Abby Gray's Media Blogs!!

Recently on various social media platforms, I have noticed a lot of backlash between the body types people, but more specifically women,have. A skinny person is considered "anorexic" and " a try-hard" and that they "need to eat a burger" while bigger people are told to lose weight and eat a salad. This has caused utter confusion for me- what even are the expectations for women's bodies now? I have noticed that recently, there has been more backlash towards thin models/people. The reality is that some people are built that way and I don't have an issue with them dieting and such. If that's what they want to do, then they can do it. The part that gets twisted is the part where skinny can become the expectation- and in reality, it shouldn't. We should not pressure people who are built bigger to get surgery (such as removing a rib) to be skinnier. The same goes for people who are skinny that feel pressure to have an hourglass figure- we shoul...

Like many students, I am a Twitter user and abuser. I got on Twitter frequently, and this week, I had a reality check when I tweeted #wherearethechildren out of good intentions. Many people have heard of the alleged separation policy that Trump has enacted with the border control, better known as ICE, where children are separated from their parents and put into separate detention centers. This is true- but it has falsely been linked to the lost children. I came across a tweet several days after tweeting #wherearethechildren by a lawyer who was experienced in cases like this and has has contact with people related to the incident. She said that we should stop tweeting this- the lost children are very likely to be with their families (she noted it is probably an uncle/aunt/grandparent who is a US citizen) and have not been accounted for as undocumented by the government- and that if the 1,500 children were to be found, they would be sent back to Mexico by ICE. So, she stated it is bett...

The media was abuzz this week with the news that Kim Kardashian was headed to the White House to discuss prison reform. Many people have taken it to Twitter to show their dissatisfaction with Kardashian meeting the President.The New York Post even made their magazine cover a distorted photo of Kardashian meeting Trump, and many criticized the nature of the meeting. However, I strongly oppose the criticism, and I am rather repulsed by the criticism that she's receiving. Kardashian has been an opponent of Trump and was a fervent Hillary supporter during the 2016 election. However, she described, she wanted to talk to Trump about a woman named Alice Walker who was in prison for a minor drug felony. Kardashian put her feelings aside to benefit not just Alice Walker, but many people like her who are in jail for a minor drug charge. That, by itself, is incredibly admirable. Kardashian was looking to make a positive change, and she did so in the right way. She has risen awareness and i...

If you've been living in a cave, and you haven't hear about the royal wedding, here is a summary. Meghan Markle, and American actress, married Prince Harry, grandson of Queen Elizabeth and the son of the most photographed woman in the world, Princess Diana. Hundreds of thousands of people flocked to St. George's Chapel in Windsor to witness the extravagant royal wedding. But- is the love mutual? Do Americans fuel the royal obsession from overseas? Do the Brits even like it? The answer is simple- no, they don't. Many British folk have revealed that their taxes paid for every part of the royal wedding- from the crown and dress Markle wore to the flowers that donned the front of the chapel. They believe that the Americans are the only thing upholding the years-old tradition. So, in the end, it is the American obsession fueling the publicity of the wedding. Taxpayers were enraged by the fact that they paid for the wedding and reception, but they were not given priority vi...

I was very satisfied with the intentions of Miss Representation. However, there was a very large issue within it- the film barely discussed the roadblocks that women of color and trans women face on top of being a woman. The film talked about women of color a considerable amount, and did touch on the issues they face on top of being a woman, but this was mentioned once or twice. Trans women were completely excluded from this film, and they count as well. The film was made in 2011, and trans folks did not have as much recognitions as they do. now, but that does not excuse the lack of representation. I also believe that the film did not talk enough about how women tear down other women as well. A lot of blame was put on the media and men, and while some men and much of the media are responsible, women do force expectations on eachother and tear each other down just as equally. Most of the comments I have gotten, my mom has gotten, and my grandmothers have gotten are from other women who ...

Miss Representation was a movie with plenty of good intentions behind it. It pointed out the media's fault and our fault in making a woman's life difficult. However, I do not believe that there were enough causal links in the movie that would readily convince each and every viewer that each aspect ( media, behaviors, etc) connected to a woman's web being or the lack of. For example, at one point in the movie, there is a comment made about how media can be destructive toward teen girls. Then, a giant boom and explosion plays out on the screen for around 7 seconds- but they failed to show WHY the media had brought it to that large of a magnitude. This, in fact, was the largest issue with the movie. They exaggerated the magnitude of each issue and didn't link it back to the issue at its core. For example- how is the media THAT damaging to girls? How does it end our existence, like a nuclear bomb would? They make assumptions about the magnitude of each issue and fail to est...