Title IX

I this article "UC Berkeley May Restore Teams to Satisfy Title IX" which explains that UC Berkeley is having problems with adhering to Title IX after they dropped two women's sports. With the poor economy and state budgeting reductions, I don't see how Berkeley can maintain funding women's sports, which do not bring in revenue like football does.

Although Title IX does not target sports specifically, sports are commonly thought of when one mentions Title IX. Title IX, for those of who do not know what it is, states that any institution is required by law to give equal opportunity to both men and women in any activity or program.

How can a university maintain Title IX regulations when women's sports are not profitable and cost the school money? Most women's sports are supported from large men's programs like football and basketball. I can understand why Cal Berkeley had to drop some women's teams in financially tough times, but how does the NCAA expect for them to support a team and still meet Title IX criteria?

I don't believe the Title IX needs to be amended because I believe the equal opportunities for women are important, but I think the question is how do you make women's sports successful and supported. Some Universities are successful in women's college basketball such as Connecticut, Tennessee, Duke, and Standford, but this is just basketball. What about other sports?

SOLUTION???

I think women's sports are more strategic and skilled because women are not built naturally strong like most men. Women sports have to focus more on skills and techniques which make the sport more exciting to watch because it isn't about who is more athletic--it's strategic. I think the key to women sports emergence is marketing this aspect which in the future could increase the fan following and then women's sports will potentially be able to support their own program, more so than now that is. 

The big question, "how can you change people's mind set about supporting women over/in addition to men?" Once the above solution is in place, women are still competing for the attention that men's sports receive over women's sports. Could pairing the men's and women's teams playing time help? Having men play first and women after? That way people are there supporting men and then women begin after with the same audience there? I don't know.
What do you think? Is there hope for women's sports to thrive and compete with men's sports??

Will 3D take over household television???

So we have all seen this new 3D craze that movies are going through. It seems like every movie coming out has to be shot in 3D. Movies that don't even look like they need to be in 3D like Kung Fu Panda 2, Step Up 3, or Toy Story 3. I can understand an action adventure movie like Avatar, Tron, or Resident Evil: After Life. I know I don't personally want to pay an extra $3 to the already outrageous movie ticket prices to see something like Kung Fu Panda 2 in 3D. 

But anyway, this craze is now moving into our homes. This last Christmas we saw 3D televisions being sold, trying to break into the market and get consumers to transition to 3D television. Today (Sunday Feb 13th, 2011) markets the first time 3D shows are aired 24/7 on a new network called 3net which is only found through DirecTV, Comcast, and Time Warner Cable. 3Net is offering 11 original programs and hopes to add concerts and films later this year. 

But the question is will this catch on? Do consumers really want to transition to 3D TV? Bryan Burns who overseas ESPN 3D says that we went through the same thing with HDTV just recently. So there is potential for this to transpire yet I am suspicious of the success. I am quite happy with my 2D television and not spending more money on transitioning to the new 3D television, which would include at least a $2,000 television (likely more), $100 (or more) 3D glasses, and paying for the special programing (DirecTV) to receive the channels. Yep, I'm just fine with 2D. 

However, where 3D could really take off is in sports. I remember a few years ago when USC showed the football team in 3D an the Galen Center. I could not attend because of basketball, however, I heard many fellow students rant and rave about the experience. Felling like they were right there on the field and in the stadium giving it a completely different experience than from their living room. 

Sporting events are a popular American past time, whether going to the arena or watching in the comfort of their home. The emergence of 3D sports television could mean a completely different revenue stream. I could see programing becoming more expensive to purchase for the leagues if the networks price programing higher, thus putting a dent in the league's revenues. Just like movie theaters do. I feel like networks will benefit the most from 3D television. 


But overall, 3D television is an interesting new craze, it'll be interesting to see where it goes. Whether it will be a success like the DVD was from VHS or less of a success like Blu-Ray was. What are your opinions?

Sex in the Media

So I am taking a Gender class and we have been discussing sex in the media. Society tries to say that sex is something not to be discussed openly. For example, any nudity is hidden from the public as best possible, aka it's repressed. Yet, according to Foucault (a theorist that I read in class), sex discourse isn't repressed because we are constantly discussing/promoting sex in other ways such as in a film when a couple is in bed naked, implying they had sex. So it's not shown but implied.

So I read this article on Newsweek and thought what is happening to television standards? This article discusses how HBO shows, such as Sex in the City, The Sopranos, and The Wire all moved to cable television. These shows that are for mature adults and suppose to be on specialty networks like HBO are being shown on basic cable. What has the world come to?

I mean with the rate this explicit material being shown on basic cable or in movies like Love and Other Drugs or No Strings Attached , why not just show pornography on basic cable? It's almost the same thing...I feel like we are close enough to pornography. I hope the entertainment industry and media will soon realize what they are beginning to do and take a different road. We can only hope for the best.