Reading and Discussion # 3

 Identify the main  arguments

• I think one of the main arguments of this article is we, as educators, must help prepare students comprehend and communicate through both traditional and emerging technologies.
• Another is we recognize new technologies and that students need to be literate in these technologies as well as printed text, but they are not part of everyday practice in classrooms. The gap needs to be closed.

Explain whether or not you agree or disagree with the main arguments? 

• I certainly agree with this article about media literacy and incorporating it into the everyday curriculum. But my question is, when do they plan to do this? Everyone talks about it and studies are done but yet there is no formal curriculum with which to work. It seems it’s every man for himself and may the best school district win.

Do what extent do you think that media can be held responsible for low self-esteem in women and violence behavior in men?

• I don’t think media is totally responsible as much as the mothers and fathers, who use it, view it and treat it like gospel. Parents should monitor what their kids are viewing and teach violence in men and low self-esteem in women are unacceptable. However, as long as there is a man bigger and stronger than his fellow man there will be altercations. As long as women who believe that the only way to catch a man is to have breast augmentation there will be articles , videos and e-transmissions promoting these  procedures. As trite as this may sound I have lived through civil rights, equal rights and the right for women to have control of their own body. These issues are not new, they are just more visible and always bombarding our senses every day.

Make connections between the videos and two quotes from the reading

• Much of the violence in men portrayed in Tough Guise is stereotyping a particular ethnicity that is accepted as true by the viewing public .  … “More than ever before, they are realizing that the presentations and ideas are influenced by social , cultural, political, and historical events.”    (Semali 2001)
•  “[T]elevision is probably the most important source of political information in our society and is regarded by most people as the most reliable source of news, perhaps because of its ability to present a visual record of events.”(Semali 2001)
• Ever since Richard Nixon and John Kennedy had the first televised debate, TV has been seen as more than entertainment. Women have been portrayed as the perfect housewife, like Ossie and Harriet or Mad Men to Xena Warrior Princess. Women are becoming more visible in  today’s world where iphones and youtube instantaneously post any moving action. Hillary Clinton and many women before her are blazing trails that should not be ignored.

Semali, L. (2001). New LiteraciesL Defining New LIteracies in Curricular Practice. Retrieved from http://www.readingonline.org/newliteracies/semali1/index.html

Tough Guise: Violence, Media & the Crisis in Masculinity Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=3exzMPT4nGI

 

Killing Us Softly - Woman are used like pieces of meat Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=KVmcmePRqSk