Can White With Black Be Helpful and Artistic?

The article  titled White by Richard Dyer, was relieving to read. It was an article of whites on whites. There is a section of the article that really makes a very good point that it is more difficult to define what white is in terms of race. In other words, we are so used to seeing a white representation that its easier to see items that stand out from that norm; however, white is also able to be broken down into other sub cultures. The author uses the example of The Godfather film to make the point the characters in that film are not white, they are Italian Americans. I feel that I liked the section of where the author did an analysis of the film Night of the Living Dead. In this critique, Dyer made a very valid point about how the protagonist of the film was black but the  zombies all were white. This helped viewers see which character to cheer for to either live or die. In addition, Dyer does point out some very interesting points to having whites play zombies. For example, the fact that they need to have trauma to the head demonstrates that they are brain dependent. 

I find the topic of race very interesting. In addition, as a white man, I find it a difficult subject to discuss. Over the course of this month, I have read articles that focused on race and the things that the white culture has done to the races around them. This article brings up the good point of does the movie industry have to be color blind? I think not. I don’t, however, feel that is on the bases of what a particular race is able to achieve to fulfill certain role. For instance, I think it was wrong that director Spike Lee said that only a black person could direct a movie about black people. Also, I am discussing the face of actors not crew or other movie creators. For example, in the article, is mentioned that race was what one could use to be able to define who was or was not a zombie. To film directors, race could be viewed as aesthetically pleasing. For example, in the film “O”, even though was a terrible adaptation of Othello in my mind, still was beautiful love scenes with the African American skin color against the white skin of the woman. Now, the question to raise is that a form of racism? I don’t honestly know....

Images from http://videodetective.com/photos/522/021928_15.jpg

Shake Your Groove Thing, right?

I just read the article Selling Hot Pussy by Bell Hooks. The main focus of this article is how the black female body is portrayed in the media. She first mentions the very graphic example of how the body of Sara Bartmann was dissected and put on display for all to see for five years. The primary sense of wonder was the buttocks of the women that drew fascination. Hooks then continued to talk about how the butt of a black woman is often the focus of the media. For example, she mentions how artist would paint black nudes differently than whites. She then goes more in-depth on an individual level of sexuality with singer Tina Turner and Arthra Franklin. I found that how Hooks example of Turner was very well done for she was able examples from both Tina Turner’s career while she was married to Ike Turner and after she left him. The article then ended on movie and advertising portrayals of women. 

The body of a black women truly is  representative often as a sexual object. For example, I have placed the music video for the song “Baby Got Back” by Sir Mix Alot. This song, very often played at high school dances, is actually very graphic. The video shows women moving their buttocks in very suggestive ways while the lyrics are about if on ones to be attractive, they must have “big buns”. This I feel walks hand in hand when Hooks talks about the song “Do the Butt”, which even is a big musical number in the film School Daze by director Spike Lee. In addition, in terms of music, I feel that the song by Destiny Child, “Bootylicious”, is a good example as well. It is about how the body is a sexual object and the measures that some women should take in order to be seen as attractive. Hooks mentions this also about how women, usually black, wear wigs to create a sexy persona. Lastly, notice a majority of the closer shots in general in films and television are on the mid sections of the singers. 

Laughing Through Truth :)

       I just finish reading the article Movin; On Up; Contemporary Television as a Site of Resistance  by Acham, and I felt that it was somewhat what I wished the second half of the coleman article would have been. The article discusses Blacks and television. I does goes a bit more in depth with a more narrow number of television shows that help lead the way for understanding African Americans in that media. I found that the study that Bill Cosby help funded called Enlightened Rasism: The Cosby Show, Audiences, and the Myth of the American Dream, was how people we responding to the Cosby show. I felt that in the Coleman article tended to show Bill Cosby on a a more of a power hungry role. The article continues with the power of made for T.V. movies and the recognition that they would have received. For example, in Roots and the outcome of the miniseries. I liked how the author also mentioned the fact that the majority of television shows were on minor stations after a very brief time being on the mainstream stations such as ABC. Lastly, The article then starts to have a focus on the black comedian Chris Rock. 

I found that the section about Chris Rock to be very interesting because it went into detail about the show that Rock had on HBO. First, he talked about the racial tension within the African American Community. The section actually opens with a segment that he does that talks about the issue. I feel that the point of risk that Rock shows his show in front of a live audience was risky because sometime his audience does not approve of his jokes. For instance,there is a skit when it is headache medicine for an African American male and one of the jokes it about alack female away. When the female members of the audience heard this, they showed that they disapproved with their groans. 

I think that it is very funny to thing that the past two articles, the leaders against race are comedians. It is actually quite intelligent how these men, both Cosby and Rock, are able to get their intended point across to their audiences. However, it is even brave and intelligent of what these men say when discussing racism. For example, when Rock talks about how he looks up to both black and white comedians and how he was able to be upfront with a college dean about how she “approve” of an affirmative action that is restricting children of different races to have lower odds of gooding to college. To being topics on an even more recent level, even though this media source is not always discussing race, the programs that people get a lot of their political news and other current events from is the Daily Show and the Colbert Report. The fact that these two men and their fellow reporters are able to make comedy while bring up sometimes valuable interesting is genius. I am wondering though who is the next comedian to step up and fight against racism. 

Image from: http://bizbox.slate.com/blog/microphone-with-stand.jpg

Lets Go On a Little Trip Right Here! (Part 2)

      I just finished reading the more of From African American Viewers by Means Colman and I must say that I am actually pretty disappointed. From the beginning to there to chapter four, I really enjoyed the way that Coleman wrote. I felt that they had a very firm grasp on the idea and history of the blacks in the black entertainment business. However, this section seemed to greatly lack. One of the main ways was that I felt that the chapter didn’t go into subjects as much as I felt was needed.
      The main focus of the chapter was television and the black culture. The chapter began with the accomplishment of the Cosby show. It mentioned how this show was able to make an upper middle class family of African Americans. It was oddly enough compared to Amos N Andy in term of success but that was about it. After this section of the chapter, I started to feel that it began to be very repetitive. The structure then became Coleman would mention a show, briefly explain it, and then say it was not as good as the Cosby show. For example, when the writers mention The Fresh Prince of Bell Air, they said that the say the character Carlton would scoot across the floor was similar to Black Minstrel shows. I disagree, I feel that it is just physical comedy and I would find it funny no matter the race. It was up lifting when they quoted Marlon Wayne when he said that it was acceptable for Jim Cary to do the same sort of physical comedy. This does bring up the point of where is physical humor can be funny and not offensive.

      A show that I am really wondering how the writers would view the television show is House of Pain. I honestly, don’t know how I feel about this show. It is about a family that lives and the father, son, and nephew are fire fighters. This show touches base on a lot of issues that family faces; for instance, the subject of divorce. Even though this show is often criticized, I do wonder if the writers would feel that this too is black because feed into stereotypes through dialogue and actions. For example, the father acts a lot like blackface actors because he make plays dumb and remarks every once in a while in not proper English.

Lets Go on a Little Trip Right here! (Part 1)

    There is a lot more to African American culture in the media. Recently I read the begining of From African American Viewers by Mean Colemen this article gives a very thorough overview how blacks were represented in the early entertainment industry.  Coleman first discuss how black face, which is when ashes of cork were applied to a white person’s face. This make-up would be as mask that gives a white actor permission to “plays black”. Later in this time, it oddly enough became African American’s in blackface with red lipstick. I personally find black face and the ideas behind it just insulting and unneeded. It really makes me wonder how ruthless our founding fathers were to find something like this humorous. This then make me think about if the blackface was just apart of the act and if so, would the minstrel show still be found humorous if it was removed and the actors still acted the same. However, I also felt that the break down of the different types of Blackface characters was intriguing because it shows that there was actually multiple layering to shows. 

The timeline of Amos and Andy was very helpful see how conscious the entertainment industry was slowly be coming aware. For example, when the radio show, Amos and Andy, was first presented on the radio, it was to white males portraying the African American voices. However, one the show went on television, CBS new that it was a very necessary precaution to have two African Americans play the roles. Lastly, the article talked about the different eras of the appearance of blacks in the entertainment field. I will discuss some of those later on in my next blog entry. 

I put some-thought of how black face is looked at in today’s culture. An extreme example is Bamboozled which is the concept of blacks wearing blackface for todays entertainment. I find this film very daring and indulging story that Spike Lee under went to direct it. Strangely enough, there is a scene in the film Be Kind Rewind where Jack Black puts on black face to try to play a character. It is part humorous, part offensive. The main character, who is African American, give the response that the audience is thinking, which is a look of surprise and the word, “no”. This does make me wonder if an actor does put black face on for a role, for instance Robert Downy Jr. in Tropical Thunder, would that actor receive praise or criticism. For example, some actors such as Tom Hanks and Christian Bale are recognized when they lose weight for a role or basically got to the extreme to “look” like the character. I just don’t know...

What is the Difference Between Racism and Tradition?

Today I read Arguing Over Images: Native American Mascots and Race by C. Richard King. This article was an in-depth look at Native American Mascots and different views about the mascots. The article used the research from the USA Magazine survey about whether the mascots should remain or stay. One of the points that stood out to me is the large number of people who felt that the mascot should still remain mascots. The views on this subject was able to be broken down into 3 different categories: Retired (eliminate the mascot), revise (make changes to the mascot) or no compete against schools that have the Native American Mascot. The article and then continued to look at the two different kinds of Native American Mascots that there have been. They are the warrior and the clown. The warrior form is the brave and strong, while the clown is a mockery of the race for instance Cheif Wohoo of the Cleveland Redskins. To go even farther into the study, the writers looked at the reasons why certain individuals would feel a certain way. For instance, the pro side of the subject said that it should be viewed as an honor for it is a symbol of bravery, completion, and strength. However, the con side felt that it was just insulting and was an unwanted honor. 

This article touched me on a personal bases because this issue came up at my high school with our mascot of the Radnor Raider. Similar to the article was that the are two sides to this issue, the situation at my school was different because the article didn’t mention how fans may have felt very attached to the mascot because of tradition. For instance, the alumni said it should not change because they grew up with it. Looking back on the football games it really did feed into the stereotype with tribal dance music playing and having strips painted under our eyes. In the end the mascot did change and it became just a football looking mascot. I personal feel that this is a double edge sword because it does make things politically correct, which is right and just, but it also took away a sort of bond between all the fans. For example, cheering for the Raider was something that all the fans both new and old were able to do together. 

Source:Native American Mascots and Race by C. Richard King
Image: http://www.leaguelineup.com/radnorboyssoccer/radnorboyssoccer_logo.gif

A Bit of Culture with a Hint of Hip Hop (Very Rough Draft)

    What exactly is hip hop? Recently, I read the article Why White Kids Love Hip-Hop by Kitwana that proposed a very interesting question of what is exactly is hip hop? Is it the music or a lifestyle? Even though I felt that points of this article mainly focused on the history of hip hop than the racial issue that the title offer, some very valuable points were made. Some may feel that it is the actual music that brings in the crowd. However, the live style associated with the music may seem appealing or drawling audiences. The article mentions about the violent and fight for equal rights during the 80s when rap and hip hop was mainly underground. The hip hop culture then took a turn for either better or worst in the 90s with Tupac and Biggy Smalls feud. But with this lifestyle and enjoyment of the genre of music, does race have a role with in it?

One of the very compelling arguments that was made during the article was if someone is of a white skin color, is it acceptable for them to enjoy the music? A very excellent point was brought up when the writer mentioned a young white man, Matthew, who thoroughly enjoyed hip hop that had only white friends as well as lived in a central America. Since the culture of hip hop tends to be urban, does this mean that it is not “right” for this individual to enjoy this type of music? I feel that this over arcing argument is just a silly thought. For example, would it be wrong for an African American who lives in the city to like country music? I would most certainly hope not. I think that race should not have an impact on people’s entertainment. 

I went through a very interesting phase in my life where I liked rap music. What I think was most appealing to me about the music was that it was a form of hearing stories whether they be made up or about what the artist was undergoing. I will be honest, it was also a way of rebelling because most of the CDs that I owned had a Parental Advisory on it. I do agree with the article when it discussed the impact that the artist Eminem had on the rap culture because I felt that his CD was the stepping stone to other artist. In other words, I guess subconsciously, I felt that he was a rapper that intrigued me because he stood out from the rest of the rap community. This is where I agree with the article when it says, “Part of Eminem is selling is whiteness”. He is the second most famous white rapping artist outside of vanilla Ice. Emininem was actually very smart with the way that he came into the rap culture because of his very distasteful lyrics, he was able to get publicity for his second album as well as be backed by a very famous record producer Dr. Dre. Those elements are what helped him stand out from other artist at that time. It also allowed and made it socially acceptable for a white audience to like this sort of music. I am not saying however, that he is the sole reason why the white community is becoming more and more apart of the hip-hop culture, but what I am saying is that he opening the door.   After listing to his CD “the Marshal Mathers LP”, I went out and bought a Dr. Dre CD and then Snoop Dog. I then went into more of the classic artist of Natorous B.I.G and Tupac. 

Race and Women in the Magazine Industry

  I read the article Get Real! Cultural Relevance and Resistance to the mediated Feminine Ideal by Lisa Duke, and I found it thought-provoking. Duke talks about how women are portrayed in magazines. However, unlike other blog entries that I have posted about women, she also discusses the topic of the race of the models in popular women’s magazines. She goes into great detail of how teenaged aimed magazines (Seventeen and YM) are some of the more acclaimed of the industry. She also discusses the different way that women read magazines such as having a few magazines for a couple of years to look at every once in a while or skimming the entire magazine and then reading it. One of the aspects of this article is that she quotes people of multiple age groups and their views on the topic. For example”Tonya, 17: I like reading the magazine, but it doesn’t have any African American or Hispanic or Asian models...So even though I like reading it, sometimes I can’t relate to all the things that they put inside. They could make it more realistic, with more culture” (288), and helps give more strength to the argument that there needs to be more of a racial diversity in the magazines. I wanted to apply what I have learned from this article by giving visual examples of the three types of models that she mentions:

1) The super model: an older woman with a lot of makeup and “almost a retouch to present an almost otherworldly beauty”. They have gained a reputation for the way that they look.

2) The fresh model: The less famous but still beautiful. Much younger but seem to look a lot alike. They are closer to the reader’s ages. The articles around them tend to be the advice theme. Another article I read, Just a Girl, Rock Music, Feminism, and the cultural Construction of Female Youth by Gayle Wald, may categorize this section for pop singers such as Gwen Stefani because it is glamorized women but still women taking pride in who they are as individuals.

3) The average girl or “the School Zone”: A much newer model. They are the “real girls who, though attractive, find their ways into the magazines because of their style and accomplishments” (290). I like to think of these girls as the “girl next story” because they are more of the type of girl that one will see on a daily bases.

Who To Turn To*

Today, I read the final chapter and the conclusion in Media, Gender, and Identity: An Introduction by David Gauntlett. This chapter made a very interesting observation of the different role models that people have, especially children. The role models that Gauntlet mentioned were:

The ‘straightforward’ role model: a successful individual. Usually a well celebrated celebrity or a person of power.

The ‘triumph over different circumstances’ role model: someone who has went  against the odds to change the world.  

The ‘challenging stereotypes’ role model: a person who goes against stereotypes, even though those stereotypes have been placed on them.

The ‘wholesome’ role model: a person that parents want their children to look up to.

The ‘outsider’ role model: free thinkers as well as people that reject what society has told them to become.

The ‘family’ role model: either a person in one’s own family or a celebrity that is family focused.

  Gauntlet then went further to discuss how young girls look at Britney Spears as a role model. For example, we can look at the fact that she changed from a girl to a woman in the light of the media and how church groups would give her praise for boosting about how she wants to wait to have sex until marriage. Gauntlett then brings up that Britney Spears fans then turned away from her as she became more daring in her performances. I thought it was interesting that one of the quotes that Gauntlet mentioned talked about how one fan liked how Britney Spears matured as she grew up. I do wonder how her fans would think of her now: she is basically naked in her music videos and she had a mental breakdown a few years ago.

I decided that since Gauntlett discussed role models, I  would briefly share a two of my own. The first person I would like to mention is the director M. Night Shyamalan. Even though he is an Oscar nominated director and an okay screenplay writer, I feel that I look up to him for a different reason. I think that he is a really great director because his family is a strong influence on his life. First  of all, he has time for his children. For example, he goes to his children’s music concerts. In addition, most of his films were filmed near his house in Wayne, PA. The movie he is currently working on, The Last Airbender, is a show that his children really enjoy and the film Lady in the Water was based off of a bedtime story that he would tell his kids. I just find it very commendable for him to be such a family man because the value of family in the film industry seems to be slowly losing its importance. This is a perfect example of the ‘family’ role model given by Gauntlet.

I was actually upset by the fact that Gauntlett didn’t mention another type of role model: the fictional character. Sometimes an author can bring to life a character that people feel a strong connection with or to look up to. One of my role models, somehow on the opposite side of the spectrum of M. Night Shyamalan, is Howard Roark from the novel The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. There are a few attributes of his that I find admirable. I must confess that I am still working through the large novel, but there is something about him that I find intriguing. I hope to be the type of filmmaker that is as determined about film as Roark is about architecture. In other words, I want to be an artistic risk taker: I want to make movies that I want to make, even if that means I have to work as a production assistant, live in a cardboard box for a long time, and not become famous. I say that because the American film industry is going downhill. People in the industry are making movies that they know will make money. However, independent filmmakers are starting to step up and trying to make interesting new movies. I hope to join this revolution. I like to think that soon there will be the next New Wave in the film industry, the first since the 1960’s and 70’s. I feel that by having the same amount of passion for film that Roark has for architecture, I will be a part of it. Roark would be the ‘outsider’ role model in Gautlett’s list because he is a strong believer and advocate of freewill. 

        
    

The Many Levels to a Man.

            There are many different sides to a man. In today’s society, advertising and magazines have started to reach out more to the male community. Recently, I read the chapter in Media, Gender and Identity by Gauntlett titled "Men’s Magazines and Modern Male Identities". This section of the book took a very thorough look at different men’s magazine and assessed their views and assumptions. For example, the slowly popularizing magazine FHM may seem from its cover to be “women in bikinis”, but it actually is a male version of Cosmo. In other words, it tries addressing men on the topics of sex, relationships and humor. I also found it interesting how Gaunlett discussed Men’s Health Magazine. This part of the chapter caught my attention by describing the magazine as “The only magazine in this selection to regularly feature semi-naked men, instead of women, on the cover”(163). There was also a few interesting facts about Men’s Health such as its focus on the entire man and not just the physical attributes. For example, it contains articles about the male psyche as well as views and advice on relationships. Lastly, the chapter continues with the magazines focusing on men and the “fear” of commitment and male independence. This is very intriguing because it also mentions how “feminism used to criticize men for being too dependent on their female partners, sapping women’s energies by selfishly expecting women to tend to their emotional, sexual and domestic needs” (172). In other words, the magazines are projecting independence from women, while women are thinking that men are too dependent.

            Another article I read was Advertising and the Construction of Violent White Masculinity by Jackson Katz. Katz seems to focus on primarily white males having a violent portrayal in the media. He makes a very good argument that the definition of a rebel has changed from the past, such as James Dean and Marlon Brando, to the rage ridden individuals today. Katz also goes into great depth about how the rap artist Eminem has such an abusive and violent image. For example, the negative and vulgar things he says about his ex-wife Kim such as “Kim rot in pieces” (353). In addition, Katz briefly discusses the womanizing lyrics by artists such as Limp Bizkit and Kid Rock.  There was a section in this article that reminded me of the film Fight Club and its over arching message of not letting society tell you who you are. This is demonstrated when Katz talks about “boxer and football players appear in ads regularly, promoting products from underwear to deodorant. A Black-and-white photo of a young White Man in uncovered foot ball shoulder pads adorns some Abercrombie and Fitch advertising layouts. Like female ads, this image is telling men, in order to succeed, this is how one should act and look like” (356). For example, the image promotes “Real men can wear Clinique” (356).

            I also read an article titled The Commercializtion if Masculinities by John Beynon. Beynon goes into great detail about how there are different strands of man as time progresses. I found that the most interesting type of “New man” that he described was the “New man-as-Narcissist”. It is the a individual that is a consumer and out to prove something to the world. I find that a very good representation in the media of this man as well as the Yuppie type of man that Beynon mentions is (oddly enough) is the character Patrick Bateman in the novel American Psycho by Brent Easten Ellis. The character is very fashion focused where there are literally pages of detail of all the clothes that he is wearing. Beynon talks about this when he mentions “male retail outlets proliferated in the 1980s with designer clothes were amongst these outlets (203). In addition, the image of man and what a man was supposed to be in the 80s was highly discussed in the novel. According to Beynon, “the male form began to eroticized and objectified in ways that had previously been applied to the female body”(203). This is very well addressed by Ellis as his character pays a lot of attention to his body, especially his skin, feeling attractive and desirable. Lastly, Beyton mentions how there are two groups of masculine archetypes in the 1980s, The ostentatious city/Wall Street yuppie and the Old industrial man. I feel that Bateman would be the ostentatious City and Wall Street yuppie because he was selfish and determined to spend money. Even though Patrick Bateman is a fictional character, the concept of  man his role embodies is real and tangible in society.

Lara Croft and Buffy, Is There Anything Better?

           Finally, a girl does not have to be half naked to get respect in films!  The concept of sex sales is always regard as the way to make money in the film industry. However, sometimes sexiness can be the power a women possesses. As I read the article The Buffy Effect by Rachel Fugde, Fugde gives an insight of women taking on a stereotypical man’s role (When I say man, I mean the action star protagonist, the mocho action star). The article makes a few very good arguments about these roles. The first is that the writer decided to make the Buffy role because he felt that the blonde women stereotype that we see in horror movies were a bad portrayal.  For example, if usually is she enters a dark alley, we know they are most likely going to die. In result of that, the writer wanted to make a character that the audience cheers for when they are in a time of danger rather then a self-fulfilled prophecy. It is very coincidental that the lead character in the Buffy television series played the blonde victim in the film I Know What You Did Last Summer, the very stereotype they were trying to avoid. However, it is interesting the sacrifices that must be made in order for that to occur. Fudge talks about the description of the Buffy character that she must be physically attractive to make her marketable. She continues to say that what makes the audience relate more to this character is that she is still a member in society. In other words, she must still do her homework and go to class on top of killing vampires. 

I also have recently read an article called The Phenomenon of Lara Croft by Astrid Deuber-Mankowsky, I really got to identify with this article because I played and owned the first three Tomb Raider video games in my teen years. Deuber-Mankowsky really brings into light how revolutional this character was. I remember reading in an article that the makers of the game wanted to have a female version of Indiana Jones. In addition, the makers of the game desired to conceive a character that men would care about and would bring in a female audience. That is why in the first Tomb Raider there is so much knowledge that is given out about the character such as blood type and birthday.The writer then continues to look at the progress of the character throughout the video games and the film. It literally got to the point of being a social phenomenon.The character Lara Croft also opened a lot of doors for female characters in video games. The example that really stands out to me is the Resident Evil series because at first it had a male character, the second game had both a female and male lead, and the third game had a lead women. In addition, the films have a women as a lead. The company that released the Resident Evil video game, Capcom, has since then release other games that are female leading, like DinoCrises.  It will be interesting to see how many female lead characters will be present twenty years from now. 

What are We Telling Young Women?

  There harsh effects on music listeners. According to Imani Perry in the article Who(se) Am I: The Identity and image of Women in Hip-Hop, the music industry has a strong grasp on the ideology of women. The article goes into great depth about how women are becoming viewed as objects in a male dominating culture. I couldn't agree more with this statement. It sickens me when I watch such degrading things on the television because women either become victims of the stereotype and it sets impossible expectations.

Music, mainly R&B, is slowly becoming more vulgar and shameful towards women. Through examples of Lil Kim and Missy Elliot, Perry was able to discuss how women are able to give into the stereotype as well as fight against it. In the article, the most interesting part was when the author compared the two versions of Lady Marmalade. The song was released under to different artist at two different time periods. The author went into great detail about how the original version by The Bluebells took more of a storytelling stance of a Creole prostitute walking the streets. However, the newer and more recent version sung by current pop sensations (Christian Aguilera, Mya, Pink and Lil Kim) took it to a different level by having the women singing about how they are the prostitutes on the street. The writer seemed upset that the producer of the song, unlike the older version, was a women.

I am very hesitant about the example I want to use but I do feel that it really does push what Perry is talking about to the most extreme level. I will not post the video on this site but will provide a link if you still wish to see it after reading. The song Cult 45 and Two Zigzags by the rap artist Afroman, is a song about smoking marijuana and sex with multiple partners. The songs lyrics go great detail about multiple sexual relationships that the singer has been through with women of every race and culture. In addition, he goes as far as each ethnicity of woman that he slept with that fits the stereotype. For example, having sex with a white woman who's father is in the KKK. I find the lyrics highly disturbing and embarrassing to listen to. In the article, Perry goes in to great detail about how women are shown in music videos as sexual objects and this video does not let down the reputation. The concept of the video is of a man waking up in a bed surrounded by women in very skimpy and scandalous clothing. In an article that I have also read, The More You Subtract, the More You Add by Jean Kilbourne, Kilbourne talks about how girls are victims to images that are portrayed in the media. I feel that her statement, “They [young girls] must be overtly sexy and attractive but essentially passive and virginal” (259) is demonstrated in the video because the girls in the video are literally walking prostitutes, there is an attempt to show them as experience with sex but also innocent. But what I really dislike about this video more so than the song is the fact that there is so much visual demonstration of sex but there is no visual representation of the drugs that he is talking about. This makes me wonder that is our culture really hitting the point where sex idealized then drugs. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xl7PVp4O2k

Source: Who(se) Am I: The Identity and image of Women in Hip-Hop by Imani Perry 

The More You Subtract, the More You Add by Jean Kilbourne

This is Not My Grandmother's World Anymore... (Warning: Somewhat Graphic Images)

I read today what I think is my favorite article out of all the articles that I have blogged about so far. It was called Inventing the Cosmo Girl: Class Identity and Girl Style American Dreams by Laurie Ouellett. This article took a look at woman who  reformated and revolutionized Cosmopolitan. First, Helen Gurley Brown started with a book called, Sex and the single Girl, and with the success of the book, she became an overnight celebrity. In her book , she goes in to great detail about controversial issues at that time such as premarital sex and dating tips. It also brought into light birth control, working and being independent from men (118). Now this helped her go the extra mile and produce more books about the topic until she bought Cosmopolitan and became editor-in-chief. The magazine then started to take on the topics that were brought up in Brown’s books. 

        After reading this article, I read another article, Sex, Lies, and Advertising by Gloria Stienem. I will be honest that I was not to happy about reading this article because being a college student, I have a test today in my advertising class and this article was a constant reminder :). 

The article is about Ms.( which I am presuming is a magazine) and the ads it would decide on but by offering ads that might apply to both men and women. One of the examples that they mention is car advertisements. I decided to go the extra step and look at two different advertisements for alcoholic beverages. I should warn you that some of these are pretty graphic but I deem important to use as examples. 

      The first one I would like to point out is the pregnant woman holding a beer. The message that this image is trying to convey it is OK for one to drink this beverage if one is pregnant. What I find quite interesting is that they are still in skimpy clothing. I would then raise the question of does this mean taking pride in woman’s body caring a child? This really makes me question who is this ad is aimed for. I think this may have upset many people in the time Brown was in charge of Cosmo because not what she is wearing but that she is not married (no wedding ring is visible). There is a series of ads with the same sort of image. 

The next image is the one that I am mostly embarrassed to post but that is also apart of the point that I will be trying to make. This picture is of a man naked with a bottle of vodka. I would guess that this ad does contain the sexual innuendo with the bottle. I would like to point out though that this sort of ad is very rare in today’s advertisements because it is usually women that are partially dressed to sell the item.  What is interesting is that in the Article Sex, Lies, and Advertisements, it is mentioned that liquor ads, not so much beer ads, are less stereotyping in their imagery (227). I am wondering is that I feel so immune to women in advertisements but when I see this ad, it shocks me. I am not a pervert in anyway as I write this but do you think that we are so conditioned to not be shocked as much, if at all, by women in ads anymore? I think so. 

Source: Inventing the Cosmo Girl: Class Identity and Girl Style American Dreams by Laurie Ouellett

Sex, Lies, and Advertising by Gloria Stienem

     

The Not So Dark Side of Feminism:

       Recently, I watched a film called The Monstrous Regiment of Women by Gunn Brothers. This very disturbing movie was making the argument that feminism is "unchristian". This was not very well depicted in the documentary because of the bias interviews and weak arguments. The first problem with this movie is it mostly interviewed women. Now, I do understand that it is about feminism but I feel it would be intriguing to see what the Christian male perspective would have been on the topic. The interviews do consist of some of the leading anti-feminist women but not too many leading feminist. This makes the film very bias in how the information is presented. Also, a majority of the interviews could have been just neighbors of the filmmakers. This creates a misinterpretation that the views that are being projected are of a majority of Christian women across the nation but it is mostly a few women in a small town in Texas. I personally feel that this film would have done a better job with promoting pro-life views rather than feminism.
      It was fully unnecessary to get into the topic of abortion in this documentary. I do understand the reason that they presented abortion was to show how women are made to carry children in their womb and take care of them and the household after birth. However, abortion is only a sub factor in that argument because it is just the concept of the child bearing. Sadly, this was the only section of the film that I found interesting through the overly graphic showing of a partial birth abortion and the interview with the former head of an abortion clinic. But here is a good example of how bias this documentary is because the only interviews that the filmmakers had against their argument of abortion was a man and woman that they found off the street and a doctor they happen to run in to. Overall, this documentary makes me want to become more of a feminist rather than supporting the ‘Christian’ view that it presents.

Ready to Give This a Try.

Today, I read the Liesbet Van Zoonen’s article Feminist Perspectives on the Media, which is about the different forms of feminism and feminism in cultural studies.  I decide to look the following television commercial and try and present the basic view of how each group of feminism would perceive the following ad.

                The liberal feminist would see this ad as an addition to the female stereotype of the mother and wife taking care of the home. They would be upset because Von Zoonen states that liberal feminist want “general liberal principles of liberty and equality should apply to women in society”(35). This ad is an addition to the stereotype of woman and liberal feminist would feel this way because  the solution for them is that “women should obtain more equal positions in society, enter male dominated fields and acquire power” (35).  This pertains to the ad for it is displaying the woman as an individual that looks after her clumsy husband and she takes out the trash.  Liberal Feminist’s main objective is to surpass the household wife and women being perceived as sex object to being equal to men.

                The radical feminist goal is to be proud of being different. They could perceive this ad as taking pride in being shown as smarter than the men show in the commercial. The first few depictions shown are the men have the wrong type of garbage bag and the women have the right trash bag brand. Radical feminist think women should come together (36). This aspect of the ad is a little bit more difficult to discuss because Von Zoonen mentions that the radical feminism want to bring out the abuse by males in society (36).  One of the topics that the article focused on was the fact that this version of feminism focuses a lot on fighting the pornography industry. Radical feminist may look at the fact that it was middle age males that probably produced this ad.

                The social feminist would be upset with this portrayal because how the women in this commercial are being perceived to this ideology of women stereotypes. They would also take into consideration the fact that the last woman is African American because they do “not focus exclusively on gender to account for women’s positions, but attempt to incorporate an analysis of class and economic conditions of women as well” (38).  They would also notice the fact that the women are all in a particular age group of around 30-45 years of age.

Source:   Feminist Perspectives on the Media by Liesbet Van Zoonen’s

How the Media Looks at Women in the Early Years

It is time to get past the idea of women needing to stay at home. Stereotypes of women commonly depicted in the media provoke the ideology that women should stay home and take care of their families. In the reading in the book Media, Gender, and Identity by David Gauntlett, Gauntlett brings up the point of how women were barely represented in television from the 1950s-1970s. However, progressively there were more roles where women were shown in more leadership positions in the media, but they are still commonly shown as housewives. Most of their interactions were derived from “concerned with romance or family problems”. It was not until the 80s when women were playing stronger roles but there was still an underlining stereotyping taking place.

Strongly in the sixties women were seen as sex objects. This view was seen very powerfully in the form of film. Below are two examples of two movies from that time period. The first clip is the famous film The Seven Year Itch. Marilyn Monroe’s character plays a woman that is very desirable. Her looks, high pitch voice and lines like “I keep my undies in the icebox! ”, make a strong statement of how women should be perceived and what is considered sexy.

The second clip, is from the film, North By Northwest. In this film, Cary Grant’s character plays the man running away from spies trying to kill him because they mistake him for somebody else. The woman character is seen stronger then Monroe’s character in the Severn Year Itch in a few of the scenes because she is seductive but strong. However, the woman, or "the blonde", is still seen as a sexually craved animal. On a few occasions, she says that she just wanted somebody to be with for the night while they are on the train. Gauntlett mentions this in his book because this (and other Hitchcock films) has men as the main character of the films and the men play the hero. But the women are important to the role because they help lead the story. I feel that the character in North by Northwest shows the change of gender stereotypes because even though she plays a stereotypical woman, she is also stronger (She does shoot at Cary Grant for goodness sakes).

Lastly, I just wanted to mention briefly a section in The Symbolic Annihilation of Women by the Mass Media by Gaye Tuchman. I have put one more clip at the bottom of the section because in the beginning of the reading, Tuchman quotes Lesser. The clip is from the movie Mean Girls. At 8:34-8:39, the audience is able to see the little sister character dancing to the hip hop song “Milkshake”. This is a perfect example of modeling. Modeling is when someone sees something happen and then does it. Other words, modeling is a sort of monkey see, monkey do with pop culture. This clip shows the little girl is dancing similarly to the woman on the screen. Also, as the quote continues, the action the woman is portraying may not be repeated or enforced, it is still able to seem acceptable to the little girl.

Sources:Media, Gender, and Identity by David Gauntlett

The Symbolic Annihilation of Women by the Mass Media by Gaye Tuchman

Keeping the Equality

The gap between men and women in the work place is slowly disappearing. It is also being more apparent in today's media. In the year 2000, the movie Keeping the Faith was released and it showed an image of a woman in a more equal role to her male counterparts. In the book, Media, Gender, and Identity, the author David Gauntlett brings up the point that the role of being feminine for a woman doesn’t simply mean be like a woman but if they want to be the role of a stereotypical woman on a daily bases. In Keeping the Faith, the Jenna Elfman's character plays a workaholic woman. What is so interesting about this character is she does sometimes assume the masculine role with her coworkers but is also able to be proud of being a woman. This goes with what Gauntlett is saying about how women try to have a touch of femininity in the way they dress so they don’t appear fully masculine. This is seen in the movie when she has a lace cellphone holder on her leg during dinner because a majority of the film she is seen wearing more “manly” clothes such as suits.

To be honest, the way that I am writing this blog entry actually falls into one of the things that Gauntlett writes later in chapter one about the ten things wrong with the media ‘effects’ model. This model describes flaws in media research. The earlier part of the blog is number one, this is that “the effects model tackles social problems backwards". For my example, I wanted to use Keeping the Faith for my blog and tried to find somethings that would apply to it. He argues that this concept is flawed because it is basically having an answer and looking for a question. It also may make it unclear of what point the researcher is trying to make. This seems like a bad way to research for it may present personal bias and misrepresented facts.

Source: Media, Gender, and Identity by David Gauntlett

Looking Past the Wonderful World of Disney

Disney does have skeletons in it’s closet. It is truly remarkable how many things I overlooked when I was a child. When I was growing up, my family revolved around Disney. It was at the point where my bedroom was even themed after The Lion King. I am beginning to wonder how much, if any, change has occurred in more recent films that disney has produced. I even go further to wonder how much of this is potentially done by the filmmakers.

In the article, Are Disney Movies Good for Your Kids by Henry A. Giroux, Giroux discusses the lack of political correctness that occurs in popular Disney movies (such as Aladdin and the Little Mermaid). He only briefly mentions the fact that there was a large amount of racism that occurred in the early days of Disney, such as in motion pictures as The Jungle Book and Songs of the South. Giroux also makes it known that racism and Disney has been ongoing for years(173). 

I would like to say that Disney films were not the only place where this was apparent. When Mickey Mouse was first introduced to the world through newspaper clippings in the early 1930s, he was not the innocent figure that today’s consumers know and love. In the late 1980s, a comic book was released call The Uncensored 

Mouse. This comic book was the sold in sealed packaging and had a black cover(see above) and not mentioning that it contained

 images of Mickey Mouse. Below is an actual clipping from the comic book and it was actually very difficult to find anything other than the front cover’s image (I found the picture on an ebay ad). This clip shows Mickey Mouse as the stereotypical African American commonly depicted in the media at that time. For instance, the was he is displayed when the lights go out in the room and only his face is visible. Also the way he speaks in not particularly good english. Disney was actually pretty successful in stopping the distribution of the comic book and was able to stop the series by the second installment.

Sources: Are Disney Movies

Good for Your Kids by Henry A. Giroux

http://www.bookpalace.com/acatalog/Home_Rare_Books__T___Z_162.html

Language, Can It Be Connected to Racism...Maybe

Its remarkable what words can really do to a situation. While reading the third chapter of Barker text, Barker discusses the importance of language and human's meaning to objects. The example that stood out to me is there is a difference between a rock and the word "rock". In order to describe that difference, we still need to use language and it still will be difficult to explain. The website as well as the images that I have attached to this post demonstrates how critical it is the choice of words to describe a moment. When Hurricane Katrina went past New Orleans and ended up flooding the city, there was much speculation on how the media was handling this story in terms of racisim. In the Barker text, it even talks about how there can be different connotations that occur depending on the culture. In this case, the person who is reporting on the topic might have come from a culture where different actions such as taking food may be viewed differently. In the photographs below, the one on the left said of the two people in back packs have the quote, "Two residents wade through chest-deep water after finding bread and soda from a local grocery store after Hurricane Katrina came through the area in New Orleans, Louisiana.(AFP/Getty Images/Chris Graythen)", while the picture on the right has the quote "A young man walks through chest deep flood water after looting a grocery store in New Orleans on Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2005. Flood waters continue to rise in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina did extensive damage when it made landfall on Monday. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)". I am actually starting to this about how this may also reflect on the paper. For instance, it is not just the writer of the comment that is a fault but also the editor that let it pass and those around them. Also, the location that the paper is distributed may expect or accept the caption to say something along those lines. I guess it is true, a picture can say a thousand words...

http://minorjive.typepad.com/hungryblues/2005/09/in_new_orleans_.html

Confusion Taking on Ideology...

Sometimes things go over my head, chapter two of the Barker article named Questions of Culture, and Ideology is one of those very things. I find the concept of ideology to be when there a line between our ideology and what the world and pop culture wants us to think. One of the films that this is very welled portrayed in is American History X starring a very muscular Edward Norton. The film touches base on a lot of controversial aspects, especially racism but the film brings a concept into the light of lived experience, not other's experiences, is the key to understanding life.

In the section of chapter 2, "Ideology and Pop culture" of Berker's book, a valuable point that is brought up is "through common sense of popular culture, organizing their [all people] lives and experience." In the film, American History X, Norton's character lives a life that is focused on any race other then white non-hispanic does not deserve equality in society. But the fact of the matter is that this character is changed by a series of events.

When the main character actually looks past the propaganda of symbols and what others have told him to believe in, he looks to his own understanding. In result, he has an epiphany. A scene in the film where this is portrayed is when he has to fold laundry with an African American man and the man makes a mockery of the KKK. This scene and other scenes with this character shows a more human and significance to African Americans than what Norton's character has ever seen. By following ideology set by pop-culture to tell anyone what to think, takes away the right to choose our foundation of knowledge rather than what we are told. When it comes to dish soap and foods its ok to listen to pop culture, but with other human beings, it should not occur.

Taking a Shot at This

Feminism is quite popular and has become a very distorted image in today’s society. Barker looks at feminism that the sex of an individual should not be the foundations of who is more superior to another in the workplace. Feminism is generally to give a woman an equal opportunity with her fellow males. It has been a very long time since I have watched the film The Contender (2000) but it brings up the good argument of  if a woman is to take on the higher position of government, such as vice president or even president, will her actions she makes may be ridiculed or blamed on the sheer fact that she is a woman. In this trailer, it is constantly brought up that she is a woman.

         To push this idea future and present it to todays standards, if Hilary Clinton did win the President position, would her actions be judged rightly. For instance, if she made a mistake, would she as a person be blamed or would the focus be on the fact that she is a woman. Of the three types of feminism that Baker mentions (liberal, socialist, and radical), The Contender is focusing on the liberal feminism, which is a women trying to have equality to men. Also, the affect that the main character took part in an orgy when in college, is like gold for the media. Since it might present to the world, if she did this act, what if next woman who is elected into a position does something even worst. Also, its interesting that a majority of the characters in the film and in the location of where the story is taking place, Washington D.C., is male dominated. If this occurred in real life, would it be as controversial? Would it be more or less media focuses as the sex scandal of Bill Clinton and the numerous senators that has recently occurred?

http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi3096838425/