Scary Movies: A Feminist Perspective

Growing up, my siblings and I were not allowed to watch scary movies. Our parents were very concerned about what we fed our minds and saw absolutely nothing edifying about watching blood, guts, and violence. When I was about 11 years old, I disobeyed and watched "Nightmare on Elm Street". I was scared out of my wits! I had nightmares, had to sleep with the lights on for a long time, and it changed the way I sang nursery rhyme songs on the playground while jumping rope ("One, Twp, Freddy's coming for you..."

About three years ago, I, against my better judgement and after over twenty years of abstaining from scary movies, I saw the movie "The Hills Have Eyes," which depicts violent rape and sexual assault against a woman rather vividly. It made me very uncomfortable. I felt devalued by the rape and violent acts towards women that I witnessed on the screen. It also bothered me that so many men (and women) can watch violence toward women onscreen and see it as nothing but entertainment. The movie was horrifying, but I was too angry at it, to be scared by it. My anger raised a number of questions that this assignment allows me to explore further. Is sexual violence toward women a valid subject matter for any movie, and is there a right and wrong way to portray it? Does violence toward women in the media contribute to the devaluing of women in our society? Is it right for the entertainment industry to capitalize on a violent crime (rape) that is both very real and very devastating to those who experience it? Is there anything that can be done about it, and if so, what?

I am a very visual learner; as such, images resonate within my mind long after whatever was viewed is over. I am not comfortable watching the gory, bloody, violent depictions expressed in slasher films or any other genre of films that does so "in the name of entertainment". As a feminist, I tend not to want to see movies that are characterized as your run of the mill horror flicks because they portray excessive gore and unnecessary violence of the human body and predominantly, the female body. Clover supports this feminist perspective of horror movies when she states that, "Horror and pornography are the only two genres [of film] specifically devoted to the arousal of bodily sensation. They exist solely to horrify and stimulate, not always respectively, and their ability to do so is the sole measure of their success" (169). I feel that violence towards women in that context is very unnecessary and it only promotes degradation. Some rape scenes are only there for titilation, appealing to the lowest, prurient interests of the moviegoing audience. Im offended when the woman being raped begins to respond, because "He's so good, she just cant help herself". This sends a dangerous message that lurking beneath a women's modest female exterior is a subconscious desire to be ravished. In my opinion, it is for the pleasure of the armchair rapist that detailed accounts of violent rapes exist in the media. This furthers the seemingly inseparable marriage of male sexuality and violence in our culture. Furthermore, the movie trailer clip of "The Hills Have Eyes" included in this blog provides a visual aide for precisely what Clover denotes in "The Body" portion of her essay: "...The killer is with few exceptions recognizably human and distinctly male: his fury is unmistakably sexual in both roots and expression; his victims are mostly women, often sexually free and always young and beautiful ones..." (176).

In comparison, movies like The Accused and Eye for An Eye, where the violation is a central part of the story, is a different matter. While still very disturbing, they promote the story in a way that is necessary for understanding the character. Often times, these are true stories that are made into films for societal awareness and educational purposes. In a perfect world, there would be no violence at all, but until then, we should see things that make us more sympathetic and understanding of woman who were victims of acts like that. I think movies can be scary without all the blood and gore and violence. Watching this violence, to a large extent, desensitizes the viewer and helps promote behavior that is not in accordance with the betterment of society. Whether we, as media consumers, choose to hold the media accountable for the inherent responsibility they have to us, that responsibility is present. By refusing to support movies that are not in agreement with my values, I can, on a personal level and small scale, relegate the media's potential effect on my mind and in my life.

Media and Refuseniks

I've chosen to react to the NY Times article entitled "The Cell Refuseniks, an Ever-Shrinking Club." The article, for those that may not have had a chance to read it, discusses the few sole survivors who refuse to live life without a cell phone. According to the article, "those [people] who still do not have them [cell phones]...tend to be older or less educated Americans or those unable to afford phones. These are people who have a bunch of other struggles in their lives and the expense of maintaining technology and mastering it is also pretty significant to them..." What we see in this statement is that one's access to media technology is directly correlated to their age, amount of education, and socioeconomic status. For many of us the idea of not having a cell phone is unfathomable; however, for may Americans, this "working poor" status is reality. The Department of Social Services recently enacted a plan that gives free pre-paid cell phones to those who receive Food Stamps and or Medicaid. Poor people have emergencies just like anybody else and need a means of communication that is easily accessible and readily available.

Not everyone who doesn't have a cell phone is poor, however. Many of these people, according to the article, choose not to be tied down with cell phones and the expectations that they bring of always being reachable, anytime, anywhere. As a society, we've gotten so accustomed to 24-hour accessibility that we no longer understand the concept f NOT being able to reach someone or someone NOT wanting to be reached. I experienced this first-hand during the media deprivation experiment. People were like, "What do you mean you're not on Facebook?" Many times on the weekends when I am surrounded by my family, I become a "refusenik" and willfully don't answer my cell phone. Whoever it is can wait! If it's that important, they'll call me at home and/or leave a message. I simply want to have time with y loved ones without interruption. Has technology gotten us to a point where this is beyond our scope of reasoning? Yes. "Cell refuseniks are making a statement that they control their availability."

Media and Female Sexual Objectification

Today, my daughter, Cereta, and I, sat down on the couch, played with her dollies, and watched t.v. together, laughing and giggling as we so often do together. We were paying more attention to each other than to the dolls or the programming (this is a good thing!) She picked up the remote to flip through the channels and I noticed how much the advertisements were focused on females and the importance of them looking, smelling, acting, and being sexy in an effort to get the approval of the opposite sex. Everything from ads for ice cream to make up and everything in-between had under and over tones of sex built into it. I even noticed the dolls we were playing with (Bratz Dolls), which she's had for a few years, were "sexualized" in their clothing. Although these dolls may present no more sexualization of girls or women than is seen in MTV videos, it is worrisome when dolls designed specifically for 4- to 8-year-olds are associated with an objectified adult sexuality. I'm constantly talking to my children about sex so I started to matter-of-factly ask Cereta what she thought about the ads. She intuitively caught on to the sexy quality of the ads and of the programs, as well. It spawned a dialogue between us that ran the gamut of menstrual cycles to fashion, makeup, dieting, careers, education, children, boyfriends, and much more. All of this encouraged to a great degree by the t.v ads and programming and their consistent use of sex and sexiness as a major selling point and audience captivator of all ages. By so doing, media, as MacLuhan postulates, in and of itself, functions as a catalyst for change in individuals and society, negative though it may be. I looked at Cereta's Bratz doll and the t.v. advertisements and observed even in their isolation the changes they spawned in out society.

As a young girl, I noticed this interesting sexual power that women had and I liked. I like it still. I'd even go so far as to say I love the power that being naturally feminine (being biologically and innately female) affords me. There is power in the curves of my body. There is power in my beautifully long eyelashes that with a mere bat of them, can move mountains. There is power in my chosen tone of voice that when gauged properly, can set the desired mood of those around me. There is life-giving power in the treasure that lies between my legs. However, being desired sexually becomes a curse when it is the only aspect of her being that a women chooses to cultivate. Society perpetuates this ill-thinking, in large part, with the help of media and television advertising. There is much more to myself, to every woman than physical beauty and sexual desire. Our academic and emotional intellect must be properly nurtured in order to become a woman in the truest sense of the word. we must embrace ourselves, in our totality and concertedly in order for long-lasting changes in not only the way we are viewed, but more importantly, in how we, as a gender, view ourselves.

I walked away from the conversation with my darling Cereta a hint of sadness; sad because the age of innocence seems to be decreasing as our society becomes more and more perverse. No longer can kids just be kids. We have to begin explain what used to be adult things to them earlier and earlier; if not, we risk their ignorance being their demise. What does this say about our society when the young and innocent are so vulnerable? How can media perpetuate or resolve these issues? It is my hope that we come up with answers and solutions that are effective and meaningful and teach us to utilize media in a way that edifies our young, burgeoning minds, not corrupt them with unrestrained images of sex and "sexiness" as a means to an end for happiness and success in one's life.

Media and Racism

In a segment entitled Digital Life on NPR, hosts Michel Martin with Anna Holmes, editor in chief of Jezebel.com, and Terence Samuel, editor of The Root.com, conducted a show dedicated to the increase in Online Racism reported following the recent arrest of Henry Louis Gates, Jr. According to the views expressed in the broadcast, online postings often get out of hand, often spewing racially offensive epitafths. In my observation and experience, racism is a major thread used to weave the fabric of this country. It, along with capitalism, are the foundation upon which the crux of this country has been built. Racism is the core of what America is all about. It is an inextricable component of the way in which this country is governed. Just look at the alarmingly disproportionate amount of black men incarcerated in prisons across America in comparison to their white counterparts for committing the same offenses as an example. Where most scenarios are concerned, I weigh in on the side of positivity and hope, choosing to see the proverbial glass half-full; however, with regard to the question of whether or not media in ll of its forms contribute to racism in America, I am a realist and emphatically say yes, it does. Furthermore, as unfortunate as this is, until there is a genuine desire on the part of white America to end racism, situations for people of color will remain an uphill battle. The people who make the decisions and decide what is and is not news are not black people. This lack of minorities in decision-making roles affects how well minorities are portrayed and perceived.

Media unquestionably fuels and funds this promulgation of racist ideas upheld as norms in American society. Radio and magazine advertising has helped promote racial and ethnic inequality in the United States by limiting minority visibility, exploiting minority consumers and perpetuating stereotypes in the ads themselves. An example of this would be the advertising done by cigarette companies. Cigarette advertising in most magazines surged in the 1970s when tobacco companies withdrew from radio and television in compliance with FCC-mandated Fairness Doctrine messages to the American Cancer Society and other health organizations. By the early 1990s, cigarette companies were shifting their focus away from the educated, affluent readership favored by many magazines and toward low-income women and minorities. While this trend may have boosted advertising revenues for some minority magazines, it was clearly not in the best interests of their readers' health. I am an avid reader of black magazines like Essence, Ebony, and Jet and I see the way in which cigarettes, particularly Newports are portrayed with images of black people as sexy, good, and of no consequence. Advertisers who once shunned minority audiences have proven themselves all too willing to exploit them.

Do not misconstrue my interpretation: I am by no means saying that all white people are racist. Clearly, they are not; however, all white people simply by way of being white benefit from racism, even if it is by default. They enjoy a very real white privilege that many feel is their God-given right because they know nothing else. Media, in all it's venues, promotes the wrongly upheld notion that being white is inherently better than being black, In both my observation and my experience, the overwhelming majority of white people I've encountered throughout my life either turn a blind eye to racism and pretend like it doesn't even exist OR better yet, they ask me, as an intelligent, educated black women, to turn off my sensibilities and powers of observation when confronted with racism, in an effort to make them feel better about a system of oppression that their forefathers instituted and that they actively benefit from. I have real concerns with the media's role in creating perceptions about race and race relations. I think that the media can be, and really has been, very damaging as far as race relations are concerned.

Whites, on a whole, experience benefits simply because they are white. As black people in America, we learn everything about white people and many of their respective cultures and histories from the day we are born. A large part of this learning comes from the media. Yet, white people still can't distinguish whether or not my hair is braided or dreadlocked or if I wash my hair or "take it out" to wash it (whatever that means?!?!). There is a gaping disparity in awareness about what I, as a black woman in America, am about or have to endure. Does this on some level have to do with the media's denial of the portrayal of positive African-American images in it's movies, commercials, news broadcasts, magazines, and billboards? I believe it does. Racism comes in many overt and subversive forms, many of which are controlled by the media. People talk about the media as if it were something removed from them, something alien, when in fact, the media is simply a projection of our society. We have deep, profound, tragic problems with race relations in the media because we have deep, profound, tragic problems with race relations in this society.

Media, Masculinity, and Violence

I was deeply moved by the movies, Tough Guise and The Killing Screens; so much so that I took over two pages of notes while watching them. All of what is presented is relevant on a variety of levels and brings to our collective consciousness some profound truths about the effects media is having on men and women in our society, particularly our young, impressionable adolescents. The media is negatively defining what masculinity is and how "real" men must act in order to be validated.

Some key points that stood out to me were:
- If you want to understand something in society, look at its representation in the media.
- Guns in movies, in addition to being phallic symbols, have gotten bigger over the last four decades, as have the bicept size of action figures from 1970 to today.
- Outsiders who don't fit in i.e. Columbine, use guns as the great equalizer. Disproportionately, the outsiders are male.
- Especially interesting is the medias portrayal of poor urban black men and men of color overall. They are almost always defined as tough guys.
-This portrayal of tough guys has found it's way into the mainstream society, comprised of white middle class males.
- Part of the normal training and social conditioning of men is the notion that manhood is inextricably linked to power and violence, particularly sexual violence perpetrated against women.
- The Marlboro Man ethos teaches that interdependence and interconnectedness are not manly qualities; crying is for women; If you fail, it's your own fault.
- The porn industry overwhelmingly controlled by and geared towards pleasing men via the overt sexual objectification of women.
-Manhood means a flagrant disregard for personal health and wellness i.e. binge drinking.

The conclusion that the narrator of this piece came to is one that I agree with wholeheartedly: We need to change the definitions of manhood as a key step in reducing violence in our society.

Media and Body Image

Growing up, I do believe that gender stereotypes affected my development and learning in a negative fashion. Being a female, more emphasis was placed on the importance of my appearance from external and subsequently internal sources. Teachers always commented on how "nicely" I was dressed or how "pretty" my hair looked. I've always been into fashion and style and knowing that I was being observed made me more self-conscious. This emphasis on appearance, fashion, and weight can have more of an negative affect on girls than on boys. The media, more so than parents, peers, or members of the opposite sex, puts pressure on females to "look good." Advertising and media images that encourage girls to focus on looks and sexuality are harmful to their emotional and physical health.

I read a book a few years ago entitled Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. In the book, which is set in China circa the mid 1800's, none of the women, with the exception of Third Sister, knew themselves aside from being beautiful adornments for their husbands. They were indoctrinated from a very young age to believe that their sole purpose in life was to have their feet bound so that they could get a husband and be a servant to him and his family.

This, in my observation, is so warped; and yet, we see this same fixation with gender socialization and false perceptions of beauty for women/girls in our own American society. Media plays on this fixation with seemingly no regard. We're stuck on stupid when it comes to our looks. Girls as young as seven and eight are concerned with their weight and some are even on diets. The media is flooded with false and unrealistic ideas and images of what the ideal women should look like. There is an undercurrent of urgency and desperation to "get and keep a man" that is driving many women to the plastic surgeon's office in droves.

The media in almost all of it's forms teaches girls that they must look a certain way if they want to attract the attention of a man. Little consideration is given to ensuring high self esteem, self-worth and self-concept in our girls. As a society, we fail to indoctrinate them with the knowledge that they, girls who will grow into fine women, are our best and most coveted natural resources. In order for there to be a paradoxical change in the way women are viewed, mothers, fathers, teaches and coaches must teach girls and boys about being beautiful inside. Kind hearts and caring souls need to be cultivated, first and foremost. We have to exemplify for our girls, the change that we want to see. As a society, we all bear the responsibility for ensuring that future generations have more positive images and less restrictive expectations for women. We must hold those who control what the media disseminates to the masses accountable for the expressed and implied ramifications of it's portrayals of girls/women and their bodies.

Media and Family

I came home from a day in N.J. to find my boyfriend sitting at the kitchen table, shopping online. As I watched a dvr'd episode of Grey's Anatomy, I marvelled in how much of our family conversations revolved around the commercials that played in between segments of the show. Our interactions, overall, contained some element of media and technology in them. Traditionally, families and households have been defined as social systems. However, modern households possess an additional technological dimension brought about by several media technologies--television sets, dvd players, dvr's, cellular phones, answering machines, voicemail boxes, radios,computers, i-pods, etc. The use of online media in my household continues to expand. Our home is a technologically complex environment with multiple television sets, radios, telephones, fax machines, computers, cellular phones, gaming systems and so on. The use of these technologies as a form of communication amongst my family members has become significant. Whether it is the use of a cell phone to call and tell me they got home safely from school or work, or a conversation at the dinner table about the new Droid commercial dissing the i-phone, media and media technologies have become commonplace in our lives.

Directly and indirectly, television provides bases for family interaction. More specifically, the viewing of television programs as a staple family time activity, I find those moments excellent in their ability to provide teaching moments between Wayne, Christian, Cereta, and I. The adult responses that Wayne and I give to questions Christian and Cereta may have, aid in the children's understanding of program content, foster critical viewing skills, and increase their recall of information when referred to in later conversations and experiences.

Watching and commenting on t.v. shows within the context of our home, helps to reinforce conventional ways of comprehending both the medium and social reality in general. This, in essence, is what Winston is referring to when he focuses his attention on the process whereby society and individuals incorporate media technologies into the fabric of daily life asa response to changes, not the origin of those changes.

Media and Education: Part II

As an Honors Student, every year I am, along with the rest of my Honors' colleagues, required to attend a day of conferences on a variety of perspectives about a given topic as a component of the Honors Fellowship grant that we receive . This year the topic was Environment. As I sat in each of the five conferences that I attended to day, I recognized the presence of technology and the Media in just about all of them; some overtly, some subtly. The first conference I attended, entitled The Outdoor Classroom: A Cure for the "Nature Deficit Disorder", was presented by Dr. Karen Megay-Nespoli, Professor of Education, St. Joseph's College. Her presentation was dynamic, to say the least, and successfully modeled how to engage students in the classroom with technology. She had polls within her powerpoint slides that were interactive and allowed for us to text our answers to poll questions via a site named polleverywhere.com. It was so exciting to text my answer to the question, "What was your favorite childhood game to play outside?", and see it almost instantly pop up on the screen! Not only was my answer represented but it was cool to see the responses of my peers flash on the screen, as well. What was even more profound was the fact that we were allowed to use our cells phones openly in class! The professor okay'd it! She was using her's, too! She must have read the expression of utter surprise on my face because she said the cell phones are "The Device" According to Megay-Nespoli, in Korea, China, and all over Europe, cellular ohione use in the classroom is common place. They are used for everything from note-taking to presentations to video-conferencing inter-classrooms and every in-between.

As a burgeoning educator, I would incorporate the use of cell phones as a learning tool in my classroom. With development and adherence to specific rules, students could feasibly use cell phones to create short movies, set homework reminders, record their teachers' readings of poems, time experiments via phone stopwatches, access relevant Web sites, and transfer electronic files between school and home. For a school with a limited number of digital cameras and limited Internet access in classrooms, cell phones can help fill in the gaps, serving almost as mobile computers. In this way, cell phones behave as Meyrowitz says it does: It changes the way we behave in a certain social setting. In this case, the social setting being altered in the classroom. The cell phone affords students the opportunity to transcend the confines of the classroom and explore alternative ways of evidencing their learning that more effectively represents their personal and collective fields of intelligences. Access to information and ideas is brought to another, and in my observation, more elevated level.

With a cell phone in the classroom, a teacher might be able to simulate or supervise a student's phone interview for a possible internship or apprenticeship. For a student interested in information technology or telecommunications, a cell phone can certainly be a learning tool. Maybe I'm being too naive or unrealistically positive about the integration of cell phones into the classroom but, one thing seems clear: cell phones are not going away anytime soon, and when they do, it will be because they have been replaced by some new technology with its own benefits and drawbacks. Why not find a way to turn them into a teachable moment instead of a teaching distraction!

Media and Education: Part I

I thought I would take the opportunity to use this first blog midterm entry to voice the connection I've noticed between my intended career as a high school English teacher and my current educational coursework here at Post. This is my last semester of classroom instruction before student teaching in the spring. I am taking many methods courses and as I engage in the research and assignments required for them, I notice that a major focus of education is technology; specifically, the incorporation of technology into the lessons that teachers plan to teach their students - every lesson. This is so much the case that technology is even included in the NYS Standards for each content area of instruction i.e. English, Math, Science, Social Studies, Art, Music, and the like.

I recently reviewed a lesson on Charlotte Bronte’s novel Jane Eyre that set out to teach students about and help them explore the limitations and expectations placed on Victorian women during that time in history.What impressed me most about this lesson with regard to it’s incorporation of media is the fact that it manages to successfully employ media into every aspect of the three class period lesson plan. For example, the full e-text of Jane Eyre is available via the EdSitement-reviewed University of Virginia Electronic Text Center. This makes it easily accessible for the students and minimizes potential problems when reading /teaching a novel like leaving the book at home or not being able to procure a copy from the library. Also, a really fun part of the lesson is the “Victorian Women’s Rights” online game. The game is played by knocking on the proverbial doors of Victorian opportunity in an effort to answer questions about the lifestyles and expectations of Victorian women i.e. When did women win the right to a university education? When could they keep their earnings for themselves? This could be used as an introductory/motivational activity that serves a dual purpose of assessing students’ prior knowledge of the subject matter being presented.

The two examples mentioned above are just two of approximately ten websites utilized in this lesson as a means of bringing technology into the classroom and using it to assist in making the information presented clear, interesting, and hopefully relevant to the students to whom it is being taught. The use of technological supplements to a lesson, when done properly, has the overwhelming potential to improve hands on learning and increase experiential learning activities. It was impossible that the development and the wide usage of technology in our daily life wouldn’t affect the educational system. Since the beginning of 90’s, where the first personal computers appeared in schools, many other technologies have penetrated the education, and teachers have gained experience on using technology. As the technical skills of instructors increase, so do their ideas; technical departments are increasingly pressed to provide solutions. One of the most recent solutions on that area is what is called Media rich learning. “Media-rich” can be defined as incorporating the use of high-quality video, audio and animation as part of the learner’s experience. When used in the right environment, media-rich learning methods improve skills dramatically. They help boost retention and improve learner satisfaction, while decreasing learning costs and time. 

Technologies make possible new approaches to learning/teaching, new contexts for learning/teaching, new tools to support learning/teaching, and new ideas of what can be learned/taught. I believe the websites used in this lesson plan achieve all of these proposals. It has, much to the credit of the integration of technology, taken what could be initially viewed by students as an old and boring novel and transform it into a piece of literature that stretches the minds of those who read it, irrespective of culture, class, or time in history.