Jacquielyn Floyd's Article

I had to force myself to read Floyd's article. It is like forcing myself to watch TV. So what exactly is Floyd's point? I guess I have handled too many murder investigations in my life as a cop and when I become a reporter I'm going to be ahead of the silly games regular reporters play. Floyd says, "It is just means that every so often we all get it wrong." I would suggest that she speak for herself. I'd like to hear what the other students think about this.

Metrosexuals

In our text book, Soldow cited Simpson (2002) that metrosexuals easily fit the gay stereotype of being interested in and concerned about fashion, style and grooming and, "As such, they are attractive to both heterosexual women and homosexual men and report not being threatened by the attractiveness to the latter. Metrosexuals are urban, heterosexual males who are often mistaken for being gay although they are not disturbed by the inaccurate assumption (p. 326).

The Tumi (luggage) ad in the New Yorker, Sept. 24, 2007, issue depicts what appears to be a metrosexual. Ermenegildo Zegna also shows two males posing in winter jackets - they too are depicted as metrosexuals. Then you have a "Hear the world" ad with Placido Domingo. I just like the way he sings - His message raises awareness of the importance of hearing and the support for projects helping hearing impaired people. The message is clear cut. As for metrosexuals - they look "beautiful" and that's what the advertising people succeeded in doing for everyone who cares about fashion, luggage or whatever.

I am reading a book on reserve at the Willis titled "Qualitative Researching with Text, Image and Sound," edited by Martin W. Bauer and George Gaskell. It addresses a lot of what we are covering.

What do parents really think?

I wonder how the parents of every student in our class would respond to the sentence "Pornography pivots on sex and works in specific ways that target particular audiences by cultivating control and desire and the promise of sexual power through the viewing of available bodies," as stated by Reichert & Lambiase, (2006) if they were sitting in Curry Hall 203 tomorrow. Why do we, parents and young adults alike, succumb to the influences of advertising? We still buy the lipstick, the belts and the booze until we really get rattled and stop. One day in my Readings in Mass Communication 5050 class I made the statement that advertising majors should be in the business school and I still feel that way.

Why We Should Read and Why We Protest

Karen Thomas, freelance writer and UNT professor, generated some interesting comments and prompted some interesting observations last week.

She emphasized more reading for students. Reading about the Jena protest and how it developed would have to be mandatory reading for journalists, but the general public would have to try to read as much as possible to fully understand how history and police practices can make something unjust.

I observed in the Jena video how imbalanced the representation of whites and black was. Where were all the whites? Why were not more opinions solicited from white protesters? Did I miss something?

All police reports involving assaults require photographed injuries of the complainants. It would be interesting to know just how serious the complainant's face in this case was injured. One news story said his face was bloody and swollen.

Tanesa Lee from Dallas said she went to Jenna for her family and hopes that something like this will nevert happen again. I just wonder how many more cases like these are out there and what it takes to get people moving and protesting.

In response to that one student's question about protesting and whether it is legal. Just make sure you follow the law. For example, universities have some of the most stringent rules on protesting - at some places you have a tiny patch of grass to stand on to unleash your concerns. If you don't make an application for a permit you can be in deep trouble. Have all your bases covered.