"Urban Katie"- A Blog Profile

I found this blog and was immediately attracted to its simple and clean format with bright pops of color. The blogger goes by “Urban Katie” and her blog titled “Obsessed” focuses on the infatuation that America has with celebrities. You can check out her blog here. Her blog was created for one of her classes (how fitting!) at the University of Virginia and as she writes in her “about” section of her blog she is a double major in media studies and American studies with a concentration in visual and popular culture. Katie may be a student but she has excellent insight and theories into why America has such a fixation with celebrities. Although she only averages about one post every couple weeks, her interest in the topic is portrayed throughout her blog as her posts are filled with thought and care.

Katie writes in her very first blog post, “I want to use this blog to explore America’s infatuation with celebrity through an academic lens and examine topics such as celebrity replacing religion, celebrity “news,” and celebrities’ ability to influence.” My blog relates to Katie’s on the level that we are both writing about how media influences society. Katie’s blog focuses strictly upon celebrity influence, whereas my blog will explore this area as well as how magazines, models, advertisements et cetera affect women today. I believe that Katie’s blog will be a fantastic reference and resource when writing my blog because her writing is more academic, with frequent footnotes and links to case studies and scholarly articles. Although I don’t plan to have a formal voice in my blog like she does, she supplies content that may be relevant to the topics I choose to post on. My goal is to develop a strong voice throughout my blog and give the readers more than just straight facts in an academic format.

Katie has a few posts that are directly relevant to my topic. One of her most relatable posts to my topic is entitled, “The Media and Female Body Image,” it focuses upon how women in the media are objectified and made to be seen as “passive” rather than “active” by men. Another similar post called “Media and Body Image Part 2” addresses how the media focuses upon images of perfection to market their products and celebrities. Many are aware of the false images of perfection presented in our society but they still have extreme affects on women today. In a future post, I hope to touch upon the topics she presented on a more personal level. Katie’s posts are highly informative however they lack a certain quality that makes the writing more assessable to the reader. Katie does not offer any personal stories or anything that the reader can particularly relate to. Most women can probably share the feeling of thinking they are inadequate to celebrities and models in magazines and on the news but I believe that the adding a person touch makes the reader feel more connected with the writer and more engrossed in the writing.

Hello, World....

Sophia Loren and Jayne Mansfield

I work for a major women’s magazine. This is probably a long overdue confession but I am beginning to hate it. Perhaps I am not cut out for the whole “9 to 5” job or maybe I’m jut not that into it anymore. I know there are hundreds of girls who would kill to take my spot but honestly, I don’t care. Everyone I work with pretty much sucks and they might be the most passive aggressive group of humans I have ever met in my life. I think it is the industry that turns people this way or maybe it is just that women intrinsically are jealous of other women. Whether it be jealously of their accomplishments, looks, boyfriend or whatever else, women are jealous. I remember walking into my boss’s office one day eating a cupcake (first mistake), she looked at me and said “HOW do you eat THAT and stay so thin?!” to which I responded “Umm, I don’t know, I don’t really gain weight” (second mistake). I could then see her lips purse up and her face turn green with envy. Since then she often makes comments regarding my eating habits and looks, it is almost like she resents me for it. Don’t get me wrong, my boss is no Meryl Streep from The Devil Wears Prada, but she can be quite a handful. So why are women so jealous other women? I believe that although it is partially due to some internal craziness we all have, it is in large part due to the society we live in. In today’s world, I don’t think we could survive without media. In our daily life we often look to the media to tell us what we should be aware of and what is important. We are constantly surrounded by news of beautiful celebrities and billboards are plastered with stick thin models. In the United States alone, over 8 million people struggle from eating disorders and that number is increasingly yearly. Many suffer from body image issues and look to celebrities and models to see how they should dress and how they should look. You would think after reading this post that I hate the media, hate the fashion industry, hate the beauty industry, and hate basically anything that influences culture and society. But the kicker is, I don’t. I am still a girly girl obsessed with nail polish (literally obsessed), clothes, and all the latest beauty products. I’m just comfortable with myself and don’t feel the need to strive for what magazines and celebrities tell women is “perfect”. Although I am comfortable with myself (don’t get me wrong, I still have my insecurities), many women are not. Throughout this course of this blog I am going to explore the effects of the magazine industry as well as mass media on young women in today’s society. I am going to incorporate my own experiences with the various topics I choose to touch upon which may include exploring the effects of the fashion, beauty, advertisements, sex articles, and fitness while also looking at how we can protect ourselves against the societal norms that are pressed upon us. 

Above is a excerpt taking from a young woman's tumblr blog.  She illustrates the effects of media and society on women.