post #2

    In our media today there tends to be a certain perception that we can see through what we can obtain. Although this is for many people a matter of what perspective they tend to take when viewing a product. A method that is commonly used in the media that tends to let people lean towards a certain perspective is the male gaze. The male gaze is typically seen through the perspective of the male making it seem that what the audience is viewing is towards his perspective. Though male gazing can be seen in different perspectives.
    From the different perspectives of the articles such as bell hooks it seems that in our culture there seems to be  a certain way that both genders should act and if don’t act accordingly to it people will see it as if you’re not a normal person. In the article hooks stated that when she didn’t adhere to the standing that society had given her she was beaten by her father.  Her mother said “I tried to warn you. You need to accept that you are a little girl and girls can’t do what boys do.” (Hooks)  In my opinion the fact that the way women and men are categorized in a number of different ways feels restricting. I think this because of the fact if a person doesn’t ac t like the way that their gender is stereotyped then they are ostracized by other people. This stereotyped is further embraced by our media because through the countless commercials and movies is showing a different way of how a guy or girl should look and act.
    Berger said that “the real function of the mirror was otherwise. It was to make the woman connive in treating herself as, first and foremost a sight.” (Berger)  I think that Berger was trying to say that in our media women are treated as a looking glass to make people look at her.  It seems like that the media would want to treat women in commercial to look like that they would get attention through this or that kind of product.  An example of it would be in the movie pretty woman where Julia Roberts character used the money of Richard Gere character to buy stuff to make herself look different from herself to give the impression of a higher standing and making her more attractive. Although her character isn’t the best example of this another would be in commercial in which celebrities are leading people to buy their product for the reason of their fame and that they might get attention from wearing that product.
Oppositional gaze tends to specify towards race and the portrayal of how race is depicted in our media. Bell hooks in the article had shown an example of how African Americans were not depicted correctly by the media. The media had portrayed them as if they weren’t intelligent and as misfits and an example of this was the Amos and Andy show. According to the hooks article hooks stated that shows like Amos and Andy were for visual pleasure. (Hooks)The show was a depiction through the use of stereotyping a particular race. This doesn’t just apply to one race because in the media advertisers, writers and producers tend to stereotype about certain people either in race or in social standing.
    Though in our media today there are still products that still use the concept of oppositional and the male gaze to draw in the viewer. In many ways at first we don’t realize it but I think that gradually as we get exposed to it we tend to see how each different movie or commercial tends use these concepts. I think that after seeing the constant use of male and oppositional gazing that I am much more aware of it. Also, I think that by viewing it we can see why a company or a director would make that kind of choice to either draw the viewer to it or analyze why.  Then it is through our own perception of the product that lets us determine why we either wanted the product or the fact that something like this can fool many people to buy one thing in order to buy their product. An example of this is would be from the picture that is shown with the model Kate Upton using sex appeal in order for viewers to buy a Karl’s JR burger.  The choice for us is whether we want to buy this burger that the commercial is using a model as a way to make males buy the product.

this link shows the role of women in societal change and social change. 
http://www.ieplexus.com/company-news/5213-recognizing-the-value-of-women%E2%80%99s-role-in-social-media-and-societal-change/