Modern Media Mayhem
Modern Media Mayhem
In today's world, there isn't much you can do without the mention of the media. Television shows, movies, social media sites, and so many other things contribute to this world of connection we have today. Now more than ever, we have the opportunity to communicate with people around the globe who share our ideas and interests. At first glance, it seems like the perfect sort of thing to have in the modern age, but this is actually far from the truth. While the Internet and its various sites and capabilities have worked to bring people together, they've also worked to tear people apart. One of the ways it does this is by spreading ideologies that can be harmful to many groups of people, especially women. With various forms of content being made more and more accessible, this comes with the spreading of stereotypes and misconceptions that don't allow much change.
To start, we have to look at how the Internet simply isn't accessible to everyone. As society works to make this a more necessary part of our lives, we aren't quite there yet. This causes marginalized groups without many resources to not have access to the Internet. "Where resources are scarce, the gap widens between those with resources, access, and skills and those without" (Shaw & Lee 229). Without them there, there is no representation for them, causing the Internet to not completely reflect the world we live in. This can contribute to harmful representation of those groups.
With television shows and television as a whole, it seems like a lot of stereotypes and misconceptions are commonly performed. This could be due to the fact that it's simply easier to rely on tropes in order to make an episode work instead of putting in more effort to the characters and situations, but that can be my speculation. The simple fact is that television does rely a lot on separating genders by the shows and commercials that are shown. For example, sports events normally have commercials geared towards male audiences that show beer, cars, electronics, and other such things; daytime soap operas have commercials geared towards female audiences that show beauty products, household items, and other such things (Shaw & Lee 232). Daytime soap operas are also written quite differently than shows that would be normally geared towards men, in terms of content and plot. As it stands, most daytime soap operas "focus on relationships and family and employ rather fragmented narratives with plot weaving around without closure or resolution" (Shaw & Lee 233). This is because women aren't expected to be glued to a television screen like men are expected to be, so their shows don't take as much effort to understand or catch up on.
In my personal experience, I've seen a lot of this firsthand. My mother is a frequent watcher of the Lifetime Movie Network (LMN) and has seen pretty much every film they've produced to date. When I've watched a couple with her, they tend to follow a very similar formula and always reach the same happy conclusion at the end. Some of their popular trends, like infidelity and kidnapping, aren't given many fresh takes from movie to movie. What changes are the characters and specific situations, but the core story ultimately stays the same. I feel that this is because the films themselves aren't made to be watched with your full attention back-to-back; instead, they're just supposed to be listened to and vaguely given attention but not given much more thought.
Another section of the Internet that has greatly impacted my life is, of course, social media. Various sites like Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat have shaped a lot of people's perceptions on the world. They have also greatly impacted how women view themselves based on the influencers, models, and celebrities they can now directly interact with. I've seen this most on Instagram, where a lot of the focus is still on fitting with "aesthetics." Personally, I've participated in this culture myself, which has caused quite a few moments of putting myself down because I don't match what is shown to me on social media. I didn't do much about this problem until my little sister started getting into the social scene and picked up a few of my habits.
She turned thirteen this January and has been incredibly aware of the world around her since a little before that date. However, this also means that she's very much aware of the beauty standards that surround women and has done her best to hold herself up to them. This has caused her to feel very insecure about her body, something I remember experiencing myself around the same age. The scary thing about this is that I don't remember being exactly her age when I started worrying about my body; I remember being just a couple years older. Because she was exposed to the Internet at a younger age than me, she's been surrounded by these ideals for longer. When she started doing this, I immediately took the time to self-reflect and present myself in a way that could inspire confidence for her, even if some of it is still a mask.
I know that this isn't an easy thing to do, of course, as not everyone can simply turn their confidence on and off like a light switch. However, looking at the way media has impacted cultural ideas and norms has made me more conscience as a consumer. I want to be selective with the shows and media content I interact with, making sure to support those that I feel are doing good and unique things in the industry. As an aspiring writer, I would hope to one day contribute to this growing world of media content, putting out stories that can inspire and represent those that have had to sit in the back for far too long.
Shaw, Susan M., and Janet Lee. Gendered Voices, Feminist Visions: Classic and Contemporary Readings. Oxford University Press, 2020.
“Social Media Archives.” Small Business Trends, https://smallbiztrends.com/category/social-media.
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