mechurchthings-blog

[mechurchthings-blog]

Final

Sources Used:

Cyberfeminism : Encyclopedia of New Media Consalvo, Mia. "Cyberfeminism." Encyclopedia of New Media. Ed. . Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE, 2002. 109-10. SAGE Reference Online. Web. 4 Apr. 2012.

S. (2014, April 17). Retrieved May 04, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mvldO4Lj9M&list=PL330fty7A4aFyNvqkPAIR3cVI1d77Y5xY&index=11

L. (2016, March 06). Retrieved May 04, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mtKyU4MvnY&t=232s

L. (2016, June 13). Retrieved May 04, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODwNxxo4UxU&t=148s

Body Positive Movement. (2017, May 03). Retrieved May 04, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_Positive_Movement

Gallivan, H. R. (n.d.). Teens, Social Media And Body Image. Retrieved May 4, 2017, from Teens, Social Media And Body Image:

Ko, C. (2016, December 21). Retrieved May 04, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CG_wt84K6p4&t=263s

[mechurchthings-blog]

Week 13

Living in a world fueled by technology, it’s no surprise how quickly the digital labor is growing. People everywhere want to be in the know and the internet has been an effective way to communicate and interact with the click of a button. The youth in our country have capitalized on this; from becoming public figures on instagram to daily vloggers on youtube, no stone has been left unturned. The St. Felix article read, “A cursory glance at the user-generated content rising to the top of the internet heap reveals how much of it is produced by black teens, members of a burgeoning Generation Z who experiment with the iPhone gaze.” The phrase iPhone gaze really stuck out to me and I believe supports the idea that everyone is doing it.

There are many, many, many benefits for youth so why wouldn't they. Some of the benefits I can think of without much thought are the ability to work from home, having a platform that they otherwise would not have, creative freedom, and being paid to do something they enjoy/ would be doing anyways. While this sounds like fun and games there are many drawbacks that come with the territory. 

Below I have attached a video posted on YouTube by ex Buzzfeed creator Safia Nygaard. In the video she explains her reasoning behind leaving the hugely popular network. The video in it’s entirety explains the lack of ownership of content produced along with all the ideas that go into each and every video. Buzzfeed isn’t alone in networks actually being the owners of the content produced. 

Another limitation of digital labor is that until creators have made it big they have extremely limited access to resources needed to make content people would actually like to see. Without views or interactions on their page, they won;t get the recognition deserved for all the time and attention they put into it. 

In addition to these limitations many companies will take a cut for their hard work. Not only do teens lose partial to full ownership, they lose out on revenue that has been earned off their content. Another large time YouTuber Pewdiepie has been quoted to say that “everyone’s first contract on YouTube is a scam, it’s a piece of shit. You lose half your revenue or something like that.” 

The last limitation I would like to discuss is the exploitation and appropriation that can happen in the digital realm. I feel one group that has experienced the most would be black youth. With their style, music, and dance moves becoming a topic of discussion across every form of media possible. Huge companies have used these things to promote themselves and have made them “mainstream”. Their culture and lifestyles have been capitalized on and there’s nothing they can do about it.

[mechurchthings-blog]

Reposted due to error in quoting:

I think your post on Cam Girlz really explains the point on the documentary. I think for many their initial reaction to Cam Girlz is being disgusted and feeling bad for them, but the documentary really sheds light on the positive side of this. I think it is so awesome that the women who are cam girls get a sense of empowerment from it and that they have embraced their sexuality so much, I am almost envious of how much they own it. I think there was something said along the lines of, “Any people who say it’s demeaning or that you’re losing worth. They have no idea what’s going on.” Which is the part I started actually believing it. Following the women through their stories and hearing how this has empowered them made that seem so much realer and not something they said because it was the “right answer”. As we read in the article Sean Dunn said, “Oh no, they shouldn’t be doing this—somebody’s got to save these girls. What’s gone wrong?”, but as your post and the movie have shown these women don’t need to be saved and that was his and my biggest takeaway. They’re strong and beautiful women who have found a way to feel sexy and empowered. They have capitalized on their strengths and I don’t think they should be shamed for that.

Cam Girlz

I found the film “Cam Girlz” to be very interesting and insightful. Most of the time, when people seek pleasure online, we focus on our pleasure rather than those pleasuring us. It was great to see how being a Cam Girl made all of these women feel free and confident about their bodies, their sexuality and their self as a whole. The internet has provided so many jobs and financial opportunities for people; the women talked about how this was their source of income. One of them stated that she wanted a job where she wouldn’t be restricted because of her tattoos and the color of her hair. For those who laud amateur pornography, the process of making homemade porn can represent a valuable opportunity for sexual self-expression (Ruberg, 2016). Another girl talked about her and her husband could survive solely based on the amount of money that she was bringing in – she also stated that she was making nearly as much as her husband who had a full-time job.  

For some of these women, being a Cam girl is a way for them to cope and for others, it is a source of happiness. One of the women recently lost her husband and doing this was one of the ways that she was learning to cope. Another woman’s boyfriend broke up with her because she added a bit of weight and yet when she started being a cam girl, it led her to love her body more and her viewers loved her that way.

When we talk about affect online, we can see that some of the viewers were also included in the video – one of the guys included talked about how watching the girls made him happy because he enjoyed seeing them comfortable in their sexualities. The other guy mentioned that they allowed him to be himself.

This video taught me that self-love can result in a lot of things (including making a bit of money) and when people see that you are confident and you love yourself, they in turn will do the same.

[mechurchthings-blog]

I think your post on Cam Girlz really explains the point on the documentary. I think for many their initial reaction to Cam Girlz is being disgusted and feeling bad for them, but the documentary really sheds light on the positive side of this. I think it is so awesome that the women who are cam girls get a sense of empowerment from it and that they have embraced their sexuality so much, I am almost envious of how much they own it. I think there was something said along the lines of, “Any people who say it's demeaning or that you're losing worth. They have no idea what's going on.” Which is the part I started actually believing it. Following the women through their stories and hearing how this has empowered them made that seem so much realer and not something they said because it was the “right answer”. Sean Dunn said, “Oh no, they shouldn’t be doing this—somebody’s got to save these girls. What’s gone wrong?”, but as your post and the movie have shown these women don’t need to be saved. They're strong and beautiful women who have found a way to feel sexy and empowered. They have capitalized on their strengths and I don’t think they should be shamed for that.

Cam Girlz

I found the film “Cam Girlz” to be very interesting and insightful. Most of the time, when people seek pleasure online, we focus on our pleasure rather than those pleasuring us. It was great to see how being a Cam Girl made all of these women feel free and confident about their bodies, their sexuality and their self as a whole. The internet has provided so many jobs and financial opportunities for people; the women talked about how this was their source of income. One of them stated that she wanted a job where she wouldn’t be restricted because of her tattoos and the color of her hair. For those who laud amateur pornography, the process of making homemade porn can represent a valuable opportunity for sexual self-expression (Ruberg, 2016). Another girl talked about her and her husband could survive solely based on the amount of money that she was bringing in – she also stated that she was making nearly as much as her husband who had a full-time job.  

For some of these women, being a Cam girl is a way for them to cope and for others, it is a source of happiness. One of the women recently lost her husband and doing this was one of the ways that she was learning to cope. Another woman’s boyfriend broke up with her because she added a bit of weight and yet when she started being a cam girl, it led her to love her body more and her viewers loved her that way.

When we talk about affect online, we can see that some of the viewers were also included in the video – one of the guys included talked about how watching the girls made him happy because he enjoyed seeing them comfortable in their sexualities. The other guy mentioned that they allowed him to be himself.

This video taught me that self-love can result in a lot of things (including making a bit of money) and when people see that you are confident and you love yourself, they in turn will do the same.

[mechurchthings-blog]

Week 11

Being a child of the 21st century I am not new to the YouTube/ vlogging movement. I follow a range of vloggers on my personal youtube account, some of which were included in this week’s articles. When I originally planned on writing this post, I too wanted to write about the ever so popular Gigi Gorgeous’s, but I quickly decided not to. While I am still in love with her story and the great strides she has made for other member of the trans community on YouTube, I wanted to shed some light on a few of my other favorite trans vloggers; of all different backgrounds.

The first vlogger I wanted to highlight would be the YouTuber The Sassy Truth (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfSUQyLman2bxgZyaWppW5g). The sassy truth is a plus- size beauty vlogger. She has been on YouTube for about a year now and her channel has gained some serious speed. Her niche is a video series called “Coffee with Gia”. In this series she gets down to business and talks about serious topics facing people transitioning and gives helpful tips and tricks. Below is her video where she talks about her own journey and the importance of her choosing her own name. 

The next vlogger I chose to write about is BeautywithTrinity (https://www.youtube.com/user/BeautyWithTrinity/videos). Trinity is another beauty vlogger who has been on YouTube for about 2 years now. Trinity has many videos keeping viewers up to date with her male to female transition. Below I have attached her timeline video, but she has many more up to date videos including a Q & A with her mother which I found to be very insightful. 

Lastly, I wanted to include a new YouTuber I stumbled across when trying to determine the direction of my assignment. This YouTuber’s name is Isabella otherwise known as Transgender Diaries (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWwjmfrN72c). Like the other two YouTubers listed above Isabella is transitioning from male to female, but unlike the two above Isabella’s main focus is dealing with her religion and being transgender. Isabella was brought up in a Jewish household and was often told she was confused and would grow out of it. Her story is attached below.

I think these three women all represent a very underrepresented side of the transgender community. I think YouTube has become a place that many people can turn to when they feel like there is no one who understands them or knows what they are going through. YouTube has become an outlet for so many to express themselves and bring attention to issues that people have been too afraid to talk about. I think one thing I have found to be true time and time again is something that was touched on in one of the articles as well. In Horak’s article we read that, “however, the talking head makes many aspects of social identity visible, sometimes reinstating existing social hierarchies. Body size, skin color, and accent affect how often vlogs are viewed and what sort of responses they receive.” I carefully selected women of different sizes, racial backgrounds, and religious backgrounds for my pot this week; but this was not as easy as you may think. My immediate vloggers I thought of were all white women and for me that made this line hit close to home. I think this is a great forum for everyone to speak on and I think there is so much room for improvement. I think there needs to be more representation of all kind on YouTube and not even exclusively to the trans community, although that’s what this class is focusing on for this week. If any of the videos above interest you make sure to go subscribe to them and if you have any other YouTubers you love, feel free to comment them back on my post! Lastly, I want to add the video bellow. I stumbled across this video last week and think it gets my reasoning for standing behind YouTube being a great place for people to express themselves. The video is called “I’m Transgender, but I’m not...”. I think this video shows how trans doesn’t look one way or another and it doesn’t decide who you are. Being transgender doesn’t define you just like being a woman doesn’t define me. 

[mechurchthings-blog]

au-naturelll, 

I really enjoyed reading Tanya Kant’s article as well as your post! I too have logged into Facebook to check a notification and had my whole day affected by the first post on my newsfeed. It’s hard to believe that seeing one post or picture can set your day off track, but I think we can all agree this happens more than one would think. After reading this article it also got me really thinking about why people post what they post on social media. I guess I understand the goal of social media is to keep in touch with people you don’t necessarily see all the time, but after looking at a few more articles I saw that there were two main reasons people used the site. Reason one being the need to belong and reason two being the need for self-presentation. On a site that is meant to express yourself I find it very interesting that isn't the main reason it’s used. Facebook knows this to be true and I think in a way these auto post play a role in it. Another thing I found very interesting in this study (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3335399/) was that our personalities already play a role in the content we enjoy looking at and posting. For example, users with high levels of narcissism are more likely to us the features that allow for excessive self-promotion.Not only does it affect the things we look at, but it also affects the amount of time we spend on the site. This study suggest that a high level of extraversion, low self-esteem, high levels of neuroticism, narcissism, and low levels of self-esteem and self-worth are associated with high FB use (Hoffman and Nadkarn). A small part of me didn’t want to believe this site had so much control over me so I decided to prove it. I gave Facebook up for approximately 24 hours. Prior to this period of time I would have told you I rarely checked Facebook, but during this 24 hours I saw just how much I actually did. I think me checking Facebook is a time killer for me, so I never really thought about the true impact it has on me. Facebook ultimately affects myself and everyone around me so much more than I ever imagined and its kind of mind boggling.

Facebook and Affect

The site I am choosing to analyze is Facebook. Specifically, Tanya Kant’s article which looks at Facebook and the role that affect plays in the application. Affect plays a big role in the Facebook app. The Facebook app claims that it allows for users to express themselves, but is this really true? Through this study, it was clear that Facebook allows us to express ourselves, promote ourselves and appeal to the invisible audience, but it also how auto posts change our identity in a way. Kant concludes that apps can be looked at as a “social network activity” which may act on the user’s behalf by posting for them. Apps like Spotify have the potential to intervene and mess up the staged performance that users are trying to create ultimately. The fact that these auto-posts are happening makes it clear that they are helping write our identities for us and perform for us. These apps have even the potential to affect us in our everyday lives and outside of the social media realm. These apps also have the potential to change us and make us more normative than we want to be. Kant is ultimately conceptualizing Facebook as an identity performance for an invisible audience. Obviously, affect or emotion on Facebook plays a big role. Sites like Spotify that bring up songs from the past (without asking permission in the now) are stirring up all different kinds of emotions without our permission. Facebook and other apps that auto-post for us create affect, which then has an effect on how we view ourselves and how we identify ourselves. Overall, when I think about it and analyze this article, I think that affect plays even a bigger role in the social world than I thought. These auto-posts I have been seeing have definitely affected how I have felt for the rest of the day, or how someone may have even thought about me. Facebook literally can write our story for us, stir up emotions for us, be us. This is really weird to think about considering I have gone on Facebook happy and gotten off sad. Affect clearly plays a big role here, from auto-posts, and just in general to creating a profile that appeals to an invisible audience. The link below is to an article about data collection and how cookies are collected which creates the ads we see online. kinda interesting! 

https://blog.adroll.com/product/how-do-advertising-cookies-work

picture: https://www.google.com/search?q=cookies&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjNsZ64huzSAhVmilQKHZszDm8Q_AUICCgB&biw=1278&bih=655#imgrc=1CrkiW2VlGLIVM:

[mechurchthings-blog]

Feelings Online

In the short film American Reflexxx we see Signe Pearce walk the streets of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The only thing that sets her apart from everyone else there is the mirrored mask she wears. While that is the only real thing that sets her apart the crowd forming behind her seem to think there is a lot more. Pierce is a transgender woman and that seems to make a lot of people angry. Her mirrored mask hides her true identity while others begin to stare. Shortly after a crowd forms and they’re all untied by one thing, their discomfort for Pierce. Pierce does not interact with the crowd directly and this seems to get them hyped up. Bonded by their emotions the crowd becomes more and more feisty with Pierce which leads them to commit awful acts against her. This unification through their beliefs is what Sara Ahmed's theorization of affective economies explains. The crowd was united through their discomfort and therefore this showed how emotions work to align some subjects with some others.

Another place I think we can see unification through alike emotions would be the comments on any, and I mean ANY, youtube video. For my particular video I chose to watch a Plus Size Try On Bikini Haul. In the video attached below, we see the ever so beautiful Loey Lane flaunt what she's got and show women and men everywhere that there is no size that should not wear a bikini. Loey, like Pierce, is confident in her own skin and believe everyone else should be too. Her video sends a really positive message, so I guess you could say I was a little taken aback by people leaving negative comments on a video that aimed to spread love for all body types and that confidence is key to feeling your best. 

If you scroll through the comments the majority of them are positive and unite the women who once felt they were too big to wear a bikini or not confident. While their comments are written specifically to Loey, you do tend to see a lot of people offering their personal struggles and how they overcame them. This is the same side of Ahmed's theorization of affective economies. (This can be seen in the picture below.)

Ahmed's theorization of affective economies has a second side to it. It also says that “emotions work to align some subjects with some others and against other others”. In the comment section on Loey’s video we see a lot of opposing feelings as well. In the comment section on YouTube there is no such thing as a low blow, people say what they want and how they want it when they want to. Pictured below are a few people who disagreed with Loey about no one being too large for a bikini. 

It is extremely disheartening for me to see such polar opposite response to a video that aims to raise people up, rather than kick them down. While I believe comment sections are a very necessary part of YouTube and really any thought provoking piece, I do not think it is an area that should have any sense of importance placed on it just yet. People will say a lot of things behind the screen of their computer, but that’s all it is. 

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Human Trafficking

As I grew up I thought human trafficking was something that happened in third world countries and there was no way it could be happening in towns just like the one I grew up in. The sad truth is that human trafficking is a very prevalent issue here in America. For my project I would like to discuss the issues of human trafficking and more specifically for my project I will be discussing the human trafficking in the state of Ohio. While sex trafficking can happen to anyone there seems to be a high correlation between sex trafficking and homeless youth. In a recent report put out by the Ohio Attorney General’s office it was shown that approximately 1,000 juveniles are forced into the sex trade each year in Ohio and of that a majority are homeless youth. While sex trafficking should be alarming enough, I have a bigger issue with the way Ohio handles sex trafficking of homeless youth and that’s specifically is where feminist intervention could be very helpful. In my mind the people who are forced into human trafficking have been through enough and there should be laws in place to help them, but sadly this is not always the case. It should be noted that a majority of the teens who end up homeless and sex trafficked have had previous instances of sexual abuse. And as if that weren’t enough going against them, in the state of Ohio victims of sex trafficking can still be charged with prostitution. Victims typically will exchange sex for a place to stay or money for food and that, for me, is what makes it so hard to believe that they can be charged. The youth who find themselves on the street are vulnerable and helpless and that’s what makes them the perfect target. They have found themselves on the street after they have experienced tremendous hardship and people take advantage of the on that. Something needs to be done to help these victims and empower them, rather than punish them. I think feminist intervention could help change the laws that don’t protect children and also help victims find the confidence to get the help they so desperately need.

Sources:

Cindy McCain and Malika Saada Saar. (2015, September 22). Experts: Ohio among worst for sex trafficking. Retrieved March 04, 2017, from http://www.cincinnati.com/story/opinion/contributors/2015/09/22/experts-ohio-among-worst-sex-trafficking/72613268/

Hickey, M. (2017, March 03). Teenage sex trafficking victims can still be charged with prostitution in Ohio. Retrieved March 04, 2017, from http://www.newsnet5.com/news/local-news/oh-cuyahoga/teenage-sex-trafficking-victims-can-still-be-charged-with-prostitution-in-ohio

L. (2017, February 20). Homeless Youth At Higher Risk For Labor, Sex Trafficking. Retrieved March 04, 2017, from http://www.ozarksfirst.com/news/homeless-youth-at-higher-risk-for-labor-sex-trafficking/660557511

[mechurchthings-blog]

When I logged on to tumblr this evening, I really did not expect to find too many examples that pertained to my everyday life. Reading your post really changed my perspective on snapchat and the filters. I always thought the filters were just for fun, but your post really changed my mind on that. Originally, when i read your post my mind went straight to how the filters help set unrealistic expectations for each other (and ourself), but upon more thought I realized just how much inequality exists within the app.  I thought about all the “funny” filters there are that look at different cultures and have a stereotypical (fill in the blank race here) filter. This article stuck out to me in my research and think it might be worth the read : https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/aug/10/snapchat-racist-asian-filter-yellowface  While I think these filters are fun I also think they are a huge problem and I am ashamed that I got sucked in for the fun of it

Additionally, I found this video and thought it was kind of silly!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XI996YczvQc

Week 5: Cyberutopia

When it comes to the internet and its ability to intersect with real life one must take into consideration the impact of apps. Apps specific to social media such as SnapChat and Instagram are designed to bring people together. To share moments and glimpse of real life. Our apps on our phones have become our security blankets to avoid real life awkward moments. Photos original use were to share memories for your self and people you shared those memories with. Now photos on these social media apps are used to judge people as to what kind of person they are. Users as well as application developers have now developed ways to enhance physical features on those moments and glimpses of real life. The filters on Snapchat and Instagram blur blemishes, pronounce curves, apply make up, and whiten teeth. This feature specifically targets women and persons who identify with women gender roles. 

Other users who use these apps see these enhanced photos and hold these people real life selves to reflect their snapchat selves. Snapchat creates a cyberutopia because using these facial filters on SnapChat degenderizes a person because it can reconstruct the face. For example, the dog filter. On average a person would say a small puppy is cute. The dog filter puts any face into dog filter replacing the ears, mouth and nose. Other examples of filters are the Bob Marley filter, the flower crown filter, and alien filter. It gives every person who takes the picture that same appealing face. “This cyber utopian theme relies primarily on the principle of disembodiment. Leaving behind the body an its associated sex, gender, sexuality, race, religion, disability and so on.” Digital inequality is still apparent in app use. The most clear inequality would be for people who do not have smart phones who simply would not have access. Inequalities extend to people with poorer quality smartphones as well as access to wifi and data sources. Even an app created to bring people together and identify as one is not able to escape the same discrimination and judgment of real life.

[mechurchthings-blog]

Tumblr Post 4

Ever since I was little I have struggled with my weight and accepting myself, so I think a space of online resistance that has repeatedly recur in my life would be the Plus Size is Beautiful/Body Positivity Movement. The Body Positivity Movement is a movement designed to help “people liberate themselves from self-hatred, value their beauty and identity, and use their energy and intellect to make positive changes in their own lives and in their communities” (http://www.thebodypositive.org). In addition to that definition here is a short video that will further explain and illustrate the purpose of the Body Positivity Movement: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tTmYmc6ubE. While this can be widely seen across all the social medias (twitter, tumblr, instagram, etc.), for this post, I want to mostly focus on the YouTube vlogger community and even more specifically the plus size acceptance sector of the movement.  YouTube Vloggers from LoeyLane to LearningToBeFearless over the past couple of years have driven the push for body positivity and the acceptance of plus size body types in the media. They’re videos have racked up millions of views and have made them the face for accepting yourself at any size. (Here are their channels, check them out!: https://www.youtube.com/user/LoeyLane https://www.youtube.com/user/LearningToBeFearless) These communities showed me I was not alone and that other people, of every size, were feeling inadequate too. I suddenly felt like I belonged again and that’s what these online resistance communities aim to do. For me, an online space of resistance is a safe place for people to exchange and expand on their ideas without fear of judgement. While online resistance communities aim to accept all people they sometimes unintentionally shame others. For example, the plus size vlogger community has had a very positive effect on my life, this is not always a common view. While this is a place of acceptance for plus size women, it is often seen to “skinny shame” as well. The true intent is never to say that being thin is wrong, but some of the ways people express loving being thick is by putting down other body types. That being said this is a community that if you aren’t plus size, you’re feelings may be on the chopping block. I understand that that is a complete generalization of the community and they do so much more positive things, but like any online forum things can be taken out of context or worded wrong and that’s when trouble starts to happen. This space is liberating by saying “Plus size is beautiful.”, but it still perpetuates oppression because the term plus size is not an all inclusive term, it separates those who are plus sized from those who are not. It is for that exact reason I have since turned my attention more to Body Positive Movement and making everyone else feel comfortable in their skin rather than focusing on bettering one group of people.

[mechurchthings-blog]

Hi jwhall,

I thought this was a great post! I think the concept of nude is a huge inequality that has the potential to be fixed very easily, but has fallen to the wayside. Another example of this would be nude undergarments such as nylons and bras. Buzzfeed did a video about this not too long ago where they had women try on “nude” clothing items. I found it very interesting, here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKvB8vrgp5E! I feel this video would more or less support that there is far more representation for lighter skin tones when it comes to “nudes”. In addition to you saying you did not feel the tweet should have received as much attention as it did, I agree. Like you said the person’s, who originally commented about the lack of lighter representations, comment could have been taken out of context. Maybe they were bummed the company missed the marked of being more inclusive by including a vast majority in both direction, rather than being saturated on one end or the other.

Tumblr 3

I think a space where inequalities are reproduced is when it comes to different color foundations for certain makeup brands. This came to my mind because of something I saw on twitter recently. There was a makeup line that came out and it had mostly darker skin tones and someone with a lighter skin toned commented on it saying it was unfair because there were no lighter colors.  Others were commenting back saying plenty on makeup lines carry lighter colors.  Hannah Rosefield said in The Politics of Emoji Diversity as a solution, “Another possibility would be to provide a wider colour palette, enabling users to choose from dozens of realistic skin tones.”  Even though they are referring to the small emoji color palette I think the solution could work for both.  Having all lines carry more colors for everyone to choose from. I neither agree nor disagree I think there are a lot of brands that carry enough of different colors but It could be a solution to avoid the controversy like the picture and comments below.

The comments on the pictures were just really a bunch of people going back and forth saying that there weren’t enough of each color.  The caption at the top of the picture says that all other brands carry enough of the light the other colors.  I don’t think this tweet should’ve gotten the negative comments in the first place because its just someones opinion and women love makeup so if this is someones idea of a broad shade range then thats their prerogative and I’m sure there are other people who think other brands have a batter color range.  It’s twitter a place to express your thoughts and feelings and be open and liberated. This tweet came to mind when I read the prompt and the article in the case studies. 

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Introductory Post

Hi! My name is Madeline Churchill. I have been called Maddie since I was in kindergarten, but honestly respond to anything that begins with an “M”. My preferred gender pronoun is she/her. If you asked me last year what my relationship was like with the internet I probably would say that I really didn't use it or see the value in it. In this past year the internet has really consumed my life. I am an avid social media checker, I watch more netflix in a week than most humans will watch over the span of a month, I online shop like it’s my day job, and I recently got picked to run the instagram for my department at work. To say the internet is my life may be an understatement. I think the thing that interests me most and scares me the most about the internet is how interconnected it makes the world. With just a click of a button, anything can be transmitted. As of September of 2016, only 13% of Americans were unconnected from the internet. With new generations becoming so dependent on the internet, it interests me and scares me. The world has so much growth and the advancement of the internet can help us grow so much as a human race. However as seen in my visual image aide, third world countries are still being left behind. This is going to be a problem in our foreseeable future and that also scares me.

Article: http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/09/07/some-americans-dont-use-the-internet-who-are-they/

[mechurchthings-blog]

MCO 435 Week 6 Reflection

For me, this week was eye opening. There is so much back and forth when it comes to race, gender, and class, even when it comes to social media. I think what is even crazier is the fact that this all is so controversial. For me, I also look back at the article (and storify) on Beyonce’s performance. One performance caused such a stir across so many boundaries. I think everyone voiced their opinion on things that Beyonce never intended. I personally feel like all people like to give their two-sense and it really causes a ruckus. I think another part that really stuck out to me was in one of the readings the author talked about how some people just wait for someone to slip up and say the wrong thing, which is something I’ve notices more so lately than any other time before in my life. We all have an opinion and we like to comment and quite honestly stir the pot on taboo topic, but maybe that’s just my opinion.

[mechurchthings-blog]

Beyoncé is light-skinned, skinny, cis, has a whole fleet of make up artists, personal trainers and professional photographers. Her team has relied on white passing to bolster her image before, and ‘Formation’ had plenty of its own colorism issues. You don’t need her to tell you to love your nose.

Benji Hart

[mechurchthings-blog]

I chose this video this week because I thought her view on how social media is going to end the significance of gender in our online presence. 

[mechurchthings-blog]

I chose this photo because I really felt it went along with this weeks topic of social media and gender. I feel that women are so often targeted via social media and these really showed it (even if these aren't necessarily a social media  medium I felt it got the point across).

[mechurchthings-blog]

This article is actually so important, the things our children will get to experience that we didn't.