Does music proliferate traditional gender roles?

Interesting Guardian article that asks how rock n roll music is when it comes to gender roles.

Link

Vanity or equality?

Caitlyn Jenner might have broken on to the front cover of a major women's lifestyle mag but does it mean that the transgender community have finally achieved equality? The Guardian discusses whether CJ has brokered a new identity barrier or whether she's reinforcing heteronormative beauty?

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Black out? David Oyelowo outs racism in Hollywood.

David Oyelowo discusses Hollywood's use of the BBF (black best friend) - two dimensional stereotypes of Black Americans that are derogatory mainstay within Hollywood scripts.

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British urban music resists American tidal wave

Has UK hip hop lost its voice? Interesting article proclaiming a new wave of British urban music.

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Self representing transgender documentary

Really lovely short documentary called "I am Sam" exploring one young persons coming out as a transgender man.

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Cos play, fandom and hard cash

Being a fan can become a lucrative way of life - the Guardian explains why here.

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The Dark Side of Twitter: trolls and transexuality

A pretty gruesome article highlighting the case of Twitter trolls urging transgendered users to kill themselves. Social media exists to reinforce traditional identities.

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Social media and fragmented identities

Interesting article here that talks about identity fragmentation within social media - that we present different versions of ourselves dependent upon which social media platform we are communicating with.

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The Echo Chamber Effect

Alan Martin from Wired magazine discusses the Echo Chamber Effect - the idea that we surround ourselves with like minded people on social media. This leads, Martin argues, to entrenched and polemical identities being expressed on social media.

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The poor pay for Internet services with their identity data...

Evgeny Morozov discusses the global control of identity data by Facebook and Google. The argument seems Marxian in direction - social media is controlled by a select band of American based organisations who are monetising the data of the world's poor in return for connectivity.

Link

It's no joke...disability and comedy.

Stand up comedian Lee Ridley, aka Lost Voice Guy, talks about the media's treatment of disability in this Guardian interview. Link.

Citizen Journalism: hacks or heroes?

Citizen journalism, defender of democracy or unreliable vanity project? The New Statesman analyses the murky truth of CJ submissions.

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Professional trolls or particapatory culture...?

Jenkins and Gauntlett would argue that social media is a force for good, a means of expressing your identity, but has social media become dominated by the emergence of a new identity - the 'professional troll'.

An interesting article in the Guardian on the ubiquitous Katie Hopkins. Link.

The death of old media...

Its official, TV is in terminal decline - if these recent Ofcom viewing statistics reported by the Guardian are to be believed.

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Perils of a cyber feminist

'No More Page 3' campaigner Lucy-Anne Holmes talks frankly about the abuses she's endured as a social media activist

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Cass Sunstein: new technologies and personalisation

Cass Sunstein's argument suggests that new technologies, far from giving us choice, prevent diversity, make us lazy and inhibit our identities. This Guardian article explains all. Link

Marvel feminism

At last, you might cry, Marvel constructs female characters worth shouting about. Link.

self obsession and the 'selfie'

Aeon magazine article on the narcissistic compulsions of the now ubiquitous selfie.

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Positive representations of class in documentary

The BBC can always be relied upon to produce inclusive content. The Billion Dollar Chicken Shop is one of the few shows out there that contradicts Owen Jones demonisation of the working class theory. Trailer below - see iPlayer for full episodes.

News for people with learning disabilities

The charity United Response produces this innovative newspaper that's aimed at a very unique audience, slim proof perhaps of media pluralism. Click here to see back issues. Martin Lewis from UR explains more below.

The dominance of the white male...

Intelligent Newstatesman article by Grayson Perry that looks at the idea that we live in a world that is still dominated by the view point of the white male. Link.

How diverse is TV?

An interesting Guardian article on the absence of a range of minority groups on British TV screen. Great statistics supplied too. Link.

New Teens documentary Channel 4

This looks suitably hideous - a new doc that looks at teenagers through their use of social media. Starts Tuesday at 10pm.

Link

Gender Advertising

Quite an interesting article, a little out of date, but worth reading. Link.

Disability in Breaking Bad

Interesting link to an interview with Breaking Bad star RJ Mitte who talks about the problems that disabled actors face.

Gender shift in music videos

This link looks at eight interesting music video performances by female artists where gender trouble is evident - some simple analysis too.

Another blog with a fairly decent analysis of gender reps in hip-hop

This third link is a must - sound academic research that discusses contemporary examples of fluidic gender portrayal. Anyone engaging in this kind of case study has to read this.

White Dee: Benefits Street

Just spent 20mins scrolling through White Dee's Twitter feed, some really interesting links to #benefitsbritain, #benefitsstreet where there's some rather lively political debate. Interestingly, there seems to be a mutual support dynamic at work where sanctioned benefits claimants are talking about their experiences.

The Big Bang Theory: Huffington Post Article

Worth reading if you're looking TBBT

Link

Reality TV Class based products

Some ideas for class based products that you could explore

Heroic depictions of the working class

Ice Road Truckers
World's Deadliest Catch

Channel 4 depictions

One Born Every Minute
Gogglebox

Parents using social media to support their trans gender children

A Grade exemplar essay

What does an A Grade response look like? 

Click here to see an A grade exemplar

Henry Jenkins Participatory Culture Vid

Judith Butler Explains Gender Trouble

Any thoughts please pen them below...

Choosing your Casestudy

This week you ought to be working hard to set up your case study.

REMEMBER your case study ought to have a clear focus.

Choose a group (ethnic,class based, age based, gender) and choose a form of media output to examine how your group's identity is constructed within that type of product)

You ought also to be choosing 4 core products to analyse in your case study

Any problems please email Mr. Dixon!