Identities: Feminist theory and blog task

Identities: Feminist theory and blog task

1)

Beyonce's 'Why Don't You Love Me' video helps contribute to Butler's idea in that we see Beyonce herself partaking in actions that are part of this 'performance.' Throughout the video, we see her do things like clean, cook and do the laundry. The completion of household chores like this by a woman is something that within society, is deemed as a (traditional) norm. This is without mentioning the way in which she's shown in 'tight high-waisted knickers' and a 'vintage style bra' in obvious desire for the pleasure of a man. This is representative of how Beyonce is a 'performer' in the role that society have assigned to females.

2)

McRobbie would view Beyonce as an empowering role model for women as she radiates a sense of autonomy through her actions. In the scenes where we do see the artist wearing less, it could actually be looked at as a woman 'owning' her own body and making an active choice as to the way she presents herself.  Rather than 'submit to' a man telling her how to appear, she has ultimate control over her body.

3)

Personally I feel that the video manages to do both things in that while it empowers women, it does also reinforce their socially constructed roles they have in society. 'Why Don't You Love Me' presents Beyonce as a woman who has a good amount of autonomy to herself, taking pride in her own anatomy perhaps for her own sake as well as her love interest's. However not only does she show us conformation to the constructed roles that females have in society, but she inadvertently satisfies the desire of men which Laura Mulvey's male gaze explores. We see a woman that's presented in a way that benefits male audiences most which just reinforces what we traditionally see in society.

13/02/17 - Wikipedia bans Daily Mail as 'unreliable' source (46)

13/02/17 - Wikipedia bans Daily Mail as 'unreliable' source (46)

A vote by editors of the Wikipedia has meant that Daily Mail is now regarded by the online encyclopaedia, as a 'generally unreliable' source effectively banning it from being used as one. The decision is being viewed as quite an unusual move for the two reasons that they rarely impose any 'blanket bans' on publications and it still allows information to be sourced from news organisations like Fox News which are quite controversial for their credibility in reporting news. According to the editors, the Mail has a reputation essentially based around: 'poor fact checking, sensationalism and flat-out fabrication.' However there hasn't been uncontested support for the ban and there are individuals who oppose it for the reasons stated above as well as the idea that the reasoning behind the ban is solely 'driven by a dislike of the publication.' Regardless, editors have rounded up volunteers to review the 12,000 links already on the Wikipedia to the Daily Mail in order to replace them with alternative sources where possible. This has been to the dismay of the paper, with them in 2016 only receiving 'two upheld adjudications' for inaccuracy from IPSO.

In a time when there's global debate on the issue of fake news, it's no surprise a move of this nature was made. Publications are seeking to obtain and disseminate the most accurate information possible, free from elements like bias and outright lies. The Daily Mail has quite an infamous reputation for this kind of thing, having stories that not only align with quite a right-wing ideology but also ones that contain misinformation. This move is quite noteworthy too as usually it's Wikipedia in the spotlight for having false information as oppose to a newspaper publication. Perhaps it shows though a new approach that the encyclopaedia has in providing the most accurate information possible.

13/02/17 - Twitter loses ad revenue despite gaining 2 million users and Trump 'boost' (45)

13/02/17 - Twitter loses ad revenue despite gaining 2 million users and Trump 'boost' (45)

The frequent use of Twitter by Donald Trump is something that has assisted the social network in increasing its user numbers. This though, wasn't significant enough of a thing to prevent the decline of advertising revenue occurring for the platform and subsequently their shares. While monthly active users have been on the climb, even with a 9% reduction in the workforce, the actual financial growth of the social network is lagging to a degree where it's being said it'll continue in the future. The gains in advertising revenue in international markets for them, was essentially 'wiped out' with the losses within the US market which was previously seeing increases within the first three quarters of 2016. One of the reasons for this decrease according to chief executive and co-founder of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, was more competition in terms of digital ad spending. To help combat against losses of this sort, he claims the company will 'scrap  less lucrative initiatives' and draw the company's focus more towards products with a higher possibility of success e.g. live video-streaming.

• The San Francisco-based company reported annual revenues up 14% on last year to $2.5bn (£2bn)
• Monthly active users climbed from 317 million to 319 million in the final quarter of last year
• The tech company is still making sizeable losses, falling $457m into the red during 2016 despite cutting 9% of its workforce
• Its shares fell by more than 11% to $16.54
• Twitter has now racked up losses of almost $2.8bn since it floated on the stock market three years ago
• Fall in advertising revenue in the fourth quarter in 2016, down to $638m from $641m in the same period of last year largely down to a 5% slump in revenues in the US to $440m, a fall that wiped out a 12% rise to $277m in its international markets

It'll be quite interesting seeing how Twitter fare in 2017 in terms of ad revenue. How capable they are in competing for digital ad spending against other companies/platforms like Facebook and Snapchat will have to be seen. Not only this, but the new products they end up making in the drive towards profitability will likely be quite noteworthy, with live video streaming probably being just the beginning of many ventures they could delve into.

06/02/17 - Would you believe it? Print remains a favourite with readers (44)

06/02/17 - Would you believe it? Print remains a favourite with readers (44)

Since Google turned up in the industry, contributing to the destruction of the business model of newspapers, the actual disruption to traditional media such as print has accelerated. Journalism's future is now in fact online, regardless of what the comments of the digital deniers are. At the same time though, later down the line what print could do is largely serve more of a niche market in a way akin to magazines as they'll always be a segment of society willing to pay to get that exact kind of access to information. Whether this could be adapted to a business model, supporting quality journalism on a scale that allows it to be a centre of daily national conversation though is particularly questionable. As well as this, there's the whole issue about the echo chambers social media creates with the increased use of it for access to news and if it could improve the dissemination of news. The attention that online editions of news receive from readers is also quite a questionable thing. While online editions have as much as tripled the number of readers national papers reach, research shows that the amount of time that readers spend on them is significantly less than they would with an actual paper.

• 89% of newspaper reading is still in newsprint, with just 7% via mobile devices and 4% on PCs
• While print newspapers are read for an average of 40 minutes per day, online visitors to the websites and apps of those same newspapers spend an average of just 30 seconds per day
• Split in newspapers' print/digital revenues (88% to 12%)
• UK national newspaper market is more concentrated than is commonly believed, with one title having close to a 30% market share

This article is quite interesting as it unveils/reveals some of the things we didn't actual know in relation to the 'newspaper vs print' debate. The huge difference between the time spent reading stories online and then reading the print variant shows that perhaps print still does have something to offer. In fact, there have even been calls from Ofcom themselves saying that market share should actually be calculated from time-spent reading. As well as this, it'll be quite noteworthy to see whether print does become this more niche thing in time as it is  something that's been suggested by other people in the past. At least in this instance, there'll still be some use of the platform.

06/02/17 - Twitter accounts really are echo chambers, study finds (43)

06/02/17 - Twitter accounts really are echo chambers, study finds (43)

The phrase, 'birds of a feather flock together,' really does come across as being true when politics and the internet are in mind. Research on 2000 of the most politically engaged Twitter users identifying as supporters of one of the major UK political parties (by thinktank Demos) represented exactly this, with them being most likely to interact with other users supporting the same party or share articles that align with the same views as them. Report author Alex Krasodomski-Jones believes that this kind of behaviour that we see is exacerbated through how media outlets now will use more polarising views to attract audiences. Rather than just focus on stories with a neutral standpoint, 'this attention economy, vying for clicks, eyeballs, pushes people into very confirmatory outlets,' helping contribute to the number of alternative news stories which are 'ideologically driven' more than anything. Things like this can be seen with Ukip supporters accounting for more than half of all the linke posted for articles from the Daily Mail, Sun and Guido Fawkes websites. Cognitive scientist at Sheffield University, Tom Stafford, makes mention of this concept of homophily, saying that it applies to the media as much as it does in person. With this interaction between rival party supporters can already be seen as being quite infrequent.   

• Labour supporters were weighted more heavily towards the Guardian, Independent, New Statesman, Mirror and Huffington Post (centre-left or leftwing) which accounted for 82% of shares from LabourList
• More than three-quarters of retweets from SNP supporters and 73% of those from Ukip supporters were of someone from their own party
• The highest proportion of one party retweeting supporters of another – 32% – was between Tories and Ukip supporters

This article actually works to confirm this idea that social networks, this time Twitter in particular, are just echo chambers. It's viewed more as an avenue predominantly for people that share the same political views to communicate with each other rather than question them through talking to rival supporters. It's likely that this will in fact never change, and this concept of homophily is something that'll need to be mentioned as the main reason as to why this occurs. People like to hear what they want to hear, so it's natural that what they interact with is what matches up with their viewpoints.

Identities and the Media: Feminism

Identities and the Media: Feminism

Media Magazine reading

1)

The two texts that the article focuses on are Pan Am, a period drama set in the 60s based on the lives of both pilots and stewardesses working for the Pan American World Airline and Beyonce's 'Why Don't you Love Me' music video, parodying the role of a typical 1950s housewife.

2)

One of the examples from Pan Am showing the 'male gaze' is the magazine cover displaying Laura. Here she's portrayed as a woman whose purpose is to be 'visually enjoyed by men' and nothing more. Another one is present in the final sequence of the pilot episode. Here the stewardesses are presented in slow motion which works to 'provide even more visual pleasure as we can take in all the glorious period detail of their uniforms and of course appreciate their perfectly coiffed hair and make up.' Shots like this work at least mostly to satisfy the desire of men. The 'Why Don't you Love Me' video exemplifies the male gaze with the way in which Beyonce is dressed. Wearing things like 'tight high-waisted knickers' and a 'vintage style bra,' we're shown a women that is being highly sexualised. This goes further when when she can be seen touching herself up and playfully looking down at the camera.

3)

Texts like these represent that sexism still does definitely exist, albeit in a different form. While they may be working to allow women to exercise freedom that they want to, wearing what they want and doing what they want, they may still be unintentionally reinforcing the levels of sexism that there are in society.

4)

Third wave feminism - was a movement that redefined and encouraged women to be dominant and sexually assertive

Nostalgia - a sentimental longing for the past, often only remembering the positives of the time

Patriarchy - an ideology that places men in a dominant position over women

No More Page 3

1)

The No More Page 3 campaign was started by Lucy-Anne Holmes, both an actress and an author. She did with it with the purpose of stopping the reinforcement of this attitude that women and their can be viewed as objects subjects to both public scrutiny and comment by the general (male) public.

2)

One of the main reasons given for why Page 3 had to go is how its objectification of women has meant that they are often recognised in an offensive, discriminatory and derogatory way. Not only this, but it simply doesn't reflect the 'progressive' nature of the times we currently live in, with the feature heralding from the 1970s.

3)

Barbara Ellen holds the view that the No More Page 3 campaign should continue as Page 3 itself is not only something that is 'a pathetic leering bare-breasted woolly mammoth' but also part of the old ages, 'reeking of male dominance, of women as sexualised and neutralised objects.' Susie Boniface on the other hand is of the opinion that the campaign should be abandoned saying that actually, it's come about at a time when society has actually been evolving to the point where some people actually find the page to be empowering women.

4)

The 'Little Mixed up about what to wear?' article discusses the dress choice of the band Little Mix during the performance on X-Factor. It goes into how this concept that young girls can have of not wearing much to embrace freedom is false, and how if it wasn't then boys would too be doing the same thing among other things. Based on this article, I do think that I believe the view that the paper is taking since what it is saying are things that I believe too.

5)

Both the No More Page 3 campaign and Sexist News represent that we in fact do not live in a post-feminist state. The very fact that matters of sexism are still having to be discussed at length like this whether it relate to the portrayal of women in newspapers or reality TV, shows that actually we're still in a position where things can very much be debated. At the same time though, it could be said that perhaps it highlights the fact that more needs to be done to reach this post-feminism state that we aspire to in a number of walks of everyday life.

6)

I do agree with the aims of the campaigns in that the equality of men and women should be achieved. However I feel that they can often end up campaigning against not necessarily the wrong, but least relevant things that they could possibly on the road to achieving this equality with men.

7)

Personally I feel that there still is very much a need for feminism in the modern world. While progress has without a doubt been made, things aren't 100% in the state that we might want them to be. While I say this though, I think it's important that this feminism is exercised in the right, relevant areas of society. Page 3 could definitely be seen as something that reflected the more male dominated society we live in, however like what Susie Boniface said, there are a lot more significant issues that should be addressed with women totally in mind other than that.

Post-colonialism - bonus reading and tasks

Post-colonialism - bonus reading and tasks

MM58: Social Media and Black Identity

1)

• Aisha Harris - believes that social media has made black people subject to 'memeification.' This entails that they are shown as always performing or entertaining, helping reinforce the dominant attitudes and satisfy what is a 'deep-rooted desire' within society
• Anthony Giddens - social media can act as a tool that actually uplifts and inspires black people in a way that mass media simply doesn't
• Henry Jenkins - believes that social media is an 'arena wherein participatory cultures' can be established.' This ranges all the way from actual political activist groups, with a key example being '#BlackLivesMatter,' to even socially-constructed communities such as 'Black Twitter.' In communities like this, the voicing of perspectives that would usually go unheard from get a platform to thrive on, working to challenge some of the negative representations that exist of black people in mass media

2) 

I feel that social media hasn't had an outright positive or negative effect in terms of black identity. It has definitely had its pluses in helping construct positive identities of black people whether it be through the celebratory hashtags of 'The Blackout' campaign or expression of marginalised voices through 'Black Twitter.' However it has also without a doubt helped reinforce them too, with 'Digital Blackface' coming to mind here. Non-black people often tend to utilise the anonymity that comes with social media and use it in a way that they can parade as being black, simultaneously degrading black identity as this is done e.g. @ItsLaQueeta.

3)

Alvarado's theory can be applied to identities of black people on social media as online, they often tend to be portrayed as belonging in one of the four themes. Pitied, in the sense that they are often seen dwelling in the 'ghettos' of society, humorous for the uploads of a more light-hearted nature they're in, dangerous for fights that are posted on websites like WORLDSTARHIPHOP and exotic with the amount of black musicians there happens to be. Fanon's theory also fits in here as what tends to happen on social media is that black stereotypes decivilise the community, often making each individual fit into some archetype of a sort e.g. 'gangsta.'

A Hustle for Life: Refugees in the Media

1)

One of the representations we see of refugees in the article is that they are travelling by choice as evidenced by the word 'migrant.' Rather than portray them as 'fleeing a genuine disaster,' they're shown as doing it on their own accord. Representations range from this to the more dehumanising, with Katie Hopkin's 'cockroaches' and 'feral' comments being testament to this. This isn't helped by the imagery of the actual refugees themselves, with it giving the out the perception of a 'swarm, horde or tide, marauding and invading their way across the world.'

2)

I personally feel that the documentary genre can have an equal amount of bias as that of the news media, although it can be the case that they offer less of it. 'Exodus' is representative of this, with it for example letting us into the actual perspectives of the refugees themselves through them being handed smartphones to film their experiences on. 'The Refugee Camp: Our Desert Home' also manages to show that this bias is lessened in documentaries as what we see in this are refugees that are attempting to return to their country when it's safe. This goes against this whole convention of 'migrants' fleeing their country to come into Europe.

3)

Edward Said's theory can be used here in that refugees in news media tend to be represented as being both dangerous and uncivilised. We see this through things like Katie Hopkin's description of them as 'feral,' but also images of them with the 'swarm, horde, or tide' they move around in to get from place to place. Alvarado's could also be applied to in the sense that refugees receive a sense of pity with the situation they've been placed in and to some extent, this goes hand-in-hand with Fanon's theory with them being infantilized and depicted as 'needing to be looked after.'