The REAL "queer" theory

The most interesting part of the reading for me was learning that the "queer theory" goes much further than the study of homosexual beings. I have always assumed when hearing someone reference the queer theory that homosexuality was the only subject this theory encompassed, however, that just shows my lack of knowledge/understanding in that subject. So, Jagose explains in the reading that his definition of the "queer theory" is "an identity under construction," and I think the way she puts this is genius because it is not just simply declaring yourself a gay or a lesbian or a bisexual and researching why your actions lead you to behave that way, but instead, the queer theory allows you to look beyond gender allegiances- not looking ahead to anything specific- but rather to a "horizon of possibility." This shows that Jagose knows and understands that there is much more complexity to the study of queer interaction that goes beyond calling it "gay."

Similarly in Doty's article "Making Things Perfectly Queer," she also suggests that "queerness" has a lot to do with fantasy and politics. She says it is extremely difficult to attribute the "queerness" of popular culture to just one source, which I thought was a great point because I can't narrow it down to one thing either. Finally, Doty's discussion also parallels Jagose's theory that claiming "queerness" separates you from being a gay, bisexual, or a lesbian because she states, "to identity as a queer means to be politically radical and 'in your face' in order to paradoxically demand recognition by straight culture.

So, what I took away from this was that people are calling themselves "queer" because they feel like they don't fit into the cookie cutter lesbian, gay, bisexual category, however, they feel that they still need to define and broadcast their gender in order to be recognized in society, specifically by straight culture.

Queer Eye for the Straight Guy

SO the Queer Theory isn't anything new to me. I actually had a big section on it in one of my media and identity classes. And A lot of interesting things were said about it. The Queer theory actually arose from Foucault's power/pleasure theory. It said that homosexuality leads to fatality.
It is funny to see that in general, when people hear the term "queer Theory" they think of homosexuality and being a gay or a lesbian. But in reality, it includes much more than that. As Jagose pointed out in her article, Queer "describes those gestures or analytical models which dramatize inconherencies in the allegedly stable relations between chromosomal sex, gender, and sexual desire."

When I read this definition, a specific media identity comes to my mind; that is Jack from "Will and Grace." He is super-gay, and definitely reflects what it means not to be a heterosexual man.
But the other example that comes to my mind is the show called "The Queer eye for the Straight Guy." It is a show about a group of 5 gay men who are trying to style heterosexual men in order to improve their lives.
Below is a clip. What do you guys think? I think that shows like this, although comical, further the stereotype of what it means to be a homosexual.

Queer, or queer?

When asked to look into Queer Theory, I couldn't think of a better current example than Modern Family, which is a groundbreaking series in that it's the first network primetime show to depict a gay married couple (and a gay married couple with a daughter, at that!).

It's important to note the difference in characterization between Mitchell and Cam, including dress, speech patterns, and mannerisms. Further, this scene in particular starts out much like one would find with any pairing of new parents--the sexuality is entirely unimportant here. It isn't until the climax comes that the extreme personalities shine through, and we revert to more stereotypical depictions of gay men (at least from Cam).

Naughty by Nature? Amber Rose in Elle

In last month's issue of Elle Magazine, three female celebrities were predominately featured in seperate fashion editorials. One of these women was styled and photographed very differently from the other two. Of these three women, two are white and one is black. Can you guess which woman's editorial was not like the others?
The article "Selling Hot Pussy" by bell hooks speaks of the limited roles of black women in fashion magazines and how the "black female body gains attention only when it is synonymous with accessibility, availability when it is sexually deviant" (66). She also describes how black women are further sexualized in print and film which often "invites the gaze to mutilate black female bodies" (64) by focusing solely on their butts, which is "seen as an indication of a heightened sexuality" (63). The photographs taken of model/Kanye West's girlfriend, Amber Rose for the October issue of Elle exemplifies the statements made by hooks.
For her first "high fashion" photoshoot.Amber Rose was photographed in a hotel room The images begin with Amber sitting down, legs splayed open over an ottoman, with her back arched so her breasts point noticeably towards the camera. She is wearing large sunglasses that conceal the majority of her face. The caption "Naughty by Nature" accompanies the photo. In the next image, we see Amber in the same outfit and sunglasses, but this time she is pushing against a wall, arching her back again. This time is is her butt that is the focus of the picture. The third photograph shows a change of scenery, with Amber lying on a bed in a tiny dress, the camera positioned above her, looming over her in an all powerful way. The last picture in Rose's fashion spread, depicts her looking out a window, in a thong bodysuit; her face is turned away from the camera entirely. Rose's pictorial is especially interesting when viewed against the two other (white) female celebrities featured in the issues fashion spreads. Not only are they shown in more clothing but in they are also in softer lighting and less provacative positions. In the essay "What if Black Women Were White Women?" the author attributes many stereotypes and cliches usually associated with black women to white women and vise-versa in order to show how easily physical differences connote different perceptions. This strongly figures into how images are presented. Black women are often stereotyped as hard, ghetto, or primitive/exotic so it is rare to see black women being shown in a way that highlights softness or sensuality rather than sexual or animalistic.

Here are the photos from the Amber Rose Elle shoot along with the shots of the two other celebrities, Victoria Beckham and Diane Kruger, in the October issue:

Diane Kruger: Victoria Beckham

Ms. New Booty

The video above is for Bubba Sparx's song, Ms. New Booty, which from the sound of the title, is about butts. In the very beginning of the video, it shows Bubbas Sparx and a salesman endorsing a product that turns normal women into sexy women. With this magic product, they become more sexified and they shake their butts.

Similar in Hook's article, the women in the audience of the music think that the only way to become sexy is to have nice butts. There is a special emphasis on getting the perfect butt; perfect butt equals sexy and happy.

As Bubba Sparx claims, they have to "get it right and get it tight" to be sexy.

"The protruding butt is an indication of a heightened sexuality." Indeed, this can be said about a majority of hip-hop and rap songs. Most of these songs nowadays exploit female body parts and in many of the music videos (Bubbas Sparx's just one of many), black women are used as extras functioning as dancers and nothing else.

The Fabulous Ms. Davis

I just got back from an incredible performance so I might be pushing this point a little far and perhaps making a connection where there isn't one, but in reading the Hooks article and spending the week with the performance artist Ms. Vaginal "Creme" Davis I've been thinking about representations of black women a lot. Hooks who is a black woman and Ms. Davis who often dresses like one, are both interested in sociological models and media representations of their respective associations. But while Hook's method is highly intellectual and highly confrontational, Davis' tends to be more subtle and subversive.

Rather than being critical of the racially-gendered issues Hook takes on with words, Davis has created a number of alter-egos (specifically for media outlets) which work to simultaneously acknowledge (i.e. Fertile LeToya Jackson) and defuse (i.e the fan, her "victorian" gestures) these heated issues. As a man (nearly 6'7') it's difficult to contextualize the scope of her critique, but as is often said of her "her penis doesn't make her any less of a woman"

An Icon for Black Sexuality

The first thing that came to mind after reading Hooks' article, "Selling Hot Pussy," is that I couldn't help but think that this is exactly why African Americans are considered to be such a hyper-sexualized culture. One of the most significant quotes that stuck out to me was, "it is the black female body that is forced to serve as an icon for black sexuality in general" (Hook 62). Why is there so much pressure put on the female body? Why not the male's body? This is why black women are praised for having a "fat ass" and "juicy thighs" and all in all it just disgusts me. I feel like a women's body should be something beautiful and natural, not something that should be exploited so it can be gawked at by horny guys.

Hook specifically looked at the black girl's butt as being "a protruding symbol seen as an indication of heightened sexuality" (63). I thought this magazine cover was a great example of the heightened emphasis society evidently puts on the black girl's butt. This is a magazine called "KING" that is a very popular magazine about being in "shape," however as you can see it has a very pornographic pull toward it. Here the black butt is the biggest object on the cover, there is no writing or image scrolling across it like on other parts of her body. It is clearly the point of focus in the article because the model's breasts are almost completely covered, and she is having her butt do all of the suggestive advertising. Hook would argue that since she has such a volumptuous butt that this makes her more sexually desired and therefore gives her more power.

I do not agree with this because I don't like the idea of sexuality giving you power, and I really don't like the idea of female bodies being exploited in this matter-even though they commonly are in society. But, nevertheless, this is an example of our reading. I'd also like to note that I think if this were a white girl with this much butt showing on a non pornographic magazine cover it would be much less acceptable in our society because it is not the norm in dominant white culture for a female's body, specifically her butt, to serve as the icon for sexuality. We also use a lot more men to represent sex too, while it is much less commonly seen in black culture.

I like big butts...

I'm sorry... I couldn't help myself. I was just reading Hooks' article, and the part about the "butts" of black women... and I couldn't stop myself from posting this video that we all probably know oh-so-well. But it also just fits in soo perfectly.

Black Female Sexuality as a Commodity: "Gold Digger"

In her essay, “Selling Hot Pussy,” bell hooks asserts that “popular culture provides coutless examples of black female appropriation and exploitation of ‘negative stereotypes’” (65). I feel that this is definitely true in the popular music industry, with black female artists exploiting their own sexualities and male artists (black and white) exploiting black female sexualities to “reap the benefits” of such stereotypes (65).

Immediately, the music video for Kanye West’s “Gold Digger” comes into mind. In the video, it exposes female sexualities as a commodity. In the video, there are only black females, wearing lingerie and moving sexuality, with “emphasis on [their] butts” (64). I think the whole song makes a commentary of how black female sexuality is solely used for “sexual service for money and power, [where] pleasure is secondary” (69).

Here is the video:

parody of lady gaga bad romance

i just found this and think its adorable and hysterical...we were just talking about the bad romance lady gaga..what do we think of this ;)

Black Women & Music

When I read Hook's article I immediately thought about contemporary music and how black women specifically are portrayed. With all the glamour and fame that some artists have attained, such as Beyonce and Rihanna, they still reiterate some of the degrading stereotypes that have been associated with black women over the years. As Hook claims there has been a great "fascination with black butts" (p.63), which has been heavily seen primarily in music. The women are always wearing skimpy clothing, extremely revealing and accentuating the behind area as well as their breasts. They are extremely hypersexualized in the rapper videos. Hook states that the women are associated with being accessible, available and sexually deviant (p. 66). I was recently listening to some new music and there happens to be a new Beyonce song out with Lady Gaga. There are two collaborations done with them and Beyonce's version is titled "Videophone." In this song, she is wearing very sexual and revealing outfits, but what stood out to me the most were her song lyrics. They say, "if you want me, you can see me on your videophone...press record, baby film me." She continues to sing this along with Lady Gaga and struts around with her sexy dance moves. Now Beyonce is the ultimate stunning. I love her. I think she is one of the most talented vocalists in the music industry today. Now, with that said, she is known for her curvy body and her behind, but it has always been looked at from her as a positive image, which I believe it is. But I'm curious to know the mixed messages she is now sending with her lyrics of "press record, baby film me." She is really promoting sex. I know sex sells and all that jazz, but it's interesting to think about whether or not she is sending mixed messages.

Here's the video:

My Precious

Both of these pieces were definitely, um, interesting to read - especially Alienation's blog post, "What if Black Women Were White Women?", which I felt was both drastic and reasonably argued. It seems that Alienation focuses more on stereotypes as they exist in general American culture, while bell hooks analyzes various media texts in order to prove the point that "popular culture provides countless examples of black female appropriation and exploitation of "negative stereotypes" to either assert control over the representation or at least reap the benefit of it" (65).

Over the weekend, I saw the movie Precious, and realized that the film addresses some of Alienation's musings. Throughout the film, the audience gets a glimpse into what Precious is thinking about, which includes her deepest ambitions. In one specific example (which doesn't give anything away, I promise) Precious is shown getting ready for school, brushing her hair in front of the mirror. As she is looking into the mirror, the reflecting image turns into that of a conventionally beautiful white woman with long blonde hair and a wide smile on her face. Precious smiles back as if she is imagining herself as having these aspirational qualities.


Above: A Pensive Precious

For me, this particular scene was pretty powerful in the movie. But I guess that pretty much all of the scenes were powerful. Anyways, this part specifically demonstrates the unequal of the black female image with that of the white female. I feel like Alienation is simply pointing out some of the more minor effects of dominant ideologies that most don't really consider, or want to consider.

How Many Licks

From previous class discussions, especially when we read Andi Zeisler's piece, we've talked about how more and more female entertainers have chosen the route of exploiting their sexuality in order to gain more fame and popularity. However, singer/rapper, Lil' Kim, was able to take this to a whole new level, making Hannah Montana's pole slide look like a polite curtsey. With her explicit lyrics, racy music videos, and near-to-nothing wardrobe, Lil' Kim appeared to be inviting all the guys for a sampling of what she had to offer sexually.

"Since black female sexuality has been represented in racist/sexist iconography as more free and liberated, many black women singers, irrespective of the quality of their voices, have cultivated an image which suggests they are sexually available and licentious.....the black female gody gais attention only when it is synonymous with accessibility, availability, when it is sexually deviant" (Hooks, 65-66).

Let's be honest, we probably wouldn't even know who Lil' Kim was if she hadn't presented herself as the sexual seductress that she is. Do you think she would have been able to get away with her sexually charged lyrics if she were white?

Below is Lil' Kim's video for "How Many Licks." No lie, the immature 6th grader within me came out and I started to blush upon watching this.

Lil Kim feat Sisqo - how many licks
Uploaded by dozer-r. - Watch more music videos, in HD!

Intersectionality

This Alienation post seems to rub me the wrong way... While I get the merit of the "put yourself in my shoes" argument, it seems as if this might not be the best way to persuade an audience to listen to an issue one might be passionate about. As Dominika posted earlier, this definitely reinforced the stereotypes associated with both white and black women, but made it's point by using positive language when speaking about black women and negative language when speaking about white women. Rather than actually confronting the stereotypes and problematizing them, it confronted the perception of and reaction to the stereotypes. In my opinion, this is treating the symptoms to cure the disease.

Although both articles seemed to be striving for similar ends, the bell hooks piece seemed much more level headed to me, actually looking at portrayals of black women in media and discussing what those representations mean. In discussing Tina Turner, hooks seems to realize what about Turner's representation of herself ("beating men at their own game," as if the male game is the only one to beat) is problematic. It seems like both women wish the view of black women as exotic hyper-sexual beings to end, I think it is through doing what hooks does, combing through media and finding what is problematic and addressing it, is more effective than taking wide swings stereotypes.

[insert witty picture here]

Hair Issues

I found Hook’s article extremely interesting and yet saddening in the way that the “black female body is forced to serve as an icon for black sexuality in general” (62). Their bodies are exploited and not only are their butts seen as an indication of heightened sexuality but nowadays, so are their hair. Black women are not viewed as sexually desirable unless they cover their natural, curly locks with man made and synthetic wigs and weaves as “long hair evokes wildness, a sense of the ‘natural’ world,” (70). It is saddening that black women feel the need to hide their real hair and adopt “white girl” hair in order to feel beautiful. This whole issue is discussed on the Tyra Banks show (the clip is below). One woman proudly exclaims that she has “the white girl flow” in her hair, and nother woman says that her straighter hair looks “more professional”. If they themselves cannot accept the nature of their natural hair, how can society come to accept it as beautiful if it’s always hidden underneath a wig or weave?

Here is the clip:

And here is the clip of Tyra Banks real hair (which really doesn’t look bad at all, so I don’t understand why she is always hiding it):

 

However, by changing their hair and adopting long, straight weaves are they further reinforcing their image of sexualized icons and by adopting the same style of hair as white people are they simply “obscuring and erasing the possibility of any assertion of black power?” (71). On the other hand, if they do not conform to society’s standards of beautiful hair will they have no representation in the media? Hook’s article mentions that in clothing catalogs, such as J.Crew, they would often choose bi-racial or fair skinned black women who had blonde or light brown hair when they did include darker skinned models. What do you guys think?  

Bootylicious and Good Hair

Intersectionality deals with the different levels and aspects of discrimination dependently constructing a category. Both articles describe the racist + sexist point of view mass media generally takes on, including the implications that whites are the standard, the norm, upon which all other people are compared to/deviate from.

I really can't think of specific examples other than Destiny's Child's word [that they popularized] that is part of the modern lexicon: bootylicious. Maybe it's because the girl group who sang this song was a group of black females, but this word connotes a black woman's big butt and her delicious body, words that aren't really associated with white women, unless it's being compared to.

And not to be jumping around, but hook's article mentioned the black woman's hair, and I thought of Chris Rock's recent documentary Good Hair. I wanted to see it when it was released in the IFC theater but I'm so behind on films.. It looks like a really interesting movie that was inspired by Chris Rock's own daughter who questioned her hair, because it wasn't like the other girls', and so this explains the story and desire for "good hair"...

An afterthought: here's a photo I wanted to add that isn't about the black female, but this is Lebron James on the cover of Vogue (which has been compared to the King Kong poster), and I'd like to mention that black women aren't the only "wild" ones depicted in media..

White<-->Black ?

For centuries, images like this one, have been considered THE NORM. The white women, with their slender bodies, blond hair, and blue eyes were seen as perfection in the eyes of the white males in charge. The black women were seen as overweight, and often their role was subservient to the white females.

I really liked the idea that Alienation took in the blog post "What if Black women were White women?" I thought that the idea itself, to turn the roles that each type of women is considered to inhibit was genius. I think that the blog post did a great job presenting what it would be if white women were taken by the society the way that black women are, and vice versa. I definitely believe that this blog post presented a new perspective to this racial debate, that we might nto necessarily consider otherwise.

However, one thing stroke me with this post. As I was reading it, I realized that instead of fighting the stereotypes that are still persistent in our society, it actually reinforced it. I thought that by saying what would white women be like if they were what black women are today, the blog post literally described, and furthered the stereotypes that today's world has about the black women. And vice versa. When the post described what the life of black women would be like if they were considered the way that white women are treated and perceived today, it described the stereotypical image of the white women, and did not consider the reality as it is. Hmmm... I'm not sure if what I am saying is 100% clear... I guess maybe I'll try to explain it in class somehow???




Finally... I came across this picture, that appeared as a main point of discussion on this blog, and I found it extremely interesting. I automatically thought of the commodification of the female body, and of the prevailing ideologies of the female beauty that our society upholds. The white, blond female is considered perfection in the world we live in. And I just found it extremely ironic, that a person like Beyonce, who is always proud of her body, and is not afraid to show it off, would agree to make her appearance look "so white" in this L'Oreal add, instead of trying to show off her beauty. Any thoughts?

"What do BRAINS have to do with it?"

Hooks’ article explained the dismembered body image that is placed upon black females today. Defined by their thick lips and full buttocks, black women are stereotypes as hyper-sexualized, savage beings that are good for one thing only (sex obviously).

Hooks focuses on a few mediated texts like the book, turned movie, The Native Son. Hooks’ analysis of the movie uncovered the lack of value that white people place on the bodies of black females. In the movie, the black character’s (Bessie) body is quickly discarded and expendable, especially when compared to that of the white character’s body. Hooks explains that this image is a “pornographic fantasy” where the black female is seen a “wild sexual savage emerged from the impact of a white patriarchal controlled media shaping its perceptions of reality, (67)” is either passively absorbed by black females or actively resisted. Those who absorb and take pride in this degrading image are the black females found in rap or hip-hop videos.

The women found within the video, the “Thong Song” is subjected to nothing more than moving body parts. In some scenes, the face of the “hip-hop model” is even cut out of the shot. These “hip-hop models” actively support this degrading depiction as it makes them successful within the black community

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHVuWuv5ZFQ

(for some reason, it embedding was disabled, we probably all remember the video anyways)

As the idea that successful black males are either rappers or athletes continues to be reinforced by society, these “hip-hop models” will continue to find satisfaction and fulfillment in what they do. Like the black female characters mentioned in the film, Passion of Remembrance, they see “pleasure and delight with themselves,” as they make it big with the other members of their society.

It goes without saying that different races generally find different attributes attractive from one another. There are some things that transcend race--studies show that the ideal face is symmetrical, and so on. When looking at body type, there are huge discrepancies among many of the common races seen in America. Among Caucasians, the all-American girl is generally deemed ideal: tall, skinny, blonde, blue eyed, large breasts, etc. After all, that essentially describes Barbie dolls. Asians are similar in that petite women are traditionally thought of as the best. Each of these examples stands in sharp contrast to African American and Hispanic / Latino women, who are typically larger. In each example, women with "curves" are frequently preferable to the Dove using flat assed counterparts described in the Alienated Conclusions blog.

Thus, it isn't all that surprising that some incredibly popular music released by the black community glorifies women with fat asses, to put it bluntly--their art represents their ideals. We've come a long way from the age of Josephine Baker and the routines described in "Selling Hot Pussy": "she handled it as though it were an instrument, a rattle, something apart from herself that she could shake." Still, in both of the videos below, black women are still doing just that.

Portrayal of Black Women

The advertisement shown above is a perfect example of the point made in the article on Alienated Conclusions "'If' Black Women Were White Women." To the general audience, this advertisement just appears to be another provocative ad sexing up two models for the use of publicity. But when taking the Alienated Conclusions article into account, it perfectly fits into the white supremacist mindset that is clearly described with the role reversal of white and black women. This ad also mirrors Iman's nude photo discussed in Hooks' article in that it "looks as though she is ready to stand on any street corner and turn a trick, or worse yet, as though she just walked off on of the pages of Players."  The ad depicts the white women as a pure and "worthy of protection and instantly becomes the object of desire." It can be argued that both of the women are naked under the trench coat, but ultimately it is the black woman who's back is towards the camera and is flashing the man. This represents her as "animalistic and sexually deviant," and is even described as "naughty." Furthermore, her face seems like she is all about having fun and lacks the seriousness that is portrayed on the white woman's face. This can also be compared to the example given in "Selling Hot Pussy" that described the black female as "there to entertain guests with the naked image of otherness. They are not to look at her as a human being....They were reduced to a spectacle." In contrast, the white woman has a strong and powerful stance, facing the camera: a portrayal that she is dominant in the picture. Further analyzation of the ad supports the article's claims that black women are portrayed as oversexed, are "culturally approved of sexual objectification, and that an unconcealed acceptance of discrimination" is apparent. This ad and other ads depicting this racial hierarchy greatly influence the representation and intersectionality of black women. Through the repetition of these images, society has created its ideology of black and white women.