putting those words together make the commercial bias.

    In conclusion, media bias is everywhere. It is difficult to turn on the tv and not be bomb barred with images that don't fit the sexs the way they should be portrayed. Women don't have to be housewives, princess, or assistants and men don't have to be the bread winner, CO of a company, or alpha dog in the family. Media has changed our society to think in a one minded when looking at gender, when in reality, gender can be whatever that person choses to do with it.

"Birth of a Nation"

In today’s society no one can escape stereotypes; even white men are represented in a certain way. But it hasn’t just been like that in the past 10 years; stereotypes have been following us for much longer. In the film “Birth of a Nation,” white men were represented as an authority figure. They were the alpha dog of the family and women were less important then them. When the household got mail, the women gave it to the man to be responsible and open it. Also men were the only important characters in the film. Only men surrounded Abraham Lincoln, men were also the only people in the film to have guns and fight. The film made it seem like white men were the only important characters in the movie. The fact that white men were only responsible for high positions and how they were the only ones fighting in the war put off an image to say that if you aren’t a white male, then you aren’t good enough.

Stereotypes that I saw in the film were father figure, typical jobs, warrior, and strong headed. I feel like these stereotypes to show some truth, but there are many men who don’t fit these stereotypes. There are men who are very passive and not strong, there are also men who don’t have the typical lead jobs and do amazing work while being a nurse or teacher. Also the way that the men responded to the women is not how it is at all today. Women are not as passive and do things without a male. A women’s job isn’t only to clean and be at the will of a man like the movie portrayed it.

In todays society I do think that the movies representation set a standard for how white men are portrayed in movies today. Men are still supposed to be the lead in the relationship, they also need to be the breadwinners and make all the money. They need to be stronger than a woman and rescue her if needed. In the movie “The notebook” Allie has to choose between Noah and Lon who is a very successful stereotypical white male. This movie emphasizes the importance of money and social status in a man because without that distraction, Allie would have chosen Noah without a thought.

Another movie that is at fault in this stereotype is taken. A retired CIA agent travels across Europe and relies on his old skills to save his estranged daughter, who has been kidnapped while on a trip to Paris. In this film the role of the male is to take care of things. He is the alpha and is fighting to get his daughter back. Basically fighting for a damsel in distress. This also adds a stereotypical image to men because it shows that they need to be the provider and be strong.

In conclusion, “Birth of a Nation” is very stereotypical of white men. It has many stereotypes that have grown into other stereotypes today and put white men into a box of how they should act.

How is the Other Presented in the Media?

      Stereotypes. Everyone in the media has a stereotype. Whether you are male, female, black, white, fat, skinny, Hispanic, christian, Jewish, single, married, divorced. There is a stereotype trying to define us. The sad thing about these stereotypes is that they make people think that they have to be these impossible things to fit it.

        With women, you see photos of this unattainable beauty which women strive to become day after day. But in reality the women in the magazine don't even look like that.

  In this video, you see how the media projects women to be something they aren't. Even though women have had many strives in the past decades, it still shouldn't be how it is today. Women should not be objectified, or being showed as their bodies being the only thing that matters to society. 

   Women are also seen as weaker and not as significant as a man. In this photo below, it is referring to how before the new ketchup top, women were not physically strong even to open it and needed a man.

  But its not just affecting women either, stereotypes affect gender roles as well. Men should be the provider. They should be in control of the house and a women should just be next to him. 

The stereotype for the man is that, he should have a successful job, because that is the only way to show his power and authority.

Stereotypes also affect all the ethnicity's. Asians are thought to be extremely smart, Muslims are terrorist, blacks are good at sports, Mexican are lazy and came into America illegally, Jews are greedy, and the list goes on and on. 

The media does not correctly represent the minorities in our culture. They would rather make someone laugh and make a joke out of a culture instead of correctly show who they are. This is why stereotyping is such a problem in our culture. If someone is outside a persons inside group it causes them to have a judgement on them just because of something they saw from the media. People do not have respect for people that aren't like them because they automatically think of the negative stereotype that they heard about them. All in all, I think the media has a lot of work to do when it deals with cultures. People need to be viewed as people and not as their stereotype.