Media and Slavery: Are We Taking Away Girls' Agency?

In my lit class we recently read "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl." At one point in the novel, Linda's master threatens her with rape and she decides to get pregnant with the child of another man to prevent her master from taking advantage of her. We discussed in class if her decision to do that was moral or not, and if she even had the opportunity of agency.

As I was thinking about this in relation to the video we watched in class today I started to wonder if the objectification of women in media limits our agency. I don't believe that anyone can completely take away a person's agency, but I do think it can be limited by the poor choices of others.

In the video they discussed how girls don't aspire to positions of power because they don't see other women in those positions. I'm not sure I agree with that logic entirely, but it did make me think about this issue of agency. 

I think the idea that the portrayal of women in the media is limiting girls' agency is pretty disturbing. Do you guys think that it does?

Reality TV and "Parenthood"

I'm addicted to "Parenthood."

I think about these people as if they were real, I cry when they do, feel happy when they do, etc. Talk about parasocial relationships!

Our discussion on reality TV made me think about why I like this show so much. The actors and writers do a great job of making the characters feel real. It really is almost like a reality show where the cameras just follow this family around, except that it is scripted. One of the things that helps me forget there's a script is that they all will talk at the same time, stumble over their words, etc. A lot is done with the dialogue to make is seem more real.

Anyway, I think that's why this show is so compelling for me. It makes me believe they're real people!