Week 8 - Gazing

Fashion advertising is becoming increasingly sexulised, with Merskin (2006) comparing images often seen in magazines such as Vogue with soft core pornography. The idea that it is not the product itself for sale but what it is the product stands for is clearly evident in advertisements such as an example by Guess Jeans, in which the jeans worn by the models are shown only from the thighs up, with the viewer's eye being drawn instead to the female model and the particularly sexual look she is giving at the audience. It is also very noticeable that neither seems to be wearing any clothing except the advertised jeans, and a bra in the case of the woman.
Interestingly, a recent advertisement for barbie dolls attempts to show the doll as being empowering to women, while it is more commonly known for portraying unrealistic body dimensions and is criticised by many for wearing skimpy outfits and promoting the sexulisation of young girls. The television add does not reveal what is being advertised until the very end of the add, as to prevent the viewer from not taking the add seriously when they see it is for barbie. While the add appears to be taking a feminist standpoint and shows a woman helicopter pilot, those familiar with the doll will be unlikely to change preconceived notions about the product, although this is ultimately what the add is striving to do.

References
Merskin, D 2006, 'Where are the clothes? The Pornographic Gaze in Mainstream American Advertising', Sex in Consumer Culture

Week 7 - Watching

The panopticon has been important in regulating human behaviour and controlling shifts in power, both as a physical structure such as a prison, and as a concept. Devised by Jeremy Bentham in 1785, it was used long before this time as a means of keeping groups or individuals under surveillance, including both examples of the Roman Colosseum and the public spectacle of death and punishment as well as a means of determining the health and well-being of those suffering from the plague (Foucault, 1977).
Throughout the ages, the panopticon has been seen as a tool used in order to discipline the masses, and keep them under somewhat control.  An example of religious schools is used, demonstrating how the school administration can keep the families acting in a manner they see as appropriate, simply by having the means to investigate those they believe may be acting outside their ideal way of living (Foucault, 1977, p. 212).
The idea of a panopticon as a tool to invade the privacy of the people in a dystopian world is a key concept in the novel 'Nineteen Eighty-Four' (Orwell, 1948). The use of technology to discipline society, while they are unsure whether they are being watched and must therefore act accordingly, is used not only in Orwell's novel but also in modern day society, with the threat of CCTV recording us continually, and prompting us to behave even though we do not know if anyone is really monitoring the footage.

References
Foucault, 1977, Discipline and Punish
Orwell, 1948, Nineteen Eighty-Four

Week 6 - Speaking & Listening

The Internet and it's role as a public sphere has revolutionised the way individuals and groups alike have been able to communicate and get their message heard to others across the globe. As a public sphere, the Internet is seen as "not private, but accessible and observable by all" (Paracharissi, 2002, 10). Despite the increasing number of global Internet users, the above quote does not seem to be the case. Nielsen (2009), indicated 80.1% of Australians with Internet access which indicates that this technological resource is not in fact, "accessible by all". In less developed continents Internet usage is much lower than that of Australia, with only 10.9% of those in Africa with Internet access resulting in a worldwide Internet usage rate of 28.7%. (World Internet Stats, 2010)
The Internet as a public sphere does allow for increased sharing of ideas and the interconnectivity of those who would otherwise never be able to communicate, yet it cannot really be classified as a public sphere due to limited access to the disadvantaged. (Paracharissi, 2002, 15)
The Internet is utilised for political means by thousands or perhaps millions world wide, with a recent example of Internet use by the people who would otherwise go unheard being that of the recent protests in Egypt, much of which was fuelled by twitter and facebook, as well as many protests being uploaded to Youtube (Ungerleider, 2011).

References
Nielsen, 2002
Paracharissi, 2002, New Media and Society
Ungerleider, 2011, Fast Company
World Internet Statistics, 2010