Female Anchors on the Rise?

When I went down to Florida for Spring Break in March, I watched the news every night. Each night I noticed a similarity among the news stations: the anchors were mainly female and attractive. When I got home from Florida, I tuned in to some of the local news stations and noticed the same thing: attractive anchorwomen. Is this becoming a trend?

An article published last month in The Boston Globe stated that female anchorwomen are becoming the norm, as opposed to the traditional anchorman. The article explains that men have been leaving their anchormen positions because of budget cuts being made, and women are being promoted to higher job positions.

In an article published online on the website Underneath Politics: The Best in Political, Entertainment and Sports News, the author writes that “the number of beautiful anchorwomen has increased by a whopping 48% over the past two years.” The article also states that Jeff Han, a Researcher at the Media Institute in Washington, D.C., “most viewers don’t have an issue with the smoking-hot anchorwomen being less intellectual than their counterparts, who are either male or non-attractive females,” which I whole-heartedly disagree with. A woman has the capacity to be just as smart, if not smarter than a male counterpart.

When I typed in “the rise of female anchorwomen” into google.com, I got hundreds links similar to “Top 10 Hottest Female News Anchors”. Apparently many people have a lot to say about the issue of attractive anchorwomen.

In an article written for AOL News, the author, Matt Lewis, interviewed former Media Editor for the Huffington Post, Rachel Sklar. She said “In political punditry, it doesn’t hurt to be female and attractive — but, based on the numbers, it doesn’t hurt to be white and male, either.”

With television becoming increasingly sexualized each year, it will be interesting to see the trends of the female anchorwoman as the years go on.

Reality Dating Shows

Almost every night when I turn on the television after 9 p.m., there is a reality dating show on. Although I admit that I do have addictions to certain shows, such as Bret Michaels: Rock of Love, I still cringe at most of the women when I watch them.

In Rock of Love and almost every other reality dating shows, the women that are chosen to be on the show are constantly running around in skimpy clothing or just plain underwear. They fight, use vulgar words, refer to each other as “bitches” and “hoes” and think that sloppily making out with someone is the greatest thing in the world, even though they portray themselves in an unappealing way.

Other reality dating shows include Flavor of Love, I Love New York, Tough Love, A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila, Double Shot at Love, A Real Chance at Love… the list goes on and on. These shows are trashy and portray women in the wrong ways.

Instead of pointing out the strengths of these women, it only shows the raunchy, disgusting part of them. I suppose I am hypocritical because I tune in to watch some of the shows, but my reaction is the same during every show. I sit and think, “How can these women be acting like this on national television?” It doesn’t help that the men, or women, hosting these shows often challenge the contestants to participate in acts that are sexy or crude, or both, throughout the season.

One reality show that completely puts women into a certain stereotype is Beauty and the Geek, where a “dorky” but very smart man is matched up with a beautiful, but not so smart woman, and has to complete certain tasks throughout the season. Is there a reason that the women in these shows need to come off as dumb? Maybe that’s the point though. I couldn’t tell you.

The truth is that women are more than bodies. They have minds and are intelligent. The way that these women are portrayed and portray themselves on television is sometimes shocking and really is a detriment to the image of a woman.

Link Between Teen Sex and Sex on Television

Over the years, it seems that television has become much more sexualized. It is hard to turn on the television without seeing at least one scene where there is at least some sexuality being displayed, whether it is through the way a person is dressing or acting.

Many studies have been done over the years to see if there is a positive correlation between the sex on television and teenagers having sex at a younger age. In September of 2004, a study of 1792 children ages 12-17, conducted by the RAND Corporation , showed that watching sex on television influences teens to have sex. It showed that children who watched more sex on television were more likely to initiate intercourse and “progress to more advanced noncoital sexual activities in the year following the beginning of the study”.

Over time, television stations such as MTV, VH1 and E!, among others, have aired shows that have arguably taught children more about sex then sex education classes. One example is the television series Undressed that aired in 1999, which examined the different sexual relationships of teens varying in ages, including high school, college and post-college students, gender, sexual orientation and races. This show in itself lent not much to the imagination when dealing with sex. Check out the trailer below:

In 2008 The Washington Post published an article that talked about the link between TV sex to real teen pregnancies. Like the previous study by RAND, this study showed that among the 718 youths who reported being sexually active during the study, the likelihood of getting pregnant or getting someone else pregnant increased with the amount of sexual content they watched on television. For more information on the study, click here.

Overall, throughout the studies that have been done, it is obvious that sexuality in the media has influenced youths to participate in sexual activity at an earlier and younger age. Personally, I know that teen pregnancy is becoming more common even among the younger generations that I went to high school with.

Richard Clarke

Richard Clarke gave at lecture at the University of Massachusetts about the different types of war on April 2, 2009.

By: Alyssa Montalbano, Emily Grund, Ted Rogers

Click HERE to watch the accompanying video!

April second saw one of the first archetypal spring days in Amherst Massachusetts. With temperatures in the mid-sixties and a cloudless sky, one would expect the students of the University of Massachusetts to be outside, enjoying the sun. And yet, last Thursday saw over two hundred students of various majors and backgrounds crowd into a stuffy auditorium on the southeast side of campus to watch a giant in the world of American foreign policy- Richard Clarke. 

Clarke was there to give a talk titled,  “Thee missing pieces of the three 21st century wars: Iraq, Afghanistan, and cyberspace.” For 45 minutes, Clarke outlined the significance each had in foreign policy and gave his critiques on the fading memories of George W. Bush’s America. A short question and answer session followed. 

It is impossible to review America’s recent battles with terrorists across the globe without Clarke coming up. He began working for the State department during the Reagan administration and continued the job under George H.W. Bush. He gained a positive reputation due to his work in negotiating diplomatic ties during Desert Storm, and was selected for counter-terrorism operations during the Clinton years. 

The second Bush administration saw Clarke’s influence start to decay.  A change up in the Whitehouse staff demoted Clarke to the capacity of special advisor, where he claims that he was ignored. Clarke resigned from the administration after the invasion of Iraq, something that Clarke maintains had pushed the US away from the goal of capturing Osama bin Laden. 

Clarke’s problems with the former Bush administration were apparent in his hour-long talk, which went over the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as the new threat of cyber warfare. Starting with the war in Iraq, Clarke made a point by point summary of how the war had allowed bin Laden to escape and escalated the likelihood of further terror attacks.

Furthermore, he argued, despite recent gains in stability throughout Iraq, it was not in the United State’s best interests to go there in the first place. “Do not allow the creeping revisionism to set in,” he stated. “Do not let people say that (invading Iraq) was a good idea. The truth is that George Bush lied to us.” 

Clarke went on to describe foreign policy problems arising from the now-faltering war in Afghanistan,  as well as unprotected computer networks- something that he says allows everyone with an internet connection access to the most vital parts of society. Clark gave step by step instructions on how to topple a power grid using nothing but a desktop, demonstrating how easy it could be.  Once again, he accused the Bush presidency of sweeping these problems under the rug. 

The feud between Clarke and the Bush administration is both bitter and well documented, with highly partisan viewpoints on who was in the right. The dispute began soon after Clarke’s demotion, and continues to the present. 

Clarke maintains that he forewarned Condoleezza Rice of possible attacks by bin Laden’s terror group, al-Qaeda, while those in the Bush administration claim that he was, “out of the loop” for terror briefings.  After the attacks, Clarke claims that president Bush asked him for any proof that now-deposed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein could have been involved, something that the former administration has denied. 

There appears to be little bad blood between Clarke and the Obama administration, with Clarke mentioning on Thursday’s talk that the he appreciated “Obama isn’t waging a war against an abstract word like terror- he’s concentrating on al-Qaeda, the perpetrators of the September 11^th attacks.” Clark also proved invaluable to the Obama transition team. 

There’s a saying that goes, “History is written by the victors.” By the looks of it, the battle over who was right on the War against Terror is still being fought.

Honking

As a result of the warm weather and the coming of spring, the University of Massachusetts campus has been filled with students eager to get out of their dorms and apartments to get some outside exercise. Students have been outside playing games and riding bikes around campus. They have also been running and walking. The issue with the warm weather is that it brings out many women who like to walk and jog. Many of these women, including myself, wear tank-tops and shorts because of the warm weather.

More often then not, I see these joggers or walkers getting honked at by cars and being yelled at by different men within them. The other day my roommate and I went walking, and we got honked at more than three times. This can be a very uncomfortable feeling and it has become so common that the people who do it don’t think there is anything wrong with it.

There have been plenty of movies and television shows which reinforce the idea that honking or yelling things such as “Looking good!” or simply “Woohoo” while sticking their head out of the car window is okay.

I recently watched the movie 2 Fast, 2 Furious and there is a particular scene where Tyrese, the main character, sees two women walking by in bathing suits. He says something along the lines of, “Look at that bubble butt. You know your boy can put that fire out.” I’m not even sure I know exactly what that means. The point is that women are not shown in movies as often doing this to men. I also don’t see male joggers being honked at as much, even though they were only short sometimes. 

I know this blog isn’t exactly about how women are portrayed in the media, but I felt it is an important issue to take notice of.

Bratz Dolls

I was recently talking to my aunt about the pressures of being a parent and the difficulties of trying to teach a child about body image, beginning at a very young age. She was adamant to bring up Bratz dolls, perhaps the next era of the Barbie doll. From the look on her face, I could tell that she was not a fan of these dolls and what they represent for young girls.

For people who are not familiar with these products they are a collection of dolls. The original four dolls are Jade, Yasmine, Chloe and Sasha. If you go to Bratz.com, you can find a biography on each of these dolls. Each doll is equipped with oversized heads, skinny bodies, almond-shaped eyes covered in makeup and a series of scantily clad outfits.

When the dolls were first released in 2001, they were fairly unpopular, but in their first five years, over 150 million of the dolls were sold. There has been much controversy surrounding these dolls since they have come into popularity.

The American Psychological Association, or APA, has focused on the sexualization of girls in the media. These dolls are just one aspect of the sexualization of young girls. In a 2007 executive summary, the APA specifically mentioned Bratz dolls and how they are “dressed in sexualized clothing such as miniskirts, fishnet stocking and feather boas”.

The way these dolls are produced gives the impression that this is the way that girls are supposed to look, which is unrealistic. Like the Barbie doll, the way the Bratz dolls are shaped is physically impossible. Just like the Barbie doll, the proportions of the Bratz dolls are physically impossible to achieve.

According to Beauty and Body Image in the Media, researchers have generated a computer model of women with the proportions of a Barbie doll and found that her back would be too weak to support her upper body and her body would be too narrow to have more than half a liver and a few centimeters of bowel.

Along with the figurines, there has also been a live action movie, The Bratz: The Movie to market the product. There has also been a series of straight-to-DVD movies, a video game and a clothes line that has been produced. The marketing of these dolls has been huge.

But, in an article written in the New York Times, it says that negative perception from parents and child advocacy groups have prevented the Bratz from reaching full popularity. These groups and parents claim that the dolls preach pre-adolescent sexuality, something they do not want their children to be exposed to.

In a blog written by Mark Sommer for The Buffalo News, he interviewed parents and asked them about what they thought about the Bratz dolls and if they would let their children play with them. He also asked for responses from the online readers. The results were mixed. Some parents didn’t know what the fuss was over and other parents adamantly disagreed with what the Bratz dolls stand for. Check out the responses here.

In light of some recent comments, feel free to leave your thoughts as well!

Tip Drill

I thought that the controversial music video “Tip Drill” released in 2004 by popular recording artist Nelly deserved its own post. Nelly got a lot of flack for making this video, which includes lyrics like “I said it must be ya money cuz it ain’t ya face” and other lyrics that are much worse. The whole video is about the objectification of women.

 

If you go to YouTube and type in Tip Drill to see the video, there is even a warning that says the user has to be 18 or older to watch the video. In one part of the video, Nelly runs a credit card through one of the video models backside, like he is using her as a cash register.

 

This video fueled much controversy, especially with black women. The women at Spelman College, a famous black women’s college, started a petition against the video. Nelly was supposed to make an appearance at the college for a bone marrow charity event, but cancelled after he heard that there was a protest against his video.

 

In an article in Blackvoices.com, Nelly addressed the situation and basically said that the students should not be worried about the issues in the video because he was trying to support a good cause, the bone marrow charity event.

 

Perhaps Nelly was working with a good cause, but he was not able to face up to this misogyny he portrays in his videos and thinks that it is alright to portray women these ways, even though he does have a sister and would most likely not like to see her being treated in the way that he treats his dancers in his videos.

 

In an article written in USATODAY.com, the author writes, “Misogyny in pop music, especially hip-hop, has been around for years. What’s new, students say, is an explosion of almost X-rated videos passed around on the internet.”

 

I thought this was an important example to use, because it shows that although these videos are wildly popular among Americans, they do offend many women. The important point to take out of this situation though is that women are sticking up for themselves and trying to change the way that they are portrayed in videos.

Lyrics Degrading to Women

When I’m driving in my car or at parties, I often hear lyrics like “It’s getting hot in here, so take off all your clothes” or “I’m gonna have you naked by the end of this song” or “I’ve got ninety-nine problems, but a bitch ain’t one”. These are just some of the lyrics from popular music that are degrading to women. Although these lyrics are degrading, millions of fans, including women, listen to these songs over and over again.

A study done in 2006 by the Rand Corp. found a direct correlation between degrading lyrics and teen sex. The study found that the more that teenagers listened to music with degrading lyrics, lyrics that often portray women as sexual objects and men as sexual predators, the more likely they are to have sex at an earlier age.

Perhaps one of the artists with the most degrading lyrics about women is Eminem. He constantly raps about raping, torturing and murdering women. Jackson Katz, one of America’s leading anti-sexist male activists, talks about reasons why Eminem’s fame is bad for women in an article titled 8 Reasons Eminem’s Popularity is a Disaster for Women.

Katz notes that one of the most damaging aspects to come out of his lyrics is that it desensitizes violence against women. By poking fun at this type of violence and making light of it, it becomes normalized, when violence against women is very serious.

The effect that violent lyrics have on teenagers has been studied for many years. Katz says one of the effects of this desensitizing is that boys think it is okay to treat women the way that they hear it in the lyrics and when they do get caught performing these acts of violence, they are more likely to say that the girl was “asking for it”, rather than take responsibility for their actions.

Katz also talks about how Eminem is featured on numerous magazine covers, mainly targeted at young girls. He is made into a symbol of sexuality. Katz argues that this encourages girls to be attracted to the bad boys, the boys who disrespect women.

These are just two of the eight aspects that Katz refers to, but these points can be applied not only to Eminem’s music, but other popular artists as well.

Degrading women has become so normalized in our society that we don’t even think about it when we hear it.

Weather Story

There is an old Yankee saying that New England weather is, “Nine months of Winter followed by three months of damned poor sledding.” And while how warm this spring is going to be is still up for debate, the two snowstorms that walloped central Massachusetts in January and March are still being remembered. These blizzards shut down the University of Massachusetts Amherst for a day each; a situation that pleased nearly all students, but only some of the faculty.

The first storm hit the county area in the early hours of Wednesday, January 28th. About five to eight inches of wet, heavy snow fell from 4 am to the early afternoon. In the Amherst area, the worst effects of the weather were limited to slick roads and closed schools- with some public schools and colleges receiving an extra half-day for clean up.

Elsewhere in Massachusetts, problems included a few power outages in Suffolk and Worcester counties and several car accidents in the Westfield area of the Massachusetts turnpike. State Police report that they lowered the speed limit on the turnpike to 40 miles per hours as a response.

Nationally, the storm took a far heavier toll. Before heading north, the snowstorm went through the southern and eastern states, laying down a sheet of ice across roads and causing power failures for up to 1 million customers. The blizzard is said to have caused more than 23 deaths nationwide.

The second snowstorm to hit Massachusetts went down on Monday, March 2nd, dumping six to 12 inches of snow throughout the region. This was a classic example of a nor’easter system- a storm named after the trade winds bringing the tempest in. The snow delayed flights and buses in the New England area for most of the day. Other then a few icy roads and closed schools, however, the day was fairly uneventful.

After the snowstorm ended, the mercury plunged into the low 10s, creating icy roads. By Wednesday, the air temperature at Westover Air Reserve Base had reached an all-time low of three degrees Fahrenheit, beating a previous 1943 record by a degree.

This storm also had far reaching effects, with snow being seen as far down south as South Carolina. Pictures were captured of snow blanketing the US Capitol Building. As snowy conditions are rarely seen south of Pennsylvania, car accidents and a 15 mile long traffic jam were reported in North Carolina. More than 900 flights on the eastern seaboard were canceled.

These storms have also taken a toll on the already weak US economy. New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine reported that the storm could cost his state 2.5 to 7 million dollars. Closer to home, Chicopee Mayor Michael D. Bissonnette said, “At $12,000 an inch, we are expecting to reach $1 million in costs,” for this season alone.

On the brighter side of things, the old saying that March, “comes in like a lion, out like a lamb,” is expected to hold true. Daytime temperatures are predicted to be in the mid to upper 50s for the next week, with a likely high of 62 degrees and sunny weather on Friday.

Follow this link to watch the audio slideshow prepared to go along with this story.

Licensed Withdrawal and Feminine Touch

This post deals with the categories Goffman calls licensed withdrawal and feminine touch.

When dealing with licensed withdrawal, women are often times pictured in involvements that remove themselves from the scenes around them. The women are there in the pictures, but they look like they are not paying attention to what is going on around them. They are often gazing off somewhere, like they are lost. They are not active participants in the scene, therefore are often dependent on others. 

Women may also show this withdrawal by turning their head or body away from the camera or covering their face with their hands. 

This is a picture of a young model leaning on a chair seemingly gazing off into nothingness. This displays Goffman's idea of Licensed Withdrawal. Photo from freedigitalphotos.net.

The feminine touch category also deals with touching. If you look through a magazine, it is hard not to find a picture where the model or actress is not touching herself. The way a person uses their hands often defines femininity or masculinity, therefore women are often showed gently touching different parts of their bodies, such as their hands, face necks or hips.

This advertisement displays both the Feminine Touch and Licensed Withdrawal categories. Photo from everystockphoto.com.

This feminine touch method is seen a lot in advertisements selling products. Women are often shown gently holding or caressing a product, making it more appealing to the consumer.

Goffman uses the term “ritualistic touching” to describe this method, which “conveys the idea that the product being caressed or touched is desirable” (Images of Women in Advertising). Ritualistic touching is different from the kind of practical touching that males are often portrayed doing, such as grasping or firmly holding something.