(Jan 31, 2007) Find the following 7 things in the media:

Something that Represents:
-Power
-Beauty
-Positive Self-Image
-Masculinity
-Poverty
-Community
-Cool

Power:
Something that I feel represents power to a lot of people is the symbol of the American Flag. I think that this symbol is used by a lot of people to represent the "superiority" of the United States over other countries in the world. Displaying this symbol can have a lot of different meanings from "right wing conservative" to a person who just plain has pride in their country. The flag also has a lot of meaning to those who are not part of the nation. Our flag can be a symbol of hope or of evil depending on a person's point of view... but tia always represents the US's immense power.

Beauty:
Models are obviously huge symbols of the American idea of what beauty is. I think that one of the most important symbols that many people know about is Tyra Banks. Not only is she a hugely famous super-model but she is also in charge of "America's Next Top Model" a show that pits beautiful women against each other to prove who is the most beautiful. Tyra is an embodiment of the western ideas of beauty: thin, tall, big breasts and, of course, her "booty".

Positive Self-Image:
This is a really hard thing to find examples of in the media. This is because almost every media message is trying to tell you that there is something wrong with you and that you need to buy certain products in order to correct it. One example I can think of is Proactive. This acne medicine has commercials that show people talking about how much better they feel about themselves after using this medicine. I can really relate to these commercials and I think that using this medication really does encourage positive self-image.

Masculinity:
I think that so many different kinds of products play on masculinity in order to encourage people to buy them. One example of this is the Tag body-spray commercial where there is a man spraying himself and thousands of women in bikinis are stampeding towards him from all sides. I think that these commercials are trying to sell their product by saying that if you use this spray then you will be an irresistable man.

Poverty:
One example of poverty in the media is habitat for humanity. They have advertisements on television as well as posters and pamphlets that advertise their different projects that are intended to help people who are living in poverty to have better lives and homes.

Community:
I think that a huge example of a piece of media that brings our country together as a "community" is the "support our troops" bumper stickers ribbon. I think that a person who has one of these is choosing to express their devotion to what is supposedly the common ground for the United States community.

Cool:
I think that cigarette advertisements are constantly trying to send out a message that smoking is cool. One example of this is a Newports advertisement that shows a young attractive couple on a beautiful tropical beach alone smoking. This sends out the message that if you smoke these cigarettes you will be young and attractive and you will be able to effortlessly enjoy yourself in an exotic place... the essence of "cool"