2009/04/18

Violence Vedeo Game

What do you guys think, does video game violence actually affect children?

I researched on the internet about this the other class and a recent study conducted by Iowa State University psychologists says yes. Their study shows that “brief exposure to violent video games can cause a reduction in normal physiological reactivity to images of real violence.” This process is the same desensitization process that is used to help people get over fears of spiders or flying. All so I heard that "Basically, we introduce young children to very playful, fun, cartoonish forms of violence, with little or no blood, no real consequences to the victim or friends and family of the victim." As children grow "more realistic and more threatening elements" are added. Eventually we have adults "accustomed to and comfortable with seeing lots of blood and gore, with an exaggerated view of how much violence exists or is "normal" in modern society, and with belief systems that are supportive of use of aggression or violence."
Why we knew those fact but we still use it??

2009/04/03

The Japanese Beauty

For my gryouo presentation, I resarched about my country of Japan!
Of course, I already knew some of them, but it was very intersting to learn more about in Japann!

Perception of Weight vs. The Reality of Weight

In Japan, the reality is that only 23% of Japanese women are obese or overweight (the lowest of the 10 countries surveyed), yet 52% of Japanese women perceive their weight to be “too high.” This 29-percent spread was the highest. (Interestingly, while a large number of Japanese women perceive a problem that doesn’t exist, in both Portugal and Argentina, the spread went the other way. While the percentage of obese or overweight women stands at 60% for Portugal and 54% for Argentina, only 39% and 30%, respectively, of women in those countries see their weight as “too high.”)

Satisfaction with Beauty

Here again, Japanese women’s attitudes are vastly different than the other nine countries surveyed. Only 23% of Japanese women consider themselves either “very satisfied” or “somewhat satisfied” in response to the question, “How satisfied would you say you are with your own beauty?” The next lowest group was UK women, 61% of whom are either “very satisfied” or “somewhat satisfied” with their own beauty. (The highest percentages belonged to Argentina (86%) and Portugal (82%), perhaps not surprising given the attitudes to weight mentioned above). Japanese responses to related survey questions about satisfaction with “physical attractiveness” (23%) and “body weight and shape” (20%) yielded similar disparities.

Satisfaction with factors in one’s life: Romantic relationship

Only 16% of Japanese women are satisfied with romantic relationships, by far the lowest level of satisfaction among the 10 countries (next lowest was Canada, at 59%). This figure was so low that the survey puts forth a disclaimer that “this may be due to the fact that the Japanese translation for ‘romantic relationship’ used in the study has far more idealized connotations than in the English version and is thus perceived as harder to achieve by Japanese respondents.” The study does not mention what the “Japanese translation” was, and in any case the reasoning sounds somewhat specious to me. Any readers care to speculate on this? On the same “satisfaction with factors” index, Japanese women also had low satisfaction percentages for “professional success” (18%) and “financial success” (20%), both lowest among the 10 countries. In fact, the only categories that Japanese women didn’t score the lowest satisfaction levels in were “friends” (68% — Italy was lower) and “spirituality and religious faith” (36% — several countries were lower).

Perceptions about Physical Attractiveness/Beauty

Given the low sense of physical attractiveness and beauty among Japanese women — as mentioned, only 23% are satisfied with these aspects of themselves — you would think that Japanese women would feel a strong sense of pressure from society, media, their peers, etc., to be more beautiful, but in fact the survey reveals just the opposite. In regards to the statement, “Society expects women to enhance their physical attractiveness,” only 13% of Japanese women strongly agree. This “significantly less dissonance between society and self” among Japanese women (as noted by the survey authors) is further borne out by the fact that only 20% of Japanese women strongly agree with the statement, “The media and advertising set an unrealistic standard of beauty that most women can’t ever achieve.” (The next lowest agreement percentage is Portugal’s 62%, 42 percentage points higher).

Perception of beauty

In terms of questions related to what “beauty” and “being beautiful” mean, Japanese women’s responses are also telling. In responding to five different statements meant to imply a broader sense of beauty — for example, “I feel most beautiful when I am happy and fulfilled in my life” or “I think that every woman has something about her that is beautiful” — Japanese women showed the least agreement among the 10 countries for each one. The lowest percentage of agreement (57%) was for the statement, “Beauty can be achieved through attitude, spirit and other attributes that have nothing to do with physical appearance.”

2009/03/27

The Effects of Media on Children


We live in a society which praises individuality and freedom, and therefore to most people it is a scary thought that an outside source, such as the media, has such a large effect on our lives, and therefore it is no surprise that most people do not believe that the media has a strong effect on them. But when it comes to children, the debate becomes more personal. It is common knowledge that children are very impressionable, and that the people they meet, their parents, and teachers can have a huge impact in the lives of Children. I myself can attribute much of my current interests and behavior to the effect my parents had on my when I was a child.

Today, though, many children are in poor families and, as a result, many children often do not have parents that reside at home. Often both parents work long hours, and the children have nothing else to occupy their time except for the media, especially television media. How does what the child sees on TV effect his or her behavior? The real question that faces society is does the increasing amount of violence and sex on TV effect children?

My personal opinion is that violence and sex in the media greatly effects a child's development. The amount of sex and violence on TV today dwarfs what was on when I was little. Does a day not pass when there is a story about a child killing another child, or an even younger girl becoming pregnant? When I go an elementary or middle school I am shocked at the types of clothing that the children wear, and the way that they talk and act. Even elementary school children know about things that I did not learn about till I was in High School, and in my opinion things they should not know about.

2009/03/13

SUBCULURE

There are so many new subculture in our sociey. one thing, the goth subculture is a contemporary subculture found in many countries. It began in the United Kingdom during the early 1980s in the gothic rock scene, an offshoot of the post-punk genre. The goth subculture has survived much longer than others of the same era, and has continued to diversify. Its imagery and cultural proclivities indicate influences from nineteenth century Gothic literature along with horror movies and to a lesser extent the BDSM culture.

The goth subculture has associated tastes in music, aesthetics, and fashion, whether or not all individuals who share those tastes are in fact members of the goth subculture. Gothic music encompasses a number of different styles. Common to all is a tendency towards a lugubrious, mystical sound and outlook. Styles of dress within the subculture range from deathrock, punk, androgynous, Victorian, some Renaissance and Medieval style attire, or combinations of the above, most often with black attire, makeup and hair.

But I don't think thouse are not great imfluence for kids.
What do you think?

2009/03/06

The problem of Tv Advertising

When you look at the output on your television they are annoying and intrusive. To a marketing manager, or an executive though, the process of creating the ad is like living a little slice of Hollywood magic. It is sexy, and it is fun, and it can make you feel like a movie executive.

Additionally, if your senior management think marketing and advertising are the same thing (and most of them do), TV advertising seems safe to them as they have experienced it. Their experience is that they notice the ads on TV, and that TV ads can be so appealing that entire shows are dedicated to showing the best ads. The reality is that the attention they receive does not mean that they are effective, but this matters less than you would think. The mental perception that TV advertising works is hard to counter even with logic and data.

The reality for marketing managers is that a marketing campaign can be easier to sell to executives if it includes TV. "If we take this TV package with NBC you will get to appear on the Apprentice and talk to Donald Trump about our company." is a very compelling pitch to a CEO. Stroking the pride of an executive in this way can also be a very good way to get advancement in a company regardless of any measurable outcome.

All this is why the downturn economy might cause some companies (the less smart ones) to focus more on TV than other advertising mediums. The question for them is not about the dollar cost, but rather the risk in the investment. Rightly or wrongly TV is often seen as low risk advertising spend. It is human nature to be more comfortable with things that are familiar to us, and things that our peers are doing.

Todd's post earlier today on his discussion with an F500 marketer was brilliant. It was great to see an example of a marketing manager that takes their job seriously and looks for ways to improve the effectiveness of their campaigns. These people are not as rare as my earlier comments might suggest, but it is still good to see them in action. It was also a perfect example of how the podcasting space needs to sell itself to media buyers, clearly and concisely laying out the benefits of the media and then backing it up with hard, defendable data.

If you are a marketing manager that wants to include podcasting in your proposals, what can you do? There is nothing that you can do to replicate the glamour factor of TV, but you can change the executives perception of the risk. As I said earlier, part of the internal risk calculation people make is their familiarity. If you can get your executives actually listening to podcasts they will quickly become comfortable with them and the advertising will be easier to propose.

Here are a selection of podcasts that have great business content that will really appeal to your executives as a starting point. There are so many more as well that I have not had time to listen to myself.

2009/02/27

Do you think racism is a big cause of poverty?


I think racism is one of the causes of poverty although I do not think that it is a big cause. The fact that travel and communications have become more accessible and updated constantly through the Internet in the past decade or two, people all over the world have become more aware of the fact that in almost all societies the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. In the United States alone there are people from all walks of life that are situated in varying stages of "wealth", therefore poverty is not prejudice. I think poverty is caused mainly by corruption and ignorance in all levels of governments in "poor" or "developing" countries. Politicians who receive grants and aid destined for those who need it most and either detour or hide them are the ones most responsible for the increase of world poverty.

2009/02/20

Late V-day!


Did you have great time to spend the Valentine's Day?
Actuallly I had a road game in Chicago, so I spend my teammate rather than my boy friend.lol
anyway,is there a special way of spending this time in Amerika?
In Japan, it is only the women who give presents (mainly chocolates) to men. Japanese women are usually too shy to express their love. (Though it might not be true nowadays.) Therefore, Valentine's Day was thought to be a great opportunity to let women express their feelings. However, this is a custom that smart chocolate companies spread to boost their sales, and it has been very successful. Now the chocolate companies in Japan sell more than half of their annual sales during the week before Valentine's Day. Men are supposed to return gifts to women on a day called "White Day" (March 14th), a Japanese creation.


I resarched on th einternet they saidn that Japanese confectionery maker Morinaga is leading the charge for Reverse Chocolates by publishing the results of a survey revealing that 90.8% of Japanese women would like receive chocolate from men on Valentine’s Day as is the custom in other countries.

2009/02/13

Men's Movemnt

I'm taking COMM 350R which I learn about Gender, Culture, Communication. First a month, we disused feminist, now we learned Men’s Movement. So, it was interesting for me but I didn’t know exactly what Men’s Movement is. So, I researched men’s movement on the internet.

This is what I learn. The men’s movement is a fascinating and vexing phenomenon that is part of the important history of gender change in the United States and the world. Men are finally engaging the challenges of feminism and rethinking what it means to be a man in today’s society. At stake in this “crisis of masculinity” is the future of the family, the economy, and the society as a whole. This book examines the cultural imagery and the actions of the men of the mythopoeia men’s movement in particular, examining their ideas, goals, and behavior.

I think the underlying problem that has caused the formation of the movement is that women have more or less successfully broken out of their archaic role, while men have yet to do so. Add to that the shame inflicted on men as a whole, and being male isn't necessarily the paradise some feminists make it out to be. In my opinion, this is a critical problem in need of solving, because I believe that in this matter, nobody is free before all is free. With women largely having liberated themselves from their old roles and men still stuck in their archaic ones, everyone wins if the male half of society manages to pull itself out of this outdated swamp. The school of feminism that stresses freedom and equality seems to agree, whereas the school of feminism that is mostly intent on making men suffer, predictably, disagrees. I think the latter is a minority, but I'm not a feminist, I wouldn't know.

The largest and most embarrassing error the men's movement committed was that part of it pointed to women as the enemy and oppressor. This is silly for two reasons: The whole discussion quickly degenerates into a "who-is-most-oppressed" competition, and besides, modern advanced civilizations are perfectly capable of oppressing both sexes. Women don't get the highest-paid jobs; men take jobs that kill them. Women are expected to both do professional work and tend to children if they have any; men get forced into military duty. The oppressor is not one sex, but the sexless social mechanisms that have been oppressing us all for millennia.

The problem with the movement is the same problem that faces modern feminists: Men's movements and women's movements are really a stupid way to go about fixing this problem. What we need is an anti-sexist movement that doesn't have the implicit agenda of advancing one sex over

2009/02/06

How Child Abuse Affects Our Society


I have read the book which is " Achild called “It” since 1 monthe ago.Child abuse is one of the plagues on any given society. Sadly, it is present in nearly every, if not every, society. The fact that this plague affects society as a whole cannot be overlooked. There are a number of ways in which our society in America is directly impacted by the presence of this blight. The eradication of such a detriment would greatly improve our society as a whole.

One of the greatest affects of child abuse is its self perpetuation. It is commonly accepted that children that are abused have a greater chance of growing up and abusing their own children. As with so many other bad characteristics in society, this is a hard cycle to break. It takes a distinct and conscientious effort to disrupt the ongoing cycle of abuse. One must decide that they will not follow the pattern of their parents ahead of him. Unfortunately, since abuse is typically a problem among those that are under educated, those that are abused have very little chance of learning other options.

Child abuse also affects our society because it increases the rate of other abuse in the family. It is not uncommon for children who are abused to extend that abuse to other people when they have their own families. It is not surprising that children who are abused believe that such a practice is acceptable. When they have their own children, they believe that it is perfectly acceptable to abuse them, but they also extend that idea to their spouses. If they have become so domineering to abuse one member of the family, then they will not often hesitate to abuse others, thus guaranteeing the continuation of the cycle of abuse for another generation.

2009/01/30

Question about Feminist .


Since we have talked about Feminist in the class,I had a question which is "Is feminism dividing our society?"

Today we see many feminist groups with their hardline attitude. It seems that they want women to dominate the world and don't want men to have a say.

I hard that this especially hurtful in India because we still value our culture and marital union. Gentle and accepting behaviour is the tradition of indian women. By going aggressive, are they actually losing their feminine qualities?

Also, if women have same rights as men, then why do we need women's rights? Should they be included in human rights? What is more satisfying for a woman to have a happy husband and family? Can a job be better than family and marriage?

I'm don't know about it exactry.
But I think Feminism dividing our society.

If women need the same rights as men, why women need a special rights/reservations?
I think it's the reservation system to be removed and it should be general only.
I believe in India the Indian Women are enjoying the real freedom in mind and life as there are no restrictions, and they are enjoying the same rights as of men.

Once if we give a separate privilege,rights,reservation to a special community-not as religion it will divide our society as the disturbances in mind will growing up due to these things...

Give equal rights, but not give one with more rights,reservations...
Anywhere in the world, to have a happy husband/wife and family will be more satisfying for men/women, than any other things.


I think obviously the culture, traditions and marital union will collapse when one get more than other. Most of western/other countries not having this much family values like India, so they can raise their voice for feminism.


I want to know what you guys think about this?

2009/01/24

President Obama!!


Barack Obama is now the President of the United States of America . I'm so excited!!!

Well for one thing, I really think that he is a very intelligent man, and he has a good understanding of the problems facing America.

Many Japanese friends ask me, “Will President Obama be able to fix America?” Well, I couldn't ansuwer completely. But he will do his best to repair some things, and I think that he was the best choice of all people running in the past election.

But I think that Japan will be playing a more active role in the future Japanese/American relationship. During the Cold War, and since then, military security has always been at the top of the agenda for the Japanese and American governments.

However, in my opinion, the greatest dangers facing the planet are Climate Change, and depletion of oil resources. A secondary danger is financial collapse.

When I lived in Japan, almost everyday, the media tals about Climate Change. I'm not sure but I think that very few American people really understand the dangers posed by Climate Change. I hard that they think that we are merely in a cycle, things will soon return to normal.

And here is the problem with President Obama. People do understand that the Bush administration did create a lot of problems. But they expect that the new President, Barack Obama, will make everything the same as it was before.

Howevery, I think that is not possible. The financial crisis will become even worse in America this year. President Obama understands this. In his inaugural speech, has said that people must be responsible in their business practices.

Now, not only is there a crisis of unemployment, there is also a housing crisis with people being unable to afford their homes. The number of homeless people, many of them families, is rapidly increasing.

Many people are expecting President Obama to bring satisfaction; I think they will be surprised when he tells them that they have to change their lives if the nation is to survive. But this is necessary.

And Barack Obama is the best man for the job.

2009/01/15

Media and Advertising




Hello, how are you guys? It’s Little Asian Asumi from your COMM 2010 class. This is my first time to post for real assignment!! I researched relationship between Media and Advertising on the inter-net. It was very interesting to know that stuffs and I will keep researching about this topic.

One of the thing, I found good quote which is my favorite one,


"Advertising is the art of arresting the human intelligence just long enough to get money from it."


— Chuck Blore, a partner in the advertising firm Chuck Blore & Don Ruchman, Inc., quoted by Ben H. Bagdikian, The Media Monopoly, Sixth Edition, (Beacon Press, 2000), p.185.


I definitely understand and agree with this quote. In Japan, it’s same that advertising is very important for broadcast companies to get money. However, there day many people watch more inter-net rather than TV. So, the TV Company couldn’t get enough money for broadcast. One of the article said, “In America, TV audience’s average age of is fifteen-four year old. I was so surprise this number. The reasons why that biggest cause is internet become more common. Indeed internet is very convenience and you can use any time you what. So I think that internet is getting more common more than TV or any other mass media. And people using TV decrease next 10 years I think.




2009/01/08

First Post it!!

Hello!!!

This is Little Asian, Asumi's Blog for COMM 2010 class.

I'm so excited to have this Blog!