Where do elderly people fit into society and media?

Ageism Example #1

Modern Family is a hilarious show, but like so many other media outlets, it fails to represent older people and if it ever does it is usually in a very negative way. It seems that our society is accepting  of the fact that once you are over the age of 55 you are no longer an asset, and you are all of sudden a disabled person who is a burden to your family. This concept is heartbreaking because it is diminishing the value of family and loving the people who raised you. It would be extremely refreshing to see a popular show such as Modern Family include a character who is older but still viewed as a contributing member of society. People need to start rethinking their views of age and hindrances of being an older person.

If I were in charge of this media outlet I would portray older people in a positive light. I would give middle aged people someone to look up to, so they would not be so afraid to get older. I would make seniority appear as a status symbol instead of something that holds you back.

The most talented wheelchair basketball players in the world... and I haven't heard of them?!

Ableism Example #1

Wheelchair Basketball is a sport I wish I would hear more about on ESPN or other sport media sources. These athletes are so talented, and it is actually more exciting to watch than regular basketball because of the fast paced aggressiveness and almost acrobatic qualities of the sport. The only reasons these incredible world athletes are being talked about and made famous has to be their physical disability to actually run on their feet like the NBA does. Ableism like this is far more prevalent than people actually realize because we usually don't know what we are excluding from our major media and entertainment sources.

Upper Class exceptions... "do whatever you want, no matter the consequences"

Classism Example #2

This Virgin Airlines ad is the epitome of upper class' freedom to live their lives in the careless way they do without considering who they may be effecting. Virgin Airlines is a privilege to fly with, so you must have some money to even be dealing with them, and then they advertise to "fool around with them" because they are the "hotter" airline. This is something you would only see from an expensive and elitist airline, because it is the people in the upper class that can afford to do things like this. They can fool around and find hotter commodities because they have that luxury.

I would do something different if I was in charge of making this ad. I would probably leave out the whole fooling around with younger, and hotter airline concept. I really dislike how that is reinforcing the approval of having affairs outside of relationships so I would make it something more positive and uplifting.

Bud Light Superbowl Commercial.... the degrading never stops.

Sexism Ad #2

This ad is wrong on so many levels that it is actually shocking. There's a group of women attempting to hold an intellectual book study, and a man just plops down in their circle and pretty much discredits everything they are doing. The man assumes they are all stupid, and that they are wasting their time talking about books and intelligent topics. He turns a comment into a sexual remark, and says that he wants to see if one of the women can read words. He then continues to take all of their beer and turn their study circle into an unwanted party.

Beer ads like these are everywhere, and it is alarming that nothing is being said against these. As a woman, I am completely offended because it discredits everything that I claim as my identity. Women are sexualized, objectified, and looked at as ignorant by men in all of these beer commercials.

If I were in charge of this media source I would never create an ad that was so degrading to a gender. I would never enforce stereotypes the way they do.

Reinforcing the stereotypes of old people...

Ageism Example #2

This second example was taken from one of my favorite shows, Parks and Recreation. It is the episode where Amy Poehler's character is suffering through a date with an older person in their 60's and he is just fulfilling the overall stereotype of older people. He forgets the questions he asked, he keeps acknowledging his "senior moments", he doesn't understand new trends, he is slow and old fashioned, and is just an overall burden to his date. This stereotype allows our society to pretty much look down upon older people and view them as a waste to our system. Unfortunately this stereotype is seen in almost every type of media and it discredits old people all together.

If I were in charge of this media outlet I would make old people appear as the productive and loving and positive people that they are. I would not emphasize their slower qualities or their inability to do certain tasks because that is something beyond their control and it is just a cheap attempt at humor.

Confines of "Old Luxury"?? Privileged Class...

Privilege Example #2

This commercial for the new Audi is ridiculous, and honestly a little funny until it gets down to the main selling point of Audi. The "old luxury class" is confining according to Audi, and they are asking why would you want to drive a Mercedes if you're dad had one. The whole concept of one luxury style being too confining and outdated is obscene because most people will never even be able to drive a Mercedes in their lifetime let alone be given the option to drive an Audi instead of a Mercedes. This is showing the deep rooted privilege in "old money" families in our society and it shows how the privileged class can truly be oblivious to what the majority of the people are actually like. 

This ad really makes me think how I am privileged in my own life, and it makes me wonder if I have made people feel like they are less of a person because of their class. It really saddens me that our culture is this way, and something in our society needs to change the awareness that the different classes have of each other. 

Privilege... "this is the life" at CU Boulder. 

Privilege Example #1

From ours truly, privilege is the overall culture of CU boulder. This video is just a sampling of the 30,000 student population here in Boulder, but it is pretty spot on with the majority of the students. What do we Boulder kids love about college here?? We can hike, bike, ski, party, dine, shop, attend sporting events, rage at concerts, socialize, get involved in greek life, tan, explore, and did I mention earn a degree? If this is not a the biggest privilege of a college experience, than I don't know what is? Most of the students here at CU are just accustomed to this lifestyle and anything different would be less than satisfactory for them. They are also used to being surrounded by people like them: wealthy, privileged, educated, and white. The diversity at CU is extremely lacking, but the students here don't seem to mind, the white ones at least.

As a student here at CU, I have become much more aware of the privileged life that I have but I have also come to realize that very few people have this type of opportunity. My awareness has expanded because of the close-minded people I have been surround with this semester and I have really seen how this bubble type environment can really separate different types and classes of people. The elitist vibe that I pick up in Boulder is something that truly nauseates me because most of the people going to school here do not even realize how lucky they are to have this opportunity.

Heterosexism seen in advertising... and Nike does no wrong??











Heterosexism Ad #1

The fact that an advertising committee had to sit around a table and create this ad for Nike disgusts me. "That Ain't Right", implying that homosexuality "Ain't Right". How is this still happening, in 2012? This is telling young athletes, especially boys, that if they are to ever be in situation that resembles anything of a homosexual relationship that they should consider themselves losers and failures. The positioning of the two basketball players is extremely sexual as well, which confuses me because this would never be done to a heterosexual relationship ad. So not only is this Nike ad telling me that homosexuality "ain't right", it is also over sexualizing it and making people almost disgusted with it. This ad is actually doing the most damage to our society because it is teaching already mostly homophobic young athletes that they should never be even thought of as gay because they will look like a complete loser.

I would have done this ad differently if I were in charge of Nike's advertising. I understand the concept of not wanting to lose that Nike instills in it's buyers, but you can definitely do that with the implied homosexual oral sex positioning. I would have just simply had one of the basketball players completely schooling the other basketball, without the sexual positioning, and I definitely would have chosen a different phrase than "that aint' right". Nike knows better than to publish something like this, but they just seem to want to please their target buyers which sickens me.

Tatayna MacFadden: nominated for an ESPY 

Ableism Example #2

One of my fantastic friends, Peter Grover, brought my attention to this amazingly talented athlete who I had never heard of before. Researching Tatayna MacFadden's abundant career feats as a World Paralympics participant I was beyond confused why I had never been exposed to her accomplishments before. The reason I was so confused regarding my lack of knowledge on MacFadden's career is that I consider myself to be well-versed in the athletic media outlets and sporting communities and I hear about amazing athletes all the times whenever I watch ESPN or open a Sports Illustrated.

Tatayna MacFadden was nominated for an ESPY for her accomplishments as track and field athlete. She won 4 gold medals and 1 Silver at the World Paralympics. She's sponsored by Chevron and she has set several world records at the last Paralympics. She is truly an athlete who deserves as much recognition as anyone in a professional sport.

If I were in charge of the sports media outlet,  I would do so many things differently. I would cover women's athletics as much as men's athletics are covered and I would cover Paralympic sports as much as other sports are covered.

Man and Woman and that's it apparently... 

Heterosexism example #2

Heterosexism is what makes up advertising. Brands such as Michael Kors will only make their photo ads with a man and woman combination so that a heterosexual relationship will be assumed because that is the culturally norm. Once I started looking around for ad campaigns, I literally could not find one ad for clothing or cologne or alcohol that was not implying a heterosexual relationship was present. The advertisements that have consumed our buying culture are telling people that you are abnormal if you are not sexually attracted to members of the opposite sex and that is a damaging concept for some people who may be confused about their sexuality.

If I were in charge of this media outlet, I would make the models pose without members of the opposite sex. I feel that it is unnecessary to have the sexual component in these advertisements and would just leave that out all together.

Vodka ad... could this be any more obvious?

Sexism ad example #1

Alcohol ads are always typically over sexualized and objectified, but it is always at the woman's expense! The woman in these ads is always being objectified because of her hotness or slutiness, or she is being creepily pursued by mulitple men in bars, or she is being convinced to do something. This is always the case for alcohol ads!

Analyzing this particular ad, the first thing I notice is that there is a woman applying lipstick and there is a man, but the only part of him showing is below the waist. The woman also happens to be at his waist level, so she is on her knees assumably. She also seems to look as if she was just caught in the act of doing something that other people shouldn't be watching or assuming about. Oral sex, that is what this is ad about, and just getting women sexual in general.

The next thing I started to think about when analyzing this article was what does a man take away from this vodka ad. My perception, as a woman, is obvious but this might actually stick with men. They are going to a see a gorgeous woman at a faceless man's waist line, and they are going to associate this sexually enticing picture with the product. Unfortunately, a good number of men buy into the cultural norm that giving alcohol to woman could help them get lucky, and it keeps them in a dominant position over women. It is quiete paralyzing for our culture actually, but for men too. Our society is telling men that they can not get gorgeous women like this unless alcohol is involved. This completely destroys the social dynamic of men and women, and it over sexualizes situations with alcohol, and it just ruins everything basically. A man sees this ad, and he knows that with the help of this extravagant alcohol he can get more beautiful women and he can get sexual favors from him because they are going to love his vodka that much.

I would never create an ad like this. If I had to create a vodka ad, I would do something centered on a party and emphasize the alcohol's association with a party environment. I would make sure to not include this over sexualized norm in alcohol advertisements because it is really destroying how men and women think about each other in heterosexual settings, and it is damaging how men and women see themselves and their ability to meet and impress people sober. I would never reinforce the idea that men can only get women with alcohol or the idea that women should be returning sexual favors for anything! This ad is so damaging in so many ways, I just cannot believe that I have to sift through advertising techniques like this on a daily basis.

J Crew ad... "they're close enough to white"

racism example #2

This particular ad that J Crew put out really confused me. I see these two adorable little boys who are sharply dressed in their perfectly preppy little outfits but they are blatantly both non-caucasian but they are both bi-racial. The main issue I have with the ethnicity choice of both of the boys is that they are both half-white looking. They are neither fully asian or fully african looking and partially european looking which seems to try to please the white buyers of J Crew. It was almost as if J Crew wanted to diversify their advertising, but they still wanted their models to look somewhat white because that is what they believe their buyers want to see. It really bothers me that both boys are still european looking, when they are obviously not fully white. This was a horrible attempt of J Crew to add diversity to their campaigns because they are pretty much saying that the only ethnicities they will market to are people that are of some type of European decent.

I think it is obvious that I would change a lot of things about this advertising choice. I would have no problem with choosing a model that had no European descent at all and I would make sure to represent various different types of people in my advertising. I would never do something like this, and I feel extremely bad for the Asian-American and African-American buyers who had to see this and think that the only way they are model worthy is if they are less of their own descent and more European. It is completely degrading their ethnic identity and it is creating a culture of white supremacy which sickens me beyond words.