I remember an experience with my father when I first moved to residence. One of the RA’s was gay but upon meeting, my father liked him and thought he was the cat’s meow, when he found out he was gay his response was ‘he didn’t seem like the type.’ Ummm, what type? the essentialized ’flamer’ of gay… somehow in order to take on the identity of gay you must fit the stereotyped identity. I feel the same way with nationality. I tell people I am native and they say they same thing ‘oh you don’t seem like the type’ or they start to ask about my percentage of blood, like there is something essentially different about my blood that is ‘native’. Why do minorities have to fit the majorities stereotypes in order to ‘seem authentic’.

Here is another way to look at it. If a 3rd generation Canadian tells me they are Irish and then proceeds to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day do I rigiorously question how much blood quanity they are and then dismiss them calling them ‘not really Irish’ and demand they fit a stereotype for me to accept them? or I could do this with German, Polish, French, Indian… so why is it okay for people to do that to me or other humans who must fit the majorities stereotypes?

The problem is essentializing categories is a paradox; one one hand you want to take up that identity in order to take up space in the social sphere and be recognized. one the other hand you limit yourself because then you must live up to the stereotypes of these essential qualities. What’s worse is that these identities become pan-perspectives where every gay person is expected to be the same and think the same.

SO should every Irish person think the same and look the same and act the same? No, then why is fisting the definitive and operative way a gay person would be viewed?

I understand Butler’s gender trouble, as from my previous post “Free-Lance Conscious Raiser”, when I troubled my gender very much. However, like Butler points out these gender troublings are still working within the binary opposition categories. I was still rejecting ‘femininity’ to take up ‘masculinity’ and still thinking in terms of binaries to make sense of my world. How do we de-gender? How do we let go and become people?

First, what Ingram is talking about by offering percentages based upon what roles women appear in on television should scare you. I notice things like this often, like the shift work commericals for employment really calling out to women b/c they are more likely to low-ball themselves and work them or they are the primary caregivers and need a job flexible to work around their schedule.

Now, this is effecting men as well (I couldn’t leave you guys out) as any man that wants to work participate in these ‘private sphere’ house acitivities, which are strictly being advertised as female roles, are going to be ridiculed for deviating from their roles as ‘men’.  And then we teach our children these gender roles (or the television does it for us) and they re-create their own compliance or resistance to these norms. Does anyone else see the systematic effects?

This is a people issue. Thinking in terms of the binary opposition or dualism is a kick in the pants to everyone. Granted, men have been the holders of power and in a lot of areas still do, but it is a certain type of man and it is damanging those of us who do not fit into the mold.

Now, how can women feel liberated and empowered (and claim feminism or the struggle for equality is over) when gender perscribed roles and stereotypes of men being smarter or better than women (based on her identity consistently being linked her sexuality and reproduction) are still being perpetuated. And how do men feel about being portrayed in these manners? I mean do men feel influened to feel they are smarter than their spourses when these types of ideas are perpetuated? and another thing, how do men feel when their expectations of being ’smarter’ than women is let down b/c it is absurb to base intelligence on gender. Ron Burgundy Anyone?

“I’m a man who discovered the wheel and built the Eiffel Tower out of metal and brawn. That’s what kind of man I am. You’re just a woman with a small brain. With a brain a third the size of us. It’s science.” – RON BURGUNDY

Anyways, the point I am trying to arrive at is if women are so equal than why are we still being portrayed as sex objects, who are overemotional and lack and real rationality. Why are these stereotypes still being promoted, especially when women are some of the largest consumers when they actively buy the products being sold to them to create femininity? And another thing, I thought equality was about difference not sameness! I thought it was about recognizing that different perspectives and ideas do exist and we should respect them for being different, not try to change them by creating sameness.

Thoughts?

Now on the other hand, like every other one of my female friends, I love Mario Cart and Dr. Mario. Nothing does it for me more than zoning out to a nice game or Tetris on my cell phone. So there are games I do enjoy, but they do not center my life. Nor do I need rehab for them or stay up until all hours of the night: which is cool but not if it is clearly becoming an addiction.

So instead of being completely subject and lacking self-awareness I began to think about why I don’t like video games. Well, I start by thinking about WHO video games are created for and who they are marketed to. I started doing some more reading and as it turns out an article in Game Zone show:

“males between 14 and 28 are the primary console game market” (Game Zone, 2000)

and Sony Playstation targets 16 years old age category, with Nintendo targeting 12 year old boys, girls between 12-14, and families who like to play. This explains why I like Mario, as Nintendo creates a niche for females.

Then I think about Laura Croft. Turns out that even though some females feel empowered by the character, well that was not the intention of Edios (the company). In Final Fantasies: Virtual Women’s Bodies. Feminist Theory, 4(1): 51-72 by Laura Fantone we are shown an editorial statement given by Tricia Gray (PR for Edios Interactive):

The Lara Croft image that was supposed to come across to people was: here you

have a woman with a nice body, but she likes getting dirty, climbing mountains,

killing predators, finding treasure. It was like guys were infatuated with
Indiana

Jones, so they made a female version of him to suffice their manly needs. . . . This

was supposed to be the all around perfect woman for the creators. A beautiful,

wealthy, tomboyish woman you can control, make her move, jump, run, kill.

(Fantone, 2003, p. 66)

And I thought the problem was me. Turns out the game was never made for me or has anything to do with me. It actually is about the ideal girlfriend that men would enjoy ‘controlling’. So if the company is clearly showing an example of the ways games are targeted to men, well I feel a-okay with saying I don’t like most video games.

I find it especially interesting how the creators of video games and those who created the internet are/were men, but women take these technologies up and make them theirs. I understand it is great for women to have agency with technology, but isn’t there more diversity within the group of people who create such techonologies?

I don’t really identify with this Laura Croft:

Maybe with this one:

I feel like my creative side went down the toilet when I started becoming more serious about my education. I used to love music and had it on all the time. I used to write about really useless things that made my head spin. I used to play guitar and enjoyed seeing my oodles and oddles of friends out for drinks. Now it feels like they have to drag me out to even see them. 

I must admit I really miss smoking, damn the tobacco companies, quiting was by far the hardest thing I have ever done. But I loved the chain smoking and coffee while staying up late to hash things out with friends or at the computer with myself. Or just the joy to smoke and think by myself in the sun. Grrr, now it smells gross and tastes worse.

I wonder where my fun side went? If you see it please let me know.

I remember in gym class when I was 9 some boy called me the typical and oh-so creative insult for a female: fat. It had never dawned on me before that my body was something that didn’t match up. Sadly, this was the first in the sequences of messages I would hear telling me that my body needed to fit an ideal.

Since advertising is everywhere it makes sense to turn off the television and avoid the commericals. What Friedrich says in “All of your insecurities wrapped up in a 30 second spot” is very true. The advertisements call out to people who it will affect, and like the example given (tampons) there exists so many body issues that can reach at least half the population.

Now what does the resistance to these ideals look like? Well the Dove Campaigns for realy beauty and the ‘pro age’ advertisments that are arriving. But is this really resistance if they are still trying to get you to buy a product that calls out to the ‘real’ you? Dove is still saying that beauty must be managed and their product can do it while building your self-esteem back up. It is good to have resistance, but it still prepetuates the myth of beauty and consumerism.

As for women being active in advertisment. Well it happens, usually in birth control or pregnancy commerical, but note that these active participation seem to be linked to our sexuality or reproduction. Have you ever seen an active empowering commerical for women and computers? or women and cars? I personally have not, the car commericals I see with women are usually linked to mini-vans – why, b/c once again women are defined in relation to their reproduction: minivans=children.

To be honest, I used to not have cable and I was much more productive. As for the commericals, I am very critical when it comes to them. I really wish i wasn’t sometimes, but I am always thinking about the norms that are being projected and it somehow makes me feel better. However, these ideals are so engrained in my psyche that a commerical is merely a reminder. I don’t think that we can ‘re-socialize’ ourselves to get rid of them being there, really we can just minimalize their impacts on how we live and purchase.

I think my all time favorite song would be Milk – Kings of Leon but I must admit I am a big Peaches fan. I liked ‘Teaches of Peaches’ but I fell in love with her after ‘Fatherfucker’… I haven’t bought the new cd ‘Impeach my Bush’ as it isn’t as good as the second album. I also really like Against Me’s ‘Reinventing Axl Rose’. I like a bit of everything, yes even country.

Anywho here is the link for Milk,
http://download.yousendit.com/E27299152F88F01B 

Listen to it on a rainy day. It is one of my favorites, as I could completly identify with the woman he sings about in the song, and honestly I think we all can at some point or another. The lyrics are very simple.

Aha Shake Heartbreak (2004) – KOL
MILK

Salty leave , salty leave

tell me the one about the friend you knew
and the last good night that we toasted too.

Salty leave,
stay for me, stay for me

We drank wine in the matinee
and the spotlight showed what I chased away

Stay for me

She saw my comb over, her hourglass body
she has problems with drinking milk
and being school tardy
She’ll loan you her toothbrush
she’ll bartend your party

Kill me, kill me

I called and called, but I can’t get through,
said he’s on his own, but his own is you

Kill me

How depressing. Becoming conscious and really aware of what is going on around you can make you crazy; how can you see the injustices of our culture and not be blown away that not everyone can see them or that people can see them but choose to ignore them. I decided feminism was something that I really took to and the more I learned the more frustrated I became with how we operate. So last summer, I really began to challenge myself and see what I was made of… I actively began to reject mainstream ideologies but, nooo it wasn’t enough to simply think them; I decided I had to live/embody them (I am a big fan of learning through experience instead of simply reading something) 

It all made sense and no sense when I actively disfigured my looks by rejecting makeup (not that I was ever really reliant on it but not being able to use it when i was feeling low about my appearance was hard) chopping 10 inches of hair off and gaining weight (this was the hardest part and I didn’t become aware that I did this b/c it was so subconscious). I actively spoke out (I am a people pleaser at heart) and I called people on it and questioned them when they made racist or sexist comments (not in an attacking manner but just a critical way to see if they noticed it)

While all of this was going on I was doing research on identity for a category of people that I feel into. This caused much question even further about my native identity and my mother’s adoption and not really knowing my native side. It was a fucked up summer to say the least. Note the before and after pics: 

 Before – I am on the Left (Summer 2005)

After – Summer 2006

Needless to say a direct result of my embodying experience was that I smoked a lot of weed, which further complicated things – b/c nothing is worse than heightening the experience of confusion via bongs. I was miserable and so confused by doing this, yet so enlightened. The ‘identity crisis’ of all of it challenged me in ways that I could never get through a book and by accepting a position in life that allowed me minimal control (I really felt like a naked chicken for the most part of it – my security was shot) I gained real control. Go figure, when I accepted that I had no control was when I gained control and the most grounded I have ever been. 

10 months later things are way better. I have discovered the art of subtly, how not to alienate my peers, or not to sound elitist (a big problem before) or being able to simply enjoy things and not always let the world’s problems fall on me all in one day. Case in point: when I went to the ‘Toys for Tots’ at the hockey game (pure chance that my dad had free tickets for that night) and as all the stuffed animals were thrown on the ice to give impoverished children a better x-mas I was ready to vomit. I couldn’t reconcile that the toys purchased for impoverished children, who had homes, food and access to education, access to running water even were possibly and likely made by children who didn’t have these things. This still bothers me.

Anyways, this of course is all a response to C. Wright Mills’ idea that as social scientists we are obligated to raise awareness, and I think we are. Some of us need to go to the edge and back to understand that. I think that is where our passion comes from; it keeps us in check to remind us how good we have it, by rejecting what we so often take for granted. It personally has balanced me and leaves me wanting less material and more nonmaterial.

Our activism can be as simply as mentioning to your friend that flushing floss down the toilet clogs the sewer systems or that Tim Horton’s doesn’t use fair trade coffee, but after much public scrutiny Starbucks now provides infrastructure to communities involved in coffee farming (this can actually be better than fair trade b/c nothing says that if you pay the farmer fair prices for the coffee that the workers wages will increase – so wells, schools, and medical clinics benefits the workers in a sustainable way). Just some thoughts from a realistic idealist.   

 

(Note: I am sorry for the crappy structure of the layout but Wordpress won’t let me format it the way I want) Russell Smith is a man after my own heart, well sort of. My movie experience was very similar to Russell’s but without the poor attitude. I ponder the same question he does at the end of his article as to why we actually pay for this experience.   

Line-ups: movie ticket, concession, usher for entrance 

When entering the Park Place mall to attend ‘The Holiday’ the line-ups send shivers down my spine. The line-up to purchase our tickets is considerable in size, but those around me seem rather content and laughing with their companions. There’s the odd couple who seem to be fighting over garbage day or laundry, but everyone else seem pleasant. While watching and listening for those who break social norms, I notice that everyone is acting accordingly to their stereotype (noisy youth, laughing women, nervous dates), which unfortunately includes the consistently monotone ticket seller who feels it would literally kill her to smile. Above the counter is a sign to apologize and inform movie customers to expect line waits due to the shortage of workers in Alberta. I wonder if people become more cheerful or grumpy once they see the sign and prepare for the anticipated waiting period.  

The concession line-up is a war zone. The concept of ‘line’ is completely devoid, as the line up is scatters of people who are either line cutting, deciding what they want but refuse to commit and merely look as though they might be in line, and those who simply want their snacks. The line goes quickly once the woman in front of me becomes frustrated with her children and decides against snacks before ushering them towards the theatres. Now, I used to work at a movie theatre in a town of 6000 people so I won’t lie; I am addicted to candy and popcorn. Russell needs to calm down and perhaps go for the small frozen yogurt instead of the trans-fats, not to mention that no one is claiming the foods from the movie concession should be eaten all the time. Consider it a treat.   The line up to enter the theatre itself is not unreasonably long and goes by rather quickly. I must admit though I really dislike the ‘enjoy the show’ stock phrase thrown out by the ticket/usher ripper, but what else can they really say.

Inside the Theatre

After our tickets have been sufficiently ripped in half, we make our way into the theatre having prime choice because we came so early. Choosing a seat takes skill to avoid incidentals and it is really difficult when arriving so early for I don’t get the chance to check out torso heights or loud youth who, like many of us did, think the world revolves around them and we should all listen to them squawk. We sit about ¾ the way up on the left side of the theatre, so I can look back often enough to watch people and they can lie to themselves that I am not watching them, but that I am actually waiting for someone else to come and I keep checking for them. I notice when I look at people and they catch me that they do this ‘is she looking at me? No she is waiting for someone else. Or is she?’ nervous expression.  

Pig Barn   

When the theatre begins to fill up and people are enjoying their snacks there is nothing ‘pig barn’ present here. In fact, it appears the opposite to what Russell is claiming. The majority of attendants are women, who are laughing with their friends and sharing popcorn, but no one seems to be shoving food in their face at such a succession that Russell describes. There is a man who sits alone and is eating his popcorn rather quickly, while his leg shakes up and down. I think the man is eating out of nervousness rather than gluttony, as he is sitting by himself in a room full of women who are all bustling with noise and chatter.

Conversation and the Panopticon

  Aside from Russell’s error on the snack situation his descriptions of movie attendants’ behaviour and the rest of the experience is extraordinarily accurate. The conversations of those around me are very mundane and are so simplistic they could be conducted with a house cat. It is true that people really do talk about the same things; weather, sleep/tiredness, food, trivia and all around their general preferences. However, I am not above this chatter the way Russell appears to present that he is. Honestly, what do you talk about in a room with a couple hundred people squished together who easily hear every conversation around them? It is like mini-panopticons situated around each group and the possibility that other people are listening to your conversation is enough of a surveillance threat that the weather is about as safe as it gets. Should I really announce my latest dilemma to my movie date so everyone else can hear about it? I think not. 

Trivia Talent and In-Movie Talking

Trivia is where Russell really relates to my own experience. I am oddly surprised and pleased with myself when I answer the questions right, but I really have no guilt about this as it wastes time and is a form of mental masturbation. I notice other people getting surprised smug looks on their faces when they answer the trivia questions correctly, as if they just won jeopardy. A few people are watching the trivia, but mostly people are in really good moods and are very talkative. I am beginning to suspect that Russell doesn’t often attend movies geared towards women because the people in the theatre are very pleasant and not at all bothersome.   Even throughout the movie when people are commenting loudly to their friends (again mostly women’s voices) not one person appears bothered by these comments, but instead they smile and nod while maintaining their dazed expression and focusing on the movie. Honestly, this makes me happy as my movie date is my mother and she tends to comment and ask out loud questions, but in this case other people were doing the same.

Advertisements Really Bug Me Advertisements make the whole movie experience a rotten one for me so much that I usually show up 15 minutes after the movie has started to avoid watching them. It really gets my goat that I pay to watch annoying car commercials and I really cannot change the channel! It annoys me so much that I will never purchase products that are advertised in a theatre just so that I feel like I still have some agency to resist marketing.   When the ads begin one man lets out a loud sigh and another woman comments on how she very much dislikes the ads being in theatres, but then she quickly engages in conversation again. For the most part I seem to be the most disgruntled with the ads, or simply no one has stopped talking to really notice them. I think that people have almost become accustom to ads and continue talking without paying much attention. 

Accept Your Reality and Move on Russell For the most part everyone appeared to enjoy their experience. Throughout the movie there was a lot of laughter and chatter amongst friends, but nothing overly pessimistic. Most movies are predictable so I think Russell needs to get over himself and accept that the movie experience is just not for him. Instead of criticizing others who enjoy the movie experience I think Russell needs to accept his pet peeves and just rent movies.