Final Post

I can't believe how fast this quarter flew by and that this is my last post! This was the first blog I have ever written and in having this blog I think it forced me to really examine the materials and concepts we talked about in class, and apply them to my life. A lot of the time I think most of us go through the motions of going to class and once were out of the classroom, we don't really think about how the course material relates to our every day life. But after taking this class and writing this blog, I became more aware of how much the media controls and affects our lives. I've always known in the back of my head that the media created and perpetuated stereotypes of the roles men, women and children in our society are supposed to fit, but I never realized the extent to which these stereotypes effect us.

I'm sure that everyone has heard the saying, "what you don't know can't hurt you," and thats kind of how I feel about the fact that now I'm more aware of the media, society and their pressures on us. Before I took this class I would overlook ads and their underlying messages, or television shows and the degrading roles they put women in, but now I notice everything and to be honest it makes me angry. When my roommates complain about guys not liking them, or being too fat, I get so upset that the media and our society has forced them, other girls my age, and myself to feel that we all need the attention of a guy, or to weigh a certain amount to be happy and confident. Then again, maybe this realization of the negative messages the media sends is a good thing. My generation is the future, and if everyone feels as I do- that the media places unrealistic expectations on us- maybe we can help to stop it.

Overall I thought that this was one of the only classes I have taken at OU that really made me think about the society around me and how it effects me. In writing this blog and the papers I think I evolved as a writer. I use to hate writing papers. I would sit for hours with nothing but my name and the date in the top corner of an otherwise blank paper, trying to find the right words to capture my thoughts. But because we have had to write papers and blogs that are for the most part just our thoughts, I have stopped thinking about the right words and learned to just write.