Race, gender and ethnicity are subjects that need to be discussed more often then they are.
I think individuals in this class took something away from it. In the beginning of Race and Gender in the Media I believed that most people in the class would not take important ideas and insight away from the class. I thought it would go one ear and out the other because the topics that we discussed such as white privilege and institutional sexism, are sensitive subjects and require everyone to step outside of their comfort zones in order to initiate dialogue.
As a future media professional, it is important to be aware of stereotypes that are present in the media. If the class is to be successful in the media industry, we must use what we have learned to better the industry. It is up to us to change what is being portrayed or continue to produce the same stereotypical images. We discussed how changing the media will be a great to leave out effect on society but I don't know if everyone is willing to take on that responsibility. When we graduate and begin our perspective careers in journalism, then it will be time to use what we have learned in Race and Gender in the Media. Then we can work on eliminating the subtle prejudices in every day television shows and commercials.
Another conclusion that I have reached from this class is how much economics controls everything. So many times throughout the course it was said that "Sex sales". But we never went further on to ask the question, does that make it right? I personally do not think it does but my fear is so many other people feel it does make it right if it helps profits and some are just indifferent to it. Also I will never look at media the same. It will take me a while to get back to the regular consumer that I used to be before this class. Everyday I find myself being critical of commercials, advertisements, newscasts , etc. A lot of things that were in presentations shocked me. One of the commercials that I saw this semester that was really shocking was this Dove commercial featured below. It illustrates how women in advertisements are not realistic because of how much altering that is done before production. In that class we discussed how women have a false or unattainable view of a perfect body because of such advertisements. Also is one of the funnier videos that were viewed this semester is also featured below.
This video to the average viewer may be extremely funny. But after being in this class all semester I noticed other things in this video. It displays several different stereotypes blatantly. The very loud and obnoxious black male, the uptight white female, and the hispanic mechanic. It is unknown on whether or not this was intentional but after learning about race in the media, it is pretty evident.
Using blogs for an educational tool was very interesting. This was my first time using blogs. I thought that blogs were only used for gossip pages and sort of like update portions to some websites but with this class I realized they can be used for other purposes as well. It is a little scary knowing that pretty much any one can read what I write but I have tried to get over that fear. In the future, I plan on using blogs frequently. Its sort of like a diary for the world to see. It was also interesting reading my fellow classmates blogs to get there opinions on topics that we may have discussed or read about in class.
I really enjoyed the class and would recommend it to any student who wants to take an active role in changing journalism as we know it.
