Modern Teens and the Media-Saturated World: New Curricula for Dating

Violence Prevention

presented by

Laura Plotkin, Youth AdvocateCarlin Whitehouse, Youth Educator

Young Adult Abuse Prevention Program

The world of youth is media-saturated.

Feature films are the result of years of

scientific study combined with the experience

of years

Feature films are the result of years of

scientific study combined with the experience

of years

What is “media literacy?”

Media literacy:

Provides the framework to access, analyze, evaluate, and create

messages in a variety of forms –from print, to imagery, to internet.

From The Center for Media Literacy

Builds an understanding of the role of media in society, as well as essential skills of inquiry and self-expression necessary for

citizens of a democracy.

Media literacy:

From The Center for Media Literacy

“For better or worse, media culture is our culture and we cannot hope to own

it without understanding it.”Rick Shepherd

Media Awareness Network

Media Literacy is NOT…

Center for Media Literacywww.medialit.org

NOT…Replacing the students’ perspectives with ours.

NOT…Promoting cynicism, but about teaching skepticism.

NOT…Critiquing media without giving students the skills to analyze it for themselves.

NOT…Telling youth what media to watch or not to watch, but

teaching them to watch carefully.

The Goal?

Center for Media Literacywww.medialit.org

Critical Thinking Skills!

What process goes on behind the

scenes to construct this message?

What creative techniques are used

to attract my attention?

Why is this message

being sent?

Center for Media Literacywww.medialit.org

Who gains profit and power from

creating the message?

Center for Media Literacywww.medialit.org

What values, lifestyles, and points of view are

represented in, or omitted from, this

message?

Center for Media Literacywww.medialit.org

How might different people understand

this message differently?

Center for Media Literacywww.medialit.org

So, why teach media literacy from a

feministpoint-of-view?

“You can’t turn a street corner without seeing a woman being used to sell something (anything) – and really, what’s being sold is her. It’s us.”

Jessica Valenti, Author of He’s a Stud, She’s a Slut and 49 Other Double Standards Every

Woman Should Know

Because, over and over, the media shows us rigid

gender roles for men and women.

Because the media normalizes violence, specifically violence

against women.

America’s Next Top Model

Grand Theft Auto IV grossed $500 million worldwide in the first five days of sales.

www.gameinformer.com

Last year 5,000 ads promoted Star Trek, Transformers, and

G.I. Joe movies before 8pm on Nickolodeon, Nicktoons, Disney

XD, and Cartoon Network.

Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood

By age 18 the average child

will have witnessed 200,000acts of violence and 6,000

murders on television.

Facts and Figures about our TV HabitTV Turnoff Network

From 2004 to 2009, TV violence increased 2%.

Women In Peril: A Look at TV’s Disturbing New Storyline Trend

Parents Television Council, Oct. 2009

During that same period, the incidence of violence

against women on TV increased 120%.

Stereotypes create a belief that one group

is better than another

Stereotypes create rigid roles and limitations for men

and women

Analyzing Advertisements

3. Cultural Message:What you will gain by fitting into the gender stereotype.

1. Describing what you see:

People, objects, text, etc.

2. Advertiser’s message:What you will gain by using their product.

Cultural Messages:

Does the Media Encourage

Unhealthy Relationships?

exaggeration of male stereotypical behavior

A person presented

as an object.

violence

Violence inAdvertising

How does

hyper-masculinity

impact relationships?

How does objectificationinfluence relationships?

When asked what they liked most about our program, students answered:

“Seeing how they sneak in sexist meanings in the program, or advertisements.”

“Watching the advertisements and seeing how much influence they have on people without us noticing.”

“The commercial and then analyzing them after and realizing how much is really in an ad.”

“Seeing the ads I see everyday but in a different way.”

“Watching ads and actually thinking about them.”

“Learning how people make women look so sexy all the time and not powerful.”