All of my artifacts included things that we see in our everyday lives. From photos of a strong man holding a seemingly vulnerable woman to a picture of a man pushing a stroller looking confused, this is what we see in the media daily. But how reflective are these images of what really goes on? How much can we generalize what we see on the television and in magazines to what really goes on? I’m not a vulnerable female, and I certainly don’t depend on men to take care of me, so according to the media what does that mean? If you were to take it to the extreme, which the media often does, I probably sound like I’m a bit butch or an extreme feminist. Why does that have to be the case when in all actuality, I’m just a straight female who knows how to take care of herself? The media is the reason, in my opinion for the many insecurities people have, however the media is what it is because we feed into it and we continue to go along with the status quo which is influenced by both us and the media.

All of the theories I’ve related images back to, the identification theory, psychodynamic theory, social learning theory, the media and self concept, and reflected appraisal theory, to name a few all aide in developing who we are from our upbringing according to each individual theory. That being said, however, the media is still a very huge factor. The identification theory, how many little girls do you see on television who wants to wear their fathers’ cologne and not their mother’s makeup? Social learning theory, how many little girls under five years of age are playing with little boys and playing cars with them?  Even the psychodynamic theory, the theory that is supposed to relate to how family dynamics influence behavior and identification, how many girls are really given the task of taking out the garbage when there is a male available? And media and self-concept, how many real plus sized models are there, and who deemed “plus” to begin with a size 10?

The media is not all bad however, there are some women playing empowering roles where they are fully clothed and are not seen as sex-objects, and there are some male roles where they are real fathers, are capable of cooking and cleaning as well as having relationships with there children. My point is not to say that the media is neither good nor bad, but to point out the fact that it is our responsibility to take from the media in moderation. To not become what the media says you should be but to allow the media to show a representation of who you are. In conclusion, if this change were to happen there would certainly be more little girls whose favorite color is blue and more openly gays. Additionally, there would be more people who are happy and less who are depressed because they don’t fit the proper “pretty girl” description. There would be less discrimination and more acceptance, but could that happen?