Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Taylor Swift has Girl Power


Taylor Swift is today's definition of girl power. While she is not your typical thought of a powerful girl (she does not appear to be physically strong or intimidating) she has climbed up the ladder of success herself using her own talents. Most of her songs tend to be about love and relationships, and while we learned in class that most media targeted to women and young girls is about geting a man, one cannot deny that to have love and relationships are a part of life. While I'll agree that that is not the best message to constantly send to women and girls, it is true however that relationships with others are an important aspect of our lives as human beigns. It is unavoidable that someone will not at least be infatuated with someone else. That does not make this person weak for conforming to society's standards, it just makes that person, well, human.


While one may not think that always singing about love and loss in sappy songs would make someone powerful, they should think again. Taylor Swift actually writes all of her own songs and performs them in crowds by the thousands. While she may not be the strongest girl out there, she is sending a positive message to women and young girls that it is okay to have feelings and it is okay to share them with others.

Subliminal Messaging in Children's Cartoons

After learning about children's media in this class, I remembered hearing rumors back when I was in high school that there was dirty images in Disney movies. I did some research and I did find a couple of drawings in some of these cartoons, such as "The Little Mermaid," that did look like a certain male body part. Coincidence, maybe? Recently, I did research on subliminal messaging in children's cartoons and I found the video above. While I do think it is wrong to have these sexual messages in shows directed towards kids, I don't believe the meanings of these messages are meant for the kids, but rather the parents that are stuck watching these cartoons with their kids. When I was younger, I would have never picked up on all of the sexual innuendos that were used on cartoons. Parents on the other hand, would. The point of these messages is not to sexualize children early, but rather to entertain the parents that have to sit through a thirty minute television show about a sponge that lives under the sea. I believe that the writers of these messages are just simply trying to give the parents watching these cartoons a good, harmless laugh.