Media Ecology

Media Ecology looks at the ways in which society has been affected by technology. There are of course both pros and cons. Technology has made it easier to communicate over long distances, share photos, stories and random thoughts at the click of the mouse. We can now talk to anyone virtually anywhere at anytime day or night and the technology has been made very user friendly so even the youngest children can use much of it. This technology can be good at connecting us across long distances, but it also draws people apart when they are right next to each other. Many times when I have gone out to eat I have witnessed and even experienced with my own friends, occasions when people are texting or using Facebook while at dinner with someone else. It seems odd to me that a device can become such as a smart phone can become such a distraction that almost seems socially acceptable. I think that media ecology is important because it helps us look at technology in a critical light, but I think that it is only good if we actually make changes with the results of our analyzing. A good place to start would be for everyone to put away their phones at the dinner table and give your company your attention...just a thought.

Muted Group Theory

At times it seems odd that a divide still exists between the equality of women and men in today's world. Many women have proven that they can be just as successful as a man in many careers, including in the business world. Yet, there are still men who believe that women deserve less pay for the same positions. As well, there are still men who believe women are overall less superior and are more or less merely objects for their own personal pleasure and use. In my mind, it is this objectification of women that is the leading cause of the continuation of the inequality that women face. 

Each day I witness this degradation of women almost everywhere I go. As I drive around town I often come across images of scandalously dressed women next to beer bottles, cars and many other products being advertised. There are streets, such as Federal, that are lined with strip clubs and adult bookstores. The signs often proclaim statements such as "gentleman's club." If this is what a gentlemen does than I want no part in it. These signs exemplify the horrendous way that the culture treats women. Women are literally exposed, used and thrown away on a daily basis by the "gentleman" of our society. 

I realize that this is not the case with every man in society and that there are those people who daily fight against it, but it still remains a wide spread problem that should not exist. I also realize that there are many factors that contribute to this problem. For example, there are women who willing take part in institutions such as strip clubs and pornography because they see no other way to make money to provide for their families. Some of the women may have been abused and are no longer able to see their self-worth. There are numerous other possibilities as well, but suffice it to say that they are far from happily employed and it is unlikely that they really feel as though they are living a "free choice." 

Having read and watched interviews, I know that there are women who would deny what I have said and would attempt to persuade the world that they are happily doing what they do. I am not convinced by such stories and it saddens me that such women cannot admit the truth about the pain and emptiness they undoubtedly feel inside. The use of denial is their attempt to cover the many wounds of their lives in order to convince themselves that they are in control of their lives and bodies. Many people may read this and be infuriated because "who am I as a man to make such claims." If this happens to be your response, then I invite you to think about how you would feel if your daughter, sister, mother etc. decided it was the "career" path for them. I know I do not want any woman I know to be used as some strange mans object for his selfish sexual pleasure.

Unfortunately, another problem that contributes to this treatment of women are the numerous men in the world who struggle with sexual addictions. Many of these men agree with what I write, and yet they cannot seem to stop themselves from using women for the same selfish self gratifying purposes. 

Outside of the most obvious industries we find the advertising and entertainment world. As earlier mentioned, the over sexualization of women in advertising is rampant in our society. It seems as though the only thing that can sell many products is a half naked woman. In movies and television shows, women are often portrayed in similar ways as over sexualized beings who long to pleasure men. Even when a woman is shown to have dignity by turning down some creepy or overtly sexual guy, she often ends up sleeping with "the man of her dreams" in a later scene. She may have not slept with just anyone, but in the end she was still willing to jump in bed with someone as long as he is attractive. 

My point in all of this is not to demonize all entertainment and advertising, nor is it to say that we should do away with all things of the "flesh" and go back to a puritanical view of the body and women's sexuality. It is not necessary for women to wear dresses down to their ankles, but it also does no good to do the exact opposite and wear practically nothing. I also do not intended to be over zealous with the statements I have made. Rather, I am attempting to point to the great injustice that is being allowed daily against women. This injustice is not just being inflicted by men, but also by the women who do not demand that the men in their own lives treat them with respect and dignity. There are other factors, such as money and greed that contribute to the objectification of women, but I truly believe that the greatest reason women are still not equals in this world is because we, as men and women, allow for women to be continually portrayed and used as mere sexual objects. It is time for men and women alike to say no to the dehumanizing objectification of women. 

Media Ecology

     What makes today different than June 16, 1900?  If anything, the method of communication changed.  Through Marshall McLuhan's theory, Media Ecology, he examines back to the tribal age how communication has transformed over time.  He looks into depth about how different senses are used to be able to communicate with one another.  Although there are four ages in this theory, I am going to focus on the electronic age: today.  Oddly enough, McLuhan predicted this age and its components accurately 33 years before it even was in existence.  He saw this era of instant communication as switching the importance of what you think to what you feel.  The digital age is also included in this electronic period because it involves electronic media yet it is uncertain if it could be separated into the fifth age since McLuhan is not alive anymore.  This age is definitely different than the rest because much can be done with a finger touch.
     McLuhan predicted this age accurately, scary enough, yet what would he think of it?  He never really stated his feelings on today's global form of communication.  In my opinion, I tend to find more cons than pros to this especially among the 2000s generation.  As a child, I would play outside from dawn until dusk.  My younger cousins on the other hand play with their phones or iPads or computers from dawn until dusk.  I find it pretty devastating to be honest.  Their mindsets are a lot more different than us as well.  Thankfully, when we have family gatherings and parties, I can keep them preoccupied with games, but what about the other kids of this generation.  I believe they are the most negatively impacted from this technological era although they do not even realize it.  The video below on the other hand brings a positive aspect toward this technological impact.  Yes, I agree it has many benefits, but it becomes our duty to show this generation how to use it responsibly.  I have a feeling McLuhan would agree.  Enjoy the video.

Expectancy Violations Theory

     Jackass. Bad Grandpa. Impractical Jokers. What do they all have in common? Each of these shows or movies focus on violating social norms.  Although some of the stuff they do can be perceived as plain stupid, they entertain the audience.  It makes us question what about violating social norms is so fascinating.  Perhaps us watching are not doing it ourselves.  We are not the ones feeling embarrassed.  Believe it or not, what they are doing and the audience reactions form communication.  This is known as the Expectancy Violations Theory of Judee Burgoon.

     The Expectancy Violations Theory examines different boundaries within communication.  The conversational distances include the intimate, personal, social, and public zone.  Each of the distances are studied by Burgoon to determine how people use the space; this is called proxemics.  Then, this begs the question what happens if one of these zones are violated.  Depending on the context of the situation, it can either show attractiveness or outgoing behavior of the person or the exact opposite as a creep.  In context of the entertainment I mentioned in the beginning, they are usually perceived as silly, creepy, and weird by the people in public.  The people watching from their television however might have a different reaction because they are at a whole different distance than those people.  It makes you wonder if I were in the same situation as the person first hand experiencing it, would I have the same reaction?  According to Burgoon, probably not.  Distance matters. 

Standpoint Theory

     "Try to place yourself in their shoes."

      I try to approach this statement often to my life to be able to relate with whomever I am communicating with.  It helps me avoid judging the person and leaving them without someone to understand them.  Communication, I believe is not fulfilled without some sort of understanding from both sides.  It may not be the result either one or both may want, but at least someone altered their standpoint a bit to fulfill this understanding.  On the other hand, standpoints help us communicate.  The Standpoint Theory of Sandra Harding and Julia T. Wood looks into the fact that everyone has a different standpoint that affects their world view.  At first this theory seems self explanatory, but after participating in the privilege walk exam, I realized in a deeper sense what this theory presents.
     The Privilege Walk works at explaining this standpoint theory.  In this game, beginning in one line altogether, people either step forward or backward depending on what the statement says.  For example, if you have had over 50 books in your house, take a step forward or if one of your parents have been laid off from a job, take a step backward.  At the end of this game, I ended in the back.  At the same time though, I felt grateful for how I was raised because I worked to get where I am.  I realized that I started in this one standpoint that was equal with everyone, but after events in my life, I take a different standpoint.  On the other hand, this does not mean I am going to communicate with someone differently; I'll just be able to form a better understanding.  

Socio-cultural Tradition

     My name is Karen Webber. I was born and raised in Denver, Colorado, a place I would like to  proudly call the Mile High.  I am proud of the Mile High because it represents so much more of myself.  It captures my love for the city, the sports teams, the mountains, and even the altitude-5280 feet above sea level.  The altitude? That's quite odd.  Well, this high altitude helps us have strong lungs.  From experience and other people's stories, people who are not originally from Denver and come here to visit or move have a hard time breathing here for the first few days due to high altitude depending on exactly where they come from.  I find it pretty amazing that I do not have to worry about that as much.  I am not trying to sound selfish, but I just appreciate the benefits Denver has to offer.  On the other hand, this is just my perception of my culture.  I used this specific language to describe what the Mile High means to me.  If I were to tell someone else that I am from the Mile High, different perspectives can come into play.  Funny enough, I chose the term Mile High to tell someone where I am from.  The simple change of words to represent the same area can influence someone's perception of Denver.  This example of the power of language belongs to the socio-cultural tradition, one of the traditions given within the field of communication theory.  

     Once again, I am from the Mile High.  One person can vision me in the mountains; another one can see me in a Denver Broncos jersey while another might think of the marijuana legalization.  No matter the perception, it was my use of language and their interpretation that creates our form of communication.  I defined the socio-cultural tradition as the different perspectives one might receive from a simple word or phrase someone says.  Of course, depending on the context, views might change, but something as simple as where someone is from can influence a variety of perceptions.  I say I am from the Mile High, and it automatically communicates certain things about my culture that even I do not exactly intend.  Although it is a form of judgment, it is not entirely bad; it's part of the everyday communication.  Before I conclude my opinion on this theory and how I was able to connect it to my daily life, I leave you with this meme I found. Enjoy. :)

Muted Group Theory

     When defining the term, "communication", the words "talking" and "messaging"  come to mind.  Communication builds from a relational process that in turn brings people together or even apart depending on the situation.  I tried to build my definition of communication not only from the talkative standpoint, but also to those who do not use their voice to communicate.  With this on mind, it made it more difficult for me to create an answer to what is communication.  I ended up defining communication as "a natural and relational process giving and receiving interpretation dependent on the ever changing dynamics of the world".  Although I was uncertain if I completely included the anti-socials and voiceless in this definition, the muted group theory connected the way communication works with those who are constrained.  Thus, this theory helped me establish why my definition works and how society works in a muted sense of communication.

     Before going into depth about my connection with my view on communication and the muted group theory, what exactly is this muted group theory?  The muted group theory created by Cheris Kramarae focuses on removing her idea that language is a MAN-made construction.  She relates this theory to the roles between men and women in society.  Her underlying assumptions then indicated how women have to change their form of communication to live up to this "manly standard" of society.  For example, women cannot simply talk to a group of guys about their day without including some sports or action film reference unless she wants to be ignored.  In a sense, I agree with this assumption but also it seems a bit unfair that men are in a way also downgraded by this theory.  She focuses so much on the lack of women's roles that the men are placed in an evil and controlling state. Ironically then she mutes out the perspective of men within her own muted group theory.  Of course, the level of equality between man and woman is not entirely at par; better examples could have included to elaborate on this theory are janitors and transgenders. 

     Personally, I enjoyed this theory thoroughly from explaining communication through those who are voiceless in a sense.  As a major focus in defining what communication means to me, it becomes a relational process because through lack of relationship, one knows what to say and do along with what not to say and do formed from their interpretation.  Nevertheless, it may be lacking, but it is still relational and a form of communication.  Think about it this way.  In the image, this woman lacks communication verbally, but her eyes tell so much more.  She is communicating.  The muted group may be restrained from being able to tell their perspective, but there are many other ways to communicate what needs to be said.  Those glaring and somewhat helpless eyes already send a message out, thus communicating through an image taken in this dynamic world.

Standpoint

Today in class we observed and explored the theory of standpoint. In the beginning of class we all sat in a circle as one and talked about what this chapter all meant to us individually. I mentioned that this chapter was not what I thought it was going to be, and the fact that it was much different than the true definition or explanation. In class we decided to have our activity outside in the beautiful and wonderful summer weather. The task of the activity was to listen to the statement and if you agreed with the statement you were to step forward and if you disagreed you were to step backwards.
There were many statements made based upon your ethnicity, religion, skin color etc. As the game went on I found trent that the negatives were usually when one stepped back and the positives for the ones that were more forwards. To me, when I noticed this trend the thought came to me as though when stepping forwards you are making a positive change in the world or maybe possibly just within your day. When stepping backwards I believe though you stepped back and you are reflecting on that thought, I believe that was a time of also letting go all of the bad memories of that statement.
After the activity, we sat down in the damp, cold yet green grass and talked about our reactions to this activity. Most of us said that we were more grateful because this exercise opened our eyes to what we actually have in our lives and how lucky we are to have those things. I said that I was open minded, because through out that activity I was not only thinking of myself and my life, but I was noticing around me my classmates whether they were stepping forwards or backwards, and thinking about their lives and how they may be affected by the statement that was made.
In the end, I really enjoyed this activity, I have always enjoyed these kinds of activities because they help one another get to know each other and see how one's life may be drastically different. Learning this theory through this activity really brought the chapter more alive and definitely changed my idea of the chapter and I now understand the chapter clearer.

Phenomenological Tradition

In her book Communication: A First Look, Em Griffin states that the phenomenological tradition focuses on two questions: "Why is it so hard to establish and sustain authentic human relationships and how can this problem be overcome? I believe that the key to more authentic relationships is learning how to better dialogue with others. During my Jr. year in college I took a class called Interfaith Dialogue. The entirety of the class was spent seeking to better understand the art of good dialogue. I learned several things about what elements are important to having good dialogue.

One of the biggest keys to good dialogue is the openness of those people who are engaging in the dialogue. Openness is not about forgetting or changing your beliefs, but it is about learning to set your beliefs aside in order to better listen and hear what the other person has to share. In dialogue this is known as "suspending." Suspending is all about giving your undivided attention. A common occurrence in dialogue is for the "listener" to not be listening but instead thinking about the all that they want to say the moment the speaker is done talking. I can often tell when someone is listening when I speak or whether they are thinking about something else and I think that most, if not all other people can tell if someone is really listening. Good listening is essential to authentic relationships. If we want authenticity than our attention needs to be tuned in to the person speaking to us. 

Another part of openness is being honest when sharing about yourself. Authentic relationships thrive on the vulnerability of each person involved in the conversation. We do not have to share everything with everyone we talk to, but we do need to be open and honest in each conversation. I believe that authentic relationships will thrive as we grow in our communication skills.

Guilt-Redemption Cycle

The guilt-redemption cycle is an underlying assumption within the theory of Dramatism. Dramatism focuses on why people do what they do and from that we are able to make judgment on those acts. In class we talked about the shooting at Columbine High School in 1999 where two students opened fire on entire classrooms throughout the high school building. I've always found this event extremely interesting because we always want to know why people do things such as killing masses of people unexpectedly especially at places that should be safe environments for students and teachers.

When we were talking about what people thought was the cause of this tragedy I automatically thought of the Bowling for Columbine documentary by Michael Moore and specifically the Marilyn Manson part. Of course, I stated in class that I'm a huge fan of Marilyn Manson so this particularly caught my attention the first time I saw the documentary. People often try to find people or ideas to blame whenever tragedies like school shootings and murders occur. In the case of Columbine, parents and other students used Marilyn Manson as a scapegoat. Marilyn Manson served as the perfect scapegoat not only because his appearance was similar to Eric and Dylan's appearances. Not only did his appearance make him the perfect scapegoat, but so did his music, more specifically the messages in his music. If you ask any random person on the street what they think of Marilyn Manson, they would probably tell you that he is a satanist, antichrist, violent, scary, etc..

Blaming Marilyn Manson as one of the causes of the shooting at Columbine is a perfect example of victimage. Blaming someone else besides yourself is always easier to do no matter what situation you're in. I think there has been a time when we were all small and we did something we weren't supposed to do. Our parents found out and we blamed someone else. On a larger scale, I think this is exactly what society did with Columbine. This idea of victimage in the case of Columbine is so deep that to this day, people are still blaming Marilyn Manson for influencing Eric and Dylan to do the shooting. When I went to his concert at Red Rocks last year, there were people with shirts saying "In memory of those lost in the shooting of Columbine High School 1999". Although they weren't in-your-face protestors, there was still some symbolic meaning behind wearing the shirts.

Parasocial Relationships

Parasocial Relationships is part of the Uses & Gratifications theory which was created by Elihu Katz. The uses & gratifications theory focuses on what people use different types of media for using 8 typologies. Parasocial relationships are not part of the 8 typologies. A parasocial relationship  is a sense of friendship or emotional  attachment that develops between TV viewers and media personalities. You might often read a book and feel like you personally know the characters or feel like there is some kind of relationship between you and one of the characters. This relationship is an affect of media. This relationship reminds me of people who go to comic cons dressed up as their favorite character from a comic, video game, movie, television show or book. There are people known as cos players who dress exactly as characters from video games and take on the persona of that character as if they were really them. The fact that a particular media has such a huge impact on someone's life shows that these parasocial relationships are strong.

If you have ever seen any of the Resident Evil movies or played any of the video games, you will know about the Umbrella Corporation. Umbrella Corporation is basically a corrupt form of military group that is involved in top-secret operations like biological weaponry and genetic engineering. This group is known as the 'bad zombie killers' in the Resident Evil games and films. Resident Evil is a pretty popular franchise which has gained a large following over the past few years. So large, that there are groups all over the world that cosplay and hold fundraisers as members of Umbrella Corporation. They are located everywhere and anywhere. There is a 'hive' here in Denver that often comes together during Comic Con and Zombie Crawl to show off their costumes, fake weapons and awesome cars in order to fundraise money for children in different organizations. This relates to parasocial relationships because the fact that these people go out of their way to purchase expensive costumes and fake weapons shows that media has affected the way they relate to Resident Evil. Instead of imagining to be part of a fictional military conglomerate, they are literally dressing up as these characters and taking on their roles.

Last year for Zombie Crawl,  I myself decided to dress up as an Umbrella Corp. member. It was really fun and interesting to see just how it felt to be this fictional character. Of course we've all dressed up for Halloween before, but this felt different from just being in some costume on the hunt for candy because 1.) I haven't trick-or-treated since I was 13 and 2.) because I felt like I was part of this real group even though I knew it was all fake. I had never really gotten into any of the Resident Evil games or movies until I began getting my costume together. When I was researching and learning more about this group I saw people online who would hold these online chat rooms and role play as the popular Umbrella Corp characters. This was of course a little weird but was a perfect example of parasocial relationships.

Muted Group Theory

The Muted Group Theory was created by Cheris Kramarae who is a feminist theorist. This theory focuses on how certain groups in society are 'muted', specifically women. Muted groups often have to change their language when publicly communicating in order for their voices to be heard. Women have been and continue to be a muted group because public language is 'masculine' and does not serve women in the same way that it serves men. When reading the theory in our textbook, I found the stories of three women who were accepted into high power positions the most interesting part of the chapter. These three women found their ways into leadership roles in fields that are occupied mostly by men by using 'masculine' techniques. One of the women, who is a litigation attorney, specifically said that she learned how to speak like a man. She lowers her voice, speaks slowly and uses a lot of sports analogies in order to be heard by her male audience.

One specific example of this is a woman named Maria Brink that I know of. Maria is the lead singer of one of my favorite bands called In This Moment. In This Moment is a band that is part of the metal/hardcore rock genre. There are very few women in this genre of music and even fewer of them are lead singers. When Maria first decided to get into music, she was met with lots of criticism and ridicule by men who were in metal bands. Maria formed a band with a mutual friend named Chris Howorth. Together they made demos and sent them out to local producers and venues in hopes of getting gigs or tours started. Every time they sent a demo to a producer, they would get it back in the mail. There was one instance when they sent a demo to a producer that was considerably well known in LA. Of course the demo was sent back to them but this time it had a note attached saying something along the lines of 'get rid of the girl and we'll talk'. Maria of course took this very harshly. Eventually the band signed with a label and toured for a few years. In 2012, the band came out with an album called Blood in which Maria took a more masculine and aggressive approach to the lyrics. I I feel like Maria got a grasp of what it is to 'talk like a man' because she uses a style of screaming that is mostly only used by men. Her understanding of using masculine language has led her to becoming one of the most respected women in the metal genre. Not only does her voice portray a masculine feel, but her lyrics are directed towards men and their handling of women.

I've linked a video of In This Moment's popular single "Whore" off their latest album Blood so you can see for yourself.

Relational Dialectics

Relational Dialectics is a theory that was created by Leslie Baxter and Barbara Montgomery. Relational dialectics focuses on contradictions that arise in personal relationships. In class when we were talking about this theory, we watched video clips talking about the different contradictions both within the relationship and outside of the relationship. There are 6 contradictions that deal with integration & separation, stability & change, and expression & nonexpression that all take place in the relationship and outside of the relationship. The one contradiction that stood out most to me was the one from the popular show Friends. In the clip that we watched, Ross and Rachel are in an intimate relationship but Ross feels like he and Rachel are drifting apart because he is not part of every aspect in her life. Rachel explains to Ross that she likes to have him in only certain parts of her life and feels like he doesn't belong in other parts like work. This clip is a perfect example of the contradiction of connection & autonomy within the relationship.

The reason why I related so much to this particular contradiction and example is because I am going through the same thing with my current boyfriend. He wants to be part of every aspect of my life and I can see that he just wants to be with me more, but I think there are certain areas of my life that he doesn't need to be involved in. I have always been a very independent person so it was hard for me to adjust to being with him and doing things together regularly. I feel like there are times when he smothers me too much and wants to be around me every minute of the day. For example, there was one week when we saw each other every single day which was weird because we both have busy schedules and usually only see each other on the weekends. Even though it was nice to finally spend time together, I felt like I was becoming one of those friends that I never see because she's always with her boyfriend. I know I should be grateful that he's such a good guy and constantly wants to spend time with me, but there are things that I do on my own and I feel like I have to be selfish sometimes to keep him from smothering me.

Symbolic Interactionism

Mead's theory of symbolic interactionism helped me get a better view of who I am personally and the people that surround me on a regular basis. The three core principles of this theory are meaning, language and thought. For me, I have mostly focused on the thought principle throughout my life because I am always concerned about how I present myself to others and how I view myself. I think it is interesting how the chapter in the book talks about 'The Looking Glass Self". Although I try not to focus on how I define myself based on what I think others see me as, I always find myself subconsciously thinking about it. Now that I'm older, I've started to realize that only I can shape the person that I am but when I was younger, I allowed the views of others to shape my behavior.

When I was in middle school, I had a group of really close friends. My best friend Sarah and I were inseparable. I guess you could consider us 'popular'. Usually the things that we did and said became popular around school. People were always wanting to sit with us at lunch or hang out with us on the weekend. The other kids in our middle school treated us as if we were better than everyone else, so in turn, we acted like it. This isn't a proud moment I've had but it is a perfect example of how the views of other people changed how I thought of myself. Even though the way people viewed me was overall positive, the affects that were causes by behavior were negative. I would often disregard people who weren't part of our group as 'lame' and 'antisocial' because in my mind, if they weren't with us, they were against us. At lunch we would often sit around and talk about kids that we didn't like or kids that weren't 'like us'. It wasn't until after my 7th grade year ended that I realized that
I had become a bully and it all started because other people thought I was 'popular'.

Symbolic Interactionism

Symbolic Interactionism theory was developed by George Herbert Mead. Mead lays out several premises for "symbolic interactionism." The one that I would like to reflect on is "reflections in a looking glass." This premise puts forth the idea that we as human beings, are unable to gain insight into ourselves by using introspection. Mead claimed that instead of using introspection we should see ourselves through the eyes of those around us. In other words, the images we have for ourselves come from the judgments of the people in our lives, and therefore our images are socially constructed.

In some regards I agree with this. I do believe that our identities are strongly associated with our interactions with others. If enough people tell us we are stupid then we will most likely begin to identify ourselves as stupid. Whereas, if people compliment us on our intelligence and personality, we will have a much more positive view of ourselves. I also believe that the way we interact with others helps to mold the image of who we are. If we give of ourselves in service then we will become more generous, or if we treat others unkindly then we will become more selfish. Our interactions with others do influence and help create our self-image. 

Yet, I do believe that introspection is a valuable and productive tool that can be used in order to understand and change the way we see ourselves. Self-introspection allows us to look at the way we see our selves. Do I think of myself as smart or stupid? Do I feel that I have something to offer? What good or bad qualities do I see in myself? Reflecting on these types of questions through introspection can help us to see where we are at in relation to our own self. Introspection can help us answer the question of "who do I think I am." As well as, "Am I the person I want to be?" When we use introspection we can easily come to conclusions about ourselves that are not accurate. For example, in my own life, during times of introspection, I have felt as though I am an annoying person and bothersome to others. However this is not the case. I can know this because I have asked others their opinion on the situation. Then after speaking to others about it, I then went back and did introspection again and I realized that this false view of myself originated from the lack of self esteem I had when I was younger. My own life experiences have shown me that we as humans do need to look at ourselves through the eyes of others and we need to spend time in introspection. 

Interactional View

Family life is an interesting concept. We do not choose the family to which we belong. There is no survey or questionnaire we get to fill out before exiting the womb as to what type of family we would like. For the most part, what we get is what we get. The only choice we have is how we choose to interact with the family we have been born into. Whether a family is well functioning or dysfunctional, all families have individual members who each have individual roles that they play in the drama of their life. One way of looking at these roles are through the lens of Dr. Paul Watzlawick's Interactional View.

The interactional view is rather in- depth, but it essentially focuses on the different roles and how they are played out on a day to day basis. A good example of how families have and live out their roles can be seen in the movie What's Eating Gilbert Grape. In this movie the viewer can easily see the organizational structure of the family. Gilbert's role is taking care of his mentally handicapped brother Arne. Amy the oldest of the two daughters in the family, is in charge of taking care of their overweight (and basically immobile) mother. The younger sister Ellen is the protagonist in the family. Despite their different roles, there is one main rule in the family and that is to keep mama happy. The concept Watzlawick uses to describe these types of roles and rules is the "Family System." The family system is a "self-regulating interdependent network of feedback loops guided by members' rules; the behavior of each person affects and is affected by the behavior of another" (Watzlawick). This idea is played out in the movie in several ways. The strongest example for me was the role of Gilbert as Arne's caretaker. Whenever Arne neglected his duties of looking after Arne (whether it was out of frustration or desire to seek his own interests) things would go wrong. At one point in the movie, while the family is eating dinner, Arne begins to joke about the death of their father and Gilbert is unable to calm him down. This causes frustration among the dinner table and causes mama to loose her cool. This scene shows how things can easily go wrong when family roles and rules are out of order. Gilbert was not able to perform his role and therefore Arne was not under control and his joking unintentionally broke the family rule of always keeping mama happy.

This movie is filled with many more scenes that give insight into the interactional view. It helped me to understand the concept better and it helped in trying to label the roles in my own family. I found it much more difficult to see the roles in my own life as clearly as I was able to see them in the lives of the Grape family. I think that one reason for this is that I am much closer to the "action." Perhaps if I could experience my life as an outsider I would be able to better see the roles being played out in my own life.  

Life Is A Social Drama

When talking and discussing in class the concept and theory of assumption #2 involved within Dramatism, Life is social drama, I came to the thought that we were going to be discussing and exploring the fact that this world is full of not so much drama but the fact of how people communicate with one another, and that is how one another create drama. Man, was I thoroughly incorrect. The truth is, that us humans create certain motions and motives that act upon another relation and that is how the drama is created within one another. 

One can tell from another;s actions what they are feeling. For example, if you notice someone walking and talking on their phone, but you notice that they have an angry or upset face and their voice moves from angry to upset to angry agin than one can conclude that that person is upset with the other through the phone. 

The example that was used in class, and that we kind of "directed" was the Columbine shooting. This event happened when I was much younger, so in the beginning I only knew basics such as, two high schoolers went into their school and shot many many innocent people just out of hate. After looking at this scene and tragedy closer, I came to realize that, the signs that Eric and Dylan were showing were quit visible to their class mates and yet not one person had the guts or the courage to go up and talk to them or may be stop bullying them. 

There were five terms that were examined through out the class that was included within the discussion as well, and that is; the act, the scene, the agent, the agency and the purpose. Straight off of the bat, everyone thinks that they know the answers to each of these terms connecting to the Columbine shooting. As did I, until I was proven wrong yet again. The act is, they broke glass, shot people, lighted flares. So, the act is more general within the actions that one was creating through out the scene. The scene is a high school, or Columbine High School. It was clearly stated within the short video that we watched in class, that they were currently at Columbine High School. The agent is the fact that in the film many of the students that were speaking about he tragedy after it had happened, they stated the shooters as, "different" and the fact that they wore "trench coats" brings up more signs of who the shooters were and how one dressed for an everyday day at school. The agency is weaponry and/or guns. The students speaking in the video said that they were hearing gun shots through out the halls so that shows us as the audience that the shooters were using guns as their weapons. And last but not least, the purpose was that there was none. Unfortunately, Eric and Dylan went into school that day wanting to shoot up the school just out of complete and utter hate of others. We would hope that there would have been a better purpose for all of this nonsense but unfortunately, Eric and Dylan were just mad at done with the people that were not only bullying them but that were ignoring them as human beings. 

After exploring and looking more into depth about a past tragedy that I  thought I knew all about, I came to find that even though that Life is a social drama is only one underlying definition within three, I believe that this is one of the bigger and more important underlying because it shows us as humans and as one another how our society acts and it really does open our eyes to what we see in our daily lives and wonder if there is anything that we can do to change anything. 

The "I" and "Me" Concept

In class when we focused on the thought and concept of "I" and "Me", I leaned more towards the "me". I believe that when one looks at themselves either through a mirror or maybe even through a cell phone camera, what they see can either be negative or positive. Most think of the negative of themselves, they usually always look at the negatives and what is wrong or missing from themselves instead of looking at the right and the beautiful.
After learning about the "I" and "Me", I decided to go home, relax and then get up and look at my self as just waking up. Although I saw messy hair, make up that is under my eyes and my eyes still trying to open up fully, I decided and thought to myself that I could either tell myself all of the things and characteristics that are currently "bad" with myself or I could say hey! I just woke up, though I may not look as if the society is supposed to have me looking, I am still beautiful in my own little way.
I know that I am getting off topic a little bit but the fact is that the difference between the concept of "I" and "Me" is that "I" is unpredictable and unorganized about the self when "Me", is the image of self seen through the looking glass of others reactions. So, lets say that you are walking in downtown Manhattan, and you had a rough night last night so you have make up on and you are wearing a moderate outfit, and as you are walking down the street, you are watching people look at you and you then come to the facts that either they are looking at me for who I am and that is a person who really does work hard but sometimes may have a rough night which then follows into the next morning, or the  fact that people that are looking at you, they are not really looking at you, but you start to assume that they are looking at you and you and your thoughts start to then come up and imagine all sorts of different assumptions of what people are saying and thinking about you.
After looking and exploring this concept, though I lean towards more of the "Me", I am a strong believer that everyone has and inherits a little bit of both of the concepts. Both of these concepts are not good nor bad, they work together yes, but they also work against each other which then helps shape and form the society we live in today. Just think, if we were all "I"s or all "Me"s, what would this world look or act like??

The Interactional View

The Interactional View is one of the hardest and biggest concepts that we have covered in class but it is also one of my favorite ones to relate to. The reason for why I enjoyed this concept more is because the view brings up more personal connection and which it then makes it easier to understand. For example, the family systems and the roles that each family member plays within each family. Our text defines the general system theory as, "Study of living entities as they attempt to remain in dynamic balance making constant adjustments much like the cybernetic tradition" (Griffin). 

Being able to define this definition must have been challenging because I believe to really understand and be able to take the definition a part to understand it as well is difficult. But in class I believe watching the movie, What is Eating Gilbert Grape really brought to life the true meaning of the Interactional View because the two sayings within the movie was, keep mom and Arne happy. If either of the two are not happy or calm, than the whole family has to adjusts to the craziness and the house turns into a hectic motion. 

Bringing the Interactional View to life within my life involves exploring each of the roles of my family members including my pets. I have comet o the conclusion that my father is not only the provider of the family but he is more of the supporter. He is always there when either my brother or I need anything such as money, advice my dad is the one we always go to. My mom is the baker within the family and she is the cook and gardner, she is the one who focuses more on feeding the children and the family and playing more of a true and traditional mother role. My brother is the role model to me but in the family I believe that he is the hard worker and one who always brings a smile to everyone's face. As for me, I am the colorful one within the family. I not only wear bright colors at all times but I always keep a smile on my face because to my family I am the person that they turn to for happiness and uplift advice. As for my dogs, Reilly our family dog who is a border collie is the athletic one. He constantly needing a run or to go outside and throw the ball or frisbee so in a sense he helps us as a family stay active as well. For me little dioxin, Nico he is known as the needy one in the family. He is constantly wanting a treat and if he does not receive what he wants all he does is whine, whine and whine. Though he is always needy he is the one who will always be there for you in the end. When I am down or upset he can sense it and at the end of the day, he never leaves my side. 

Stopping and thinking about our families and the roles that one plays within a family is quit the eye opening and jaw dropping assignment. A family brings many different kinds of emotions but in the end, our family is what we are made of and if it was not for our family who would we be? And the question I would like to leave with all with is if you were placed within a different family would you play a different role within that family or would you act the same way? 

The Rhetorical Tradition

The Rhetorical Theory talks all about the means of persuasion and how one uses it within an everyday life. The theory focuses more upon the arguments, organization of ideas and the language that is used within the delivery of one's communication.
When given the assignment to make a project out of the theory, I had the first thought of what and how I was going to be able to accomplish this assignment well and efficiently. I thought long and hard about the project's needs and wants and then I explored into my theory in more depth and I eventually came up with using stick figures who are representers of their favorite football teams. As I was making the representers I thought to myself that these representers will stand as the persuaders to one another. When all of the figures were done, I wrote their football team's name with the colors of the team as flags that they would hold. In the end, they all worked together to persuaded one another to like the other's team more than the others.
Completing this assignment, I have learned much more about the Rhetorical Theory Tradition, and it helped me as a visual learner come to the understand my classmate's projects of their theories as well. Overall, I really enjoyed this project in all because it not only helped me learn more about the theories but it brings more fun and excitement to the class room feeling and connects the class in a way. I really enjoyed this assignment.

Communication Accommodation Theory

Communication Accommodation Theory: This video focuses on convergence, divergence and social identity theory. For each concept we attempted to show how the theory could be played out in everyday situations. Convergence is demonstrated by two individuals discussing the new X Men movie. In the beginning of the interaction only the girl has a Minnesotan accent. As the dialogue moves along the male character's dialect begins to change as he too begins to speak with a Minnesotan accent. Divergence is also illustrated through  a conversation between a male and female. These two characters are accentuating their differences and this is shown through their dialect. The male character is much more relaxed in his speech and uses slang words, whereas the female character makes sure to use proper English. Social identity theory shows how people find their identity in the culture in which they exist. In the case of this example, it is two people who find support as Broncos fans by associating with other Broncos fans. 

The Uses & Gratifications Theory Video Link

http://www.powtoon.com/p/bL2h9M3F3Om/

This video talks about the use of media in the Uses & Gratifications theory. This theory focuses on the different ways people use media in their daily lives. There are eight different ways to use media and they are called typologies. Each typology is illustrated in the video with examples from a couple named Dave and Lauren. The eight typologies are: passing time, companionship, escape, enjoyment, social interaction, relaxation, information and excitement. The goal of this video is to help us understand how we use media and why we use media in those ways.