Why I am taking this class...

I have chosen this particular class because I have long have held a certain interest in power relations between human beings, and the central conflict in the power struggle is gender. I have taken a few women studies courses that really sparked my interest about the media's influence. I wish to come away from this class with a deep understanding of what a society would be like where the media treated all the people equally. 

I didn't realize the impact that media had on people's opinions until I went abroad to East Africa. While I was in Tanzania, I immediately realized that people were limited in their option to different media outlets. Batteries for a radio are expensive, power for televisions is scarce and internet is a luxury that the majority of people do not have.  I often have heard people saying that our society has too much media in our lives that tell us what to do, but I realize now that as a result of the wide selection of media outlets, we are able to hear opposing sides of a selling point instead of a single narration. At least we have people on television or the internet that are outspoken enough to say whether certain commercials are distasteful or just straight up wrong.