on heteronormativity...

For my blog today, I was instructed to analyze advertisements for “heteronormativity.”  What exactly is heteronormativity? Well, let’s break down the word to see what we get.

First, we have “hetero.”  This part of the word tells us that heterosexuality is the default.  The idea that a man must be attracted to a woman is very evident in our society.  Next, we have “normativity.”  This is the idea that it is the norm.  When you put the two together we have our definition: the norm in society is heterosexuality.  Because of this, we have this idea that the norm triumphs over all, and anything else is not really a part of “real” society.

When looking for an advertisement, I went straight to the publication Maxim.  I figured that it would be this best available to illustrate heteronormativity.  Little did I know that when I found the advertisement I was looking for, I had also seen it in a recent issue of Playboy.  The ad I found was one by the smokeless tobacco manufacturer “Grizzly.”  The ad states very plainly: “YOU WILL NEVER DATE A GIRL IN THIS MAGAZINE.”

This simple statement clearly promoted the idea of heteronormativity.  It does this through the placement of the ad.  Advertisers are very smart.  They place there product into certain places in an attempt to reach their target audience.  Because these magazines target young, heterosexual males, this ad plays on the societal norm that a man is always attracted to a female.  By playing on the insecurities of young males searching for the approval of women, the ad also earns its tag line at the bottom: “Tellin’ it like it is.”  This statement insinuates that males are different than females based on how they receive and transmit information.  A normal man is straightforward and doesn’t beat around the bush when getting to the point.  A normal man is interested in women and purchases magazines and such that portray women in a certain light.  Just a simple reading of Maxim reiterates this fact. 

The only question that I have is: why?  Are advertisers simply going after their target audience?  Or, are they replicating societal standards that are needed when living in a capitalist nation?  Because you know what your job is in such a society: get married, make babies, and produce more consumers for the economy.

policing of masculinity in hip hop...

For today’s entry I was asked to explore how we, as a society, police masculinity.  However, to understand how we police it, we must first understand our definition of masculine.  In American culture, boys are ingrained from a very young age on what is and isn’t “manly.”  We construct a “box” that defines our view of what is masculine and attempt to fit men in that box.   

When a man acts to “feminine” society is allowed to ridicule that individual until they conform to our rigid views.  When doing this, we expose our own motivations as to why we devalue certain groups.  Boys will call each other “fag,” “sissy,” “girly,” and “retarded,” just to name a few.  In doing so, they are devaluing entire segments of our society; whether intentional or not.  This creates a “ranking system” about masculinity that we put far too much value in. 

At the top of the list is the idea of “hegemonic masculinity.”  This is our ideal man.  He is white, heterosexual, strong, holds influence over others and is able to control his emotions.  But why are we putting such definitions on what it is to be a man?  Is masculinity merely black and white?  Or is it possibly a spectrum on which all people can be placed?

Based on these ideas, gay men, the disabled and women are the furthest things from “masculine.”  Hence, why we degrade those we don’t feel are being manly enough by using these insults.  But these insults do not only affect males, they affect the entire population that we degrade by using terms like this.

 

This weekend, as I was riding around in my car, I thought about the policing of masculinity while listen to rappers “diss” one another.  Over various songs, it was clear to me that this is a very clear form of policing one another.  Each verse was used only to degrade one another through the use of sexist and homophobic comments.  Here are two videos to help illustrate my point:

 

Both of these songs use incredibly graphic and vulgar language to ridicule and emasculate each other.  The constant use of sexist and homophobic imagery helps to show that being masculine is a more desirable trait than femininity.  Using this type of language further propagates the marginalization of other groups of society.  This only helps to reinforce the idealized version of masculinity that society begs us to uphold.  The only question is, why?  Why do we hold ourselves up to an image that can neither be attained, nor even existed in the first place?

privilege in society...

For today’s entry, I have been asked to look at privileges that I have been afforded by society simply because I am considered the default.  By default, I mean that I am a white, heterosexual male.  I will list a few of these, and examine them at the same time.

1.  I can walk into any store and not be followed around simply because of my race.

             

When I go to any store, I am only seen as a consumer.  I am not suspected of being out of the ordinary because of the way that I look.  I am considered the typical member of society, one who will peruse the grounds and report to the register when I have decided what I want to buy.  It is easy for me to get help with any of my purchases, as I am only seen as a consumer and nothing else.  This allows me to not contemplate whether I am   being discriminated against and leads me not to focus on this subject.

2.  I know that I can buy a house, and my skin color will not lead others to believe I am single-handedly lowering real estate value.

            

 Because I am seen as the “norm” I will probably have easier access to home loans.  People will actually look at my credit score versus my skin color when considering me for loans.  I will get a better APR than those of color.  I have access to the best of homes, loans, rates, schools, and government services.  And if somehow these things are not available to me, I do not worry that my race may have had something to do with it.

3.  I can get married to the one I love in any jurisdiction in America.

            

 I am a heterosexual.  Therefore, there are no amendments to any state or federal constitution that denies me the right to marry who I want.  I do not have to settle for a civil union, domestic partnership or anything that falls under the “everything but marriage” category.  Nobody that I do not know has a say in this.  I am not persecuted against nor denied any rights simply because of my sexual orientation.

These are just a few of the privileges that I am afforded as a white, heterosexual male.  To be honest, it is strange when I think that people actually do have to deal with these things.  Because I have never had to, it just doesn’t really register for me.  Truth is, it pays to be considered the default.  But is that the lesson that I would want to pass down to my children?  Absolutely not.  I would want my children to judge people because of their character, not something as superficial like skin color, orientation or ability.

As a send-off, I'll leave you with some humor... Enjoy!

analyzing stories of racial inequality in music...

For my assignment in Sociology 480, I decided to post this blog.  This blog is about the struggles and inequalities minorities face in contemporary American society.  I decided to analyze six songs and interpret their commentary about race, class, education, life, etc.  I have included all six songs on this post for your listening enjoyment.  Some contain explicit language; not only in word choice, but in the depiction of life.  After each song, I will comment on the narration and give my views about what the author is trying to say about the world we live in.  Enjoy!

Dead Prez  – “W-4”

In this song, the group Dead Prez illustrate what daily life feels like to them.  Overworked and underpaid, a feeling of hopelessness emanates from the speakers and into the mind of the listener.  The first verse places you in the mind set of a young black seeking employment.  The issues that are faced are a glimpse at discrimination on the most basic of levels.  If one cannot get a job, how is one supposed to support themselves?  The basic essentials for living are not free and can be taken away at any given moment.  This can be a tool used to perpetuate the cycle of poverty.  This is further illustrated in the second verse where the author relates that their employment is not able to provide the upward mobility needed to escape poverty, but merely passed down through the generations.  Because of this, his seed can never excel at anything, and is shoved into a menial job.  The author also relates that the only way out of his situation is one of four options: rapping, sports, drugs or death.  By placing his struggle in this context, the author conveys to the listener the seriousness of the situation at hand.  But how can one break this cycle?  Many feel that greater access to higher, and even high school, education can help.  However, many resources are not available in urban communities and emphasis on the costs of school leave many wondering if they were even meant to escape in the first place.  I feel that this song does an amazing job explaining how work inequality affects everything in a person’s life, and even has ramifications that ripple into the future.

 

IAME – “Unlikely Candidate”

This tune hits a little closer to home as it is written by IAME, a Portland, OR native and local hip hop artist.  He examines the history of Vanport City, finding numerous flaws in the way the government handled the flooding and eventual abandonment of the city based on racial ideals.  This has been related to the handling of Hurricane Katrina’s impact on impoverished areas in the Gulf Coast.  This reminds me of the term “racism with a smile.”  By allowing a natural disaster to eliminate the lowest class of society, the government can capitalize without being forced to use policy that could be deemed biased towards a group of people.  Another issue IAME brings up is the existence of gentrification.  He explains that just because he wants to “brighten up the block” doesn’t mean he wants to “whiten up the block.”  Gentrification has been used in poor neighborhoods to push out the lower class and raise the value of homes and businesses in the area.  But where are the people we push out allowed to go?  By raising the cost of living in a certain area, we merely push the areas of poverty to another area.  This could be seen as a modern interpretation of redlining and blockbusting.

 

Lupe Fiasco – “American Terrorist”

If I wanted to, I honestly could have written this assignment based entirely on works by Lupe Fiasco.  His insight and ability to weave a story is absolutely incredible.  Being a conscious hip hop artist, Lupe constantly dives into social commentary about anything he feels he can relate to; which is apparently almost everything!  In this song, Lupe focuses on the perceptual inequalities that we have about one another.  We live a life based on stereotypes that are presented daily through the aggressive animal that is the media.  Stereotypes are constantly reinforced through advertising, television shows, movies, music and various other outlets.  Lupe compels the listener to take a step back and look at what we are doing to each other when we force labels and socially constructed ideals on one another.  He contrasts different religions to show that we are all capable of horrific things.  If one is unaware of our capability, one needs not look further than the history of the United States.  It makes me think of the idea of alternative history, or the history of the oppressed.  It really is true that to the victor go the spoils, and those spoils are the writing of history itself.  Also, listen closely to the bridge in this song where he speaks of the plight of Asian, African and Native Americans.  Sometimes we need to be smacked in the face with the way we have treated others if we ever want to advance as a society.

 

2 Pac – “Changes”

If anyone ever mentions hip hop, two names are instantly brought to mind:  Biggie Smalls and Tupac Shakur.  Essentially hailed as the two greatest rap artists of all time, they also provide very provocative glimpses into a life that can be confusing if never experienced.  In 2 Pac’s song “Changes,” he explains struggles faced and what society needs to do to face the ills it has wrought and begin to mend relationships.  To be honest, there really is nothing for me to say about this.  I cannot comment further on what Tupac has stated in this song.  It needs to be experienced the way it was meant to be: through intense listening and critical thought.  What is the result Tupac is searching for in his lyrics?  Change, understanding and the willingness to move forward without repeating the mistakes of yesterday.  

"We gotta make a change...
It's time for us as a people to start makin' some changes.
Let's change the way we eat, let's change the way we live
And let's change the way we treat each other.
You see the old way wasn't working so it's on us to do
What we gotta do, to survive." - Tupac Shakur

Nas – “I Can”

Known for his gritty renditions of urban life, Nas has become a cornerstone in the world of hip hop.  In this song, he lectures the youth on the importance of education and believing that you can be anything you want to be.  Although there are many issues that face minority children, Nas truly wants to inspire them to become better than what they have been brought up in.  As I learned in “Waiting for Superman,” inequalities in the educational system exist in many poor, urban areas.  But what is the point of this?  I believe it is to perpetuate the lower class.  Society needs more workers who will just shut up, do their job and go home.  We don’t want innovative ideas or solutions to problems.  We need the economy to continue rolling forward, crushing the backs of workers as CEO’s and businessmen rake in the profits.  Something is pervasively wrong with this scenario.  Instead of insulting and harming our workforce, we should be building pride in it.  We should be offering chances for those at the bottom to advance; whether in that particular field or another.  We should be offering education as a way to build on successes achieved.  But we don’t.  Either because we don’t want to, or because we are simply ignorant to the plight of the common man.

Rage Against The Machine – “Bulls on Parade”

For my last song, I decided to spice things up a little bit and throw in something one can jump in a mosh pit to.  RATM is a very political band to say the least.  This band is even on the radar of the FBI after its inclusion of part of a memo in its song "Wake Up."  In a nation that has the freedom of speech, I find this very disturbing.  There are two very fine points I feel they are trying to convey with this song.  The first is contained in the second verse when they discuss libraries.  To “dumb down” its own population, the government needs to restrict access to information.  As the artist puts it: “they don’t gotta burn the books, they just remove them.”  I think this makes a very poignant statement about the educational system in America.  It is quite obvious in poor areas that the schools are not doing so well.  Without money and resources to educate our children, we are setting them up for failure.  The second point I find interesting is the pre-chorus: “Rally ‘round the family, with a pocket full of shells.”  By using such a strong image, RATM is conveying that oppression is present in every aspect of our lives, especially crime.  The recent class discussions have opened my eyes to enormous problems within the American judicial system, and this is honestly sickening.

Well, there you go.  This concludes my blog post analyzing and interpreting various songs for meanings related to racial inequality.  I hope you enjoyed reading and listening as much as I did.  As a final goodbye, here is another song by Lupe Fiasco.  The idea is meant to poke fun about my initial confusion regarding “alternative history.”  I actually thought it was about “what if” scenarios such as “What if the Nazi’s had won World War II?”  Well, I was wrong.  However, this song does offer a different view on the world and helps me pose this final question: Why can’t it be?