Media is the message and the messenger. I agree with this statement due to multiple reasons. Many people get their inspiration from television humor, celebrities on TV, and even begin to purchase items viewed on television. There are numerous forms of media that portrays sexist ideals, however, I believe television is one of the main influences to sexism. This reminds me of the exploitation of celebrities on television, especially certain powerful women. This comes to mind with the Comedy Central Roast of Bob Saget. During this roast, there were obviously many hurtful jokes aimed directly at Bob Saget. Saget was a popular icon in the show Full House starring Mary-Kate Olsen. Many of these jokes aimed at the center person being roasted, Bob Saget, also involved Mary-Kate Olsen. These jokes were very sexist and crude, putting out the message that the Olsen twins are lower in the human rankings than Bob Saget. . John Stamos:
referencing Bob Saget. "His entire job consisted of saying "take a look at this." Which is what he used to say to Mary-Kate Olsen in her dressing room."
Jeffrey Ross:
[to Saget] "Full House" should've been called
"Blackjack" 'cause you hit on the Olsens when they were eight, you
didn't stop till they were 21.The media, television, is putting out the message that the Olsen twins were sexually abused and powerless thanks to Bob Saget. Regardless if these statements are true, they are dehumanizing the Olsen twins and portraying the message that they were not in control compared to Bob Saget, the male figure in Full House. This gives viewers the idea that Olsen twins were abused and that making sexually crude jokes against them is socially acceptable.
Dehumanizing women based on tradition. I agree with this in the sense that both men and women have stereotypical roles in society. My girlfriend cooks and cleans while I work and go to the gym. There is already a rise in the stereotypical gender roles in my relationship, much like the standard views of society. Many men believe it is humorous to reference girls as sex objects, often dehumanizing them. A perfect parallel to the popular stereotypical dehumanization is the video on youtube titled "Show Me Your Genitals". This video may appear silly at first, but it has reached over sixty million views. Some fairly obvious quotes that dehumanize women and portray them as symbols of sex rather than meaningful human beings include: "Women are stupid and I don't respect them, that's right, I just have sex with them." This is the opening quote and immediately brings down women as objects that are not respected in this man's view. Now this quote is very demeaning so obviously there have to be many people that disagree with it. However, only 7% of the people that chose to like or dislike the video actually disliked it. That means 93% of viewers found this video hilarious or agreed with the quotes. "You're talking to me about stuff. Why? I'd rather see your titties." "I can't have sex with your college degree and I can't put my penis in your personality." Jon Lajoie, the creator of this video, most likely had intentions to bring women down and portray men as powerful and important. This video is over five years old and is still watched today. Five years is not a long time compared to the birth of man, but women were always traditionally viewed as less powerful than men. Men still today agree and portray most women as sex symbols who talk too much. This video is obvious proof that people traditionally still find jokes against women as humorous.
I really liked what you had to say about media being the message and the messenger. As far as the "Show me your genitals" song goes, I feel like that is another great example of mainstream sexism that's widely accepted and viewed. When media and sexism combine it only gets worse.
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