Listen to Lupe Fiasco's speech.

Lupe Fiasco discusses thoughts and actions that music can motivate.

Hunter Bridge Magazine

The Hunter Online Magazine
The Hunter Bridge

Skin Deep: Part 1: Beauty as an Industry

Skin Deep: Part 1: Beauty as an Industry

What is beauty? Where do we get our cues as what is and is not beautiful? Are they all engendered by internal factors or have our views of beauty been manipulated and molded?

Skin Deep: Part 1: Beauty as an Industry is a preliminary exploration of the business behind what is considered beautiful. Certain images are consistent and prevalent in many forms of media, many which are not healthy or even realistic.

Musicians who promote healthy, positive ideas are often also-rans, especially in the hip hop genre.

This video will lead us into the next parts in an attempt to get to the root of how and why the commercial industry constantly promotes these distorted images of beauty.

The Aware Feminist Magazine

The Aware Feminist Magazine is an online publication dedicated to raise awareness regarding how images of women are portrayed in many different media outlets and the effects they have on younger female audiences- their participation in an epidemic disease in particular.

Founded by Lenis Lozano, The Aware Feminist Magazine offers different aspects of young females who have become affected by the media and the current actions they take to cope it while assessing their own images. In addition, AF Magazine shares how pop culture as well as other institutions, make their mark to stop this media manipulation.

www.theafmag.com

It's too expensive to love art - A story about a female artist in NYC

My final project is a short documentary film about my friend Monika Sala. She is a dedicated female young photographer.  She was born in Poland where she graduated from Crakow University of Economics. In 2004, she came to the United States. She graduated from Fashion Institute of Technology. She pursues her passion for art in New York City.  At the summer of 2010, Monika shifts her life back to Europe. “Monica” stands for thousands of passionate women who work hard to pursue their careers. She also represents thousands of immigration artists, who leave their family, and struggle in America for their dreams.

New York is a community, which attract a huge group of young people, step out their social cast, and come here from the entire world. They all believe her is the place to make their dream come true. They believe American is a land where they can achieve the freedom of creation. As Monica says in her interview, “I was just a common girl from a little town in Europe…It’s unbelievable that I can be a photographer in NYC…Bt somehow it happens.”  

However, to support an artist life in New York City, their stories are full of love and struggles. As women live in Nyc without family and security job support, no matter what your passion is, you have to be a slave for money.  It’s very common for them to work as babysitter, housekeeper, or any job they can find to pay the rent. Monica, as a woman, she denies to marry a man for security, and she wants to be a strong, independent artist.  However, she feels the pain of been treaded as a object. She always says, “In Most time of my days, I feel like a vegetable… When I am working, I am a back ground furniture in rich people’s house.” It’s not only hard to be recognizing as an artist, but also hard to be recognizing as a human being. She is a true artist in soul, and she has wonderful personalities. She bravely pursues the profession as a living artist.

Art, is her language, is her voice. She is yelling out in her art works to challenge American’ material society. Financial struggles and un-fair society treatments, shape her art journey and changing her point of view about life. I document segments of her daily life for the past three years. The mission to make this documentary is for her to see her braveness, kindness, and encourage her to keep going to be an artist. 

http://monikasala.com/

Women In Video Game Media!

My final project is an extensive researched blog post into the development and portrayal of women in video games.

Within my researched post I've included screenshots and imagery of the heroines from the video games I've chosen. I also found "In the Making Of..(Game)" footage of the game designers and creators of these characters. I delve into the character concepts and interviews and analyze their reasoning on the character design. As I go into researching each character . It seems like the designers and publishers use sex appeal to sell women video game characters for profit. Despite the popularity of characters Lara Croft, Nariko, and Sheva. There have been disappointments such as Ayumi from X-blades. But, there is at least one gem of a video game character that deserves praise despite poor sales, Jade from "Beyond Good and Evil".

I go in depth with these characters in my researched post as well as putting personal input from my own experiences.

Glimpse Into the Development and Portrayal of Women in Video Games

RETOUCHING: THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY
My final project is a blog that focuses on beauty industry and more specifically on retouching.On the blog I posted my own story, and explained why the topic is special for me. I also posted links to articles and some interviews. My original idea was to write an article but I than decided that a blog might be more influential.Most importantly I can continue posting materials and keep it alive. I hope that you will take a look at my blog and share your opinions on the topic. Here is the link to my blog:
http://desi-about-retouching.blogspot.com

Women in Sports Media: The Fight to Make it in a Man's World

Here is a direct look into women in the sports media. It has a been a struggle for women to gain acceptance in the sports broadcasting world. In a male dominant world, I discuss the past, the present and the future out look for women in sports broadcasting.





http://www.scribd.com/doc/45605730/Bobby-White-Shoes-Kiernan-Final-Dec


http://forum.sbrforum.com/players-talk/92226-best-looking-espn-female-reporter.html


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ESPN_personalities

http://www.danno.net/My_Pool_Tidbits_Top_10_Women.htm

Catfight: Competition Among Women

Competition among women is a pervasive and relentless reality. Women compete with each other for men, looks, jobs, attention. In asking both women and men about this issue, most admitted there was a problem, but no one could really pinpoint why. Is it the pressure we feel to be perfect, because that's what's expected? Is it in our nature? Is it because we live in a patriarchal society and men have set up this dynamic because they enjoy feeling that women are fighting for something they (men) possess?

Media has undoubtedly played on this idea of the catfight or the bitch-slap. They're have been countless headlines about celebrity battles between women.

My project brings this issue to light and gives examples of how media makers are profiting on the cliche of the Catfight and portraying women as petty, catty, hateful beings.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdggm9jPacw

The Seeing

My Final Project; The Seeing, consists of elements such as illustrations, animation, web design, statistics and infographics. My main goal was to give the visitors of the website an awareness on the issue of how certain women see their bodies. Throughout the semester we've seen videos on how women see their bodies and how some would like to have the "ideal" female body through cruel practices and surgeries. By making this website, I wanted to raise some questions why women should be content by the way they look, and how there is no such thing as "ideal" female body. I have also given examples how this issue affects young teenage girls and what are some of the dangers.

http://www.tiredandangry.com/theseeing/

Lauryn Hill's Music and Its Message

As we learned this semester, media is a powerful force that influences society and, in turn, humanity as a whole. Throughout its evolution, media has taken on various forms. One type, which I concentrate on for my final project, is the recorded music of an artist. My essay analyzes Lauryn Hill's career as a recording artist and explores the meanings behind the lyrics in her songs. From her debut as a solo artist, 1998's "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" to 2002's live recording, "MTV Unplugged No. 2," Hill uses her music as a platform to spread her messages. With the fundamental message reminding us that we are who we are and that we should not conform to any socially constructed "standards."

Lauryn Hill's Music and Its Message

ART WILL ALWAYS CHANGE. PEOPLE WILL NOT.

The Final Project is video about women's portrayal in Western culture and Media and the audience's motivation towards changing the cultural trends. The whole idea of the film is to distinguish the categories of people. First, there are those who are drawn and enjoy the media blindly. The second category of people, are those who study and want to make drastic changes. The third group, which is my conclusion are the majority, they are the ones who aren't blind, they are media literate but ultimately do not care to make any changes. Like the contradictory nature of the title, the video’s ultimate goal is to show the contradictory nature of the characters, who are the representation of the masses.

The Link to the Final Project: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zD0DnuqR14U

The following are the links to the outside sources used for this project:

Bullen, Rebecca Richards. “The Power and Impact of Gender-Specific Media Literacy.” Youth Media Reporter. (2009). November 12 2010. http://www.youthmediareporter.org/2009/08/the_power_and_impact_of_gender.html

Didion, Joan. Slouching Towards Bethlehem. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1968.

The Color of Pomegranates. Parajanov, Sergei. Armenfilm 1968.

Dj LCM (e-cletus). Conta De Burgues.

Link to the soundtrack < http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBl2T3b6-hc&feature=related>

Interview with an Educator

Growing Up Addicted to 60 minutes, I decided that I would try to emulate that style for my own interview this semester. Originally I was unsure what type of medium my project would be, but I felt emotions tell stories. As we blog, and tweet and post things, I felt that society is moving from textual to more visual.

I chose to interview the head principal of Lyons Community School (where I work) Taeko Onishi, not only to show some of the great things we do, but because I truly believe the community aspect of education has a huge role in media and gender studies. I also couldn't help but think of my first time meeting her at my job interview and not shaking her hand first because I didn't think she was the principal. I remember thinking to myself "what a stupid move" whether it was the fact that she was a woman, or the fact that she dressed like a hippie, I, like most people grew up with preconceived notions on how I expect a principal to look and act.

In this interview Taeko touches on Education as Medium, Being a Woman, and How it shapes her ideals.

Trailer

Preview:Interview with an Educator from wuta o on Vimeo.

Full Video

Interview with an Educator from wuta o on Vimeo.

The Princess Effect

Image Source - http://boingboing.net/2010/05/24/what-disney-princess.html

In today's society so many of our kids are raised by Disney Films. Of course there are several ways to interpret these films, especially the fairy tales, but my project focuses on the issue of self image. It's only natural for little girls watching these films to identify and idolize with the "Disney Princess". Unfortunately, the beauty possessed by Belle, Ariel, Cinderella and Snow White is the focal point of their respective films. Leading these girls believe that their self worth is solely based on what is on the outside. At some point they realize that they look nothing like the Disney Heroines. So, the process begins to take all measures to look like a princess and end up "Happily Ever After". Since, Disney is clearly not going anywhere, if we want to see a change we must support alternative forms of media and try to give girls a different and more positive message.

The Plight of Gay Men in Media and Masculinity

The Plight of Gay Men in Media and Masculinity

Just Be You.

Young girls consume an immense amount of advertisements daily and magazines contribute their share. When girls see these images in magazines, they feel that there is a possibility for them to achieve this perfection, when in reality, those images are all digitally enhanced. Many ads portray images of women that can permanently affect the way girls look at themselves. The ads are created in order to persuade consumers that the products must be bought to achieve the look. In this case, the consumer would have to drink ONLY this brand water to get a slender body like the model.

The saddest part of it is that girls are not educated about what takes place behind these ads until later in life. My two 14 year old girl cousins were looking at the magazines we had at my house one day, and they asked me about the perfected images of the models. Although they were technologically updated, I was surprised that they did not know the power of photoshop. This experience really inspired me to create this fictional video production piece about a teenage female student who is given the chance to show an interest in magazines. Not only does she begin to question her own body image in accordance to the ads she saw, she is also pressured by her mom and the Chinese culture where it is a MUST to be skinny. The storyline is based upon personal experiences that my sister and I have had (although the video IS exaggerated to some extent). I chose this topic because I believe that many girls can relate to the situation in one way or another.

For the magazine, I chose the name "Outer Eye" because I felt that girls begin to worry too much about how everybody outside of their private life see them. They want to look a certain way to please the eyes of the outside world other than their own. Young girls are beginning to care about their body image too early in their life that they forget what's important. The world we live in today constructs different images for girls to follow. In my opinion, it is important for girls to focus on just being themselves rather than chasing images they see.



I want to take the chance to thank all the people who participated in the project (my camera-people and actors). Special thanks to Danielle Elizabeth Chin for composing and performing the music in the video.

Final Project: Zine

Below is the link and a copy of my zine called New Beauty. The focus of this first edition of the zine was culture and body image. It features a mix of facts and features on girls discussing their body image. The focus of this issue of the zine is mainly Caribbean girls and how their body image and self esteem has developed in relation to culture and the American beauty ideal. In the United States, girls of various cultural backgrounds (minorities), when studied, have been shown to be as affected by the American ideal beauty image perpetuated by the media, as the typical affected female (largely assumed to be white middle class teenager girls). Studies have shown that as girls, immigrant females, become more acculturated, they become more aware of the beauty image and try to measure up to it; which often causes a rise in insecurities, sometimes leading to dangerous behaviors, all to attain acceptance. The goal of this zine is to bring awareness to this issue and educate young (immigrant) girls (and their parents) on how to build self esteem, something highly important to emotional and physical health, and realize that there is no true ideal for beauty, but that beauty exist within us all.

I hope that you'll find it entertaining and informative.

http://www.scribd.com/full/45597676?access_key=key-64gvbn6pi7akotf6u27


New Beauty

Sexist Marketing in The Classical Music Industry

Have you ever noticed the way sex appeal used in the classical music advertisements? The easiest way to see images of the musicians is on the jackets of CDs. If people look at the male musician’s advertisement including CDs, they will notice them as musicians. However, if people see the female musicians on the CDs and advertisements, they will notice them as women. Female musicians have double product: their music and themselves, but male musicians have just music. This phenomenon affects female musicians negatively in different ways. Classical music industry has been used the same marketing strategy, that they sell music with sexism, like pop music industry does, but it is not easily noticeable because classical music is used as a synonym of pure.

Sexist Marketing in the Classical Music Industry

The Money, The Cars, and The Hoes

Media has a great power to influence. The media that one chooses to consume has a great influence on the ideals, thoughts, and opinions of an individual. As individuals we take away messages from media images that may or may not shape our lives. In my experiences the youth is often extremely influenced by the media that they are exposed to. These media which include, music, movies, television programming, and online sources of media, are often enriched with heavy sexual messages, glamorizing, fame, money, and sex. In Particular this same media also has an affect on the teenage boys that view it, and formulate opinions of women, and their relations to women.

To gain a better understanding of what type of media that teenage boys are exposed to, and what possible relationship this might have with the attitudes and opinions that they formulate about women, I interviewed two teenage boys. With the Conversation that I had with them, and the media sources which they mentioned, I discuss in my paper the ideals that these individuals have in regards to the media that they consume.

The Money, The Cars, and The Hoes; A Narrative of the Relations Between Teenage Boys, Media, and their View of Women.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/45081542

Sexy or Trashy: Women in Advertising

We all know that sex sells. That is no secret... But the trouble starts when models are used in advertising campaigns where the boundaries between what is sexy and what is sexiest, and what is tasteful and what is vulgar are totally blurred. Especially in the case of young models. And we as consumers are no longer able to define, or have a say in whether something is tongue cheek, risque or just totally downright scandalous and inappropriate.

My final project is about women in advertising and how they are constantly portrayed naked in ads. My original goal was to interview models and see how they felt about this issue in their line of work. But i took a spin on things and decided that models are not the only ones affected by this problem : consumers, kids and the every day average Joe's are affected by these issues too.So i decided to interview everyone who i thought this topic affected.So here is a preview of what my video is about.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AituwuznLX4

The Heavy Deal

I created an autobiographical blog about how my self image was influenced by the media, events and the people in my life. I didn't realized how much my opinion on what is defined as a beautiful girl with a gorgeous body and how badly I wanted to be classified as such by society, was formulated and manufactured by media conglomerates.

At each developmental stage I will reveal parts about myself that have never been shared with the public. Being an introvert and private person it, I will try to reprogram my way of thinking, of not just knowing better but truly believing in the importance of accepting myself as I am- a curly haired, heavy girl with a great sense of humor and lots hidden talent. I will start from when I was a little girl on through my teenage years and to present time, as a woman in my thirties.

Growing up in the cusp of a period when all these different views of women were so pervasive and ever changing, I will discuss how my family’s traditional perspectives, from generation to generation, have changed through time. From my grandmother to my mother, their views of what’s proper and how a women should act to the juxtaposition of what my undying addiction, television, conditioned me to think about women in general.

I will also discuss my feelings of discrimination when being overlooked and all the missed opportunities that could have been granted to me had I looked different; finding a mate, friendships, and betrayal from trusted loved ones.

theheavydeal.blogspot.com

A Teen Mom Story

A Woman of Many Faces

Teenage pregnancies is always a hot topic. Statistic always focus on the the negative outcome of becoming a parent at a young age. It is not often that we hear positive stories about teenage mothers that are making strides toward a greater future.

I wanted to share my personal experience about becoming a teenage mother. I was barely a teenager when I had my first child. Despite all odds against me I can proudly say I have emerged into a successful women. I am a woman of many faces. I play various roles each day.

Presently I have three children: Aaron (nineteen) Darrin (sixteen) and Jared (four.) At I also have my brother Vitalis (twenty five) and my five year old Yorkie Maddy. I have experience many bumps along my journey because I chose to parent at an early age but I have shatter many stereotypes placed against many young minority woman. I wrote and composed a zine to share intimate details about some my teenage life experience.

I was inspired to focus on myself after watching several episodes of the MTV reality show 16 and Pregnant. It took me back to memory lane. I could not help but to think HOW POWERFUL! I too have faced many of the decisions as those young ladies. It is scary, but my personal belief is that through communication and education about contraceptive many of these pregnancies could be avoided.

I have no regrets about choosing to keep my children. They are my joy and I love being a mother! It has not been an easy journey, each day I find myself fighting battles. No one understands unless they take the same steps. I am a mother first and also financial provider, student and an educator. The balance between work and motherhood has posed many challenges but I am succeeding. I am a woman of many faces.

In the first photo is Jared

Second image is Aaron, Jared, Darrin and I

http://www.mtv.com/show/16_and_pregnant/season1_1/series.jhtml

Watm Final 12 05 10

How Women Choose Men in The Absence of Father Figures

http://shermacools.blogspot.com




My final project is about reviewing how women choose men in the absence of a father or father figures. I have looked at the end results of women who grew up in abusive environments and women who did not have a father in the house at all.

I used mostly personal stories sprinkled with findings from professional sources. I used the personal stories so I can get a first hand account of the psyche some women experience. Some are withdrawn and write off men, others are unsure of their path and there are others who hold out hope. I found the end result tend to be along the same lines for most. I have set up the personal stories and findings on a separate extensive blog at http://shermacools.blogspot.com/

I have also linked as many help websites I could find for battered women and those in need of help. I believe its important to have access to these types of resources for anyone who may be interested in getting help for either themselves or others.

Big Girls Dont Cry

http://about-face.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/whitney-antm.jpg

http://creoleindc.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/2007/05/17/theweathergirlsbiggirlsdontcr297978.jpg

In the midst of a slow economic recovery, political achievements around the world, and Lady Gaga, it seems as if we are going through many significant changes within the last five years. It would be wonderful to say the same about big girls or full figured women in the media, but we're still lagging in that category. It is important to learn to accept everyone, even if we don't agree with how they look or dress or act. As individuals we are allowed to be unique and allowed to be content with our size, whether we're a size 2 or a size 16. Every women should be allowed to go into a store and find their size on a rack.

I decided to research a topic that was both controversial and common in American society. One of the most difficult issued a women faces in her lifetime is not learning to accept herself even with her flaws. This is in part due to the many images we see in the media on a consistent basis. These images portray an 'ideal' woman that does not exist and so women develop a notion that they will never fit the mold and end up hating themselves for that. On my website, I want to pay tribute to the many women in the media who are proud of their full figures. You can find interesting articles and videos, as well as testimonials of everyday women who say their perfectly content with being a size 10.

Check it out www.fullandfab.weebly.com

Link to videos from Ingrid Dahl's presentation

Kiri Davis - A Girl Like Me http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWyI77Yh1Gg

Mona Lisa Smile - Multiple parts - one part http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHLsQIQC6zw&feature=related

Byron Hurt - Beyond Beats and Rhymes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjxjZe3RhIo&feature=related

"No Homo" - Masculinity, Homophobia, and Hip-Hop Culture http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84wHXT2KgWY

Sexism, Strength and Dominance: Masculinity in Disney Films http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CWMCt35oFY&feature=PlayList&p=AEF538818566081F&index=0&playnext=1