Blog #3

The technological change ignited the craze over the radio and thus influenced the shaping of the radio industry.

The technological change in general, describes a process of invention, innovation, and diffusion. The invention of the radio did not affect society in the beginning until the Titanic disaster proved that a device of this sort is ideal for communication. Then comes the innovation sector of the technological change, entrepreneurs think outside of the box. Could society benefit from a quicker and more efficient channel delivering information? Of course. Innovate, lets provide little radios that could be affordable for most citizens. As a result, diffusion of the radio was inevitable. Soon every household had a radio that they could congregate around to hear the news, soap operas, or just music. The radio industry boomed after this process was complete. With the support and enthusiasm from the nation, the radio industry became the nation’s core entertainment system.

The technological change affected the evolution of radio in a sense that it pressured entertainers and important figures to become innovative. The citizens of the U.S. all depended on the radio for their national, state, and local news as well as entertainment seeing as there was not television yet. However, the concept of pressuring entertainers to keep the radio shows interesting parallels with the nation’s pressure on T.V. show producers.

http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/radio-show-1.jpg

Blog #2

The concept of cultivation helps me understand the impacts of the images of incredibly thin yet beautiful women in media; it affects society by hinting that beauty can only be attained with a small waistline and a full bust. The promiscuous TV shows and advertisements use only skinny gorgeous women to sell their products or shows, and with good reason. Society has grown to worship the flirtatious women who are not afraid to flaunt their “perfect” bodies. What effect does this have on women in society? Psychologist Eric Stice, Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin teamed up with Diane Spangler, Ph.D., Brigham Young University; and W. Stewart Agras, MD, Stanford University to conduct an experiment on the effect of media on teenage girls.  The psychologists “randomly assigned 219 girls, ages 13 to 17, to a 15-month subscription to Seventeen magazine, which is the most widely read magazine among adolescent females, to a no-magazine control group and followed the girls for 20 months.” The group that was exposed to the magazine’s constant portrayal of slim beauty held more cases of self-dissatisfaction and depression than the group who was not exposed to the magazine.  Many scenes from television and movies also carry the same if not more extreme impact as magazine articles on women. The constant craze for a thin body and C cup model cultivates the idea that through implants and eating disorders a woman can attain beauty like the rest of the models. It is a serious problem that women are portrayed this way, from the Killing us Softly Video presented in class, the collage of sensual advertisements only heightens the problem. All in all, the cultivation theory helped me make the connections of the media’s effect on women in society.

"Whether you're thin, fat, small, dark, blond, redhead, you wanna be something else," said the world's first boldface supermodel. "I wanted a fairy godmother to make me look like Marilyn Monroe. I had no boobs, no hips, and I wanted it desperately."-TWIGGY

Courtesy of http://www.women24.com/FashionAndBeauty/NewsandTrends/Unhappy-with-your-body-too-20100407

The article

http://selfhelpmagazine.com/article/teen-body-image

Information and article courtesy of selfhelpmagazine.com

Hegemony

“Hegemony is the power or dominance that one social group holds over others…But hegemony is more than a social power itself; it is a method for gaining and maintaining power”(Lull 1) The influence of hegemony today is apparent in the country’s media through advertisements and news. The elite or more dominant group has influenced the public into trusting their beliefs in order to remain in control. For example, in the City of God movie, the drug lords had fought to remain in power. Hegemony was important to every drug dealer because for them it was a way to maintain a sort of order and safety. With the city in their hands, a drug dealer could abuse and kill without consequence. The idea of power became very inviting for each lord and a gate to retain respect from the city. With power in his hands, a dealer could spread his ideas and rules throughout the city. The public would submit to the violence and hate because it had become so consistent from lord to lord. The drug lords had negatively impacted the city in such a way that each person carried a gun and shot ruthlessly over and dispute. Violence had grown immensely and become so ordinary, so when a new drug lord took over, the fight for power always reignited. Hegemony had been a theme from City of God and I felt the movie was a great example.


Scene from City of God:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WUTlbkIAsw