Ethics - Case Study Reflection

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/malaysian-couple-to-hang/1024102.html

Who is to blame for the death of the maid?

Ever since I could remember, I've been raised in a family where maids are part of the norm. However, they are not family exactly. Some of my maids had cleaned, fed, raised and taught me things just like any other mother could do, or even better.

Most of my maids were rather young, ranging from barely legal to 30. All these while, I treated them almost like my closest companion while I'm at home but my family had never treated our maids as family. They were always seen as a second class of people and despite my bond with some of them, that perspective sometimes influences me into thinking of them as lesser, hence I find the term of them being "modern-day slaves" rather apt.

I would assume that being a maid is not the first pick of a career option for most people hence most of these maids look as though there is no other choice of earning wages besides being maids. It is the last resort. With the mentality that maids are at our mercy of earning a living, I can easily imagine how some people can become twisted with the image of "owning" them as maids are full time helpers, ranging from a period of months to even years. These helpers live with us, yet we do not fully accept them into our lives, being shadows in the background.

Hence with these workers at the mercy of the agency and employer, the role and responsibility lays upon the latter two as the worker can be manipulated and mistreated when there aren't obvious enforcement of law and regulation towards the maids' safety and when the maids are gullible and at desperation, they will fall into the manipulation.

The maids would not be at wrong even if they are gullible as I believe that people would have the conscience to treat another being with respect and care and only those who choose to ignore them, will mistreat their maids, further concreting the responsibility of the employers ( if they are capable of employing the maid, I'm assuming they have means of making money which also means that they are fairly educated).

Reflecting on personal ethics - What does your response reveal about your notion of ethical decisions?

The story could be turned around where the maid could be a schemingly, manipulative person who takes advantage of an employer's empathy e.g. stealing money, lying.

But as employers and agency managers, the responsibility is high as they are in charge of the welfare of the maid. I think I may be bias towards the fault being of the employer and the maid agency as I feel like those in power should not use their power to manipulate others. The maids often being the less powerful one, should be protected.

Our ethical notion is constantly influenced by our society and as mentioned in sociocultural psychology, culture pretty much shapes us. However, we need to be active members of society that constantly reflects on the world we live in to make better and more ethical choices in life. The practice of ethics is simply not black and white and one must strive to read between the lines and learn what it means to be ethical or not based on knowledge and experience. That being said, theory always look better on paper and we can only try on our part to widen our perspectives to understand ethics better or let the rest of the world determine what kind of world we live in.

Reflection on note-taking

While doing our brief activity on note-taking today based on Jean Killbourne's speech, I learnt a new tip on improving my note-taking.

I noticed how another learner used indents and it is shown in this example:

kdfnskgdfh.gh;fkh;jkhgjgk;j;kjk

1. gmngkgnlkh
2. fkgkhfhlgjl
3. mgnfnh,fm,f

By allowing a little margin on the side to introduce subpoints of a point, it makes notes a lot clearer and readable.

Also, setting aside a column on the left allows us to 'group' up quick notes after as it helps to provide space for smaller headings and subheadings. A column on the left would also make the notes look less packed and 'dense' and helps in terms of visual and spacial view.

Reflection on "Sex in Ads"

What conclusions or generalisations or big ideas can you draw and what are these based on?

So far in our discussions and research into "Sex in Ads", it has been an eye-opening experience in seeing in person, the effects of

As if the video had not highlighted enough of the repulsive sexism and prejudice towards women today, in the comments section below the Youtube video  "How the Media Failed Women in 2013" showed an array of backlash, ranging from comments such as how the video was another "Feminazi act", "Feminist propaganda" or "Feminists have a tendency to portray Men as "The Bad guys"..." while nowhere in the video had they specifically mentioned that men were at fault of the objectification of women.

What we do not realise is, in today's society, it's not only men but women also are in the bandwagon of the objectification of women.

Feminism is not a battle of us (women) against everything and everyone else, but simply the spirit to uphold equality and freedom for women and to embrace the gender as a part of a diverse society not a separate entity. Sure women may be hormonally and physically different but women remain human just as any other men and any men or women are an individual worthy of a same respect and treatment.

Currently, feminism is viewed through a stereotypical lens where it encompasses all women as angry, aggressive sexists as argued by the obnoxious twat who yelled out "I hate feminists!" in the library the other day but after mortifying him and his nonsensical point of view that ALL feminist women aren't respective towards males in front of many innocent others,  I realise just how strong the influence of media could be in inseminating the idea of feminism as being a backwards and demeaning towards equalism while feminism, just like any other religion, is perceived differently by every individual and it is the individual that is ultimately responsible for their act and not their entire social group.

However, it isn't all bad. Society is making improvements in today's world and women everywhere are rising up to voice their opinions and are being embraced more in today's cultures and societies but a stereotype remains strong and will only change if a stronger value can exist to change it. Slowly but surely, women are progressing in achieving equality and I hope that with time, people could be more rational in perceiving what the media tells us and how we should interpret its messages.

Advertisment reflection

The key terms learnt from this lesson were prepositions, pronouns and tenses.

I have a clear understanding of tenses but not as much on preposition and pronouns but upon seeing Danial's Freyer model, it allowed me to understand the terms better as we discussed and cemented each other's definition. Understand the root of the words such as "pro" and illustrating my ideas also helped a lot. After discussing, I understood prepositions as 'connectors' of time and location between two topics and pronouns as the word that refers to and comes before a noun.

When we watched the Berlitz advertisement today, it struck me how short yet impactful it was as the whole class roared with laughter at the punchline. This ad was terrifically comedic and useful in  highlighting the embarrassingly common mispronunciation amongst German native speakers and the end was concluded with the clean, bold logo and it's slogan. I also found out the popular tune that everyone-hears-but-nobody-knows-of-the-title at the end of the ad was "Ode to Joy" by Beethoven and as this was composed by a German composer and was intended to celebrate "Joy", it made perfect sense to be fitted into the ad as well.

To revise new vocabulary terms, Quizlet.com is a great source to build a vocabulary bank and turning it into quizzes. Quizlet is user-friendly like Vocabulary.com and with lots of fun practice, would definitely help to retain our vocabulary banks fresh.

Media and Manipulation FOA reflection

Link to my FOA plan and google slideshow

In my second FOA, I presented on how Osama bin Laden is portrayed through the media and how this impacted on American media viewers.

The research process was very interesting and fulfilling as I have been fascinated with the cult of Osama for a while and the conspiracies that surrounded his death. Being a history student also allowed me to make make historical and political connections which further develop a bigger picture of the situations Osama had been involved in. Lastly, as a keen, everyday lurker of the cyberspace, I felt that this research would also help be become a more conscious viewer of the media that surrounds me.

Upon starting on our topic of media and manipulation, I was instantly drawn to "Reel Bad Arabs" which enlightened me about the stereotypes placed on middle-eastern people. Having read "A Thousand Splendid Suns", I have been curious about the so-called "Arab World" and have also been inspired by other sources such as the movie, "My Name is Khan."

The world today is at a state of perpetual political unrest and it is hard to not realise just how involved we are in those turbulent tides as it is impossible to escape it when you are living it. Being in Malaysia right now, the national politics alongside the neighbouring politics of Thailand, the ongoing bloodshed in Israel and Palestine - it is everywhere, everyday and I honestly feel guilty for not knowing more and I feel that I'mg growing more desensitised to such matters.

Thus, with this research, I realize the importance of knowing such politics and a need to be more proactive into reading analytically as my research has been a revelation of knowledge that has simply been ignored.

Since the announcement of Osama's death in 9/11, I had always pondered on the legitimacy but had never dived into further research. The research process has opened a sense of curiosity towards the stark manipulation in everyday media as I had only just realise the subtle tactics of media manipulation and the dire consequences of it.

We are growing more accustomed to these media to the point where being brainwashed is easier and more effective than ever before. The best way to describe the generation of today are simply carcasses that hear but not listen, and see without thinking. Media is affecting the old and the young, and it is important to know that we are being targeted for such manipulation for reasons such as profit, support and many more. Hence, we have to harness an analytical lens towards the media around us and take charge of our knowledge by being smarter viewers as opposed to taking in the media at first glance.

It may seem tiring to be at look for these signs of manipulation constantly, but with practice, I hope that it will benefit us and prepare us for the limitless world of media today.

Political Correctness Reflection

Checking Ideas:

1. Where did PC language come from?

Political Correctness language originated from American Liberals who initially used the term literally, as in to be in alignment with political thought. 

However, it is now used to describe the act of 'adjusting'  language, ideas, policies, or behaviour in order to  minimize offence towards minority groups.

1. Why might it be seen as a good thing?

Based on the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis, I agree in relation to its theory,  that words are important tools in giving meaning to abstract concepts, which further allow us to understand the world around us better as language affects the way we think and act.

In the argument for pro-pc language, I believe it helps us to further develop a wider knowledge of ethics as we live in a diverse society and the need to be adaptable is important in fostering intercultural understanding.

For example, the term "black" is a general term that can be applied or restricted in a spectrum of ways but PC language promotes an educated discretion amongst people as different societies uphold different ethical values.

1. Why might it be seen as a bad thing?

There are MANY arguments and conspiracies that denotes PC language and this may not appear strange as the main argument against it is that PC language brings upon connotations.

Connotations, or better known in a social setting as stereotypes, are what that is causing a stir among people as it could be misinterpreted as pejoratives on certain social customs and breaches cultural ethics.

Political Correctness language can also be argued as restricting, through how it implies a certain level of language in certain situations. This can be seen as a form of censorship which limits the freedom of speech.

1. What are your thoughts on the need for PC language to exist?

We cannot deny that we are ever present in a social society and system and would therefore need to adhere to societal rules and regulations as this allow order to be in place and promotes an intellectual and social progress. PC language today serves as not a restriction, but as an intellectual sensibility in today's ever-changing social society.

Media reflections

Inquiry questions for the unit:  - Whose values, attitudes and beliefs are reflected in media texts and why?  - Does the media create or reflect social perceptions?  - How can we detect bias/manipulation in media texts?  - In what ways can we use this knowledge to become more informed media consumers?

In media texts, the values, attitudes and beliefs represent the general opinion of most people of the community however these opinions would largely reflect on popular opinion to better relate to the general population.

Media is largely influence by sensationalism as the only way media is spread is when there are people using it. This however, leads to a reflection of the most popular opinions as the general opinion=general consensus=stable wave of viewers= stable income (?). What we have to see that media is also largely used in the interest of business hence popular opinions are reflected to garner attention and to keep viewers hooked.

Detecting bias and manipulation heavily depend on the media literacy of an individual. If we compare an individual who is only exposed to one type of media, he might be susceptible to bias in other medias or even fail to notice the bias in the only form of media they know as they could not see it from a different point of view. Hence, I believe by being exposed to a variety of media, we could compare and contrast opinions based on what is communicated through it.

Being informed media consumers require us to have a skill for analysis as we any form of media is open to certain levels of subjectivity hence we cannot take the messages communicated through the media at first glance. Being exposed to a spectrum of media resources also allow bigger space for interpretation and perspectives which allows us to analyse a matter inductively.