Blog 7. Music Video

 Music videos: Britney Spears 'Baby hit me one more time'

This music video along with the lyrics’ sends off a negative stereotype and message to teenage girls. Firstly Britney spears being a young pop singer who is very famous with songs that are directly focused at teenagers and young adults has a lot of influence on teenage girls. In this clip Britney Spears dresses up as a 'school girl' in a very provocative way. Her schoolgirl outfit consisting with her skirt being short her white blouse being tied up to show her stomach and her hair in two plaits with pink pigtails gives off the impression of her being a younger teenage girl. This representation of Britney on teenage girls is not a good one, because she is a famous person and teenage girls look at her and potentially want to be her and in this clip they see her as being the centre of attention by both girls and boys and is wearing clothes that would show lots more skin (her midriff) then a normal girl would wear especially if they were having to wear a school uniform. This again puts a skinny pretty blonde girl wearing less clothes then a normal teenager into the spot light to be loved for what she looks like and the song she has produced. Watching her as a singer in this clip the way she dances like  for example at 00:31 seconds can send of the impression that that is the way you have to dance which is in a slightly sexual way in order to become someone whom produces these videos and gets this attention. This shows young teenager's how to act which can have a big influence in the girls watching this then trying to live up to this standard not being completely who they are as a person but trying to be someone else. As well as people form wider areas of society viewing this clip it can have a negative influence on due to the fact that Britney Spears is dressed inappropriately for a school girl which could create a stereotype for teenage school girls because of the provocative way Britney as a school girl has been portrayed. As-well as the lyrics she is singing which consists of  'When I'm not with you i lose my mind, Give me a sign, Hit me, baby, one more time' when being an audience hearing those lyrics who are supposed to be coming from a girl that is aged round 16 doesn't give off the best impression due to the fact that the song is about a boy and wanting I'm back, this is therefore not what society should be seeing because its giving the false impression that it is what all teenage girls act like and also what they are focused on which is boys and relationships. The lyrics consisting of "when I'm not with you I lose my mind" this makes out that Britney as a school girl is ratter desperate for this boy and cannot handle being without him, as a teenage girl watching and listening to this song as well as other songs like Taylor Swift - You Belong With Me. Taylor and Britney are both singing about boys and wanting them back or wanting to be back with them. In Taylor's song she is also perceived as a teenage girl. These two very popular songs can cause issues to do with how girls listening feel about themselves this is because seeing these two famous singers singing about boys can make you think that this is the way that it should be that you should be dependent on a boy and should always want a relationship. This perception of how Taylor and Britney sing about boys is somewhat unrealistic to most teenage girls or just not as focused on as not all teenage girls are focused on getting that boy back or to even have one in the first place. The consequences that can be extrapolated from these two videos as well as Justin Biebers video 'Baby" the two female singers both sing about boys and Justin sings about a girl. With these famous teenage singers and many more you always she same trend if they sing about love it’s about a person of the opposite sex, never singing about a same sex person. Seeing this over and over is creating an unreal image that differs allot from reality as there are many homosexual people. The songs communicate to teenage girls what a relationship should be like it creates the image that opposite sex relationships are what is 'normal' this can damage teenage girls as what you see and hear over and over again can make you as a person second guess what you believe in or what you feel because only seeing one side of sexuality can make you think that that is the only thing that is accepted into society when really that is not the case but the impression of what these songs are giving off doesn't support same sex relationships. Through the choice of what these singers choose to portray in their clips and lyrics’ is up to them the use portray these girl boy relationships due to the fact that that is what is perceived to be perfect and makes people listen to their music more because in some ways they try to relate it to their own life’s.

Blog 6. Magazine images.

Teen Magazine.

Cleo is a magazine that is made in New Zealand this issue of Cleo is May 2013 which Nicole Richie on the front cover. 
How the representation affects teenage girls? the reasons/consequences for any differences you notice between the media's representation and reality. what might be the effects of the representation on teenage girls?

Firstly on the cover of this teen magazine we see a picture of Nicole Richie looking very 'hot' and 'sexy'. Not only by this picture do we see her being rather thin but also from other media sections we see Nicole Richie who carrys the conitations and is known for being famous, thin, fashionable been Paris Hiltons friend, Married to Joel, Famous singer and an extreme party girl. Just this simple picture on a front of a magazine can have such a large impact on the readers of the magazine. It is again putting the impression out there on teenage girls that this is what you have to be like to be on the cover of a major magazine, you have to be stunning, incredibly thin, wear those clothes and wear load of make up. This representation of what is good enough to be on the front cover of a magazine is extremely dangerous in its self. This is because many teenage girls whom are repetitively seeing these stick thin models on the front covers of magazines whom seem to have everything going for them can make themselves feel personally 'out casted' as this is what society sees as beautiful and if you do not reach up too the standard of this image you are there fore not good enough. Aslo if girls see this picture of Nichole Richie and then decide they want to be thin like her they could also find pictures like these bellow of her being extremely dangerously thin, this can cause again a girl to have a person like this and see them as a 'role model' and there for can aim to be like them which can cause extreme physical and mental issues potentially being anorexia or bulimia.

http://top-10-list.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Nicole-Richie.jpg

http://www.dailysquib.co.uk/thumbnail.php?file=/nicole_richie_concentration_camp_diet_413925313.jpg&size=article_medium

The girls that are seeing images like these in magazines over and over majority of them differ from reality. For example Cleo magazine may 2013 issue has an average of thirty four pages that have models or famous people advertising clothes to purchase. not one of the models wearing any of the clothes would be thought to be 'over weight' all of the models are either very skinny or skinny. The media does this because it makes the clothes look better on a skinny person and it will aslo make the reader possibly like them better to then go and buy them. having all these models in a Cleo magazine is unrealistic as today not everyone is extremely skinny and no one needs to be. The media's perception of a gorgeous women is always a thin women. With the media displaying us with these women always being perfect can have huge consequences and you really ever see a disabled women or teenager in a magazine like Cleo, Dolly, Cosmopolitan and so on, because of this straight edged perfect women we always see can affect mostly those whom are reading the magazine and had a disability. Constantly seeing this representation of a wealthy skinny thin beautiful women spread over the pages of the magazines can cause people with disabilities to not feel accepted or not feel 'normal' enough to ever come close to being in one of those magazines.It can cause teenage girls to have extreme insecurity issues and constantly be upset by the way the look or what disability they may have, when in reality there are allot of people with disabilities and everyone one of them is beautiful in their own way as well as people whom don't have disability. What most teenage girls don't realise when reading these magazines and looking at the gorgeous perfect model  is that majority of them are actually photo shopped to look 'perfect'.

Through out this video clip we see stars like Megan Fox, Kim Kardashian and many more of the most beautiful women in the world. In magazines all we see is the Photoshop artists' produced fake image of what is perceived in society's mind as perfection but in reality the pictures before are what is normal, yes they may have light coloured skin or a scar or a freckle but it is still beautiful. This has a massive impact on teen girls lives as all they see is the end result not the beginning which can lead to self hatred due to the way they look. Girlfriend magazine did a survey on 1000 girls that buy the magazine and according to their statistics 25% don't like what they see in the mirror, only 9% are proud of what they look like, 45% have been on a diet, 56% have skipped meals, 35% have cut out a meal group, 19% have thrown up after eating, 32% have over exercised, 45% have known someone who has been diagnosed with an eating disorder and 67% feel bad about themselves when they compare themselves to their friends. These statistics are alarming as the media helps add to this as when teenage girls see models they look up to them and try to live up to their standards that are no were near healthy for young girls which correlates with teen depression and suicide, this is all down to us comparing ourselves to the images we see. 



 Aslo what is expressed in this magazine is relationships, there is a sector from page 111 to 124 that is called 'love and lust'. The first page with Ryan Gosling on it then more and more articles with the titles 'the girl who can get any girl she wants' 'Relationships sos' and 'after the climax' all of these articles have pictures of a female and a male. Then a 'Rebels with a cause' spread of half naked men with perfect bodies. With these articles there are many things wrong, firstly the fact that all the relationship advice and stories are all to do with male and female. This article being on page 112 is a two page article about relationships with the title being 'relationship sos' this article is about a couple, with a section on what she says and what he says then what the psychologist says. This couple that is seeking relationship advice and explaining how their relationship is going. This can be a big problem with teenage girls because if they are in a relationship then they are likely to compare their relationship and what they think it should be like. This could potentially cause large problems as every relationship is different so there fore the advice that the psychologist is giving doesn't usually apply to all readers but teenage girls whom are reading this may be new or rather nieve to these type of things and not fully understand that they are not applicable to every relationship so there for could cause even more problems in a relationship that they were trying to fix. Also these type of relationship advice articles can show single teenage girls 'what your relationship should and shouldn't be like' this can leave teenage girls searching for the relationship that fits an article criteria getting their values twisted because they will be searching for the wrong thing. This is the media's way of implicating subtly on what relationships should be like when it is clear that same sex relationships are not everyones choice they are portraying what the think is the 'idealogical' relationship. Teenage girls who may be going through a stage of discovering there sexuality and have feelings towards another female may be offended or may be made to feel as though it is not OK for same  sex relationships to occur when all they are seeing in these magazines are relationship advice of 'how to get your perfect guy' and so on. It can cause these teenagers to hide who they really are and not feel comfortable in their own lives because they will feel as though they are some type of out cast due to what these magazines portrayal of what a relationship should be like. When New Zealand has legalised same-sex marriage it is obvious to everyone that same sex relationships have become more open and excepted in New Zealand so why are magazines restricting themselves to male and female relationships but not homosexual relationships. The other thing about what the magazine that could have negative effects on teenage girl readers the is protrail of the 'rebles with a cause' males.

  http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/p480x480/
66945_526748590682038_1289263849_n.jpg

This  picture to the right are pictures of Luke Jones who is 21 form the Cleo magazine May 2013 issue. This picture of a male rugby player is one in the 6 page spread. These pictures are creating a stereotype of what a 'perfect' guy is. Which is all looks and a good body. They magazine uses this spread to show girls what kind of all round 'perfect' guys are out there.This representation of what males look like can cause extreme negative effects because in reality not all men look like that. Not all men have the looks or the body or play rugby or any sport for matter. Due to this stereotype the Cleo magazine has created of what men should be like can cause girls to believe that this is the perfect guy. It can cause teenage girls to only want to date someone who is up to this standard. This can leave a large majority of girls interested in looks rather then personality which can greatly effect them in the long run because they may not be the right person for them. It can also make teenage boys feel insecure about themselves when they know that all girls are looking for is a boyfriend that reaches this standard when most of the time this is not what all men look like. These images can make girls think that this is what girls need to date as 'this is the perfect guy'. 

Another article in the magazine is one that is called 'the girl who can get any guy she wants' this article talks about a girl whom is writing about another girl that explains that she can get any guy that she wants the whole full paged article goes on to tell the story of how she got the the guy then has a side bar of 'Adren' tips for picking up' there are 6 different tips like number 5 being 'wear red- it has been proven to increase sexual attraction' this article which is again used omission material to reinforce the message of opposite sex relationships are the correct way to go. Extremely gender specific. This article basically tells you what to do to get the guy this can cause a teenage girl to put these into practice and the writers of this article could not necessarily intended for a 16 or round that aged girl to be reading it they could have intended that it was meant for young adults being 20-24 so there for the content of what they have written about can be influenced incorrectly to an audience of teenage girls but because teenage girls majority of the time like to act older than they are would purchase a Cleo magazine which has articles about sex and life rather than a creme that might be more about not fighting with your friends and so on. This can cause a negative effect because it can teach teenage girls things that they should not yet be too worried about like tips to picking up a guy so therefore can in a sense make the teenage girls grow up faster than they should to live up to the standard of the article in the magazine and live like the girls in the magazine live or to put the tips into practice when in actual fact what is portrayed in the magazines often differs to reality due to the fact not everything works on everyone but they use articles like these to portray these 'perfect' girls lives that seem great from the outside to give the readers false hope that if they put into practice what they have done it will definitely work with you when that is not always the case and that is where teenage girls fall into the trap because they do not understand what is unrealistic to put into practise into their own lives and what is. 

Be who you are not what the media wants you to be.

Blog 5. Mean girls & Representations

The reasons/consequences for any differences you notice between the media representation and reality. what might be the effect of the representation on teenage girls? The reasons/implications/consequences for why the stereotypes/messages and/or values have been crated by the representation. 

Throughout the film Mean Girls you are presented with Regina's mum Mrs George. Regina's mum is a 'young and hip' mum, we know this by the use of dialogue through Mrs George  'I just want you to know, if you ever need anything, don't be shy, OK? There are NO rules in the house. I'm not like a *regular* mom, I'm a *cool* mom.' this shows that Regina's mum is wanting to be more of a friend to Regina as well as her friends rather then just a mother to Regina. We also seeing Regina's mum trying to be young which is shown through another use of dialogue [as Regina and her boyfriend are making out on Regina's bed] 'Can I get you guys anything? Some snacks? A condom? Let me know! Oh, God love ya'. In the picture bellow it shows us a bit of the costume used on Reginas mum and also in this scene we see how costume is used in  a way to portray her as a 'cool' mum. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rl6UoYiBp-M They have used costume by putting Regina's mum into a pink slim fitting velvet tracksuit and loads of make up. Regina's mum is a mum that has no boundaries at all and loves her daughters life it is almost like Regina's mum wishes she was still young and was doing what her daughter does. I believe that because the movie is portraying Regina's mum of being so cool and giving her daughter whatever she wants and letting her do what she wants it could all be wound up by teenage girls as what they want their mum to be like and what she should be like, when in reality its allot different because every mother is different and have different rules and regulations. It could cause a teenage girl to expect more of her mother to let her do more, for example when she says 'there are NO rules in this house' or 'can i get you guys anything.. a condom?' she is obviously very relaxed where as allot of the girls viewing this movie their mums might not be okay with that kind of sexual behaviour with their teenagers  because they may have stronger values in that section of life. The director of mean girls has put Regina's life to make it seem like she has quite a perfect with a big house, pretty face, rich and popular all of that has a large reflection on how her mum acts and treats her which leaves teenage girl viewers wanting this type of mother in order to get the complete 'perfect life'. This is allot difffernet to how majority of mums are but making Reginas mum like this completes Regina as someone who has everything and as a viewr watching this it can make you wish that your life was like that. This is all strictly just because Regina's mum has different values compared to most girls mothers in reality, which majority of views will think is a better thing as she is 'cool' but usually that is not what is strictly needed from a parent.

Blog 4. Mean Girls & Society.

How the representation affects society's perception of and/or attitude to teenage girls?

Throughout the film Mean Girls, teenage girls are represented through different social classifications of different groups that are made up of people identified as having common characterises, such as the typical 'plastics' in this case also known as the 'Mean Girls' as well as having the 'Asian Nerds' 'desprite wannabies' 'Burn Outs' and so on. The group that includes the 'plastics' is a group where the girls are stated as 'mean' girls, with in this group there is the  'dumb blonde' which is Karen, we were shown this in the scene where Karen says that she can sense when it is going to rain with her breasts which obviously isn’t realistic and therefore is classed as being dumb http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0PpEoKHlO0 . The next girl that is in the plastics group is Gretchen Wieners is along with Karen a sidekick to Regina, She is really pretty and comes from a extremely wealthy family. Gretchen comes across very pleased with her social status we get this impression by her saying 'Im sorry that people are so jealous of me... but I can’t help that I’m so popular' then finally is Regina George, whom is the leader of the plastics. She is blonde and said by a fellow student 'evil takes human form in Regina George'. She is the top queen bee at North shore High School. Through the representation of teenage girls that is shown by this group called the plastics would skew society’s perception of teenage girls today immensely. For example http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1lZKwggG0c In this scene it first shows Regina and Cady talking over the phone, they are talking about Gretchen and the spring fling, Regina then goes on to call Gretchen not very pretty so therefore she won’t win and also says that Karen is a slut. Within 32 seconds of this scene Regina has said horrible things about her so called friends, Cady then tells Gretchen something that Regina had said then Gretchen goes on to tell Karen something and Karen then lies to Regina about being sick so she can’t go out. This circle of lies represents to society that teenage girls are bitchy and backstabber's which is thought already by society so this is just backing up that theory that they already have. This can cause the consequence of society thinking that all teenage girls are like this and can there for have a negative opinion on them that is not always true, this scene is showing society something that is not exactly reality or in this case just extremely exaggerated as not all teenage girls are back stabber's and so on. These films make people believe that the characters in the films are exactly like reality. This next scene also would affect society’s perception to teenage girls, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbMEhj_hZL0 because of the costume they are wearing and what actions they are doing. The costume that is in the short clip bellow shows allot of skin because they are very little costumes sending off the image that they are confident 'slutty' and love themselves. Due to the outfits that they are wearing this gives an audience the impression of what all teenage girls are like and also the moves that they are doing in this Jingle Bell Christmas song dance are very sexual and probably not appropriate for the audience that were watching them dance this would give off a bad impression to the audience also and could curve society’s stereotype of teenage girls of being stuck up and inappropriate which can cause society to act negatively towards all teenage girls where there is quite a large difference from what the teenage girls are like in ‘Mean Girls’ then to what teenage girls are like in reality.

.

Blog 3. Mean Girls Represntation.

How does the representation affect teenage girls?

The movie 'Mean Girls' by Mark Warters sends the a poor representation of teenage girls to the viewers, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=re5veV2F7eY In this scene when Cady Heron first meets the 'Plastics' she is portrayed in wearing no makeup, plain hair tied back and natural, she is wearing jeans and a checked shirt. When we first see Cady she seems to be innocent and unaware of girls like the girls in the "plastics” group. Cady has only a few friends and is not noticed much by anyone. When Cady first sits down to eat with the plastics she has on her tray a normal amount of food consisting of a milk of some kind and three different pieces of food. This is significant as near the finish of the film Cady is like a different girl, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VF06kEKGUk in this scene Cady is wearing a lot of makeup and her hair is down and curled, she is wearing large hoop earrings, she’s wearing a pink tank top and is only eating a salad, apple and a diet coke. This shows a complete change in how Cady is viewed as she is now with the popular group and people notice her and in order to be in this group it shows that she has to wear less, wear more makeup, look "pretty" and eat less to be cool and popular to then fit in with the other girls. I believe that teenage girls watching this film could take away extremely negative ideas about this representation of Cady. For example teenage girls may feel that they should put this practice into theory about being all those things about wearing your hair in a certain way, wearing makeup in order to be the most popular girl in the school this could also lead to girls attempting to be the leader of the school knocking out all the girls in their way, when I say this I mean they can be nasty and horrible to girls just so they can be the leader and have power over others. The representation that is portrayed of Cady is showing how she had to change dramatically in order to be the best; she turned into someone whom she is not. I fear that this can make teenage girls feel insecure about their selves making them want to go through these dramatic changes and totally trying to be someone who they are not. This representation of Cady I believe would hit the pre-teens or younger teens watching this rather than older teenagers who would watch the film, this is because pre-teens or young teens wouldn’t understand as such that it’s not good to be how Cady turned out where as older girls would have learnt along the way that you do not need to change who you are to become 'popular' because that is not important. This representation is basically sending a harsh message through the use of costume and props to portray that being unpopular and un noticed looks like this:

And sending out a message that you need to be materialistic like Cady in the pictures bellow and having to look like the photos bellow to be popular and liked:

All photos from google images.