Class Notes 1/29/07

Class Notes 1/29/07

“But I Know You, American Woman”

Key Terms:

• Anglo-Americans- All women of dominant “American culture” (white, upper-middle class).
• Cultural Oppression- Ignorance of other cultures, supported by the American political/education systems and media.

Four Point Outline:

1. Ignorance that Anglo-American women have of other cultures (asking others to explain and defend their own cultures).
2. Cultural oppression, which is supported by the American political and education systems as well as the media.
3. Gain visibility of various cultures in the media.
4. Become educated about different colors and get information through experience.

Chapter 1

Key Terms:

• Media- Educate us how to think, what to believe, fear and desire, and what not to.
• Mainstream- Conforming to the dominant fashion, values, and behavior.
• Cultural Studies- Show how media articulate dominant values, political ideologies and social development of an era.

Four Point Outline:

1. The media controls the thoughts and opinions of the masses, creating stereotypes.
2. Different classes of people do not have equal access to the media.
3. Media should be multicultural.
4. Educate people and increase critical cultural analysis.

Chapter 8

Key Terms:

• Ideology- Images, concepts, and premises which provide the frameworks through which we represent, interpret, understand, and make sense of some aspect of social existence.
• Language- The principle medium in which we find different ideological discourses elaborated.
• Overt Racism- Open and favorable coverage given to arguments and positions in the business of elaborating an openly racist government.
• Inferential Racism- Enables racist statements to be formulated without ever bringing into awareness the racist predicates on which the statements are grounded.

Four Point Outline:

1. The media are important for production, reproduction, and transformation of ideologies.
2. Those in power shape stereotypes and portray “the other” as the problem.
3. A media that overcomes conventions of inferential racism and strives beyond the too-easy approach of “race relations.”
4. Process of breaking down stereotypes and ideologies must be a collaborative effort and people must be more aware of such pervasive ideologies constructed by the media.

Notes By Spencer H
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