Blog post #5

      

     I will never forget the first time that I saw BOD Man cologne. I was in Target one winter afternoon during my senior year of high school, with a friend of mine. It was a Saturday, and that night was my high school’s annual Snowball dance. We were at Target to get a couple last minute beauty items before heading to another friend’s house to get ready. (This was the first time that I had been invited to a girl’s house to get ready in a big group before a dance, so I was very excited, but that is getting off topic from my story.) Anyways, we were in the beauty department in Target, walking by the perfume and cologne section, when suddenly, I saw it. This cheap looking men’s cologne item from a company called BOD. I had never seen it before. The scent was simply titled “Really Ripped Abs.” I picked up the bottle, showed it to my friend, and we both looked and it each other and burst into laughter. The laughter continued until tears ran down both of our faces! “Can you believe that guys actually buy this stuff? I would never be able to take a guy seriously who wore this!” I said to my friend. I even took a picture of the cologne bottle on my phone and texted it to a few more friends because I thought the name and packaging of it was that tacky and funny.

     A year later, when I was a freshman in college at Gardner-Webb University here in North Carolina, it was Thanksgiving Break and I was spending the holiday with a college friend of mine in High Point, NC. We ended up in a Walmart on Thanksgiving Day, and found ourselves in the beauty department. I had honestly forgotten all about BOD cologne, but it was on a display in this particular Walmart, and upon seeing it I started laughing all over again. I showed it to my college friend, and she found it equally both funny and appalling that such a product would actually exist. “Hey, look at me, I’m wearing my really ripped abs today!” I said in my best tough guy impersonation voice to her, and we both had a good laugh. Again, neither of us could take it seriously.

     So when it came to this blog post, there was absolutely no question in my mind that BOD Man brand cologne was what I was going to be writing about, since clearly it has left an impact on me (and I’ve never even smelled the stuff… thank goodness!).

     The BOD Man advertising absolutely conforms to Katz’s themes, especially the one about muscularity with ideal masculinity. I feel as though I’m stating the obvious here… but to have a personal hygiene scent product called “BOD” pretty much is just a direct reference to masculine muscularity and attractiveness! The term “bod” is a slang term for “body,” but is used generally to mean an attractive or in shape body, so the fact that this fragrance company named their men’s cologne product after a slang term for being in shape definitely lines up with what Katz is saying. Also looking at the actual picture ad for BOD Man cologne that I am sharing in this post- the male model used in this image definitely fits the stereotype that is discussed in the “Hunkvertising” article that our class read last week.

     I think that BOD Man absolutely reinforces mask-ulinity, and it isn’t a healthy representation of masculinity at all. Just look at the description of the cologne from the fragrance’s manufactures as seen on their website: “These potent, sexy, all over body fragrances are long lasting and totally irresistible. They’ll have her saying

     ‘I want your BOD!’” Basically the idea that this company is trying to get across is that women should want men only for their hot bodies, which is a form of objectification and promotes mask-ulinity. I personally think one basic way that they could improve their product is by changing the names of the body sprays. In addition to “Really Ripped Abs,” there is also “Black,” “Fresh Guy,” and “Most Wanted.” All that I can say to these is REALLY?!?! The names on these are so corny and over-the-top that I almost can’t even type them out in this blog post without smirking. I still attest to the belief that I had in high school: I would never be able to take a guy seriously who wears “Really Ripped Abs” (even if he actually had really ripped abs). 

      -Annaliese

Blog post #4

      Modern media is completely saturated with messages about gender and gender identity. A lot of the messages are similar, but some conflict with each other. The fact that so many of the messages about gender are similar could point to the fact that there is oligopoly in the media industry, and because of that a lot of the media conglomerates are interested in promoting similar messages (this includes messages about gender).

      Like our class textbook from Kidd says, I would agree that women shown in most modern media are often displayed as being very concerned about romantic matters, their appearance, and equally or more concerned about matters of the home then they are about their careers. Although the statistics show that the media still has a long way go with diversity in portrayal of women, it’s good to see more female characters in newer TV shows, movies, and even women displayed in things like music videos and advertisements being shown as strong, independent, and hard-working women who can have other aspirations in life other then just to fall in love and be dependent on their Prince Charming.

     I’m going to be very honest here- pop culture has definitely impacted my gender identity, and I can even think of a couple memories from my childhood of when I was aware that what I was seeing in the media was making me think “This character or this girl/woman is what I aspire to be like someday.” The first example would be the character of Lizzie McGuire from The Lizzie McGuire Movie. I had never seen many episodes of the TV series Lizzie McGuire while growing up (as our household didn’t get the Disney Channel), but my parents took me to see the movie in theatres when it came out (I was eight years old). I immediately fell in love with the character of Lizzie. A fun, bubbly yet slightly ditzy teenage girl (who although was not very popular with her peers) who had a fairytale type experience happen when she traveled across the world. And it wasn’t the traditional prince/princess type fairytale- it was a culturally relevant modern fairytale where she was discovered by an attractive teenage male pop star and invited to sing on stage with him at an international music awards show; and in the course of a few days she was transformed from a normal teenage girl into a glamorous celebrity. I literally remember thinking to myself after watching the movie that I when I was older someday I wanted to get discovered by a famous international male pop star just like Lizzie did, and be transformed into a fancy celebrity. I’m sure that tons of other little girls who watched the movie also had the same wish, but with me I remember thinking to myself at eight years old literally making that a goal for myself. (Update: clearly I have failed myself as I am now 20 so my teen years are over and I never made it to international pop star status. ;-) ) 

      Another example from my childhood would be the movie Ironman. I feel as though this example relates a bit to the readings because both the Kidd book and the Leavy Trier-Bieniek text discuss the way that gender plays into the American film industry, both in the types of characters in movies and the key players behind the movies (such as who is directing and writing the films). Anyways, I saw the movie Ironman with my parents in the theatres when I was thirteen. I was not as enthusiastic for this film as I had been for The Lizzie McGuire Movie, as action films aren’t a favorite genre of mine. But my parents wanted to go, and at that age I didn’t really have much say in the matter so I went with them. I remember I liked the movie more then I thought I would, but the female character of Pepper Potts captured my attention. I have only seen the movie once so I don’t remember the exact details of the scene, but I know that near the end of the film Pepper helps to save Tony Stark’s life with her quick thinking and she jumps right to action. She does all of this while being impeccably dressed and wearing a pair of very high stilettos. I remember thinking to myself during the film “I want to be the type of woman someday who could save the world while wearing stilettos.” I remember telling that aspiration to my parents in the car on the way home, and my mom especially was thoroughly disappointed with that. She made some sort of comment about how I was buying into exactly pop culture wanted me to buy into, and how I was too influential. At the time I didn’t see anything wrong with that type of aspiration. Fashion was (and still is) a huge passion of mine, so what could be wrong with wanting to look good while working hard? Of course at age thirteen I wouldn’t have considered the fact that Ironman was a movie that was directed, produced, and edited by a solely male team, and that they probably wanted to make the character of Pepper Potts as sexualized and feminine as they could get away with for sex appeal to help sell the movie.

      It is interesting to me that these two memories of going to the movies with my parents and aspiring to be like two female movie characters have stuck with me. I can seriously remember each one as though it happened yesterday. I think that definitely means that each of these female characters really made an impact on me at a young age. 

My favorite scene from the Lizzie McGuire Movie

Pepper Potts in the first Ironman movie (I think this is her outfit from that made such an impression on me)

     -Annaliese

Blog post #3

     First off, can I start by saying "how have we already been in school for three+ weeks?!" Is it just me, or is this semester already starting to go by in quite a blur?

     From the start, this class has been more challenging then I expected it to be. I'm not saying that I  expected Comm 348 to be a super easy GPA boosting class that I wouldn't get much out of... but since I want to work in broadcasting after college and pop culture is directly related to broadcasting and the entertainment field, I thought that it probably wouldn't be my most difficult class and might be something lighter in a semester of other tough classes that I already had lined up. Well, I was wrong! I think that after my 300-level French class (for my French minor), this is probably my second most challenging class that I am in this semester at Queens. It would probably tie or beat French for difficulty if not for, you know, the fact that French is taught in French.

      My thoughts so far are quite simply that I am going to get a lot out of this class! I think that we have a really diverse group of people in this class and that adds so much to our discussions and just to the overall culture of the class, and that makes me really happy. Yes, we are all communications majors or minors, but we all have very different interests and goals within the field of communications (and very different interests and goals within our personal lives!). The fact that this is a discussion based class is perfect for the diversity of the class. This class will also be great for staying current with pop culture and hopefully for learning about some aspects of pop culture that I wasn't as familiar with before! As someone who wants to work in mainstream radio after college it will be really beneficial for me to create a habit of staying current with many forms of pop culture (not just what interests me personally).

      I think that analysis is a skill that I will be able to develop better after completing this class. Already in just the first few weeks I feel like I have gotten some really good pratice in "diving deeper" into various texts and other materials. But at the same time, this will also be my biggest challenge. I am a very literal person and sometimes seeing beyond the black and white is hard for me. Already in some class discussions about certain materials after sharing my own views and hearing my classmates' thoughts on something I will think to myself "That was such a good thought!" or "That was so deep! I need to start thinking more about all aspects of the issue like that person did."  etc etc etc.

      I have a couple steps to overcome my challenge of struggling with deeper analysis. One would be to really continue to take the time to put a lot of thought into my responses on these blog posts. I agree with what the syllabus says about how these blog posts are great practice for the essays on the midterm and final exam, and I also think they're a great way to prepare for quizzes and to really let the material that was learned in class in the past week sink it. Another step would be to not be afraid to ask for help when I need it! I definitely think that I will be checking out the Writing Center later in the semester (probably for my other classes as well- I have a term paper that will be due in another communications class). Getting a second opinion on my writings could be very beneficial, especially writings that might require deeper analysis on terms or concepts that might not be as familiar to me. I also plan to ask Dr. C for help if needed throughout the semester- I have never been afraid to ask professors for help. :-)

     One other thing that I have been doing in the past couple weeks is using college hour on Tuesdays and Thursdays to review the homework material for this class and one of my other T/Th afternoon classes. So far that has really helped me a lot to be prepared for my classes! I have a busy schedule this semester and if I do my homework over the weekend sometimes it's hard to remember all of the details of the readings for example by the time that class comes around.


     I am looking forward to both the lip sync competition (I am a huge 90s pop fan and already thinking about song options....) and the presentations about pop culture from other countries! I am planning to try and interview my friend Liane for my presentation. Last year I was a transfer student to Queens from nearby Gardner-Webb University. My friend Liane was my French teaching assistant during my year at GWU. She is from Paris, and actually just last month moved back to North Carolina to pursue her masters' degree at UNCC! I am so excited to have her back in the States again, and she is the first person I thought of for this project!

Liane and I during my year at GWU. 

     -Annaliese

Blog post #2

      If you have had a conversation of any length of time with me since January 2014, the chances are sooner rather then later I will find a way to tell you about my amazing internship. Since last January, I have been interning for the Charlotte location of the Ryan Seacrest Foundation, which is located at Levine Children’s Hospital (right in the heart of Charlotte). The Ryan Seacrest Foundation (RSF) is Ryan Seacrest’s charitable foundation, which he founded in 2010. RSF uses their funds to open radio stations in children’s’ top hospitals across the United States, providing entertainment and encouragement to the patients and their families. These radio studios also provide for an excellent location for celebrity guests to visit when they are on tour in the areas near the hospitals, and the studios give internship opportunities to college students interested in radio and television broadcasting (Like me, and fellow COMM 348 class member Max!). All in all it is a pretty much a win-win-win situation. I absolutely adore my internship, and through it I have gotten to meet many celebrity guests, get so much hands on experience in broadcasting, and meet patients who have truly left an impact on my life.

      Anyways, now that I have explained a little bit about what the Ryan Seacrest Foundation does in general, what they do here in Charlotte specifically, and how my internship actually works, I thought it would be cool for this blog post (since it was a free choice topic!) to use the cultural diamond theory and some of the terms that we have been discussing in class so far and apply them to how the Ryan Seacrest Foundation works.

      When looking at the actual key players in RSF, it’s interesting because the foundation is completely run by the Seacrest family. Ryan is the founder and his other position is chairman. He isn’t as directly involved with the foundation as his other family members due to his other commitments within the entertainment world, but he still finds the opportunity to visit the various RSF hospital locations from time to time. Ryan’s father, Gary Seacrest, is the President and CEO of RSF. His wife, Ryan’s mother Connie, is the Vice President and is also in charge of Community Affairs and Hospital Relations. And Ryan’s sister, Meredith Seacrest, is the Executive Director. According to my boss at the Charlotte studios, with the position of Executive Director Meredith Seacrest When applying RSF to the cultural diamond that is discussed in the Kidd text, the Seacrest family would be the creators for RSF- not just because they literally created the organization with Ryan’s help, but because they hold the power and creative decisions in determining the type of atmosphere that they want each studio to have, therefore helping to influence the media culture of each children’s hospital. Within each hospital directly the program coordinator and interns also serve as creators to an extent, as we have some control as to what we choose to talk about on the radio each day and what songs we play (when following the original guidelines set by RSF).

      The patients and families of each hospital would be the receivers in the cultural diamond. Something important to be taken into consideration for the creators is that children’s hospital patients are a very different type of receiver when compared with peers their own age that might not be hospital patients. Some of the children that are in the hospital are there for very long periods of time, and have lost a lot of contact with the outside world. Oftentimes they are too weak or sick to be able to partake in day-to-day activities that most children could do easily, so it is important that the on-air content is always focused on messages of encouragement and positivity. The creators of RSF were also creative in using the radio technology in the studios to reach out to the receivers through weekly radio games and shows. (The patients are able to participate in the radio games right from their hospital rooms if they aren’t able to come down to the studio.)

      The cultural object would be the fact that RSF puts radio stations in children’s hospitals (which I happen to think is a pretty cool concept- even if I didn’t intern there!). All of the locations of Seacrest Studios definitely have a lot of influence from Ryan and some of the other Hollywood companies that he is involved with. The E! Network (owned by Comcast) is a major donor of RSF, and Ryan is a producer for many E! programs.  The cast of the American Idols Live Tour tries to visit various RSF hospital locations each year as well, because of Ryan's involvement with American Idol. American Idol  is a Fox show, which is owned by NewsCorporation. The fact that both of these corporations have involvement in RSF could show eveidence of interlock and synergy.  

      And lastly, the social world surrounding RSF would be that of a children's hospital. As I talked about in the receivors section, the patients in children's hospitals are different then their peers because they have often had to endure hardships beyond what most adults ever have to experience in their lifetimes. Because of this, the social world of a hospital is different then that of the regular world. Very heavy situations (like loss of quality of previous quality of life or even death) which may not be a concern for most children and teens, could be an actual day-to-day threat for some patients. This means that in addition to the radio stations being a place of encouagement, Because of this, they are also used as a bridge between the gap of the hospital world and the mainstream pop culture world (which most of the patients love to keep up with!). It is important to remember that hospital patients are still children, and like their peers they follow many of the same pop culture trends. It is a bit harder for them to follow everything since many of the patients are out of school and the rest of the "real world" for long periods at a time, so it is great that RSF stations are able to help the patients keep up with things that they enjoy and make the hospital process a little bit more fun.

      I am ending this very long blog post with a picture of when Mr. and Mrs. Seacrest, (the President and Vice President of RSF) came to visit Levine Children's Hospital last spring!! This was one of the highlights of my internship to date. I am hoping to get to meet Ryan and his sister Meredith at some point as well!

     -Annaliese

Blog post assignment #1

     I am exceptionally nostalgic for the family friendly television shows that became popular in the 90s (some of which ran into the early 2000s). My personal favorites are the shows Sister, Sister and 7^th Heaven, but the beloved sitcom Full House would definitely fit into this category as well. Although 7^th Heaven is technically characterized as a drama and Sister, Sister and Full House are classified as comedies, 7^th Heaven definitely has a lot of comedy within the show, and the same goes for Sister, Sister and Full House except with drama elements. All three of these shows were very successful and ran for multiple seasons on network television!

     One of the main things that makes me have such a deep love for these shows is that they were able to be relevant for their time and incorporate modern issues into the shows (ex: internet safety regarding late 90s online chat rooms in presented in an episode of Sister, Sister and the consequences of underage drinking are shown in many episodes of 7^th Heaven).  Yet, while at the same time as incorporating these sometimes mature issues into the shows, the all of the content managed to stay completely family friendly. These are the types of television shows that whole families can enjoy together, without worrying about their children seeing content that is too violent, sexualixed, or just generally too adult. 

     Yet possibly what gives me the most nostalgic feelings for these three shows is the strong emphasis on family, and the idea that family means more then just who is related to you by blood. That idea is demonstrated in 7^th Heaven by the fact that the Camden family takes in several homeless teenagers throughout the seasons (who become main characters on the show), in Sister, Sister by the fact that two single parents move in together so that their long-lost twin daughters can grow up together (therefore forming a new family), and in Full House when Danny Tanner’s brother-in-law and best friend move in to help him raise his young daughters after he becomes a widower. Sure there are also television shows today that might have family as a central theme (such as Modern Family), but these shows from the late 90s and early 2000s truly were completely based around the concept of family. The main setting for all of these shows was the family home, and as I stated above all of the families in the three shows were definitely non-traditional in their sizes and also non-traditional the fact that they weren’t just comprised of blood-related family members living in the households.

     I’m guess I’m not really sure if this can be considered a pop culture “trend,” but one of my main hobbies is fashion blogging. I first got involved with blogging and the online blogging community in 2011, and it has grown so much since then! I have actually gotten to meet some of my favorite bloggers in real life and made so many friendships through blogging, and it is also such a fun hobby for me. I have always loved dressing up and putting together cute outfits on a budget, so sharing this passion of mine with the blogging community has become such a love of mine. Blogging itself definitely seems to be becoming more and more of a trendy thing to do. I will be interested to see if blogging (especially fashion blogging) stays popular in the next decade or begins to fade away!

     -Annaliese