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.

Week 5

Earlier this week, I read about a very disturbing incident that occurred at USC on The Washington Post the LA Times, and throughout Facebook. As I’m sure most of us have heard, USC Student Body President Rini Sampath was verbally attacked when a fraternity brother shouted a racial slur directed at her while she was walking on the row with her friends.  He shouted “you Indian piece of shit” and proceeded to throw a drink at her. Reading this story made me cringe for numerous reasons, as it is evidence that racism is still very much alive and well. However another part of Rini’s story that really shook me was how people were reacting to the whole situation. On Rini’s Facebook page, she received an outpour of support from family, friends, and peers, which is to be expected. What I did not expect was the amount of backlash that she received in the comments of The Washington Post article. One of the many comments that I stumbled upon mentioned that Rini should “toughen up” because the world is a scary place. First of all, this person is completely missing the point of the entire situation. Regardless of any other conflicts in the world, racial slurs should not be excused because they’re “only words.” Many people also commented that Rini should not be angry because she was elected Student Body President in the first place. I’m sorry, but regardless of her position at this school, the fraternity brother saw her only as a minority and attacked her out of disdain. She even mentioned in her Facebook post that once the rest of the fraternity recognized whom he was yelling at, they made their brother apologize. What if Rini was not the President? Would they have dismissed it? Other comments see this as a publicity stunt on Rini’s behalf as a way to get attention. Rini has acknowledged herself that this is not an isolated situation. Her experience is not any worse than those who have experienced the exact same thing. I just wish people would see that the racial slur thrown at Rini was simply not okay. Even if it was just this one fraternity brother (not representative of the entire student body), it is really important that this story is reaching a massive audience, as opposed to silence from minorities who have suffered in the same way. These stories need to be heard to prevent any further discrimination of minorities, whether they’re Indian, Asian, Black, Hispanic, etc. I don’t see Rini as having a hidden agenda, but I believe that she felt personally attacked, violated, and disgusted, which no human being should ever have to endure. Personally, I have not experienced such an atrocity in my time here at USC, but I feel better knowing that Rini is using her platform to inspire and educate people on an important issue. It could have been me that night- it could have been anyone. 

Week 4 (9/16/15)

     After our lecture about whiteness and racial formation, I had a very long conversation with one of my good friends Karly about how she is perceived as a Mexican-American. With very fair skin, I can see why people might mistake her for being of European descent, but she is most definitely 100% Mexican. When we defined whiteness in class, we discussed it as a racial formation, which produces different racial projects. Karly has experienced whiteness first-hand, without actually having any White blood. She explained to me that being perceived as white has its advantages and disadvantages. On one hand she enjoys white privilege, and on the other, she feels as if her personal experiences in the Mexican culture are devalued by others’ opinions.

            Karly told me several stories about how family and friends have perceived her by looking at her skin tone alone. Since she is the most fair of her family, they automatically assume that she will have the brightest future. In class, we talked about how whiteness is aimed at creating, and contesting, a dominant way of viewing the world, and operating in the world. Since whiteness is “the norm” in society, whites will likely not experience the same struggles as those of other races. They are the leading forces behind the construction of society’s ideals, and thus they displace the Other as abnormal. In Karly’s case, her family has been led to believe that being white will get her way farther in life, a concept that makes Karly really disappointed. Her family remarks about how lucky she is as opposed to her brother who is darker, despite the fact that their skin tones have nothing to with their skill and individuality.

            When Karly is mistaken for White a person by her peers, she often gets mixed reactions when she reveals her true ethnicity. Karly told me that most of her friends joke and call her a “white-washed” Mexican because of the color of her skin and her interests, which she understandably takes offense to because she is extremely proud of her Mexican heritage and partakes in many aspects of the culture.
     In another encounter, Karly became pretty good friends with a boy from her class who thought that she was 100% White.  When he finally learned that she is Mexican, out of shock he remarked, “there’s no way you can be Mexican, Mexicans are disgusting.” Shortly after, they were no longer friends because he did not want to be associated with a Mexican. Clearly, the fairness of one’s skin hold so much power that it affects how one sees the world as a whole. People who are not white are reduced to their bodies alone and are simply viewed as another race. Those who appear White or those who are White, are represented in all other social categories besides race. Even with a Mexican background, Karly is subject to white privilege and the backlash that comes with it. However, she is also scrutinized for being truly Mexican (her true self), which is wrong on so many levels.

Week 3 (9/12/15)

This week in class we talked about Josephine Baker and fetishism, which reminded me of a fairly recent Huffington Post interview featuring Sanaa Lathan that I read a couple weeks ago. Her film “The Perfect Guy” was released on September 11, but during the promotional period, she touched on the lack of diversity in Hollywood films. Since the beginning of Hollywood films, Black actors, although popular, were depicted as out of the ordinary and animal-like. They were never considered normal, but rather romanticized and fetishized.

Although much progress has been made regarding the lack of diversity in film, Hollywood still appears to be missing the point. It seems as if their versions of diversity are for the sake of being diverse and making the statement that they are open-minded. It is meant to give these Hollywood executives a better image, but the main motivation should be to eliminate the concept of the Other. We should be welcoming people of all different backgrounds in films because of their talent and ability to entertain, not because they make the product more diverse. Sanaa Lathan perfectly summed up this point when she remarked, “"I think Hollywood has a ways to go. Certainly in the last couple of years with 'Think Like A Man' and even recently with 'Straight Outta Compton' doing well," she said. “But I think the language needs to change, the language about ‘Oh, this is an Urban film or this is a niche film.' No, these are Hollywood films. And it's to marginalize us because it's like some kind of a freak thing that we’ve made all this money off this movie. That’s a problem for me.”

Instead of looking at films featuring Black actors as “Black movies” they should simply be viewed as Hollywood films. By categorizing movies featuring black actors, Hollywood is completely misunderstanding the meaning of diversity. People of all races are willing to watch these movies, and their numbers at the box office prove that people of all backgrounds are enjoying the film for its art and content. We need to reevaluate what it means to be diverse and give all races the same level of recognition.