It is strange to think back to a time when the LGBT community wasn't represented adequately on television. I found it difficult to believe that April of 2003 was the first “same-sex romantic kiss on an American daytime soap” (pg. 610). I am aware I was born in 1995, when the LGBT community presence on television was scarce. However, when I think back to some of the first “adult” television shows that I watched growing up such as, the OC or Gossip Girl, those shows already incorporated characters that were involved in same-sex romantic relationships. And as I think about television shows today, one of the main subjects on TV is following the story lines of family members who are transgender. This nation has become increasing accepting of the LGBT community in the past few decades and in turn the representation of the LGBT community has increased on television as a side effect.
Media plays a big role in shaping the young minds of this nation which further emphasizes the importance of exemplifying acceptance and the normalcy of the diversity that exists in our society. “In her groundbreaking ethnography, Radway (1984) argued that readers derived meaning from romance novels that helped them imagine women as strong, intelligent, and able to attain their goals” (612). Readers and viewers absorb new perspectives and meaning from the media culture they are interested in. The Lianca video exemplifies a jubilant, loving lesbian relationship that replaces the negative stereotypes that existed previously. America has come a long way in its fight towards equality for all sexual orientations, backgrounds and cultures, and we still have some ways to go. Through outlets, like the Lianca music videos, we are moving towards a more accepting and well-rounded community. In the “Psychology of Love” course I am taking this semester, it is evident that writers in the past mostly discuss heterosexual couples in their writings on romantic love. And although our class is consistently acknowledging the fact that these Writers are failing to recognize homosexual relationships in their discussion of romantic love, we also acknowledge the fact that romantic love is the same whether it be in a heterosexual or homosexual relationship; love is love.
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Privacy is defined as "the state of being apart from other people or concealed from their view". In today's world, in the midst of the social media craze, in this generation, privacy is rare. Most people are ignorant to the fact that anything that is placed on the internet is forever in the public eye. From then on, the post can be copied, photographed, and shared. We believe in the notion that the photos we share on social media sites, such as Facebook, will be viewed only by our friends, but unfortunately that is not the case. The lack of privacy poses a threat to not only our safety, and our ability to be hired, but also to our financial state.
As addressed in “The Political Economy of Privacy on Facebook”, Facebook monitors its users’ profiles closely to personalize the ads on their home page, a feature that has recently been added to their other site, Instagram. While the author Christian Fuchs, suggests that we should be worried about Facebook using their consumers as unpaid child workers to make a profit, I am more worried about how and why Facebook is able to access my information. I was not aware that within their privacy terms Facebook is able to gain information from my Google and Amazon searches, as well as my purchases from other sites. It is probable most Facebook users are just as unaware as I am of how this process if happening and how it is allowed. Because searching the web and shopping are done on my own time and merit, I am less bothered by the fact that Facebook is “spying for free” (pg. 597), and more bothered by the fact that they are spying at all. The new “privacy-aware, personally controlled, do-it-all, open source” website, Diaspora, claims to have addressed the privacy issues by ensuring that “your photos, stories and jokes are shared only with the people you intend” (597). However, as I previously mentioned, this is nearly impossible to ensure given that the people you intended to share posts with can copy and share them as well. Thus, further proving the ignorance of publicity that the internet enables in our society today. Week 1:
My greatest remembrances of binge watching YouTube are arriving home after a long day of school and unintentionally spending an hour clicking from one video to the next. What was intended to be a five-minute activity turns into an hour’s worth of watching videos and procrastination from starting my homework. It is very easy to get lost in YouTube, because the videos are so entrancing. As Christine Bacareza Balance pointed out in “How It Feels to Be Viral”, “In order for a YouTube video to ‘go viral’, it must actually incorporate emotional hooks” (pg. 669). It never occurred to be that emotion was a key ingredient within most if not all captivating YouTube videos. I now realize I watch “Ellen” clips because they make me laugh. I watch montages of Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez because they warm my heart. People watched Alexandra Wallace’s video because it probably enraged them, and finally viewers resonated with Jimmy Wong’s response video because they were touched by his comical yet sensitive original melody. Although this week’s article specifically touches upon the way YouTube enables Asian Americans the possibility of recognition and fame, I feel that YouTube gives that power to all nationalities and ethnicities and that is the beauty of the site. At the same time, it could be my ignorance and lack of background on the subject matter, that is preventing me from recognizing the significant presence of Asian Americans on YouTube. I was unaware of the association of anger and rage in the Asian American culture to begin with. And after viewing Jimmy Wong’s video, I agree that it “references a broader set of emotions than just anger and rage” (pg. 674). Stereotypes are evil judgments that exist within our society more than we would like to admit. Even Alexandra Wallace tried to defend herself by acknowledging that she wasn’t the most politically correct person, yet her ignorance shined through in her video. It is evident that in addition to YouTube’s addictive and entertaining videos, it serves a greater purpose in that it enables other ethnicities, such as Asian Americans, to gain attention, and thus fight against the stereotypes. |
AuthorEmily Hannah Matis. Senior at Emory University majoring in Psychology and minoring in Economics. ArchivesCategories |