We all agreed the film was a good teaching tool and introduction that can create important dialogue, especially among people who are unaware of these issues. There were some complicated reactions as well; and we spent over two hours unpacking them.

As women of color, some of us felt underrepresented in the film, not only in the images and talking heads, but in the lack of analysis around intersections of gender and race. Intersections of race and gender is something that we tend to notice, struggle with and internalize– and this just was not talked about. Rachel Maddow alluded to the intersectionality of gender and sexuality when she discussed the sexist and homophobic hate mail she receives from angry viewers on a regular basis.  This touched on the idea that all women are not treated the same in the media. And for many of us, gender bias is one of many concerns when we think about media representation.

Some viewers also asserted that the film covered a lot of ground about the problem, but lacked attention around solutions.  This lack of focus on next steps left some viewers feeling overwhelmed and defeated– how do we combat this huge system?  This led to a discussion about feminism, patriarchy and specifically, a white supremacist capitalist patriarchy (shoutout to bell hooks).

Others felt affirmed when watching Miss Representation. To them this film illustrated a problem that is undeniable — a wake up call that begs for change. One viewer, Chantelle, explained that the film affirmed that she was not over-emotional or “crazy” for being angry about destructive media messages.

Watch our Talk Back video about Miss Representation here:

One highlight was participating in the film’s “Represent Us” video advocacy campaign where we each recorded a brief response to the question: How do you want to be represented in media?  According to the Miss Rep campaign organizers, after receiving 1000 videos responses to this question they will send them to television networks. It was exciting to participate in collective action that will hopefully make an impact.

Turning frustration into action for positive change is aligned with our goals at FAAN Mail. We are excited about supporting the movement that Miss Representation is initiating. We look forward to continuing this conversation and envisioning and working towards solutions as we promote critical dialogue about the media, talk back and create the alternatives we wish to see.

BET, can you show us how Black Girls Rock through your programming year round?

In this conversation, we consider key media literacy questions about this piece:
Who is the AUTHOR and TARGET AUDIENCE?
What is the MESSAGE?
How might different audiences INTERPRET this message?
What TECHNIQUES are used to attract audience attention?
In what CONTEXT does this message exist?
What are the EFFECTS? (i.e. who benefits or is harmed by this message?)

We also ask– is this music video an effective attempt at SATIRE?

If you would like to hear artist Chapter’s commentary about her piece, see here.

We are currently developing questions to send the artist Chapter in order to get a better understanding of her motives and point of view. Join the conversation by leaving a comment under the video on youtube or on the FAAN Mail’s facebook page.

In response to our interview request, Chapter’s PR Representative wrote:

“Chapter is an College Educated young woman. I reviewed your FAAN Mail Project -I found it to be misleadng being that you never had any reseach done about Chapter background, nor have you took the time to read the above post- The music video “It’s Free Swipe Yo EBT is Satire Chapter is playing a role in her music video-Keywanda. Please look over her web-site www.chaptersworld.tv she has also been on the news NBC ABC – please look under news on her web-site to gather facts about the artist. Please also watch her interview. Chapter is from South Central Ca, her mother was a Welfare Queen, she was abused as a child. Her mission is in her music.”

FAAN Mail is a media literacy and media activism project based in Philadelphia.

News Stand at 34th St. Subway Platform

What do you notice about this picture?

In this Media Talk Back we discuss a photo of a typical news stand in NYC. This particular photo was taken at the 34th Street Subway stop on April 30, 2011.

See a video of our conversation about this photo below. We would love to hear your thoughts!

Want to take action?
Check out this NYC Newsstand campaign created by Blackandbrownnews.com.

So… here’s our first talk back. It happened after coming across a blog post about a recent Jay Z interview about his new book “Decoded” where he admits that he regrets his lyrics that disrespect women.

Now, goofiness aside, some interesting questions are raised.

We wondered… is this sincere or is this about publicity for his new book? does his regret matter? what does his growth mean for hip hop?

Click here to visit our FAAN Facebook Page.

After making this video, former Disney artist Kiely Williams received a lot of backlash. After watching the video ourselves, many of us felt compelled to respond through open letters (see below). Some of us received a response from manager Tse Williams (at the bottom).

Nuala’s Open Letter
Alicia’s Open Letter
Moya’s Open Letter 
Chakka’s blog 
LaShon’s Open Letter
David’s Open Letter
T’Sey-haye’s Open Letter
Chakka’s vlog 
Danni Romano’s Open Letter 
Statement from The Women’s Media Center

Response from Kiely’s manager, Tse Williams:

Thanks for your email and the attention you obviously gave to your response.  While I do not agree with the conclusions you reached, I am happy that we’ve achieved our goal.  We’ve given the Internet one big “yeast infection” and now people are forced to confront a behavior that’s commonplace today.

Do you honestly think Kiely thinks it’s a good idea to get drunk and have unprotected sex? Really? Do you think there would be this type of discussion of this behavior if the video sounded like a PSA? I don’t think so. Sometimes you have to really shake things up to get people’s attention. One of the most interesting aspects of this entire controversy is that Kiely personally is absolutely NOT the girl in the video. She’s never had a “one night stand.” She merely became the character that is portrayed in the stories of scores of women and glamorized on shows like The Jersey Shore and The Bad Girls Club, among others.

It was meant to get your attention and it did. Now, people need to start asking themselves, “am I the girl in the video?”

Regards,
Tse Williams

**

What are your thoughts? How did you interpret this message? Is it important to talk back to artists?