Croteau Media and Ideology Connections

I was having a hard time following this piece, Media and Ideology at first, but then I realized it was describing a really basic concept that most of us have already come to acknowledge; which is medias role in society and how it manipulates people into thinking one way or another about people, objects, and theories.

When I read this I instantly thought about Cinderella ate my Daughter  and how children and parent's   ideology are targeted into being gender specific. Toy companies want parents to think that boys and girls NEED different color toys, which then makes children think that they actually do NEED these different color toys, or that boys and girls cannot play with the same toys because they are made specifically for one gender.
It also makes me think of how Disney makes girls want to be like the princesses. A little girls( or boys) ideology becomes that they want to be a princess and they need a prince.

I also related it to the reading we covered, What Are Little Boys Made Of? because that reading not only shows different ideology of psychiatrists, (some saying boys actions are biological, and some saying it is cultural) but how the media and culture affects boys and their ideology or values and beliefs. When I think of Kimmels article I also think automatically of the film I saw, The Bro Code and all of the examples of media affecting societal beliefs.  While this reading states that as a whole, we media consumers understand that television families are not realistic, we still follow examples, fads, and values shown on TV, which was proven through the film and reading I just mentioned.
One example that The Bro Code showed, which I am sure I will not be the only one mentioning is, reality TV.


While trying to look up good links to how unrealistic shows still influence society, I came across an article that gives some inside scoop into reality TV. Reality TV isn't Real and some people argue that shows like Jersey Shore are very real, and that those realistic shows influence peoples ideology more then the ones that television consumers outright admit are fake. But to an extent we all know that reality shows are staged and yet they still influence us.

Media is an easy way to influence peoples ideology so, like this reading mentioned politicians especially like to use it as a weapon. That is not the extent of media ideology. As Cinderella Ate my Daughter, and What Little Boys Are Made of show, is that media influences values and beliefs in all aspects, including violence, play, and appearance.

Class Discussion : Should we have read this piece before reading Cinderella Ate My Daughter?