Name: Noelle Raffo

Social Justice Group: 2018-2019, Women in the Media

Date of Fieldwork: December 12, 2018

Name of Organization: The Paley Center for Media

Person (people) with whom I met and their job titles: Caroline Quigley

Type of Fieldwork: Workshop

What I did:

My group, and the group focusing on the sexualization of women in fashion went to the Paley Center for Media. We participated in a workshop called Girls, Body Image, and the Media. First we watched a compilation of clips of different music videos, shows, social medias posts, etc. We analyzed and looked deeper into these clips and how they portray girls and women. Then we watched a clip from a show called “Gidget” from the ’60s. Then we watched a clip from “The Facts of Life” from the ’80s, and then a clip of “Glee”. We analyzed these shows and it was very interesting to watch the shows through a new lens.

What I learned:

I learned that there are so many stereotypes and body image issues in so many shows. In all of the shows that we watched, the girls were always talking about boys, had body image issues, and were wearing short and tight clothes. I learned that shows, like sitcoms always make these girls have body issues, but play them off as a joke.

What I learned about Social Justice “work” and/or Civil and Human rights “work” from this fieldwork:

During this workshop I learned that even just keeping a copy of a bunch of different shows can help people realize what these shows are portraying. Sometimes social justice work is not just protesting and going on strikes, sometimes it is just helpful to keep an archive.