Tag: media

Tumblr Soon to Ban all NSFW Content on its Platform

Out of all of the more recent news stories regarding media and the internet, the one that would probably have the biggest and most immediate effect on people would have to be what has recently happened in Tumblr, a very popular social media website. What was essentially an attempt to get rid of pedophiles and underage material is being turned into a complete purge of all pornographic and not save for work material on the website as well as the blogs that produce them. Virtually all social media platforms have measures that are taken in order to prevent such a thing, but Tumblr wend to a completely different level. Most people feel that this might have been a bit overkill for the issue compared to what other social media platforms do when encountering this type of problem. It was stated, from Jeff D’Onofrio the CEO of Tumblr, that the major pros and cons of the decision were closely looked at and it was decided that the ban was the best thing for the website to do for this specific issue. The goal, he said, was to help make a “better, more positive Tumblr” where people feel comfortable expressing themselves.

Unfortunately, this doesn’t mean that the vast number of artists and sex involved workers would be able to express themselves freely like the other users.  This way that Tumblr is dealing with the problem and threat of underage pornographic is in complete disregard of the many, many sex workers and artists who make a living easily because of the website. Because of the complete disregard to those who might be adult content creators and use Tumblr to help make a living for themselves, this act is completely discriminatory to these people. Those who are in charge of Tumblr are showing that they don’t actually care for a very large percentage of their site’s population by doing this sort of thing.

Along with the mass exodus of artists and sexual workers, a very large number of pedophiles are moving to different social media platforms, primarily Twitter. Many of them are attempting to change their labels by calling themselves minor attracted people (M.A.P.) and saying that they are non-contacts well as claiming that pedophilia is a valid sexuality. These people have even faked that members of the LGBT had added a P to represent pedophiles, but this was quickly shown to be a lie. This is a tactic that these people are using in order to be accepted to the in-group. They may believe that, if they are able to become part of the in-group, pedophilia might be normalized and thought of as a valid sexuality so that they can be left to their own devices with this sort of thing.

 

Tumblr to ban all adult content. (2018, December 8). Retrieved December 5, 2018, from https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/tumblr-ban-all-adult-content-n943226

Sexism in the Oscars

 

It’s no secret that there are significant stereotypes reinforced and institutionalized through the modern media. Stereotypes like women being less qualified to be successful, or receive accolades for their work, are so ingrained in the media that they become solidified as prejudices in society. These prejudices become a factor that everyday people, in this case women, have to live according to in modern society. Even high profile celebrities end up being affected by these standards: including Academy Award winning Barbra Streisand.

Sexism is defined as “institutional practices (even if not motivated by prejudice) that subordinate people of a given sex (Myers 2015).” Barbra Streisand, one of the best-selling musical artists of all time, has publicly expressed that being a woman has “cost her multiple Oscar nominations over the years (Reynolds 2017),” and thus making her a victim of blatant sexism. Streisand claims that there was a significant number of “older people” that has no desire to see a woman director, including other women (Reynolds 2017). In this situation, it is a sexist stereotype that women are unqualified to direct that evolved into what exists today: a prejudice that says women should not be directors.

In their study on the nature of sexism, Tadios Chisango, Thokozile Mayekiso, and Manuela Thomae examine how two different elements of sexism, benevolent sexism and hostile sexism, manifest themselves in society, as well as how they are treated by the perceivers. Through examining sexism as a whole, we come to the idea that it is a mix of “benevolent sexism (‘Women have a superior moral sensibility’) with hostile sexism (‘Once a man commits, she puts him on a tight leash’) (Myers 2015).” In modern society, Chisango et. al. find that people react very differently towards each form of sexism:

“On the basis of the above findings, which have revealed widespread endorsement of BS [benevolent sexism] but rejection of HS [hostile sexism] across many different cultures by both genders in slightly varying degrees, we reasoned that expression of BS and enacting of related behaviour is more likely to occur in public than private contexts (as a function of social approval); on the other hand, expression of HS and enactment of related behaviour would be more likely to occur in private than public contexts (as a function of social disapproval) (Chisango et. al., 2015).”

This is where we can see the exact thing that is happening to Barbra Streisand when she is snuffed of her awards. Because the idea that women should not be directors is consistent with the attitudes of hostile sexism, we see that the actual disapproval is hidden under the covers of “The Academy,” where people remain relatively anonymous in an attempt to avoid public disapproval of their sexist view. However, when Streisand exposes the situation in the light to the light of the media, the social disapproval of a hostile sexist attitude comes in the outcry of the public for justice, and a change of values on the part of The Academy.

– Matt B.

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