Who is Really Wearing the Penis?

As if Lady Gaga didn't already have enough of a hypothetical penis, here she is on the front of "The UK's Biggest Magazine" wearing a giant black strap-on. We all know that Gaga is really into making big statements, but is this really a statement. It definitely has the shock value that Gaga would want. Yet it was mentioned in class that this may not be as much of a statement as woman may think. Do woman really need to wear a penis to make a statement? Is the penis the only thing our society views as powerful. Really if we think about it anything masculine is viewed as powerful, while anything feminine is viewed as weak. Or is it when a woman puts on a penis she is embracing her inner power as a woman. Some kind of feminist statement. There are so many ways we could interpret this photo. By putting on this penis do people just assume that Gaga is a lesbian. It seems whenever a woman tries to make a statement by showing her masculinity it becomes viewed as an act of  being a lesbian. When it comes down to it though there really is know way we can control how people interpret a photo like this. So I say good for you Gaga you wear that penis better than most men!!!!

Dragon Bait

Everything is scary!
Everyone's posts have me all riled up, and now I don't know where to start.
Ryan Gosling has a major point. I always noticed that in movies, and more and more lately I am becoming convinced that violence is becoming more acceptable in young people's movies, and movies that are half-for-kids (like KICKASS, for example, which was pretty well done), and that mild sensual kissing or clothing removal is considered obscene. Of course, he is going to be in Gangster Squad, and what are the chances there won't be any cheap sex and violence thrills? I just saw 007, and it was awesome. My friend Todd the other day told me about how he got smacked by his Mother for using the word "sexy", but the thing is that very same kid also watched the Godfather with his Mom before, like, second grade. Another fine film!
I want to say "What's wrong with sex in the movies! Sex never hurt anybody!"
But of course it has.
I have strong feelings about pornography. I have seen a only a fraction of it out there, but I've still seen quite a bit (my friends are coarse, of course). I have seen the very cliche long-fingernail-silly-music stuff, I have seen spoofs of other movies (Lord of the G-String, In Diana Jones), I have seen hardcore, gay, and fetish porn, and honestly I feel that porn is sex turned into violence. I have also seen such a phenomenon as LOL Porn, or porn gone wrong, which can be pretty funny (picture awful fake orgasms that look like brain damage).

No bones about it, porn degrades women, it plays off of people's insecurities, and it exploits power structures that already exist and serve to oppress. Usually I find the plots in pornography distasteful and boring, and they therefore do not excite me much. I don't mean to be a prude, of course... and to each his own. Except when it comes to child porn, or porn that MIMICS child porn. These incite such wrath in me. It's so insidious too, the way pornographers can inject things suggestive of child porn into movies.

My critique of cyberspace is only that it makes us THINK we lose our freedom, that we are more identifiable and known and exposed, but really, we are more anonymous. Or rather, we are more confronted with our insignificance, or our own... what am I trying to say?
Rodriguez, from our readings, says this:
"The architectural structure of the world wide web is rhizomatic; no linear progression to guide users." (pg. 371)

Take Back

Going off the discussion on Friday about the ads saying they had a certain race of women for people to hire; making it seem like they were objects rather than people. I feel like as women we need to take back a lot of negative stereotypes. In the ads we looked at it stated that the women were Lebanese or some other race that perhaps was “prone” to being a maid in society’s eyes.  I say we be proud of who we are and say “yes I am Lebanese, it’s not all of who I am, but if it’s something that draws you to me then it’s perfect!” It’s sort of like when people see a women who I bald, they can’t say anything about it so perhaps they will move on to something else or accept it. It we own our labels then people won’t be able to tell us what is or isn’t right about it.

Another example of this would be the feminist strip club idea. If we showed society that women could choose the path of stripping and being proud of it then what can people say? Yes there is always going to be negative talk about people who choose sexual careers but it will show people that we have the power to choose how we get out money and that sex is something that women can enjoy as well. I don’t think male strippers get as much criticism as women.  Women should be able to choose a safe sexual lifestyle without people thinking something is wrong with her. 

Both sides of the story

The article we read by Marquette Williams touched on some new words and definitions that I hadn't heard of before and got me to thinking about their context in today's society. One in particular is the term "colourism" which she defines as, "the fusion of colonial racism with the classism of Jamaican society." This concept is particular to the experience of Jamaican individuals, however, looking at it from another race or ethnicity perspective it could be easily interchangeable.

In the United States, at younger ages we learn about history in a simple-minded and tame which may construe the real events that occurred. For example, learning about Columbus day means learning he discovered the new world, when really he brought disease and disaster to an already inhabited land. Not until high school or college do we actually find out both sides of the story. This reminded me of Williams experience with British culture and how she had knowledge of Great Britain but they were not educated about Jamaica.

Time and time again power is used as a tool to withhold information and to make inaccurate portrayals of people and their history. Prejudice and racism is brought about through power and control. It is baffling to see that it is never completely extinguished because there is a continuous perpetuation of stereotypes through historical education. Children reach college age, and white children especially, realize what they learned was a lie and start to question authority- those who teach them. The truth should come from the beginning especially regarding education of american and world history. 

Prostitute in The Wind-up Bird Chronicle

     After the discussion in class yesterday on migrant sex workers, I was lead to contemplate a character in the novel I have read called "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle" by Haruki Murakami, one of Japan's most highly regarded novelists. In the novel, main character Toru Okada has wet dreams of the woman who gives herself the alias Creta Kano. Creta became a prostitute in Japan because of her independent attitude and need of a quality wage which she can obtain through her classy body, and the recruitment by the mob's prostitution ring. Later, he finds himself sleeping with her but in the correct way, with a correct purpose. She was not defiled by Toru in the way she was defiled by a mysterious man named Noboru Wataya who still haunts her. She tells Toru of her last encounter as a prostitute, and her defilement by this man Noboru who happens to be the brother of his wife who had ran away (it's indeed a mystery novel).

     "It's as if they were looking over merchandise. It doesn't take long to get used to being looked at like that. They are paying money for flesh, after all; it makes sense for them to examine the goods. But the way that man looked at me was different. He seemed to be looking through my flesh to something on the other side. His eyes made me feel uneasy, as if I had become a half-transparent human being.
     Once I was naked, he told me to lie on the bed face down, which I did. He ordered me to stay still, to keep my eyes closed, and not to speak until I was spoken to. He sat down next to me with his clothes on. That was all he did: sit down. He did not lay a finger on me. He just sat and looked down at my naked body, He kept this up for some ten minutes, while I lay there, unmoving, face down.
     Then, after a very long time, and with me still lying face down, he put something inside me from behind. What it was, I still have no idea. It was huge and hard, but it was not his penis. I am certain of that. Whatever it was that he put inside me, it made me feel pain for the first time since my failed suicide attempt- real, intense pain that belonged to me and no one else. How can I put this? The pain was almost impossibly intense, as if my physical self were splitting in two from the inside out. And, like a crowbar, the pain was prying open the lid of my consciousness- prying it open with an irresistible force and dragging out the jellied contents of my memory without reference to my will. Strange as it may sound, this was like a dead person watching her own autopsy. Do you see what I mean? I felt as if I were watching from some vantage point as my body was being cut open and one slimy organ after another was being pulled out of me."

     But when she regained consciousness, she was a different person. She was damaged and ran away from the sex industry, because she was not a sex slave, however she feared her old pimp and any form of sexual intercourse for a very long time. Like Creta Kano and the Thai migrant workers we spoke of in class, there is a distinguishable difference in the sex they had for business and the sex they had for their own physical and emotional satisfaction. As one of the bar prostitutes in the textbook describes, they sell sexual access to their body but not themselves. However, when Creta Kano was abused by this mysterious client, she lost something that was very deeply herself. Having intercourse with Toru and the fact that she's so open and honest with him about her abuse, physically and psychologically, displays the strength of their new relationship, and the slow steps she takes to moving forward to overcome her past mistreatment, that is not so unique to sex work.

Expectations on Women

As I turn on my computer, I almost always click on the internet first. As my homepage of msn loads I am able to view snippets of news articles of today’s society. This is how I keep up to date while I am away at college. Well flipping through the most popular news articles, I came across something interesting. The title that caught my eye was, “Is this the new ‘Friday’?” Fascinated by this, I clicked to find more information.

Everyone remember the extremely popular Rebecca Black’s music video called, ‘Friday’. The video basically showcases a girl dancing and lip syncing to an extremely cheesy song about her love for the day Friday. So after seeing a news article titled: “Is this the new ‘Friday’”, of course I could not stop myself. I clicked the link and came across a (similar to Rebecca Black) preteen, lip syncing to another very corny song about Thanksgiving. At first I was confused as to why anyone would allow this girl to make this video after the humiliation Rebecca Black experienced. But then I realized are we criticizing something so much more than that?

Remembering our class’s discussion on society’s theories of the perfect woman, I recalled a certain emphasis our class had. Women’s bodies were our main focus in class so I decided to take this a step forward. Since the reading focused in on older women transforming their bodies to look younger, I thought of the younger generation and the expectations they face. As a society, I believe that not only do we emphasize on looking young but we always emphasize maturity. This is a double bind for almost all women because they will never be able to reach a balance between the two of these expectations. I came to this conclusion by realizing how much Rebecca Black was judged and criticized. In all honesty, Rebecca was just being a teenage girl who was having fun, and her music video just happen to go global. As a culture, we expected Rebecca Black to have an amazing voice with a great music video. We did not think that maybe she was not capable of this because of her age. It also came to my mind that maybe things would be different if it was a boy in the place of Rebecca Black? Or if a boy replaced the girl singing about Thanksgiving? Would society judge him at all or more?

In conclusion, I think it is important to realize how difficult we make situations for girls. When we set up double binds such as looking younger the more you get older or acting older as the younger you are, these theories can lead to some serious consequences.

Video example:
Rebecca Black- Friday
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfVsfOSbJY0

Migrant Workers

After our discussion today from reading one, I thought about my dad because he owns a grape farm and hires Mexicans to work on it along with him and his friends. Migrant workers weren't the main focus of our discussion but I did find the conversation interesting. I texted my dad after class and asked if the Mexicans get paid "under the table" and if they do the same jobs as my dad.  He answered and told me that he doesn't pay them with cash and they actually get payroll checks and get paid the same amount as all the other workers and pay payroll taxes as well.  He also said that they do mostly the same jobs as my dad and his other white employees except for drive the tractor but that's because it's illegal.

In the textbook it says "the jobs they fill are those shunned by native workers because they are insecure, seasonal, arduous, low-paying are degraded" (446). By bringing up my dad's farm I wanted to show that jobs that employers give migrant workers aren't always those shunned by the native workers.  I've never considered a farm job "degrading" but that is probably because I'm a farmer's daughter.  Without farms we would not have a lot necessary foods and a lot of people don't realize that.  When I was younger my dad even gave away our van to a Mexican family and sometimes when my siblings and I would get home from school our bikes would be missing because my dad gave them to the Mexican children... which is actually kind of funny.

I'm sure not all employers are as giving as my dad, but I just wanted to point out that not all of them treat their employees like slaves.

"Strip Club Makes Naked Case for Art"

Our disscussion in class today about where to draw the line between art and pornography reminded me of something I recently heard on the news. In Albany, NY, Steven Dick, owner of the strip club "Night Moves" was taken to the court of appeals for about $400,000 in unpaid taxes. His lawyer, W. Andrew McCullough, argued that Dick shouldn't have to pay state taxes. In New York, anything that is considered dramatic performance is exept from taxes and McCullough believed that the strippers at Night moves were "choreographic performers not unlike ballet dancers."
Though his arguements about stripping being considered an Olympic Sport seem exaggerated, he did seem to bring up some good points. "On artistic grounds and on a First Amendment ground, there's no question that if you start drawing a line you have no clear line to stop at... Where's the line in art? You have to draw it as safe as you can to protect the freedoms."
Unfortunately for Steven Dick, the court did not rule in favor of Night Moves, claiming that they "failed to prove its exotic dancers are exempt performances."
This court case was incredibly interesting and made me think about what I personally consider art. In this instance, I feel that exotic dancing should not be considered art and should not be exept from taxes at this point. However, I agree with W. Andrew McCullough in that the line is consistantly changing, making it impossible to pin point as a society what the difference is between art and not art.

http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Strip-club-makes-naked-case-for-art-3843247.php

Presidential Election 2012

I am writing this prior to finding out who wins this extremely nerve racking election. There is a lot of political chatter on all of the social media right now. I am very nervous for the basic human rights that are on stake right now. I am very concerned about Mitt Romney being elected. This election is so close and I can't fathom why. AH I AM FREAKING OUT.
Well, I was surfing the web and came across this post: "Thank god the election is not between two woman because I wouldn’t care about what they’d do for this country, I’d base my vote on who had the nicest ass." All I have to say is that I was not very happy after reading this. Why is every last thing that is related to a woman sexual? I was also thinking... well at least he did not say anything about women being emotional. It also crossed my mind that what if this falls along with what the Pride Panel agreed upon: That any presentation of the LGBTQIPA community in media is better than none. I don't know whether to be excited that a male proposed the idea of two women candidates for President or pissed off that he made these women candidates just more sexual female objects.