Ready For My Close-Up

I’ve always derived pleasure from reading trashy magazines and online tabloids. Some of the reasons I enjoy reading such mindless “crap” is because I love examining the opulent and sometimes not so opulent outfits the celebrities wear, seeing how they are “just like us” and learning about where they enjoy dining and shopping. For many years as I continually read the articles and looked at the pictures, I never really paid much attention to the scrutiny the men and most importantly women dealt with.


When my group and I decided to start this blog, for the final project in our Women and Popular Culture Class, the topic we decided to discuss was the way women are portrayed in popular culture. Immediately I knew that I wanted to advocate for the way in which females are picked-apart by the clueless People, Us, x17online.com and many other judgmental drama-hungry writers because I had an epiphany two years ago that it was no longer okay for me to support the negative way in which the ladies are torn apart each day. Every week prepare to get your dose of my opinions on certain articles written negatively about women. I will advocate on their behalf because in many situations they do not have the power to do so without causing more controversy or hiring a publicist to relay a statement to the media that will still be criticized. Get ready, because I, Andrea, am going to take a stand for my fellow women and make my voice heard.

For my first paparazzi critique, I am going to examine the way in which www.x17online.com bashed the image they posted of the formal Bachelor finalist, Vienna Girardi. One of the techniques celebrity magazines use in order to exaggerate the truth is by featuring their most unattractive image of a celebrity. It doesn’t matter if he/she is sneezing, sitting down, or blinking, the tabloid writers will always be able to create a story about such awkward bodily functions. With that being said, the website posted of a shot of Vienna in which she was not making eye-contact with the camera because she was walking. X17 decided to blame Vienna for not being able to “pose properly for the paparazzi” when in reality it is extremely hard to walk, smile, and pose all at the same time and they are just trying to find fault with the fact that she decided not to look at their camera lens for that particular second. Not even Gisele Bundchen could do such a thing and she is a supermodel for crying out loud. Another jab that the writer made at Vienna was the fact that she went to an event at an LA nightclub, Kress. They demonstrated their passionate feelings about why she could possibly be there by asking “since when do people in Hollywood still go to the Kress?” In the background of the image the viewer can clearly tell that there is a step-and-repeat (a backdrop celebrities pose in front of when they go to certain events), which explains that she was there for an event and obviously people still go there for product launches, charity functions, etc. The last negative comment the writer made was about whether or not Vienna was “relevant anymore.” While her twenty minutes of fame on the Bachelor are up, she is still obviously relevant because she wouldn’t be invited to an event if she wasn’t. Secondly, if Vienna isn’t important nowadays, why is x17 bothering to take pictures of her?


It is pretty evident that the website was having a slow night and decided that they needed a little “fluff” because they clearly did not have enough “relevant” celebrity pictures to post. They are a complete contradiction purely because they spent time to write an article on her, when they stated earlier that they do not think that she is worth their time. While I might not be a huge Vienna fan, she definitely deserves to be defended for slack she took in the post. Instead of x17 worrying about the reason she was actually at the Kress (perhaps to lend a hand to an important cause), they decided to dismiss it because the venue is not exactly up to par according to their standards. Maybe next time they can post a picture of her when she is standing still and then they will able to see that she can actually pose. I’m glad Vienna didn’t even bother looking at their camera lens a few night because even they don’t deserve her time!


By: ANDREA

Covergirl?

The video that I chose to blog on today is a commercial from Covergirl featuring celebrity superstar Kerri Russell.



This commercial initially starts off with Kerri making a statement "Ever been double crossed?" This immediately catches the female viewer into thinking of a time where they have been two timed or double crossed, immediately causing memories of insecurity. After her long pause, she adds in "by a lip gloss?" This causes ease to the viewer and entices them into finding out more of what she is talking about. When girls feel insecurity, society always tries to find things that will reassure them into buying products that will make them feel more secure and overall more beautiful, so the way in which they started this commercial goes to show how much the media ingrains in our head that we NEED these products to feel good about ourselves.

The video breaks into a scene where Kerri is fighting off a ninja. She does end up kicking the guys' ass along with 5 other ones, but as she is doing so, they dressed her in a leather outfit and high heels. This immediately brought up the theme backlash. This woman is trying to fight men off in a leather suit and heels, which really doesn't seem logical at all, yet this commercial was designed to make women feel sexy and it can also be designed for men, to think of ways in which their wives can be sexy by wearing that lip gloss.

"Color, flip and shine" the three easy steps that Covergirl promotes for their product. What better form of make up do women like than one that can give you instant gratification. This was of promoting a quick, easy and "effective" way of putting on make up to make women feel beautiful and reassurance that you wont get "double crossed."

She ends the video by stripping off her clothes and ending in a tight and short red dress, and she walks away while doing a very much sexual "hair flip,"almost giving the impression of her saying "my job here is done."

The media will always want women to buy into their products by finding things that women feel insecure about. When one touches base with a moment in one's life where they have felt insecure, it is more probable that women will fall for their advertisements and buy their products to feel beautiful about themselves.

By: ANTONIO

Women in the HIP-HOP Industry

The third post on our POP Culture POParazzi is about the hip-hop industry, and how they have been very provocative on how they see women and how they are proclaimed. It is clear to me that "Women" are these things to flaunt and they must be a certain way to pass that criteria, in order to attract a certain group of people. They wear almost nothing in every videos I have seen, they seduce men with their looks and how they are dressed. Seems that people are so used to seeing this kind of picture, that they do not acknowledge on the other side of the story. Women are being downgraded, unappreciated, and definitely not respected for who they are. I don't just blame the industry for it, because some women are letting themselves be in that position, where none of the "rappers" show any respect for them.



 For example this video right above, seems to be harmless but if you listen to the words, and watch what women are doing, you will understand exactly what the hip-hop industry is doing to us. On a regular daily basis, women would not be okay if their men was to say, "I wish I could F*** every girl in the world," what is a woman suppose to say to that? That definitely shows how disrespectful men in the industry could be. To say such thing and expect every girls to love that music and actually listen to it. I listen to all sorts of genre's, being that I am a singer and song writer myself, I have an understanding on how the industry works. Women always seem to have it harder, because you have to look a certain way, a smaller size, and dressed as sexy as possible. Do we want to be proclaimed in a way we shouldn't be? Of course not. Respect is not given , it is gain. If women do not start respecting themselves, then this situation will only get worst. It is time to put a stop to this, and show them "We are not toys that can be play with, We are women that needs to be respected and treated with care."

By: CHESCA

Hairy Situation

So,this is the second posting of POP Culture POParazzi, obviously! I will be writing about the meaningless debacles concerning the style of women politicians,specifically Hillary Clinton. People have scrutinized Hillary about her hair length, saying that it is too long for someone her age! Exhibit A is shown to the left:

Her hair is clearly above her shoulders AND tousled back as well! I see no wrong in her hair length choice and its ridiculous that whats taken out of her speeches is how she wore her hair or how "long" she has grown it out. The focus of what she is trying to achieve is to better the United States NOT to make a fashion statement. Women are constantly being critiqued about their appearance! It's unfair because men are never critiqued about how long their hair is or anything about their appearance. Men have to cheat on their wives in order to be featured on covers of magazines and women sport a hair style that is too "long" and make headliners all over? The two are nowhere close to being equivalent! However, the media insists on picking apart politician and now Vice President, Hillary Clinton's hair choices. Exhibit B is shown below:

The New York Daily News and The Daily Mail had a field day with her choice of wearing a clip to the Global Initiative meeting, among other big names! It's sad that these people are not cutting the poor women any slack! I mean I know her job requires her to give speeches and whatnot but she wore a clip on her head not a cup! Even if she did choose to wear a cup on top of her head that should not matter or make her less attractive in any way! The woman is trying to solve the world's problems not win a beauty pageant! Her being criticized about her hair choices only proves that no matter who you are, if you are a women and do not satisfy or meet the standards of what the media considers "pretty" then it is you who are doing something wrong. Women get called "lazy" for not putting makeup on,but no one considers what that women has going on in her life. She could be a mom or a Vice President such as Hillary Clinton is but regardless she will still be critiqued! Totally unfair on so many levels!

By: JEN

Its all in the name (REAL HOUSE WIVES)

The first post on POP culture POParazzi, i feel honored! I will be blogging about reality TV, specifically Desperate housewives, and all of the REAL housewive TV shows on Bravo, and the way these shows degrade women. The portrayal of women through these tv shows is not only degrading, but false. It often gives us a false reality that we start to believe and then try to achieve.
The Real Housewives of DC finale was the episode i watched this week and will be blogging about. This episode was filled with trashy, caddy, lying and cheating women that continuely put eachother down. Well, this was not only this week but happens every week in this thrilling show. This week was an interview with the four main women of the Real housewives of DC and Andy Cohen, who does the interviewing. He asks them personal questions about the show in intent to stir up some heat. Questions like, Was it true when you said Kat was a lying a bitch? then will play reruns of the episode in which this insult was made causing Kat to get frusterated and a fight erupts. We began to get so involved because everyone LOVES to watch drama on TV! and thats exactly what these shows bring. We watch these caddy women duke it on TV and we begin to be so involved that we can't help but tune in! Inside we start to compare ourselves to these women in thought that this is what a real women looks and acts like, and we subconciously strive for this unrealistic image.

This week Michaele was sort of chewed up and spit out by the other house wives, particularly Kat. There was more fighting, pointing fingers, and name calling then i have seen on the shows in awhile. All the women called Michaele out on her lying habbits. Specifically about being a redskins cheerleader. This was indeed a lie that michaele dug herself into deeper and deeper. Everyone knew the truth but she refused to admit it. The other women sort of ganged up on her so im sure she felt pretty alone. This incident makes these women look so confrontational and judgemental that it hurts just watching it. I felt bad even just being tuned in. I think that this was a perfect example of the misconception of women and being caddy. They made such a bad image just by being so confrontational which in result hurt someones feelings and then they felt no guilt. That is not a real women, atleast not to me! women are compassionate and most stay out of drama and steer free from intentionally hurting someones feelings. These are the atributes that are unrealistic for women and give females a bad name.

We watch the fighting, the argueing, the name calling, along with the perfectly dressesd, well mannered, usually rich with the perfect husband, women, and start to imagine that that is how life is, when in fact, it is not. This is what the media wants! for us to get involved in these shows so that we become so tuned that we cant stop watching. When we start to compare our lives to these TV shows thats when we know that were hooked! the media has got a hold of us. Yes, we are all victims of this, and all fall for it. I watch these shows every week, but now with a concious idea of media literacy and awareness of the unrealistic factor of it.
STAY TUNED TO POP culture POParazzi!


By: CHELCIE