Blog #4

There are many different stereotypes of men and women throughout our society. These stereotypes inhibit the growth that could happen in our country for men and women. Common stereotypes against women are that they are "too emotional" and are meant to stay in the kitchen and do the housework. However, the stereotypes of men are slightly different, men are portrayed as unintelligent and violent in media. Stereotypes such as these can prevent opportunities in the workforce, leave negative impressions and ideas on people at work, or in school, and in politics.

The stereotype that women are "too emotional" for higher ranking jobs has limited their ability to have an opportunity to succeed, or even try, these highly qualified jobs. For example, the culture used to, and still does to a certain extent, that women belong in the home and in the kitchen. The job of a woman was to cook, clean, and take care of the family while the men went to work. That is because women were seen as "too emotional" to handle themselves in the business world. This has also transfered to politics, since the United States has still not seen a woman president. Also, at school girls are seen as easily intimidated so guys feel like they can walk all over and say they are better than girls.

The stereotypes of men are different compared to those of women. Men are seen as the hit first ask questions later, or violent, attitudes of men. This is shown in a school setting where the majority of the fights that one hears about, people automatically assume that it is guys that are having the fight. Usually it is men having the fight, but only because of the way the media has influence the men and what attitudes are acceptable for them to have. This goes into the point I made about the common stereotype of men just being unintelligent. The unintellingence comes from the media depicting that it is ok for men to hit first and ask questions later. The media has brainwashed the men of our society into thinking that this violence is ok.

The violence also is in work areas as well, especially in professional sports. Hockey fights, football fights, and baseball fights become popular events inside the sport itself. This is because the media has shown and influenced men into thinking that violence is normal and necessary to have control of a situation. Also regarding politics, war and violence has become a more and more common solution as the years have gone on. More wars have been declared in order to resolve problems rather than finding another way to come to an appropriate solution.

Therefore, our media has a very powerful influence and control over the people, and the stereotypes made against them, in our society. These stereotypes have affected our everyday lives and unless we start fighting them now, they will grow more and more influential in our schools, workforce, and politics as the years go by.

Blog #3

I chose to watch the TV show George Lopez. I enjoy watching this show because it helps me relax and laugh after a long day. There are several core values that are depicted in this show. The main core values that were expressed in this episode include achievement and success, material comfort, conformity, and youthfulness.
Achievement and success were said to be valued in this episode by Gloria, or Angie's sister. Gloria was going through a divorce and she was feeling low and not very successful because of her situation. Her father kept telling her that she was a very successful woman and she just needed to keep up her confidence in order to stay that way. This shows that success is a core value that Americans tend to want.
Material comfort was another core value that the characters wanted. Gloria consistently married rich and wealthy men and had many expensive clothes and other items that made her value material goods.
Conformity was another example of one of the depicted values. Angie was telling Gloria how she should stop going after rich, and somewhat shallow men, and try going with a more level headed guy like her husband George. This would be an example of conformity if Gloria listens to Angie and does what she said to do.
Finally, youthfulness was another example of a value depicted in this episode. It was Angie's birthday and she went through a lot of effort to look and feel young. This was shown in how she dressed, how she acted, and how she tried to look younger than her age.
These are the main values that were depicted in the show George Lopez.

Blog #2

Regarding the media and its influence on children, it is astounding how many times a day children are interacting with media. This interaction starts at a very young age. Even when the children are babies they experience some kind of relationship with media. As they grow, so does the amount of media they are exposed to. From diapers, to toys, to TV shows. All of these things have an influence on these children's lives. The media is getting to these children at a yound age and this will help them control, or influence, the children as they grow.