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Reflection

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I consume media every single day of my life. The screen time app on my phone says that I spend an average of six hours on my phone every day. Half of those hours are spent on instagram, where I am constantly exposed to media and advertisement. Its a problem, I am very well aware. I am always listening to some form of music as well. Furthermore, I do homework while watching netflix in the background every single day. I would say that all this media consumption affects me negatively. I have a tendency to be influenced by or believe whatever I read. This is very not good. My constant consumption of media also causes me to be very insecure. An example of this would be seeing ads on instagram for clothing and feeling bad about my body because of it. After taking a semester of critical thinking, I am much more aware of the media I consume. I find it funny actually. I find myself constantly pointing out the advertising techniques in ads I see and hear. For example, today I saw
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The Worst Disney Movie Ever

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      Really Disney? Really? How could you stoop this low? Pocahontas is the Disney movie which should never have been made. For one, it is on a whole another level of disrespect toward indiginous communities and it is also portraying history through rose tinted glasses. I understand that this is a movie meant for children. A movie for children can not have the details of the whole truth of the history of Pocahontas. However, the whole premise of the history should not be romanticized in a movie meant for children, let alone any movie at all. If you know the history behind it, you will agree.      Pocahontas was indeed a real person. So was John Smith. Pocahontas was the daughter of a Powhatan chief and lived near the settlement of James Town, Virginia. John Smith was one of the many colonizers who came to pillage and rape North America. This is all true to the movie so far. We all know the Disney movie's story to be that Pocahontas, a beautiful young woman, saves the life of th
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Miss Representation: Self Objectification

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        I began worrying about my weight at 8 years old. Now I'm nearly 16 and still worrying about my weight years later. I remember being much younger and watching America's Next Top Model on TV. I would watch that show religiously. Those women were everything I aspired to be. Skinny and tall. I already had the tall part down even as a little girl. However, being skinny was the next thing I needed to achieve. Counting calories, weighing myself two times a day, excessive exercising, every diet trick in the book, and laxatives; these were the things which I lived and breathed. I ate less than 400 calories a day for two months. As the pounds began to fall off, so did my hair. I was always cold. I stopped getting my period. The thought of food consumed my mind constantly. Shockingly, I was being complimented more than ever. I was the sickest I had ever felt and yet strangers would stop me on the streets to say a kind word. This just motivated me more, so I continued. I was on
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Data Mining in Our Every Day Lives

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          Over holiday break, I was searching skincare to put on my Christmas list for my dad. I merely searched the brand Curology up on my laptop. Lo and behold, Curology ads where showing up in my instagram feed for the next week.  I found this a little bit creepy and invasive. This is an example of a marketing technique called data mining.  Data mining is when coorperations market to an individual specifically based on their data and past searches on the internet. Basically, instagram knew that I was searching up Curology on my computer and thus presented their ad to me to create a higher chance of gaining profit. This is present in our everyday lives whether we know it or not.         A side of data mining which I don't really understand is that the ads pop up even when you don't interact with anything of the sorts online. For example, there are times that I will be thinking of something or a product and the next time I open instagram, there is advertisement for t
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Tall Girl

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       I believe many of us are familiar with this movie from the quote, "You think your life is hard? I'm a high school junior wearing size 13 Nikes. Men's size 13 Nikes." As you may be able to tell, this movie is pretty awful. Tall Girl is counterproductive in it's message. For one, it was meant to be empowering to young tall girls and send the message that we are all fine the way we are. However, I was left feeling even more insecure after watching it. On top of this, the movie feeds into stereotypes regarding race and gender as well.       The main character, Jodi, is 6'1" tall. Because of this, she feels very singled out. She is constantly commented on because of her height. This is the only aspect of being tall which the movie got right. Her father insistantly makes negative comments on her height and compares Jodi to her much shorter sister. The difference between Jodi and her sister is very significant. Her sister is extremely petite and is por
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Lana Del Rey: A Romanticization of Abuse

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               I love Lana Del Rey. She has been one of my favorite singers for the majority of my life. I listen to her pretty much every day, Hover, in spite of my love for her,  I am still able to recognize that some of the messages she puts out are very problematic. She has many fans who are as young as ten years old. I believe that the messages she sends are especially not good for all the little girls who listen to her.              For one, Lana seems to have a infatuation with the "aesthetic" of Lolita. For background information, Lolita is a novel about a pedophile who marries a woman only to get at her 12 year old daughter. He then takes her away on a road trip across America to fulfil his sick pleasures. Lana mentions her in many of her songs. Multiple songs depict the story of a young girl and a much older man refered to as "daddy". Their relationship is almost always depicted as toxic and abusive. There is an obvious inequality in power which is inte
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Lovemarks in my own life: Disney

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         A lovemark is a brand or product which has created undeniable loyalty in it's consumers. Although I do not like to admit it, Disney is a lovemark in my life. It began when I was very young. I would watch Pocahontas and Mulan nearly every single day. That was wear it started. Even now, when I hear the Disney opening theme, my heart warms. I associate it with all my great memories of childhood. Today, as soon as a new princess movie comes out, I go to the theatres to see it despite the quality of the movie beings  poor. Disney is so much of a lovemark in my life that despite knowing all the problematic things associated with Disney, it still has a special place in my heart. I am fully aware about the messages about body image, race, gender roles and the unrealistic expectations is gives little children yet still I love Disney.        I don't think I am alone in this. Many young girls and even older women much like I still know every single Disney song by heart. Thes
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