Reading and Writing in a Digital Age

This cartoon is a poignant example of how we are becoming increasingly desensitized to violence. Almost every day we are hounded by one national or international violent incident after another: “Rocket and mortar attacks on Israel continue,” “Empire State shooting victim hit 5 times in the head,”Alleged Massacre by Government outside Damascus,”Mass Shooting at Colorado Theater.” The list goes on and on. It is almost impossible to read a newspaper, flip through a magazine, or listen to a news radio station without exposing yourself to constant violence and tragedy. The psychological definition of desensitization is” the diminished emotional responsiveness to a negative or aversive stimulus after repeated exposure to it.” In this case, the negative or aversive stimulus is the violence we are
repeatedly to exposed to via mass media. We become desensitized not only because of quantity- the amount of violence we see- but also because of quality- the way we see it. The media generally focuses more on capturing audience’s attention than on the content of the
story. The media’s quest to grab headlines often camouflages the calamity being reported, leaving the audience with an indifferent attitude towards the story. Slowly but surely, the audience will develop a hardened attitude of objectivity and detachment towards violence. “Oh, it’s just another shooting by some crazy guy in some state,” will soon become a common response to tragedy and violence. This cartoon expresses that attitude; a tragedy is portrayed as a form of entertainment and the audience is left desensitized.
http://0.tqn.com/d/politicalhumor/1/0/7/c/4/Batman-Shooting.jpg

http://indigoemptied.blogspot.com/

This is the worst thing I have seen on the internet lately. This girl is so sick, and she is just one of thousands suffering from such a crazy disease. She is willingly harming her body, and she has so many supporters. It sickens me to think of how much pain she must be in to inflict such a horrible disease upon herself.

She doesnt realize that she will never be good enough for herself, her waist will never be small enough. She will starve herself into unconsciousness, maybe even death. She will continue to hate herself, and she will be disgusted every time she looks in the mirror and every time she “binges” on a piece of lettuce.

In truth, my heart goes out to Indigo, who will forever be trapped in her mind and blinded to the reality of what a human being has the capacity to be, aside from skinny.