Media Studies
"Since all media are extensions of ourselves, or translations of some part of us into various materials, any study of one medium helps us to understand all the others. Money is no exception."
[McLuhan, Marshall. Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man. Cambridge, MA MIT Press 1994 p.139]
The Medium of Money and the Women Who Wield It
To study media is to study the world in which we live.
Four years ago Marianna embarked on such a venture with The New School Media Studies program. Today she is working on her master's thesis, entitled; The Medium of Money and the Women who Wield It.
Part of her thesis includes a comparative study and she is looking for five hundred women to participate in a short survey. The survey requirements are:
- Women
- Age 40 and up
- Who live and/or work in the metropolitan New York area
Should you – or someone you know – like to fill this survey out, please click on the link below. It will take approximately ten minutes to complete.
The Medium of Money and the Women who Wield it. - Survey Monkey
Thesis Statement/Abstract
This study is an attempt to look at how women from three distinct economic classes interpret the concept of money. Money – for the purposes of this study – is regarded as a medium with social, political and economic properties.
"While money does serve as a key rational tool of the modern economic market, it also exists outside the sphere of the market and is profoundly influenced by cultural and social structures."1
We live in a world of polarities; on one hand, $1,000 can alter the course of a woman’s life, while on the other hand $100,000 isn’t enough for a woman’s annual spring shopping spree. This thesis is designed to uncover one of the mechanisms that drive the dynamics which drive the US economy.
This study will explore commonalities and distinctions in relation to the financial awareness and actions of a diverse group of women. Men and women constantly encounter persistent messages about money. If money itself is regarded as a medium; “an extension of ourselves…”, as McLuhan would say, then what messages are women wielding with this tool? This study includes a survey of up to 500 women in the greater New York area; the goal to hear from a diverse group of women and to compare and contrast their responses.
1Zelizer, Viviana A. The Social Meaning of Money HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. 1994 p. 18
History Behind the Thesis
As the saying goes, necessity is the mother of invention.
When faced with an unexpected and sweeping career change, MMN sought to make the most of her circumstance. By pulling together her roots in feminism, her knowledge of media, and her new venture into the real estate banking field, her thesis idea came into being early in 2007.
Incentive also sprang from the pending conclusion of her graduate studies. Four years of study, working full-time and raising a family is excellent boot-camp for productivity. Taking on an academic challenge like a thesis was a natural next step which will give her a little something "under the hood" when she marches in May.
Cited texts used in her research include:
