wam! 2008

this weekend there was a conference called women, action, & the media at mit.

i scored a tote bag, a complimentary issue of bitch, and went to three talks over the course of the weekend.

Dying for Your Entertainment: Gender Bias in News Coverage of Britney, Lindsay, Courtney and Owen
Carla DeSantis, Jeannie Smith, Kristin Bredimus, Jennifer Trynin
interesting thing i learned: taking into account the profits of her "packagers" (jive records, etc), the paparazzi, the media, and k-fed, the value of the britney spears economy is $110 million to $120 million annually. (portfolio.com)

Stereotyping and Typecasting in Reality Television
Terra Renton, Andi Zeisler
interesting thing i learned: amongst all the shit out there, there is 'good' reality tv that attempts to make a positive difference. (we watched clips of morgan spurlock's 30 days where he tries to live on minimum wage for a month. hint: it's near impossible)

Cleavage, Cackles and Cookies: Analyzing News Coverage of Hillary Clinton and the 2008 Presidential Election
Allison Stevens, Betsy Reed, Carol Hardy-Fanta, Barbara Lee
interesting thing i learned: because of the sexist double standard facing women candidates for political office, successful women candidates tend to be extremely competent. voters in states with female governors ranked their governors higher on a number of traits (honest and ethical, works well with the legislature, someone you can trust, is genuine, a fighter, tough, & more) than the voters in states with male governors did.