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Counterpoint - The Blind Side Isn’t So Blind to Hegemony

Counterpoint in response to Paige

The Blind Side is one of my favorite movies. It’s based off of a true story and it’s so inspiring. There is a lot to learn from this film through the ways in which it disrupts hegemony, as Paige has expanded on. However, it’s not all rainbows and sunshine. The Blind Side still reinforces the problematic hegemonic structure that society has embedded in our culture through the distinction of class structure, the African-American representation in sports, and multiculturalism and “eating the Other.”

Hegemony is reinforced first, and in my opinion most distinctly, through the difference of socioeconomic class. The Tuohy family is VERY rich. They are the typical white, upper class, all-American family that has the whole package. Their socioeconomic status plays a big role in their lives. Sean and Leigh Anne are able to afford to send their kids to the best private school in Tennessee, they live in a nice neighborhood with a fancy house, and they live a very luxurious lifestyle. Money is not an issue for them. Michael, on the other hand, falls on the opposite side of the spectrum. He is an African-American male that comes from a history of drug addiction and lives in poverty. African-American representation in the media is often associated with a low-income status. After being separated from his mother at an early age, he spent a lot of nights on the street and the only possession he has is a change of clothes. His first encounter with the Tuohy family was due to the fact that he was alone with no place to go on a cold fall night. His economic status (or lack there of) is very apparent at this point. 

When Michael’s living situation in the Tuohy household was becoming more permanent, it created a buzz around the community. They started talking because someone of high socioeconomic status like that of the Tuohy’s doesn’t commonly associate and interact with people like Michael, or someone of low socioeconomic status.  James Lull says it perfectly in his article, Hegemony, “Classical Marxist theory, of course, stresses economic position as the strongest predictor of social differences.” What he is saying is that because the Tuohy’s and Michael have very different economic statuses, society puts them in two different social groups and those groups aren’t supposed to intermingle. Leigh Anne’s friends even go as far as to asking if Michael is one of her charity cases to make herself look good to the community and her dad leaves a message on the recorder saying, “You know there’s a black boy in your Christmas card?” They can’t fathom the idea of any REAL interaction between two extremely different social classes.

Hegemony is next strengthened through the African-American representation in sports.  Society typically values people of color for their bodies in sporting events. What they have to offer as far as their physical strength is much more valuable to their teammates and to the viewers. In contrast, Caucasian men and women are valued for their intelligence. Sports commentators play a big role in the difference of contributing skills just by the way they talk. Katherine Lavelle says it best in her article, A Critical Discourse Analysis of Black Masculinity in NBA Game Commentary, “Making distinctions about perceived physical differences between Black and White athletes is one of the ways that Black athletes are discussed as different, especially emphasis on certain genetic predispositions.” Caucasian players are described as “playing smart” or “executing the plays well” while the players of color are almost always noticed for their physical capabilities such as tackling or running. The Blind Side portrays the same values. The Wingate football coach sees Michael for the first time and is astounded by his physical size and his potential as a future football player. He goes to the school board and vouches for Michael into letting him attend Wingate because Michael would be a good asset for the football team. Throughout Michael’s time at Wingate, he is overwhelmingly valued for the physical abilities on the football field; more specifically the confidence they have that he is able to tackle anyone and everyone he is matched up against. His intelligence and education is only addressed when it pertains to football. They are only concerned about his grades when it almost hinders him from being eligible to play in the rest of the season and again when he is applying for college and eligibility for football scholarships. If Michael didn’t need to make grades to play football, nobody would have put effort into helping him academically. Michael’s ability to think was never his strong suite. The movie makes it clear that his strength lies with his physical abilities on the football field.

As far as representation of African-Americans in general (not just in sports), Paige makes a great point that we see this representation in such a unique way that it disrupts hegemony. We see that Michael is able to overcome all the stereotypical obstacles that we associate with African-Americans; such as poverty, violence, drugs, and lack of education. We rarely see a young, African-American man able to conquer all of these setbacks. 

  Lastly, the use of multiculturalism and “eating the Other” in this movie reinforces another part of hegemony in our society. The Blind Side is so controversial in regards to multiculturalism because there is no distinct line that can be drawn between what is and isn’t considered eating the Other. Paige makes a good point that Leigh Anne takes Michael in out of the goodness of her heart without any expectation of something in return. But again, where do we draw the line? I would argue that the whole adoption of Michael into the Tuohy family is considered to be eating the Other. As bell hooks expresses in her article, Eating the Other: Desire and Resistance, “One desires ‘a bit of the Other’ to enhance the blank landscape of whiteness.” We know from direct dialogue that Leigh Anne’s life is changing specifically because of the addition of Michael into their family. Leigh Anne is benefiting from the arrangement because she gets, as her husband puts it, “some sort of twisted pleasure out of helping people”. She is enhancing her life by adopting Michael because it is a unique experience that is missing from whiteness.

Another aspect of multiculturalism is the distance that is created from the Other while still “eating” it. Leigh Anne doesn’t have to interact with Michael’s culture in order for him to be a part of theirs. She didn’t have to go see Michael’s mother before officially adopting him (even though she voluntarily chose to), she could’ve avoided any interaction with his previous life and there is no law that says she has to involve herself in his culture in the future. The Tuohy family gets to benefit from having Michael become a part of their family while still remaining isolated from the rest of the African-American culture.

While I agree that Paige makes some great points in how The Blind Side can be seen as pushing back against hegemony, there are still aspects of the movie that reinforce the norms that are rooted in our society. The norms of class structure, African-American representation in sports, and multiculturalism are present in The Blind Side just as they are still present in our society today. 

If you haven't already, go check out Paige's blog !

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lifted-nevermore:

Yup, that’s Beyonce. African-American singer Beyonce.

When I first stumbled upon this picture and read the caption, I almost didn’t believe it. How can this be Beyoncé? Beyoncé is an African-American woman…the woman in the picture is WHITE. Oh, that’s right – We’ve gotten really good at whitewashing our media icons.

Whitewashing is just another control method by the media that keeps society in a closed little hegemonic box and nobody can get out. The media leads us to believe that having white skin is ideal and that having skin of any other color is frowned upon. It is not on the same "level" as whiteness. Whitewashing just reinforces this way of thinking and it's society's strategy of keeping us inside the norm. 

It's the "white way" or the highway…apparently.

Relevant Reblog- Whitewashing

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Relevant Reblog- Feminism Fight

I spend too much time on Pinterest but I just LOVE this reblog.

Feminism

It doesn’t matter what kind of woman we are --- rich, lesbian, a woman of color, transgender, white, poor, or straight. None of that matters because we all have something more significant in common than socioeconomic class or race or sexuality. We all struggle because of MEN.

The inequality

The violence

The sexism

The dominance

Women are the only ones that know what other women are fighting for every day. In order for the fight to be successful, women need to stand up for each other and embrace each other. This means stop degrading other women through name calling, stop being silent when the rape culture is being embraced, and stop letting men control our every move. Without the unity of the female population and without a change in our own behaviors, how can we ever expect to see a change in the inequality, the violence, the sexism, or the dominance? Nobody is going to fight the battle for us because they don’t know how it feels.

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Analysis Post- Claiming Sexuality

If you’ve read the book, Fifty Shades of Grey, did you ever pick it up and read it in public? If you have, I bet you caught yourself glancing up periodically to see if anyone just saw you read that. Fifty Shades of Grey is one of the first opportunities, as of lately, for women to claim their sexuality. This book contains all the sexual desires and fantasies that women aren’t familiar with talking openly about and it makes us feel uncomfortable because we just aren’t used to it. Society has embedded the message that women aren’t allowed to be sexual beings and that when they do have sexual desires than they certainly are not supposed to talk about it. In grade school and middle school our sexual education is very minimal and abstinence is always stressed. And now we have a book that women of all ages are reading where the main female character is demanding sex and actively participating in role-play and other fetishes. This book contradicts anything and everything we’ve ever learned about our sexuality.

Fifty Shades of Grey is popular among all age groups. The younger women (20-30 year olds) enjoy this book because their bodies get policed on a daily basis. They are told what kind of clothes to wear, what their physical appearance should be like, how to act around men, and even control over their own bodies that is lost when they’re drunk. This is a targeted age group for the media so the 20-30 year olds definitely feel the pressure of the society. This book is an outlet for these women because nobody is controlling their bodies in this text. They can make a connection with Anastasia and not get “punished” for wanting the same sexual desires as the character in the book. It also communicates positive desires for sex, instead of being told by society that women should not have these desires. The older age group (40-50+ year olds) gets a different thrill from Fifty Shades of Grey. Women in their 40s and 50s are not longer considered to be sexy. We kind of just write them off and don’t consider them to be sexual beings anymore. If women weren’t allowed to talk about their sexual desires before, than they REALLY can’t talk about them now. This book provides a safe space for this specific group of people because it allows them to have an open dialogue about sex and erotica between their friends and even partners. Come on, they’re still human beings…maybe oldones, but human beings nonetheless and these women still have the desire to have sex.

In a bigger sense, Fifty Shades of Grey is a great breakthrough in society. It pushes back against the norms of society that restrict women from having open desires for sex. Sex is not some new thing that people are JUST NOW taking an interest in. This book just put on paper what everyone has already been thinking since the Adam and Eve days. Hopefully the popularity of Fifty Shades is a good indication of what is in store to come in the future. Women need more opportunities to express themselves, especially in terms of sexuality, instead of being forbidden to have these dirty thoughts. I hope that one day I won’t be reading a book like this on an airplane and try to cover up the words because I am worried about what the guy next to me might think. I hope that Fifty Shades of Grey leads to more of a social acceptance when it comes to open sexuality so that I won’t have to feel uncomfortable.

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Relevant Reblog- One Wed

One Wed

This blog is just one of HUNDREDS! There are so many websites dedicated solely to weddings because we are so obsessed with the biggest event in a girl’s life. We are obsessed with making sure our wedding day is perfect and that every little detail is planned to the T. This blog contains ideas for decorations, different wedding dresses, cakes, venues, music, flowers, hairstyles, invitations, bridesmaids dresses, table pieces, wedding bands, manicures, groomsmen suits, pointers on speeches, party favors…. literally anything that you can think of that plays some kind of role on someone’s big day.

The One Wed blog, as like most others, is evidently geared towards women. It’s very feminine and girly and most of the outfits are for the women. Other blogs make this obvious just in the title. For instance:

Alice in Weddingland

Bitchless Bride

Wedding Chicks

This is because it’s the bride’s event and there just happens to be a groom involved. The brides plan the event (for the most part), they stress about it up until they say, “I do”, and all eyes are on them when the day comes. It makes sense that these blogs are geared toward the bride because a lot of good ideas come of it and it helps in the wedding planning. It amazes me just how detailed some weddings are, it just goes to show how much emphasis society puts on a bride’s wedding day. It has to be PERFECT.

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Relevant Reblog- Dove vs. Victoria's Secret

As I scroll through Pinterest, this blog caught my attention.

Victoria’s Secret and Dove can appear to be promoting similar messages when you just glance at it. However, if you really reflect on it, their intentions are very opposite.

The Victoria’s Secret image reinforces the hegemonic values that we’ve been learning in class since day one. The women in this picture have very flat stomachs, thin legs, the right amount of cleavage, and put together hair and make up. The society we live in puts a lot of emphasis on physical appearance for women. Not just any physical appearance though, a woman has to be a certain size and a certain skin tone in order to fall into the norm. With that being said, the name for this campaign follows these values; “Love My Body”. The name of the campaign is not “Love My Personality” or “Love My Thoughts”, it is strictly physical. Also, the representation of body types is very limited. It does not encompass anyone over a size 0, the women of color are whitewashed, and each woman’s pose if highly sexualized. The Victoria’s Secret image is limited to the hegemonic value of women’s bodies and how they display them.

The Dove campaign, on the other hand, pushes back against the hegemonic stereotypes. The name of the campaign, “Real Beauty”, sends a completely different message. Beauty isn’t limited to physical appearance. It can also be referring to inner beauty and personality and other traits beyond a woman’s body. “REAL Beauty” is opposite of “FAKE Beauty”. What society classifies as beautiful is not accurate. Models that walk the runway and appear in ads are considered beautiful but they will be the first ones to admit that they don’t even look like that (after all the touch ups and reconstruction). The media presents us with a FAKE beauty and the women represented by the Dove campaign are beautiful for REAL. Also, notice that the women in the Dove campaign do not look like the women in the Victoria’s Secret campaign. These women are more full figured and curvy and they don’t look like they skip meals every day. The women of color have also not been whitewashed; there is a very dark colored girl. Their body positions are very different as well because when I look at it, I don’t get the feeling that they are trying to be overtly sexy…they’re just standing there. 

While these two campaigns appear to be similar, their underlying messages are very contrasting. It’s important for young women to see the difference between them because society plays a huge role on how we view ourselves. It’s detrimental to women when we limit what is viewed as acceptable in society. I applaud the Dove campaign  for reminding us that beauty isn’t limited to one size and one shape and one skin color, it’s ALL shapes and sizes and skin colors.

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Analysis Post- Video Games & Sexism

People usually play video games with the expectation that they get to escape from the real world. Video games were created as a form of mere entertainment and it’s supposed to be a virtual world where gamers can have a space that doesn’t follow the societal norms. In this space, they can be whomever they want and kind of fantasize about things that they aren’t able to experience in real life. This was the expectancy of video games, however, it is not the reality. Video games imitate the preexisting societal structures of dominance and control. Most heroes in the game world are masculine and they fit the characteristics of the “tough guise”. The women in games usually take the role of the damsel in distress. As a part of this role she needs a guy to save her in order to win the game, she can’t do anything for herself other than stand in the tower and look pretty. We see this same message being conveyed in the “real world” as well. Men and women have two differing and strict roles that they shouldn’t stray far from. Because of their different roles, males hold all the privilege and power in the gamer world. It sounds familiar, right? That’s because we see it every day in our lives. Along with reinforcing the already existing social structures in society, video games also normalize violence and more specifically, domestic violence. There are three levels to this virtual video game world; the actual games, the gaming industry who produces these games, and the interaction between people when they play. The violence that gets normalized occurs on two of these levels. The actual video games contain a lot of violence…I mean the point is usually to run around on the screen and blow people’s heads off whenever the opportunity presents itself. We also see violence between the screens by the way that people interact as they are playing these games.

The Feminist Frequency Dangerous Game: Tropes vs. Women Bullying video was viewed in class. The host of the show discussed her experiences as a female gamer and the backlash that she got. The comments that were said to her exclusively because she was a female playing a video game were shocking. There were threats of rape and sexual assault. She was prompted numerous times to show her boobs or expose other parts of her body. The men on the other end just got to hide behind their video screens and were not held accountable for these actions. This just reinforces the male dominance and control that exists in both the real and virtual worlds. The idea that “it’s just a game” and that it shouldn’t be taken seriously has not gotten lost. It only fuels the normalization of violence through video games because we’re not supposed to take those threats seriously.

Domestic violence and sexual harassment that exists in a setting such as a virtual video game world only adds to our rape culture. We’ve all used the excuse, “it’s just a game…don’t take it so seriously”. Well that is the problem right there. Because the men making threats of rape are doing so in a video game setting, they don’t take it seriously. They don’t believe that the receiver is going to take it seriously either and therefore rape is disguised as a non-serious issue. It teaches people that it’s ‘okay’ to treat women this way and toss around the treat of raping someone or beating the crap out of them. That is not the message we want to be giving people. It’s not a joke; it is a very serious concern that people often minimize which is why we live in a rape culture. There have been efforts in the video game industry to start holding people more accountable for this violence towards others, so we’re going in the right direction. It’s going to take more effort and lot more awareness but I have faith in us, we can get there. 

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Analysis Post- Childhood Socialization and Disney

Childhood is a very precious time for kids. It is a sacred and innocent time and it needs protecting. Every parent wants their children to have a better childhood than they did; it’s just in our nature. Due to the media, they have made us believe that the way to obtain a perfect childhood is through purchasing things. Possessing the best toys around is a direct correlation to the quality of someone’s childhood. This philosophy of consumerism towards children gives the media the power to shape their beliefs and values to a certain extent. This is a very vulnerable time for children and their brains are like sponges at this point, so anything they see or hear on the television they absorb it right away. The message that advertisements and toys and television shows/movies give children about socialization sticks with them as they grow up.

  One of the largest foundations that children get their ideas about cultural norms at a young age is DISNEY. It is the most successful and most popular corporations that market towards the younger generations. More specific to Disney are the Disney Princesses. Every little girl’s dream is to grow up and be just like one of the Disney Princesses. We watched a video in class that analyzed the Disney Princesses. As innocent as our childhood is supposed to be, the messages Disney gives little girls is no where near innocent. The three most predominant and influential characteristics, in my opinion, that exists in every Disney Princess movie that the video pointed out are the cultural-normativeness, the desire to get married, and importance of dreams. Did you ever notice that out of the six original Princesses, there is one girl that ALWAYS sticks out? Can you guess which one it is? Ain’t nobody got time for the guessing game, so I’ll just tell you…it’s Jasmine. The reason that she stands out next to the other Princesses is because she is the only one who isn’t white, but even then she is very white washed. The five other Princesses fall within the cultural norm of being white. Also, all of them are Princesses, obviously, which means that they are royalty (either married or born into it) and it is the highest rung the social ladder that you can be. People of royalty also have money. In movies, you don’t see the King sleeping on the street and rummaging for food on a daily basis, instead they live very luxurious lifestyles. Disney tells little girls that being a white female with a high social and economical status is the ideal. Another similarity between all of the Princess movies is that the girls all desire to get married. Cinderella doesn’t get her shoe back so that she can now go to college and get a good education, she gets her shoe back so that she can meet her Prince Charming and get married and have a perfect life. Disney puts value on finding a husband and getting married rather than getting an education and being independent. Lastly, the video discussed the emphasis Disney puts on dreams. Arielle dreams to magically get legs so that she can walk on land. No matter how ridiculous the dream is, every Princess has a dream. This message can be misleading because some dreams are completely unrealistic for little girls and it builds their hopes up. When you really examine Disney, and the Princesses in particular, you get a better understanding of just how stereotypical and limiting the messages are that little kids absorb and learn from.

  I don’t think the media realizes just how important and influential they are to children, or maybe they do and that's why they do it. Disney has made a huge name for themselves and every little kid looks up to the brand. Their advertisements tell children what is considered “normal” in regards to gender, race, and sexuality. At this point in their lives, they don't know any different so of course they're going to believe everything they read, see, and hear. As children get older it’s almost guaranteed that they will be pushed towards these norms, so why does it have to start at such an early age? Give them time to breathe for goodness sake. Give them time to make at least a couple decisions on their own. I'm not arguing that all advertising is detrimental because the media is definitely making steps in the right direction. More efforts are being made to make toys that are more gender neutral and ads are becoming a little more inclusive to boys and girls. The problem with childhood socialization exists when we make children believe that there is no other option…girls play with girls toys and boys play with boys toys and that is that! The whole beauty of childhood is that it's a period of innocence and they shouldn't be exposed to the pressures of societal norms.

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Mini Media-The Blind Side

   The movie, The Blindside, is one of my favorite movies of all time. It was inspired by a true story. The wife of a very wealthy husband, Leigh Ann Tuohy, saw Michael Oher walking alone on the street on a cold night. Michael, or Big Mike as some people call him, is an African American boy who had been taken from his mom at a young age due to a crack addiction. He was in an out of foster care and didn’t have a stable home. Leigh Ann invited him into her home to stay with their family just for a couple of nights. Her nurturing and compassionate character grew attached to Michael, as did the rest of their family and they eventually adopted him officially. He was enrolled in the wealthy private school that the other Tuohy children attended. Big Mike also started to play football that year for the school and due to his large size; he was shaped into a great football player. When graduation came around and college football was an option, many recruits had an eye on Big Mike. The Tuohy family was huge Ole Miss fans due to the fact that both parents were Ole Miss alumni. It was clear that they wanted Michael to follow in their footsteps and attend Ole Miss, and that is just what he did. He went on to play football for Ole Miss and got drafted to the Ravens in the NFL a few years later.

The Blind Side movie trailer.

It’s so heart warming how Leigh Ann and the rest of the Tuohy family changed Michael Oher’s life. He could’ve been just like all of the other African American men who are in and out of poverty that just slip through the cracks, if it weren’t for the Tuohy family. However, this is where the controversial subject of multiculturalism and “eating the Other” come in to play. The Other is considered to be anyone with a culture other than white. Multiculturalism exists as something that is missing from the white culture and represents an exciting learning experience for white people when they encounter it. This leads to eating the Other because white people consume a culture that is different from theirs for the sole purpose of making their own lives better. When this occurs, they often fail to acknowledge that the Other exists and instead take this new culture as their own. I really like this clip from The Blind Side.

When Leigh Ann bursts the other ladies’ bubbles about her seriousness of actually adopting Michael, they respond in a way that is expected from someone who eats the Other. They ask Leigh Ann if Big Mike is a charity case to make her look good to the public eye and if she felt a sense of “white guilt”.  The ladies then go on to praise her for “Changing that boy’s life” but Leigh Ann says, “No, he’s changing mine.” This is where the fine line of multiculturalism exists. We know that the Tuohy family, Leigh Ann’s life in particular, is being bettered and changed because of Michael. But we also know that their lives aren’t being changed for the selfish reasons that the ladies pointed out over a lunch. Instead, Leigh Ann is impacted because she gets some sort of twisted joy out of helping others. Is this kind of multiculturalism ‘okay’? Where do we draw the line and say that it’s no longer eating the Other?

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Mini Media-Friday Night Lights (Again)

People with disabilities are very underrepresented in the media. Society, for some reason, is uncomfortable showing this particular group of people in ads or on television. At the seldom chance that they do make it onto a TV show or in a commercial then their disability is the main focus. It consumes their entire identity and everything that we see in regards to these characters revolves around the struggles they face as being a person with a disability. Society impacts these persons because they do put so much emphasis on what’s considered “wrong” about them. Their identity becomes their disability.

Friday Night Lights, clearly one of my favorite TV shows, has a disabled character throughout the series. Jason Street played as a high school quarterback for the Dillon Panthers. He was supposed to be a legendary quarterback and had such high expectations from his coach, his teammates, and the Dillon community. During the first game of his freshman season (in the Pilot episode), he incorrectly made a tackle and it resulted in him being paralyzed from the waist down. The rest of his time on the show completely revolved around his new disability and how he tried to overcome many obstacles. Whether the obstacle was getting from his bed and into his wheelchair all on his own, making adjustments on the type of sports that are available for guys in similar situations, how to have sex being wheelchair bound, getting talked out of a risky surgery, or even the obstacle of discovering how to be a better guy instead of trying to be the guy from before the accident. Jason’s identity on Friday Night Lights is being the guy that got paralyzed and can’t fulfill his football dream anymore. His identity is his disability.

THIS

TO THIS

AND TO THIS

Another impact that society has on persons with disabilities is it implies that all individuals who have a disability would choose to be able bodied if they could be. Society tells them that they need to desire to be able bodied and strive to be as close to the hegemonic prescriptions as possible. Friday Night Lights does a good job reinforcing this desire to be “normal”. Jason frequently gets frustrated with the struggles that he faces in the wheelchair and he often dwells on the past to his pre-accident days. He wants to be able to walk again so badly in one of the episodes that he considers going through with a risky spinal surgery in Mexico. The surgery wasn’t legal in the U.S. because it had only worked on horses. There was a 50/50 chance that the surgery would be unsuccessful and Jason would die as a result. The point that is made here is that Jason would rather die than live the rest of his live not being able to walk. This is how influential our pop culture is and how much emphasis we put on persons with disabilities to strive to fit into societal norms.

I wish I could find the actual episodes online for free. I strongly suggest accessing them on Netflix. Jason is in just about every episode for the first 3 seasons.

This link gives you a good idea of Jason’s character

[ohiostate2230-blog]

Analysis Post-Disability Visibility

Disability refers to a mental or physical condition in which a person’s movements, senses, or activities are limited. It can be something that you’re born with or it can be acquired due to an accident or it just happens over time. We all become disabled at one point or another because as humans age, we just aren’t capable to do everything that we used to do. If disabled is a label that everyone can fall under, than why do we rarely see representation of disabilities in our pop culture? The few times we do see representation; the focus on these characters is entirely on their disability. The main purpose for their presence is to showcase their disability rather than any other characteristic about them. These characters also often assume the role of the “super-crip”. A “super-crip” is presented as a representative for all persons with a disability and the attention focuses on their courageous effort to overcome their disabilities. We see this role in action with Special Olympic athletes and the commercials that they’re in.

The TV series, Push Girls, which we examined in class, breaks certain stereotypes that we associate with persons with disabilities. The whole meaning behind the title of this series is because they “push beyond the limits” and “push beyond what’s expected of me”. Push Girls takes the audience into the lives of four individual women. It’s about various aspects of their lives; from the way they flirt with guys to the way they exhibit their skills to look for employment. The only difference between these four women and many other women is the fact that they’re bound to a wheelchair due to a disability. They stress about LA and the pressure the city puts on body image, they go to the gym and work out, they drive from place to place, they go out on dates and have relationships with men. Their lives sound pretty normal, right? That’s because they are! Except for the small detail that they do all these things while being in a wheelchair (okay, maybe they have to get out of the wheelchair to drive…but you see my point). We often forget that someone with a disability can do almost everything, with a few modifications, that “normal” people can do. We forget this because whenever we see this representation in the media, there is so much focus on what they aren’t able to do and how the disability affects their lives.

What if a disability wasn’t a disability anymore? What if it was just a different ability? The problem with disabilities in society is that it is socially constructed. Disabilities wouldn’t exist if we never created them in the beginning. Think about it, if you didn’t know how to read but nobody else was reading, than it wouldn’t be a disability. But today to be socially accepted, you must be able to do everything that the rest of society can do and you must do it the way they are doing it. For instance, if you are paralyzed from the waist down and have to use a wheelchair, you’re still able to get around but because you can’t get around using your legs, you’re considered disabled because society tells you that’s what you are. In actuality, isn’t it just a different ability? The way society labels people and puts them into categories is very limiting and skews with the way we view people with “disabilities”. 

[ohiostate2230-blog]

Analysis Post-LGBTQ Visibility

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, other wise known as LGBTQ, representation in the media has existed for a long time now, but the way this community is represented has changed drastically over the years. Early representation of LGBTQ relied mostly on jokes or as a warning sign. For instance, in early movies if there were gay or lesbian interactions between two characters it was almost guaranteed that the character that initiates these interactions would be hurt or killed in the next scene. LGBTQ association was interpreted as being a punishable act. Fortunately, visibility has changed over the years. Gays are now making a bigger appearance on TV, they are featured in TV shows that are aired during primetime.

  We looked at the TV show, Modern Family, in class. This is the first mainstream comedy to normalize a homosexual relationship, between the characters Mitch and Cameron. Not only is there a visibly gay couple on the show but also it is a successful and popular show. The ratings prove that there is now a sort of acceptance to be gay. On Modern Family we see that Mitch and Cameron adopt a little Vietnamese baby, Lily, and they get to have a family just like everyone else. This representation of being able to have a family even if you’re gay is almost as if it’s rewarding rather than previously, as I mentioned above, that characters were punished on film for being gay. However, LGBTQ representation in Modern Family is not perfect. It is a comedy and more often than not, the gay couple is at the butt of the jokes, which adds to the success of the show. Whether we admit it or not, people are still uncomfortable with those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer and they’re uncomfortable seeing them in the media…so what better way to hide our un-comfortableness than with laughter? We’ve all been in that situation that is so awkward and laughing is the only way to break the ice.

As positive as it is for society to have LGBTQ representation in mainstream media, there is still criticism out there. The representation that the community gets is still limited and limiting. I can’t think of an instance where there is a character that is gay and of a race other than white, or a character that is lesbian and comes from a low-income class. Society only accepts LGBTQ if that is the only identity that does not conform to the hegemonic structure. Meaning, they are white men with money or white women who are skinny and attractive to men. Also, we usually only see the stereotypical gay relationship between two white men where one plays the very feminine role who loves shoes and the other is just less flamboyant and tries to balance out his partner. There is a certain extent to which we, as a society, accept LGBTQ in the media. I can only hope that this representation continues to expand because the images we are presented with currently are not as encompassing as they could be. There is so much more to the LGBTQ community that people identify with but there is not doubt that we are making progress!

[ohiostate2230-blog]

Analysis Post-Funny Women

Society tells us over and over that women have to be sexy and physically beautiful in order to be desired. But what about the women who just didn’t get it from their momma? What if they don’t fit the hegemonic description of beauty? Well, they’re in luck. It used to be believed that women just aren’t funny and that only men can be funny, but now women can hide behind comedy when they don’t have anything else going for them. Women are currently making more of an appearance in comedy. Funny women do so in an interesting way that throws off the stereotypes created by society. Funny women are believed to be unruly because they don’t “follow the rules”. The rules I am referring to include the expectation that women are supposed to be the object, they are supposed to be very proper and clean, and WOMEN DON’T POOP!

  We discussed the movie Bridesmaids in class and how Kristin Wiig, Maya Rudolph, and Melissa McCarthy are all unruly characters. The unruliness associated with funny women is the idea of carnivalesque and the grotesque. Carnivalesque is the over the top performance related to desires and the grotesque is related to the things usually desired by men (i.e. eating, drinking, and sex). The first rule – woman are supposed to be the object - is broken in Bridesmaids by Kristin Wiig (Annie). She is instead the subject in the movie. She’s the main character and we see what she desires, we don’t see her being the one who is desired…not even by Ted. We see that she desires to be Lillian’s best friend, to be a good Maid of Honor, to get the cheaper bridesmaids dresses, and to be with Officer Rhodes. Another rule is broken – women are supposed to be very proper and clean – by Melissa McCarthy. Megan is anything but proper; she burps, she farts, she eats the meat at the sketchy restaurant with her fingers, and when they start feeling the side effects of the food she gets all sweaty and gross and goes to the bathroom in the sink for god's sake. This behavior is definitely not ladylike, it’s more expected from men but that is why it’s funny. The third rule – women don’t poop! – Is broken by Maya Rudolph. Men like to think that women don’t poop because it’s just so unattractive to think about. In Bridesmaids, we see that Lillian not only poops…but she poops in PUBLIC! The meat that she ate for lunch makes her sick and she can’t make it to a toilet so she proceeds to squat in the street and lets it happen. This scene is very grotesque. The entire cast of Bridesmaids consists of unruly characters, which is the reason that this movie has been so successful. Funny women are meant to challenge the stereotypes that society puts on women.

  Although comedy is a disruption of some hegemonic stereotypes and a space to push boundaries, it’s not an escape of all hegemonic values. There is still a double standard that applies to funny woman. It is easier in the movie-making business for women who are sexy AND funny. They get rewarded for conforming. For instance, these are the women who get the bigger roles in movies. Bridesmaids is no exception. There is a reason that Kristin Wiig was the main character and not Melissa McCarthy. It’s because Wiig is very thin and petite and more appealing to the eye, whereas McCarthy is heavier and not as “sexy”. I applaud society for how far we’ve come and the fact that a space exists where woman can push back against stereotypes however, the battle is still not over. Women are still valued for their appearances and hegemonic characteristics over everything else.

[ohiostate2230-blog]

Relevant Reblog-Steubenville Rape

By now I’m sure that you’ve heard about the rape that occurred in Steubenville, OH but here’s a quick run down anyway. A 16-year-old girl was intoxicated and drugged at a party in Steubenville while many bystanders watched and filmed this girl get raped by two men on the football team. Photos, videos, text messages, and tweets were all put out on the internet about this night. The overwhelming evidence resulted in the conviction of the two men that raped her. 

As horrible and absolutely unfortunate as this is for the victim, the thing that surprises me the most isn’t that she was raped but rather that the men that committed the crime were actually punished for it. Just think about my last sentence again. It doesn’t surprise me that a girl was raped, it surprises me that the rapists were convicted. THIS IS A PROBLEM. We live a rape culture where rape became such a norm that people overlook this crime and take it way too lightly. Rape goes unreported so often and when it does actually get reported, people go out of their way to make sure that rapists never see a day in jail for it. I promise I’m not making this up, there is at least one other person that agrees with me. 

This is a response in reaction to the Jezebal article, “Teen Girls Charged with Menacing the Steubenville Rape Victim on Social Media”

Eridani

9 hours ago

So, my brother lives in Steubenville. I have been there, and it is a miserable hellhole of a place, devoid of any hope or joy or life. The place used to be decently prosperous before the mill shutdown and now it's just a pit of f***ing despair. Football is basically the only thing they have left that reminds them of when they were something other than an utter ruin. It's sad and unfortunate and also true. They're like a miser with a single gold coin left and they hold it hard.

This girl and her family are incredibly brave for going against that culture. It would have been all too easy to just let the whole thing go, even as terrible as it was, because they had to know they'd be fighting basically the entire town. While they have DeWine overseeing this (who is from Columbus, which is two hours away), the family has some measure of protection. Once that's done, I can't imagine how they're going to live there. They have to know that once the media attention passes, they're going to be persecuted by every corrupt motherf***er in that f***ed up place. At that point, it goes beyond miserable and into dangerous. I'd pack my kids up and GTFO, but not everyone has the means. I honestly wonder what they'll do.

I found this reaction to be very interesting and accurate. When the victim decided to come forward about being raped, she knew she would be fighting against the entire town. The town of Steubenville prioritizes football and the football players over the crime and violence against a 16-year-old girl. They are more than willing to try to cover for these men because it might will give the football team a bad reputation. Not only does this prove that rape is something that is taken so lightly to the point of covering it up but this also goes to show just much of an equality difference there is in this town between genders.  Heterosexual, athletic, tough, football-playing men are valued much more than a drunk, little girl. This inequality, as we’ve discussed in class, is present everywhere…not just in Steubenville, OH.

Another thing to take away from this article is the constant victim blaming that is almost always present with rape. The women who are raped get blamed for what happens to them and it is believed that they deserved what happened because of the clothes she was wearing or how drunk she was or how late it was when she was walking home. This is no different for Steubenville. After the conviction of the two men, the social media blew up with threats towards the victim and how it was her fault. This a very devastating occurrence but it is all part of the rape culture that we live in.

[ohiostate2230-blog]

Mini Media-Friday Night Lights

Sporting events have become popular in our modern culture. We watch them all the time and we constantly discuss the game and the players. It’s a form of mere entertainment for the viewer. This form of media is a unique and important way that we understand race and also sexuality and gender. However, race, in particular, is not outwardly discussed unless it is done so in a way that is very racist.

People of color, especially those of African-American decent, make the most dominant appearances in the more physically violent and contact sports such as football and basketball. The reason for this is because society values people of color for their bodies. What they have to offer as far as their physical strength is much more valuable to their teammates and to the viewers. In contrast, Caucasian men and women are valued for their intelligence. Have you ever paid close attention to the sports commentators for football or basketball games? If you have, you would have noticed the commentators talk about players differently. Caucasian players are described as “playing smart” or “executing the plays well” while the players of color are almost always noticed for their physical capabilities such as tackling or running.

There is an episode in season 1 of the Friday Night Lights television series in which the assistant coach, Coach Mac, of a high school football team makes racist comments when describing his players. The contrasting characteristics of Caucasian players and the players of color that Coach Mac makes public on a press interview creates tension in the Dillon, Texas community.

<Unfortunately, I can’t find a website that will allow you to view the episode for free. But, the link below will take you to an episode guide for this particular episode>

Friday Night Lights Season 1, Episode 15: Blinders

Keep in mind: Matt Saracen is a Caucasian man. Smash, Baxter, and Voodoo are all African-American men.

Coach Mac is talking to the press; there is a male reporter and a female reporter. Coach Mac says that guys like Smash are fearless and that they are like junkyard dogs. He says that players like Smash, Baxter and even Voodoo Tatom have an ability to run the football. He believes that Smash shouldn’t play quarterback because he’s not smart enough to play a position that’s suited for Matt Saracen. Coach Taylor stops Mac in the middle of his interview and pulls him into his office to talk. **theme music**
Mac McGill didn?t use the word Monkey, he said Junkyard dogs. The words of Mac McGill are resonating throughout the community and they are talking about it on the Panther Radio Program.

  Coach Mac compares Smash to a “junkyard dog” which plays in to the racial stereotype that people of color are less human. He also expresses that players like Smash (aka players of color) are performing their role when utilize their physical skills such as running the football, not holding the quarterback position, which requires intelligence rather than speed. The quarterback position is better suited for players like Matt Saracen (aka Caucasian players). This expectation that Caucasian players are smarter and that players of color are stronger and faster tells us a lot about the racial roles in our society in regards to sports. Although, this is about the only time when people will talk openly about the differences of race between athletes. These roles are limiting to all athletes involved because it makes it that much harder for them to break out of the norms that society expects of different players. 

[ohiostate2230-blog]

Analysis Post-Picturing the Body: Masculinities

When you think of a “real man,” what kind of things come to mind? I’m going to go out on a limb here and go ahead and say that you probably thought of things such as; tough, big muscles, independent, nice 6-pack, powerful, unemotional, heterosexual, and violent. How accurate was I? I was pretty accurate because this is what the media constantly embeds into our minds as the characteristics of a “real man.” The media objectifies and limits the images of men just as much as they do women. Daniel Agliata and Stacey Tantleff-Dunn express in their article, “A comparison of the most popular magazines revealed that, although many more diet-related advertisements and articles were found in female-targeted magazines, there were significantly more exercise and weight-lifting advertisements in male magazines (Andersen &DiDomenico, 1992).” (page 8). Women are told that beauty is obtained by having a small, thin figure, which is achieved by dieting while men are told that ideal masculinity is a physically fit and muscular figure that can be achieved by exercising. The men you see in magazine ads, billboards, commercials, etc. usually fit the media’s definition of masculinity.

Aside from the physical appearance of men that is represented in the media, there is also representation of certain behavioral characteristics associated with being a male. The video, Tough Guise, focuses on the expectation of men to act a certain way. Men are expected to put on a “mask” in front of an audience, they must maintain a hard exterior and not show emotion. They are to gain respect from their peers and they are allowed, if not expected to use violence to exert their dominance. Anything less than that, the media would no longer consider him a real man and his masculinity would be threatened. Tough Guise interviewed a number of men and asked them how society punishes men when they fail to meet the media’s expectation of that tough mask or disGUISE. They all responded with the similar answer of being called a bitch, wuss, momma’s boy, weak, pansy, girly, just to name a few. They get picked on for not meeting these standards. The reason that the image of men in the media is so problematic is because men in real life will imitate this behavior, but only in front of an audience. They will maintain a “cool pose” and won’t get emotional, they’ll act like nothing bothers them, and you will never see them cry! But it is all just a performance. Men aren’t really all that tough and sometimes they want to cry but they are so self conscious about how they will be treated if they don’t put on their daily disGUISE. The media is so critical about the way men carry themselves.

On a larger scale, we more commonly draw attention to the way the media limits women’s ideas of beauty and appropriate behaviors. We often don’t think about the way that the media also does this to males. When masculinity and femininity are limited we create an environment for certain behaviors to become the norm. The media tells men that they are supposed to be dominant and aggressive and maintain the "tough guy" while women are supposed to be more passive and objectified; they have different roles to perform. This creates a barrier between men and women and it makes it almost impossible to achieve true equality between the two. This inequality is something that we, as a whole society, struggle with and the influence of the media contributes the most to it.

[ohiostate2230-blog]

Mini Media-Need A Moment?

Advertising is such a big part of the media and there are many approaches that a company can take to sell their product. One of the angles that advertisers use in their commercials is called uber irony. Uber irony targets women specifically and basically it is exaggerated sexism. It makes fun of women but it is so over the top that we’re allowed to laugh at it because the advertisers know that we know that it was just a joke. These sexist ads are so popular because the media thinks sexism is a thing of the past so it’s ‘okay’ to joke about it now. One of the ways that sexism is often exaggerated is through the role that women play of the naïve girlfriend. The women apologize to the men for being irrational and actually thinking that he would be cheating on her, or look at her as an object, or are not satisfied with her appearance. The Twix “need a moment?” commercials always do a good job of incorporating the naïve girlfriend through uber irony. Watch this Twix commercial and you’ll see what I mean.

Hey, I'm Over Here! Watch Me! 

The way in which the girlfriend in this commercial is so oblivious to what’s really going on with the texts that he’s getting sent is so exaggerated that we know it has to be a joke. No girlfriend is really going to believe that her boyfriend’s BOSS is sending him those kinds of text messages. Whip cream? C’mon girl, get it together! Also, recall how she ends up apologizing to her boyfriend for jumping to conclusions and in a way, being irrational. By apologizing she is giving him the power in the situation, which is typical sexist behavior. In a sexist world, men have more power over women. This obliviousness is meant to make fun of women because in a sexist world they wouldn’t know any better and men would easily manipulate their girlfriends into believing whatever they wanted them to believe.

This over the top sexism created through uber irony is supposed to be a big joke because we apparently have moved past it as a society. I say apparently because we it is quite visible that sexism still plays a part in our lives. This type of advertising is successful, however, because it is funny and people do laugh at it. It’s one of those instances when you feel bad for laughing but you just can’t help it. This approach to advertising is just one of the many that consumers are presented with.

If you need a moment to digest all of this, you should grab a Twix.