Today in class we discussed about the negative impacts the posts in Yik-Yak has. Yik-Yak’s popularity has two reasons: close proximity and anonymity. After the class I was curious to know what adverse effects  Yik-Yak has brought since its inception in November 2013.I was shocked to find out the number of negative effects it has in our community.The most serious was the use of Yik-Yak to spread messages of threat in the college community.The news report I have attached with gives several example of the crimes that has occurred with the use of Yik-Yak.One particular example is the post of a student at Towson University.He posted a message saying ” “I plan on shooting up this [expletive] school on October 4th.” Because of the incident the college administration had to immediately work with FBI and the police to increase security at the university.However later it was discovered that a student posted that because he was nervous that he would not get good grades in his classes.

As the teens who are not matured enough, use this medium extensively and substantially( multiple hours in a day), it increases the chances of similar incidents repeating.The report also includes an incident when Yik-Yak was used to popularize a sex tape of a college student made by another student posted on a pornography site.It has been just a year and a half that Yik Yak was introduced and several criminal activities have been occurred because of the use of Yik-Yak. Yik-Yak may have a lot of advantages of helping people know what what other people feel however its adverse effects are big enough to question its existence.

Here’s the link to the news report on Washington post:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2014/10/07/how-do-you-solve-a-problem-like-yik-yak/

This was without a doubt the most shocking and powerful film that we viewed all semester. The way that they showed the way the victims’ point of view, and the way all of these cases that came up somehow nothing ever managed to get done. This is a real problem that is continuing to grow nationwide. All of these presidents at these various universities and colleges that choice to ignore these extremely serious problems are just wrong. I cannot imagine having a student come into my office crying their eyes out, telling me that they were raped and doing absolutely nothing about it. I would not be able to look myself in the mirror if knew that it was in control to help these people and did nothing about. I really liked how at the end of the film they showed the growth of support that this group of victims was gaining from each school that they went to.

After the discussion that we had in class about Yik Yak it really peaked my interest and caused me re-download the app. What I saw in class was sadly very similar to what I saw on there now. When I had the app before I never really noticed anything such as that. I feel as though the reason that these types of comments normally come into the picture is because of controversial topics that people do not fully understand. These comments are not okay and are extremely racist. The fact that this is still the way that some people this is just kind of sad. Not only is it sad but it has to change. This way of thinking is something that is taught by parents and continues work its way down. We as humans have come too far to continue to be that narrow minded as people. There needs to be change as a society on both sides.

I came across a Ted talk video that was organized at Lafayette College a year ago.This talk is relevant to two topics discussed in the class: 1) Does sex sell? 2)Photoshopification.The speaker gives several examples of advertisements over the years which used sex as a means to sell a product.Her statement “Ads sell more than just products” explains her talk in a  sentence.This talk focuses on how advertisements are using women not just to sell their products but also are changing the attitudes women have about themselves  and also the perception of women in today’s world.The saying by Cindy Crawford ” I wished I looked like Cindy Crawford” summarizes the extent in which  photoshop is used today’s advertising.She also mentions about two examples where sex is used in advertisement of food products including fast food.She states that such advertisements don’t directly cause violence against women but normalizes the dangerous and threatening attitudes toward women. Her analysis of the difference between portrayal of men and women in advertising is worth discussion.

After today’s discussion about Yik Yak it really got me thinking if it should be considered a freedom of speech. I agree people should be able to say and want, but they need to also be able to own up to what they say. People post on this site because they don’t actually want to represent what they say. If you are going to say such harsh and hurtful things these people need to own up to what they are saying. I think Yik Yak can be funny when posts are hurtful to others, but overall it has grown to be a place where people post things they don’t want their name tagged to.

I found this article about feminist film theory that I though would be helpful for the exam. Feminist film theory is a cultural practice against the myths and stereotypes of women seen in film. Read this article if you need some help for the exam!

http://www.annekesmelik.nl/TheCinemaBook.pdf

I watched this documentary after the presentations on Tuesday and was very intrigued by the whole incident. I thought that it was a very strong and compelling documentary that really captured my attention. I couldn’t help to be frustrated with the way the five were being treated when brought into questioning and how the detectives handled the whole situation. It reminded me of the Amanda Knox case in which the officials questioned the suspect for long hours, breaking them down and exhausting them in order to get the report they wanted. The case was mishandled and as a result five lives will never be the same.

Last night I thought all the presentations were outstanding, but the one that caught my intention the most was the “Does Sex Sell?” presentation. After last night, I don’t think sex is needed to sell products, but it is technique that companies adapted to voice their brand to the public. Even in Other presentations about different topics we saw companies using women to attract men to their product. It was also interesting to hear that many of the women in our class were more disturbed then enticed to buy a product that presented sex in their ads. I believe companies should get away from using this technique but it has become a common way to introduce the public to there problem. Hopefully some day we can get back to polar bears and screaming children in the grocery store.

Hey guys,

I wanted to start this off and say that I thought everybody’s presentations were really interesting. The variety of topics addressed and researched were pretty cool. I learned a lot about student athletes, social media literacy, the pervasive nature of sex in advertisement, and the effect of various movie trailer styles.

The topic I wanted to address specifically was the “sex sells” conversation. I thought that commercial illuminating the widespread influence of ideal body image advertising (the one with the young red haired girl) to be particularly powerful. How much do you guys think sex in advertising, specifically television commercial advertising adds to the societal pressure felt by women, specifically young women, to adhere to what society has defined as the “ideal body image”.? Probably a run on sentence, but an interesting question to ponder regardless.

On that note, I think this form of body-altering pressure stemming from television advertising is not the main contributor to this issue, but certainly a significant component. Furthermore, I think the issue is bigger than advertisements, posters, fashion shows, and clothing size inventory values in retailers. I think the influence of television shows, not particularly commercials to be a larger contributor to this issue of body image adherence. We see hundreds of attractive men and women alike in television shows as actors and actresses. Of course there are not strictly actors and actresses categorized as “beautiful” on television, but largely in part these entertainment employees are made to match these standards society has structured. We watch our favorite shows, talk about them with our friends, even watch them socially. We talk about how attractive a particular actor or actress is, or how they look in a particular outfit, or the opposite. We are identifying and comparing their body images to the “ideal” archetype culture and society has prescribed. It is from this that we are able to use words defining in any way physical traits. If we did not have this foundation, we would have no basis from which to form and then express our own opinions. This is interesting to think about. What then, would we call beautiful or inversely unattractive (physically) without an initial example or basis?

As pertinent as this foundation is to have, it is also severely damaging to individuals, as they strive through methods ranging in severity to adhere to these body image ideals as closely as possible. This “Barbie-Doll figure” for young women is the catalyst for so much stress and social hierarchical structuring throughout much of their social development (ages 6-22) vis-a-vis institutionalized education. (*Note, I am largely in part talking about America, as that is the culture I find myself within, but large portions of my arguments apply internationally) It is damaging to men and women of all ages, yet we cannot escape it. How then, can we reduce the negative social impact this pervasive body image ideal has on society?