Big Media’s Homogenization of Female Sexuality

With the advent of “big media” in the current climate of consolidation, commercialism rules.  Because of huge consolidations in media ownership and production, independence in both media and contemporary culture fails to survive.  What is being produced in terms of gender, sexuality, celebrity, and advertising is no longer a diverse picture of modern life, but one, hegemonic portrait: a conflated, raunchy image of sexuality mistaken for feminist independence.

According to musician and feminist, Meredith Levande, in her article titled “Women, Pop Music, and Pornography,” the connection between media ownership deregulation and the mega-media companies that profit from adult entertainment have pushed “pornographic imagery” into the mainstream.  Sexually-suggestive images are becoming increasingly acceptable because the imagery is becoming increasingly corporate.  “Raunch” culture is owned, managed, and produced by everyday companies.  “Fewer and fewer media conglomerates own more and more of the public’s media outlets,” writes Levande.  Because of this trend in “big media” ownership, the type and quality of imagery produced by these few companies has become increasingly hypersexualized and homogenized.

Although sexuality has always been a part of human nature, the dominance of “stripper chic” and sexually-associated trends in exhibitionism such as the Girls Gone Wild phenomenon began to appear and to identify themselves with feminism when larger media mergers and acquisitions took hold.  According to Ariel Levy, author of “Female Chauvinist Pigs,” this all began with the Spice Girls.  Having traded independence for high heels as a form of rebellion, the Spice Girls coined and co-opted the slogan “girl power” in the early 90’s, nursing the generation of women who have come to promote and exhibit raunch culture in today’s world.  In discussing the trend of using the “rhetoric of feminism” to endorse sexual commodification, Levy argues that there has been a miscommunication and thus, a related disconnect among generations of women.  The current, “incoherent” brand of raunch feminism being exhibited across print and visual media sources alike, stems from what Levy refers to as conflicting generational ideologies.  Women today are conflating sexual freedom and expression as both a rebellion and a distorted attempt to continue the work of the women’s movement of the 60’s and 70’s.  However, “raunchy” and “liberated” are not synonyms, just in the way that “radicalized” is not the same as “enlightened” or “sexually charged.”  “Just because we are post[feminism] doesn’t automatically mean we are feminists,” writes Levy.

The Spice Girls

“I think we have lost consciousness of the way our culture demeans women,” says Erica Jong, a renowned author and sex-positive feminist, in “Female Chauvinist Pigs.”  We should not confuse raunch sexiness with real power and according to Jong, we should “not kid ourselves that this is liberation.”  As Levy rhetorically asks her readers, “How is resurrecting every stereotype of female sexuality that feminism endeavored to banish good for women?”  Using terms such as “strong women,” “Liberation,” and “empowerment” in fashion and celebrity biographies makes us feel that we have accomplished the ultimate goals of feminism and have achieved as women in society, but according to Levy, we are simply wishing for feminist justification where none exists.  “The truth is that the new conception of raunch culture as a path to liberation rather than oppression is a convenient (and lucrative) fantasy with nothing to back it up,” writes Levy.  Since fewer companies own more media, and now distribute pornography, there is an economic interest in promoting certain ideals.  According to Levande, programming is now “given the power to dictate culture,” not reflect it.  Media outlets are mainstreaming raunch culture not only in the name of feminism, but also in the name of journalistic legitimacy.  Companies are benefitting from the production of a hegemonic, pornographic rendering of sexuality because in order to compete, they must conform.  This is not “new feminism” or old feminism in new action.  This is a corporate takeover, the commercialization of female sexuality, and a regeneration of a homogenized, raunchified, portrayal of women in society.  Being perceived as sexy and powerful on the cover of a fashion magazine, legs sprawled, does not endow you or the entire female sex with real-world power or independence.

Telling True Stories: How Can We Make a Living as Writers?

“It might be a losing game, but that’s what you’re choosing to do,” says Adrian Nicole LeBlanc, author of the book Random Family, about freelance writing.  “The benefit is the time to do something you really care about.”

Source: A.D.Rowe

“It might be a losing game, but that’s what you’re choosing to do,” says Adrian Nicole LeBlanc, author of the book Random Family, about freelance writing.  “The benefit is the time to do something you really care about.”  In reading Telling True Stories Part IX: “Building a Career in Magazines and Books,” I found the passion of the contributing writers to be most relevant to my life as a writer.  Though I am far from getting an agent to pitch my stories and no where near writing a non-fiction book on an international social justice issue, all of the writers in the pieces from this Telling True Stories section seemed to allude to one thing:  To be a successful writer, reporter, Journalist, or author, you have to have a passion for writing and a desire to tell stories.

According to Jim Collins in his piece for Telling True Stories titled “Making It as a Freelancer,” pitching stories is just as important as writing them.  First, you must look for potential magazine outlets and organizations to pitch to and write for.  Collins warns not to “judge a magazine by its cover” because there is likely potential for narrative work in a variety of writing mediums including airline pamphlets and vertical magazines that specialize in narrow topics for niche audiences.

“Begin reporting your story before you pitch it,” writes Collins.  “You don’t need a magazine assignment to start reporting.”  In order to freelance successfully, something I hope to do someday, you not only must refine your story idea to fit each potential magazine you plan to pitch to but you also must do some research on your story before even considering pitching.  Framing your pitch to emphasize the “meaning below the story line” is key to selling your story idea to any magazine.

Reading the magazine you plan to pitch to and write for, according to Collins, is also key to to improving your chance of selling a story.  Scrutinize the publication, searching for narrative and production elements that might help your case as a potential writer for the magazine.  When analyzing however, be sure to focus on your own qualities and potential contributions as a write.  Proving your ability to to write a story is essential in your pitch.  You should include clips of your previous work that, according to Collins, “prove your ability to think through a story, to write clearly, to write smooth transitions, and to elevate a story to include meaning.” Evidence of your writing and reporting skills as a professional freelancer is certainly a necessary factor in a story proposal, but Collins stresses that elevating the importance and strength of the particular story you want to tell is even more vital.

Source: Race Talk Blog

Other tips that Jim Collins has for potential freelancers?  “Think of a story idea that only you can write,” writes Collins.  Everybody has personal narratives and varying levels and types  of expereince.  Use those to your advantage.  “Those esoteric areas of your life will lead to story ideas that you are especially qualified to write about,” writes Collins.  “If you have unique access, the editor can’t get the story without taking you, too.”

When writing independently for any medium, time must be budgeted efficiently and effectively because “no one else will help you with it or pressure you to complete it,” writes Stewart O’Nan in his piece, “Not Stopping: Time Management for Writers.”  “To have any chance of finishing,” writes O’Nan.  “You have to make your own rules – rules to not stop.”

This particular point of advice from O’Nan resonates with my personal writing style.  Abandoning projects and writing pieces I have “fallen out of love with” is a particularly bad habit of mine.  Without my own set of rules, time constraints, and personal encouraging pressures, I would likely not finish a majority of my independent writing pieces.  Although O’Nan’s set of seventeen personal writing rules in his piece for Telling True Stories is helpful and full of advice, only one rule truly made me think about my writing habits and potential career in Journalism.  “Enjoy yourself,” writes O’Nan.  “You can’t be sure that the book you’re working on will make it.  You must enjoy the time you spend writing it.”

Telling True Stories, Part 1, “An Invitation to Narrative”

As all of the authors in “An Invitation to Narrative” depicted, there is a certain power and universality to storytelling.  It’s not necessarily language, but rather, stories that make us human, according to Jacqui Banaszynski.  As journalists and writers, we are storytellers by nature.  We must always be curious, as Gay Talese mentioned, for curiosity is the beginning.  In order to write effectively, truthfully, and successfully, we must be curious to everything and open our minds to different ideas.  It is the idea or main concept of a piece of writing that drives the story forward.  The idea, according to David Halberstam, is critical to narrative journalism.  Throughout his piece, Halberstam continually reiterates how vital the idea is to a work of nonfiction.  We must connect our stories to larger ideas and concepts that apply to the human condition.  As journalists, we are trying to draw in readers and relate to other people. We are human and are communicating human stories.  Without that certain connecting element of narrative, our stories go unfinished and unread.  As Katherine Boo points out, the truly end-all goal of journalism is to have your story read by readers who at the close, maybe give half a damn.  It is that special combination of reporting, writing, storytelling, and thinking about ideas that makes narrative journalism so utterly enticing and effective.

What I Read

When I first wake up in the morning I grab my iPhone which has so conveniently been placed to charge by my bedside.  I check my two email accounts, one personal and one mostly school related.  Before I get out of bed, I open my Facebook and Twitter apps and scroll for about ten minutes to catch myself up with universal news events and not so universal friend and family events.

When I am finally up, showered, and sort of dressed, I eat my bowl of cereal and have my first cup of coffee with my laptop open.  I read through the headlines and click through to any stories that particularly grab my interest on the New York Times, my homepage.  I will often check Facebook again before I leave for the day just in case some monumental event hits my News Feed or some last-minute notification pops up about my status update.  Rarely but on occasion I will have extra time to kill in the morning.  It’s then that I check my Tumblr for updates and endlessly scroll through the myriad of photos and thoughts that invade my dashboard.  I post and reblog as often as I can but I often just find myself looking, reading, and clicking.  Sometimes if I am satisfied with the news and Facebook I will close my laptop and read from a magazine whilst finishing up my coffee (or starting my second cup).

I have two piles of magazines sitting in my room, each the size of a well-stocked encyclopedia.  The first pile is Vogue, the second New York magazine.  I love both subscriptions dearly but simply cannot keep up with them and complete an issue in a timely manner.  Through time I have noticed two particular problems associated with these subscriptions.  The main issue is that New York magazine comes on a weekly basis.  If both Vogue and New York came on a monthly basis, my piles would most certainly shrink in size.

My second problem is that I am a complete and thorough reader when it comes to magazines.  I pour over every article and column, and inspect every photograph and advertisement from the cover to the last page.  I have proceeded in this manner ever since I can remember.  For some reason, I have a special affinity for magazines and refuse to skim them the way I do online news articles.  As wonderful as this reading process may seem, it has caused me many months of  untimely reading.  However, I made a successful dent in my piles this summer and am proud to report that I am now caught up to the March 2012 issues of both Vogue and New York magazine.

In terms of my media diet for the rest of a regular day, I am usually swamped with articles and readings for school.  However, I check Facebook and Twitter on my iPhone sporadically throughout the day, getting a daily fix of world news, pop culture, and local gossip.  If at the end of the day I am not too busy with schoolwork or an airing of one of my favorite TV shows (ie: Game Of Thrones, New Girl, True Blood, and the list goes on), I enjoy reading through a round of blogs.

“Why I Blog”

Though it was written almost four years ago, Andrew Sullivan’s essay in The Atlantic, “Why I Blog,” is still a pertinent and resonating piece of insight into the discipline of journalism as it exists today.

Blogging is in many ways a separate and different form of news production than traditional print journalism. It rewards brevity, immediacy, and personality; all of which are characteristics that make blogging as a form of writing unique. Sullivan claims that the blogosphere may be “the least veiled of any forum in which a writer dares to express himself” and I would have to agree.

It is personality and character that make a blog stand out and thrive. In “Why I Blog,” Sullivan makes multiple references to blogging as conversing. Inherent in its nature, the online medium of blogging calls for reader interaction and conversation. It involves personal writing and objective reporting just as much as it requires discussion and collective production. In the same ways a journalist must come across to his or her readers as authoritative and knowledgeable, a blogger must also come across as personable, insightful, and candid.

But that is not to say that one form is better than the other. As Sullivan so succinctly remarks, “Words, of all sorts, have never seemed so now.” It is the very nature of blogging, with it’s immediacy and personalization, that elevates all forms of writing. I found Sullivan’s perspective on long-form, traditional journalism particularly enlightening. The idea that blogging and other forms of “post-modern” word-sharing should in ways replace traditional writing and reporting is ill-considered. Since I’ve started blogging and reading other blog posts with more frequency, I better appreciate the longer, more nuanced style of writing that traditional forms utilize.

However, I’m not converted to either form exclusively. I have found a sense of satisfaction in writing for both mediums. Though blogging suffers from “a failure to provide stable truth or a permanent perspective” as Sullivan writes, traditional writing often lacks a sense of immediacy, personality, and instant and unbounded public engagement. From my perspective, each form builds upon the other, and therefore, builds upon itself.

Without blogging, there would be an untold number of people, brimming with knowldege and creativity, unable to share their thoughts, ideas, and opinions. To me, that is one of the most exciting results of this post-modern form of word-sharing and digesting. Blogging instantly brings people into worldwide view, but it also brings people together. It is the conversational style that blogging so easily seems to evoke that enhances my everyday readership and thirst for knowledge.

Without argument, my blog-less world, and I am lead to believe the world of many others, would be a vastly different place.