Fashion In The Media

Fashion has always portrayed a sense of self, consisting of one's unique personality and moreover, social status. Clothing, more and more each day is converting from being a simple way of presenting oneself in a socially acceptable manner, to using clothing to define a person and to symbolize who they are. This is particularly interesting to see in a down economy such as we see so often today. Designers as well as recognizable men and women in the media have put more influence on the necessity of making the fashion they create and wear Eco-friendly, seem more affordable, or tie certain designer labels into the positive PR (charities) they fund. This is the most noticeable with the mentioning of different people feeling guilty for spending so much money on a specific piece of fashion when so many people are hurting and the news coverage of brands that are giving back to the hurting communities around them. Fashion is the backbone of hollywood, therefore the media. 

To be accepted in Hollywood and in the media you have to look the part. This often takes on the face of a makeover, something I call being hollywoodized (an ordinary person who undergoes professional make-up and hair treatment, and finalized through being brought up to date with fashion and converted to a person with style). This shows how much fashion and looking good can change a persons life- the way they feel, act and are received. 

However, whether people in the media are sporting high fashion items or fashion pieces that are considered a bargin, it is fact that fashion will never take a back seat in the media no matter how bad the economy gets. This is so interesting to me because it directly connects the way people feel about themselves by being fashion forward and the strong connection people have to always looking their best. 

Hip-Hop Music

Hip-hop music to me is a genre of music that developed among African Americans as a form of rebellion and a way to give the oppressed a voice. This music that was once slightly political is now mainstream for not only African Americans, but for anyone. The basic rhythms and "beats" resonate the culture of African Americans, with a wide range of vocals. 

Five Hip- Hop Artists I have never listened to before are: 

1. Raekwon

2. Playaz Circle

3. Cory Gunz

4. Big Daddy Kane

5. Digital Underground

Five Hip-Hop Videos I have never seen before are: 

1. Team Blackout (Feat. Chris)-"Gotta Have Her"-- This video focuses on a man who loves this woman and takes her where ever she wants to go, buys her what she wants, all because he loves her. 

2. Memphis Bleek- "Real Nigga Shit"-- Focus on life on the streets for a group of African American men, the video focuses on a day in the life for them and is actually not over done, its pretty realistically shot. No women in booty shorts dancing on and around their cars. 

3. Jacki-O- "Hood Girl"

4. 8Ball- "America"-- The focus of this video is how hard life is on the streets for poverty stricken people. 

5. Playaz Circle (Ft. Oj Da Juiceman)- "Stupid"

Two Radio Stations that broadcast hip-hop music are:

1. Power 103.5 (Norman, OKC)

2. Hot 107.1 (Memphis, TN & Online at Hot1071.com)

Corporations that have used hip-hop to advertise and promote their products are:

1. Wrigleys Double Mint Commercial

2. Gap- Khakis Hip Hop Commercial

Hip-hop music has become intricate to all media forms in America. Aside form its tradition forms of radio and concert, mp3 players and the internet have taken it to a new level.  Hip-hop also has branched off into specific television stations where hip hop music is the foundation, it become the reason why so many dance shows have gotten so popular, and is used in a multitude of television sitcoms. 

Hip-hop music has saturated and changed the face of urban culture. Obviously, slang terminology has been an undeniable contribution to mainstream culture from the hip-hop world; however, I don't feel like that does justice to all hip-hop has done for mainstream culture. Sure its created a language of its own, but more than that, the hip-hop movement has made social and political changes beyond the surface of traditional American culture. Through hip-hop music, some of the best minds have been able to creatively make a difference in how people of this world view and treat each other, as well as continuously reinforcing that America is the melting pot of the world, and we need to start respecting that instead of wasting time and energy categorizing people into distinct groups for our own personal gains. 

I asked my father what he listened to while he was younger and the answer was a repetitive, and excited exclamation of ROCK! His favorites were ZZ Top, ACDC, and R.E.O. Speedwagon. My step-mom was big into country, like Garth Brooks, Martina McBride, and Shania Twain, as well as soft rock like Brian Adams, Air Supply, Journey, and 38 Special, Styx. It was interesting to me because I asked them about different genres, and both of the said their main this was rock music, and never was hip-hop/rap/jazz anything of that sort even mentioned...even when I explicitly asked.

I think the image of hip-hop this days is actually pretty good when you look at it as a whole. I think the because of the way some rap music is presented or through its lyrics, it gets a bad reputation. For example, due to the "values" and "morals" they portray to be of importance to them, while belittling others (especially sexualizing women.)

For some reason I cannot comment on other people's posts, so I am going to comment on here and detail who I am speaking to:

Ashriel's Poison: Is it in the Picture??

I absolutely agree. I found that in most of the magazine ads African Americans were shown in the backgrounds, blended into a crowd or were all together less prominent in the advertisement. Also, in my tracking I found the same exact situation with an Asian woman, she was one of three women portrayed, however she was on the end and only half or so of her face was actually shown...I did not understand this either...? was it for a mysterious look or were they trying to casually trying to make her less noticeable..? I found gender and racial roles in commercials to be one of the most shocking findings. The fact that over and over again so many stereotypes were being reinforced, ideas of making minorities or women sexualized, belittled, or inferior is what really disappointed me.

Adam Hinton's Blog: Race and Gender in Advertising:

Adam, I really enjoyed your insight on this issue. It's not everyday that someone gets to hear the true inner thoughts and feeling of a young black man on racial issues, and I want to assure you that I am not being sarcastic or anything. It's just that two of my best friends through high school were black guys, but they never really brought up their thought or opinions on racial issues around me...which was most likely just to keep their from ever being what they thought could be an awkward topic. But that also made me think, I never really thought about it or brought it up either, so maybe they were the same? I don't know...but anyways, I don't want to ramble so I will say a couple of things. Yes, the sassy black woman is played out and the Popeye's commercial annoys me because I feel like it is demeaning and reinforcing racial stereotypes. Secondly, I think it is good that you can see racial issues around you and that it is something that you pick up on and become an conscious consumer of the media; but likewise as you have said, even though becoming knowledgeable on the matter of race in the media can lead to people thinking that you are overplaying and overanalyzing everything. I don't know what your major is, so I can't talk explicitly towards you and your future career; however, I will say that I think you will have success with making others more conscious of these stereotypes (racial and keep analyzing gender) and have the ability to influence the media you work with as long as you pick and choose your battles. Overall, good work man!

Is it in the picture?

As far as our society has come from racial and gender discrimination 50 years ago, specific racial stereotypes and gender roles/stereotypes are found in many of todays advertisements. Here are 10 advertisements that I have reviewed over the week that had noticeable gender or racial stereotypes.

The Suave hair products TV ad shows a woman who has great hair on the upper half of the slit screen and the bottom half is her making lunch for, grocery shopping with, bathing, feeding, etc. her children and pets while looking great the whole time. This reinforces traditional female roles as a housewife who takes care of the children, cooks, makes lunches, and says that she has to still look great doing it. I think this shows how the media portrays women as having to still look appealing and sexy for men while doing all the things that a traditional man wants his wife to do. 

A GM commercial for "Rallying America" shows a diversified group of people of all ethnicities that I think is a good representation of America. It shines a light on how many people are loosing their jobs and how GM will help their customers with payment systems if they so happen to lose their jobs. The only part of the commercial I found unappealing was that in the midst of this message the only person they showed who wasn't at work was an African American who was playing the drums on a street corner for money. It simply is stating that it is common and okay for an African American to lose their job and work on the street for money. Why was this person not of any other ethnicity?

The company that surprised me the most was Gordman's and their TV spot. It shows two women at a fragrance counter of a department store, a white woman working and an African American customer. The African American lady is testing perfumes and and leans in towards the lady working the counter and says can I get this half price? This is unbelievable to me, they are reinforcing the stereotype that African Americans are less wealthy than whites and that the lady couldn't afford to pay full price for a perfume bottle. Whether the media is realizing it or not, these subtle delinquencies are unconsciously infecting the minds of viewers. 

An ad for Sephora in In Style magazine has a two page ad titled "Beauty Bill of Rights" pledging allegiance to pretty campaign. The headline for the specific product they are promoting is VETO WRINKLES. This once again shows how the media promotes women's need to look pretty, flawless, unaging. It makes it seem as if aging makes a person unattractive, which is interesting because we celebrate attractive older men "silver fox" and do not put them under the same scrutiny and pressure as women. 

In Style also had a L'OREAL paris ad that showed 3 women over a two page advertisement. Two of the women were Caucasians and the third was an Asian American. While it is noteworthy that the ad showed some diversity, the problem was in that the advertisement spotlighted the blonde Caucasian woman,  and the Asian American was in the corner of the shot. It basically was saying that the Asian American was not pretty enough or strong enough to carry an ad campaign. Reinforcing that while Asian Americans are intelligent and hard working, they will never be as attractive as caucasian women. Also, in the picture the other two women look innocent or intriguing, while the Asian American woman looks fierce and sexy (like the dragon lady or Asian sex woman stereotypes). 

I also found gender and or racial stereotypes in the following advertisements:

Louis Vuitton in Vogue (sexualizes women)

Allstate (African American spokesperson)

Luv's diaper commercial (cute, but is geared to African Americans)

Hoodia weightloss pill TV commercial (white women needing to diet and being unhappy with their bodies)

Victoria's Secret TV ad (sexualizes women, and not much diversification)

Reflection:

I think their is an unfair representation of minorities in advertisements. And when they are represented, it is frequently in stereotypical roles or ways that possibly harm their races. Also, on the aspect of gender roles, I think it misconstrues women as sexual toys and not really people, especially since most women are portrayed as being young and skinny.