Blog 7: Miss Representation

This documentary was basically about all the different ways media is hurting the image and self-esteem of women. Coming from the perspective of someone going into the marketing and advertising industry, the images and videos shown are so very familiar.  Sex sells. Is it right? Not even in the slightest.  But that’s the strategy that plays into many advertising campaigns.  Playing on people’s insecurities is something the advertising industry has been doing for a while.  There are numerous adverts dating way back that play women off as “dumb” (see the Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz Ford Skyliner commercial).

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Once again, it isn’t something I agree with.  One of the ways to stop media from portraying women poorly, is to stop buying the media.  Stop watching it. Stop buying the magazines. Stop buying the products that were promoted by sexualized and unrealistic portrayals of women.  Another way to combat this terrible picture that has been painted by media is through parenting.  The woman narrating was talking about how she worries about bringing up her baby girl in this media.  As parents, we need to teach our children that what the media projects is wrong.  We need to teach them that their self-worth is not defined by a magazine/actress/model.  They need to know that they are beautiful and powerful no matter what size they are.  I hope that one day we can put an end to this harmful media and use advertising to empower individuals rather than play on their insecurities. 

As a side note, there are companies trying to combat the negative images of women. Also, there is the HeForShe campaign which promotes gender equality (http://www.heforshe.org/).

Here’s the Dove evolution campaign: 

Always #LikeAGirl campaign:

Blog 8- Buyable Pins

How many times on Pinterest do you wish you could easily click and buy the thing you just pinned?

Good news, Pinterest addicts, it’s about to become possible. Pinterest is currently working on a buy button! What this button would effectively do is allow Pinners to purchase an item within a few clicks without disturbing their social media session.   The goal is to have a separate section clearly marked for buyable pins.  They will also use different types of e-commerce platforms so larger department stores and small shops can both sell on the site.

This “button” could be the next break-through on social networking sites.  It could potentially turn Pinterest into a retail site.  They have been lacking in the social media game behind Facebook and Twitter, but are slowly catching up.  The potential revenue they could make has motivated them to take their time and get the best possible “button” out to the users. 

One issue at hand is possible annoyance with the buy button.  Will the button “repel” users, just like ads do, or will it open new doors for Pinterest?  

Design mockups of Buyable Pins. Photo by: Christie Hemm Klok/WIRED 

http://www.wired.com/2015/06/pinterests-quest-make-buy-button-youd-actually-click/

Blog 6: The Deceitful Princess

Once upon a time, long, long ago there was a beautiful Princess named Maya.  Princess Maya had long blonde curls, ocean blue eyes, and smile that could light up the sky.   The kingdom loved her.  She treated the townsfolk as equals and gave food to the less fortunate. Her beauty was radiant, inside and out. 

Princess Maya also had a sister named Amelia, who was constantly envious of her.  Amelia did not have the kind heart Maya possessed.  She was rude to their servants and hated any interaction with those below her.  She was constantly overlooked by suitors because of Maya.  Amelia and Maya had lost their mother during the horrific plague that ravished the kingdom when they were infants.  The servants spent most of the time raising the girls because the King went into a deep depression after his wife died, and was unable to raise them himself.  Their father, King Travis II, favored Maya because of her loyalty toward him.  Princess Maya wanted to be the next on the throne and followed her fathers every lead.  King Travis II was a kind soul, constantly showing mercy towards those around him.  Maya was his little shadow.  Unfortunately, Amelia’s personality was not favorable to the King and he was not willing to hand over any power to her. 

One evening, Princess Maya was out in the town mingling with the commoners.  Amelia, envious as always, tagged along behind her.  When the pair walked into a local jewelry stand, they were immediately greeted by a beautiful man.  He had green eyes, dark brown shaggy hair, and charming smirk.  Surely he would rather have Maya, she thought.  Maya turned around and nodded for Amelia to go talk to the handsome man.   The man introduced himself to her as Louis.  “Prince Louis?” she asked him. The unfortunate answer was no.  She couldn’t fancy a man that wasn’t of royalty.  She wasn’t able to just walk away from Louis.  There was something about him.  He was perfect.  “Come back to the Palace with us.” Amelia insisted that Louis meet the King and gain his blessing. 

“No! Absolutely not! You must marry a Prince, not some commoner off the streets.” The King had objected.  Amelia ran out as the King yelled for her to stay.  She felt betrayed by her father.  Louis left the Palace to go and find her.  Princess Maya looked at her father with disgust.  How could a man that had shown such love for his people object to his own daughter’s happiness? Maya had to do something.  She couldn’t risk losing her sister. 

Maya went into town seeking out a woman she had heard of.  A woman of great power.  Maya wasn’t one to meddle with witchcraft, but something had to be done.  The woman’s place was located in a dark part of the town.  Maya explained what her problem was to the mysterious woman.  The woman knew exactly what she needed.  The little bottle the woman handed over was an amnesia serum.  Maya paid the woman for her help and ran off to find her sister. Amelia was, of course, at the jewelry stand talking to Louis when she found them.  Princess Maya had come up with a devious plan, and told the pair to meet at the Palace for a formal dinner. 

At dinner, Princess Maya dropped the serum into the Kings drink before he arrived at the table.  “Where is Amelia?” the King asked.  Little did he know, the pair were standing outside the door waiting for Maya’s introduction.  The King took a drink to calm his nerves, then suddenly looked confused. With a smirk, Maya knew it was time.  She walked Amelia and Louis into the room and introduced them, “Father, I would like you to meet Prince Louis.” Once again, Amelia asked for the Kings blessing.  He cheerfully allowed them to get married, since he was a “Prince”.  Maya smiled and hid away the amnesia serum for the next time.  Amelia and Prince Louis got married months down the road and had three beautiful children, and so they all lived happily ever after. 

Blog 5 - Is 18 old enough?

Teen smoking.

We know it happens.  There are multiple ad campaigns trying to lower the smoking rate of teens.  What would happen if the legal age to buy cigarettes was 21 instead of 18?

In Needham, Massachusetts researchers did a study over what would happen to the teen smoking rate if the smoking age was raised to 21.  Over the time period (2006-2012) teen smoking went from 12.9% down to 5.5%.   In the report, it says that “more than 80 percent” of smokers start before their 18

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Here’s my question: If the problem is that people are buying before 18, how would raising the age to 21 stop them from getting cigarettes illegally?

I can see the problem, but I’m not sure that raising the required age is the solution.  The study shows that the teen smoking rate was decreased, but could it have been attributed to another factor?  The trends the last couple of years have been against smoking.  Maybe the anti-smoking trend had an impact on the decrease in the amount of underage teens smoking.  Another factor could have been the crack down on underage buying.  The city was specifically targeted for the study and could have acted differently towards underage buyers while it was being conducted. 

On the other hand, if a teen wanted to buy them illegally, it would be harder if the required age was 21.  Teens, in general, know more people who are 18 (that probably go to school with them) that could buy them cigarettes, than they do 21 year olds. 

Do you think that raising the smoking age to 21 would solve the underage smoking problem? Or should the problem be addressed in another manner?

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/06/17/to-cut-teen-smoking-raise-tobacco-sales-age/?&moduleDetail=section-news-2&action=click&contentCollection=Health&region=Footer&module=MoreInSection&version=WhatsNext&contentID=WhatsNext&configSection=article&isLoggedIn=false&pgtype=article

Blog 4

“I Wasn’t Ready”

In this episode there were a multitude of examples of Marxist theory.  One thing I noticed was specifically in the jail.  There is an entire class system formed within the prison.  There was a distinct separation in the ethnicities of the inmates.  Multiple times in the episode, Piper was told to go sit with the white people.  Another thing that stuck out in the episode was false consciousness.  This was happening specifically between the police and inmates.  The police affected the consciousness of the prisoners by treating them like they are trash.  Maybe the inmates act like they are “lower” in society because the “ruling class” puts them down as human beings.

The two classes, bourgeoisie and proletariat, are shown in the jail culture in this episode.  The bourgeoisie would be the officers and those who run the prison.  The proletariats are the inmates.  One of the characters said in the beginning, when they were in the van, that they (the inmates) have to do everything.  The inmates are exploited over and over again. In the article, “Assessing the Organizational Culture in a Jail Setting,” the authors talk about the misalignment of the perceptions of inmates in the staffs eyes. 

Another concept that stuck out to me was alienation. Alienation is represented through Piper.  She is not the “typical” inmate in the show.  She tried to make friends and failed.  At the end of the episode, Piper runs out while the other inmates are laughing at her.  In the entire episode, despite talking to people, she seems to be the odd one out. 

Stohr, M., Hemmens, C., Collins, P., Iannacchione, B., Hudson, M., & Johnson, H. (2012). Assessing the Organizational Culture in a Jail Setting. The Prison Journal, 358-387. doi:10.1177/0032885512448614

Blog 3: Hope

Sometimes it’s easy to get lost in all the negative media.  I like to find the good in situations, so this story stuck out to me.  Paul Peterson, a Paralympic, had his apartment broken into.  They took quite a bit of his things including three custom-fit running blades and his medals.  One of his friends set up a GoFundMe page and reached over $30,000 in around 4 days from 600+ donors. 

Photo by: Paul Peterson 

When bad things happen like this it’s easy to think that the world is full of corrupt and soulless people.  There’s plenty of negative media to back that statement up. But what makes this story stick out is hope. Even in negative situations, hope comes through.  This kind of media shows that there is still good in the world.  There are still people out there that would stop in a heartbeat to help someone they’ve never meet.  Negative media is so amplified, sometimes it drowns out the good things that happen in our world.  Getting his apartment broken into is horrific.  The amount of people who stepped in to help Paul was amazing.  There are bad people out there, but that act of kindness from strangers shows that there is still good in this world. 

http://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/paralympic-hopeful-gets-new-legs-after-devastating-theft-n372486

Sherlock Analysis

In this episode of Sherlock, “A Study in Pink” some metaphors were the cane and Watson's blog page.  The cane signified the past war Watson was holding on to.  Throughout the episode, he clings to the cane as if he can’t move on without it.  Once the barrier is broken between leaving the past and moving on with Sherlock, the cane gets left behind and is no longer needed.  The episode is almost split into two different Watsons.  “Cane” Watson was grasping on to his past.  Watson leaves the cane in the heat of the moment and “new” Watson emerges.  Watson’s unused blog page was another metaphor.  It signified his emotions.  The pages of the blog were as empty as he felt.

What is very interesting about the Sherlock series is the particular order the story is in.  It first introduces Watson to the audience. He’s a broken man looking for a purpose apart from his past life.  They kept the lighting dark and panned the camera down onto Watson keeping the tone sober with a hint of troubled darkness.  Then the random deaths are shown, keeping the audience connected by creating mystery.  Later on in the episode, the main character (Sherlock) is shown.  It was all in such a particular order to create mystery with a strong development of the two main characters relationship. 

The relationship between Sherlock and Watson is like putting safe and spontaneous together.  Watson was hesitant to express his thoughts whereas Sherlock never held back.  Sherlock was bold and not afraid to insult someone, whereas Watson apologized to people as they were running through the streets. One thing that was very noticeable throughout the entire episode was the lighting.  It was never “bright”.  Even with the mood to be dark, there was comedy sprinkled in to lighten the story up.  As the episode progressed, Watson and Sherlock seem to be a perfect fit for each other.  

Characteristics
Sherlock	Watson
Spontaneous	Reserved
Daring	Disciplined
Speaks his mind	Apologetic
Metaphors
Cane	Holding onto the past
Watson’s blank blog	His blank blog is a representation of his emptiness in his life

Table 1. Abbreviated Sample Concepts/Applications Chart for "Sherlock"

Blog #1: Introduction

Hi!

My name is Sarah Wallace.  I am graduating this semester (WOOOO!) with a degree in Marketing.  Believe it or not, this is my third university to be at.  I originally started out at Texas A&M University in Corpus Christi as a marine biology major.  After two weeks or so, I quickly found out that I am deathly terrified of the ocean and all the lovely things in it that can kill you. I changed my degree to Biomedical science in hopes to become a doctor. I spent a year and a half at Texas Woman's University working on my degree before deciding to change to marketing.  I loved science, but found it wasn't my passion.  Last summer I transferred into UTD because of their amazing business program and have loved it ever since.  I have finished all my classes for my degree, but needed two more hours to graduate from here.  This class really peaked my interest, so I'm hoping it will be of great use to me. 

I'm very much a traveler.  I have lived on both the east and west coast of this beautiful country.  Originally, I'm from South Carolina (no I don't have a thick southern accent).  Ended up moving all the way across the country over a two week journey to the sunniest place on earth, Seattle.  After a couple years we ended up moving down to Texas.  

Being a marketing person, I am very into media (hints the reason I chose to take this class).  Digital media is by far my favorite.  I like to know the deeper meanings to things.  Finding the hidden meanings and symbolism in the things we watch is a lot of fun.  It's interesting to say the least!  

My favorite shows are Top Gear (the British version) and Elementary.  Something interesting to know about me is that BBC America is on at my house 99% of the time.