Wednesday, May 21, 2008
For all
The thing I enjoyed about these papers is that they recognized the need to make the advancements of academia available to all people. A lot of the things I have learned since coming to college have felt abstract and completely disconnected from the real world. One of things I have learned that's stuck with me, however, is the idea of the world as represented by 100 people. Out of these 100 people, only one of them would have attended college. The fact that I am immersed in a college environment, that I grew up in a college town, and that I am constantly surrounded by my parent's college educated friends, makes this statistic a hard pill to swallow. I really liked that both of these papers were discussing the utilization of knowledge resources to bring real life issues to those who may not get off campus much, and to bring previously unaccessible ideas to some of those 99 people who usually don't get the chance to see them. This application of academia to real-life gives it meaning to far more people.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Reading the self
The subject is a short to medium height (a little over five feet tall) Semitic-appearing Caucasian female who looks to be in her late teens or early twenties. Brunette hair is cut mid-neck length and layered. The upper layers appear to have some blonde highlights, and the hair appears partially straightened but frizzy, suggesting that she has taken little time to style it. The subject has a small amount of makeup on but does not appear to have taken especial care with its application, again suggesting a rush to get ready. The subject sports a lip ring on the lower right hand side, but no other jewelery. She is wearing a light pink t-shirt over the top of a white ribbed undershirt. The t-shirt has two arms printed on it, one arm appearing to hold a bra and the other a lighter, perhaps suggesting her views about underclothing, more likely about women's rights. The subject is wearing a darker pink belt on low-slung green khaki capris. The pants look well worn and are cut off a little below the knee. The pants have six pockets, two in the front as waist level, two behind at waist level, and two on the sides, falling about lower thigh, but only the front two pockets contain items. The subject is also wearing flip-flops; the bands of the flip-flops are slightly faded green cloth with yellow rhombuses stitched into them. The base of the flip-flops are black, with a hard bottom layer and softer looking foam upper layer. Her outfit appears to be chosen for it's functionality, and also appears comfortable and casual. Her shirt suggests a feminist point of view. Explanation
Due to an unfortunate incident involving bleach and my oh-so-tortured hair, my hair retains damaged blonde highlights which I have been trying to cut out slowly; hence, the short hair. I was also blessed with what I will lovingly call a “Jew-fro”; styling my hair is a nearly impossible task under most circumstances so I usually try for a few minutes and then give up. In addition, since it's the weekend I tend to relax whatever standards I may have for my appearance even further than usual, accounting for the harried look.
My shirt I bought on the internet; I thought it was funny and there was a link to it from my favorite blog, feministing.com. I also owned no pink clothing before I got the shirt and thought it might be good to embrace the color. I also really enjoy the combination of pink and green (my modern dance teacher, who I always considered inspiringly creative, wore this combo often).
My pants one of my friends from high school gave me; she and I are both uber-short and we used to exchange clothes. However, due to my awkward height (it is nearly impossible to find pants since I am too tall for short sizes and too short for tall sizes) they ended up actually being too short so I cut the bottom parts off. I also wear these pants to most concerts due to how many pockets they have, so I can shove everything I need in the pockets and not have to worry about a bag. Since it's just a normal day, they aren't as packed full of important items as they usually are since I am carrying a bag. The fact that they are second-hand and also used for such active endeavors accounts for the extra wear.
My flip-flops I bought second-hand, but in mint condition. They are possibly the most comfortable footwear I own, so they are faded from use, especially as I often wear them on the beach and they have accompanied me into various oceans. I also dislike when my feet are confined to I wear them as often as possible.
All of my clothes were chosen for the fact that while it is rather warm out, I also have to go work in a cold building for seven hours later today and then walk home when the temperatures have dropped. All of my clothes were also chosen for how comfortable they are, as work rarely gives me the feeling that I need to dress to impress. I have far too much homework for that.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Project outline
Latest research question: How does branding (specifically branding in the form of advertising) reflect the role of women in Dutch society, which is widely considered to be throughly progressive?
My project is based almost solely on observation backed up by research. I may perhaps be adding a survey, but I need to look into that further before I decide.
For right now, my project is based in the idea that I am "close-reading" the advertisements I find to see what I can glean about them. Namely, I am looking at how Dutch advertisers reflect women in their ads and how representative this is of Dutch society as a whole. I currently have some books out that may provide a more applicable framework. I currently can draw many connections, however, between how Mieke Bal's article "Telling, Showing, Showing Off" was formed and my own project. Her close-reading of the Museum of Natural History had many parallels to my own project in looking at how opinions could be found in the text and layout of an area.
My project is based almost solely on observation backed up by research. I may perhaps be adding a survey, but I need to look into that further before I decide.
For right now, my project is based in the idea that I am "close-reading" the advertisements I find to see what I can glean about them. Namely, I am looking at how Dutch advertisers reflect women in their ads and how representative this is of Dutch society as a whole. I currently have some books out that may provide a more applicable framework. I currently can draw many connections, however, between how Mieke Bal's article "Telling, Showing, Showing Off" was formed and my own project. Her close-reading of the Museum of Natural History had many parallels to my own project in looking at how opinions could be found in the text and layout of an area.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Bal questions
"Telling, Showing, Showing Off"
How do you separate observation from opinion in your work?
Resoning: This question is rather general, but seemd to especially apply to this article. Mieke Bal's observations seemed to lean toward the idea that the curators of the museum had made a concious decision to order the museum the way they did. They had wrapped up their opinions in the way that they displayed various artifacts. Bal's observations also seemed to me to contain an element of opinion rather than solid fact; how does she strike a balance between opinion and truth telling in observation based paper such as this?
"Tradition"
How do you propose that new traditions be enacted/how can the creation of new traditions be hastened?
Reasoning: Bal suggests that new traditions must be created and the old ones wholeheartedly reputed if they no longer fit the culture in which they occur. In the obvious case of the Zwarte Piet, this is a much needed change. However, as traditions such as these are firmly embedded in culture, what can people do as individuals to repudiate traditions that may no longer be reflective of society?
How do you separate observation from opinion in your work?
Resoning: This question is rather general, but seemd to especially apply to this article. Mieke Bal's observations seemed to lean toward the idea that the curators of the museum had made a concious decision to order the museum the way they did. They had wrapped up their opinions in the way that they displayed various artifacts. Bal's observations also seemed to me to contain an element of opinion rather than solid fact; how does she strike a balance between opinion and truth telling in observation based paper such as this?
"Tradition"
How do you propose that new traditions be enacted/how can the creation of new traditions be hastened?
Reasoning: Bal suggests that new traditions must be created and the old ones wholeheartedly reputed if they no longer fit the culture in which they occur. In the obvious case of the Zwarte Piet, this is a much needed change. However, as traditions such as these are firmly embedded in culture, what can people do as individuals to repudiate traditions that may no longer be reflective of society?
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
scooters, vacation, fall
My project will most likely yield information about culture, which applies more to academics than the majority of the global populace.
Using "a print medium" would take this information to the proper audience, people who seek out and are interested in the specifics of the advertising microcosm I am looking into. An academicy type paper in a the library or posted online would be useful in reaching these type people. Print would only make my research available to a select few people (those who can read, those who can read English, those in a certain geographic area if the research is only printed, etc.) but those would be the people who would need to access it anyways. Posting it on the internet would give access to more academic types, who must have internet access and the ability to read, but again are the people this is aimed at.
Video would also be a good way to reach the proper audience, however, the means of dissemination to the target audience would be more difficult. Because my project is rather graphic oriented, it would be useful to have a vehicle with which to showcase these graphics. The project would also be open to people who don't speak English or whatnot. Posting it on the web would be a good way to get it out, but I feel that a video on the internet would not necessarily make it to the proper audience or be as easy to reference.
Using "a print medium" would take this information to the proper audience, people who seek out and are interested in the specifics of the advertising microcosm I am looking into. An academicy type paper in a the library or posted online would be useful in reaching these type people. Print would only make my research available to a select few people (those who can read, those who can read English, those in a certain geographic area if the research is only printed, etc.) but those would be the people who would need to access it anyways. Posting it on the internet would give access to more academic types, who must have internet access and the ability to read, but again are the people this is aimed at.
Video would also be a good way to reach the proper audience, however, the means of dissemination to the target audience would be more difficult. Because my project is rather graphic oriented, it would be useful to have a vehicle with which to showcase these graphics. The project would also be open to people who don't speak English or whatnot. Posting it on the web would be a good way to get it out, but I feel that a video on the internet would not necessarily make it to the proper audience or be as easy to reference.
Monday, May 5, 2008
In Which Confusion Abounds...
Photography
“Societies vary in the extent of the inequality in social status of their women and men members, but where there is inequality, the status “woman” (and its attendant behavior and role allocations) is usually held in lesser esteem than the status “man.” Since gender is also intertwined with a society’s other constructed statuses of differential evaluation- race, religion, occupation, class, country of origin, and so on- men and women members of the favored groups command more power, more prestige, and more property than the members of the disfavored groups.” –The Social Construction of Gender, Judith Lorber, 1991
In every culture there is some sort of conception of how people should act based on physical characteristics that they possess; while each culture has a unique view of how people should behave, the underlying theme is that of a greater and lesser class. Socioeconomically, those who have more have more power as well. Physically, those that may have more but have not male characteristics are thought of as less. The interesting thing is that even in societies that proclaim themselves to be liberal, equal-minded, progressive, etc, there are still inequalities between the genders, and inequalities abound in groups with characteristics that differ them from the status quo as well. Yet the thing that keeps these portions of the population in non-dominating roles is simply the dominating portions ideas of the way things ought to be (also the title of a Rush Limbaugh book). These ideas are disseminated in various ways, large (laws, a la Jim Crow) or small (one man’s cat call as a representation of how society views women as objects). The way society views a group becomes part of their mindset and is reflected in these large and small ways. In this project, I plan to look at advertisements, because while trying to reach the predominant audience, whether consciously or unconsciously, they say something about how the world is viewed through the eyes of the dominant culture.
“Even the covers of magazines like Vogue, Elle, Glamour, or in this case Cosmopolitan, could be mistaken for the covers of some skin magazines commercially produced and marketed for consumption by heterosexual men were it not for the teasers running down the side that tell us that the image of this woman is intended to function for its female audience not as an object of desire but rather a point of identification.”
Do advertisements reflect the culture or does culture reflect media? I plan to approach my project with advertisements as a reflection of the culture, but it is wholly possible that that the two approaches are so close to one another that it doesn’t matter which way I go. Linking back to the first section, however, there is still the reflection of the dominant society through photography. This quote makes the point that clarification is required as to the intended audience; the way the women are photographed gives a far different idea of the intended audience than one might expect, because the images given are meant to appeal to the dominant society and also to the people trying to adapt and fit into the dominant society’s mindset.
“Sometimes the exhibitionism is coy… in which the model playfully clutches the bottem hem of her knitted dress, ostensibly concealing and protecting the triangular zone from the viewer’s intrusive gaze, but, in so doing, drawing our attention more irresistibly to it.”
Fashion and the Homospectatorial Look
Diana Fuss Critical Inquiry, Vol. 18, No. 4, Identities (Summer, 1992), pp. 713-737
Although language may be an issue, reading into the way people or things in advertisements are posed can give insight into how a culture regards them. These poses could have been adopted conciously or subconciously, but still reflect how people consider the way things are. The "exhibitionism" mentioned above is meant to sell a product using sexuality in a seemingly innocent manner, perhaps a reflection of the cultures views of what they desire.
“Societies vary in the extent of the inequality in social status of their women and men members, but where there is inequality, the status “woman” (and its attendant behavior and role allocations) is usually held in lesser esteem than the status “man.” Since gender is also intertwined with a society’s other constructed statuses of differential evaluation- race, religion, occupation, class, country of origin, and so on- men and women members of the favored groups command more power, more prestige, and more property than the members of the disfavored groups.” –The Social Construction of Gender, Judith Lorber, 1991
In every culture there is some sort of conception of how people should act based on physical characteristics that they possess; while each culture has a unique view of how people should behave, the underlying theme is that of a greater and lesser class. Socioeconomically, those who have more have more power as well. Physically, those that may have more but have not male characteristics are thought of as less. The interesting thing is that even in societies that proclaim themselves to be liberal, equal-minded, progressive, etc, there are still inequalities between the genders, and inequalities abound in groups with characteristics that differ them from the status quo as well. Yet the thing that keeps these portions of the population in non-dominating roles is simply the dominating portions ideas of the way things ought to be (also the title of a Rush Limbaugh book). These ideas are disseminated in various ways, large (laws, a la Jim Crow) or small (one man’s cat call as a representation of how society views women as objects). The way society views a group becomes part of their mindset and is reflected in these large and small ways. In this project, I plan to look at advertisements, because while trying to reach the predominant audience, whether consciously or unconsciously, they say something about how the world is viewed through the eyes of the dominant culture.
“Even the covers of magazines like Vogue, Elle, Glamour, or in this case Cosmopolitan, could be mistaken for the covers of some skin magazines commercially produced and marketed for consumption by heterosexual men were it not for the teasers running down the side that tell us that the image of this woman is intended to function for its female audience not as an object of desire but rather a point of identification.”
Do advertisements reflect the culture or does culture reflect media? I plan to approach my project with advertisements as a reflection of the culture, but it is wholly possible that that the two approaches are so close to one another that it doesn’t matter which way I go. Linking back to the first section, however, there is still the reflection of the dominant society through photography. This quote makes the point that clarification is required as to the intended audience; the way the women are photographed gives a far different idea of the intended audience than one might expect, because the images given are meant to appeal to the dominant society and also to the people trying to adapt and fit into the dominant society’s mindset.
“Sometimes the exhibitionism is coy… in which the model playfully clutches the bottem hem of her knitted dress, ostensibly concealing and protecting the triangular zone from the viewer’s intrusive gaze, but, in so doing, drawing our attention more irresistibly to it.”
Fashion and the Homospectatorial Look
Diana Fuss Critical Inquiry, Vol. 18, No. 4, Identities (Summer, 1992), pp. 713-737
Although language may be an issue, reading into the way people or things in advertisements are posed can give insight into how a culture regards them. These poses could have been adopted conciously or subconciously, but still reflect how people consider the way things are. The "exhibitionism" mentioned above is meant to sell a product using sexuality in a seemingly innocent manner, perhaps a reflection of the cultures views of what they desire.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Approximately 10% of Catholic priests are gay
Isaac/Fiona/Cassie:
Focus: Squatting
Presentation: They seemed to have everything together. My only concern was how well they would be able to follow through on the human part of this project (making squatting contacts while in Amsterdam). The fact that there is public squatting (the cafes and whatnot) should help, but the homelessness aspect of Cassie's project seems like it might be a little bit difficult to make a reality. Nonetheless, the group covered all their bases and most potential problems and seemed like they had a well developed project and presentation fairly early in the game.
Ruben/Emily
Focus: Religion/politics
Presentation: My only question about their presentation is how they will draw conclusions about such a broad topic with so little time/information to go off of. I liked their idea of close-reading documents in the various religious institutions they plan to visit, but interviewing three religious leaders didn't seem like it would give the whole spectrum of responses one might need. For example, my one brush with Catholicism (in which I almost threw a used tissue in some holy water and nearly dumped my Catholic boyfriend... but that's a different story) was a Sunday service in Philadelphia that commenced with one of the church members urging everyone to rally for some anti-gay marriage legislation that was being considered. However, I do know that the Catholic church in my hometown has several out and proud gay attendees and the politics of the Pennsylvania service were not necessarily representative of Catholicism as a whole. The views of one religious leader can not necessarily represent the whole spectrum of a religion, so drawing conclusions from one place may not be wholly accurate.
Lauren/Emily
Focus: Access to health care
Presentation: I like the idea of this presentation; however, in my mind it seemed a little bit broad. Perhaps the questions needed to be less open ended, although I know that they did them just a little while before so they don't have everything ironed out yet. I think maybe another problem I had was that the some of the questions they asked seemed like they could be whole projects within themselves; access to abortion and contraception are politically and religiously loaded issues that might require a more in-depth examination, and access to women doctors for Muslims could be a very interesting research paper on its own (pipeline issues, religious issues, etc.). A final issue I had was how they were going to get their women to talk to them. They addressed this issue a little bit, but I also wonder what incentive there will be for women to take time to talk about this very personal information.
Focus: Squatting
Presentation: They seemed to have everything together. My only concern was how well they would be able to follow through on the human part of this project (making squatting contacts while in Amsterdam). The fact that there is public squatting (the cafes and whatnot) should help, but the homelessness aspect of Cassie's project seems like it might be a little bit difficult to make a reality. Nonetheless, the group covered all their bases and most potential problems and seemed like they had a well developed project and presentation fairly early in the game.
Ruben/Emily
Focus: Religion/politics
Presentation: My only question about their presentation is how they will draw conclusions about such a broad topic with so little time/information to go off of. I liked their idea of close-reading documents in the various religious institutions they plan to visit, but interviewing three religious leaders didn't seem like it would give the whole spectrum of responses one might need. For example, my one brush with Catholicism (in which I almost threw a used tissue in some holy water and nearly dumped my Catholic boyfriend... but that's a different story) was a Sunday service in Philadelphia that commenced with one of the church members urging everyone to rally for some anti-gay marriage legislation that was being considered. However, I do know that the Catholic church in my hometown has several out and proud gay attendees and the politics of the Pennsylvania service were not necessarily representative of Catholicism as a whole. The views of one religious leader can not necessarily represent the whole spectrum of a religion, so drawing conclusions from one place may not be wholly accurate.
Lauren/Emily
Focus: Access to health care
Presentation: I like the idea of this presentation; however, in my mind it seemed a little bit broad. Perhaps the questions needed to be less open ended, although I know that they did them just a little while before so they don't have everything ironed out yet. I think maybe another problem I had was that the some of the questions they asked seemed like they could be whole projects within themselves; access to abortion and contraception are politically and religiously loaded issues that might require a more in-depth examination, and access to women doctors for Muslims could be a very interesting research paper on its own (pipeline issues, religious issues, etc.). A final issue I had was how they were going to get their women to talk to them. They addressed this issue a little bit, but I also wonder what incentive there will be for women to take time to talk about this very personal information.
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