Category: Media

— Community Building, Media, Personal Development —

Portrait Photography: Stroking The Ego or Immortalising Memories?

February 9, 2018
2018-02-09 Family Friday Portrait Photography Stroking The Ego or Immortalising Memories Toni 1

At a recent playdate, the conversation turned towards portrait photography.  Many of the babies at the playdate were turning one within the next few months, and their mothers were eager to capture this milestone by booking a family portrait session with their preferred local photographer. Portrait Photography: Immortalising the Evolution of a Family Who doesn’t… Read More Portrait Photography: Stroking The Ego or Immortalising Memories?

— Gender Studies, Media —

Rape Culture: Consent in Movies

November 21, 2017
Sahar's Blog 2017 11 21 Rape Culture Consent in Movies Header

I have mentioned before how insidious the negative forces of society can be, and how something that seemed forever innocuous can actually be quite dangerous. I realised today that there is something we as a society seem to accept wholly and fully that could just be a big part of the rape culture problem. Picture… Read More Rape Culture: Consent in Movies

— Media —

Learning to Love and Live The Banality of Good

November 20, 2017
Sahar's Blog The Banality of Good

Most people are good and yet, when it comes to the news, books, television shows, and movies, the emphasis is on the bad.  Now while bad makes for great plots, what are the underlying assumptions of bad being more worthy than good as the focus of media content creation? Good Doesn’t Make For a Good… Read More Learning to Love and Live The Banality of Good

— Media —

Violence in the Media We Consume: Is it worth the risk?

November 19, 2017
Sahar's Blog Violence in the Media We Consume Is it Worth the Risk

Rape scenes in the Game of Thrones series served as potent forms of fuel for an ongoing debate: does exposure to violence in the media we consume cause behavioral problems or not?  Does it do so for only an at-risk segment of the population?  Would limiting the creation of violent media solve the problem of… Read More Violence in the Media We Consume: Is it worth the risk?

— Gender Studies, Media —

Becoming Obsessed With Strong Female Characters: My Hopes For a Post-Wonder Woman World

September 25, 2017

Do you guys remember when Edward Cullen was everywhere?  To call him an obsession is an understatement.  Parallel to this Cullen-mania, I developed an obsession with, well, Edward Cullen obsession. How meta is that? Back in November 2008, I wrote how the only thing that seems to be able to cure this Cullen-mania was to… Read More Becoming Obsessed With Strong Female Characters: My Hopes For a Post-Wonder Woman World

— Media —

Fake News and The Search For Truth: No, Really, It’s Still Out There

August 22, 2017

I have to admit that, since I started blogging back in 2008, the online landscape has changed quite a lot.  The principle of independently investigating the truth has become even more difficult than it already inherently is because of the glut of information so easily available now; making things murkier are false pieces of information… Read More Fake News and The Search For Truth: No, Really, It’s Still Out There

— Beauty, Media —

Understanding Beauty. (Or Not.)

August 1, 2017

It’s very natural to want to create beauty in every aspect of our lives.  We do, after all, have an instinctive attraction to beauty that stirs our very souls.  Of course, there are, currently, quite a lot of forces at work in our society that push us towards unrealistic standards of beauty, be it impossibly… Read More Understanding Beauty. (Or Not.)

— Media —

The Contextual Meaning of a Movie: It Isn’t The Same To All

July 18, 2017

I’ve been thinking a lot about context lately.  More specifically, the meaning that things have within a certain context. For example, a knife in itself isn’t a bad thing.  But, say, in the hands of a baby or a killer, well…  Enough said. I wish the question of context was as easy when it came… Read More The Contextual Meaning of a Movie: It Isn’t The Same To All

— Media —

So About That Echo Chamber We’re Stuck In…

June 6, 2017
Sahar's Blog 2017 06 06 So About That Echo Chamber We’re Stuck Retake of post dated 2008 10 07 Header

There has been a lot in the news about fake news, which could get one caught in a vicious cycle about wondering if the news about fake news is fake which I guess would prove the whole point of the concern in the first place. Well this blog post is off to quite a start…… Read More So About That Echo Chamber We’re Stuck In…

— Consumerism, Media —

Are You Being Cheap or Being a Mindful Consumer? Some Thoughts

June 28, 2016
Sahar's Blog 2016 06 07 The Difference between Being Cheap and Conserving

While most people reacted positively towards my post “What Does My Baby Need?  The Balance Between Necessary Consumption Versus Over-Consumption”, I did receive a few emails from readers alarmed by the fact that I was being ‘cheap’.  In essence, I was told that, if a parent loves their child, they would buy it anything and… Read More Are You Being Cheap or Being a Mindful Consumer? Some Thoughts