Analyze This

Author: JUSTIN PIKE

Posted date: Friday, May 22, 2009 7:21:50 PM PDT

Pop culture is a very manipulative creature, both the those who affected by it, and those who are part of it. In Sternbergh's "Britney Spears: The Pop Tart in Winter," he describes how Britney's manager and publicists have taken liberties with her career. He claims that she has been "overexposed" throughout her career. They have used her to create an image that would sell albums and merchandise. They altered her image when they needed to make her more appealing to the fans. The fans responded just the way the publicists wanted them to. As Britney's persona became more sexy, and less clothed, the fans tried to emulate it. You suddenly had ten year old girls running around in belly shirts and ultra-low rise jeans.

Some of the same ideas can be found in Pozner's "The Unreal World." She talks about how the casting crews of the reality shows choose women who are beautiful and dumb, so that they don't seem intimidating to the men. The shows depict physically attractive as the only ones that men should want to marry. The producers and editors make the show focus completely on the sexual content.

Both authors speak to the theme that everyone is familiar with: sex sells. In todays pop culture, sex is everywhere. In the music we listen to, on the shows we watch, and in the magazines we read. Pop culture uses sex to manipulate the population to do what the companies want.

Author: ANTHONY CASTANEDA

Date: Friday, May 22, 2009 8:55:31 PM PDT

Subject: RE:: Pop Culture Is Manipulative 

"Pop culture uses sex to manipulate the population to do what the companies want."

That's pretty true from what I've observed on TV and on magazines. But do you think that it might have died down a little bit?

For a while, sex has been in practically everything, but from what I noticed, it's not that big of a topic nowadays. What do you think?

Author: JUSTIN PIKE

Posted date: Friday, May 22, 2009 10:12:00 PM PDT

I would have to disagree. I don't think that the level of sex and sexuality in the media has died down at all. At best, it's leveled off. There was quite a significant amount of discussion in the recent years about the amount of overt sexuality being transmitted through the various media outlets. This was because many people were pushing the boundaries of what society was comfortable with at the time. I think society has just gotten used to all the sex in movies, and very scantily clad women shown in magazines and music videos. If you take a look at some of the media representations of women fifty or sixty years ago, it was very risque to see women in skirts cut just above the knees. Now many people would consider women wearing knee length skirts to be very old-fashioned, almost nun-like because of the absence of "sexiness."

Author: GENEVEVE THORSEN

Posted date: Saturday, May 23, 2009 12:41:25 PM PDT

"As Britney's persona became more sexy, and less clothed, the fans tried to emulate it. You suddenly had ten year old girls running around in belly shirts and ultra-low rise jeans."

I don't think young girls dressed like Britney because they wanted to be sexy, but rather because they wanted to be accepted and feel beautiful and that is what they thought they had to do to get it.

Author: JUSTIN PIKE
Posted date: Saturday, May 23, 2009 4:25:13 PM PDT

I would say that maybe the younger girls didn't quite understand the meaning of the term "sexy" but I do think they were dressing in a way that they knew was called "sexy" and even believed themselves to be "sexy." Ignorance of what something means doesn't exclude a person from emulating it.

I think these two articles explain it better than I do:

Goodbye to Girlhood

Too Sexy For Little Girls

Sounds Like I'm Talking to You Intro

Sounds Like I'm Talking to You

In this blog post, I feel that I did well at communicating to the readers that the things found in my wallet are not who I am. Material possessions do not make up a person. These things may give you an idea of certain aspects of that persons life, but not a full picture. I used the example of the grocery store discount cards to show this. By looking at the cards, you would think someone shops a lot, but by knowing the actual person, you would understand that they've simply lived multiple places.

This type of writing has really changed the way I think about writing to an audience. It's one thing to write to explain something, but a seperate skill to cause thoughts and questions to stir in your readers minds.

Sounds Like I'm Talking to You

Wallet

Current Contents:

Drivers License
Expired Drivers License
Buckle Primo card (just over half filled)
Borders Rewards card
$5 Starbucks gift card
Everett Public Library card
Costco membership card
Traxx member card (go-kart racing)
Voters registration card
Health insurance card
Debit Card
QFC Advantage card
Haggen C.A.R.D.
Alberstons Preferred Card
Blockbuster membership card
Hollywood Video membership card
EVCC student identification card
Starbucks iTunes pick of the week card (Neko Case)
Spy Comics and Cards business card
Sprint Premier discount card

My wallet contains a variety of items, many of which are membership cards to multiple stores of the same business type, like grocery store discount cards. My typical behavior is to just go to whatever store is the most convenient to obtain the items I need. If I'm across the street from an Albertson's and I need some flour, I'm much more likely to go to Albertson's than across town to Safeway. My parents are the type of people that have loyalties to specific grocery stores, fast food restaurants, and clothing outfitters, but I''ve developed an attitude of fulfilled needs, not preference.

If someone else were to look at the contents of my wallet, they would probably think that I'm very organized. I have all of the cards of like type (grocery store cards, for instance) in the same pocket. I would probably come across as a person who likes to spend money on overpriced things, based on the Starbucks card and the Buckle punchcard. The clothes at buckle aren't in the price range of most college students, so the person inspecting my wallet would probably assume that I have a steady source of income, more than just a part time job somewhere. I may come across as someone likely to sign up for any type of discount card that I get offered. The Borders card, the library card, and the comics business card would probably do a proficient job of relating that I enjoy reading, whether it be novels or comic books.

In examining my wallet, a person would not be able to know that the reason I have membership cards to three different grocery stores is because, in the past four years, I have each of those stores be the closest store to me, whether it's when I lived in Everett, Portland, or Lake Stevens. They wouldn't know that I have a comic store business card because I was at a comic book convention this past weekend and I have a interest in creating a comic book someday. Other than the names of family members on my insurance card, there would be no way to know about Thanksgiving dinners with my mom's family, or keg-based birthday parties with my dad's family. Looking at my license, nobody would guess that I've never had a car that stayed running more than six months, no matter how perfect the condition of the vehicle when it breaks down (I had a Kia Sephia that would just shut the engine off while going down the road, even though two mechanics from different garages swore the car was in perfect shape.)

There's a lot that you can learn about someone by looking at their personal belongings, but there is always more to them than discount cards, or pictures. There isn't a card that will tell you a person's favorite flavor of Jell-O, or what James Bond portrayal they prefer. (Lime and Sean Connery) Perhaps I should put this post in my wallet in case I ever lose it, or it gets stolen.

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