The ideologies of our views are often shaped by the portrayal of gender and sexuality we are exposed to. In fact gender appears to be the basic point of departure in any and all efforts to “divide and conquer”. Socialization begins very early and sets the basis for development of emotional expression, approach to problem solving, as well as the necessary curiosity and esteem required to engage and maintain healthy social bonds as a grown-up. The gender issue is the point of departure for the militarism/racism/consumerism which appears to be the basis of our human ecological problems of catastrophic scope. A river of tears.Most people engage with mass media stories in complex, complicated and misunderstood ways; a love-hate relationship of D.H. Lawrence dimension.
"Buffy the Vampire Slayer is probably my favourite show because in our limited media landscape Buffy serves as one of the only widely recognized feminist characters on TV. The show is of course not without its criticisms and problems (ie. race and sexuality and Spike) but overall it is brilliantly written with strong female characters and story development." read more: http://text-appeal.blogspot.com/2011/01/my-interview-with-feminist-frequencys.html
Pop culture at one time was marketed, or peddled, as a kind of panacea, a palliative in which this form of democratization would smooth over and harmonize gender differences. And this was quickly embraced: Pauline Kael is quoted as saying “When we championed trash culture, we had no idea it would become the only culture.” There are small perfunctory obituaries of those who had artistic excellence; but the heart of the news is still Lady Gaga, Lohan, Kayne West and their drinking issues, bad hair days and so on. Altogether, they are just machine components in a commercial motor that reinforces all the repressive, outdated and stereotyped behaviors, and tired tropes of gender, race and sexuality; a minefield of desire embedded in manufactured values, myths and dubious messages constructed on tidings of superfluous “change” backed by a ardent determination to maintain things as they are. “if it ain’t broken don’t fix it”.
In the same way, the internet industry was touted as a victory of participatory culture; which in part it is, but the larger story can sometimes be seem from minor examples. Ben Huh’s Cheezburger Network got $30 million in venture capital funding. And Huh talks a good game about cultural creation and the “little guy” However, his starting wages at $8,55 and hour with no benefits or employer contribution are below say, Quebec min. wage which is at $9,65 and their dollar is worth more.He has come up with driving some interesting trends but; But the real issue is making a living off user-generated content. In other words vampiring the passion. At a larger scale, Facebook is not that much different except the context for the content.
"I believe advertising has damaging effects on adults as well. I often hear people say that advertising doesn't work on them, or they can see right through it, but if that were actually the case the advertising and marketing industry wouldn't spend a ridiculous amount of money on psychological and neuroscience research. Advertisers know exactly what they are doing and it is a critical part of advertising that they make you think it's not working--believing you are unaffected by it is what the advertisers are hoping for." http://text-appeal.blogspot.com/2011/01/my-interview-with-feminist-frequencys.html photo: http://www.thefrisky.com/post/246-sexist-advertising-alert-duncan-quinn/
” We advertise lower wages for entry-level positions because the worst candidates focus on money the most. Believe it or not, advertising lower-than-market wages actually helped us yield better candidates.”…Cheezburger Network CEO Ben Huh • In an article discussing how a recent ad drew candidates who were upset that he was offering so little for what are in reality jobs that require a college education. While passion is one thing, it’s another thing entirely to force low wages on college-educated people. He lists three reasons why he feels employees who ask about compensation aren’t desirable. The first? “The candidate’s inability to control their personal expenses, which inevitably leads to drama and demands at work.” He goes further, noting: “If you have high financial requirements in order to absolutely survive, I don’t really know what to say than go get a job at a bank (you know what I mean).” Know what would help them control personal expenses, Ben? A living wage. Well, maybe they could get one (and health insurance!) if they worked at a Starbucks instead. Read More: http://shortformblog.com/biz/is-i-can-has-cheezburger-the-equivalent-of-sweatshop-2-0/
But Huh is not the only one. This type of new industry has a shiny public face, sweet and furry as a kitten; but in essence they are not dissimilar to the vilified “high frequency traders” in the securities industry who will make fractions of a cent over millions of trades to arrive at their profit. Huh grosses about $4 million over many web-sites and 16.5 million visitors per month: .001 of a cent per visit or less, especially on a page basis. And Huh is a smart guy, but nagging concern is that the new businesses in this information age are swallowing all the rotten, smelly baggage from the old:
"A particularly damaging aspect of advertising is not just that they are trying to make us buy products that we don't want or don't need, it's that advertising reinforces archaic, regressive and stereotypical values, especially when it comes to gender, race and sexuality. The values, myths and messages carried inside advertisements are built on a shared cultural understanding: the status quo. Critical to effective advertising is presenting this shared understanding of the world and sadly, the status quo is full of inequalities and awful stereotypes of gender, race, sexuality, class and ability. " read more: http://text-appeal.blogspot.com/2011/01/my-interview-with-feminist-frequencys.html
“With its ability to remix content, satire and criticism, Internet Culture is slowly chipping away at the cultural fortress built by television, radio and other forms of mass media—commonly referred to as Popular Culture. While many of us casually participate in this process online, we’re unaware of the sea change that’s occurring. Status updates, social networking, blogging and other habits have given rise to Internet Culture and now, internet users have created more content than mass media has created since the invention of the printing press. We have started to take control of the culture that molds our world view—taking the control away from the powerful in the media and giving it to our unwashed peers. The challenge for big media companies is not just financial. They have to find a way to embrace the power of their users and change their thought process and attitude towards their customers, while not alienating the creator-centric model that currently pays the bills.” Read More: http://paidcontent.org/article/419-a-guide-to-the-cultural-battle-that-is-reshaping-the-media-business/ a
---Again, advertisers are not just selling us candy bars, they are selling back to us myths about ourselves that we already assume to be true. It's this reinforcing of the status quo that is damaging to us as individuals and limits our potential for progress and change.---read more: http://text-appeal.blogspot.com/2011/01/my-interview-with-feminist-frequencys.html image: http://www.menspulpmags.com/2010/04/tattoos-are-for-sissies-according-to.html
Is Julian Assange a hero of the new, or replicating the inbred behavior as a requisite for his own ascension? …With the release of the documents, Assange has become a high profile media figure embroiled in global controversy bringing him both powerful enemies and loyal fans. Unfortunately however, his fans (including many on the progressive left) and the media have taken to victim blaming. The women have been subjected to all manner of digital harassment – everything from accusations of concocting a CIA ‘honey-trap’ to publishing their identities (photos, writings, names, addresses, twitter accounts) all over the internet. Like most women who make allegations against powerful men, these women have been lied about, harassed, and generally dragged through the mud. It would be nice if various justice systems
k allegations of sexual assault as seriously as they have with Assange, but the global resources and effort is not about the care and regard for a fair and legitimate trial but seems more like a cynical and opportunistic attempt to punish WikiLeaks. This case reminds us of the lack of respect and down right misogyny that is hurled at women who dare to report abuse.: Read More: http://www.feministfrequency.com/ a
---Our society's economic and political power is structurally unequal and oppressive. Therefore, many of the women who reach high governing positions have had to emulate male, patriarchal behaviours meaning they are actively working against making any positive social progress. We need to be clear that while these conservative women are rising to power, they are not challenging male domination and male power. And it is precisely because they are not challenging it that there is space made for them in the boy's club.---read more: http://text-appeal.blogspot.com/2011/01/my-interview-with-feminist-frequencys.html
Kate Harding: “By Sunday, when Keith Olbermann retweeted Bianca Jagger’s link to a post about the accuser’s supposed CIA ties — complete with scare quotes around the word “rape” — a narrative had clearly taken hold: Whatever Assange did, it sure wasn’t rape-rape. All he did was fail to wear a rubber! …As of today, even Naomi Wolf — Naomi Effin’ Wolf! — has taken a public swipe at Assange’s accusers, using her status as a “longtime feminist” to underscore the absurdity of “the alleged victims … using feminist-inspired rhetoric and law to assuage what appears to be personal injured feelings.”
Wow. Admittedly, I don’t have as much experience being a feminist as Wolf has, but when I see a swarm of people with exactly zero direct access to the facts of a rape case loudly insisting that the accusation has no merit, I usually start to wonder about their credibility. And their sources. Wolf links to exactly one, an article in British tabloid the Daily Mail. “Using a number of sources including leaked police interviews,” writes Richard Pendlebury, “we can begin to piece together the sequence of events which led to Assange’s liberty being threatened by Stockholm police… Read More: http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2010/12/07/julian_assange_rape_accuser_smeared/index.html a
Amanda Amundson: My analysis: I read this image as a horrible ploy to sell disgusting body spray to men. If anyone has ever smelt this spray, it is very disgusting. (Mainly due to the fact that the individuals who wear it, usually use a whole can in order to cover up their body odor) In no way is a body spray going to create this massive uproar in women, causing them to lose all self control and chase down a man they don’t even know. However, the use of the images does indeed help them sell their product. If they did not have adds featuring women chasing down men or a woman’s shirt with the arm in the crotch of a pair of man’s jeans, no one would buy it. http://blog.lib.umn.edu/raim0007/gwss3307_fall2007/3_gendered_images/
But the debate, these justified struggles all seem to take place away from the home field. Is the answer the creation of a truly public commons? …..Henry Jenkins interview of Jonathan McIntosh: These video removals leave gaping holes in the Internet – and I mean that quite literally. Video embeds on blogs, forums and social networks are suddenly missing. Tweets and links to remixes are all abruptly dead or lead to YouTube’s notorious pink line of death. In the past month alone five fair use political remix videos I had planned on posting to my blog politicalremixvideo.com have been removed from YouTube for “infringement”. To make matters worse many DIY video creators I speak with are either not aware of their fair use rights or are afraid to rock the boat by challenging the takedowns. As a result, valuable online conversations and visual discussions are being shut down.
All of this, for me, highlights a larger problem surrounding our creative new media culture which is that it is all taking place in private corporate spaces. There are effectively zero public spaces on the Internet. The online public square has been completely privatized from the beginning. This strikes me as especially problematic because the development of the Internet was primarily done with public funds. And then it was just unquestionably handed over to corporate interests. At the end of the day, it all boils down to corporate power and the pursuit of profits being valued far more than the public good, media literacy or a free and open culture.Read More: http://www.rebelliouspixels.com/2010/henry-jenkins-interview a
Thadis Coley:This shows how it’s supposed to be ok for a woman to be the subordinate to the man. The man is holding a bottle of Skyy in one hand and two glasses in the other. It looks as though he is clenching the objects in his hand and it can be inferred that the woman below him has no choice but to have drinks with him. This shows dominance as being sexy, and that women have no authority over the men. In terms of the woman she is thin with full breasts, and presents the idea that women should live up to this standard to be attractive to men. The lighting in the picture is very exploitive and further demoralizes the woman. The framing of the picture shows the crotch area as being directly over the face of the woman and it is highlighted to accentuate that area. The woman’s breasts are also lighted in the way to draw the reader’s eye to that area. The product in this ad becomes secondary because the reader will be attracted to the breasts and crotch, and then realize that is an ad for Skyy. The clothing in the ad shows the man as having economic status with further pushes the idea that the more money the man has the more inferior the woman has to be. Her lack of clothing shows her as an object to the man and that is why he has chosen her to have drinks with him. http://blog.lib.umn.edu/raim0007/gwss3307_fall2007/3_gendered_images/
ADDENDUM:
Paromita Vohra: I felt irritated at the unimaginative orthodoxy in which all things popular were ‘mass culture’, which automatically meant crude and worthless. I was annoyed by the gooey, unquestioning herd mentality that allowed no criticism of Pink Floyd or Bob Dylan. I felt impatient at those who never looked outside the prescribed syllabus of supposedly good art and dismissed whatever was not in that syllabus.
I confess my protest was not dignified: making vomiting noises about great films, I have since come to love or loudly praising utterly ho-hum, unfunny films like Ramgarh ke Sholay as masterpieces of post-modern wit. My excuse must be that I was young.
But like many others, I was trying to find some way of understanding culture in a revitalized way that felt relevant to the world around me. We championed kitsch and popular culture not because we didn’t understand art, but because we cared about it. It was a way of saying, that good art cannot be defined only by the form (folk-jazz fusion, ‘realistic’ cinema, street theatre), or the artist’s identity (woman, tribal, so-and-so’s nephew), nor from issues it takes up (communalism, gender, peace). Rather, each work must be evaluated in terms of its artistry and innovation, and its spirit, resonance, intellectual vitality, insight. We might find this in unexpected places, not in expected places. Read More: http://www.mid-day.com/opinion/2010/aug/220810-culture-opinion-paromita-vohra.htm
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