Michelle Dodge
Reaction Paper #1

“Half of American homes have three or more TVs, and only 19% have just one. In 1975, 57% of homes had only a single set, and 11% had three or more” according to Nielsen Media, in the article Average Home Has More TVs than People. These figures can conclude that the media of one generation has prospered into a typical and popular routine for today’s generation. Everyday citizens are consuming tons of information, and this information alters the way they think and act; this statement being the main topic of David Gauntlett’s chapter titled "Some Background Debates" in the novel Media, Gender and Identity: an Introduction. With continuous changes in technology, things can be broadcasted faster, in a wider range, and to larger audiences. It seems that everyone is being exposed to the media thus making anyone susceptible to the ways media has influence.
Media gives audiences several stereotypes that represent gender roles. For example, an engaging study taken from chapter two of Gauntlett’s book is from Williams and Best. In 1977 they created a “sex stereotype index” by their experiment where, a large list of adjectives were shown and based of that list participants would pick which gender the adjective was associated with. The findings were, “over 25% of men had self-descriptions that were more stereotypic of women than the average women’s stereotype” (40). Moreover these results were identical to the women’s self-descriptions of themselves and when both genders were asked to pick adjectives describing others, the results yielded stereotypical characteristics. Consequently, this shows that we might not apply stereotypes to ourselves, but when it comes to others we apply them frequently.
Another part of the chapter that was fascinating was the debate between Theodor Adorno and John Fiske. This debate is one that cannot be won. It is a topic that takes on opinion more than fact, which is whether media or audience has more power over the other. Adorno testifies, “We are still drones, manipulated by the system to want the pleasures which it offers, and satisfied with the daily diet of entertainment which it pours forth” (25). While Fiske on the other hand pleads, “Popular culture is made by the people, not produced by the culture industry” (27). Both establish a strong hold on their side, one remark being turned over and contradicting the other. This portion of the chapter leaves the reader to their personal outlook on the subject.
After reading “Some Background Debates”, I see both sides to two very opposed beliefs by Adorno and Fiske. By giving the reader polarized views, I believe Gauntlett does an amazing job of giving us room to choose for ourselves. He is also very successful with conveying how psychologists have failed at developing a proper media effects model. Without just telling us what makes the model a disappointment, he goes into detail with ten major reasons. His reasoning makes sense, and I find myself agreeing with each of them. Beyond just agreeing with Gauntlett’s remarks, I found I could relate to one specific passage. Laura Mulvey’s approach to how women are seen as objects, particularly within motion pictures, was something I connected with. With my field of study being film, I felt that this section stood out to me specifically. I’ve seen and interpreted numerous movies and what Mulvey claimed, I believe to be factual. A good quote from this portion is, “Men look at women; women watch themselves being looked at” (41). Throughout cinema and other types of media women have come out on top if they are gorgeous or meet the status quo. In recent news you see the change finally happening, women are winning this battle of the sexes when it comes to box office sales.
Women have continued to successfully climb in the film industry. Taking a look at the economic output that movies have made for 2010, one can see that women dominated films are soaring to becoming number one. Domestic gross taken from “Box Office Mojo”, a company created by The Internet Movie Database, shows that movies like Alice in Wonderland, Twilight Saga: Eclipse, Salt, and Sex and the City 2 have all arouse to the top of the charts. These four movies all range above number twenty-five with the chart ranging from 1-100 and twenty or more movies on the list, all have a female as the main character. If you look at the beginning of the 21st century, it shows that less than ten movies hold a female as the central character. Currently things have looked favorable for women in the male driven industry of motion pictures.
In conclusion, without knowledge as to how media can persuade individuals to think and act certain ways, we would be settling for the trance media throws us in. In David Gauntlett’s second chapter, "Some Background Debates", he gives various examples of media doing this. Thus providing the historical evidence to allow readers to think about how they identify themselves and others based off surrounding media. Anyone is susceptible to the ways media has influence so everyone should have this awareness. Bibliography

"2010 Yearly Box Office Results." Box Office Mojo. Web. 23 Sept. 2010. <http://www.boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?yr=2010&view=releasedate&view2=domestic&sort=gross&order=DESC&&p=.htm>.

"Average Home Has More TVs than People - USATODAY.com." News, Travel, Weather, Entertainment, Sports, Technology, U.S. & World - USATODAY.com. 21 Sept. 2006. Web. 23 Sept. 2010. <http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2006-09-21-homes-tv_x.htm>.

Gauntlett, David. "Some Background Debates." Media, Gender and Identity: an Introduction. London: Routledge, 2008. 21-45. Print.