Week 12

I’ve been reading about the Black student protests at the University of Missouri in the news and on social media over the last couple of days, and I am truly appalled at some of the comments I have been seeing. Through these protests, Black students are fighting for what they believe in, but it seems that they are only being mocked for it. All over Twitter, I’m reading ignorant tweets making fun of the situation, and I’m also surprised to see the number of people who are retweeting and favoriting these ridiculous comments.

It seems that a lot of these comments are completely missing the point of the protests. Black students at Mizzou do not feel safe; they are constantly subjects of racial discrimination and bigotry in what should be a safe space for all students. As a college student, I could never imagine the experiences that some of the Black students at Mizzou described. One student explained, “At a predominantly white environment, you just have to deal with acceptance and it’s hard being a student of color because you have to deal with the segregation of Mizzou. You deal with racism and you just deal with people trying to belittle you because you’re black.”

Even while Black students are fighting for justice, they are receiving threats and insensitive comments about the protest. Several students have even threatened to shoot the protestors on Yik Yak. While media coverage of the protests is inevitable, it does not create a safe space for the students participating. It should be about securing a space where blackness is not violated. Considering the media portrayals of Blacks throughout history, it is obvious that Black people would not be fairly represented even when they are fighting social injustices and defending themselves. Anyone who mocks the situation is contributing to the problem of racism that seems to never end. Despite the so-called progress that has been made, racism is still very much alive and well. 

To the students of color at Mizzou, we, students of color at the University of Southern California, stand with you in solidarity. To those who would threaten their sense of safety, we are watching. 
‪#‎ConcernedStudent1950 ‪#‎InSolidarityWithMizzou

Week 11

Prior to this week, I never really knew a lot about Aziz Ansari or his work. I knew who he was, but I was not aware of any of his television shows or movies. He recently released Master of None on Netflix, which features a ton of diversity and also explores the significance of identity. Though I have not yet watched the show, I’ve heard a lot of great comments about it, from people in my classes to reviews I’ve read online. I had the chance to get to know Aziz better after reading his piece in the New York Times about race in Hollywood. In this article, he made excellent points about the lack of diversity in Hollywood and the fact that those behind the camera are not trying hard enough.

Aziz begins the article talking about Fisher Stevens, an actor who he contacted over the phone. In a movie called Short Circuit 2, Stevens, a Caucasian man, used brownface to portray the role of an Indian man. Growing up, Aziz always admired this role because it featured an Indian man as the lead, but once he learned the truth about Stevens, Aziz was exposed to the harsh reality that his ethnicity was being mocked. After speaking with Stevens, Aziz learned that he is not a bad guy, but at the time, he was a struggling actor looking for a big break. Stevens said that he would never take on such a role today, and while this mindset seems progressive, there are still so many cases in which actors of other ethnicities are playing Indians.

Aziz mentions that he is trying to understand where the creators behind the production are coming from, but he can never get a straight answer. He acknowledges the fact that sometimes it is difficult to find a minority actor because they may have the look but not the skillset to play the part; however it seems that this is where the filmmakers may not be trying hard enough. Although there has been some progress in TV and film, it’s not enough to say that everyone is equal.

One quote that stands out to me in his piece is, “Even at a time when minorities account for almost 40 percent of the American population, when Hollywood wants an “everyman,” what it really wants is a straight white guy. But a straight white guy is not every man. The “everyman” is everybody.” Just as we discussed in class, when we picture the main characters of a romantic comedy, our minds will automatically go to an image of a white male and female. After years and years of perpetuating stereotypes of minorities in TV and film, filmmakers have a difficult time taking a step in the right direction and considering non-white actors for lead roles. As Aziz demonstrates, Arnold Schwarzenegger played a robot in Terminator using his Austrian accent and no one cared about the fact that he was not American. At the end of the day, there should be no reason for the lack of minority actors in lead roles because they’re equally as talented, capable, and deserving of every opportunity.  

Week 10

A few days ago, I saw a Twitter trend about racist declarations that a Southern Methodist University sorority made about African American pledges. After seeing so many similar incidents over the past few years, I was actually surprised to see that nothing has changed in the Greek system. I know it’s not fair too blame the entire Greek system for someone else’s ignorant comments, but such blatant racism in fraternities and sororities is getting really old and we should be past such narrow thinking and ignorance.
In an anonymous post on Greek Rank, a sorority member at SMU laid out a list of reasons why “black women do not and will not get bids.” They start off by calling Black women racist for creating their own sororities which is one of the most absurd things I have ever heard. Then they go on to attack their appearance, personality, and reproduce stereotypes about their background, wealth, and education. The last point in the post says that they only accept a few black girls for the sake of being diverse.

The post lists all of these reasons of why Black women would not fit into a sorority, but in reality minorities have never been treated fairly in the first place. The people in the sorority who have the power to choose are the ones who not welcoming of people of color because they have a preconceived idea of who they are as people.

Before I came to USC, my mom really wanted me to join a sorority to meet people and enjoy all of the opportunities that come with it. I was slightly interested, but seeing the underrepresentation of minorities turned me away. In a way, I felt intimidated by Greek life because I thought that I would always be the outsider or the odd one out. I never rushed, but mostly because I was scared to face any potential discrimination or rejection.
From my knowledge, sororities are supposed to be a place where so-called “sisters” engage in academic, social, and philanthropic activities, but it always looks like more of a exclusive social club where only the seemingly popular kids are accepted. I have friends who are minorities in sororities, but they’re always placed in the same in the same ones. The sororities that are considered the “top-tier” mostly consist of white girls, and the same goes for white guys in fraternities. Just as we saw with the racial slur hurled at Rini a few weeks ago, racism is still very much alive and well. I cannot believe that I’m still reading about incidents like these, but I’m glad that they are receiving national attention.

Week 9

On an episode of The View, Raven-Symoné made headlines yet again for some controversial comments relating to race and discrimination. The View panelists held a discussion surrounding the question, are you judged by your name? The group talked about whether or not they judge other people based on their names and Raven commented that she would never hire someone based solely on their name. She used the name “Watermelondra” as an example and laughed that she would never hire them based on that alone. She also mentioned that she would prefer if people used the word discriminatory rather than racist when referring to her choice of words. Unfortunately, Raven fails to see the irony in this situation because her name is unique as well, and she has been afforded many opportunities throughout her career. Sitting at the panel is Whoopi Goldberg who is taken aback by Raven’s comments while the rest of the panel tries to reason with Raven.
The first point that was argued at the panel is that people cannot help what they’re named, and thus should not be judged for it. The point I’d like to make is, even though Raven believes it is only discriminatory, it is actually really racist. People with ethnic names (like Raven herself) are often judged in America because people associate certain stereotypes with those names. From the stereotypes I have heard, individuals judge African American names that are uncommon to be “ghetto” and thus they make false assumptions about that person and their background. I have many Asian American friends who have two names. Their birth name is related to their ethnic background, while their second name is an “American” name, which makes it easier for other people to say and remember.  If we were to judge anyone based on his or her birth name, how would we ever know who he or she really is?
Personally, having the name Brittany has often caused a lot of confusion when people first look at me. The name Brittany supposedly gives off this image of a white blonde girl, so when people learn my name they are surprised. When my mom named me, she heard the name from one of her favorite television shows in the 90s and had no idea what associations people would make with it. Due to my first and last name, people usually see me as a “white-washed” Indian, but they hardly know anything about my identity and cultural practices. It’s crazy to me that a name can hold so much power, when they do not really tell much about who you are as a person. With all of the stereotypes that are perpetuated in society, I understand why people hear a name and quickly jump to conclusions about that person, but names are only surface level, and we should be able to see beyond them.

Week 8

I read many articles about the most recent Cosmopolitan cover that was released earlier this week, which features the Kardashian and Jenner sisters all in one spread. This is the first time in four years that they have done a family cover shoot, and since then so much has changed among all of the girls. Most prominent on the cover are the words “America’s First Family.” When I think of the America’s First family, my mind automatically goes to the family of the President of the United States, not the Kardashians. This depiction of the Kardashians reminded me of what we discussed in class, where the Kardashians have centered themselves as the post-modern Brady Brunch. Despite all of their fame and fortune, they’re using their television show as a way to say, despite their celebrity, they have struggled in many of the same ways as everyone else. Even though their lives are so far from normal, they try to represent themselves as the norm. For Cosmopolitan to label the Kardashians as “America’s First Family,” they’re making a very strong statement. Understandably, many people found this offensive and were upset that Cosmopolitan would award them such a powerful title.

It was interesting to see how people interpreted the cover, and one article that I read on the Huffington Post talks about how the cover demonstrates Black Erasure in America. The author writes, “Putting the Kardashians on the cover is a jab of many that suggests that there is some other more glamorous and whiter option to the black family seated at the top of the nation.” In other words, this Cosmopolitan cover is basically saying that the real first family is not the one in the White House. While the Kardashians have established a strong brand and influence in the entertainment realm, they’re accomplishments will never even compare to those of the Obamas. The article also points out that the Obama family has faced much racial discrimination over the years despite being the First Family of the United States. This is another example of the prevalence of racism in the media, which diminishes the value of everything that the First Family has accomplished at the cost of an interesting cover story. At the end of the day, the labels on Cosmopolitan cover have very little significance when it comes to the value and worth of the First Family, but even a small cover can make a large statement about how popular culture constructs ridiculous images.

Huffington Post Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lakin-starling/cosmopolitans-kardashian-cover-black-erasure_b_8244886.html

Week 7

In class we talked about “affect” and how we construct emotion, specifically how we construct emotion when in comes to thinking about any associations with the Middle East. Usually when people think about the “ArabMuslimSouthAsian” classification introduced by Vani Kannan, they are drawn to images of terrorism and are thus racializing bodies that they know nothing about. Especially as someone who was a young child when September 11^th occurred, I was led to believe that Muslims were dangerous. It was silently taught to me as a kid, whether I was in school or at home, but that was only because of the adult figures in my life and also the media, which painted this picture that every single Muslim was a potential terrorist.

            In elementary school, one of my best friends was ashamed of being called a Muslim because she also equated the Islamic population with the words “terrorist” and “national threat.” She grew up as a Muslim, but all of her friends (including myself) were Christians. For years she would tell us that she is also a Christian, but her family would say that they were Muslim. As a kid, I was confused as to how should could practice both, and my grandma (a strict Christian) would always tell me that is not possible. Possible or not, I wondered why my friend felt the need to assure people that she was not a Muslim. She certainly embraced the Islamic culture and practiced the religion of Islam, but she did not want to be labeled a Muslim. One day, she started crying to me because she felt so frustrated with people using her faith to stereotype her as a bad person. When I think about this now, it’s extremely frustrating and unfortunate to me that she felt she had to hide a part of herself out of fear of being judged and racialized as a threat. As of today, she has definitely grown out of it, but as a kid, she should not have had to face such unfair and unnecessary judgment.

Even though years have passed since September 11^th, kids today still seem to make endless terrorist jokes to Middle Easterners. At my high school, students would call a boy who practiced Hinduism and wore a turban a terrorist because they thought they were hilarious. This boy would laugh along with these kids and never did speak up or defend himself. Earlier this year, my 14 year old cousin told me that one of the boys in her class asked about her ethnicity, and once she told him she is half Pakistani, he has nicknamed her terrorist. After she tells me this story, she starts laughing and I proceed to ask her why she did not correct his poor choice of words. She tells me “oh don’t worry I know that he’s kidding it’s not a big deal.” The problem is, it IS a huge deal. It makes me sad to see that my cousin is immune to such absurd racial stereotypes. She’s laughing with them, but she does not understand the complexity of the problem. Fourteen years later, it seems we have not even slightly improved in eliminating racial discrimination and stereotyping of Middle Easterners.

Week 6

      Our discussion on images and photography this week got me thinking about my internship at a fashion public relations firm that I’ve been doing since July. My internship is not only a PR firm, but also a showroom where we present about 15-20 fashion brands that stylists can pull from for red carpet events or editorial shoots. In addition, interns conduct research for bloggers and celebrities who we think will best fit the brands, so that we can gift them samples and gain more product recognition. In doing research for these brands, I work with other interns and account executives to get their advice and approval of women who would bring the best publicity for the products. 

     While we look at how strong of a following these women have, a lot of our decision-making has to do with their image and physical appearance. I understand that this is expected, especially working in entertainment, but I was shocked to witness the blatant racial discrimination of my peers in choosing potential celebrities to wear our brands. It made me realize why we don’t have enough diversity across all platforms of entertainment, because the creators behind the scenes are given the power to choose how brands are represented. These images that we see in the media routinize the way that we see race because we’re used to seeing a specific aesthetic in campaigns and editorial shoots. 

     On the second day of my internship, while researching bloggers, I came across some beautiful people of all different races and also different body types. When I presented my list to a senior intern who was training me, she was quick to point out that those who were colored and maybe those who were fuller figured were not the “right fit” for our brands. This made me really angry and I proceeded to ask her why she would not consider them and she refused to give me a straight answer at the risk of sounding too racist. I knew why should did not agree with them, but I would have liked to hear her reasoning and point of view. When I research bloggers, I like to select a variety of girls because in my mind, anyone should be able to wear these brands. I do not understand the image that our brands are trying to capture, but I know that it is not all-inclusive. In doing this internship, I have learned the harsh reality of racial discrimination in popular culture first hand, and it makes me really frustrated to know that so many people reinforce these problems rather than solve them. I believe we need to utilize images in a more efficient way by using it as a tool to express racial diversity and inclusivity, or an accurate representation of reality.