You're Fat...

... if you weigh 120 pounds and wear a size 4.

And that god awful photoshop job. What is this world coming to?

Ralph Lauren Model Gets Fired for Being Fat

Media & Culture (Part 1)

"Mass Media and the Cultural Landscape"

Chapter 1: Mass Communication
From this chapter, I learned a brief history of how the media form came about, and why they were developed in the first place, for every thing invented has its purpose. Media innovations emerge, from the development stage, to the entrepreneurial stage and finally the mass medium stage. Of course, businesses take these inventions and try to market them. Thus, mass media have been shaping our culture, and consuming our lives. This chapter also discusses the media culture, the American culture specifically. Our culture is so diverse that it can be categorized into high culture and low culture, represented by a skyscraper metaphor in this book. Although the mass media have been criticized for their influence on culture such as consumerism, they also play an important role in bringing about social changes and informing the people about important events. However, with the Electronic and Digital Eras and the Age of Convergence, nothing seems impossible anymore. We will be constantly bombarded with images, sound and information. We are slowly being consumed and brainwashed by mass media, and yes, that includes me as well. Pretty sad. The future sure looks pretty bleak to me.

"Words and Pictures"

Chapter 8: Newspapers
Ever since the printing press was developed, newspapers became a major medium for people to read about the latest news and events. Although the penny press era allowed more people to afford daily newspapers, it's interesting to learn that different publishers would use different tactics to attract readers and sell more newspapers, leading to the age of yellow journalism. And being a brainwashed citizen, I'm glad to finally know where the Pulitzer Prize originated from. After reading the section about William Randolph Hearst and the New York Journal, I was appalled by the fact that he would do anything like inventing interviews and faked pictures just to sell his papers, especially when newspapers were such a powerful medium form. The rest of the chapter talks about the other different forms of journalism and also discusses the ethnic newspapers, such as African American newspapers which became a way for African Americans to voice their opinions despite racism. As television and radio, and now the internet, slowly becomes the major sources of news and information, newspaper readership declines. I feel that printed newspapers will all become digital soon and everyone will be reading the news via internet or Kindles.

Chapter 9: Magazines
This chapter on magazines talks about the history of magazines, and the introduction of magazines targeted a female audience, and how illustrations became a major feature of magazines. Photojournalism was also introduced later on, providing readers visuals to actual account of events. Today, magazines are specialized and target smaller audiences, from men and women to sports, entertainment and leisure magazines, just to name a few. Just like newspapers, magazines are also now available online. However, I feel that magazines will still be around longer than newspapers because magazines are published weekly or monthly, and the contents, colors and use of different glossy papers provide readers more pleasure in reading leisurely.

Chapter 10: Books
Books. The oldest mass medium. The chapter starts with the history of books, and how the invention of the printing press led to mass production of books. Different types of books then emerged, from trade books to religious books to textbooks. Also like other writing forms such as newspapers and magazines, the rise of television and film brought an influence in book publishing by advertising the books or making books into TV shows or films. Mentioned several times in this chapter, J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series not only attracted a huge group of readers, it also found its success in the movie adaptation series. And in this electronic and digital age, books are also available in electronic form (e-books), and the Kindle becomes a new medium and a new way in reading books. Because more and more people order books online or purchase e-books, the number of bookstores are declining. Regardless, I was particularly interested in the last section of this chapter, and I wholeheartedly agree with the last paragraph of this chapter.

"Since the early days of the printing press, books have helped us to understand ideas and customs outside our own experiences. For democracy to work well, we must read. When we examine other cultures through books, we discover not only who we are and what we value but also who others are and what our common ties might be."

Babes and Bitches

Babes and Bitches: A comparison of Maxim and Cosmopolitan (from a guy’s point of view)

Where do I even begin?

Girls. That’s a good start. This month’s Cosmopolitan is the “Bad Girl Issue, For Sexy Bitches Only” (sorry ladies), and it features Kim Kardashian (whom I only know about from the media coverage of her sex tape with R&B singer Ray J) on the cover. Almost the entire magazine is filled with articles on beauty and fashion tips. And most importantly, how to impress the guys, to say the least. I mean, it says it all on the cover. “What He Thinks During Sex”, “8 Things Guys Notice Instantly”, “Foreplay Men Crave” and “The Silent Clue Men Give Off When They’re In Love” etc.

I find that there really aren’t any interesting articles in the magazine. The more serious article that it contains besides looking beautiful and getting hot guys is how to not die from getting drunk. The advertisements in this magazine are mostly selling beauty products such as celebrity endorsed perfumes and skin care products, though there are a few car ads here and there. After all, it is the “Bad Girl Issue, For Sexy Bitches Only”. On the bright side, the magazine smells really good from all the perfume ads (Yes, I did open the fold and find out how they smell.)

Unlike Cosmopolitan, Maxim targets the typical male population, who is all about babes, cars and sports. However, the articles and content in Maxim are more interesting than Cosmopolitan, and I’m not being bias because I’m a guy. Besides a few interviews with actresses and actors and Lebron James, there is a jokes section, a food review section on restaurants from different cities, and also a few articles on entertainment/movies. These contents are clearly lacking in Cosmopolitan. Would these not interest the female population? Other than that, there are also sections on the latest gadgets and gizmos, style, sports and cars. And advertisements wise, men want babes, cars, video games, drinks and style. Of course.

There is a section from each magazine that I found particularly funny. They are the “Cosmo’s 2009 Bachelor Blowout” and Maxim’s “Hometown Hotties 09”. While Maxim has all the hotties lined up in one row on a full spread, Cosmopolitan has 16 pages booked up for all the bachelors from all across the United States (I think). And while Maxim only includes each hottie’s name, occupation and a question with a dim-witted answer, Cosmopolitan’s bachelors described themselves, their occupation and interests and even included their custom made bachelor email addresses. Another difference is that all the hotties in Maxim are wearing bikinis, while most of the bachelors have a shirt on. I guess my point is that girls who read Cosmopolitan would really get a chance of meeting these bachelors if they sent in an email, but the guys who read Maxim are expected to just stare at these hotties and do nothing about it. Well, they can vote for the winner.

I think that Cosmopolitan makes woman seem so desperate and shallow, and Maxim just further implies the stereotype that all guys care about are sex, cars and sports among other stuffs.

Oh! Here’s an ad from Maxim. See my point?