Public Discourse Blog (AleshaD)

"I think if I were a man, I would have been in that conversation a long, long time ago. Like six, seven or eight years ago." This is a quote from Serena Williams. I wanted to share one of the articles that I read this from as it touches on our discussion on Feminism from a different perspective. In the sporting environment, when people discuss great athletes or greatest athletes there ALWAYS the distinction being made that an athlete is female and this distinction is never made when that athlete is male. I find this interesting because it sort of plays into the stereotype without people even noticing it. http://girltalkhq.com/serena-williams-on-dreaming-big-refusing-to-be-called-the-worlds-greatest-female-athlete/

The most interesting component of my research that sticks out the most to me is the fact that out of all the studies I've read there is always the underlying conclusion that combats what the original study set out to establish. What I mean by this is that as I am looking at different studies to find a distinction in the difference between social media activism and activism of the past and if social media activism is beneficial or not there are a lot of, for lack of better words, contradictions. The studies that I have read do give definite answers in their analysis of their questionnaires and their surveys, but in the end when they are concluding they state the latter. For example, one study showed a clear inclination that people who participate in social media activist actions are less likely to participate offline but in the conclusion it does state that social media activist actions are beneficial to participation.

While I was researching my feature topic on social media I came across an interesting article. In it social media activist movements are discussed but it also touches on social media in the classroom and using it as a tool. I remember someone in class mentioned they were going to touch on this topic and if its is a good or bad thing so just thought I'd share. http://eds.a.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=1&sid=6a75f0eb-a319-4dd9-a76a-77af43cabb12%40sessionmgr4006&hid=4211

There is no simple answer or solution that can be done to help solve the never ending cycle the war on the vulnerable causes and continues to present itself as a problem/issue in different communities. What needs to be done is some extreme re-evaluation of the consequences and representation directed toward our society members that are economically, environmentally, and educationally challenged. How the state and government are set up and how they have been continuing to run is keep the rich, rich and keeping the poor, poor, not just economic wise, but resource wise as well. Society needs to be able to come to terms and accept the fact that there is a difference between how the different social group and levels are treated. This treatment, the poor neighborhoods, the lack of care for the people in this neighborhoods, the penalization or punishments for the people in these neighborhoods, and all of these factors are the reasoning why so many minority communities feel attacked, targeted,

There are so many different types of "real women" that it is definitely impossible for any type of media outlet to display the life and obstacles that real women go through. The problem is that the different television shows and other forms of media give the impression that they are displaying the lives of real women and the obstacles they go through therefore further playing into the stereotypical views of women and causing these view to always remain permanent in people's real life thoughts and representation of women issues and their personalities. I believe there are a lot of shows in today's media that I believe briefly touch on reflecting the lack of gender inequality and the ones that I can think of usually contain a woman in a powerful position but the point is maybe discussed for a quick moment. Even with these shows though, there is still those "back of your mind stereotypes that displayed. Take for instance one of my favorite show Scandal. The main c

Social media plays both a positive and negative role in contemporary social movements and activism. What social media does that was not able to happen in the past is that it gives different movements a platform to voice their opinions. The views that may not be popular or covered in everyday mainstream media, television, news shows, etc. are given a place where they can be heard and made public to people all throughout the world, so in a sense no voice can be silenced. Social media allows more people to get on board and contributes to a large number of participates included in the activism with connective examples such as hashtags or re-sharing the information. The downfall of the contemporary form of social media activism as I stated in class is that while yes it builds numbers but it does not build commitment to such social movements. What I mean by this is social media activity is very non-progressive. People may just like a post or share the post with other or even join different o