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Don’t let the TV fool you

Whether we know it or not, television plays an integral role in the life of the average American. Whether it was back in the 1960’s where families would gather around the single television set in the family room and soak up their favorite nightly programs, or today, where we watch everything on the go or after the original airing date and time. TV and its programming follow us everywhere. As we know by now, every new technological invention undergoes their 4 stages, and eventually end up undergoing digital convergence, meaning the same product is available in many different forms and means of access. Television undoubtedly followed this pattern of convergence as we traveled from one screen (the original family-room television), to three screens (viewing television programming on the internet via network websites), and beyond with the use of smart phones, tablets, and other media capable devices (Campbell 199-200). With TV being constantly and easily accessible at our beck and call, we as media consumers have a lot of power over what we watch and when or how much we watch of it. But the converse, that media controls its media consumers, holds true as well since the media successfully and repeatedly exposes them to various hegemonic and mainstream ideas and advertisements.

Miss Representation, a Netflix documentary, effectively depicts just how the media controls its media consumers, and beyond, by manipulating society’s depiction and representation of women and/or femininity. Not only does this affect girls who see themselves as imperfect because of the media’s high standards, but it also teaches boys to prefer and seek out girls who look like the ones on the media (which is nearly impossible) and put down those who do not represent the media’s idea of the perfect woman. From extreme photoshopping in magazine advertisements to the portrayal of the “bitchy” woman boss, Miss Representation reveals and emphasizes all the atrocious and violent misrepresentations of women in the media. How does the misrepresentation of women relate to television? As aforementioned, with the immediate and constant access of television media at our fingertips, women and men are constantly bombarded and influenced by media messages regarding women, their image, and their desirable traits.

Today, an increasing number of girls struggle with self-esteem and body image as a result of their portrayal in the media. A primary example of the deliberate portrayal of women as over-emotional, drama filled, unintelligent members of society is the documentary’s segment on reality TV. In this portion of the documentary, we see reality star women throwing punches, spitting in each other’s faces, having ditzy moments, and crying hysterically. With this being the primary manner in which females are depicted on television, women develop the idea that this is how they’re supposed to behave if they’re going to be approved by society, and if they fail to behave this way they will be deemed imperfect or not good enough. Additionally, men learn from these programs that this is how women should act, consequently favoring women who behave over-emotionally and under-intelligently. Up until more recently, plus sized women or even average sized women were rarely depicted, teaching men and women that the desirable woman’s figure is a size zero and has no curves, stretchmarks, dimples, or imperfections in general. From this representation, young women and teens learn that the only way to achieve such body results is to starve themselves. Every day more and more young women develop eating disorders to try to compete with society’s imposed idea of the perfect woman.

Why the sudden rise in body image and self-esteem issues if television has been around for decades? As we’ll discover, with the evolution of television came the evolution of women’s representation in the media. Since the majority of people have easy access to media outlets they are constantly exposed, whether subliminally or consciously, to the current idea of what society deems to be a perfect woman. 50 years ago when families watched TV for an hour every night, females did not share the same experience. Back when television was recently emerging, networks consistently aired family friendly programming so that families could partake in this activity together. This means there were no Girls Gone Wild or Teen Mom shows to influence young girls’ behavior and image. These types of shows probably had yet to exist because they were not appropriate for children. Furthermore, while watching certain programming for an hour a day can certainly influence a person’s thoughts, ideas, and behaviors, it does not have nearly as large an impact as a person who watches that programming for an hour on their TV at home then re-watches it again on YouTube, then scrolls through social media for hours or even days and sees commentary on what they’ve been watching. Accompanied with easy access to social media, society members no longer have fear of filtering their harmful words and thoughts, contributing to the problem. With more and more programs focusing on a negative portrayal of women, it doesn’t take much to find yourself in contact with a deliberate representation of a woman. So with the overexposure to media, not only does the longer and more frequent exposure time contribute to the skewed perception of how women should be, but also the different programs women are exposed to, compared to the family friendly ones in the 1960s, can make a difference in their self-perception and actions. Instead of just a handful of reality TV shows to choose from there are now dozens upon dozens, increasing the exposure of women and men to this faulty and harmful representation of women. Aside from our nation’s history of patriarchy and misogyny, the media has largely contributed to the diminishing of women and their body image. We as media literates should be mindful of what we’re viewing on television, or media in general, and be able to think critically enough to know that the representations of women in the media are more often than not a misrepresentation.

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Kids These Days

Digital convergence, the technological merging of content in different mass media (Campbell 53), has made the life of media exponentially more convenient for virtually anyone that has access to a computer, smartphone, or tablet. Whether you want to watch the show you missed last night, read your favorite newspaper, research a quick fact, or listen to your favorite radio station, you can do it all in one convenient location and with the press of a few buttons. With the invention of smartphones, the possibilities of exploring various forms of media all in one location are endless. You no longer need to sit around at home waiting for your show to air, or carry around that bulky book with you, because no matter which form of media you need to get a hold of, you can usually store it in one convenient location: technology. Undoubtedly, digital convergence has made our lifestyle convenient and instantly gratifying, we no longer have to wait for the next episode because we can binge watch on Netflix, and we no longer have to wait until school tomorrow to ask our teacher about a homework assignment because we can just shoot them a quick email. To the vast majority of people, young and old, digital convergence is the best thing since sliced bread. However, to some of the older generations, digital convergence is what’s “ruining” self-esteem and communication.

In Carrie Brownstein’s satirical video about social media “The Realest Real,” (https://www.wired.com/2016/09/carrie-brownstein-social-media-satire-film/ ) some of the dangers of digital convergence are made transparent, one of them being lowered self-esteem due to constant connection to social media. The video depicts a young girl, Abby, being most literally “followed” by her social media followers. One of the most poignant moments is when Abby is guided back to the office of the Minister of Public Private Relations and is most literally followed by a group of people. Confused, Abby observes how one of the individuals has turned away and started walking in the other direction, a concept social media users know as “unfollowing.” The secretary leading Abby to the back office explains how the followers are “fickle like that. You’ll never know what you did wrong so don’t even worry about it” (Brownstein). Unfortunately, this can be the reality of social media. People quantify their self-worth based on how many friends, followers, and subscribers they can maintain on their various social media forums. It is for this reason that a person posts a photo and checks vigilantly to see who and how many people will click “like” as a way to validate their attractiveness or their level of being considered interesting. When a person decides to unfollow or unsubscribe, the owner of the account can perceive that as a reflection of their personal value, that they are not attractive or interesting enough. As the guide mentions, because a person never knows why they are being unfollowed, it generates a lot of spiraling questions causing a person to think of all the qualities that could possibly be wrong with them. This is where the self-esteem issues come into play. As we see in the video, after learning she has lost a follower, Abby immediately starts to question whether her face is presentable enough for her followers because she does not want to lose any more than she already has.

This overdramatic representation of social media is not far from the truth. Hundreds upon thousands of youth, adults, and everyone in between calculate the extent to which people find them attractive, funny, smart, entertaining or popular simply based on how many likes, retweets, comments, and shares they get on their posts. Social media users jump at the site of a notification, checking to see if it was someone who liked their post. This mindset and lifestyle can be really damaging to a person’s self-esteem, especially young adults who are struggling to realize their identity and find out where they belong in the world. Adolescents, more often than not, fall prey to the fame chasing aspects of social media, wondering if they have gained their peer’s approval.

In another video, (https://www.ted.com/talks/sherry_turkle_alone_together?language=en ) Sherry Turkle takes the total “mom” position of the argument on whether or not we spend too much time on our devices. Due to media convergence, anyone and everyone can check their email, surf the web, and all of those other useful functions that I’ve mentioned above. Sherry, like many other adults, claim that having all of this power at our fingertips is dangerous because people are becoming accustomed to hiding behind their screens and avoid face-to-face communication at all costs. Is this really true? In my humble opinion, to a certain extent, people like Sherry have a point. When children learn at a young age how to communicate via media only, they miss out on some crucial conversational and communicational skills. However, what I have an issue with is how many members of the baby boom generation like to point fingers and complain that the millennial generation is always on their phone. To a certain extent, millennials are on their devices more often than older generations, but did Sherry consider why this might be? Students in today’s age are required to utilize technology to complete school work. Whether it’s filming a music video for a class, creating a PowerPoint Presentation, asking a classmate a question about the assignment via Facebook, or writing an email to a teacher, students in today’s society need to be connected to a device. This, admittedly, does not excuse our overuse of texting, social media viewing, Netflix watching, and etcetera, but are members of the millennial generation the only ones guilty of too much screen time? Right in Sherry’s TED talk she cites and explains that adults are checking their email and scrolling through social media during business meetings and presentations! Adults, too, are guilty of letting technology take over their life! Too often teenagers get the bad reputation for being glued to their devices, but in reality, I’ve seen many personal instances where the forty-somethings are glued to their phones while the twenty-somethings are engaged in what’s going on around them.

As I briefly mentioned above, Sherry does have a point. Digital convergence has allowed and/or caused anyone with a device to be glued to it, therefore minimizing the amount of face-to-face interactions we have with each other on a daily basis. But does that mean the human race is going to forget how to have a formal interview or be unaware of how to talk to grandma about what they’re learning in school? Doubtfully. We learn all of these behaviors by human interaction, watching mom and dad, learning in school, and many other pathways of learning.

It seems as though there are so many critics out there claiming that communication is being flushed down the toilet with the constant availability of technology, but what has anyone done to counteract this problem? Scientists are always quick to point the finger that technology is ruining our conversational skills as a society, but what steps are being taken to ensure that future generations still know how to have a conversation that involves making eye contact? If critics focused less on what’s going wrong and focused more of their energy on strategies to overcome this challenge, the world would be less concerned about “teenagers being glued to their devices” and more confident that the young people of today will be able to lead us into a brighter future of communication strategies.  

Sherry says that we’re afraid to be alone and we have this intense need to make connections, but without the presence of technology, and more specifically digitally converged technology, wouldn’t we still have those same fears and desires? Think back 50 years ago, before the invention of the cell phone, social media, Netflix, and online reading sources. No matter what year it is, man has the desire to have a companion. It’s why we find spouses, make friends, or even adopt pets. Every person is afraid of being alone with or without technology. What does a person who is afraid of being alone do? They go out and make connections. When a person is lonely, bored, in need of some human interaction, they call up their friend or go visit their neighbor. You certainly don’t need an iPhone to do any of those things. While many may believe that media can be damaging to the way we communicate (and I wouldn’t entirely disagree with them), I wonder if people consider the same scenario from a different perspective as I have.

References:

Campbell, Richard, Christopher R. Martin, and Bettina Fabos. Media & culture: 

                 mass  communication in a digital age. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 

                 2015. Print.

Wired. Conde Nast, 13 Sept. 2016. Web. 03 Feb. 2017.

Turkle, Sherry. "Connected, but alone?" TED. February 2012. Lecture.

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