Communication Theory Dr.

Emily Langan 11/30/12 Rachel Rasmussen Semiotics With the holiday season upon us, signs are especially prevalent. In particular, Christmas, although originally a pagan holiday, now is a Christian holiday to celebrate Christs birth. As Christians we read the story of Christs birth and go to a candlelight service on Christmas Eve, but the sign of Christmas, even for most Christians, is the same as that of culture surrounding us. The signifier is the celebration of Christmas, which for most is the buying and giving of presents, a large meal, and Christmas dcor. The signified is the consumer nature of US culture. Although on the surface, Christmas seems to be a season of goodwill and cheer, I think the sign points to a deeper enculturation of consumption and materialism, shown by how much we spend on stuff for ourselves and each other over the holidays. Cultural Studies When my friend, Peter, was cold as we were hanging out outside on a November night, I started to say to him, Dont be a girl! but caught myself, and realized, shocked, that I was using language that perpetuated the ideology that men are better than women. Although I do not believe that ideology, the language of men being superior has surrounded me, and I have used it, not giving it a second thought until now. Because language is so powerful, I am perpetuating the hegemony of male superiority when I use language like this. Uses and Gratifications Pinterest, a relatively new social website, where people (mostly women) can create boards in various categories and save pictures linking to other websites, to show style, creativity, recipes, plan weddings, dream about weddings, and many other things, is interesting to consider in regard to uses and grats typology. I use Pinterest for several of the reasons: 1, passing time, as browsing pins of beautiful things is an almost productive way to spend time and can waste hours, 3, escape, especially when I do not want to think about the problems of this culture, 4, enjoyment, because I am an aesthetic person, and pinterest caters to that need, 6, relaxation, it is a good way for me to relax when I have not much to do, and 7, information, because it provides style insight, recipes, and inspiration for art. I think that uses and grats is an informing theory, but I think that Katz does not give people enough credit for knowing why they do something. Maybe I am just more self-reflective, but I can definitely see that I use social media to gratify myself (although it is not very fulfilling) and could probably trace many reasons why I do that.