Final Reflection

    Throughout this unit we have been focusing very closely on a number of things involving Media. And using these blogs has really helped me focus on each aspect of what we have been learning or trying to focus on. One of these things is realizing how much media we consume everyday and what we can do to change our bad habits involving it. Another is how our perception of media has changed now that we are aware of how it effects us. Also on how we benefit from Media literacy and how these blogs helped us to focus on each one of these aspects.
    When I first started writing I wrote on how much media I see and how it effects me. Up until writing that first blog entry I never really understood just how much media I took in. Everyday I would be on my phone in between periods and right after school. I would take breaks during homework and be immediately drawn towards my phone. I also came home and watched a ton of TV before starting my homework. I realized I spent hours on media everyday and it was rarely ever productive. Because of that I try and have my phone away from me most of the time at school with the exception of lunch time. And realizing that it was distracting me from my homework, a lot of the time I turn it off when I start. I have also stopped watching TV during the week and only watch it on the weekends. I will admit I still spend a lot of time using media during the week, but after realizing just how much, I have been able to improve and find different ways to cut back on it.
    My perception of media has also changed drastically. I realize just how little I need it. I still rely on my phone to do things like call friends for homework help but I never really saw that my need to be on Instagram was so dumb. Also not watching TV during the week has also had no effect on me. I thought I would miss it but it has actually given me more time to do homework and I was always stressed about all the work I had to do and I could barely focus on the show I was watching at that moment. Overall I have realized that I really don't need things like social media as much as I thought I did.
     Although media can seem like something useless that distracts us from homework it can be a very good thing. For one this is a form of media and just by typing my thoughts out on here it has helped me to realize all these thing about media. And we use it for many other things and class and for ways to learn. I wrote my entire term paper for history this semester using only sources from the internet. And I use Duolingo (an online website to learn Spanish) in my Spanish class to help me go over what I've been learning and to speed up the learning process. Also for people like my parents they have been able to reconnect with people from their past who they thought they would never hear from again. So it helps for people to connect especially if you live far fro each other. We are also able to become educated about the world around us through things like the news. So even though there are bad things when it comes to media, it can also be very useful and educational.
    All in all these blogs have been a huge help. They have opened up my mind to all the different aspects of media. And have helped me to learn that social media isn't the most important thing in the world. Because of these I have gained a whole new perspective.

College Advertisements

    After my PSAT scores started to come out I began to receive emails. They have been emails from colleges all around the country and some as well known as Boston University. they have been emailing me multiple times a day and I have received them from at least 15 different colleges. But I have received multiple from eat school. They send me pictures of the campus, what they have to offer, and feedback from former students. All to get me to consider going to their school. I have even been sent a poster to one of the schools. You would never really expect colleges to advertise that much if at all. But ever since the test it seems like that is all they've been doing. I see things like are yo ready to become a tiger? Or them telling me they've noticed me. And although I have no complaints because it gives me a better look into my options, you just never realize how widespread advertisement can really be until they are sent from colleges to your personal email. And it really shows just how much everyone is impacted by ads because even schools are relying on them now.

Miss Representation

    In this movie it shows how women have it so hard in society especially in the media industry. There are certain factors that they talk about that make a women "eligible" to work in this industry. It seems like they all have to be a certain age and height and ethnicity. And in television women have to be a perfect example with the best features. And when it comes to media coverage it seems like instead of the real news the biggest news of he day is whether Kylie Jenner is pregnant or not. Because of this women have to struggle and work super hard to get where they are and even then have to keep up their image in order to stay where they are.
    Women in this industry have to have a certain image it seems like to be eligible. You see news anchors with flawless hair and low cut tops and its all so people will recognize them. It seems like the good work they are doing doesn't mean anything if they don't  have flawless hair and the perfect body. Because of this it keeps many girls from these jobs because they think they have to be a certain way or don't have enough people to look up to as role models in this industry. And even in things like politics women barely ever see other women in it. Before watching this movie I thought Hillary Clinton was the first women to run for president. And so did so many of my other friends. In my opinion this is just sad that I didn't even know this kind of thing because women are so unfairly recognized. Women also have to keep a strong appearance. If a news anchor who is a man cries over something sad that is happening in the news for example is seen as caring and sensitive to the situation. But if a women cries they are unstable or on their period or something and are not right for that job.
    When it comes to actors it is the same thing. most women are young and beautiful in the acting industry and have to keep up the perfect appearance. If they make one slip up they could be seen as a mess or a slut to the rest of the world. And if you look closely you rarely see any middle aged actors. It seems like after that they aren't pretty enough or are outdated. It is just sad that women have to stay young, perfect, and beautiful just to do their job.
    Going back to the news you always see the latest story on the news about the Kardashians or what his women actor was wearing this day. instead of focusing on real things we look at all the sign of whether Kylie Jenner is pregnant or not or what Jennifer Lopez went to the beach. But we never focus on what this man is wearing or the mistakes he has made which has created an unfair and sexist environment.
   Overall this movie gave me a good look into how unfair women are treated. And how if we one day want equality we need to listen to their message and speak up and fight back.

Social Media and Friends

    When it comes to social media we use it as a way to connect with different friends. We also see it as a way to show people what we are doing or express ideas. We keep streaks on Snapchat to stay in touch with people or post our best pictures of ourselves on Instagram. But this has created problems. Our mind is set everyday on keeping our streaks and the number of likes we get on Instagram and who likes it determines our worth. We have to have the best people follow us and do things like block who we don't like.
    When it comes to our streaks we make them become way more important then they should be. We always ave to keep them going and the higher the number the better. I personally find them annoying but for some reason I think that because we are friends I should have a streak with them. If I lose it I am actually disappointed even though it is just some dumb number for how many days you Snapchat each other. And even though I realize how streaks are worthless and how much they annoy me, I keep doing them and wanting to build up that number next to my name. Because without them I think that without a streak with that person I will lose touch with them without one because we go to a different school. Or if they lose one they don't care enough. This just shows how the expectations of social media can be so unhealthy for us. 
    On Instagram we focus on who follows and doesn't follow us , how many likes we have, and putting our best self on our Instagram. We always want to follow our friends of course but also all the "best" people. And if we don't like someone we block them as a way to get back at them. If a certain person likes one of our posts we feel  sense of gratification because this certain person recognized us. And the number of likes we get determines our self worth. If we don't get enough we see ourselves as a lesser person because we didn't get the same number as this other person. I personally try not to focus on this stuff but every once in a while I do focus on how many likes I get or who likes my post.

Super Bowl Commercials

    It seems like with a lot of people now when they hear the word Super Bowl they think of the commercials instead of the football. For commercials the Super Bowl commercials are the most popular. The day after the game instead of people talking about how the game went, they are laughing over the funniest commercials they saw. This shows that because of the way advertisement has taken over our sports, we look forward to the commercials more instead of the actual game. For example when I go to super bowl parties every year I get bored watching the game because I am not the biggest fan of the sport. But during the commercials I am excited to see what funny commercial company's like Coca Cola have come up with this year. And I pay more attention during the commercial breaks than the actual game. And usually you don't bother with commercials and skip through them, but you can notice that during the Super Bowl everybody stays to watch the commercials. This just shows that because advertisement during the super bowl has become such a big deal, they have become more remembered and appreciated then the actual game for a lot of people now.

The way women are portrayed in media and advertisements

    In media it seems that women in fashion magazines or commercials are perfect. They are flawless with hair and skin that makes every girl jealous. And to be in these industries you have to be a certain height with all the "desired features". Advertisement and media has made looking this way normal or desired for many people.  This had caused many girls and women to want to look or be a certain way to fit in with what media and advertisement has made standard. But this is not how many people are. Many people do not always have perfect skin or are tall, you also don't have to have a super small waist just to look pretty. And even though things have gotten better with models like Ashley Graham, it is still a major problem. You never see plus sized Victoria Secret models. Even my favorite store has models who are all tall, thin, and all around flawless. In order to get some girls to realize you don't need to have these perfect features and can be their own unique self, things like the fashion industry need to broaden their outlook and how their models look. And not have people feel ashamed or different in a bad way for who they are and feel like they need to fit all these expectations of how women should look.

Our phones and driving

   In just a short month I will be getting my drivers license, and because of this I have been driving with my parents or and instructor almost everyday. Because I am just a beginner it has been scary driving at times and its mostly because of all the bad and stupid drivers out there. And what I've noticed is that the reason for their bad driving is because they are all looking at their phones. I'll be at a stoplight and look into the rear view mirror and many times I have seen people starring down at what must be their phone or talking on it. During one of my driving lessons I asked my instructor, who has been doing this job for a few years, if one of her students had ever gotten in an accident. She said that she had three times and every single time it had been the others drivers fault, not her student. She told me that all three times the person had apologized and admitted that they were texting or on their phone when the accident happened. And even more surprisingly it was all middle aged people who should be experienced and responsible drivers by this point. It goes to show that because of our need or want to always be on our phones, it has caused the road to become a more dangerous place.

How technology effects our childhood

    When or parents talk about their childhood they seem to always talk about the different adventures they had outside of the house during they day or all the different games they used to play. You never really hear them talk about what the most popular TV show them and all their friends used to watch or the ways they used social media. But with us growing up with so much technology we have a completely different childhood.
 
    When we talk about when we were younger we think about all the Disney movies we grew up with or our favorite TV show we grew up watching everyday. We would always talk about the newest episode of Hannah Montana with our friends or dress up as the characters of our favorite characters in movies for Halloween. And, now that we are teenagers we act a certain way for social media and take time out of our day to watch our favorite Youtubers and wish we had their life. We even do 90% percent of our homework either on the computer or using information from the computer. It has come to the point that without technology we have nothing to do. Our parents even take it away as punishment because they know how much we rely on it. This all shows that we have used technology so much that it has taken over the way we live and grow up. It has created major differences in the way we live our lives in this generation and has started to become more of a necessity then a luxury. In some schools like Christian Brothers almost all of their schooling is done on an iPad. Because of technology it has completely changed the way wee have grown up.