Love Lessons From Bieber

A site called Viral Video Chart has recorded the number of times online videos have been shared on Facebook, Twitter, and Blogger pages within the last year. Three of the most popular music videos were "Eminem ft Rihanna: Love The Way You Lie," "Black Eyed Peas: The Time (Dirty Bit)," "Bruno Mars: Just The Way You Are," and "Justin Bieber: Baby ft Ludacris."  These illustrated songs give insight into popular culture's current views of gender, as they each tell a story.

In "Eminem ft Rihanna: Love The Way You Lie," the man is shown to have significant physical power over the woman, and his muscular arms are frequently displayed. He is an alcoholic loser of a partner who is possessive, has a violent temper, and is most likely unfaithful.  The prominent woman is sexualized (note the lack of clothing and reoccurring bedroom scenes), is turned on by the man's power over her, and is either remarkably forgiving or gullible.

The men in this film, "Black Eyed Peas: The Time (Dirty Bit)," have the time of their lives by "being the baddest of them all," getting drunk and losing control, and freak dancing with multiple beautiful, provocatively dressed women.  The women are all portrayed as sex objects.

At 4:39 do I spy lady bits?!! Let's try to be a bit more mysterious, please.

Now onto the real reason, I am sure, that you decided to read this post.  According to "Justin Bieber: Baby ft Ludacris," the rules of engagement for boys who want to win the heart of a girl are:

• It is your job to convince her of your worth.
• She often maintains a crowd of other females around her so as to make your job more challenging.
• Be assertive.
• Peacock to get her attention.
• She plays coy and aloof because she enjoys the feeling of power that comes from withholding intimacy and/or attention from you.
• Her alluring dances are a ploy to maintain your focus on her, while still playing hard to get.
• Bribe her with the prospect of gifts.
• She is secretly flattered when you stalk her.

I am grateful that not everyone acts in accordance with this list, but with 470,653,182 views as of this moment, Professor Bieber must be reaching a substantial audience.

Princess Profiling

Children may not always pay attention when they are asked to, but studies show that they are paying close attention to gender constructs. They even tend to be particularly observant of information concerning their own gender. In addition to observing the adults in their lives, children also learn about gender from the media they encounter.

Disney's U.S. theme parks, Disneyland and Disney World, accumulated over 33 million visitors in 2009. The Disney culture continues to thrive even today as many parents still share their favorite classic Disney movies with their children. Generally, these movies are viewed as "wholesome," but their portrayals of gender are questionable.

Among the ones I remember well are: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella, Jungle Book, Robin Hood, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Sleeping Beauty, 101 Dalmations, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Lion King, and Pocahontas.

Take a look at Disney's princesses and the men who love them. The morals of this genre of movies are quite comical once you start to examine them.

Belle, Jasmine, Cinderella, Ariel, Snow White, Aurora

Prevalent qualities of the women: meek, dainty, beautiful, helpless, naive, nurturing

The Prince, Prince Eric, Aladdin, Prince Charming, Prince Phillip, Prince Adam

Prevalent qualities of the men: protective, determined, brave, shallow, physically strong

Even Mulan, a movie in which a woman shows bravery, determination, and wit, sends a message about masculinity. In order to pretend to be a man, Mulan must demonstrate physical prowess and be capable of violence.

My opinion, for what it is worth, is that children don't need to be sheltered from these movies.  They just need to be exposed to more proper sources of male and female role models, as well.  These role models should encourage values such as character, thought, and confidence over appearance or performance.  The ultimate goal should be for children to grow up feeling secure about who they are as individuals and not being concerned with how they compare to society's definitions of masculinity and femininity.

All Bubbles, Suds, and Smiles

The majority of modern America consumes a lot of media on a regular basis. According to a UCSD research study, in 2008, Americans consumed information for about 1.3 trillion hours, an average of almost 12 hours per day. Within the domain of television specifically, we watch as orchestrated scenes play themselves out before our eyes. As I start this blog, I would like to acknowledge that I recognize that over the years our society has made improvements in its portrayals of men and women.  However, I think it is easy to overlook the more subtle gender assumptions that the media makes even today.  Take a look at this commercial, for instance.

This ad for a washer and dryer set starts off with “Amy Clark” talking about all the time and energy she used to devote to doing her laundry.  She is unnaturally bubbly/sweet and overly passionate about laundry.  If anyone can find me a commercial with a man this involved in and committed to the subject, I would love to see it!  Some of the worst offending quotes within this video are:

• “It gets everything white…even the socks that my husband and son insist on wearing outside without any shoes on.” This little precious side note, accented with a tone of voice that implies “Haha…Men…you know how they are” and a near rolling of the eyes, implicates the males in her house as unrefined, careless, and defiant by nature.
•  “Sometimes I get sidetracked or put off folding clothes, and leave a load in the dryer for a few days.” This clearly indicates that she is the only one that ever folds the laundry in her home.  I do not understand how Amy could get sidetracked from fulfilling her laundry tasks.  Doesn't she realize it is her duty as the woman?  Maybe she hasn't had time to watch the hundreds of commercials that depict the wife doing the bulk of the housework.
• “Clean clothes and big savings…What is better than that?”  Well, I know clean clothes and big savings are all I live for.