genderandtechtcnjwinter - Tumblr blog

[genderandtechtcnjwinter]

Reading Response #5

Feminism and Gaming is the connection between feminists and games/gamers which are often ignored.  A commonly ignored and unknown fact is a large portion of gamers are in fact female, actually almost 50 percent of gamers are female.  Anita Sarkeesian is a feminist media critic and public speaker.  She founded Feminist Frequency which is a website in which she publicly analyzes portrayals of women in pop culture and begins discussions.  In her series Tropes vs Women in Video Games, she dives into the gaming world and provides multiple examples of how women are over-sexualized in games.  Her opinions and posts have been met with threats of rape and death amongst other harassments.  This is an important topic because female representation within videogames isn’t appropriate or respectful despite the fact that almost half of the gaming population is female.  Gender norms are dominating videogames depicting women as helpless, sex objects that are there for male’s enjoyment and entertainment.

Gamer Gate is an online movement that encourages and aids feminists in voicing their thoughts on various social media platforms.  However, it was met with much resentment and threats resumed against anyone involved shortly after it began.  Gamer Gate is important because anytime a group of people comes together and publicly announces their opinion, more people will hear it and it was an attempted step at progress.  As a female I don’t want videogames being one more aspect of people’s lives telling them that it is acceptable to treat or view women the way that they are in video games.  I understand that it is just a game but younger crowds are incredibly impressionable and this planet does not need more violent people in it.  A group of feminists passionate about the unfair representation and objectification of females within media, specifically videogames, wanted to make a change and hopefully over time, the people designing these games and creating new games will adjust accordingly.

[genderandtechtcnjwinter]

Media Report Reply #2

Although I strongly believe in freedom of speech, I do think that it can be taken to far.  Threats and hateful speech can imply physical danger and others rights being taken away which is simply wrong.  Unfortunately there is no right way to judge whether someone has overestepped because it can always be argued that they have the right to say what they believe and until they do something wrong to someone else they can’t be punished.  It’s a blurred line that is constantly moving.

In regard to what Lauren is saying, for the most part I do not agree with her.  She is clearly a conservative as well as a republican, both of which I am not.  The only “rant” of hers I have watched where I agree with a lot of what she says is this video.  She talks about how popular culture is encouraging younger members of our population to do something about their situation but does not provide them with a positive form of problem solving but the opposite.  Something I do not appreciate about her rants is the condescending tone she uses as well as too much of her own opinion changing the way she reports things.  

Media Report 2

Media Report 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9RE7s774x4

This a video, with Tomi Lahren, a popular reporter who has often been associated with making some interestingly biased comments on societal issues. She is describing a hate crime in Chicago and making a comparison with this instance and the Dylan Roof case. I am always a bit unsure with who she is addressing. She seems to not care about reactions , so I would guess the general public , but she seems to have an agenda when she speaks , which she is usually directing her comments to conservatives. Her messages are highly biased and her vocabulary needs work. When addressing the black suspects she says “thugs”, and tries to ignore or dismiss white privilege in the media.  When she makes comparisons, much similar to the one she made in this video about Dylan Roof and the alleged suspects from  the crime, she puts a huge equivalency on killing 9 people and torturing one person. Neither of the crimes are justified or right, but there should not be a comparison or a reason to put these two instances side by side, as if one outdoes the other. She emphasizes “ Hate Crime” as if these “thugs” as she so graciously identifies them as are the first people to ever commit one. Her tone of voice and her words in general are dangerous, because she has a platform large enough to spread the same attitude. I believe this to be a fitting media for the topic of white supremacy online because she is a blatant example of the occurrence. Her comments can often  be borderline racist and disturbing or outlandish at best. I believe this to coincide with the subject of white supremacy because of how the perspective of Lahren is so widely spread and can encourage racism and stigmas all around. The messages she sends out are mostly negative.

Discussion Questions Can freedom of speech be taken too far? Is there an instance where you may find Tomi Lahren’s points agreeable?

[genderandtechtcnjwinter]

A real life struggle

Today the telemarketer called to ask for donations. The person on the phone asked me to “get the man of the house” so they could talk. Needless to say, I’ve never hung up the phone so fast in my life. This is not okay, and a real live example of sexism that has happened to me personally. 

Any thoughts?

[genderandtechtcnjwinter]

Jessie Daniels “Cyber Racism” Conclusion Response

Today we are lucky to have made much progress for people who are different and accepting them into society as they are and as they should be.  However, there are still many people all over the world and even in the United States who can’t handle the fact that some people are different whether it be the color of their skin, their religion, or their sexual preferences.  The Internet has been a place where people can view news and stay up to date as well as voice their opinions on a more public platform.  This includes negative and hateful statements and actions.  Daniels states, “White supremacists are often regarded as ignorant, poor, and marginal to mainstream culture in various ways, but the manifestation of white supremacy online suggests a different reality in which the Internet offers the opportunity for a radicalized, gendered, and global white supremacy” (Daniels 188).  This statement is completely true.  Regardless of how educated or aware this group of people is about what is true and what is not, they are cogs in a machine that function based off commands.  They believe what they are told and then spread the word like wild fire.  Technology and the Internet simply make that process faster with no regard to accuracy or morals.  Another thing to consider is that, although technology and the Internet is more recent, these beliefs are not.  “Digital media is neither a faceless panacea nor a dangerous place where people (particularly young people) are unsuspectingly lured into hate groups.  Old forms of overt white supremacy (e.g., racist hate speech) have moved into the Information Age alongside new, emergent forms of white supremacy that include searchable databases of (racially identifiable) user names easily exported for use in mass e-mails, along with new forms of covert white supremacy at cloaked sites, whose goal is to undermine the very idea of racial equality” (Daniels 188).  The Internet has simply allowed people to spread the racist thoughts and actions to more people in more countries even faster than before.  Some examples that have impacted me and my use of technology have been most prevalent on Facebook.  First, the past election has shed light on which of the people I am friends with share my values and those who don’t.  I was very quickly able to see who was voting for Donald Trump in the election and what priorities and opinions they shared with the president elect.  Unfortunately, people I was once very close with have disappointed me greatly with what they have chosen to share online.  Another aspect of Facebook that has shown me racism online is my feed.  I am constantly bombarded with articles about statements Trump has made against a group of people, or how another hate crime has been committed, or how someone was judged based off their appearance or religion and was either assaulted or treated poorly in a public setting.  Everyday I see someone being treated unfairly because they are different from the person attacking them.  Something really unfortunate is that I can feel myself becoming numb to it.  I’m not surprised anymore because it is constant.  There is not a day that something or someone isn’t harmed, emotionally or physically, because of racism.  The negativity I see everyday proves to me that despite the progress we have made, we are nowhere close to a world of equality.  We cannot achieve equality for anyone if we can accept that regardless of someone’s skin color we are all human and deserve the respect we expect to receive from others.

[genderandtechtcnjwinter]

Media Report #2

Article Link: http://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2017/01/09/508607762/a-dscomfitting-question-was-the-chicago-torture-case-racism

NPR’s website has a section called “Code Switch: Race and Identity, Remixed” where articles can be found surrounding the topic of race and current events.  On this site, Gene Demby’s “A Discomfiting Question: Was The Chicago Torture Case Racism?” discusses the controversial Chicago case in which four African American people, two men and two women, held a mentally disabled white man against his will for hours, after tying him up and assaulting him. Some of the attack was seen Live on Facebook.  He was found walking alone outdoors in the wrong attire still covered in dirt and blood. The four people accused are being charged with kidnapping and condemnation. On the Live video viewers can hear someone saying “F*** Donald Trump n****! F*** white people, boy!”.  One important question Demby asks is, “Was it a hate crime?”.  There have been many different opinions on the answer to this question.  Some people say that it was thoughtless banter, while others argue that if it had been four white people attacking an African American there would have been no questions about whether it was a hate crime or not therefore, it should be treated as such in this situation as well.  They were charged with committing a hate crime based off both the victims race and mental handicap.  Demby continues to state how peers he was discussing this case with avoided using racism.  He later states, “In some ways, this case being called a ‘hate crime’, while a legal designation, might give people a rhetorical reprieve, as it allows us to talk about bias and violence without having to fight over the definition of racism”. Later in the article, white supremacy and white privilege are brought into discussion.  Historically racism has been white people mistreating African American people and with this situation today, some people are struggling to consider this racism with the actions of white people in the past being considered. He concludes with the point that acts of hatred like this one, make it even more important that “clear moral parameters” are found in order to address these situations. I think that this article is trying to shed light on the fact that no one really knows how to properly define what a hate crime is.  The current definition of a hate crime is a crime motivated by racial, sexual, or other prejudice, typically one involving violence.  However, the context of any crime committed changes how people categorize everything.  I think that the author is also trying to show that the topic of race makes a lot of people uncomfortable.  It’s a positive way of approaching a sensitive topic immediately after an unfortunate situation occurred.  I think that different races will read this article and react differently.  The author states in his work that he is black and that most of the people he discussed this crime with were also people of color.  I think that white people will relate to the fact that race can be an uncomfortable topic and black people will probably agree with his overall statement that no progress can be made until society recognizes that race is still a problem today. We don’t benefit from pretending that racism doesn’t exist.

What are your thoughts on the crime and how it should be categorized? Do you think it is a hate crime?

What are some solutions to the race problems our society faces?

With Donald Trump as our president elect, the topic of racism and sexism (amongst others) have become more prevalent.  Do you think that Trump will handle cases like this un-biased or do you think his racial preferences will effect how he makes decisions and statements? 

In middle school I had a very opinionated grammar teacher, who just so happened to be black, and one day she spent an entire period yelling at our primarily white class about how only white people can be racist and that black people can not be racist. What are your thoughts on that statement?

[genderandtechtcnjwinter]

Media Report Reply #1

Response to michaelpellegrinossonnicholas’ Media Report #1: 

Are you able to name any specific examples where women in commercials were exploited and only used for a negative image?

In advertisement everywhere women are used for their appearance in order to attract customers (often men).  For example, if you walk in Times Square in New York or look in most magazines, you will probably see a less than clothed woman, sometimes dripping wet with some sort of jewelry on or a watch.  The woman attracts the gaze of potential buyers and the logo and product are noticed second.  A specific commercial in which females are painted in a bad light is this truck commercial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cS1vywGCHwU

The narrator is mistreating the woman, assuming she doesn’t know what she is doing and that she in incompetent and out of place.  The commercial ends with the woman proving him wrong but the assumptions he makes women appear like domesticated tools that care for the house.

 Do you think that if women replaced the men in the commercial it would truly impact the response by consumer?  What would happen?

I think that if women replaced the men in the commercial the audience wouldn’t take it as seriously. For example: in the commercial where the man sees an attractive woman who dips her finger in his coffee and then when he leans in to kiss her, realizes it’s a car, if that had been a woman being seduced by a man it would have been as a man taking advantage of a woman. It also might have been seen as odd that a woman was attracted to a car simply because of stereotypical interests by gender.  In the commercial where the male graduate thinks his parents bought him a nice car rather than the mini fridge, if a female had reacted that way she may have been viewed as spoiled.

 Could you see any of these commercials purposely trying to show that the women are simply less than men in order to appeal to certain men?

I think that the commercial where the man is arriving at home and receives the text message from his wife saying that her mother had come by sends a negative message to the audience about a man’s relationship with his wife’s family.  It makes seeing his mother-in-law appear like a burden rather than something that could be nice.  I can see the company attempting to make a joke or seem relatable but I don’t think it was a positive way of doing so.

[genderandtechtcnjwinter]

Reading Response # 4

In Part I of Cyber Racism, Daniels discusses racism within technology and how white supremacy and white privilege further allow people to “get away” with saying and doing certain things with technology.  White supremacy is the belief that white people are more important and overall just better than all other races and that white people should have all power within society.  While many today embrace diversity and don’t share this belief, at many times throughout history, white people have deemed themselves almighty.  Some examples include coming to North America and claiming land that belonged to the Native Americans, colonizing in what is now Hawai’i, colonizing in any country for that matter, and enslaving countless numbers of African American people completely based off their skin color.  

Technology has been a catalyst for cyber racism, among cyber feminism and other injustices towards minorities, because, it is such a large aspect of society and our lifestyle today.  People check their phones and social media hundreds, maybe thousands, of times a day. Some play games, some check the news or weather, some communicate with friends and family, and some use social media like Facebook, Snapchat or Instagram.  News, gossip and scandals can be spread across the country in just minutes. This goes for hate and hurtful actions as well.  Although the North East is seen as a more accepting and liberal part of our country in comparison to the South or the Mid West, racism is the whole world’s problem. Until that is recognized, nothing can be done to move forward.

[genderandtechtcnjwinter]

Media Report #1

Sexism and Media

Before reading my report, I would suggest listening to the song without the music video and then with the video.  The music video changes the message drastically and I think it’s important to view it both ways.  Both can be found above.

“Ain’t Your Mama” is a single pop song released on April 7, 2016 by Jennifer Lopez (JLo).  Not only released on Youtube, this song also airs on the radio and is available for purchase on most music platforms (ie Itunes). At 3 minutes and 38 seconds, this upbeat tune is filled with female empowerment shown through both the lyrics and the music video.  Listening to the song itself, it is clear that it is from the point of view of a woman whose significant other, which in this case is a male, is taking her for granted and expecting her to do all of the house hold chores amongst other tasks. This is not the first time JLo has empowered women through her songs and music videos.  For her song “I Luh Ya Papi” released in the March of 2014.  The music video touches on the fact that men often objectify women in the music industry.  So, after being encouraged by her friends who join her in the brainstorming process for the video, she daydreams of playing the role a man would traditionally hold for the video.  The music video for “Ain’t Your Mama” opens with JLo on the phone in a phone booth arguing with someone on the other line.  She is explaining that she worked all day and that they should do whatever they are asking her to do.  It then cuts to her sitting at a table to broadcast the news.  In the background a recording can be heard of a voice stating things like, “women’s rights are human rights once and for all” and “It’s our time to have wage equality once and for all”.  JLo’s character then goes lives and tosses her script aside and proceeds to passionately rant about how women are not treated correctly and that they need to do something about it.  Once the song begins it bounces back and forth between different scenarios where women, all played by JLo, are underappreciated or treated unfairly. For example: a wife serving her husband a hot meal, a woman scrubbing the floor, and a secretary.  Later in the video a woman working in a factory is shown and a woman working in an office is prevented from entering a meeting.  Each woman revolts against their expectations. The newswoman continues to encourage the women to get up and do something about their situation.  The video ends with a group dance of all women. It is said that each scene represented a woman in a different decade starting with the 50s up to now. 

This upbeat song and music video very clearly challenges women to stand up for themselves and their rights.  It powerfully comments on sexism in the home, the work place and society as a whole. The traditional expectations of women to stay home and clean the house, cook meals, care for the kids, and complete the busywork are no longer something women can or will accept.  It is clearly targeting women and demanding that they step up to the plate.  It also sends the message that men should step up as well and not view certain chores or tasks as a woman’s obligation.  Doing laundry, cleaning and cooking shouldn’t be seen as feminine tasks. Being responsible and organized shouldn’t question one’s masculinity and yet it does.  Another message I interpreted was that until the scene that takes place in 80s all of the men are white, by the end of the video the races represented become more diverse but as a strong Latina woman, Lopez may have been commenting on racism in the work place as well. Racism is still a problem in our society today.  Made even more relevant with Donald Trump entering the White House later this month. It is important to remember that not all races have proper representation in the business world. Next, over sexualization of women in the workplace is visited as well in this video.  JLo plays a secretary in some sort of office and a man approaches her desk and looks down at her chest.  Lopez responds by feeding his tie into her typewriter and then throws the drink he poured himself on him.  I think the messages the audience receives from this song are primarily positive.  In general, they speak towards equality and general respect towards women in all aspects of life.  These are all important truths that need to be recognized by all people.  Although, her intentions may be good, some of the execution muddles her purpose. One critical comment I have is that the message from the song versus the music video differ.  The song alone sounds more like a women tired of her significant other being lazy.  She says, “We used to be, crazy in love, Can we go back, to how it was? When did you get, too comfortable? Cause I’m too good for that, I’m too good for that.  Just remember that, hey” before going into the chorus and this makes it more of a love song than a song about empowerment and women taking control and asking for what they deserve.  However, it could be argued that she wants to return to being seen as an equal rather than a “servant”.  Also, by saying “I ain’t your mama”, that implies that it is a mother’s job to do all of those things and that also contradicts the women empowerment message. 

The implication of my comments above is that although some visual and lyrical choices may contradict, the overall message of this media is that women are still underestimated and treated unfairly by society (both in the home and the workplace).  “Ain’t Your Mama” is challenging women to stand up for their rights as human beings and shows that women have worked for what we have today, although we are not done, for decades.  Of course each person will interpret and react differently to this video.  Males might view it as only sexual, or they might be offended that a generalization was made about men. Some women might view it as overly sexual, and some might find it empowering and inspiring.  People who are lower class and have to work to live comfortably might connect with the struggle to ascend the career ladder based off their race, gender or sexuality.  Overall, everyone will react and move forward differently.

 Questions for YOU:

Upon hearing the lyrics to this song, what was your initial reaction? What message did you get from it?

Both the song and the video criticize men of mistreating women, whether it be expecting a domesticated housewife or in the work place. How do you think men react to this song?

As I mentioned earlier, the song without the music video seems more like a woman telling her significant other to stop being lazy.  With lyrics like “we used to be, crazy in love, can’t we go back, to how it was” contradicts the alternative message the video provides of women being independent beings.  Do you think this takes away from the song? How does this change your reaction?

What are your thoughts on the clothing choices for this video?  Were JLo’s multiple characters dressed too provocatively?  Does this take away from the messages discussed so far? Does this change the message? What about how the male figures were dressed?  What if the males had been in more casual attire rather than suits, at least in the home scenes?

[genderandtechtcnjwinter]

Reading Response #3

Cyberfeminism is a term created by Sadie Plant in 1994. As the director of Cybernetic Culture Research Unit at the University of Warwick, Plant created a label for the work of feminists who strived to theorize, critique, and exploit in the internet, cyberspace and new-media technologies.  Tully Barnett in “Monstrous Agents: Cyberfeminist Media and Activism” defines cyberfeminism as work reflecting an optimism towards the idea that women can overcome boundaries and binaries based off gender using technology as a catalyst as well as a means for critique of the stereotypically male dominated society this world has.  

Cyberfeminism is important because, as an evolving world we need to be open to all ideas and all progress regardless of who takes those first steps.  We are well past the time of male-run society.   Barnett states, “These texts continue to circulate along with their use of subversive and progressive possibilities of language and the opportunities for forging meaningful understandings through the appropriation and combination of digital signifiers” (Barnett).  There are so many possibilities and the work of those in the 80s and 90s, like Donna Harraway or Sadie Plant, laid the foundation for the women who work hard everyday to establish a female presence in the political, economic, and technological worlds. One of the women in the Deep Lab video mentions, “The presumed identity of anyone on the internet is, you know, a straight white male and anyone who shows themself on the internet or otherwise not to conform to that identity is put through a lot of scrutiny and a lot of criticism, I mean really for no reason” (DEEP LAB).  With all the abuse and hate a woman can receive via technology, having the opportunity to be surrounded by women and to discuss that allows them to cope in a better way and empower one another in a society that doesn’t necessarily support women in this field.  Earlier in the video it is mentioned that it was surprising for one woman to meet so many other women who code and together they can do so many amazing things. 

On a different topic, the Deep Lab video discusses how dependent we have become on technology and the internet.   Even being in this class, we need consistent and reliable internet connection in order to view and receive assignments and quizzes and to research the various topics we are covering in this course. There is so much we don’t know when it comes to where our public information online goes and how much of what we do on electronic devices is monitored. One speaker in the Deep Lab video mentioned how the internet is like an iceberg and that what we can view and search on different platforms is simply the tip. While, everything below the surface is called the Deepweb and is much more involved and extensive than the general population realizes.

[genderandtechtcnjwinter]

Reading Response # 2

Technoscience is the combination of human activity and beneficial technology which aids in making our lives easier.  In Ruha Benjamin’s Ted Talk, “From park bench to lab bench – What kind of future are we designing?”, she discusses a variety of topics ranging from our money driven society, to discriminatory designs to the world’s tendency to create technological fixes for social crises.  An example she gave that really stuck with me was the conceptual and interactive park bench, originally created by an artist to make a statement, had been adopted in some countries to prevent loitering and to make profit.  Where at one point in time these helpful additions to our lives had positive effects, society is changing and people biases towards certain groups of people whether it be because of a difference in gender, religion, or race are trying to create things that benefit some people rather than all people.

 In Jennifer Terry and Melodie Calvert’s Gender and Technology in Everyday Life the share a quote from Donna Haraway: “The is not an it to be animated, worshipped, and dominated.  The machine is us, our processes, an aspect of our embodiment”.  This speaks to the idea of technoscience completely and even mentions how it has been altered.  Technology in general dominates our lives, younger generations are receiving phones and other forms of technology earlier than generations in the past.  Even my younger sibling received their first phone at a younger age than I did.

 The underlying theme shared between both the Ted Talk and the readings is that, “Rather than dealing with the underlying conditions, we create short term responses that get the issue out of sight, out of mind.” (Benjamin).  Society today is concerned with the wrong things and tried to predict disasters or find the cause of a problem within groups of people rather than the population as a whole.  Until people see the world as a giant community that needs to coexist in order to solve the problems we have, no steps forward can be taken.

[genderandtechtcnjwinter]

Reading Response #1

Hi!  I am a sophomore Fine Arts major at TCNJ.  This class will fulfill my Gender Liberal Learning requirement which is most of why I chose this course.  To be completely honest, I wasn’t thrilled when I learned that I would have to take a gender course mostly because of my poor experiences with this topic as a subject of conversation.  In my home town I am fortunate to be surrounded by strong-willed and opinionated women.  However, I have too many times witnessed intense arguments that were not productive which has steered me away from this topic.  So, taking a class like this online was definitely the best option for me.  Although my past experiences have been less than enjoyable, I am interested exploring this topic and including technology which is such an influential aspect of everyone’s life today.  Chimamanda Ngozi Dichie, at the beginning of her talk, tells the audience about a dear friend whom she looked up to as an older brother.  She mentions a specific story where they were arguing and he called her a feminist, “It was not a compliment…the same tone you would use to say something like, you are a supporter of terrorism”. She then gives another example of when a journalist told her that she should not call her self a feminist because feminists were women who couldn’t find husbands.  This brings me to the first question.  What is feminism?  There endless misconceptions and misrepresentation of feminists.  A common thought today is that feminists are women who think all men are evil and that women are better than them, which is simply not true.  A feminist is someone who stands for equal rights (political, social and economic) for women in comparison to men.  Although women have more rights today than they once did, there is still unfair treatment in the workplace and in society in general.  According to the authors, feminism is important because, being a feminist and teaching others what it really means to be a feminist helps to educate people on the inequality between genders and aids in destroying the negative and false connotations associated with feminism.  More and more people are identifying as feminist because they are realizing that the true meaning of feminism is equality.