Croteau's Media and Ideology

After reading over Croteau's statement, "Research on the ideology of media has included a debate between those who argue that media promote the worldview of the powerful - the 'dominant ideology' - and those who argue that mass media texts include more contradictory messages, both expressing the 'dominant ideology' and at least partially challenging worldviews," (161) I have to say that media is just on the brink of truly challenging the dominant ideology in today's society. When we turn on the television we are often faced with what is more "natural" (166). "Hegemony operates at the level of common sense in the assumptions we make about social life and on the terrain of things that we accept as 'natural' or 'the way things are'" (166). Television predominately depicts what society has deemed acceptable or natural to our every day lives. In the 50s and 60s, there was the nuclear family such as the Cleavers who almost every family was aspiring to be. However, as times changed, we now have modified the nuclear family to the more common idea of a single parent raising children, or a divorced couple sharing custody of the kids. While these are not new concepts, it took television quite some time to shift focus from the nuclear to the more modern family. Now we are even going further with the program "Modern Family" where there are various types of families, including a gay couple raising a child. This is quite a feat considering marriage between gay and lesbian couples is constantly in the news, which is the prime example for what society deems "unnatural" (167). Television is finally beginning to challenge the norm or dominant ideology to reveal that just because it is not what has always been accepted, it does not mean it is wrong. More definitely needs to be done to challenge what the majority is saying and expose what is really going on in society.

I taught a unit this year for my juniors about the perceptions of beauty within today's society and asked the students to keep an open mind about what really matters when choosing a significant other. The front runner of their responses was looks. I cannot say that I am surprised as there is a constant push from the media to be beautiful, handsome, fit, well groomed features. We watched a series of commercials, dissected advertisements, analyzed essays on perceptions, and at the end of the unit, my students began to really discuss the reasons why society focuses on certain images and ideas. They realized they were being force fed the dominant ideology of dressing a certain way, buying certain products, and focusing on sometimes the more superficial aspects of their relationships rather than the personality of their significant other or crush. The students reflected on the unit and I was surprised at how many of the students explained how their opinions had changed over the course of the unit and what they have learned about themselves. They enjoyed looking at the big messages from the digital tools and essays and stripping them down to the true meanings and messages behind them. They want to challenge what is considered natural and expose the unnatural in order to understand their surroundings better as well as the world in general. That unit was truly eye opening for me as an educator since they grew into such reflective learners, something Wesch would like.