Media Literacy
Posted by
Beth Lane
The practice of Photo shopping women into unreal proportions, reflections on turning 40 and the expectations of modern beauty women feel they must conform to.
I had a birthday last week. I turned 40 and while I wasn't exactly upset by it all, I can't say that I was particularly thrilled either. I have spent quite a bit of time this past month or two reflecting on how things have changed since I was a girl. When I was a kid, women in their 40's looked much older. Grey hair and stretch pants were the official uniform as only the youngest women were allowed to wear the newest styles. It is nice that now-a-days, if you still have anything worth flaunting, you can. The down side to all this though is the pressure to keep flaunting it even if you just don't want to anymore. I stopped buying "beauty magazines" many years ago. The problem being that they only make you feel ugly. Turning 40 was a lot like spending an afternoon reading beauty magazines and then standing naked in front of the mirror.
I received the standard cake and presents from my family and friends this year...thankfully without the "black balloon treatment... but the best gift I received came in the form of an e-mail the eve of the big day. It was a link to a photo of country singer Faith Hill, a woman I consider to be stunningly beautiful, and it really made my day. We all know that photos are "shopped" to the point of ridiculousness these days but I needed to be reminded at that moment how unreal those women really are in the magazines. The photo was one of those flash deal-ies that first shows the picture that made the cover of the magazine, then "flash", it suddenly becomes the original untouched photo so you can see what they did to it. First I saw an impossibly angelic looking Faith with luminous smooth skin and a perfect body then...flash!...she suddenly looked a lot like me. A slim forty-something mother of three kids with laugh lines and sun freckles. I thought she was beautiful. I needed that. Thanks.
I received the standard cake and presents from my family and friends this year...thankfully without the "black balloon treatment... but the best gift I received came in the form of an e-mail the eve of the big day. It was a link to a photo of country singer Faith Hill, a woman I consider to be stunningly beautiful, and it really made my day. We all know that photos are "shopped" to the point of ridiculousness these days but I needed to be reminded at that moment how unreal those women really are in the magazines. The photo was one of those flash deal-ies that first shows the picture that made the cover of the magazine, then "flash", it suddenly becomes the original untouched photo so you can see what they did to it. First I saw an impossibly angelic looking Faith with luminous smooth skin and a perfect body then...flash!...she suddenly looked a lot like me. A slim forty-something mother of three kids with laugh lines and sun freckles. I thought she was beautiful. I needed that. Thanks.
Maybe We'll Go Outside Later...
Posted by
Beth Lane
If mom lets her kids play outside alone, even in their own back yard, she's a "bad mother", but too much TV indoors makes kids fat. Mom has stuff to do. What now?
When I was a kid in the 70's, we played outside a lot. I could try to put one over on you and say that it was mainly because we only had three channels and very little children's programming. Cartoons were on after school and Saturday morning but not much else. Long summer days consisted of games shows and soap operas. There was no Disney channel of Nickelodeon to keep us occupied. I could tell you that we played outside because we weren't being enticed by non-stop kid channels 24 hours a day and access to DVD's of our favorite shows on demand but I would be lying.
We played outside because mom made us.
If I were to be entirely truthful, we argued about it. True, "The Price is Right" wasn't Looney Tunes but the TV was, (and still is), addicting enough that we would have rather vegged out than gone outside a large part of the time. Mom, however, had stuff to do in the house and when she wanted us out from under foot, the finger would point and the announcement was made - "Outside!"
Today's mom has it tough. If she allows her kids outside alone, she's a bad mom. If she sits outside and watches them she can't get anything done inside and she's a bad housekeeper. If she keeps the kids inside watching TV, they get fat and she's a bad mom. The sad thing is that children aren't in any more danger outside now than they were when I was a kid. Most abductions are committed by family members and non-custodial parents involved in custody battles. The number of children abducted by strangers in the US each year is incredibly small. Your child has an astronomically bigger chance of being in a car accident with you driving than of being abducted from their own backyard. Media sensation and violence on TV is what caused the fear of child abduction in the first place. It's a vicious cycle. Do yourself a favor. Stop watching so much TV and relax. Your kids will (someday) thank you for it.
We played outside because mom made us.
If I were to be entirely truthful, we argued about it. True, "The Price is Right" wasn't Looney Tunes but the TV was, (and still is), addicting enough that we would have rather vegged out than gone outside a large part of the time. Mom, however, had stuff to do in the house and when she wanted us out from under foot, the finger would point and the announcement was made - "Outside!"
Today's mom has it tough. If she allows her kids outside alone, she's a bad mom. If she sits outside and watches them she can't get anything done inside and she's a bad housekeeper. If she keeps the kids inside watching TV, they get fat and she's a bad mom. The sad thing is that children aren't in any more danger outside now than they were when I was a kid. Most abductions are committed by family members and non-custodial parents involved in custody battles. The number of children abducted by strangers in the US each year is incredibly small. Your child has an astronomically bigger chance of being in a car accident with you driving than of being abducted from their own backyard. Media sensation and violence on TV is what caused the fear of child abduction in the first place. It's a vicious cycle. Do yourself a favor. Stop watching so much TV and relax. Your kids will (someday) thank you for it.
Direct Marketing Targets MySpace
Posted by
Beth Lane
Seeking out new customers at MySpace and Facebook, marketers plan to take advantage of social networking sites data collection to profile people of similar interests.
We told you so.
As parents, we have been warning you for years - "Don't put any personal information about yourself on the internet!"
You didn't listen.
And as parents, we have watched the results with a kind of fascinated horror. Social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook have produced exactly the kinds of problems we predicted...sexual predators, embarrassing break up scandals and the inevitable lost job opportunities. Remember when your future boss got an eyeful of those hilarious spring break pictures? You know, those adorable photos of you passed out in your underwear...
Awwww Mom!
But hey...you laugh at danger right?
Still, what kind of parents would we be if we didn't at least try to warn you?
Whether you want to believe it or not, there is a new predator targeting you on your MySpace account. Possibly the most potentially dangerous enemy your generation has yet encountered.
Marketers.
The Annual DMA Conference took place last week in New York City and the keynote speech was titled, “Next Gen Interactive: How Marketers are Optimizing the Power of Social Media to Connect and Deliver Results."
It had to happen sooner or later. Developing and selling highly targeted lists that profile and sort consumers by their likes, beliefs and opinions are the very heart of marketing and advertising. Social networking sites are an all you can eat buffet of specific Gen Y personal information... the Holy Grail of marketing.
If the idea of thousands of marketing/advertising executives meeting to brainstorm new ways to use your own social media against you - " to engage individual customers with relevant and timely interactions that provide the information and offers they want..." - doesn't scare you...nothing will.
Are you still laughing?
As parents, we have been warning you for years - "Don't put any personal information about yourself on the internet!"
You didn't listen.
And as parents, we have watched the results with a kind of fascinated horror. Social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook have produced exactly the kinds of problems we predicted...sexual predators, embarrassing break up scandals and the inevitable lost job opportunities. Remember when your future boss got an eyeful of those hilarious spring break pictures? You know, those adorable photos of you passed out in your underwear...
Awwww Mom!
But hey...you laugh at danger right?
Still, what kind of parents would we be if we didn't at least try to warn you?
Whether you want to believe it or not, there is a new predator targeting you on your MySpace account. Possibly the most potentially dangerous enemy your generation has yet encountered.
Marketers.
The Annual DMA Conference took place last week in New York City and the keynote speech was titled, “Next Gen Interactive: How Marketers are Optimizing the Power of Social Media to Connect and Deliver Results."
It had to happen sooner or later. Developing and selling highly targeted lists that profile and sort consumers by their likes, beliefs and opinions are the very heart of marketing and advertising. Social networking sites are an all you can eat buffet of specific Gen Y personal information... the Holy Grail of marketing.
If the idea of thousands of marketing/advertising executives meeting to brainstorm new ways to use your own social media against you - " to engage individual customers with relevant and timely interactions that provide the information and offers they want..." - doesn't scare you...nothing will.
Are you still laughing?