The washing machine was one of the most revolutionary inventions to be made some may argue, whereas others tend to support the idea that the internet plays a huge part in our lives and we deem to depend on it more than anything. Both arguments are valid and valued, however it was the washing machine which seems to me, to be more of a significant invention as it was a way to liberate women.
The internet is revolutionary, and society do depend on it a great amount. The internet has provided us with knowledge and we carry out most of our tasks by researching on them first using the internet. However all this information originated from books, and there is no reason to why we can’t go back and rely on books to source us the information. We largely use the internet just to stay in contact with people, which we could do via face to face, letters and even the phone. “For most people, its effect is more about keeping in touch with friends and looking up things here and there. Economists have found very little evidence that since the internet revolution productivity has grown.”
Before the 1940’s women were bound to the kitchen work, they were there to serve their husband, feed their children and do the entire household work. The washing machine enabled any member of the house to simply put their piece of clothing in the washing machine and it was no longer just the woman’s job. “As women have become active in the labour market they have acquired a different status at home – they can credibly threaten their partners that if they don't treat them well they will leave them and make an independent living”. The washing machine cleans our clothes and we still depend on it after so long, it is something that changed the whole world. And something that third world countires would be better off with rather than the internet.
Tuesday 29 March 2011
It has been said that media representations often reflect the social and political concerns of the age in which they are created.
Media representations often play upon the stereotypes which society tend to accept as the representations neutralise over time due to people being exposed to the same thing over and over again.
Women were always perceived as the object of desire, which stays at home and cooks. However with the rise of feminism during the 1950s and 1960s, women had gained liberating rights which then went on to change their stereotypical image to the angel/whore. The femme fatale character was introduced in the 1950s, as women became more ‘masculine’ by taking on the ‘male’ jobs as the men went to war. In double indemnity the femme fatale is portrayed as an evil woman through the use of low key lighting, and as she holds a cigar in most scenes she is presented as a powerful woman as she holds her ‘phallus’. Her tempting attitude, alongside the smoke from the cigarette forms an enigma around her and makes her seem mysterious and more sexual. Overall, women were presented to be luring predators. The rise of feminism was heavily driven by the introduction of the contraceptive pill in 1961 which gave females more sexual freedom, it also allowed them not to bound to motherhood until they are ready for it. This also conformed to some of the issues the public were facing as the rate of back alley abortions.
However post feminism portrayals of women tended to represent women as people who self objectify themselves. To some extent this could be considered to be correct, however this can also be a negative representation of women as it still portrays them to overly sexual. Due to the dependence women have on the contraceptive pill, alongside the legal age that the government has put on when people are allowed to have intercourse, teenage pregnancy has soared. Underage and pregnant follows the lives of teenagers who face different problems during pregnancy, whether that be due to their age, of that the father of the child is no longer in the picture. Personal interviews with the pregnant teenagers allow the viewers to understand that sometimes it is very hard for these mothers. Juno was released in 2007 and the protagonist was a 16 year old mother to be. Stereotypically we would expect pregnant teenagers to consist of those from ethnic minority groups; however Juno is from a respectable white background. This enabled viewers to understand that underage mothers can be from various backgrounds. However in the end of Juno, she puts her baby up for adoption and no longer has to deal with the issues she would have faced with motherhood. In reality most of these girls are forced to keep their babies and give up their whole lives for them.
Women were always perceived as the object of desire, which stays at home and cooks. However with the rise of feminism during the 1950s and 1960s, women had gained liberating rights which then went on to change their stereotypical image to the angel/whore. The femme fatale character was introduced in the 1950s, as women became more ‘masculine’ by taking on the ‘male’ jobs as the men went to war. In double indemnity the femme fatale is portrayed as an evil woman through the use of low key lighting, and as she holds a cigar in most scenes she is presented as a powerful woman as she holds her ‘phallus’. Her tempting attitude, alongside the smoke from the cigarette forms an enigma around her and makes her seem mysterious and more sexual. Overall, women were presented to be luring predators. The rise of feminism was heavily driven by the introduction of the contraceptive pill in 1961 which gave females more sexual freedom, it also allowed them not to bound to motherhood until they are ready for it. This also conformed to some of the issues the public were facing as the rate of back alley abortions.
However post feminism portrayals of women tended to represent women as people who self objectify themselves. To some extent this could be considered to be correct, however this can also be a negative representation of women as it still portrays them to overly sexual. Due to the dependence women have on the contraceptive pill, alongside the legal age that the government has put on when people are allowed to have intercourse, teenage pregnancy has soared. Underage and pregnant follows the lives of teenagers who face different problems during pregnancy, whether that be due to their age, of that the father of the child is no longer in the picture. Personal interviews with the pregnant teenagers allow the viewers to understand that sometimes it is very hard for these mothers. Juno was released in 2007 and the protagonist was a 16 year old mother to be. Stereotypically we would expect pregnant teenagers to consist of those from ethnic minority groups; however Juno is from a respectable white background. This enabled viewers to understand that underage mothers can be from various backgrounds. However in the end of Juno, she puts her baby up for adoption and no longer has to deal with the issues she would have faced with motherhood. In reality most of these girls are forced to keep their babies and give up their whole lives for them.
Monday 21 March 2011
Net Neutrality
Is it the end for net neutrality?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2006/jun/15/guardianweeklytechnologysection2?INTCMP=SRCH
• Network providers say it is unfair and unnecessary to have the government interfere in the free market.
• Big online corporations such as Amazon, eBay and Google are among those lobbying to prevent telecommunications firms from exerting more power.
• And although it wouldn't have any direct effect on the net outside of America, say observers, it could restrict speeds on data coming from the US and, more, importantly, influence legislators in Britain and elsewhere.
Sen. Franken: 'We Can't Lose Net Neutrality'
http://www.savetheinternet.com/blog/11/03/14/sen-franken-we-cant-lose-net-neutrality
• “The Internet has proven not only to be a hotbed for innovation [and] an incredible engine for job creation, but also the ultimate self-distribution channel,” Franken said. “Now you don’t need a record deal to make a song and have people hear it.”
• Internet service providers are "coming after the Internet hoping to destroy the very thing that makes it such an important tool for independent artists and entrepreneurs - its freedom and openness."
• And if corporations take over the Internet, the incredible Web-based mobilization and creativity of the last 10 years would no longer exist, Franken said.
• "It's time for us to use the Internet to save the Internet," Franken said, urging those present in Austin and watching online to help build the movement needed to win this crucial fight.
Net neutrality: Who cares?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/rorycellanjones/2011/03/net_neutrality_-_who_cares.html
• The big issue here is whether a principle sacred to internet pioneers - that all traffic over the network is equal - is in danger of being watered down and, if so, whether something needs to be done.
• Some broadband firms want to be free to charge media firms to give their content priority, while some content providers are adamant that this would harm consumers and stifle innovation.
• An emerging trend towards network operators discriminating in favour of certain traffic based on who provides it, as part of commercial arrangements, is a worrying development. Media organisations like the BBC fear that they are about to see all sorts of roadblocks placed between them and consumers on the internet.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2006/jun/15/guardianweeklytechnologysection2?INTCMP=SRCH
• Network providers say it is unfair and unnecessary to have the government interfere in the free market.
• Big online corporations such as Amazon, eBay and Google are among those lobbying to prevent telecommunications firms from exerting more power.
• And although it wouldn't have any direct effect on the net outside of America, say observers, it could restrict speeds on data coming from the US and, more, importantly, influence legislators in Britain and elsewhere.
Sen. Franken: 'We Can't Lose Net Neutrality'
http://www.savetheinternet.com/blog/11/03/14/sen-franken-we-cant-lose-net-neutrality
• “The Internet has proven not only to be a hotbed for innovation [and] an incredible engine for job creation, but also the ultimate self-distribution channel,” Franken said. “Now you don’t need a record deal to make a song and have people hear it.”
• Internet service providers are "coming after the Internet hoping to destroy the very thing that makes it such an important tool for independent artists and entrepreneurs - its freedom and openness."
• And if corporations take over the Internet, the incredible Web-based mobilization and creativity of the last 10 years would no longer exist, Franken said.
• "It's time for us to use the Internet to save the Internet," Franken said, urging those present in Austin and watching online to help build the movement needed to win this crucial fight.
Net neutrality: Who cares?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/rorycellanjones/2011/03/net_neutrality_-_who_cares.html
• The big issue here is whether a principle sacred to internet pioneers - that all traffic over the network is equal - is in danger of being watered down and, if so, whether something needs to be done.
• Some broadband firms want to be free to charge media firms to give their content priority, while some content providers are adamant that this would harm consumers and stifle innovation.
• An emerging trend towards network operators discriminating in favour of certain traffic based on who provides it, as part of commercial arrangements, is a worrying development. Media organisations like the BBC fear that they are about to see all sorts of roadblocks placed between them and consumers on the internet.
Wednesday 9 March 2011
“Digital Media have, in many ways changed how we consume media products” who do you think benefits most – producers or audiences?
With the revolution of the internet, how people consume and receive media products/services has changed rapidly. The internet is used globally by millions of people, which makes it easier for producers to reach a mass audience. In some aspects this can be seen as an advantage for producers, however with so many people accessing the internet on a daily basis, security problems arise. Audiences also benefit, as they can search for anything at one click, but with the internet making it easier for people to communicate it could be argued that rather that helping us the internet is ‘threatening’ as Sherry Turkle puts it. With audiences being able to upload information and pictures themselves, they can to be considered as producers, and therefore audiences predominantly benefit from the Digital Media.
Newspapers were one of the very first mediums to provide society with information. Since then they have not lost their popularity to the internet. Newspaper producers have had to keep up to date with this technological change, and have done so by providing online services where audiences can read their newspapers, with a fee of £1 or £2 for a month. However this still hasn’t made enough of a difference to their revenue. Most of the information provided via the web is free, which makes it harder for websites The Times to gain subscribers. This further heightens the newspapers inability to battle with web producers. On the other hand, websites such as www.blogger.com enable online producers to distribute their content, which empowers them and opens job opportunities for them. Producers of media products such as music videos can easily promotes their products to users of the web through www.youtube.com resulting in more people being aware of their products, and hopefully more sales for producers.
However the adverse affect of this is that producers are faced with problems such as censorship and regulation, and with their products reaching people on a global scale, the problem worsens. Facebook launches in 2004 by a student names Mark Zuckerberg, the website was initially intended for Harvard students, so that they can stay connected to one another. This didn’t last long, as other universities were also signing up to Facebook, and now there are over 40,000 million users just in the USA. Showing just how much of a phenomenon it has now become. Facebook allows people to upload information and pictures, anywhere, anytime. Though this helps users socialise, it also can be a way to exploit people. Though the minimum age a user must be to sign up to Facebook is 13, many younger users still have Facebook. About 2 years ago, a 17 year old, had invited people to a small gathering at her house via Facebook, however hundreds turned up and trashed her whole house. Also Facebook will soon be adding a panic button on their website, which acts as an alert for users to inform Facebook of anyone who may be a threat to them. This in itself shows that with so much freedom on Facebook, as liberating as it may seem, it does raise issues about how safe people are online.
The ability to update news as soon as possible has provided sufficient support for the wikileaks website. The website hit the news back in 2010 for its exposure of the government’s actions. Asange (creator of wikileaks) was arrested last year, however this caused great frenzy amongst the public, as they felt that he was exposing the government’s wrongful actions and in result of that he was being unfairly arrested. People became aware of the government’s hidden secrets, which allowed people to see how their country was being run in a new light.
Audiences, on the other hand, can be seen as the biggest winners of the revolution of the Digital Media. Other than issues revolving around security, audiences use the internet in a way to express themselves. Twitter launches in 2006 and has grown rapidly since. Today almost 600 tweets are made per second. Celebrities are the common reason for people to join Twitter. ‘Ordinary people’ get the change to feel close to their favourite celebrities. In some sense, it could be said that this breaks the role of a hierarchy and it’s a place where people can just be normal.
Though illegal downloading is one of the reasons to why music companies are losing money, its one of the most common actions carried out by users. It makes audiences receive content for free, and there are many websites which make this happen. Furthermore consumers are able to shop online, which gets rid of the hassle to physically go out and buy items. News on topics such as animals, celebrities, trends, government, etc can be found at the click of one button, and better, for free. Rolling news, keeps updating internet users and unlike before, they don’t have to pay for a newspaper to read about it.
Though many advantages could be suggests, it could be debated that sites such as Facebook, MSN Messenger and twitter create an isolated society. Sherry Turkle stated in her recent book “Alone Together” that Facebook creates an illusion which makes us think that it enables us to communicate better, however in reality it puts us in a ‘cyber reality’ which is a “poor imitation of the real world”.
Newspapers were one of the very first mediums to provide society with information. Since then they have not lost their popularity to the internet. Newspaper producers have had to keep up to date with this technological change, and have done so by providing online services where audiences can read their newspapers, with a fee of £1 or £2 for a month. However this still hasn’t made enough of a difference to their revenue. Most of the information provided via the web is free, which makes it harder for websites The Times to gain subscribers. This further heightens the newspapers inability to battle with web producers. On the other hand, websites such as www.blogger.com enable online producers to distribute their content, which empowers them and opens job opportunities for them. Producers of media products such as music videos can easily promotes their products to users of the web through www.youtube.com resulting in more people being aware of their products, and hopefully more sales for producers.
However the adverse affect of this is that producers are faced with problems such as censorship and regulation, and with their products reaching people on a global scale, the problem worsens. Facebook launches in 2004 by a student names Mark Zuckerberg, the website was initially intended for Harvard students, so that they can stay connected to one another. This didn’t last long, as other universities were also signing up to Facebook, and now there are over 40,000 million users just in the USA. Showing just how much of a phenomenon it has now become. Facebook allows people to upload information and pictures, anywhere, anytime. Though this helps users socialise, it also can be a way to exploit people. Though the minimum age a user must be to sign up to Facebook is 13, many younger users still have Facebook. About 2 years ago, a 17 year old, had invited people to a small gathering at her house via Facebook, however hundreds turned up and trashed her whole house. Also Facebook will soon be adding a panic button on their website, which acts as an alert for users to inform Facebook of anyone who may be a threat to them. This in itself shows that with so much freedom on Facebook, as liberating as it may seem, it does raise issues about how safe people are online.
The ability to update news as soon as possible has provided sufficient support for the wikileaks website. The website hit the news back in 2010 for its exposure of the government’s actions. Asange (creator of wikileaks) was arrested last year, however this caused great frenzy amongst the public, as they felt that he was exposing the government’s wrongful actions and in result of that he was being unfairly arrested. People became aware of the government’s hidden secrets, which allowed people to see how their country was being run in a new light.
Audiences, on the other hand, can be seen as the biggest winners of the revolution of the Digital Media. Other than issues revolving around security, audiences use the internet in a way to express themselves. Twitter launches in 2006 and has grown rapidly since. Today almost 600 tweets are made per second. Celebrities are the common reason for people to join Twitter. ‘Ordinary people’ get the change to feel close to their favourite celebrities. In some sense, it could be said that this breaks the role of a hierarchy and it’s a place where people can just be normal.
Though illegal downloading is one of the reasons to why music companies are losing money, its one of the most common actions carried out by users. It makes audiences receive content for free, and there are many websites which make this happen. Furthermore consumers are able to shop online, which gets rid of the hassle to physically go out and buy items. News on topics such as animals, celebrities, trends, government, etc can be found at the click of one button, and better, for free. Rolling news, keeps updating internet users and unlike before, they don’t have to pay for a newspaper to read about it.
Though many advantages could be suggests, it could be debated that sites such as Facebook, MSN Messenger and twitter create an isolated society. Sherry Turkle stated in her recent book “Alone Together” that Facebook creates an illusion which makes us think that it enables us to communicate better, however in reality it puts us in a ‘cyber reality’ which is a “poor imitation of the real world”.
Tuesday 1 March 2011
The mutualisation of news
“Gone are the days of "us and them" journalism. The web has led to a news community where ideas and news are shared rather than delivered”
With the revolution of the internet, people are able to upload information at any time of the day, it’s like rolling news you can update anything whenever you chose to. This is bad for professional journalists as people don’t consider their work to be any more valued than anyone else’s. Newspapers especially, the news which is published a day after it happens is seemed to be less shocking as people hear of it before hand.
"There was a very clear wall, dividing readers and writers," said Rusbridger to an in-house meeting of journalists
“Rusbridger says: "It cannot be true that there are only a handful of people worth listening to in the world. Comment is Free is infinitely richer and more diverse and more plural.”
With the revolution of the internet, people are able to upload information at any time of the day, it’s like rolling news you can update anything whenever you chose to. This is bad for professional journalists as people don’t consider their work to be any more valued than anyone else’s. Newspapers especially, the news which is published a day after it happens is seemed to be less shocking as people hear of it before hand.
"There was a very clear wall, dividing readers and writers," said Rusbridger to an in-house meeting of journalists
“Rusbridger says: "It cannot be true that there are only a handful of people worth listening to in the world. Comment is Free is infinitely richer and more diverse and more plural.”
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