Disney Haters

While we’ve brought up plenty of reasons in class why Disney movies may perpetuate some negative images and behaviors for girls, I think many people agree these movies are pretty harmless. At the age that we begin watching them, we aren’t thinking about the sex appeal of Princess Jasmine, the patriarchy displayed in The Little Mermaid or that the dust in the sky spells “sex” in The Lion King. We like the pretty colors and fun songs. (To this day I have a Disney playlist on my iPod. Don’t judge.)

But some people just have to try and ruin it. I’m sure plenty of us have looked for the supposed sexual hidden messages and innuendos in some of our favorite “instant classics” (Prof. McCauliff….), but we probably don’t do this with an “Ahah! I knew he was evil!” attitude or because we want to tear down the empire that is Disney. Most of us tend to like the feel-good world of Disney. But then there are those people who, for whatever reason, take things too far. Like this video, for example. The creator obviously has some vendetta against Walt and his peeps. Backed by eerie music, the video claims that Disney was a Freemason and out to destroy children, using “illuminati mind control” and subliminal messages. Watch a few seconds of it, and you’ll see what I mean. Watch the whole thing, and you’ll just get sick of it.

Come on people. These are kids movies; and without them, I think all of our childhoods would have been a little duller. We can analyze them all we want, but plenty of us grew up to be capable adults despite all of the supposed dreadful examples set by our beloved princesses and talking animals. If these movies begin to drastically affect a child in the ways that have been proposed, the problem is not the movies, it’s the parenting. Kids can watch as much TV and as many movies as they want, but it is the examples set and the lessons taught by parents and other influential people in their lives that actually shape who they are. Disney has very little to do with it.

Twitter: Magic or Myth?

Our Comm 322 Twitter project was not my first experience Twitter. I’ve had an account for about a year now. I initially got onto the site to follow celebrities and musicians that I liked, after constantly hearing about their Twitter feeds and all of the things they were doing on Twitter. Twitter was blowing up, and I didn’t want to miss out (and yeah, many of my journalism classes were incorporating lessons on social media, and I was only on Facebook at the time).

Once I started tweeting, I realized that Twitter was allowing fans to actually communicate with their favorite celebrities or other role models (journalists, authors, business owners, etc.). If you tweet at your favorites incessantly enough, they may pick your particular tweet out of the thousands or millions they receive every day and respond, making you feel like they are your new best friends. I’ve been lucky enough to experience this. But my realization about the environment Twitter created was not a new observation. In an interview I conducted with Brad King, assistant professor of journalism who teaches classes in social media and has an extensive resume in the web and journalism worlds (He worked at MIT and for Wired magazine. Just saying.), before Biz Stone’s much-anticipated visit to BSU, I remember this particular quote: “Twitter is democratizing.” It puts us all on equal footing. No one is more/less accessible on Twitter. Sure, some people have hundreds of thousands of followers while others are struggling to break 40; but no one’s voice is louder than anyone else’s on your Twitter timeline.

This lesson took one more step during our Twitter project. Actually, I guess you could say it was more of a step back. While it was a great feeling to have people responding to my tweets or retweeting them during the project -- even people I didn’t know or follow -- I realized how massive the Twitterverse is and how hard it is to accomplish anything significant in it. Yes, Twitter might be democratizing and revolutionary and a fascinating new communication tool, but unless you are famous or want to spend 75 percent of your day working the keyboard, it’s hard to actually make a dent in the endless string of tweets being strung at any point in time. For me, it looks like Twitter will be more of a method for me to gather information than disseminate it myself. I may receive the occasional helpful or exciting tweet directed at me from a stranger or celebrity, but I only have actual conversations with people I am already friends with. When I first started using Twitter, the possibilities seemed endless and people seemed to be at my fingertips. I still find Twitter fun and valuable, don’t get me wrong, but I guess some of the magic has worn off.

Selling to Kids: The Potty Dance

Please observe The Potty Dance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVToZfaGCTw

If you haven’t seen this gem floating around on Pull Ups commercials, please take a look at the link above. The Potty Dance song and choreography is not only a stunning piece of artistry, but it is a prime example of blatant marketing to children. While Pull Ups isn’t a brand that children will grow up with (one hopes) and become loyal to as adults, as mentioned in “Branded for Life” by Noel C. Paul, it clearly demonstrates the targeting of children to sell products.

While diaper commercials are typically targeted at parents, emphasizing absorbency and the like, Pull Ups is now going right for the jugular, using “fun” as bate for the youngins. Kids will be so infatuated by this awful song and dance, that they will beg their parents for Pull Ups specifically. Parents may even be inclined to buy them just to use the song and dance to motivate their children to use the toilet. The song goes as far as to make kids feel like adults, equating actions like talking on cell phones and driving cars (right…) to being potty trained and, therefore, a “big kid now.” You’re a big kid. You can make your own decisions about which diaper brand you prefer. Now, just get your parents to buy it so you can be cool like the guitar-rocking toddlers on TV. But stay away from that creepy guy who’s doing the singing.

Just for fun:

So you think you can potty dance? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8h4OsMZGpnw&feature=related

Make me a sammich

As defined by Urban Dictionary:

“Make me a sammich mentality – The state of mind that a wife-beater or otherwise angry male house inhabitant tends to dwell in. This state of mind often takes physical forms outside of a simple mentality. When one is in said state, a fury of b*** slaps and most often angry demanding remarks are hellishly unleashed onto one’s life partner. Phrases, such as “DON’T YOU SPEAK WOMAN!” “SHUT UP AND GET ME A BEER!” or more commonly, “MAKE ME A SAMMICH B***!” are shouted at said life partner…”

While this definition has purely humorous intentions, the fact that jokes like this are so widely accepted in today’s society is disappointing. I personally hear males in my life making jokes about this topic on a daily basis. While I know that most of them (I would hope all, but I can’t be sure) do not actually view women as mere tools to make them comfortable and aid them in mundane daily endeavors, it still bothers me that they find it acceptable to make such statements even in jest. And they aren’t shy about making these jokes in front of or at women, either.

Unfortunately, it is not surprising. Popular male-targeted media egg on this kind of behavior. Shows like Family Guy and comedians like Daniel Tosh perpetuate many stereotypes and use a large amount of derogatory humor, most of it targeted at minorities, including women. While I can take a joke and am not all about being politically correct (and I am admittedly not a feminist), the frequency with which males demonstrate this mentality has become annoying. (Note: I also realize that the above definition does not depict the men who exercise this mentality in a positive light, either.)

Hence, and mostly for the sake of argument, I am analyzing this genre of pop culture texts from a feminist rhetorical perspective. I have made the following deduction from the existence of this “make me a sammich mentality”: While women have fought for equality for centuries, we still have not achieved our end goal. While total equality may not be possible or necessary (depending on your views), women have reached a level of equality that has never before been seen. While some still argue that there is a glass ceiling and that women do not even earn the same wages for the same job done (some estimates say we make 75 cents to the dollar), we have made many significant gains. However, it is the mindset of some men that is really holding us back as a gender from total equality, as well as holding back society. While most men would claim, in a serious context with jokes aside, that they see women as equals or, at the very least, do not expect them to act as subordinates, the existence of this mentality shows otherwise. It appears that men tend to think, at least to themselves, that they are still superior to women in every way.

While this mentality may not have any physical effects on women (at least I don’t intend on actually staying in the kitchen), the psychological effects could be significant, especially if young girls are subjected to this type of “humor.”

The “Social Media Revolution” and Business

In light of our discussions about the power of Twitter and other social media outlets to bring about some sort of change, I’d like to share a video that sums up pretty neatly the reach and strength that social media really does have. No matter your views on the effects of social media as positive or negative, the facts and ideas in this video are pretty undeniable. It’s called Social Media Revolution (I promise it’s a fun watch – give it a look). Based on the book “Socialnomics” by Eric Qualman, SMR is targeted at companies, depicting the impact social media can have on a brand. This video happens to hit on a lot of the topics we’ve discussed in class, specifically the power of peer recommendation via social media that Brian Morrissey discusses in “The Power of Many.”

The doesn't get into this topic for a bit, but it eventually points out, among A LOT of other things, that user-generated commentary on products and services carry a lot of weight in the Internet world. Consider the following:

• 25% of search results for the world’s top 20 largest brands are links to user-generated content

• 34% of bloggers post opinions about products and brands

• 78% of consumers trust peer recommendations

• 14% of consumers trust advertisements

The video states that people care more about how their social circles rate a product than how reviews and ratings found on Google do. This concept perfectly supports Morrissey’s argument that peer recommendations often weigh more than commercial messages. SMR also stresses that successful companies should use social media to listen to their consumers before they try to sell to them. Social media is making companies more aware of their consumers and what these people want or need. The New York Times’ Eilene Zimmerman agrees in "Turning Your Company Into a Social Animal."

Social media can be a powerful tool for listening to customers and building a reputation for responsive service, says David Nour, chief executive of the Nour Group, a business development consultancy in Atlanta, and author author of “Relationship Economics.” “You get real-time feedback and can engage with customers quickly to answer questions or help them solve problems.”

As the video states: “Social media isn’t a fad, it’s a fundamental shift in the way we communicate.” Business has taken note.