Censorship in the Media Essay - 1084 Words

The parameters of the term censorship have been changed and manipulated very much over the years. Television and movie ratings have become more lenient against violence and indiscretion because these things are now seen as entertainment. Is this appropriate for our youth? Should children be exposed to these images so early on? How does censorship in the media affect adolescents? Children are the future of our society and need to have some understanding of real world occurrences. Ultimately, censorship can only be determined by the parents. The media cannot filter every bit of controversial images. What rights does the media have in this situation? How are their First Amendment rights applied here? As an aspiring political science†¦show more content†¦Some see this as the denial of an individual’s freedom of speech. In order to establish a group that censors televisions and movies, the Motion Picture Producers Association (MPAA) was created. Each rating category has a description of the appropriate age at which to view the film and whether or not a parent’s accompaniment is necessary. The Motion Picture Producers Association assesses a film and gives it a rating of G (general audiences), PG (parental guidance suggested), PG-13 (parents strongly cautioned), R (restricted), or NC-17 (no one under seventeen admitted). As the film industry has been changing over time, so have the ratings. More and more parents are having issues with the ratings that some films are issued. â€Å"The man behind the ratings, Jack Valenti, president of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), says the system works just fine. ‘Parents use it and trust it, and thats why its lasted for almost 35 years,’ Valenti says. ‘It warns parents in advance about whats in a particular movie, but ultimately, parents are responsible for the behavior and conduct of their children — not the ratings system’ (Hansen 273).† The main issue in censorship today is responsibility. Who is essentially responsible for properly censoring and controllingShow MoreRelatedCensorship And The Media Of Censorship1407 Words   |  6 Pagesthe same can be said about censorship. Censorship and privacy do not solely revolve around leaks and personal intrusions from foreign entities. The advent of social media and cell phones have created new avenues for people to communicate and share information; The internet provides people a new and global way to spread information that can be considered worthy of censorship. Many people I know argue that censorship should not be commonplace in the media, in social media, or even in the entire InternetRead MoreMedia Censorship1427 Words   |  6 PagesApril 30, 2011 Media Censorship in the United States Censorship has existed for longer than we could ever imagine. One of the first acts of state sponsored censorship occurred in 399 B.C. when Socrates, was executed for the â€Å"supposed common good of the people† (Guarding Public Morality, 2010, p.1). Socrates was a teacher and a philosopher in ancient Greece. His teaching methods were controversial for the time, and he was charged with corrupting the youth and drawing them away from the GreekRead MoreCensorship in the Media1115 Words   |  5 PagesIs Censorship necessary? â€Å"Once a government is committed to the principle of silencing the voice of opposition, it has only one way to go, and that is down the path of increasingly repressive measures, until it becomes a source of terror to all its citizens and creates a country where everyone lives in fear. -- Harry S Truman Thesis: Although some people believe that censorship is adequate to select what things does the society will be good and can live around it while others believe that thereRead MoreCensorship of Media1064 Words   |  5 PagesSurprises of Censorship In today’s world of technology and high finance children learn and do different activities. Video games, television shows, and the internet all have effect on our society. These items take away from moral values, and it also undermines the instruction parents give to their children. We need a healthier world with fewer restrictions, and if negative commodities are prohibiting children from recreational play parents should be the regulators in what content their childrenRead MoreThe Censorship Of The Media1542 Words   |  7 PagesBut while the larger media corporations may be hesitant to allow these other conceptions of the human to be represented in the mainstream, there is no such hesitation in fan communities. The fans are not and do not have to be concerned with â€Å"securing the well-being of our present ethnoclass† (Wynter). Rather, they are considered with their own well-being and their own representation and thus they are able to tell the stories that th ey want to be told and there is nothing preventing them from doingRead MoreThe Censorship Of The Media1665 Words   |  7 Pages Privacy in the Media In addition, the media is in an especially complex situation regarding the current concept of privacy regarding the proper use of technology and due to the numerous ethical issues, that arise from sensationalist media practices. First, the invasion of privacy can be justified by uncovering vital information that serves public interest to be considered ethical journalistic practice (Plaisance, 2014, p. 187). However, while there is less ethical merit in providing the publicRead MoreThe Censorship Of The Media939 Words   |  4 Pagesongoings of the world inform American policy and economics. Yet Americans remain ambivalent because other countries are not debated in the news. The news media implicitly apply filters to their coverage of news stories to inform the public thereby creating a narrative skewed by political or financial gain to influence their viewers. Because the media is privatized, it is difficult to recognize this propaganda system. Careful dissection of the time and sp ace dedicated to each story covered by the anchorsRead MoreCensorship and Indecency in Media928 Words   |  4 PagesCensorship and Indecency in Media Although indecent speech is protected by the First Amendment speech in broadcast media has been restricted because of its accessibility to children. In Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) current policy, indecent speech is defined as the â€Å"language that describes, in terms patently offensive as measured by contemporary community standards for the broadcast medium, sexual or excretory activities and organs, at times of the day when there is a reasonable thatRead More Censorship in Media Essay2359 Words   |  10 Pagesviewing audience. Censorship is defined as Policy of restricting the public expression of ideas, opinions, conceptions, and impulses, which are believed to have the capacity to undermine the governing authority or the social and moral order which authority considers itself bound to protect? (Abraham 357). Political, religious, obscenity, and censorship affecting academic freedom are all equal in their destructiveness towards free speech. ?There are two different forms that censorship takes; prior, whichRead MoreCensoring The Censorship Of Media3205 Words   |  13 PagesCesar Ortega Mrs. Martinez English, Period 8th 11/28/2014 Censoring In the 21st century the censoring of media should be scarce but in the contrary it’s being reinforce by countries. For instance, the act of censoring gay media hurts all those individuals who are members of the LGBT community and those who wish to learn more about the LGBT community and its history. It prevents people who wish to find more resources and information that might be able to change their life for the better. Censoring

Semiotic Analysis of Teenage Magazine Front Covers Free Essays

string(37) " the eye is initially drawn towards\." In this essay I will hope to analyse the semiotic codes of the front covers of teenage magazines to demonstrate how the media constructs the image and behavioural ideology of the teenage girl. I will analyse issue 359 of More! (December 27 th 2001 – January 8th 2002) and compare it with the January 2002 edition of 19. I have chosen these specific texts as they are popular mainstream magazines that are available in most newsagents, and therefore arguably represent to the reader what constitutes the modern teenage girl. We will write a custom essay sample on Semiotic Analysis of Teenage Magazine Front Covers or any similar topic only for you Order Now These are also the most recent issues available for analysis and therefore demonstrate an up-to-date representation of constructed femininity in our media and society. Jonathan Bignell (1997) argues that the magazine is â€Å"just a collection a signs† (Bignell 1997: 78). These signs may include paradigmatic and syntagmatic elements such as the title of the magazine, the fonts used, the layout, the colours, the texture of the paper, the language adopted, the content of the articles and so on, and each of these signs have been chosen to generate a meaning. The magazine is therefore a complex collection of signs that can be extensively decoded and analysed by its reader – â€Å"women’s magazines communicate their mythic meaning by means of signs, thus their representations of the imaginary are dependent on the symbolic, the signs which do the communicating† (Bignell 1997: 78). Signs however, consisting (according to Saussure) of two elements, a signifier and a signified, only gain meaning when â€Å"it has someone to mean to† (Williamson 1978: 40). The reader is therefore very important and will bring his/her own interpretations to the texts by drawing on their own cultural values and perceptual codes. As Daniel Chandler argues, â€Å"‘decoding’ involves not simply basic recognition and comprehension of what a text ‘says’ but also the interpretation and evaluation of its meaning with reference to relevant codes† (Chandler, web source: Semiotics for Beginners). As the relationship between the signifier and the signified is arbitrary and meaning is rooted in cultural values, we can argue that the potential interpretations of any given magazine are therefore endless. As well as being a collection of signs, the magazine is a sign in itself, which â€Å"connects together the mythic meanings of femininity and pleasure† (Bignell 1997: 66). Through reading the pages a reader will gain an insight into the world of the woman and will be taught what are the expectations made of them as women (they learn what it is to be a woman). McRobbie (1996) argues that magazines seek to â€Å"further consolidate and fix an otherwise more unstable sense of both self and gender† (in Curran 1996: 193), and so magazines seem to be central to society as they create a culture, a culture of femininity where a common experience of girlhood is shared. Bignell argues that the function of magazines is â€Å"to provide readers with a sense of community, comfort, and pride in this mythic feminine identity† (Bignell 1997: 61). As the magazine promotes a â€Å"feminine culture† and â€Å"(defines) and (shapes) the woman’s world† (McRobbie 2000: 69), we can see that it becomes a familiar friend for the female – it advises her, and provides entertainment, amusement and escapism for the reader and speaks to her in a language she understands – the lingo of teenagers is used in 19 and More! , for example â€Å"Top Totty†. Bignell sees that â€Å"magazines are glossy and colourful, connoting pleasure and relaxation rather than seriousness†¦ the smell and feel of the glossy paper connotes luxury†¦ femininity and its pleasures of self-adornment† (1997: 66). The magazine therefore symbolises a lifestyle, a life of luxury and pleasure. The magazine claims to be simultaneously a luxury item and a familiar friend to its reader. It attempts to convince us that it is not a fictive document, that it is a true reflection of reality, a window into the real world of the woman. It is argued that the average teenage reader will be a heterosexual girl seeking a boyfriend (or seeking a way to gratify the needs of her boyfriend), enjoying shopping, fashion, and popular culture and needing plenty of advice on sex and love. These assumptions pervade the contents of mainstream teenage magazines, with features such as â€Å"Position of the Fortnight† and â€Å"Celebrity Hair Special† frequently appearing within the pages. This is the reader to whom most teenage magazines cater – they broadcast to a stereotypical mass (which is arguably an artificial epresentation and does not reflect the identities and lives of all teenage girls). In order to analyse the image and behavioural ideology of the teenage girl offered within teenage magazines, I will attempt to investigate some semiotic codes within More! and 19. The front cover is an important aspect of the magazine as it initially attracts the reader and is a taster of what can be seen within the c ontents of the magazine. It is an â€Å"important advertisement† and â€Å"serves to label its possessor† (McLoughlin 2000: 5). This is certainly a factor that influences the purchasing behaviours of young teenage girls who attempt to appear more mature and more sexually knowledgeable by buying a magazine aimed at girls 4 or 5 years their senior. The front cover will also promise that â€Å"the contents of the magazine†¦ will fulfil the needs of the individual and her group† and sells a â€Å"future image† of the reader as â€Å"happier, more desirable† (Bignell 1997: 67). By merely looking at the front cover of a magazine therefore, a potential reader will be able to determine how far it will fulfil their needs. There are many similar defining paradigmatic and syntagmatic elements on the covers of More! and 19 that would attract a teenage girl to purchase the magazines. These demonstrate effectively the dominant ideology of teenage femininity in the media. Firstly, the titles anchor the texts to the genre of teenage magazines. 19 seems to be directed at a person who is 19, or at least who thinks she is as mature as a 19year old. As the title stands boldly in the top left-hand corner of the page, this is the image that the eye is initially drawn towards. You read "Semiotic Analysis of Teenage Magazine Front Covers" in category "Papers" If we are to adopt Kress and Leeuwen’s theory of layout, this will also give the magazine a sense of idealism, suggesting that the reader should aspire to attain the life and image referred to within the pages (in Bell 1997: 193). The title More! also acquires this quality of idealism, but as the word stretches across the width of the page it could be suggested that the More! reader is more sassy and larger than life in comparison to the more mature or sophisticated reader of 19 (this is further substantiated by the exclamation mark -More! and by the girlish pink colour of the 19 logo). The taglines reinforce these ideas as they are placed directly underneath the titles in a contrasting black font. 19 states that the magazine is â€Å"Barefaced Cheek! † which implies that all is bared in the magazine, the reader is given extensive coverage of the issues of sex, love and fashion. However this tagline could also be interpreted (perhaps to a non-teenager reader) as implyin g that the reader of 19 is cheeky and impertinent. It is only the exclamation mark after the words and the positioning underneath the well-known and recognisable logo of 19 that anchor the preferred reading for the reader – as the reader will presumably be familiar with the content of the magazine, the polysemic nature of the tagline will not be apparent to them. This familiarity with content is also needed to fully appreciate the tagline on the cover of More! – â€Å"Smart girls Get More! â€Å". On the one hand, it is suggested that smart girls buy the magazine as they know it will provide pleasure and information for them, and on the other hand it is suggested that smart girls (the attractive More! reader) get more out of life, love, and, most importantly, sex. Reading More! will improve your life on many levels, if you listen to the advice offered within the magazine. The tagline adopted by More! is therefore effective as the modern British teenage girl will construe an appropriate interpretation that will give them the urge to buy the product. Both 19 and More! lso attempt to attract their readers by placing a female character in the centre of the cover. This is a particularly interesting characteristic if we are to consider that corresponding male magazines similarly adopt central female models, either posing seductively or like the typical ‘girl-next-door’, on their covers. It could indeed be argued that one could successfully (and with minimal disruption) take the models from the covers of More! and 19 and place them on a magazine such as FHM that adheres to its own set of generic codes and conventions and encourages very different interpretations from its reader. According to Bignell, the images of beautiful women on the covers of female magazines are â€Å"iconic signs which represent the better self which every woman desires to become† (Bignell 1997: 69). The figure thus represents the self for the reader, a future image that is attainable for her if she continues reading and learning from the magazine. On a male magazine however the same figure would represent a sexual image, an object to be attained by the male reader. It becomes evident therefore that â€Å"men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at †¦ Thus she turns herself into an object – and most particularly, and object of vision: a sight† (Berger in Vestergaard Schroder 1992: 81). This is a somewhat negative interpretation of the centrality of women on the covers of magazines. However, Bignell sees that â€Å"while the cover image is for a woman to look at, it is constructed with reference to a wider social code in which being feminine means taking pleasure in looking at oneself, and taking pleasure in being looked at by men† (my italics, Bignell 1997: 71). Bignell therefore seems to empower the woman in his analysis of cover models, noting that women simultaneously enjoy looking and being looked at. The genre (or textual code) in which the image appears is therefore a fundamental contributor to the construed interpretations made by the reader. As stated above, the model on the cover of a female teenage magazine represents the self for the reader. The models seen on the given issues of 19 and More! therefore seem to illustrate the characteristics of their targeted readers. The model seen on the cover of 19 is the typicalblonde haired, tanned, tall and slim girl with perfect complexion and perfect features. But the reader is not led to feel envious of the model – on the contrary, she is encouraged to believe that this is an ordinary 19 reader (on the inside cover she is identified simply as â€Å"Emily†), and is the beautiful woman inside each of us, waiting to be unleashed (and reading 19 willunleash this beauty from within the reader). The diamante necklace connotes luxury and sophistication, and the sequined boob tube connotes a fun, bubbly nature and draws attention to her slim body (her sex appeal). With her long blond hair flowing gently away from her face to reveal dazzling green eyes (ironically in this context, green traditionally being associated with the colour of envy), she can be seen as iconic for the reader (in the non-semiotic sense), and as seductive for the male reader. She embodies the message that 19 habitually transcribe to the reader – look innocent and beautiful and yet be in control of your own sexuality and your relationships. On the cover of More! the character again embodies the self for the reader. She represents the more! ethos of youthful, cheeky impertinence† (in Curran 1996: 189) Her red, low-cut dress suggests that she is sassy; a vixen that has sexual needs and is not afraid to fulfil them. Again, the clear skin and perfect features encourage the reader to believe that there is an inner-beauty within everyone that will shine through. However, the More! model does not appear as innocent as the 19 model. Her hair is swept more vigorously from her face and therefore creates a more disrupted, chaotic image than the previous. The innocence depicted by the clear complexion of the 19 model is challenged here as the More! odel raises her eyebrow into an arch; she has a glint in her eye and pouts her lips proudly. As we notice the presence of a man in the left hand side of the front cover, we therefore interpret this facial expression as sexual prowess – this girl knows what she wants and she knows exactly how to get it. The male figure is not personalised; indeed we only see a leg, an arm and a crotch and yet we are fully aware of the masculinity of the character. This could suggest that, in subversion to the representation offered within male magazines, the man is the sexual object here. It is also significant that the male is wearing a kilt as it could suggest that the female is metaphorically wearing the trousers in the relationship. This interpretation would only become apparent if the reader was accustomed with the relevant social codes and textual codes of gendered magazines. If the reader is familiar with popular culture however, they could assume the man in the kilt to be the actor James Redmond who portrays Finn in Hollyoaks (a half-Scottish Lord) and therefore presume that there is an in-depth interview with him in the magazine – this is suggested by the text at the top of the magazine cover – â€Å"Finn-tastic! We Check out James Redmond’s Morning Glory†. By analysing the title, tagline, and central images of the magazine cover, we have therefore deduced the readership and content of the magazines effectively. As McRobbie notes, sex now fills the space of the magazines’ pages. It â€Å"provides the frame for women’s magazines in the 1990’s† and â€Å"marks a new moment in the construction of female sexual identities† (in Curran 1996: 177). It is worrying to think that the explicit sexual representations within the magazines (such as More! ‘s â€Å"Raunchy resolutions to spice up your sex life†) are being read by underage teenagers; sex has een packaged as a â€Å"commodity† (McLaughlin 200: 13) by these magazines in recent years and the young readers have eagerly jumped at the chance to buy such (what was previously) censored material. Indeed, fifty years ago the teenage magazine industry differed greatly to that of today. According to Vestergaard we have seen a shift from â€Å"motherhood and childcare to the maintenance of physical appearance† (Vestergaard Schroder 1992: 81) (in the discussed examples, we see â€Å"Be your own stylist – steal insider know-how from the women who dress the stars† on the cover of 19, and on More! Happy New Gear – what every glam girl will be wearing this season†). Dr Nancy Signiorelli of the University of Delaware undertook a study on â€Å"A Focus on Appearance† in the media in November 1996, and she found that one in three (37%) articles in leading teen girl magazines included a focus on appearance, one in three (35%) focused on dating and less than 2% discussed either school or careers (websources Kellner and ChildrenNow). This is certainly reflected on the front covers analysed above – every feature on the covers refer to beauty, fashion, dating, sex and celebrities. Kimberley Phillips argues that these magazines therefore â€Å"reinforce the cultural expectations that an adolescent woman should be more concerned with her appearance, her relations with other people, and her ability to win approval from men than with her own ideas or expectations for herself (websource Hermes). It can also be argued however that young women are encouraged to develop independence by these magazines. In recent years the magazine industry has therefore successfully extended the notion of what it is to be a woman. A teenage girl will see hunting boyfriends and beautifying as a norm; it is argued indeed that these are transcribed as their sole purposes in life. The magazines do not seem to cater for minority interests such as politics, environmental issues, or any kind of music that ventures beyond Westlife or Britney Spears. The teenage girl has therefore been heavily stereotyped by the teenage magazine industry, and her interpretation of the codes and conventions used in the magazine will depend on her personal knowledge of this culture and society. Indeed, some of the readers of these magazines are male (e. g. the brothers or boyfriends of the female readers – Bignell refers to these as â€Å"non-ideal readers† (Bignell 1997: 58)), and they will interpret the codes differently to their female counterparts as they arguably do not share their interests in beauty products and fashion. Their interpretations of the sex issues may also differ, as they will gaze at the images of women as sex objects as opposed to icons and role models. Chandler sees that â€Å"social semiotics alerts us to how the same text may generate different meanings for different readers† (web source, Semiotics for Beginners), and this is certainly true of the gendered readings of teenage magazines. Chandler further notes that the signs (or codes) within the text â€Å"do not just ‘convey’ meanings, but constitute a medium in which meanings are constructed† (ibid). Through reading a magazine aimed at her demographic group, a teenage girl will therefore come to learn that society expects her to be interested in boys, sex, fashion, beauty and fame. The magazine is therefore a â€Å"powerful ideological force† in society (McRobbie 2000: 69); the image and behavioural ideologies presented within the magazine covers become the stereotypical norm for the teenage girl. Applying semiotic analysis to the magazine text therefore allows us to identify social ideologies of the teenage girl. One could analyse the front covers of magazine extensively, decoding the codes of colour, font, layout and spatial arrangements as well as the titles, taglines, language and central images to show the construction of the teenage girl in the media. Teenage magazines may not provide an altogether accurate representation of all teenage girls today, but it is certainly a medium that provides escapism and enjoyment for the reader whilst subliminally educating and informing at the same time. How to cite Semiotic Analysis of Teenage Magazine Front Covers, Papers

Debut Albums and Narrative Essay Feeling free essay sample

Feeling complete with your own personal mental and physical standpoints Is essential If you ever want a fulfilling relationship. Knowing your own ability to live vigilantly day to day, being gratified with the prospects of how you are living your life up until this point. This is what determines whether your ready to take the step into entering a relationship. Every point in ones life is a learning experience. Treating past relationships as learning experiences help to better your understanding of what our really looking to gain out of future relationships.The following paragraphs discuss a story of my past. This story revolves around a relationship taking place at a negative point in my life. So my lesson to you is one I learned the hard way. Being happy with yourself Is vital before attempting to by happy with someone else. To mentally set the scene for my story, I will give some background Into my mental and physical standpoint. We will write a custom essay sample on Debut Albums and Narrative Essay Feeling or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page During the time of this story, I was under a lot of stress from various circumstances. I had Just recently lost my Job at Subway and had no source of income.Because I lost my job, I had no longer the money nor the resources to continue with athletic training. Taking the three months off from athletic training had a negative effect on my physical appearance. With a noticeable loss of physical appearance, my self esteem began to drop slightly. So all together, threw one run of bad luck into another, I was spiraling down into a depression like state. It all started the first week of grade 10. I was walking to math class and I met up with a few of my lunch crew friends. I noticed my friend Ashley talking to Erin Bearing.Erin was an attractive, smart and fashionable girl. I always had a thing for smartly. In school she had straight Ass, and was also the leader of the female wrestling team. I felt a little up on myself that day for some reason. I figured there was no better time then the present to chat it up a little. The conversation went quite well, which was different from what I expected. She even asked for my number so we could continue our talk later that night. Why would she be interested in me? , I said to myself. After all, she seemed way out of my league. Within two days we were dating.I felt I was the luckiest guy alive. I was nothing compared to her. I had little money and I was out of shape. What was a girl with a 94% grade point average doing with a smack like me? After about three weeks into our relationship I began to notice a dependence to be with Erin. At that time my emotional state was even more flushed due to my relationship circumstances. I felt that since she was so much better mentally and physically then I was, that I should do whatever It takes to show her had strong feelings for her. I notice now that this Is what people call infatuation and obsession. Old me early one night that she no longer felt that spark she at first felt. Her final words to me were l feel that at this point in our relationship, you will be at my side no matter what happens. Where is my ambition to make you happy when you already say you love me. Those words made me more miserable and depressed then I had ever felt in ages. Threw her words though, I had began to realize how right she was. It wasnt that I loved her, but it was that I felt so low about myself, that I gained all y happiness threw being with someone I felt was superior to whom I should have been with.This with time, had became my mental obsession. What was the fatal error in my relationship that ended it so abruptly? Learning from lifes situations had taught me a lot in my story. You have to be happy with yourself and the way your life is going, before you can add another person into your equation. A mate is not someone to depend on in order for you to be happy. You have to be the one who is happy with yourself before you can be happy with someone else. That is a valuable lesson I had learned in life.