Media Gender & Identity

David Gaunlett's "Media, Gender and Identity" was very interesting to me because it showed the transition of preferences in design between time. This article was also very interesting because it showed that most males are confused in their role as male and the "decline" in masculinity. After reading this, I learned that the major tool that pushed this confusion in most males is the media and the power it has. Here is when the question of identity comes into play.

Questions like "What is masculine supposed to look like?" and "Do men really have to be the head of the household?" and so forth. This current community is still stuck in old traditional times when the man was the head of the home and in charge of everything and basically the boss. But now in these cuurent times, the women have stepped up and taken the places that traditionally men hold. Things like CEO's of companies and the main income earner in the household. There is a major shift in the gender domination in fields and it is getting more obvious each and every year.

"Is image everything or is it surface deep?" I have to say based on personal experiences that image is not everything but it is a very powerful aspect. This country has been image governed since the beginning of the colonization. Everything from the color of a person's skin to a person's gender to a civilian's disability. Yes, it is a sad situation but it is reality. So many people, including egotistical men, view the uprising of women's status in the community as a bad thing. It is not! Not only do I believe that this shift is positive but I believe it balances out weight of power between genders.

I believe that media composes the biggest part in discrimination in this country in the first place. When I turn on the t.v. and watch a commercial on a large company, there is usually a man represting that company. When I watch movies or t.v. shows, there is usually a stay at home mother who caters to the family and home. It is very rare to see a female president of a corporation or a stay at home father and it sets a certain guideline in our minds that it is supposed to be this way. I feel sorry for the youth growing who witnesses the same thing that I just described because if they have no proper raising, they will believe that this is realirty.

Yes, the foolish and ignorant are victims of media (which is sad because they take up a large part of our society) but the knowledgable and observer realizes that media abuses their powers and produces artificial reality.