Blog 9: Women's Bodies: Images, Media, and Popular Culture

Blog 9: Has a popular culture had an influence on how you view the differences between women and men? How? Has popular culture influenced how you understand race and class? In what way? When you see something in a TV show that seems sexist to you, do you point it out or discuss it with friends or family? Why or why not? What are the first associations that come to mind when you hear the word “feminist”? Where have those associations come from?

I would definitely say that pop culture in general has had a large impact on my perceptions of men and women; however, my Puerto Rican roots have shaped and enhanced the way I evaluate men and women. I have become accustomed to viewing women as equally able as men. My culture has always held the roles of women in high esteem. Women as the facilitator of life, women are dynamic beings, and women are capable of anything and everything. Men are providers and protectors, men are coaches, and like women, men are capable of anything and everything. I have come to have a genuine respect for men and their roles in facilitating the movement towards equality for men and women. The Puerto Rican figures in my life, both male and female, have all been individuals of scholarly achievement, career achievement, and lifetime fulfillment. Meaning that none of the men or women in my life has seemed to hamper the aspirations and achievements of the sexes. The culture is beginning to become more affected by the popular cultural movement of music, television, and mass media. The more the people allow the media to have a large role in influencing the younger generation, the wider the equality gap becomes. There is an increase in polarization and prejudice because of the widespread media. Popular culture has influenced the traditional music of Puerto Rico and turned its youngsters away from what is tradition. There is nothing wrong with the new wave music of reaggeaton, but the message that is sends to its young audience is what causes the revolution of polarization and prejudice.

Like the saying “art reflects life, and life reflects art,” so too television reflects life. I have lived in many different atmospheres where I have experienced how television has become more than just an hour of relaxation or mindless activity to almost a completely different lifestyle. I have seen the transformation that different forms of pushing the line television have caused. For this reason I do not watch reality television, I find it highly offensive, I do speak up about it, and choose not to watch the shows. I believe that the particular offensive reality TV shows, the ones with the highest ratings, have caused desensitization to what reality really is. People become so involved with the characters life on TV that much in their life seems unrealistic to the reality that they “watch.” I typically discuss with friends and family the ridiculousness of the shows theme and how the exploitation of the characters on the show has caused viewers to forget compassion and respect and almost revert back to hedonistic roman culture.

Before the course I thought a feminist was an outright man hater; however, now my perception of a feminist/feminism is completely different. Feminism is a choice to identify with inequality between gender rights. I would say the word feminism stems from the feminist movements of decades previous, but now I believe the word feminism generalizes to a lot more relevant topics and varied individuals. The name feminist/feminism sticks because what else would it be called manism, gayism—no—that just sounds not too right, but women for the most part have always sought for equality, respect, and recognition and so it would justify to keep feminism as the title. Feminism is the right to stand and fight for what is rightly so in the gender arena; it can be to fight for equal rights between all genders, fighting for recognition of genders, and fighting for respect of gender in any arena.