Mass Market Megazines (By Michael Yeung)

In Hong Kong, mass market megazines become one of main types of leisure. Every week those megazines produce a lot of hot topics to attract people to buy and talk with, even though those tragic cases or some reaction of stars and famous persons.

Every time when some breaking news are happened, these megazines tend to search some side stories of that news, such as the background of victims and suspects, in order to produce some exclusive reports to attract people to buy their issues. For example, the nine years old genius was given a bachelor degree offer from Hong Kong Baptist University, some megazines started to search the information about his family and unmasked the background of his past, even though the past of his father. although the pat of his father are not related to the genius of that child, but audiences love to see those side stories, then these become an ideology and trends of the contents of mass market megazines. They tend to discover the private sides of the people invloved in the event and ignore their feeling, and popstars usually become the victims under the so called “rights to be known”. Below are some of the examples.

 Some reporters, we call them paparazzi, always disclose some side stories of popstars, such as their private live of action. such as the cover story of EasyFinder issue No.784 was “Andy Lau has dandruff” and “Lydia Shum” affairs, they like to “report” some exclusive news in order to enlarge the sales of their issues. Having dandruff is a normal thing and I think we also face this problem, but why a popstar has dandruff will become a exclusive cover story? It is becuase people like to know the bad side of famous people, so they can comfort themselves that famous people will have problem like them. This make famous people cannot be done anything wrong because of the whole world are keeping their sight on them. Their private right are ignored and make them feel frustrated and discriminated. Also, the side stories make audiences read those stories just like watching a drama, they like to know how the narative of the story run onwards, and no one will care about the facts of the event, such as the situation of Lydia Shum, this lead to the uncare of whatever live or dead the people are, instead when the drama become an end, audience will begin to watch another drama and nobody will care about the old stories. Hence a culture will be developed as people will brush their neigborhood aside, and they become cold-blooded because all the things become dramas and they will care only what is the drama expand, and this is the trend and ideology that created by mass market megazines.

The Uniform – by Steven Choi.

Work as a team, this idea is the most popular concept that all the the uniform group would be taught. In Hong Kong there are mainly eleven uniform groups, such as Hong Kong Air Cadets, Hong Kong Sea Cadets, Boy Scout and Girl Guide etc.

They are all having a long history in Hong Kong. In each of the uniform group or uniform organization, they have their own type of uniform that is required to all the members. Those uniform is also a kind of symbol, telling what they are belonging and what they are having. The uniform concept is very strong in these groups, it is unlike to the school uniform. For most of the people being educated in Hong Kong, they do have to put on the school uniform while having school from kindergarten to primary school and secondary school. Most of us here had the chance to be put on uniform in our school life but not to have the chance to be taught, why are we wearing uniform in groups and why is that important. Why are the students in uni do not require to wear uniform. Wearing uniform is a big topic within a uniform group.

 

There is only one word can be able to describe what is uniform and the word is discipline and it is all about discipline. When wearing an uniform, there is a very straight rule and standard. The most difficult is you will have to wear your uniform as same as the others. There will be no option to be different and no option to be unique as what you are, because you are in uniform. Your behavior is set by the uniform and set by the rules and set by the discipline. We are talking about discipline, its’ because we are all having a mental attitude. What you belongs to and what mental attitude you will have. In order to get in a group, a certain level of mental attitude is needed. Because of what you behave is going to what you can be. Discipline yourself and be well adapt with the environment and to cope with anything, because it keep you alive.

 

When people are not having the uniform, people can wear their own type of clothing, people do have their own choice to be different and to be unique. In this case, is that saying people are not ruling by any disciplines and not following any mental attitude?

From another point of view, we can try to think about the self. You, your-self is being set in a certain class, when you are whitn a class, you will be having a mental attitude that is able to help you to cope with the same class as you are and that attitude where you can define your self-value. Once you can obtain the value and so to the class.

 

Uniform groups here in Hong Kong are aiming to the youth, providing all kinds of training and helping you to develop the self. There are not so many of us are in those uniform training groups and those groups are not so a kind of popular in Hong Kong. It is truly that we are all having the same thing, we are having rules and laws, we are following them every day every where and we are obeying discipline. This is a mass discipline and therefore in a society , we are all wearing the uniform daily we are the “uniform-man”.

Toys and ideology

Toys are extremely gendered. Boys and girls have different toys that influence their development. It is reasonable to assume that girls’ toys are one of the significant socialization agents of gender concepts as girls’ toys can definitely influence girls’ self concepts, feelings, manners and behaviors. For instance, infant dolls can develop girls’ motherhood. There are many girls’ toys existing in the society, such as Barbie dolls and dress up sets, which helps the girls to learn about the norms, values and culture in their society. Girls learn to be girls by playing with those toys. These are what we accepted and view as normal. According to Schirato and Yell, ideology is a practice in which a particular group within culture attempts to naturalize their own meanings, or pass them off as universally accepted. And I would like to examine how toys are gendered and guide children to act according to the sets of ideology.

 

Barbie Dolls and Disney princess figures are the most common toys that girls would play. These kinds of dolls are not used to train the girls’ mind or brain; they do not require any special skills, intelligence or physical strength to play, unlike the boys’ toys. Barbie dolls and/or Disney princess figures have joints only at the shoulders and the hip, while boys’ action figures are much more movable and jointed in some places. Besides, the dolls imply the love stories of the characters. Each of the princesses and Barbie has a partner, for example, Snow White marries her Prince. The characters are usually very well-being and perfectly happy. These make the girls having a great longing for the right men and bright future. Girls always look forward to love and romance so as to lead them become more emotional than rational.

 

On the other hand, the Barbie and princess appear in a perfect outlook which girls adore. This indicates that being slim and beautiful are very important to female. Slenderness somehow is female attractiveness as the public often associate that slender body implies grace, discipline, desirability and sex appeal. Girls turn out become very tense about their body and they regard the importance of body and appearance as body is female attribute. In the market, it put lots of emphasis on appearance, clothing, and hairstyles in toys for girls. Therefore, appearance-related toys such as make up set or/and dress up set can also be proved to the ideology behind. These sets of toys reinforce the importance of body and appearance. It makes the girls put much value on beauty, body and appearance.

 

In conclusion, it is difficult to deny there is an important ideology behind girls’ toys. One can acknowledge that girls’ toys help to develop self concepts, to influence emotions, to change attitudes and behavior of a person. With Barbie, princess dolls and appearance-related toys, girls build up a concept towards importance of body and appearance. To cut long story short, toys is significant element which influences gender concepts. Toys facilitate a role to develop values and concepts within children’s mind; they help the children to reinforce the gender roles.

  

Reference:

www.toysrus.com.hk

Crystal Lai