My name is Kaitlin McAlister, and I'm a TV-aholic.

So, my roommates and I have not had television in our apartment for a whole year now. We still have a TV, but don't get any channels so we have to watch any shows that we want at our friend's place. It has been a good and bad experience because I definitely don't need TV as much as I used to, but sometimes I'll be eating my cereal in the morning and I'll have an INTENSE craving to watch music videos or Seinfield. Really, it doesn't even matter what the TV is, I think I had just become so accustomed to having background noise that I really miss it sometimes. I also noticed that every time I would go to someone's house and they did have channels, especially if they had a luxury such as satellite or tivo, I would honestly just want to sit in front of their TV and do nothing. Sad, I know! So what I'm getting at here is that TV is an ADDICTION. Seriously.

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I have come to the realization that everything I know about sex I learned from the media. That might seem a little bit strange, and weird to admit on the internet, but it's true. Also, it's sad! I know that my blog recently has been taking a very negative take on the media but I cannot help but notice the influence it has in my life, especially since taking this class.

Facebook.

Alright, I knew I was going to eventually post a blog about Facebook, but to be honest I'm surprised that I'm giving in so early in the semester. Last Tuesday, I get a call from my mom and she asked if I could help her set up her Facebook page. I was a little hesitant, but I agreed. Both of my parents are on Facebook now, and it's nice for them because they get to see what I'm up to and stuff...I have a good relationship with both of my parents so I don't mind if they "check up" on my Facebook page every once in a while, but I could see if you did not have a good relationship with your parents how it would feel like an invasion of privacy at times. However, if you're willing to show the entire world of the internet pictures of you at the lake but don't want your parents to see them, thats a little twisted. I don't know. Also, my grandma keeps getting e-mails from her 90 year old brother requesting that she get a Facebook and add him as a friend! It's crazy, and I wonder how it's changing the dating scene as well....just a few things to think about. PEACE!

Boys and Girls

So last week Christina's (I think it was hers...) post really got me thinking about gender differences in the media. Yesterday my boyfriend and I were watching TV and I had the remote first, so naturally I decided we watch America's Next Top Model. They were critiquing pictures of the models riding horses...without their tops on and their hair was covering up their chests. It was horrible! It really makes you feel bad about yourself and just get into that superficial mode. So, I gave the remote to my boyfriend and what does he choose? Some Ultimate Fighting reality show on Spike. I was actually interested at first but then they had the fight and it was also horrible! These guys fight until someone gets knocked out or until the bell rings I'm pretty sure. Blood EVERYWHERE. I had to stop watching and felt really sick to my stomach because I'm such a weakling. But seriously, those are some extreme gender differences and I think we are probably all a lot more innately androngynous then we think but the media definitely contributes to how our genders are socialized to be. Thoughts?

PS: Commercials when we watched ANTM were for venus razors and neutrogena facewash. When we watched UFC the commercials were for beer and cars.

Media I've been exposed to this week...9/7-9/13

First of all, for those members of my family looking at this blog you're probably wondering what's up. I'm in a media class and we are required to write twice a week on the media we were exposed to, was it good or bad, how can we apply the theories learned in class to what we saw; etc. Just thought I'd educate everyone before divulging on this exciting topic! Why is it exciting, you may ask? Because this week my roommates and I watched the well-known romance, "The Notebook" and were exposed to some seriously risque love scenes (actually, we fast-forwarded through 99.9% of the the bad parts in the movie but just happened to accidentally stop it at a really awkward part for a split-second). I have come to the conclusion that this is one of those movies you just have to be in the mood for. If you're having a rough day, and just need to escape from reality and live vicariously through other people, this one works. However, if you're not in that kind of mood it's kind of a joke. Needless to say, I laughed through the whole thing. But had you caught me on one of my more sentimental days, I think it could have elicited a tear or two. THE END.