Point of view

What's the deal with point of view? Why is it that I can see something,  but someone else sees it in a completely different light? It's all in our heads. Maybe we're reading too much into it. Or maybe, just maybe, there is actually something to this.

In my Race, Gender and the Media class the other night, we were going over this article where they painted two professional women in completely different ways. One was in a sultry, red dress and the other in a white, powerful women's suit. I saw the contrast and I jumped to conclusions, too. But in the long run, it probably wouldn't have bothered me had classmates gotten so vocal over it. But after class discussion, it did bother me.

Which leads me to the reason I am talking about this:

I wasn't thinking about this until my girlfriend and I had an argument over what the best Disney movies were when we were kids. I voted Space Jam (which she says isn't Disney...and technically she's right) and she voted something that I don't remember because I was entirely too busy defending my beloved Space Jam (I think she might have picked Beauty and the Beast).

Okay, yes I know that Space Jam isn't a Disney movie, it's Warner Brothers.  But my argument was that anything in those huge, plastic VHS containers that was aimed at kids should be classified as a Disney movie. We had several of these around the house. My mom would say, "Okay, kids. Pick a Disney movie and watch it." I always ran for Space Jam before my sisters could pick something terrible like Mulan or Lady and the Tramp.

But we had tons of movies we all considered "Disney" because of that case it was in. Charlie Brown's Christmas special, a few Scooby-Doo movies and any of the Nickelodeon movies in those sweet orange boxes.

So beyond my movie disagreement, what else do people see that others don't? Is that why advertisers have to retract so many ads? I don't find most of them offensive at all, but obviously someone did or they'd never take them off air.

Or maybe that's why people have to be so careful to be politically correct these days. You'll offend someone, and we wouldn't want that.

Maybe that explains why my mom thinks playing with matches is dangerous? Okay, you're right. I am dangerous with matches.

I think our nation's skin has collectively grown thinner in the last few decades, but maybe that's a good thing. Shouldn't you always take other people into consideration? That's for you to decide.

Oh, and don't be a Disney purist.

Women in sportscasting.

We got on the subject of women in sportscasting today in class, and it made me wonder how bad women have it.

When I think of women in sportscasting I immediately think of two women in particular -- Erin Andrews and Jenn Sterger. Is that fair? I'm sure it's not, but that's who my brain jumps to. It seems that most female sportscasters are inherently attractive. Is that fair? Definitely not, but it seems to be a trend.

Ugly men get the same job every day, just look at Michael Strahan. Okay, in fairness I'm not even sure what he looks like because I can't stop staring at his teeth.

So where does this put us? The industry is obviously male-dominated. Women's sports don't garner the same attention as men's sports, and whatever the reasons are (no comment here!), I feel like that leaves the door open for more men in the industry.

Personally, if I'm watching a men's sport like football or men's basketball, I'd rather listen to a man talk about it. On the other hand, if I'm watching a women's sport like softball or women's tennis, I'd rather hear a female talking about it. If I'm watching the WNBA...who am I kidding, I don't watch the WNBA, sorry ladies!

I don't know what we can do, but seeing as I'd ultimately prefer to end up in the sports industry for my career, I'd love to not have my work environment viewed as sexist. Sports have always  been dominated by men, both in viewing and participation, but does that mean men should get the first look at jobs in the field? I don't know.

Things Antoine Dodson taught me

So, before walking into JOUR 4250 for the first time, I was in the same boat as millions of people worldwide. You see, we all think Auto-Tune the News is hilarious, and it is. But it's concerning that we also never gave a second thought to the fact that Antoine Dodson's sister was nearly raped in this incident. Like many others, I simply forgot what the story was about because Dodson's antics were over the top and, frankly, hilarious.

So, like I said, before class Monday night, I hadn't thought about it and now I have. I read somewhere that Antoine Dodson has 20,000+ friends on Facebook. And he's also getting his own TV show. WHAT?! I'm flabbergasted (I never get to use this word!) that he shoots to fame over this. But after all is said and done, I don't really disagree with the way the news coverage was handled. Censorship was brought up in class, and I feel like covering up Dodson would have been just that.