Blog 10: I Touch Myself: For Breast Cancer

Summary

In Australia, The Cancer Council started a campaign and used Chrissy Amphlett’s ‘I Touch Myself’ song and remade it into a breast cancer awareness song. It launched on April 14^th and used numerous Australian female singers. The original song was about masturbation but these women took this song and turned it into something greater and more positive. The lyrics now “I touch myself” refers to a woman touching her breast, examining for lumps or signs of breast cancer. The video portrays the Australian singers and all of them are topless. Though as stated it is becoming more difficult to deliver a positive message through media due to all the negativity you see from it, this song has captured people’s hearts and won their trust and recognition. This song and video has created an intimate relationship with females and families of breast cancer victims and survivors through media.

Analysis

This is another article which exhibits media in a positive way. Many times you see media having a negative influence on women by making beauty be the ultimate goal or desire. This campaign has used a song that was originally about a sexual concept and turned it into an empowering song encouraging health. Normally portraying a woman in a video in her nudity is used to sexualize or make something sexy. These women were topless for a good cause a good reason, to show the beauty of breast and how important it is to take care of them by self-examination in prevention of breast cancer. I wish that media was used for more positive reasons like this one. 

I touch myself  

Blog 9: Media Against Women

SUMMARY

This article simplifies the discrimination that women in America face. Media is used in many ways such as to inform, but one way it has been used is to dehumanize women by making them aware of their inferiority. Women are depicted as a representation of sexualization in different forms of media. Most of the images used of women are altered and fabricated to make a women appear to be more sexualized or helpless. The article also states “As Susan Griffin put it in her 1971 essay on the subject, a woman in the United States is made to feel vulnerable, unable to say that she is “…free of the fear of rape.” Women are depicted more so as objects instead of human. The women used in media are often fairly thin and tall. With the average woman body dimensions not meeting the criteria of the model of course females are to feel inadequate.

ANALYSIS

This article expresses the reasons why I’ve chosen my topic of media and how it affects women and their beauty. In so many ways media defines or constructs the definition of beauty. With women in magazines, advertisements, and modeling there is a window of opportunity for the female race to dehumanized, over sexualized, and used a construct of beauty on how females should look. It presents the idea that you have to be thin, wear make-up, dress this type of way, and act thus way to be classified as beautiful. These are not what the standards should be. 

Being a Woman

Korean Pop Star Makes "Ugly" Beautiful

Summary

A Korean pop artist, Kyary Pamyu Pamyu uses her beauty and popularity to change the expected and anticipated image of beauty by using factors that other artist would not normally use. Kyary Pamyu Pamyu stated that she has a dark side and finds beauty in things that people would normally not.In her videos she uses plus size dancers, bald people, and other factors that would people would classify as unattractive. While other Korean stars are into the Harajuku theme and only want to portray beauty as make up and fashion Kyary Pamyu Pamyu stated “The spirit is that I am not the same as others. I don’t want to be the same as Harajuku culture, I think.” She aims to be different abd wants her fans to support her idea of what is beautiful and should be accepted by society. 

Analysis:

This story was very interesting to me. At a first glance I saw her videos to be strange, different, and somewhat disturbing. As I read more about her and what her goal is I developed sense of appreciation of Krary Pamyu Pamyu being different and not afraid to share her images of what she finds beauty in. Seeing plus size background dancers in her video “Pon Pon Pon” is something that many artists are not willing to do. Krary Pamyu Pamyu is a very beautiful girl but she strangely she does not try to exhibit her beauty she tries to make her appearance if I should say “ugly” or scarier.  I appreciate Krary Pamyu Pamyu for taking a stand and representing something different so that others can know that what you value as beautiful should be accepted by society no matter if it isn’t the norm. 

http://www.theguardian.com/culture/australia-culture-blog/2014/mar/21/kyary-pamyu-pamyu-tinges-j-pop-horror-show 

Topic: Effects of Media

The topic I chose to research on for ten weeks is media and how it affects our human race. All around the world people are presented with some type of media whether it being television, magazines, music, fashion, etc. Media plays a huge part in our lives. Sometimes media can have a negative impact on us that could cause certain problems within ourselves. Unfortunately many people all around the world experience what I call the "media effect".