Images in the media

I read the article on the people protesting outside the homes of Viacom and I don't really see why people are so outraged. America is the land of choice. It is a democracy and people can choose what they want in life. No one makes you choose pancakes instead of waffles in the morning, they don't make you wear t-shirts instead of polos and they don't make you stand on poles and dance naked.

Are videos shown on MTV and BET demeaning to women? Without a doubt, but women aren't forced to participate in them. Instead of protesting outside the homes of Viacom executives, they should go and protest at the houses of the women who are portrayed in the videos.

I strongly believe that if people(men) respond to the kinds of videos the protestors are agianst, then the big shot executives are going to keep providing them videos to the masses beucae quiete frankly, sex sells.

Is it possible that little girls who watch these kinds of videos will want to be just like the women shown? Very possible. Although I think that media doesn't make children do things, it does influence them. For example, my little cousins would watch Rugrats a lot and one day, my other cousing saw them eating dirt and looking for bugs. They said it was becuase Chucky and Tommy do it too.

It was funny but it is evident that what they watched influenced their actions.

The right word

Today, I was faced with a question in my Spanish media writing class: How do you say African American in Spanish? A lady to my right said it was "Afroamericana" but the girl who posed the question begged to differ. She said that "African Americans" don't like that term because it refers to their hair and she said it is offensive. Although she argued that it was insulting and they don't like it in English, the lady defended her side and said that she knew that in Spanish, it was "Afroamericana."
Why is it so dramatic that people use the "afro" word? I don't see why it is offensive to say Afro American. I am sure that if I was in her place, I would understand, but at my place I don't. Like James Brown said, "Be Black and be proud!" I am brown and I am proud. I embrace my Mexican-ness. People sometimes assume that I don't know English, but I don't get mad. I am proud to be bilingual and therefore speak to them in whichever language they choose to initiate.

As for the right word for African American in Spanish, I am still unsure.