ML Week Two: Exploring Media Representations of Gender

This week we are exploring media representations about gender.  Yesterday we began exploring this topic by watching Byron Hurt’s documentary Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes. In this film, Hurt takes a critical look at hip hop and messages about masculinity, gender violence and homophobia.

Before watching the film, students broke into groups based on gender, and named all of the stereotypes and expectations around what it means to be a girl/woman and what it means to be a boy/man. This activity led to a discussion about the pressures and ideals both men and women face when growing up.

Screening the ITVS Community Classroom version of the film worked well with our time frame; the film is edited into four 5- 7 minute modules with discussion questions.

Students then discussed the roles and responsibilities of artists, audiences, media owners and parents. Should shared responsibility exist? Some students felt that some stakeholders should carry more than others. See a video clip of this discussion here:

We also had a broader discussion about how hip hop, music, and media in general, can shape and mirror our society’s expectations around gender and other aspects of identity.

 

 

In response to the film “Beyond Beats and Rhymes,” Jasmine wrote:

“…  I have my own opinion about the music that come out today. Today the music that most teens listen to is rap, and rap music have an affect on how we as teens think, feel, and understand problems in life. The rap music that music to me is disrespectful, harsh, and out of control. Rappers these days have no respect for women. I have now understand that the reason rap music is like that is because of the media. The media I guess the rappers to go harder or take it to another level. When we watched the video “Beyond Beats & Rhymes“ Someone was saying “Nobody wants to be outside the box.” Meaning street rappers or any rappers, singer don’t want to be on a lower level then anybody else.”

Later in the week, students read a brief excerpt of Joan Morgan’s book titled When Chicken-heads Come Home to Roost which explores the author’s conflicted feelings about hip hop and gender representation.

Here is a video clip of  discussion following the reading:

On Beauty: Interpreting, Internalizing and Imagining

Today students viewed two powerful documentaries that explore intersections of media stereotypes and messages about beauty.

In A Girl Like Me, a 2005 award-winning documentary by Kiri Davis that highlights how “color is more than skin deep for young African-American women struggling to define themselves.”

Next we watched the short documentary of a different style, directed by 22 year old Nayani Thiyagarajah,  Shadeism. This film is an “introduction to the issue of shadeism (also knows as colorism), the discrimination that exists between the lighter-skinned and darker-skinned members of the same community.”

After watching these films, the REEL Filmmakers had a lot to say.

Watching these films led us to think critically about how media stereotypes impact audiences; how media stereotypes are internalized.

Here’s Abdul’s reflection:

I think the meaning of beauty has change over the years.  I would say the true meaning of beauty is inner beauty how you act. Now it change to how skinny people are how light someone is especially for modals.  Even some fashion magazine darkens or lightens the picture of the models. They do it to actors and actresses they change the picture because they think that is not the sense of beauty. (By Abdul)

 

Here is a poem written by Jessica Lynn Grose is response to Shadeism.

Words from the author:
I wrote this poem after watching the video, and it made me really love who I am and who God made me to be.

Racial Stereotypes – Into the mind of society By: Jessica Lynn Grose

Color … Race … Religion … Uniqueness.
Isn’t that what makes
Me … me?
Or is it not what I actually am, but what others perceive of me?
Or is it what others perceive of those around me?
… Or maybe the perception of the color around me.

And when I say others,
I mean society.
As in what society perceives of my race…
of my religion…
of what makes we…
me.
And what makes me…
them.

My hair, my nose, my eyes, my skin?
Is that what determines
who I am?
Who you are?
Who we are?

I’m sorry, we don’t all
Look the same,
Act the same,
Or even do the same things.
No.
We are all different.
But why should I apologize?

Don’t classify
Us.
Me.
We.
For who We are not.
I,
Me,
We, refuse to life off of the expectations of
Your
Stereotypes.

ML Week One: Exploring Media Representations of Race

“Before this program I never learned about the stereotypes of black men and women. I think that these stereotypes are untrue. I am black, but I don’t have big lips, I am not lazy, I don’t dance all day, and I don’t eat watermelons everyday, I am not always laughing, or trying to be funny.” – Ketty

In our media literacy lessons this week we are focusing on media representations and exploring racial stereotypes. We began the week by viewing a clips from the film Birth of a Nation and the documentary Ethnic Notions, to expose students to some historical context.

The following day we watched and analyzed two media texts that address racial stereotypes in the media: Bamboozled (a film by Spike Lee) and Burn Hollywood Burn (a song/music video by Public Enemy.)

After viewing this material, students did a free write about what they watched. Some students chose to compare and contrast the different approaches that Spike Lee and Public Enemy took to critique  the production of racial stereotypes in the media.

REEL Filmmaker Ketty, wrote the following:

“Before this program I never learned about the stereotypes of black man and women.  I think that these stereotypes are untrue. I am black, but I don’t have big lips, I am not lazy, I don’t dance all day, and I don’t eat watermelons everyday, I am not always laughing, or trying to be funny.”

Here’s a video of the post-free write discussion:

Intro to Production: The Video Scavenger Hunt

Today was the first day of the program and our young filmmakers completed a video scavenger hunt to become familiar with composition, framing and operating the cameras. Here are some stills of the videos they shot along the way with flip cameras. Notice how some shots emphasize color, texture, size or distance.