Media and popular culture have changed daraslty over time and from country to country, but the effect it has on people’s perception of war and gender has always been strong. Media, journalism, and popular culture portrays the relationship between war and gender in their cultures ideal manifestation. This often differs from people’s individual experience of war. From a very early time media and popular culture displayed the ideas of war to the public. In world war one on the Homefront for many mothers, there was propaganda promoting child birth and supporting their sons to go off to war. This motif was then seen across many wars as the man power and support was an important part of the war effort. This effort to get men to go to war is also …show more content…
Women working during war time is nothing new, in the Civil war women had to control the plantations while the men fought. During World War One a similar problem arose. Should women work to replace the men that are fighting or should they focus on the gender role as a mother. Many women were forced to do both to support themselves and their family. These women were still not treated equally because it was seen out of their normal role to work. The media was portraying two ideals that many women struggled to fulfill. Being a good mother/wife and working for your country. After the end of world war one women lost their jobs to the returning soldiers. But after having jobs many women felt more independent and a new fashion emerged. Coco Chanel was created and women were defining normal gender role and wearing much more risqué cloths. World war Two saw women having another chance to join the work force. Other country’s for example Germany had a mandatory year of work for women called Berufsausbildungsprogramm where girls would work on farms. Women in Germany did work for the military but mostly only in support capacities. In the US propaganda was created to encourage women to do their part in the war and work in a war factory. Rose the Riveter was a character created to show the ideal working women. “My husband wanted to start a family. But then, he wanted to join up, because of his brother, who …show more content…
The Taliban’s control of Afghanistan saw the lost of many rights for women. Women were forbidden to hold jobs, could not attend school, and forced to wear burqas. Women could not leave there own homes unless accompanied by a male of the family. While the internet and news outlets growing around the world you would expect everyone to know about this, but interestingly these was a large lack of reporting in the US. After 9/11 this completely changed. These news focused on women with burqas and access to education. “[s]he strode up the steps tentatively at first, her body covered from face to foot by blue cotton. As she neared the door, she flipped the cloth back over her head, revealing round cheeks, dark ringlets of hair and the searching brown eyes of a student” (Rodhe, 2001: 5). This was influenced by American ideas of Orientalism and Protectionism. Through all this focus on women there situation took time to improve. But improvements were made in the new government. There parliament requires that 25% is made up of women. This was also a time of gender flux in the US military. The media had a large focus on female POW’s. The case of Jessica Lynch showed the damsel in distress and how the masculine US military came to save her. But is was overturned with the news that is was all fabricated by the military. They did this to show the public there dominance and to keep moral and
The women in Afghanistan during this time period, were shielded from the outside world, and the outside world was shielded from them. Women became nobody’s and their life was unimportant. Burqas kept the women from being who they were, and being more than just a wife. They were not known or judged for the women they used to be, but for the wives they had become. Whether they could cook well, keep a house clean, or even bear children (particularly boys), it never mattered. What mattered was that they obeyed their husbands and the rules of the Taliban. “You will not, under any circumstance, show your face. You will cover with a burqa when outside, If you do not, you will be severely beaten.” (pg. 278). Before the Taliban forced women to wear burqas, women were already being diminished. Women were raped, beaten and even killed just by walking outside their house. That doesn’t even start to describe what happened behind closed doors. Women were already losing their rights, but burqas took away who they were. Burqas affected Mariam and Laila in a big way. Mariam was barely a teenager when she married Rasheed, and had grown up with a strong, independent, man-hating mother. Mariam was never taught that she
During the war, women played a vital role in the workforce because all of the men had to go fight overseas and left their jobs. This forced women to work in factories and volunteer for war time measures.
The media has been a part of the daily life of the American people for the longest time, because of this fact, the media influences the decisions and views of how people should live. One big part of the media that tends to start to develop a sense of how the day-to-day American should live is Disney. Since kids are the main source of Disney’s billion dollar industry children have become an important dimension of the social theory (Giroux 1999: 65). “Within this context, television emerges as a consumer-oriented medium that reflects advertisers’ desire to reach a young, upscale, and primarily White audience” (Goodale1999; Henderson and Baldasty 2003: 100). As a result other races and ethnic groups other than white Americans are often put aside when it comes to the social media view of how Americans should live.
Since the tragedies of September 11th 2001, Americans have really opened their eyes to the political state of Afghanistan. The poor treatment of women in Afghanistan is an issue that, for many Americans, just seems to be coming to light as a serious concern that requires outside attention. Extreme Islamic leaders in the country persist in limiting the freedom that Afghan women have. Women in the Taliban-controlled country suffer unusually hideous acts of torment and are forced to abide by outrageous regulations because of stringent enforcement methods. Afghan women daily live lives restricted by Taliban law and risk having to endure cruel punishment and torture, yet Afghan political leaders continue to justify the their treatment of Afghan women.
When all the men were across the ocean fighting a war for world peace, the home front soon found itself in a shortage for workers. Before the war, women mostly depended on men for financial support. But with so many gone to battle, women had to go to work to support themselves. With patriotic spirit, women one by one stepped up to do a man's work with little pay, respect or recognition. Labor shortages provided a variety of jobs for women, who became street car conductors, railroad workers, and shipbuilders. Some women took over the farms, monitoring the crops and harvesting and taking care of livestock. Women, who had young children with nobody to help them, did what they could do to help too. They made such things for the soldiers overseas, such as flannel shirts, socks and scarves.
Throughout recent history, Afghanistan has been a country in turmoil. Famine, drought, civil war and Taliban rule have all had a significant impact on the Afghani people. While this has taken a very negative toll on all Afghan people, I believe, that none have been more negatively impacted than the women of Afghanistan. Having said that, not everything the Western world deems as a negative is also considered negative by the women and men of Afghanistan. One only has to read this quote, “Wearing the burqua is not mandatory, but few women are rushing to remove them” (Germani 14). While the Taliban and al-Qaida’s rule had a great negative impact from 1996-2001 and obviously oppressive to all Afghani women. They were not the sole source of oppression felt by the Afghan females as stated in this quote, “The roots of patriarchal oppression go deep in Afghan society - far deeper than the Taliban or al-Qaida.”(Rostami-Povey, E. 2007)
The issue of the relationship between the mass media and the popular culture has always been a controversial issue in social sciences. The political economists insist on the role of the media industry in the creation of this phenomenon of the twentieth century. Though, advocates such as John Fiske, argue that popular culture is actually the creation of the populous itself, and is independent of the capitalist production process of the communication sector. Basing his argument on the immense interpretive power of the people, Fiske believes that the audience is able to break all the indented meanings within a media message. He also believes- by giving new meanings to that specific message they can oppose the power block that is trying to impose its ideology to the public. Consequently, this anarchistic activity of the audience creates the popular culture as a defence mechanism. Even when we accept Fiske’s ideas, we can not disregard the manipulative power of the media and its effects on cultural and social life.
Rosie the riveter was the face of recruiting women into the Armed Forces during WWII. The increasing demand for soldiers was not being filled fast enough by just males. As a result, between the years 1940 and 1945, the percentage of female service members increased from 27% to 37%. Even on the civilian side of things, the ratio of married working women outside of their homes increased to one out of every four. The population of women that did not join the war was prompted by Rosie the Riveter’s iconic image of working in one of the many munitions industries throughout the US.
In A Rumor of War, Philip Caputo stated, “War is always attractive to young men who know nothing about it.” He was right. During the Vietnam war, thousands of men were sent there to fight, and as they arrived, they were expecting it to be exhilarating and that they would relish having the opportunity to be there. In the beginning, most of the soldiers’ attitudes are courageous, and fearless. They are not
The film titled, “The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter”, looks at the roles of women during and after World War II within the U.S. The film interviews five women who had experienced the World War II effects in the U.S, two who were Caucasian and three who were African American. These five women, who were among the millions of women recruited into skilled male-oriented jobs during World War II, shared insight into how women were treated, viewed and mainly controlled. Along with the interviews are clips from U.S. government propaganda films, news reports from the media, March of Time films, and newspaper stories, all depicting how women are to take "the men’s" places to keep up with industrial production, while reassured that their duties were fulfilling the patriotic and feminine role. After the war the government and media had changed their message as women were to resume the role of the housewife, maid and mother to stay out of the way of returning soldiers. Thus the patriotic and feminine role was nothing but a mystified tactic the government used to maintain the American economic structure during the world war period. It is the contention of this paper to explore how several groups of women were treated as mindless individuals that could be controlled and disposed of through the government arranging social institutions, media manipulation and propaganda, and assumptions behind women’s tendencies which forced “Rosie the Riveter” to become a male dominated concept.
The media had an immense effect on many individuals during the war. The public were informed about the war's progress through the media, television, and newspapers. Consequently, much of their opinions and beliefs about war and American soldiers were shaped by how the media viewed the war. Photographers were very influential in forming, changing, and molding public opinion. Some photographers were interested in showing the suffering and anguish of the soldier, whereas others wanted to emphasize the dignity, strength, and fearlessness of the American soldier. Those at home had no experience of how the soldier lived or what he had to deal with during the war. The media built up a stereotype of the soldier's life. These stereotypes are
Women showed their skill and ability to work, changing their role in society. “Women were hired for traditionally male occupations” (“Women in business”). After being hired for male jobs, women were portrayed differently and not as the average housewife. In 1944 women addressed the fact they do not get equal pay for equal work and to have working conditions improved (“Women in Society”). That included having childcare for working mothers. This prepared women to be more aggressive and be more demanding so society would accept them and so they could continue taking on these nontraditional roles after war (“Women in Society”). Working made women more demanding and they stood up themselves. It did take some convincing to have women join the workforce. The concept of working women was encouraged and advertised during the war because employment was necessary. Rosie the Riveter was also a shaped image and type of role model for women to follow (“Women in Society”). Women were comfortable being housewives before the demand for workers, but things had to change. Women’s viewpoint changed from staying home and taking care of the household, to them not wanting to be known as a housewifes anymore. “They demanded participation in the public arena and refused to accept the restrictions of traditional gender roles”(“Women in Society”). Women wanted to participate more in the community and contribute more to the country. Not only did they want to participate more in society, but they wanted to be viewed as equal to men in society. In 1944, women addressed the fact they do not get equal pay for equal work and to have working conditions improved. That included having childcare for working mothers. This prepared women to be more aggressive and be more demanding so society would accept them and to continue taking on these nontraditional roles after the war (“Women in Society”). After witnessing how they were able
This was due to the shift of women taking on more masculine roles and stepping away from simply working in offices or confined in the home. They were now on the streets where they were working jobs including road sweepers, delivery van drivers, shop assistances. The new job opportunities that opened up for women in the civil service realm had increased by 1,751%; - as transporters increased by 544%, in the metal industry increased by 376%, and industries such as TNT manufacturing increased by 160%, [2]. This increase in women working in different fields does not mean that there was an influx of women leaving their homes to flood the workforce. The total number of waged women during the war didn’t increase by much, but it did increase by about one million people.
Literature, film, television, and propaganda influence people’s attitudes towards war. I feel like technology is now a huge part of how we view war. There are various ways in which we can see or read about war and it could change our perspective and attitudes towards it. I think propaganda has been used a lot more in times of war than has literature, film, and television, but they all influence people’s attitudes towards war. Propaganda has been used in film and television to inform the people on what they want them to do.
The Effects of Popular Culture on Society Popular Culture is music, dance, theatre, film,T.V., poetry and Art which is enjoyed by a wide group of people. Some people would argue that popular culture in the 1960's cause harm. Other people however argued that other factors brought harm and change to society. Some people would argue that music would cause harm because of the lyrics in pop songs. Lyrics like 'Lets spend the night together' by The Rolling Stones, influenced young people to have casual sex.