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Essay / Facebook and its effect on female representation
I attended the Pop Culture series event “Sex, Gender and Commodity on Facebook”. The presentation illustrated the power and impact of Facebook on us, our relationships and in our lives. Ceilan and Jeff described Facebook as an ideology that calls us to participate and be a part of it. The social network was a commodity that became an important necessity in our lives. Facebook is a way for people to keep score and rate themselves against their friends and family; by comparing their achievements, their social life and their possessions. It is constructed as a template for a simple, flattened and edited construction of oneself and one's identity. It allows you to share your life with others on the Internet by sharing the six essentials: work and education, places to live, relationships, family, basic information and contact details. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essayFacebook also provides its users with safety, security, and control. The social media site allows individuals to control how their Facebook friends present them. Pictures, statuses, and posts on your friends' walls determine how people may perceive you. It also provides protection against seeing people's reactions in an objectified way. Facebook protection creates a positive atmosphere for its users by only having a “Like” button. Users strive to get likes on their posts. It also gives individuals a boost in self-esteem and societal approval through the number of likes received on their posts, photos and statuses. “Selfies” have also become a new phenomenon among all social media sites. Many people hate the constant bursts of “selfies.” They were negatively labeled by all Facebook users; but people still post them. The amount of “selfies” a user uploads can label the individual as someone with low self-esteem and self-confidence. However, Rachel Simmons believes that "selfies" do the opposite and give "selfie posters" the power to influence the interpretation of photos. Two key points - cover photos and "selfies" in the presentation on Facebook and its role in our lives are linked to two chapters of our course: Chapter 3: Socialization and social construction of gender, and Chapter 11: Popular culture, media and sports entertainment. A Facebook cover photo is a “single image that represents your page” – represents you as an individual (Facebook). On average, the majority of female cover photos are nature; while the images of men concern sport. Male interest in sports is created by external forces that “make you like them.” It shows masculinity and is influenced by family, friends and role models - it is not biologically determined. This idea of cover photos is linked to socialization. Socialization is a process that has taught men and women to internalize the norms and values related to different functional roles. Men are presumed to be rational, authoritarian, unemotional and masculine. Women are seen as submissive, irrational, kind, gentle and emotional. These societal gender roles have played an important role in our lives and now in our networking “lives”. Many Facebook users use Facebook pages, cover photos and images as their first impression; it's very precise. “Selfies” have become a.