Wednesday, February 12, 2014

AR-EN: Involvement of women in popular culture production

[A Notebook on Alyssa Rosenberg & Emily Nussbaum]  

At one point in her article “What Impact do Women Have on the Popular Culture They Create,” Alyssa Rosenberg writes that, “There are two reasons to want more women making popular culture (and to make sure they’re paid equally and have access to similar levels of support fro their work): equality of opportunity, and the actual impact that their presence has on content.” Of those two reasons, which one stands out most to you? Why?

10 comments:

Jessica Oranika said...

Equality stands out the most to me because fairness and equality are what America is built on and it should not be contingent on gender.

Unknown said...

The one that stands out to me is equality. this is because as an American we are taught that every man is created equal and that we have rights like the right to pursue happiness. If women want to direct movies or have a higher impact on popular culture, than why should not have the same opportunity to pursue their happiness?

Brenda W. said...

The actual impact their presence has on content stands out more to me because this is such an understated concept. It is already well known that women are paid less and have more barriers and ceilings preventing them from reaching higher positions in that industry. However, very few consider the impact these barriers have on the industry. Women provide such valuable insights/perspectives and by keeping their ideas below the surface, our popular culture will suffer from the lack of powerful, multifaceted concepts. By delegating their ideas to lower-scale projects, we are not letting women reach their full intellectual and creative potential. How can we know that women are not fit for large-scale director roles if we do not give them the opportunity to shine in that area? This is why the impact women have on content stood out to me.

Ajeenah Johnson-Brown said...

Of the two reasons stated in Rosenberg's article, the impact that actress' presence has on content stands out most to me. We are seeing more women play the main character in both movies and TV shows. Now that we are getting that opportunity, I feel it is important to ask "What does this character stand for?", "Is this character someone to look up to?". Shonda Rhimes hit TV show, Scandal, has created numerous debates. While many tune in every week to follow the story of successful and independent Olivia Pope, others have a problem with the fact that she not only has sex with numerous men, but she has also been sleeping with the President of The United States, who is married. Is this the image we want to give the rest of the world about black females? Many say "It's just a show". But is it? BET has recently aired their new hit show Being Mary Jane. Mary Jane, again an independent and successful black female that has a relationship with a married man. Right now, there are black writers writing these scripts. But what if they were white and writing these things? I feel that the impact of a character's presence on content is very important. Many stereotypes are formed right on our own television screens.

Jessica L. said...

Equality of opportunity stands out the most to me because gender equality is a human right. Women should not be limited to or constrained from opportunities because of their sex. However women continue to earn less than men and are limited in job opportunities because of their sex.Achieving gender equality is not just a "fair" thing to do it is important in the productivity of our nation.

Georgy N said...

The part that stood out to me was the impact they have on content. When it comes to stereotypes and how a gender in judged, their public image is usually the reason behind negative judgement. Women need to show they are positive role models to younger girls. As more women get leading roles and show that they are just as capable as men, less of the negative views on women will be applied to the gender as a whole.

Ashley Bass said...

Equality of opportunity stands out to me the most, because if women are able to get the same opportunities as men then the actual impact that women's presence has on things will be greater. Women can't have a great impact on certain things if they aren't given the opportunity to be apart of it.

Tia S. said...

The impact that women's presence have on the content is what stood out to me. A woman can offer a different perspective on the story, including how a female character plays her role in a story. If you have more women involved behind and in front of the camera, the representation of women in the media will become more diverse. A female character will become more than just the token girl who is only there to be sexy/pretty and get rescued. There are men out there who recognize this too, but still we see women are underrepresented. Also, with so many other young girls watching these films we need more diversity for the characters and the stories involving women to give them better role models, not restricting them to this little box of how women are often shown in movies these days.

Ke'Asha jones said...

The impact of womens presence stood out to me the most because often too many times a womans view is not seen or taken into consideration. Men and women think differently so having a womans view point in popular culture could change the aspect of pop culture. I mean women know how to influence other women just as men influence other men so if there were more women presence in pop culture it could affect other women in positive ways.

Ke'Asha jones said...

The impact of womens presence stood out to me the most because often too many times a womans view is not seen or taken into consideration. Men and women think differently so having a womans view point in popular culture could change the aspect of pop culture. I mean women know how to influence other women just as men influence other men so if there were more women presence in pop culture it could affect other women in positive ways.