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I’m glad you brought this up because I’ve been seeing this all over my feeds and timelines. I love the recreation of the images because I think it’s so important to have representation of people of color within the modeling industry. The side by side shots are amazing, as you said, it showcases that anyone is capable of creating the same images. It’s amazing to see how much attention this is getting and I hope to see more of this to come.

As the article states, “The modeling industry has come a long way when it comes to diversity, but as one African model has pointed out with a new photo series, it still has miles to go.” Need I say more? 

My comment: I love how Deddeh Howard recreated spot on images of some of the most popular ad campaigns. Most of the world are knowledgable about these brands or have been at some point visually exposed to these white faces in conjunction with small-figured bodies, therefore it is important that Howard did side-by-side shots to not only subvert people’s attention but to showcase that she too is fully capable of the same body contortions and facial expressions as the women on the other side of the photo set. It’s time that we speak up and stand out to break the still cookie-cutter image that has swept the modeling industry for countless years. 

From this article alone, 79k shares happened…yeah, that happened. Reach its very important when it comes to making social commentary/statements and there is no doubt that my Facebook timeline was heavily laid with Howard’s photo series the day it surfaced.

Thoughts? Comments?

-Paloma

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One would think that in today’s day and age that advertising wouldn’t be as bad as they were decades ago, but we’ve been proven wrong. The bizarre thing to me is that sexualizing women in ads has no correlation to the product that they’re trying to sell at all. It’s sad to see that the only way for these companies to sell their products is through the use of objectifying woman. Is there no other way for industries to come up with creative advertisements? In the American Apparel ad, the woman clearly looks uncomfortable which makes the ad more disgusting. It’s unfortunate to see the lack of creativity and the misogyny in media, especially in advertising in 2016. 

Advancements in 2016?

It’s alarming to find out that the sexualization of women has been going on since the start of advertising. When looking back, all (and it really is all) old advertisements either use women as an the perfect image of devotion to their husbands or as a vessel of sexual desire, which has led to the correlation of women being seen as nothing more than objects. Two examples can easily be seen below, and it’s important to keep in mind that both advertisements are from nearly twenty years ago. Some argue that at this time, companies, which were mostly run by men, didn’t know any better.

This Candies ad was originally meant to promote cologne but all one can focus on is the woman on top of the computer and the clear vision of the rocket below her signifying a clear act of sexual behavior.

This advertisement was designed to sell shoes, and for some odd reason someone thought it would be a fantastic idea to sell the shoe by placing a woman on top of it. The blatant use of a woman’s body is so painfully obvious.

The same people who argue that the advertising companies at the time didn’t know any better say that things have changed and come very far in our day and age, but upon further inspection, it’s easy to conclude that that is a lie. If anything, advertisements have gotten more sexual and more blatant in their use of women as objects. Two recent ads can be seen below.

As it is clearly shown, there have been no improvements and anyone who thinks so hasn’t taken a look around at recent work in the world of promotion. To this day, advertising companies are still ruled largely by men and the male gaze is still hard at work. The gaze is so strong that it truly has stood up against the test of time. It has become easier and easier to be unable to distinguish ads that were made twenty years ago and ads that are produced today, and that shows no sign of advancement.

[itschristinerivera-blog]

I would just like to say that I love memes to death, but when I see memes like this I get so upset because they’re not funny and it’s a waste of a meme. Because social media is so prevalent in our society, we see younger children using the internet and they can definitely be exposed to meme such as this one. This kind of “humor” is toxic for younger kids because by making a joke out of something like this normalizes this way of thinking. Although it is a joke, repeating this kind of joke puts it into the heads of children that a woman’s job is boxed into a stereotype of domestic work. Although it is completely okay for woman to do this kind of work, it tells girls that they are confined to those standards and it tells boys that it’s okay to make jokes out of it. 

This clearly paints a picture that a women’s duties are directly aligned with a dishwater’s duties. 

What happens if young kids are exposed to this? What will they (boys and girls) think about this?

[itschristinerivera-blog]

During the week of 12/7, we discussed the important of a virtual space for marginalized populations. We raised a question of why individuals desire normalization and the fact that there is something important about visibility and representation. Body positivity in this realm is taken by corporations and consumers. It is used by retailers, social media, and corporations by using goods, hashtags, and personal branding. When talking about corporations and capitalism, there is not real investment in dismantling systems of power so it’s a question of whether or not the use of body positivity can be sold to consumers. We understand that their real goal is to gain revenue from a movement such as body positivity.

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During the week of 11/30, we had a discussion the Selfiecity project which turned into a conversation about selfies in general. Selfiecity is a project that investigates selfies in I’ve cities across the world. They did a “pure” analysis through observations with specific physical variables such as the mood, head tilt, expression of selfies. When browsing through this project, there was an overwhelming whiteness of the images. Even though there were thousands of selfies from 5 major cities worldwide there was still a lack of people of color selfies. There are so many factors that play into taking a selfie and above is a selfie that I took on snapchat. Here we see a slight head tilt, a serious expression, and a somewhat calm mood. I wrote, “I don’t look like this in real life” because I am aware of the distortion of one’s face through the snapchat filters. (It also says “thankful for snapchat filters” because this was taken on Thanksgiving day lol). These filters make people’s faces thinner, bigger eyes, and smoothens out the blemishes because that’s what an ideal selfie is supposed to be. It’s interesting to see how these snapchat filters make people feel good about themselves and little do people know how long it took me to take this photo.

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During the week of 11/21, we had a discussion about how the discourse around the use of mobile technologies and social media are gendered. Individuals argue that anonymity is a good thing on the internet because it can prevent issues relating to one’s identities and in this case, gender. The problem with raises the question of what about marginalized groups? Because the standard and the norm is typically a white cisgender male on the internet, it prevents girls and girls of color from gaining credit for authorship on the internet. When specifically talking about sexting, it is seen as risky behavior that polices femininity. The photo above relates to this topic because here we see how sexting polices femininity in that there is a photo of a covered up girl with text that says “pictures might be produced and shared as a way of boosting self-esteem”. To some girls this might be empowerment for themselves or make them feel good but it is seen as a bad thing which shows the policing of femininity. When girls send nude photos they are seen as “sluts” or “whores” but when guys send nude photos, they’re just being “guys”. 

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During the week of 11/14, it was a rough week because of the presidential campaign and America’s president elect was determined, which is Donald Trump. In class, we discussed ways to make a difference, resources, ways to cope, how to help others, and so on in response to the election. The photo above is a photo that I took during a Rutgers Walkout Against Trump and for a #SanctuaryCampus. We took part of a national movement in order to make universities a sanctuary, a place that is free from deportation. This was also a response to resisting Donald Trump’s presidency and the hate that he stands for. I really love this photo because, I, and hundreds of other Rutgers students and individuals came together to protest instead of being silent. Although many people believe that protesting is ineffective and won’t get anything done, we as a people have the power to create an uprising and make a difference. I’ve never participated in a protest like this and it felt very empowering and being surrounded by like minded, loving individuals was amazing. As the sign says in the photo, love trumps hate. 

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During the week of 11/7, we discussed cyberfeminism in a mainstream context, specifically about the virtual world and how the colorblind model or cyber race ties into feminism. In the real world, the “normalized” identity is a heteronormative white middle class cisgendered individual. In the virtual world, it was seen that have a colorblind model, or cyber race, where users manage others differences by simply effacing them. By nullifying race on the internet, many believe that it can end racism on the web and can be a utility for liberation. When the web was first emerging, it was easier for this to be accepted because it was a text based internet landscape but as technology has progressed into a multimedia landscape, it is hard to erase race. With the use of avatars, individuals can choose how to express themselves on the internet which includes race and gender. Using a colorblind model is dangerous because it imposes a sense of erasure which stabilizes the notion of whiteness and maleness as normal. 

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During the week of 11/2, we watched a number of videos that analyze beauty and femininity. The photo posted is a snapshot of one of Molly Soda’s videos related to “No Makeup” Makeup Looks. It’s ironic that it’s a makeup tutorial on how to appear to not wear makeup. The actual tutorial is a 3 minute video but Molly Soda takes 10 minutes to actually achieve the “no makeup” makeup look. This shows that we value a natural look that is equated to purity and beauty which is idealized. When women wear too much makeup there is a backlash, or when a women wears makeup to look natural, there is also backlash. In this video we see that being natural is a performance which also goes into depth that being natural is white, blonde, young, and a visibly cisgender female. Women are held to such an idealized and naturalized standard but still get negativity for whatever path they choose to express themselves.

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During the week of 10/26, we watched the documentary, We Are Legion which discussed the inner workings of the hacktivist group called Anonymous. The group Anonymous or the people who started the group did not intend to create a it to be activists and turn, as one can say, humanitarian. Throughout the film we see an ambiguity of beliefs in their movement because when they first started, they were anarchic and aimed to be offensive. This photo relates to the documentary and Anonymous because in an online game, a big group of the members dressed up the same, as seen in the photo, and positioned their characters in the game to form a swatstika in order to block a popular pool. This is an example of the kind of things this group accomplished, but eventually their actions went from trolls to humanitarians. When they realized there were so many of them and how much power they had, they used it to become activists which resulted in a lot of people joining this group especially since everyone is anonymous and no one’s identities are stolen. It was an interesting film because the majority of people interviewed or representing Anonymous were white males which puts into perspective who really has power and privilege. 

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During the week of 10/19, we discussed how fan culture can be subversive and how user generated content allows networks to know what the public wants. This is relevant to the article because there is a show called The 100 that had a lesbian relationship with the two main characters. The writer decided to kill the most loved character which created an uproar on social media and within the fan culture of the show. The fans created a hashtag, #LexaDeservedBetter, explaining that the lack of LGBTQ representation in media is unacceptable. The fans took it a step further to the outside world and purchased a billboard in Los Angeles. These fans promoted visibility through various mediums whether it was on the internet using hashtags, making blog posts, or even creating billboards. As a result of that, the ratings for the show diminished and hopefully representation in media will change. 

[itschristinerivera-blog]

During the week of 10/12, we discussed the pros and cons of social curation but before we discuss that, we must define what social curation is. According to whatis.techtarget.com, “social curation is collaborative sharing of Web content organized around one or more particular themes or topics.” Because technology is quickly advancing, it is extremely easy to create content on the internet with the various tools given such as social media outlets. The content of social curation brings up a question of whether the information given is verifiable or valid because it is easy to curate content online. There is also a discourse of self-making online versus offline which can be faulty. Lastly, curation online is still subject and structured by social powers such as gender, sexuality, race, class and sex. On the other hand, there are pros to social curation which includes subverting curatorial hierarchy. It undermines the traditional ways of producing knowledge and allows access of information to users all over the world, thus resulting in users becoming experts. Social curation can evolve to community content curation which can start movements, for example the black lives matter movement which started off as a hashtag. Overall, social curation has its pros and cons but I believe it is a great tool to social change.

http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/social-curation

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During the week of 10/5, we discussed terms such as safe space, solidarity, collectivity, and hashtag feminism. We defined safe space as a space of expression without judgement where individuals can have open discussion about varying topics that seem to be a taboo in society. Solidarity was defined as banding together in an active attempt at harmony while sharing a common goal. In addition, we stated that collectivity is working together with individuals who have different minds but share a common goal while still preserving differences. This is all related to hashtag feminism, and specifically, this comic relates to #SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen which is a critique of white feminism. In the comic we see a male questioning why feminists aren’t just called equalists and the white female explains why women’s needs need to be addressed specifically. Next we see the white female questioning why there needs to be black feminism because it just divides the movement which is hypocritical of her to say when referencing the topic portion of the comic. The main message of the hashtag is a way to give voice for women of color in regards to feminism because other identities are disregarded by white feminism. It must be understood that oppression is multifaceted and has many layers.

[itschristinerivera-blog]

The week of 9/28, we have been working with our blog groups outside of class in order to establish exactly what we are trying to accomplish with the blog. This meme is related to our theme which is gender, sexuality, and dating apps and how individuals use them differently. In this specific meme, it demonstrates how for one person, something as simple as matching on tinder is a big step in a relationship. To others, matching on tinder might be a self esteem boost or an easy hook up. By conducting interviews, using personal experiences, and researching we are going to explore the various uses of dating apps.

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During the week of 9/21, we learned about intersectionality in class and how we must understand how gender, race, class, sexuality, and other identities work together together to produce lived experiences. We kept going back to the phrase “there’s no such thing as ‘women’s experience’” when it comes to understanding intersectionality. This means that not every woman, or every man has the same experiences when it comes to oppression because there are so many other factors that play into it. This tweet is related to intersectionality because they are stating that a women of color not only faces racism because of her color but sexism because of her gender as well. Not only does she face those two things separately, but they also connect to each other because both identities are apart of her. A woman of color isn’t just colored in one situation and then just a female in another, they both play a part.

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During the week of 9/14, we discussed essentialism and constructivism. Essentialism is the fixed notion of being while constructivism is a social construct and seeks to de-naturalize gender, race, and sexuality. This photo is a design that my friend made, which is related to the topics we discussed in class because it says that gender is a social construct which is what constructivism seeks. In the photo, she portrays gender as being a social construct by drawing individuals with both feminine and masculine features through various ways of expression whether it be makeup, hair, or accessories. Essentialism links femininity to being a woman and masculinity with men, which is what constructivism tries to debunk. Gender roles are so engrained in our society that when individuals go against the norm it’s looked at in a negative light but in reality, questioning why and analyzing the reasons for that is extremely important. Essentialism boxes people into stereotypes and notions that just because people were born a certain way have to act a certain way.