Image and Identity
For days I've been thinking about how to (and if I should at all) write this post without it being completely corny, banal or cliche. I doubt I have anything to offer that others have not said more eloquently yet I would like to share some brief thoughts in this regard anyway.
The media.
What a vast vast topic. I wouldn't even know where to begin were I to consider something comprehensive so instead I will share a snapshot of a recent experience and some ensuing thoughts.
The content of the Year 2 ISGP seminar includes a unit on the media and particularly how the 'mediasphere' shapes our identity. As prevalent, the text posits, as our atmosphere, the mediasphere shapes our perceptions of self and society more heavily than many of us are aware. For several days we studied about the different tactics employed in television (and to a degree, film) to sell audiences as the product to the firm who is buying advertising slots.
We studied the way women and men are so often portrayed simply as materialistic, consumer-driven, selfish, casually sexual, frivolous creatures with no transcendent aspirations. How the wealthy, young, and 'beautiful' are overrepresented in television. How women are seen as catty towards one another and driven by the pursuit of men. How men are idiotic and easily manipulated by women, carnal creatures interested in nothing more than food sport and sex.
We talked a lot about how women are plagued by insecurities about their weight and physical appearance because their worth has been reduced to being the object of a man's sexual fantasy. But hey if she's on board this is equality right? If a woman wants to be objectified then this is actually empowerment isn't it?
I have so much to say on that front but I realized that I have not done what I set out to do which was present the snapshot and brief ensuing thoughts.
The last day when the seminar had officially ended, a few of us were informally talking about this topic again. We were noting specifically how the negative infuence of the media on women seems to be most evident in their constant insecurity about their looks, etc, and how somehow this didn't seem to be as pressing an issue for men. And then one of the participants, a quiet, thoughtful, intelligent, unbelievably mature young man of 20 years, said, "Actually, it affects us too." I looked at him thoughtfully but decided not to probe. He happens to be somewhat (even what word to use here is bothering me because of the negative connotations we associate with each! stockier? bulkier? larger?) bigger than most male leads in film and tv.
He got very quiet and I realized with surprise that his weight bothers him. I never would have guessed that given the way he carries himself. All of a sudden I was washed over with this protective feeling and I wanted nothing more than to hug him and tell him he should not even for one moment give this another thought. That he is handsome, intelligent, and such a wonderful, wonderful human being that any other human being would be privileged to associate with him. I bit my tongue and locked eyes with him momentarily, deciding silence would be better.
I thought about all the guys I haven't liked based solely on their physical appearance and all the times I've worried that I wasn't attractive enough either.
I hate admitting that I am influenced by the media but I know that I am. So heavily.
I want to fight this. Help create positive media rather than just tune out the negative (which realistically I will probably never fully do).
I don't want my friends, or these sweet spiritual youth, or my co-workers, or my future children, to live in a world where their worth is measured in inches and centimeters.
The media.
What a vast vast topic. I wouldn't even know where to begin were I to consider something comprehensive so instead I will share a snapshot of a recent experience and some ensuing thoughts.
The content of the Year 2 ISGP seminar includes a unit on the media and particularly how the 'mediasphere' shapes our identity. As prevalent, the text posits, as our atmosphere, the mediasphere shapes our perceptions of self and society more heavily than many of us are aware. For several days we studied about the different tactics employed in television (and to a degree, film) to sell audiences as the product to the firm who is buying advertising slots.
We studied the way women and men are so often portrayed simply as materialistic, consumer-driven, selfish, casually sexual, frivolous creatures with no transcendent aspirations. How the wealthy, young, and 'beautiful' are overrepresented in television. How women are seen as catty towards one another and driven by the pursuit of men. How men are idiotic and easily manipulated by women, carnal creatures interested in nothing more than food sport and sex.
We talked a lot about how women are plagued by insecurities about their weight and physical appearance because their worth has been reduced to being the object of a man's sexual fantasy. But hey if she's on board this is equality right? If a woman wants to be objectified then this is actually empowerment isn't it?
I have so much to say on that front but I realized that I have not done what I set out to do which was present the snapshot and brief ensuing thoughts.
The last day when the seminar had officially ended, a few of us were informally talking about this topic again. We were noting specifically how the negative infuence of the media on women seems to be most evident in their constant insecurity about their looks, etc, and how somehow this didn't seem to be as pressing an issue for men. And then one of the participants, a quiet, thoughtful, intelligent, unbelievably mature young man of 20 years, said, "Actually, it affects us too." I looked at him thoughtfully but decided not to probe. He happens to be somewhat (even what word to use here is bothering me because of the negative connotations we associate with each! stockier? bulkier? larger?) bigger than most male leads in film and tv.
He got very quiet and I realized with surprise that his weight bothers him. I never would have guessed that given the way he carries himself. All of a sudden I was washed over with this protective feeling and I wanted nothing more than to hug him and tell him he should not even for one moment give this another thought. That he is handsome, intelligent, and such a wonderful, wonderful human being that any other human being would be privileged to associate with him. I bit my tongue and locked eyes with him momentarily, deciding silence would be better.
I thought about all the guys I haven't liked based solely on their physical appearance and all the times I've worried that I wasn't attractive enough either.
I hate admitting that I am influenced by the media but I know that I am. So heavily.
I want to fight this. Help create positive media rather than just tune out the negative (which realistically I will probably never fully do).
I don't want my friends, or these sweet spiritual youth, or my co-workers, or my future children, to live in a world where their worth is measured in inches and centimeters.
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