Cultural Myths in The Bachelor

Why are women so quick to backstab each other in the back for a man? It seems like women give men too much power, making them think women NEED them and it's okay for women to fight over them. That idea is so far from the truth and goes both ways. Men don't NEED women and women don't NEED men. Having companionship is great and to want that is great and normal but to put emphasis on another human being as to say, "I NEED YOU TO SURVIVE," is a bit much.

In the book, Race, Gender, Class, Media 3.0, there is a short write-up about cultural myths and how they fuel the women battling against each other in the TV show The Bachelor. The show is a "reality" show that came out in 2002 and continues to air. The basic premise of the show involves 25 women who are on the show initially but then as time goes on, they get eliminated so the bachelor can limit the number down to the one he wants.

I personally never got into the show. It always seemed odd to me to have a show where grown women are competing for a guy. Not only that, but to know that he is courting other women at the same time to see which one he should choose just doesn't sit well with me. Women are not objects where men can just pick and choose who they want.

One of the myths brought up in the book is referred to as the Cinderella myth because the show resembles the Cinderella plot pretty closely. We all know the Cinderella story...where a young women is forced to be a slave to her stepfamily and ends up falling in love with the local prince who searches for his wife at a local ball. Once they meet and the prince receives confirmation that Cinderella is indeed the girl for him due to the glass slipper that fits her foot, they live happily ever after. In the show, "the women claim the opportunity to meet the bachelor is like being in a fairy tale and that they really do believe their foray into reality dating television is a viable way to find the perfect husband," (Lind, 209).

The reason the myths work so well as the book explains is because of, "the ideological discourse for women is based upon economic social power relationships which work to keep women in submissive roles," (Lind, 209). Therefore, the notion of an independent woman who has achieved much is not comparable to having beauty and marriage, is believed. As a result, women on the show are seen battling and backstabbing one another because everyone wants THAT perfect prince for an happily-ever ending that almost never lasts. The woman's woman myth describes women as physical objects as groomed and as the perfect wife and mother and rarely with having meaningful thoughts as explained in the text. Since women are so use to competing with one another naturally, they are use to "sizing-up" their competition on the show.

The Bachelor continues to get viewers because people like to see a fairy tale unfold and they also like drama. The culture that says, women need men and should fight for men definitely exists and will continue if women continue to watch shows like The Bachelor that support the myths.

The bottom line is...in my opinion women don't NEED men to complete them and fighting other women for a man is absurd.

Disney and the real truth...

When we hear the name Walt Disney, we may think of cartoons, Disney characters, Disney World or Land and a host of childhood movies and memories. The legendary entertainment industry figure is known for his many achievements like being the first to create the first full-length animation feature we all know as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Loveable characters like Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck continue to win the hearts of children in every generation and to this day, the name Disney rings a familiar bell to anyone of his time and afterwards.

As a kid, I loved Disney characters and movies.  One of my favorite Disney characters is Tinker Bell and my favorite movie was Aladdin. I must have watched Aladdin about 1,000 times!  As a way to keep me occupied, family members would often sit me down in front of the TV, popped on a good Disney movie and let me laugh my little self to sleep. It never failed. But what they didn't know about the truth of Disney is what many still don't know today. 

As a preteen and early teenager, while Disney cartoons weren’t the main focus of my attention, Disney Channel was a big deal for me. In the early 2000s, Disney shows like Even Stevens, Lizzie McGuire, Kim Possible, The Proud Family and That’s So Raven to name a few were mostly all that I watched.

According to Zacks.com, The Walt Disney Company was one of the biggest entertainment companies in the world and rightfully so. Since it was founded in 1923, it has been a major influence in American media as well as worldwide. The Columbia Journalism Review gives a breakdown of all the entertainment companies that The Walt Disney Company owns. From films and theaters to music, television, radio, publishing, parks and resorts and more, the company owns probably over 100 companies. With this, it is safe to say that the influence The Walt Disney Company has is pretty significant.

As influential as Disney is, it has surfaced over the years that Disney movies have in fact had many shocking subliminal messages in them. From sexual images to portraying certain races in a negative light, the Disney company may have more to the agenda than mere entertainment.

So is Disney really that innocent and should kids be watching it?

After watching a movie in class, we realize that there is a pattern of a young beautiful maiden being rescued by a young man. Movies like The Little Mermaid teaches girls they should change for a man and Cinderella that teaches them that outward beauty is what is most important. We also see the images of women being portrayed as having small waist, big bottoms and breasts, long eye lashes and are overall seductive. We also see how minorities are portrayed as dirty dogs, hyenas and gorillas and are put into certain stereotypes. 

What about sexual images? Below are just a few sexual images that are portrayed in Disney movies. 

The reality is, Disney is not really as innocent as we would like to think. Many subliminal messages are put in its products and they are marketing children, teaching them the wrong things.  What we see and hear can definitely have an impact on us subconsciously. Being bombarded with negative messages such as what is shown in Disney films and shows can be detrimental to a child and how they view the world around them.

Immigration and Media Representation

We opened class with this question…what is the difference between Hispanics and Latinos? What a very good question. I used to be confused with the two terms and majority of the people I know probably would mix the two up and use the term interchangeably as well. But the reality is, there is a difference. 

As explained on the website Diffen, Hispanic is a term that contemporarily refers to the nation of Spain and its culture. A native of Spain living in the U.S. is considered Hispanic and Latino refers to people or communities of Latin American origin. 

We have explored how women are portrayed in the media versus men and now it’s time to examine how Latinos are portrayed in the U.S media. Latinos Beyond Reel is a documentary that focuses on how Latinos are portrayed in media very in-depthly. It explains how the images of Latino men being portrayed as law breakers and women as sexual, sensual and firecrackers have existed so long that they are the norm. 

After watching the film, I had to really think about how Latinos are marginalized in movies and the media that I have seen personally. When I thought about it, I could clearly see how they are portrayed in such a negative way more often than positive. It doesn't really surprise me though because minorities in general really haven't had the best representation in media all together. Just like Latinos, African Americans have also been portrayed in media as uneducated, violent and sometimes invisible until there was a crime committed. 

Something really disturbing I learned from the documentary was the fact children's movies and games are bombarded with these negative stereotypes of Latinos. We know that media representation is very influential on everyone especially children who are too young to really decipher between the truth and the negative connotations of a race of people that they see. Shows like the Speedy Gonzales cartoon is an example of a children's show that show negative stereotypes of Latinos specifically. The rat is shown speaking with an exaggerated Mexican accent and was seen as overall offensive. Speedy's first appearance goes as far back as 1953. 

One of my all time favorite shows is Ugly Betty, a show about a young Latina from Queens who lacks fashion sense but is very sweet and intelligent. She lands a job at a fashion magazine in Manhattan and juggles everyday life with a mixture of her culture and American culture in a very fast paced world. This show along with others like Dora, The Explorer, The George Lopez Show and other Latino characters have left loving impressions of Latinos. The reason I like Ugly Betty is because she is portrayed as a young adult in America who is trying to get established in her new career where the fact that she is Latina is an enhancement to her overall character and not the burden. Here we see a Latina character who is true to who she is and her culture and looks like every other young adult in America in the sense that she is trying to figure life out and who she really is. The culture of Latinos isn't depicted negatively in this show but just from the perspective of young girl who is just as a part of America as she is Latina. 

The reality is, Latinos are a part of a fast growing segment of America. Their portrayal in media is important because they make up part of America. Negative connotations of the race in media need to be diminished and replaced with more positive connotations. Although the media has come a long way from the negative representation they have portrayed of Latinos, more positive shows need continue to hit the scene of Latinos showing them in a positive light as well at other minorities. 

My Super Sweet 16

I use to like to watch the show My Super Sweet 16 because around the time it aired and was popular, I was approaching “sweet 16” myself. The idea of having parents with endless money who would spend it on a huge party for me seemed cool. I use to like watching what their party themes would be about and the cars they would get. I would be amazed when these celebrities would spend around $100,000 or more on a car for their daughters. What I did not like was how spoiled they all were and how annoying they were because they couldn’t have one thing out of the thousands of dollars they were already having spent on them.

The book does well in analyzing these narratives and breaking down the whole notion of, “Daddy’s little girl.” One thing is for sure, the love that is seen here is definitely skewed. Ninety-nine point nine percent of the girls on the show are brats and probably don’t know what it means to work for something. This is my opinion.

At 16, I was told to get a job. And prior to 16, when I wanted something I knew to approach my parents with what I can do to work for it. Simple chores had to be done regardless but for something special, I definitely had to work for it. Not to say I didn’t receive gifts without having to work for it but when I worked for something, it made me feel good about earning it. 

I specifically remember being 15 bugging my parents about taking driver’s education. The course was around $300 and well…my parents weren’t rich. My dad told me to work for that driver’s ed course and as a result, I mowed lawns. My dad jokingly would say, it would help me with my steering and although part of me was tired of mowing lawns, it became fun because I knew what the end result would be.

I know my mother and father loves me to the end of the world and back but giving me what I wanted all the time was just not in their parenting style even when we did have the money. I wouldn’t consider myself as a daddy’s little girl and if being a daddy’s little girl is defined by what is shown on My Super Sweet 16, I’m glad I wasn’t.

I specifically think my generation feels entitled to have things and shows like My Super Sweet 16 doesn’t help that mindset. Just like Lind said in the book, even after the parents have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars for their daughters, there is still the “I want more” attitude.

When is it ever enough?

 Also, Moms on the show are portrayed kind of in the shadow of their diva daughters. Yes they are on the show but majority of times, when they say “no” or something is too much, the girls often respond that they are going to tell daddy because they said they can get whatever they want. The end result…they end up still getting exactly what they want. So regardless of what the mother says, it’s like the father’s wallet overrules that sometimes and that’s not reality.

Personally the show is completely overrated and being daddy’s little girl is an idea that is limiting the mental growth of these girls who have always received what they wanted. The mental part comes in where you see the kids on the show throw tantrums like they're five when someone says they have to stay within a $250,000 spending budget for example. I agree completely with Lind when it is said that physically, these girls are 16 but mentally...not so much. 

Nothing is wrong with throwing a nice party for your 16^th birthday but all of the parties on that show are just over the top for a 16-year-old even if they're rich. While it is sometimes entertaining to watch, being brats and "daddy's little girls" by their standards is actually a huge turnoff.