media

…Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction (Superbowl 2003). 

Here’s the video (don’t blink!):

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eq_N792Bl5Y[/youtube] 

I use this story along with this image to illustrate agenda setting. Because the media made such a huge deal about this, it was something that most people talked about with at least one other person and an issue on which most people formed an opinion. (I like the two-second video because it shows just how quick it was.) I contrast it alongside some genuinely newsworthy event that no one noticed because it didn’t get covered and no one, now, remembers. (Richard mentions, by the way, that there were a ton of erectile dysfunction commercials during the superbowl that year that did not attract media outrage.)Thanks to Ang! I stole the picture and the idea of using this issue to talk about agenda setting from her years ago.

Click here to watch a two-and-a-half minute video on CNN that addresses last year’s spate of race- and ethnicity-themed parties (see here). What is perhaps most amazing about it is the unbelievably impoverished analysis of what is happening and the fact that the video for some reason decides to end on an uplifting note (“their classmates had an important lesson on the danger of stereotyping”).

Thanks to Richard for this lead.

Above are photos of Jennifer Love Hewitt that have been showing up everywhere since they were taken in December. They were used as evidence that she has gotten fat.

Jennifer Love Hewitt responded to the criticism:

I’ve sat by in silence for a long time now about the way women’s bodies are constantly scrutinized…To set the record straight, I’m not upset for me, but for all of the girls out there that are struggling with their body image…A size 2 is not fat! Nor will it ever be. And being a size 0 doesn’t make you beautiful. … To all girls with butts, boobs, hips and a waist, put on a bikini – put it on and stay strong.

Janice Dickenson, a former model, went on The Today Show and defended Jennifer Love Hewitt…by calling Tyra Banks fat: “You want to see someone who’s fat, I’m sorry, Tyra, Tyra Banks is fat.”

There’s an interesting discourse here. Jennifer Love Hewitt responded by saying “A size 2 is not fat!” Janice Dickinson defends her by comparing her to a woman who supposedly is fat. So the ultimate message isn’t necessarily that women shouldn’t have to be thin, but that this particular woman isn’t fat. That could lead to a useful discussion on empowerment–what’s the difference between empowering an individual woman (“I’m not fat!”) and empowering women as a group (“We need to fight against this idea that only one body shape is acceptable”)? Is the discourse we find here really liberating to women in general, or just to those who are a size 2 or smaller?

Most female celebrities, when photographed in an unflattering manner, disappear for a month and then reappear in transformed bodies that have been starved and exercised until they are worthy of display; they are then welcomed back with open arms and their transformation is praised. It might also be interesting to use Hewitt’s responses in a discussion of how difficult it is to try to resist hegemonic ideals of beauty–how do you defend yourself and respond to mainstream ideals when you’re one of very few people even trying to do it?

NEW! (Oct. ’09) Kristina V. let us know about a recent issue of Shape that features a significantly slimmer Jennifer Love Hewitt along with information on how she lost weight:

The website also has images of other celebrities (including 2 men out of 13 photos) who have lost weight:

Don’t misunderstand me: I am not surprised that Jennifer Love Hewitt eventually felt the pressure to slim down. Is it somewhat hypocritical? Yes. But it doesn’t seem surprising that someone who faces such intense scrutiny might find it difficult to individually try to resist beauty standards that are so widely held in her social world and might eventually choose to try to conform rather than resist.

But it’s disheartening to see another female celebrity lose this battle, even if it’s unsurprising.

Gwen Sharp is an associate professor of sociology at Nevada State College. You can follow her on Twitter at @gwensharpnv.

This is an interesting example of the way in which powerful media companies control what gets out there. MTV refused to show ads, made by the Media Foundation to promote Buy Nothing Day, on its station. They stated that the ad “goes further than we are willing to accept on our channels.”

The ads are here. Thanks to AdBusters for this tip.

Click here (and then click portfolio) for before and after photos of lots of celebrities!

Some examples of image manipulation to add to a previous post.

This is from the material promoting Katie Couric’s now ended news anchor job:

Notice that Keira has larger breasts and a flatter stomach on the re-touched poster:

And here’s one that shows how they differently change men’s bodies (head shrunk, biceps enlarged):

This is what Roddick’s arms really look like (but you can google image him and find many many images in which he looks more like this than he does on the Men’s Health cover):

Also see this interactive website here.

NEW: Samantha J. sent in a link to Picture-Perfect, a gallery of images comparing real photos of celebrities such as Jennifer Hudson and Liv Tyler to Photoshopped images of them on magazine covers. Thanks, Samantha!

These two pictures were in the same slide show released by AP and picked up all over the mass media. After instant outrage from various quarters, they were taken down… but some of us got copies before they were able to erase history. Here are the pictures with their original captions, note that the white couple “find[s]” and the black individual “loot[s].”

Caption: Two residents wade through chest-deep water after finding bread and soda from a local grocery.

Caption: A young man walks through chest deep flood water after looting a grocery store in New Orleans.

…promoting coal that illustrates how manipulative commercials are (also funny).[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71kckb8hhOQ[/youtube]