Oilfield redrawn. Photo: Tran Nhat Lam Thuy
"What were two points from this week's reading that stood out to you as particularly important and/or interesting?"
"Why so?"
Firstly, the concept of patriarchy is not only intriguing but also very informative regarding the history of society in general. As a social structure where the father or other male figure serves as the leader and where male lineage is used to determine descent. Institutions in the social, political, and economic spheres are dominated by masculine power and authority, patriarchy oppresses women. In addition to the power disparity between the sexes, this denigration of femininity has the potential to create a sexist and misogynistic society (O'Shaughnessy, Casey & Stadler 2016).
Another point worth mentioning is the lack of rights for women and the mistreatment that prompted feminism waves. O'Shaughnessy, Casey and Stadler (2016) believed that society has been greatly impacted by feminism. Feminists initially fought for women's social, legal, political, and economic rights while also attempting to comprehend how femininity construction relates to women's status in society. This changed how people perceived gender roles and identities, resulting in significant social changes that affected both men and women on a wide scale.
Word count: 166
(O'Shaughnessy, Stadler & Casey 2016)
~#~
A drawn picture of a flower vase. Photo: Tran Nhat Lam Thuy
"Why is it important for mainstream media to represent diverse humans?"
Diverse humans need to be represented in mainstream media because it draws attention to an underrepresented group of people and gives the voiceless a voice (Kaltzada 2018). Halyda (2021) explained: "Since media is effective and powerful in influencing the audiences’ minds and ideas, diverse representation would broaden the audiences’ viewpoints, like learning history". Furthermore, representation provides us with means of comprehending racial and ethnic issues (O'Shaughnessy, Casey & Stadler 2016).
(Meixell, Srini & Greene 2018)
(Kaizen Training Solutions 2020)
~#~
"To what extent do mainstream media have an 'obligation' to present diversity?"
Aside from education, age, gender, attitude, location, and circumstance, other factors such as ethnicity and representation are also complicated. Although it does not determine them or how they are depicted in movies, classes can also have a big impact on relationships between different ethnic groups (O'Shaughnessy, Casey & Stadler 2016).
~#~
"Does there need to be certain types of representation in mainstream media? Why so?"
It is necessary to have certain types of representation in mainstream media because there are some stories that can only be told from the perspective of the person who actually experienced them (Halyda 2021). Stereotypes can be destroyed when a specific minority or underprivileged group is positively portrayed in the media, and this is crucial for younger generations who are more directly exposed to this. and "by failing to reflect the diversified structures of societies and by fueling misrepresentations of “others”, media outlets feed the social distance that already separates different groups." (Kaltzada, 2018)
(Adobe Stock n.d.)
~#~
"Illustrate your points with specific examples of media texts."
Link to images:
https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/images/hbz-ss2021-fenty-season2-37-1601596650-new-1601642831.jpg?crop=1.00xw:0.753xh;0,0.200xh&resize=980:*
https://media.licdn.com/dms/image/C4E12AQGJcj_FDrzEUQ/article-inline_image-shrink_1500_2232/0/1595011029635?e=1678320000&v=beta&t=G5xzrguBGUvtSrNoDL2_Eyl-upQTuqIXk6lzyRTYiKY
(Fenty Beauty n.d.)
(Getty Images 2020)
Analysis:
In both products by singer and businesswoman Robyn Rihanna Fenty, her poster for her cosmetic brand or for her fashion show (See Figure 1 and Figure 2), a diverse number of models and celebrities appeared with different skin tones to other races and ethnicities and different body types to express all race and all body types are appreciated and are all equal.
Word count: 276
~#~
Reference list:
'[Age diversity]' [image], in The Value Of Age Diversity 2020, Kaizen Training Solutions, viewed 4 January 2023, <https://i0.wp.com/kaizentrainingsolutions.com/kts-blogs/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/age_diverse_kfblwq.jpg?fit=767%2C432&ssl=1>.
'[Fenty Beauty Foundation]' [image], in Challouki, H 2020, 11 diverse campaigns that show us how it's done, LinkedIn, viewed 4 January 2023, <https://media.licdn.com/dms/image/C4E12AQGJcj_FDrzEUQ/article-inline_image-shrink_1500_2232/0/1595011029635?e=1678320000&v=beta&t=G5xzrguBGUvtSrNoDL2_Eyl-upQTuqIXk6lzyRTYiKY>.
Halyda, A 2021, Why diverse representation in media matters, Project Child, viewed 30 October 2022, <https://projectchild.ngo/blog/2021/10/15/why-diverse-representation-in-media-matters/>.
Kaltzada, P 2018, Why diversity in media matters, viewed 1 November 2022, <https://ideasforeurope.eu/news/diversity-and-media/>.
'Media & Society' [book cover], in Media and society. 6th ed. Victoria: Oxford University Press, viewed 4 January 2023, <https://www.oup.com.au/new_book_images/covers/9780195597257.jpg>.
O'Shaughnessy, M, Casey, S & Stadler, J 2016, Media and society, 6th ed, Oxford University Press, Victoria, pp. 312–328, 352–372.
'[Racial diversity]' [image], in Meixell, B, Srini, T & Greene, S 2018, Racial inclusion and racial diversity: How they compare and diverge across cities, Urban Institute, viewed 4 January 2023, <https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/2018/05/14/gettyimages-530809730.jpg>.
'[Religious diversity]' [image], in Religious diversity search n.d., Adobe Stock, viewed 4 January 2023, <https://t4.ftcdn.net/jpg/02/70/84/99/360_F_270849927_wDUTFVLmTzdOQUeJX5idh2QEesFBwRwi.jpg>.
'[Savage x Fenty Vol. 2 Cast]' [image], in Gonzales, E 2020, Tracking all the stars in Rihanna's Savage x Fenty Vol. 2 show, Harpers Bazaar, viewed 4 January 2023, <https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/images/hbz-ss2021-fenty-season2-37-1601596650-new-1601642831.jpg?crop=1.00xw:0.753xh;0,0.200xh&resize=980:*>.
