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[hannahkesten]

FINAL PROJECT PROPOSAL

For my final project I will show the evolution of hip hop and how is started vs what it is study and how this music genre contributes to stigma towards certain race s=groups as well as how it influences our society.

One reference I will be using is “Rebellion in the top music charts: Defiant messages in rap/hip-hop and rock music 1993 and 2003”.  This article talks to us about how they investigated 260 rap, hip/hop and rock songs and what they found in the lyrics of them. They show us what messages and lessons are being talked about and the problems these lyrics are causing.  

The second article I chose was written by Becky Blanchard of Stanford University and it is called “The Social Significance of Rap and Hip/Hop Culture”.  This article talks about the roots of these genres of music and what the music was originally about and how it all came together and the impact it had on our society.

[hannahkesten]

Anti-hegemonic  super hero

FLOWER CHILD

In a world filled with so much hate and crime there is only one super hero that can lead us into world peace. Flower Child, with her long light brown hair, petite body and brown skin, you would never expect her to possess any powers. She has a passion for music and community, and you’ll find this hero at a concert or rave dancing her heart away. She is in her twenties, identifies as bisexual and doesn’t judge anyone for their sexual identity, she was originally from Brazil which is why she has such tan skin but moved to states with her sister for lack of raves and concerts in her home town. Flower child is considered middle class but waists most of her money on concerts, clothes, and meditation classes. She is very thankful for the life she lives, and wants everyone to feel the peace, contentment and happiness that she herself feels when she is listening to music; she holds the power of pathokinesis, the ability to change people’s emotions. When she senses bad vibes at a concert, or any area, she will immediately investigate the situation and decide whether or not she needs to get involved. If she feels someone is in need of a mood change she will surely use her powers for good and give off good vibrations to the friend in need. Flower child does not conform to any norms because all she does is go to music festivals where there are so many different types of people that there is never a need to feel like you have to dress or act a certain way. Flower child wants world peace and is determined to find everyone within her reach and change their perspective on life. As well as sensing when someone is sad, she can also sense when someone is in danger. In situations like this, she will use her powers to persuade the bad guy to stop whatever he is doing, let the victim walk away and enlighten him to a new way of living. If she feels this person is a lost cause and will do harm again she will make him want to turn himself in. She is here to change everyone’s perspective and lean our people to live in a world of peace and community happiness. Her powers allow her to enlighten few but one step at a time and this world will become a better place.

[hannahkesten]

DISCUSSION LEAD- HANNAH KESTEN

The stigma on mental health illness is a very common issue today. With the common assumptions being that they are dangerous, on the verge of a break down, or can’t be trusted. A main contributor to these assumptions is the false portrayal of mental illness in the media. In John Goodwin and Izzat Tajjudins article “What Do You Think I Am? Crazy? : The Joker and Stigmatizing Representation of Mental Ill-Health” they breakdown the depiction of the Joker throughout the batman series as well as the writers of comics contribution to our society’s stigma against those who suffer with mental ill health. Along with comics and other novels, televisions shows such as the UK television show “Skins” portray a horrifying example on how people should think about mental illness. Throughout its air time, Skins glamourized the idea of depression, eating disorders, and BPD, which in result caused a big portion of our generation to see the idea of mental illness as being ‘beautiful’ and ‘admiral’; of course not saying that people with these diseases aren’t beautiful and admiral. Media has such a strong power of the kids of our generation today and the influences and “role models” that we are giving them is causing a generation of teens that believe being mental ill is beautiful and a goal to achieve.

The Joker, most commonly known as the fictional supervillain and Batman’s archenemy is also known to be one of the faces of mental illness with his cynical smile and psychopathic ways. Throughout the Jokers fictional history in the Batman series he has “been casually diagnosed with schizophrenia, dissociative identity disorder (DID), and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)” (388 Goodwin, Tajjudin), all of which were proven to be a misconstrued due to the poor representation of mental illness in the media. The joker is so casually diagnosed with so many mental health issues but the comics fail to scientifically prove and have the audience understand why.  Although the Joker show many symptoms of the disorders he is diagnosed with, we learn that “A person may show certain symptoms of mental ill-health, without qualifying for a diagnoses” (388 Goodwin, Tajjudin). Not knowing any better, the audience can only assume that showing symptoms of a disorder will on conclude that you have it. False assumptions like this have caused fans and audience members to self-diagnose themselves and has also been proven to be self-stigmatizing and in result restrain people from seeking help from mental health services because they are afraid of the judgement and hate they believe they’ll receive.  The Joker is just one of many characters thought up that represent mental health issues and is a part of just one corporation that didn’t think of the impact a negative representation would influence our society today. You’d think that with series where characters like the Joker exist we wouldn’t have a problem with our kids fantasizing about having mental illness, but that seems to be wrong.

The UK television series ‘Skins’ follows a group of teenagers and their story line that brings up the issues of mental illness, substance abuse and bullying. The main character, Effy, was thought to be every middle schoolers “it” girl, the only problem was it was for all the wrong reasons. Effy suffers from mental illness and bipolar disease in the show and that was what was depicted to be the reasoning for why she caught the attention and desire from the boys in the show. Any hormonal middle school girl will admit she wants the attention from her peers and to be admired by the people around her, Effy “smoked and stared and cried and didn’t care” (Morven MacDonald), you’d think these characteristics would steer kids away but it did quite the opposite. They romanticized the fact that Effy was “fucked up” and described her as a “beautiful disaster”.  The show glamourized the idea of mental illness but failed to “show us the filth or the ugliness or the despair or the tiring nature of depression” (Macdonald). Shows like this are why there is such a large amount of teens today who believe it is a positive thing to starve yourself, cut yourself, and not have any regard for others people’s feelings. Being careless is not a good thing, it is self-destructive and will lead you into a down fall in life. Effy is not a role model and shouldn’t be seen as one by the thousands of viewers this show got.

Media is a powerful influence in our society today. Without the proper knowledge of things like mental illness our society will believe anything that is trending and popular. Whether it be a “role model” like Effy, or a super villain like the Joker their actions are taken into account and are analysed, consciously or unconsciously. The actions of these popular fiction characters can cloud our judgement and make us believe or question our own wellbeing. The poor representation of mental illness in the media contributes to the “public confusion and fostering of false beliefs” (386 Goodwin, Tajjudin) on behave of those with mental illness.

[hannahkesten]

HYPERMASCULINITY

For centuries our society has set men to a standard that is to attribute qualities that are inhumane and harmful to their judgment.  From a young age it is embedded in them to “tough it out”, “suck it up”, or “don’t be such a girl” when let down or hurt; We put it into their minds that showing sensitive emotions are not acceptable for a boy and give the impression that by do so they are putting themselves at the same level as a girl, insinuating that there is such a level change between genders. Growing up boys may encounter influences that suggest if you don’t work out all the time or don’t have a six pack you will never be as attractive next to someone who does, similar to the idea that if a girl isn’t as thin as the one next to her she is the lesser attractive. “Boys will be boys”, a saying typically attributed with boys getting messy or fighting. Violence between boys is an attribute accepted by society that it is in mans nature to fight it out and all will be better. Many examples of this hyper masculinity are shown through the media, and specifically in FX’s show ‘Sons of Anarchy’ about a brotherhood between biker gang members. “It’s only when the men respond with violence that they are granted respect from their peers” (Cox, Decarvalho 825). When main character Jax is informed that his pregnant Ex-wife was forced into induced labor due to a drug overdose, he is immediately compelled to confront the dealer who had sold her the drugs. Knowing what was about to happen the leader of the gang sends two other brothers to back him up. Jax proceeded with the beating on the dealer in a public area and the incident was later joked about in a SoA meeting. Acts of violence like so are done to show dominance and to show the enemy what will happen if they cross him. It also proves to his brothers his strength and will to do “right” by those who he claims as family. The idea that masculinity is associated with physical violence is a twisted fact that our society has created. That man can only show in strength with his fists and nothing else is why acts of violence in communities will not stop and its television shows like this that influence these types of behavior and ways of living.

[hannahkesten]

DISCUSSION LEADS 1

In MTV’S show “Awkward” the central character Jenna Hamilton is the result of a teen pregnancy between Lacey  and Kevin Hamilton. The mother, Lacey, is depicted in the show as being an appearance obsessed, self-centered, ditzy mother who gave up her dreams of going to college to raise Jenna and instead used that money to get her boobs done and now holds the occupation of a housewife. The father however, Kevin, has showed to be the more responsible parent and although they don’t reveal to us what he does for a living we do know he is the breadwinner for the family.

[hannahkesten]

CLASS HIERARCHIES

THE WOMENS RIGHTS MOVEMENT ended in 1920, finally allowing women to vote and taking that first step into being able to live equally among the men in our country. Nearly a century later and we are still dealing with the same issues such as women not being able to speak up in the their house holds and not having the rights to their opinions, sexual violence, unequal pay and job opportunities, and being looked at as the weaker opponent. Today, we may be more equal to men then ever before but that doesn't mean we settle for less than we deserve. Feminism is a powerful movement that has been around for decades and I hope to see the day where no person is treated lesser based on their sex.  

[hannahkesten]

CLASS DIVISION AND STEREOTYPES

In the show wife swap, where two wives from separate families switch lives for two weeks to create a clash between the different households, normally leading to learning and growing from the different situations they were put in, class division is a big role that comes into play when deciding what family to switch with who.

(Season 5 episode 11)

In this episode the Stephens family was labeled to be the “middle class” family of the showing. Both parents have a college education and blue collard jobs that they attended to everyday. They expressed how they paid forty thousand a year to send their kids to private school and had them involved in extracurricular activities as well. The Long family however, was placed to be the “working class” family where neither parents have a college education nor their kids attended public school. They believed in a natural growth with their kid’s social skills a meant not signed up to be in any sports or extracurricular, instead they spent most of their free time together as a family.

The barrier between the social classes is so blatantly obvious. The middle class sends their kids to private school, involved in sports and in the show also expressed how they had a more advanced vocabulary then the mother from the other family.  Whereas the lower class is depicted to have no education and involvement with the growth in their children by not signing them up for extracurricular or spending thousands to send their kids to school.

[hannahkesten]

MUSIC SUBCULTURE

In Anthony Pearson article, “The Grateful Dead Phenomenon”, he asses the social impact this psychedelic rock group brought onto the baby boomer generation. This generation fluttered with anti-war movements, and an uprising hippie culture were the ones that began this social subculture of “dead heads”.  Psychedelic rock is known for promoting peace, fighting for homosexuality and believing in feminism. The Grateful Dead is a band that began there fame in 1960s for their vibe-y, laid back groove that attracted a drug culture and resistive youth movement focused on the idea of escape with all the war and hate that was present in their time. This band although created decades ago now, continues the influence music and people all over to this day.

[hannahkesten]

When she pulls out those receipts

[hannahkesten]

“We only see what we look at. To look is an act of choice.”

We sometimes choose to ignore what we have done with our own hands, we look away from the bad things we do to others, leaving us with unclean hands.

[hannahkesten]

BLOG 6: DEBATE

September 26th was a presidential debate for the books. Taken place at Hofstra University in New York, a joke is what I would label this testy debate. From Trump making a fool of himself and looking like he was going to throw a temper tantrum the whole time to Clinton responding with standard campaign promises. Trump,  Mr. White Rich Guy always rooting for those who are already successful and have basically made something of themselves, by lowering taxes for the wealthy from 35% down to 15% he believes this is one of the many ways America will “become great again”. Trump goes on and on in this election numerously ignoring the actual question given to him and coming back with a way he thinks is related and trying to make himself look good. Specifically, I bring up when asked about racial healing in America and how to make this line between white and blacks disappear, he boasts about how he was the one to get Obama to post his birth certificate which was COMPLETELY off the topic of discussion. Another racial problem brought up was one between law enforcement and the murdering’s of people of color and Trump once again changes subject and talks about race on race crime and how he is scared for the businesses he has in these neighborhoods rather than what is actually going on with these people. Clinton responds back to the question about race relations saying “that it comes down to two things: restoring trust between police and communities of color and reforming gun laws” she says gun violence is the leading cause of death in young African American men. Clinton’s generic campaign promises to make equal wages for women and to increase taxes on the wealthy. Trump slams Clinton multiple times for having been senator of the state and only now coming up with all these ideas and claims she should’ve tried to inforce them the past thirty years she has been in office. Although this is true, the senator of state does not have the power the president does and therefore calling into the actions she has presented would only merely be an idea and not a plan. This debate was a joke and I am in hopes that the next one, October 9th, will be one with more maturity and clearer answers to the questions being stated.

[hannahkesten]

BLOG 5: IMAGE REPRESENTATION

            “The way we see things is affected by what we know or believe”

I look at this picture and I think of hope or prayer. She holds her arms close to her and looks up to a greater force; questioning, asking, or even just thinking about nothingness. I recognize this photo as a symbol of the undecided in need of consolidation because of her body language.

[hannahkesten]

Too bad the hippies didn’t decide to become politicians. With our anti-establishment view that thought didn’t even occur. I mean it, because the industrialized world could use some politicians who meditate and pray together before making their decisions. Or smoke a joint and listen to Pink Floyd.

Sereno Sky, “Lonely Traveller” (via thatbeatlegirl)

[hannahkesten]

We kill the world’s animals and destroy the world’s resources, because we want pretty things to put on our bodies and in our homes. The question is not ‘Is this the world we want to leave for our children?’. The question really is, ‘Will there a world left to give them?’…

sent in by http://zenmagick.tumblr.com/ (via seafarers-footsteps)

[hannahkesten]

This painting has so much going on with it, so many stories, and so many emotions. It is obvious the black man with the gun having an almost cynical grin on his face has shot the man in the upper right corner but still has the look on his face as if he is going to have another victim. There is a women posing in her sexiest position with her hair scrunched up looking off to the side trying to be as seductive as possible but really it is the “expression of a women responding with calculated charm to the man whom she imagines looking at her-although she doesn’t know him, she is offering up her femininity as the surveyed” (Berger). Another women with the face of a skull and a bandana wrapped around her face,  balances a man on one side of the beam and money on the other as she holds one her breasts. You can’t tell if she is smiling or not, you sense that this women may be in a state of sadness and the artist is trying to show us this by not giving her a face and insinuating that she may “put on” a pretty face for the people in her life.   I assume the women is trying to balance her love life with her work and can’t choose which should play a heavier roll in her life.

[hannahkesten]

Standardization and unoriginal content in our generation is something we see every day. In the music industry we see a culture that has standardized each genre of music. From pop and country typically being about love and heartbreak, to hip-hop and rap always being about sex and drugs. Although these genres do sing about these topics it has become more likely than not for hip hop and rap artists to sing about anything other than sex, drugs, and alcohol. The hip hop and rap artists of our generation sing about a type of lifestyle that is not only insulting to many people but encourages a type of lifestyle that otherwise would not be as influenced.  Having such a big industry of artists rapping about the same thing in their songs has developed into a situation where if you are a rapper and you don’t do these drugs or sleep with as many women you are criticized and aren’t as popular or demanded then those who do. Rappers will talk about sleeping with tons of women, doing drugs, drinking alcohol, and making money. They have created a “rap culture” and for those of who who listen, eighteen and up, they influence them to conform to this lifestyle and think that this is the type life you should aim yourself to work hard for. These rappers have thousands, if not millions listening to their music encouraging them to sleep with tons of women, that doing drugs and drinking alcohol on a day to day basis will make you happy, and that making money is all that matters. Their followers are “inspired” to follow the footsteps of these rappers because they do happen make a lot of money and live a lifestyle that they choose for themselves but they are also influencing a type of behavior that isn’t accepted by the population and that isn’t good for anyone’s wellbeing and will more likely than not, put them in bad situations or leave them with a drug and alcohol problem for the rest of their life.

[hannahkesten]

When buying something you take into account a lot of thing, how much it costs, the quality of the item, whose selling it, what you need it for and a number of other things. For some a company’s name can make all the difference especially when buying apparel items. The shoe style “Malta”,   sold by Steve Madden, retails for $69.95 and  the target “Esther slide sandal”, an almost identical shoe is sold for $13.98. The popularity of Steve Madden and the publication it gets from the media and celebrities put it at a higher standard and place it in a rank for higher class valuables. Realistically the target item is the same as the Steve Madden shoe but because it’s from target it isn’t as desired.