Veganism as Perceived in the Media

Veganism as Perceived in the Media

Veganism as Perceived in the Media. (2012, April 16). Retrieved February 26, 2015, from http://www.theveganwoman.com/veganism-as-perceived-in-the-media/

Summary:
This article analyzes both the news and fiction's perception of Veganism and compares how these outlets present vegans. A study of UK news showed that three quarters of news on Veganism is negative. The mainstream news represents vegans as either associated with Asceticism, being overly sensitive, or extremely hostile. There are also many subcultures associated with vegans that the mainstream media likes to highlight such as the Straight Edge movement and other spiritual movements. However, these representations have some truth behind it. The mainstream media likes to use these associations to present Veganism in a negative light. In film and television, however, there have been more vegan characters being seen. Although not all of these are positive, the majority of the characters that are vegan are shown in a positive light. This article goes into detail about different vegan characters in film and television and whether or not they are viewed positively. 

Quotes:
"Just as contemporary works now contain plenty of gay characters, ethnic minority characters, disabled people and strong women, so I believe future artists will incorporate more and more animal rights themed characters. It will start with the arts, and eventually seep into news media."

"Todd Ingram in Scott Pilgrim vs The World. Cleverly written so that he can be seen in a positive way by vegans (veganism gives him superpowers and makes him better than others) and negatively by non-vegans (better than others = smug). Neutral."

"A study called “Vegaphobia: derogatory discourses of veganism and the reproduction of speciesism in UK national newspapers” looked at all the references to vegans in the UK news media in 2007. Unsurprisingly, 74.3% of the coverage was negative, 20.2% was neutral, and only 5.5 % was positive."

Reflection: 

I believe the news media is presenting Veganism in a negative light because no one really fully understands the movement. Although, people have different for motives for going vegan whether it's for health or ethical reasons mainstream media doesn't explain the movement. Many people have a preconceived idea that vegans don't eat anything, and are against every type of food if it is unhealthy. I think that maybe even the mainstream media, or the people behind it for that matter, don't understand that there are many foods that vegans can eat. Recently, I have seen that Veganism is becoming more and more popular. Because of this people are learning about the implications of Veganism, what vegans can and can't eat, and why people make this choice to be vegan. Slowly but surely, media is progressing and many film and television productions have dubbed popular characters vegan. I agree with the author of the article that this negative idea that comes with Veganism will soon shed in both the news and entertainment world. 

Environmentalism in Popular Culture

Environmentalism in Popular Culture

Hulkkonen, J. (2012, February 15). Environmentalism in Popular Culture. Retrieved February 5, 2015.

Summary: 

Television and Films portrays environmentalists as one of two extremes either the naive hippie or the very radical extremist. Over the years, environmental issues have had little to no representation in the media other than the negative stereotypes of the people who support these ideas. Issues of oil-dependence and global warming are addressed either vaguely or they are pushed to the side in many media productions. Gradually, however, these issues are starting to become more prevalent in media. With shows such as Revolution and Snow Piercer issues of what environmental problems can do to our world. With the increase in environmentalist awareness in the media, however slowly these negative stereotypes are being shed. 

Quotes:

"Mainstream movies and television have long tended to portray environmental concerns and those advocating their significance as either overly-idealistic hippies or militant, radical extremists."

"However, as such issues as climate change, greenhouse gas pollution and renewable energy become increasingly more imperative to our collective society the mainstream media is gradually beginning to take heed."

"However, rather than merely dealing with themes related to pressing environmental concerns, these new cultural products are evidence of a more significant shift in attitudes regarding environmentalism. Whereas popular culture has traditionally tended to depict environmental issues as being limited to naive or militant mindsets, this recent crop of cultural products has begun to make these issues both mainstream and admirable."

Reflection:
With the idea of environmentalists comes the negative stereotypes that the media creates. The idea that environmentalists are either naive, optimistic hippies, or the extreme, radical militant type activist. The media has portrayed these environmentalists as hippies, and have them as side characters. Other issues that the media neglects to represent or presents them as myths are global warming, oil-dependency, and recycling. The actual word "environmentalist" is something that turns people off to the whole movement. Its similar to how people find the actual label feminist too aggressive, yet they still believe in equal rights of genders. Similarly, I believe that is the case with environmentalists. 

Another representation that is often seen with this type of activism is the extremist. People believe that this type of person is the kind that's going to throw their beliefs in your face. While, in every group of people there are some who live up to the stereotypes, however media's portrayal of environmentalism itself has slowly started to become more positive. I think that with this new progressive thinking that the current generation possesses being environmentally aware will be seen as something positive instead. Recently, more news program have dropped the idea of bashing on the ideals of environmentalist, and instead have begun to really explain what's going on in the environment to their audiences. I think with this gradual progression, the negative stereotypes will eventually diminish and people will stop focusing on the people associated with environmentalist and instead focus on the issues that these people advocate for.